Chapter 17
I stood with my hands clasped in front of me with my friends on the stage of the Nationals NHSMC waiting breathlessly for our results. We stood with the six other groups that had made it to the final stage of competition on the wide blank stage staring back at the thousands of eyes staring at us from the audience.
I dropped my hands with a sigh only for my right hand to be taken into a larger, warmer one. Turning to smile at Sesshomaru, I reached out without looking and took Lucas's right hand as well.
Lucas jumped slightly in surprise and turned to me but when he saw Sesshomaru and me he grinned and took Will's hand. Will reached over to Isabella who promptly rolled her eyes but still took his hand. She in turn took Lily's hand who took Kohaku's. We were suddenly a connected chain, which I thought was appropriate. How grateful I was to be able to be playing music with these amazing people.
The host, a Mr. Molty who was nearing fifty and apparently a famous old conductor, though not one I had ever heard of, finally came up on the stage with a microphone and an envelope. I had been in enough competitions to know that it was that envelope that held the answer that everyone wanted to know, namely who was this year's champion?
Mr. Molty walked to the center of the stage, waving and grinning at the crowd all the while.
Glancing at Sesshomaru I saw him rolling his eyes in mock horror and had to suppress a laugh. No matter where you performed or who old you were, the hosts were always the same.
"Well, thanks again for coming everyone!" Molty called to the people, "we have had an absolutely amazing day today and have seen so much incredible talent from all of these young performers but I think we have kept both them and all of you waiting long enough so I say it's time to get on with it, don't you?"
The crowd obediently clapped and Molty bowed, grinning. I snorted, still trying not to laugh and Sesshomaru nudged me with another smile.
"Ok, here it is folks!" Molty shouted, opening the letter, "The third place winner of this year's NHSMC is… Dillon's Academy from New York!"
The crowd exploded and the group to my far left jumped up and ran to the center of the stage to accept the small third place trophy.
I clapped politely, thinking back to their performance. Dillon's Academy had been the first to go and they had been very good. They had defiantly deserved to place and I was glad they had.
After all the applause had died down, Molty grinned and said, "Great job, Dillon, you guys were absolutely amazing! Ok, now on to second place. This was where the judges really had to think and we actually had a close call this year. The winner won with a margin of 5 to 2. Both the winner and 2nd place winners' did magnificent. Ok without further ado, the second place winner is…"
I gripped Sesshomaru's hand even tighter and closed my eyes, barely breathing.
"St. Joseph's Academy from California!" cried Molty with glee.
My eyes flew open and I turned to stare at Ruby. She was smiling and waving to the crowd but her face was red. As she walked forward with her school, Ruby glanced over at me and for a moment our eyes meet. I gave her a huge smile and after a long moment Ruby's face relaxed and she smiled back.
As Ruby reached out to accept the large 2nd place trophy she actually began laughing with delight.
Turning to look at Sesshomaru I found him grinning and clapping as he watched Ruby and her teammates. "Now it's just us," I said softly, gazing out over the crowd.
Sesshomaru faced me and answered just as softly, "It was never about anyone else, Rin. It was always just about us."
Nodding, I turned to look at the rest of my amazing, spectacular team and found them all looking back at me with smiles on their faces.
I grinned back and didn't face away from them as Molty started up again.
He lifted the microphone back to his mouth and said in a booming voice, "Ok, folks, I think it is finally time for the moment you have all been waiting for. The announcement of this year's NHSMC first place winner!"
The crowd roared for a moment but then was quickly subdued as the moment stretched out. Molty cried, "So then, this year's winner is…" here he paused dramatically as is the unspoken rule among anyone who announces anything, "Seiso Academy from California!"
Right then there was that extremely brief second when both the audience and the performers let the news of the winner sink in and, of course, all music hell broke loose.
The crowd exploded and leapt to their feet, the applause practically shaking the building. I threw my hands up in the air in triumph and was suddenly swept off my feet by Sesshomaru whose guard was completely down for once. He grinning so hard that I thought it might split his face.
As he spun me around and around, I looked over at my equally happy teammates. Kohaku was pumping his fist in the ear as Lily and Isabella were excitedly hugging each other. Huh, wish I had a camera to capture that image. It probably wouldn't happen again for a while.
Next to the ecstatic girls, Lucas was laughing happily as Will grasped his shoulder and saying something in his ear, a wide grin on his handsome face.
Then we were all running out to the center of the stage as Molty held out a huge trophy to us. The trophy was pure gold and had a piano and violin on the top. Somehow that seemed very appropriate.
As we all help the trophy above our heads Molty was saying, "Well, congrats, Seiso Academy. All our judges agreed that your performance was one in a decade and was truly spectacular! Is there anything you would like to say to the audience or your families?"
He brought the microphone to all my friends and they all gave a tear filled thank you to their loved one. When Molty got to me he paused and then announced to the crowd, "Well, I'm sure that we all want to know what Rin Tsukimori has to say after her surprise return to the music world! So Rin, how about it?"
The microphone was thrust into my face and I had to force myself to focus on him and the crowd. "Well, I guess I just want to say that it's good to be back," I called out, my voice booming, "and that this is all for my brother, may he rest in peace. I learned to love my music by his side and all these amazing people around me have taught me that it is still ok to love it even though Shou is gone. There isn't a thing in the world I would rather be doing right now!"
The crowd burst into more applause and all my friends turned to grin at me and Sesshomaru's hand slipped into mine. As we held the magnificent trophy above our heads and all the noise washed over us, I realized, maybe for the first time, that what I had just said was the absolute truth. There was truly no other place in the world I would rather be. I was right where I belonged, here on the stage with my friends, playing our music.
Five hours later:
I sat by the pool with my legs dangling in the water, staring at the gently shifting water. The last few hours had pasted by in a blur of cameras and people. We had spent over three hours in the music hall being interviewed and playing a little more music for the crowd.
After we finally made it out of the hall we had raced to a fancy restaurant to celebrate. Of course, when the news spread throughout the restaurant and since we still had our instruments with us everyone insisted we play some songs. Funny that we ended up being the entertainment on our own special night. Oh well, it was amazing anyway.
We finally got back to the hotel and my teammates had already crashed but I felt restless. I had come down to the pool and was simply sitting on the side with my legs in, thinking. It had been quite the day.
"You know," a voice from behind me, "it's kind of creepy to be in the pool at eleven at night all alone. You never know who you might run into."
"You mean like some white haired teenage boy with questionable intentions?" I asked without turning around.
"Exactly like that," Sesshomaru agreed as he sat down next to me and slipped his pale legs into the water.
We sat in comfortable silence for several minutes before I leaned back to look at the stars and said, "You know, we did pretty good today."
Sesshomaru slipped his hand into mine, our fingers intertwining and answered softly, "Got that right. We were amazing. You were amazing."
I laughed and rested my head on his strong shoulder. I wasn't sure how long we stayed like that but eventually one of the hotel employs came through the door and smiled at us knowingly. "Five minutes guys," she said.
I didn't move as Sesshomaru thanked her but looked up as she left the door swinging shut behind her. Our eyes meet and he smiled gently down at me.
When the boy who gave me my life back leaned down to kiss me, I discovered a new kind of music, one that only the two of us could hear.
Yes, this is the last chapter to this story but don't worry! There will defiantly be an epilogue and if you guys want I have an idea for two bonus chapters, one with Will and Lucas and one with Isabella and Lilly. So review and let me know what you all think! Thanks for reading everyone; this had been an amazing ride! Thanks and REVIEW ~md202