Tomorrow Never Knows - Chapter Twenty Seven
Authors: lovely_rita_mm, jenny_wren28, & pennylane_fic
Starring: The Beatles and Maggie Sue
Rating: M for language, implied sex (though none of it is explicit) & implied drug use. Characters used in this story are either our creation, or are historically-based (ie, The Beatles).
Disclaimer: We don't own any of the Beatles, this obviously never happened, and is a complete work of fiction.
"Hey George, ready for another lesson?" Maggie called out. George was sitting alone by the pool and had his sitar out, but as she got closer, she could see the moody expression on his face. She loved George dearly, but George could be grumpy. He was increasingly so the more time he spent in India, which Maggie thought ironic. Wasn't he here looking for inner peace?
"What's wrong, George?"
"Nothing."
"Oh come on, don't give me that. What is it?"
"Paul."
"Oh? Did he shoot you down? I told him he'd better give your new songs a fair listen…"
"No, no, he did want to hear them. But that's just the problem."
"What?" Maggie sat down on the ground next to George and looked at him in puzzlement.
"I…I'm just not into Beatles music right now, okay? I don't want to think about it. I just want to meditate and work on my sitar, and that's it."
"That's a lie," Maggie said shaking her head. "I know for a fact that you've been working on songs for the Beatles. Do you want me to name the ones you wrote for the White Al… er, for your next album while you were here in India? Because I can."
George shrugged. "If you say so, but that's still beside the point."
"Actually I think it is exactly the point."
George was quiet. She tried to catch his eye, but he wouldn't meet her gaze.
"There's more to life than the Beatles," he said stubbornly.
"You're right, there is." She nodded. "But music is a part of you, and like it or not, the Beatles are a part of you too. The sooner you accept that, the happier you'll be. You can try and escape this legacy, this burden, but you never will. So if I were you, I'd stop trying to fight it, and just let the music happen."
She got up to go, but he reached out an arm and stopped her. "The truth is, I'm blocked. You say I wrote all these songs in India, but I don't have even one finished. Just a bunch of starts that haven't gone anywhere. What if it's gone? My muse, or whatever you call it. What if I don't have any songs left in me?"
"But I know you do." Maggie smiled gently at him. "Trust me." If she was certain of anything, she was certain that George was capable of writing beautiful songs.
"I'd like to believe you. I keep meditating and hoping that somewhere inside me, I can get rid of whatever is blocking the songs from coming out."
"Is that what this is all about?" She waved her hands, gesturing at the ashram, at the river.
"No! Or not just. John told me he tried to explain it to you."
"The search for the mysteries of the universe? Yeah, he did. And I get it on the surface, but that's as deep as my understanding of this stuff goes."
"Well, maybe you'd get a deeper understanding if you stopped sneaking off with Paul, or taking your clothes off in front of John." George was starting to feel annoyance rising in him. No one seemed to get what he was doing here. Not Ringo, not Paul, and apparently not Maggie. He should have known better. She'd been against their trip to Wales to see the Maharishi, and maybe even still blamed George deep down for keeping her away while Brian died. Why would he think she'd want to come all the way to India just to aid George in his search for deeper meaning? And John – George felt sure he'd have an ally in John if only Maggie would stop distracting him.
"George, I'm sorry. But meditation just doesn't work for me. Or Paul. We're doers, not sit-and-thinkers."
"Don't you have a degree in astrophysics? Did that not require any sitting and thinking?"
"Well, yes, but it was more studying books and less navel-gazing." She regretted using that word the second it came out of her mouth.
"Navel-gazing? Is that what you think I'm doing?" George was outraged.
"No, that's not what I meant! It's just…contemplating my insides doesn't do for me what reading a book about science does. For Paul, I think he finds his peace in writing music and in entertaining. He needs to be social. I think Ringo is happy enough to be along for the ride here, but I doubt this is doing anything in particular for him other than allowing him to be a part of the team. Family is what's important to Ringo, I think. And that includes us. John, well, I think you'd have a partner in meditation in John, but that's the problem. You know as well as I do how John is. I'm fine with him being interested in eastern religion and meditation, but I don't want him to be so interested I lose him to it. At least until he discovers the next 'big thing'. Frankly, I also prefer that to not be Yoko."
"I hardly think letting John meditate in peace while he's here is really going to cause him to go over the edge."
"Maybe, maybe not, but why tempt fate? We've done that enough for a lifetime." Maggie paused. "Besides, look at Prudence Farrow. She was in so deep it took John and Paul writing her a song to even get her out of her room. I really don't want to deal with John getting himself into that sort of state."
George looked unconvinced.
"Look, I'll try not to get in the way of John's meditation too much if you give songwriting a try," Maggie finally conceded. "Have some confidence in yourself and your abilities. Don't let Lennon/McCartney psych you out."
"I wish I had the confidence in myself that you seem to," George said gloomily.
"George? Maggie? What are you up to?" It was John. Standing behind him was a smug looking Maureen. Maggie quickly realized that this was retaliation for yesterday. Mo had brought John over, hoping that they'd caught Maggie and George in a compromising enough position to cause John to be jealous. He'd written "Run for Your Life" after all, hadn't he?
"Hey, John. We're just talking about how Maggie has vowed to take her meditation more seriously, weren't we?" George said, issuing a silent challenge to Maggie.
"We were also talking about all the Beatles songs George was writing." Maggie beamed angelically back at him.
"Well, let's hear all about them!" John said, plopping himself down on the ground next to Maggie and then looking at George expectantly.
Feeling a bit guilty, Maggie rescued George. "Maybe later, John – he's in the middle of working out some new things right now, but I know he'll want to share his songs with you and Paul when he's done."
"No worries, mate, we've all the time in the world, don't we?" John grinned at George.
"Yeah." George looked at Maggie reproachfully. "Plenty of time. Meditation now, songs later."
"Indeed. Meditate all you want," John grinned. "If you don't mind, I'm going to take my fiancé to bed instead."
George just shook his head, and Maggie flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and excitement.
"Come on, luv!" John got up and scooped Maggie up onto his shoulder, ignoring her laughing protests.
Maureen was dismayed. She could tell George was annoyed, but John was oblivious to the fact that his fiancé had been having what looked to be a fairly intense and private conversation with his band mate. He hadn't shown any jealousy whatever. This would never do.
* * *
"John, put me down!" Maggie laughed.
"I will as soon as I get you to the bedroom!"
"You're an animal!"
"That's what Paul tells me!"
"Well, he should know."
"Naughty girl!"
Finally they were in their room, and the door was shut behind them. John slowly put Maggie down, enjoying the feel of her body close against his. He kissed her gently on the lips and then on the forehead, cheeks, and nose.
"What's this? I expected you to throw me down on the bed and have your way with me." She smiled up at him. She couldn't say she would have minded that, but this was nice too.
"We've all the time in the world, luv, didn't you hear?" John said tenderly.
"Hmm, time. A funny thing, isn't it?" Gazing up at him, she cupped his face in her hands, and kissed him.
"Right now I'd like it to stand still, so we could spend forever here, just the two of us," John said.
"Just like this?"
"Maybe with less clothes," he smiled. He slowly unzipped her sundress and let it fall to the floor. He let her unbutton his shirt, and undo his trousers. He kissed her again and moved his hands over her body, running them over every curve.
Drawing her over to the bed, he pulled Maggie down next to him, where he encircled her with his arms. Slowly he made love to her, letting her soft sighs and then cries of pleasure guide him.
To John, India had been a haven from the real world. Maggie wasn't working long hours at Apple, and he wasn't working long hours in the studio. They were together without any of the pressures that might seek to pull them apart. John was starting to realize that one of those external forces might be Yoko. He'd found her art and her willingness to let herself be perceived as strange by others refreshing. John remembered that once upon a time he'd been rebellious and hadn't cared two figs for his image. Now he was a Beatle, and being a Beatle was all about image. And image was about selling records. This made Yoko like a breath of fresh air. However, since he'd agreed to finance Yoko's newest exhibit, he felt she'd been slightly pushy. His backing of her art exhibit was a favor – it didn't entitle Yoko to unlimited access to John's money or life. She didn't seem interested in respecting the boundaries. On the one hand, her forwardness was something he admired, but on the other, it was becoming intrusive. John hadn't known that Yoko had left a ring at his house in order to have an excuse to come back and see him. He'd only found that out when Maggie had mentioned it at the Magical Mystery Tour party. Maggie probably hadn't mentioned it for fear of starting another fight about Yoko, he realized a bit guiltily.
Yoko had also managed to invite herself to the studio and then she'd had the audacity to criticize his new song, of which she'd heard exactly five minutes. Paul had told her to mind her own business and Yoko had looked at John indignantly, waiting for him to come to her defense. When he hadn't, they'd argued, and she'd left. He'd taken off for India soon after.
Yoko had somehow found out their mailing address here and had been sending him postcards. At first, they had seemed like an apology of sorts, and so he'd sent her a few little notes in return. She'd clearly taken his gesture as a sign of encouragement and the postcards from Yoko came nearly every day now. John had started hiding them in one of his bags. If Maggie found them, there'd be a big scene and he didn't want to do anything to disturb their newfound peace. If he could stay here, in Maggie's arms forever, he would be content. John hardly ever felt content. He wasn't content with the Beatles, with his songs, or with anything but Maggie.
"I love you, you know," he whispered to her. She stirred out of her drowse.
"I love you too." She was quiet for a moment and then she turned on her side and contemplated him. "We've been here a few weeks now. Have you found your answers yet?"
"To life, the universe and everything?"
She smiled. "Yes."
"Perhaps if someone would actually let me meditate…" he teased.
"You still think that's where the answers to everything are?"
"Actually, no. I'm starting to think that the answer is right here in front of me. It's you."
"Me?"
"You are what brings me peace inside. You are what makes my world make sense. I don't know why you were brought into my life. Maybe something or someone knew I needed you and brought you to me. I don't know who or what to thank for that, and I know I'm hardly deserving of it. But there it is. I can't account for it or explain it. And maybe I will never know the how or why. But…" He stopped when he saw that Maggie had tears in her eyes. Had he upset her? She threw her arms around him, and kissed him fiercely, which gave him his answer.
"I don't know how or why we are together, either, but I know it's right too," she said. "Sometimes I'm afraid to question it, like it's so ephemeral that it might slip away from me."
"Nonsense. You will never lose me."
"You say that now, but…"
"Never," he said firmly. Words were words and he sought to reinforce what he'd said with his body. He rolled himself on top of her and began kissing her mouth, her neck, her breasts.
She was unable to resist John when he was like this, so loving, so tender. And so she didn't. They spent a long and leisurely afternoon enjoying each other's company, alternately talking and making love.
"Want to know what songs I'm working on?"
"Yes," Maggie replied, curious. He'd written a random assortment of things in India the first time around, and she was unsure what would happen this time.
"I've done one that's about me mum," he said. "Would you like to hear it?"
"Sure!"
He reached over and grabbed his acoustic, which was on the floor next to the bed. Much like Paul, John was never very far from his guitar. John wasn't known for being guitar virtuoso, but he'd actually been working on his technique, and Maggie could see the results of his practice as he started picking the opening chords of his new song.
"Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it just to reach you, Julia," John sang softly. "Julia, Julia, ocean child, calls me, so I sing a song of love, Julia…"
Maggie froze. Ocean child? Ocean child was a reference to Yoko. That's what her name meant in Japanese, according to Beatles lore. Was John writing songs for Yoko? How could that be, especially after all the things he had just said to her this afternoon. Maggie had never felt more confused or unsure as she did this second. If she brought up Yoko now, she risked shattering what they had built. It would be a test of exactly how ephemeral their relationship was. John seemed confident that what they had was real and solid and true. Could "ocean child" mean something else? Was she jumping to conclusions?
Maggie tried to hide her doubts as John looked at her for approval. She smiled at him and praised the song. It was delicate and beautiful, and she let him know that he should be proud of it. Putting the guitar down, John pulled her back down on the bed. Hoping to squeeze thoughts of Yoko and doubt of John out of her head, she responded to his touch, trying to lose herself in moment. It very nearly worked.
A/N: Thanks for reading! The next update will hopefully be next Sunday! We love comments, so please tell us what you think!