Inspired Lyrics

[E]

Apri stepped carefully down the path to the beach, not wanting to fall while she held the precious guitar Killian had given her. Guitar in one hand and parchment in the other, she looked around for a good place to sit. Finding a large log that must have drifted onto the shore, she moved to it and sat down not on it, but in front of it so that she could lean back against it.

Another look around showed the beach empty and a small dune hid her from the hall. Content in knowing she was alone, she moved the guitar to her lap and opened the parchment where words and notes hand been scribbled onto it. Several times now she had made it out here since the funeral and she enjoyed every minute spent there on the beach with the music… her music. Not only that, but thoughts of late had given her inspiration.

Strumming a few notes, she carefully tuned the guitar the way that grey-eyed man had taught her. Looking carefully at the parchment again, she played thru a few bars before shaking her head. Taking a stick from her hair, she made a mark on the music as her hair fell to in a cascade until the ends fell on the sand. Putting down the stick, she started again, this time adding in her voice…

thought of you the other day
How worlds of change led us astray
Colors seem to fade to gray
In the wake of yesterday…
You looked into my eyes
You had me hypnotized
And I can still remember you

I had a dream of you and I
A thousand stars lit up the sky
I touched your hand and you were gone
But memories of you live on…

You looked into my eyes
You had me hypnotized
And I can still remember you
Those moments spent together
Promising forever
And I can still remember you

Do you ever think of me
And get lost in the memory
When you do, I hope you smile
And hold that memory a while…

[shawncameron]

Considering how much he loved to sleep in Killian had gotten up rather early that moring. He took his time getting dressed and once done knocked lightly on Apricus’s door… to no answer. Well what had he expected? For her to wait up? Shrugging it off he decided to go for a walk on his own for once.

He wasn’t paying particular attention to where he was going and somehow ended on the beach. He smiled remembering all of the walks he had taken with Apricus since the funeral. That smile wavered slightly though as a familiar sound reached his ears, “a guitar…?” he moved closer the sand muffling his steps as he climbed the dune.

He stopped frozen in place as the song began. That was Apricus’s voice, but he had never heard that song before… he didn’t so much as twitch as she played thought the first verse, images of his days with her flashed thought his mind as a faceless beauty reached out to him only to disappear at his touch, the colors brought on by her presents faded to gray then blackness but as the song continued the colors returned.

He began to move closer, his legs working against his mind that wanted to stay still, what would she think if she knew he had heard her? But he came closer until he was only a few yards away. His mouth was dry, he didn’t want the song to end… “Apricus…”

[E]

Apri sighed as the song ended and closed her eyes. She felt that there should be more too it… it just seemed like an incomplete ending, but she did not know what would happen next. Not in the song or between the two it talked about. Lately her thoughts had evolved so closely to one other person… She had never been so confused before… never been so content…

Her name spoken behind her made her jump with a start. Turning, she found Killian standing behind her. Face warming considerably, she stood quickly, fumbling with the guitar and with her words.

“K-Killian!... How… Where… When did you get here?... I… I thought I was alone…” Wondering if he realized what the song was about, she couldn’t help but feel nervous… what would he think?

[shawncameron]

Killian was slightly taken aback by her reactions though he should have excited it. He ran his hand though his hair giving a weak grin, “um… I’m sorry, I came in as… as you where tuning… did… did you write that?” it was as though the song had put his own mind into words. When had they left the path of friend ship and come here? Did she ever think of him as he did of her and smile? “it’s… so… beautiful… I have never heard anything like it…”

[E]

“Y-yes… I did…” she said, surprised as he instantly guessed that she had written it. Glancing down at the parchment she found herself wondering, like she often did, if he could actually see. Knowing very well that wasn’t true, she sighed, giving into the fact that she had been found out.

“I… don’t know though…” she said as she slowly started to relax. Putting the guitar down next to the parchment she picked back up the stick that had held her hair. Fiddling with it, she looked back up to Killian. “Did you… what…” pressing her lips together, she found herself slightly upset that she couldn’t just spit it out.

“The Lyrics… what did you think?…”

[shawncameron]

“I…” he stopped, what on Pern was wrong with him? “I thought they where…” what all should he tell her? Everything? But that would really freak her out… but he couldn’t lie… never to Apricus. “They where perfect… it was like… like…” what to say what to say!? “You… you read my mind… I felt like I could have been the one singing…what… what inspired you?” she had inspired him, but he could never right something as perfect as that.

[E]

Apri’s jaw dropped as his words completely confused her. Not only did she have no clue what he was trying to say, but the way he said it lost her even more. Just about all she could manage to piece together was that she had read his mind. How the fall did she manage to read his mind when she was simply trying to sort out her own?

“How… I… Your mind? I was trying to sort out my own…” Frowning deeply, she sat back down with a heavy thud, facing the log and Killian just behind it. Pulling up her knees she put her elbows on each then placed her fore head in her hands. When she had sung it she had thought she finally figured out what it was she was feeling… but how did she read his mind? She was baffled.

“I… Inspiration?... umm… I… well… You were, Killian… But… it wasn’t written from your point of view… at least I didn’t think it was…” she was so confused now. Was it the wording? Or did she simply have no idea what she had been feeling the past few weeks?

[shawncameron]

It seemed she was just as confused as he was and with out realizing it he sat down just as she did, though not as hard using his stick to ease him to the ground. “I’m sorry its just… the second verse…

I had a dream of you and I
A thousand stars lit up the sky
I touched your hand and you were gone
But memories of you live on…”

He resided then fell silent, how was he supposed to explain things he didn’t understand? “I… I have been so afraid that one of these days I will wake up and you won’t be there… that all of this has been a dream…” it was his turn to bring his hands to his forehead though he didn’t realize that was what she had done, “I’m not making any since… just forget it… forget I said anything, It’s a beautiful song Apricus… and all the more so sung by you… would you play it again sometime?”

[E]

Hearing his explanation, she lifted her head from her hands, a look of bewilderment plain on her face even though he could not witness it. Strangely enough, that fear of waking up to find him gone was exactly what the lyrics had meant, but of her waking up, not him. How strange it was to have such similar fears. She had never before grown to trust someone the way she had grown to trust Killian… to lose that… it scared her.

“Is that true?... do you dream of waking up… alone…” she was not ready to forget he had said that, nor was she ready to move on to a different topic. She had been trying to sort this out for days now, and when she had thought she had come so close with this song he had come and confused her all the more.

"... because... I do..."

[shawncameron]

Killian lifted his face from his hands, his expression all seriousness and comfort, “I would never lie to you Apricus…” he was no less confused and so he found himself clinging to something he knew was real… his feelings for her. “I’m so scared sometimes… that I’m going to push you away, like I’ve done to everyone else…” he ran his hands though his hair before dropping them to his lap, “when I think about you being gone… colors seem to fade to gray…” he quoted the song again it just fit so perfectly…

“You… you don’t want to leave? To be alone either?” he had heard what she had said it was just refusing to register fully. It was impossible, how could anyone, especially her, want to stay with him? Be inspired by him?

[E]

Hearing him quote her song, a single tear rolled down her cheek. Not a tear of pain or sorrow, but of understanding as it finally fell together. He… He felt exactly as she did. Well maybe not exactly, but very similar. But was he as confused by it as she was? It seemed so, but she was not sure. Perhaps he understood what it was, that thing growing between them.

“No… I’ve… I’ve found something in you… that I’ve never known before… I’ve never been able to trust someone before… but you… I know… I can trust you… I’ve grown… attached to being able to talk to someone… to sing with someone… I… I don’t want to go back… to the way things were… without you…” she spoke truthfully, not knowing what else could be said but the truth at this point.

[shawncameron]

Killian didn’t know what to say, he hid his face again as a smile like no other tried to break free. Him? She couldn’t possibly mean him… “I… I… he…” he laughed a small half laugh, “I don’t know what to say… you have made me lost for words.” He dropped his hands lifting his face to her the happiness outweighing the confusion and doubt, “I can’t help but think that you’ve made a mistake… your too good for someone like Me Apricus… but, I don’t want it to go back to how it was… never ever again how could it? Even if you where to leave, nothing would be the same. I… I…” love you he couldn’t say it out loud, “I’m glad I met you Apricus, you can always trust me…”

[E]

His words brought a comfort to her, finally stilling her shaken nerves. He understood and he was not about to leave her. It was a relief. She had been so scared of loosing what she had become to treasure, but now she was certain she’d be able to keep it… a friend. A true friend.

Standing, she bushed the sand off her long skirt and kicked off her shoes. “How does a walk sound?... You did promise me one today…”

[shawncameron]

Killian smiled, he didn’t know what she was thinking or if she had any idea exactly how much he cared about her but none of that mattered. He laughed at her question leaning heavily on his staff as he fought to stand up in the loose sand. “if I can manage to stand on such weak knees I would love a walk…” he laughed more as he did stand brushing himself off, it was a great relief to say some of what he had been afraid to voice and fare from walking he felt like he could float. “as long as you promise to walk beside me this time.”

[E]

Apri laughed as she watched him try to stand. Hearing his request she couldn’t help but laugh again. “Its just a habit of mind to walk behind… its easier to watch what is happening or is going to happen.” she said with a shrug. As he started down the sandy beach, she moved to walk, not behind him, but beside him though not too close.