Disclaimer: They do not belong to me, they belong
the folks way off in Saban-land. I am just borrowing their toys from that
big toybox we like to call Power Rangers, and I promise I will put everyone
back neatly. Any and all Simudeck programs do belong to me, and if you
want to use them in your story, then please email me and ask first. This
fic contains some mature subject matter, and some opposing viewpoints.
Also, I have an intense love of music and drama, and if you haven't figured
it out by now, I'm a HOPELESS ROMANTIC AND DAMN PROUD!. Whatever. Thank
you for shopping at Power Ranger-Mart. L'Angoisse, La Lune Blanche, and
Mon Reve Familier all belong to Paul Verlaine. Any and all lyrics in this
story are courtesy of Brenda Antrim's "Paris Nocturne" stories,
and I have no clue where the nightingale song is from, but I really enjoyed
it. FYI, the nightingale is Cassie's spirit animal, and the coyote is TJ's.
Oh yeah, and I lied. "I Beleive In You" is not finished yet,
and comes after "Changes" and "Silver Wishes". Sorry
bout that.
Cassie couldn't sleep. Quietly, making sure not to disturb anyone, she slipped out of her bunk and made her way to the Simudeck. She opened Ashley's new program, Sandrine's, and requested that DECA add a grand piano instead of the usual pool table. When DECA asked why Cassie was up too late, she replied with something about insomnia and the nightingale calling. Sitting down on the piano stool, she let her fingers float over the keys. While playing, she could always forget the world around her and concentrate on the only thing that mattered then. The music.
She wasn't the only one with trouble sleeping. In the boy's cabin, TJ woke from yet another nightmare. Since he had become a Ranger, the frequent nightmares had lessened in quantity. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that he was no longer living in the same house as THEM. But the fact remained, when they did come, they were just as bad as they ever were. He went up to the Simudeck, saw that a program was already running- and since the privacy locks were not engaged, he assumed it was safe to enter. The sight he saw took his breath away. He had always known Cassie was an excellent singer and guitarist, but he never knew she could play the piano so beautifully, or sing in French. Quietly, he walked up to her, so as not to interrupt her playing.
Revons, c'est l'heure.
Un vaste et tendre
Apaisement
Semble descendre
Du firmament
Que l'astre irise ..
C'est l'heure exquise.
"Let us dream, it is the hour.
Vast and tender
An appeasement
Seems to lower
From the firmament
Star-bedecked ...
Exquisite hour."
"Hi," he said, ever so softly. Despite the gentleness in his tone, she started and missed a note. TJ's expression changed to an apologetic one. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"It's okay," she carefully closed the lid to the piano and then turned to face him.
"I never knew you could play so well! What I mean is, I knew you could sing, but-"
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," Cassie said, somewhat sadly. Silently, she added, -Things I could never tell anyone. Secrets that I wish I could tell, but if I did, you would leave me, and that is the last thing I want to happen.-. Meanwhile, TJ was thinking along the very same lines. They were alike, these two. Both had secrets that stained their very souls. TJ sat down beside her.
"If it's any help, I haven't exactly lead the most wonder-filled life. Nothing I ever did was good enough for my parents," he spat out the word like it was some kind of bitter-tasting food. They considered my baseball hobby a useless waste of time. They said I should devote more time to my studies, said my sports took up too much time. Truth was, even if I HAD studied, I never would have gotten good enough grades," Cassie nodded. She knew that an A on an assignment was a rare occasion for her friend. He usually pulled by on B's and A-'s, which weren't really so bad, but when one had strict parents.... "So," he continued, anxious to get onto a different subject, "what's your tale of woe?"
"You name it, I beat it up." She stated, matter-of-factly. This elicited a surprised laugh from him.
"This I've GOT to hear," he said.
Lasse de vivre
ayant peur de mourir
pareille au brick perdu jouet du flux et du reflux
Mon ame pour d'affreux naufrages appareille .
"Weary of living,
Fearing to die,
Like a lost barque a plaything of the tides,
A soul to dread disaster seems to ride."
"Well," she started. "You know how, well, I don't live with my parents?" he nodded. "It's not just because I wanted to be a singer. Well, that's part of it, I guess. But the truth is, my parents kicked me out of our house, because they just couldn't handle me and-" she began sobbing, unable to continue. "I can't tell you. I want to, but I can't, because I don't want to lose your friendship,"
"Cassie, you need to tell someone. If you tell me, I swear on my Astro Morpher that I won't tell a soul," TJ proclaimed solemnly. He took her hand in his and held it.
"Promise?" she looked into his beautiful brown eyes.
"I promise,"
"TJ, I used to be a really, really different person. I wasn't nice, and I didn't care about anyone but myself. I did...I did some horrible things," she looked up into his eyes again. "TJ, I have a daughter. She's two years old and I visit her every so often, on weekends. I'm sure you've noticed that I'm not around then," he nodded. "So, are you convinced that I'm a horrible person yet?" TJ's eyes widened. He shook his head fiercely.
"Cassie, whatever you were like back then, you are nothing like that now, and whatever you've done, you've more than made up for it. I don't give a damn about your past. All I care about is who you are NOW," he grabbed her in a fierce hug, which she gratefully returned. "I hope someday you let me meet this wonderful little girl of yours, and, if you don't mind, could I take a crack at the piano?" she nodded, somewhat surprized at his request. He slid onto the piano stool, and began to play.
Je fais souvent ce reve etrange et penetrant
D'une femme inconnue, et que j'aime, et que m'aime
Et qui n'est, chaque fois, ni tout a fait la meme
Ni tout a fait une autre, et m'aime et me comprende.
"Often I have this strange and penetrating dream
Of an unknown woman I love and who loves me,
And each time she is neither quite the same
Not quite another, but she loves and understands."
"Wow...." Cassie said. "You know, we'd make a great duet," TJ grinned devilishly.
"One might take that as a come-on, Ms. Chan," he said. Cassie simply rolled her eyes, but TJ didn't miss the spark in them that appeared when he had said that remark.
"You know what I mean," she punched him playfully on the arm. "Now, it's my turn," she sat at the piano, and began to play a beautiful, sad melody.
quand la jongle s'obscurcit
la tu te degages
Rossignol, mon mignon...degoisant ... tu es aime
Tous mes souvenirs s'abattent sur moi
Plus rein que la voix
De l'oiseau que fut mon premier amour, et qui chante encor comme au premier
jour
Pliene de silence et d'obscurite, Berce sur l'azur qu'un vent doux effleure
L'arbre qui frissonne et l'oiseau qui pleure
"when the jungle shadows fall
you free yourself
Nightingale, my little one ... trumpeting ... you are loved
All my memories swoop around me
Nothing but the voice
Of the bird that was my earliest love singing still as on that earliest
day Full of silence and obscurity, Lulls in the sky that a soft wind caresses
The quivering tree and the weeping bird."
The song itself sounded remarkably like the song of a nightingale, with a faint echo of a coyote howl in the background. As the final lingering notes fell into the waiting silence of the room, a solitary line of melody, picked out by a sure right hand, was gradually supported by a swelling series of chords, building confidently, delicately, from sadness to pure joy.
Whatever the days would bring them, they were no longer alone.
Le Rossignol.
