Then she started playing. Her fingers deftly waltzing up and down the keys. She sang ballads, folk songs, and even a waltz.
She was flawless. Every note, every song, every breath was placed to complete perfection. It was like she was carefree up there, playing and singing in the middle of the night in her own living room.
I knew we were coming to the end because there was an expected way these songs were planned. A few slow songs. Then some fast ones. A few showstoppers. Then, one last thing to help us close out the night. The song that would linger in our head as we all walked away from the brilliant evening.
“This next song… I don’t know if it’ll end up on the album.” I saw the glint of a tear in her eye. “I guess, we haven’t really heard if the songwriter will green light letting me have it. But…”
Jareth coughed, loudly, from the front seat. Jazz slapped him on the back, as if helping him to clear his throat.
“I guess we’re having trouble getting a hold of him, or something…” When Jareth kept coughing, and Jazz kept walloping him, I started to get the fucking picture. “I… are you okay,KuyaJareth?”
Jareth put up a finger, and coughed, before he sputtered to an end. He waved for her to finish. There was a polite and uneasy laugh from the crowd, and I wanted to get up there and start slapping him across the back as well.
“I guess, if you guys wanted to get out your phones, maybe we can find another way to get word to him?” She looked out, her eyes a beautiful autumn brown in the spotlight, the red flecks of it like sparklers around her irises. “I’d… I’d appreciate it.”
Christ, my heart wanted to beat out of my chest.
A few phones did come out, just as I recognized the opening chords. Then the first few lines.
When people realized that this song was going to be something special, more phones appeared, until the screens dotted the black pit of tables off-stage like fireflies, fluttering around her.
I wanted to rush up and scream that I was right here! That I had been here all along, just waiting for her to fly back to me. I didn’t need videos. I didn’t need to be found. I was here.
“When I thought it was too late…There you were and worth the wait.”
That was a line I had written with her face in mind.
What she did with it, the arrangement was - well, it was brilliant. She added a bridge, where she played a slightly sadder, longing melody, before hitting the conclusive, and quiet final movement that didn’t end, so much as it flickered away.
The audience held their breath. Everyone was in the moment with her, and only the slight turn of her head signaled to us that she was finished, and we were allowed to finally let the pin drop. We were allowed to contaminate the perfect silence with the sin of our breathing.
The claps were slow. Just one or two, at first. Then it built. It grew like a wave on the ocean. First, slowly, then all at once until it crashed.
And I matched that crescendo with my own movements. The way I stood, the way I walked, until I was running to the stage.
She didn’t see me, until I was right at the edge, when I dared to lean into her spotlight. Her eyes widened, as she mouthed my name. I didn’t hear it because the applause was too loud. But I didn’t need to hear her. Not when she stood up and leapt off the stage into my waiting arms.
I caught her by the waist, lifting her in the air, and spinning in place as she laughed. Her hands propped her up on my shoulders. I let her down, slowly. Her front, sliding against mine, until we were chest to chest. Still, her feet didn’t touch the ground, and I had no interest in letting her stand by herself.
She wrapped her arms around my neck, her smile glowing in a way I hadn’t seen in forever.
“The song’s yours, Songbird,” I said, loudly, so that she could hear over the cheers and conversation around us. “Free and clear. You don’t have to ask.”
“That’s all?” she asked, her face almost disappointed.
“Tell me what you want, Songbird,” I told her, needing to hear it, just as I did the first time. “Say it in real words.”
“I want… you.”
I kissed her. I kissed her for all she was worth. I kissed her to the flash of cameras and lights. I heard applause and cries, and even a single growl of “get your hands off my sister!” but I didn’t care.
Everything I needed was in my arms.
