Everybody Bleeds This Way
It had not been easy, arranging for Rock Lee's temporary transfer to a Muggle school. The professors had been sympathetic, the Headmaster all-accommodating; yet there was still something immensely sad about the thought of Lee leaving the magical world for so long, after he had fought so hard to claim his place in it.
Lee belonged at Hogwarts -- of that Gai was certain, despite his current magical disability. The strides he had made during the last year and a half had been almost entirely negated by a crushing run of ill fortune, emotional conflict, and apparent betrayals which, however innocently explained, had hammered away mercilessly at Lee's vulnerable heart. His withdrawal, his confusion... it was all so inevitable, in retrospect, and yet Gai could not believe that this was the end.
The hardest part was that it wasn't something to be cured with a training run and a few encouraging words. All Gai could do was to cling to hope for the sake of them both: to hold on through this and through anything else, to the bitter end -- and that was not in sight. The length of the crisis was torturous for Gai as well. Defying accepted psychological wisdom, he refused to hold that fact as important. As long as Lee needed his support, no matter what happened, he would be there.
The quill idle in his fingers, unaware that his journal was open and set for transcription and audio, he began softly to sing words that he did not know.
"Breathe in, breathe out: tell me all of your doubts....
Everybody bleeds this way, just the same.
Breathe in, breathe out, move on and break down:
If everyone goes away, I will stay."
There were so many precious people in their lives. Staunch allies, strong friends; in a perfect world, none of them would ever lack for a shoulder to lean on in troubled times. But they were all on this mountain together, and each only human. All would falter occasionally; each would sometimes fail, for that was the way of the world. But there was a Chinese saying: 'fall down seven times; stand up eight'. It wasn't the falling that mattered. It was mustering the strength to go on.
"We push and pull
And I fall down sometimes,
And I’m not letting go:
You hold the other line.
'Cause there is a light in your eyes, in your eyes...."
Slowly, as the year had gone by -- set back on his heels by circumstance, thwarted in every effort for love and freedom -- the light had dwindled from Lee's sparkling eyes. But it could not be gone forever. That possibility was beyond the scope of Gai's imagination, even at its worst. By hook or crook, Lee would get through this and his eyes would once again be kindled with life.
"Hold on, hold tight!
If I’m out of your sight,
And everything keeps moving on, moving on...
Hold on, hold tight--
Make it through another night!
In every day there comes a song with the dawn."
Lost in the refrain, Gai was unaware of the tears streaming down his cheeks. Breathe in and breathe out. Breathe in and breathe out, hope and courage renewing themselves with every breath taken in peace. Breathe in and breathe out. Breathe in and breathe out.... time and care could heal these wounds as they had so many others. How many times had he and Lee sat under the stars and spoken about life, as those same lights, constant and unchanging, gazed tenderly down upon their fleeting lives?
"Look left, look right
To the moon and the night:
Everything under the stars is in your arms....
'Cause there is a light in your eyes, in your eyes!"
His own lamp had burned low as his voice filled the small room. Gazing into the darkness, as Orion's stars struck their flamboyant pose against the southern skies, Gai repeated the refrain and smiled to himself. Even as the stars were constant, burning for eternities beyond imagining, there was a burning spark in every soul that could never be extinguished by all the storms in the world: a spark that could falter sometimes, could need protection and care, but would someday renew itself and burn with its own strength.
[[Complete lyrics are here. Reactions? Reflections? Moar music? Comment away!
AND. Some amazing, fantastic person gifted his journal with a paid account. INCREASED ICONSPACE YAAAAYS. THANK YOU, WHOMEVER YOU MAY BE!!!!<3]]
Lee belonged at Hogwarts -- of that Gai was certain, despite his current magical disability. The strides he had made during the last year and a half had been almost entirely negated by a crushing run of ill fortune, emotional conflict, and apparent betrayals which, however innocently explained, had hammered away mercilessly at Lee's vulnerable heart. His withdrawal, his confusion... it was all so inevitable, in retrospect, and yet Gai could not believe that this was the end.
The hardest part was that it wasn't something to be cured with a training run and a few encouraging words. All Gai could do was to cling to hope for the sake of them both: to hold on through this and through anything else, to the bitter end -- and that was not in sight. The length of the crisis was torturous for Gai as well. Defying accepted psychological wisdom, he refused to hold that fact as important. As long as Lee needed his support, no matter what happened, he would be there.
The quill idle in his fingers, unaware that his journal was open and set for transcription and audio, he began softly to sing words that he did not know.
"Breathe in, breathe out: tell me all of your doubts....
Everybody bleeds this way, just the same.
Breathe in, breathe out, move on and break down:
If everyone goes away, I will stay."
There were so many precious people in their lives. Staunch allies, strong friends; in a perfect world, none of them would ever lack for a shoulder to lean on in troubled times. But they were all on this mountain together, and each only human. All would falter occasionally; each would sometimes fail, for that was the way of the world. But there was a Chinese saying: 'fall down seven times; stand up eight'. It wasn't the falling that mattered. It was mustering the strength to go on.
"We push and pull
And I fall down sometimes,
And I’m not letting go:
You hold the other line.
'Cause there is a light in your eyes, in your eyes...."
Slowly, as the year had gone by -- set back on his heels by circumstance, thwarted in every effort for love and freedom -- the light had dwindled from Lee's sparkling eyes. But it could not be gone forever. That possibility was beyond the scope of Gai's imagination, even at its worst. By hook or crook, Lee would get through this and his eyes would once again be kindled with life.
"Hold on, hold tight!
If I’m out of your sight,
And everything keeps moving on, moving on...
Hold on, hold tight--
Make it through another night!
In every day there comes a song with the dawn."
Lost in the refrain, Gai was unaware of the tears streaming down his cheeks. Breathe in and breathe out. Breathe in and breathe out, hope and courage renewing themselves with every breath taken in peace. Breathe in and breathe out. Breathe in and breathe out.... time and care could heal these wounds as they had so many others. How many times had he and Lee sat under the stars and spoken about life, as those same lights, constant and unchanging, gazed tenderly down upon their fleeting lives?
"Look left, look right
To the moon and the night:
Everything under the stars is in your arms....
'Cause there is a light in your eyes, in your eyes!"
His own lamp had burned low as his voice filled the small room. Gazing into the darkness, as Orion's stars struck their flamboyant pose against the southern skies, Gai repeated the refrain and smiled to himself. Even as the stars were constant, burning for eternities beyond imagining, there was a burning spark in every soul that could never be extinguished by all the storms in the world: a spark that could falter sometimes, could need protection and care, but would someday renew itself and burn with its own strength.
[[Complete lyrics are here. Reactions? Reflections? Moar music? Comment away!
AND. Some amazing, fantastic person gifted his journal with a paid account. INCREASED ICONSPACE YAAAAYS. THANK YOU, WHOMEVER YOU MAY BE!!!!<3]]