Sowing the Seeds Part 5- Ziggy
Title: Sowing the Seeds
Fandom: Power Rangers RPM
Summary: Seemingly every day events can change the course of a person's life. Five very different people were set on the path to become Power Rangers back when they were children, long before they ever knew their own destinies. These are their stories.
Rating: K/G/general audience
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Not mine. All that jazz.
Ziggy was beginning to regret agreeing to this. He was standing backstage at the annual Landsdown Charity Gala, it was late, and it was almost his turn. He was tired and there were a lot of people out in the audience, including the Landsdowns themselves. He really didn’t want to do this anymore. He turned to Nurse Valentine and opened his mouth to back out, but she adjusted her hat and gave him her stern look. He knew better than to go against that and snapped his mouth shut.
He tried to remember why he’d agreed. He’d hoped that by being on television, maybe somebody would see him and decide they could love him and he’d have a family, people who really cared about him. But mostly it was because Nurse Valentine said he could help them raise more money. He had ‘the face of an angel’ she said, and rich people liked scrappy little ragamuffins who looked angelic. The charity was the only fundraiser that ever worked. If it wasn’t for the charity organizations, they’d never have any money at all. And if there was one thing Ziggy knew, it was that the world revolved around money. Nothing got done without money changing hands; no problems got solved without cold, hard cash. The less money you had, the easier it was to understand. You needed money to accomplish anything in this world and Ziggy had never had anything of his own to start with. And so he had to remember there were a bunch of problems that needed to be fixed and this was the only way he could help.
Caitlyn came skipping off stage to the deafening sound of applause and Ziggy swallowed hard. Why did they always have to put him, skinny, small, unusual him, on stage right after adorable, sweet, charming, blonde haired blue eyed Caitlyn? She was younger, she was cuter, and all she had to do was smile to get people to do what she wanted. Now he had to go out there and sing a song in the hopes of raising money. Who would want to donate because of him after seeing her? Even worse, he just looked pitiful next to her. Nobody would even remember him now; forget about wanting to love him.
The announcer called for the next performer and he hesitated. Nurse Valentine cleared her throat and gave him a little push, sending him stumbling onto the stage. He felt very small, looking out at the crowd. The highest of high society was sitting at the dinner tables out there, staring at him. Waiting for him to do something that would make it worth their while to hand over large sums of money and fix his problems.
“And what’s your name, young man?” the announcer asked, shoving a microphone in his face. He took it obediently, his tiny hands wrapping around the warm stem.
“Ziggy. Ziggy Grover,” he said just as instructed. He couldn’t take his eyes off the audience. There were so many of them.
“And how old are you, Ziggy?”
“I’m eight years old.”
“You seem a bit under dressed for the occasion, aren’t you, son?” the announcer asked. Ziggy was brought out of his stupor. He looked askance at the announcer and then down at his jeans and dirty sneakers. He shrugged.
“We only had one suit in my size and Andrew got to wear it. Besides, Nurse Valentine said if we all had to be out here on camera and in front of everybody, at least somebody should be comfortable.” The audience chuckled and he smiled, at ease again.
“Catholic orphanage, is it?” the announcer laughed. Ziggy didn’t get the joke. Judging by the silence, the audience didn’t get it either. The announcer cleared his throat. “Now tell us, young man, why did you volunteer to sing for us tonight?” His voice was cheesy. Ziggy didn’t like him. He just wanted the interview to be over so he could get on with his song and be done with the whole night.
“Cause we need a new roof. When it rains nobody can sleep because we have to put all the pots and pans out under the drips and they go ping, ping, ping really loud. And when it rains really hard we have to take turns emptying it all into the bathtubs. But it’s kind of fun at night, because we get to have sandwiches for dinner since all the cooking stuff gets used to catch the rain.” That brought another laugh. He wasn’t so bad at this public entertainment stuff after all! They seemed to like him better than the announcer guy at any rate.
“Can I sing my song now?” he asked. They liked that too. Several of the women in their fancy dresses up near the front put their hands over their chests and said ‘aw’. He winked at them and they all giggled. Oh yeah, this was easy.
“Well sure! What are you going to sing for us tonight?”
“Where is Love from Oliver!” He turned back to the audience, but the announcer kept talking.
“Ah, a classic! And what made you choose that song?” Ziggy frowned at the man, but then looked back out at all the grownups at their tables. Any one of them, or any of the people watching from home, could be his new mom and dad and he wanted that more than anything else in the whole wide world, so he better make the explanation good.
“I picked it because Oliver’s an orphan and I’m an orphan and I know how it feels to just want somebody, anybody, to love you. And at the end he finds his family. So it makes me think maybe I could find a family too. Maybe, if people could love him, somebody could love me, too.” That brought several more ‘aw’s from the women in the audience and he heard a few sniffles and purses opening. The announcer finally stopped talking and walked off stage as the lights dimmed. A spotlight fixed on him and washed out any view of the audience. He took a deep breath.
Ziggy sang his little heart out. He belted out his final note, finishing with a flourish. He was met with silence. Nobody applauded. Nobody cheered. They were just… quiet. The house lights came up and he blinked against them. He stared into the audience, waiting for something, anything, and what he saw surprised him. They were crying. Tears all around, even the men! He shifted on his feet. He didn’t know what to do. Andrew and Caitlyn and even Gareth walked off to applause. What did he do wrong? He was so confused.
There was clapping from off the side of the stage, loud and echoing around the room in its solitude. Ziggy looked over, microphone still clutched in his hands, to see Nurse Valentine standing and applauding him. Her face was wet. She was crying too. He put the microphone down on the stage and ran straight into her arms. She wrapped him tight in her embrace and suddenly the rest of the room erupted into applause.
“You did good, Ziggy,” she whispered through her tears. He clutched her tighter.
“They didn’t clap for me. They didn’t like me,” he complained, his voice muffled by her chest.
“They were overcome with emotion, that’s all. Look, honey,” she said. He shook his head. He wouldn’t let go. He was afraid to see. “Ziggy, turn around and look at those numbers!” She let go and he pulled back a little. He still clung to her dress, but he turned to see what she was pointing at.
There was a display above the stage. It was tracking the amount of donations and the number had been slowly climbing over the past few hours. The numbers were jumping right now, though, soaring faster than they had all night. Phones were ringing off the hook and as they tallied all the donations, they added them to the sign. Within a matter of minutes, it had doubled from what it was when he first walked on stage.
“What’s that mean?” he asked.
“It means you made an impression, you made them love you. You made them want to help. That was all you, baby.” He took a step forward, careful to remain backstage, and watched the numbers continue to climb.
“I did that?” he asked in disbelief. Nurse Valentine was still crying. She wrapped him in a hug again and he spent the rest of the night safely on her lap, feeling very important for the first time in his whole entire life.
Ziggy was never adopted, but that night he learnt he could do anything, if he only tried hard enough with the right people. And maybe one day he could be like Oliver. One day he would find a family of sorts, a place he could belong.
Fandom: Power Rangers RPM
Summary: Seemingly every day events can change the course of a person's life. Five very different people were set on the path to become Power Rangers back when they were children, long before they ever knew their own destinies. These are their stories.
Rating: K/G/general audience
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Not mine. All that jazz.
Ziggy was beginning to regret agreeing to this. He was standing backstage at the annual Landsdown Charity Gala, it was late, and it was almost his turn. He was tired and there were a lot of people out in the audience, including the Landsdowns themselves. He really didn’t want to do this anymore. He turned to Nurse Valentine and opened his mouth to back out, but she adjusted her hat and gave him her stern look. He knew better than to go against that and snapped his mouth shut.
He tried to remember why he’d agreed. He’d hoped that by being on television, maybe somebody would see him and decide they could love him and he’d have a family, people who really cared about him. But mostly it was because Nurse Valentine said he could help them raise more money. He had ‘the face of an angel’ she said, and rich people liked scrappy little ragamuffins who looked angelic. The charity was the only fundraiser that ever worked. If it wasn’t for the charity organizations, they’d never have any money at all. And if there was one thing Ziggy knew, it was that the world revolved around money. Nothing got done without money changing hands; no problems got solved without cold, hard cash. The less money you had, the easier it was to understand. You needed money to accomplish anything in this world and Ziggy had never had anything of his own to start with. And so he had to remember there were a bunch of problems that needed to be fixed and this was the only way he could help.
Caitlyn came skipping off stage to the deafening sound of applause and Ziggy swallowed hard. Why did they always have to put him, skinny, small, unusual him, on stage right after adorable, sweet, charming, blonde haired blue eyed Caitlyn? She was younger, she was cuter, and all she had to do was smile to get people to do what she wanted. Now he had to go out there and sing a song in the hopes of raising money. Who would want to donate because of him after seeing her? Even worse, he just looked pitiful next to her. Nobody would even remember him now; forget about wanting to love him.
The announcer called for the next performer and he hesitated. Nurse Valentine cleared her throat and gave him a little push, sending him stumbling onto the stage. He felt very small, looking out at the crowd. The highest of high society was sitting at the dinner tables out there, staring at him. Waiting for him to do something that would make it worth their while to hand over large sums of money and fix his problems.
“And what’s your name, young man?” the announcer asked, shoving a microphone in his face. He took it obediently, his tiny hands wrapping around the warm stem.
“Ziggy. Ziggy Grover,” he said just as instructed. He couldn’t take his eyes off the audience. There were so many of them.
“And how old are you, Ziggy?”
“I’m eight years old.”
“You seem a bit under dressed for the occasion, aren’t you, son?” the announcer asked. Ziggy was brought out of his stupor. He looked askance at the announcer and then down at his jeans and dirty sneakers. He shrugged.
“We only had one suit in my size and Andrew got to wear it. Besides, Nurse Valentine said if we all had to be out here on camera and in front of everybody, at least somebody should be comfortable.” The audience chuckled and he smiled, at ease again.
“Catholic orphanage, is it?” the announcer laughed. Ziggy didn’t get the joke. Judging by the silence, the audience didn’t get it either. The announcer cleared his throat. “Now tell us, young man, why did you volunteer to sing for us tonight?” His voice was cheesy. Ziggy didn’t like him. He just wanted the interview to be over so he could get on with his song and be done with the whole night.
“Cause we need a new roof. When it rains nobody can sleep because we have to put all the pots and pans out under the drips and they go ping, ping, ping really loud. And when it rains really hard we have to take turns emptying it all into the bathtubs. But it’s kind of fun at night, because we get to have sandwiches for dinner since all the cooking stuff gets used to catch the rain.” That brought another laugh. He wasn’t so bad at this public entertainment stuff after all! They seemed to like him better than the announcer guy at any rate.
“Can I sing my song now?” he asked. They liked that too. Several of the women in their fancy dresses up near the front put their hands over their chests and said ‘aw’. He winked at them and they all giggled. Oh yeah, this was easy.
“Well sure! What are you going to sing for us tonight?”
“Where is Love from Oliver!” He turned back to the audience, but the announcer kept talking.
“Ah, a classic! And what made you choose that song?” Ziggy frowned at the man, but then looked back out at all the grownups at their tables. Any one of them, or any of the people watching from home, could be his new mom and dad and he wanted that more than anything else in the whole wide world, so he better make the explanation good.
“I picked it because Oliver’s an orphan and I’m an orphan and I know how it feels to just want somebody, anybody, to love you. And at the end he finds his family. So it makes me think maybe I could find a family too. Maybe, if people could love him, somebody could love me, too.” That brought several more ‘aw’s from the women in the audience and he heard a few sniffles and purses opening. The announcer finally stopped talking and walked off stage as the lights dimmed. A spotlight fixed on him and washed out any view of the audience. He took a deep breath.
Ziggy sang his little heart out. He belted out his final note, finishing with a flourish. He was met with silence. Nobody applauded. Nobody cheered. They were just… quiet. The house lights came up and he blinked against them. He stared into the audience, waiting for something, anything, and what he saw surprised him. They were crying. Tears all around, even the men! He shifted on his feet. He didn’t know what to do. Andrew and Caitlyn and even Gareth walked off to applause. What did he do wrong? He was so confused.
There was clapping from off the side of the stage, loud and echoing around the room in its solitude. Ziggy looked over, microphone still clutched in his hands, to see Nurse Valentine standing and applauding him. Her face was wet. She was crying too. He put the microphone down on the stage and ran straight into her arms. She wrapped him tight in her embrace and suddenly the rest of the room erupted into applause.
“You did good, Ziggy,” she whispered through her tears. He clutched her tighter.
“They didn’t clap for me. They didn’t like me,” he complained, his voice muffled by her chest.
“They were overcome with emotion, that’s all. Look, honey,” she said. He shook his head. He wouldn’t let go. He was afraid to see. “Ziggy, turn around and look at those numbers!” She let go and he pulled back a little. He still clung to her dress, but he turned to see what she was pointing at.
There was a display above the stage. It was tracking the amount of donations and the number had been slowly climbing over the past few hours. The numbers were jumping right now, though, soaring faster than they had all night. Phones were ringing off the hook and as they tallied all the donations, they added them to the sign. Within a matter of minutes, it had doubled from what it was when he first walked on stage.
“What’s that mean?” he asked.
“It means you made an impression, you made them love you. You made them want to help. That was all you, baby.” He took a step forward, careful to remain backstage, and watched the numbers continue to climb.
“I did that?” he asked in disbelief. Nurse Valentine was still crying. She wrapped him in a hug again and he spent the rest of the night safely on her lap, feeling very important for the first time in his whole entire life.
Ziggy was never adopted, but that night he learnt he could do anything, if he only tried hard enough with the right people. And maybe one day he could be like Oliver. One day he would find a family of sorts, a place he could belong.