It Is You I Have Loved

Chapter 39

I've heard there was a secret chord,

That David played, and it pleased the Lord.
But you don't really care for music, do you?

And so, the story seemed to have ended and not happily. Alastor, Charlie, Angel, and Vaggie went their seperate ways. Alastor back to his cleared out forest, Charlie in the Fourth Kingdom to marry Vox, and Angel and Vaggie to wander the land alone.

It goes like this,
The fourth, the fifth.
The minor fall, the major lift,
The baffled king composing Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

When Alastor finally made it back to his property, it was completely deserted. All the mythical creatures who had previously taken refudge here were long gone now. The only traces of them that remained were some bits of debris but he once he cleaned it away, everything would be just as it was before. Just the way he liked it. Yet a smile did not return to his face.

As he bent over to pick up some trash, he accidentally stepped on to a mirror. He looked down at his reflection in the cracked surface, it filled him with such shame and disgust. It made him think of what Charlie said about him last night. Or rather what he believed she had said about him last night. He was still mad at her yet at the same time, he missed her already. He missed her smile, her laughter, her lovely singing, her graceful dancing, the way she listened to his stories with fascination and the way she praised his cooking. He had grown to love her with his entire being and she had hurt him behind his back. Or so he thought.

"Was I really too ugly for you to love, Charlie?" He thought.

He had not been this heartbroken since he lost his mother. He wondered what she would have said to him if she was here now. Would she have agreed with his decision? Would she say that he had every right to be angry with them? Or would she have reprimanded him for the way he treated Charlie and Angel? Would she have told him to go back and apologize? Would she have wanted him to fix things with Angel? Would she have wanted him to try to love Charlie and have a life with her, even if she found him hideous?

Maybe I've been here before.
I know this room, I've walked this floor,
I used to live alone before I knew you.

In the castle, Charlie and Vox were prepared for the wedding. Vox bustled about, brimming with good cheer, polishing his modern themed crow, seeing to all the details. But Charlie was very, very sad. She had made her decision, but it did not make her happy.

For starters the wedding wasn't at all what she had dreamed about. Everything was so modern, techno, and elaborate. The food was so boring and lacked flavor, including the cake. The flowers weren't real and she didn't know anyone attending the ceremony. And they weren't even getting married in a church or at an alter. It was going to be a courthouse wedding.  She tired to voice her opinions on the preparations but her fiance just dismissed them.

"Don't worry your pretty head about a thing." He had told her. "I'll handle all the decision making from now on."

The only saving grace was her wedding attire and appearance. She was dressed in elegant, long-sleeved, white gown with flower painted on to the fabric, featuring a basque waist and a full skirt made of organza, satin, and tulle. Her blonde hair was delicately curled and pinned to where it resembled a pretty bob while a circlet of glass magnolia flowers was placed upon her head with the wedding veil attached. She looked like the perfect storybook princess.

I've seen your flag on the marble arch.
Love is not a victory march,
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Looking at her reflection in the three-fold mirror, she thought to herself.

"This is by the book. A picture perfect bride. This is what I dreamed. Finally it's real."

But much like Alastor, she couldn't bring herself to smile. It was her wedding day. It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life and she couldn't have been more sad. Probably because wedding dress aside, everything else was wrong. Wrong decor, wrong ceremony, wrong catering, and most important, wrong groom.

All I ever learned from love,
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.

As for Angel, he was out in the world on his own. Abandoned by the first person who never tried to use him. By the first person who ever became his friend. Alastor's words were still wringing fresh in his ears and it hurt. It hurt worse than anything the slave owners had ever done to him.

He stopped to rest by a creek and that's where he found Vaggie sobbing. Sobbing over the brutal words spoken to her by Charlie. She still couldn't believe that Charlie would actually say something so cruel. She didn't mean to give the princess false hope, she only wanted her to be happy.

That's what she and Angel were both trying to do all along. They were trying to make Charlie and Alastor happy, and they were unjustily punished for it.

"Vaggie?" Angel called to her gently. "Are you okay?"

"No." She sniffed. "I'm not."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" He asked. "What happend back at the mill?"

"I...I tried to talk to Charlie about her choice. I was only suggesting that maybe she take some time to think about her answer and she...She...She got angry and...And...Oh Angel! She spoke so horribly to me! She called me a monster! How could she say that to me?! I thought she was my friend!"

"Join the club." Angel thought bitterly.

Poor Vaggie started crying even harder. Angel slowly pulled her into a hug and served as her shoulder cry on.

"Hey it'll be alright. There, there, you just let it all out sweet wings." He said in comforting tone. "Let it all out and when you're feeling better, tell me the whole story."

It's not a cry you can hear at night.
It's not somebody who's seen the light.
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah.

Oh the cruel irony of it all. Alastor and Charlie had gotten everything they said that they always wanted and they were both miserable. Deep within them, there lay a strong desire. A desire for them to just get up and run to each other. He desired to take her into his arms, she desired to kiss him, and they both desired to shout out loud the three little words burning in their hearts. I love you. Alas that desire was buried underneath stubborn denial and hurt feelings.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

After so many years of being alone, they had finally found someone who could make them happy always. Someone they could spend their life with. They had found someone to love them. Even better, they had found someone to love and they had found friends. But due to a misunderstanding, they had just thrown away their one shot at a real happily ever after. Truly this would make for a very tragic fairy tale. However all hope was not lost. For when love is real, it always finds away.

And having two persisted friends doesn't hurt your chances either.