Subject: All of the Photographs (1/1) Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 05:10:40 -0700 From: April French To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU All of the Photographs--a Forever Knight songfic By April French Author's Note: Just something I thought of while driving to work one day. The song is "Whatsername," by Green Day. I own nothing. Permission to archive is given to FKFIC2 and the FTP site, as usual. All others, please ask first. I'm sure I'll say yes. PS: I'm baaaaaaaaaack!!!! ~~~ All of the Photographs (1/1) Tokyo: 2259 AD Nick's head snapped up, and his eyes followed the woman as she disappeared into the throngs of the party. For a moment, he thought it might have been her. Thought I ran into you down on the street Then it turned out to only be a dream It wasn't. Her face was completely different. Beautiful--striking, even--but nothing like the face he remembered from nearly three hundred years ago. I made a point to burn all of the photographs He had burned all of the mementoes he had collected of her--all the photographs, all the mundane and therefore precious correspondence, all the small gifts she had given him. Not even the silver pillbox she had given him as a Valentine's Day gift had escaped being consigned to the fire. She went away and then I took a different path They had fought--he was backsliding--she was tired--and then one night he had gone to the Coroner's Office to find her gone, transferred to another city. The arrangements had been secret; even her co-workers had not know. The note she had left for Nick, asking--pleading--that he not go looking for her--had been the first thing Nick burned. I remember the face but I can't recall the name Now I wonder how whatsername has been LaCroix was right. It had all been for the best. But Nick had never needed a photograph to remember her face. It was seared into his brain, laughing, teasing and tormenting him through the long, lonely years of wandering, assuming one identity after another and discarding them like flowers as soon as they wilted. Like lovers, as soon as he grew tired of them. No. That was not true. True of other vampires, true of Janette, who had forgiven him long ago, and true of LaCroix, who always forgave him, but never true of himself, of Nicholas de Brabant, who could be forgiven by everyone save his own battered self. He had loved every woman he had ever set eyes upon--it was the nature of his still-simple heart to fall in love at first sight with every woman he met. He never tired of them. They tired of him, or they died, or the life he had settled into would suddenly heave up and expose him to the world, and away Nick would run, without nothing to leave for his lover but the ghost of a kiss and a whispered "Goodbye." Not her, though. She had left first. Seems that she disappeared without a trace He had stayed in Toronto for a few months more, then sent a letter to his captain, saying he was going to Chicago to visit relatives. And then, as was the way of his people, he had quietly disappeared. The search for him had gone on for years--he remembered being deeply touched by the loyalty of his colleagues; he even sent them money, courtesy of the DeBrabant Foundation, in memory of the service Det. Nick Knight had once rendered them in recovering their missing assets. Not once during the entire search did she surface. According to his sources, even the Toronto P.D. had attempted to track her down and failed. At the time, even through his hurt, he remembered feeling some pride at her accomplishment, at disappearing as cleanly and thoroughly as he himself had done. Later, though, Nick had discovered that she had been given some help with her vanishing act... He felt the cold, steady presence of his master at his back, and stiffened in a flash of resentment. Did she ever marry old what's his face? At some point, a friend had slipped him the news that she was married. Nick didn't remember her husband's name. Even with a vampire's perfect recall, there were some things he could forget, if he tried hard enough. I made a point to burn all of the photographs Except her face. She went away and then I took a different path The sound of her voice, the scent of her hair I remember the face but I can't recall the name The taste of her kiss. Now I wonder how whatsername has been She was tangled to deeply into the recesses of his nerves to forget any of that easily. Remember, whatever It seems like forever ago Remember, whatever It seems like forever ago Nick sighed. He was over a thousand years old now, and had long ago given up such juvenile dreams of mortal love. The regrets are useless In my mind She's in my head I must confess He head learned a great many tricks in the past two-and-a-half centuries, not just how to make people forget, but how to manipulate memories and emotions, make mortals think and feel things they never would have experienced without his interference. LaCroix continually complimented him on his progress. But Nick wasn't satisfied. The new powers, despite their potency, simply would not work on himself. Some things he could forget, if he tried hard enough. But some things... could not be forgotten. The regrets are useless In my mind She's in my head From so long ago "Something, Nicholas?" asked LaCroix mildly, breaking into Nick's thoughts. "No... no, nothing." The woman had long ago disappeared. "I thought I saw someone I recognized. That's all." Janette tucked her hand under Nick's arm, a familiar and therefore comfortable, if not entirely welcome gesture. "Who did you think it was, cheri?" And in the darkest night If my memory serves me right I'll never turn back time Forgetting you, but not the time "Just a woman. From long ago. I've forgotten her name." ~Finis--June 8th, 2005~ April French daomir_darkfell@yahoo.com ~Knightwalker: Forever Knight Fan Fiction -- http://www.geocities.com/knightwalker1228/index.html ~The Corvina: Original Fiction, Poetry and Fan Fiction -- http://www.geocities.com/runeshard/index.html "I move the stars for no one." -- LaCroix (via David Bowie) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com