Backstage

AN: Another Alternate universe Fiction, mostly uninspired romance and fluff. I was sick!

Celena took a deep breath to calm her nerves. This wasn't the first time she was doing this but she always need to breathe before it started. She needed more fresh air than this.

She rose as gracefully as she could from the over-soft sofa she had sunken into and opened the door out of her dressing room. She moved towards the back of the building she was in and out of the back door. Faded letters read 'Stage entrance. Authorised personnel only.' Admittedly, this wasn't the freshest air she could breathe but it was better than the smoke-and-cologne saturated air of the Dragon's Lair backstage.

Bracing her back on the wall, she looked up and down the alleyway the door opened out onto. One way was a dead end and the other led to the busy, fast-moving night scene of Gaea City. It was a bit metaphorical to her. She could either: take this opportunity, and become the next-biggest thing since sliced bread, or it could all dissolve and leave her at a dead end.

Tonight was not her night. She wasn't in the mood to dive into the symbolic. She just wanted to sing. A figure appeared at the end of the alley. Tall, with long blonde hair and wide shoulders, she'd know her brother anywhere. The ends of his blue trench coat flew outwards behind him.

"Allen," she said by way of greeting. He wasn't too hot on the idea of her being where she was, doing what she was doing, with the people she was doing it with. "What brings you here?" she smiled sweetly up at him. Celena did love him but he could be such an egotistical, narrow-minded prick sometimes.

"I would argue with you again, Celena, but I really don't have the energy or the inclination," he answered. He dropped a light kiss on her smooth cheek and stood back.

"I only came to see you perform. I've been…convinced that I should give up trying to change your mind and start supporting you. I'm here for the show. With a few of our friends."

Celena had already spotted the 'few friends' Allen had been talking about. It was hard not to miss a group of five obviously out of place people trying to look casual while eavesdropping. Well, four. Eries didn't count since she was simply standing there.

"Hi guys!" called Celena. The four froze and then turned, grinning broadly. Friends…

Dilandau wasn't happy. This wasn't a good thing at all. He peered out from behind the curtain once again, his gaze trained on the tall blonde and the people at that table. "Shit."

Miguel, in passing, heard this little expletive and stopped. He had been going to grab a clean shirt but that could wait. His bandleader's current state was a bit more interesting. Of course, he had to enquire.

"It's that bloody Schezar. He's back again," Dilandau explained. "If he's said anything to her, I'm going to beat him to a pulp with his own hair." Miguel smirked at this threat; it was quite a humorous thought.

"Brace up. She gets over it," Miguel offered as a form of comfort. "I think you're more upset every time you see him than she is. Celena's a strong girl. It takes more than Blondie there to send her under."

Dilandau nodded and Miguel returned to his quest for a shirt. He peered out one final time, his brow slightly drawn. Schezar was not going to fuck this up. They'd come too far. The record label had just come through and this was one of their longest lasting gigs yet. They couldn't waste this one.

Where the hell was Celena anyway?

Moving farther into the backstage atmosphere, he wandered from door to another until he came to the room she had taken as her own. He knocked once, twice, thrice. No answer. He tried the door and found it open. Apparently, she wasn't inside either. This was bad. Or maybe it was good. If she wasn't curled up in the corner of her dressing room crying, she might simply have been elsewhere and Schezar might never have found her in the first place.

He closed the door behind him and stopped Chesta. Before he could ask, he'd gotten the answer. "Alley. Fresh air or something."

"Thanks." Now he had a purpose. He began walking swiftly towards the backdoor. He opened it without any real caution and it slammed into someone.

"FUCK! Dilandau. You could at least watch what you're doing. What the hell is up with you? Jesus!" Well, he'd found her at least. "My goddamned nose. You probably friggin' fractured it." She sniffed.

"Come on. Let's go fix you up," he said, jerking his head towards the inside. "You can't sing without a nose."

"Ha-ha."

"No damage. It probably just hurts a bit. It'll be fine in a second," Chesta, ever the peacemaker, had managed to once again avert a major disaster. "Now, just sit still for a while. Dilandau, next time you intend to go banging doors around, warn us first, eh?"

He sniggered and left the room as Dilandau scowled at him. Celena wasn't really mad with Dilandau. She never had been. For as long as she could remember he'd been there for her and she'd never really been able to get really angry with him.

"Your brother's here, you know," he said, breaking the silence between them.

"And?" she replied.

"Just thought you should know. Don't want you suffering from shock before we start." He smirked.

"I've already spoken to him," she confessed. "And the other five he brought with him. I owe Millerna a very large gift. She managed to convince him to give it the hell up."

"You're kidding."

"No. She actually made him stop," she said. "He's being supportive." Dilandau snorted. Allen Schezar being supportive of his little sister's singing dreams? He'd believe that when he saw it.

"Don't. It's true."

"Yeah. And all pigs are green with orange hearts on their snouts," he retorted.

"Fuck you."

"Whenever you're ready." He grinned at her outraged look.

"Jesus. And I thought I couldn't be mad at you."

"You can't," he challenged, standing up.

"Can too," she retorted.

"Cannot."

"Can too!"

"Cannot."

"Too."

"Not," he mocked.

"Guys, we're on in ten," said Gatti, sticking his head in the doorway. "Celena, ignore him." he managed to shut the door as a cushion from Dilandau slammed into it. Celena, on the other hand, had already turned her attention to the mirror. She needed to change her top. Rummaging through her makeshift closet, she pulled out a black, long-sleeved, see-through affair with silver embroidery. "Out."

Dilandau turned on his heel and strode towards the door. As he was leaving, his eyes rose and he was greeted by the reflection of a perfect, flat stomach and a hint of a black silk brassiere. Suddenly, although he never really had a problem with admitting that Celena was attractive, he felt a wrench in his stomach as he faced the concept of being attracted to Celena. He quickly walked out, turned two corners and slammed his back into the wall. He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head almost violently. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again only to find himself confronted by Folken.

"What?" he snapped. Folken wasn't in the least bit put out.

"I should be asking you that. What's wrong with you? You look like you just fell in love."

"What are you? Fucking psychic?" Dilandau blurted. Having realised what he'd just done, he said the only thing that made sense when it came mind, "Oh shit."

"You said it," Folken agreed. "So, who is it?"

"Don't you know your girlfriend's out there?" Dilandau asked, "Go bother her instead."

"She isn't half as fun as you are. Now who the hell is it?" Folken asked. He'd been managing the band for, well, ever. He'd known Dilandau and Celena longer than anyone else and had been the one who set them up as a band.

"It's none of your business, Folken. Go away."

"Listen, You've got a show to do and you can't be distracted throughout so tell me, and shut up about it. It can't be that terrible. I mean, you're straight, right?" this earned him one of those 'you're-not-for-real' looks, "What's the worst it could be? You can't be in love with, say, Cele – oh. Shit."

Three minutes. Three minutes and she'd be on stage. What was the first song they had to sing? Bring Me To Life. At least Dilandau would be doing some of the singing with her. Celena smiled to herself as she remembered when she'd first discovered Dilandau's singing ability. In the kitchen for God's sake! Singing to the food.

She closed her eyes and there he was, smiling one of those incredibly rare smiles he saved for only a few people. By now she'd gotten used to seeing his face all the time. It was an image imprinted on the back of her eyelids forever. Celena could run every single expression Dilandau ever wore in her mind, never missing a detail. She'd often been teased about this, knowing Dilandau as well as she did, but he was, after all, her best friend. She looked over at the Dragon Slayers; her band. Well, their band since it was a thing of Dilandau's and her own creation.

A little off to the left, she caught a glimpse of Miguel and Refina kissing, passionately or lovingly, one couldn't tell. It seemed to be both. They were each other's everything. And that was when she felt it: a little tug at her heartstrings. Then there was cold. She felt cold and empty inside. She was missing something that she had not thus far valued.

"Oi, snap out of it, Schezar. Daydream on your own time," Dilandau was standing in front of her, trying his best not to laugh. She stuck her tongue out at him. It was the only thing she could do to stop herself from going completely red. He gave her a small, one-sided half-smile.

"Ok, guys, you know the drill," the gathered Dragon Slayers all nodded. "And this time, no slips ups." He looked pointedly at Dalet who had smashed his drumsticks a few days ago. "Are we all set?" Again, another collective nod. "Then, here we go."

The Slayers began their exodus towards the stage and, in the process, shoved Celena and Dilandau into a corner. Celena found herself pressed into the wall and Dilandau pressing into her. Her breath hitched for just a moment. Someone pushed him and he shot a hand out towards the wall, holding himself off of her. He looked down at her (he was almost a whole head taller than she was) and smiled a little lopsidedly as more people passed them. She wasn't looking directly into his eyes though.

"Come on, bring me to life," he said. This startled her into looking directly up at him and into his indescribable ruby eyes. Dilandau caught his breath at that moment. He realised what he had inadvertently said, that one line was pretty much the summary of the entire song. That song, their biggest hit yet, had been joint effort by the two. What they had been thinking when they wrote it, he did not know but he suddenly became aware of exactly how much they had said. He looked down at her and thought that she was perfect, in every sense of the word. He almost wondered why he wasn't in love with her before. Then, he realised he had been. He only hadn't known.

Celena, for her part, was having an epiphany. She knew now why she always saw Dilandau's face when she closed her eyes, why she thought of him more and more each day. She loved him. Slowly and quietly, he had crept into her heart and taken it as his own. And she had no defence against him at all.

Dilandau wasn't sure if he was reading her eyes quite right but if he was seeing what he thought he was seeing… Suddenly, Celena closed her eyes, as though aware he could read them and not wanting him to. He closed his eyes and shook his head ever so slightly. He was about to turn away when one last, late person ran past them, knocking Dilandau slightly off-balance. He grabbed for something to help him maintain his balance and his hand landed on Celena who staggered slightly under his weight and fell backwards onto the wall. Dilandau fell on top of her.

Now finding their faces only a few millimetres apart, Dilandau looked up into her eyes, almost requesting permission before closing the distance between them. This time it was Celena whose knees gave out and Dilandau who supported her as he deepened their kiss. Her kiss was everything and nothing like he had expected, opening sweetly beneath his and blowing his mind. One of his arms wrapped around her waist, the other cupped her cheek. She unconsciously wound her right leg tightly around his hips and his kiss became hungrier, more delighting. How long they kissed neither of them knew and they both doubted that they would've stopped if it hadn't been for Gatti, who walked in as Dilandau began kissing his way down her neck. He stuttered an apology and told them that they needed to get on stage instantly. Then he walked, somewhat dazedly, away, leaving them to themselves.

"Umm…"Celena was at a loss for words. She needed to re-adjust her shirt and she needed to get he skin to stop tingling. Dilandau needed to comb his hair.

"Yeah," he was just as inarticulate. "Ok." Then he turned and walked out. She took a deep breath and regretted it. Dilandau's scent lingered in the air. Straightening her shirt, she left. She checked herself at the mirror position for a last minute check. She didn't look terrible. She ran her hands through her hair to get back in place. Although her lipstick was lessened, it was still there. Pulling it out of her pocket, she reapplied it swiftly and walked onto stage. The image of Dilandau hastily wiping her brightly coloured lipstick off his face had her smiling all the way out.

Dilandau wasn't there yet. The band members looked at her just a little oddly. She shot a look at Gatti who blushed and ducked his head to his guitar. Refina, who had been adjusting her microphone, pulled her aside for a minute.

"Dilandau?" she asked, raising one eyebrow.

"So?"

"I knew it!" she half shouted, half whispered. "Tell me everything after." Celena blushed from her neck to her hairline when she turned back around and the entire band gave her two thumbs-up. Then Dilandau decided to reappear and everything went quiet. They could hear the MC's voice boom out from the speakers, announcing them as 'the usual favourites'. Dilandau didn't bother to look at anyone. He simply moved to his microphone, swung his guitar over his head and busied himself with a bit of last minute tuning. He only looked up and across at Celena when she came to stand in front of her mic.

Now he wondered why they had arranged the stage in such a way. The two of them (him and Celena) stood at angles, not facing each other completely but not directly inline with each other sideways. They had once thought this would be a good way to give cues. He wasn't so sure anymore. It just seemed like a way to embarrass oneself. His lips still tingled and it wasn't from the rubbing to get rid of her lipstick.

The stagehand gave them their cue and they all took their places, heads down. The lights went off and Chesta struck up a soft piano melody.