fanfic_name = Lisa

chapter = Chapter 4

author = Clo

Rating = AP15

Type = Angst

fanfic = Chapter Four – “Farewell London”

“Live 8 was, and remains a brilliant moment but what is more important is the brilliant movement of which it was a part. This gives the poorest of the poor real political muscle for the first time.

It is this movement of church people and trade unionists, soccer moms and student activists, that will carry the spirit of Live 8 on. It is this movement, not rock stars, that will make it untenable in the future to break promises to the most vulnerable people on this planet.

That was always why we put on the concerts.”

Bono - U2

The last time I was in my beloved England was on March 2007, two years after graduating from the military academy, and just graduated with honors from the Officers Center. I remember perfectly that summer, I was happy of finally finishing all that studies, besides the hostilities among both parties were worst than ever, and I knew that the Macross Project was vital to reach peace. London was an oasis of peace, away from enemy fire, but there were news about Middle and Far East, South America was far from finding a solution.

I was seated in one of the many coffees in the Chelsea Sector reading the London Times and couldn’t stop thinking about what was really happing outside the training bubble, Arab Peninsula basically was shattered by war, many of its monuments, despite EUG efforts, were destroyed, Petra was eaten once more by the desert and this time for good, and the Taj Mahal, which I was going to visit with my parents when I get older, had to be cover during the nights with a dark cover to avoid attacks, and nevertheless I never heard a pick of this in the base.

When you join the army, you know there are four different paths to follow, to be a brain and enter the scientific division, have influences or command abilities and attend to the Officers Center, show special flight talent and become a test pilot, and at last and most fear of all… war. Many of my generation mates went to the war, many of them didn’t return home, yet I’d been protected by the Admiral and trained to be an officer, against my will.

At the end I was going to end up in the Macross Project, maybe not as a pilot but a bridge officer that was what really matters. Besides I heard rumors about that the military fraction of the project was under Captain Henry Gloval command, so the old dream I once shared with Vanessa was coming true, at least for one of us, I was going to be under this orders.

My father requested my assignment to the Great Canyon Project in Alaska, I said no. I was the second time I argued with my father, I asked him to stop messing with my life or my military career, I told him that everything happening with it had to be my own credits, not due to my last name. In that moment my father became immediately in Admiral Hayes, and he remained being that until it was too late for us.

There were not happy news anywhere, even the part of Europe not in war, the one that never formed part of the socialist block, Japan and China in Asia, United States and Mexico in North America, and the distant Australia and New Zealand, wanted to show that live was not that bad, there were still new music and movies’ premiers. Robbie Williams continued singing and I remembered that in the boarding school most of my classmates wished to marry him, I was a U2 fan, they continued being as popular as always, specially Bono who continued fighting for Human Rights and Fare Trade and against AIDS (we still had those plus war of course). They had just released a new album, that in fact I was hearing in the coffee, so I decided to go a popular Record Store nearby when I was and bought, along with some hit collections and other stuff.

Ciudad Macross sounded so distant; I believed it wouldn’t be more than a military city, so I wasn’t sure that everything I could need would be at the reach of the hand. I really wanted to have with me music and good books.

I walked in London Streets, not in a million years could imagine that it was indeed the last time I would, I knew I would enjoy even more that two weeks staying in my beloved city. I passed Harold’s doors and something made me walked in, I remembered those days when Vanessa wanted to distract me from my “mourning” caused by Karl’s dead and we went to Harold’s, spending hours trying clothes and never buying anything.

I walked in the entire store and something inside me told me to take the opportunity, I bought several outfits, thinking that I might never have to chance to wear them, but I knew that it could be a while to have that opportunity again, I also bought a little Viutton wallet for Vanessa, I was certain that she would love it, and being in the same hemisphere it would be so much easier to see each other.

I left Harrold’s, satisfied with my shopping, and finally reached my objective a famous record store in Piccadilly. I walked in and all that reminded me those afternoons I expended with Karl, looking for hidden treasures. He was a music lover and in some how we brought it into my dark and lonely “Poor Rich English Girl, who went to the best schools but grew up alone” world, he basically change its beat.

We used to listen all the new arrivals, it didn’t matter from which part of the world it came, we listened from classic and incidental music until progressive punk. I went with him to my first rock concert, a U2 concert at Wimbledon Stadium and in that instant I loved their music and teased Karl about me leaving him for The Edge.

Actually I attended to the “Live 8” concert at the Hyde Park in London in July 6, 2005, because I knew that Karl would love to go, so I did it for him and to support a caused I agreed with. I felt so good being there singing along with so many great bands I learned to love thanks to Karl… I remembered that all that I was thinking that being part of something so big, I was only in one of five concerts worldwide (Japan, USA, former USSR, France and Germany) but I was there asking for peace and faire trade. Sometimes I can close my eyes and see those great artists singing, raising their voices to make a better world. Annie Lennox, Coldplay, Elton John, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, Sting and of course U2; Beautiful Day continue being up today one of my favorite songs.

That store in Piccadilly was in fact the only record store in all London, where you can be certain to find music in the language you want, all still had acetate albums, not only CD’S. It was Karl’s temple and my church, where I could walk and every alley was full of memories, even after five years of his dead I missed him so much.

I expended the rest of the afternoon, walking in the alleys, I easily bought 30 CD’s, I didn’t mind how many MP3 had in my IPod, and several DVD’s; if I caught Karl’s music taste, he caught my fascination for films. Everything we could went to the movies and then discussed them over a cup of coffee; I liked all kind of films, especially old ones, my favorite movies remain until now Casablanca, The Piano and the English Patient.

I get in line to pay my shops, listening to the background music, it was a song in Spanish that talked about coincidences in live, as I found about a few years later. I was second in line when I saw next to the cashier a few pocket editions of different books and authors, a different color for each one, but the one at sight was a yellow one with silver letters “Shall I compare thee to a Summer day – William Shakespeare Sonnets”, and decided to buy it as well as the Trova Recompilation Record that included that Song by Luis Eduardo Aute “Coincidir”.

I arrived home with a feeling closed to happiness, even in my happiest moments with Vanessa, going for shopping, visiting museums, having a drink in the most in fashion pub, going to the ballet or the opera, I always had Karl in my mid, I always had that feeling that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to do that with him anymore. I said hello to Jane, the housekeeper, and went to my room to finish packing, specially my newest acquisitions, I was leaving at dawn next day and didn’t want to left something behind.

I revised my backpack for the last time, I had my IPod, a hard copy edition of “The Unbearable Lightness of the Being” my Millan Kundera and the small book I had just bought, I take my luggage downstairs to leave at hand, it was 11 pm more or least, so I decided to had some cereal before I went to bed. I was on my way to the kitchen when I passed by the Living Room and I couldn’t avoid the desire to play my mother’s piano one more time, I seated and started to play some of The Piano pieces, with just one thought in my mid… “maybe I won’t see this piano again”, in time I found out I was not mistake about that.

Next day my cab arrived very early and Jane’s husband helped me with my luggage and I said good bye to them, I hugged them, at the end they were more my parents than my real ones, and wished me a safe trip and a prompt return home. While I was going through London’s empty streets toward the airport, I was thinking about the adventure ahead me, the biggest one of my life. When we passed by the Houses of Parliament, I asked the driver to stop for a few minutes in my mum’s park and I just watched Big Ben’s through morning London’s fog, very low I started to sing “God Save the Queen” as saying good bye to my home land and returned to the taxi.

When I got into the military plane, there were a few officials in the flight. Some of them with their families, they were very lucky to take their loved ones along with them, all of us knew that Macross City was a life time assignment, even we were not pretty sure what to wait. We took off and I looked how I was leaving my country behind, I said good bye once more to my life, to London, to the place that all my memories of Karl and my mothers were.

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes

email = del_valle03ATyahoo.com