FicWad

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NESSUN DORMA

"Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life." ~Ludwig van Beethoven


"Music is what feelings sound like." ~Author Unknown


"There's music in the sighing of a reed;
There's music in the gushing of a rill;
There's music in all things, if men had ears:
Their earth is but an echo of the spheres." ~Lord Byron

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was the last one in the library. I felt totally lonely, but I needed to study desperately. It was times like this that made me wonder why I had chosen this class. Why did I want to know more about music? It was an elective class and I was failing it. I couldn't fail this class. I'd never had bad grades.

I returned my eyes to the text in front of me. I was supposed to express what this aria transmitted to me. I listened to it and the music was beautiful. I wasn't supposed to seek the background of the song or translate it. I was supposed to immerse myself into the beauty of the music.

I'll admit that the music made me tremble and every time I heard it tears would form in my eyes. But I was still struggling. I didn't know how to write down what the song made me feel. I was worried because... sometimes I felt that my heart was like the north Pole: cold, harsh and unforgiving. Few things stirred my heart and I was extremely frustrated with my non-existence ability to write down what I felt.

I looked at the clock perched on the wall. The menacing tick-tock continued its never-ending dance. Soon the library would be closed and I still didn't have a single word on my paper. My desperation was rising with every damn tick-tock. It was like a thick fog surrounding me and blinding all my senses.

"Please help me! Help me!" I sighed, a desperate plea to no one in particular. I said it to try to appeal to the muses to help me. However, appealing to any natural or supernatural force to appear and help me didn't work. Why was so difficult for me to do this? Why did I felt like I was drowning on dry land?

"Miss, we close soon. I suggest you begin clearing the desk." His voice startled me. I had been so caught up in my misery that I hadn't notice him approaching me. I looked at him. His features were creased with concern. I could easily guess that my face was a mess.

He close the gap separating us with a few steps. He stood there in silence just waiting. I felt a tear slide down my face. The wet trail of the tear was burning my cheek. I was immediately embarrassed by my reaction.

"Do you need help?" I nodded a slow yes. I couldn't say anything. I was trying to control my frustration.

"Okay. Then tell me, what is it you're trying to do?" I moved my assignment towards him. He sat down regally in front of me and read everything. He gestured at me, asking me to explain my dilemma.

"I don't know how to write it. I don't know how to express what I feel about that aria in words. I think I'm an ice cube when it comes to relating to feelings and emotions."

He was staring at me, brooding a little. "I don't think what you said is possible. No one is heartless and emotionless."

"Easy to say."

"No, I'm sure. Everyone feels. You just have to find a way to translate it into words."

"Please don't get me wrong. I want to do it. I just don't think I can do it."

He stood up and paced a little. I looked at him carefully. He was young. He had to be another student like me, one of those that worked here at the library. He was probably a bookworm, a guy that loved to read and study. He was good-looking; his green eyes were captivating. His brownish hair was just a bit curly and once you looked at it you wanted to touch and caress it. He couldn't be a bookworm. He was too handsome.

He turned around and snapped me out of my wondering. "Which aria did you choose?"

"Nessun Dorma"

"Do you know Italian?"

"No"

"Do you know the meaning of the lyrics?"

"No, remember I'm not supposed to look up any background on it."

"Well, in desperate times we need desperate measures, and sometimes that means breaking a couple of rules."

"What?" I said, a bit startled. What was he trying to say? That I should cheat?

"Come with me."

"Where?"

"Come with me." He repeated, extending his hand towards me. I didn't know him. I didn't know his name and it was the first time that I had met him, but for some illogical reason I trusted him. I took his hand.

"Leave everything. We will return soon and besides you're the last one here."

I followed him silently. It was true, we were alone in this huge library. Few lights remained on, waiting for him to turn them off. He directed me towards the music room. He searched something, exclaiming in triumph when he found it. I couldn't figure out what it was; he didn't let me see. The lights were off, but the room was this strange mixture of shadows and lights. It looked almost mystical, or even romantic. I shrugged a little. I wasn't a romantic person and I definitely wasn't the sort of person that sought fantasies everywhere.

"It's ready. Now, I want you to close your eyes and listen to the music and my voice." Reluctantly I did what he asked from me. I closed my eyes and braced myself for what was coming.

The first notes began to fill the room. The void that I felt earlier disappeared with the first notes. The music filled everything. I lost myself to the enchanting music. The tenor began to sing. I stood there hearing and living the aria. Like other times I had listened to it, tears formed in my eyes. I lived the music. I lived the song. I cherished the voice. Oh! Why did I want to understand what the tenor was singing? Why were the lyrics in a foreign language entrapping me? Why did my heart want desperately to sing with him?

The aria finished with the astounding "Vincerò! Vincerò!" My body trembled a little with the last notes. A sigh escaped my lips. I was missing the magic from that aria already.

"Don't open your eyes... not yet." I nodded and stood there waiting. I heard the music again, but this time the tenor was gone. Suddenly the librarian's hands were on me, pulling me into a dance hold. He began to move slowly; we were dancing to the enchanting music. Seductively he began to whisper the lyrics. He didn't sing but nonetheless he said them.

"Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma! Tu pure, o Principessa, nella tua fredda stanza guardi le stelle che tremano d'amore e di speranza..." His voice was hypnotic and the Italian words ensnared me again. We continued swaying slowly.

"Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me, il nome mio nessun saprà! No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dirò, quando la luce splenderà! Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio che ti fa mia."

I couldn't explain what he was doing to me. I leant my head on his shoulder and he strengthened our embrace, pulling my body closer. His lips were touching my ear and his seduction continued relentlessly.

"And now this part is the choir singing. Can you hear them?" Nobody was singing, but I could actually hear their voices. I waited for him to continue.

"They are singing: Il nome suo nessun saprà...E noi dovrem, ahimè, morir, morir!" After that he continued reciting the lyrics.

"Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!"

The last notes of the song mixed perfectly with his voice. By now I was silently crying. I couldn't stop my traitorous tears. He took my chin and lifted it so that my eyes met his.

"You're not an ice cube. You're too beautiful to be that. Do you want to know the..."

"Yes, please" I had forgotten all the rules. My desperation was different now. I was craving the meaning. I wanted to know, I was under his spell.

"Okay I will tell you, but not the entire background of the aria. It's a Prince singing those words." He smiled. Oh! His smile was stunning and he looked even more good-looking than before. He began to say the words again.

"None shall sleep! None shall sleep! You too, princess, in your cold room. You watch the stars trembling with love and hope..." His forehead was touching mine. I closed my eyes and listened to his enthralling voice.

"But the mystery of me is locked inside of me. No one will know my name! No, no, I will say it on your mouth, when the light will shine! And my kiss will melt the silence that makes you mine." I let out another sigh.

"Now the choir: No one will know my name...And we will, unfortunately, have to die, die!"

"So sad"

"Shh, I haven't finished" I nodded and reveled in how my skin moved against his. Our foreheads were still linked.

"Leave, oh night! Set, stars! Set, stars! At sunrise I will win! I will win! I will win!"

We stood there in silence. Now I understood the feeling. The prince loved his princess but he needed to win and survive trials and tribulations to have his true love within his arms. This stranger had shown me how blissful it could be to just feel.

I felt that he had given me a gift. I wanted to give something back to him. I touched his lips with mine and give him a tender kiss. I didn't know why, but I did it. Later my rational mind would tell me that it was the magic of the music. That it was an after-effect, but the truth was different. I had wanted to kiss him, even though he was a total stranger.

I opened my eyes and his green eyes were full of emotion. He then did the same. He kissed me and this time it was a longer and sweeter.

"I'm Stella..."

"I'm Jason... nice to meet you, Principessa"

That's how I met the beauty of trusting our feelings. That's how I began the best and most enthralling adventure of my life. That night, surrounded by books and musical notes, I met the love of my life.

x~x~x~x~Fin~x~x~x~x


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Well this was totally inspired by the amazing music and lyrics of the aria Nessun Dorma from the Opera Turandot. The Composer is Giacomo Puccini.

Sadly I don't know Italian, but I do love this aria. I found the lyrics translation and the Italian lyrics in www(.)lyricstranlate(.)com. I just hope that the translation is right and that the lyrics are written correctly.

You should hear the aria. You can find it on www(.)youtube(.)com. Write the title Nessun Dorma and you will find a lot of tenors. I recommend Luciano Pavarotti. I know you will enjoy it. Read the lyrics with him singing it and you will understand why they inspired me.

I hope you enjoyed it. Leave me some love and tell me what do you think about it. Oh I forgot - all the errors, horrors are totally mine.