Killing The Past

17.

Tuomas stood with his back against the wall, smoking and observing the usual backstage commotion. They were about to have the last show of the tour. Soon, just in a few hours he'll be on plane, returning home. He would not see this continent for a long time and therefore, he had very small chances of seeing Tarja again. The thought pierced his heart like an arrow. Not to see Tarja again! Thinking about this was unbearable. The keyboarder's gaze fell on Floor, who was taking stupid selfies and goofing around with Emppu. Tuomas couldn't suppress grin at the sight of these two. Then he remembered Floor's behaviour that morning and frowned. She received a mysterious message during the breakfast and refused to tell anybody what it was about. After that, she's been walking around with mischievous glint in her eyes and smug look on her face, as if she knew something others didn't. For a few moments Tuomas wondered what it might have been, but then he shrugged it off and his thoughts went back to Tarja. So he stood, remembering every happy moment with her, until somebody told him it was time to go onstage.

The show went good, at least that's what Tuomas remembered. He himself felt as if his body was playing and moving itself, while his mind was far away. He couldn't recall any moment of the show now, it seemed misty and vague for him. As he went backstage again, his mind returned to Tarja. Once again, he realized that he possibly wouldn't ever see her again and wanted to scream. He wanted to yell, he wanted everyone to hear how much he loved Tarja and how he regretted behaving so foolishly. Though, his chances of seeing her were higher than he thought.

Half an hour before the Nightwish show, a car drove out from Buenos-Aires and shot towards south. Tarja thanked God that highway was more free than usual, this allowed her to drive faster. Still, no matter how fast she drove, it seemed that she was still running late. The highway appeared to be endless and time was going by so fast! Tarja cursed the car. She had rented it and now she felt like fish out of the water in it. The woman checked time. The show had already started so she had approximately an hour and a half. Even less. Tarja hit the gas pedal and overtook the lorry ahead of her. Her heart was beating as if it was going to jump out of her chest. She had made one of the most important decisions in her life, and this would change everything. The closer Tarja got to her destination, the more nervous she grew. She had no idea how Tuomas would take this. Would he still want her to return with him to Finland? Or had he overcome the pain already?

An hour left. Tarja was starting to calm down. She will get there in time. There will be lots of buzz after show, they'll not be able to get into the bus right away. Tarja congratulated herself on her cleverness. She was so glad that she messaged Floor that morning, asking for all necessary details and begging her not to tell anybody she was coming. Floor, very excited, gave her all the information and promised to be silent as the grave. I hope she won't tell them.

Half an hour. The city was coming into view and Tarja's heart leaped joyfully. I'm gonna be there soon, I'm gonna see him! She thought happily. She started to notice that her hands were trembling and her throat was dry. Butterflies danced in her stomach. All kinds of "What Ifs" sprang up in her brain. Don't be silly! She scolded herself. Of course Tuomas will be there, where else could he be? And of course he won't run away from you!
Ten minutes later she was in the city already. Now she had to find the arena.

Tuomas walked towards the bus, others at his heels. His mood was worse than usual. He was leaving, leaving for God knows how long. "You guys climb in." He said, when they reached the bus. "I want to smoke." "Wait," Marco replied, digging in his pockets for cigarettes. "I wanna smoke too." Seeing that nobody was going to leave him alone, not even the crew, Tuomas surrendered and lit up a cigarette.

Tarja took a deep breath and started walking towards the tour bus, which was illuminated by a street lamp, dragging the suitcases behind herself. The lamp created a circle of light, in which stood the band and the crew, everything else was in darkness. The singer paused at the edge of the circle and let go of her suitcases, her heart hammering in her chest. She wanted to call out Tuomas' name but her voice betrayed her. Slowly she emerged from shadows and paused, not knowing what to do. Her eyes were glued to Tuomas who was standing with his back to her and talking to Marco. The bassist was talking enthusiastically, obviously explaining something to the keyboarder, when his eyes looked past Tuomas' face and fell on Tarja. He paused in the middle of the sentence and gaped at her, causing Tuomas to look over his shoulder. Tarja almost fainted when his gaze fell on her, she was trembling from head to feet and couldn't make a sound. Obviously Tuomas was feeling the same, he froze, unable to take his eyes off her. Finally the singer took a step forward and then, feeling all her nervousness fading away, she ran forward, with a loud "Tuomas!" escaping her lips. "Tarja" Tuomas whispered and beamed. He, too, sprinted towards her. They collided, Tarja fell into his arms with incoherent cries and clung on him, as if her life depended on it. The couple stumbled, lost their balance and slammed against the bus, crying with joy, oblivious to the world around them. No one seeing them could doubt their love. "Tuomas" The singer sobbed, apparently unable to say anything else. Tuomas buried his face in her hair, breathing in her scent, not believing that he was holding her in his arms again. "Tarja" He whispered, cupping her face and looking into her green eyes, sparkling with tears of joy, "my love." Tarja let out a laugh of happiness and kissed Tuomas, trying to put all her love into one kiss. "You... you came." The keyboarder said, half laughing, half crying, after they pulled apart. "Of course. I said I didn't want to lose you, Tuomas, not again." The singer gave back, reaching out and caressing his cheek. "So you came to stay with me...Forever?" "Forever." Tarja nodded and their lips met in loving kiss once again.

The plane was drenched in darkness and silence. Almost everybody was asleep and there was no sound, save the humming of the engine and low murmur of those two who were awake. Tarja and Tuomas sat holding hands, not able to take eyes off of each other. They talked and talked, not paying attention to time; They just couldn't fall asleep. There was so much they needed to tell each other. Once, Marco, who was sleeping in the seat next to Tuomas, awoke and poked the keyboarder in the ribs, causing the latter to jump up with a curse. The bass guitarist dissolved in noiseless fit of laughter while Tuomas just glared at him. At his left, Tarja was laughing too. Looking at those two, Tuomas also grinned and sunk back into his seat. "Can't stay away from each other, you two, can you?" Marco noted and grinned. The keyboarder only nodded and pulled Tarja closer for a kiss. The bassist smiled at them and turned away, falling asleep almost immediately. Tarja placed her head on Tuomas' shoulder and smiled happily. "I love you." She whispered. "I love you too." The keyboarder gave back and put his arm around her. Soon, they too, were sleeping in each other's arms, while plane carried them away across the Atlantic Ocean, towards the cold and snowy Finland.

A/N: ...And this is it. I can't believe it's over :'( I love this fanfic so much and I'm going to miss writing it. Thank you to everyone who read, voted and commented <3 Please tell me if you liked this chapter and whether you liked the whole fanfic or not, it would mean a lot! <3