Wait For It | a Hamilton fanfiction | wattys 2017

Chapter 65

Opening night had arrived once again. Pippa was excited. The theatre was beautiful, and London was something that the entire cast had been looking forward to from day one.

The only sad part was the fact that it was Lin's last stop, and his last opening night.

"Five minutes to opening night show circle," Anthony said, poking his head in the door of Pippa, Jazzy and Lana's dressing room.

"Alright, thanks," Jazzy said, while putting a last-minute bobby pin in her hair. "Ready?"

Pippa and Lana nodded. They all headed out the door of their dressing room and walked to the stage, where they were going to do their show circle. They always did it as the doors opened into the theatre. The excited noises of the audience always made them even more pumped for the show.

About half of the cast was already there, and people were coming onto the stage pretty quickly.

Once everyone had gotten there, Pippa stood in the center of the show circle.

"As you all know, it's Lin's last opening. Ever since the beginnings of Hamilton, Lin has been our fearless leader. He has been an inspiration to us all, and he is truly one of the greatest people I have ever met. It's an honor to perform with you, Lin, and we hope that you have the best experience possible on the last tour stop," Pippa said. "And we'll be sad to see you go. This is truly your show, and you deserve every happiness."

Lin held a hand to his heart. "Thank you, Pippa."

"Now, we have some last opening night gifts," Pippa announced.

Carleigh stepped forward holding a golden gift bag, with white ribbon. "This is from the ensemble and the swings. We are so honored to be part of your ensemble, Lin. People like us usually are pushed to the side and don't perform onstage as much as the leads, but you have included us in telling this story. This is a token of our gratitude for making one of the greatest ensembles in the world."

Lin gently took the bag from Carleigh and opened it.

Inside was a painting of the cast, standing in their final bows line. All of it was in black and white, except Lin, who had been painted in color.

Written on the bottom, in flowing script, were the words 'History has its eyes on you'.

"You didn't need to do that," Lin said, tears glistening in his eyes. "It's beautiful, thank you, all of you."

"That's not all," Daveed said, standing up. "We have a gift as well."

He motioned to the wings.

And out stepped Renee.

Lin's mouth dropped open and his hands flew to his mouth. "Renee Elise Goldsberry!" he exclaimed.

"Lin Manuel Miranda," Renee laughed. She hugged him. "It's so wonderful to see you again."

"What are you doing here?!" Lin demanded. "I thought that you were in the United States! When did you get here? Who knew about this?!"

"I'm here because Pippa asked me to come, and I wanted to see the cast again. I got here this morning, and the only ones who knew were Pippa, Jazzy, and Daveed."

"I missed you!" Lin told her.

"I missed you, too, which is why I'm here to wish you happy opening. I also have the final gift," Renee said, holding out two boxes. Lin took one of them.

When he opened the box, he gasped out loud.

Inside was a thick booklet, made out of thick parchment paper. On the cover was written 'Hamilton: An American Musical, by Lin Manuel Miranda'. When he opened the first page, the tour cast had signed their names. And as Lin flipped through the book, he saw that each cast member had handwritten out the lyrics to one of the songs. At the end of each song was a message from whoever wrote it out. Pippa had written 'Burn', Jazzy had written 'Say No to This', Lana had done 'Satisfied', Daveed wrote 'Guns and Ships', Oak had done 'The Story of Tonight', Anthony wrote 'Stay Alive Reprise', Brett had written 'Alexander Hamilton', Kaitlyn wrote 'Yorktown', Carleigh wrote 'Take a Break'... the list just went on and on.

Lin was crying now.

And every single cast member had written part of 'Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story'. It was interesting to look at the book. Some of the songs were in cursive, such as Lana's 'Satisfied', and others were printed, like Pippa's 'Burn'. There were some messy ones, like Daveed's 'Guns and Ships', but still meant a lot.

"This means so much to me," Lin said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Thank you."

"Alright, turn off the waterworks," Jazzy laughed. "Curtain is in two minutes."

"I'll leave you guys to it. Have a good show," Renee said, waving. Pippa ran over and gave her a hug before Renee left.

They all grouped together for a hug and a picture before dispersing to their respective places. Pippa noticed that James seemed to be hanging around Lana, and she walked over to separate them.

"Aren't you in the audience for tonight?" Pippa asked James, taking in his casual clothing.

"Yes, I just wanted to wish Lana a fantastic opening show," James said, casting Lana a glance before walking away.

Lana exhaled as soon as he left.

"You alright?" Pippa asked.

"I'm fine, thank you, Pippa," Lana said gratefully. "Happy opening. I have to go to my spot."

"Happy opening to you, too."