Life, Death, and Time - A Books Of Beginning Collection

Oneshot: The Music Of My Heart

Background: Rafe is alive.

Content: Fluff, Romance, Kate x Rafe.

Rafe loved Kate, and he knew that meant spending time with and appreciating her family, crazy as they were. That being said, he certainly enjoyed the (less frequent than he would like) time they spent alone together. So to get a Valentine's Day afternoon where they were by themselves, without risk of being interrupted... he treasured that. Even if he didn't know where they were going. He could ask, of course, and Kate would probably tell him something, but he didn't. He trusted her completely, would put his life and his still beating heart into her warm hands without question. He would follow her to the ends of the earth. Into the woods? That was nothing by comparison.

"Do you think your brother is having a good time with Wilamena?" He asked to pass the time they walked, hand in hand.

Kate smiled, "I think so. He seemed really excited about spending the week with her, and I'm pretty sure that she planned a fancy dinner date... and we all know how much Michael loves himself a lot of rules and formality, so he'll be in his element."

"Good for him," Rafe said. Michael deserved to have such a nice time with his girlfriend for this day of love. Richard had said that earlier, after a phone call with Michael where the man had to promise his son that he looked nice enough to fit the elf princess's elaborate taste. Richard had been right. Of course, the Wibberly father also deserved a nice day, and he seemed to be having it, if the sounds of laughter Rafe had heard coming from the kitchen where he and Clare were trying their hand at baking served as any indicator. 

"Yeah," Kate agreed, leaning into him. "I do feel bad though."

"For Michael?" 

"No, for Gabriel," Kate corrected.

Rafe shuddered, "Oh, for sure. Poor guy's got Emma all weekend. I'd sooner wrangle a pen of monkeys than try and make that child behave."

"It gets worse. He texted me and told me that apparently Dena has an elaborate valentine's day plan for her and Frieda, and she's recruited Emma and Lee to help her pull it off. Granny Peet has work to do so she can't manage the chaos. Gabriel's on his own with the most impulsive trio of warriors the world has ever known," Kate said.

"Whatever he's being paid should be doubled," Rafe said immediately, a look of horror crossing his face at the thought of Dena, Emma, Lee, and Valentine's Day. 

"I know," Kate laughed. Then she looked ahead and said, "We're almost there."

Rafe didn't understand what she meant by that at first - they were surrounded by the same trees and bushes they had been trekking through for almost a half an hour now. Then Kate gently pulled him through a clump of shrubbery and into a clearing. He sucked in a breath, taking in the evergreen vegetation making a circle around them. In the middle of the clearing was a small pond with clear water and a few frogs playing in the shallow depths. 

"I come here sometimes to just relax," Kate told him. "I'll sit on the rocks and just be at peace. I thought you might like to share it with me."

"It's beautiful," he told her, but what he really meant was, you're amazing. 

"Yeah," Kate agreed with a sigh. Then she tugged the backpack they had brought from where it hung between his shoulders. She set it atop a flat rock and pulled out the picnic blanket they had brought along, spreading it out across the cold ground and patchy grass beside the pond. 

The young couple sat down, side by side, Kate resting her head against Rafe's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and nestled against her. Around them, a lone dragonfly soared across the pond to land atop a slightly shriveled up plant. 

"How'd you find this place? And when?" Rafe asked.

"It was during the fall when I was trying to study but then Michael and Emma were, you know..."

"Fighting constantly because that's what they always do?"

"Exactly. I just needed some peace and quiet and went wandering off, I guess."

Rafe nodded. "I used to do that. In New York, I mean. I'd wander off when the Savages were being chaotic or when I needed to think about something and I'd just end up on a random rooftop somewhere. Drove Henrietta crazy."

"No, I'm pretty sure it was Jake and Beetles who did that," Kate smirked at him mischievously. Rafe barked out a laugh.

"You've got me there."

She snuggled closer to him, and Rafe thought that he had never been so at peace than here, with her laying against him. It was as if the light and strength of her heart was seeping into him, filling him up - and if it were to become too much, if it were to break him and his brittle, beating only for her, heart open, well that was okay. At least he would come undone by her hands. 

"When we go back, I have a few songs I'd like to play for you. Is that alright?"

"That sounds great," Kate said. She leaned forward, and Rafe immediately missed her comforting warmth and weight, even though she was only rooting around in the backpack, pulling out water bottles and a bag of ginger snaps for them to share.

"They aren't what I usually play," he continued, while Kate took a cookie. "But I just... I wanted to try something different and special."

"I get that," Kate said. She leaned back against him and he let out a pleased sigh. "After you play, though, I want to dance."

"Anything you wish, my dear," he said immediately. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "You're the music of my heart, you know that?"

Kate smiled widely, brightly, and it made Rafe's heart skip a beat. It always did.

"I do know that, but I'll never get tired of hearing you say it."

A/N: This is just a drabble and its kinda late but idgaf.