hard times come again no more [Alfred]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width, 500px][atrb=style,border-top: 10px solid #3f6618;background-color: #111111;][STYLE=font-size: 48px;font-family: times new roman; color: #eaeaea;text-align: center;letter-spacing: -5px;][STYLE=background-image:url(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn8/ShannonWeasley/vietthread2_zpsafa18b6f.png); width: 420px; height: 180px; border-radius: 5px; opacity: 0.9; margin-left: 38px;"] [/style]{  hard times come again no more[/style][STYLE=background-image:url(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn8/ShannonWeasley/Vietthread3_zps9f9eefe0.png);-webkit-border-radius: 100px;-moz-border-radius: 100px;border-radius: 100px;height: 100px; width: 100px;float: right;margin: -10px 35px 0px 20px;] [/style][STYLE=float: left; margin: -90px 140px 0px 95px; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 9px; color: #707070;text-align: justify;text-transform: lowercase;line-height: 8px;]While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay There are frail forms fainting at the door Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say Oh, hard times come again no more There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away With a worn heart whose better days are over Though her voice would be merry, it's sighing all the day Oh, hard times come again no more It's the song, the sigh of the weary Hard times, hard times, come again no more Many days have you lingered around my cabin door Oh, hard times come again no more It's a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wa'e It's a wail that is heard upon the shore It's a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave Oh, hard times come again no more[/style] [STYLE=margin: 70px 30px 30px 30px; text-align: justify; color: #c4c4c4;font-size: 10px;]Things, so far, had been pleasant. Of course they had already had their ups and downs and a ‘turbulent start’ could almost be an understatement, but the two were happy nonetheless. Looking back, Linh couldn’t help but notice that the turbulence was not normally caused by their ever so clashing personalities but from other people over stepping their boundaries. Linh had already grown tired of people telling her to sleep with one eye open or watch her back and that she had no idea what she was getting into. No, she hadn’t just let him walk in and sweep her away like she had all the others—over the years she had indeed grew wise and had finally knew better. Linh was nothing but skeptical at first, perhaps even a bit unwelcoming. She had to test him, after all, just to see if he was really worth her good graces. And yet, no matter how drastic her efforts, he never turned the other cheek. Amazed by his persistence, Linh finally gave in a decided to give the poor boy a chance. And that’s when she started to look at him differently. She observed him, nervously twisting her pony tail around her hands as her face flushed a bright red as she now noticed the way he looked at her in return. She looked him over closely and observed that perhaps he was much more than the persistent boy that showed up at her home one day. She knew that she had a slight lead on him in terms of existence but that no longer clouded her mind. Now she noticed how bright and excited his eyes were and how confident his smile was. She vaguely remembered Francis mentioning him once or twice but it was nothing more than the way an uncle brags on his nephew—Linh was usually more than unimpressed by the things Francis spoke so she had never really paid attention. But this was not the silly little kid Francis talked of; no, in a blink of an eye he was so much more. Linh noticed the exact moment that she swears she fell in love with the stupid man who was determined to win her over and she was terrified. For a while, she had no desire to let him know that his feelings could be returned. All at once, she was afraid of him again—scared of what he might do, scared that he might be just like the others. But he still managed to catch her in his grasp once more. She trusted him for some reason. More so than Yao, more so than Francis. She was ready to rest all of her wellbeing on this one man. And that terrified her more than anything. Had it been any other time, she would’ve spent all her focus on trying to love him the best she could. She couldn’t offer much for she spent most of her time being wary and being afraid. But, he took her hand in his and told her repeatedly that everything would be alright. She was lost for any sort of reasoning: why did he care so much, what did he want? And finally, she just gave in. For the first time, she felt comfortable in the arms of another, even safe perhaps? Linh had always been a capable woman and had single handedly drove away so many forces in her time. And yet, there was something about him that made her feel at ease. That was why she trusted him. With him, life was simple, life was about living. Things were so pleasant in fact, she had—for a while—almost forgotten that, in the end, things just never work out in her favor. The effects of civil war slowly crept up on her and she tried to hide it from him the best she could. She’d turn away with a twitch here, a cringe there; one time she completely lost control of her right arm. But still things came to light, things that he wasn’t too keen on. She sat in front of her mirror, slowly and carefully brushing out her long dark hair while she occasionally stole glances at him sitting on her bed across the room. She found relief in his company thought most advised her against it. With a sigh, she wrapped her hands around her comb and set her hands in her lap before turning around to face him. Linh looked at him, a faint smile in her distant expression, and it was easy to see that she was desperate to say something—desperate to clear her mind. [/style]

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style,background-color: #d4d4d4; width: 450px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 30px; border-radius: 0px 30px 0px 0px; border-left: #1E90FF solid 6px;] {now i'll leave rememb'ring her, Why does Saigon never sleep at night? Why does this girl smell of orange trees? How can I feel good when nothing's right? Why is she cool when there is no breeze? Vietnam, You don't give answers, do you friend? Just questions that don't ever end From the moment Alfred laid eyes on the Asian beauty, he knew that he wanted to get to know her. It wasn't easy to do so, however. Linh Nguyen was a highly guarded individual, a contrast to his own outgoing personality. Perhaps this was what finally led to his success. If he had a less forceful personality, he might have given up long before he won Linh over. But he was determined, and his determination won out in the end. However, growing closer to Linh meant that he saw firsthand the effects of the war on her land, and how they were impacting her. It worried him immensely. He was content to brush it off most of the time. Not that he did not worry, he just did not press Linh on the issue. As forward as he was most of the time, Alfred knew not to be so quick to pry when it came to this particular subject. In addition, she just seemed so happy when she was with him. He did not want to end her happiness simply by bringing up a subject that he knew full well would be difficult to discuss. And so he continued on, ignoring the enormous weight that floated above both of their heads and continued to grow each and every day. Alfred was not as unbiased in this matter as he wanted to think. He cared for Linh, there was no doubt about that. He wanted what was best for her. Just...what was best for her? Alfred was certain that blocking any attempts by communists to take Vietnam was the right course of action. Any attempt at blocking off the spread of communism was the right course of action in his book. It was bad enough that it was spreading elsewhere in Asia. The last thing he wanted was for Linh to fall into their clutches. The blond watched Linh comb through her hair from his perch on her bed. He smiled at her every time their eyes met through her reflection in the mirror. When she turned around to face him proper, Alfred rose to his feet and went over to Linh, giving her a short peck on the lips. "You look wonderful." Alfred knew something was wrong. He was in no way renowned for being the most observant in the world, but even he could tell that the ghost of a smile she returned to him wasn't right. There was something clearly weighing on her. "What's up, Linh?" He asked her, deliberately vague. If she wanted to talk, this was her invitation. If not, she could easily play it off. What she would choose remained to be seen. TAGS: Vietnam/Linh WORDS: 458 LYRICS: Why God Why from the Miss Saigon soundtrack NOTES: It came out shorter than I would have liked. D:

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width, 500px][atrb=style,border-top: 10px solid #3f6618;background-color: #111111;][STYLE=font-size: 48px;font-family: times new roman; color: #eaeaea;text-align: center;letter-spacing: -5px;][STYLE=background-image:url(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn8/ShannonWeasley/vietthread2_zpsafa18b6f.png); width: 420px; height: 180px; border-radius: 5px; opacity: 0.9; margin-left: 38px;"] [/style]{  hard times come again no more[/style][STYLE=background-image:url(http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn8/ShannonWeasley/Vietthread3_zps9f9eefe0.png);-webkit-border-radius: 100px;-moz-border-radius: 100px;border-radius: 100px;height: 100px; width: 100px;float: right;margin: -10px 35px 0px 20px;] [/style][STYLE=float: left; margin: -90px 140px 0px 95px; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 9px; color: #707070;text-align: justify;text-transform: lowercase;line-height: 8px;]While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay There are frail forms fainting at the door Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say Oh, hard times come again no more There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away With a worn heart whose better days are over Though her voice would be merry, it's sighing all the day Oh, hard times come again no more It's the song, the sigh of the weary Hard times, hard times, come again no more Many days have you lingered around my cabin door Oh, hard times come again no more It's a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wa'e It's a wail that is heard upon the shore It's a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave Oh, hard times come again no more[/style] [STYLE=margin: 70px 30px 30px 30px; text-align: justify; color: #c4c4c4;font-size: 10px;]She still occasionally found herself glancing away in embarrassment when their eyes found each other. There were so many different feelings she was left with, just by catching a glimpse of him smiling at her; she’d almost forgotten what it was like to feel joy or to feel wanted even. For so long she lived in isolation and then the isolation came to an end when Francis came into the picture, but that was no more enjoyable than the latter. Linh glanced down once again, her face red with embarrassment, as he kissed her and threw in a compliment all at the same time. These such things she was not used to. “Thanks,” she mumbled, finally looking up at him with a smile. Her smile wavered as she sensed the understanding in his expression. Immediately, she wanted to turn back around and wished she had never shown any signs of distress because now she couldn’t just leave his curiosity unanswered. Some of the things Alfred brought to their relationship—compliments, affection—were things that she had at least faced before, but just not very often. For there to be someone sitting in her room, genuinely concerned for her, well, that was just unheard of. So, she couldn’t brush this off like it was nothing, because she knew that he knew better. She took a deep breath as she tried to gather her thoughts and realized that all of her time spent in silence, trying to think of how to bring this up, did not help her one bit. “I’ve just been—” her hands twisted about her comb as she felt her words begin to fail her already. “—worried is all.” Of course she was worried, and now she felt stupid for bringing it up like that. She let out a long exhale as she loosened her grip on her comb, afraid she might damage it. “I just haven’t felt like myself lately…” she looked up once more, hoping to see that same expression of understanding. He would understand, right? He had been through this before. She knew his civil war was a delicate subject but still, he said that he would do whatever it takes to make her happy. Surely, he would at least talk to her in her time of need when she herself was bold enough to open the floor for discussion in the first place. Linh pressed her lips together firmly, this providing her with some sort of support and self assurance, though she still dreaded pressing the topic further. Maybe he would just take her in his arms like he normally did and that could be that. But things could never just be that simple. [/style]

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style,background-color: #d4d4d4; width: 450px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 30px; border-radius: 0px 30px 0px 0px; border-left: #1E90FF solid 6px;] {now i'll leave rememb'ring her, Why does Saigon never sleep at night? Why does this girl smell of orange trees? How can I feel good when nothing's right? Why is she cool when there is no breeze? Vietnam, You don't give answers, do you friend? Just questions that don't ever end He wished Linh would smile more. Just the small act of upturning her lips brightened her face considerably. That said, he was well aware that she had little to smile about, what with her situation. He was there for her, though, and hopefully that was enough to carry her through the storm. She'd remain safe from the dark forces threatening to carry her away with them if he could help it. Alfred did know better. He could tell when something was bothering Linh because he kept a close eye on her. He was concerned for her, and he knew the division in her lands was wearing on her. It worried him, knowing all too well the mental and physical tolls such a division could have on a nation. So far she was holding up fairly well, far better than he would have expected. Or perhaps she was just a good actress. He was leaning toward the latter as her silence continued. He was in tune to her habits. He might not be the most observant man in the world the majority of the time, but he could and would be if the situation called for it. He felt as though he knew the answer to Linh's statement before she said it. She was worried, of course. Why wouldn't she be worried? Her people were fighting. Even worse, many were taken in by the lure of communism. It was an evil force that was spreading like a disease. He could not blame her for being worried, taking it all into consideration, and he was worried too. Worried for her. "I just haven't felt like myself lately..." An involuntary chill crept through Alfred. Oh yes, he understood. Too damn well. "How do you not feel like yourself?" He questioned after a moment or so of silence. "Describe to me what it feels like." Alfred knew he was asking a lot of Linh, but he needed to know. "Are you seeing strange apparitions? Hearing voices?" During the pause, he place a hand on top of hers. "An occasional odd thought that seems almost foreign? A feeling of being pulled into two different directions to the point where you feel like you might snap?" The haunted look in his eyes showed that he was speaking from experience with every symptom he listed. It was a matter he rarely discussed, but was willing to do so for Linh's sake. And yet he was describing only a fraction of his turmoil during the Civil War, leaving out the real reason why the phrase 'I haven't felt like myself lately' gave him chills. TAGS: Vietnam/Linh WORDS: 446 LYRICS: Why God Why from the Miss Saigon soundtrack NOTES: Don't have any

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