I decided to add this little part here, just to show you the music behind the fic and my inspiration. :) These are the primary songs that inspired me to write certain parts of this fanfic.
"If You Want Me To" by Ginny Owens
The pathway is broken
The signs are unclear
I can't find the reason
Why you brought me here
But just because you love me
The way that you do
I will go through the valley
If you want me to
Now I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise
That you're not through with me yet
And if all of these trials
Can bring me closer to you
I will go through the fire
If you want me to
It may not be the way I would have
chosen
Cause it leads me through a world that's not my home
But you never said it would be easy
Only that I'd never go alone
When the whole world turns against
me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear you answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering your love put you through
And I will go through the valley
If you want me to
As I first began to write "Clinging To Promises" this song really came into play in shaping my ideas of Ryan and Victoria's relationship as well as giving me the eventual title of the fic. ;) I first heard it on "Roswell" at the end of the first season episode "Blood Brother" and since then, it's been one of my all-time favorites. :)
"Wasurenaide (Don't Forget)" by Oomori Kinuko
How are you doing these days?
I hope that those are good dreams
coloring that heart of yours.
Are you well?
That, and that alone, is always on my mind.
When times get hard
don't cry alone, O.K.?
Don't stop, baby, dreaming
Don't stop, baby, loving
Don't stop, babe, believing
Don't forget...
Don't stop, baby, dreaming
Don't stop, baby, loving
Don't stop, babe, believing
...that I'm here.
I'll always be by your side.
On lonely nights,
remember that you've got a friend,
who waits for you unchangingly.
The dazzling smiles you gave me
are locked away, like treasures,
in the jewelbox of my heart.
That night, crying, you and I
gazed up at the stars,
and I wanted to protect you from
everything that hurts you.
Don't stop, baby, dreaming
Don't stop, baby, loving
Don't stop, babe, believing
Don't forget...
Don't stop, baby, dreaming
Don't stop, baby, loving
Don't stop, babe, believing
...I will always love you,
even though we're far apart.
Don't stop, baby, dreaming
Don't stop, baby, loving
Don't stop, babe, believing
Don't forget...
Don't stop, baby, dreaming
Don't stop, baby, loving
Don't stop, babe, believing
...that I'm here.
I'll always be by your side.
"Wasurenaide" was critical in giving me the idea of how to end "Clinging To Promises" and create the sequel. Originally, this is a Japanese song that I heard for the first time on the third episode of the Japanese anime "Bubblegum Crisis". It really struck home when I heard it in Japanese with its melancholy chords and when I read the translation of the lyrics I just loved it more. :) It has remained one of my all-time favorites since I first heard it as well. ^_^
"Road To Mandalay" by Robbie Williams
Save me from drowning in the sea
Beat me up on the beach
What a lovely holiday
There's nothing funny left to say
This somber song would drain the
sun
But it won't shine until it's sung
No water running in the stream
The saddest place we've ever been
Everything I touched was golden
Everything I loved got broken
On the road to Mandalay
Every mistake I've ever made
Has been rehashed and then replayed
As I got lost along the way
There's nothing left for you to
give
The truth is all that you're left with
Twenty paces then at dawn
We will die and be reborn
I like to sleep beneath the trees
Have the universe at one with me
Look down the barrel of a gun
And feel the Moon replace the Sun
Everything we've ever stolen
Has been lost returned or broken
No more dragons left to slay
Every mistake I've ever made
Has been rehashed and then replayed
As I got lost along the way
Save me from drowning in the sea
Beat me up on the beach
What a lovely holiday
There's nothing funny left to say
I was listening to this song as I wrote the final two scenes of "Clinging To Promises". I just recently found it after borrowing Robbie Williams' "Sing When You're Winning" CD and I love the entire CD, but this song just has great chords. *grins* And parts of it are incredibly fitting to Ryan's ending scene and also Victoria's leaving scenes... :)
***
Also, I happened to be rereading this fic a few days ago, and thought it'd make sense if I gave a little background on Victoria's past before she met up with Diabolico. Basically, she had been living in poverty with her mother. In Part One, when Diabolico talks about the first time he saw Victoria and how "swift and resourceful" she was, slipping her hands into places and always coming out rewarded, he's alluding to the fact that she actually was a little thief, pick-pocketing with her mother's pushing. It's because of the living Victoria did and faced when she was little that Diabolico chose her; she had the demon mentality that he describes of her having earlier in the same part. So, I think that kinda explains why Victoria is the way she is a bit.
Just a little extra from yours truly! ^_^