Charity Concert (OPEN)

Aqua hadn't wanted to go out, but a note from Omar and insistence from Namine to attend the event had her out the door. She had even been forced into one of the the band t-shirts with Namine's logo and Omar's face on it. She felt a little silly. But with the blonde proudly beaming over her art work spread across the tiny street concert, Aqua could only smile for the sweet girl. The two of them made there way through the crowd, buying their tickets and a few raffles for the charity. Aqua may have placed a good fortune spell on one of the fundraiser collectors with a wink to the blonde (who giggled).

They met up with Jane who volunteered to work the booth selling her father's merchandise. Selling CDs and t-shirts and heaven knows what other sort of thing they could have slapped his new album cover on. Namine was positively glowing when she got a t-shirt with the new album cover. Both Aqua and Jane shared a look over how adorable the blonde was since she slipped the black t-shirt right over her little white dress. It was the first splash of color they had ever seen on the girl.

Craig chuckled happily as he and his darling daughter made their way onto Magnolia Road, where a charity concert was being held.
He had heard about it through the grapevine at the precinct, as some of the officers seemed to know the bloke who was running it and were attending themselves. The moment he mentioned it at home, Rhona had jumped on board faster than a frog on a lillypad. And so now here they were. Green eyes watched with delight as his daughter skipped ahead of him in excitement. "Slow down Love." he said, chuckling good naturedly as he did his best to keep a firm eye on her. There was quite the gathering and the last thing he needed was to lose sight of his child.

"Ok Da." Rhona replied, slowing down so that her father could catch up. She was just so excited! She had never been to a concert before, and she just couldn't wait to experience it all. "This is pure bril Da!" she said, grinning widely as she twirled about. She was practically bouncing with every step she took. Blue eyes looked about with wide curiosity and happiness, watching people move about and smell the food from the stands.

Some people even had t-shirts that had some band's name on it. It looked so fantastic! I wonder where they're getting those shirts. she thought, looking about with pursed lips. That was when she potted a booth selling merchandise. Behind the booth stood a familiar figure, the sight of which caused a gaso to leave her lips. "MISS JANE!" Without another thought, Rhona ran towards the booth with a bright smile on her face.

Craig cursed under his breath as he watched his daughter take off, quickly running after her so that he wouldn't lose sight. "Rhona don't run off!" he called out, coming to a stop right behind her at the merchandise booth. The blonde girl had the mindset to at least give her father an apologetic look but it didn't last long as she tugged at his sleeve.

"It's Miss Jane, Da." she explained, as if that should explain everything. Though it kind of did. "From school." turning back to the booth, Alice gave a bright smile. "Yuptae Miss Jane?" she asked, leaning against the booth. Craig shook his head at the sight, giving a polite smile to the woman who was apparently Miss Jane.

"Hello." he said kindly in greeting.

Aqua and Namine stepped to the side as a young girl came rushing in, excited to see 'Miss Jane'. Her father following shortly after. But they were quickly distracted by Omar. He was pure smiles and grins as he greeted them all, bought a shirt for Rhona, complimented Namine and confusing Aqua. Why would it mean so much to him if she was in attendance? Aqua tried to ignore the strange flutter in her chest that let her with. She was getting ahead of herself.

"T-Thank you," Namine said, obviously quite pleased.

"Hello, Rhona. I’m selling things for the band," Jane explained. "My dad is – right here apparently! Sales, are good, dad."

He was in a hurry and didn’t have much time before set. She might have scolded him for cutting things too short between jumping on stage and hitting up the crowd. But she couldn't. Not when he bought Rhona a shirt. Rhona was a sweet girl, easily delighted by the fact that her teacher was there. Jane was eager to start teaching the class for real instead of just assisting. She only had to pass her exams and then she would be a fully-fledged teacher. She might even be able to teach at the school Rhona went to. One of the teachers was going on maternity leave. It would be nice to work with students Jane was already accustomed to.

"And you must be her father. I’m Jane. I’m teaching at Rhona’s school."

She offered the man her hand. It was strange to meet the parents of one of her ‘students’. She supposed since she was going into the field she may as well as get used to it. She then looked up to stage, as did everyone else to watch Omar take the spotlight like he was born to it. He was a natural performer. This came almost like second nature for him.

Rhona grinned brightly as she was greeted in turn, so pleased to see the teacher at the concert as well. Most kids probably didn't get eager at seeing teachers outside of school, especially during summer holiday, but Rhona wasn't most kids. Even with no longer having to hide about being a Selkie, she still got on better with adults than other children. And Jane was a wonderful woman. Kind and sweet, and an excellent listener. The last one was hard to come by in adults.

As Jane explained she was running the booth and bringing up her father, the apparently man in question appeared before them. Blue eyes widened as Rhona stared up at the man, her mind registering that she was seeing a Troll in real life and not in one of her books. She had a few dedicated to 'mythical' creatures to feel closer to the world she didn't get to experience til now. This was Miss Jane's dad? She didn't even look like a troll! Then again her book never talked about troll lasses. So maybe it was normal? Rhona wasn't quite sure. Craig all the while chuckled good naturedly at being called 'Mr. kid's dad" before returning the greeting in turn. "Hello tae you as well Mr. Miss Jane's Da"

Rhona nearly groaned at that, but reframed as she was asked a question. "Aye it is!" she answered, giving an excited nod of her head. Blue eyes widened as the Troll offered to buy her a shirt before placing money down on the booth. Craig began to open his mouth, to say it wasn't necessary, but the man was already off doing something else.

Well I suppose no harm done. he thought, giving a bewildered smile as he shrugged at his daughter's teacher. Rhona of course was ecstatic and eager to get her newly acquired shirt. Despite the fact she was wearing a dress, she didn't hesitate to put the shirt on over her outfit. The clothing hung down to her hips, leaving the skirt to poof underneath it. It was a little funny looking, but she was too pleased to care. Her first concert t-shirt! The girl did a spin as she admired the way it fit her meanwhile Jane was speaking to Craig, who's smile returned to his friendly shine as he reached out to shake the offered hand. "Pleasure tae meet ye. I'm Craig." It was nice to finally have a face to the famous Jane.

That was when the man from before's voice spoke out and both father and daughter turned their direction to the stage. It seemed the concert was about to start. With wide eyes and excitement pouring out her very being, Rhona grabbed her father's hand and began pulling him to the forming crowd. "It's starting Da!" she exclaimed, pulling hard with one hand while the other waved farewell to her teacher. "Bye Miss Jane!" Craig laughed at his daughter's antics, giving a farewell wave himself before he was tugged into the crowd.

"Easy Pup, dun want tae tear my arm off now." he said to her, chuckling before leaning down and scooping her up to place on her shoulders. "Much better." Rhona squealed with delight as she was placed onto her father's shoulders, cheering loudly with the crowd. Her hands raised up into the air, making devil's horns in each one like how she saw on tv.

Aqua guided Namine to some open seats, as close to the front stage as possible before leaving the blonde to mind their spot. Aqua headed to the concession stand, buying from the vendors. It was for a good cause, she reasoned. She had bottled sodas and two hotdogs and took them back to Namine. If they were hungry later, they could stop at the stand selling baked goods. Nothing hit the spot quite like warm pie, cookies or brownies, homemade from mother supporting the charity. She smiled as she watched Omar on stage, performing and just generally having fun. Open and carefree. His flip had caught her by surprise but she clapped along with the crowd when he landed safely.

The two women cheered, laughed and at one point Namine sang along, soft and easily lost in the crowd. Aqua only knew because her lips were moving. A light smile crossed the blonde's lips. Namine had listened to the soundtrack over and over again to get inspiration for the album cover. Namine probably knew Omar's song as well as Omar did. Aqua would hope since their apartment had been filled with Omar's music since the moment Namine got a copy of the CD that was going to be sold at the kiosk Jane was working. Namine simply did not possess the nerve to perform like he did. Which was too bad, in Aqua's opinion, Namine did have a pretty singing voice.

"Have fun you two!" Jane laughed.

Rhona was all but dragging her father behind her to get as close to the stage as possible. It was adorable. She remembered displaying the same exuberance when she was Rhona's age to listen to her father play. He hadn't been quite as famous back then. He was at least well known in the city. Jane smiled and turned back to the kiosk. Many people wandered off to go listen to the music. She was about to start listening too until she realized Shadow had joined her at the stand. He was looking over the shirts.

"Looking for something in particular?" she asked.

Rhona cheered loudly as Miss Jane's father did devil horns himself, it looked like he was looking right at her! Craig chuckled at her enthusiasm, grunting a little bit as she wiggled about in her excitement. He was going to need to lift weights soon as she was almost too much for his muscles to take anymore. I'm starting to get old. he thought, a sigh nearly leaving his lips. But now wasn't the time to worry about such things. There was a concert to enjoy. Neither father nor daughter knew the song that was started to be keyed up, but it seemed to be a popular one with how the rest of the crowd seemed to get hyped up. As the music picked up, Rhona began to bob her head to the beat.

[This is the best! she thought, her hands still held up in devil's horns. Blonde hair flew in the air with each toss of her head, the strands catching a few bits of fading light in the evening sky. As the song continued, she began to pick up the chorus and mouthed the words. She knew better than to sing, Da always warned her it was dangerous becuase she couldn't quite control her Selkie powers yet to not enchant people. But she could pretend she was singing, and that was fine.

The song then came to an end, and Rhona cheered loudly with the crowd, Craig doing the same though not nearly as loud as the pup on his shoulders. Upon seeing the flip done by the lead singer, Rhona gasped before tugging at her father's hands that held her legs. "Did you see that Da!?" she exclaimed in excitement. "That was so brill!"

"I saw, I saw." Craig answered, chuckling quietly. Though part of him worried if that was going to be a stunt his curious child would attempt to do at home. She was normally better than to mimic others, but when she saw something that really caught her attention well.... She's ten though, surely she'd know better. he thought. Better put cushions down everywhere when we get home. Just to be safe.

One of the sweetest most thoughtful things about Omar when he performed was that when he sang a song, he told everyone why it was meaningful to him. That and he poured his heart and soul into his music. Aqua could just feel the raw emotion washing over her as he sang. Perhaps it was because her earliest childhood memories involved her being surrounded by music, whether from her mother or her father. OR perhaps Omar was naturally talented enough to invoke those emotions. Or perhaps both. Loss... It was never easy. She lost her parents. She lost Terra. She... lost Riku. She knew loss. But the loss of a child was never something she could ever imagine going through.

Namine could only smile sadly. She never got to meet Danny. From the way Omar talked about him, she wished she could have. Omar had even made Danny's favorite cake when he came to see her after her little melt down. Sweets, he said, were something kids liked. They never failed to make even the worst situation better. But she still sang along, albeit softly.

Jane swallowed thickly when she heard her father talking about Danny. The little boy who should have been talking about getting his driver's license and getting crushes or going to the mall, but was taken too soon. She took a deep breath, shook her head and turned back to Shadow. The shirts. Right. She was selling for her dad after all. He got a cut of the profits, as did the charity.

"Well, that blue one works," she said, pointing to the light blue one that Shadow had been eying. "But a navy blue would work too or an emerald green."