Tru Calling: Normal

The room was quiet and still, illuminated by the faint glow of candlelight on a bedside table. Two fated lovers – universal opposites – lay on the bed tucked underneath the soft blankets. Neither one of them moved from their positions nor did they question what they were doing in each other's arms. They just lay there in blissful contentment, if only for a little while…

The hushed whisper of Tru Davies shattered the perfect silence as she gazed into her opposite's brilliant crystalline blue eyes. "Do you ever wonder what it would be like if we were… normal?"

Her question balanced precariously on a whisper of uncertainty and hopeful relief.

"What do you mean?" Jack Harper asked, a glow emanating from his face as the dim candlelight reflected off of his skin.

She sighed. "I mean… this. Us. Not having to worry about the calling anymore. Not having to hide who we are from everyone else. Not having to hide who we are from ourselves or prove ourselves to everyone else around us."

"Tru," he said, pulling her closer and stroking her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "For what it's worth, I think being normal is overrated. There have been moments in the past where I didn't know how to accept my calling and I questioned it because I was curious, but I know now that I was given something to live for. A destiny."

He paused, pressing a tender kiss against her hair.

"You," he whispered.

"Don't," she told him quietly. "Don't start that now. I can't… I can't do this… Maybe I should go…"

As soon as she had spoken, his arms tightened around her body.

"No," he said gently, his soothing voice melting her core as he gazed into her wide, questioning eyes. "Don't go. Not yet."

"Then aren't you curious?" she pressed further. "I mean, with the calling… our calling… haven't you ever felt…"

Her voice trailed off.

"Cursed?"

"Maybe. Or just… that something wasn't right, you know? Like, we could have lived our lives so differently if we didn't have to deal with this --…"

He cut her off.

"Gift," he finished for her. "What you have is a gift. You go back in time to save people from dying. What you do comes from your heart because you see a side of these people that no one else does because no one else has been given the opportunity that you have."

He then sat up slightly, pulling her with him. Carefully, he took one of her hands in both of his and placed it against her bare skin; he placed it over her heart.

"You were given this amazing gift and I've seen the way you fight so passionately with your heart. We may be on opposite sides, but what I see in you is nothing short of amazing. So much passion, so much courage, the way you seek to inspire others."

He let go of her hand and pulled her even closer to him, her scent overwhelming him. The scent of her cherry blossom perfume on the creases of her neck overtaking his senses, making him lost in a dizzying array of forbidden ecstasy, as he kissed her fervently.

"Jack…" she replied breathlessly, pulling back after a few moments and gazing into his eyes once more. She almost wished she could become lost in the haunting depths of his crystalline blues, the ones that sparkled when they exchanged heated words with one another at the end of a rewind day. But she couldn't…

"I never asked for this," she continued. "I never asked for this calling, for this job that I have and sometimes I wonder if it would just be easier if I didn't have it at all. I can just go to med school, become a doctor, start a family, be normal…"

Jack gently tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear. "I never asked for this either, Tru. We've both sacrificed a lot to do what we do. And I know that we haven't exactly seen eye-to-eye on everything, but I'm a firm believer that if it hadn't been for either of our callings, then we wouldn't be having this conversation at all. Our callings shaped a big part of who we are and who we're both becoming. With that, I think we just have to accept whatever Fate and Destiny have in store for us next."

Tru listened carefully to Jack's words, turning them over carefully in her mind. She was silent for a few more moments until…

"What do you think that is?"

"I don't know," he replied, kissing her forehead affectionately. "But if I knew then what I know now, I don't think I would have it any other way."

Tru smiled, sighing deeply.

"I guess I still just wonder sometimes," she said, as his fingers found sanctuary in the intricate ringlets of her brown hair. "If we can't be…"

Together, she wanted to say, the word creeping up on the tip of her tongue, but dare not let itself be spoken. It was forbidden.

"Normal," she whispered after a brief pause. "None of it would matter anymore… Everything surrounding Fate and Destiny and what we do… none of it would matter… I wouldn't have to keep running off and making up excuses to Davis and Harrison as to where I am. I just want to know what it's like to be free."

Silence.

"Jack, I want to find myself again."

He fell silent, saying nothing. Just listening. Only listening.

He listened to the words she spoke and the conviction with which she brought them forward. For though she whispered, he could still hear the passionate undertones in her voice. She longed for answers to questions which could not be answered easily. She grappled with the reality of her calling and the sacrifice she had made with every nuance of normalcy that surrounded her slowly dissolving away. Until she felt like she had nothing. But she did have something.

She had him.

He too grappled with these questions, strung somewhere between the not so black and white of right and wrong, good and evil, morality and indecency. But tonight was different.

He had her.

They had each other.

Somewhere smothered in-between the delicately soft sheets, somewhere between the connections of when skin met skin, bare flesh exposed in honest vulnerability, somewhere past the point of no return… they lay in each other's arms searching for an answer to a question lost in the abyss of the unknown.

He couldn't help but wonder that if, in the moment, this is what defined their sense of normalcy. A sense of normalcy that could only be shared between opposites that carried the burden of forbidden love in their hearts and an addictive longing to be together in the crevices of their minds.

"Someday," he whispered, stroking her hair rhythmically, as her head now lay comfortably on his chest, eyes fluttering as she eagerly welcomed the sleepiness that overtook her.

He hoped.

Someday this would all be normal. She'd be able to find herself again and this could all be normal. His love for her consumed his heart. No rewind could ever change that.

Not anymore.

He blew out the candle.

"Someday…"

Fin.

Dedicated to my friend Sonya. For the endless inspiration and insight you've given me. We all learn to grow in different ways, but we can all inspire each other!

Author's Note: For this fic, I wanted to explore the idea of normalcy to Tru and if she ever felt the burden of her calling somehow made her less 'normal'. This story also comes from a very personal place as I continue to discover day by day who I am and what I want to be. I hope everyone is able to draw something for themselves from this fic. Let it inspire you!

Reviews are also greatly appreciated! :)