BMM 4 - Bring Him Home

God on High,
Hear my prayer
In my need,
You have always been there 

He is young
He's afraid
Let him rest
Heaven blessed 

Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home

He's like the son I might have known
If God had granted me a son
The summers die
One by one
How soon they fly
On and on
And I am old
And will be gone

Bring him peace
Bring him joy
He is young
He is only a boy

You can take
You can give
Let him be
Let him live 

If I die,
Let me die
Let him live
Bring him home
Bring him home... 

From Wikipedia: "Bring Him Home" is an emotional ballad sung by Jean Valjean about Marius at the barricade. Valjean begs God to save and return Marius to Cosette, even if he must sacrifice his own life for Marius's safety.

In a documentary on the Blu-ray of the film adaptation, Claude-Michel Schönberg revealed that the song was written specifically for Colm Wilkinson.

My own thoughts: I love this song, and the version sung by Susan Boyle is my most favorite.

This song is the best fit for Beowulf and Reid. Beowulf has always had a soft spot for children, enough to where he wouldn't hurt them if he didn't have to. He used to dream of becoming a father, a dream that was destroyed forever after he became a werewolf and the rest of his family perished. Werewolves can't produce offspring and Beowulf would never do it even if it were possible.

Even so, he's always kept a special eye on children, looking out for them, defending them when necessary, he's less inclined to show mercy to a victim who would harm a child, and the death of a child breaks his heart the most.

When Reid came along, he heard plenty of scary stories about Beowulf, and he was plenty scared when he actually met the old werewolf face to face. The first few times, he ran away in terror, and then one night, he got lost in the woods (thanks to one of Tyrell's many mean-spirited pranks) and it was none other than Beowulf who found him.

It was just the two of them in the moonlit woods, Beowulf had the perfect opportunity to do whatever he liked, but he consciously refrained from hurting the boy (though he did scold him a little) and brought him safely back to the castle. When it looked like Tyrell would get off scot-free for what he did to his little brother, Beowulf took it upon himself to give Tyrell a good scare, and then he kept watch over Reid (who was sleeping peacefully) for the rest of the night.

Even at his young age, Reid realized Beowulf couldn't be all bad and maybe, just maybe, he needed a friend, too. So, he started visiting Beowulf's cave, offering to play with him and bringing him nice things to eat. He was very cautious, of course, and Beowulf was like a well-seasoned guard dog that had almost forgotten how good it felt to be patted on the head, scratched behind the ears, fed treats, and talked to in a pleasant voice.

Realizing that Reid was genuinely afraid of him while refusing to run away from him like all the others, something inside the ancient beast began to soften.

It wasn't until a few years later that their bond was set in stone.

Tyrell was ready to beat Reid up in the garden, since everyone else was occupied with one of the many royal parties, so there was no way Reid could call for help and no one would have been able to reach him in time.

As it turned out, the two princes weren't entirely alone. Beowulf himself emerged from the shadows and became the one to threaten Tyrell. "Take your hands off that boy this instant. Get away from him and stay away if you know what's good for you."

Beowulf then took it a step further by threatening to hurt Tyrell twice as much as Tyrell hurt Reid in the future. "For every bruise he gets from you, you'll get a scar from me. I'll maim you to the point where your own mother won't recognize you, no girl will come anywhere near you, and all who look upon you will immediately run away screaming. Try me if you think I'm bluffing, boy."

Tyrell, being the dirty coward that he was, didn't hesitate to run away like a terrified rabbit.

Then Beowulf made doubly sure Reid was all right and reassured him that his brother would have gotten no more than a few mild scratches. For the most part, the old beast just wanted to scare Tyrell, and Tyrell always could dish out heaps more than he could take. Besides, everyone knew that Beowulf usually had excellent reason for going after someone and that he often granted fair warning first. Most of his victims were those that pushed their luck with him a little too far.

After that, Reid and Beowulf could officially say they liked each other, even loved each other. They visited each other whenever they could, they shared many lengthy heart-to-heart talks, Beowulf could tell Reid anything he wanted to know about his family and kingdom's history, and Reid could confide in Beowulf about the things that he couldn't confide quite as well in anyone else, including his aunt and uncle and the Windwillows. Beowulf was always a fantastic listener and usually had a sound piece of advice; even if the situation was far from resolved, Reid at least felt better for getting it off his chest, for having someone who truly understood and cared.

Sometimes they swam together, if the weather was nice enough for Reid to take an outdoor dip. Reid even started to give Beowulf simple but heartfelt gifts at Christmas and other holidays, while Beowulf started using "my boy" and "son" on a regular basis.

When Reid had a few children of his own, Beowulf was as overjoyed as anyone else would be about a grandchild or great-grandchild.

Sadly, Beowulf's old age finally caught up with him and he passed away, although it was no accident that Reid was the last person he spoke to as well as the one in his final thoughts. For all the hell Beowulf went through, Reid made his final years that much sweeter. Reid was that small but meaningful light in a world of solid darkness, and knowing his surrogate son would be all right gave Beowulf the motivation to let go at long last.

So, yeah, this song is an impeccable fit.