Pianissimo, Fortissimo

Note: When I played Eternal Sonata, the only BL couple that actually stood out to me was Jazz and Crescendo. Another thing, Frederic's scenes might sound repetitive because I'm practicing writing in third person which is something I'm not used to. This will be a prequel to a story about Viola's reaction since she won't be mentioned in this story. There may be some OOC moments (my intention was to make Jazz have a gentler side after seeing so much bloodshed) and I used Crescendo's name in a different way. This would've had a change in rating (I'm sure you can figure it out), but my head hurts really bad and I'm sick, so I'm not going to add anything extra just yet. Anyway, Eternal Sonata and its characters belong to Tri-Crescendo (I don't own it). Oh, and before I forget... Warning: Shonen-ai fluff... Yeah, not much of a warning. Oh well.

"Prince Crescendo…Prince Crescendo, are you alright?"

The prince of Baroque snapped out of his reverie to face his heavily-concerned fiancée. With a strained expression, he insisted that he was alright as he stared at the snow globe near him. Snow…Christmas…Will he be visiting the castle this year? He thought with a sigh. Crescendo didn't want to admit it, but he truly missed Jazz more than the other friends he made a few months ago. Then again, that was simply the reason on the surface. The truth is that he wanted to be with the man he loved and not with the woman he was arranged to marry, yet still cared about to some extent. Unfortunately, relationships like this would only cause a scandal within the kingdom and in Jazz's new home of Andante. Not only that, but he also had Claves. They were the same in that way. Both of the people who are closest to them are spies, but they still keep them close. Crescendo knew that Jazz loves Claves, so he never bothered to cut in with his own feelings. If he was with Jazz, he would just be a nuisance. Here, in Baroque, he is a leader. He only needed to focus on his people and no one else. After awhile, slowly, but surely, Crescendo was starting to think otherwise.

Aware that her prince was preoccupied in his thoughts, Serenade quietly slipped out of the room and returned to her room for the night. Once the coast was clear, Frederic knocked on Crescendo's door to remind him of his late night piano lessons. The pianist chuckled under his breath at the sight of the prince's long moment of silence before he opened the door and the two of them walked to the ballroom. It was obvious to Frederic that Crescendo was thinking of something other than the piano because he was too distracted to greet him. This was a common occurrence that has been going on since the day he asked Frederic to teach him some simple songs for the piano. Because of this request, Frederic insisted that Polka visit Allegretto and Beat for Christmas while he pays the prince a friendly visit.

"Since your mind is so preoccupied, let's try a different piece than normal. Once you have the original down, why don't you reflect what you're thinking inside the piece?"

Frederic placed a music sheet with Op. 9 No. 2 in E-flat major written quickly, yet delicately on the page. Crescendo listened to Frederic play it first and was completely captivated by each and every note. It reminded him of Jazz in its entirety. The memories of an unrequited love, the day they split up, and the day he met Serenade flowed into his mind naturally. He knew then exactly how he was going to perform this. Not only that, but Crescendo decided to invite Jazz somehow, so that he can hear it too.

Frederic was amazed on how awkwardly Prince Crescendo was playing despite how serious he appeared. He insisted that the prince should relax and try playing the notes as he heard them like what happened in the Xylophone Tower of the Shining Keys. He received a short nod as Crescendo held back his need to hurry and perfect the piece. After several tries, Crescendo was finally able to say that he sort of finished performing. Frederic hinted that it would be easier to present his accomplishment to Jazz as himself and not someone else causing the blonde's face to flush bright red.

"How did you know I was going to play this for Jazz? I never mentioned his name ever since our journey was finished."

"I've seen the way you look at him. You don't need to say his name for me to know what you're thinking. Honestly, you're easier to read than myself. By the way, will he be visiting the castle this year?"

"I'm the same as you right now. I don't have a clue whether he'll decide to leave Andante even if it's merely to visit Baroque. There are people that need him there just like there are people who need me here."

"It's amazing how much you two are so much alike. Maybe you should try being more straight-forward and honest like Allegretto."

Both of them laughed softly before Frederic ended the lesson for the night and returned to him room. Crescendo did the same as well since he planned to sneak out of the kingdom to give Jazz his invite in person. Little did he know that Serenade knew everything that was going on in Crescendo's head as well, so she was already preparing a gift she knew he'd appreciate and love her a little bit for doing.

The light of morning brought in a special and extremely unexpected guest as Jazz walked into the castle with Serenade as his guide. Like she expected, Crescendo had to put in more effort than usual to hold back what he wanted to do right then. To maintain his image as the prince of Baroque, Crescendo put on a professional smile and urged Jazz to join Frederic, Serenade, and himself for breakfast. After a few minutes of eating and blizzard-like silence, Serenade excused herself to allow the two childhood friends to talk amongst themselves. Once she made her way to her room, she stood in front of the door hoping that she might be able to still stay by Crescendo's side after this all ends. Part of her wanted Jazz to choose Claves since she wanted to help her dear acquaintance and have Crescendo for herself and not for Forte, but she knew she couldn't do that to him. She betrayed him before, so this is her way of showing him that she was happy that Crescendo didn't push her away. She would even close off the ballroom for the three of them if it was for the person she loved.

"Crescendo, how are you holding up here? The war is over now, but I figured you may have some other things to take care of."

"I'm alright. Is that why you came to Baroque? To see how I was doing?"

"No, I actually came because Serenade sent me a letter to visit. She mentioned something about you needing to tell me something. I just assumed something might be wrong."

Crescendo had no idea what to say. He came all this way, so he needed to say something to answer Jazz. He owed him that. Out of the blue though, Frederic cut in and announced that it was time for the prince's Christmas performance. Crescendo took that as the signal to give Jazz his gift, so he stood up abruptly and hurried to the ballroom while Frederic urged Jazz to watch the performance in his place.

"Crescendo, what is going on? Is it part of your duty to play the piano?"

Based off the sound of his voice, Jazz sounded nervous when the melody began to fill the room. He read the message to the best of his ability and was seriously hoping that he was making a mistake like when he thought Falsetto was spy. I'm wrong. It must be a mistake. Someone will tell me the truth any time now, Jazz forced himself to think until the moment the music had come to end.

"Jazz, I've decided that I'm not going to ignore plain fact anymore. This has gone on long enough!"

Even though Jazz wanted to block out whatever Crescendo had to say, it was his duty to hear out his childhood friend. They never had many chances to talk nowadays, so this may be his only chance before he needs to return to his home in Andante. As expected, the words Jazz did not want to hear the most left Crescendo's lips. Crescendo wanted him to stay here in Baroque and operate Andante from the city as a separate base. He wanted him to stay by his side, although the dark-haired swordsman may have misheard him, which also could be interpreted as Crescendo loving him.

"Did you know that Claves left? Even Falsetto disappeared for the second time."

Crescendo was at a loss for words as Jazz explained to him that the two girls found out who was on his mind every day since Claves was revived and they returned to their usual lives. Jazz didn't want to destroy this reality. He wanted to keep things the way they are, and at the same time, he wanted to change the relationship he had with Crescendo. It was a mistake for him to ignore the signs. Both of them were trying to keep their lives from breaking. Neither of them wanted to tape back the pieces and pretend as if nothing happened.

Out of nowhere, Falsetto appeared and slapped both Jazz and Crescendo while Serenade and Claves stood behind her simply watching. Falsetto spoke for the three of them because although she was hurt that she couldn't win once again she had the most strength to fight against her pain and tell Jazz exactly what was on her mind. She forced Jazz to choose who he wanted to be with here and now. She assured him that she and Claves would deal with Andante if necessary and Serenade would do what she needed to do here. The final decision was to be made by Jazz and Jazz alone, so he simply smiled and gave in.

"I'll stay for now. I don't feel comfortable leaving Andante entirely, so I plan to go back as much as I can. Since it's Christmas, I might as well stay for today."

The three girls, as if they expected this result, only nodded and left the guys alone to catch up. Jazz, trying to wander off the path the girls had set for them, dragged Crescendo to his room, so that they can feel more at ease to start a conversation. Instead of talking however, Jazz chose to speak in actions rather than words. He pinned Crescendo down onto his bed and kissed him passionately as he allowed his secrets to be revealed after over twenty years. Crescendo couldn't help but chuckle, once Jazz pulled away, about Frederic's words when he was teaching him how to play the piano.

"Jazz, do you know what pp and ff in lowercase form stands for?"

"At a time like this, that's a very random question to ask. No, I don't know what it means. Do you mind telling me?"

"PP or pianissimo in lowercase form means very softly. Frederic says that it resembles us in the way that actions speak louder than words. He mentioned something about our words being too soft to be understood in our minds. I thought it was an insult at first, but I'm starting to understand now. FF or fortissimo in lowercase form means fortissimo which means very strongly. I thought that fortissimo suited you."

"And here I thought you disliked Forte."

Jazz couldn't help but agree to Crescendo's answer and chuckle at his own as he caressed part of Crescendo's hair before lying down on top of him. It was too early to go that far when they finally decided to accept the truth. Soon, just not now, the two of them would grow into a fortissimo, but until then, they will keep their relationship as pianissimo. Once they both were alright with how they resolve any internal conflicts, Jazz and Crescendo would no longer need to hide anymore.