Author's note: During the year that I was in grade eleven my brother and I lived with my grandparents while our parents were doing post-graduate studies in New York. Our Gramma and Grampa would do anything to make us happy, including buying 30 boxes of chocolate-covered almonds so we wouldn't have to sell them door-to door for our school ! ....but the small town they lived in was BORING for teenagers. One thing that kept me sane that year was the music cassettes that our Dad would send, Scheherazade among them. I loved it so much, listened to it over and over. Such is the power of music. This week in a fit of nostalgia I began trying to learn the violin solos by ear, and this story grew out of that experience, practically writing itself.
I tend to make Azuma less wicked. Sorry if that takes the edge off his character. I may change my mind in future stories. And I can't help but want Kahoko to be more confident and wise. My apologies for making the two of them a bit OOC.
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Scheherazade
She was practicing some new music in secret. A couple weeks ago she borrowed some CDs from the library, among them the Scheherazade symphonic suite. There was no call for her to learn orchestra music and certainly Tsukimori-kun would scold her for taking time away from her regular practice, but she was completely enthralled by the romantic violin solos that permeated the piece.
The composition was based on the story of a king who had been jilted and in his anguish decided to take revenge on all of the female sex. Every night he would take a different woman to bed and in the morning he would have her put to death. 'Scheherazade' was an educated young woman who subsequently fell under his power. She saved herself by telling him a fascinating story which she purposely left unfinished, so the king let her live another day in order to hear the rest of her tale. She did finish it the next night, but also began a new one that was even more compelling. She left that story incomplete, and so the nights continued with the king hanging on her every word. Her fables contained much wisdom, and through them the king learned compassion. Finally he asked Scheherazade to be his wife and they lived happily ever after.
Kahoko was learning the violin solos and some of the more romantic melodies that the orchestra played. The story and the music began to remind her of her relationship with the long-haired boy that she was falling in love with. Certainly Azuma treated her as his possession and while she yearned for more freedom than he was ready to give, she found herself wanting to belong to him…….and him to her.
As she covertly learned the notes at home, she looked forward to a day when she would play for him. It would be her confession, since she was too shy to speak to him of her feelings. She would play her heart out to him instead. Either he would understand what she was trying to convey, or he wouldn't. Regardless of the outcome, she felt that playing for him was something she had to do.
One fair day she went to the roof to practice and interrupted him playing flute. Not surprisingly, he was at her side before she could make an exit (not that she planning to this time.) "Have you come to practice, or to see me?" His eyes twinkled as he swept a hand across her cheek and through her hair.
She was ready for him and looked into his beautiful eyes. "I'm glad you're here. I've been wanting to play something for you. Do you have time now?"
He was intrigued. There was something different about her today. "Of course." He walked to the railing and leaned back against it, waiting.
As she unpacked her violin and tuned it, she marveled at how peaceful she felt. For once she wasn't worrying about what to say because she would have her violin do the talking. She would let her feelings flow freely and that would be enough for now. Let him make of it what he would.
She stood across from the handsome young man and smiled contentedly. Positioning her third finger on a high E, she began playing the beautiful bittersweet violin theme that represented the woman in the story. It was easy to play well, such was the synergy between her overflowing heart and the power of the music itself. She was letting go, allowing feelings and sound to pour through her.
Azuma's eyes widened at the sheer beauty of her. The moment she drew the first bow, he was captivated by the power of her violin. There was something intangible but persuasive in her aura that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Kahoko soared with the high notes, played with robust passion in the low passages, and in good time let the last notes of Scheherazade's first theme die away. With a new bow stroke she gave birth to the next musical tale. This was the heroine's fable of young love, entitled The Young Prince and Princess. As the red-haired violinist settled into the sweet melody she found herself falling under its spell. Smiling in sweet bliss, her eyes searched for his and recognized something there that was genuine. She drifted to unfocus her gaze past his shoulder as she succumbed to the waves of sound that buffeted her body from side to side.
Of course he recognized the music, and knew the Scheherazade story well. He subconsciously drew a parallel between the legend and his own relationship with Kahoko, smiling in recognition of her choice. But what drew most of his attention was the elemental force surging through her, that was aimed directly at him. He felt it; it was exquisite, it was supreme, it was...Love... At least that's how it seemed to him. It was washing over and through him. He was suspended in its truth. Everything else was superfluous. He allowed himself to accept it and to be transformed.
The violinist returned to her original theme, wherein Scheherazade sings within her captor's cage, but her freedom is already at hand. As the heroine weaves her story, Kahoko changes her own fate. She allows the last note to fade, having begun in invincibility and dissolving into infinity. After the final note had completely vanished, her violin bow was still traveling silently through the air, floating gently down to her side. As she raised her head to meet his eyes, she felt that a weight had been lifted.
He gazed at her serene face in the quiet that followed. It felt wrong to break the stillness. He preferred to let the echo of her performance ring in his memory a while longer. He went to her in silence, took her violin and bow to lay them down, and drew her into his arms. He held her for a long time before finally asking quietly "Why did you want me to hear it, Kahoko?"
In the warm safety of his embrace, she let her heart speak. "As soon as I heard this music it embodied how I feel when I'm with you. I had to learn it, I had to play it for you……I love you, Azuma."
He held her face in his hands as he sought the truth he knew he would see in her eyes. It was there, and spoke his own truth.
"I love you too, Kahoko."
Their kiss was sweet and tender. Passion would be expressed later, but for now it was enough that they had finally found their place in each other's arms.
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Author's note:
Music: If you go to a certain popular video web site whose name begins with a Y, you can listen to the music. Just do a search for Scheherazade and less than a minute into the piece (the first movement) you'll hear a glorious violin solo (Scheherazade's theme). Then if you do a search for Scheherazade Young Prince and Princess, you can listen to that sweet melody.
I copied down some links here, but they ended up being truncated by the program. At least I tried to make things easy for you!
Enjoy!