Warnings: Fluff/Sap, silent pining

Pairings : 4x3

Rating : PG-13

Special Note: All sentences contained in //back slashes// are strictly Trowa's thoughts.

Rhythm Divine

"I love music." said the violinist as a smile enhanced his attractive features.

After holding an impossibly long ending note, his accompanist opened his eyes. Seeing the dreamy expression on his partner's façade, the flutist found himself cracking a rare grin of his own. It was times like these that made life worth living for the Latin, when he was able to witness pleasure on his friend's face. He treasured how the blond was still capable of retaining his innocence, how he could become so sweet and child-like in appearance when the tall adolescent knew that the boy had a treacherous past.

//Quatre has always been like that, though. Kind instead of selfish, and loving instead of hateful…the list goes on and on. And people have the nerve to refer to me as an enigma…the real mystery lies in how he turned out to be so altruistic.//

Right now, the sapphire-eyed teenager seemed to be off in his own little world. With the Arabian's instrument poised beneath his chin and his matching bow gliding across the mahogany hilt, Trowa felt as if the strings of his own heart were being plucked in tune with the music being created. Before he became too enchanted with the solo, the unibanged boy placed his flute into position to get ready to come in on his cue. When the platinum-haired teen hit the climax of the song, his friend joined in, and together the musicians produced a melody that no god or goddess could improve on. Both teenagers became locked in their own separate dimension where not even the cruel hand of time could intrude on them. This pure, uninterrupted moment would be forever sealed in their minds, sheltered in the depths of their souls where no one could ever take it away.

//I think I've been put under a spell…//thought Trowa, captivated by the music being played. //only a magician would have the power to make me feel so brilliantly alive--so happy--that I forget about trying to obtain a ridiculous level of perfection and be myself. For once I can be a kid, and not be forced to be a miniature adult.//

"You look so content." Quatre observed, setting his bow on the music stand in front of him.

Drawing himself out of his reverie, the Latin glanced up from his composition to gaze into gentle cerulean orbs. He tapped his flute, indicating that the next couple of measures were rests.

"You have good eyes." replied the emerald-eyed teenager, still counting.

Raising a contradictory brow, the blond answered, "If my eyes are so great, then why do you keep sneaking peeks at everything else besides my eyes, hm?"

At this point, Trowa could almost swear that the violinist's smirk was flirtatious. Turning his staff paper over, the unibanged boy used solfage to learn the rest of his part. Awkward ripples went down his spine, for he could feel the platinum-haired boy watching him.

Finally, the dark-haired adolescent responded, "Because everything else attatched to you is good, too."

//This is it, he's going to turn the shade of his blouse.// laughed the Latin softly, imagining a bright flush of pink spreading across the blond's cheeks. //My little blushing beauty…//

Stopping at the interval he was at, the emerald-eyed boy looked over at the sapphire-eyed teen. Upon doing so, Trowa was greeted by the sight of the platinum-haired adolescent grinning, his blue eyes sparkling impishly.

//Okay, this wasn't the reaction I was expecting…and what the hell is up with that weird smirk on his mouth?//the Latin though, his expression reflecting obvious confusion.

"What's with the odd face?" inquired the blond, staring at his accompanist with amusement.

"Um, nothing, nothing at all…it's just that-"

"Just what?" .

//It's just that I'm about to go insane from that breathy, silky tone of yours, you pretty prince of a tease…//

Shifting nervously in his seat, Trowa let his attention return to his composition. Beautiful woodwind music echoed throughout the practice room once more.

//Yeah, right…like I'm really going to break down and tell him that, for at least two years now, I've had this mad infatuation with him. I'm sure he'd really enjoy his best friend coming on to him like that.//

Sadly, the unibanged boy shook his head.

Narrowing his eyes, the Arabian studied his friend's strange immediate silence. Placing his instrument upright against his chair, the platinum-haired boy walked in the direction of the emerald-eyed teenager. Trying not to notice who was beside him, the Latin kept his façade buried in his music.

"Is everything all right?" asked the sapphire-eyed adolescent, stopping only centimeters in back of the flutist.

"Uh, sure. Everything's fine." mumbled the emerald-eyed boy, continuing to ignore the proximity between Quatre and himself.

Flashing his partner a quick grin, the Latin focused on his present task.

//He's not going to buy that. I wouldn't even buy that lousy reassurance.//

Delicate fingertips traced the rigid contours of his shoulders. Shivering slightly, the dark-haired teenager's pulse rose to an unmanageable amount. While attempting to re-cross his legs, the unibanged boy felt the aching pressure of his anatomy. All he could do now was sit tight and hope Quatre didn't spot his growing erection.

//Damn, I'm so transparent!//cursed the emerald-eyed boy, becoming flustered.//I've always been able to cover up my emotions…why am I betraying them now?!//

"What are you doing?" asked the sapphire-eyed teenager, puzzled by the Latin's peculiar mood.

"I don't know…I really don't…" admitted Trowa, wanting the interrogation to be over. "I thought I knew, but-"

"But you don't." finished the blond, giving his acquaintance a sympathetic look.

Twirling a lock of fine dark umber tresses, the platinum-haired adolescent read his friend's melodic dictation. Muttering something inaudible, he scratched his lower jaw and set his lips in a flat line. Trowa recognized this pose-this was the posture Quatre assumed when he was contemplating something. What was going through the blonde's head was a total mystery to the Latin; however, he was thankful he didn't know.

//He's on to me.// realized the dark-haired boy, his anxiety rising.//Quatre probably knew all along that I felt this way about him. Now he's thinking about a nice way to tell me off.//

Moving his mouth, the platinum-haired teenager began to speak. Fearing the worst possible situation, the emerald-eyed adolescent shut his eyes and fingered his instrument faster. Out of all the terrible things that had happened in his life, the unibanged boy wouldn't be able to bring himself to cope with whatever damaging language was going to be told to him.

//I just hope he doesn't want to kill me or anything, because I want to be the one who does that to myself after he gets done swearing at me.//

"Trowa?" the blond said quietly, still holding one of his accompanist's fringed bangs.

"Yes?" came the robotic reply, devoid of any feeling.

"There's something I have to say, and…"

Cutting himself off, the platinum-haired teenager tried to gaze into the emerald-eyed boy's features, but found even that much was difficult to accomplish. Sighing deeply, he stroked the long column of the Latin's neck. Switching his weight to his other foot, the sapphire-eyed teenager went on.

"There's just something I have to tell you," the Arabian reiterated, his expression wilting a bit, "and I'm not exactly sure how to tell you."

//Great, here it comes.//thought the dark-haired adolescent miserably, chewing on his bottom lip to keep from crying.//I guess that a true love for me just wasn't meant to be.//

Swallowing hard, Trowa prepared himself for a brutal tongue beating.

"I--I--"

Unable to complete his statement, the platinum-haired teenager let himself stare at the song mounted on the music stand.

Bowing his head, the Latin said, "It's all right, I understand. Let's not make this any harder on ourselves than it should be."

Nodding quietly, the Arabian raised his eyes to meet his friend's melancholy gaze.

"Thank-you, Trowa, I just knew you'd understand." Quatre replied, offering his partner a sad smile. "Sometimes things in life can get very demanding , though."

"Yeah," agreed the green-eyed boy, close to tears, "life just isn't fair."

"But after you make enough errors in your existence, you can learn from them." pointed out the blond, toying with another piece of his comrade's bangs.

With that said, the sapphire-eyed adolescent came out from behind the flutist. Picking up the copied staff paper, he signed some of the measures. Surprised about how cool the blond was acting, the Latin sat back and watched the Arabian become engrossed in the simple solfage. When a lengthy period of silence passed, the platinum-haired boy gave his accompanist a bizarre glance.

"Can you tell me what the next four measures are?" asked the blond, handing the music to his friend.

"Why do I need to do that?" inquired Trowa, matching Quatre's look of puzzlement. "I know this song by heart!"

Drumming his fingers on the music stand, the sapphire-eyed teenager considered the words spoken to him. Knitting his brow together in bewilderment, the blond asked, "Then why have you been playing notes on the soprano line?"

"Huh?"

"You've been playing the soprano part the whole time we've been rehearsing, Trowa."

"No, I haven't--"

"Yes, you have!" interrupted the platinum-haired boy, pointing at the alto line. "You're supposed to be playing this on the grand staff!"

All of a sudden, everything fell into place and made sense.

//That's what he was trying to do all along. He was informing me of how badly I was screwing up the two-part harmony, not letting me down easily about not acquiring a relationship with him.//

"Oh, gods, I'm so sorry, Quatre!" Trowa apologized as an intense rush of blood heated his visage.

//I am such an idiot.//

"I didn't even realize what I was doing at the time." the dark-haired adolescent said, hiding his face with his music.

//Excuses, excuses…//

Tender hands stroked the Latin's, and pale fingers intertwined themselves with bronze ones.

"You may not have known what you were accomplishing then…but I did." confessed the blond in a barely perceptible voice.

Lowering the concealing staff sheets, the emerald-eyed adolescent peered into shimmering azure eyes.

//With those large watery blue eyes, he looks like he's going to cry…//

Little did the unibanged boy know that he was near tears himself. Swallowing back the constricting knot in his throat, he found that he was unable to break away from the sapphire-eyed teenager's passionate gaze. Still, the Latin could not believe the connotation in his friend's sentence.

//Quatre deserves so much better than me, so I know he's not hitting on me…is he?//

"I know that this all seems so sudden and outrageous," continued the Arabian, his tone becoming more and more broken, "but I can't deny the feelings I have for you anymore. It's just absolute murder having recitals and auditions with you in the day and to have to say good-bye and go home without you when nightfall comes."

Placing himself on Trowa's lap, the platinum-haired teenager took his hands from his partner's grasp and situated them around his façade.

"And that's one phrase I never want to tell you, Trowa…I never want to say good-bye. Not now, not ever."

At this point, the blonde's visage was only inches away from the dark-haired boy's. They could feel each other's warm breath caressing their cheeks, a wonderful sensation that made them wish they would have told one another how they felt sooner. Clearing his throat, the platinum-haired teenager pushed himself to make his final statement.

"I--I love you. I love you, Nanashi…and can't think of anything else to express how I feel."

A single tear slid down his face, emphasizing the depth of his words.

Brushing the crystallized drop off with a flick of his finger, the Latin replied, "You don't have to think of anything else to express how you feel…you've done that well enough."

"You mean you-"

"Feel the same way." finished the unibanged boy, a subtle smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "I've been meaning to tell you, but I could never get past my profound fear of rejection."

Widening his eyes to an unimaginable extent, the Arabian was struck speechless.

"So, the last few years have been pure hell, as you can guess-"

"You thought I was going to reject you?" Quatre blurted out, amazed by what he was hearing.

"Well, I didn't know that you wouldn't." Trowa answered sheepishly, shrugging.

"Ah, that doesn't matter now." Quatre stated, waving his friend's reflection off. "All that matters is that you love me, and I love you."

In an instant of pure joy, the two teenagers threw their arms around each other, desperate to embrace one another after wandering the Earth for so long alone. The rhythm by which the song that they rehearsed to was exquisite, but could not even be compared to the magnificent melody that their spirits played when they were together. This was a rhythm divine that only their hearts and souls could compose into art, an everlasting masterpiece that could never be duplicated nor stolen. And that is, in an essence, what love is: unspoken poetry that rests between the notes of melodic dictation.

~Owari

-Aftermath Chat-

Quatre: Yaaaaaaaay! Happy ending! *cheers wildly*

Trowa: I'm just glad I could finally tell you how I feel. *smiles*

Duo: And we all know what's gonna happen next!

Quatre & Trowa: (in unison) Shut-up, you damn hentai!!

Duo: Wha-- everyone knows what you two are thinking about by now! It's like you said, Q-chan, "I can't deny these feelings I have for you any longer…"

Quatre: I meant that in a romantic way, you baka!

Trowa: Huh? You did? *sounds disappointed*

Quatre: Of course I did, Nani…we have plenty of time to work up to intimate encounters!

Trowa: *looks worried* Um, we do?

Quatre: *smiles sweetly* Yes, you know that much! After all, we don't want to be like those sex-driven couples who have hot, passionate sex on the first date.

Trowa: *grumbles* Yeah, who'd want to be like that?

Duo: *shouts* Me an' Hee-chan!! Me an' Hee-chan! *stops and thinks for a moment* Wait a sec…we already were like that when we met each other! Ah, well, I'm not complainin'! It's all good for us!

Quatre: Anyhoo, do you want to end up like Duo and Heero? You want more than reckless lovemaking in a relationship, right?

Trowa: You're right. I'd rather have depth in our lives than just senseless screwing.

Duo: *starts snickering* Man, you are such a freakin' liar!!

Quatre: Duo, just because you are a sex-obsessed maniac doesn't mean Trowa is, too. *cuddles with Trowa* Isn't that true, my Nani-chan?

Trowa: Uh-huh, it is.

Duo: *whispers to Trowa* Dude, you give new meaning to the phrase, 'lying through your teeth!"

Trowa: Oh, be quiet! He just wants to take things slow, that's all. Nothing wrong with that, is there?

Duo: Not unless ya don't mind not gettin' any until after you guys marry…that's one "divine rhythm" you're gonna be missin' out on for a while. *laughs out loud*