I don't own Caius or Aro. If I did they would have been much better villains. They belong to Mrs. Meyer
A violin. That's what first caught Caius's attention. More accurately, the fact Aro had picked up the instrument for the first time in over a millennium. At one point it had been his joy, crafting music for his sister. After her death, the music, and his brother, had disappeared. The Aro he knew then, the Aro he'd fallen in love with, was not the one he knew now. He hid his thoughts by burying them, and prayed silently for the past. How he longed for the days hatred and rage had not been his sole companions!
As quietly as he could, he approached the small indoor garden his brother preferred. Listening intently with his mind caught on each note and how his brother spun them, Caius almost failed to note Marcus's presence next to him. They nodded to each other slightly, Marcus moving slightly away, allowing him a better view of Aro from their hiding place.
He barely stopped himself from gasping out loud. For the first time in God knew how long, Aro wasn't hiding his true form. Aro sat in the middle of the floor, one long leg propped up with his left arm resting gently against his knee, the other leg twisted underneath him. He'd tied his raven silk hair back into a knot, and Caius could see the way his ears had changed into their cat form, tips poking through the wisps that had escaped. Long, pale, elegant fingers switched strings as quickly as he drew the bow across them. Extraordinarily bright green irises flecked with two tone gray narrowed in concentration as his fingers turned into a blur over the bridge of the instrument. He had always been pale, but he seemed to glow under the moon. Caius couldn't see them, but he knew Aro's jewel tone wings were curled against his back, and his tail curled against the base of his spine.
The music became a living thing, curling through the fragrant night air, the air itself both completely still and vibrating with the crescendo of the song. A few more small strains, and all that was left was the echo.
"I'd nearly forgotten how well you play. Like magic almost." Caius spoke without thinking. "I've missed it." Aro stood, his mask snapping back into place. All signs Aro wasn't a decaying ancient overlord vanished. "Brother. I hadn't realized you were listening. Is there something you need?" Oh, how that hurt. He'd gone too long without seeing the side of Aro that understood him, understood everything. He hadn't realized just how long it had been until now.
Abruptly, he realized that he was sick of it. Sick of pining for someone who had disappeared centuries ago, sick of hiding his thoughts, sick of the pain he felt each time he looked at his brother. Seeing that the Aro he loved wasn't dead, just buried, had set off more than a few epiphanies. Their coven, hell, their world, was so messed up. And Aro could fix it. If, Caius thought, only if, he stopped blocking out the side of him they needed.
"I need you. The real you." Hey, now or never, right? Aro tilted his head. "What are you talking about brother? I'm right here." Caius gritted his teeth. "Stop it. Stop acting like you don't give a crap. Stop pushing us away, and I know you are because I know you. I know you better than anyone. I've watched you for god knows how many centuries, watched you build wall after wall of madness. Every day you sit on your throne and you hurt and you hide it until it gets to be to much. You drown yourself in madness and lies and every else's expectations. You aren't you and you haven't been for too long!"
"And if I do?" Aro was shaking. "If I do have walls after walls just to keep people out? If I do drown in others heads so I don't have to think? How much could you possibly care? Everything I love, everything I've ever truly cared about always withers and dies. And If they don't die, all semblance of who they were disappears. I'm never allowed anything good, not for long. So tell me, why shouldn't I want to disappear? Why shouldn't I want madness? At least madness doesn't hurt. At least there is some peace in it." His voice cracked halfway through the last sentence.
"Aro." Marcus walked to their brothers side. He stiffened, stepping away. Marcus grabbed his wrist. "No. Just listen. Please." Aro nodded once. "Do you remember how we met? I was about to jump into a pyre I had built." He looked at Caius. "My mate, a woman named Doriana, had been murdered by a nomad who was angry she turned down his advances. I killed the nomad, and built the pyre, intending to join her. Aro was hunting at the time, and found me. He took my hand and pulled me away from the flames. I was to miserable to ask why. Instead, I asked he kill me, to spare me the pain of living without the one I loved." He looked at Aro. "Do you remember your answer? '"If each bit of pain you feel was smaller than the sum of the happiness you had, would you still die, and allow the only memory of your mate to die with you?"' I had to think about it at that point." Marcus shook his head. "Take your own advice for once. Don't allow your misery to overshadow who you are. Because you aren't the only one hurting over this."
Caius took Aro's hand, showing him every hidden thought, every last musing and regret. He forced his brother to see the longing in his heart, the pain and sadness that was fueled by his bitterness. He looked at his brother. "I miss you. The real you. The you I could spend hours talking to and feel normal after. The you who always knew how to help, even when you didn't. You, Aro, not what you pretend to be. Stop hiding behind all the masks, please Aro. Please. I miss you."
They were silent then, waiting for his response. The minutes passed, and Caius stepped back. He felt every bit of hope die. A glance at Marcus's face revealed a similar feeling. Without another word, Marcus turned and walked away. Caius waited a few more minutes, then turned to do the same. He only got a few steps before he felt Aro's hand close on his wrist.
"Wait. Please." He turned around. Aro had dropped the mask, his ears, wings and tail fully visible. His walls had shattered completely. He looked at Caius with what seemed to be a broken kind of hope. "You mean it? After everything I've done, you can still love me?" He ran the affirmation through his mind. The next thing he knew Aro was kissing him.
It was a soft, gentle kiss that relayed everything Aro had ever felt. He felt all the pain and brokenness that he associated with his brother, plus a new element: hope. When Aro pulled away, he realized Aro was crying. Gently, he wiped away the tears before pulling Aro into a hug. "I'm sorry. God, I'm sorry." Aro's voice cracked over the words, and Caius held him tighter. "Don't apologize. You don't ever need to apologize for this." Aro sniffled. "You won't leave, right? Not ever?" He was struck by how desperate his love sounded. "No. Not now, not for anything. Never." The watery smile Aro gave him made everything he'd felt worth it.
"I love you, Aro. I know you got that from my thoughts, but I do." The ebony haired vampire looked at him. "As I love you. I always have. I wanted to court you before Didyme died, and after she did I couldn't think of anything except how her death changed everything. I don't understand how you can love me still, but you do, and that's all I'll ever ask."
Aro picked up his violin and looked at Caius. "Do you still want to listen?" "Of course. Like I said, I've missed your playing." Aro put the violin into place over his shoulder and started to play. He sat down, pulling his brother next to him. Caius noticed just the smallest shift in the air, as Aro started to play. A small, genuine smile graced his face as the music wove itself into the air, notes trilling as he played a far happier song. Watching him, Caius felt certain the man he loved wasn't going to disappear behind the ruins of the mental and emotional walls ever again.