"Woah! Look, they've got heaps of stuff here!" Natsu practically bombarded into the room, his eyes flicking back from the previous room they had visited.
This one however, was a large room, simply filled with only one item. A large and beautiful, black grand piano.
Lucy took her time, she was in no rush; she wasn't exactly a fan of this particular musical instrument and she wasn't entirely sure why Natsu was either. Music was something quite surpassed in Magnolia, it was a town focused on magic and there were barely any mages that used music unless you were Mirajane or Gajeel. Or perhaps that was just to her own evaluation… for she did not like pianos, keyboards, or anything with keys- at least… not the musical kind.
"This is the best one I've seen, it's massive…" Natsu said, prodding at the piano keys, an abundance of semi-tones and clashes between his random notes.
Lucy frowned a little, dragging herself over by Natsu, who stood over the piano in a lanky manner. She decided to settle herself down on the wooden bench; and he pulled his fingers away, a sudden fascination on his face.
"There's something so cold about piano music..."
"Cold?"
"Yeah... It... Reminds me of everything... Mom.. And..."
"Music can't be cold! It's something you listen to."
"I know, but it's not how I mean... We had a piano in our old house..."
"That's awesome!"
"Mh..." Her fingers slid over the keys, a melancholic sound as her fingers dodged tones, it gradually descending in notes. "There was a song..." She pressed down a simple chord, the notes ringing in the quiet room, but the sounds bouncing around. "My mom used to play it every time she lay eyes on the piano..."
She felt Natsu move around now, the bench vibrating as he knocked his knee on it in order to settle himself beside her. She knew he was watching her and not the keys, but he listened to the melody playing gently beneath her fingers.
"It's an easy song… I can't remember the name of it…" Her fingers began to push down on an array of keys, a sorrowful melody plain as she hit both flats and sharps, along with the white keys; her dynamic bouncing from high to low as she began to pick up her finger pace.
It had been years… years since she had touched the piano after so many boring classes as a child. And it certainly had been a long time since she had played the song, she'd never played it after her mother's funeral, after all it had been the song they had played while carrying her out of the church.
She could feel Natsu watch her with those big eyes, amazing by her movement and eloquence as she tapped away to create the tune, but inside, all Lucy felt was heart ache and she finally slowed to a stop midsong.
"It makes me sad… this song…"
"That's cuz you're playing sad notes."
She glanced up at the dragon slayer, raising a brow.
"Do you even know anything about music? I'm playing it right."
"I'm sure you are."
"Then it's not my fault."
He shuffled her up a little.
"Eh. Play it again." He nodded, glancing to the keys once more.
"Again? Why?" She frowned a little, not wanting to replay the nostalgic song.
"Just do it."
She furrowed her eye brows down, but placed her left hand back on bass, it ready for the chord, that melancholic D#, and her right hand beginning to push down on notes.
Once again she converted into the abyss of the sounds, her memories flooding back of her mother in the lounge, all of them gathering around the piano to listen…
But this time… something new began. A higher note, a counter melody bumping down in a majestic yet playful manner. The notes felt like sunshine and she felt her eyes swing open.
It felt impossible, this song was a Minor Scale, yet there was Natsu shoving in Major scale notes, enlightening the tune- changing it. And soon enough she felt her hands slipping, moving to softer, happier chords; her notes downgrading to simply white notes.
The melody was the same, but some how Natsu had altered it, turned it into something new and happier; no longer cold… it was warm.
She practically yanked her hands away from the keys and shot a surprised look the dragon slayer's way.
"I didn't know you could play…"
All he did was grin at that, letting go of the piano himself.
"Neither did I."