FONDANT
"The French word for dark or pure chocolate"

Len really should have been focusing on the sheet music for Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World"), seeing as he was invited by the Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra to serve as their concertmaster for a one night performance later on in the month - a celebration for the coming of Spring, they had told him. Sadly, his golden eyes saw the notes as jumbled ink blots rather than music. He was too distracted, too - what was the word - unnerved. How long had it been, now? This would be his first time back from Vienna, after all those months.

Sitting on the comfy leather seat within the private jet made him restless. He fumbled with his fingers, outstretched his legs only to pull them back in again, yawned, checked the time, looked out the window - all this accomplished within a span of ten minutes. And the flight wouldn't be landing in Narita Airport for another couple of hours, just his luck.

"Why don't you get some sleep, Mr. Tsukimori?" Suggested the one flight attendant that tended to his needs. "I think you're safe from jet lag at this point, and you look like you need it." She offered him one of those FA smiles. The ones that are too wide, too welcoming, and too kind that made you feel uncomfortable. Len doubted that the suggestion was sincere, if anything, the lady was probably tired and getting annoyed of his unease. He merely nodded at her words, but she had already shoved a pillow and blanket into his arms. The bluenette made sure to take a mental note to get the attendant's name. Just to make sure that she was never on the same flight as him again.

"I'll send a message to the Captain to try and lessen the turbulence." And she was off, dimming the cabin lights as she exited. Len huffed. How rude.

Now, normally, Len would have been stubborn about this. He wouldn't have relented to the she-demon's wishes and would have gone back to figuring out a way to perfect "From the New World" (or at least trying to) just to piss her off further. But he was tired and hadn't had a decent night's sleep in quite a well. Just the day before, when he had left Vienna, he had just finished a performance. The idea of a nap wasn't so bad, in fact, it sounded rather heavenly. But he wasn't doing this because the flight attendant said. He wasn't.

He couldn't believe that he was doing this for her, let alone that she had been the one to talk him into it. Damn her and her hard to resist smiles and pouts. Stuff like that should have been made illegal, marked equally as dangerous as nuclear weapons. Hino Kahoko's smile had the power to make you bend to her will like charm speak, and her hazel gaze had the ability to churn you on the inside until you couldn't help but relent because you just couldn't bare dampening her spirits. Damn her. Damn her and the affect she had on him.

The loud squeals of children invaded his auditory system the moment he turned the corner, faint at first but made more obvious by it the progression of its volume as he approached. Soon enough, the sound of Kahoko's melodic voice joined in, giggling as the young kids around her played around with the instruments that they held in their hands. Len actually find it quite hard to bite back a smile. The redhead always was a natural when it came to children, whether it be their own or those of others - to her it didn't really make a difference. And kids got attached to her pretty easily too. He kind demeanour, light tone, and optimistic personality had them all thinking she was a surrogate older sister rather than their music teacher - violin coach to be specific.

"Daddy!" One of the children shouted, having turned around and caught sight of him. It was a little girl, the spitting image of Kahoko but with his colouring. The golden orbs, the light blue hair, the pale complexion, everything. "Daddy, you made it!" The little girl managed to shout, running straight into his waiting arms. Len didn't even realised that he had bent down to catch her.

Without warning, a familiar weight suddenly settled on his back. Turning slightly to the side, he was greeted with his own younger, sleepy-looking, self - well, if he had red hair and brown eyes. He looked just about ready to pass out, clutching onto Len's button up for dear life. "Piggy back, Daddy." He let out. "M'sleepy." The little boy added, earning a pout and groan from his sister who was beginning to poke him on the cheek. Len's young son only grunted in response, snuggling up further into Len's warmth. The violinist hoped that the boy wouldn't drool on him. He didn't have a spare one to use.

"Kaede, Ken, don't you think that its unfair to hog Daddy all to yourself?" This time it was Kahoko's voice that resounded. "After all, the other kids want to meet him too."

He picked up both Kaede and Ken, with the little girl still poking her fraternal twin brother's cheek every now and then to keep him awake. Kahoko quickly took the little boy away, giving her daughter a scolding look that told her to let Ken nap in peace. Kaede pouted, but didn't fight back. "How exactly do you plan to have me help out around here? Why was Kaji not here in the first place?" Len ended up questioning, following Kahoko into the house-like building that stood in the center of a playground. He watched as she layed Ken down on one of the mats, covering him with a blanket and securing a pillow under his head before turning around to offer him one of her smiles. She pecked his cheek too, still offering him no answers.

"Aoi's on a date." Kahoko answered, shocking Len quite a bit. Since when did the viola player go out on dates? "And no, I have no idea who it is."

"Why me, though?" Len egged on, adjusting Kaede (who had gotten rather antsy and was fiddling with his ascot) in his arms. "You know I don't do well around…kids."

"Daddy, it's bad to lie." Kaede suddenly butt in. Kahoko actually had to stop a laugh at their daughter's words. "You play with me and Ken, you tell us bedtime stories, and you play us really, really pretty songs that make us see the ocean! You're a good Daddy!" Len would have said something along the lines of how being a Daddy was quite different than being a babysitter-slash-music teacher, but he doubted that Kaede's five-year-old mind would comprehend that. Kahoko did tell him that the younger girl idolised him too much. Put him on a pedestal so high that no one else - ("Not even me, and I brought her into this world!" Kahoko had shouted) - would probably be able to compete with him. Ken did too, but his hero worship was pretty tamed compared to his sister's.

"Listen to your daughter, Len." Kahoko replied, still holding back giggles. "It's bad to lie, after all."

He glared at her, practically daring her to release her laughter, but she held it in rather well. She even managed to form an apologetic smile, approaching and taking Kaede from him - ("No, Mommy! No! Daddy's tie still looks funny!") - to set her down onto the floor. "Go play with the kids first. Mommy and Daddy have to talk." The little girl didn't seem pleased, but she did as her mother told her and ran outside to the playground where other rambunctious rugrats were running around and playing tag. Len and Kahoko smiled rather fondly. Kaede and Ken were growing up too fast for their liking.

"I wanted to teach the kids 'Ave Maria' today." Kahoko began, talking low enough to make sure Ken wouldn't wake. "But then Kaede and Ken got a bit too excited and started telling them stories about how well we both performed it for their fourth birthday and…well…basically they begged that we do it for them too. You don't have to stay for the lesson, but could you please play the song with me? It would mean a lot to the kids too."

Len blushed.

Last year, when Kaede and Ken had turned four they had a simple enough request for a birthday gift. They had asked for violins. Len and Kahoko were ecstatic of course, already agreeing before the two kids could explain their sudden interest in taking it up - (could one call it sudden when both parents played?) - and learning how to play. Len's father Jun was twice as happy as everyone else, taking his grandkids on a field trip to his favourite craftsman to have customised violins made for the twins, just as he had done for his son. It was safe to say that both Kahoko and Len weren't that thrilled to hear that he had bought the violins for them - ("Okay, you have to understand that as a doting grandfather, I have obligations!") - but the smiles on their children's face made up for the lost experience.

When their birthdays had arrived, two violin cases were presented to them. A deep blue for Kaede, and a rich red for Ken. They didn't care much for the cake Kahoko had baked or the presents that everyone else had gotten, and instead focused their energy into pestering their parents to allowing them to open the cases already. Len had to force the sternness in his voice whenever he responded, especially since it was endearing to see them both so excited for their violins. Had he ever been that excited to receive his first one?

Even during their birthday dinner, the kids hadn't relented.

"Mommy, please! Please! Please!" Kaede had chanted from beside her mother, Ken doing the same to Len from the chair near his. Misa and Jun were amused during the entire ordeal, but took enough pity on their son and daughter-in-law to distract the twins. Everyone joined in too, allowing Kahoko and Len to enjoy their food in peace for a few moments at least.

What songs are you excited to learn?" Asked Jun. "Any particular ones standing out?"

"Hmm…" Kaede and Ken mused both faces lighting up at different pieces of music. They spoke at the same time, describing songs that they didn't know the title to. Words such as: "The one that I heard on the CD player the other time, I think grandpa played it in one of his concerts!" and "What was the one Mommy and Daddy played in grandma's birthday concert? I can't remember!" spewed from their hyperactive mouths, both Misa and Jun laughing as Kahoko's family watched on in amazement. It was Kahoko's brother, however, that stopped the debacle.

"One at a time, kiddos!" He called out. "We can't follow!"

"The one that was playing in the house the other day! Mommy was cooking and humming along to it, and then she was swaying too! Mommy, Mommy! What song was that?" Ken shouted, allowing no rest for the mother of two. Len noticed that she had just shoved pasta into her mouth as well. Apparently, the piece had Autumn by Antonio Vivaldi. Kaede's choice, on the other hand, had been different. Excitedly shouting that she had wanted to play the piece that Kahoko had shown her Len was playing through a video. If Len remembered correctly, it had been the Polanaise Brillante.

"How about the Ave Maria?" Kahoko's sister had interjected. "That's your parents favourite song!"

Of course that lead to a request to play, and that then lead to his current situation now.

Len looked into Kahoko's expectant and excited eyes, and sighed. Really, he was long gone and the answer had been finalised the moment she had asked the question. He didn't even have to think about it, because as stated earlier, it was unfair that she had magic powers over him. "Alri -"

"Mr. Tsukimori? Mr. Tsukimori?" He was being shaken awake, and Len just wanted to clutch onto the remnants of his dream that he responded with an uncharacteristic 'humph'. "Mr. Tsukimori, kindly wake up. We've arrived at your destination." Well, okay, maybe that was worth waking up for.

His eyes fluttered open, the face of a slightly annoyed flight attendant greeting him once his vision cleared. "We've just landed." She states, fixing her posture and stepping a couple of steps away from him. Len doesn't do much except nod in understanding, stretching his legs before abruptly standing to take his hand carry from the luggage container.

It was the typical process of saying thank you and fighting back sleep, but soon enough he was standing in front of immigration with his Japanese passport in hand. After answering a couple of questions, he was free to claim what luggage had been checked in and leave the airport to do as he pleased. Len was thankful that his parents had listened and hadn't sent a chauffeur to pick him up from the airport. The bluenette couldn't stand the attention, probably explaining why he had a pair of dark sunglasses over his golden orbs and a hat over his hair. He was wearing a scarf as well, covering half his face with the knit material. It was a good thing that March was still rather chilly, with Spring just barely approaching.

Though he didn't spend much time at the carrousel, Len did stop by the duty free store to grab a quick gift. He felt bad, but he had no other option seeing as he wasn't really expecting to be home by this point in time. The bluenette just hope that his presence was enough to make up for the crappy gift.

Once he was in the cab, he gave the cabby his desired destination and was thankful that older man knew where it was. He was in dire need of a nap…again.

Of course, this had nothing to do with the dream he had been having previously.

Not. One. Bit.

One would think that family day in the Tsukimori Household would be spent locked up in practice rooms and playing away at their violins without stop. One would be right, but during family day, Kahoko made sure that they only used one practice room together (much to Len's displeasure seeing as on some days he really did need to practice alone) and played pieces that everyone would enjoy. None of Len's intense and precise pieces that the kids wished they could play by couldn't quite yet, and none of the overly sad pieces that Kahoko had been guilty of listening to as well. Family day for the Hino-Tsukimori family, for the most part, was just about bonding through music and getting to know each other further through listening and not speaking.

They did speak on occasion though, especially when either Kaede or Ken began to get hungry. Just like at this very moment.

His daughter's ivory violin was returned immediately into its blue case the moment Kahoko walked in with sandwiches. Ken followed suit, his ebony instrument forgotten on top of the piano due to his stomach's quest for food. Len sighed before putting away his son's violin and better positioning Kaede's. The blue case looked like it was about to fall off of the chair it had been placed on. After making sure that all the instruments were kept (his golden violin and Kahoko's rich brown one included), he made his way towards his family to join them.

It was peanut butter and jelly today, with the crust cut off - (an odd quirk in the family had bee that they never liked bread crust) - partnered with orange juice. Len wondered when he'd become so domesticated. PB&J sandwiches and child safe furniture and living space. Ten years ago, he would have scoffed at the thought that he would be married, let alone with twin rascals that refused to leave him be - in a good way of course and said with all the loge a doting father could muster. Or…well…as much as Tsukimori Len could muster.

"I wanna play Canon next!" Shouted Kaede. "Like Mom in that video! The one where she was wearing a pink dress!"

Len twitched and Kahoko blushed. It seemed that their friends (*cough* Nami *cough*) had been showing their kids videos from the conquer again. It's not the parents minded, mind you, it's just that they wanted their children to find their own music rather than imitate their own. Len especially didn't want his children hearing how different he had sounded before. The same precision, the same intensity, the same focus, but the lack of passion was made obvious by how his performances fell flat despite his amazing sound. Kahoko would disagree as always though. Saying something akin to: "Your Ave Maria inspired me to play! How can you say that about yourself?" or the like. Whatever the case, NO. Len did not approve of this secret video leaking.

"No, no!" Countered Ken. "Let's do Rhapsody in Blue! Let's do something different!"

Both parents raised a brow at their son's request. While Kaede had seemed to take more of an interest in classical music (her taste being a mix of Len's and Kahoko's), Ken had decided to venture out more. He was just turning ten and already he had requested to play pieces such as Rhapsody in Blue. Len swore that he once passed by the twins' shared bedroom and heard Ken playing a pop song on the violin. Classical music was something he enjoyed thoroughly, and played as well, but his equal love of current music and mixing that with his passion for violin was something both parents were catching up on. It helped that Kaede was quite vocal about her complaints about Ken's musical covers - stating that "It takes him so long to find the right note! It's annoying!"

"Canon!" Kaede rebuffed.

"Rhapsody in Blue!" Ken argued.

"I said Canon!"

"And I want Rhapsody in Blue!"

"Hey, I know!" Kahoko intervened. Len was a bit disappointed. He was curious to see how the children would have finished the argument. Though, he guessed this was better than a brawl. "It's your grandpa's birthday in a couple of weeks you know," Okay, Tsukimori Len was not going to admit that he almost forgot. Almost. "Why don't you prepare something for him? You can mash up something contemporary and classical, something that you both could enjoy. Daddy and I can even help you out and everything." Wait. What? How did he get dragged into this?

"Kahoko, it's a great idea, but I -" She sent him a stern look. He sighed. Damn her will bending superpowers. "Okay…fine…"

"But…but…how do we do that?!" Kaede exclaimed. "Ken and I hate playing together! We're too different!"

"Well, you're father and I thought the same thing and then we ended up doing a duet and guess what? Different isn't always bad." Kahoko retorted.

Len, along with Ken, watched the two girls as they locked in their battle of wills. Kahoko seemed to have the upper hand, seeing as Kaede was already twitching and shifting around as if she were uncomfortable. His daughter gave in within the minute, and Ken just shrugged - knowing from the start that having an argument with his mother was useless. She was a lot like Hamai Misa in that aspect. Once her mind is set on something, it's near impossible to change back or alter.

"I'll do it as long as Dad accompanies on the piano. It's hard to blend with just violins." He added though.

"Depends on the song." Was Len's response. "But I have a concert with Etou Kiriya coming up, so don't make it too complicated."

"I can't believe that all of you are just agreeing with this!" Kaede shouted. "I mean, I get that everyone's just not against the idea, but seriously? We're gonna do this in two weeks?" Both men gave her looks that pretty much told the girl what she needed to know. As boisterous as she was like her mother, she still had Len's quiet and slightly submissive demeanour. It was pretty obvious that Kahoko was the one who wore the pants in the entire family - though Len would like the occasionally protest that fact.

"This is gonna be great!" Kahoko released, wide smile plastered on her face. "You'll see!" And how could Len argue with that? He gave her a smile in return.

This time, the dream came to an end when he was jolted awake by the taxi stopping in front of his hotel. Slightly annoyed as he might have been, Len didn't allow it to show on his face. He payed the fair and exited the cab without much of a fuss, heading towards the front desk to check himself in despite wanting to just drop face first into a couch and continue on with his dream. They were becoming so vivid lately, even more so when he made the decision to return to Japan for a bit.

Another thing they had in common was the theme. It always, and meant always, about having a family with Kahoko, and how his life would turn out if he did. Were this even dreams? Hidden desires, maybe? Len had no clue, and lately, he'd much rather sleep and dream than stay awake and think of what those dreams he indulged in could mean. By the time he had finished checking in, he'd already had his eyes half-closed.

He pulled his bag towards the elevator and immediately pressed the button of his floor. Len leaned on the wall for support, patiently waiting for all other passengers to get off and for his floor to finally arrive. Once the elevator dinged and the floor matched his keycard, Len moved and manoeuvred through the hallways until he found the room designated to him.

Len had not expected to open the door and be greeted by an ecstatic redhead tackling him to the ground.

"Len!" She shouted. "I missed you! Oh my god, I can't believe you're actually back!" Upon getting over the initial shock, Len managed to wake himself up enough and hug his girlfriend back. She quickly realised their positions and allowed him to stand up though. Misa and Jun were standing behind her, waiting in the room with small smirks plastered in their faces. So, no chauffeur, but surprise welcome from Kahoko. The bluenette couldn't really complain.

"How was Vienna?" Kahoko excitedly asked.

"It was okay." Len answered amusedly. "I didn't get to go out much though."

"Of course you didn't. You're, well, you." And she said that with so much fondness in her voice that Len was tempted to just pull her into another hug again. No one would care really. Just his pride, which he so happened to hold very dear to him. Plus, his parents had enough blackmail material on him to last a lifetime. They didn't need any more added to their collection. "I'm really happy you're back you know. Maybe we can…you know…go out and catch up…or something." He found her shyness adorable - not that he would admit that out loud.

"I'd like that." He answered. "But first…"

Len pulled out the paper bag from the duty free store and took out its contents. He handed it over to Kahoko, watching as her face lit up at the white chocolate truffles suddenly in her hands. "Sorry it's nothing like your cake, but -" He was silenced by another enthusiastic hug. "I take it you like them enough?" He dryly commented.

"It's never about the gift, it's the thought that counts." She answered, giving him a peck on the cheek. Len turned crimson. Misa and Jun laughed again. Damn it.

Len could have sworn that he heard bells too, through the window where blurry little thing seemed to be fluttering about. He couldn't really make it out, but he was sure that even the thing was laughing at him. The bluenette also thought that he saw the - there was no way it was a fairy right? Or had Kahoko's stories from Seiso come back to haunt him? - whatever it was wink.

"Till your next dream…" It seemed to have whispered directly into Len's ear before fading away.

FONDANT
"The French word for dark or pure chocolate"
As pure as the romantic feelings Len have for Kahoko

This one-shot isn't as well written and was rushed, which is annoying cause I was having so much fun with this. Aww. Either way, quick explanation that I'm going wit the anime and having Len not see Lili during the conquer. But now he's messing with Len, because the violin romance has to come true no matter what! Plus, Len isn't complaining, ahahaha!

Uhm, from the last chapter I made an error. Eiji and Jun were both used for Len's parents, I've since corrected it but I'm sorry for the confusion either way. Thank you again to guest123 for spotting that and pointing it out! You probably saved the readers a lot of confusion!

To hm813: Ahhh, I saw Hihara too, it's just the fact that his name wasn't mentioned that irks. I had to google if it really was Hihara or if I was jumping to conclusions, haha! Chiaki, huh? He has the same voice actor as Len so I say good choice! I like him too, especially because of the electric violin. I happen to really like the sound of it (though my mom disagrees and says its a cheat) and agree that he should just be who he should want to be! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I had a lot of fun reading it!

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! You all are the best!

I own what I own, nothing more and nothing less.
Excuse errors and typos for now, point them out and I'll edit.

HASTA LA BYE BYE
~REIGN~

PS NOTE: Sorry, forgot, so would you mind if the characters of La Corda Blue Sky showed up here or not? Cause I had a couple of one-shot ideas that involved them and was wondering if you wouldn't be opposed to it. Hehe.