Authors note: hey guys! Here's the moment you've been waiting for^^ I hope you enjoy it! (This was originally split in half but then I realised it was so much better with the full thing) but like I already said- hope you like it- ooh, and please let me know what you thought of it! (Seriously reviews really really do mean an awful lot to me) but I think that's everything I have to say here- here you go! See you tommorow everyone!^^

Everything shut off. It was as though the world had closed with his eyes- shut up shop, and disappeared. But as the real world had vanished... another one had opened. One in which there was no panic. No fear.

No judgement. No monotone keys. No harsh lights. No audience... Nothing but a gentle silence... and the possibility of music.

He was no longer afraid of the performance- of the audience awaiting his show- he couldn't even tell they were there anymore. A part of him told him he was still in that exact same hall as before. But without the ability to see it in front of him... it just didn't terrify him anymore. He was surrounded by a new, empty world. A blank canvas... He could be anywhere he wanted. He could be back beside that lake. He was free to create whatever he wished here in the silence... But what to play?... The spirit's words came back to him.

"You don't need to know what you're playing... just what you're playing for."

...Mom.

He thought... And he reached out through the inky darkness... To press down on the invisible keys.

A soft, sad chord sounded across the air... It was just how he'd pictured it. He knew exactly what it was going to sound like. He knew the keys of the piano off by heart. He only needed to feel what sound he wanted to create, and his fingers guided themselves to the correct keys.

He let his hands drift... and he found himself playing a melody. It was a song filled with such gentle and incredible beauty... and yet, somehow... it sounded so sad. He remembered her- his brilliant mother... everything that she'd ever done everything for him... The way that she'd always been there for him... She'd been his world... She'd been his everything. When she was around, the world had been alive and bursting with colour.

He filled the music with all the joys and happiness that their moments together had bestowed upon him... and his utter, complete sadness as he knew he was never to experience these things ever again... She was gone... Never again would he hear her voice, or see her face. He was never to feel her touch ever again... His mother... His dead, cold mother...

His hands were slowly weighing down with lead. Tears started to prick in his eyes... Sh- she was dead... She'd left him all alone... Why did she have to leave? Why? Why did you have to go?... Mommy?...

Pure, inconsolable despair reigned over his music now. A sadness so pure- a pain so complete- a longing so desperate... The keys fell like rainfall... and he started to lose himself to his emotions. A slight tremor ran through his fingers, almost making them hit a wrong key. A lone, silent tear fell silently down the side of his face... Why did you leave me? I miss you... Mom...

Then he heard it... Like a gentle caress...

It reached him just before his music could suffer from his agony...

A long, smooth, gentle note that could only have come from a violin.

It reached out towards him, like it was attempting to rub away his tears- hold his hand and give him whatever comfort it could in the darkness that plagued his soul.

He carried on playing his lament, holding on the violin's clear notes like it was the only thing keeping him above water. The only that was stopping him from falling into his despair.

He took all his grief, all his regret- his loneliness, his pain- everything... and poured it all into the song. The entirety of his broken, weeping heart bleeding out its sorrows and its shadows into the melody. A heart wrenching sound of loss from a pained soul who was crying out for a loved one. He was nearly weeping openly from the sorrow threatening to overwhelm him- the endless longing for his mom, and the destroying, irrefutable truth that she was never coming back- but so far that lone, single tear was the only one to fall.

And throughout every note- every heartbreak- every agony he suffered through... the violin staying with him, the whole time.

Sympathetic... Patient... Understanding. A reassuring lifeline in the ocean of darkness that surrounded him... And slowly but surely... It started to lift him from the shadows.

The music slowly took on a more hesitant, uncertain tone. Holding on to the lament of his grief... but slowly starting to loosen its grip on it. Hiccup felt himself almost beginning to feel... acceptance? Like he had cried out all he could, and could simply cry no more. A part of him wanted to desperately hold on to that sadness, keep tight hold of her memory and never ever let her go... But, somehow... the more the violin played... its gentle reassurances... it's little reminders of hope... It seemed to slowly lighten the colourless darkness that had become of his life, until, eventually, no matter how hard he tried... he just couldn't seem to hold on to his sorrow.

The music had all but slowed to a halt, as he started to realise that... it was alright. Yes, she was gone- and she wasn't going to come back- but, holding on to his grief? Lingering over her absence? That wasn't what she would've wanted. She'd want him to carry on with his life. She'd want him to be happy... But without her... what did he do? The violin had trailed away long ago. It seemed to be holding its breath, with the whole hall... as it waited to see what he was going to do next. What now? What would he choose?...

A single uncertain note repeated itself... once... twice... and the song went silent.

He just couldn't hold on anymore. He loved his mother, and he would never forget her as long as he lived... but it was time to move on now... To look forwards to the future... and see the light again...

He let her go.

A deep silence reigned over the hall... expectant... waiting... But the pianist felt none of it. He just sat there. His mind was empty, his heart wiped clean. The shadows and nightmares of the past had left him... and he found himself left wondering... What do I do now? He'd been playing for his mother, but he'd moved on from that now. What came next? He'd stepped away from the past, but what was the next move towards the future? What did he do with himself now? What did he play now?...

Who did he play for...?

The question hovered throughout his mind... And then his fingers started moving on their own, without him telling them too. Working themselves into a seamless melody. A tune of beauty and elegance that they'd been longing to play for while... Ever since they first drummed it out on the front of his coat pocket.

He let the light tune slowly turn across the air, growing into a gentle, flowing dance... he let a deep, reassuring baseline support it- a comforting sound of settling and familiarity. The two played apart from each other, until, eventually... they met. The relaxed bass finding the light, dancing melody. The two curiously circling each other... Then, they started to revolve around each other... and the dance of the beautiful, free flowing melody started transforming the low, steady bass into something new. It lifting it up towards the lighter, more joy filled keys- and filled it with life.

The two pieces merged into one. Coming together into a single, joyous song. One being. One tune. One that sharing in its joy and happiness.

... And then he heard it, just as he expected to...

The beautiful violin, sliding in to join seamlessly with the piano's melody. Playing, with him, a symphony of glowing happiness, and shining emotion. The piano's lightly bouncing keys working in perfect harmony with the dancing bow of the violin. The instrument's melodies twirling around each other like blossom petals caught up in a breeze. The graceful, light footed notes of the violin dancing with the vibrant grandeur of the piano. And yet, even as they danced, the instruments sang.

A duet of joy. Of happiness...Of colour. They felt like they were flying- their melodies dancing off high into the clouds. Pure, unstoppable joy shining from their hearts, as nimble fingers danced with the shining, golden bow. He could hardly distinguish his own part of the song- it blended so well with the violin's own. They'd become one. The violin and the piano. The music of the pianist's heart joining the spirit's in joyous song.

He'd never felt so alive! His heart was twirling out of his chest, beating out an entirely different rhythm to the one he was used to. It was beating to match the rhythm of that magical, enchanting violin. It was beating for-...

The music suddenly softened from its euphoria, the feeling in the air suddenly calming, and he heard the violin's melody settle into a gentle, content tune... His thoughts and emotions mulled around his head, turning over through the music... Was he really...?

His fingers moved thoughtfully over the keys, as he searched through his emotions- coming across one he couldn't quite bring a name to... It was the one he felt whenever he thought about the golden spirit, and he was both terrified and curious as to what it was called. He pondered over his thoughts, fingers running over a gentle, searching tune...

Then, he heard words, as clearly as though they'd been spoken. A single question, felt through the spirit's music.

"What's on your mind?" The violin said, curiously- tugging softly at his conscious for an answer. The words reaching straight through his heart, in that curious way only music truly could- and he let the piano keys play his response.

"You said you need a reason to play..." He answered, the words translating seamlessly into music- and he knew that, somehow, the spirit would hear the message in the same way he did: resonating, through the notes, with his heart. "...Who are you playing for?" He wondered, his fingers starting to slow and bring the piece up to a close, as he mustered his courage to send a final message in the last few notes.

There was a slight pause that seemed to hold on to forever. The thought of what he was about to play next terrified and thrilled him, with a unique kind of curious terror.

He steadied his hands.

"Because I think-"

"I'm playing for you."