AN: Day 21 - Theme - Pledge. Apparently I'm trying to stick to the themes even on these optional days.

My Muse

The first thing she noticed when she woke up was that the warmth was missing, the warmth he provided as he held her. She frowned and opened her eyes and two more pieces of data presented themselves to her still mostly asleep mind. The first was that they had not simply disentangled themselves in sleep – she was alone in the king-sized bed. The second was that it was still dark outside. She frowned as rolled over to look at the alarm clock. It read 4:30.

She frowned and began to feel the fog of sleep lifting more from her mind. As it did, one final datum presented itself, and at the very least, Ami knew where her lover was and what he was doing. She wondered how she had missed the sound of the piano before, but she knew that she was just now reaching a true waking state.

Getting out of the bed, Ami followed the sound of the music and smiled a bit as she watched Zoi playing the piano. He was wearing just his boxer shorts and seemed completely focused on the music he was playing. Ami found herself smiling, swept away in his playing, in the beauty that was Zoi.

It took her a moment before she realized that she had not heard this piece before. That was not entirely out of the ordinary. Zoi was constantly finding new pieces, but there was something about the music that he was playing, about the score which sat on the piano which told her that this was not some new piece he had found.

Her smile grew as she realized what it was she was witnessing. Zoi was composing. She had heard his compositions before, had been moved by what he could express through music, but he had never let her into the process of composition itself. Ami found herself holding her breath, afraid that he would realize she was there and stop, wanting to protect his creative process from intrusion – even hers.

Unfortunately, the music did indeed stop, and Ami knew that it was not because he'd reached the end. She saw him sigh and try a couple of different notes, shaking his head as he rejected them. After a moment he closed his eyes, and she could clearly see the frustration as he ran his fingers into his curls, tangling them, and Ami had to stifle a laugh.

He looked up and blushed guiltily. However, there was something about the way he was looking at her that kept her from explaining, from apologizing. In fact, the way he was looking at her made her blush more.

Any sense of frustration that Zoi felt at not being able to figure out what came next disappeared when he looked up and saw Ami standing in the door way, watching him, wearing only his shirt and that open. He could tell from the look on her face when he saw her that she thought he'd be upset about her seeing him compose, and he vaguely realized that was his fault, he had never really shared this with her, but all he could see really was the woman he loved, the woman who had finally let him in, standing in the dim light wearing his shirt and watching him.

Before he could act on his first instinct, which involved losing both his boxer shorts and the shirt she was wearing, he blinked and tilted his head slightly, as if he was hearing something.

He smiled to her and put his fingers back over the keys. He repeated the last phrase she had heard, but this time he continued forward, never taking his eyes off of her as he did so.

Ami blinked in confusion, but as she watched him resume playing she found herself walking towards him.

Zoi's grin grew as she approached, the music pouring forth from his fingers, and she leaned against the piano when she reached it, their eyes never breaking from each other until he reached the end, and this time Ami recognized it as the true end.

For a moment, while the last notes hung in the air, they simply looked at each other. Zoi leaned over and kissed her softly, before hurriedly jotting down the notes he'd just played, not wanting to lose it.

When he finished, he held out his arm to invite Ami to join him on the piano bench. As she did she saw the name of the song, "My pledge."