A/N: Hello, and welcome to my first-ever Big O fanfic. I've just recently become a huge fan of the show ever since it came on Adult Swim. But I think I know enough about it for this to be a half decent story.

Disclaimer: I don't own the anime, Big O

"The Chords of a Piano"

by: I-luv-mark/MD fan

{though i don't luv mark anymore :P}

I lay awake in my bed. I was tangled up in the black satin sheets from tossing and turning all night. My head ached just as it had hours before, even thought I tried my hardest to ignore it. Opening up my eyes, I sat up. Around me, the room was dark, but the large window across from me let in the moonlight. I put my hand on my head, for it pounded harder then before.

"Damn, I gotta get something for this…" I said to myself.

Normally, I would have requested Norman to get me some Aspirin, but I figured that a little walk wouldn't kill me. It wasn't like I was getting back to sleep any time soon, anyway, so I untangled myself from the covers and stood up. I walked to the other side of the room, slipped on my robe, and left the room, closing the door behind me.

The hallway was much darker than my room, due to the fact that there were no windows. But up ahead, I could see the light spilling into the parlor, where the hallway ended.

That was when I heard the piano.

What's Dorothy doing up? I wondered. I knew that because she was an android, she couldn't sleep, but what was she doing out of bed?

I walked the rest of the length of the hall, and sure enough, Dorothy was sitting at the piano playing some classical ballad – it sounded like Beethoven, or Bach. I couldn't rightfully tell, since I really don't pay attention to music that much. Though with Dorothy, it was different. At first, her piano playing was greatly agitating, but now that I've gotten used to hearing it, I actually quite like it.

I watched her play from behind. Her fingers stroked each key gracefully, despite the difficultly fast tempo of the song. I was well aware that it was programmed inside her to be an excellent pianist, but it seemed that she had gotten better during time… and that wasn't the only change in her. I had also noticed that there were times when she spoke that she didn't have that monotone sound in her voice which she used to have all the time.

Dorothy ended the piece she was playing and I quietly clapped. She turned to look at me. "Did I wake you?" she asked. I shook my head.

"Nah, I've been up all night," I told her.

I looked outside the window and saw that it had started to snow. And from the snow earlier, Paradigm City was still coated in an icy-white blanket. It was going to be hell trying to drive tomorrow. I grumbled.

"Do you not like the snow, Roger Smith?" Dorothy questioned, noticing the small scowl on my face. I looked back at her. "No, it's just – never mind."

She turned back around to the piano and started to play a softer, much slower tune. I saw the moonlight reflect off of Dorothy's pale face and dark red hair. I couldn't do much but stare at her for a long time, and I thought of how entrancing she was…

Without thinking, I walked over to the piano, and sat down on the bench next to her. She stopped playing and looked at me; I had never done this before.

"Dorothy, I…" I trailed off, not knowing exactly what I was going to say. I knew for sure that there was something I needed to tell her, but I couldn't put my finger on it. "Yes?" she said, telling me to go on. I noticed that the monotone was gone from her voice again. I opened my mouth to reply, but nothing came out. I let out a sigh.

"I was wondering if you could… teach me how?" I asked, rubbing the back of my neck.

"To play the piano?"

"…Yeah."

I saw what looked like smile flash across her face, but it was gone before I could tell. "As you wish," she said.

Dorothy put her thumb on one of the white keys. "This," she said, directing to the key her thumb was on. "Is a C, and you go up the alphabet from there. D," she moved to the next key up. "E, F and G."

I watched intently as she went on to telling about the A and B notes, and then onto a scale. Her fingers went slowly up the keys, one at a time so I could take in each note. Once or twice, I caught myself looking at her face, and not her hands, but luckily, she didn't notice.

"Now you do it," Dorothy instructed, breaking me from my thoughts. I paused for a second, hoping she meant a scale; I hadn't heard much of what she said after that. Mentally bracing myself, I did the scale, and to my relief she didn't object, but said, "Good. Now these," she pointed to the black keys. "Are flats and sharps."

This time, I made sure that I paid attention. I surely didn't want to go through any embarrassment in front of her. After she named each black key, she told me to name them and I did – successfully.

"Very good," she said in her monotone voice. "And this," she hit the C, E, and G notes. "Is one of three C chor – what?" Dorothy looked at me.

Oh shoot, I thought. I was looking at her again…

"Uh… nothing, I," I stopped myself to avoid further embarrassment and averted my eyes back to the keys. She was quiet for a moment more before going back to what she was saying. Once again, I wasn't paying attention. I made sure I was looking as though I was by looking at her hands and not her face. I was trying to figure out why I kept looking at her face, or why I got these feelings around her, period. I don't think I'd be able to understand any of this for the life of me.

"Now you do it."

I hesitated, and I could feel her eyes on me. I racked my brain to think of where to put my fingers. I placed them on three of the keys, but when I played them, I knew I had gotten it wrong. Damn…

"Here," she said. Unexpectedly, she took my hand and put it in the right position on the keys. I froze at her touch and she seemed to have noticed my shock because she looked at me again and I returned her gaze. Subconsciously, I moved my hand around hers so I was holding it.

It felt like time had stopped at that very moment. Everything around us had melted away, and it was just us: me and Dorothy. Without a single thought in my mind, I began to move closer to her. She didn't object, and I felt her other hand on my shoulder.

I couldn't help but think of how right this felt. What was happening now, and what happened before… it's all so right. And all so perfect…

I was so close to her now that I could count every eyelash if I wanted. I naturally closed my eyes, and the next thing I knew, I felt my lips pressed against hers. My free hand went behind her neck and I deepened the kiss. All my worries and woes were thrown from my mind and were replaced with feelings of love and happiness. But I didn't put them there. Dorothy did.

A/N: So what did you think? Good, bad? PLEASE let me know! I know it was short, but I still think it was good for my first try. No flames please!