I saw that smile. I saw it each and every day as she returned to play. Not the same song, not always. But she always unleashed a breadth of emotion I never knew she had in her. It shocked me. The Balamb Icequeen?!
And her smile. Tentative, quiet, seeking and stretching to something more. Trying to, not quite succeeding.
It made me breathless.
Even now, I don't quite believe it. Thinking it was a dream. There she was, depressed over Puberty Boy as usual. Again. Always him. I remember I scowled a little. So I followed her, to taunt her a little, but then it became something more. She turned – wrong way! – and I was curious. Following her. Listening to the sounds she made in the shitty little restaurant as she managed to grasp the hearts of everyone there.
Then she smiled, and I was… surprised. I hadn't seen her smile genuinely, since… a long time ago. Sure, she smiled, but it never quite caught her eyes. But this time… her eyes came alive.
So that's why I was surprised. Breathless even. It's been a long time since… and I don't think I'd ever seen it but once or twice when I managed to surprise her.
So don't think of it as anything… else. She's damn bossy, annoying even when she tries particularly hard. Has a whiny little voice. Yeah, she's hot, but her personality sucks. They don't call her Ice bitch for nothing.
This, btw, is my favourite place to eat. It's quiet, even though the decorations are ridiculously overstated, and there's a lingering sense of peace. I don't have to stay at Garden and hear the taunts about past wrongs. Not that they bother me, but there's something annoying about their repetitiveness. Along with the fact I made SeeD, even when they did their best to stop me. You'd think they'd give it up by now.
She came onto the small stage, and imperceptibly, I could feel everyone straighten in anticipation. A talented pianist, with the ability to grasp a person's soul. No wonder they hiked up the prices.
She was extraordinary, as usual. She played the first song she had ever played here… glimmering and shimmering cascades of notes and deliberate chords full of meaning.
Don't know why, but I was smiling by the end of it. Damn it all.
She glanced over the appreciative applause, her lips stretching into that tiny smile. Afraid to widen. Her eyes, however, did widen when they glanced my general direction.
Shit.
*