Prelude
Her parents had fought over what instrument she would play.
Her father wanted something more traditional to reflect her Japanese heritage, while her mother preferred the piano.
She herself wanted the cello. They had attended a symphony concert a few weeks ago and she had talked of nothing else since. Unfortunately for her, her parents only heard that she wanted an instrument, not which one she wanted.
A few weeks later, she was late coming home from school and her parents started to worry. She, on the other hand, was all smiles as she lugged home the large instrument.
"I got it at school," she said with an even bigger smile as her father lifted it from her back.
"They let us pick out instruments at school, any one we wanted!" she said as she pulled on his hand to drag him inside so they could show her mother.
The arguments over instruments stopped that day and her parents suffered through weeks of screeching bows and sore, cracked fingers. Finally, the bow started to slide smoothly and the calluses formed on her small hands and the music began to come.
She was a soloist at the end of year concert and everyone cheered.
She played every chance she got, for anyone who would listen, even for only a few notes. Her parents began to wonder if she would do it professionally. The music came easy to her; those sensitive ears that had such a way with words also had a way with music.
They bought her a cello of her very own when she entered high school. They missed the music when she left for Brazil, as did she herself. The instrument sat at her parent's house in their living room.
"I don't want anything to happen to it at university," she said as she stroked the varnished wood almost reverently. She cried when she left it behind.
When she said Starfeleet had talked her into serving on Enterprise, her parents set about having an unbreakable case made fro the precious instrument.
"You'll never survive five years away from this," they said, remembering all the summers she had come home only to stay glued to the instrument for days on end. She agreed and her precious cello joined her in her adventure into space.
He had seen it shortly after they had come on board and was slowly wearing her down so she would play for him.