Love in Music

Thanks to my beta-reader: Blades Angel.

Disclaimer: I do not own "A Hero Comes Home" from the Beowulf soundtrack. I don't get paid for it. Idina Menzel does, but I do not. I also do not own Disney's "Colors of the Wind", Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Wishing you were somehow" from the Phantom of the Opera or ABBA's "Does Your Mother Know." I also do not own "Memory" sung by Elaine Paige from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats the musical film.

Chapter Three: Host Club Impromptu Concert / Honoring Mother

Ayame strutted into the unused music room before the club opened. The room seemed completely empty and hollow. There was no life in it. It seemed completely unwanted. She glanced towards the curtains, wondering what was there. She couldn't stop herself from pulling it aside to reveal a beautiful grand piano. She glanced left to right before sitting at it.

She began playing a moderately tempo song.

"Out of the mist of history he'll come again. Sailing on ships across the sea to a wounded nation!" she sang, her fingers floating over the piano as Tamaki and Haruhi walked in together, the blond carrying the brunette's books. Expressions of shock blossomed over their faces. They halted a few feet away, drawn in by the star's voice. It mesmerized them.

"Signs of a savior, like fire on the water. It's what we prayed for, one of our own. Just wait, though wide he may roam, always, a hero comes home," her voice held perfect diction and clarity. Kyouya entered and his breath hitched in his throat. Before he realized that it was indeed Ayame he believed he saw a goddess playing the piano. He moved so he was closer to her than his two friends, unconsciously taking a protective stance.

"Deep in the hear of darkness sparks a dream of light. Surrounded by hopelessness he finds the will to fight. There's no surrender, always remember, it doesn't end here. We're not alone," Honey and Mori walked in and froze. For the first time in a fan girl's life did they see Honey-senpai so serious without beating someone to a pulp. They walked forward, as if in a trance.

"And he will come back on a crimson tide. Dead or alive. And even though we know the bridge has burned he will return. He will return!" she sang as the costumers walked in, shock to hear music coming from the usual bustling room. So many girls stared in awe as the woman on the piano put her heart and soul into her voice.

"Someday he may carve in stone: 'A hero comes home.' He goes and comes back alone, but always a hero comes home. Just wait, though wide he may roam, bur always a hero comes home," she finished with a seemingly uncharacteristic flair. She shot up straight in surprise when she heard the applause. She turned around to see her audience. She composed herself to be her usual bad ass and stood. Tamaki walked up, trying to charm her again.

"We did not think you would put on an impromptu concert, my lady," he said, forcibly taking her hand.

"Fuck off, Pansy," she growled, yanking her hand back. Tamaki then expressed that if the girls would pay money at that moment then maybe Ayame would sing another song or more. The girl immediately reached into their pockets and pulled out enough money for each of them to hear four more songs. Ayame agreed with a evil smirk.

Swiftly they set up a true stage, with the table surrounding it. Looking from above Ayame guessed that the stage itself would be a peninsula. Renge had been directing everyone chaotically. The multicolored haired girl had no clue that she was hiding under the floor and upon interrogating the other club members found no answer. Kyouya seemed keen to speak with her.

Ayame climbed up with Kaoru and Hikaru's assistance and sauntered over to the mic.

"Hello, Host Club Patrons. You probably expect to hear what should be labeled as 'Rock Music', but today there will be a variety. For one I'm going to sing a Disney classic," she said, stepping back from the mic and gesturing Tamaki to come up on stage. Delighted he did so, dense to the evil smirk on Ayame's face. She turned to him, ignoring the mic as the music room was small enough for there to be no need of it when she would sing.

"You think I'm an ignorant savage. And you've been so many places I guess it must be so. But still I cannot see, if the savage one is me, how can there be so much that you don't know? You don't know," Ayame sang, stalking Tamaki as if he were her prey. He gulped and searched the audience for help from the mutinous girl. He ran around the piano as fast as his legs could carry him, but Ayame was faster and she did it without turning her back to the crowd. The audience cheered when she caught him.

" The rainstorm and the river are my brothers. The heron and the otter are my friends. And we are all connected to each other, in a circle, in a hoop that never ends. How high will the sycamore grow? If you cut it down, then you'll never know," she sang in his ear, ready to throw him to his fans who might rip his clothes off.

"You can own the Earth and still all you'll own is Earth until you can paint with all the colors of the wind," she pushed him and the girls surged forth in time to the last key. Tamaki screamed for help,n but the other members stayed back from the crowd.

"This next one is in honor of my mother who died when I was very, very young," Ayame said, sighing. Tamaki finally pulled himself out of the crowd once the girls fixated themselves at Ayame again. His hair was rumpled and his jacked torn in half. His shirt was gone and his pants had countless holes in them as well as a leg missing. A shoe was missing and so was a sock. Haruhi wondered briefly how they removed that sock while the shoe was still on. All went quiet as Ayame once again began singing.

"You were once my one companion. You were all that mattered. You were once a friend and mother, then my world was shattered. Wishing you were somehow here again," her voice was full of sorrow and regret. No one could figure out just what exactly, but it was obvious that she still missed her mother. Haruhi began to tear up as she knew just how that felt. She knew the pain. Tamaki pulled her against his mostly bare chest and allowed her to cry silently.

"Passing bells and sculpted angels, cold and monumental, seem for you the wrong companion. You were warm and gentle. Too many years fighting back tears. Why can't the pass just die?" the pain was etched onto her face, as if she had just been wounded yesterday. That was how she felt. How else would she on the anniversary of her mother's death?

"No more memories, no more silent tears. No more gazing across the wasted years. Help me say, 'Goodbye.' Help me say, 'Goodbye!' Her voice soared high, into a range no one thought she'd ever be able to reach. She did with grace and elegance. Everyone was spellbound as they watched a lone tear fall from her eye.

A clap from the door woke everyone from their blissful slumber of music.

"Good job, Girl," Nanami said, walking forward, "That's a beautiful way to honor your mother by having a concert. Anymore songs?"

Ayame smiled at her boss and friend. Nanami knew what to say and when to say it. She discreetly wiped away the tear as everyone else stared at the young heiress with shock and horror. Only Nanami knew about her life.

"And now for a much brighter song: 'Does Your Mother Know' by ABBA!" Nanami shouted, gesturing for the band to begin.

"You're so hot, teasin' me. So you're blue, but I can't take a chance on a kid like you. It's something I couldn't do. There's that look in your eyes. I can read in your face that your feelings are driving you wild. Ah, but boy you're only a child!" Ayame sang as she pulled Hikaru and Kaoru onto the stage. She sang and danced with them to her heart's delight, unknowingly making Kyouya break his pen and turn an uncharacteristically bright shade of red in jealousy. She hadn't thought he liked her.

"I can see what you want, but you seem pretty young to be searching for that kind of fun. So maybe I'm not the one. Now you're so cute, I like your style, and I know what you mean when you give me a flash of the smile. But boy you're only a child," she directed it to Kaoru while Hikaru looked smug. The twins glared at each other until Ayame turned on him. The dance was shocking to say the least. How could she flirt but not flirt at the same time?

"Does your mother know that you're out?" she asked at last, pushing both boys away from her. They shrugged before being mobbed by raging fan girls of many variety.

Ayame strutted to the front of the stage, towards the microphone, and announced that she needed to take a quick break. She stalked up to Kyouya, flashed him a smile, and stuck a fifty in his pocket.

"Some crystallized water, please," she tried to be seductive. He seemed to ignore her as Haruhi's cell phone beeped. "He" rushed out of the room. Hikaru escaped the girls first and Kaoru followed afterward, falling into his twins arms.

"Oh, Kaoru. Did those girls harm you, my brother?" Hikaru pulled Kaoru close and held his head to his chest.

"I'm fine Hikaru," Kaoru whispered, burying his face in his brother's chest, "They just frightened me a little."

Ayame gagged a little at the show of affection that just seemed so wrong in her mind. She turned back to Kyouya who watched the reactions of the patrons, writing down notes in his black book. She sighed. It figured that she'd have that sort of luck. Every time she found a male attractive he was either gay or taken. Ayame assumed he was taken.

"Should you not be on stage by now?" he asked, not looking up from his book. She thought he was only working out a very intense problem, but his friends knew he was trying to hide how he felt. Ayame ignored him, but was surprised when Haruhi came back with her water. Ayame thanked "him" and took a large gulp of water into her mouth, swallowing happily. Crystallized water tasted so clean. She smiled at Haruhi before starting up the steps to the stage.

"I'm going to end this concert with a song from one of my favorite musicals, Cats," she said, waiting for the music to start. As it played she prepared herself to sing the sad, sad song.

"Daylight, See the dew on the sunflower. And a rose that is fading. Roses whither away. Like the sunflower I yearn to turn my face to the dawn. I'm am waiting for the day. Midnight. Not a sound from the pavement. Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone," Ayame sang, remembering the days when her mother was alive. She moved closer to the audience, unconsciously bringing them into her world.

"Burnt out ends of smokey days. The stale cold smell of morning. The streetlamp dies, another night is over. Another day is dawning," she tried to hold back the tears as she sang. Several girls in the audience began crying, trying to hold their loud sniffles in.

"Touch me! It's so easy to leave me all alone with the memory of my days in the sun. If you touch me you'll understand what happiness is. Look a new day has begun," she sang the last note, finally letting the tears fall. Cats had been her mother's favorite musical. She wiped her tears away and walked out of the music room, leaving silence in her wake.

I've been obsessed with Cats lately as you can tell. Hope you enjoy the chapter and please leave me a review with your honest opinion. I can't believe I fit four songs into four pages. I'm pretty proud of myself.

BWRThorn