Disclaimer: I do not own La Corda D'Oro. Yuki Kure does. I simply own the original idea and anything non-canonical.

Pairing: Kazuki/Kahoko

Prompt: 'Silence' from the previously mentioned fic meme.

Summary: There are things that a husband will not share with his wife.

3:08 AM

The house was silent, and that's what woke her up.

It was almost a physical jolt, and she was suddenly very aware of the fact that she was alone in bed. She reached out a hand, aimlessly groping for her husband in the dark, but his pillow and side of the bed were cold. She rolled over and looked at the alarm clock; it screamed out 3:08 AM in vivid red numbers. Across the room, the monitor transmitted no noise that could have demanded either of their attention.

Wondering where on earth he could have gone and mentally bemoaning her wakefulness – she wasn't getting much sleep these days, no surprise – she tossed on her robe and slippers before heading out the door. Having no real destination in mind, her feet took her to the second bedroom down the hall, to the place where her heart and soul slept.

She was surprised to see the door slightly ajar and slowly pushed it open another foot. She could barely see inside the darkened room, but her eyes caught sight of the monitor – now turned off, which explained why she hadn't heard anything – and the back of a rocking chair in motion.

A tousle of grass-green hair poked from the top, and she couldn't help but smile at its wildness. At least now she knew where he'd disappeared to.

She had every intention of joining them inside when she heard him say, "They love you because you could have been theirs. I can see it in their eyes, you know, hear it in their voices."

Her breath caught in her throat, and she knew exactly what, and who, he was referring to. Though she knew that loving one would kill four, she couldn't stop the feelings that bubbled and burned within. When she chose, she had been prepared to lose them – and had cried like a child when they all stayed, smiling sad little smiles. They understood that though she loved them, she wasn't in love with them, and that they could still have her in their lives if they were willing to let her go.

To know that they hadn't fully let go was painful. To know that her husband must have bore this knowledge for years, yet still cared about his music-brothers despite their hidden feelings, was heart-breaking.

She didn't want him to say any more, because saying such things meant that they were real, but she hesitated. He was speaking softly, in a tone that she rarely ever heard from her boisterous beloved, and that was enough to give her pause. She also realized that if the monitor was turned off then he had intended the words to be heard by only one person.

So she leaned against the doorjamb and listened.

"It's kind of funny how everything ended up like this," he said in a voice like muted candlelight. "Not funny ha-ha, more like funny-ironic. I always thought your mother would have picked Len or Ryou or, hell, even Azuma. There was always that spark of something between them all. But me… I was just a friend. Nobody really special, and definitely not the person she'd choose."

A soft squawk of newborn annoyance.

"Yeah, shows you what I know, huh?" he chuckled deep in his throat, and the baby's sounds melted away as he adjusted his arms. "But hey! Don't get any ideas about not listening to your dad when he tells you something, all right? I'm still smarter than you, at least for a little while longer."

No other noises, and he went on. "I think they expected it too. They all thought they were the one, and maybe… maybe that's where everything went wrong. They thought they deserved her because they loved her, that she was somehow beholden to them because they all felt something to her. And I… God, I just wanted her happy. Even if it meant I wasn't the person to fill that space, it would have been all right because she was the important one, not me. Never me."

She clutched the robe tighter around her breast.

"But I had to try, you know, even if it meant getting that fact rubbed into my face, because I couldn't have lived with myself if I didn't actually try. And I did. And now…," a shadowed arm waved lazily around the room, "I have everything I ever wanted."

Another gurgle, a sleepy sound of contentment.

"Sorry, got a little off-topic. My mind wanders around like crazy – your mother's always making fun of me, saying that you've probably got a bigger attention span than I do – but I guess… I guess my roundabout point is that I want you to take care of them. Just love them back, your uncles. They deserve to have a little light and joy in their lives, too. Give them a chance to see that they can have all this too… even though it won't be with your mother."

He started to stand up, and she quickly made herself scarce. She didn't want him to find her, didn't want him to know that she knew, and hurried back to the master bedroom.

The alarm clock read 3:34 AM when he came back and silently joined her under the covers. She pretended to wake up when he threw his arm around her waist.

"Hey," she murmured. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah, I just went to check on Yuri-chan. Sorry for waking you."

"You know I love you, right? I'll always love you."

He looked momentarily surprised by her outburst, but graced her with a wide grin and a quick kiss. "Yup. And you know I love you too?"

"Yes," she whispered, burying herself in his chest. "Never doubted for a moment."

Silence echoed love as she prayed for those without.

Author's Notes (11/19/07): This is probably one of my fave drabbles. An author's not really supposed to have favorites, but I heart Hihara so much that writing him is always interesting. And the idea of him being a daddy just makes me smile like crazy.

To Mars – guess what's coming up next? Hope to see you here in a few days.

Though I am very appreciative of all my readers, I'd like to extend certain gratitude to tears-of-redemption, Mirsa, Yokai no Miko, and Anonimo. I've gotten reviews from you guys for many, many chapters and I truly appreciate it. If there is a theme/pairing you'd like to see, I'd be happy to take requests. ::bows::