Chapter 2
Softly and slowly, a couple of pale fingers glided across the piano keys, causing them to gently dip and cause a variety of pitches. The fingers would move to different keys, beginning a song, only to stop within a few seconds. They'd pause and their owner would try to summon forth his memories, but unfortunately failing. Despite replaying sections and pieces of the ensnaring melody for a month, Roderich could not remember it entirely.
For many hours everyday he'd sit on the white bench, glancing around the room and wishing for a sudden reminder or staring down at the piano keys and wishing they'd just move by themselves. He'd never heard something so lovely, and yet he'd completely forgot. His brow was hurting from furrowing so deeply, and he had to confess, he'd never felt this much frustration.
All he needed was to listen just one more time- just once, and he would surely be able to replay it on the piano, despite his skills being barely passable, due to his lack of practice. It was only this passing month had he actually bothered to recall all his instructor told him, and actually got out his practice sheets and warm-ups and studied and played them daily, for many hours at a time. His normally stoic parents couldn't be happier, glad he was finally "warming up" to the instrument.
He softly recites the melody to himself, closing his eyes and imagining the boy and girl, or trying too. Their faces had steadily been leaving, their clothes and mannerisms turning into blurry forgotten memories with each passing day. The only thing that remained in his mind was the boy's beautiful and floating voice as it echoed off the trees and the sky itself.
Roderich focused hard on that voice, thinking of how it was a blend of woman's silk and boy's rigidity. Confident but with little spirit. A voice used to singing songs of faith and love but a heart who hardly believed in such things.
Rain won't keep me away...
Yes, it was finally coming to him! Roderich concentrated harder, completely losing himself in his mind, barley hearing the birds and people outside in the gardens, their voices carrying to his open window. All he heard was his memories, which were finally coming out of hiding.
The gusts won't make me sway...
...dodo, l'enfant do, l'enfant dormira bien bientôt...
He frowned inwardly. There wasn't any French in the boy's song. And Roderich couldn't imagine him being able to speak it so perfectly, not when his English was so mispronounced...
...Une poule blanche, Est là dans la grange, qui va faire un petit coco, pour l'enfant qui va fair dodo...
Upon opening his eyes and glancing towards the window, Roderich's heart skipped, hearing the same voice drift on the wind through his window and into the large room. Disappointingly, this French lullaby wasn't the piece he heard in the forest, but it was just as soothing and steady. It came from an experienced French speaker. Roderich quickly went from the bench to the bay window's seat, looking down.
Yes, it was that nest of wild blonde hair below him, carrying the small girl in his arms. She was curled comfortably against him, her head resting on his shoulder and her dirty feet dangling as he slowly walked about a small space in the gardens. He looked off in the distance, not realizing she was asleep and he didn't have to continue the lullaby. He must've been deep in thought.
Roderich left his place in the window and came into the massive yard through the door that was the only entrance to the castle via the gardens. He was lucky the housekeepers had not finished their shift and locked it. The boy's past sour mood completely in the back of his head, Roderich went right up to him mid-sentence.
"Dodo l'enfant do...Gah!" Vash's surprise transformed his voice from airy and lilting to harsh, and he nearly dropped his sister. Holding her tighter, his face mirrored that of a wolf with invaded territory. Roderich's want for socialization disappeared as soon as Vash's burning lime-green eyes began drilling into him. Roderich had never seen such an aggressive look.
"You!" Vash made no attempt to lower his voice for his snoozing sister. "You, what's your purpose, just showing up here!"
The Edelstein boy could've pointed out that his family owned the gardens, but he already knew enough about Vash to realize he had to talk on eggshells. He settled for honesty, it always seemed to work with the tense blonde. "I liked your singing."
"That again! Do you follow around people who whistle too?" His face was an apple-red mix of embarrassment and anger. The fact that he was caught doing something so womanly, and that the same rich boy who found him the first time had showed up again. He knew what everybody else knew about the Edelstein family: they were about as entertaining as the dead. But this one made his already temperamental and sullen heartstrings even angrier.
"Just you," Roderich said, just as off-put as he was on their first meeting. He spoke before the other could, "And I wanted to ask you a question."
Vash couldn't possibly fathom what sort of inquiry this palace pet would have. "Hmph, what then?"
"Please, that song you sang when we first met... Could you repeat it?"
The boy's loud voice awoke his sister, which he hardly noticed. "Wha- you-! Why would I do something like that, and for you?"
"Brother," Vanessa mumbled sluggishly, her long lashes fluttering as she tried to come to her senses. Roderich was offended deeply by him, but turned his attention to the small girl. "Frauleine Vanessa," He said, stepping towards the two.
Vash took a visible step back. He looked down at her, adjusting his arms and pulling her up, but she struggled against him. "Brother, you're shouting again," She scolded gently, forcing her eyes open. He bit his lip, then muttered, "Sorry, just try to go back to sleep..."
"Oh, I can't now." She yawned and swung her legs, pushing at his shoulders, and he complied with letting her down. She was dainty even half-asleep; trying her best to fix a dress with wrinkles that would never come out. She still had no shoes, like her brother. She looked up at him, then Roderich, smiling warmly to both so their hostility towards one another was, for the time being, forgotten. "Herr von Edelstein," She curtsied, coming up and yawning. He took her hand and pecked the knuckles. "Frauleine Vanessa Zwingli."
She took her hand back, smiling brighter. "You remembered. I'm glad. Brother," She spun to him, her dress airily following. "I didn't know we were meeting him today."
"W-we weren't! We're not supposed to!" Vash burned red, biting his lip under his sister's simple comment. "He just intruded here!"
Intruded? Roderich, again, wanted to remind him these were his family's gardens but kept quiet once more. "I-I just wanted him to tell me the song he..." He trailed off the minute the boy's glare returned. Vanessa didn't notice, saying, "Oh! The one in the forest? Yes, it's my favorite. Well, anything he sings is my favorite." Her cheeks beamed and Vash's flushed.
Her brother mumbled darkly. "Hmph, fine, if he insists on it so much..."
"Just once, brother!" Vanessa encouraged him. "Just once, please? He won't ask for anymore?" She turned to Roderich on this last question, who nodded in growing anticipation.
"Gah, I already said yes! Fine, here..." He sighed deeply, closing his eyes to control the crimson on his face, and sang quietly.
I don't have to sail to
See this other warm sea
When I look up I feel you
And when I do please see me
Rain won't keep me away
The gusts won't make me sway
The only place my soul flies
Is under your soft blue sky
Once it ended, Vanessa clapped merrily and Vash could only scowl at the ground. Roderich said nothing, because his brain was repeating the melody over and over, embedding it deep. Already he was composing the notes and playing the keys. It was like a child given early Christmas presents. He made himself swore he wouldn't forget this light romantic poem, seeing as Vash would certainly never repeat it, and so he could replay it mentally anytime he pleased.
"Thank you very much," Roderich said, and he must've sounded truly grateful, for Vash gave a half-hearted "you're welcome". He wanted to inquire as to whom the song was from, or what it meant in English, but Vanessa got to her question first. "Herr Edelstein, you're not usually out here, are you?"
He was mildly surprised. "Um, no, not usually..."
She giggled. "I could tell, cause you're so pale."
He glanced down at his hand just as she said that, and mentally agreed. He never went out and got sun, so he wasn't as tan as Vash. Vanessa was a pale as him, but he was sure it was from a lack of nutrition than staying indoors.
The three, without knowing it, passed an hour or two of conversation. They moved to the small bench that was hidden by many Austrian pines, neglected but still able to hold the weight of two ten-year-olds and a girl just a few years younger. She sat in between them, smiling and discussing the most random things when the boy's opinions or ideas began to clash. Besides the social class, the boys were incredibly different, near opposites. It didn't matter if Vash had been just as rich and if Roderich had been just as poor as the other, they'd never get along. But something was keeping both boys on that bench. The same something that forced Roderich to bite his tongue whenever Vash said something particularly insulting, and what made Vash simply puff his cheeks than yelling whenever Roderich looked at him warily.
Vanessa hardly noticed these tensions. She loved being with her brother, and their routine outing was made even more exciting with this mysterious new stranger. She was determined to get both to talk for her own amusement, seeing as the unfortunate child didn't have the things that normally kept little girls occupied- not a single doll or book.
Vash had an amazing internal clock. "Vanessa," He stopped her in the midst of her chattering. "We should head home."
'Home' was the magic word that made her stomach grumble like an angry dog. "Oh! Good, I'm so hungry!" The trio got off the bench, and Vanessa curtsied to Roderich. "Well, it's a good night, Herr von Edelstein."
The brunette, once again, was becoming bashful because of the sweet thing. "Really, Frauleine Vanessa, you can just call me Roderich."
"Then that means we're official friends, Roderich!" She simpered in delight. Neither boys realized just how happy she was; she never had a playmate, not even a girl (she didn't think her brother counted; she saw him as more of a guardian). Roderich nodded and Vash looked as if a toy had been taken from him. That meant she'd be bothering him to see this little rich boy every other day. Being a loving brother, he'd try to endure it.
"Herr Zwingli," Roderich turned said boy, bowing his head as a form of goodbye.
Vash hardly returned it. "Hn."
By the time Roderich had returned to the castle and supped with his parents, it was night. Normally, he appreciated autumn; the short days equaling a quick dinner and early bed to relieve his boredom. But as he sat in front of his piano, shivering because he opened the window in attempt to get some light from the full moon, he resented it. If only he had just an hour more of daylight; the moon and the candle with dwindling wax weren't doing anything for him.
He was hastily jotting down the lyrics to Vash's song, then began filling out the notes to the melody on a paper with bars already written on it. Because it was dark and he was rushing, the notes and words were thick and blotchy from him pressing down so hard with his ink pen. This mess of dripping ink didn't bother the normally very neat boy, but it was sure to when he looked at these papers in the morning. He'd probably spend hours trying to read and correct them.
Another unfortunate thing about this early night: He couldn't play. Just like he would've, his parents were asleep, and within an hour or so the servants would follow. His mighty need to play the song would cause him to bang and blare the music through the halls, waking everybody and surely banning him from the instrument for weeks. But he couldn't wait until morning. He was too anxious and the song was running through his brain and ringing in his ears. Then he began to recall the French lullaby Vash sang that afternoon. He began to compose a measure to compliment it.
Eventually, his eyelids too heavy to read the music his tired hand was sloppily writing, Roderich decided he had to go to bed. He dragged himself to the massive room, dressing and crawling beneath the thick, warm sheets. He drifted off faster than he realized, for the music playing in his head when he was awake followed him to his dreams.
The boy practically swallowed breakfast to get to the piano room as quickly as he could. Just as predicted, he groaned at his chaotic scribbles, attempting to copy them on new paper with much tidier handwriting. Once this grueling task was done, he didn't even warm up with a few scales. He played the forest song.
His parents were surprised at such a tender piece coming from the empty room. As stated before, they were drab and unimpressive, and the music they gave him to practice was just like that. But this was new, so warm and thoughtful, like a spring day. They listened to it, not noticing it playing over and over. Even the servants took notice, and began to do their chores to the beat of the song. The washerwoman scrubbed, the chef chopped and the maid swept with each beat.
Nobody wanted him to stop, including himself. But it was lunchtime, and one of the servants (very begrudgingly) had to fetch him to bring him to the dining room. Immediately after the meal, he returned to the room and played, to everyone's delight. This continued well into the afternoon.
And every afternoon, Vash and Vanessa strolled past the gardens. They rarely went in, but Vanessa insisted, wanting to meet her new friend. Vash didn't want to tell her that the boy wouldn't be there. She was at an age when children see the world with a special sort of vision, a vision where social classes, skin colors, disabilities and reputations are invisible.
They went to the same spot as yesterday, the one near the door to the castle and right by the bench hidden by pines. Vanessa sat on the bench, sitting straight up, a girl with a reason to be there. Vash just stood, moving dirt with his toes, mentally praying Roderich would show up, just for Vanessa's sake.
"Brother, do you hear that?" She piped, bringing him out of his benediction. He looked up at her, confused, then followed her pointing finger. It directed him to a massive bay window, opened. Faintly, he could hear a piano's melody float out.
"Brother, that's your song!" Vanessa gasped, covering her mouth to shush herself so she could listen. He didn't believe her, and listened just as intently, and she was right. As the song played, the lyrics mechanically began to recite themselves in his head. Vanessa was enchanted. "Do you think it's him playing?"
Of course it was, Vash never told anybody but him and his sister the song. He was irritated at many things, the two big ones being the prissy boy wasn't down here meeting with his sister and that he had the gall to play the song throughout that pathetic ruin of a 'castle'.
Roderich did not come out, but Vanessa was content as if he did. She listened to him playing, just as delighted as if her brother were singing. She wished he would, but the blonde never budged a vocal cord the whole three hours they were there. He just glared harpoons at the window.
By the fourth midday, Roderich had completely memorized the song and all the melodies he added to compliment it. He included the French lullaby in some of the pieces, and sometimes he made entire different sonatas off the lyrics. It kept him amused for hours, and he was in the greatest spirits he'd ever been in his young youth.
His soul soared and became one with the music, in no way that it ever had before. He began loving music.
It began taking its toll on him. Roderich's finger tips were blistered from the constant playing, and his hand seemed to be permanently stained black from all the writing he'd been doing. He'd even been neglecting his eating, giving him an even more pale and ghostly look. His governess noticed all of this, and she demanded he'd spend his time after lessons going outside instead of 'eternally banging on that noise-maker'.
It was then Roderich remembered Vanessa and her brother. His heart squeezed with guilt- he'd promised the young girl he'd visit her every day, hadn't he? She probably thought he was ignoring her, that he thought of her as inferior. He was so anxious and upset that he could hardly sit through his lessons. The second his governess ended her last sentence in her English book, he ran out into the gardens.
He waited anxiously on the old bench by the pine trees. It was a wonderful late summer day, the cool air from the Alps blowing so the trees danced and the flowers' petals left the stems. Birds were chatty and social, flying close to his feet and picking at the crumbs of bread left by careless servants. The sky was a single, solid shade of ocean blue… it was a day when the most miserable of men would feel uplifted. However, it did not help the most miserable of young boys.
He waited for several hours, looking at the gate entrance anytime his nerves got the better of him. In his head, words of apologies and excuses reeled. Vanessa would forgive him, even if he really didn't deserve it- she was kind in that way. On the other hand, her sullen brother… Roderich wasn't sure if he feared getting yelled at or a silent glare more.
The wind was slowing and the clouds moved in, the birds quieted themselves and the trees calmed their dance. They were all signs of the sun going to rest. The boy hardly was- he was fidgety and desolate. He seriously expected the blonde siblings would never return.
He finished that thought, and was about to start on an equally negative one, when he swore he heard one of their voices…
"I keep telling you! He won't be there!"
"Oh, but can't we try?"
Was it strange that Roderich had completely memorized the boy's scathing voice in just four days' time? He didn't dwell on it and ran to the gate of the gardens. The two were on the road leading to it, although the boy was trailing behind his sister.
"At least let me listen to the music, brother…" Vanessa looked over her shoulder and probably gave him the sweetest, most pleading look in the world, because Vash's adamant expression went soft within seconds. He sighed and kicked at the dirt with his calloused feet. "Just for the music…!"
They stopped in their tracks, because he had already gone to meet them. Roderich had completely forgotten his everyday orders to never leave the gardens. This was actually the first time he'd been on any ground other than pristine tile, expensive stone or well-trimmed grass.
The three children stared at each other for a few moments, but naturally, Vanessa recovered first. "Roderich! It's nice to see you!" She could hardly contain her grinning face.
Relief washed over Roderich's small body. She wasn't upset at all; she was actually trying to restrain herself from hugging him. He had to admit he was doing the same; the only thing holding him back was the very dangerous stare coming from her brother….
Vash marched past his sister and right into Roderich's face. He was so close that the brunette boy noticed Vash was about an inch shorter than him, that he stunk like a neglected horse, and he had many shades of green in his expressive eyes. He didn't have any time to admire them-
"What's wrong with you? You think, just because you live in a big square made of stone, you can just forget my sister like that?"
"W-Well…" Roderich gathered his tunic in his thin hands and wrung it. "I…I sort of…"
"You forgot!"
"I didn't! N-not really…"
"Oh brother, stop it," Vanessa frowned. "You're scaring me."
Vash only slightly backed down and was going to shout some more, but she spoke faster. "I know you didn't forget, Roderich… because you played brother's song so nicely."
Roderich blushed and pulled on his tunic a little more. "Y-Yes… I… I really like it…"
Vash crossed his arms and blushed almost the same exact shade. "That's stupid."
"Why?"
"Who obsesses over a stupid song like that? Something a peasant just made up."
Vanessa looked surprised. "Brother, you said it was written by…"
"Like I said, a peasant!" He barked loudly, making Roderich jump. Something was obviously bothering Vash, much more than the song. The three children were quietly standing in the dirt road for a good minute. The sky was beginning to take a fiery shade and the wind was becoming scarce.
Roderich was getting multiple wrinkles and extra creases in his tunic. He turned to Vanessa and said, with as much severity as a ten-year-old could muster, "I promise I'll meet you at this time of day, whenever I can, Vanessa."
It was cute how quickly her face lit up. "Thank you. I promise too." She went to her brother's side and looked at him expectantly.
The poor boy crossed his arms tighter and pouted deeper, but she hardly wavered. He sighed but still kept his rigid stance. "….Fine."
For Vanessa, that settled everything. "Roderich, we have to go home now. I'll see you tomorrow!"
"A-and I'll see you! Good night, Vanessa!" The boy waved excitedly after the siblings, and the girl returned his gesture, while the other (predictably) ignored him. That was just fine for the sheltered boy. Until now, he'd never known anything outside of his castle walls. He was presented with boys his age, but why were they not as lively as kind as her? Why were they not as unpredictable and hot-headed as him? Roderich did not know, but his music was not all that was going to be transformed radically.
And so, for the next several years, the three children met under the pines.
Seriously... I wasn't going to update this story. Ever. I was considering getting rid of it xD The flowery speech is too much of a pain to write (you can tell I slacked off towards the end of the chapter) and I'm really not sure how I want the plot to progress.
I was looking over this half-finished chapter, thinking these things, and my brother popped up like:
"OH, ANOTHER FANFIC YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED~? DON'T YOU STILL HAVE THAT VIOLINIST STORY TO DO~? WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU UPDATED~? WASN'T YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION-"
And I was like: "*punch*"
So yes. Here is your chapter update XD Actually, I'm thinking of making these short but full of events. But there's still the plot to be considered... Ugh, well, if you have an idea, please message me with some ;;n;;