It meant about 3 weeks without drinking, but it would be worth it. Mark opened the case of his new acquisition; a box looking instrument with bellows connecting two plates. The merchant who had sold it to him called it a Bandoneon, and the accordion cousin appealed to Mark instantly. It had come with a book of instructions for him, and soon he had affixed his hands to straps on each side of the instrument and pulled the sides apart. A low note came out and it brought a smile to Mark's face. He freed one of his hands to open the book that had come with the instrument. He turned to one of the first pages and found a diagram indicating where to press his fingers for which notes. As he began to adjust his fingers for the first note, Cordelia walked up to his tent and opened the entrance to look inside. "Mark? Can I talk to you about tom-…oh?!" She smiled as she saw the instrument in Mark's hands and heard the middle note that the bandoneon let out as the sides were pressed together. "Where did you get that?" Cordelia said excitedly, coming farther into the tent and sitting on Mark's nearby bed.

"From the merchant that was passing through. She had this on the counter, and I asked her about it." He pressed in and moved his fingers about so that a string of notes came out, each higher than the last. Cordelia beamed at the noise.

"My grandfather had an instrument kind of like this." She reminisced, a far look reflected in her eyes. "He used to play after dinner on Saturdays, every week. He used to play all kinds of music." She continued to smile as Mark figured out how to string basic notes together, looking at the bandoneon more as a gateway to past memories more than as an instrument. "He's why I learned how to play the harp. My grandfather inspired me to make music the way he…he used to." Cordelia stumbled on the last few words, and the tactician heard the breaking in her voice towards the end. He looked up in time for Cordelia to excuse herself, stand and walk out of the tent.

Mark didn't know anything about loss, really. Besides Emmeryn, he couldn't remember ever losing anyone if he ever had. He wished he could help his friend feel better, but didn't know just how to do it. Sighing, he turned the page, and before him the answer lay on the pages of the instruction book.

A few hours later, Cordelia sat in her tent, still trying to compose herself. Memories of her grandparents were bittersweet. They were there for some of her best times in her life, but many of those memories now were cold to her. Since her grandparents died three years ago, the world seemed darker at times. From outside her tent, she heard notes. Lifting her head, she saw a shadow standing outside her tent. She stood and opened the front to see Mark standing there, persuading basic strings of notes from his new instrument

"Smile, darn ya, smile

You know this great world is a good world after all

Smile, darn ya, smile

And right away watch lady luck pay you a call

Things are never black as they are painted

Time for you and joy to get acquainted

So make life worthwhile

Come on and smile, darn ya, smile"

Mark was doing his best to coax as good a sound from his voice as from the instrument, and Cordelia could tell he was struggling with the lyrics. Still, she couldn't help but smile at her friend's attempts, and laugh when his voice cracked towards the end of the song. Halfway through people started gathering around and listening, listening as intently as Cordelia was, smiling along with her. When he finished the crowd clapped for him, and the Pegasus knight came over and hugged her friend. She ducked under the bandoneon as it wrapped around her back. "Thanks, Mark," she whispered sincerely in his ear, "but your voice still needs a little work."