Authors note: hey guys! Double whammy today, cos these chapters go together but I didn't want them on the same page^^ this is the last update for this story but I'll say goodbye on the next chapter^^ also if you wouldn't mind staying behind a few seconds to help me choose my next story I'd really appreciate it^^ alright, enough rambling- here's the chapter- hope you like it! See you on the next one!
Hiccup let his bag fall off his shoulder. It slumped onto the ground, weighed down by the miniature library Hiccup kept inside it. He nudged it carelessly under the piano- careful to avoid the pedals he sometimes used, and sat down, heavily, on the cushioned stool in front of the academy owned piano. He let out a long, weary sigh. Today had been one wild ride- and that was an understatement. He'd had possibly the biggest shock in his life- his whole world flipping upside down- and this morning's lessons had been brutal.
This was the first bit of free time he'd had all morning. Finally, he had the freedom to play whatever he wanted- without the teacher's critical eye following his every move. She'd seemed particularly focussed today- working him hard to search for that 'full potential' she never deemed found. She seemed a little dissatisfied with the results, as always, but this time there was something different: frustration, like she knew they were close to cracking something, but they couldn't quite get it. She said there'd been a lot of improvement this morning (which was some of the highest praise he'd ever got from her). He was playing differently- and, in all honesty, he felt different too.
The morning's breaking news of his arrival of his new neighbour and old guardian angel/ghost he met four years ago, who'd relit his passion for the piano- it felt like that missing link in his life had fallen back into place. It kept the touches of a smile on his face, no matter how tough the morning's tutoring had got- and man had it been tough.
He stretched his hands, slowly waking his fingers that felt like they were still half asleep. It was as if they'd been running up and down the piano keys so long they'd got tired, he reflected, chuckling. Normally, after a day like today's, he'd give it a rest, and wait until he got home to start playing again, but he just couldn't help it this time. He had a song he'd been itching to play all morning. He would've attempted it during the lesson, but this was something he always worked on privately. He didn't want anyone seeing the half finished version, and he didn't want to treat it like every other piece of music- it was special, and he treated it as such. Normally, he wouldn't use the free music room and would go home to use his own piano, but he was too impatient to wait until then. He breathed a deep breath.
Time to try their symphony again.
The song had changed since its debut on the stage. The first section had grown stronger- more heartbreaking, and complete in its sorrow. The longing much more powerful and intense than before. In some ways, that could be considered a good thing- but the second part was where it all went to ruin.
Any happiness he'd found in that part of the symphony had gone sour. He'd never been able to play the part he created for the spirit, without it turning wistful for the things that might've been. Sometimes he even got up and stormed away from the piano- bitter resentment of the spirit's absense taking away his will to play. The joy of that part of the song seemed to have been leeched from it and buried under a pile of sorrow.
...But now... he could feel it again.
That distant euphoria- that incredible happiness the ghost had instilled in him... and he felt sure that if he dug through the rubble, and blew away the dust... he could find that lost duet again. But he couldn't bring himself to start from its dark beginning. He just couldn't seem to find a shadow to play from. It was like trying to force rain from a clear, blue sky. He just couldn't do it. So, he decided to start from the middle. From the point where the lament for his mother had ended... and his dance with the spirit had begun.
And he started it, as always... by closing his eyes.
He reached for the ivory keys.