Hi again! I don't really have much to say (actually I never really have :P), so here's chapter Fa!

Thanks to:

- fictionadict24

- Angryhenry

For reviewing chapter 3, and thanks to:

- Phoenixofmyth

- Greneacorple

- Angryhenry

- Arabiandragon

For reviewing chapter 4! And also thanks to those who have read/followed/favored this story!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything...

Far away in the past, when I was just four, my mum took me to a friend of her. It was a bit boring, since I was the only child there, but when I was allowed to explore the house, I came upon a room that held a piano. Me, being curious as I was, knew what a piano was, but had never seen one before. I looked behind me, and could hear the voices of my mother and her friend from the living room downstairs. I closed the door, and then went to the piano. The stool was a bit high for me, but I managed to get on it. Cautiously, I pressed a key, and the tune sounded throughout the room. I quickly looked up, expecting my mother and her friend to scold me for making such noise, but nothing happened. I turned towards the piano again, and pressed the same key. I then recalled a movie I once saw with my parents. "The Sound of Music." I really liked the song Do Re Mi, so I decided I would try it on the piano. Of course, it took me a lot of tries to even get the first few notes right and in the right rhythm, but I succeeded. I knew it wasn't like the professionals, I only used my two pointer fingers, but I didn't mind. For me, it seemed like something amazing.

I was so engrossed in attempting to play the piano, I didn't notice the door open and my mother and her friend watching me, listening to the simple tune of the song.

When I was finished, I heard clapping coming from the now open door. I swirled around, startled, and started apologizing at once.

"I'm so sorry Miss, I won't do it again!" I said.

But the my mothers friend laughed and said: "I would be sorry if you did. You are very good for someone without any experience." I didn't know what the word experience meant, but I knew that I was being complimented.

I gave her a big smile, pleased with the compliment. "Thank you!" I said gleeful.

I stood in my room at home, my fingers gliding over the keys of the old keyboard. It wasn't long after that visit to my mother's friends, that my parents gave me the keyboard. I remembered the happiness I felt at the sight of it, and I immediately started experimenting with the songs I had learned at school. Later, when I was a bit older, my parents arranged piano lessons for me. For years I went once every week to the house where my teacher lived and gave lessons. It was a very nice lady, somewhere between sixty and seventy years old. She was like a grandmother to me, and I liked going to her.

When I was twelve, my teacher was diagnosed with cancer, and a year later, she died. I didn't want to have piano lessons anymore, because I felt I would be replacing my old teacher. I continued playing, though, even more when the bullying began. It was my outlet, my way to shut the world out and just play.

But now, every time I saw the keyboard, I would think of my mother. It was partially because of her that I started playing. Since her death, I hadn't been playing at all. Just thinking about it made my heart clench a bit.

Not today, I thought. I took a deep breath, and sat down. With my right foot on the pedal, I pressed a key. The first note of Do Re Mi, a song I hadn't played for many years.

The second key was pressed, and then the third. Before I knew it, I was playing. I escaped into my own world, where only the music existed. I switched songs, and now I was playing Moonlight Sonata from Beethoven. My hands flowed over the keys in deep concentration, letting the music express the feelings that accompanied the memory of my mother.

I played the last few notes, and then turned to stand up and go to the kitchen, only to see that my way out was blocked by none other than Astrid and Fred.

The same day Fred and I became friends, I introduced him to Astrid. After assuring Fred that we were sincerely nice to him, not just to bully him, he and Astrid became friends as well, and now we three were often found together.

We stood there, not saying anything, until Astrid broke the silence.

"Wow," she breathed. "Hayden, that was amazing!" Fred nodded, speechless.

"Ehm, not to be rude… But what are you guys doing here?" I asked while I rubbed the back of my head. I was very self-conscious about my music-playing, and had not planned for anyone - besides my father - to hear it, ever.

"Oh!" Fred said, as if he was awakened from a trance. "We thought we'd pop my, for a surprise."

"Your dad let us in," Astrid said. "Didn't you hear us ring?" I shook my head.

"Well, thanks for coming, nonetheless," I said, and gestured for them to sit down. Astrid took my desk seat, Fishlegs sat down on my bed, and I still occupied the stool.

"I'll get us some drinks," I said while standing up. "One moment."

Since my room was on the lower floor of the two-story house, I didn't have to descend any stairs, which was very fortunate now that I had a prosthetic.

When I entered the kitchen, I found my dad sitting at the table, sipping his coffee and reading the paper.

"You could've warned me, you know," I said while a grabbed a bottle of soda and three glasses.

"Yeah, I could," was all my father said. He took another sip, and winked at me. I sighed before I went back to my room.

After I had pouring some soda in a glass, I handed it to Astrid. "Here you are, milady," I smiled. Then I gave Fred his glass before getting the last one for myself.

"Thanks," Fred and Astrid said simultaneously. Then, Fred launched into one of his tales, and we found ourselves happily chatting and laughing for the rest of the day.

"Hayden, you should sign up! You could beat every one out here!" Fred said excitedly, pointing towards a poster that announced the annual talent show at school. I had seen the poster before, but never considered participating. I mean, I was the number-one loser in the school, there was no way I would embarass myself like that.

But of course, every force on earth had to be against me when Fred decided to ask Astrid to help him convince me. And because I had a major crush on her, it wasn't very hard for her to persuade me.

Wasn't love supposed to be a good thing?

Fred cheered when I finally agreed to sign up, convinced that I would kick everyone else's butt. But what was more surprising was Astrids reaction. Instead of joining the cheering, she went to stand in front of me and hugged me.

Immediately the butterflies that had bothered me for a while now started to flutter in my stomach, and the feeling multiplied when she gave me a peck on the cheek before letting go.

Yes, love was a good thing.

The evening found me kneeling at my mothers grave, my hands working to pull out the weeds that were growing from the earth, arranging the flowers, making everything perfect. Once I was done, I leaned back, and looked at the stone slab which held her name.

"Hey mom," I said softly, not caring that people might think I was crazy. "It's not the same without you, you know? Everyone misses you, me and dad especially. He tried at first, but he just couldn't act like nothing happened anymore. Not that I wanted him to do that at first, because I needed his support after the accident, and him acting like he did wasn't helping at all. It made me feel like it wasn't important at all. Like you hadn't existed at all." I sighed, remembering the weeks of my recovery, and the times I tried to live with the pain and guilt of the loss of my leg and my mother, and failing big time. Every time had been when my father wasn't around, because I thought he wouldn't understand. How I wished he had been around, and felt the pain with him, instead of banning it out of his mind.

"Do you remember Astrid? Remember when I told you about her the first time I had seen her? I was seven that time. You later told me I asked you if she was an angel, and you always smiled at the memory. Well, the first time I visited you here, she was at the graveyard too and saw me. She asked me what happened, and listened to me when I told her my story. She has been a great friend, mom, as you've always said she would one day be. I only wish you would've been alive to see it…"

"Fred has been a great friend too. He moved to Berk while I was in the hospital, so I didn't know him before. He was the first one to try and become friends with me instantly, hadn't ridiculed me at all. He's a big guy of my age, has blond hair, and knows all about nature. He and Astrid actually managed to get me to sign up for the annual talent show. You never asked me to participate, but I knew you would like for me show my talent to the world. I guess it's time I did, isn't it?"

Only now realizing it was getting dark, I stood up and brushed the soot from my pants. "I have to go now, but I'll be back," I said to the grave. "Love you, mom."

Walking away, I took one glance over my shoulder, watching the grave growing smaller the further away I walked. When I had reached the gate, I sighed and stepped onto the sidewalk, making my way back home.