Disclaimer: None of these characters or backgrounds are my creations. Instead, they belong entirely to CLAMP and all their happy creativeness. I am merely using them to pretend that I might write something interesting for my friends.

The soft, calculated striking of piano keys slowly came to a halt, relinquishing the remainder of the phrase to the silence. Steady footsteps sent ripples of echoes throughout the dimly lit room, dwarfed by the vast distance of the walls which enclosed the music room. Hands which had known little of music and much less of the piano moved from behind the his back to slowly rest themselves upon the flat, ebony surface of the piano. Golden spun hair rested over relaxed, crystal eyes.

A childhood smile. "If I asked of you,…"

The stilled, slender fingers hovered over familiar, ivory keys. Tap. Tap. Pause. E F C B. A melody, which carried a certain sense of home haunted, began to flow gracefully from the keys like water. Then, over the subtle syncopation, "Of course." Without glancing up, goldenrod eyes framed by auburn hair gently closed. A worn smile. Patched but still as receptive.