As per request from Kasumisou, here's another sad story from me. *laughs* Well, not really; I just got this song stuck in my head and since it happens to be a sad song, so will this story. The song is called, "Once Upon a Time," from the almost unknown musical, All American (youtube…com/watch?v=zgPKuLKWXXM). Apparently this song was written back in the 1960s, so it's pretty impressive that people still sing it considering that the musical it came from is considered a flop.

Song lyrics are in bold and thoughts are in italics within quotes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kiniro no Corda or any affiliates.

Kahoko Hino sighed tiredly as she put away her violin. "That should be enough for tonight. The cab should be here soon."

As was her habit whenever she finished practicing her violin, she pulled out an old picture from her wallet. The edges were weathered from wear and age. She sadly smiled at the two figures in the photograph, the look on her face a mere ghostly echo of the sunny smiles that shone up at her. She walked over to the windowsill and laid it down, peering through her lace curtains up at the full moon that hung like a large, luminous, pearl in the sky. She smiled softly, a single tear trailing down her cheek. "Has it really been over ten years?"

Once upon a time
A boy with moonlight in his eyes
Put his hand in mine
And said he loved me so

She hadn't seen a moon like this since that night long ago when he had confessed his love for her. She had been seventeen. She sighed dreamily, remembering.

They had been walking home a warm summer night from helping Kanazawa-sensei with finishing up some last minute details before the outdoor concert the following day. They had decided to take a shortcut through the park. When the reached the top of a hill, he suddenly stopped. It was in that moon-washed landscape that he took her hand and told her of his feelings.

She remembered the way the stars twinkled brighter than any precious stone in the velvety blackness behind him, the way the moon reflected in his eyes giving them greater depth, the way the shadows playing on his face made her heart leap and race, the way the catch in his voice as he shyly stammered out his confession reminded her anew of how special he was—easygoing but with great depth of character, gentle yet firm in his convictions, full of childlike wonder yet surprisingly mature and full of understanding. All these things and so many more blended together to form the wonderful, handsome man before her.

All too soon, the doorbell rang, jarring her from her memories. She sadly looked down at the picture again and carefully put it away.

But that was once upon a time…

Quickly gathering her bags, she paused for a second before resolutely walking out the door.

Very long ago

On the other side of the world, Kazuki Hihara's feet took him down a path he hadn't traversed in over a year. Walking down the tree-lined path, he wondered to himself, "Has it really been ten years?" Ten years since she had left, taking his heart with her. He could remember the night before she left like it was yesterday—their tree, the stars, whispered promises, her lithe frame pressed to his side, lingering kisses sprinkled with teardrops.

Once upon a hill
We sat beneath a willow tree (Beneath a willow tree)
Counting all the stars
And waiting for the dawn (For the dawn)

He reached the summit of the hill and looked upon it sadly.

But that was once upon a time…

His heart silently grieved again as it had every time for the past five years when his eyes ran over the bare spot in the ground where their tree had once stood.

Now the tree is gone

It was gone; like their love…He shook his head and smiled a bit ruefully, walking over and sitting down at the gravesite of their tree. It wasn't right to taint this sacred place of memory and love with such unnecessary thoughts.

He closed his eyes and reminisced. He was twenty-years-old again and she was nineteen. The summer heat had forced them to take sanctuary beneath this tree where he had confessed his love for her two years prior. They sat in the shade, leaning against the tree trunk, fingers entwined, her head resting on his shoulder as she lightly dozed.

How the breeze ruffled through her hair
How we always laughed as though tomorrow wasn't there

He could look at that face forever. He gave her a light kiss on the head. His eyes smiled warmly as he watched the breeze play with a few stray strands of cherry red. He gently brushed a thread or two of it out of her face and laughed gently at the adorably sleepy look she wore when she looked up at him in response. Then she smiled and they'd shared sweet kisses and laughter until the sun went down.

We were young and didn't have a care (Oh, where)

He sighed and looked wistfully up at the sky. Now it was ten years later and they hadn't seen each other or really spoken since she had left.

Where did it go?

They had kept things up for about a year, but eventually, they had floated out of contact.

Oh, where did it go?

She stood by the window of her old room, staring out at the no-longer familiar landscape. Everything was so different from when she had left. The stark differences made her ache for the world of yesteryear where the sun shined brightly even when it was dark and love and laughter abounded and overflowed.

Once upon a time
The world was sweeter than we knew (Was sweeter than we knew)

Turning her head again, she scanned the horizon, straining her eyes in order to try and get a glimpse of their special place—the place that held some of the happiest moments of her entire life.

Everything was ours
How happy we were then (We were then)

With a strangled, anguished cry of realization and dismay, she rushed out the door.

But somehow once upon a time…

She stopped at the base of the hill and looked up, tears welling in her eyes. Her heart felt as if it had been violated. It was gone. Their special place was gone.

Never comes…again…

As he began to walk down the hill, behind him, a red-haired girl threw herself sobbing to the ground where he had sat just moments before.

Again…

Hmm…will they meet up again, nor not? Since the final lyrics are, "But somehow once upon a time never comes again," I suppose by all rights, it should be not. But I wanted to give them at least a bit of a chance!

I heard this song for the first time back in high school when the advanced mixed choir performed it for our first concert of the year. For some reason, I wanted to hear it again, and I dreamed this up. The original song wasn't a cappella, but I couldn't find any duets for this song, and this is the arrangement that was sung in high school anyway. (^_^)

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