Author's note: My first Peabody and Sherman fic! Featuring a slightly younger Sherman. Have not actually seen the movie yet, hence anything here that might seem somehow related to its plot is really a coincidence.

Sherman stood by the door, silently watching Mr. Peabody entertain the guests. Technically the boy should have been in bed long ago, but he wanted to hear Mr. Peabody play the piano. And if Mr. Peabody never knew he had stayed up late, then he couldn't get in trouble for it, right? So far he had been up for an extra half an hour, and he hadn't been discovered yet.

The piece that Peabody played-something by Mozart, he couldn't remember what exactly-reverberated throughout the hallway. It was a masterpiece, and some people said that Peabody played it better than even Mozart did. Although how they would know that, when no one around-not even Mr. Peabody-had ever met Mozart, was a mystery.

The music stopped, and the adults began talking about something that Sherman didn't understand. They laughed, and Peabody offered to tell them about one of his famous adventures. Under normal circumstances Sherman would have stayed to listen to a new story, but since it turned out to be the one about the lion in the diamond mine he decided to sneak back to bed.

Well, not really.

He stopped by his small piano which was sitting innocently on the floor, right where it wasn't supposed to be. Of course, Sherman had to put it back. After he played with it first.

Gently, oh so gently, he tapped the keys on the piano and listened to his song. He had to be quiet enough that Mr. Peabody wouldn't hear him. He tried to make the same song Mr. Peabody had played on the big piano, but his little one didn't have all the keys and it didn't come out right.

Sherman frowned. "Why can't I get this right?" He said.

He tapped the keys again. He pressed three at once, all next to each other. The notes came out as a single sound.

"This doesn't sound at all like what Mr. Peabody does," he concluded, "It must be broken!"

Leaving the toy piano on the floor, Sherman crawled into his bed.

"I'll have to wait until they're gone," he said, "Then I can use the real piano."

With a smile on his face, Sherman then proceeded to struggle to stay awake.

"Come on, leave already," he groaned, staring at the clock. It flashed 9:12 pm.

When were they going to leave?

Sherman yawned, and pinched himself to stay awake.

Finally, after an eternity of listening to the mumbled voices of adults through his bedroom door, he heard Mr. Peabody bid the guests goodnight. He forced himself to wait, and when Mr. Peabody came in to check on him he pretended to be asleep.

"Go to sleep, Sherman." Well, apparently his acting hadn't fooled Mr. Peabody. "I'll see you in the morning."

Still, Sherman kept up his acting admirably. He waited as Mr. Peabody ruffled his forehead and left the room, and then he waited a whole ten minutes before enacting his plan.

Stealthily sneaking out of his bed, Sherman cautiously made his way to the living room. He didn't dare turn on any lights, because he knew that Mr. Peabody would somehow hear the lights go on. Instead, he decided that the moonlight through the windows was enough light to see the piano.

He made his way towards that instrument, and sat down on the bench. He felt as if he was on the verge of a great quest, with dire consequences if he made any mistakes. He probably felt that way because he had never sat at the piano before.

The keys were missing. That was his first thought, before he realized that the moonlight was playing tricks on him. It turns out that they were covered. Quietly, Sherman lifted the piano cover and looked at the keys before him.

Now was the time, now was the moment! He was finally going to play that song on the piano. The one Mr. Peabody had played earlier.

"Here we go," he whispered to himself, and he set his fingers to work.

It sounded better than the little one in his room, but it wasn't right. Only, this piano couldn't be broken. Mr. Peabody had only just used it. Unless...maybe he had broken it!

"No, that's silly," said Sherman, and it was. Mr. Peabody never broke anything unless he wanted to.

Then, what was the problem?

"Maybe the song is broken," said Sherman, and somehow this made sense.

There was only one solution.

"I need to make my own song to fix it!" Sherman declared, and he instantly set to work.

But compared to Peabody's music, Sherman decided that his was a disappointment. While it sounded good, it didn't sound anywhere near the nice things Peabody had played, or the music Peabody made him listen to on the CD player.

"I can't get it," Sherman said, "It isn't good!"

In the face of such a disaster, and on the big piano too, Sherman did what any five-year-old boy would do. He stopped playing and started crying.

No sooner had he started than someone sat down next to him on the piano bench in the dark room, and wrapped up Sherman in his arms.

"There there Sherman," said Mr. Peabody, "I didn't think it was all that bad. You just need practice, that's all."

"B-but it isn't right!" Sherman said, not remembering that he should be in big trouble for staying up late, or questioning how Peabody had arrived there so fast.

"It sounded good to me," said Mr. Peabody, "What were you trying to play?"

Sherman sniffled.

"T-he first song was *hic* the song *hic* that you played later,*hic*," he explained as he hiccuped.

"You mean earlier, Sherman," said Mr. Peabody, "But never mind that. I know just the perfect song for you, that I know you will like."

Mr. Peabody took Sherman's hand and placed it on a certain key at one end of the piano. Then he placed his own hand on a corresponding key at the other end.

"Now, do as I do," Peabody said.

Sherman expected him to play some complicated piece, but instead Peabody merely pressed the one key and stopped. He looked at Sherman expectantly, and Sherman pressed his key.

"Now watch," said Mr. Peabody. He moved his finger over by one key, and pressed it once. Sherman followed, and Peabody repeated his action again.

Sherman laughed. This was fun.

Mr. Peabody kept on pressing the keys, and Sherman kept following him. Suddenly, Sherman realized what they were playing.

"It's Mary Had a Little Lamb!" He cried out.

"Very good, Sherman!" said Mr. Peabody, "Now, do you think you can play this all by yourself?"

"I'll try Mr. Peabody," Sherman said.

He tried and succeeded, with only four mistakes. He was very pleased with himself.

"Tomorrow, I shall teach you how to play something else." Mr. Peabody said.

"Really?" Sherman asked, "Thank you Mr. Peabody!" He proceeded to hug Peabody, and then continued to play the piano.

Mr. Peabody smiled, and let the boy play for a good long while. Finally he halted the performance and carried the boy back to bed.

"Get some sleep, Sherman," Mr. Peabody said as he tucked the boy in bed, "We'll practice the piano tomorrow after breakfast."

"But I can't sleep, Mr. Peabody," Sherman complained, "I'm learning a new song soon, I'm too excited to sleep!"

"Then just lie down in bed," Peabody said, "I'll come check up on you in fifteen minutes."

"Okay," said Sherman, snuggling into his covers. That arrangement seemed fair.

Mr. Peabody left the room, leaving Sherman's bedroom door wide open as he exited. Seconds later, soft music from the piano floated through the open door.

Sherman turned towards the music, and listened to it. It was very nice...

When Mr. Peabody checked in on Sherman fifteen minutes later, everything was just as he expected it to be. With a smile, he noted that the boy was fast asleep. So Mr. Peabody softly rubbed the boy's forehead, relocated the small toy piano from the floor to its rightful home with the other toys, and quietly left the room.

THE END