Kousei's fingers flew over the piano, gliding with a grace only natural talent blended with years of experience, joined together by sorrow and grief could bring. The little blonde girl sat on his leg, her little hands pushing random keys on the piano, producing sounds that should sound jarring but really only ended up sounding beautiful because she was beautiful, and everything she did was beautiful and perfect.

"Tou-chan!" the little girl said.

"Mhm?" the master pianist said, only a change of pitch in his voice as he hummed along with the piece he was playing.

"Why does Kaa-chan call Tou-chan 'Yuujin-A'?"

His fingers slipped, he played the wrong note, and the whole song came crashing down into a pile of echoey silence. The girl looked up at him, her blue eyes wide and curious. He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"There's a long story behind that," he said. His daughter continued to stare expectantly at him. He looked back at his wife for help.

"Kaa-chan," he said. "Why do you call me 'Yuujin-A'?"

From the back of the room Kaori smiled. She stopped playing with elegance a queen couldn't hope to match, elegance that made him look like even more of a blundering idiot, and set her violin down.

Brushing her gilded hair out of her face, she walked forward with the beauty and grace of a goddess, never failing to transfix Kousei. She placed a hand on top of her daughter's head, the little girl closing her eyes like a pleased cat.

"It's a long story," Kaori said gently. "We'll tell you sometime later. You need to go to bed now, right? It's time to sleep," she said, her voice stern yet loving at the same time.

As if on cue, the little girl yawned, and Kaori ruffled her hair. "Kaa-chan and Tou-chan have to practice a bit longer for the finals."

"But I don't wanna sleep!" she protested.

Kousei chuckled. "Nagi-chan is coming over tomorrow, isn't she?"

The little girl's eyes lit up, and she looked excitedly at her mother as she remembered she'd get to meet her favorite person in the world tomorrow. Kaori knelt down beside her.

"You don't want to be asleep when she comes, do you?"

Their daughter shook her head, rubbing her eyes, another yawn coming on. She'd be able to sleep comfortably, of course, no matter the music her parents were playing. She'd been surrounded with music her entire life, breathed and bathed in it.

Kousei smiled. "Come," he said. "I'll tuck you in."

She nodded. Taking her hand, he led her back to her bedroom and sat with her until she fell asleep, a warmth rising in his heart as he thought of the family he never thought he'd have. She was asleep within fifteen minutes.

xXx

He shut the door behind him, walking into the music room. His wife stood in the corner of the room, playing her violin, the tempo slow, just getting started. Her eyes were closed, a small smile on her lips, peace, contentment on her beautiful face, her hair falling down her shoulder like a lake of liquid gold. The love of his life, his entire reason for living… She was everything to him, his entire world. Every note he'd ever played was her, and every breath he took was her. She meant more to him than everyone else combined.

He looked at the piano. The competition finals were next week, and musicians from all over the world had come to Japan. They were probably the most talented pair of musicians in the world, but even they'd be destroyed without practice. They'd have plenty of free time once the competition was over, but they had to practice right now. He looked at her again.

Or they could practice later.

Sidestepping the piano, he crossed the room to her in a flash, grabbing her hand, pinning her against the wall and smashing his mouth into hers. Her knees buckled, but he held her up with a hand on her lower back. She set the violin down, wrapping her arms around him and melting into the kiss.

"I love you," he growled against her lips. "I love you so much. What would I ever do without you? I can't live without you."

"I love you – too," she said breathlessly as he kissed her throat. "You'll – you'll leave a hickey…" she said, but with no real protest in her voice.

"I know," Kousei said, kissing her collarbones, and her chest above her shirt. "You're mine. And I want the world to know."

In a tangle of limbs they found themselves on the floor, his hand up her shirt, opening random buttons as his fingers fumbled clumsily to rid her of the offending garment.

"Stop," she giggled. "We said we were going to practice!"

"We can practice later," he said, kissing her again. It left them both out of breath as he pulled back, looking into her deep blue eyes. Seeing her gold hair splayed over the velvet carpet, her pale face flushed, her mouth slightly open to reveal her pink tongue, panting, her chest heaving slightly, Kousei felt his heart beat faster. With one absentminded finger he touched her face.

"You're so beautiful…" he said. "You sure you like me?"

She smiled. "How long have we been married?"

"Four years," he said breathlessly.

"And how long have we been together in total?"

"Eight years, ever since we were fourteen. Or seven, I guess, if we don't count the time you were sick 'cuz we were kinda dancing around each other."

She placed her hands on either side of his face. "We wouldn't have stayed together for so long if I didn't like you, would we? I like you, Yuujin A… I like you, but more than that: I love you… I returned from death for you… And…" She stared up at him, a pained longing in her eyes. "I want to stay with you for so much longer…"

Suddenly his chest constricted, that year spent without her coming back to his mind in a flash. He drew a shaky breath, his elbows suddenly feeling weak. Her sickness wasn't gone. There was a relatively low chance of it, but it could technically come back anytime. "You will…" he whispered. "We'll be together forever. And when the time comes – sixty or seventy or eighty years from now – when we have to leave the world, we'll go together."

And if her sickness ever came back, he'd leave the world with her. Because a world without her wasn't one worth living in.

She nodded, her eyes slightly glistening, and he leaned down to capture her lips in another breathless kiss.

Translations:

Tou-chan: dad

Kaa-chan: mom

they're both fond and familiar ways to refer to your parents. not formal at all.

Yuujin: friend

Kimi janakya: It's a little hard to translate. Basically it means something like "it has to be you" or "no one but you" or "I can't live without you".

anyway pls leave a review. I swear I appreciate it more than I can ever put into words. :3 thanks for reading ^_^

yondekurete arigatou :3