Clair de Lune

Playing

Another month flew by this time the snow had already melted away, letting the rain take it's place. Kaoru was alone in the house again.

This time Megumi took Tae to help collect the rent. There was a quite aggressive and brutish debtor left from the last month and even though Megumi was quite sure that she would be able to deal with this situation by herself she still took all the help she could get. The officer should also reach the house only in the afternoon - about half of the troop was receiving some kind of special training, and the talk in town was that today about lunch time it all ends and the other half of the troop will take their place. So as long as Kaoru fit in the time frames between Megumi's departing and the officer's arrival she could play piano to her heart's content, without being worried of someone overhearing her.

Kaoru began playing the first notes of Debussy's "Clair de Lune" very carefully, letting the notes ring out. She felt as if it's been hundreds of years since she last played the piano and it took few moments to let her fingers freely fly over the keys, pounding the notes without her even thinking about it.

The music helped her drown out the real world. As Kaoru played "Clair de Lune" she imagined the sun sinking over the horizon and the moonlight washing over her. As she played the beginning of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonnata" she started seeing the snow falling from the sky and painting the world white once again. When she finished playing "Moonlight Sonnata" Kaoru lost herself in Chopin's Prelude in E-Minor which was followed by "Spring Waltz", Nocturno op.9 No.2, Mendelssohn's "The Venetian Gondola" and many more.

No matter how much time passed Kaoru just wasn't able to return to the real world until the sound of heavy footsteps taken with combat boots made her mess up the end of Erik Satie's "Gnossienne no. 1".

"Just as I thought, the piano is yours." The German officer spoke softly. "I am sorry for disturbing you, but would you mind if I listened?" As he voiced this question Kaoru saw a glimmer in his eyes that reminded her of a young child.

Kaoru replied to his question with a slight nod of her head. She watched as the German sat down in the armchair across the room. It seemed to her as if he made an effort to keep his distance from her and even if it wasn't intentional Kaoru was thankful to him for not sitting down in the chair right next to the piano. She took a deep breath and started playing Erik Satie's "Gnossienne no. 2". Kaoru continued to play all the way until she finished "Gnossienne no. 7" which was followed by the soft clapping of lieutenant.

"You play just as well as my wife. Well, maybe even a slight bit better, but I would be thankful if you would not relay my words to her." He spoke as he stood up.

"But you are too young to be married!" Kaoru didn't realise that she was voicing her thoughts and the moments the words left her mouth, she felt her jaw drop. Why couldn't she control her tongue at least this once?! Kaoru was terrified, all of the most terrifying scenarios playing out in her head, but to her biggest surprise the German started laughing.

"How old do you think I am?" He finished laughing and took few steps in Kaoru's direction, smile not leaving his face.

"Nineteen, I presume." She felt blood rush to her cheeks.

"Well, then I am a lot older than you think." The lieutenant chuckled at the puzzled look on Kaoru's face. "Twenty-eight." He admitted taking few steps closer. "I have been married to my wife for three months when the war started and I have not seen her since. Even though those three months was a short time, during them we were truly happy, but I am afraid that the man who I am now is not the same man she fell in love with. I do not think she is the same person I fell for either, since a lot of time has passed and that is what time does. It changes people." His smile got sad.

"Oh." Kaoru honestly didn't know what to say. She never expected him to start talking so openly with her.

"Well anyway, enough of that. Now that I have shared something personal, might I ask you something in return?" Now he was standing right next to the piano, his purple eyes boring into her blue ones.

"You can ask whatever you want, but that does not guarantee it that I will answer it." Kaoru replied to him with one of the courtesy phrases her sister had taught her.

"Fair enough. Why do you never call me by my name?"

Kaoru was dumbstruck by the question. What in the world was she supposed to answer to that?! It is true that she never referred to him by his given name or last name, not even in her thoughts. For her, it was sort of like a small rebellion against the world and everything that was happening in it, as well as against the German officer staying at her home. This helped her keep things impersonal and regard the lieutenant as her enemy. She hoped that no one had noticed it, but it seems he had.

Kaoru took a deep breath before replying. "I have no knowledge of how you prefer to be called, hence I used whatever came to my mind first." Kaoru looked straight at the German's eyes, who seemed to be able to see through her lies.

"From now on, If you could call me Kenshin, that would make me really happy."

"Then I will do so."

"Would you mind if I called you Kaoru?" The officer smiled.

"Of course not."

"That's great." He straightened up. "Well then I must excuse myself now, as I am very tired. Please play some time for me again, Kaoru."

"Of course, Kenshin." Kaoru replied and the man flashed her another smile at the use of his name.

Kenshin left the room and Kaoru locked the piano lid once more, putting the tiny key into her dress pocket as she got up and left the room as well. This all was so confusing. She just had to get away as far away from him as possible. Maybe take a walk, clear her head and try to sort out her feelings, because for some unknown reason her heart was beating a lot faster than it ever had before.