Quiet Ice, Silent Nights

Things Have Changed

In the dead of night the ice rink of the competition grounds glittered in the filtered moonlight, polished and maintained so not a single fault would exist on its surface. It was so well kept that many of the rinks keepers would argue with each other as to why exactly there were marks and imperfections dotted across it when morning rolled around if they were so sure they had fixed it the night before.

"This was a good call Cat," a female voice called in the night, coming from a lone skater as she glided across the ice. "Having our practice sessions on the competition rink, the dimensions are slightly different."

"I have my moments," Cat Noir replied, his voice mixed with the echoing roll of directionless music coming from the piano he sat at, positioned on a separate level but effortless to hear from the rink.

Marinette leapt high in the air before twirling and landing on one foot, rocketing across the ice before she flipped again to glide just inside the walls. Cat Noir played along to her repetitive practice with whatever came to mind, just plucking away and enjoying to harmony that existed between her movements and the music he played. However reflecting on that harmony brought a sour cloud over him once again for the hundredth time that night, only emphasized when Marinette called out to him again.

"Can you play the song please?"

He turned his head to look down at the rink, Marinette positioned in the center and ready to begin as soon as the tune was in place, looking at him expectantly.

He fought back a stubborn pout as he replied, "Which one? Your song? Or the one you'll be dancing to."

He was looking away now but he could practically sense the way she huffed and crossed her arms.

"Cat!" she half shouted, half whined. "Don't be so childish you know why I can't dance to your song."

"Your song," he corrected her, his cat ears flat against his hair in his disappointment and he could hear her sigh again regardless.

"My song," she allowed, waiting until he looked back at her to continue. "You're the only one who knows how to play it or even what it sounds like, and having a superhero play with me at the contest would sway the judges!"

"You don't know that," he pouted, but he knew she was right, and she knew he knew she was right.

"Having the famous Cat Noir play piano for some random girl would draw attention to us both and my scores might not be fair as a result. No one actually knows that we're friends, to them there is no context as to why you would know me."

"I know I know," he sighed, settling his bare hands over the keys again. His thoughts churned in a bad humor and he knew he was being silly. Some part of him though had still hoped that somehow she might dance to Ice Flower for the whole world to see, or at least Paris. He was just being... possessive, or stubborn or something. Still though, it was disappointing that she was so adamantly opposed since seeing a Superhero play for her would be unfair to anyone else participating.

He didn't care about anyone else skating though. He sighed again, before starting the tune she had requested.

It was 'Melodia Africana III' by Ludovico Einaudi and he had spent his several day break from escorting Mari to the ice rink to learn it at her request. He still didn't have it mastered but the more they both practiced the more fluid it became, to the point where any mistakes were hard to notice at all. It was a gorgeous and moving piece, fitting for her performance but still... he liked his better.

They got halfway through before he heard her fall, and the song cut short abruptly as his head snapped to the side, watching her body slide almost limply and collide sharply with the wall.