Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Chapter 18: lessons

Levi couldn't have pulled the moonshy smile off his face for anything. He felt that he floated through his morning's workload, much to the amusement of Alcott and Anatoly. Dylan had messaged him late yesterday evening. It had only been two words, but they were more than she had offered in weeks: "Merci, Levi." Levi could have danced with joy.

The only thing to bring down the mood was finding out that there had been a murder on the base. Levi had mixed feelings about someone getting away with killing Victoria, mostly because she had been part of the group responsible for Dylan's current state. Still, she had a four-year-old son and a distraught partner, and that was perhaps enough reason to be sorry. Anatoly had to duck out early in the morning for an emergency meeting, leaving Alcott in charge.

"It's just hard to have a proper emotion," Levi explained. "I'm not sorry she is dead, but I am sorry she was murdered. Do they know how?"

"I think someone said they found a bullet," Alcott replied. "I think we should send some plums to Blair. That poor man has to be out of his mind."

"I don't know if plums will fix anything," he pointed out.

Alcott sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "I know that. I also know that when you've been through a tragedy you don't eat. You're a bean pole, and I have daily reminders in my holo-rib to eat food. He's got a young child to look after."

"Speaking off, I should get to my piano lesson," Levi said. "Wish me luck?"

"You don't need luck, Levi Hark, you'll be fine," Alcott scoffed. "Have fun."

He headed to the meeting hall. He was too nervous to eat and would have some time afterward. He adjusted the bench and brought a chair to sit on so Sky could have the bench. He had gone through the sheet music the day before, finding yellowed pages of some of his own teacher' first lessons. He would need to take them down to personnel and get them scanned.

He had be meaning to do the same with his book collection at home, but felt that there had to be a library already stored in the database. There had been ebooks before, on the Aeneid. Where had they gone?

"Hello, Levi!" called a cheerful voice.

Sky bounced up to him with her madre just behind. He flashed a smile to Rivera and turned his attention to Sky. They started with the actual piano, looking at the keys and how they became the mechanical hammers and hit the strings to produce a sound. He explained the octaves and how the piano was divided up into smaller octaves, and they were only going to worry about one of these today. Each of these were named by a letter in the alphabet and that those notes were written down on a staff so that anyone could read them, even if they didn't speak the same language. Sky nodded through all of this, though was itching to actually play. Levi started with a game where he pointed to the notes and she found them on the piano. Then he found a simple melody in the sheets and she, with Levi's help, followed along. They would worry about tempo and durations later, Levi decided. He had forgotten how complicated the world of music could be.

"What are the black keys?" she asked.

"The inbetween notes," Levi explained, demonstrating with one hand. "So before next time, I want you to practice finding which notes to play. I'll leave the cheat sheet here so you can look at it."

"We're already done?" Sky asked, dismayed.

"Levi has to get back to work," Rivera told her daughter. "And you have to get back to classes soon."

"Merci, Levi," Sky said, getting up from the bench reluctantly.

"Oui, merci beaucoup," Rivera agreed. "I questioned why you would move anything good in here, but I see now."

"We have to reclaim this room," he agreed. "It's not like we can tear it down and start fresh, but we can fill it with laughter. With music."

"Monet would have agreed with you," Rivera said softly, glancing down at Sky.

"Papa's exploring now," the girl explained to Levi.

"What?" Levi questioned with a confused glance at Rivera.

"When papa left his body, he went back into the stars to explore new worlds," Sky continued. "Madre says he can hear me and come back if I need to talk to him, but I sometimes won't be able to hear him because he doesn't have a body anymore." She sighed. "They should give people bodies after they die. Then I could talk with Papa better."

Tears came to Levi's eyes as he nodded at Sky.

"They should," he agreed.

The girl bounded out of the room. Rivera took another moment to give Levi a faint smile.

"My own papa told her that," she explained. "I find her in her room, talking to Monet like he's playing with her, and for a moment I can forget." She wiped her eyes. "I wish that I could believe it too."

"Who says it's not true?" Levi countered. "We don't know what happens after death, but I do know how much he loved you. He would absolutely here and be listening to you."

Rivera swallowed, nodding. Tears fell down her face and Levi embraced her, wishing there was something better he could say. The madness from Landing Day still affected this base so deeply.

"Madre! I'm going to be late for class!" Sky called from the doorway.

Rivera sniffed once, patting Levi on the back. He released her from the hug.

"Merci," she said, wiping her eyes. "When would be a good time for another lesson? I'm certain I'll be asked the moment I walk out of here."

"Why don't we let her have the rest of the week and we'll have two lessons next week?" Levi suggested. "Let me know if she gets anxious, I don't have plans for the next week or so."

Rivera nodded, thanked him again, and hurried to catch up to her daughter. Levi sighed and made his way back to botany, messaging Lully the news about Dylan. Lully was quick to reply, saying that Dylan had responded well yesterday and he had already started printing the next one. In the meantime, maybe flowers? This was Esperanza's suggestion.

Levi wanted to, but he also didn't want to overwhelm Dylan suddenly. He knew that would only drive her away, and he couldn't bear the relationship to get worse.

"How did lessons go?" Alcott inquired.

Levi frowned at Alcott. "Do you ever go home?" he asked. "You shouldn't work so much."

"Levi Hark, don't you dare try to mother me," she scolded. "I eat here. And I'm missing all the time. Last week I only came to work twice, if you recall. And I'm going to absent for a while when this one is ready." She patted her stomach. "I don't want to be on maternity leave and run out of credits."

"Not on my watch," Levi declared. "Alcott, you're not going to worry about credits, ever. Don't argue with me. My godson will never be without."

"You are moonshy beyond saving," she giggled.

"Then you shouldn't even try," he grinned back.

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I'm hoping that I was just emotional while writing this because I totally teared up when writing Sky's explanation of her father's death. Thanks for reading!