I accidentally pressed publish while writing. Sorry for that. I had to unpublish, then publish again after finishing.
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Sora made a mental note to carry around a map of the museum.
Grumbling, the brunett scowled as she wandered along the corridors, stopping for a while to think about what directions she should go whenever she reached a point where the hallways would separate.
How many rooms are there, anyway? She thought, muttering something under her breath when Sora ended up opening a door to a random music room. If she recalled correctly, this was already the 41st music room she encountered.
Sora sighed and continued walking in the same direction at the same pace. Since she was the only one trudging around, the corridor had an eerie, almost-ghostly aura lingering around. The paintings only made it worse. Have you ever seen those paintings where the people looked like duck-faced psychopaths whose eyes seemed to follow you wherever you go? Yep, that's the one.
Sora told herself to focus on the seemingly never-ending hallway as different, unrealistically idiotic kinds of scenarios started to form inside her mind. Whaf if she'd stumble into a secret passageway and will not be able to get out ever again? What if Law and the others won't even bother to look for her if she suddenly disappears and they leave the island? Will it be the end of her short adventure?
As Sora was thinking of other dramatic scenarios, she reached and stopped at a room that had no door. Just a doorway.
At first, Sora thought it was one of those secret passageways and almost had a heart attack, but she was proven otherwise when she saw the room.
It had no furniture, no closets, no other doors, nothing. In fact, the only thing the room had was a black piano at the center, and a window that now showed the slightly-purple sky, a few stars now visible.
Sora stood at the doorway, staring at the piano with an unreadable expression. She looked around her before her eyes once again stopped at the instrument. Sora shook her head while closing her eyes and turned her body away, deciding that she should double her time and look for the staircase instead of wasting time.
But she didn't leave her spot.
The brunette had her back facing the piano as her thoughts unfurled, floating around her mind and only clouding her decision.
Sora closed her eyes once again, now sighing. Turning her body around, Sora faced the black grand piano and made her way towards it.
Dust had already accumulated on the piano, a clear sign that it hasn't been used for quite some time now.
Sora knitted her eyebrows together, slightly frowning. A piano as good as this seemed pretty sad that it was abandoned in an isolated room, away from the hands of a good pianist. It was such a waste.
Sora sat down on the stool. With a deep breath, she inhaled. The girl was acting as if this was some sort of meditation. Sora listened closely, if there were some unnecessary sounds, she needed to block them. Then, in a slow motion, she lifted her hands and gently placed them on the keys.
Just a few minutes won't hurt, right?
•••
There was a somewhat awkward atmosphere in the air.
Clive was sitting on a chair at one end of the long, golden-brow table in the common dining room. He was glancing here and there, slightly shifting in his seat. Flitting his eyes in front, the blond saw Law, calmy taking a sip from a drink Clive had no idea what it was. Both were sitting on opposite ends of the table, not talking to each other.
Clive steadily had his gaze focused on the serious-faced captain as Law lowered the cup from his lips and placed it back on the surface of the table emitting a small clanking sound.
"Where's Sora?"
Clive almost jumped off his seat when Law broke the silence. "What?"
"Where's Sora?" The captain repeated with the same monotous tone, as if he was some sort of a broken radio.
"Ah.." Clive paused to think. Now that he realized, Sora was nowhere to be seen anywhere inside the museum for the whole morning and afternoon.
Most of the crew had already toured around the place, with the exception of Law, who was pretty adamant in staying in his room. "..maybe she's strolling around town?"
Law glanced at the clock, his forehead creasing. "It's already six."
Clive's feet shuffled. "She's probably enjoying herself somewhere." He said, more of a suggestion than a statement.
Law stood up, startling Clive once again. "I'll be going." The surgeon said before he sauntered towards the door, exiting the room.
As soon as Law stepped outside, Clive released a breath he didn't know he was holding until now. He looked over his shoulder to make sure Law had really left the room and was out of earshot.
He didn't know why, but being in the same room as Law came off as really awkward. Clive relaxed into his seat. Maybe it was just his imagination.
•••
Law decided to walk around the museum. Or hotel. Whatever.
Since the crew already had their fair share of touring around the place, it was quiet in the hallways, the perfect time to stroll around, especially since he spent his whole morning cooped up inside his room.
Law had his hands shoved inside his pockets, occasionally looking out through the window whenever he passed by one. The sun had already set in the horizon and the sky had turned from red to dark purple. It was now evening.
The surgeon continued walking, sometimes going left and sometimes right whenever the corridors separate. Despite the many turns, however, Law didn't get lost. He was too smart for that, seeing that he made mental notes whenever he made a turn.
The captain allowed his mind to wander, just like what he was doing, until it reached to Sora. His eyebrows wrinkled in deep thought. He only saw Sora once today so far, and it was in the morning. Where is that girl?
Law couldn't help but worry. That girl is a walking magnet, attracting trouble wherever she goes. Who knows what kind of situation she's in right now. The last time she got into trouble, she ended up disappearing for a whole month, and Law certainly didn't want that to happen again.
Thinking about these things made Law want to make a U-turn and look for Sora, but just before the surgeon even turned around, he heard something that caught his attention.
Law paused in his tracks and looked ahead of him, where the sound was coming from.
A piano.
For a few moments, Law didn't move, but his gaze was fixated in front. He wanted to go back, but his feet were glued on the floor, and somewhere in the back of his mind was something telling him to check what the sound was all about.
Before he knew it, Law was already making his way forwards, as if hypnotized. But not in a creepy way, of course.
As the surgeon approached the room where the music was coming from, the musical piece became clearer and more entrancing. Law was completely drawn in by it.
Sora had her eyes closed as usual, and a small smile was etched onto her features as her fingers gracefully ran through the keys, pressing them. Each note managed to bring out the piece more fully, and Sora loved that part about the piano.
It's indeed difficult, especially if it's your first time playing it, and you're not into it that much since you still suck. But that's just one of the many good sides of the piano. You practice, you get better, and you grow to love it. It's beautiful how different notes, when brought together, can produce such exhilarating music.
Sora smiled at her thoughts, several flashes of memories accompanying them.
"Huwaaah~~! That was great, onee-chan!"
"We both did great."
"You're getting better, I bet you're gonna surpass your sister one day."
"Eh, that's not true, I'm still miles away from nee-chan's skills, haha.."
"Congratulations for winning the competition! Even your sister couldn't achieve that, and this year, she's only ranked 4th. You're definitely better than her."
"I get it! You're better than me! Do you have to say it out loud? It's obvious already!"
"But Sora-nee-chan-----!"
Sora opened her eyes, and it didn't take long for her to realize that she had already stopped playing.
With her hands hovering above the keys, the brunette let her eyes stare blankly at it, unsure of whether she should continue. Her brows furrowed and she pursed her lips, eventually pulling her hand back and dropping them at her sides on top of the stool. Sora looked down at her lap, some strands of her hair falling beside her face as she blinked several times.
Law was leaning against the wall outside the room, right beside the doorway, his gaze resting on the floor.
Law didn't know why Sora suddenly stopped. He wasn't knowledgeable in the field of music, of course, but he knew enough that that wasn't the end of the musical piece Sora was playing just seconds ago. Anyone can tell.
Law caught himself worrying again and shook his head. Why was he thinking about things that don't require his business? Maybe the reason why Sora stopped so suddenly was because she was tired, or just forgot the next notes. Maybe it was just that simple. Law scoffed at himself, he really does overthink things.
Even though he wasn't satisfied with that reason, Law forced himself to believe it and gently pushed his body away from the wall, turning and walking towards the other direction back to his room upstairs.
Just as he took his second step, Law paused in his tracks.
There it is again, Law thought. His mind was telling him to stay. Does his mind have a mind of its own or something? Oh... wait.. heh, that's funny. A mind having a mind of its own.
Clenching his jaw lightly, the captain let out an inaudible sigh.
Law turned around and walked towards the direction of the room.
"I never knew you can play the piano."
Sora's head shot up, rather more quickly than she had planned to, and she immediately regretted it when dark spots had started to form in her vision. Luckily, they disappeared after just a few seconds and the girl finally saw Law, leaning against the doorframe of the room.
It took her a while to process his question, and from her surprised expression, it turned to that of a smirking one.
"Arerere~? Were you listening to me playing? Since when did you become my stalker, Law?"
An irk mark popped out of the surgeon's forehead, and he was beginning to question his decision in staying rather than going back. "One act of listening to you playing an instrument does not automatically make me your stalker."
Sora rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. Whatever goes your bubble, I suppose."
Law didn't reply to that and Sora didn't add anything else to say, so it got quiet for a while.
The surgeon decided to break the silence with a question he had floating in his mind since a while ago.
"Why did you stop?"
Sora stared at him, lips parted slightly as her expression told the captain that she wasn't expecting that question to come out.
"I..." She trailed off, her gaze returning to the piano in front of her. "I just felt like it."
A lie. Law thought, but didn't point it out.
Instead, he stepped inside the room and peered around, noticing that it was practically empty except for the piano and stool. Through the window, the sky was now completely dark and the color complemented the stars as they twinkled in the night sky.
Law reached Sora's side and stopped. The brunette looked up at him, one eyebrow raised.
"How did you know there was a piano here?" Law asked, not looking at her while he touched the piano with his finger and found dust on him, causing him to frown.
"Ah," Sora scratched her head. "I got lost."
"..."
As if the idea just suddenly came to her, Sora's face lit up and she sat straighter.
"D'you wanna learn how to play the piano?"
Law shifted his attention towards her. "What?"
Sora shuffled in her seat, moving to the left and patted the empty space to her right. "Sit."
Law sweatdropped. Is she talking to a dog?
"I don't know how-----"
Before he was able to finish, Sora grabbed his wrist and pulled him down forcefully, making him sit beside her.
Law opened his mouth but Sora beat him to it. "If I tell you to sit, you sit."
The surgeon stared at her and slowly closed his lips.
With an innocent smile, Sora turned back to the piano and raised both hands, letting them hover above the keys as she said with a professional tone, "Okay, then, my student," she addressed Law. "Tonight, I will be teaching you the basics of piano."
Law listened quietly. He wasn't that interested in playing, but he let Sora do her thing. Since the stool was only fitted for one person, the two of them were rather close, but Sora didn't seem to mind so Law did the same.
"Here we have the middle C," Sora pressed the said key. "Where it's, like, the basics of the basics."
Law mentally sighed at her explanation. Clearly, she wasn't good at it.
"And on this side is where your left will be playing, the bass cleff, and treble cleff for your right hand."
Sora turned to Law. "Since teaching notes will be tiring, I'll just teach you chords."
Again, Law had no idea what she talking about.
"So, anyway, for the C-chords, we have...."
Law listened as Sora explained, giving out explanations and pressing keys as she introduced them to him which he only acknowledged with a small nod.
"Now it's your turn." She said, after explaining a bit.
When Law didn't move, he was taken off-guard when Sora grabbed both of his hands and placed them on the keys, positioning them.
"So this is where your thumb will go, and...."
The brunette seemed too into her explanation that she didn't notice what she was doing. Law just stared silently at her hands, which were touching his.
Normally, he would've just swatted her hand away. It bothered him as to why he didn't do that now.
The surgeon's eyes shifted from their hands to Sora's face. He swore he saw stars in her eyes as she explained to him. She seemed like she was having fun, and Law smiled at that idea.
Maybe staying wasn't so bad of an idea after all.
Since Law was a fast-learner, it didn't take too long for him to grasp the overall concept of playing the piano.
Sora clapped her hands together. "Okay, you're much better than I thought." She smiled at him. "Then let's step things up a notch."
Sora was so enthusiastic, a clear sign of her love for the instrument, but Law didn't comment about that.
"Let's play a song."
Law raised a brow. "We've just learned the basics. If you forgot, I'm still new at this."
"Don't worry," Sora waved her hand to dismiss the topic. "I'm gonna accompany you anyway, and we'll be playing something simple."
Law was, to say the least, slightly intrigued. "What song?"
Sora's smile widened.
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
Without giving Law a chance to argue, Sora exclaimed. "Okay! Then, make sure to play along with me."
Law frowned. "But I don't know the chords for that."
"I'll tell you while we're playing, okay?"
It was certainly not okay.
As if reading his mind, Sora added. "It's fine if you make mistakes, I won't laugh."
The surgeon sighed, knowing full well that Sora will get him to play anyway. So he agreed. "Fine."
After a few bits of last-minute tips, both started to play the song, with Law being the melody and Sora being the accompaniment.
It was pretty funny, you could say. At first, Law made a few mistakes because he was rattled at Sora's not-so-organized directions. Plus, whenever they would reach the end of the song, Sora would exclaim, "Again!" and they would repeat the song all over again.
Law didn't mind it, however. In fact, it was fun.
After a while of repeating over and over, Law started to get the hang of it. Because of Sora constantly saying the chord, he memorized it and soon enough, he didn't need to listen to her instructions anymore.
When Sora noticed this, she smiled, and instead of spouting off chords, she switched to singing the actual lyrics of the song.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,"
Law didn't know Sora could sing. Since she kept on yelling earlier, he had no idea she was capable of pulling such a soft, angelic tone into her voice.
Really, how much more does he not know about Sora?
"How I wonder what you are,
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are."
It wasn't the best version of the song, but it was good enough.
As they finished, Sora beamed and turned her head to look at Law.
"See? It was great----"
What she didn't expect was for Law to be already staring at her.
Usually, she wouldn't mind, but since the stool was pretty small in space, the distance was quite... close.
Law didn't seem fazed by it. Sora stared back at him wordlessly, her mind unable to form words that can disrupt the situation.
What caught her attention was when she saw Law took a glimpse down at her lips before his eyes locked back with hers once again.
By now, her mind was already cloudy. What was going on?
Her thoughts silenced when the surgeon started to lean towards her. Was it just her imagination? Sora could already hear the loud, thumping beat of her heart against her chest. Was Law going to do what she was thinking?
"Sora-chan, captain, there you are!"
As if there was an invisible force, both Sora and Law pulled back, with Sora almost falling down from the stool.
Looking past Law's shoulder, the girl saw Bepo in the doorway, his head tilting sideways.
"Did I interrupt something?"
Sora stood abruptly, shaking her head. "No, you didn't." She let her eyes glance towards Law, only to see him staring at the piano, brows furrowed in deep thought.
She looked back at the bear. "Do you need something?"
Bepo seemed to remember his original purpose. "Ah, actually, dinner's ready and I came to look for the two of you."
Sora nodded and walked towards Bepo, no longer looking at Law. Her legs felt wobbly, and Sora was worried if they would give way and she'd fall down on the floor. Her mind was still boggled from what happened, and what was supposed to happen had Bepo not arrived sooner.
"Captain, aren't you gonna come with us?"
Sora froze in her tracks and didn't look back as Law replied,
"No. I'm going to my room after this, so don't wait for me and eat with the others."
Bepo nodded, so naive of the situation. "Then, Sora-chan, let's go."
The brunette was more than eager to follow Bepo out of the room and into the corridor, but she also had to suppress the urge to look back at Law as she left the room.
Law lifted his hand and ran it down his face, his free arm leaning against the piano.
What was he planning on doing earlier?
Frustrated, Law took off his hat and ruffled his hair, clicking his tongue. He was supposed to be thankful for Bepo for interrupting them, but why does he feel so agitated?
Law turned his head and looked at the window, the earlier scenarios replaying in his mind before he caught himself and let his head rest on the piano.
On the plus side, at least it was Bepo. If Natsu had been the one to be here to call them, he wouldn't hear the end of it.
"Sora-chan, you're walking too fast."
Sora stopped and looked over her shoulder to see Bepo a good few steps away from where she was.
"Oh..sorry."
As Bepo neared the brunette, he couldn't help but point out something to her.
"Sora-chan, are you having a fever?"
Sora looked at him with a puzzled face. "No."
The bear lifted a paw and pointed at her. "But... your face is so red."
There was a mirror on the wall, and Sora turned to look at it.
You could replace her face with a tomato and you wouldn't even be able to tell the difference.
Flustered, Sora looked away and continued walking. "I'm fine, I'm not sick. Let's just go, Bepo."
"..okay."
Sora sighed as she walked, frustrated at herself. Sure she was relieved Bepo came, but half of her also regretted it, and Sora hated herself for that.
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I've finally got this chapter out! It was cheesy, but hey, it's my first time to write an all-out romantic scene (almost-romantic)
Whaddaya think?
Hope you liked the chapter.
~buncha