The Songs of Days Past

Annie was wobbling by the time they made it to Lilin's room. She sighed, making sure to gently stretch before she sat down. She felt like her age wasn't getting in the way of her ability to do things yet, but it was certainly making them harder to do. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She could tell that she wouldn't be able to fight if it came down to it, as opposed to before when she had been able to dodge around Lilin's attacks.

"Alright, let me see," Lilin muttered as she pulled out her collection of Sound Stones. She flinched when she saw one of the stones was scratched, but quickly realized that it wasn't scratched. She had purposefully used a claw to engrave a "T" to indicate that it was a gift for Ten. As she brushed it aside, she wondered how difficult it would be to change that to an "A" now. She quickly found a lighter grey one and pulled it out. She played it for just a moment, catching that it was near the end of the song. She pulsed a bit of Mana to let it rewind as she turned around.

"Okay, I think you'll like this one. It's... A lot softer than the other one I showed you. I had to keep it as a kid even though I thought it was stupid, but... I grew to kinda like it. Listen."

Lilin held out the Sound Stone and finally let it play freely. A few seconds of the intro were cut out, but the intro was so quiet that she hardly cared anyways. She smiled as the strings began to play, a slowly building tone that resolved on a soft major chord. Then, a small chirp from the woodwind instruments. Again the strings began to build to another major chord in a progression, a few more scattered chirps from other instruments. She looked to Annie, wanting to see her reaction.

Annie's eyes were closed as she smiled. She could see a sunrise, the brightness slowly dawning over the horizon as the animals began to wake. The birds chirped, some staying in their nests while others took flight to begin hunting for their young. More instruments began to join, building a crescendo that had a peaceful design. There was no dramatic hits, no sudden bursts of action. Each set of instruments was telling a smaller story as the body of string instruments painted the picture of an early morning.

Annie slowly stood up, opening her eyes and removing her shoes to dance. Her exhaustion was entirely forgotten as she started her movements, elegantly and slowly moving about the room as she recalled her ballet movements. She couldn't be extravagant, her body wouldn't stand up to flourishing pirouettes and her foot wasn't ready for a proper arabesque, but her port de bras was all she needed. She slowly stepped and moved her arms, the peaceful song matching her slow movements perfectly. Lilin watched, entranced by Annie's movements. She had never seen somebody move like this, so slowly yet so gracefully. Maids had to be fast, efficient, and elegant. Royalty had to be dignified and strong with elegance. Soldiers had to be rugged, durable, elegance be damned. But Annie? Annie didn't need to be anything now. She had almost never seen somebody be so purposeful yet so slow, and it was enchanting.

The song eventually came to a halt, and Annie gave a little curtsey. Then, she quickly sat down. She smiled wide at Lilin, nodding. "Goodness, that was a beautiful song! You were right, Lilin, I loved it."

Lilin blushed and turned her eyes away. "Yeah, I... I get that it's your thing. I really like the louder songs myself, but this stuff is nice to listen to every now and again."

"I agree. Sometimes, life can move us around so fast that it's tough to find a moment to breathe. Songs like that always helped me to relax when I could. Goodness, the composer of that song must have been incredibly talented."

Lilin winced, nodding as she quickly went to find another Sound Stone. "Right, yeah, sure. Talented, or whatever. Whoever they were. Wanna hear another one?"

"While I would love to, dear, I would like to go and visit with our friends. It wouldn't do to delay that, would it?"

Lilin immediately picked up on what Annie was saying. She turned to face her to confirm, and was met with a wink. "Yeah, right," she responded, "you like to do that sort of thing, I forgot."

"Do you know where Six might be at this time?"

"Yeah, she'd be in the kitchen. Or, we could wait until the food bell rings and find her... Uhh, I forgot where she likes to eat. Let's catch her in the kitchen. It'll be a little noisy."

Annie shrugged. "I don't mind, I'd actually quite like to help out if I can."

"Pfft, suit yourself. I'm not doing anything I don't have to."

"Very well," Annie remarked with a smirk. "Nobody would expect that from you, after all. Not after such a taxing trip, you must be exhausted."

Lilin suddenly surged with pride. "Oh? Was that a challenge?"

"Perhaps it was, dear Lilin," Annie giggled.

"Fine, let's go help Six, then! I'd like to see you outpace me in the kitchen!"

"Oh, I will. But... I certainly won't outpace you to the kitchen. Do be mindful, my weary old legs aren't quite what they used to be."

Lilin rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up! You said it yourself, you'll get better like you did before."

"Of course, dear," Annie replied without skipping a beat. "Now, let's get going."

Annie's mind was rife with curses directed at herself. She had dug herself too deep now, committed too harshly to a lie she no longer wanted to tell. She wasn't saving Lilin from grief now, she was denying her the chance for proper closure. She had to do something about it before the attack. She couldn't let Lilin suffer for the rest of her life just to spare Annie a few days of pain.