Kate hesitated at the door knowing that the forgotten instrument inside would probably out of tune and quite unhappy with her, but she had to venture on. She had been far to long without touching the melodious keys.

She pushed open the door and walked into the room, in the middle of which stood her beautiful Steinway.

There was a time when she couldn’t go a few days without playing and now she had gone months. What had happened to her?

Kate sat down on the bench and brushed the layer of dust off of the closed fall before opening it.

She fidgeted before she pressed the first key and was pleasantly surprised to hear it ring, perfectly in tune.

Kate was taken aback. Who had kept it in tune while she was gone? She would have to make sure to ask Sam about that later because right now the instrument was beckoning for her to play it. She started in slow and then got lost in the melody of the very first song she had ever played on this piano, Clair de Lune.

Agnes had only recently, as in the last month or so, discovered the school’s music room. Since she started basically in the middle of the semester, she didn’t have a lot of time to discovering classrooms that were not directly related to her classes. But about a month ago, bored and not really willing to brave the heat outside, the runaway began to explore the mansion. She traveled hallways she had never gone down before, spied open classrooms that were now empty and devoid of students, she even began to talk to a few people whom she really did not even know.

That was how she first discovered the mansion music room. She didn’t even know that mansion had one, thought she assumed as much when Liz began to talk about playing piano. She doubted there was one directly in her room so it had to be somewhere.

She still remembered the first time she walked into it. It was beautiful. A gorgeous piano sat in the middle of the room. She hit one key, once, and she felt the tune vibrate into her core. Agnes had no experience playing the piano, so she never touched it, but the one thing she did enjoy was sneaking down to the room by herself to play her violin. Being a music room, it was built for the playing of instruments and she never felt better than when she played in there.

That was her reasoning for heading down there today. She was still a little upset over the incident with her parents and wanted to spend some quality time, just her and her violin – her longest and oldest friend.

But there was something different today. As Agnes walked the hall, heading directly towards the classroom, she could hearing the sound of music. At first she figured it was from stray student’s mp3 player, or something, but instead it sounded much more real. Slowly she eased her steps, trying not to let the sound of each footfall conflict with the music. It was then, when she reached the door to the music room, that she spied the source of it.

A pretty blonde, she was sitting, playing a gentle and soothing tune on the piano. It was so calming that Agnes really wanted to cry, but she forced herself to not make a sound. She was not going to interrupt this for anything in the world.

Gently, and quietly, she crept into the room and sat herself down at the farthest seat in the back and laid her violin case across her lap. In awe and silence she merely sat there…listened…and let this blonde teenager pour out her heart on those black and ivory keys…

Beautiful… was all she could think…

Kate smiled at the piano breathing in each note as if it were vital to her life force as the last note rang and silence once again filled the room.

She sat a moment before looking over at the last key and pressed it. At first she started in slow with the lowest notes and as the pitch rose, so did her speed until she had run through every note, white or black, on the piano. She let them ring in all their glory as she basked in the perfect sound of the instrument. Every note was perfectly in tune. This was most certainly a profetional job.

Kate placed her hands on the center of the keys and slid them down either side, lowering her head to lay on the piano as she went.

”I missed you most of all scarecrow.”

She sat there for a few moments just breathing in the scent of the wood and watching the shadows dance on the wall. It was there that she noticed the other person in the room. She had been so lost in her reunion with her old friend she hadn’t even noticed the girl come in and sit down.

Kate flipped herself around to face the intruder, ”How long have you been there?” Her cheeks were blushed from having just been seen sharing an intimate moment with an inanimate object.

Agnes sighed a bit and found that she had become just as lost in the music as the pianist herself seemed. She had almost wanted to weep, the way that music just seemed to ring throughout her entire being and she was a fair distance away…she could only imagine what it would be like to actually play it. She figured it must not be all that different from when she herself played her violin. Music just had a way of drawing the musician in, forcing them to be lost in the tunes they played. And the only way out, to breathe the fresh air again was to keep playing…no matter what.

But before the runaway knew it, the music slowly began to die down and she found herself able to breathe again. With a small sigh she opened slightly blurry eyes, wiped the tears at the corners and simply smiled. She had to admit, it really was a beautiful tune.

Unfortunately while Agnes was so enraptured in the music she did not attempt to leave the room in time to be seen. She had forgotten that she was not a guest here, listening to a performance as per request. No, she had snuck in during someone’s private time, slinked away into a shadowy corner, and watched them perform without permission.

And was evident in the reaction of the young lady at the piano…who had turned and saw her…

>> ”How long have you been there?”

“Umm,” Agnes started and she stood up, violin case in hand, as she watched the blonde, English teen blush. “I-I’m sorry. Please…don’t stop…” Agnes said with a smaller, meek voice. She was really feeling bad for having walked in on her now. Especially since she never liked it when the same was done to her.

The 5’5, extremely thin, runaway, brushed a few strands of hair behind her ears as he crystal blue eyes, full of apologizing, looked at the blonde all the more closely. It was evident in her posture that she was sorry. She could only hope she could be forgiven for this…

“I…really didn’t mean to intrude. I…was just coming to practice and I heard your playing.” she sighed as she shook her head. “I couldn’t help myself. I’m sorry.”

>>Umm, I-I’m sorry. Please…don’t stop…

That was something that Kate hadn’t heard in a long while. She smiled as she remembered her mother standing at the door of the music room asking for another. There was a time when she would have cried at such thoughts but over the last few months she had found happiness in the memories and had found a way to move on.

>>I…really didn’t mean to intrude. I…was just coming to practice and I heard your playing. I couldn’t help myself. I’m sorry.

“It’s alright.” Kate smiled at the scared girl, “Music is meant to be heard and enjoyed. Yes, I do play for myself but I never mind if someone wants to come in and listen…. Well almost never. Though, I doubt Julliard auditions are meant to be listened to until perfected.”

>> “It’s alright…Music is meant to be heard and enjoyed. Yes, I do play for myself but I never mind if someone wants to come in and listen…. Well almost never. Though, I doubt Julliard auditions are meant to be listened to until perfected.”[/color]

Agnes smiled a bit gratefully, happy that the blonde was not too upset at her for having intruding on such a private moment. Agnes knew what that was like. That was why, whenever she played in her room, she always locked the door and made sure that Gina was out for the day. There were times, of course, when she delighted in playing for other people, but those were always on her terms. She rarely gave performances that were demanded. But…as the girl said, music was meant to be heard.

“Julliard? W-Were you practicing for Julliard?” the wide-eyed and awe-inspired look on Agnes’ face showed just how impressed she was with this girl. Just by listening to her play, she could already tell that the girl had a beautiful talent. Easily she would be accepted. “I’m sorry I interrupted. It…sounded just beautiful…to me anyways.”

The runaway never really entertained any thoughts of going to a school like that. Sure, she loved her violin but she always doubted that she had that type of talent for it. People always told her that she did, but Agnes was never really one to believe people when they told her she was good at something. She just knew that…she had to play this instrument. The movement of the bow across the strings just tickled something deep in her heart, as it vibrating into her soul. She knew that she would never put it down the second it was handed to her…and she never did.

She shifted a little nervously on her feet, kind of intimidated by the talent that stood in front of her. But this was a new phase in her life. She wasn’t going to be running away from people anymore. She smiled a little as she nodded to her.

“My name is Agnes. You really do play beautifully. I wish I had half the talent that you did.” the runaway said with a well meaning and honest smile.

>>Julliard? W-Were you practicing for Julliard? I’m sorry I interrupted. It…sounded just beautiful…to me anyways.

Kate could tell this girl was very sweet, and very worried about offending the blonde pianist before her, “You weren’t interrupting at all. My practicing for Julliard ended months ago after my audition. I play more for my own enjoyment as of late. Well, as of right now. Since I haven’t played in months.”

Kate looked up at the girl set before her and could tell she was nervous as the dickens. She had never thought of herself as intimidating but for some reason this girl found her to be so.

>>My name is Agnes. You really do play beautifully. I wish I had half the talent that you did.

Kate smiled grateful for the praise to prove that she had not lost her skill in these many months away from a piano, “Thank you. The compliment is greatly appreciated. I’m Kate, and I’m sure you are greatly underestimation your own talent,” She tried her best to give the girl the most reassuring face she could having not heard her play, “Most people do after all.”

>> “You weren’t interrupting at all. My practicing for Julliard ended months ago after my audition. I play more for my own enjoyment as of late. Well, as of right now. Since I haven’t played in months.”

“Well, it sounds like you haven’t missed a day,” she grinned as she glanced the eye the piano. She had always wondered about that instrument since she saw few, if anyone, really play it around here. Someone must have, obviously, because the piano sounded well tuned.

>> “Thank you. The compliment is greatly appreciated. I’m Kate, and I’m sure you are greatly underestimation your own talent…Most people do after all.”

Agnes smiled, blushed a little bit, but nodded. The young blonde certainly seemed nice enough to cause the runaway to slowly begin to loosen up. She had to admit that she was a little scared of her when she was first discovered listening to her music. If there was one that that Agnes did not like was people snuck in to listen to her so she hoped the same was not for this pretty English girl. But thankfully she turned out to be rather sweet.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kate,” Agnes beamed, though still a little shyly.

The runaway shrugged at Kate’s assumption about her own talent at music. She never trained for anything like Julliard so she never really knew just how good she was. She never gave herself enough credit. The few friends she was making these days, they always said she was good, whenever she played for them, but other than that she never really wanted anyone to hear her play.

“Thank you, for what you said. I’ve been playing for awhile but…never for anything really professional. I never really had instruction except for…um…m-my mother.” Agnes mumbled that last word with a slight bit of disdain. She always hated mentioning her mother. But, now was not the time to bring that up. She didn’t need to drop ‘mother issues’ on this girl’s feet. “So,” she said with a small smile, “since you said you just came back, welcome back.” She beamed happily. “I’m a little sorry I never ran into you before.”

>>It’s nice to meet you, Kate. Thank you, for what you said. I’ve been playing for awhile but…never for anything really professional. I never really had instruction except for…um…m-my mother. So, since you said you just came back, welcome back. I’m a little sorry I never ran into you before.

“That’s quite alright. I was not in the best of sorts before I left for Rome. I can honestly say that I would have been rather terrible company. And may have confused you when I randomly disappeared as I did, but it is very nice to meet you now.” Kate was wary of moving around the room. She was there because of her loose of control and being around new people with the mutations he had, especially when they had a wood instrument that seemed rather important to them with them, was probably not the best of ideas. So she just smiled and glanced across the room at the girl, “Would you like me to leave so you may practice? I really don’t mind if you do.”

>> “That’s quite alright. I was not in the best of sorts before I left for Rome. I can honestly say that I would have been rather terrible company. And may have confused you when I randomly disappeared as I did, but it is very nice to meet you now.”

Agnes smiled a little meekly but really said nothing in response. Really what could she say? She did not know this girl’s past, but apparently something had caused her to run. She was in Rome? Agnes had heard about it. It did sound like a lovely place, one that she had always wanted to visit but knew that she would never get the chance to. Well, at least that was her thoughts prior to coming to the mansion. That did not mean that now she didn’t have to chance to experience just that…

She paused as she looked around the empty music room. She felt just slightly…awkward. She didn’t do well when it came to meeting new people. Though the girl did seem incredibly nice.

She casually balanced the violin case in her hand before she heard the girl speak up again…

>> “Would you like me to leave so you may practice? I really don’t mind if you do.”[/color]

Slowly Agnes walked up to the center of the room. Normally she always practiced alone unless she was playing for a friend or someone stumbled upon her. But she had never really invited anyone to really listen, especially someone else with a critical music ear.

“Um,” she mumbled. “Y-You really don’t have to if you don’t want to.” she said with a tiny shrug. “I-I wouldn’t mind playing for an audience. I…rarely do.”

>>Um, Y-You really don’t have to if you don’t want to. I-I wouldn’t mind playing for an audience. I…rarely do.

Kate smiled at the kind gesture. It wasn’t often that she got the chance to listen to someone else play. She was almost positive by this girls general demeanor that she was great under estimating her talent. “I would love nothing more than to give you that audience. It would be an honor.”

Kate moved from the piano so she could sit in the rows of chairs and wait for the private concert to start.