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Noctis gently lay his fingers along the ivories, pressing lightly and sighing as the fluttering note rang through the empty room. He’d missed this. Saving the world was important business, there wasn’t really time for hobbies other than the little bit of fishing he got to do on the road. But here, just for a moment, the guys had stumbled on an abandoned house near the outskirts of Hammerhead. While Gladio and Prompto went in search of firewood and Ignis began preparing dinner, Noctis had ventured further into some of the back rooms of the house.
In one of these rooms, he’d found a piano. Not just any piano. A baby grand. Not quite as full-sounding as the full grand piano, but it was here. And it was, by some miracle, in tune. Quietly, so as not to alert his friends, Noct pulled out the piano bench, flinching when it scratched against the hardwood floor. Whoever had lived here had clearly had impeccable taste.
With a deep breath, the Prince of Lucis stretched his hands along the keys and began to play. A tenuous melody, one of the first more complicated pieces he’d learned when he was young. Ignis had taught it to him, of course, all those years ago when he’d been stuck in a wheelchair. The music rose and fell like a feather on the wind, almost touching the ground before rising up in another gust all at once.
It was a short piece, and Noctis was surprised he only made a few mistakes, considering he hadn’t played in the months since he’d left the crown city. He didn’t realize he was crying until he neared the end of the piece and could no longer see the keys. Instead of wiping his eyes, though, he simply played by feel, the keys shifting under his hands to find the right notes.
As the last hesitant chords faded into the air, Noctis realized he wasn’t alone.