Bastian
Chapter 160 - Fine

✧Fine✧

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

Bastian didn’t go to bed until late that night. It felt like he still had a lot of work to do. Odette was tossing and turning, unable to sleep, until she gave up trying to get to sleep. 

The midnight chimes began to ring.The last day had finally come. Odette wrapped herself in a shawl and went to linger by the window for a moment, trying to calm her nerves as she kept thinking about her last day here. 

Eventually, she left her bedroom and walked along the darkened corridors, down the stairs and stopped only when she saw light pouring out from under the study door.

   Bastian had returned from work early, had dinner with her, but still stayed up late, working in his study. Phone calls and letters came through the mansion quite regularly, as if the business had relocated to the mansion.

   Despite everything, he had made some time to be with her and she understood what time meant to him. She was grateful for the effort, but ultimately, she felt sorry for him, for the days that had passed them by and put an ever greater strain on their relationship.

   She stared at the light seeping from the study thankful for his help, her eyes filled with gratitude for his efforts even though she could not repay him.  In the end, their shared days, however, made their lives more miserable.

Now it was finally coming to its end. It was over. 

Odette turned away from the study’s light, her hurried footsteps blending into the quiet darkness. She didn’t want to return to her bedroom, to fidget uncontrollably in restlessness, so she wondered around the mansion, thinking back to all the days that had passed. 

She ended in the solarium at the end of the hallway. Moonlight draped the glass room in ethereal beauty. Aloft in the sky, the moon caressed the sea, taming the night’s obsidian heart.

   There was a grand piano to one side of the room, sheet music still on the stand, waiting to be played, so Odette sat on its bench. She caressed the keys, as if bidding them farewell and she started to play.

   The soft tinkle of music echoed through the still mansion, soft and melodious. After a few chords, Odette smiled and then she noticed a shadow moving into the room. It was Bastian, he had come.

  As she noticed him, she withdrew her hands from the ivory keys. Bastian did not move from the doorway. He did not approach, nor did he retreat, just like he had done all week. Quietly watching her from a safe distance.

   Why had he come?

   The question emerged from the corner of her mind and lingered there. The midnight hour deepened as she sat there, waiting to see what Bastian would do.

   He said the divorce would be handled by his attorneys at the appropriate time, so unless something happened, they would not meet again after tonight. Even realising that, she said nothing and placed her hands back on the keys to play the next note of the Fantasia where she had stopped. 

Then, note by note, her fingers danced and the tuts chimed. As chords intertwined, a harmonious tune unfurled. Gracefully, she played the piano, recapturing the original tempo and rhythm as the slow, steady notes melded into a single melody.

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

The music was rich and filled the moonlit night like a dream. The very melody that had led him to the solarium. He stood at the door and listened to her play, not daring to disturb her. He had initially thought the sound of music coming into his study was some kind of illusion brought about by tiredness.

   When he followed it, though, the scene became surreal. Odette, who would usually be asleep by now, sat in the moonlight and played.

  Even seeing it with his own eyes, it didn’t seem real. The melody echoed about him, drawing him in and he hummed along softly. He leaned against the door frame and closed his eyes. It didn’t matter if it was a dream, he would remember it for a long time either way.

He had never before poured his heart into music, yet its beauty undying.

   He hoped that the performance would never stop, as the sweet melancholy of the piece washed over him like a soothing wave. 

A trill filled the air, a sound signifying the effort to prolong this beautiful moment.

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

Da capo, back to the beginning.

Odette followed the path of the music, sending out the notes of sound that blended into perfect harmony, and returned to the beginning of the piece. 

And again, trill. 

She found herself turning back the clock in her mind, amidst the richer melody of Fantasia, thinking about days before irreversible wounds had been inflicted and suffered.

   Memories swam through her head, to the days of false compassion as she played her part in a relationship she would learn to resent. To when she had not received just one proposal, but another that came on a fine spring day, when the flowers were in full bloom.

   Mostly her memories lingered on that first fateful night, when she lifted her dark veil with trembling hands. It was the first out of place button in a relationship that was just wrong. If only she could go back to those days, knowing what she knew now, she would have made different choices. 

Her performance reached its climax. She imagined an officer and a lady, who met under normal circumstances and found themselves naturally attracted to one another. No matter how she imagined it going, it still felt wrong from the very beginning. There was no room for happy memories in both Bastian’s and her life.  It was just never meant to be for them.

   It was then that Odette understood that their lives would have been much better if they had never met in the first place.

Odette played another trill, reversing time on the painstakingly restored memories. As time’s current regained its original flow, it surged and swirled, dispelling the thoughts that had troubled her mind.

The end of the melody came and once more. She started over and started to imagine things if she had never met him, what she might have become, what she might have done. She couldn’t relive the past, but they had the power to take control of their future.

 It was time to let go.

 It was the best ending they could hope for. 

To go their separate ways and live their lives away from each other.

   Odette closed her eyes as she played the last melody. Without much thought to it, she wavered from the written music and started to play her own chords, up until the finally note, where it lingered in the darkness of the solarium like a fading memory.

   Without meaning to, Odette opened her eyes and looked over to the door, where the shadow shifted and moved away back down the corridor, away from her. The solarium descended into peaceful silence once more.

Once the sound had faded, Odette lifted her fingers from the keys and gently closed the piano lid.

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

Bastian awoke just as the first rays of dawn spread out from the horizon. Habitually he looked at the time, then rolled his head to look at Odette next to him. She was asleep and looked peaceful.

   As the minutes passed, the light became brighter and lit up the room. The reality that he would have to get up became a more prominent thought until the restlessness was too much and Bastian sat up in bed, ready to start the day. Despite having only slept an hour or so, he was not feeling all that tired.

   When he stood up, he made sure the blankets were put back over Odette’s shoulders, who grumbled a little and buried herself deeper into the snug bed. He went back to his room to get ready for the day and as he was standing under the stream of hot water, the melody from last night came back to him.

   Bastian took a longer shower than usual, thinking about the music that Odette had played. By the time he shut off the water, his skin was brilliant red and his fingertips were wrinkled. He shook the fug from his mind and continued to get ready.

   He spent a little more time than usual shaving, sorting his hair and making sure every detail was exact.

   A knock came from the bedroom door. “Master, its Lovis.”

   “Come in,” Bastian said, adjusting his shirt hem snugly against his belt. He meticulously examined every detail of his uniform, from the creases to the epaulettes and the alignment of his medals, striving for perfection. As he scrutinized his attire, the moment to leave Ardenne drew near.

   “Master, the car is ready, its almost time,” Lovis said as he came into the room. He looked some what perplexed when he saw that Bastian was still not ready.

   Bastian adjusted his tie. He had to leave Ardenne now. Luckily, Lovis had brought him a cup of coffee to help shake off the morning lethargy. The piano music just wouldn’t leave him alone and was distracting him from his usual routine.

   “Oh, Bastian, you’re running late.” He was surprised to run into Odette out in the hallway as he made his way to the front door. “I will see you off then.” Her tone was so caring and considerate.

As if it were the last time, Bastian looked intently at her, who maintained a courteous smile. She was in one of her favourite, light blue, dresses. A pair of small pearl earrings glistened from her ears.

   As they descended the stairs together, neither of them said a word. They simply walked side by side, as if being in each others company was enough for them. It wasn’t until they walked the length of the entrance hall, as Bastian reached for the front door knob, that Odette spoke up.

   “Bastian, just a moment if you will,” Odette said, amidst the tinkle of piano music still playing in Odette’s head. As he stopped and turned to her, Odette reached up and adjusted his medal ribbons. “There, that’s better.”

   Bastian gave Odette a polite bow. He would return to Ardenne as soon as possible and they would spend more time together than they did yesterday.

   Bastian walked out the door and his footsteps crunched across the gravel of the driveway as he made his way to the car. He deceived himself into thinking this was just another day, all the while, the piano music became a haunting melody that played in his head, distracting him from his usual cool composure.

   He paused when he reached for the handle of the car door. His forehead furrowed further, and his tightly shut lips quivered slightly, and without any thought, he let impulse take over and he raced back up the stairs that led to the entrance of the mansion, then stopped in front of Odette. She looked up at him from beneath his shadow.

   “Bastian…”

   Odette didn’t have chance to say anything else, as her words stuck in her mouth, blocked where they were by Bastian’s lips firmly planted on hers.

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