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It was after the premiere of Pyotr's newest pieces in Souvenir D'un Lieu Cher, both he and the soloist walked to his home side by side as Pyotr showered the violinist with compliments.
They entered the small house together and sat on the bed. Neither of them realised this, but there was a spy, sent by the government who stood below the bedroom window and eavesdropped on their heartfelt conversation.
"Your music is lovely as it always is, my dear, Brett. Could you play the piece for me, again?" Pyotr smiled.
"I am truly sorry but, I must leave now". Brett frowned.
"Please, stay longer".
"This isn't where I'm supposed to be, Pyotr".
Tchaikovsky latched onto Brett's arm. "If you must leave me, I beg that you play Mèlodie one last time for me".
Brett thought for a few seconds. "Of course".
Tchaikovsky swayed his body to the music and closed his eyes. He enjoyed the music so much that everytime he heard it, it always felt so short. As the last note rang, neither of the two uttered a word. Until the note stopped and the room was totally silent did Pyotr open his mouth and subconsciously say; "I- I think I'm in love". And that was the biggest mistake of his life.
It took him several moments to register what he had said. His heart dropped when he saw that Brett had begun to cry.
He fucked up.
"I mean! What beautiful playing, I fell in love with your playing, was what I meant to say". He mumbled. "Tell me Brett, what is love like in your time?"
"Well, we believe that everyone gets an equal chance at love".
"Ah. I wish it were like that".
They stood in each other's presence in silence, wanting to savour as much as they could before they parted.
"I guess this is goodbye". Brett smiled bitterly.
"I will miss you dearly".
Brett pecked Pyotr on his cheek and as Tchaikovsky heard violent knocks on his door, Brett faded from his vision.
-
It was the opening performance of the season for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Brett Yang as a new up and rising soloist who had just won the Kendall Violin Competition. He worked his ass off to perfect the piece that made him win. Tchaikovsky's one and only violin concerto. Deemed impossible by those who weren't the greatest of the greats and truly one of the most romantic and popular violin concertos, Brett had the honour to play this for the first concert of the year.
He walked on stage, following the conductor and bowed as the echo of cheers and clapping resonated through the hall. Brett bowed and the conductor began to tune the orchestra, followed by Brett who tuned last. Brett turned around and faced the audience, scanning the large crowd for familiar faces. His mother, father and siblings sat on the balcony by some of his close friends. Then his eye landed on a man. From what Brett could see, he was a man of Asian heritage with golden rimmed glasses and a very giddy expression on his face. As if he were the composer listening to his piece being premiered for the first time. Not to mention he was also very good looking. But why does he look so familar? Brett forced himself to look away from the man and smiled at his family and the opening of the concerto began.
Oh, how sweet the melody was. Soft and loving. But the music described his thoughts well. As the peace passes, the tension between the strings and wind rise as the voice in his head tells him continuously not to mess up his solo entrance. But, unlike what his mind is telling him, he makes it through with no issue.
As the movement approached its first climax, Brett pulled the bow heavily across the arpeggios before the tutti started. He plucked bow hairs and closed his eyes momentarily to really take in the full orchestral sound. But as he opened his eyes, he made eye contact with the man, his expression more surprised than excited.
It was what felt like a blur, the concerto was over and within what felt like a flash, he completed the encore piece of Ysaÿe Sonata No.3. In what also felt like less than 5 minutes, the orchestra had already played through all of Sibelius' 7th Symphony.
Brett sat at a table outside for the after concert signing as he spoke to many of his fans and general concert goers who were more than pleased with his playing.
"Thanks for coming to the concert, have a lovely rest of your evening!" He smiled at the second last guest. "Hey! Did you enjoy the show-" He cut himself off as he looked up and saw the same man whom he made eye contact with several times.
The way he carried himself and acted was like he was from another time. The way he spoke was significantly more sophisticated than most other people. Then a flashback invaded Brett's mind.
"Brett! That was magnificent!" Pyotr shot up from his piano to congratulate the man. "It's almost like you've played this before".
"Haha! It's all because of your talent in composition". Brett smiled as Pyotr pat his shoulder.
"The raw emotion and your interpretation is like no other! You are truly a magnificent player".
"Your playing is truly one of the most magnificent things I have heard in my entire life. Your raw emotion, your interpretation. Simply everything is splendid! I think I'm in love!" He smiled from ear to ear as he eagerly shook Brett's hand. Brett swore that what he said reminded him of Pyotr. Only one man has ever said that after he played his violin.
"Ah, thank you. I've worked very hard on this piece". Brett shook his hand in return and signed a poster. "What was your name, by the way? I've just got to write your name on the poster".
"Eddy. Eddy Chen".
As he wrote a message on the poster, something caught his eye in his peripheral vision.
Brett shook his head to bring himself back to reality, but he couldn't help but look. The words he says and the ring, it all matches up.
It was a golden ring with a red coloured stone set in it. It looked exactly like the lucky charm he was given.
"Oh would you look at that, we have the same ring!" Eddy said with a bounce in his intonation.
"Hah, it seems that we do". Brett smiled as he looked down at the ring on his right hand.
-
'What a strange encounter', Brett thought to himself as he walked out of the building. He looked down at his ring again and close his eyes to picture Eddy's ring. They were identical. That same brushed, antique look and even the stone was exactly the same. Might he be Pyotr?
But really, what were the chances that he reminded him so much of Pyotr and that he wore the exact same ring? However, the possibility of it all being a coincidence is also too high.
Eddy Chen resembled the man he met when he went back in time. He had visions, dreams and even hallucinations of the man he met in 1878 who had been completing his violin concerto. Brett was 75% sure he was Pyotr.
-
"It's really him". Eddy whispered to himself as he walked to his car. Eddy was sure after he saw the reaction of the soloist when he said "I think I'm in love".
"For sure he recognised me".
This person in question had been appearing in Eddy's visions and dreams for so many years. He so vividly remembered the tone of his violin and the way he would phrase everything so perfectly. The way his intonation was not even one cent off or that his skill could not even be topped by the greatest of the time.
Then he saw Brett pass him.
"Hey! Brett!" He shouted. Brett turned around and walked towards Eddy.
His face had an expression of confusion painted on his face and hesitation tainted his voice. "Is there something wrong?"
"Was it you?"
"What do you mean?"
Eddy smirked. "You. You were the one who was from the future".
Brett's eyes widened as the words slipped Eddy's lips.
"H- But how do you know about that?" Frantic and confused, Brett placed his hands on the other's shoulders and shook them.
"Don't you get visions as well?" Eddy furrowed his brows.
"Visions? Yes, I get many, but how do you know about me travelling to the past?" He shook his head and ruffled his hair up. "As for my visions, they're all of Tchaikovs-".
"It's me". He cut in.
Brett couldn't say anything. He was petrified. Not that it was a bad thing, the poor guy was just shocked to meet him again.
Without thinking, words slipped out. "Prove it". He said it with confidence, he wanted an answer— he needed one. "Prove to me that you are Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Who did you dedicate the concerto to?"
Gosh, he was lucky that Eddy was patient. He simply smiled at Brett. "It was for you. It was all for you. I wrote the first movement as an expression of my love for you. The second was after you left for the future and the third movement-"
"Was that how you became so confident on how to find me". Brett butt in. "Was it why you gave me the ring?"
The taller male smiled and nodded sincerely, before Brett threw his arms around his neck and cried into it.
Taken aback by the sudden movement, Eddy tensed up, but softened immediately as hard sobs wreaked through Brett's body.
"You- you know..." Brett hiccuped. "I thought I'd never see you again!" Crying harder into the taller male, Brett's breathing became laboured and uneven, Eddy pulled the smaller male off and looked him in the eye.
"At least I'm here now, right?" Pushing the glasses-clad man's hair out of his face, he kissed his forehead and enveloped him in another hug.
"I've seen you at so many concerts and I never recognised you until today. I never thought it would be you". Brett mumbled as his sobs died down.
"It's always been me. I wasn't sure if it was you either. But I knew as soon as you played my piece". Eddy looked over his shoulder at the soloist. "I knew the moment you played that low A in the opening on the concerto that it was you".
"It's always been me". He copied.
"And I'm so glad I found you".