The Gardens

Tracey was completely wrapped up in the song. This song spoke so much to him and he always lost himself in it. It always reminded him of his mother and how she always encouraged his singing and piano playing. He felt nothing else around him, not even other life forces as the song enveloped every fiber of his being. Oddly enough, he felt the song grow louder. He got confused, he sowre he had it at it's highest volume. He opened his eyes momentarily to check his ipod, but what he saw took his breath away. Walking towards him was Cataleia, but her entire body was like a beacon of light and she was singing the song. Her voice was very young sounding but she could hit the high notes with a depth of maturity that astounded him. The music seemed to be flowing around her and her whole body was a spectacle unlike anything he had ever seen. "Kuso!" he said to himself, in awe of the sight before him. He sat up and watched as she finished her display and her light faded to a faint glow. She then opened her eyes and looked at him with shining eyes. “You have belo taste in music.”

Tracey sat up and readjusted himself on the bench so he was sitting on it like a regular person. He took his headphones out and smiled at her. "Thank you." he said sincerely, he looked down at his ipod and his smile grew bigger. "I don't know what it is about Phantom, but it really speaks to me. I first saw it in 1995 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theater with my mother. Yoshinodo Yoshikawa played the Phantom and it left a very big impression on me. It made me want to be a pianist and put all of my free time into music. You see, I find that lyrical based music doesn't show much appeal because it's not hard to make people feel a certain way with words. This why I prefer artists such as Bach or Chopin. For being able to invoke so much emotion and truth with just pure music is astounding to me." He took a breath, then looked up at her. "But, Phantom is able seamlessly blend both together so perfectly, I can't help but love it. The story also speaks to me. I mean, we're mutants so it really caters to us, in a way. A man so brilliant forced to live in darkness by people who claim to be of the light. Driven to madness that he almost destroys the only thing that he loves. But, the moment he receives kindness. The moment he is treated like a person and finally felt the touch of love.......he could let her go, and more importantly, let himself into the light. It just sort of hits home for me."

He sat there smiling for a moment, then suddenly lost his smile and shook his head. He looked away in slight embarrassment. "I'm terribly sorry about that, I lost myself for a moment." His British accent ringing clear through his words. He rubbed his eyes a bit and put out his cigarette which was mainly ash now. He looked back at her. "I'm Tracey, Tracey Nagamura." He said, careful to introduce himself in the western fashion so he could fit in. "Your Cataleia, correct? I over heard you introducing yourself to that young girl. What you did for her was very kind. And, If I may say, you have an astounding voice. That display earlier also took my breath away. Similar to the Phantom of the Opera, you have also made a very big impression on me." He said with one of his devious smiles. He didn't know why but every time he smiled it just looked devious in nature.