a moment together - ronance

note for note

Prompt: Robin and Nancy are looking in a bunker for any supplies they can find during the zombie apocalypse, Robin stumbles upon something that catches Nancy's attention.

Everywhere around them, the sharp, inevitable smell of 97 year old moisture made its way to their nostrils, and even when surrounded by pitch black darkness Nancy knew that the chance of finding something usable down there, was almost nonexistent. Yet, of course, Robin insisted that they should stay to at least check, however that was utter curiosity, and even though Nancy had to admit that it was sometimes useful, at this moment, they were just losing important minutes.

Therefore, Nancy didn't follow the taller girl into the corner of the old bunker, but stayed near the entrance-hole, where some of the remaining light of winter shined through despite the thick clouds. Suddenly, Nancy could no longer see Robin moving, and secretly hoped she had reached the end, so they could return to camp before they froze to death or worse got ambushed by walkers.

"Found anything?" A smirk was unintentionally growing on Nancy's lips at the thought of being right... And Robin being wrong.

After Nancy had called out, she was completely stalled by the a sound, which was hollow and echoed in the nearly empty bunker; somewhere in her mind, it was familiar.

It couldn't be... No... A piano? Really?

Before the apocalypse, Nancy remembered turning up to Holly's first ever piano recital and how Mike had been on his phone the whole way through or how their parents had ignored each other the whole night, but what Nancy remembered most of all was how the piano being played by her younger sister struck a cord in her and deep, longing twisting around her heart ready to snap.

Walking closer with the only source of light they had bought along with them, which was a oil-lamp recovered from another bunker, it revealed Robin sitting on a small bench in front of the instrument (that appeared to be in good shape despite missing a leg), her back to Nancy, and as Nancy stood beside her co-leader, she noticed Robins fingers running over the keys, only the last one missing.

Robin was so extremely focused while pressing three of her fingers to the keys, that she barely registered Nancy standing there. A light, clear sound followed.

"Do you play?" The smaller girls voice was low, actually too low, because the last thing Nancy wanted Robin to know, was that she accidentally admired it.

Surprised, Robin laid eyes on Nancy for a few seconds, obviously hesitating before she adverted her gaze to focus on the keys again, looking down.

"I used to. Then, I got arrested. My mother had inherited a piano from her grandma, and it stood in our living room my whole childhood, but even though I knew she could play it, she rarely did. However, when I turned ten, she found some time to give me lessons." Quickly, Nancy noticed Robin's eyes darken slightly at the memory, but there was nothing she could do to make it better.

"What are you waiting for, then? Play something. Show me what you got." For the briefest second, it seemed to make Robin smile.

Getting cold feet, Robin suggested that they should get back, since there was nothing else of value down there. Nancy was never one to back down so easily.

"Are you afraid?" Nancy teasingly lifted an eyebrow at Robin, her smile complimenting it perfectly, and suddenly Robin felt the need to prove the shorter girl wrong. Just like the moment with Steve before they lost each other. Robin wanted to blow Nancy away only for own amusement.

"Okay..." She tried to hide a blush by turning her face away upon placing her hands to the keys after years of no practice. Maybe, this wasn't thought through. It would be so embarrassing to fail, an embarrassment she couldn't afford right now.

Without any notes, Robin memorized one of the few songs her mother used to play, and as Nancy watched carefully, the sounds came together to form a melody; it was slow, but it floated calmly through her ears.

Nancy didn't expect Robin to start singing.

It would make more sense if that wasn't her voice.

But it still was.

"Something always brings me back to you. It never takes too long. No matter what I say or do, I'll still feel you here, to the moment I'm gone."

Nancy couldn't recall the song, but the title was completely unnecessary, when the words of it seemed to surprise and calm her at the same time, however that might've only been because they came out of Robin's mouth.

"I never wanted anything so much, than to drown in your love, and not feel your rain."

The sight of her in a small isolated world formed by the music, her playing, was fascinating, for as long as she'd known Robin, she for once felt relaxed, as if the song brought her to a wonderful place, where she could not bring herself during every-day life. Nancy was very much aware that she would probably never see a Robin like this again, so she decided to enjoy the view.

"You loved me cause' I'm fragile, when I thought that I was strong, but you touch me for a little while, and all my fragile strength is gone."

As Robin briefly, with the corner of her eye, looked at her, wanting to be sure that Nancy was still there, things came out clearer as Nancy suddenly paid some attention to the words specifically instead of just her. They had a meaning, this whole situation had, but she could not bring herself to think about what it was.

Because it confused her.

"I live here on my knees as I try to make you see that you're everything I think I need, here on the ground."

Nancy wished so deeply that she could rewind that.

"But you're neither friend nor foe, though I can't seem to let you go. The one thing that I still know, is that you're keeping me... Down."

God, if Nancy had the ability to find the secret behind every word, now would be the time to use it, cause' they tangled in her mind, causing mayhem. Robin had noticed the other girls absence, and stopped playing; somehow, the tension was really different, making Robin uncomfortable for a minute, until Nancy's curiosity took over, when she placed her fingers to some random keys; the sound was awful, her expression twisting in a frustrated smile that made Robin laugh.

"That's not how you do it..."

"Oh really? Because I thought I was doing fantastic!" The sarcasm was so obvious that it turned out more funny than she had intended.

"Alright, next Mozart..." And without even bothering to warn Nancy, she placed her hand below the other girls, pressing down on three keys, which were a much better sounding match.

"Like that?" Nancy's warm breath tickled Robin's ear as she was now close enough to make her a little nervous.

"Yeah... I teach you how to play piano, and in return, you teach me how to use a gun."

"Make that a deal, Robs." Nancy replied even though in reality she had no interest in learning anything, yet the thought of listening to Robin's vocals for another hour or two was simply too tempting...