"Paul? Sandy? Where are you guys?" Lilia called. She had woken up and found a note at her door, asking that she meet Paul and Sandy at the arena, at 8 in the morning.

And she was there, and no one else was. She was baffled. Security had just waved her through, as if they expected her, and she walked into the empty stadium, silence descended over it eerily. She walked down to the stage, her loud footsteps echoing throughout the silence.

She reached the stage, and jumped up on it, sitting down to wait for the others. After a few moments of listening to the echoes bounce around, and the inane ticking of her watch, she stood up and walked around the stage. She found a stereo, the same one that they had played the Latin music on the day before.

She found another note on it. She heart stopped when she read it, and she crumpled it in anger after reading it. After a few moments of controlling herself, she un-crumpled it and reread it.

Lilia, just once. Just for yourself, it read. Her hands trembled as she pressed down on the play button, knowing what was waiting for her on that tape yet she could not stop herself, and she nearly fell to the ground as the music started to play. It was unfair, they knew that she couldn't fight this temptation, they knew that her defenses were so very weakened at this point, that she couldn't stop herself.

The familiar strains of music lilted out, filling the silence with memories. Closing her eyes, lips trembling, she tried to hide from them, but in the echoing of the torturous sound, she found that she could not escape it. They jeered at her, laughing at her pain, reminding her of everything that she had lost. Fighting against the sorrow was harder and harder as the music progressed, pulling her into the melody. Soon, she was absorbed into it, and knew nothing but it and the pleasure it brought her.

This time, it rose without resistance. Shaky and rusty from misuse, it rose and joined the music, adding it's sweet and full quality to the cacophony of sounds resonating within the confined space. It stripped her completely of her free will, it filled her, it owned her. The memory had returned, the pleasure, the joy. The feeling of completeness was found as she bared her soul to the empty room. She sang.

As the last notes reverberated, the music left her and she was left shaken and shocked. Powerless and weak, she fell to the floor and sobbed. Her fear had subsided long enough for her to realize the need, to satisfy it. She was left in the wake of emotions and the repercussions of what she had done, when the loud clapping startled her.

She looked up cautiously, almost not caring who was there. She was free, she had fought against the bonds of her promise, and had won. The fear had contained what was inside her for so long had dissolved, and she was so exhausted from the inner battled.

She met his eyes. His showed his amazement and wonderment at what he had witnessed, and hers were glittering with tears. Locked in the gaze, his brown eyes called to her, and the aftermath of the music filled her with a joy she hadn't known in the longest time.

Caught up in her euphoria, she acted without thinking. Before she knew it, she was off of the stage, and running up the aisle. She met him quickly, and before either of them could say a word, she pulled him in and kissed him soundly on the lips, her tears streaming down her cheeks. Lilia knew no sense of propriety, she felt like they were the only two people in the world.

But they weren't. There had been another pair of eyes watching her, from the side, where she could not see him. There had been another set of ears that had heard her, and he was moved by her vocal quality. He had witnessed the most amazing display of emotion and redemption over something that he did every day, and that came as easily to him as breathing.

And after she had finished her song, he knew that he had accomplished his goal, just by the vision of completeness that she presented.. And he saw her embracing another, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealously. He had tried whatever he could, and now she was with another. Feeling rejected, he ducted out of the auditorium, safely anonymous, and escaped the image the two of them were presenting.