I stared intensely at my violin sheet music, humming along to what was on the pages. How would I perform this? How would I do well so that it can reach people? I don't usually play my violin in front of a vast audience, but Olly convinced me to try this out, with him being my piano accompanist. However, I started to feel the pressure of performing well that I unknowingly began to sweat and my hands began trembling. Oliver was the one who noticed and asked,

"Are you okay?"

"I-I think so," I stuttered, not even giving him a glance. I wanted to absorb the notes I would play inside of me, hoping that I wouldn't mess up big time. Then I admitted to him that I wasn't sure if I should perform today.

"Why not?" my friend asked sincerely. "You wanted to come out and do this with me."

"I know, I know. I'm just really nervous, that's all. I haven't performed in front of this many people before! Plus, this is a recital so we would have to show how much we got, right?"

"Yup!"

"Then why did you sign me up for this?! What if we can't reach our audience?" I finally looked up at him and asked, "What if I freeze up there?" Oliver smiled at me and said,

"Don't forget to stay relaxed. We're all nervous when we get up on stage, Liz. But we play anyway and get it over with. It will all be done in no time."

"I hope so. Otherwise, it's going to be the longest four minutes of my life!" To my complaint, he laughed. In situations like these, Oliver knew how to make me smile in my darkest moments.

"It'll go by in a flash," he said. "Trust me, I have done stuff like these many times. It felt like a whirlwind." I tried to give an honest smile, but I was still uneasy about it all.

"I wish I were more familiar with that feeling," I admitted. "That way I wouldn't have to be worried."

"What do you mean?"

"You look so calm! How can you be this calm when we are about to go in front who knows how many people?" It looked like Oliver was thinking for a minute and then he said,

"Give me your hand."

"Huh?"

"Just let me see it." I placed my hand on, and we both looked at my hand, which was trembling from my anxiety. Oliver looked at me and said, "I see your hand is shaking."

"Yeah, that's normal," I said with a pout and subtle blush. "So, what?"

"Look at my hand." I glanced at his hand and noticed that it was trembling too, but not as much as my hand. I tilted my head in confusion. Why was his hand shaking? I looked at him and met his soft, blue eyes. "Even I am nervous," Oliver explained softly. "But I get up there and play my heart out, like what you do in playing Duel Monsters. We both try to reach people in our own ways, whether we're scared or nervous. So, just play with everything you got."

"What if I mess up?" I asked.

"Well, we're not perfect people," Oliver said with a laugh. "I'm not expecting everything to be perfect when we get out there, but I am expecting us to do the best we can. I believe that we can do it."

"Really?" He nodded and then pressed his forehead onto mine with a smile. I took a deep relaxing breath and smiled too. We keep telling ourselves that we were just childhood friends, the two of us with Melody and William. But I have a feeling that this kind of friendship will not last forever. In fact, it may amount to more than that. But maybe he's just a very supportive friend. For now, it didn't matter because having a presence that was this close to me was completely fine with me. "If you think that we can do this," I began softly, "then that means I will start believing that too!"

"That's the spirit," Oliver said. He backed away from me a little and smiled more. "I'm glad that I convinced you to do this."

"But if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be here, right?" I said with a slight tease. "This is a violin recital after all."

"Eh, I would probably be in a piano competition or recital but being here is our choice, and ours alone." As soon as he said that, a man came up to us and announced that we were up next after the upcoming performance. I gulped a little and nodded, wanting to look at my sheet music one last time before going up there. But then, Oliver took my hand and said, "Ready to go, Liz?" After I deep breath, I replied,

"I'm ready, Olly." He smiled and led me over a door, in which the same man that called for us stood at. He told us to wait until the previous performers have come from the stage, so we stood near the side of the door. I felt my heart beating as I waited alongside Oliver. I don't know how long this was going to take, but I want it to take forever. Despite my deep breaths and saying that I was ready, I was the complete opposite. I wish that feeling would go away. I wish I weren't so nervous. This never happened when I participate in duels! However, Oliver's hand was still holding onto my hand, and he squeezed it tight. I looked over at him, and he smiled.

"We'll be fine," he said softly. "Trust me."

"I-I hope so," I stuttered. The door opened, and the two musicians that were before us came out. When I glanced at them, and they were exhausted from the performance. Maybe it was disappointment instead of exhaustion? I wasn't sure, but that didn't matter now. It was time to perform.

"Lizzy and Oliver, you're up to perform," the man announced. He pointed to the opened door and said, "Right this way." We nodded and headed through the door, in which there was a closed off section of the stage and the actual stage itself after it. Oliver was still holding my hand, so he led me through the closed-off section until we got to its shadows edge. The edge was the border between the actual stage and the closed-off portion. When we got to the shadow's edge, Oliver let go of my hand.

"Since you're the main performer, you should go first," Oliver said. "I'll follow in right behind you." I only nodded at him and slowly walked to the part of the stage where the piano stood at. It was so quiet that I could hear my high-heeled footsteps. My hand was still trembling as it held my violin. My other side that had my bow wasn't shaking too much, but the fact that it was filled me with terror. How can I play if my hands were trembling like this?! I turned to my audience and gave them a proper bow, to which they clapped in response. I put my violin on my left shoulder in the playing position and turned to Oliver, who played my tuning note on the piano. In any performance, a violinist or other musician would tune their instruments right before they perform to not be off-key. After tuning my violin, I waited for my close friend to start playing. Oliver gave me a slight smile and started playing. In our song, the piano accompanist played first, and then the violinist came in. I knew that cue, but I didn't know if I could play. I felt a bit stiff, and my legs were trembling now. However, when Oliver began to play the part that would be my cue, I braced myself and moved my violin bow to the strings. It's time to play.

Through my trembling hands, I began to play my part in the song. I looked back at my close friend, seeing if I was doing my part right. I knew by sound if I was playing my part correctly, but I wanted to be sure that he was not struggling to keep up with me. After I started to play, I strummed through my part quicker than usual. I felt like the music could be quick in specific regions. As I glanced back, Oliver had a smile on his face. That means that he is enjoying my little improvises to the song. That was good, so I kept at it. I mentally hoped that I could reach people, that my music could touch the lives that are in the auditorium. Maybe it was a feeling inside of me or the atmosphere that was present in the big space, but I began to feel the music. It was leaving a chill in my soul, and I let that show to everyone. I could feel that Oliver felt that too, putting that same intent into the music. At that moment, I was connected to my friend and my music together. It made me feel tense and happy at the same time as I was clinging to each note I played with him.

Then Oliver chose a faster tempo. Was he trying to steal my thunder? I smirked a little and caught up to him with ease. There was no way that he was going to eat my dust! This was a violin performance after all. I had to make it to the top again. So, I played along with more intensity, like an ensuing battle in which I hoped I would win. However, I was still enjoying myself even though it felt like a battle. It did not feel at all like a duel though. Was this how musicians indeed reached people in performances? As Oliver and I hit our final notes, I knew my answer as the crowd cheered for us. This was how to reach people through music. I should do this more often.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aww, the memory-dream was over before we took our bow! But at least I heard us play together, and it was awesome! Who knew that I could play with that much soul into music? But besides that, our playing felt very nostalgic. Maybe it's because we played music together a lot. Yeah, it is probably that. But our conversation before the performance was fascinating and cute. It seemed like I wasn't too confident in playing music in front of a vast audience. It was probably my first time, but Oliver was super encouraging to me. Do I have that sheet music somewhere in the house? You know what, I'm going to go search for this music and play it!

Lizzy put down her journal book and searched around her room for the sheet music. "Okay, I am sure that the music is around here somewhere," she thought to herself. "If it is important to me, then I am sure that it would be here." She looked up at the bookshelf at the top of her bedroom walls and scanned it quickly. "Wow, I have so many books on this shelf!" she said out loud. "Sooner or later, I am going to have a library."

"I mean, that was your goal for the beginning." She yelped and turned to see James standing at her door. Lizzy pouted at him and exclaimed,

"You could have knocked on the door, you know!!"

"Yeah I know," James smiled. "But it is more fun to scare you than actually announce my appearance."

"Well, I will give you an announcement!!" Lizzy grabbed one of her pillows and threw it at James, but he dodged it easily.

"Ha, you missed!" he said in triumph.

"Oh, whatever!" Lizzy said with a sigh. "Since you are here, there is something that I need help with."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Do we have any sheet music, specifically for the violin?"

"Um, it should be here in your room. Did you check your large bookshelf?"

"That's what I am checking right now! I was just wondering if you knew of anywhere else it could be."

"Nope, it has to be around here." James looked up at the bookshelf and started to look through all the books. "I think I found one, Liz."

"You did?" Lizzy said, surprised that he found one so soon. "Where is it?" The young man pointed it out on the bookshelf and Lizzy used her magic to grab it from the shelf. Lizzy looked at the title, and she read, "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso." She flipped through the sheet music and tilted her head. "Have I played this before?"

"Only one way to find out," James said. "You should play it."

"But I haven't played in so long," Lizzy admitted. "I don't even remember the last time I played it!"

"You don't have to play the entire thing, Lizzy. Just do a little bit."

"Okay then!" Lizzy grabbed her violin case from the side of her desk and opened the case, getting the violin out. After examining it, Lizzy placed the bow on the violin's strings and played one note.

"Great, now play another note," James said with a grin.

"I will, I will! I was just warming up! Besides, don't I need to tune it first."

"That's usually a good idea. We have a piano downstairs, so why not give tuning a shot?" Lizzy nodded and ran out of her room. She passed by Jarod in the vast space outside of her room and zoomed down the staircase, by using staircase railing.

"What are you doing with your violin, Sis?" Jarod asked loudly while Lizzy was searching for the piano in the living room and kitchen.

"I'm going to tune it!" Lizzy yelled. "But where's the piano?"

"It's by the staircase!"

"I missed it?!" Lizzy ran back to the staircase and found the piano exactly where Jarod said it was, right alongside the wall that supported the set of stairs. The girl got the piano ready and played one note. "Okay, now I just have to tune it." She played the note again and tried to tune the violin on that specific note.

"You are going to play your violin?" Jarod questioned, standing at the top of the stairs.

"Yup!" Lizzy exclaimed with a smile. "I am willing to try it out, even if I mess up the piece I will play."

"So, what are you going to play for us?"

"Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso! James and I found it in my big bookshelf. I am going to play a little bit of it because I want to!"

"Then go ahead. No one is stopping you." Lizzy grinned and put the sheet music on the piano stand, turning a page or two of it to get a particular section that she wanted to play. She took a deep breath and played through a part of the song, though she mistakenly chose a faster part of the song.

"Holy cow, this is so fast!" she yelled, sweating a bit from playing a particularly fast part.

"I am surprised that you remembered how to play it!" Jarod said in shock.

"I don't know why I remember it! It feels like an instinct. Have I played this before?"

"Yeah! You played this all the time with Oliver. In fact, this was the song that you two played for that big violin recital." Lizzy stopped playing her instrument and turned to Jarod with widened eyes.

"This was the song?!" she exclaimed.

"Yup!" Jarod replied, now walking down the stairs. "You were such nervous wreck! I thought you wouldn't play the first note. But you two made it through, and it was pretty awesome."

"Oh, so that explains a lot.'

"Explains what?"

"I had another memory-dream, and it was about that recital."

"Then you should know about that one part of the song." Jarod hurried down the rest of the stairs and took the sheet music off the piano stand, flipping through it. "Now where was that part? I was sure that it was this song that had you play it."

"Play what, Big Brother?" Lizzy asked, casually looking at the sheet music too. "How would you know where to find it?"

"Yuina is big on music, and dueling too. I guess it is just a way that we express ourselves. Here it is!" Jarod pointed at the start of a music measure and asked, "Do you mind if you can start playing from here? The part is hard for me to describe, so I think playing it will be better for you to understand."

"You got it!" Jarod nodded at Lizzy's response and placed the sheet music back on the piano stand. Lizzy then looked at where she would start playing in the sheet music and began to play it. As she danced, she realized that she knew this part exceptionally well and closed her eyes to get a better feel for the song.

"Now this is extremely nostalgic," Lizzy thought while playing. "How many times have I gone through this particular part? It's so pretty.." She kept playing, and memories of playing music flooded her mind. All the happiness and frustration from trying to memorize these classical songs, and all those times she spent playing music with friends. She was able to remember it, and it moved her to tears. After the part was finished, she wiped away those tears and said, "Now that..that was fantastic."

"How does it feel?" Jarod asked.

"It felt like a whirlwind. A lot of memories came to me at once, and now I have to process it all!"

"Well, don't you have a journal for that?"

Lizzy then gasped. "You're right!" she announced loudly. "I will get to it then!" Leaving the sheet music and her brother, Lizzy ran up the stairs and into her room, collapsing on the bed and continuing the journal entry she had made earlier.

Well, I found the sheet music and played it! It wasn't too familiar at first, maybe it was because I chose a section where it was incredibly fast, but the one part that my brother showed me brought back more memories! I remember starting to play the violin when I was eight and learning how to play from one of my school teachers in music class. Then I started to get really good at playing it, and around the same time, Oliver was getting good at the piano. It was when I turned 13 that Oliver encouraged me to try a violin recital. But I didn't want to do it. I was content with playing for my friends, and at the middle school, we attended, which wasn't too big. However, his convincing got the best of me, but I couldn't help it! He was such a sweet boy.

When we performed, I was worried about how I can reach my vast audience. I didn't expect that many people for a violin recital but as Jarod told me, music is so prominent in Yuina. It's probably bigger than Duel Monsters! Anyway, both of us played our best in that performance, and the crowd cheered for us after the last note. It was unbelievable! How could a middle school duo reach to a group that we mostly did not know? But we did, and I thought I could never forget that.

However, I wonder about something. Whatever happened to Oliver? I have not seen him with William and Melody, and I tried to ask them about it a few times. But they said that I should figure it out first, like a lot of other things that I have figured out so far. Perhaps another memory dream would do the trick? I don't know. But whatever this would entail, I'm ready for it!

That's the end of the chapter!! Thank you so much for reading and if you enjoyed it, put a vote down for it. I'll see you on the next chapter of Sentimental Memories!! :)