"Why do you do this to yourself?" Zoisite played a riff on the piano.

"Do what?" Nephrite muttered.

"Pine after her."

"It's not exactly my choice, you know..."

"But it is your choice."

"Oh Christ, not your self-help crap again. I can't take it right now, okay?"

Zoisite shrugged, spreading his hands and moving into a proper piece of music. "Then stop. Stop doing it. She's with someone else."

Nephrite took another drink from his glass. "He doesn't deserve her," he said, his voice louder than he wanted it to be.

"Nobody's ever going to deserve her," Zoisite pointed out, his hands moving over the keys like dancers. The music he was playing gradually filtered through to Nephrite's brain.

You must remember this,
A kiss is still a kiss,
A sigh is just a sigh...

"Do me a favour, Sam, stop playing that song," he spat. "You know I hate it."

"Why? It's your song. It's the song you want to be true," Zoisite added and he laughed a little. "'Hearts full of passion, jealousy and hate...' How can you not love a line like that?"

"Singing it is one thing, living it is another." Nephrite tipped the bottle and listened to the slosh of the rum with a great deal more pleasure. "Not that you'd understand."

"Thank God," Zoisite answered, without rancour. The music paused for a moment, shifted, became sadder, lilting like a drunken waltz. Nephrite lifted his head. He knew this song as well; he loved this song.

Jazz in the basement bar,
The moon's on the rain,
I've drunk too much, spent too much,
Penniless again.
Oh sweetheart, where are you tonight?

"Where indeed?" Nephrite muttered, staring into the rum as if Makoto's face would appear there. "In his arms, no doubt."

The door slammed open and they both looked up. Makoto was standing in the doorway.


DISCLAIMER: As Time Goes By belongs to Warner Bros. Moon on the Rain belongs to Fairground Attraction. And the characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi.