At long last, I have returned with the sequel to Always With Me, Always With You!!! I'm sorry it took me so damn long. Five days after I posted the final chapter for the last fic, I got in a nasty car wreck and got to spend a little time in jail. THAT was so much fun. Since then I've just been dealing with lots of different things. Band stuff, work stuff, you know how it goes. Well, I hope you enjoy this sequel. I intend to make worth your while. Here it is, in all its glory. As always, read, review, ENJOY!

To Die For

Chapter 1

Things could be better, I have to say. The gigs are pathetic, money is short… Being a musician for a living is a lot harder than I would have ever thought. Link tried to teach me that back in school, but I guess I just didn't want to learn.

Sadly, I'm rather disappointed with my guitar playing. Pathetic, huh? I can do solos and carry rhythms, but half the time the rhythms are choppy and the solos… well… that's a whole nother world. It's almost like I can't do them. I mean… I can, but I have to leave out notes in certain songs just to be able to let my left hand catch up. That's sad as a guitar player… Well, we'll see how things roll.

Serj Green- 2012

The orange florescent lights whizzed by in pulses as Serj drove down the long road to the San Demas Airport. He rubbed his hand through his hair and yawned a bit as his music beat softly in his car. It was the recording of his show with Prototype in New York City back in 2006.

He found it fairly hard to believe that six years had already gone by since Link had passed away. His suicide had taken its toll on a lot of people. Even people that lived in completely different states knew about it. Apparently, word had gotten around (most likely from Dennis) about Prototype. The fact that a group of high school guys traveled halfway across the country to put on a show that even the greatest bands would consider great was, well, amazing to say the least.

They were all very good at what they did, but Link was in his own world. At the age of eighteen, he was giving people like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and John 5 a run for their money. He had the potential to be the greatest guitar player to ever walk the face of the earth…

Sadly, because of a few people screwing up in a few place, the guitar god ended up overdosing, never to be reckoned with again. Serj still hated himself to that day, six years after the fact. He was the one cause that did it. Serj felt like a murder to a certain extent.

Luckily though, Mido and Kafei remained with him. The band still went on, in more of Link's memory that anything else. It was more than hard though. Prototype had faded into obscurity after Link died. Ser was a fantastic guitarist, but nothing like Link. In the end, the three guys had to admit that they could never be what they were with Link being gone. Thing is, with death… There is no turning back.

Serj yawned again as he pulled up to the side of the baggage claim at the main junction in the airport. He could see her… A tall woman, with long, shiny golden hair. A sharp and gorgeous face, with a body that killed. The kindest girl he would ever know… his sister.

Zelda smiled as he pulled up next to her. Serj opened the door and grinned at her as she picked up her bags.

"Put those down, I'll carry them," Serj stated as he walked over to her.

"Such a gentleman," she replied jokingly.

Serj held his arms open and embraced his sister in a good old fashioned long-time-no-see hug. He hadn't seen his sister in three years, and it felt great just to be around her again. She had a certain aura about her that just always made him happy.

After driving off out of the dark, busy airport, they began chatting like crazy to do a lot of overdue catching up. Zelda certainly had grown up in the last three years. She was no longer the young girl he once knew.

"So how's the band?" she asked after about half an hour of driving and jabbering.

"Rough, as always…"

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"However, we do have an idea that might be able to bring us back. It's a long shot… but…"

"What?!" Zelda cut in.

"Bringing back all of the old original Prototype songs," he stated, not sounding very confident.

"Good luck with that," she scoffed.

"Thanks," he shot back.

"Sorry, I'm not trying to be rude. But… Trying to play Link's old guitar riffs? You'll have a lot of work ahead of you."

"I know. Honestly, as great as the idea sounds, I know I can't play his stuff. I don't even have the desire to get that good. It must have taken him every waking hour he had to get that good," Serj said solemnly.

Zelda didn't reply. She just stared out the window into the night, watching the passing cars and lights. Serj knew what was on her mind.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

"You're a bad liar, you know that," he stated.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just hard to talk about him," she explained.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. It's not like you're the one that drove him to kill himself," he tried to comfort.

"Yeah, it is…"

"Out of curiosity… why did you lie to him in the graveyard that day?" he asked, looking over at her.

"I… I still don't know. I suppose I was just scared," she replied, continually staring out the window.

Serj sighed a bit. He and his Zelda had gotten to be very close since Link passed away. He was glad that he was so close to her, but he hated the fact that it had to be over something such as his best friend dying.

"Hey, I've got good news for you. I was so glad that you were moving back in, I decided to do something really cool this weekend. I went ahead and booked us a couple of plane tickets for Friday," he began in a change of subject.

"Ugh, I just got off a plane," she groaned, turning her head and looking at him.

"Come on, you'll love it, I know you will," he egged on.

"Alright, fine, where is it?" she asked, a little annoyed.

"Austin baby! Eric Johnson is playing at Austin City Limits on Saturday!" he exclaimed, knowing that Eric Johnson was her favorite guitarist.

"No way!" she squealed in surprise.

"Hell yeah. And we're both going to be there. I already got the time off work and everything."

"Wow, that's pretty freaking cool. Thanks for that," she said happily.

"Yeah, I figured you would like that. I'm just glad that you moved back home. I didn't think you would last as long as you did in New York all by yourself," he stated.

"Yeah, that's funny, me neither. Hey, you know, maybe you'll be able to find yourself a really good guitar player out in Austin. It's a much bigger thriving music scene than San Demas is," she suggested.

"You know, I just might be able too. Surely someone in Austin has heard about Prototype. We were big for a little while, even after the whole thing with Link," he agreed.

"Well, there you go."

Serj pondered it as he drove down one of the back roads to his house. It really was a good idea. Austin had to have some good guitarists out there. A lot of famous people had come from the bustling musical town. Eric Johnson, Pantera, Los Lonely Boys, and many, many others. By the time he stopped thinking about it, he realized that he was already at his house.

"Wow, nice pad," Zelda stated as she stepped out of his car.

"Yeah, it's a pretty nice place. Not exactly what dad's place was, but it suits me just fine.

His house was a neat two story house. It looked very old fashioned, but well kept up with it. It was painted dark blue color, with many windows lining the bottom and top floors. You could tell there was a basement in the house as well, since there were windows that basically sat right on the foundation of the house.

He grabbed all of her bags from the trunk of his small blue Saturn SC-1 and headed up the driveway to the front steps. Grabbing the keys from his pocket, unlocked the door and threw it open. He loved his house a lot.

In the living room, he basically had a studio built up. Mido's drum set sat in the corner over by a set of windows, while Kafei's bass and amps were set up directly across from Mido's gear. Serj's stuff however was closer to the kitchen for easier beer access.

"Don't you ever have any complaints from the neighbors about the noise?" Zelda asked.

"No, I had the whole house triple insulated," he stated, setting her things down at the top of the staircase. "Here, let me show you where you'll be sleeping."

He took her down the hall of the upstairs and to the very last door. Swinging it open, he revealed a pretty large sized room, with a bathroom and shower in it. It basically was a master bedroom, but it seemed all the rooms had these features.

"Wow, this is bigger that my apartment," Zelda exclaimed.

"That's kind of sad… no offense. So, how long do you plan on staying here?" he inquired.

"Oh, I thought I was just going to live with you," she said, kind of shocked by the question.

"Oh, great! I could use the company. I get kind of lonely sometimes."

The rest of their night consisted of watching movies and drinking. Zelda of course being the lightweight of the two just had a few Smirnoff's, while Serj went with his favorite beer. They sat there and talked for hours while watching different movies before the sleepiness hit them. Parting their ways, Serj headed up to his room and laid down in his waterbed, which jiggled a bit as he crashed onto the cent of the bubbly mass. Practice was going to kick ass the next day…

"I don't know about all that man," Mido's deep voice stated.

"You really think that a guitar player that lives thousands of miles away is going to be apt to just up and leaving Austin to come play with us?" Kafei asked.

"Austin is one of the largest music communities in the country guys. I hate to say it, but I really don't think I can hang with those old songs. I can do the rhythms with not much of a problem, but Link's solos? No way man. Besides, any serious guitar player would jump at the opportunity to be with a well established band," Serj tried to explain.

"Have you even tried to play any of Link's old solo's?" Kafei asked.

"No way man! I'm too scared," Serj chuckled.

"Well, if you think you've got a shot at it, go for it. Won't hurt, huh?" Mido said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, while we're at it, might as well work on some of the stuff we've started writing. I've had a few different ideas going around lately," said Serj.

Mido and Kafei nodded. Mido enjoyed playing with Serj, but on the other hand… well… He just wasn't Link. His style was totally different, and his chops were nothing compared to Link's. It had been a downer for him the past six years, but he wasn't about to abandon the band he had started so many years ago. It was like his tribute to Link after all.

Zelda awoke once Mido began the drum intro to one of their newest songs. She rubbed her eyes as the music pounded into her head. She wasn't happy about being woken up, but she loved the music her brother's band played, Link or no Link.

Shaking her head a bit, she slowly stepped out of her bed and opened the door to her bathroom. Turning on the warm water, she stepped into the shower, letting the calming water wash over her. Rubbing some shampoo into her hair, it took her a minute to realize that Mido and Kafei were out in the living.

She wasn't too bright, but was even dumber when she first woke up in the morning. Quickly scrubbing the shampoo out of her hair, she then rapidly rubbed a bar of soap over her body. Jumping out of the shower, she dried herself off with a towel and swiftly threw on a short pair of jean shorts and a vanilla tank top.

She left her room just as Serj played the last note of the song. She rushed into the living room to see that Mido was just standing up from his drum set. He was nearly smashed into the wall as she threw herself into him with a hug.

"Hey girl, I forgot you came into town already!" Mido grunted, trying to keep his balance.

"You forgot about me?" she asked solemnly.

"Oh give me a break, you know me," Mido replied sarcastically.

Giving Kafei a hug as well, she felt so much better just being able to see her old high school friends again. Granted, the only year she had with them was nothing but sheer and utter drama, but, she really didn't care.

She spent the next few days before she had to leave for Austin going around town and visiting her old high school friends. Saving the best for last, Malon.

As she pulled up in front of the red-heads house, she sighed a bit. It had been too long. She hadn't even been able to keep in contact with Malon since she left to live in New York for a while. She wondered as she walked up to the door what the girl had been up to. At first she wondered if Malon still even lived there, but the bright pink car in the front of the house kind of tipped her off that is was still the same ole Malon.

Taking a deep breath, she rang the door bell and waited. She smiled and became a little antsy when she heard footsteps heading down the stairs. She was rather surprised when a young man about her age opened the door with a beer bottle and a joint in his hand. Frowning a bit, he looked at her oddly and squinted his eyes.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a very monotone voice.

"Um, yeah, I'm sorry. Does Malon live here still?" she asked, still in shock.

"Yeah…" said the guy gruffly and turned around.

As he walked up the stairs, he yelled Malon's name at the top of his lungs. His bare naked back was bruised like crazy, and it looks like there were cuts and scrapes from something very sharp. Zelda really didn't feel comfortable.

Her heart lightened when she was able to see Malon at the top of the stairs peering down to see who it was.

"Oh my god, Zelda!"

With that, Malon tore down the stairs at full speed. Zelda smiled as she caught Malon and reduced her speed. She could tell Malon was crying a bit as she held her best friend in her arms.

"Oh, my god! I can't believe you're here! What are you doing back in town?" she fluttered, wiping some tears from her eyes.

"I got homesick," Zelda stated simply.

"So, you live here again?" Malon inquired.

"Yeah, I'm living with Serj."

After more hugs and all that happy stuff, Malon went inside and put on a pair of sandals and a khaki jacket.

"Babe, I'm leaving for a little while," Malon called as she was about to go out the front door.

"Where the fuck are you going?!" the man bellowed at the top of his lungs from the other side of the house.

Malon quickly slammed the door shut and hurried to Zelda's car, eagerly tugging at the handle to get in. Zelda unlocked it and Malon was in the seat like a bat out of hell. Zelda knew something bad was going on.

"Who is that?" Zelda asked as they drove away from the house.

"My boy friend…" she replied sadly.

"I'm, guessing things aren't going to well?"

"They were fine until her started drinking all the time and selling drugs. Now all he does is hits me, drinks, smokes weed, and goes to bars and gets the shit beat out of him. I want to get away from him so bad," she explained, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Why don't you just leave?" Zelda asked.

"I can't. He's always home since his job is being a drug dealer. The only time he's gone is when he goes to bars after I go to sleep. Besides, if I left, he would just hunt me down and like rape me or something. He's only with me because I have a car and a vagina. And boobs… don't forget those…"

The two girls went all over town shopping, hitting up coffee shops, book stores, anything they could think of. Zelda just wanted for Malon to feel a little better about things. But she that whenever Malon would start to feel better, she then realized that she still had to go home sometime. Zelda hated to see things this way…

"Malon, why don't you just stay with me and Serj for a while? You need to get out of there. If he tries anything, you know Serj will take care of him. He's great like that," Zelda suggested.

"He'll find me though…"

"Malon. How? There's no way. He has no idea who me or my brother are, much less know where we live," Zelda stated, a little more forcefully this time.

"You don't think Serj would mind?" Malon asked, very hopeful.

"No. Actually, he told me a few years ago that back in high school he had a thing for you, ha! I really don't think he'll mind."

Malon laughed at the thought. Serj huh? Sheesh, if she had known that way back when, she would have gone for it! Those few days blew by like they were nothing. It was soon to leave for Austin. Both Zelda and Serj were very excited. Zelda because she was going on a trip with her brother and going to see Eric Johnson. Serj… well, you can guess. This may be the chance he needed to get the band going again at full speed. Someone in Austin had to be at least as good if not better than Link.