Summary: A year has passed since Jaden stood up to his mother and found
someone who loved him for reasons other than his music. Even though he
continued to play Violin, something always held him back from returning to the
professional stage that desperately wants their young prodigy back in the lime
light. Jaden now struggles to determine whether or not being a violinist
actually means something to him, and goes on a journey within his soul to find
out if it does.

Warnings: AU, Slash/Shonen-ai, Rated T for safety, Maybe some OOCness (we'll
try not to have that).

Disclaimers: Yu-Gi-OH GX+Spectralwings+Maricksage= No ownership.

-This is a continuation of what we call the 'Musical series'...It all started
with 'Go where you can be seen', the 'The Cellist's Rhapsody' and then 'Going
Solo' (so you may want to check those out first).

Glossary

(for those who may not know)
Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso in A minor: One of my favorite songs to hear
being preformed. It was written for Violin and orchestra by Charles-Camille
Saint-Saëns in 1863. Check it out on YouTube.
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto: I like this one as well, but I like Rondo
Capriccioso in A minor better. According to my friend, it's one of the hardest
song to play (I wouldn't know since I don't play instruments). It was written
by Pytor Llyich Tchaikovsky in 1878. Check it out on YouTube as well!
Rosin: A substance that string instrument users use upon the hairs of their
bow to make it sticky in order to produce sound against the strings. Its main
ingredient is tree sap, and depending on the manufacturer, other ingredients
like bee's wax maybe added. The darker the rosin, the softer it is. I've heard
that light rosin is better for Violins, but I wouldn't know. ^^;

Maricksage: Hi there, Maricksage here I wanted to say a word in here, this will be posted on both mine and Spectralwings' profiles and updated as soon as we have compiled the chapter to each other's satisfaction so as I say in my fics, here we go and on with the show!

Chapter 1: Stepping out

Jaden found himself slowly walking through the hallway in his home, his brown eyes taking in the detail and the essence of the photos that hung on the cream colored walls. Pictures of a young woman with a violin in various places, dresses and events etched themselves in to his head, causing him to dream up possible dialog that may have went on, and gained various emotions as
he went from one picture to the next. His fingertips ran along the wall, feeling the uneven and bumpy texture against his skin, remembering the times he would draw pictures on this make shift canvas, only to be yelled at and punished later.

Eventually, when he neared the stairway, he looked down at the descending steps first, remembering the time at a young age when he was afraid to climb up something so 'high'. He chuckled to himself, thinking he must have looked silly as he descended to the living room. He took the time to look around, the same old fading red couches, chipped glass table, gray rug in the middle of the floor and shelves upon shelves of pictures of a young woman from long ago
where all still here, and may remain here for some time to come.

Licking his lips he turned his head in the direction of the kitchen, mouth slowly forming into a frown, the hand where he held his new violin case tightened around the handle. He wondered if he should say something to the woman who chopped various vegetables and looked as though she really wasn't living in this world, but he remembered it wouldn't matter. She wouldn't
notice if he wasn't there anymore. Sighing, Jaden turned away towards the door and placed his free hand on the handle. He couldn't help but look back one last time, he couldn't help that no matter how she may have treated him, that she was still his mother, and he couldn't help that no matter the ordeals he went though, he still loved her.

The sound of a car honking snapped him back from his thoughts and he quickly opened the door to be greeted by Bastion, his best friend, who waited for him in the driver's side of the car. Jaden made his way over to the trunk and carefully placed his new violin in. As he made his way back over to the passenger's side of the car, he peaked into the back of the seats, amazed that
he had that many boxes. He opened the passenger's door and hopped in, thanking Bastion with a smile as he buckled himself down, who only waved it off with his hand and an equally friendly smile.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Having a place of your own is kind of a big responsibility." Bastion said as he carefully pulled out of Jaden's former driveway.

"Yeah," Jaden replied as he leaned against the window, "I think it's for the best."

Jaden couldn't take living with his mother any more. He couldn't stand to see her obsess over his violin playing and her past constantly. She was obviously in a dream she couldn't awaken from, and no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get her to see him as something more than an extension to her dream that had long faded away with the results of reality crashing down
on her, He couldn't get her to awaken. She was indeed a good violinist, but good wasn't going to get you a seat in the Domino Symphony Orchestra (or DSO), and after her accident, that caused her to lose her arm, and having started a family, she must have just gone mad somewhere down the road.

After contemplating over his idea to move away over the last semester of 10th grade, he finally mustered up the courage to find a one bed room apartment and somehow got his mother to cosign for his decision to move out. Paying for it wasn't going to be much of a problem for the time being, since he still had money saved up from the competitions he used to enter back when
his desire to play was only for his mother's sake, and from the times he stared as a soloist with DSO. But even now, he felt guilty for leaving his mother there by herself.

"Here we are." Bastion's voice dragged Jaden from his thoughts to look at the apartment building he would now be living in.

It looked like a tiny house, connected to another. The box like design kind of reminded him of a trailer and the dull green of the paint didn't look very attractive with the clashing color of the almost aqua green of the windows and the red hue of the doors. But the inside was far better than the outside of the house, reminding him of the saying: "It doesn't matter how you look on the
outside, it's the inside that counts", which surprisingly held true for the little apartment in the quiet neighborhood.

A smile and a blush crept over Jaden's face when he noticed a familiar figure standing by the curb, waving at them with a lively twinkling in his silver eyes, cyan hair pillowing gently in the wind, and glasses holding a faint glimmer of the sun off the rims and lenses. He was standing with his stand, a bag, and his cello, which in comparison sometimes looked massive beside the small ivory skinned boy. Jaden often found himself wondering how he managed to carry the thing on his back, but just guessed that Syrus must be stronger than he looked. The boy rushed over to them as soon as the car parked, dragging his cello along with him, and greeted Jaden with a hug as he got out of his side. Jaden retuned the hug, tightening his arms around Syrus'
waist and burying his face into his sweet smelling hair, allowing a contented sigh to escape from his lips.

Their moment was interrupted with Bastion clearing his throat, and pointing the boxes that rested haphazardly in the back of his small car. The two gave sheepish grins as they walked over to assist their friend with Jaden's stuff. Bastion found himself giggling over their display, he was used to it, but it was always interesting to see them embrace each other like they haven't seen
one another in years, even though it had only been a few days. "Thanks you guys for helping move my stuff." Jaden said as he pushed open the door to his new home.

He looked around, the living area was pretty spacious with a big closet that had large mirrors for doors and a long window. There was a small kitchen with white and gray tiles, oak cabinets, a refrigerator that seemed to be well used, a back door, a sink that looked as though it was brand new, and a stove. Further back was the bathroom and the bed room he remembered seeing when took a look around the place when he filled out the application. It wasn't perfect, but it was cozy, and the right size.

"It's no problem, you don't have a car and nor does Syrus. I'm just happy I could help you out before I have to go in to work." Bastion carefully placed a box down onto the middle of the floor.

"Yeah, and my parents said it was OK for me to stay over and help you unpack." Syrus let out a huge sigh as he dropped a box that was a lot heaver than it looked. He gave Jaden a sweet smile when he felt his lover's hand pet his shoulder.

ababababababababaab

"Well, I guess that should do it for now." Jaden grumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck, looking over the unpacking they 'accomplished'. Most of it went into his room, and plates and silver ware his mentor Mrs. Hibiki gave him were placed neatly on the shelves. Most of the stuff that remained in the boxes were gifts from people he met while playing the violin in the Youth
Symphony Orchestra (or YSO) on weekends. He knew he was going to need furniture, but he wasn't going to worry about that right now.

"Good, I was starting to get hungry." Syrus shouted from the kitchen, he was whipping them up something to eat and drink. "We'll figure out what to do with the rest of the stuff when the time comes."

Jaden sat on the floor in front of a large box, with a table cloth draped lazily over it. He pet the pillow next to himself, inviting Syrus to share his space at the make shift table, upon which his little lover had set the plate of sandwiches down upon, along with two cans of generic cherry cola. They ate in silence, a comfortable silence, every now and then exchanging loving
glances, slight touches and feeding one another bites of their food. Once they were finished, Jaden reached over to one of the boxes and pulled out an extra pillow to rest his head upon as he and Syrus lay back on the cool wooden floors.

Syrus made himself comfortable by resting his head on Jaden's chest, and snuggling up next to him, trying to close as much distance as he could. He felt the violinist readjust himself so that he could wrap an arm around Syrus' shoulder. The smaller boy sighed in contempt as he listened to his strong and steady heart beat and traced small and slow circles on Jaden's abdomen, enjoying the feel of the material his red T-shirt was made out of.

The Sun was setting outside, bathing the two boys in a shower of gold and orange lights though the horizontal slits in the blinds. Somehow, the day seemed to drift along without them noticing, and somehow Jaden's thoughts began to drift back to his mother. He wondered if she were alright without him being there, he knew how she could get even worse sometimes, scaring him into believing that she was going to hurt herself in some way as she forced him to sit there and listen to her story about a young girl with a dream among dreams, and how an accident and a child ruined it all for her.

As if sensing Jaden's train of thoughts, Syrus suddenly sat up so that he could face the brunette, who now was off into the depths of his mind with a glazed and upset expression plastered on his handsome face. Frowning, Syrus arose from his spot and opened his cello case to pull out a folder that contained sheet music. He sauntered his way back over to his boyfriend and playfully smacked him over the head with the folder, causing him to shoot up from his spot and give Syrus a look of shock. Syrus giggled and asked, "Want to look over the music for tomorrow's 'concert' in the park?"

Jaden frowned and looked away.

"You just can't keep thinking about her..."He murmured with a frown as he opened the folder to pull out some of the songs they'll be performing for a bunch of old people in a park near a nursing home.

"I know. But I can't help but to worry, she's my mother."

"...I understand how you feel." He whispered as his silver eyes scanned over the sheet of music as a way to cast out thoughts of his older Brother, Zane who also played the cello at a National level.

"I'm sorry Sy." Jaden said as he walked across the room to grab his Violin case and stand.

It was brand new one with a brand new violin protected inside a nest of red velvet. it was given to him by Mrs. Hibiki after he left his old violin back in the concert hall a year ago when he had the courage to stand up to his mother and tell her how he felt, even though it felt like it was pointless to do so He flicked open the polished black case and revealed inside a beautiful
red wood violin and bow. Carefully, he lifted it out of its case and placed the sheet music on the black standard stand (that he was sure just about every musician he knew owned), and adjusted the pages to match the music that Syrus wanted to run through.

Jaden then picked up and studied the bow. After a moment, he took the rosin out of its case and ran it along the fine hairs of the bow in even stokes, making sure he applied the correct amount. Then he raised his violin to his chin, adjusting it so it felt comfortable, he looked back and awaited Syrus to adjust himself and his stand. The violinist made sure to apologize for his
lack of chairs, thinking it must not be comfortable for a cellist to be playing on box.

When all was set, Jaden began to play and adjust his strings, along with Syrus, to the proper tune. Once that was over, they started to warm up with some of their improvisational music they usually did before their class would start up. One of them would usually began to lead the other into a song designed by their imaginations, and the other would follow along, creating a wondrous melody that would often draw a crowd of awed and envious students at their high school orchestra to listen to.

Once they felt they were ready, they started to run though some of the music that the leader of the Summer Strings Quartet decided on playing. The quartet was lead by and organized by some girl from their tenth grade class named Blair who played the violin, and her friend who played the viola. To be honest, Jaden didn't want to join the quartet, but Syrus insisted that it
would be a good idea for them to get involved in something musical over the summer after they were invited to join, so that their skills wouldn't go to waste. But given the choices between the quartet and music camp (which was suggested by Hibiki and may have been a better choice for his skills), Jaden chose the quartet, mainly because he would be playing with and would get to
spend his summer with Syrus.

However, the music that they had been playing was WAY too simplistic for the skills that Jaden had honed over eleven of his seventeen years of his life with his blood, sweat and tears. They were stuck playing easy tunes that anyone would be able to recognize from the pop genre and such. He knew it was to better suit the various skill levels of the members that played in the
Quartet, but even so he felt extremely bored when playing the music that he easily mastered, and was usually stuck directing the rest of the quartet, and adjusting the measures to 'fix' the sounds and fingering for his fellow string players. However sometimes (even though he was only trying to help) that would cause Blair to get angry with him, and insist that he was just showing off and trying to take over just because they all knew he played at a professional level. And because of these clashes with Blair, he was usually stuck playing second violin (which he didn't mind). Usually, when they finished performing, he would find himself swamped with people that had attended his concerts a few years back, asking him why he hadn't been competing in a while, or why he wasn't with DSO, and that would put him in a sour mood, forcing him to think
about his mother.

"I think that's enough for now." Syrus said with a yawn, while he politely covered his mouth with a small hand. He packed up his belongings along with Jaden and proceeded to move in a corner, out from the middle of the floor.

"Yeah, I'm kind of tired of practicing this. Well just run through them again tomorrow with the others before we perform them anyway."

"Are you excited?" Syrus asked as he sat before his bag and unzipped it to pull out his pjs and tooth brush for the night.

"About the concert? I'm excited that it's the last one..." Jaden replied as he plugged in the alarm clock and settled it for eight am since Syrus' mother would be picking them up around nine.

"Don't be so mean." he chuckled. Syrus knew Jaden would respond like that, but he felt like asking anyway. He placed his items on a nearby box and wrapped his arms around Jaden's waist.

The brunette caressed his face, causing the smaller boy's cheeks to heat up from the contact of his boyfriend's smooth and soft hands against his face. Syrus pushed up on his toes, as Jaden leaned down to meet him half way for a long awaited kiss. As their lips connected, it sent a feeling that they could only describe as 'right' throughout their young bodies, drawing out soft and wanting moans as their lips massaged one another's. Jaden's tongue flicked against his partner's lips, asking for entrance, which was eagerly awarded as Syrus slowly ran his hands up the violinist's sides and under his shirt, feeling his heated flesh against the palms of his delicate hands.

However, almost as soon as the kiss had started, it was broken as Jaden reluctantly pulled away. He glanced at the clock, reminding Syrus that they should really be getting ready for bed so that they could get enough sleep, and be top form for tomorrow's performance. Letting out a heavy sigh, the two young musicians readied themselves for bed. They decided to camp out on the cold wooden floor since neither of them felt like shoving boxes off of Jaden's bed. They curled up in each other's arms and whispered their good nights, and slowly, and comfortably drifted off to sleep, dreaming of tomorrow's event.