A/N- I am very sorry this is late Lyra, but I hope it will be acceptable. Enjoy!

Charlotte watched as Shawn took to the stage to perform his newest piece at the Academy. She knew that he was attempting a devilishly difficult piece; she didn't really expect him to be able to pull it off and get a higher score than she had.

It was the time of the summer exams at the Vienna Musical Academy, and Charlotte was, so far, in first place according to the judges' marks. In fact, the only person who would have the chance to change that would be Shawn, who was the last to perform.

Shawn had created a bit of a stir when he arrived at the Academy. Charlotte, who (in her mind thankfully) was not interested in that football game they played did not know him very well, but this was a different story for the boys, as well as some girls too. It had been confusing for her to form a proper opinion on him while so much 'noise' enveloped him, and so it had been an unpleasant surprise when he suddenly surpassed her in the first examinations they took that year.

Charlotte had, from a young age, been a great musical talent, and, by the age of just five, she had already been hailed as one of the most promising new musical prodigies. And her natural gravitation towards music never changed; she practised again and again until she began to give live performances in some of the world's greatest concert halls at the age of just 10.

And that, she thought, was why she never should have lost to Shawn. Shawn was just another stupid boy who was just interested in their stupid football, while she was naturally gifted. She had practised music all her life, and she saw Shawn as someone who did not deserve to be good at music, because he simply had not practised enough.

Yes, she detested Shawn. She hated his skill, his elegance, and, most of all, his infuriatingly patronising humility. She remembered when she had talked to him the first time after he beat her in the examination…

She glanced ahead. There he was, seemingly in a rush. She was still processing the fact that she had lost, and chased after him.

"Shawn?"
"Yes…Oh! You must be Charlotte. Nice to meet you, I am Shawn. I really enjoyed your rendition of Chopin's Winter Wind! It's difficult for me to say anything bad about that performance at all!"

Hmmph, she had thought. Of course you cannot find any fault in my playing- my music is perfection.

"Tell me Shawn, who are you?"

"That's an odd question. I'm just a high-school student, who likes playing the piano and GGO Football with my friends."

That's what I thought, she told herself. It was just beginner's luck. He hadn't deserved to beat her at all.

"Yeah? We'll I'm Charlotte Carter! Heard of me?"

"Yea-"

"Of course you have!" She met Shawn's gaze with coldness. He seemed to think that she was immature; she hated him already.

"We'll I really had to pull together a nice performance to beat you! Just what I expect from a famous musical prodigy!"

What a hilarious joke…I'm not a famous music prodigy, you ignorant fool. I am THE famous musical prodigy. And don't think you beat me because you deserved to. It was just beginner's luck! You lack years of experience, and you will need those to be me!

But Shawn didn't seem to realise anything he suddenly turned to some old geezer who seemed to be his butler behind him. He called as he ran.

"Sorry, I have a GGO Football Tournament to go to. I might miss my plane if I don't get to the airport soon; see you round!"

Yes, she thought, with her knuckles turning white in anger. It was his stupid patronising politeness- like he thought he was on a different level to anybody else.

She watched as he finally got on to the stage. He was going to play Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody. Charlotte had never liked the piece, and she wasn't surprised the uncultured pianist was going for something so inelegant and messy.

The notes whizzed by and soon Shawn played the last chord on the piano. He got up and bowed (Charlotte thought that he should've been carrying his manuscript from the bottom left corner, not the bottom right). The applause was louder than she expected. And she watched nervously as the judges began to prepare the marks they would give the performance. The five judges had given her 9, 9, 8, 10, 10 respectively, bringing her to a total of 46.

The first judge put up the score he had chosen.

7. Charlotte smirked. 8 had been bad enough; there was no way someone who got seven would beat her.

The second judge then stood up.

10

And the third.

10

And the fourth.

10

Charlotte's heart nearly stopped. One more ten and she would lose to him again. Her heart pounded as the final judge stood up, and it took what seemed like an age for him to whip out his whiteboard.

9

The roar of the crowd was deafening. It seemed that they had drawn for first place, and, indeed, when a massive whiteboard popped down and displayed the rankings, Charlotte could see that she was ranked 1=. An announcer then came into the room.

"Ok young musicians, the results are up. Third place in this year's competition, and first place for the violin section, is Keigo! And, for the first time in more than a decade, we have a tie for first place. Congratulations to Charlotte and Shawn!"

The crowd clapped again enthusiastically. It really had been a thriller for them, but Charlotte was not happy that she hadn't been able to beat Shawn. Her eyebrows furrowed as she saw her childhood friend Keigo Kojima coming up to her.

Keigo was a Japanese boy who lived with his parents in New York. His father owned a huge international tech company, and he had coincidentally met with her when she was five years old and playing in a music competition in Kyoto (which was just before he moved to NYC). They had been friends since then, and it was no surprise when they both went to Vienna to study in the world's greatest musical academy.

"Congratulations Charlotte! Nicely performed; I'm not surprised you have beaten me again."

"Hmmph…I can't believe I failed to beat HIM again!" she glared at the huddle of people, under which she knew Shawn was in the centre.

"Oh, Shawn? C'mon, he's a nice guy, you know?"

"Nice? I'm not going to speak to someone so teeming with beginner's luck!"

"Don't be like that, Charlotte! For so long you have been unrivalled, and finally a worthy musician can challenge you, and you hate him and brush him off?"

"I don't need another frenemy! I already have you!"

"Don't say that! You and I both know that I can't really compete with you at all!"

"…Well, I hate him! His stupid attitude, acting like he's better than everyone."

"No, Charlotte, the problem isn't with his attitude. There is nothing wrong with being polite and humble. The problem is with your attitude. Your love for music is blinding you, and therefore you think that anybody who competes with you is a horrible person. You aren't thinking straight; that is not true love!"

And with that Keigo sighed.

"I need to go back to my room now- I have to do something. See you later." He promptly left, and Charlotte was left alone and shocked in her section of the auditorium, while most were leaving. She watched hazily as the room quickly filled out, and soon she was one of the only people in the room.

And that was when she noticed that there was only one more person in the room. She watched Shawn stride up to her.

"Hello, Charlotte! Congratulations; I am honoured to share the prize with you!" But Charlotte just stared blankly, until she finally picked up her voice.

"…Shawn, can I ask you a question?"

"Um… sure thing!"

"For you, what does it mean to love music?" Shawn seemed surprised by that question, but he answered promptly.

"Music is, and has always been, one of the great arts. And the arts, for me, are about the expression of thought and feeling. Poetry is the sensual embodiment of different philosophies, art is the aesthetic representation of different ideas, but music is the aural manifestation of our emotions. In music we seek to give our audience much less direction than I would argue the other arts do. Music is self-expression just as much as expression to others. And that's why I don't try to always be perfect. I try to make sure I can mature more and more everyday, and therefore so can my music. Forget about flair and perfection- let yourself be an empty vessel for the music you play, and infuse your pieces not primarily with technical masterclass, but with subjective expression. After all, you can love something you are bad at, and that can sometimes be very beautiful too, but ultimately you cannot excel in that which you do not love."

"I… see."

"And don't forget that we can, and should, make a lot of friends through music. This is our own sphere of passion. That which you love should be shared not kept."

Charlotte suddenly began to understand what he was saying. She would have to take time to process it, but the words were speaking to her in some way.

"Thank you… Congratulations… as well." Shawn again seemed startled, but quickly recovered his facial expression and smiled warmly.

"Thanks. I wish you good luck on your journey towards improving yourself, and we shall see each other again soon after the holidays." Charlotte swallowed and then nodded.

"Ok… Goodbye." And Shawn just smiled and waved as he turned his back, walking towards his limousine in a way almost identical to when they had first met.

/

A few hours later, Charlotte sat in front of a TV watching Team Barefoot's match against Team Protea of South Africa in the newest GGO Football tournament with most of the other people at the Academy, including Keigo, with whom she had had a lengthy and fruitful discussion following her revelation at Shawn's words.