I don't own any of the Tortall Universe. That belongs to Tamora Pierce. This includes characters.

I also don't own any of the song titles. They either belong to the Beatles or Andrew Lloyd Webber. (I know, I have a very limited selection of music on my computer.)

I'm sorry, I know I should be working on Daughter, but I saw this challenge hanging about, and could not resist having a try. I thought it might be helpful, as I have trouble with taking a long time to write, and finding inspiration, and this copes with both of those hurdles.

Also, my summer holidays are starting soon (only one more week!!) so hopefully I should be able to update more then. There is an issue in the next chapter of Daughter that is taking me a long time to think through. Don't worry though, it will be updated!

The creator of this challenge was… Actually I'm not sure. I've read some wonderful responses to the challenge and I believe that the creator was Noorah. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Rules of the Challenge

1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like.

2. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle.

3. Write a ficlet related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterwards!

4. Do ten of these, then post them.

My chosen fandom is Tortall, unsurprisingly. By writing any of these, I'm no necessarily saying that I support the pairings or situations, they were just ones that came to mind.

So, here we go:

Yellow Submarine

She wandered down the corridor, passing her friends' doors. She still had to grow used to living with people all around her, having grown up isolated from company, only having Alan for a friend.

She found it bizarre having her friends open their doors, cry her name, and invite her inside.

'Alan!'

There was one again.

Help!

Raoul stared at the girl, charging him. He remembered with a smile when he had been that young, that reckless. Of course, some still said he was, but there was a difference to it.

Now, he knew how far he could push Jon, how many jokes Alanna could take. This girl had accepted his offer of squirehood having met him only once before, and had impressed him greatly with her bravery. It couldn't be easy, always being around a massive group of joking men, but she coped.

All I Ask of You

Daine stared at the figure in front of her. It still seemed alien that a man so wonderful, so perfect could love her. What had she done to deserve that?

Numair gazed with an unfathomable expression. At first he had been reluctant to engage in a romance with this lady, but love had soon overwhelmed his resignations.

They wrapped their arms around each other, knowing that the only constant either of them would ever require in their unstable lives would be there, always, forever more. In each other, they had found the other half of their existence.

Each had quirky habits, but that strengthened their love all the more. Numair had even grown fond of the animals constantly at his feet.

Mr Mistofelees

Jon could never forget the first time he met Numair Salimán – one of the only black robed mages in existence.

Numair had seemed just like a young man, unsure of his place in the world, made awkward by his surroundings. Jon couldn't quite believe that he was the famed man.

That illusion had quickly been lost, however, when Numair had casually closed the books on the table in front of him with a flick of his hand, and turned his gaze upwards.

Only You

Aly had thought that she would never find a man like her father, her uncles, her adoptive uncles…

They were all wonders of a man, yet Aly had yet to met someone who could equal them. Until…

Until she met Nawat…

In Nawat she found that miracle of a man, and suddenly it made sense to her why she had never been all that bothered by retaining the affections of Court men, for they were nothing like Nawat, and now, she knew, only Nawat would ever win her love in such a way.

Close Every Door to Me

George had watched 'Alan' grew from a boy into a young man, and from the first moment their gazes caught, George knew there was something different about that boy.

However, even when he found out that 'Alan' was in reality Alanna, the feeling had only heightened.

He eventually realised that he was in love. And that love was hurting him so badly, for he watched as Alanna had a relationship with Jon, watched as they almost married, watched and knew that Alanna was unattainable. For in order for her to love him back, she would have to betray her values of chivalry and her knighthood, for a knight could never marry a thief, a common thief.

The Long and Winding Road

Jon walked through the ceremony of Alanna's marriage almost in a daze. He couldn't truly believe it was happening: his Alanna, marrying another.

Yes, he had Thayet now, but Alanna still had a piece of his heart, and he had never gotten it back.

That romance between them had never been as forgotten to him as it was to her. She had given him up, refused him. He had never stopped loving her, and whilst he was married, he still longed for the early days of his knighthood, when the only thing they knew was each other, and when she loved him back.

Could We Start Again Please?

Beka stared after Rosto as he walked out of the door. His words still stung in her ears:

'Goodbye Beka. I had thought, hoped even, that I meant more to you than your ambition, but apparently not. Well, goodbye, and I hope you succeed.'

She wished that that evening had never happened, she hadn't meant to get into that situation, but once in it, she had had to tell Rosto how she couldn't love him, how she refused to.

And she was afraid he would never forgive her.

Unexpected Song

Kel had never felt feeling that rivalled the passion she had felt at Dom's first kiss. What he had meant by it, then, she hadn't been able to fathom. Was he just playing the flirt?

No, she decided. There was an emotion in his eyes that she had never seen there before. Dare she name it? Love…

For years she had wondered if her feelings were simply an infatuation, now she knew not - no infatuation ran that deep.