(A/N:) Hey guys, I'm back with a LONGER chapter! insert applause here And, not only is it longer, it's also filled with something, which I find mildly interesting. But, I will remind you that, we are still in the introductory chapters of the story. Something I would love to hear from you, is whether or not you like the pace I'm going at with the story so far. Should I speed it up or move a bit slower? Or am I doing good? And also, as always review. Tell me if you love it, hate it, or anything in between.

Thank you!

-Mari

"Hello?" Jude heard a voice.

It got louder. "Hello?"

Jude was really getting agitated, now. As if the world were conspiring against her, she heard it again. "HELLO?"

'Oh yeah,' Jude thought, 'whoever this is, is gonna get it big time.' Hugging her trusty pillow, she slowly raised one eyelid, keeping an eye out for the perpetrator of that incessant whining. Her eye rested on a girl, who seemed to be about eight years old, and very annoyed with a certain, formerly sleeping, rock star.

Jude opened her eyes further, attempting to figure out who this little girl was and why, exactly, she had felt the need to disturb her. The girl had long brown hair that was tied up, into a ponytail, with a pink ribbon. Her dark green eyes were squinting at something. Jude assumed she was trying to glare at her somewhat convincingly; it wasn't working. And, to top it all off, Jude glanced at the body part responsible for her rude awakening, a brace-filled mouth.

As Jude looked at her mouth, she realized something: it was still moving. Jude shook her head slightly, bringing herself back to reality to try and listen to what the girl was trying to communicate.

"Um, okay, what are you, deaf, or something?" The girl ranted on.

Jude, confused by this question, asked, "Sorry, excuse me?"

The girl gave an overdramatic sigh, accompanied by an eye roll of the same magnitude. "I asked you to move!" Jude blinked, while the girl heaved up another frustrated sigh. "You know, I would really like to get off this plane sometime within the next century!"

This brought Jude crashing back to reality. All of a sudden, she finally realized why this girl was here, and why she had woken her up. Jude took in her surroundings: itchy seats, windows lining the walls, ladies cleaning up. Yep, she was on a nearly deserted plane in Toronto.

"Oh, sorry." She mumbled quietly, as she stood to let the girl pass.

"Yeah," she heard the annoying preteen voice snap back at her.

Once she had gathered all of her belongings, she made her way out of the plane and into the line for customs. After a good half-hour of standing in line, she was finally out of the gate, and standing in the international terminal, searching, through the people moving about around her, for Sadie, who was supposed to be picking her up right about now. But, to her surprise, she found someone else first.

"Georgia!"

This exclamation brought the eyes of Georgia Bevans upon her. Georgia's eyes widened almost as much as Jude's, as she saw the girl who she had once viewed as somewhat of a daughter figure to her. Georgia rested the sign, bearing the name 'Jude Harrison,' down by her feet, as she stepped forward to embrace the younger woman in a hug.

"So, Jude, how've you been?" Georgia inquired, with a wide grin on her face.

"G, don't 'So-Jude-how've-you-been' me!" Jude exclaimed, in a friendly way. "What are you doing here?"

"What, you mean you haven't heard?" Jude still looked lost. "I bought back G-Major from Darius."

Jude stood, gaping at her, wanting an explanation.

All Georgia could think to do, at this point, was chuckle at her obvious confusion, "Come on, Jude, I'll explain it to you on the way to the studio."

The moment Georgia's black Escalade pulled up in front of G-Major, Jude began to feel nervous. She had not seen these people for five years, how was she going to react? Or more importantly, how were they?

She put on a smile, as she opened the door, and, as expected, was blinded by paparazzi cameras flashing all around her. She moved through them, with a simple, "No comment." She was too excited and nervous about the upcoming reunion to bother saying much else. She was afraid more than words may come out of her mouth.

Georgia walked with her up the front steps to G-Major, and opened the door.

Silence.

That is what she got.

Silence.

Well, unless you count the numerous sounds of fingers tapping on keyboards, faxes coming in, phones ringing off the hook, and the hustle-and-bustle of everyday life at an office to be something worth hearing. 'I just came back from London for five years! And this is the reception I get?' Jude could not believe it. Then she spotted her, the one person she knew would be thrilled to see her!

"Sadie, guess who's back?" Jude said playfully, coming up behind her sneakily.

Sadie jumped at the voice behind her, but recovered quickly. "Oh, Jude, hey, glad you're back," she mumbled, never once looking up from her work, at her sister.

Needless to say, Jude felt extremely put out by this. She strolled back over to the front desk, where Georgia was signing off on a delivery.

"Hey, G, do you mind telling me what's going on here? Because I'm getting the feeling I've kind of just disappeared off the face of the Earth, while I was gone," she said, studying Georgia's face for any trace of sympathy or a 'Gotcha!' look there, but there was nothing to comfort Jude from the thought that, maybe she had been forgotten. Or at least, not missed. G-Major seemed to be holding up just fine without her, not even her own sister seemed to care that she was back, 'Maybe this was a mistake coming back.' That was the constant thought going through her mind.

"Hmm, what was that?" Georgia replied, leafing through a document that had just been faxed over.

Jude sighed and asked Georgia if there were anything she would like to for her to do. Georgia looked around, "No, no, I think we've pretty much got it covered here. Listen, why don't you go home, relax, and come back later to pick Sadie up at seven o'clock tonight. She has some date, and she needs a ride to your house to get a dress from there. You don't mind, do you, dear?"

"Uh, no, of course not. Well, I guess I'll be back here later." Jude walked out the door and caught the bus home without another word.

Later that evening, Jude was at home, trying to relax and rest from the long ride home, and the stress-inducing experience she had at the studio today. As she was sitting down on the couch with her Kung Pao chicken, she diverted her eyes from the television screen to the clock resting on the mantle of the fireplace. It read six-thirty. 'Great,' she thought, 'Time to go pick Sadie up from G-Major.'

Swinging her legs from the comfortable couch onto the hardwood floor below, she regretted ever telling Georgia she would do this. Dragging herself away from her comfort food, she made her way into her bedroom, to get something more decent on than her sweats.

She decided on a pair of her favorite ripped jeans and a Rolling Stones t-shirt. She threw on a black hoodie with this ensemble and made her way to her car, outside. On the way to the studio, Jude contemplated what everyone's odd behavior before could have meant. Georgia was perfectly normal before we got to the studio, but once we stepped foot in there she was Ms. President and there was no going back. The same happened with Sadie, though. On the phone, she had been ecstatic to see her younger sister again, but when she actually saw Jude, she acted as if she had never even noticed she was gone.

Maybe it's the air.

When Jude pulled up to the studio in her Mustang, she was even more confused as to why so many people were there. She was having trouble finding a place to park, and it was after hours! The studio usually closes to the public at five o'clock. Beyond that time, and you need a key card to get in.

Curious, Jude parked and walked up to the door, peering in. But there were so many lights on, that there was no need for the hand cupped above her head. She could see perfectly, even standing ten feet away from the tinted glass door.

On closer inspection, Jude realized that there was a party going on inside. 'Why would Sadie want to leave a party like this?' she asked herself, truly puzzled. Wondering what was going on, Jude opened the door carefully, feeling oddly as if she were intruding on something. Her eyes widened as she looked over the scene before her.

Sadie came up to her, followed closely by Georgia and Speid. "Hey there, rock star, ready to celebrate?" Sadie laughed while she said this, obviously having a good time…and probably a little drunk. At these parties, you never know.

"Exactly, what, are we celebrating?" Jude asked, happy for any reason to get out of house and have a little fun.

At this, Speid looked at her like she had grown three heads and gestured to a sign so huge, Jude was amazed at her disability to see it before now. In big bold letters, it read, WELCOME HOME, JUDE!!