To my readers: Forgive me for not updating sooner. I've been busy with my high school graduation in May as well as the education system known as community college. I imagine it doesn't sound like much of an excuse, but it is the truth.

Sexyinumama: Yes, ukulele is very fun! They're just very hard to find on mainland USA. As soon as a shipment is delivered to a music shop, it's already gone. I should know... It's taken me a while to find a replacement, but it was time well spent. I could have asked my family in Hawaii to send me one because there are so many, but I was afraid the little instrument would break during the shipping.

Suck-a-Butt: Don't worry, I'm not offended at all by your penname. And don't think I've been so lucky with my violin. I've had my fair share of very, ah... incompetent instructors. As long as you enjoy your flute, there's nothing to be jealous about. On a side note, onee of my little sisters has begun flute this year.

Kinky-Nami-Lass: I've taken this story as a chance to break free of the traditions and go to something with a little more depth. I'm glad you like it.

Love of Midoriko, Rainstar148, forsaken13, Queen of the Damned, goblin-queen-of-the-opera, and WiNi WiNeZ, thank you for your comments. I hope you enjoy this installment of The Music Book. Your patience is greatly appreciated, dear readers. Please continue to bear with me until the completion of this story and beyond. Thank you very much. Without further ado, here is chapter four.

Chapter 4

Once again, morning broke with Gaara lounging around his flat with a book spread open across his lap and a mug of coffee on the end table beside him. This time, however, the book was Angels and Demons, and it presented, or rather re-exposed, the idea of double meanings and coincidences. He tore his gaze away from the book and suddenly things in his mind made a little bit of sense. Naruto said the cellist that would be working with them at the Jasmine Dragon was not only skilled enough to not need to practice, but was a female and held a day job. Now if the cellist he played with at night was indeed this missing person of the quartet, that would explain why he never heard her play during the day.

"Interesting," he mumbled, taking a sip of coffee. "So if I am correct, I am searching for a woman." Before he jumped to conclusions, Gaara decided he would take his mind off of things for a while and go back to visit Sakura and her café. Donning his usual dark colored attire, the violinist grabbed his coat and headed out into the cold with an unusually cordial nod to the doorman.

Sakura went about her normal routine and was once again elbow deep in pastry dough when Gaara knocked on the door of her little shop at precisely eight twenty-three. Sakura quickly opened the door and let the red head in. "Well?" she asked

"Sure," he answered. Sakura's face brightened with the news and nearly hugged him, but on second thought, looked at her hands and laughed.

"Great to have you on board," she said at last. "I got an apron ready for you if you accepted. It's over there on the counter." Gaara followed her directions and found a small apron that had the words Après Soleíl embroidered in the lower corner of it.

"This is the name this place? It is in French," he stated simply. Sakura nodded from her position with the dough.

"Yep."

"I took the class in high school, but I can only remember that sol means sun." He tied the apron around his waist and took a seat on the stool by the cash register. Sakura nodded again.

"It means After the Sun," she said with a smile. "While I was in college, going to be a music major, I had a boyfriend who was a night person, and that sort of rubbed off on me; that's where I got the idea of 'after the sun.' We hosted a bunch of study sessions with friends, and I'd always bake and feed everyone, so that's where my idea of a café started. And since my boyfriend was in dance, mostly ballet, I ended up getting exposed to French and fell in love with the language. Put that all together, and you get—"

"Après Soleíl." Gaara finished.

"Precisely."

Gaara had a slightly nagging feeling that the name of the café related to something that lay at the back of his mind at the moment, but he brushed it off because Sakura asked him something and brought his attention to the real world once more.

"Could you go upstairs for me? I'm about to start a couple of cake recipes, but I need milk for them. I ran out down here and forgot to get some more, but I've got some milk in my personal fridge." Sakura began spooning out cookie batter on the baking trays she had on the counter, and Gaara looked at her with a blank face.

"How do I…?" he began before Sakura pointed to a door beside the ovens with her elbow. He opened it and found stairs that lead up. "Ah… right." He ascended to Sakura's flat and looked around.

The door led into a small living room. The cream colored walls gave the light a warmer feel, making the apartment already more welcoming. He looked left and right and learned that the room branched off in both directions. One led to the kitchen, while the other tapered into a hallway with two more doors. The one at the end was open, giving Gaara a glimpse inside. From the diffused sunlight filtering through the vertical blinds, he could make out a rather large object laying on its side. It looked awfully familiar. He silently padded closer and his view became clearer—the object was a cello.

"Gaara?" Sakura called.

"Yeah, I'm coming." He answered, returning to the task of milk retrieval charged to him. He brought it down along with a myriad of questions. "You play cello?" he asked, his hopes rising a small but very significant amount. Perhaps this was the nocturnal music partner he had been searching for.

"Oh, that thing? Not for a few years. Since college, actually. I pick it up now and again, but nothing major." The baker answered with a wistful smile. She gratefully relieved Gaara of his dairy burden and, after setting her last cookies in the oven, began working on a cake. She did not see the crest-fallen look that now graced the violinist's face. He turned away and went back to the register.

"Of course," he replied simply, not wanting to delve any deeper lest he arouse suspicion. This was not his mystifying cellist. The rest of the day dragged on with him wondering how in the name of the seven rings of Hell he would find this cellist. Apparently, it could not be Sakura, since she was busy running the shop to truly enjoy any time playing her lonely instrument. He could try elsewhere, look into a few music shops for female employees, check the city symphony's roster for their women cellists, ask the management of neighboring apartment complexes for any strings players. Unless… perhaps he was indeed going about this the wrong way and was completely mistaken with his assumptions. Gaara didn't want to admit it, but it was best for him to merely wait and see.

Author's End Note: I fear this was a bit short, but I needed to get something out for you... I was feeling very guilty for leaving you all for so long. Now all that remains is the traditional plea to leave a review--good, bad, or otherwise.