I do not own the movie Sing. I only own my OC, Jason.

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The hospital doors flew open with a deafening bang.

The head of every doctor, patient and visitor whipped around to stare at the breathless porcupine who had burst into the foyer. Looking around frantically, Jason finally caught sight of his family mournfully gathered around the cushion chairs in the waiting area. He sprinted past every animal in his path until he made it to them. His quills had jabbed many pedestrians on his race to the hospital but he had been too frantic to take any notice.

"I… got… here… as fast as… I could." He wheezed out, bending over slightly as he panted endlessly.

"Yeah, I can tell." Alex said, placing a paw on his brother's shoulder. "Now breathe." Heeding his advice, Jason finally took a few deep breaths in, letting each one out slowly. Once that was done, he got a good look at his family's faces. Kenneth was doing his best to console his clearly-distraught wife while Stephanie sat in her seat choking back tears. Alex and Craig, for once, remained completely sombre.

"I… I'm sorry, Jason." Gina managed to get out, looking at her son with glistening eyes. "But… Grandpa's heart disease has worsened." Jason swore he felt his heart rocket up into his mouth at those words as his mother choked up once more.

"His medication would only do so much for him." Kenneth continued for her, futilely rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. "Your mother went over to bring him his groceries but… found him passed out in his living room. She called the hospital immediately and then she let us all know. The nurses will let us visit him in a while but from what we've overheard, it doesn't look that good for him." Jason managed to lean against the chair's arm before his legs had the chance to give out from under him.

"No…" He whispered in a choked voice, as if an icy hand had seized him by the throat. "No, Grandpa's fine. H-He's gonna pull through."

"Jason, who are you kidding?" The porcupine flinched slightly at Stephanie's abnormally harsh tone. "He's anything but fine." Craig got out of his seat and placed both paws on Jason's arms while his sister wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Listen, I know it's hard." He said gently but firmly, "Believe me, it's hard for all of us. But you just have to acce…"

"NO!"

Once more, every animal in the foyer turned to look at Jason who had wrenched himself out of his brother's grip.

"No, you all may have given up on him but I sure as heck haven't!" The porcupine yelled, shooting glares at each of his family members.

"Jason, we never…" Gina didn't get the chance to finish.

"I'll win the singing contest! That's what I'm gonna do! I'm gonna win that prize money and I'm gonna use it to pay for his operation! He's gonna make it, I swear!"

"Jason, please!" Stephanie's plea went unheard as her brother bolted out of the doors in the blink of an eye. He sprinted past various animals on the sidewalk as he ran further back into the city, once again not caring if his quills pricked any unfortunate civilians in his way. The determination in his eyes extinguished as he finally slowed to a halt, contemplating his declaration in the hospital.

"Win the competition when I can't even hit the high notes on any of my songs? Flawless plan there, Jason." He muttered sarcastically. He stood rooted to the spot in deep worried thought for what seemed like hours, while car horns honked and civilians chattered all around him. Finally the porcupine came to a conclusion he'd been ignoring since the first day of rehearsals.

He needed help. And fast.

After quite the trek from the nearest bus stop, Jason finally made it to the towering structure of Paradise Apartments. He'd sprinted all the way back to the Moon Theatre, only to find out from Meena that Ash had chosen to go home and get her mind off Lance, as well as write a new song for her performance seeing how she was in no mood to sing Call Me Maybe.

"Excuse me?" He asked the antelope at the reception desk, absent-mindedly playing a game on his phone. "I'm here to visit a friend of mine. Ash, porcupine, has a thing for rock, awesome set of pipes, kinda cute in a punky sort of way…" Realising how off-topic he was getting, Jason awkwardly cleared his throat. "Uh, which-which apartment room is she in?"

"Top floor, first door on the right." Came the disinterested reply.

"Great, thanks."

One elevator ride later, Jason found himself in the hallway and outside the bright white door, the faint sound of strumming guitar strings behind it. Inhaling deeply, he raised a paw and gave the door a couple of quick knocks. The guitar sounds immediately stopped and were replaced by approaching footsteps. The door opened hesitantly at first before fully revealing a quite surprised Ash.

"Jason?"

"Uh, hey, Ash." He replied uneasily, giving a tiny awkward wave.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were collecting milk." Ash asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Huh?" Jason's confusion quickly melted as he remembered his half-baked cover-up story. "Oh, yeah, yeah, I did. Got it then dropped it off at home for my mom." The female porcupine just raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"Jason, are you feeling okay?" At last, Jason dropped his unconvincing smile and gave a long defeated sigh. His reply came quietly.

"No. No, I'm not." Instantly, Ash's doubtful stare softened.

"Well what's wrong?" Resisting the urge to blurt out his grandpa's current situation, the porcupine took a deep breath through his nostrils.

"Can you help me with the high notes?" He finally asked. Ash stared at him.

"What?"

"I mean, I know you're still handling your breakup with Lance, but I…" Jason sighed deeply. "I can't face Nana Noodleman up on that stage tomorrow if I can't even sing one of my songs right."

Or win the prize money for him.

The female porcupine remained still patiently as Jason continued.

"Believe me, I would've asked someone else for help under better circumstances. But Johnny's too busy with his family stuff, Meena's got stage fright, Rosita's out of the picture, Gunter… is a good dancer but not exactly a master in the singing department. And Mike's obviously out of the question. So you were the best animal I could turn to." Jason steeled himself before voicing his request once more.

"Will you help me? Please?"

Ash's voice shattered the silence after a moment of contemplating, empathy shimmering in her eyes.

"Well… you helped me." That sweet smile returned to her face.

"I think it's only fair I return the favour." Breathing a tiny relieved sigh, Jason took a step towards the inside of her apartment room before her arm shot against the door frame, blocking his path. Ash gave a tiny playful grin.

"But only if you give me some feedback on my song I'm writing." Jason smiled back thankfully.

"Deal."

Lowering her arm, Ash let him past her and into the living room. Jason gazed at his surroundings, impressed. Rock band posters decorated the light purple walls above the lily-white couch, seven-foot speakers towering either side. A neat coffee table covered with a cloth stood in the room's centre, complete with a neat chandelier-shaped ceiling light hanging above it. Aside from some leads snaking across the floor, along with a few books and some torn-up pictures of her and Lance, Ash's apartment wasn't as cluttered as one would expect from a rocker.

"Wow, this is a really nice place you got." He said, his eyes still looking around in awe.

"Yeah, sorry about the mess." Ash replied, sheepishly brushing some of the shredded photos aside with her foot. "I wasn't expecting guests."

"No worries." Jason, truthfully, was desperate to get to learning the high notes. Nonetheless, he tried to make his next question sound as casual and patient as possible. "So shall we, uh, go over this song of yours?"

"Yeah, sure." With that, the girl porcupine propped herself up onto the couch, bringing her laptop with her.

"Alright, so this is what I've got so far." She explained as Jason pulled himself up next to her. "It's my first song I've ever written so I doubt it'll be a masterpiece or anything. Feel free to critique it." Giving a nod, the porcupine gazed at the title above the lyrics onscreen:

Set It All Free

His eyes danced across each transcribed lyric, growing more impressed with each line. When he was finished, he looked across at Ash who was bracing herself for any potential flaws in her song.

"For a beginner, not bad at all." Ash's eyes lit up instantly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, the lyrics are pretty strong." Jason replied, "They got that power to them, saying, like, 'Yeah, I've been through a bad place but I'm still standing strong, I can get through this'. You, uh, got the music to go with 'em?"

"Yeah." Ash set her laptop down beside her before climbing down to pick her guitar up off the floor. "Well I'm still working out the kinks so just bear with me." Giving an understanding nod, Jason observed from her spot on the coach. After a deep inhale, Ash expertly strummed the strings as she began the song. Her voice came across as rather soft at first, uneasy even as she sang the first verse. Once she looked up and saw how engrossed Jason looked, the volume in her voice picked up gradually with each word.

Giving a final strum after she'd gotten through the chorus, she took a breather before glancing at Jason again.

"Was that okay?"

"Ash, that was more than okay." Jason's face lit up like a Christmas tree in the blink of an eye. "That was fantastic!" The female porcupine took a step back, her surprise melting into pure joy.

"Y-You mean it?"

"Absolutely!" Jason almost tumbled off the coach with excitement as he babbled. "I-I mean, the music really added a lot to the lyrics! And you captured that feeling of power really well with your guitar and your voice, especially when it got to the chorus. Y'know, that was where it really picked up. I mean, I just… wow!"

His babbling finally stopped once he spotted Ash out of the corner of his eye blushing scarlet underneath her fur.

"Ahem, in short, uh, pretty good." Ash chuckled at that jokey sum-up.

"Thanks. Heh, guess it's a no-brainer who the lyrics are aimed at."

"Nah, don't have a clue." Jason replied with a shrug, pretending to look completely naïve. The two porcupines shared a laugh before Ash pulled herself onto the couch again, setting her guitar on the cushions next to her.

"I'm a bit stumped on the second verse though." She said, showing Jason her laptop. He raised his eyebrows when he saw the rest of the page was barren of any text. "I mean, I've got 'I was a girl caught under your thumb' but that's it. I'm still pretty new to this whole song-writing thing." Jason pondered for a moment. Ash waited with hope as he counted the syllables of that lone lyric on his fingers.

"I'm usually terrible at rhyming but… what about, uh, 'my star will shine brighter than your sun'?" He suggested at last. "Y'know, 'cause all the planets revolve around the sun so that could mean Lance thinks everything revolves around him?" Ash's eyebrows furrowed as she considered.

"Yeah…" She said quietly, her eyes and smile growing wider, "Yeah, that's great!" Now bursting with ideas, her fingers flew over her keyboard in a blur as she typed that suggested rhyme, brainstorming the rest of the verse too.

"Okay, how's that?" She showed Jason her laptop screen once more, singing along as his eyes scanned over the new lyrics. "I was a girl caught under your thumb, but my star's gonna shine brighter than your sun. And I will reach so high, shoot so far. Gonna hit, gonna hit, hit every target. Make it count this time, I will make it count this time." Jason nodded, clearly impressed; for someone completely new to song-writing, Ash had quite the knack for it.

"Yeah, that works very well. See? You're great at this!"

Smiling at his compliment, Ash turned back to her screen and, in less than two minutes, wrote down the rest of the song. Leaning in slightly to get a better look, Jason saw the two words she had written in brackets before the final chorus.

"'Guitar solo'?"

"I think I'll let that part come naturally to me." Ash replied "Y'know, just let it out when I actually perform it." Her smile faded slightly. "If Moon will let me perform it, that is."

"You kidding?" Jason asked, "That koala would have to be crazy to not let you sing this onstage." Ash smiled gratefully at him.

"From the top?"

"From the top."

Picking her guitar onto her lap, her fingers froze over the strings, hesitation showing in her eyes.

"Sorry, it's just I've never played guitar onstage by myself before." She sighed. "Or an entire song for that matter. I mean, with Lance, it was easier but…" Her worried expression vanished as Jason's paw rested on her shoulder.

"Hey, hey, hey. Forget about Lance." He said in a firm but gentle manner. "He can't limit you to just the background vocals anymore." The porcupine smiled warmly.

"This is your moment, Ash. Seize it."

Ash stared at him for the longest time. At last, she took a deep breath. With that, her paws and fingers glided up and down the guitar's neck effortlessly, playing the song the entire way through without fault or reluctance. Each perfect note blared from the speakers on each end of the couch. Jason could only stare in awe the whole time. Her hesitance was gone completely, replaced by a newfound passion burning within her.

"How was that?" She asked bashfully the moment her performance ended.

"I got three words for you, Ash." Jason replied, snapping out of his trance. "You're a natural!" Giving another sheepish yet grateful smile, Ash set her guitar down beside her.

"Now how about we take a look at your songs?" She asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, yeah, sure." Jason quickly remembered his reason for being here and reluctantly pushed recent memories of Ash's song to the back of his mind. The porcupine fished his song sheet out of his jeans and gently unfolded it. He and Ash's eyes scanned over each song title.

All-Star by Smash Mouth

You're Welcome by Dwayne Johnson

If You Can't Rock Me by The Brian Setzer Orchestra

Crash by The Primitives

Into Yesterday by Sugar Ray

Find Yourself by Brad Paisley

Crocodile Rock by Elton John

Paradise by Coldplay

Careless Whisper by George Michael

Friends by Blake Shelton

I See Fire by Ed Sheeran

"So all these songs have high notes?" Ash asked once finished.

"Yeah." Came the dejected response. "I know the lyrics just fine, it's when I get to the high notes that I really struggle. Every time it gets to one, I either panic and go with a different note entirely or I try to sing it and it just comes across as…" Jason paused, degraded. "Well, I guess you remember what happened today." His eyes looked at anything in the room except Ash's face, the embarrassment still there. Understandingly, she placed her paw upon his shoulder, prompting him to look at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Well for the record, your singing did start off pretty great." That gentle compliment didn't do a whole lot but his mouth corner at least curled up a tiny bit in gratitude.

"Alright then, let's go through these songs one by one." Removing her paw, Ash turned the laptop screen toward her and, fingers flying over the keys, quickly got up a karaoke video of All-Star on MeTube. She then jumping down from her comfy spot on the couch while Jason followed suite. "Now first things first, stretch your body."

"Stretch?" Jason's eyebrows furrowed. "I thought I was singing, not preparing for a marathon."

"Jason…"

"Okay, okay, you're the boss." He quickly obeyed as soon as that "stern mother" tone made itself clear in Ash's voice. The two porcupines put in as many exercises as they could into the span of thirty seconds, from rolling their shoulders to twisting their bodies around.

"Alright, now for the face." Ash said once that was over with. "Open your mouth wide, like you're letting out a big yawn." Looking incredulous, Jason complied nevertheless. "Good, now make different shapes with your mouth. Like you're making vowel sounds."

"This feels stupid." The porcupine objected, stopping midway.

"No, no, no, come on." Ash replied insistently, "This helps, trust me on this." Jason gave a sigh.

"Alright." Swallowing his pride, he resumed his mouth shaping, miming all the vowels over and over again. Ash didn't laugh at him; she just observed with patience.

"Good, now massage your facial muscles so they don't feel sore." She instructed once more. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Jason gently rain his fingers in circles over the muscles in his cheeks.

"Okay, can we get to the singing part now?" He asked, his impatience starting to show. But it vanished the moment Ash raised her eyebrow at him, starting to look quite annoyed.

"Jason, do you want to hit those high notes perfectly or not?" She asked strictly, a paw on her hip.

"Yes." Jason's posture was now reminiscent of a child being given a firm scolding by an aggravated mother.

"Then be patient."

"Alright, I'm sorry." The porcupine quickly replied, looking at the floorboards in an embarrassed manner. Taking a calming breath, Ash resumed her lesson.

"Now take deep breaths in and out." Jason did so, albeit slightly faster than she had anticipated. "No, no, slower, more relaxed. And don't tense your shoulders. You'll always need good breathing control when you sing." Her smile started returning as Jason took in slower breaths and exhaled them, this time with a much more relaxed stance. His shoulders hung loosely as he repeated this exercise.

"Okay, you keep breathing. I'll be right back." Raising a curious eyebrow, Jason nonetheless carried on doing so as Ash went into her kitchen. Only the sound of tranquil inhaling and exhaling filled the living room. At last, the female porcupine returned with two glasses of water in her paws. "Good, now take a sip of this." Jason took one of them from her gratefully. Instantly his eyebrows furrowed as he felt the water's temperature through the glass.

"Warm?" He asked. "I thought singers are supposed to drink cold water to hit these kinda notes."

"I thought that too when I was in junior high." Ash replied with a shrug. "Turns out drinking warm water works better at relaxing the throat muscles than ice-cold water does. Makes it hurt less when you sing."

"Huh. The more you know." Jason responded after considering this for a moment. With that, he took a small sip of his drink before setting it down on the coffee table.

"Right, now for the singing." Jason mentally fist-pumped at those words. "Now the key to high notes is while it's important to breathe while singing, you don't need loads of air to hit them. You get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"You can't expect to hit the high notes by opening your mouth wide and just forcing out as much air as you can." Ash continued, "Otherwise you could damage your vocal cords permanently." Jason nearly shuddered at the thought of that outcome potentially happening in front of Miss Noodleman.

"Yeah, no damaging please." He replied with a jokey yet incredibly anxious grin.

"So the most important part is you have to breathe and sing from the diaphragm, not from the throat." Jason's eyebrows furrowed as he thought back to the last time he heard that word in 8th Grade science class.

"The balloon thingy below your lungs?" Ash nodded, also giving an amused smirk at his childlike description.

"Exactly. If you try forcing it from your throat, you only hurt yourself. Just let it flow naturally." She continued. "Right then, let's warm up your range. Repeat after me." After a brief loosening of her joints, Ash cleared her throat before singing out a relatively low 'dooooh' sound. Looking confused for a second, Jason quickly recognised this as the "do re mi" exercise and repeated the note. The two porcupine rattled through all eight notes without fault.

"Right, now we're gonna go over it again but from where we left off on that high 'do', 'kay?" Hesitating slightly, Jason nonetheless gave a small nod and they both began the exercise again. He hadn't made it past 're' before he looked into Ash's eyes and immediately began to waver. She noticed this and quickly stopped.

"Jason, remember to relax." She said gently. "I get it, I'm right in front of you and you don't wanna screw this up with me here. But if you don't try, how will you know for certain that you can't reach these notes?" Pondering these words, Jason thought back to his disastrous performance earlier today. The expectant stares from everyone in the theatre evaporating into cringes. The heat of humiliation flaring in his cheeks. The energetic nature of his performance crashing and bursting into a hideous inferno.

Then he softened at the memory of Ash's invested gaze. The admiration flashing in her smile. The genuine awe of how the rest of his song would play out, no matter what mistakes dared to creep their way into the notes.

But most importantly, think of Grandpa's condition.

"Okay."

With that, Jason repeated the 'do' sound once more albeit with a little more confidence. Ash looked on with pride as he carefully worked his way through the other sounds. For a brief moment on 'mi', Jason considered stopping until he saw the encouragement in Ash's face. Swallowing his fear, he just managed to sing out the 'so' note before stopping to catch his breath.

"I think… that's the highest I can reach… without… hurting my throat." Jason said through his panting.

"Nice one." Ash replied, giving him a pat on the arm, "You see? You're getting it."

"You sure you're not secretly pursuing a career as a musical instructor?" The porcupine asked before taking another sip of his water. Ash chuckled.

"I had a pretty great teacher in 10th Grade. A few of her tips stuck with me." With that, the female porcupine leant her arm across to her laptop on the couch, the screen still showing the currently-paused karaoke video. "Now let's get down to business."

"Yes, ma'am." Ash snickered at Jason's remark, complete with a playful salute, before hitting the PLAY button.

For the most part, Jason got through All-Star fairly well. So much so that he couldn't help giving a little shimmy of his shoulders. When the song drew nearer to the third "all that glitters is gold" where the notes got higher, he hesitated a little bit. But when he glanced at Ash, she motioned to her own shoulders. Quickly remembering, Jason relaxed his stance.

And hit the high note.

A rush of newfound courage flooded through his body as the porcupine powered through the rest of the song, though just barely making it past the last two "all that glitters is gold" with even higher notes. As the final note of the karaoke video faded, Jason took a much-needed swig of his warm drink and looked over at Ash for feedback. And she was clearly impressed, her eyes lit up with pure joy.

"Jason, you did great!" She exclaimed, throwing her paws up.

"Ah, you're just saying that." Jason replied modestly.

"No, I'm serious, you nailed that song!" Ash grabbed both of his arms excitedly and gazed into his eyes. "Didn't it feel good to make it through without any major screw-ups?" Jason thought for a moment.

"Actually… yeah. It did feel pretty good."

"You still need a bit of work on those last high notes in the final chorus though." Ash added, still smiling proudly. "Wanna try that again?" Taking a sip of his water, Jason gave a confident smile back as he set it back down on the table.

"Let's."

All through the afternoon, the two porcupines worked their way through each song on Jason's list. They spend the rest of the afternoon practicing with each other. With every run-through, Jason gradually got better, hitting the high notes with greater ease than before. Every few songs, they turned their attention to Ash practicing her own song and making any tweaks to either the lyrics or the music. Jason was really starting to enjoy himself and get deeper into the music, though he denied it and tried to keep his focus on the prize money.

Emitting a long exhale after the last note of I See Fire, Jason leant against the arm of Ash's couch as his smile grew.

I got that prize money in the bag.

"Wow." He said after a couple of pants, "This turned out pretty fun. Sure glad I came to you for help."

"I'll bet." Ash replied, taking a sip of her own water. "And I gotta say, all that hard work really did pay off."

"Not so bad yourself, Malcolm Young." Ash gave Jason an amused but grateful smile for that compliment. Before he could say anything else, he finally noticed the glare of the setting sun beaming onto Ash's already gorgeous face.

"Oh, jeez, is it that time already?" Jason asked, his eyes widening. Turning her attention to the red rays shining through the window, Ash's expression turned surprised too.

"Whoa, guess you better head home before your folks start wondering where you are." She said.

"Sound advice." Picking up his rehearsal sheet from the table, Jason swiftly folded it and slotted it back into his jean pocket.

"Hey, Jason?" He glanced up into Ash's gleaming eyes, the porcupine rubbing her arm. "Thanks for your help with my song today. I really appreciate it. I mean, I feel like a whole new porcupine. Like I can take on the world." Jason could only smile.

"And thanks for your help, Ash. Really, I really have no idea where I'd be right now if it hadn't been for you."

"The feeling's mutual." Ash chuckled slightly. "And who knows? You might just win the competition after all."

I hope.

Giving a small nod, the two porcupines walked into the hallway where Jason placed his paw on the door handle and pulled it open.

"See you tomorrow then?" He asked, his eyes never leaving as he made his way out.

"You bet." Came the friendly response. "Best of luck, Jason."

"You too."

Regrettably the door closed.

On the ride home, Jason gazed distantly out of the bus window. He couldn't get his mind off a lot of things, like how nice it had been rehearsing the entire day with Ash. As well as spending time with her in general.

Eyes on the prize, Jason. Eyes on the prize.

He managed to get back to reality just before he missed his stop. The moment he entered the house, he found himself bombarded with questions from Gina of where he had been and if he had been hurt in any way. She only stopped babbling once she took notice of his dreamy smile.

"Jason, are you feeling okay?" Whether the positive tone of his reply was referring to Ash or his potential victory, Jason couldn't decide.

"I like to think so, Mom."

*I do not own the rights to the movie Sing. All rights go to Illumination Entertainment