A/N: Just to clear up any confusion, Maj doesn't like Vali very much because, if you remember, Zak mentioned that he found Vali pretty- which shall, I swear, figure into the plot. Mwahaha, I've confused you now, haven't I? Well, it'll all make sense eventually.

Vali and Warren enjoyed an odd kind of friendship. They picked at each other constantly, yet they liked it. One said something and the other pounced on it like a kitten jumps on yarn, and their arguments often escalated into full-blown shouting matches. The teachers stopped trying to break them up after they realized that the two weren'tserious. It was actually a good thing, because it meant that Valianta's sharp tongue found a harmless release- in fact, shemade a few friends. Layla was the first, because the redhead was so warm and sweet, and Will was another, because whomever his girlfriend liked, Will did too. Zak also became friends with Vali, who appeared not to mind that Zak wasn't (mentally, not literally) the brightest. Maj was a different story. She and Valinever truly became chummy, but at least they were civil to one another.

One week passed, and then two. That Friday, the subject of Vali's music came up again. The result was that she invited Warren (whom she still addressed only as Peace, but he'd gotten over that), Layla, Will, Zak, and even Maj to her studio after school.

"My manager won't be there, so we can just chill. I usually do some recording or writing Friday afternoons, and then I come in on Saturday and Sunday all day. The guys are really great about my schedule," Vali said as they boarded the SH bus. They all got off on Vali's stop, which was in an odd half-suburban-half-not area of town, and then walked a couple of blocks to the studio. It was a brightly lit, airy building with great views out of enormous picture windows. Vali led them up two floors and into the section of the building she used, where among others there was a control room and a recording room.

Vali introduced them to the people she worked with. "This is Mike"- she pointed out a short, slim young man -"Nat, and Blake"- here first a tall, imposing middle-aged woman, and then a broad, muscular man with tattoos all over his body -"and Jerry, my manager, is out today," Vali finished, and then introduced her friends.

"So...what do you do?" asked Zak.

"We just...make music," Vali replied, seemingly embarassed.

"Right, well, we've got to get started," said Mike, whose voice was surprisingly deep and had a faint English accent. He moved to the far end of the control room where they all were gathered and opened several cases. Each one contained a guitar. There were various types of electric and folk guitars, and Vali crossed to stand beside him. She looked down at them, fingering one lovingly.

"She picks one and then we meditate for a little while," Nat explained. "It was one of my ideas. It helps to spread good vibes, you know?"

"I know she's a hippie," Maj whispered to Layla, who smiled but shook her head.

"I think it's cool," she muttered back. Maj just shook her head.

Vali lifted one guitar out of the case: an electric guitar. She lifted the strap over her shoulder and sat down on the floor, legs crossed. Blake, Nat, and Mike sat around her, forming an open circle. Layla, Will, Warren, Maj, and Zak all reluctantly took seats. Nat began a chant, and everyone closed their eyes. Vali breathed in and out, her expression peaceful. Warren cracked a lid open and caught Maj's eye; Magenta was peeking too. "I guess all we've gotta do is do some chanting to get her quiet," Maj whispered. Will snickered.

Nat ended the droning chant and everyone opened their eyes. Vali stepped into the recording room, and Nat and Mike took seats before the controls. Blake found chairs for the others, and soon they were all seated. Blake gave Vali a thumbs-up sign and flipped a switch. A red light went on on the mike, and Vali nodded, a smile on her face. She'd sat herself down on a stool, the guitar in her lap, the guitar plugged into an amp.

Vali hummed a key and then began to play. She let the notes come soaring out of her lungs, in a wordless song that wasenchanting. The guitar seemed to compliment her, make her whole, and to those sitting in the control room, at that moment there was nothing more beautiful than the music. But all too soon the song ended, and it was just Vali and her guitar again. Mike hit the switch and the light went off.

"Good! I love it. Maybe, intro?" Blake suggested.

"Naw, get Mike to hit those notes and then turn it into a chorus," Nat disagreed.

"Mike couldn't hit those notes if his life depended on it," Vali grinned.

"Who says I want to hit 'em?" Mike demanded.

"I've got it..." Nat began.

"Harmony!" All four said together.

"What?" Layla asked, voicing everyone else's confusion.

"Mike and Vali do the notes in harmony, and then we can use it as a choral arrangement to back one of the songs," Nat explained.

"So it doesn't have anything to do with a harmonica?" Zak said, puzzled. No one bothered to answer him.

"Ok, Vals, you gotta do 'Perchance to Love' now," Nat ordered apologetically.

Vali groaned audibly. "And ruin my lunch?" she asked, pulling a pathetic face that fooled no one.

"Didn't you write that song?" Warren asked.

"I did," Vali admitted. "But only because Jerry wanted some kind of love crap song on the album. Then it turned out that he wanted the entire album to sound like that."

"Why go along with it?" This came from Will. "I mean, do what you want!"

"Yeah, and lose my record deal. He's the guy who got me the deal, he's with Raging Bull Records." Vali shrugged. "I got all the songs I wrote for me on the first album. I even got one or two on this one. I'll just have to get over myself."

So she did Perchance to Love. But it wasn't anything like the first song. Her vocals were still good, but...flat. Dead. There was no 'umph', nothing special. And Vali herself pulled faces like a dying camel while she sang, making everyone laugh.

Soon it was time for a snack, but Vali and Warren passed, so when everyone filed out, they were left in the control room. Vali had by this time switched to a folk guitar, which she leaned on her knees, her feet up on the edge of the control panel.

"So...why don't you sing something?" Warren asked teasingly.

"Like what?" Vali asked, grinning wickedly.

"I don't know...Old MacDonald Had A Farm," Warren suggested.

Vali laughed, but then she closed her eyes and sang Ol' Mac's song, for the first and probably last time. She opened her eyes after Eee-ei-oh-ing about a pig, and felt herself withdraw. Warren's eyes were glinting strangely, and he was staring at Vali almost...hungrily. "Warren...what's the matter?" she asked.

"Marry me!" Warren cried, and lunged at Vali. The guitar slid out of her lap as she jumped backwards, falling off the chair. Warren grabbed her and pushed her up against the wall, Vali yelling and cursing him in Italian.

"Let me go!" she squealed, and then she screamed loud and long, makingeverybody comerunning. Blake hauled Warren off of Vali, and she sank to the floor, humming to herself to keep from crying. When the humming reached everyone's ears, it seemed that Warren calmed, and the manic shine left his eyes.

"What happened?" Nat demanded, kneeling beside Vali, who gave a wet hiccup.

"I...don't know. I was just singing some retarded song and he just...went crazy," Vali wailed. Blake released Warren, who was blinking and shaking his head as though water was lodged in his ears.

"Quel figlio di un maiale!" Vali yelled, and steam practically blew out of her ears. Nat shushed her.

Maj said flatly, "What exactly happened- everything?" So Vali told them. Warren in turn was asked for his story, but he seemed not to remember.

"I just...Vali was singing, and then...Blake was grabbing me. It was weird," he admitted.

Will snapped his fingers and looked at Vali. "Remember, in class, what Mr. Stupendous was telling us about hypnosis?" When Vali's expression remained blank, he said impatiently, "Don't you pay attention in class?"

"And why would I do that?" she snapped sharply.

"Just spill," Layla said quickly.

"Warren was hypnotised," Will explained. "And..."

But Vali didn't hear what he said next, because the world tilted away and went black. The woman who'd visited her when she'd been at her old school appeared before her again. "Valianta, you and I must chat," she said solemnly, stretching out a hand to Vali and pulling the girl to her feet.

"But who are you?" Vali cried. She got no answer, but was instead led into the darkness of oblivion.

A/N: So...enough of a surprise for ya? I promise Warren's not a psycho. Unless...oo, plot idea...But no, seriously. This was longer than the last chapter, as promised...now review so I write more! And The translation of what Vali says in Italian is, "That son of a pig!" Just thought I'd mention that.
Luv to my reviewers,

-Lady A