Hey guys, I'm back again…I know I know super late. I'm really sorry. But I have had a lot on my plate and this story had to be out on hold. But I will try to update as fast as I can. As I always say I will never leave a fanfic. So trust that this story will be completed eventually. Anyway, please enjoy and review. Thank you all for reading

(I don't own sp! Or Shizuma {unfortunately})

Chapter 10. Lilliana

Nagisa awoke the next morning with puffy red eyes and a dull taste in her mouth. She had spent the majority of the night crying, finally releasing her emotions she kept confined for so long. The red head rolled slowly to her left side looking around the room, noticing how much she's changed. Her room, her body, her mental health and physical appearance has somehow altered. Nagisa laid there reminiscing about the happy woman she once was; hating this new self loathing little girl she's become.

"I can't remain this way, I have to get better," she said in a low whisper. Crying had definitely helped the red head reach the first step of returning to herself. It wasn't going to be an easy transformation but at least she was willing to try. Something she would not have been able to do almost two months ago. Nagisa turned over on her back, stretching out her limbs and getting interrupted by her cell phone ringing. She quickly cleared her throat and answered the phone.

"Hello," answered the red head as best she could.

"Yes, may I please speak to an Aoi Nagisa?"

"Speaking,"

"Good morning Ms. Aoi, this is Ms. Langheart. I am the founder and coordinator of the Japanese philharmonic orgestra."

"Ummm….hi"

"I was informed of your talents by one of my top violinists who happened to see you perform last night. After hearing such great praise I decided to give you a call. How long have you been a violinist Ms. Aoi?"

"For about a month."

"Surely you've had to have instruction before playing."

"Not at all, I just picked it up one day and started playing."

"A prodigy…hmmm," The phone line became silent for a few moments before the woman spoke again. "Have you ever read music before?"

"I never had the chance to look at it."

"You remind me so much of my lead violinist, your story is almost identical. Ms. Aoi, I would like to offer you a spot as a violinist in the Japanese Philharmonic orgestra."

Nagisa thought for a moment before responding "yes I would love too, it'll be a great way to find myself again."

"Marvelous, orientation is this afternoon, we begin promptly at 4 o' clock so don't be tardy."

"Yes, of course"

"Great speaking with you Ms. Aoi, welcome and see you soon, toodles." There was silence followed by a dial tone signaling the end of the phone conversation, as Nagisa turned to look at the phone.

"Toodles?"

Shizuma sauntered down the long hallway of her work place. Her mood had changed drastically since last night. The hurtful words of that once special red head played in her mind over and over again. The silver beauty's heart ached with tiredness, as if she could stop breathing at any moment.

Jackie who was in the break room getting some coffee, noticed Shizuma's appearance and walked over to her office, knocking lightly while letting herself in. The sight in front of her was unusual. She had never seen her friend in such a slump. The russet skinned woman knew that there wasn't much she could do to help the situation, but any help is better than no help, right?

Jackie stepped further into the silver head's bureau, deciding to sit on the grey loveseat near the window, crossing her legs before speaking,

"Want to talk about it?"

Shizuma simply shook her head; pretending to have a major interest in the files that lay on her desk.

Jackie than folded her arms sighing lightly as she began to admire the view out of the silver beauty's office, "I knew this would come back to you eventually." Her words were calm yet serious, caring but laced with tough love; she has had quite enough and decided she just couldn't hold her tongue any longer. "I just don't understand. All those women, all the sex, the money you've wasted on good for nothing little girls. I could never comprehend your taste in women within the first few months of meeting you. I used to ask myself, how could someone so beautiful, intelligent and loving, make such horrible decisions, as if you didn't deserve happiness? What could you possibly be hiding under your shell? Yes, your eyes may be misleading but your heart always knows best." She paused to look in Shizuma's direction, but said woman still had her eyes fixated on the papers in front of her. So her coworker continued, "You're better than what you let yourself give. Its time to come from under your shell, peak your head out and see that not everyone is trying to hurt you. See that there are people just outside your shell, people who have been sitting there, right in plain sight, waiting for you. But you give in to fear and decided you'll wait a little longer." The russet skinned woman began to speak while motioning her hands for emphasis. "The longer you wait, people begin to wither away from you, slowly, carried by the wings of the impatient wind you lose another and another to that impatient wind and your fear. Honey, its time to come out and see who's left to greet you, who's left to want to love you; because if you wait any longer all that will be left for the wind to carry is your regrets." Jackie than stood up from her seat, straighten her suit jacket and calmly walked out of the office.

RRRRIIIINNNGGGG…..RRRRIIINNNNGGGGGG….RIiiNNNNGGGG

The phone rang loudly in the Rokujo household, seeming to only cause a distraction as the two mangled bodies tossed about on the couch.

Tamao, who really needed a break from all the sex, pushed her girlfriend upward to try and slide from under her. But to no avail. "Miyuki the phone is ringing, it could be something important."

"There's nothing more important than what's going on right here." The blunette retorted as she grabbed a hold of her lover pulling her back down onto the couch and savagely kissing her neck.

Once again the younger girl tried to pull herself up, this time gripping the top of the couch and quickly answering the phone before Miyuki could take it from her, "hello….oh hi Nagisa!" she exaggerated.

"Tamao-Chan, are you busy?"

Seeing that her phone tactic had worked, Tamao was able to sit properly on the couch to entertain the phone call as a horny and irritated Miyuki turned to watch TV. "Not since you called, what's going on?

"I got a phone call earlier today from a Ms. Langheart today."

"Who's that?"

"She's the founder of the Japanese philharmonic orgestra. And she offered me a spot as a violinist."

"That's awesome Nagi-chan, are you going to do it?"

"I think so; it would be a good way to help get back to the old me."

"I don't think you will go back to the old you. I think a more mature and awesome-er Nagisa you will become. You don't know how happy I am to hear you sounding better. How are you feeling?"

"Better than I was, I'm still a little sad but I am happy I'm not how I was. I don't like being there."

"That's good, because we didn't like seeing you there. I'm very happy for you Nagi-Chan. If there's anything I can do to help you along the way please let me know."

"I will, I promise."

"Good….so when do you start this orgestra."

"They're having an orientation today at 4. So I'm actually going to get ready to leave soon. So if I like it I will join."

"Well call me as soon as you know."

"Ok, bye Tamao_chan"

"Ja ne Nagi-Chan glad to know your feeling better, even if it's just a little." The blue haired girl than hung up the phone as a warm smile spread across her face.

Miyuki who noticed the change in mood turned towards her girlfriend, "what are you so smiley about?" she asked in normal tone.

"Nagisa is starting to feel better and that makes me happy." Tamao inched over to her lover as Miyuki lifted her arm letting her mate rest her head against and her breast as she pulled them into a tight embrace.

"I'm glad Nagisa is feeling better, she deserves it."

"Yes she does." Miyuki then looked at her girlfriend with a devious smile, "and you're gonna feel better once I'm done with you."

Nagisa pulled back the shower door, stepping out onto the rug beneath the tub. She quickly dried herself off and entered her bedroom. The red head lotioned her skin and dressed her self into the orange sun dress she had put out for herself before her shower and completed the outfit with orange converses. Nagisa was never a shoe person to begin with and she always felt that converses were just her style.

She quickly brushed her hair, grabbed her instrument and headed out the door. The strawberry opted on taking her car this time, starting the engine and pulling out of her driveway.

After about a 35 minute drive, she arrived at a medium sized building that consisted of a small parking lot. She pulled into the parking lot, parking her car and walked to the entrance of the building. When the red head stepped inside, she noticed how elegant the place looked. With the well maintained red carpet floors, stainless still accessories, wonderful artwork; she couldn't help but be a little timid. None the less she wondered around the building looking for a door that read "orientation" or something of the sort. After what seem to be at least 15 minutes of wondering she decided to take a seat on a near by chair to pull out her cell phone and redial the number the woman she'd spoken to earlier had called her from.

As soon as she began to search her recent call list. A lovely and gentle voice called out to her.

"Lost?"

Nagisa turned her head towards the sound. Her eyes caressed the vision in front of her of a woman about the same height as Shizuma, long blond hair, piercing bluish green eyes, wearing a very flattering black dress that hugged her upper body showing of her decent sized breast and flared at the bottom accentuating her silky legs. She watched as the woman stared at her waiting for an answer. When she didn't get one in the time she thought suitable she spoke again.

"I'm sorry, you don't speak English?" As she spoke with a voice as soft as baby skin, Nagisa noticed the hint of an English accent. Seeming to be hypnotized by the woman, the red head quickly shook her head and responded.

"I'm sorry, yes I do."

"Ok good, because I've been having such a hard time communicating with the locals here."

"You should expect that." The red head spoke with a smile.

"Yes I suppose you're right…oh my I'm so rude, let me introduce myself. My name is Lilliana Portland. I'm the lead flutist in the orgestra." She extended her hand towards Nagisa.

The red head stood up to accept the handshake, "I'm Aoi, Nagisa. I'm here for orientation."

"Nice to meet you Nagisa." Lilliana smiled as she spoke. The image of her beautiful smile reminded her somewhat of Shizuma's, although hers had more of flirtiness to it; Lilliana's was laced with sweetness.

"So am I to assume you were lost?"

"Yea…I've never been here before."

"Yes this place can be quite intimidating when you're new, would you mind if I had the lovely pleasure of escorting you?"

"I would like that."

Lillana than extended her arm that was bent at the elbow, inviting Nagisa to wrap her arm around her own.

As the two walked Nagisa began to feel something that was both familiar and foreign to her. She had this overwhelming urge to smile, her heart was racing and butterflies were having relay races inside her stomach. But the sound of Lilliana'a voice was so soothing, she couldn't help but to fall into a slight trance.

"Nagisa?"

Said girl quickly snapped out of her reverie and looked towards her escort, "yes Lilliana?"

"Do please call me Lilly, it's so much easier don't you think?"

"Its prettier too, like the flower." A huge blush flashed across Nagisa's face. 'Why did I just say that, now she's going to think I like her? I mean she's very beautiful….but…ugh' she thought to herself.

"Thank you, I've never really thought of it that way."

"You're welcome."

"Your English is very good, do they teach it here?"

"They do, but I lived in the states during the early stages of my life. My mom and dad were travelers, so, I often was left to stay in certain places for long periods of time and America was one of them."

"How exciting, I wish I could travel often."

"It's a lot of fun, sometimes. But it's exhausting when it's too often."

"Yes I could see how it could be." The duo walked a little further until they came to a room that read 'new comers', "well here you are."

"Thank you so much for helping me."

"It was no problem at all; helping cute girls is a much wanted hobby of mine."

Nagisa blushed slightly at the statement and then motioned over to the door, "nice meeting you Lilly."

"Likewise."

With that the red head stepped into a room filled a lot of other instrumentalists. It was a pretty small room so she estimated about 10 other people besides her. As she scanned the room she noticed a woman in the middle. The woman was definitely in her late 50's and looked to be the most defined. Once their gazes met, the woman made her way quickly over to Nagisa.

"Hello there, my name is , may I ask who you are?" The woman extended her hand inviting Nagisa to a hand shake.

"Hi…I'm Aoi Nagisa."

"Ah the famous Aoi, how are you? Did you find everything ok?"

"Actually I got a little lost, but I ran into Lilly…she escorted me here."

"Oh marvelous, she's a sweetheart isn't she?"

The red head blushed slightly, "yea she is."

"Well it's good that you met her, it'll make you more comfortable when u meet with the rest of the lead group or first chairs."

"First chairs?"

"Yes, the first chairs are a group of our lead instrumentalists. The ones who stick out in the orgestra. We have one leading group for each section. Each group can be one to 4 people. For example, in the brass section we have a lead trumpet and lead tuba. They are the best out of our whole brass section so they go into the group of first chairs. Are you following so far?"

Nagisa nodded her head, "I think so."

"Ok, well the first chairs practice with fellow lead members, away from everyone else."

"Why are they separated?"

"Often one of the lead members will have to perform a solo piece and we don't have enough time in practices to focus only on the solo. So the first chairs attend extra practice. One practice may be with the whole orgestra and the other will be with the other first chairs."

"So if there's only one solo why are the other members there?"

"Well someone has to accompany the soloist and often as one person plays a single melody the background lead members play specific notes to bring out that person's solo. It's a team effort."

"I see."

"Any who, enough with my babbling, lets get started shall we?"

Shizuma walked in the garage to her reserved parking spot. She opened her passenger car door to place her briefcase inside. After shutting the door she walked around to the driver's side and got in. The silver beauty let out a big sigh and tilted her head against the head rest, closing her eyes.

"How could I let this happen…" she mumbled to herself. Taking another deep sigh, Shizuma regained her strength, started her car and drove to a destination she hasn't visited in weeks.

Nagisa packed up her instrument after having a very good practice. As she snapped her violin into its case she turned her attention to Mr. Likshaw, the instructor for the first chair group.

"Very good practice everyone, Kuroki make sure you sting that high C, otherwise you'll fall behind. Rest tonight because we will meet again Thursday at noon sharp." Mr. likshaw gave a very serious look and then continued "also I would like every one to welcome our newest member Aoi, Nagisa. Welcome and very good job."

The red head blushed slightly as she gave a courteous bow. The instructor spoke a little longer and then left the room. As Nagisa gathered the rest of her things to leave, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"May I walk you out?"

The red head new the soft English accented voice behind her and turned to answer, "Sure Lilly, I'd like that."

The duo than began to walk. Silently at first, but Lilly decided to be the first to break the ice.

"So what did you think about practice?"

"Umm…it was fun. It's my first time playing with a group."

"Oh really? You did very well as a first timer."

The red head blushed slightly, "thank you."

"You're welcome. Did you like the choice of music?"

"I liked it after hearing it, but I really can't read music."

"No? I wouldn't have guessed the way you played. You truly are a prodigy."

Nagisa let out a slight chuckle and a smile crawled across her face.

"You have an extremely cute smile Nagisa." Lilly complemented.

Said girls face flushed an even deeper shade of crimson, "thank you."

"You know, I could teach you how to read…music that is."

"Really?"

"Yes of course, you can come over to my place and I'll be your teacher," she added with a flirtatious tone. "What do you say?"

After driving for about 35 minutes Shizuma arrived at her destination. She parked her car in the driveway and stepped out. Before knocking on the door she pulled out a piece of gum, popping it into her mouth, than folding the paper over and over again into a tiny square. Her heart pounded against her rib cage. Her knees felt like they were going to buckle and butterflies danced in her stomach. She took a deep breathe and lifted her hand to knock on the door. But her effort has been in vain as the person on the other side began to open the door.

Shizuma: my goodness Cuzo, you and all these flipping cliff hangers. Cant you every just tell people.

Nagisa: then how could anyone continue to read her story.

Shizuma: well if it's interesting enough people will remember to read it.

Nagisa: but there still should be some suspense

Shizuma: yea but too much is annoying

Nagisa: why are u being such a snood?

Shizuma: a what?

Cuzo: a snood, you know, like an opinionated jackass ^_^

Shizuma: what did you call me? (Threatening tone)

Cuzo: 0/0

Nagisa: oh stop it and lay down or something Shizuma, your being a cranky baby

Shizuma: (puts her arms around Nagisa's waist.) only if you'll join me my love.

Nagisa: not until I know whose house you went to, (walks off)

Shizuma: (shoots a threatening glare cuzo)

Cuzo: 0_0 (runs)

Reviews please, I'm getting more and more inspiration so more reviews more chapters please and thank you. ")