***Judal***

Judal packed up his things. He brought his guitar, his laptop, and a bag full of cloths to Portland with him. He was staying in some fancy, expensive hotel. He wanted to spend a little time in the city before he called Ithnan and returned to Al Thamen. In the course of the ten months, he had rid himself of his drug addiction, stopped drinking, whipped his body back into shape, written and notebook full of music, and turned nineteen. He had also gotten extremely bored. He missed all the drama that came along with being a celebrity.

He had heard about a really nice music store that he wanted to visit. He wanted to see if they could get him a decent harp and have it sent to the house in Tahoe. The harp he had in Italy was crap, and on top of that it was in Italy, not easily accessible.

The music store was big. It had all kinds of instruments advertised, as well as tall bookshelves full of sheet music, books for piano beginners, manuals for instrument care, and on and on. He walked through the store, taking it in. He was impressed, but his mood was dropping. When he had first seen all the instruments he had hoped they would have a harp, but he couldn't see one. He started thinking about going up to a salesclerk rather than roaming the store, no longer hopeful that he would be able to play until he reached the back corner of the store, where a beautiful harp stood. It was gorgeous.

Judal admired it for a moment before he moved to sit on the stool and his fingers found the strings. He played. The sound coming from the other people in the shop quieted. The other customer who had been playing with a guitar at the front of the store- testing it while a clerk rambled on about why it was a good choice- stopped, the two employees talking about some local band quieted, the woman he heard talking on the phone quickly hung up, one of the employees turned off the music going through the speakers-which had been playing one of his songs. The harp's sound filled the room. No one moved toward the sound, just waited and listened to the relaxing, angelic sound. Judal transitioned smoothly from one song to the next, a classical peace first, then a song from that popular newbie-not her most popular song but probably his favorite of hers, not that he would admit to liking it-to a piece he had written himself. Then he stood up planning to buy the instrument and send it to be added to the music room in Tahoe, but he was interrupted. A girl-the woman on the phone-looked him in the eye and he stopped. She had run to the back of the store as soon as he had played the last note.

He knew her. The blue eyes and hair were unmistakable when he was facing them straight on. He had seen her from the back and she had been murmuring so quietly into her phone that he hadn't realized who she was. From the look that flashed through her eyes she recognized him too. Interesting. What would she say? He took in the blue braid that hung down her back, her face clear from the ridiculous makeup she was usually put in for her performances and videos-not that he would admit having watched them on YouTube- and the white summer dress she had on as he waited for her to say something. To his great annoyance she just stared at him for a moment. He arched an eyebrow and was about to comment about how rude staring was when she finally spoke.

When she finished he smirked. She was different from how he had expected. How interesting.

***Aladdin***

It was Aladdin's day off. She wanted to go get a few piano books. She wanted to get better, and she wouldn't be able to do that with the beginner books she had-she already had them mastered. She invited Kouha to go with her, but he was in a limo with his two brothers and sister on the way to a filming location. Kouen was a popular model and actor, Koumei seemed to prefer to remain behind the scenes acting as a manager to the family members, Kougyoku was just starting to get into the business so where she would focus had yet to be determined, and Kouha went back and forth between actor, model, and singer. Al Thamen seemed to want to do a movie using all the red-headed Ren family members.

Aladdin sighed into the phone. She would just have to go by herself. Solomon had needed Ugo's help today and it was a Thursday so it wasn't like she could invite any of her friends who were still in school. She wished Alibaba's and Morgiana's parents had allowed them to sign on to the label with her, she had convinced Sinbad to take them on as a group at the dinner they had had after he first saw her perform.

"It's fine Aladdin! Don't get all depressed, I'll just stay on the phone with you."

"Thanks Kouha. So what's the new movie about? And I thought you had decided to focus on modeling for a little while."

"I do want to focus on modeling, but Al Thamen didn't really give me much of a choice. They wouldn't give me any modeling jobs, they refused to allow me to do any until I finished filming for the movie. I don't really know that much about the movie actually. I only agreed to do it this morning, I haven't even gotten a copy of the script yet. It's really annoying."

Aladdin continued listening to Kouha complain about Al Thamen and its rules. By the time he was done she was at the music store.

"So why a music store?"

"I want to get some piano books. I'm not as good as I want to be."

"I see. How is the new album coming along? Normally you'd be done by now."

"Well, you're right, it's taking me longer then normal. I wasn't to write all of the music this time too, not just the lyrics. It's taking me longer then normal, but I really want to get better. I'm never going to get better if I keep letting someone else write the music for me. That's part of why I want to get the piano books. I want to practice more piano so that the next time I want to write an album the music part will be easier."

"I see."

"You keep saying that."

"Soooo. New topic. How did the date go?"

"How did you know about that?!"

"I hear things. I have eyes and ears everywhere. He's a model right? His name sounded familiar."

"Um, yeah. He's a model. The new Abercrombie one. Sinbad said it would be good if I went on a date. Something about a girl not having kissed someone by my age being a crime or something."

"Aladdin do not, and I mean do not, date Abercrombie models. If I had known I would have warned you that-"

"They are complete and total jerks? Yeah, I got that. It took him five minutes to call me fat. He said my name was stupid too."

"Oh Aladdin I don't even know where to start. First, understand that Abercrombie models are the attractive people who weren't chosen for the summer beach movies. They are bitter. Don't even think a word he said was right. He was after your fame. They did it to me too. Next time I get to plan your date. Okay? How did that date even get set up?"

"Sinbad introduced us at lunch one day. We were at the same restaurant. When Sinbad went to get his car the guy asked me out. Did I mention he insisted that I pay? Not half and half, but the whole damn thing. I really don't like that guy. If I ever see him again it will be too soon."

"Aww poor Aladdin. I can set you up with people much better than the old fart. I'm much better in the fine art of flirtation. Do you want-"

"Hold on a second." A Pause, "Kouha I have to go. I'll talk to you later. Text me when you get a break."

Aladdin was mesmerized by the sound. Someone was playing the harp in the back of the store. She listened, frozen in place. The tension she felt seemed to slip away. Whoever it was played one of her songs after the first classical piece, then a piece she didn't recognize. When the last note sounded with an air of finality she rushed to the back of the store, wanting to speak with the player.

When she got there she froze. Her favorite singer stood before her. His long, black hair in its usual unique braid, his bright red eyes staring right back at hers. She had been searching for news of him since he disappeared ten months earlier, and he was just standing right in front of her. She didn't know what to say first. He arched an eyebrow, looking as though he was annoyed. She cut him off; she didn't want to miss her chance to talk to him.

"I really like your playing just now. It was beautiful. I didn't recognize the last song though. What was it?"

"It's something I wrote a long time ago." Of course his playing was beautiful. He became an expert at all the instruments he played. Had she expected any different? What an idiot. Well, at least she gave out compliments that seemed genuine and not forced. That's more than most other celebrities he had met so far. He was interested in this strange girl. "So what is a pop star such as yourself doing here?"

"It's my day off. I wanted to get some piano practice books because I'm not as good as I want to be. What are you doing here? You have been gone forever!"

She didn't miss that he knew who she was. It made her happy for some reason.

"I'm taking a break, this just happened to be on my list of places to visit."

She didn't miss a beat. "Do you want to get lunch with me?" It probably wasn't the best way to ask but she was really excited.

"And why would I do that? I don't make a habit of spending time with short pop stars."

She ignored the jabs at her height, she wasn't that short. "Because I want to talk to you. You write such beautiful music. I've wanted to write a song with you for a long time but Sinbad said that it wasn't a good idea."

"Oh, he said that did he. Well, in that case I guess I have to have lunch with you. You better not take me to some crappy place either."

She smiled. It had worked. He would go with her! "Let me just get the music books and then we can go!"

She felt Judal's eyes on her as she ran back to the aisle she had been in before and picked out several books at random. He walked up behind her and looked at the books she picked out. When she turned around he stole them from her arms and put all of them back, pulling out several others to replace them.

"Those are better." He said simply before walking up to the front of the store.

She smiled again, this time even brighter.

Hello dear readers,

They finally meet. I'm so excited to write the next few chapters. I plan to get one (possibly two) more chapter(s) published tonight. Then I will retire until tomorrow. Probably. I will definitely have more chapters up tomorrow. Keep reading.

As for the pairings, I still haven't made any decisions as to who should be with who so if there is anything specific you want please let me know.

Keep reviewing it makes me feel happy inside. And motivates me to keep writing this.

Until Next Time!

-Kizuna