Author's Note: Hey you guys! I'm about to post the last two chapters of Viva La France so to make up for it, here's the first chapter of my other out of this world adventure. What happens when Jude and Tommy seem to have lost their music—their inspiration. How do they get it back? And where will they find it? I love you guys! Please R&R. Angel422.

I looked over at Tommy quietly as I strummed on my guitar—perusing his features through the glass of the sound proof room without realizing I was staring until he looked up at me too. Our eyes met and I looked away. He had returned from Montana three months ago grieving over a lost family member and he had decidedly gotten lost in the work Darius had waiting for him upon his return. He seemed unreachable somehow now. Different.

The surprise I had felt at his return had been completely masked by my sudden intense schedule—rigid touring dates, interviews, photo ops, even a movie cameo, and my eighteenth birthday. I was tired and more than beat, but I now had a Grammy under my belt and my producer back in the studio.

But, no matter how hard we both pretended that nothing had happened between us—that we could still work together the way we had before, I found myself confounded by the distance we had between us now—almost as if a gap had been created by his absence—by the things that had happened to us both. We could barely even write a song together. It was annoying, even a little disturbing, and Darius was the most frustrated of us all about it. The thing was, we had all been in the studio too long—living, eating, and sleeping this third album. And we were all beat.

"Let's just call that one a wrap for today." Tommy remarked wearily through the intercom before releasing the button. I just sighed. That had been a lousy song. Everything about it had been lousy—the lyrics, the music—everything. Kwest shook his head from beside Tom. He knew the sound was bad. Tom did too, but I watched quietly as he leaned back in his chair and threw down a pencil in resignation. It was almost as if we had both lost our inspiration—our muse. The door slammed open suddenly, and I jumped.

"What the hell?" Tommy demanded as Darius rushed in looking both tired and a little annoyed. I knew he wasn't happy about where this next album was going—that being that it wasn't going anywhere at all.

"I have an announcement to make." Darius proclaimed as the rest of the studio started gathering around the doorway curiously. I could hear the guys from SME grumbling from behind me as they set down their instruments. They seemed affected by the melancholy too. We were just afraid it was another publicity event. I couldn't handle another publicity event! Darius threw down an envelope in front of us. I groaned until Darius threw down a stack of sunglasses as well. What the….

"We're taking a vacation." Darius stated simply as he looked around the room.

"Everyone who was involved in the making of the third album is going to get a two week cruise to Tahiti—a trip to the wonderful world of the South Pacific. And if we all don't return refreshed and ready to write and sing, I'm barring you all from the studio. Maybe even firing a few people. So, do me a favor and go home and pack." Darius proclaimed as we all just stared at him in dumb-founded amazement broken only by Sadie's sudden shrill squeal. What?