It had been a few months since Shizuma and Nagisa had made love: and it had been the only time they had made love in the past several months. Neither had really been brave enough to declare what their relationship was. It caused increasing tension between the two young women. Between their nonstop fighting and awkward moments, the two didn't really spend any time together. Nagisa was busy with school and Shizuma was busy with work.

"So, guess who I saw yesterday," Phoenix said in a low, unattached voice.

"Who?" Nagisa asked as she watched Phoenix, Sean, and Monroe tune their instruments.

"Sarah..." Phoenix said barely above a whisper.

The room became silent and everyone's eyes landed on Phoenix. Her blank expression on her guitar said enough to them; they knew better then to ask questions.

"I will fucking kill that bitch," Battle said under her breath as she sat up on her drum seat.

"Any way, I wrote this song after I saw her," Phoenix said as she turned to her band mates, "And I want to play it tomorrow night."

"What?" Sean asked in disbelief. "How the hell are we supposed to get a song together that fast?"

"Calm down you little winey school girl, I've written everything already," Phoenix said with a smirk as she reached into her back that sat on the wooden floor and pulled out sheet music for her friends. "Here," She said as she passed them the music. "I want to play it tomorrow at the first round of the battle of the bands. I want her to hear it..."

"Okay," Battle said as she gave a reassuring smile to her sister. "Let's do this," she said as she clanked her drum sticks.

Nagisa sat and watched, intently listening to the lyrics. She smiled at the attitude Phoenix gave as she belted each lyrics out. Her attention was quickly drawn to Shizuma as she felt the older woman sit down next to her.

"Is she keeping this?" Shizuma asked rhetorically, knowing her friend never kept a song.

"As a matter of a fact, she is," Nagisa said in a cold tone. "Phoenix is learning how to be brave, so why don't you." Nagisa starred hard at the wall, not willing to be the first one to cave.

"Maybe you should realize that I'm doing this for you," Shizuma said in an almost bitter voice. "You don't know what you want out of life Nagisa."

"How do you know what I want?" Nagisa asked hotly. "You've never even asked me."

"I know you."

"Clearly, you don't," And with that said, Nagisa walked out of the room.

The band stopped playing as Nagisa suddenly left. They all starred at Shizuma, their faces expressing their thoughts.

"Why don't you just suck it up and ask her?" Phoenix asked in an irritated voice.

"Because I want her to know," Shizuma said in an almost hurt tone, "I want her to know that it's me she wants for the rest of her life. If she doesn't want forever and I can't be with her. I wouldn't be able to handle her leaving."

"You don't change your tone my friend, she will leave," Phoenix said before popping a little blue pill, "for good."

"And if you don't stop popping those damn pills in my presence, you're going to be wearing you ass as a hat!" Shizuma shouted as she stood up. "Now, again! You have less than twenty hours to get this song right."

The air was thick with nervousness as Phoenix and her band took the stage. There was one big wooden stage set up in the middle of a wide street. Twinkling lights hung across the street for as far as the eye could see. Nagisa stood at the front of the stage, smiling at her friend, trying to encourage her.

"Hello," Phoenix said into the microphone to the crowd, getting a loud roar back. "I'm Phoenix and I wrote this song..." Phoenix trailed off as she stared at someone right next to Nagisa.

Nagisa looked to her right to find a breath taking beauty standing next to her. The woman had long, dirty blonde hair hanging down to her lower back. Her green eyes shone with what looked like a mixture of hurt and anger. She had her arms across her chest, causing her white linen shirt to tighten around her breasts.

As Nagisa slightly gawked at the woman she suddenly realized who she was looking at; Sarah. Her awe and admiration quickly turned to anger and disgust. "So this is her," Nagisa thought as she took as step to her left. She then looked up at her friend on stage, feeling pain as she noticed that Phoenix was on the verge of tears.

After the few long moments of silence, Battle banged on her drums, quickly getting her sisters attention. Phoenix jumped and turned to look to only find her sister smirking.

"She's here," Battle said with evil in her eyes," Let her have it."

Phoenix smiled at her sister and turned back to the now curious crowd. "I'm Phoenix," she said again to the crowd with a smile, "And this is a song I wrote for you," she said the last word with venom in her voice as she starred down her ex lover.

The drums began to play and the guitars soon after. Phoenix took a deep breath and starred down her ex lover before she began to sing.

"I think I might be a fortune teller, I read your face just like a letter, The funny thing about forever, Is it comes with a side of never, never."

The crowd began to sway back and forth to the beat, causing Phoenix to grin. Nagisa stared in amazement at her friend, wondering how she somehow came up with the courage she had mustered.

"I can't buy into what you're selling, And no it's not that I don't want it, Believe me I love to close my eyes, enjoy the ride, But you reek of indecision and I..."

Shizuma slowly made her way through the crowd, watching in amazement as her friend finally grasped the courage she always needed. When she finally got beside Nagisa, the music stopped as Phoenix whispered, and then suddenly the music burst back to life.

"I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know... You're only gonna let me down, When it counts, you countdown. You're only gonna turn me out, as I burn, you burn out. You're only gonna make me feel so crazy, But when I think we could be somethin, You go and let me down, let me down, oh."

Shizuma's smile soon faded as she looked to her right and saw the person who made her friend feel so much pain. She glared at the woman, not gaining her attention. She stared at Sarah intently, surprised by Sarah's smile. It wasn't an evil smile, it was a smile of pride. Shizuma continued to stare at Sarah, confused by her reaction.

"I am too smart to let you in here, But I'm just dumb enough to linger, I wanna think that you'll be different, Smoking mirrors are so clever clever."

As Shizuma let her eyes stop burning wholes into staring, she began to stare at Nagisa. Her stomach began to turn as she noticed Nagisa's eyes; they were filled with amazement and love. Unfortunately, Shizuma couldn't tell if it was friendly love or more.

"I pretend that things aren't so bad, And what you say will actually happen, I've been dying to open my eyes, See you try instead of always leaving me out to dry."

Nagisa couldn't believe her eyes, or her ears for that matter. She found herself swooning over her friend's performance, as she always did. Nagisa had noticed growing feelings for her friend, the kind of feelings that were more than friendly. She didn't know if she was falling in love or just growing attached because of all the time they spent together. Either way, she couldn't ignore what she was feeling. The question was, did she truly love Phoenix in an intimate way?

"I know, I know, I know... You're only gonna let me down, When it counts, you countdown. You're only gonna turn me out, as I burn, you burn out. You're only gonna make me feel so crazy, But when I think we could be somethin, You go and let me down, let me down, oh."

Shizuma began to feel the cold stab of jealousy for her friend. "How could she?" She thought with despise. "She supposed to be my best friend, the person who's always got my back." She looked up at her friend to see if she was staring at her love with the same admiration, and was surprised to find that she wasn't even paying a bit of attention to Nagisa. Phoenix's eyes had been on Sarah the entire time, and remained on her.

"I need you to be there when you say you're gonna be, I care too much and you care enough to leave, I want some place to rest my head without worrying, It's not fair, It's not fair, It's not fair, It's not fair, It's not fair to me, cause I know by now..."

Nagisa began to notice the woman standing next to her and she froze. "Did she see me staring at Phoenix?" She thought, fear jolting through her body. "Why do I even care? It's not like she wants to be with me..." With that thought she turned to face Shizuma, only to find her eyes burning with pain and love. It froze Nagisa in her tracks. She was pained by the look Shizuma was giving her.

"You're only gonna let me down, When it counts, you countdown. You're only gonna turn me out, as I burn, you burn out. You're only gonna make me feel so crazy, But when I think we could be somethin, You go and let me down, let me down, oh."

The song ended and the crowd cheered. Phoenix smiled as she stared at the judges at the far back end of the crowd, seeing a perfect score that passed her band on to the next round. She looked down at her ex lover and smirked with pride, surprised to see Sarah giving her the same look.

Phoenix put the guitar down and jumped off the stage, landing mere inches away from Sarah. She stared her down and the screamed, not knowing how to act at Sarah's reaction.

"That was good," Sarah said as she finally let her arms uncross her chest. "Now why don't you stand right here and listen to the song I wrote for you."

"And why would she do that for you?" Battle spat as she dropped off the stage and landed right behind her sister.

"Because this is a competition," Sarah said as she walked past the two women and onto the stage, "And she should see what she's up against."

Phoenix stood still and listened, not even turning around to look at the woman who caused her torment. The instruments began to play and then mellowed as Sarah's voice became dominant over the speakers.

"Maybe if my heart stops beating, It won't hurt this much, And never will I have to answer, Again to anyone, Please don't get me wrong..."

Nagisa had torn her gaze away from Shizuma to look at Phoenix, who was shaking in what seemed to be anger. Nagisa went to comfort her friend but was stopped by Shizuma. She turned to her love, only to find her shaking her head.

"It's best not to touch her when she's like that," Shizuma whispered into Nagisa's ear, causing shocks to run up her spine.

"Because I'll never let this go, But I can't find the words to tell you, I don't want to be alone, But now I feel like I don't know you."

"HA!" Phoenix shouted before storming off into the sea of people. Nagisa was ripped from her trance as she heard her friend yell. She chased after her friend, following her through the sea of people, and down a dark alley way that led to some wooded area.

"Phoenix!"Nagisa shouted.

Phoenix stopped in her tracks and didn't make a sounds. Suddenly, she kicked the ground beneath her and yelled.

"What does she know?" Phoenix yelled at the ground. "She's the one who walked away!" Phoenix fell to the ground, fighting the urge to cry.

"Phoenix," Shizuma said, startling Nagisa. "Don't let her get the best of you."

"What do you know?" Phoenix asked as she shot up from the ground and turned to face her friend. "You have the love of your life right here, in front of you, ready and willing. And what do you do? You run away like a little bitch!"

"Phoenix," Shizuma said in a warning tone.

"Oh no, don't talk to me like I'm a little kid," Phoenix walked up to her friend and stared her dead in the eye. "Tell me it doesn't kill you to look at her," Phoenix said in a low, serious tone. "Tell me it doesn't kill you not to have her when she's standing right in front of you all the time."

Shizuma stared at her friend, not knowing how to react. Her natural reaction would be to deny anything and everything Phoenix said, but she knew she couldn't lie to her. Her body tightened as she held her breath, avoiding eye contact with Phoenix.

"I'm getting real sick of this shit," Phoenix said as she reached in to her pocket and popped one of her little blue pills.

"How many times have I asked you-" Shizuma began to shout but was cut off.

"Oh shut you face!" Phoenix shouted. "You're not my mother! For fucks sake!" Phoenix walked up to Nagisa and stared her down. "Would you please tell her that she's the one you want to spend the rest of your life with and be together already! "

"I can't do that," Nagisa said lowly as she averted her eyes to the ground.

"And why not?" Phoenix asked annoyed.

Nagisa said nothing, not really sure why she couldn't say it. She knew she loved Shizuma with all her heart, but she didn't know if she could spend forever with her. With how things had been going, every time her and Shizuma took one step forward they took ten backwards, and she didn't know if she could put up with that forever.

"AH!" Phoenix shouted as she kicked the dirt once more. "You're both stupid! You love each other, so whatever's wrong, just fuck it out! Jesus Christ!" Phoenix stormed off back down the alley and into the crowd, leaving two silent and scared women behind to deal with each other.