This is my entry for the contest "That Tune..." created by Troublesum Shika! ^_^ The featured song is "Love Story" - Taylor Swift. My OC, Odette Yaodeme, is a member of my OC organization, the Fallen Angels (an Akatsuki-esque group). I don't own the song, lyrics and Orochimaru; but I do own Odette and the Fallen Angels.

We were both young when I first saw you
I close my eyes
And the flashback starts
I'm standing there
On a balcony in summer air

Taylor Swift sat down on a brick wall, bordering the Venice Boardwalk. It was evening, 6:00 to be exact, and the nineteen year old singing sensation was enjoying the moments before the sunset. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, reflecting on her love life. Yes, the fact that she was famous and rich made a lot of boys want her for their girlfriend, but they only wanted her fame and money. No one wanted her...for herself.

See the lights
See the party, the ball gowns
I see you make your way through the crowd
And say hello, little did I know

Opening her eyes, Taylor looked out to the bike path, which was resting in front of the brick wall. Moving a lock of curly blond hair from her eyes, she watched the wave of evening joggers, bikers, and exercisers blaze past her, not even realizing a superstar was in their midst.

Mulling over the diversity of the people, she thought once again of her love predicament. It was so...depressing when you think about it; when boys use their girlfriends. Well, at least she wasn't one of those unfortunate young woman; but still, she thought about the boys who did come up to her and ask to be their girlfriend--but seeing right through their lies. Thinking about that sense of betrayal and falseness, made her eyes glassy, suppressing unshed tears.

That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet
And I was crying on the staircase
Begging you please don't go, and I said

All of a sudden, a soft, enchanting voice broke into her thoughts, "Excuse me Taylor, but are you okay?" Looking to her right side to find the voice's source, Taylor Swift gasped in wonder in her head.

A svelte young woman had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, sitting next to her on the brick wall. Although Taylor was taller then she was, the girl looked about twenty-one years old--with something ethereal about her. Her dazzling beauty nearly caused Taylor to faint from surprise. The girl wore simply a white tank-top, with black mid-thigh-length denim shorts; even with those simple articles, she looked like an angel that had come down to Earth.

"How do you know my--?" Taylor abruptly stopped, knowing why people knew her name; it didn't take a genius to figure it out either.

"I see you've figured it out on your own," the mysterious angel-like girl said with a melodic laugh.

"But I haven't figured out your name. Who are you?"

"My name is Odette," the girl said quietly, looking out onto the beach.

"What a beautiful name." Taylor praised the girl highly, wondering if she was the only one who realized that Taylor Swift was sitting right in front of people at Venice Boardwalk.

"Thank you," Odette responded politely. "Now would you care to tell me why you were hiding tears behind your eyes?"

Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting all there's left to do is run
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story baby just say yes

"Well, do you know my song "Love Story"? Taylor asked. Odette didn't look like she was from California, but there was a good chance she would know.

A spark of light lit up Odette's dark Topaz colored eyes, which looked exactly like a cat's, now that Taylor observed them more closely. "I do know that song." She began singing softly in a voice that put the songbirds to shame, "Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone..."

"Yes; that one. Well, I was just thinking about how my love life isn't like that. My past boyfriends have broken up with me, most recent being Joe Jonas. Lots of boys want me to be their girlfriend, but I can tell they just want my money and fame. My 'Prince Charming' still hasn’t come yet." *sigh*

Odette listened to Taylor closely, observing how her voice saddened when she said those words. The bishonen young women didn't say a word.

So I sneak out to the garden to see you
We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew
So close your eyes
Escape this town for a little while

When Taylor stopped speaking, Odette began talking. "Have you ever seen a garden?"

"Yes, but what does a garden have to do with--?"

"Taylor, you wrote about a garden in "Love Story". It has to do with quite a lot." Odette absently leaned to her right, away from Taylor, and gently plucked a flower from a bush, returning to her position; Taylor saw a rose in Odette's snow white hand.

'Cause you were Romeo I was a scarlet letter
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet
But you were everything to me
I was begging you please don't go and I said

It was a scarlet colored rose, and Odette fingered the petals lovingly. "You talked about a 'scarlet letter' in your song, and this rose--from a garden--is scarlet. Scarlet letters are letters sent to a lover you are forbidden to love, like Romeo and Juliet. So, in a way, this rose is something that Romeo would give to Juliet as a token of his love; a love that couldn't happen. If we were back in Shakespearean times, this scarlet rose would've meant...everything to the maiden who received it."

Taylor was looking at Odette, spellbound, trying very hard not to have her mouth drop open in shock at the insight and revelation the young woman possessed to a powerful degree.

Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone
I'll be waiting all there's left to do is run
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story baby just say yes

"Also, it could be a signal, besides a symbol of his love; such as a time to meet. For example, if she received this flower, it could mean that tonight would be the night they'd meet in the garden--for instance. When they'd meet, 'all there's left to do is run'." A little smile was on her face when she said the last few words.

Romeo save me, they try to tell me how to feel
This love is difficult, but it's real
Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess
It's a love story baby just say yes
Oh oh

Taylor didn't say anything at all; she watched Odette as she explained more; her dark Topaz eyes fixed on the rose. The nineteen year old girl's eyes were on the scarlet flower too.

"Of course, her parents and everyone else would say it wasn't meant to be, and they would make things difficult for the two star-crossed lovers." Odette gently pulled a single petal from the breathtaking flower and held it between Taylor and herself. "This petal, this one single petal, represents all the difficulties her parents cause them."

Taylor watched as Odette detached another petal.

"This one represents the problems everyone else causes." The snow white hand let go of the petals, watching them both blow together in the breeze, blending in with the red tones of the beginning of the sunset.

Taylor watched Odette's hip-length raven black hair stream out behind her like a ribbon, gently blowing in the gentle wind.

I got tired of waiting
Wondering of you were ever coming around
My faith in you is fading
When I met you on the outskirts of town, and I said

"More problems also occur correct?" Taylor prompted the silent beauty.

"Of course they do--love is never easy. When the boy doesn't show up, she eventually loses faith in him. This petal represents the losing of faith she has in her 'Romeo'."

Romeo save me I've been feeling so alone
I keep waiting for you but you never come
Is this in my head? I don't know what to think
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said

Odette pulled another petal. "And these two represent her loneliness as well as her confusion." She pulled two more petals and released them all, sacrificing the scarlet petals to the wind. "And you know something else?"

"What?"

Marry me Juliet
You'll never have to be alone
I love you, and that's all I really know
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress
It's a love story baby just say yes

Odette put the rose down on the brick wall between them and gazed outward, looking at the scene that lay before them.

The sunset burst into full color, bathing the two figures in crimson, gold, orange, and pink light, the colors bouncing off the clouds and painting the ocean.

"The sunset represents the girl's happiness when he asks her to marry him," The raven-haired beauty simply said.

Oh, oh, oh, oh
'Cause we were both young when I first saw you

"I understand now," Taylor Swift said slowly, realization dawning onto her face, "everything in my song is inter-connected, even if I didn't know it, and they all have something to do with love." The singer turned to her new friend, "I have a new insight about love and my song--but do you think 'Prince Charming' will come for me?"

"You see Taylor, I asked my uncle about love some time ago, when I was a child." Odette's eyes glimmered with sadness when she said the word 'uncle', making Taylor wonder what had happened. "He had a love for snakes, and he explained love a little using them."

Odette fingered her necklace that was sitting on her neck: a silver snake with a Topaz for an eye on a slender silver chain. "He told me these exact words: 'Odette-chan, love is filled with problems and is never easy, like a snake that is curved. But when you find your true love, the snake becomes straight as an arrow'."

"So my Prince will some one day, I'll just have to wait--which is what I've been doing for a while," Taylor chuckled.

"Exactly," Odette said, smiling at Taylor, before standing up and walking to the Boardwalk, which was behind the brick wall.

"Thank you very much for talking to me about my problems," the blonde said gratefully, still facing the beach, "your uncle sounds like a very nice person."

'He used to be,' thought Odette sadly, "You're welcome; I won't be surprised if you see him on merchandise around here; his name is Orochimaru." She responded with shadows over her eyes.

A thought suddenly flooded Taylor Swift’s mind, and she turned her head to face behind her, eyes wide. "Wait a minute, isn't that the name of a manga charac--?"

She stopped talking and stared in wonder. Odette had vanished, leaving the scarlet rose on the brick wall next to her the only symbol of her new friend's presence, five petals gone from the flower, as symbols of the difficulties star-crossed lovers faced, both in present and past times.