Disclaimer – I don't own Shuto Con. It belongs to its founders. I do own Sara, Rocketman, Piano Man, Buddy, Holly and the plot. I also don't own RENT. It belongs to its respected owner. 'Nuff said.

A/N: I was at Shuto Con over the weekend and had a great time! Shuto Con is a convention for everything Japanese. I dressed up all 3 days as Bellatrix Lestrange, Amy Farrah Fowler & Glinda the Good. I also saw people dressed up as Dr. Who, Weeping Angels, T.A.R.D.I.S' and various anime characters.

Summary: AU: Roger's cousin, Sara, wants to go to Shuto Con and talks her cousin and his friends to come. All eight of them have a great time. Based on actual events. Rated T because I'm paranoid. THREE-SHOT.

Genre: General/None

Rating: T

PART ONE

Sara Niles sighed and pushed her glasses even further up her nose. It was 10:30 PM on New Year's Eve. She was looking at the website for Shuto Con, waiting for her dad's okay to register for the convention.

She saw the light on her cell phone light up and smiled – it was a text from her dad. He had given her the okay to register for the convention. Sara wanted to get the 3-day pass and a pass for the masquerade ball that happened on opening night.

Sara smiled and called her cousin, Roger so that she could Skype with him and tell him the good news.

Seven faces appeared on Sara's computer screen. She recognized them as her cousin Roger and his friends.

"Happy New Year!" Sara told her cousin. He smiled and inched closer to the computer screen.

"Hey there! Happy New Year to you, too! How is uncle Steve?" Roger asked.

"He's okay." Sara replied, reaching down to pet her cat, Holly. Sara had three pets – her horse, Rocketman, her dog Buddy and cat Holly.

"How are you doing?" Roger asked. He and Sara were not only cousins, but they were best friends. They had grown up together and visited each other. It had been three years since Roger last saw Sara – that's when his aunt, Linda, passed away from a rare form of cancer. Sara had been twelve at the time.

"Okay. I wish that dad didn't travel so much and I wish I had more friends." Sara said, feeling tears sting the back of her brown eyes.

"I know, sweetie." Roger said. "So, what were you calling about?"

"Oh. I was wondering if you and your friends wanted to come to Michigan for Shuto Con in April." Sara told her cousin.

"What's Shuto Con?" Mimi, Roger's fiancée, inquired.

"It's for everything Japanese, but that doesn't mean that you have to dress up like a certain Manga or Anime character. I plan on going as Bellatrix Lestrange, Amy Farrah Fowler and Glinda the Good." Sara said. She then looked at her clock on her computer – an hour before midnight.

"That sounds like fun." Mark piped up. Everyone agreed.

Sara walked Roger through the registration process as she registered herself.

"Is your friend James going?" Angel asked as she took her turn registering.

"No, he's not. His parents don't have the money this year." Sara answered, her voice sad. James was the only friend she had in Michigan. He had defended Sara when she was being bullied one day at school. The two had been friends ever since.

"We'll have fun – I promise." Maureen told Sara.

They ended up talking for a few more minutes before they had to go. They were going to try and get to Time's Square for the ball drop.

"We'll see you on March 31st." Roger told Sara before he logged off.

"Can't wait." Sara said, turning off the Skype icon. She then turned off her computer and turned on the TV to Ryan Seacreast's Rockin' New Year's Eve. There was a musical act on that Sara didn't like, so she put in a movie.

At 11:50, Sara stopped the movie and turned back to Ryan Seacreast's Rockin' New Year's Eve. She saw two of her favorite movie stars with Ryan Seacrest as they talked about their new year's plans.

"TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone exclaimed on the TV. Sara raised her glass to the sky and wished her mom a happy new year and hoped she was having a great time in heaven.

At 1:50 AM, when Sara was fast asleep, her cell phone buzzed. Groping around in the dark, she found it. She put her glasses on so she could see it clearly.

Happy New Year's princess. Sorry I didn't get to spend it with you. I love you so much and can't wait to see you soon!

All my love,

Dad

Sara smiled and texted him back.

I miss you and can't wait to see you soon! Hope you're having a good trip. Also, Happy New Year!

Sara spent the rest of the evening watching her movie, petting Holly and watching some TV until she couldn't keep her eyes open.

By the time that Sara did fall asleep, it was going on 3:15 in the morning. Her last thought before her head hit the pillow was that her favorite cousin and his friends were coming in two months and she couldn't wait to see them.

At 5:45 AM the next morning, Sara's alarm went off. She sat up and rubbed her eyes before getting dressed and starting on her chores before doing what she wanted to do.

When her chores were done, she decided to go for a ride on Rocketman. The bay Thoroughbred gelding was the last present Sara's mom gave her before she passed away.

Rocketman had his head hanging over the top of his stall, nickering happily to Sara. She smiled and got his brushes and English tack. Her dad sometimes rode with her on his gelding named Piano Man. She had planned to ride Rocketman for an hour then ride Piano Man for an hour, that way, both horses got exercise.

When both horses got the exercise they needed, Sara decided to walk her Yellow Lab named Buddy. She took him for a walk behind her house on the paved trail. They met four dogs on their walk, but their owners didn't want to stop and talk, which Sara was okay with.

Arriving back home, Sara made herself some lunch and watched a program on TV. When she was done with lunch, she put her dishes in the dishwasher and turned off the TV. She got out her laptop and started working on a project for school.

That night, Sara's dad, Thomas, arrived home from his travels. He travelled for work, often leaving Sara to fend for herself.

The two of them ordered pizza and ate dinner together.

"How were things while I was gone?" Thomas inquired.

"Good. I spoke with Roger and his friends. They're coming for the convention." Sara told her father, taking a small bite of her cheese pizza.

"That's wonderful, honey. Do you have your costumes ready?" her father asked. Sara nodded and took another bite of pizza.

After dinner was eaten, Sara put her dishes in the dishwasher, said goodnight to her father and went to her room to take a shower and go to bed. Sara had two more days of winter break before going back to school, which she dreaded. The Populars would be there and they made Sara's life a living hell.

Sara blocked them from her mind as she held her sock monkey, Boo, close to her. After that, Sara settled into a wonderful night's sleep.

Two days later

Sara sighed as she entered the middle school. It was the first day back from winter break and as far as Sara could see, kids were chatting with each other as they walked passed Sara.

"Sara! Over here!" James, Sara's best friend, called. James had short blond hair, green eyes and glasses. He was also three inches shorter than Sara, skinny and had milk-white skin.

"Hey." Sara greeted him.

"Hey." He echoed back.

"How was your break?"

"Not bad. Yours?"

"Okay." Sara didn't want to tell him about her plans for Shuto Con, knowing how much that would hurt his feelings.

"How was your New Year's?"

"Quiet. Dad was travelling for work, so I had the whole house to myself. What about you?"

"Went to a friend of Shane's for New Year's. It wasn't that fun." James said, stopping at his locker to get the books he needed for the morning's classes. Sara's locker was right next to his and she also got the books she needed.

"How's Shane been treating you?" Sara asked. Shane was James' stepfather.

"Okay. He's taking me to the batting cages over the summer." James answered, closing his locker.

"Have fun." Sara told her friend, also closing her locker.

At that moment, the bell for class to begin rang loudly. Sara and James walked to their first class together, just before the warning bell rang.

Classes went on at a snail's pace. Sara kept looking at the clock above her theater teacher's head every five minutes.

The bell finally rang, echoing loudly through the hallways. Kids filed out of their classrooms, talking and mingling with their classmates. Sara walked to where the busses were and boarded the number seven. She had a lot of homework to do, so she would do that first before going for a ride.

Sara took a seat towards the middle of the bus and looked out the window. She wished that James would join her, but he had After School Running Club, so the two of them would catch up later.

A few minutes later, the bus driver closed the doors and turned on the engine. Sara took out her CD player and put in one of her favorite Carrie Underwood CDs. She mouthed all the words to 'Good Girl' and looked out the window.

An hour later, Sara was off the bus and heading to the house. She turned off her CD player and put it back in her backpack. She opened the door and helped herself to a snack before starting on her homework.

"Sara? Is that you?" her father's voice rang through the house.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm getting a snack before starting on my homework." Sara told him, stopping outside her dad's office.

"Good for you. I was wondering if you wanted to see a movie with me tonight around eight?" her dad asked.

"Not tonight dad. It's a school night." Sara said.

"Maybe Friday, then?" her dad asked. Sara smiled and headed to her room, snack in hand and Buddy following her.

Sara headed to the end of the hallway and turned the knob of the door on the left-hand side and entered.

Her room was painted light green with the closets and doors painted white. On the walls were horse drawings and pictures, a bulletin board with pictures that she had drawn on it and framed pictures of her dad, her mom and herself.

Towards the middle of the room was her bed. It had a green, purple and blue plaid comforter, six pillows and five stuffed animals. On the other side of the bed was a nightstand that held some little things that Sara had collected over the years.

Kitty-corner from the bed was Sara's bathroom. It had a shower, toilet and sink.

Other things in Sara's room included – her candle collection, a big-screen TV, Wii, bookshelves, DVD collection and her model horse & giraffe collections.

Sara put her bag on the floor next to her bed and turned on the TV while she had her snack. When she was finished with her snack, Sara turned off the TV and started on her homework while Buddy slept on the floor next to her bed.

An hour later, Sara headed to the stable to ride Piano Man. Rocketman put his head over his stall door and nickered.

"Sorry, boy. I rode you yesterday. It's Piano Man's turn. I'll ride you later, I promise." Sara told the horse as she led a beautiful chestnut gelding out of his stall. The only white marking he had was a small music note-shaped star on his forehead.

Sara put him in crossties and quickly brushed him before tacking him up under English tack and led him to the indoor arena.

Sara got used to Piano Man's walk before asking him for a trot. They went around the arena a total of four times before Sara asked him for a canter.

She quickly cooled him down before putting him back in his stall and headed to the house to help her dad with dinner.

"Hey honey. Grab your coat – I'm taking you out to dinner." Sara's dad told her as she kicked off the mud off her boots.

"Dad, I can't – it's a school night."

"Is your homework done?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No ifs, ands or buts. Your homework is done, so what's so bad about having a night out with your dad?"

"Nothing, but dad – you know my policy – on school nights, I stay in, get plenty of sleep and my homework done before I work the horses."

"Can you take a little time to have dinner with your old man?" her dad asked.

"Okay." Sara gave in to her father's pleas. She got her coat out of the closet and headed out the door with her dad.

The two of them ended up going to Sara's favorite Italian restaurant. Sara ordered her favorite – spaghetti, garlic bread and steamed carrots. Her father ordered baked ziti.

The conversation ranged from school to her father's job to the horses to everything in between.

It was moments like this that Sara cherished. She was taking on more responsibility when her father was out of town so much.

As Sara fell asleep that night, she hoped that she and her dad would continue to have their special bond.