The group had to wait about 15 minutes for Tiffany to convince her manager it was time for her break. They stood next to the door, and as soon as he saw her emerge from the back, Justin pushed the door open and stepped into the crisp New York afternoon. The 5 walked silently down the sidewalk, the males keeping their hat shrouded heads down so as not to be recognized. The trip was a short one, only three or four blocks until Tiffany stopped them in front of a ivy-covered brownstone, but to those who had been living in confusion for the last week, it seemed like an eternity. This visit could determine the rest of their lives.

After bounding up a flight of stairs and unlocking the door, Tiffany finally broke the silence. “You can put your coats on the sofa, I will go see if she is awake.”

Nick nodded as the others followed her instructions, draping their jackets on the arm of the worn couch. As soon as she was out of sight though, they all began to talk at once.

Alicia stopped the chaos, sending a shrill whistle through her teeth. “OK guys, we know how important this is, but we gotta stay calm. It’s not going to help anything, getting all worked up.”

“You’re right Ally, but…I just can’t wait for everything to just go back to normal.” Nick sighed, draping his arm over his best friend’s shoulder. Al smiled tenderly at him, and pinched his cheek, but when she turned away from him she noticed the sadness in Leigh’s eyes. Her pain almost exactly mirrored Al’s earlier. Leigh didn’t want to lose Nick.

“So, you children need my help?” a soft, heavily accented female voice spoke in broken English. Justin, Nick, Leigh, and Alicia turned around to face the source of the words, and similarly, the source of their hope. She was a fairly short woman, with silky black hair, cut into a short bob over her ears. Her eyes seemed to smile on their own, and her clothing was slightly rumpled, as if she had just woken up. Tiffany stood behind her, and urged them with her eyes to show her grandmother the medallions. Justin and Nick stepped forward and handed her the amulets.

“We would be very happy if you could tell us what these say,” Nick said. Justin nodded his head in agreement, straight blonde locks falling into his eyes.

The elderly woman’s eyes scanned across the medallions one at a time. “This, this make no sense,” she said, looking slightly perplexed. The guys groaned slightly, losing all optimism. She then began to read the other one, and again, she looked confused. She glanced back and forth between the two, and then suddenly, a large smile broke out across her mouth.

“What, ma’am, what is it?” Justin was extremely anxious to find out what made the woman so happy. “These medals are two of kind. You need both to make other make sense. One has half of the message, and the other has the rest of message. They are just nonsense without other half,” she spoke, still grinning and proud that she had figured out the riddle.

“What do they say grandma?” Tiffany pressed.

“Oh, oh yes. They say ‘You were transformed, and you have discovered the other half, that makes you complete. But, you must love who you are now, and who you used to be before you will go back to the way it was. Prove these by embracing your previous self physically, and embracing the transformation in spirit.’ ” She paused. “Still sound like nonsense, but at least makes sentences now!”

They laughed with the quirky old woman, and then Leigh spoke up. “We should be going now, but thank you so much for your help.”

The old woman smiled, and handed the necklaces back to the boys, mumbling something about going back to sleep. Tiffany, who had remained quiet, and was a little baffled by the whole thing, received hugs and thanks from the other four. They left the apartment, and hailed a cab outside back to Justin’s hotel. Inside the taxi, they remained silent; each caught up in their thoughts. Nick and Justin split the cost of the ride, and emerged from the cab, looking at a group of very confused Backstreet Boys fans. They knew that Nsync was in town, but none of them had any idea that Justin and Nick were friends. After the confusion set it, the screaming began, and the guys signed a few autographs.

One girl, who seemed to be about 16, and was extremely pretty and athletic looking, looked at who she thought was Justin with disdain as he tried to sign an autograph for her.

“Uh, no thank you. I am here to see BSB, not the wannabes.” Nick tried so hard not to laugh, but it started to seep out anyway. Justin heard him laughing and came right over.

“What’s so funny man?” he asked.

“Oh, this lovely young lady here just informed me that she doesn’t want my autograph, cause I am a wannabe Backstreet Boy.”

Justin had to laugh at that as well. A mischievous grin appeared on his face and he looked at the girl again. “Hey, let me see your poster honey. I will sign it for you.”

The girl smiled, and after directed a pointed look at Nick, she handed Justin her picture of Nick. He wrote something thoughtfully, and then handed it back to her, kissing her softly on the cheek. She practically swooned, and Nick and Justin had to try really hard to contain their laughter. They bounded inside quickly.

The sight of the two baby boys of pop music, together, caused such commotion that the fans didn’t even notice Leigh and Al emerge from the cab and head inside.

Once they were safely inside Justin’s room, Nick had to ask. “What did you write to that girl Jus?”

Justin’s grin widened considerably. “I wrote ‘Irony sucks doesn’t it honey?’ and signed MY name.”

Nick burst out laughing. “That’s going to confuse her for years!”

“Guys, that was really funny, but don’t you think we should get this over with?” Leigh asked. She was beginning to feel extremely uncomfortable with the whole thing, and hoped that if it was quick and painless, she could get on with the long and tortuous task of trying to forget Nick Carter.

“Yeah, Leigh’s right,” Al spoke up. She was in the same boat as the sweet blonde girl sitting opposite her on the bed. She just wanted to hurry the process up. Maybe then it wouldn’t hurt as much to say goodbye to Justin.

The guys shrugged, and carefully slipped the medallions over their heads, letting them clank against the zippers of their lightweight coats. “Now what?” Justin asked.

“Now, I think we are supposed to hug, but while we are hugging we are supposed to think of all the good things we learned while we were in each others bodies,” Nick replied.

“OK, lets try it. But before we do, I just wanted to ask you something Nick.”

“Go for it, “ Nick replied.

“OK, well…what the fuck is with Frick and Frack? I swear, those are the gayest nicknames I have ever heard,” Justin stated.

“Don’t look at me, Howie gave them to us!” Nick flashed an ‘enough said’ smile at the room, and then spoke again. “I have a question, too. WHY on EARTH do you talk like you grew up in Harlem?”

“Hey dawg, I gots to keep it real yo!” Justin mocked in exaggeration. “Can we get back to normal now?”

“There is no hope that you two will ever be normal,” Al muttered, as Leigh said, “Dream on!” The girls looked at each other and began to giggle.

Justin and Nick shot them looks of anger and hurt, and then, without a word, they opened their arms to each other and embraced tightly.

Nick’s mind went through all of the things that he had learned while he was Justin. He now understood that his bandmates never meant to make him feel inferior, and that it was his own insecurities that caused him to get so angry with them. He learned that the guys in Nsync were an awesome group of guys, and that Justin was probably the only person in the world who would ever understand him. And he learned to love. Leigh’s face was foremost in his mind, and a tear trickled down his face, knowing that he would be losing her in a matter of minutes.

Justin’s thoughts were extremely similar. He was glad that he now had Nick to vent to, and that the Backstreet Boys and Nsync had finally bridged that gap that had been between them. He understood that he took out his stress too often on the other members of his group, which caused them to feel they needed to treat him like a child. And Justin realized that he had something with Alicia that he could never have with Leigh or any other woman ever again. He had found his one true love, and it scared him. It scared him to love her so intensely, and it scared him that he was losing her. A single tear escaped his closed eye, and slid down his face.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of red light and Nick and Justin broke apart, only to find that they were standing on a makeshift stage, in front of which, a hundred or so young girls were frozen midscream.

Justin looked up and saw Nick…Nick Carter, with his trademark too long bangs and expressive blue eyes, wearing a slightly baggy, sleeveless shirt and a pair of cargo pants.

Nick looked up and saw Justin…Justin Timberlake, his curls hidden beneath a baby blue fitted baseball cap and clad in a pair of Adidas tear-aways and a white wifebeater, his light blue eyes focused on him.

“We are back to normal?” they asked simultaneously.

“Yes,” a voice boomed from above. “Now, go embrace your missing half.”

This confused Justin and Nick, because they assumed that they were each other’s other half. They shrugged, closed their eyes, counted to three and opened them. They were back in the hotel room, and they were still hugging, but they were now right where they belonged. Well, almost.

Al looked at them expectantly. “So?”

“What, you don’t recognize me Ally? I’ve only known your sorry behind forever!” Nick said.

“Nickstar!” Al screamed, embracing her best friend again, the way she had always known him.

Leigh walked slowly up to Justin, and looked into his eyes. “Is it really you Jus?”

“Yeah Leigh Leigh, it’s me.” They looked at each other awkwardly, and then, seemingly out of obligation to the normalcy they had just regained; Justin bent his head slightly and captured her lips in a familiar, but lacking kiss.

“Well, uh, we had better be going now,” Justin said, hoping to escape his pain. “We’ll catch you all later, all right?”

“Uh, yeah Justin, see you around.” Justin looped his arm around Leigh’s waist and opened the door. They both glanced back wistfully and waved at Nick and Alicia, before entering the hallway.

(Late that night.)

Justin’s phone rang shrilly from where it rested on the night table. He groggily lifted his curls from the pillow and answered it. “’Lo?”

“I love her.”

“Nick is that you?”

“Yeah.”

“You love who? Al?”

“No, Justin. I love…I am in love with…Leigh, Justin, I am in love with your girlfriend.”

“Actually, you are in love with my best friend. We broke up.”

“You did?” Nick asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. “Why?”

Justin sighed. “Because…well…I love Alicia, Nick. And I am pretty sure that she loves me too.”

“We need to tell them, you know.”

“I know. And I think I have just the way to do it. Your birthday is next week, right?”

“Yeah, yours is too, right? The 31st?”

Justin smiled slightly. “Oh Nicky, you remembered!” He said in a high pitched voice, and they both laughed.

Nick spoke first. “What’s the big plan?”

“It goes something like this…”