Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 68th cycle. Now cycle 69!

"An Opportunity"
Sue & Brittany
Sylvesters series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

A/N: This is the final installment in the Sylvesters series. To find out what comes next,
check out the Boston Britt series, which you can also find under the communities tab in my profile

Hardly anything happened in this school without Sue Sylvester knowing it, especially when it came to her Cheerios, especially when it came to one Cheerio, if that Cheerio happened to be her daughter. And when a man appeared, following her, watching her, Sue immediately grew suspicious and ready to strike back with force, if necessary.

She knew the man had not even made contact with Brittany yet by the time she had cornered him, and when she found out who he actually was, what he was doing at McKinley, it gave her pause.

The man introduced himself as James Maurizio, and he was here in Lima on behalf of the school he worked for, back in Boston. It was a dance school, and he was looking at Brittany as a potential student for them to have. He had found her through the Glee Club's performance videos, and through the Cheerios as well. If Brittany went and auditioned for them, she could be transferring there in a matter of weeks, leaving McKinley in the middle of the school year. She would be leaving even before college became an issue.

She doubted the man realized he was talking to his prospective student's mother. To him she was probably nothing more than the girl's cheerleading coach. She left him that day without informing him of any of this; she needed to process it for herself.

It wasn't so long ago that she'd been saying it, just like this, that Brittany's best option might not be college. Now here they were, with an opportunity for her to go to a dance school, to follow on with something she had excelled at all this time. No wonder they would want her.

She just didn't realize it would happen so fast, that they would come and take her daughter from her so soon. She thought she still had time, weeks, months, all of summer… they were going to do something special, they had to. Now all those plans were crumbling away, like some kind of mirage. They might still get to vacation, probably, only… it wouldn't be to see her off into life on her own; she would already be there.

She had to let it happen, she'd said so all along. She had to help her make the right decision, no matter how hard it would be, no matter how much doubt would be involved. The people at that school knew exactly what she'd known all along, that her daughter was special, that she belonged out there, rising and rising. Sue would only have to accept it.

The next few days would happen before her eyes, and she'd have to act like she didn't know exactly where this was going.

She knew when Brittany had finally talked to him, she could see it in her eyes. But Brittany didn't mention it, not yet. Maybe she didn't want to say until she knew what she would do. That was something she might do. Then one afternoon, she'd come home and walked into the kitchen to find her sitting there, waiting. She looked grown and important.

"Everything alright?" Sue played clueless.

"I need to go to Boston," Brittany declared.

"Boston?"

"It's in Massachusetts," Brittany added.

"Yes, I know where it is. What I want to know is why." Her daughter was nervous.

"I have an audition, to go to a dance school there. There was a man, a scout, and he told me about it. I don't even know if they'll take me, but I should try, right?"

"It won't hurt to try," Sue pointed out, sitting with her.

"Well… I just don't know if I should."

"Why shouldn't you?" Sue asked, but Brittany didn't know what to say. Sue looked at her, wishing she could say 'you don't need to go to that school, not when you could stay right here with me.' "Do you want to go?"

"To the audition? Yeah," Brittany nodded.

"I mean to the school."

"That's where they have the auditions, so…"

"Brittany," Sue gave her a look. Her daughter had a way of making comments like that when she wanted to ignore a topic.

"I don't know. Maybe." She didn't know whether to look at her mother or not. Sue put her hand over hers, and Brittany finally looked up. "Yes. They might not even take me."

"I tell you now, they'd be a special kind of idiot if they didn't," Sue promised her, and it made her smile.

So one day, Brittany had gone off to her audition in Boston, with Santana and Mike there to accompany her. Sue spent that day waiting at home, wondering what the future had in store for her family. Either Brittany was selected and moved off to Boston, for months, maybe permanently, or they didn't take her, and Sue would have to find a way to rebuild her daughter. They wouldn't know for weeks, and she was certain it was as agonizing a wait for Brittany as it was for her. She didn't know how to prepare herself for the answer any more than Brittany did. She just wanted to know, one way or the other.

The letter came one day and, even without opening it – that was up to Brittany – Sue knew what it would say. When they didn't want you, they didn't go into too much detail. It was one small envelope, one sheet folded in three sections. This envelope looked like it contained a whole stack of sheets: she was in.

Later Sue would be sad, she'd be lonely, she'd go through an entire array of emotions over her daughter leaving for Boston. But that wasn't the emotion she got when she saw that envelope. She had never felt so proud as a mother as she did then. She could see it all in her head, flashing in the span of seconds. She saw her first steps, her first dance-like shimmies. She saw a little girl standing in front of a television, imitating the people she saw on the screen, she saw her twirling about. She saw how much it had all become a part of who she was, how it had changed them in the best way.

They would still be mother and daughter, always; this would always be her home. If her little girl was going to leave this home, then she couldn't think of a better way.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!