"Ladies, tomorrow morning rehearsal is at 8AM. I expect each of you here forty five minutes prior to rehearsal and on stage stretching and at the barre by a quarter to." With a raised brow, she pointed to the door and the teenage ballerinas fled for the exit. When everyone was gone, she went up on pointe and bourreed across the studio floor. After she felt her ankles warmed up, she performed a routine with ease. A glance at herself in the mirror brought back painful memories and she collapsed on the floor, sobbing. This was not what she was supposed to be doing; this was not who she was.

Adelina Elliot - Addie was prefered and Lina was ignored - had not always been a miserable soul. At the age of twenty five, she was all skin and bones and her once beautiful, brown eyes now looked hollow in her too thin face. Her dark brown waves were worn long and were an attempt to hide her face from the world. If one ever had the opportunity to see her face and look past the sad aura, she was quite beautiful.

From the age of three, Addie had been enrolled in dozens of fine arts schools across the country, working ambitiously to be the prima ballerina all wanted to be. This was her passion, her life. When she turned thirteen, she was taken under the wing of Julia Russell, one of the greatest dancers ever known. Addie's mother, Deanna had danced with Julia for many years before her death and had made sure that Addie's talent would not be overlooked. And it hadn't.

In fact, Addie worked her butt off to reach some of the most envied roles on the ballet stage. Not only could she fluently dance on pointe, but she had been well trained in jazz, tap, modern and lyrical. She was a jack of all trades and a master of one. And that one was ballet. When she performed a ballet routine, her body, face, and eyes told the story. Julia most certainly kept her tightly under her wing, because she believed Addie to go places with dance. And she went far, until she turned eighteen.

Inside the safe confines of her office, Addie quickly checked her messages. One was from her sister, Maria asking if she was still coming for dinner:

"Hey. Dinner is at six. Don't be late and please don't come in a sweaty leotard. Bathing is required."

Addie rolled her eyes. I'm not a dirtball, Maria. I do own a bathtub and I use it frequently, she mumbled.

One was a dancer calling in sick:

"Miss Adelina, I'm," cough, cough, "super," cough, cough, "sick, and I can't," sneeze, "make it."

Lies, she said with a smirk, knowing the many times she had pulled that trick when she was younger.

The latter was from her father, the company director, reminding of her of the meeting with the new dancer.

"I hope you didn't forget your meeting with the Natalie girl. She has been in the lobby for ten min-"

Addie ran down the corridor in her bare feet and halted when she saw the pretty girl with short auburn locks practicing her routine in the tiny lobby.

"Natalie?" Addie questioned. The girl spun around. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you'd forgotten about me; I know you're busy."

"No, class ran over," she lied, not wanting to admit she had been trying to relive her dreams of dance. "Follow me. We can chat in the studio, before you show me your audition piece."

Natalie was fast paced and outgoing, the kind of girl Addie had wanted to be, but never was. Although Natalie had ballet technique, her passion was in modern and lyrical, where the technique was not required. She had amazing leaps and could contort her body for the awkward poses modern required. After her piece was performed, she plopped down on the floor.

"Critique away, ma'am," she said with a smile.

Addie smirked. "I don't believe I need to. You have a great talent, Natalie. I teach one modern class and the performances are not as frequent as ballet, but we cover more material and learn more than one dance at a time."

"So, I don't have to leave here with my tail between my legs?" Natalie asked enthusiastically.

"Not today, but I can't promise that I am always in a good mood at rehearsals." Addie's phone buzzed and she saw it was Maria again and ignored the call. "Anyway, Natalie, Monday thru Fridays practices are 9 from 11. Is that a problem?"

"Nope, not at all.

"See you Monday," Addie replied with a smile as she watched Natalie exit from the room. Something was very familiar about her, but what was it?

A/N: I'm attempting a full-length fanfic on Persuasion. I do write a lot of my own creations, but never based off of someone else's work in a full-length version. First, I am not a big fan of men ballet dancers; I honestly find it disgusting if they are in tights and whatnot. I am a dancer and it's easier to write about what you know. Not everything will be solely the same as Jane Austen's work, but I like to be creative. Some characters may be removed, but not ones that will destroy the plot. Bare with me, please. :) -Mal