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 79th cycle. Now cycle 80!

"Here the Light"
(Older) Rachel, Chloe (OC)
Red series (FINAL INSTALLMENT)
(no listings yet; sequel to "A Life Now")

It had been one of the first things Rachel Berry had ever taught her, and now she was beginning to understand it. Her mentor and idol had told her that being nervous was a good thing, that if she ever stopped being even a little nervous about those big moments, then she might have gone from confidence to over-confidence. Maybe she was still years away from something like that, but on this day… On this day, she was about to do something massive. After all the preparation, the rehearsals, the ups and downs, Kurt Hummel's new musical, starring Chloe Clarke, was about to have its first performance in front of a packed audience. Chloe didn't have to worry about going in there a little nervous; she was very, very, locked in her dressing room hyperventilating nervous.

As much as getting the part had been a turning point in her life, this night, the first time people would have paid money to come and sit and watch her… it was taking an entire spinning top to her life. Would they remember her from this? And if they did remember her, would it be in a good way, or would she become a laughing stock? Or what if they didn't even remember her? She could be so unmemorable that they'd never hire her again, or they'd just fire her on the spot and she'd be run out of the state for having wasted their time… There were no scenarios too big or too crazy for her to consider as entirely possible.

There was a knock at the door, and she startled, clamping her mouth shut so she wouldn't be heard and they'd think she wasn't there.

"Chloe?" She gasped despite herself. It was Rachel Berry's voice. "Chloe, I know you're in there, just let me in, I'm on my own, alright?" She still hesitated, but finally, mindful not to rip her costume, she stretched out and unlocked the door. Rachel opened the door, found her crouched there, and came in, shutting and locking the door behind her. "Hey, it's alright," she came and pulled her to her feet, getting her to sit on one chair while she pulled another forward to sit in front of her.

"I don't know… what's gotten into me… I can't breathe, I can't… I can't do this…" she shook her head, her voice coming out choked. How was she supposed to sing like this?

"Breathe, you can do it," Rachel insisted, leading her through it. Slowly, she took one deep shuddering breath, then another, less so, and another, every time better. "If you feel sick at all, you just let me know, don't hold back."

"No, I'm not, I…" she tried to shake the thought away, afraid her brain would suddenly decide that was an excellent idea.

"Hey, come on now, you've got this," Rachel had her hands, which had been frozen up until then.

"I'm gonna mess this up, I know I will…" she shook her head.

"You will not. If I didn't mess up my first performance, even though I felt like I was going to be sick enough for the entire cast, then you can get through this."

"Everyone's here, everyone…" She'd invited them all, Tara, and Eva, and Marcus, and Thomas, the entire workshop, her friends and family from back home, her parents, George, Rachel and Sophie and Julian… "I keep imagining them, sitting there and just…" she shook her head, not wanting to put into words the nightmares she'd been having.

"Chloe, you listen to me right now," Rachel gave her hands a squeeze. "You didn't get here because someone did you any favors. I took you into my workshop because I saw you perform, I saw your potential. And you won this part because you worked hard for it, as much as everyone else did. You got picked, because you were the one who was supposed to play this role. Do you think they would have let it get this far if they didn't think you were exactly what they needed? What happened to that girl I've known all this time, the one who sat with me in that coffee shop? You're going to go out there today and you're going to show them exactly what we've all seen in you. You're going to blow them so far away, and they'll be able to say they were there, they saw Chloe Clarke, the first night she took the stage. That's how much we all believe in you, so breathe deep, stand up, and get going. Curtain will be up soon."

And then she was breathing at ease, and the thrumming of her heart was like a furnace, powering up an engine. She started to leave, to go and get in place, but then she stopped, turning away just once more, so that she could go and put her arms around her mentor.

"Thank you… Thank you, for everything you've done," she told Rachel Berry. "I know you said I've worked hard to get here, and I have… But I want you to know, everything I've earned, I never would have gotten there so well without you." She was hugged back, firmly, and then the engine was a go.

As she stood there, waiting for the curtain to go up, as the orchestra prepared to give the first notes, Chloe Clarke spared a thought for her father, her birth father. She had never gotten to face him in the end, and she might never in all the days and years to come, and she was alright with that. But at the same time, if it hadn't been for him leaving, she would have had no reason to run to New York to try and find her. She never would have met Rachel Berry, never got to this place where she stood, not now, maybe not ever. She would never know what her life would have been like if not for that need to seek him out, and she didn't want to know. As she was, in that moment, with the lights going up, the music and the applause… Her life was just as she could want it… and the future was bright.

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!