Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: it's amazing I updated so soon again huh? )
Emilie did get a chance to tell everyone eventually. She had rehab in between rehearsals; Dr. Leyla had given her the okay but told her to still go to physical therapy to make sure she was fully recovered. Nicol had rehearsals in between training sessions, which were getting more and more intense. There were more than a couple of times where Nicol sported a sore body with a few bruises here and there. He was laying on his bed icing down his shoulder after Miguel had landed a pretty hard kick to him. He didn't even notice Emilie had come over until she spoke.
"Hey, where were you?" he heard Emilie's voice at the door.
Nicol looked up from his bed to see Emilie leaning on his bedroom door clad in sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt under the black shirt everyone had received who was involved with the ballet. He smiled at her and winced when he sat up. "Training. How was rehearsal today?"
"Good, what the hell happened to you?" When she saw the outline of a bruise on his shoulder under the ice pack, she immediately walked over to him. She pulled away the ice pack and saw just how hideous it was. "God that's ugly. That looks horrible." She took the ice pack from him and held it to his shoulder herself.
"Don't worry, it feels worse." He joked. "Anything interesting today?"
"No. We um, we just ran through big sections of the ballet." She felt a pink tinge grow on her cheeks. How was she supposed to react when her boyfriend was sitting shirtless on his bed and his military training had left his body nicely muscled?
"You okay?" he asked her noticing the pink. "You look flushed, are you getting sick?" he put a hand to her forehead.
"I'm fine," she forced down her slight flush. She picked up the ice pack and looked at the variety of colors appearing on his shoulder and sighed. "Does it hurt bad?" she asked softly.
Nicol looked up at her. His rich chocolate eyes met with her deep emerald ones and her heart melted all over again. "No, not too bad." He said just as softly. She could tell he was lying but she also knew that he wouldn't admit he was in pain.
Emilie hesitated for a second before her head dipped low and she kissed his shoulder lightly. "There." She murmured and the pink was back.
Nicol tilted her chin up to look at him. Emilie wasn't a girl who was drop dead gorgeous, striking, or exceptionally beautiful but she was pretty. Something simple and subtle about it and it was just that that made it difficult for him to breathe when she was so close to him. She smiled widely at him and he stopped breathing completely. He couldn't resist the urge to kiss her and he did, deeply. When he pulled away from her, she was completely dazed.
"Um…" she tried to say but there was nothing in her head. "Are you hungry?" she said without thinking then groaned. "Stupid suggestion. Sorry."
Nicol just chuckled lightly. "I'll order in. you look a little flushed." He teased her and left the room leaving Emilie with no choice but to follow glaring at his bare back while her cheeks were indeed deeply flushed.
The day of the ballet came and everyone spent the morning in dress rehearsals. By the time Patricia had let them off to relax, Emilie was wiped out. She walked down in to the orchestra pit where Nicol was still practicing.
"Hey em." He looked up briefly then looked back down at the keys.
She sat down next to him and rested her head against his shoulder. "How about you dance and I'll play piano tonight?"
Nicol stopped playing and looked at her. "As terribly tempting as that sounds, I'm going to have to pass. I think I would look a little funny jumping around onstage in your tutu."
Emilie laughed at the thought of her big bad army pilot boyfriend dancing around in a tutu. "Maybe you're right. Ugh, I can't feel my legs."
"That could be bad." Nicol joked and continued playing the piano.
"Just a little." Emilie rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
"Hey twinkle toes, how's it going?" Konami had arrived and was looking down at them. She was with Athrun.
After his engagement to Lacus had been announced, Konami and Athrun had spent the duration from the break up to the ballet separated taking time to move on. They weren't friends and the attraction that had brought them together in the first place was still strong but they were going to support their friends and that meant putting whatever unresolved feelings between them away for the night.
"Let's go get something to eat." Athrun suggested to the couple.
Nicol and Emilie looked at each other and nodded. They headed up the steps were she put on her sweatpants and some regular shoes. They headed out to a regular fast food place where Emilie ordered the biggest burger on the menu.
"Are you a little hungry there Emi?" Konami teased her.
"Have you been up since six this morning jumping around like an idiot? No. I don't even know why I do this anymore." Emilie took another bite of her burger.
Konami rolled her eyes. "Every single time you have one of these it's the same thing. You do it because you love it. Duh."
"And every single time I have one of these I always wonder why I do." Emilie sighed and continued to devour her burger.
"What are we going to do after the show? We're going to have to celebrate you getting offers." Konami raised an eyebrow devilishly.
"Don't say that! Everyone knock on wood!" Emilie cried out. They did as they were told while Athrun and Nicol shared confused looks.
"Offers? What offers?" Nicol asked.
"Oh yeah, I never told you. This ballet is kind of like a showcase for all the major companies and schools. They come and scout and if you're good enough then you get your career started." Emilie explained.
"And there's only one school Emi has been wanting to go to for years now." Konami added.
"Which is?" Athrun asked.
"You should know it pretty well, The Progressions School of Contemporary and Classical Dance. That's where Ms. Zala went." Emilie said with a slight smile on her face. "It's the best and every single one of their dancers have had amazing careers."
"Will they be there tonight?" Nicol asked then took a sip of his coke.
"Probably not. They don't come unless there is a lot of buzz around a particular ballet or dancer." Emilie sighed heavily. "But if I get offers then I'll be able to apply there. They won't look at your application unless they know you have other offers."
"They won't look at you unless they know other schools want you? Doesn't that mean that they're getting the other schools to do their work for them?"
"Yeah but I guess it's their way of making sure you're good." Emilie looked at her watch and saw that it was five. "Crap, we have to get back. I need to get my hair done and my make up then put on the costume and do touch ups then pictures then-"
"Hey, slow down and breathe calmly. We'll get there in time." Nicol grabbed her shoulders gently and she nodded.
The four teens raced out of the restaurant and back to the school. Once they arrived, Nicol, Athrun, and Konami were recruited into helping move all the props and things into the actual performance hall. Emilie was rushed away to get her ready. Trees were moved flowers were reorganized, and instruments were moved. It was always tradition for them to have the stage set up at last minute. Not a very efficient tradition but it worked and all previous shows had gone on without any problems. Nicol was given a tuxedo and sent on his way.
He always felt weird wearing one, even when he was studying with his private teacher and had to give small performances in the park. Once he had walked away from the volunteers who were handing out the uniforms to the orchestra, he took off his tie and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt. Then he went about trying to find Emilie's dressing room. He walked in circles for a few minutes before he found the small room at the back that read "E. Tekada". "Guess this must be it." He thought.
He knocked and heard her voice invite him in. when he opened the door, he saw that she was sitting at the vanity looking at some far off point in the mirror. "Hey em."
She turned to look at him and smiled. "Hey, I see you have your penguin suit."
He was a bit taken aback when he saw how heavy her makeup was. "Um, yeah."
Emilie tilted her head to the side and then realized why he was so surprised to see her. "Oh! The makeup? Yeah, we have to do it heavy so that it looks normal from off stage. I do look a little scary don't I?"
Nicol shook his head and walked over to her. "No, I was just surprised. I don't think I've seen you wear makeup since we met. You look a little queasy, are you okay?"
"I'm just a little nervous you know? This is the first time I've ever been a principal on this big of a scale. Schools and companies are going to be watching me, judging me." she responded and looked back at the mirror.
Nicol put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them lightly. "It's going to be fine em. I bet you could do this ballet backwards and forwards."
"I know that but I'm still really nervous. What if I mess up something and then everyone laughs and all those scouts are like 'oh no, we don't want her, she sucks.' Then I get kicked out of school and I get no job and I have to end up working at-"
Nicol silenced her with a swift kiss. He had only wanted to stop her nervous rambling so he was surprised when he pulled away that she stood and threw her arms around him and kissed him fiercely. Then she pulled away as abruptly as she had kissed him.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." She said and turned away from him.
Nicol was still pleasantly surprised as he looked at her and cleared his throat. "No, that was um…nice." he didn't really know what to say. Instead he hugged her tightly to his chest and heard her sigh contently.
"I really don't know what I would do without you." Emilie murmured then let out a soft laugh. "When did I get so dependent on you?"
Before Nicol could answer, there was a knock at the door and Ms. Zala came in. "Emilie, time to go. The orchestra is waiting for you Nicol." She smiled at Emilie. "Don't worry, you'll do fine. I used to get nervous all the time. I used to take it as sign that I really knew what I was doing. If you feel confident then you're bound to screw something up."
Emilie laughed and ms. Zala left to prepare the other dancers. She picked up a big flower pin from the vanity. "Can you pin this in for me? I'll tell you where I just need you to put it in for me." she handed Nicol the pin.
"Um yeah but don't blame me if you get your hair messed up." He took the pin and slipped it in where she had asked him. They left hand in hand for the stage. Nicol left her in the wings and he went down to the orchestra pit and made sure that the piano was in tune. Before he noticed, the director called for them to be quiet and the lights dimmed. It was starting now.
The curtains flew open and Emilie stood in the middle of the stage in her starting position. The music started and her feet moved in time and as had been rehearsed for the past several months. As Nicol looked up briefly while he was playing, he could tell there was something different about her as she danced. She had an aura about her that she was born to be on that stage and that seemed to capture everyone watching. There were a couple times where he had been so mesmerized, he had almost missed his entrances but luckily his fingers knew the music a little better than his brain did at the time. The pale blue gray costume accented her slightly pale skin and her eyes could be seen from a mile away, they were particularly bright under the stage lights. The heavy makeup that he had seen in the dressing room before now looked good and not overly done.
Konami watched with pride as she saw her best friend "jump around" as Emilie had put it earlier. She knew dance was Emilie's entire life and as much as Konami loved jazz, she loved fashion just a little more. When the time would come to pick college universities, she would head off to fashion school and Emilie would be at progressions (hopefully) by then.
Intermission came and everyone got a small break. Nicol headed over to Emilie's dressing room again but the director wasn't letting anyone leave the orchestra pit so he talked to Emma instead.
"Hey Emma, how's it going?" he asked her.
"Hey Nicky. Let's see when was the last time I saw you? This morning?" she laughed. "I'm good, how are you?" she put her violin on her chair and stretched. "Thankfully this is the last year I have to sit down here."
"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that this is your last year here. This is actually pretty interesting. I've never really paid attention to the ballet when I'm not playing and it looks pretty cool." Nicol loosened his bow tie some. "This stupid thing is the only thing that's annoying me though. I hate wearing these."
"Be glad you don't have to wear this funeral outfit." Emma said referring to the all black top and pants uniform she was forced to wear. "Have you told her yet?"
"Told her what?"
Emma rolled her eyes. "That you're not going to be around much longer? That after nutcracker you're not going to be our pianist? The sooner the better you know."
"I know," Nicol rubbed the back of his neck, "I just can't find the words to say hey in about a month and a half, I'm leaving for war."
"Well you don't have to say it like that but she has to understand. She knows that first and foremost you're in the military." Emma reasoned with him. "I think she's let it go to the back of her mind but all of us know that there's a war out there and that you're going to be out there protecting us so that we can have this peace here."
"I know. I just didn't think it would be this hard to say that I'm leaving. It feels so different this time." Nicol slipped back into his slight brooding mood he was prone to have without Emilie around.
"That's because you really care about her which I am glad to know. If you didn't, I might have to kick your ass." Emma joked but Nicol knew that under that was a serious threat.
The director called everyone back to their places and the lights dimmed again. The curtain was pulled back revealing the corps dancers to start off the second act. Nicol really didn't have much to play in the second act since it was mainly percussion and strings. He watched Emilie dance with the same passion as she had before but her costume had changed. She was in a red leotard with a red romantic tutu that fell mid calf. Before he knew it, the curtain closed and there was a roar of applause. It was over. After months of hectic preparations and injuries, it was finally over. The curtain opened once again to show the entire cast for them to bow, closed, and then opened a final time to let the principal dancers bow to the audience.
"Leave all the instruments here for tonight. We'll begin hauling everything back to the music building tomorrow and we'll start relearning the music for nutcracker. Go home everybody and great job." The director smiled at his orchestra then left. Everyone was cleared out of the theatre by then. Nicol and Emma walked together into the grand foyer where they looked for Emilie.
There was a crowd of people standing around waiting for the dancers to leave the backstage area and the dressing rooms. Konami and Athrun spotted Nicol and Emma and joined them.
"That was really good. I overheard the suits over there talking about Emi." Konami divulged to the group and discreetly pointed to the several men and women dressed in business attire talking amongst themselves.
"So those are the scouts em said would be here. They don't look so scary to me." Nicol joked.
"They've got to be crazy if they don't want my sister. I think this was the best she's ever danced in her life." Emma commented and examined the scouts closely. She recognized a majority of them from their consistent appearance at the annual ballet every year but there were a few that were new to her. Especially a young woman in a powder blue pencil skirt with matching coat.
There was another big round of applause as all of the dancers walked in to the foyer. Emilie ran over to join her friends as soon as she spotted them standing together. She jumped onto Nicol's back and the huge grin on her face was hard to miss.
"Hey guys! Did you like it?" she asked.
Nicol let her down so she could hug everyone else but said; "You were fantastic."
"Yeah, I actually watched this one. You can even ask Athrun, I was awake for the entire thing." Konami told Emilie.
Emilie glared playfully at her at first but then laughed. "Well, better late than never." Emilie turned to her sister and they shared a knowing look. "Well I hate to leave you guys but I've got to go to the office. They're calling us one by one to tell us our offers."
"I'm gonna head home then. I saw mom and dad earlier but they were leaving. Mom's not feeling too good." Emma said and hugged her sister tightly. "I'm sure that there are going to be so many people that want you that you're not going to know what to do with all of them."
"I hope so. I'll see you at home then." Emilie turned back to her friends. "Well, see you later."
When Emilie came back about a half an hour later, she had the most unreadable expression on her face clutching a white card tightly. Konami, Athrun, and Nicol rushed over to her worried.
"What's wrong?"
"What happened?"
"Who's butt do I need to kick?"
They pelted her with questions until Konami looked at the white business card in Emilie's hand. She gasped as she read it aloud. " 'Skyler Totem representative of The Progressions School of Contemporary and Classical Dance. Sorry I couldn't stick around Emilie but call me. We have your potential future at progressions to talk about.' Are you serious? Emi! This is it! This is amazing! Congratulations!" Konami hugged Emilie tightly.
Emilie finally snapped out of her trance and squealed girlishly. "I'm going to progressions!" her and Konami started jumping up and down in excitement. "This is one of the greatest moments of my life, can you believe it?!"
Nicol and Athrun looked at each other then approached the girls. "So what happened?" Nicol finally asked.
Emilie stopped jumping up and down long enough to explain. "I went in there and Ms. Zala was telling me that there were a lot of important people who liked what they saw. She handed me all of the business cards and just as I was about to leave she handed me this one and was like 'I think you'll like this one the best'. This is so surreal, I can't believe that they were here."
"This is really great Emilie, congratulations." Athrun told her. "So why don't we go celebrate?"
"I fully agree." Konami linked her arms with Emilie and Athrun and Emilie linked her arm with Nicol's. "Let's go!"
The four teens left but then looked at each other when they realized that they didn't know where to go. They stood outside debating where to celebrate when Emilie suggested mini golf and off they went. It was boys against girls with the boys letting the girls win just because it was a big night for Emilie.
"You know that I'm really proud of you right?" Nicol said softly to Emilie as they walked to her house arm in arm after splitting from Konami and Athrun.
Emilie smiled up and him and kissed him. "Yeah I know. I never thought that this would happen, especially after my first performance in something so big. I don't think that it's sunk in yet."
"I'm sure it will. Where is the school anyway?" Nicol was curious. He had been all over the city and had never noticed the school.
"It's about two hours outside of the city. I guess it would make it hard for us to see each other all the time like we do now." Emilie looked up and him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"It's going to be hard whether you go or not."
"What do you mean?"
Nicol stopped and sighed. "I didn't want to say this now but I'm leaving in mid January. I'm being deployed and that's why I've been in more and more training sessions."
"I see…" Emilie trailed off. She knew that there was going to be a day when he left, she just never expected it would come so soon. She didn't really know what to say.
"I know that this is a lot to think about right now but we don't have to deal with this yet alright? We can deal with it later. Right now, it's just you and me spending time together." He held her face gently in his hands.
Emilie nodded. "I have a feeling that when I wake up tomorrow morning, I'm going to be totally overwhelmed."
Nicol kissed her forehead softly. "I'm sure everything is going to be just fine."
They smiled at each other and kept walking. Everything was going to be just fine.
A/N: well, there's another one turned out and in less than six months! Thank you for the reviews and please keep them coming! )