For all of February, it seemed like they had endless rehearsals. They would finish a scene of one ballet, and move directly into the next ballet with only a small break inbetween. Meredith was worn out and tired, but when was she not? She was leading the whole company in most of the ballets which was stressful enough without having to learn five different ballets and show herself off to her greatest abilities. Jewels she had nailed down in one rehearsal; it was a small, half hour ballet where she and Derek were the lead, and it was just one part of a bigger ballet. Everything else was more complex, with multiple costume changes and more intense Pas'.

Onegin was the ballet for premiere night, a Tuesday in early March, and she found herself in her dressing room in a long white regency-era type gown. Lexie was across the room finishing her makeup, dressed in a costume identical to Meredith's. Meredith was nervous; both of her parents were out in the audience tonight. It had been decided by Roseridge that Ellis would come to her performances, to see what they did to her memory, and Thatcher was there for Lexie, and now Meredith as well. With five minutes to curtain, the girls ran up into the wings, putting on their pointe shoes and holding hands as they waited for the curtain to go up. Lexie was first on the stage, planning Tatiana (Meredith's) birthday party, when the corps entered and there was a dance, Lexie the center of attention. Mark's character entered and they had a pas, before Meredith entered as did Derek, with Tatiana falling in love with Onegin. The ballet continued for two more acts, the ending dramatic with Tatiana ordering Onegin out of her life.

The company took their bows, with Lexie and Meredith holding hands and curtsying to thunderous applause as the two sisters squeezed hands beside Mark and Derek. The curtain came down and the four of them embraced in a hug, the girls stepping on the guy's feet in their now-dead poiinte shoes, laughing happily. The stage hands were clearing the set from the stage and the four of them headed to their dressing rooms, Meredith and Lexie peeling off as they reached theirs. Amelia, who wasn't in the ballet, had made her way backstage to see her sisters.

"Guys, that was amazing! Lexie you were so beautiful dancing with Mark, your chemistry is seriously almost as great as Meredith and Derek," she grinned, her brown hair hanging past her shoulders for a change, her blue eyes shining. There was a knock in the doorway and Meredith looked with a smile; it was Thatcher with two bouquets of roses for Lexie and Meredith.

"You girls were beautiful out there tonight," he said, pulling Lexie into a tight hug. Meredith let him hug her as well and for a moment, the daddy issues and abandonment issues melted away. She had a dad, they were working on their relationship, and she smiled as she hugged him back. Amelia snapped a photo of the three Grey's before Thatcher kissed Lexie on the cheek, giving Meredith another hug.

"I'll see you girls tomorrow, Susan and Molly are coming with me the rest of the week, Molly basically demanded to see you guys and how could I say no? She might be part of the company soon." Meredith couldn't help but smile; she had gone from a hyper ten year old to a slightly more mature almost-13 year old brooding teenager who took ballet very seriously, wanting to be just like Lexie and Meredith. The girls said goodbye to Thatcher and quickly worked on getting ready to go home; they didn't bother taking off the makeup. Instead Meredith pulled a dress over her head with black tights, knowing they were going out to dinner, grabbing her coat and bag and heading to the guys dressing room. Luckily they were ready to go, and the group of six headed out to the two cars and out to the restaurant.

The next morning, class hit them all hard after dancing a full ballet the night before. The only two who weren't dying were Owen and Amelia, who kept making faces in the mirror, until Meredith managed to kick her in the back of the head during a grande battement.

"Totally not apologizing for that one," she said stubbornly, pivoting on her pointe shoe so she could repeat the exercise on the other side. Lexie snickered, remembering the time Meredith 'accidentally' kicked her in the head. Amelia scowled and grabbed her sweatshirt, balling it up and throwing it at Derek down the line.

"Derbear, your fiancée kicked me in the head!" He started laughing and shook his head.

"Good, cause if I did it mom would yell at her 20 something year old kids. This way, Meredith is off the hook." Meredith turned her head and smirked, beating her foot in petit battement, before springing up in a passé and balancing perfectly on the box of her pointe shoe, before plieing gracefully as the music ended.

Amelia was still glaring at her an hour later as they rehearsed Jewels; fortunately she was in Emeralds which came first, and Meredith was in Diamonds which came last. They had a whole 35 minutes during Rubies in which to bicker like siblings. Standing at the barre, she stretched out her long legs as she and Derek talked.

"Why did you kick her?" he smirked, pretending to stretch as well. Peeking up from under her bangs she giggled a bit.

"Because starting my morning with Amelia gloating is…not how I enjoy starting my mornings," she smirked back, leaning in and giving him a discreet kiss. She knew Webber was always watching his dancers, especially them, but she didn't really care. She watched them rehearse Emeralds with owen, working through her stretches, before watching Cristina and her corps dance through Rubies. She was paired up with Burke, and although Cristina never told her, she knew they were sleeping together. The two girls had grown apart over the past few months, but Meredith still knew things.

Amelia came to stand next to Meredith, pestering her with why she was mad and her and finally, Meredith rolled her eyes and turned towards her.

"I'm not mad at you, I just don't appreciate you gloating that you had a night off because you're a principal and can afford it," she said simply, before she and Derek were called for Diamonds. It started off with the corps and soloists; Lexie and Izzie were the soloists, and they danced for awhile before it was her and Derek's turn for their Pas. She loved this dance, with it's heavy Russian Vaganova style that was different from what she had been trained in, but now danced exclusively in. He lifted her into the air one last time and she came down gently, posing before running offstage, the demi-soloists running on, who consisted of April, Jo, Sadie, and Leah. She watched them from the sidelines before it was her time to dance again, then breathlessly run off. The entire dance was 31 minutes, and she was exhausted by the end, but pleased with her performance. Bailey gave them pointers as she and Derek worked on things in the corner, the rest of the cast working on other things. Finally they were let go, told to be back at 5:30 for the 8pm show.

Lexie, Amelia, and Meredith left to get food to bring back for them and the guys, running across the street and grabbing chinese before coming back, sitting on the floor of their dressing room in sweats with piles of food around them. They needed major carbs since they were about to burn everything off, knowing they were just going to eat more after the show to compensate for everything they burned off, aka the Chinese food. With over an hour to go, each girl started on her make up, an extensive process that each individual had down to a specific science. The dressers came and helped them into their tutu's; Amelia's was gorgeous green velvet and tulle, hitting below the knee, while Meredith and Lexie had slightly different variations of pure white satin and tulle, their tutu's extending straight out at the waist. The two girls had different tiara's; Lexie's was smaller white rhinestones, while Meredith's was heavier, more ornate, protruding from the top of her head, letting everyone know that it was her dance, she was the lead. She looked at herself in the mirror with a smile; as a child she had watched her mother perform this dance, and now she was following in her footsteps. She was even wearing the same costume; the tape on the tag inside faintly said 'Ellis', despite all these years later.

Watching Emeralds and Rubies from the wings, Meredith smiled at her friends and how much everyone had grown since she'd joined the company nearly two years ago. There was a 15 minute intermission before Diamonds was on, and even then there was 7 minutes before her and Derek made their entrance. She felt like she was floating as she did waltz turn after waltz turn, before being lifted high above the stage in Derek's arms, every moment with him sensual and loving. Whoever said ballet wasn't about love needed to be slapped.

Once Diamonds was over, all three ballets took their bows, and Meredith found herself backstage in a flurry of green, red, and white, men and women, as the crowd surged towards their dressing rooms. Meredith didn't want to take off her costume, even though she knew she'd be wearing it once or twice a week. After being helped out of her tutu and tiara, she stripped off her leotard and tights and pulled on leggings and a shirt, basking in the loose, comfortable clothing and laying on the couch, waiting for Derek to come to her. Amelia sat on her feet with a giggle, poking her sore calves.

"Whaaaaat Mia?" she whined, opening her eyes for a moment.

"We should start planning your wedding tonight, when the guys start drinking," she said with a grin. A smile started spreading across Meredith's face as she struggled into a sitting position.

"I…really really like that idea," she giggled. She wanted to look at wedding dresses badly, but her only free day's were Mondays, and she made a mental note to call area shops and make bridal appointments for any Monday's she could. She was eager to get everything started for their August wedding.

BREAK

Once the six got home, the men all grabbed a beer and sat in the living room, while the girls went upstairs and convened on Meredith and Derek's bed, with all three of them having their computers out and typing furiously.

"Do you know where you want to have it?" Amelia asked her, and Meredith bit her lip.

"We have to get married in a church, I feel like your mother would kill me if we didn't get married in a church," she admitted with a wrinkle of her nose. Amelia laughed and rolled her eyes.

"She totally would, Nancy and Kate managed to find churches that pleased Mom, now it's your turn," she giggled, shrugging her shoulders. "There's St. James Cathedral, we've been past it before, it's absolutely gorgeous."

"I'll drag Derek there Monday and we can take a look, and god, venues. And gowns. And bridesmaid gowns. I need Kate here from London," she pouted, her ash blonde hair falling in her face, still wet from the shower as she pulled a PNB shirt on over her tank top.

"Glad I could help," Amelia preened, earning another kick from Meredith, who smiled innocently.

"I'm so glad I have a big sister I can push around," she smirked, before leaning for Lexie and pulling her towards her. "But no one touches Lexie because she's my little sister. Except Mark. But then I don't want to know what goes on with that," she giggled, kissing Lexie's cheek and patting her on the head.

"Oh thanks Mere, the whole house knows what you and Derek do!" she complained, smacking her arm and Meredith laughed.

"Yeah but it's our house," she countered, rolling her eyes. "Don't worry, we'll have our own in the middle of the woods come summer," she laughed, lounging back into the pillows. She loved alone time with Amelia and Lexie, but she wished Nancy, Kathleen, and Lizzie could always be with them; instead they were all over the world happily living their own dreams. She was happy right where she was, dancing every night with the people she called family, working her way to the top with hard work and perseverance, hoping for a promotion in June.

Have another update guys! Now each update will be filled with ballet AND wedding planning, which is going to be so much fun to write and I can't wait!

For those wondering, I AM both a dance and pre-med major! I haven't started my pre-med classes yet, and at some point I will probably have to choose between the two. For dance I want to go into a field called Dance Therapy, it's along the lines of occupational therapy and is INSANELY rewarding, but so is surgery! If I can do both it would be FANTASTIC. But I'll probably have to choose

Anyway, I hope you liked this! If there's anything you'd like to happen, let me know and I'll make it happen! I love you guys!

Also: 25 chapters guys!