Note: Hello! Welcome to Sapphic Giselle. Full disclosure: I have no idea how many chapters this will be nor how often I will be able to update. I have an outline of where I want the story to go but I haven't mapped out chapters.

American National Ballet was a real company but they folded after roughly one month of existence. It was a mess. But, I like their name so I repurposed it for this story, sorry not sorry. I used to be a ballet dancer so consider this reputable. I'm sorry in advance for the jargon. ABT has an excellent ballet dictionary if you want to look anything up. If it's too difficult to understand please let me know and I'll try to adjust future chapters – this one isn't too jargon heavy but as we get into rehearsal and class scenes ballet terms might pop up.

Also note:

-"merde" does in fact mean "shit" in French, but for ballet dancers it's how we say good luck.

-rank: apprentice, corps de ballet, soloist, principal – just in case anyone didn't know corps de ballet translates to body of the ballet – so, the ensemble basically.

-Rep is short for repertoire

Enjoy!

The theater was filled with chatter as the guests filed in from the dinner portion of the evening. Backstage, the dancers were warming up and performing their usual pre-show rituals. As the house lights dimmed, the audience quieted and three individuals slipped out in front of the red velvet curtain and into the spotlight.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," began the tall blonde woman, "thank you for attending American National Ballet's annual Ballet Ball! Each year we gather together to celebrate this incredible organization and seek to take ballet to new heights. The work we do wouldn't be possible without your generous support. I hope you enjoy the performance portion of the evening; we have a delightful program put together for you. But first, a few remarks from our Artistic Director, Rupert Gold." Polite applause filled the space as Mallory Drake, the CEO of ANB, passed the microphone to Gold.

"Thank you again for being here," Gold started, in his thick Scottish accent. Despite years living in the United States, it never seemed to dilute. "We are grateful to have such a generous community supporting American National Ballet. This season has certainly been one for the books! We started off the year in classic style with Fa Mulan's beloved Swan Lake, followed by our mixed rep show in October featuring Alexei Ratmansky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Savannah Dunn's Women, and William Forsythe's In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated. We waltzed into the holiday season with Washington D.C.'s favorite Nutcracker. Our spring season began with a dazzling run of George Balanchine's Jewels, followed by a more contemporary mixed rep show featuring Leslie Telford's Anamnesis, Christopher Wheeldon's After the Rain, and Crystal Pite's Emergence. That brings us to here and now." He gestured wide with his arms, before continuing. "I'll let you read the repertoire for this evening in your programs, but I would like to take a moment to talk about our upcoming run of shows and our season finale: Fa Mulan's brand-new staging of the beloved romantic ballet, Giselle!"

The crowd applauded politely, as the second woman standing next to Gold waved tentatively from the stage.

"This staging will be completely unique," he stated with eyebrows raised. "Everyone says that before they restage a ballet, but this time it really does ring true. In Mulan's new staging, our beloved peasant girl not be falling for the roguishly handsome Count Albrecht, but rather the boldly beautiful Countess Alberta."

Several soft gasps could be heard throughout the audience. At the beginning of the season, Mulan's new staging of Giselle had been announced but the company had been very tight-lipped about what exactly to expect.

Backstage, the dancers paused what they were doing and stared at the backside of the curtain in confusion.

"Did she just say what I think she said?" blurted a tall blonde dancer sporting a pastel pink romantic tutu.

She was promptly shushed by her lanky brunette companion in a matching costume. "Careful Emma, the curtain isn't that thick!" Ruby whispered urgently. Emma lifted her arms in a defensive gesture. Dancers broke out in whispers around the stage.

"Didn't realize we would be doing Sapphic Giselle as our season finale…" muttered Emma to Ruby. "I mean, I'm all for it, but it seems a little ballsy given some of our board members…"

"I know what you mean," replied Ruby with an accompanying eyeroll. "It's 2019, you'd think they'd get with the program. Pretty sure our CEO is a flaming lesbian anyway – I'm surprised they haven't sniffed her out yet."

"Jesus Ruby…." admonished Emma.

"What? It's true. I'm positive she's sleeping with her assistant." Ruby insisted. "Ella comes out of her office after lunch every day with sex hair. Change my mind."

"Do you two mind finishing your gossip session later?" A nearby dancer snapped. Her dark brown hair was pulled into an elegant bun at the crown of her head, and a grey/blue flowing dress covered her petite frame. "Some of us are trying to focus and prepare for the performance that starts in five minutes."

"Sorry…" Emma offered insincerely. The shorter brunette huffed, and with an eyeroll turned back to her partner and resumed rehearsing. "It's too bad Regina's such a bitch, I want to look up to her so bad," whispered Emma to Ruby. Regina was one of two female principal dancers in the company. While her performance captivated both the audience and her fellow dancers, she had a reputation for being a bit of an ice queen.

"I know, it's a pity," conceded Ruby. "Wanna go get some last-minute rosin on our shoes and listen to the rest of the speeches? I think Mulan's talking about Giselle and I'm actually pretty curious what this whole thing is about."

"Yeah, good idea," replied Emma. The pair wove between dancers to get off stage into the wings. Each took a turn dabbing their feet in the rosin box and crushing the small yellow crystals with the tips of their pointe shoes. Out in front of the curtain, Mulan now held the audience's attention with her comments on Giselle.

"As a queer woman, I wanted to tell the story I never get to see. Ballet is the most gendered art form out there – to the point where men and women actually train differently. You can look at any painting or sculpture and the artist's gender isn't inherently obvious; you can listen to any cello concerto and the gender of the composer, conductor, soloist, and other members of the orchestra is indecipherable. However, in dance, your body is your instrument. I think in the past we've been very bound by that but I don't think it has to be seen as a boundary. My restaging of Giselle is still going to be classical. This isn't a modern spin on a classical favorite. Alberta will wear a dress, and dance en pointe, and look very feminine, but she will also be partnering Giselle. Some lifts will likely have to be altered, but the pas de deux's will still be very recognizable. Queer can still be classical. I'm extremely lucky to be resident choreographer at ANB and to have been given this wonderful opportunity. I hope to see you all at the show! Thank you again for coming and supporting us this evening and enjoy the performance." Mulan smiled and gave a small bow as the audience erupted into applause. Mulan, Gold, and Mallory slipped back behind the curtain as the spotlight faded out.

"Places everyone!" Gold called out in hushed urgency as he and the two women walked toward the wings. The stage cleared quickly and Katherine and Frederick, two of the company's principals, took their places in the upstage wings for the opening piece: George Balanchine's Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux.

"Merde," Regina whispered to Katherine in the wing, earning a grin and a squeeze of the hand from her friend.

The music began as the curtain rose and the performance was off to a start. Katherine and Frederick moved effortlessly across the stage together to Tchaikovsky's music. The couple was a crowd favorite as one of two married couples in the company. Their chemistry off stage was something that carried over into performance quite well.

The conclusion of their pas de deux was met with thunderous applause, only to rise in volume when Fred planted a kiss on Katherine. The curtain closed and they hurried off stage with big smiles on their faces.

The gala continued with the Mistake Waltz from Jerome Robbins' The Concert. Mary-Margaret, Lily, Ashley, Tiana, Merida, and Tink all in their powder blue tutus pulled laugh after laugh out of the audience with the humorous choreography and their over-the-top acting.

Emma and Ruby chuckled backstage as Mary-Margaret wiped out after a poorly executed arabesque. "That sure wasn't part of the choreography but I guess it fits," commented Emma with a laugh.

The waltz continued without mistakes – excluding the ones choreographed, of course – and was met with enthusiastic cheers as the curtain closed. The dancers exited the stage laughing as the piano was pushed back into the wings and a long strip of silvery grey fabric was laid out diagonally across the stage for the next piece.

Regina and Killian took their places on stage and the rest of the company took their places backstage to watch. Jessica Lang's Among the Stars was not often performed, but when it was, it was captivating.

The lights faded up as the first notes of the piano cut through the silence. The entire audience held its breath as the pair began to dance. Regina's lithe frame moved effortlessly across the stage, creating a weightless and otherworldly quality. Every balance was sustained with control and her feet moved with surgical precision.

"How does she move like that?" Emma whispered to Ruby backstage. "Her precision is machine-like, but she doesn't look robotic."

"Why do you think she was promoted to principal at age 20?" Countered Ruby. "She spent a year as an apprentice, a year in the corps, and was promoted straight to principal."

Regina continued to move gracefully across the stage, supported by Killian matching her every move. The silvery skirt of her dress floated behind her like water. The violin told a tale of love and longing that matched their movements perfectly. They finished the piece separated on either side of the fabric, like how they began. The audience remained silent for nearly five whole seconds before erupting in applause, springing quickly to their feet. Regina and Killian moved to the front of the stage together before taking their bow.

"You ready, Em?" asked Elsa from behind her.

"Born ready!" replied Emma with enthusiasm and a fist pump.

As the two embraced, Elsa whispered in Emma's ear, "I'm proud of you little sis."

"Come on, don't get sappy on me now," wined Emma before releasing Elsa from her embrace.

"Hey, I'm allowed to," insisted Elsa. "It's only your first season and you were chosen to perform in the gala! That's a big deal!"

"Yeah, yeah," chuckled Emma. "Let's just get out there and do what we do best, shall we?"

Elsa laughed as they moved out onto the stage for the beginning of George Balanchine's Valse Fantasie. "Merde," said Elsa, with one last hug. Emma repeated the word back to her and took her starting position.

Valse took off in typical Balanchine fashion with plenty of off-balance extensions and quick jumping sequences. Emma, Elsa, Belle, and Aurora moved in perfect unison behind Ruby and David. The pink tulle of their tutus swirled around them gracefully as they moved around the stage. There was something so freeing about dancing Balanchine. His rep was notoriously difficult but the full-bodied movement created an incredible feeling of flying.

The piece came to a close and the dancers took their bow. Once the stage was cleared, everyone went downstairs to the dressing rooms to get cleaned up and join the party. Emma sat splayed out on her chair in nothing but her bra and underwear in an attempt to cool off.

"Do you mind?" said Regina condescendingly as she passed by in her floor length plum colored dress.

"Not all of us have a shower and fluffy towels in our dressing room," replied Emma defensively. "Some of us have to air dry before putting on our dresses."

Regina rolled her eyes and continued walking towards the stairs up to the green room.

"Man, you better be careful," warned Ruby. "She really has had it out for you since you dented her car."

"That was an accident!" exclaimed Emma, waving her arms in the air. "The wind caught my door and blew it into hers. It's not my fault she parked so close to the line."

"I'm just sayin'," replied Ruby with her hands up in a defensive gesture and a chuckle. "Be careful."

Emma sighed and stood up to finish getting ready. She patted herself off one last time with a wad of paper towels before slipping into her short red dress. Ruby donned her tight black gown and the pair made their way to the green room. They quickly found Elsa at the bar and used their drink vouchers to order a round of drinks. The trio laughed as they drank and combed over the evening's performance.

Meanwhile, across the room, Regina was having a significantly less enjoyable time.

"Regina dear, you really need to work on those feet of yours," said Cora sternly. "I knew as soon as you were born that you'd never have feet like Svetlana Zhakarova, but couldn't you at least stretch them a few times a day?"

"I stretch constantly, mother," Regina said in a low voice. She kept her eyes fixed on her glass of wine rather than make eye contact with her disapproving mother. Her usual intimidating demeanor nowhere to be seen. "The company physical therapist said if I push them any harder, I'll damage the tendons and compromise the stability of my ankles."

"Please. That dolt, Whale, hardly knows what he's talking about," said Cora dismissively. "He only became a physical therapist because his dance career was a flop."

Regina furrowed her brow before continuing, "He danced with ANB for ten years…"

"Yes, well, he never made it out of the corps did he?" Cora challenged.

Regina sighed and took a long sip from her wine. Just as Cora opened her mouth to let out what was sure to be another scathing remark, Katherine appeared at Regina's side.

"Cora, it's so nice to see you!" exclaimed Katherine with almost believable enthusiasm. "Thank you so much for coming out to support ANB at the Ball this year. I hate to interrupt, but Gold sent me to fetch Regina."

Cora stiffened. "Well, I wouldn't want to keep him waiting," she conceded begrudgingly. She breathed out heavily and turned to Regina, "Think about what I said Regina, and consider that personal trainer I connected you with, too. Your arms look like they've lost a bit of tone lately."

Regina gave a barely perceptible nod of her head towards her mother before following Katherine towards the green room. "What does Gold want now?" she asked tiredly.

"Oh nothing, I just know how Cora heckles you after every performance." Katherine stated over her shoulder. "Besides, Fred and I are hosting the after party and we have to go get everything ready before the other dancers start arriving. Come help me and save yourself the next hour of schmoozing with board members. That's why we have a development department, right?" She grinned. Katherine hated making small talk with donors and board members. They so often had no idea what they were talking about and she had little patience for laypeople.

Regina chuckled at her friend, "Thank you, Kat. I normally don't mind schmoozing so much when mother isn't around, but she just wouldn't give it a rest tonight." She sighed and rubbed at her temples.

"Then grab your bag and let's sneak out the stage door!"

The two women snagged Fred out of a conversation with David and Killian before grabbing their bags from the dressing room and loading it into Katherine's car. 20 minutes later, the group arrived at Katherine and Fred's home and started preparing for the arrival of the guests.

. . .

Just over an hour later, the house was filled with other members of the company. Regina had changed from her gown into a pair of black leather leggings, a one shoulder ivory colored top, and a pair of killer heels. After an hour of non-stop chopping fruit, vegetables, and cheese cubes for the appetizer trays Regina needed a break. She wove through a sea of guests mingling and dancing to Lizzo until she found a (relatively) quiet spot on the sofa in the study. She was glad to see her colleagues enjoying themselves but she wasn't normally one to party. Behind her caustic remarks she was quite reserved. Of course, having Cora Mills as your mother didn't really help in the way of normal adult friendships. Most of Cora's "friendships" were just strategic alliances made to further advance her social status. Katherine was Regina's only real friend. When Regina joined the company at 18, her and Katherine had clicked right away – despite the four-year age gap. Over the last 10 years, the two women had become increasingly close. Regina had been honored when Katherine asked her to be her maid of honor at her wedding four years prior.

Regina sipped her wine and relaxed into the couch. She milled over the details of the evening's performance. She knew her feet weren't bad, but she was painfully aware that she didn't inherit her mother's unrealistic arches. Her mother's constant criticism was exhausting. Realistically, she knew she was a great dancer – after all, why else would she have been promoted to principal dancer at age 20? But her mother's words continued to bounce around in her head. Not flexible enough, not thin enough, not good enough.

She looked up when she heard the door to the study open. Upon recognizing the intruder, Regina sighed and moved to get up and leave.

"No, don't get up," Emma stated. Regina raised her eyebrows skeptically but didn't stand up from the sofa. "I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your performance this evening. It was really beautiful," Emma said earnestly. "That's one of my favorite pieces and I know Jessica Lang is pretty picky about who she lets perform it. I think you did it justice."

"Well," Regina began coldly. "Thank you for that assessment. The next time I need your approval I'll be sure to ask for it. I suppose the polite thing here would be to compliment your performance as well. Your jumps had a nice energy, but I think your pirouettes left something to be desired. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go find Katherine to say goodnight."

"Oh, come on Regina," whined Emma.

"Do you mind moving?" She asked brusquely. "You're blocking the door." Just as the words left her mouth, Killian chose that moment to open the door into Emma's back, causing her to spill her vodka cranberry all over Regina's front.

"Heyyyyy ladies!" exclaimed Killian with a drunken slur, clearly not realizing what he had just caused. The two women stood frozen in place. Emma, with her eyes and mouth wide open, and Regina with her shoulders practically up to her ears and her eyes screwed shut in disbelief.

"Rreginaa, I wass juss comin to look fer ya," Killian slurred. He attempted to weave an arm around her waist only to be shoved out of the way as Regina stormed from the room.

"Fuck!" Emma exclaimed under her breath as she was shocked out of her stupor. She chased after Regina en route to the bathroom. "Regina, I'm so sorry!"

"Sorry doesn't sweeten my tea, Swan," Regina hostilely tossed back at her. She aggressively flipped on the lights to asses the damage. Luckily the wine could be wiped right off her leggings, but her ivory shirt was ruined. Emma frantically wet a towel and attempted to start blotting at Regina's shirt.

"Do you mind sparing me the pat down?" Regina snarled. Emma's eyes bulged upon the realization that she was practically groping Regina's chest through the towel.

Emma quickly snapped her hands back. "I'm so sorry, I'm just trying to help!" she exclaimed helplessly. "I have an extra shirt in my bag by the door, you can have it so you don't have to wear a sticky one home."

"That's quite enough," Regina snapped. "I will not be taking your shirt. Why don't you do something useful and leave me alone before you just make things worse."

"Please let me do something," Emma practically begged, absolutely horrified with the turn of events. She had somehow managed to take things with Regina from bad to worse in the span of five minutes.

"You are not needed or wanted here, Emma. Just get out!" exclaimed Regina as she hopelessly blotted at her ruined shirt.

Emma flinched at her words; old wounds reopened momentarily. After opening and closing her mouth a few times, she turned on her heel and left. She didn't even bother trying to find Ruby, she just made a beeline for the door, grabbed her bag and walked outside.

The cool mid-March air brought goosebumps to her skin and she wished she had thought to pack a jacket. Her black heels clacked loudly on the pavement against the quiet of the evening. She made it almost halfway to the metro station before her phone rang.

"What." She snapped into the receiver.

"Jesus, Em. Just wondering where you are?" Ruby replied defensively. "I thought we were taking a Lyft home together, but it looks like you left without me. What the fuck?"

"Sorry Ruby," sighed Emma in a defeated tone. "I spilled my drink all over Regina and had to escape before she crucified me."

Ruby sighed on the other end of the line. "Send me your location and I'll pick you up in a Lyft and we can go home." The line clicked off and Emma obligingly sent Ruby her location.

A short five minutes later a white Toyota Corolla with a glowing pink Lyft sign in the front windshield pulled up next to her along the sidewalk. The rear passenger door opened and Ruby beckoned for Emma to get in with a sour expression on her face. Emma got in and set her bag across her lap before buckling.

"What the hell, Emma?" Ruby demanded. "I know you can take care of yourself but it's nearly two in the morning! It's not safe to just be out walking around on your own, especially without having told anyone where you were going!"

"I know, I'm sorry Ruby," Emma mumbled apologetically. "She just struck a nerve and I didn't want to want to make you leave before you were ready. I should've just come and found you."

"Apology accepted," replied Ruby. "Just don't pull that again."

Emma nodded, "I won't."

The rest of the ride continued in silence. Ruby knew if Emma wanted to talk about what upset her, she would bring it up herself. After just seven months of knowing her she had picked up on a lot. Emma was much more reserved with her feelings than most of Ruby's other friends and she had learned to be patient with Emma. Pushing her only caused her to pull back further.

Fifteen minutes later their Lyft pulled up to their apartment building and they exited the car. They entered the building and walked up the stairs until they reached Ruby's apartment.

"Thank you for coming to get me," said Emma, while looking at her feet. "I really do appreciate it and I know I should have just come and found you in the first place."

Emma suddenly found herself wrapped in a tight embrace. "Oh Emma," Ruby sighed. "You're welcome. It's what friends do. I'm just glad you're safe."

Emma returned the hug before taking a step back. "Well, goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course, neighbor!" replied Ruby cheerfully. And with that Emma continued her ascent up the stairs to the fifth floor. She unlocked her door to her empty apartment. She was grateful to finally have her own space, but at times she missed having a roommate or at least someone there to see when she got home. Having Ruby just two floors away definitely helped. She hung her keys on the hook by the door, removed her pinching heels and walked through the apartment to her bedroom.

She dropped her bag on the floor and unceremoniously collapsed onto her mattress. What a day. The incredible high of performing was something that usually took a while for her to come down from. However, this time the high had been tampered significantly by her tiff with Regina. She just didn't understand what she could have done to deserve such hostility from her. Aside from the dented car door – which was totally fixable, to be clear – and now the stained ivory top – which was totally ruined, to be fair – she just didn't understand what she could have done. Emma had always kept more to herself and tried not to let others' opinions of her get her down but there was something about Regina that she just couldn't shake.

Sighing, she forced herself to get up off the bed and ready herself to go to sleep. After removing the plethora of pins from her French twist and running a brush through her hair she turned the shower on full blast. There was something so emotionally cleansing about washing away the grime of another day. After washing the stage from her body and drying off, Emma slipped on a pair of boyshorts and crawled into bed. It hardly took more than five seconds after her head hit the pillow for her to fall asleep.

Emma slept soundly until Ruby's obnoxious ringtone pulled her from sleep at 7am. Emma declined the call and rolled over, determined to stay in bed until at least 9. Ruby clearly had other plans, however. Emma's phone started ringing again not five seconds after she declined the first call. Emma groaned long and low before bring the phone to her ear.

"Jesus, Ruby it's 7am, what do you want?" Emma whined.

"Have you checked your email yet?" Ruby asked in a rush.

"No, of course not. I was sleeping until you called. Why are you even awake?" Emma countered. Ruby had a tendency to be an early riser but after their late night she hadn't expected to hear from her quite so early.

"Check your email, and then call me back."

"Ru-" Emma sighed as she pulled the phone away from her ear, realizing that her friend had already hung up on her. What could possibly be so important that she had to wake her up at 7am for? Emma opened her mail app and froze immediately. At the top of her inbox sat an email from Rupert Gold. Subject line: Giselle Cast List and Rehearsal Schedule.

Emma swallowed heavily before clicking open the email. She opened the excel spreadsheet containing the list and her stomach dropped. There at the top of the list she saw:

Giselle: Regina Mills

Alberta: Emma Swan

Notes:

Let me know if that was interesting? Constructive criticism is welcome.

Not that anyone cares:

I saw Among the Stars performed by Yuan Yuan Tan and Clifton Brown at a gala back in 2013 and was just enraptured. The whole thing isn't available online but there's a 2-minute clip on youtube if you search TITAS Command Performance 2010. 10/10 would recommend checking it out. Unfortunately, the fabric isn't featured much in this clip, but it was such a bizarre material in the way it behaved. I can't figure out what it was made of.

Anyway, all of the repertoire in this fic is real (except Mulan and Gold's pieces obvi) and can be found online if you try hard enough. I'll shut up now :)