AN: (By lelaofbast, again): Quick update. Enjoy!

Review Returns:

Cry of the Wolf Child, Jules-Gemma, and Aly the Spy: Exactly. Thanx for reviewing!

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A Midwinter Story
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By the
LADIESofQUEENSCOVEandJESSLAW:
lelaofbast
And
trollseatfish
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Chapter Three: Problems
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Midwinter Present
475
Midwinter Past
453
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"The Sugar Plum Fairy?" Nora asked.

"Yes," Neal scowled, remembering the day.

The pages all listed their parts. Kel put on her Yamani mask as she realized what part Neal had. Once again she had visions of her friends dancing in tutus.

"Oh what is it already?" Merric asked shortly.

Neal mumbled an indiscernible sentence.

"For pete's sake, Neal!" Kel exclaimed.

"I'm the Blasted Sugar-Plum Fairy!" he said. Joren couldn't have looked any more pleased if he had planned it himself.

"That's a jolly role!" Owen said.

"I'll knock that jolly right off your face!" Neal cried, lunging at him.

"They really did look ridiculous, rolling around on the floor like that," Kel said.

"I'm sure he did," Yuki agreed, rolling her eyes. She knew Neal's over-dramatic moods all too well.

"Well that was the end of our first lesson," Cleon said.

"For brawling we had to spend a week of our free time designing personalized invitations for our parents," Merric added. "Between dance lessons, of course."

"I would have given anything to see you in tights, Meathead," Dom said with a grin.

"It wasn't the tights that were the problem," Neal snapped. "It was that blasted tutu!"

"Tutu?" Kel repeated. "I think my new practice shirt caused far more problems…"

Kel glanced in the mirror. The shirt wasn't skin-tight, but it was more form-fitting than anything she ever wore. All her practice clothes were baggy. And usually the collar of her shirt would have been buttoned up to her neck, but this shirt had no collar. It came to a 'v,' plunging a few inches under her collar bone, where she would have liked it to rest. Even so, the shirt was not revealing.

Kel sighed and pulled a wool sweater over her uniform and followed Neal down.

The pages got into line and began their warm-up exercises. Lord Adente walked down the rows to survey them. He stopped when he came to Kel.

"Mindelan, you cannot practice properly in a sweater. You won't have the freedom of movement. Remove it."

Kel blushed as she moved to the edge of the room and slipped the sweater off, draping it across a chair. Whistles rose from the boys, prompting her friends to scowl and make fists.

She looked down at the shirt and sighed.

"I would have liked to see that too," Dom said wickedly. Kel shook her head, hiding a smile.

"It wasn't that bad," Neal argued.

"For you," Kel mumbled.

"It did almost start another brawl," Cleon said. "You know our group always stuck up for Kel."

"I don't know about you, but frankly I didn't have the energy to brawl. You wouldn't think that ballet would be so consuming," Merric added.

"You always had the energy to brawl," Roald said, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

"Well the rest of you had it easy," Kel said, ducking to avoid the roll that Owen tossed at her. "You didn't have to dance so close to Clara…"

Dancing with Owen was not much more than ducking to avoid being smacked by his flailing limbs. Kel was grateful for her good reflexes.

As time went on, the pages' agility began to improve, although none of them were any happier about having to dance. With the jolly exception of Owen, who made up for his poor dancing with enthusiasm.

As she ducked, Kel began to feel a nervous tension growing in her stomach. The night of the performance was drawing nearer.

And she was scared to death.