Day 17 - Fairy Lights. This ficlet was inspired by a drawing by Meoowwxx on Instagram and owes a debt of gratitude to Scout Forester and Glamour for their detailed explanations of that particular variation on Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy.

There she stood, in the spotlight, where she'd always belonged.

And here he stood, in the dark, stage left.

She still took his breath away, so many years later.

B-Plus - resting introduction position

Fresh-faced, optimistic, and naive, one amongst the many new faces that day, she stood up and bowed to introduce herself, "Hi, my name is Haruno Sakura, and this is my first corps de ballet in a professional company. My dream is to become a prima ballerina and dance the Sugar Plum Fairy-"

Someone snorted. Sasuke hadn't noticed who; he hadn't been able to take his eyes off that smile. He heard them mutter, though, "Don't we all."

A snicker went through the corps, and the smile on Sakura's face faltered, just a little. But that light of determination in her stunning green eyes never faded.

She might actually do it.

Pas de Bourées - Delicate little steps, like stepping through raindrops

"You're too heavy."

"Excuse me?" Sakura stumbled mid-dance as the glockenspiel continued to trill out in the background without her. Instead, she looked over at him, standing in the doorway where he watched her with crossed arms and an impassive face.

"Your bourée steps. They're too heavy," Sasuke repeated.

"What do you mean?"

"You're trying the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Variation, right? You're too focused on your feet. You need to imagine a pair of wings lifting you up as your feet just kiss the earth."

Sakura watched, baffled, as the normally stoic choreographer dropped his bag and actually joined her in the practice room. She'd been here a whole hour earlier than the rest of the company to get this practice time in - the studio should have been deserted. And Uchiha Sasuke, world-renown, wunderkind choreographer, never paid any attention to any of the junior dancers. She'd only been in the company for a few months, and even she knew his golden rule: Don't speak unless spoken to. What was he doing, approaching her instead?

"One more time," Sasuke reset the music and then turned to watch her. When she didn't react, he rolled his eyes at her. "Come on. I don't have all day. Try the bourée steps again, but this time, think about your fingers too."

Arabesque - 1st position

"You need to commit to it and lean forward to go up. If you're too focused on your back leg, it's not going to happen," Sasuke put his hands on Sakura's hips and pushed them forward to demonstrate what he meant. "This, hinge here and stretch here."

Even knowing that he was a consummate professional, with his breath on her ear and his arms around her, for a moment, just for that moment, Sakura's heart trembled.

Piqué manège - cover the stage in tight turns

"Again."

"I'm too dizzy!"

"The piqué manège is an exercise in stamina, Haruno. Do it again."

"Water, first, please." Sakura begged. Sasuke glanced at her empty water bottle beside him. Understandable, since they'd been working on this for hours. Still, he wasn't a monster. He handed her his own water bottle.

She drained half of it in one gulp before she came up for air and sighed in relief. It took her a second to realize that they'd just shared an indirect kiss. Sasuke could tell when she realized it because her whole face turned bright red.

"C'mon, Haruno. One more time. This time, pay attention to your eyes," he turned away slightly, ostensibly to reset the music, but really to avoid revealing how red his ears were turning.

Coupé Jeté - a short jump to dart over something

"Choreographer's pet."

"I bet she's sleeping with him."

Sakura stopped mid-sentence on her way out of the studio, fired up and raring to go confront the two whispering ensemble cast members, but Sasuke grabbed her arm.

"Ignore them, Sakura. It's not worth it."

"But Sasuke-kun, they were talking about you."

"Don't worry about me, Sakura. Just focus on the audition next week. It's your dream, isn't it?"

"Yes, but-"

"No buts. Just nail the audition," So I can finally ask you out.

"Alright…" So I can finally ask you out!

Chassé up - One last pose before running off stage

"Take a bow, Haruno! Marvelous. Yes, you'll do quite nicely as the Prima Ballerina for this year's Nutcracker." Senju Tsunade, the artistic director, clapped enthusiastically from her seat in the orchestra. "I can see why Uchiha-kun's been working with you. It's paid off."

"I couldn't have done it without him," Sakura said between heavy breaths as she took a bow.

"Oh I doubt that, my dear, but it would have taken you a great deal longer to reach this level without him," Tsunade smiled. "The part is yours - We'll see you Monday morning for fittings and headshots, then it's right into intensive rehearsals. Go rest while you can." Tsunade winked, then tilted her chin towards stage left.

Bright red - Just what did people thing about her and Sasuke-kun? - Sakura nevertheless bowed one more time under that spotlight in gratitude, then raced off to the man in the shadows who'd been her silent support all along.

In her giddy rush, she dove into his arms. He caught her like he'd been waiting his whole life to hold her.

"Finally learned to commit to that arabesque," Sasuke murmured against her hair, a small smile in his eyes.

"Hey!" Sakura playfully pounded her fists against his chest. "I passed the audition, didn't I?"

"Wasn't any doubt that you were going to." When she blushed, he patted her hair, "Good job, Sakura."

"Thanks," She fidgeted with her fingers for a second, then blurted out, "Do you want to maybe go out and get a drink to celebrate?"

"No." Sakura's heart fell when she heard Sasuke's refusal. Embarrassed, she tried to push away, but his grip on her hips only tightened to draw her forward. He leaned in, bringing her so close she could feel his hard thighs through the thin fabric of her practice leotard and his words against the delicate shell of her ear. "I have a few beers at my apartment. Come over to my place instead."

AN: I will also reblog the pic and video on my tumblr. All inaccuracies are mine - I don't know anything about ballet (google my beloved). Also for the few people who are reading my A/Ns - I've reached the point in the prompts list where my creative juices are running a bit dry, so I've started browsing the SasuSaku Art community for inspo. If you have a favourite SasuSaku fan artist you think I should look at for inspo, drop me a line! My one caveat - I can't promise anything :) the muse strikes when she strikes.