Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: I'm pretty sure some of you are thinking that the stories going a little slow in the romantic aspects, but I wanted to keep it as realistic as possible. No one falls in love in a day sadly. Anyway thank you for reading, comments are always appreciated and only improve my writing so please don't hesitate to post any criticisms.

Once they were both done with their meals, Atem fought to pay the bill insisting it was improper for Tea to contribute even a dollar as he had asked her out to eat. Although she was annoyed, she also couldn't help but admire how chivalrous he was. He was a true gentleman, something rare to find in men these days. Then again he wasn't exactly from her era.

They soon left the restaurant, Atem satisfied that Tea had given in to his demands, and Tea repulsed at the waitress's brash attempt at asking Atem out on a date for next Saturday. Atem had politely declined her forward request asserting he was taken and the woman couldn't help but glare at Tea. At that point Tea wanted to scream at the woman that he wasn't hers either but settled with an icy glare instead.

They made their way out into the busy streets admiring the many lights the city had put up since it was Christmas time. It truly looked like a parade of little stars hanging off the buildings and trees lining the cemented sidewalks. They walked in silence enjoying each other's company until Tea pointed out the famous union square holiday market that always popped up around this time of year. She was sure Atem would love it and she also wanted to look for some jewelry for herself. As they headed towards the market Atem couldn't help but wonder about the boy who had possessively held Tea within his gaze while on the train. He seemed a little on edge once he noticed Atem's gaze on the brunette dancer and didn't really like him after the cold gaze he was giving the former pharaoh.

"So it seems I'm not the only one with a date coming up." He decided to go about the subject of this unknown man comically in case he trudged on icy waters.

Tea immediately turned bright red at the mention of James. She had completely forgotten about James since thoughts of Atem had occupied most of the space in her mind. The way he acted on the train was embarrassing to her, to anyone watching he looked like a jealous ex-lover. And to her horror she had actually agreed on a date with him and she wasn't sure he'd even allow her to cancel said date.

"Seems I have no choice in the matter." She firmly stated.

Atem looked at her confused. "What do you mean you don't have a choice? You did agree, I heard you."

Tea immediately got annoyed at the tone of his voice. He almost seemed to be accusing her of something.

"It's nothing, James is just very um passionate about his feelings for me and now that I've finally said yes, he won't let go very easily."

"So then why agree in the first place. It's clear you do not care for the man, why lead him on."

Tea glared at Atem, was he being serious. He was acting as though he knew the full story, at the months of awkward no's and made up excuses she had to make just to spare her friends feelings. He was judging something he didn't understand himself and it was making her angry.

"I am not leading him on Atem, he has been pursuing me for months and maybe I've decided to give his feelings a chance. I've been alone for the past two years and you of all people should know how that feels. So please don't judge what you don't understand." Her words came off unwelcoming and she quickly walked ahead of him avoiding his gaze.

Atem walked behind her stunned at her choice of words. He wasn't sure exactly what he said to have led the conversation to this but he could feel and hear the sudden agitation she felt towards him. And for some reason it only made him angry. It's not like he said anything wrong, it was clear as day to him Tea held no feelings for this man and yet she suddenly agreed to go out with him. Especially in front of Atem himself. The memory of James leaning in to whisper something into Tea's ear piqued Atem as well and he continued walking behind Tea not saying a word to her. If she wished to pursue this man's feelings, then so be it.

Finally, the pair reached the market, Atem still trailing behind the young dancer watching every step she took. She suddenly turned around and waited for him to reach her.

"I'm going to check out some of the jewelry stalls and you can browse any of the other stalls, if you'd like of course." She stated rather briskly.

He fought to roll his eyes at her attitude.

"Alright."

"Once you're done you can leave." She paused before continuing, "With or without me. I don't know if you have any other plans or someone waiting for you." Her words came out even more hostile and it took everything in Atem not to pin her down and demand why she was being so rude. He ignored her harsh temperament and politely nodded at her before walking past her figure towards a small wooden shop selling paintings.

He reached the little wooden hut, loitering outside a bit to get a glimpse at what the owner was selling. They were mainly landscape pieces but they were beautiful. He finally walked in and browsed the many paintings before finding a piece that took his breath away. It was a snowy landscape that showed a small cabin in the middle of a mountain. The cabin looked cozy and snug and Atem could almost smell the warm scent of the hearth. Outside of the cabin two figures were painted, a man seemed to be watching a woman ice skating on the frozen pond right side their warm abode. Although his face wasn't well detailed, Atem could tell the man was happy watching his lover laughing at the merriment of her present activity.

"I see you've discovered a very important painting of mine. I hoped no one would find it as I had stashed it behind so many others." A warm old man greeted Atem from behind who immediately turned around upon hearing the strangers voice.

"Why keep it in your store at all if it is so important?" he questioned back.

"Well I always figured it was never meant to be kept in the attic of my house." He looked down at the painting lovingly. "It holds too much meaning."

Atem smiled at the old man. He held a sincere glow to him making him easily trustworthy to strangers. His face held countless lines show casing the many years of life he lived and Atem wondered the stories that lingered upon the fine curves etched upon his fragile body.

"I suppose it's a romantic one."

"How'd you guess?" he laughed and continued, "Now on to haggling, how much are you willing to pay for it son?"

Atem grinned and began bargaining with the shop owner until they concluded a fair price.

He paid the man and received the painting wrapped up and placed in a box. It seemed a bit extravagant for such a small pop up shop.

"I hold onto my paintings very dearly as each one carries a memory of my life, so I box them up carefully to each person that buys them. It's like giving away a piece of myself and I wouldn't want to be held in a paper bag." He laughed making Atem grin at his words.

"Thank you sir and happy holidays."

"You too son."

Walking away from the kind man, Atem felt lighter and decided to look for the disgruntled dancer among the crowded shops of the market. He wasn't sure she wanted to see him yet, but he still wanted to see her before he left. And if he had the chance to say goodbye he would.

Walking amongst the New Yorkers, he couldn't believe how hard it was to find Tea. He had made his way towards where most of the jewelry shops sat but there was an alarming amount of middle cut brunette women wearing black coats. He sighed about to give up when he spotted her at a shop east of where he was standing. He watched her look at a pair of sapphire tear drops earrings that would match her eyes perfectly. It would almost be a crime for her not to buy them he thought, and it seems she thought the same. She called over someone who worked in the store, no doubt to ask for the price and once she was told she started haggling. The sales lady shook her head saying something to Tea that made her eyes look dejected. She took one last look at the striking iridescent earrings and walked away. Atem wanted to follow her figure but instead headed for the shop.

"Excuse me, how much for the earrings?" he asked the same sales lady Tea had spoken to moments ago. She smiled upon seeing Atem, "Five hundred dollars' sir, and I'm sorry I won't be able to give you a better price than that. They're pure sapphire with ten karats of white gold along the drop. It's a stunning piece really."

Atem nodded agreeing with her words.

"Indeed. I'll take it."

"Right away, I'll pack it for you."

She carefully took the earrings off the display hold in the clear box and placed them in a black velvet case.

"If you'd like to see the matching necklace it comes with I can show you that as well." She added while wrapping the earrings away before placing them in small red bag.

Atem nodded and the woman promptly brought out another clear box that held a simple silver choker necklace etched with small sapphires on the silver band, before drooping down into a v where a larger tear dropped shaped sapphire stood.

"The necklace holds 20 karats of white gold around the sapphire drop and along the silver band. The pieces were made one a kind and they do look exquisite together."

Atem didn't need the woman to try to convince him as her words spoke truth. He knew the money he would be spending was over the top but he couldn't help himself to think just how beautiful it would look along Tea's pale skin and blue eyes.

"I'll take the necklace as well."

Atem wasn't sure what possessed him to buy Tea the necklace and earrings. Perhaps it was the sudden guilt he felt for angering her, or that he selfishly wanted to see her and only her wear the beautiful ornate pieces. In any case, he certainly didn't regret his purchases and contentedly walked away from the market towards the train station that would lead him home.

Tea walked past the many small shops littered around union square, fighting back the urge to return to the jewelry shop and buy the sapphire earrings. The earrings were absolutely beautiful and complimented her face so well but the price tag certainly didn't complement her wallet. She knew it wouldn't be wise to spend such a large sum of money on earrings when she was constantly buying new ballet shoes and leotards. Dance was expensive and she couldn't put herself in a position where she couldn't buy the proper material for her craft should something happen.

She wistfully sighed and headed towards the subway. She had picked up a couple of bracelets and a thin silver necklace that held a single miniscule t for her name. Although her purchases were pretty to her, those earrings still stood in the back of her mind. Maybe one day money won't ever be an issue, she thought. She silently sat on the mostly empty train carts looking at her phone, it was 11:00 PM. She was out longer than she had expected and leaned back thinking about the turn of events that had occurred during her overall pleasant night. For the first time ever she was annoyed at Atem. Although her anger had subsided long ago and she thought maybe she had overreacted a bit, but her annoyance for him still continued on. She wasn't sure why he was acting so judgy towards her about James, it's not like it was any of his concern anyway. In any case what happened, happened and she couldn't do much to change anything. She wondered if he was annoyed at her and whether he had left as soon as she did. She groaned at herself, why couldn't she have just kept a cool head and told him she didn't want to discuss it. She blamed her mother for her erratic temper and prayed the MTA would get her home as quickly as possible because she was exhausted.

Dance practice was held in the main studio for Tea the next day, as she was practicing with the rest of the leads. So far Kaya hadn't tried to trip Tea or annoy her for the most part which was a good sign to say the least. Everyone was entirely too focused on their dancing to worry about anyone else's since their performance was steadily coming up. Many scouts would be in the audience waiting to find their next ballerinas to add to their companies and tensions ran high amongst the group of talented dancers. Miss Gutierrez could feel the stress looming in the air and clapped her hands signaling for everyone to stop.

"Listen everyone, I can understand the strain you must be feeling as it is getting close to opening night and we are expecting some very important guests, but you are forgetting why you are here. You're dancing to impress someone else instead of yourselves and if you continue to do so it will hinder your talents. You all are the best of the best and I have no doubt you will perform to the paramount of your abilities on opening night. But I fear you will lose the passion and fun that lead you to choose this career and again I distress it will deter your talents making you look like everyone else.

"Show your passion, leave the tension behind and allow the music to flow through your bones. Show me the Swan Queen in all of her grace and valor Tea, and allow Kaya to be your complete opposite when she portrays the black swan as someone robust almost erotic and feline. You two are the center of this production and I want you to start working together to complement each other's roles. You two are cut from the same cloth and I believe if you start practicing jointly some magic can be found." She pointed her fingers at Tea and Kaya signaling them to join together. Although her speech was encouraging and did help Tea with some of the tension she was feeling, the thought of working so closely with Kaya was bringing her stress levels to a new high. How could Miss Gutierrez possibly think this was a good idea. Everyone in her class new the fierce rivalry between Kaya and Tea and Tea was sure some of the professors had heard of it as well, and yet here she was partnered with the one girl in the entire room she feared could upstage her. Great, she thought.

Miss Gutierrez had stopped Tea and Kaya after class to give them two keys to an unknown room in their dormitory.

"It is a room used by the professional ballerinas for practice but I have been given special permission to allow you two to use it until opening night. I have set up a schedule with both of your other classes in mind to practice in this room together, so you cannot give me a reason where you two couldn't come together." She handed both dancers a piece of paper which indeed held their schedules for their current classes and an added space for their new one.

"I will show up unannounced on any of the days I've listed to see how your practice is going, and trust me I will know if you have been practicing or not so do not try and stunt me."

Tea and Kaya both nodded aware of the seriousness in their teacher's voice. Although they both showed their lack of enthusiasm in working together, they both understood it was something that was needed.

"Thank you for this professor, I hope we can make you proud in the end."

Kaya nodded at Tea's words, for once agreeing.

"You're very welcome girls, I just want what's best for my students as the world of ballet can be a dangerous and volatile one at times."

Kaya and Tea both looked confused at their teacher who sighed and waved them away with a smile.

"Now go rest, todays practice has been grueling and please do not lose the keys, I will need them back after the show is over."

Both girls nodded and walked away.