Hi everyone. Thanks as always for the reviews on the last chapter. It's hard to believe that this is the last time I'll be able to say this as I upload a new chapter - enjoy Glee tomorrow. I can't believe tomorrow is the series finale. At first I thought that since I haven't enjoyed it since the Finchel days (though I liked Rachel leading the glee club this season) that the end wouldn't be hard for me, but I've definitely been sad these past few days. I hope that all of you will continue reading my writing even though Glee is ending - I know I don't want to stop writing as long as people enjoy it. Thank you all for being a part of my glee journey.

Chapter 27: First Official Performance

Tomorrow night would be Rachel's first official performance as Fanny Brice.

Finn could tell when he got home from glee club practice that Rachel was nervous. She was sitting on the couch, staring into space, still in her uniform from the diner. Finn sat next to Rachel and gave her a kiss. "Hey babe."

Rachel gave Finn a small smile. "Hey baby."

"So, ready for tomorrow?" Finn asked.

Rachel gave Finn a nervous look. "I've done it before, haven't I?"

"Yeah, and you were amazing," Finn said.

Rachel gulped. "You thought so?"

"Yeah," Finn said. "And they wouldn't have asked you to be one of the two main Fannys if you weren't amazing."

"Thanks," Rachel said. "But I was already removed once - and it's common knowledge that I was removed... what are people going to think?"

Finn had read some of the things people were saying online. He was guessing Rachel hadn't read them, because she asked "what will people think?"

Maybe it was for the better Rachel hadn't seen the comments online. People had said some cruel things about Rachel... they'd called her ugly, made comments about her needing a nose job, criticism of videos of her online...

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Rachel asked Finn.

Finn tried to put the things he'd seen online out of his mind. He didn't want to upset Rachel. "You're going to be amazing, baby."

"You look like you were hiding something," Rachel said.

Finn couldn't keep this to himself. "Rachel..."

"You think I'll be bad, don't you?" Rachel asked. "You're my husband... I never thought you of all people..."

"No," Finn said, feeling awful. "I don't think you'll be bad. I think you'll be amazing."

"What if I get bad reviews after I perform?" Rachel asked. "What if they're not left with any choice but to fire me?"

"Don't think like that!" Finn said.

"It's hard not to," Rachel admitted. "Could you tell me about your day? Maybe that'll take my mind off things..."

"Okay..." Finn began.

x

Nationals would be here soon, and Finn was becoming more and more nervous.

He'd competed at Nationals. He'd helped New Directions. But this time, how the glee club did would be reflected on him. If the glee club lost Nationals, what would the school have to say about him?

As the glee kids left, the principal came into the classroom. "Hello, Finn."

"Hi," Finn said.

"So, how's prep for Nationals going?" the principal asked.

"I'm really happy with our setlist," Finn said. "These kids are really talented and I think we'll do well."

"I actually have some news for you about Nationals," the principal told Finn.

What was going on? "Okay," Finn said.

"I understand that you're a former member of New Directions," the principal said.

That was a sore spot for Finn. His one hesitation about Nationals was to be competing against the club that had helped him so much. "Yeah, I was, but I'm going to do everything I can to help the glee club win..."

"Well, I wanted to tell you that I found out who the judges at Nationals are, and someone you may have a history with is a judge..."

This didn't sound good. "Wait, who?" Finn asked.

"McKinley's cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester, who's won numerous competitions, is a judge..." the principal began.

"Wait, what?" Finn asked. Sue? She had shown interest in the glee club briefly, but he had a feeling that it was to get control of the cheerios back. He sort of understood how she'd gotten the gig at Regionals, but Nationals? How had this happened?

"I got a phone call about it," the principal continued. "I don't know if you're uncomfortable with that..."

Yes, Finn was uncomfortable. He was more than uncomfortable. Sue would probably place his club low. All their hard work would be thrown out...

x

"Sue?" Rachel asked. "How could she?"

"Because she's Sue," Finn sighed. "I guess."

"Ugh!" Rachel groaned. "I'm sorry, Finn. Did you tell the kids?"

"I don't want to," Finn admitted. "They've worked so hard and with all the crap from Collette and Ariana, they don't need another thing to get in their way."

"Well, there will be other judges, right?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," Finn said. Maybe the other judges would think Finn's group was good...

x

Rachel's opening night was here. She wasn't even sure why she was so nervous. After all, she'd played the part before and she knew all the songs. She just felt a different kind of pressure as one of the girls playing Fanny than she did when she was an understudy.

Everyone had asked off their jobs tonight to come to the show. Rachel had reserved tickets for Finn, Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Mercedes, Tina, Sam and Artie. Shelby and Beth were coming to the show as well - and Rachel's dads were coming in from Ohio, as was Kylie. Since so many people were going to be there, she felt special - but she also did feel some pressure. What if she forgot the words to a song or fell down in front of all her friends and family members?

Rachel heard a knock on the door and looked as Kurt opened the door and her dads came in. "Hey!" Rachel managed to say.

"Opening night!" Hiram declared.

"Your poor sister had to hear a recap of everything that led to this moment on the way to New York," LeRoy added.

"Oh gosh," Kurt said. "At least we now know where Rachel got it from."

"Your mom will be over soon with your sisters," Hiram said. "We just couldn't wait to see you. We had to drop our things at Shelby's and come right over."

At least Rachel's dads hadn't changed. She knew they were probably more excited for this than she was. "I'll try not to let you down."

"Let us down?" Hiram asked.

"I have so many people coming to see me, and so many other people who know about this and my history," Rachel admitted. "What if I mess up?"

"You won't," LeRoy said.

"I might," Rachel said. After all, she had choked her NYADA audition...

"Even if you do, that won't change how amazing you are," Finn told Rachel. "Everyone makes mistakes."

"Yeah, but this is Broadway," Rachel admitted.

"I know you won't mess up," Finn said. "I just know it."

x

"I hope she's okay back there," Finn sighed. As he waited to get in with their friends and Rachel's family, he remembered how nervous Rachel had been. Would she be okay? What if she needed him?

"She'll be fine," Kurt said. "She was born to play this role."

"I know," Finn said.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone call out, "Finn!"

Finn turned and saw several members of his glee club there. He smiled at them. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, your wife has her first performance as Fanny Brice," Josh said. "We wanted to come see her perform."

Finn felt so honored that his kids were here. "Wow, thank you so much for coming tonight."

"Are you excited?" Miranda asked.

"I'm really excited," Finn said. "She's wanted this forever and I think she'll be great."

"She did tell me to do a Funny Girl song for my final NYADA audition," Caitlin said. "She's really good at those."

"She is," Finn agreed. "I'll be sure to tell her you guys are here."

"Okay, thanks Finn," Mark said before the glee club members went to their seats and Finn led Rachel's family and their friends to the row of seats Rachel had blocked out for them.

"Our baby's first official performance as Fanny Brice," LeRoy declared.

"Yeah, I think she'll be great," Finn said. He opened the program and smiled wide as he looked at Rachel's picture in the playbill, with her bio under it. "Rachel Berry is thrilled to be playing Fanny Brice on Broadway. She served as an understudy before taking on the role, and also has appeared in numerous community productions, including playing Maria in her high school's production of West Side Story. Rachel is a student at NYADA and was a member of the 2012 national show choir championship winning New Directions. She sends her love to her fathers, mother, sisters, friends and her amazing husband Finn, all of whom she loves so much and couldn't have done this without."

"You were the only one who got your name dropped," Santana told Finn.

"I'm just that special," Finn said.

"Is the show going to start yet?" Beth pouted.

"It will soon honey," Shelby said. "Remember what we talked about?"

"Yeah, I have to sit still and be quiet," Beth recited. "What if it's boring, Mommy?"

"It won't be," Finn said.

"Rachel was around your age when we first showed her Funny Girl," Hiram said to Beth. "She'd already been singing some of the songs from it."

"You should show it to Beth!" LeRoy told Shelby.

"Well, after seeing Rachel in it, I have a feeling the movie couldn't live up to that," Shelby said.

The theatre went dark and the curtain went up.

x

No one was allowed in the dressing room but Rachel.

She'd hoped that she could bring Finn backstage with her, or a family member or a friend. But tonight she couldn't. However, there was a surprise waiting when she went into the dressing room - several baskets of flowers were there.

Who were the flowers from? She took a tag from the first basket of flowers and read it. "Rachel - you are one of our biggest success stories from McKinley High. Good luck with your opening night and hope we can come to a show next time we're in New York! Love, Will and Emma Schuester."

Rachel hadn't expected a basket from her former glee club director, especially since his glee club was competing against Finn's at Nationals. She looked at the other basket and read the tag: "Kylie is bringing good luck wishes from all of us to New York! We're so excited to have a New Directions alumni on Broadway. Break a leg! From the New Directions: Ryder, Marley, Kitty, Jake, Jack, Kylie, Madison, Mason, Spencer, Roderick, Jane, Sara, Ashley, Molly, Lily, Nathan, Ellie, Samantha, Michael, Ben, Oliver and James."

She looked at the bouquet. "Good luck with your first official performance as Fanny Brice! We'll come to a show as soon as we can get to New York! From Puck and Quinn."

The bouquet next to it also had a message from a New Directions teammate. "Good luck as Funny Girl! If you need any tips for dancing give me a call! I'll come next time I visit Tina. From Mike"

The next bouquet was wrapped with ribbons with cats on them, so Rachel knew who they were from before she even read the card. "Lord Tubbington Junior and I hope you have a great show! Love, Brittany"

One of the theatre staff members came into the dressing room. "You have a few minutes."

"Okay," Rachel gulped. She followed the staff member to the wings of the curtain, where she could hear the orchestra playing the overture. This was it.

Rachel stood backstage as she waited for the curtain to go up and the show to begin. She'd done some performances as the understudy, yes, but this was different. This was the real thing. She was the person who was labeled as one of the two main Fanny Brices.

The music for the opening number began, and she looked into the audience, seeing her family and friends in the front row. She gave them a smile, realizing that having them there was making her nerves go down. She'd seen Funny Girl so many times, she not only knew all Fanny's lines, she knew all the lines for EVERY character. This shouldn't be too hard. And so many of the songs had a special meaning for her.

She used to think that "I Am The Greatest Star" was a song about her. That had been what her dads had told her. But now she realized that even though she was a star, there were dozens of stars out there. She didn't have to be the greatest star anymore. She just had to be the best star that she possibly could be.

Many people thought of "Don't Rain On My Parade" as a Rachel Berry song. After all, she had been singing it since preschool, and she'd done it on the fly at Sectionals her sophomore year. She'd done other solos that she thought were better, but there was no denying that this song was an important song to her. Although there were other songs she thought she'd done better, there was no doubt that this song had an important place in her personal history.

Another song that she had important connections to was "My Man." She remembered when she sang this as an audition for a solo for Nationals when she was a junior. Jesse had asked her if she was singing to anyone in particular, and since she and Jesse were sort of dating at the time, she had lied and said not really. Of course, she'd been singing it to Finn. Right now, she was still singing it to Finn, and there was such a contrast between the first time she'd sang it for Finn and right now. Back then, he was with Quinn and she was with Jesse, both wanting to be with each other and unable to. Now they were in New York and living out their dreams, married.

"People" made her think of all the people who were here to support her tonight. When she used to think about her opening night on Broadway, the only people she knew would be there for sure to support her were her dads. Instead, she'd almost booked out an entire row for people who were here to support her. Of course her dads were here, they had been the ones who'd gotten her into singing and acting and dancing. Her mom was here, her mom who had been missing from her life for so long but now had the ideal mother-daughter relationship with, her mom whom she'd inherited her talent from. Even with a few weeks away from Nationals, Kylie had come into New York, and Rachel was so glad to have the sister who she'd wanted her whole life here tonight. She was around Beth's age when her dads showed her the Funny Girl movie for the first time, and she hoped that Beth wasn't too bored in the audience. She'd told Shelby and Beth that she didn't have to come, but Beth had wanted to. Her friends had been there as well. She remembered the days of arguing over solos with Mercedes and Kurt, or being made fun of by Santana... those days were long gone. She didn't know Blaine, Sam, Artie and Tina as well when they were in high school, but ever since they all lived in New York together, they were like siblings. And of course there was Finn - the man who she loved more than she thought she could ever love anyone.

"Who Are You Now" was an emotional song for her, one that sometimes would make her cry. When she sang it, she would think about who she was now and who she used to be. She remembered when she was told if she hadn't changed, she probably would have gotten the part right away. But she couldn't be happier with who she was now. Getting to play her dream part, attending a prestigious school and married to the most amazing man on Earth while living in the greatest city on Earth.

The show went by all too soon, and by the end of the show, Rachel didn't have the same fears about messing up that she had before the show. She was able to forget about the pressure and just enjoy herself. The curtain call came all too soon, and Rachel couldn't stop smiling as she saw all her friends and family on their feet in the front row.

After the curtains closed, Rachel went to her dressing room, where all her family and friends were waiting.

"We're so proud of you, baby!" Hiram said as he and LeRoy pulled Rachel into a hug and gave her some flowers.

"Thank you," Rachel said as she went to hug Finn before he kissed her repeatedly, quickly morphing it into a heavy makeout session.

"Finn, there are other people here," LeRoy said.

"Sorry," Finn said as he hugged Rachel and handed some flowers to her. "I'm just so proud of her."

Rachel embraced Finn closer. "Thanks baby. I love you."

"These are from me and Mommy and Kylie," Beth said as she handed Rachel some flowers.

"Thank you," Rachel said as she hugged her mom and sisters.

"I told you that it was my dream to see my beautiful daughter sing those songs on that stage," Shelby said.

"Thank you," Rachel said.

"Everyone in New Directions is going to want to come see it when I give them a report," Kylie said. "You were great."

"And these flowers are from all of us," Kurt said. "Your New York family."

"Awww, thanks," Rachel said. "I also got flowers from the Schuesters, and Puck and Quinn, and Mike, and Brittany, and the New Directions!"

"You know, some of the kids from my glee club came, too," Finn said.

"Even with Nationals so close?" Rachel asked.

"Even with Nationals so close," Finn said. "I think it's safe to say that they have some good inspiration for Nationals."

"How about we all go to my townhouse to celebrate?" Shelby asked Rachel.

"I'd love that," Rachel said.

Chapter 28 preview: The glee clubs head to Nationals!

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