Oh boy... Sorry for the lack of recent updates.

Been a bit struggling with this chapter for a bit. Hope you like it... I'll try to get back on track here as the time goes on. Please read and review. :)

Kaleido Star: The Amazing Ascension

Chapter 5: "Do You Have It In Your Heart?"

February

Rosetta's Room

It had been over a month of annual maintenance, with most of the Kaleido Stage cast and crew going off in different directions to spend their vacations.

Leon joined Rosetta to view preparations for the Kaleido Stage International Academy in Paris.

May did the same for the one in Beijing.

Mia went to see Cathy Taymor to bounce writing ideas off of her (and to go party with Layla, on occasion).

Anna actually learned some stand-up tips from her father and left the audiences rolling in a show with her father (a dream come true!) in the local comedy clubs.

Yuri was deep in financial discussions for the next production – investors and prospective sponsors had to be contacted and all.

Sora went back to see the progress of the latest class of hopefuls in the Kaleido Stage International Academy in Japan.

So, as the entire group was beginning to return after the maintenance, Rosetta couldn't get her mind off of one thing...

Rosetta mused, "Why must I defeat Sora? She's the only reason I came to Kaleido Stage..."

Layla overheard her...

Layla: "For precisely that reason, Rosetta..."

Rosetta whirled around, not realizing that Layla was in the open door...

Layla: "Neither of you realize, even though I directly told Sora after she defeated me for the role of Odette in Swan Lake."

"She wanted a stage without competition, and strove to make that a reality I never realized possible."

Rosetta: "So then why is it becoming clear that, after we did the Legendary Great Maneuver and she fulfilled my dream, that now I must beat Sora?"

Fool: "Because you are next, as I showed myself to you during Swan Lake..."

Rosetta whirled around again and began speaking to the Fool. This threw Layla off for a moment, but she smiled soon after...

Layla: "The Fool is speaking with Rosetta now..."

Fool: "There are two things you need to know about the present situation. One, Sora is not living up to her end of the bargain when she was made the True Star by performing the Angel's Maneuver. Layla spoke well that last day before Opening Night."

"Two, I question Sora's love for The Stage."

Just then, Sora was coming over to see Rosetta...

She heard that last statement of the Fool, and took him and threw him, this time into the nearest wall.

Fool slumped: "That hurt, Sora..."

Sora: "And you have no concept of how much you are hurting me, Fool. Rosetta cares about me deeply, and..."

Sora was stopped by a sharp right hand. Layla had slapped her!!

Layla: "Until you can come to terms with what is really going on right now, I don't know why the Fool is still visible to you. Sora, do you honestly believe, in your heart, that I gave my role up as the star of Kaleido Stage voluntarily?"

Sora: "You were injured, and..."

Layla: "That's not the point, Sora. You know as well as anyone... I live for that applause that makes my body shudder."

"That's why I had no fear when we did the Legendary Great Maneuver, even with my shoulder and how long it took you to no longer have doubts about the both of us."

Rosetta was already crying in the corner of the room.

Layla: "You made an agreement, whether you choose to accept it or not, when you became the True Star, Sora."

Sora was now on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Sora: "But I wanted a stage without competition... I never wanted this, Layla..."

Layla: "It is not your choice to make. Did you honestly believe you could come back to Kaleido Stage after having a baby and still be the Kaleido Star?"

Sora: "Did you honestly believe you could come back to star at Kaleido Stage and play Odette after all the work I did to get the role in the first place?"

Layla: "Yes, I did..."

Sora's eyes began to burn at what she saw as a personal insult.

Layla: "Until I could no longer turn away from your 'Angel', I fully intended to defeat you and retake my true place as the star on Kaleido Stage."

Sora lost it then and there and ran out of the room, sobbing.

Layla went after her...

Sora and Ken's Living Quarters

Sora came charging into the room. Fortunately, the baby was still with a nanny because Sora was practicing and Ken was working with the new recruits.

Sora cried to Ken: "They're trying to ruin everything!!"

Ken: "Calm down, Sora. What in the world is the matter?"

Layla then got to the door.

Layla: "Sora now knows the truth about Rosetta's recent dreams, and she refuses to accept it."

Ken: "I don't understand. I thought we got Rosetta settled down, and..."

Layla: "Sora is now where I was when she was about to become the True Star..."

Ken: "But this is madness! Would that not mean that the Fool actually expects Rosetta to perform the Angel's Maneuver, since that is believed to be the one path to becoming the True Star..."

Layla: "But that is not necessary for Sora to accept her position. She is now at the point where she loves something more than The Stage, and the Fool is finding out that things are being set in motion for Sora to be replaced..."

Rosetta then walked to the door, wooden as a plank. She then walked up to Sora and embraced her.

Sora: "So what's going to happen?"

Rosetta: "I don't know. I really don't... Every bone in my body is saying for me to run back to my mother in Paris, but something is holding me here."

Layla mused: "That's my girl..."

Sora could only hold Rosetta as they both broke down.