As always, Kaleido Star belongs to Junichi Sato. Have a good read.

Anna still clung to Layla's waist while Mikhail gently closed the door to their room. She murmured something to her brother in Russian, to which he lowered down to her level and ruffled her hair, smiling sadly.

"He will be okay. Trust me. He just needs a while alone to recompose." Then, he looked up to Layla. "What about you? Are you alright? That must have been hard to see."

Indeed, it had been… Scary wasn't the word. Unsettling, maybe. Saddening, surely. She wondered if he ever realized that everyone had been watching to some extent. Of course, he had, that's why he cursed in the first place, although much of him seemed far away on that brief amount of time. He would be so embarrassed later.

"Yeah… I guess so… Weren't you in practice? What brought you back?" She asked, one hand on his sister's shoulder, and the other supporting the weight of her midriff.

"It was over earlier than expected. I had talked Alois over to come to finish our work from that day, which is due next week… When we were getting here, I saw a boy on a nearby tree spying whatever was going on inside… And he seemed distressed. When I approached, he had disappeared. That's when we went in… And heard the commotion up here. Many of your friends were already going down. Seeing my brother like that… Will always be terrible. No matter how much we fight each other."

They were distracted by Alois going up the staircase, with a tray with a cu of steaming chamomile tea and biscuits. "Hm… Need any help here? If not, Ms Maryann is calling you all downstairs. She made some fresh tea. You know… After everything. These are for your brother, she asked me to leave by the door and knock… It might cheer him up."

Mikhail immediately took the tray from his friend's hands and did as it was told.

"I could do that, you know." The French boy blushed. "Are you… jealous?"

"Absolutely not." He stated, bluntly, putting his hands on the pockets of his ragged trousers. Yet trained eyes could see a hint of reddening on his cheeks as he passed by, leading the way to the ground floor. "Let's go, you all. Careful with the steps. Will you help her, Anna?"

The young girl nodded, taking Layla by the hand, cleaning her own tears.

"Really, Mikhail?" I thought we had taught you better!" His grandmother scolded.

"What?! Anna is with her, otherwise I'd be helping. You guys worry too much." He defended himself.

He sat on the floor next to the table where the pastries were, close to Rosetta and Kaleido Star's Anna, who inspected him intently. He snorted. "I know, I look just like him, but with green eyes. You can say it. I am taller though. And nicer. And haven't killed anyone." His grandmother squeezed his ear. "Ouch!"

"Don't say those things so casually. Your sister is here. I take, by their reactions, they all know, but she doesn't. Besides, it's not like he was the one driving the car. Still, I owe you an apology, Mr. Oswald, for his past behaviour and all that it has caused you." Luckily, the girl had been absorbed in her staircase task and didn't hear anything.

"It's in the past now." Leon gazed at the steaming cup. "Sophie used to like this tea."

Layla and little Anna sat on the other couch, while Alois took a cushion and sat just beside Mikhail, so that Maryann would have where to sit herself. It had been ages since she had hosted so many people in her living room.

"So… We didn't expect meeting you here, Miss Layla…" Sora broke the newly set silence.

"What? You didn't know she was here?" The youngest Killian seemed a little confused, staring at the blonde beside her, who looked intently down at her cup of tea.

"Of course, they didn't Anna, why did you think Yuri and her came to France for? They are trying to hide because he messed up, stupid."

"Don't call me stupid, Misha!" She snuck her tongue out to him, and he returned the gesture. "Grandma!"

"Oh, for god's sake, stop it, the two of you! Mikhail, for the umpteenth time, behave." He sighed, eating a pastry, and his friend elbowed him.

"So… It means… I shouldn't have brought them here without asking first. Sorry."

"It's okay, Anna. We were aware they were coming. It would happen anyway. It was just… a little earlier and certainly more troubled than we had anticipated. I was the one to insist on eavesdropping, though, if I hadn't, maybe all of that before could have been avoided." She consoled the younger girl.

"Well… Congratulations, I guess? I don't know if this is the appropriate time." Ken stated, uncomfortable.

She smiled and took a relieved breath as the baby moved a little. He had been awkwardly quiet in the last half an hour. "Thanks." He moved even more, now visibly. "Yes, baby boy, they have already noticed you, please, do leave my ribs alone." She pressed on what seemed to be his back, gently. Everyone eased a little.

"How far along are you?"

"35 weeks and 5 days. Almost there. I could say something like 'he is around the size of a lettuce', but that's usually his dad's department."

"Romaine lettuce or kale. You're welcome." Mikhail intervened, checking on his phone, shyly. His grandmother laughed inwardly. "What? Not that I have searched, no, my brother brags about it all the time."

"Bloody liar." His friend coughed, elbowing him once more. "Stop pretending you are not excited."

"Traitor. Okay, I may have searched it once or twice."

"Mama caught him last week. She even asked me to leave the room so they could have a long conversation about girls." Anna giggled, proudly, high-fiving Alois. "He then escaped saying it was his science homework."

"I hate you two." He pinched his nose, red as a pepper. "It worked, though."

"By the way, continuing from where we had stopped. Yes, Ilya Kiryanov was her ballet teacher." Mikhail shivered immediately at the mention of the name. "And Yuri's as well, unfortunately."

"That explains why he snapped." Leon added. "That's how most of his apprentices react."

"But… If mama hated this guy, why was big brother learning from him?" Anna asked, confoundedly.

"Because he disobeyed her, like you do when you practice gymnastics without her knowing, of course."

"Mikhail, let your grandma finish." Alois shushed him. "Was he all people say about him? Like, with the whip and the other stories?"

"Way worse." The old lady stated, to their dismay. "Your mother tried to protect the three of you by not talking about him, but it rebounded at her years later, with your brother. Maybe if she had explained everything to you from the beginning, this might have been prevented."

"What didn't she tell us? I had never heard of him…" Anna stated, staring at her brother. "Wait… Was he the teacher that hit her that you said the night she cried weeks ago? When I came to grandma's house?" He nodded. Her mouth went agape.

"It took years until someone realized what he used to do. After he was banished from the Bolshoi, because of his manners, he moved here. No one would have thought he was what he was. He used to behave as a good neighbour; he even changed his surname, of course, for anyone would know if he kept using it. His appearance too. A fresh start."

"As I said before, your father met your mother when they were young. She was very polite, even a bit too much for someone her age, as if she were ready to be punished at the slightest idea of a mistake. Her grades were always top of the class, unlike his."

"Aaron mentioned he had spotted a nasty bruise on her back once, when their teacher got him sitting behind her, so that he could, maybe, learn something. But she had told him she had slipped while dancing."

"Over the years, she started wearing long sleeved clothing, or makeup, to conceal her bruising, and scars. As they began secretly dating, of course, it became obvious that something else had been going on. She would barely be allowed to leave the house."

"We only discovered the truth the day your brother was born. When she had been particularly hurt and finally had the courage to tell me who did it all, after we managed to take her to a hospital."

"Wait, he hit her while she was pregnant… What a horrible person!" Alois stated, horrified. Everyone else in the room seemed to share the feeling. "Why didn't she run away or ask for help earlier, you know?"

"Because she couldn't simply decide to walk away from her father on a bright summer day." Yuri revealed, joining them, eyes weary and voice hoarse from weeping. "And he didn't know she was pregnant. If he'd known, he'd have done way worse." He made way to the nearest spot on the floor nearby the couch where his partner was seated. His sister immediately changed places to sit on his lap. He pulled her closer, somewhat cradling her body and stroking her hair gently.

An uncomfortable, dreadful silence filled the room.

"We pressed charges, and she moved here. A restraint order was placed, and he could no longer approach her, otherwise, he'd be detained. She didn't want him arrested. The thing about these perpetrators is that they usually make their victims blame themselves for their deeds. She took years to realize that wasn't how a father behaved. It had been all she had ever known." The old woman gazed sadly at the teacup.

"When Aaron died, and we came back to France, years later, he took advantage of the situation and lured your brother. Focused of his revenge plan, it's not surprising that he abided. It was a way into the Kaleido Stage. Later, he partially learned Kiryanov was your grandfather, and how terrible that person was."

"So, you didn't know what he had done to mother either?" Mikhail asked. Yuri shook his head. "I followed you once, and saw him trying to strangle you with the whip… That's why I told her you'd been training in secret. She instantaneously knew where to find you both."

"Ah, so that's how she found out." The older Killian child smiled. "You know, at first, he had wanted you. But I knew you wouldn't be able to hide it, and that he would do worse to you than he would to me. Because you weren't sick. If anyone had to suffer anything, it was me. All things considered; he still went easy."

Mikhail's eyes went wide, and he lowered his head in shame. So, his brother had thought about him, after all. He had been jealous that Yuri had been developing more than him in ballet, and later, too angry because the man who had taught him had hurt their mother that much. He had sworn to himself he would never forgive his brother for aligning with such a demon.

"What do you mean by sick?" Alois intervened.

"Oh, right. The most well-kept secret in Kaleido Stage. I have type A haemophilia. Not even Kalos knew, otherwise, I'd never have been accepted in." He then showed the port-a-cath under his clavicle skin. "Over the last two years, it has been fairly out of control, and that's why I retired and resigned back to bureaucratic work. Only Kate knew, and Layla, after our clash before Swan Lake." He then put his hands over his little sister's ears. "I was serious when I meant you were supposed to have your revenge that night, Leon. A life for a life."

The Frenchman ran a hand over his face. "I thought you were crazy before. Now I am pretty sure of that."

"Why did you cover my ears? I want to know!" Anna pouted, freed from his hands. "It's not fair!"

"Your brother did something very silly and he is ashamed of it. That's why he never wanted you to know." Layla saved the day. "It's really nothing you should worry about now, otherwise I'd tell you." The little girl seemed satisfied with the answer, and Yuri breathed relieved.

"She misses you; you know?" Mikhail stated sadly, drawing a circle in the rug with his finger. "She still prays every night so that you are safe for another day. She still can't hear anything about circus without remembering father or you, and crying, so she's oblivious to much that happens in the circus world."

"I thought so… But I still can't face her." His lower lip trembled, and he bit it trying to suppress it. "I brought too much suffering that she didn't need in her life. I don't think I can be forgiven."

"That's something only Nadja can decide; it's not up to you." His grandmother interrupted him.

"Wait… Nadja? That Nadja from earlier?" Layla stared at Mikhail, who fidgeted with his hands. "That's your mother? She looks so young… I would never have guessed she even had children."

"Well… She was only fifteen when Yuri was born… She is young." Maryann added, both her grandsons flushed, little Anna excited that she had met their mother.

"She is not going to dance, is she? That's what she told you and Mathéo earlier… She doesn't want people longing to dance as beautifully as her, because it was her father legacy. The perfect ballerina. She doesn't want anyone to ever suffer as she did. Ever since brother left, she has never once stepped on the stage."

"That's sad... Nevertheless, understandable." The former star sighed, rubbing her back, and placing a pillow underneath it for extra support, adjusting herself on the sofa, inhaling deeply, and earning a concerned look from her partner on the floor. "Don't look at me like that. I'm fine, just changing positions. You too, Mikhail."

The younger Killian tried to pretend otherwise, both arms on the back of his head, earning laughter from the others.


Across the city, a lone woman walked back to her house. Her flaxen locks were playfully moved by the night breeze. She let her hair loose and closed her emerald eyes, embracing the moment.

She crossed the stony bridge slowly. It was one of the few places she used to dance out of her house during her childhood, on her way to drag her father out of the bar. He would never know she did. It was one of the few moments she felt free. And when she knew she would meet him.

She could almost hear his voice and feel his hands over her eyes. He'd always make her guess who it was. They would sit and chat for a while, eat food his mother had prepared, and then each would make their way home.

Later, that bridge had become their safe place to meet. And the hands over her eyes gave place to strong arms around her fragile body, his lips humming Debussy's "Girl with the Flaxen Hair".

It had become their song.

How she missed him.

Then, for an instant, she swore to hear his humming, and once again, felt safe in his warm embrace, his cool breath on her neck, as he kissed it.

"I missed you too." That was his voice. She was sure of it.

But when she turned back to answer… He wasn't there.

Of course, he couldn't be.

He was long gone. No matter what she wanted or how she wished him back.


On their way back to the hotel, the Kaleido Star performers met again with the boy, who seemed strangely happier.

"That looks better!" Anna teased. "So, found your girlfriend?"

"What? Ahn… No… Is your friend alright? I saw him from the window." He asked, absentmindedly.

"Were you spying on us?" Rosetta taunted. "That's really rude."

"Sorry… I couldn't just get in, could I? But those pastries looked delicious." His mouth watered. "It seemed like the monster had gotten him too." He shivered.

"Oh, you are right there. A monster did get him, kid." Leon blurted. "A terrible one."

"Well, lucky for you, she gave us some to take home, I might give you one." Sora told him.

"Really?" He jumped happily.


"I am sorry." Yuri muttered while she laid her head onto his bare chest.

"What for?" She questioned.

"For not being with you when they found out about baby boy." He embraced her. She smiled.

"That's alright, they were kind. Besides, I was more worried about his father. Whatever happened, he was safe here with me." She strokes his cheek, pulling his eyes to meet hers. "I am sorry for everything you and your family have been through. I understand why you did not want me to know. But it is in the past. It doesn't change the now."

"Before he died, he said I was like him… Do you think that is true? I never wanted that… I…" She put a finger onto his lips.

"Not another word. You are nothing like him. Nothing at all. All you've ever done, even the wrong things, were thinking about your family. It might have been vengeance… But it began out of kindness. What is done, is done… But you are not like him." He was sobbing quietly again.

"I don't deserve you. Thank you. Really." He stroked his cheek against her head and kissed it tenderly. Baby boy kicked his torso. "Yes, I see you too. Papa is sorry for distressing you." He rubbed her abdomen gently.