A/N: This is set when Katie and Christine are about 12-13 years old. This idea popped up when we were working on the discussions between Katie and Christine in Rule 42.
Star Date 11306.04- Earth – Johnson's Performing Arts Hall
To Chrissy's ears the applause from all the parents, and friends was deafening, but she couldn't stop smiling. She looked over and saw Katie beaming and soaking up the attention. Chrissy was happy for her sister who loved being on the stage, but Chrissy had realized during the run of the dance showcase that Chrissy really didn't like being up on the stage. Sure, it was fun, but Chrissy honestly preferred being in the show ring than the stage.
When the curtain finally closed Chrissy let out a sigh of relief. She was then tackled hugged by a very happy Katie. "Chrissy, I had so much fun. I can't wait until the next semester of classes. I'm finally old enough to start taking the Jazz classes."
"You were great tonight." Chrissy hugged her sister but frowned slightly when Katie mentioned the next semester. Katie was so happy and hugging her friends that she didn't notice. "Katie don't forget Mom and Dad are waiting on us. We are doing dinner at Macaluso's for Jack's birthday."
"Ooo, Macaluso's. I'll meet you by the stage door in 10 minutes." Katie waved to Chrissy before disappearing into the crowd of students.
Sighing Chrissy made her way back to her classes' dressing room. She quickly packed up her dance things, not forgetting the pad she had brought along to study for her biology 1 class. With a bit of a heavy heart, Christine zipped up her bag, and went to meet her sister.
"Daddy!" Katie shouted as she ran out the stage door and into her father's arms. Chrissy decided to take a slower speed to her parents. The warm hugs from her mom felt good after the stress of the show.
"Hey pumpkin. How are our little ballerinas?"
"On our toes." Katie laughed and kissed his cheek.
"Tired and hungry." Chrissy laughed at her sister's antics.
"I believe that is a hint." Richard looked to Lynn who rolled her eyes. "Are you so tired that you can't walk over to Macaluso's?"
"Never!" Katie laughed as she grabbed her dad's hand and started to drag him down the sidewalk. Shaking his head, Richard allowed himself to be led down the sidewalk by Katie. Lynn wrapped an arm over Chrissy's shoulders, and they followed behind them.
As they walked along Lynn noticed Chrissy wasn't talking much. Katie had been boisterously telling them all the interesting things that happened backstage, and childhood dramas, while Chrissy rarely said anything. This was unusual as Chrissy and Katie typically couldn't stop trying to outdo each other in stories. Lynn nudged Chrissy, "Hey, you alright?"
"Just tired." Chrissy shrugged.
"Is something bothering you?" Lynn gently coaxed.
"I don't want to dance anymore." She looked up at her mom.
"That's fine but can you tell me why?" Lynn hugged her shoulder gently.
"I just… Mom, I am not having fun anymore." Chrissy said thinking her mom would be upset with her.
"That is a very valid reason," Lynn again squeezed Chrissy's shoulder, and replied matter of fact.
"You are not mad?" Chrissy said surprised.
"Why would I be mad? If you aren't having fun, why keep doing it?" Lynn reassured her. Lynn's comment left Chrissy a bit speechless. "Is there something else you would rather be doing?"
Chrissy considered for a moment, "I really love showing the horses." Chrissy commented, "I just feel freer when I'm on horseback. I'd like to start taking more training classes."
"That is do able. Without your twice a week ballet classes, that will free up some time." Lynn reassured her.
"It will also give me more study time for class." Chrissy smiled.
"Just remember all study and no fun leads to burn out. If you want to focus more on your studies, you will also need an outlet for fun, which I think your horse riding would fill the bill."
Chrissy stopped walking, "Are you sure you are not angry with me?"
Lynn stopped with her. "Yes I am not angry." Lynn smiled and chuckled. "I am just glad you had the courage to tell me what was bothering you. Your dad and I just want you to be happy."
"Thanks," Chrissy blushed.
"Would you two hurry up. Jack, Grace, and Sam are already here and waiting on us." Katie shouted from the open doorway. "They have eggplant parmesan on special tonight."
Lynn and Chrissy rolled their eyes and laughed at Katie's antics as they jogged up to the restaurant door.
Star Date 11306.04- Ravenswood -upstairs bathroom – 17:05 hours
"I think I'm going to keep my costume." Katie said as she brushed her hair out before putting it in pig tails.
"You should. You looked really cute in it doing that diva swan skit." Christine gently teased, as she began to brush her teeth.
"I am not cute. I was going for professional ballerina." Katie laughed and fixed her hair.
"If that is what you want to do, go for it." Chrissy spat out her toothpaste.
"We should do a duet for the next dance showcase." Katie started applying a moisturizer to her face.
"About that Katie…" Chrissy sat her toothbrush down and faced her sister. "I won't be dancing next semester."
"Of course, you are, you love dancing, quit trying to be funny." Katie rolled her eyes at her sister.
"Katie, I'm not kidding. I don't want to dance anymore." Chrissy said in a serious tone.
"You can't be serious." Katie looked to her sister confused.
"I am." Chrissy said firmly. "Today was my last performance." Not looking at her sister she made her way out into the hall.
"You can't do that!" Katie shouted following her out into the hall.
"Yes, I can, and I just did." Chrissy spun to look at her sister.
"Chrissy! You and I have done dance classes together since we were little." Katie said a bit annoyed and hurt. "
"We have, and I don't want to do that anymore. Simple as that." Chrissy glared at her sister, with her arms crossed.
"No Simple!" Katie's temper started to get up, "You and I dance together. That is what we do. You can't abandon me like this!"
"Abandon you! You are my baby sister. I could never abandon you. I'm just not taking dance anymore. I'm going to take additional riding classes instead."
"Why do you want to be with the horses more than me?!" Katie shouted back.
"Why do you want me to keep dancing?!" Chrissy shouted back.
"We are sisters. It is what we do!" Katie snarled back.
"I don't like dancing like you do. I want to show horses." Chrissy snapped back.
"I am not giving up my dancing for some stupid horses." Katie spat up at her sister.
"You don't have to!" Chrissy looked at her sister as if she lost her mind, "I'm giving up dancing, not you. You are amazing at it. If you love it, keep doing it!"
"Without you there it won't be as fun." Katie stamped her foot.
"Katie, you are already in a more advanced class than me. If your ankles weren't still growing, you would be dancing point by now. You are good. I am not."
"But I want you there with me." Katie's tone slipped into whining.
"Katie, you are twelve. You can take dance classes by yourself." Chrissy waved her hand in dismissal and went to her room.
"That is not the point!" Katie began to cry.
"Then what is the point. I don't like ballet. I want to concentrate on my school studies, and my horse showing." Chrissy slammed her door in Katie's face.
Katie burst into full on sobbing and ran to her room.
In the middle of the argument, Jack had come out of his room trying to figure out what all the shouting is about. It was very rare that the two of them got into an honest fight. They had their squabbles, but nothing like this.
At the door slam, Richard came jogging up the stairs from the kitchen. Like Jack, he was surprised at the argument. His girls typically got along well. By then Lynn had come out of her and Richard's room to see what all the fuss was about. She managed to catch the 'That is not the point.' Comment from Christine, and her heart sank.
Lynn looked over to where Richard was at the top of the stairs. They had a non-verbal discussion before each breaking off to tackle one of the girls. Lynn grabbed Jack's arm for him to follow her into Katie's room, while Richard sighed and went to Christine's room.
"Katie bug?" Lynn knocked on Katie's room's door frame.
"Go away." A crying Katie said from her bed.
"Bug, it is me and Lynn. We want to talk to you." Jack coaxed her from the doorway.
"Alright." A tearful Katie responded as she sat up in her bed, the tear-stained pillow in her lap.
Jack went over and sat next to her on the bed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong Katie bug?" Lynn pulled out Katie's desk chair so she could face the two of them.
"Chrissy quit dance class." Katie sniffed.
"She told me tonight after the performance." Lynn reached over and squeezed her hand.
"How could she do that to me?"
"What did she do to you, Bug?" Jack hugged her slightly.
"She doesn't want to dance with me anymore." Katie cried.
"Katie, she doesn't want to dance anymore. It isn't a slight against you. Your sister simply wasn't having fun anymore and wanted to move on to something else."
"But dancing was our thing." Katie sniffed. "She and I did that together."
"Bug, you are a wonderful performer. You have been since you were little. Chrissy has never liked being in the spotlight unless she is on horseback." Jack rubbed his niece's back.
"I know, but why is she leaving me by myself." Katie cried into Jack's shoulder.
"Katie, are you more upset that Chrissy is no longer dancing, or that she isn't going to dance class with you." Lynn asked cautiously.
"I just want to be with my sister." Katie continued to cry into Jack's shoulder.
Lynn began to understand what the problem was. "Katie, Do you feel that Chrissy doesn't want to spend time with you anymore?" Lynn looked over Katie's head and into Jack's eyes.
"Yes" Katie sniffed, her face still in Jack's shoulder.
Lynn and Jack shared a look. "Bug, you and I spend time together in your flower garden occasionally, and you like to go star gazing with me. Are you wanting to do something like that with Chrissy?"
"Yes. That is why I wanted her to still dance. It was something she and I did together. Grace wasn't butting in, and Chrissy and I could just have fun." Jack looked a little sheepish for not realizing what was going on between his nieces and Grace.
"Katie, I understand why you are upset. While Chrissy may not want to dance anymore, is there something else the two of you can do together? Is there something else that you both like to do together?"
"I don't know." Katie said, wiping her nose with her sleeve, as she had quit crying.
"How about you think on it, and we can all talk about it tomorrow. How does that sound?" Lynn reached out and petted Katie's hair.
"I'll think about it." Katie finally looked up to her mom.
"That is all I can ask." Lynn bent and kissed her daughter's cheek. Katie smiled up at her.
Jack hugged Katie tightly. "It will work out, Bug." He looked around her room and spotted a small stuffed bunny. He got up and retrieved it. "For now, here is Bun-Bun he has been your cuddle friend since you were little."
"I'm not a baby Jack." Katie playfully glared up at him.
"No, but we still have moments where a fluffy friend can help." He mussed with her hair.
"Thanks," Katie gave him a sheepish grin as he left the room.
Lynn blew her daughter a kiss from the doorway and turned the lights out.
Richard knocked on Chrissy's door. "Christine, it's your dad. I want to talk to you."
"Come in," Chrissy said annoyed. A moment later her dad walked into the room, closing the door behind him.
"Do you want to talk about what just happened?" Richard leaned on the wall by her closet.
"I can't understand why she is so upset." Chrissy flopped back on her bed, looking at the ceiling.
"Why are you quitting dance? I heard your explanation from your mom, but I would like to hear it from you directly." Richard crossed his arms.
Chrissy sat up to face her dad, "I'm not having fun anymore. It feels like a chore instead of something fun to do. I honestly would rather work on perfecting my riding, then go through another dance class that I loathe doing."
"Sounds like you have been thinking about this a lot."
"I have." Chrissy sighed and looked around her room, "I don't love dancing as much as Katie. She is a natural to it, I am not. I'm not stopping her from continuing to dance. I just don't want to dance anymore."
"I know you aren't stopping her, and over the shouts and crying, I heard you complimenting her talent."
"Dad, Katie is good, beyond good at this performance stuff. She puts what ever I do to shame." Chrissy sighed.
"And you have no idea why Katie is upset with you?"
"No idea."
Richard came over and sat next to Christine on the bed. "Chrissy, I think Katie is missing you."
"Missing me?" Chrissy looked at her dad confused, "We go to the same school. I see her at lunch, and we come home from school together every day."
"And then go to dance rehearsals." Richard gave her a slight smirk.
"So what? She will go to the dance rehearsals without me. I'll simply be working here at home practicing for my next show."
"True." Richard inclined his head in agreement. "How did you feel last summer when Katie quit doing shows with you."
"A little disappointed." Chrissy considered, "Her heart wasn't in showing, and I couldn't blame her for not doing it anymore."
"And you feel that Katie should feel that way in this situation."
"Yes, I do. I let her do her own thing. She traded the practice times for voice lessons. Seemed fair to me." Chrissy conceded.
"Did you do anything to make up that time you spent together?" Richard asked.
"No because we are always together." Chrissy gave her dad a 'no duh' look.
"With the two of you not doing dance class together anymore, you really won't see much of each other." Richard commented.
"As I said dad, we go to the same school. I see her at lunch, and we come home from school together every day."
"Sam also comes home from school with the two of you." Richard reminded her.
"Grace and Jack go to the upper forms school and aren't home when we get out of class, so Sam typically will tag along with Katie and I afterschool until Grace is available to look after him."
"Most of the time Grace will just come home with Jack, and we will all hang out and do homework. Why?"
"That means with out your dance classes, you are not going to have any one-on-one time with your sister."
"I guess so." Chrissy said a bit surprised.
"In a way you are spending more time with other people than with you sister." Richard nudged her.
"I love Katie. I like spending time with her." Chrissy said a bit hurt.
"You aren't showing it." Richard stated matter of fact, "The two things that you two have always done together, the other has stopped doing." Richard pointed out.
"And now we have no time for each other." Chrissy put her face in her hands.
"Maybe your baby sister just wants time with you and is unsure how to ask about doing it." Richard stood and kissed his daughter's head.
Chrissy looked up at him, "I'll think about it Dad."
"That is all I ask." Richard blew her a kiss from the door and closed it behind him.