 
The Dancers: An Artist Story

M.L. Cameron

Copyright 2011 By M.L. Cameron

Smashwords Edition

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Author's Dedication:

I've got two of them this time. My best friend and forever sister, Tracey. She's always there for me and she reads everything I write, whether I ask her to or not. And then there is someone who probably hasn't read a single thing I've written, Eduardo. I remember falling asleep talking to him just to wake up and talk to him until I fall asleep again. Over the years he had become one of my closest friends, and while he might not ever actually read this book he should get to the first page. I love you both.

Author's Note:

This book is about perfection. If you don't get that... Well I don't know how to make it any more obvious for you... So think about it, what's perfection for you? Black? White? Straight? Gay? Male? Female? Dancers? Singers? Models? Guys with six packs? Whatever it is, it's not that same as what someone else will answer. Perfection is infinite. Think about that for a minute...

### Anastasia

How do you explain what perfect is? How do you truly understand what perfect is? Can you describe or understand perfect? No one can, we can describe what perfect is to us, we can understand what we think perfect is but the word itself... no.

Perfect, he's perfect, she's perfect. Well I am not perfect, I want to be, I strive to be but I can never really get there. I'm flawless and graceful but not perfect. Never perfect.

A dancer's mistakes are not noticed by an audience. There are mistakes that not even the instructor would notice. But mistakes are always noticed by the dancer, no matter how small.

I had been dancing for thirteen years. Since I was three years old. I could not remember a time at all when dancing hadn't been the center of my whole life. Thirteen years... And I had made the biggest mistake in my entire career.

"Anastasia! You have to be on the stage in two minutes," my instructor said and I smoothed a stray hair from my pale face.

He grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the dressing room. "You didn't use the make-up," he accused and I rolled my eyes. "The way you look is just as important as the way you dance. Next time I'm hiring someone to do it for you."

The stage dimmed. Little did either of us know... there wouldn't be a next time.

I got onto the stage with my partner, took a small breath and listened for the first beat of music. With the first lift I fell... There was something sticky on the side of my head... The sound of yelling people... The darkness and distress of pain... The smell of hospitals... The taste of blood and fear.

♪♪♪

"Daddy?" I whispered and heard his near silent footsteps. "Daddy?"

"What honey?" he asked and I felt his hand on my hair. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head and turned around to press my face into his chest. "I know honey. It'll get better, it'll get easier I promise."

"How can you say that daddy? It will never get better. It's not getting any better. It's been six months and the doctor already said after six months that it could be diagnosed as permanent blindness or whatever. Mr. Parkingson already told me that if it's permanent I could never dance again. It's hard to relearn everything in a new way. I'm done. I can't dance now. I can't do anything now."

He sighed and kissed my hair. I refused to let tears fall down my cheeks. I refused to show weakness. "You have a student tutor coming to help you out with your school work. You have that Anastasia. You have your smarts. You are very smart. It's going to get better. You can learn how to dance blind, you can learn how to do anything blindly. You'll be fine."

"If I can't dance I can't do anything."

"You can learn," he said softly. I heard the soft meow of my cat in the other room.

"Yeah, it takes five years. And in five years I'll have to start working up again. That'll take ten years. And then I'm screwed because I'll be too old and it'll be too late to do anything."

He took a deep breath and his arms tightened around me. "Get some sleep Anastasia," he said and guided me to my bed. I laid across the extremely soft, smooth, silk bedspread and rested my head on my feathered pillow. "Good night honey." He kissed my forehead and I shut my blind eyes...

... "There have been some complications. When she hit the ground the impact was too much on the left side of her head. Long story short... she's blind," I heard the doctor say in my mind...

I woke to my cat kneading my stomach. She was just a kitten. My dad had given her to me when I got home from the doctor. I felt my way to her head and stroked down her back. "Good morning," I whispered and she purred beneath my fingertips, a good morning of her own.

"Anastasia? Are you awake?" I heard my dad asking.

"Yes," I murmured, still petting the kitten.

The door slid open and I turned my head to my left, where I knew my father would be standing. "Your tutor will be here in an hour. So you want anything?"

"No, I think I'll just go to the studio and wait. Thank you daddy," I whispered and he came to my side.

"Do you need any help?"

"No, I think I'm going to be all right."

I stood at the point bar and held on to the smooth wood. My Pointe shoes were wrapped around my ankles and I could feel my leg making the straight line to the floor. Maybe I didn't need to see to dance. I took a deep breath and traced my way to the farthest wall of the room. It would be easy to just dance. I hit play on the stereo and music filled my small studio. If I fell... I had no idea what would happen.

The routine was among the first I had learned in my college level classes. I extended my arm and took a deep breath. There was isolation of my torso and my body fell into the natural step. The only problem was, I couldn't see anything. I didn't know what I looked like, or where I was inching to. And then there was the jump. I was going to do it and try to land without a boy to catch me.

No one to catch me, I took a deep breath and my steps slowed slightly. Just take it slow, I reminded myself. "Jump," I heard someone whisper as I prepared to stop.

When someone said jump, you jumped. They said leap, you leaped. Turn, turn. Arm up, arm up. So I jumped and only then did I realize what I had done. Someone caught me and turned me in a circle. There was a small pause as I dropped into someone's arms. I could feel them walking and I waited, it wasn't like I could do anything. The music stopped and I shut my eyes.

"Who are you?" I asked softly.

"I'm Luke."

"Oh."

"And you're Anastasia? Correct?"

I nodded. "Yes. Are you my tutor?"

"I suppose I am. Though tutor isn't exactly what your father described. And he certainly did describe a lot."

"Oh."

He chuckled and turned with me still in his arms. He didn't feel like the typical dancers I dealt with. They were all thin and lean. He seemed thin, but not a dancing type of thin. There was muscle, especially since he was still holding me up. "Is my father home?"

"No, he left the second I walked in. He told me to go to the third room in the left hallway. Then to make sure you ate something. And to try and get you to eat a brownie. So which way is the kitchen?"

I sighed, of course my father wanted me to eat a brownie. They were my favorite sweet and before the fall I only allowed myself two a month. Now I could probably eat as much as I wanted, it wouldn't matter. "Back through the foyer and through the middle hall, all the way back. You could put me down if you need to."

"I'm good. So let's get some food in you. It'll do you good."

"Okay. I need to take my shoes off though."

"You can do that in the kitchen."

He walked in silence, the kitchen was cold. The tiles of the counter were really cold through the thin material of my tights and leotard. I was wearing a thin skirt but it didn't really help. I fidgeted, I didn't know where I was in the kitchen and that always made me nervous... The not knowing where I was. I brought my foot up to unlace the slipper but a firm hand stopped me. "I'll help with that," Luke said and I took a deep breath.

"The ribbons can't get knotted."

"I know."

His fingers slipped beneath the lace pieces and tugged on the end of one ribbon. I felt them loosen around my calf and then slowly, they were removed from my leg. "In the studio..." I started as he reached my ankle with one of the slippers. "How did you know I was going to jump?"

"My sister dances. She's about two years younger than me. It's sort of a complicated story. Other foot?" he murmured, pulling the first slipper off.

"Oh." I slid my other foot out to him and he started to remove the ribbon. "How long has she danced?"

"A few years. Not very long. But long enough that I know what to do, how to do it. What do you want to eat?" he asked me and I took a deep breath.

"I'm not really hungry."

"Your father said that you have to eat. So what would you like?"

He pulled the other slipper off and tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear. "Some of the fruit that's in the fridge," I breathed. His casual touch sent a shock through my body.

There was a moment of silence and I felt him back away. The fridge opened and I heard the suction of a lid on a container. "Do you want to eat in here or at the table?"

"At the table."

"Okay."

I gasped as he lifted me into his arms again. I rested one hand on his shoulder to steady myself and he chuckled. "I can walk," I stated.

"I know, but this is nice."

### Luke

I sat across the table from her and watched as she moved the fruit around on the plate. "Moving it around isn't eating it," I said. She nodded and strands of light blonde hair fell in front of her eyes. Her eyes looked like pieces of sea glass. In between the white and the grey pupil the blue was hardly visible.

I wondered how she felt, not being able to see anything. She couldn't see me. She had seen me before, we had gone to the same school when we were little. But that was hardly the same. She ate one of the strawberries and continued to move the rest of the fruit around. "How old are you?" she asked.

"I'm seventeen."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"Just curious."

I nodded and waited for her to speak again. She didn't talk much. She hardly did anything. I stood up, with intentions to go to the kitchen. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To the kitchen. Would you like something to drink?"

She shook her head and ate another strawberry. I wondered how she kept picking up the strawberries. In the kitchen I uncovered the plate of brownies. I set one on a napkin and brought it out to her. "I'm not hungry," she said for about the thirteenth time.

"How about the brownie?" I set it in front of her and moved the fruit away.

"I can't eat brownies."

"Unless you plan on continuing your dance, you can."

My phone rang and I sighed, I didn't want to talk to my sister. She would be loud and obnoxious. "You should probably answer that," Anastasia said.

"Just because I should doesn't mean that I want to. I'll be right back," I said, going back to the foyer and opening my phone. "What do you want Scar?"

"Nice. Why didn't you tell me you were going to Anastasia's today?" she asked. "You know how badly I want to meet her, please!?" she begged.

I held the phone away from my ear as she complained and pleaded. "She's been through enough Scarlett, she really doesn't need any more trauma. And yes Scar, I did just call you trauma."

"Please! Will you ask her?"

"No, not today, or the day after that, or the day after that. Never. She doesn't need you asking a million questions."

She groaned. "Just go to your lesson, I'll see you later... when I get home. Okay?"

"Fine."

I hung up and went back to the dining room. Anastasia was still sitting at the table, moving the fruit in the bowl. I smiled a little. "I'm going to go change and then can we start the lesson?" she asked and I nodded.

Then I remembered, she could not see me nod... "Yeah, we can."

She stood up and wandered to the hall. She walked out of the room and traced her way down the hallway. I didn't ask if she wanted help, that would have sounded weird and if she wanted help she would ask. I took a deep breath and picked up the fruit bowl and untouched brownie. I walked them to the kitchen and noticed the slippers lying on the counter.

I picked them up and walked back to the studio. One of the doors that hadn't been closed before was shut. Obviously it was her room. I would have put money on the fact that all her rooms were on the first floor so that she wouldn't have to ever use the stairs.

The dance studio was empty and cold. A duffel bag sat in the corner of the room. I opened it and set the ballet slippers inside. I paused as I saw my reflection. I wondered how Anastasia felt, not being able to see her own reflection. She wouldn't ever be able to see again... I wondered if she ever felt the pain in her head like some people did after a severe injury.

I blinked and continued to stare at my reflection. I took a deep breath and went back to the dining room. Anastasia had changed into jeans and a t-shirt. Her long blonde hair was pulled up into a ballerina bun and her bangs fell in her face. She sat completely still, waiting.

My backpack sat in the foyer so I turned to get it. I sat beside her and pulled out a textbook and binder. "So how is this going to work?" she asked.

"Well, your father says you refuse to learn how to read brail..." I started. "You know it could really help, make your life a lot easier."

"Until my father loses every dime he has, which I don't predict happening in the next hundred years, I will stick to my private tutors. Now could we please just start the lesson?"

I raised my eyebrows and shook my head. I wondered which was the real her, the screw-you girl or the proper, completely polite girl. "All right, I'll read the passage and then write down your answers to the questions."

She nodded.

We worked for a couple of hours. We got through a couple days worth of English, more than what had to be done. My phone rang again. I knew Scarlett's lesson was far from over so I checked... and then wondered how she was calling me. "Maybe you should answer that," Anastasia observed in the middle of a passage.

"Yeah. I still don't want to."

The phone rang again. I sighed and stood up. "I'll be right back."

She yawned and nodded. I went back to the foyer and stared up the staircase as I waited for my sister to answer her phone. "What do you want Scar? Aren't you in a lesson?"

"Well, yeah," she whispered. "I'm in the bathroom. Just tell me one thing."

"What!?"

"Can I please meet her!?!?"

"No, now go back before you're caught. Okay? I have to get back to the lesson."

I shook my head and shoved my phone in my pocket. I walked back to the dining room where Anastasia was lying on the table, asleep. I smiled a little and walked over to lift her into my arms. She was light, natural for a dancer.

I held her close and her head rested on my shoulder. No doubt I was physically attracted to her... but hundreds of guys were. She shifted slightly and sighed, falling back asleep. I carried her back to her room with ease. She probably knew I wasn't a dancer, probably because I wasn't fairy thin. I wasn't anywhere near thin, but I wasn't fat. Most people called it muscle.

She sighed a little and I smiled. Her room was big, but there wasn't much furniture. The walls were the color of warm butterscotch. It was a warm kind of a room. The carpet matched the molten honey color of the doors and walls and furniture. Even though Anastasia couldn't see it, I wondered if she could feel the warmth.

I laid her down on her bed, the sheets were crimson, the cover was golden with the red detailing. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly and I waited. She relaxed against her pillows and I pulled the blanket to cover her. I turned my head when I heard the sound of a cat. A small kitten was poking it's head through one of the doors.

It was a pale golden color. I smiled and it padded slowly through the room. It jumped onto the bed and curled up immediately next to Anastasia's feet. I turned and shut the light off. The room was still warm and golden.

In the foyer I started packing up the books and papers. We had gotten a lot done. More than I had thought we would get done anyways. I heard the front door open and turned to see who it was. Anastasia's father came into the room, he looked tired. "Luke, how was it? How is she? Where is she?"

"It was all right. She was fine. And right now she's asleep."

He nodded and ran a hand through his slightly graying hair. "Asleep?"

"Yeah, I brought her to her room a couple minutes ago so you could probably wake her up if you wanted to."

"No, it's good that she's sleeping. Thanks Luke. The doctor said it could be a couple of months before she accepts what's really happened."

"To be honest Mr. Faith, I think that she has accepted it. But I don't know her that well."

I shoved the last binder into my backpack and took my keys from the side pocket. "All right, thank you Luke." He reached into his suit pocket and handed me an envelope. "I know you said that you don't need it but it doesn't feel right to be asking you to do this for nothing."

"I get volunteer hours for it and as long as I get my letter of recommendation I won't need any money. Thank you though."

I set the envelope back down on the table and left the house. I sat in my car and took a deep breath. On the road I watched the black asphalt pass under me, it wasn't very busy. I remembered the first time I had ever met Mr. Faith...

The hospital was quiet, not many people sat in the lobby. I stood up when I spotted my mom rounding the corner, walking fast. "Mom! Can we leave yet?"

"I'm sorry honey. It's going to be another twenty minutes, max!" she insisted. I would have believed her if she hadn't been saying it for the past two hours.

"Well, is there anything I can do to make this go faster?"

She sighed. "Could you show Mr. Faith to his daughter's room? She's in room seven seventy six. He's the one in the corner wearing the suit." She pointed and I nodded.

I walked over to the guy and he stood up, I was just barely eye level with him. "Mr. Faith? If you would follow me I'll show you to your daughter's room."

He followed close behind me and I took a deep breath. We walked around a couple of halls and I opened the door to the room. That's when I saw the ballerina. "Anastasia is your daughter?" I asked in awe.

"Yes. Why, were you friends with her?" He seemed desperate for me to say yes.

"No... I mean, we've gone to school together since... kindergarten. But she wouldn't know who I am. My sister watches her dance."

"Past tense, she doesn't dance anymore."

"Well, I understand. I wouldn't either if I were her. Could you tell her though, that there's at least one person around who wants to see her continue with her dance?" He nodded. "I'm sorry, I'm probably wasting your time."

"It's quite all right. What's your name?"

"Luke Surmise."

He nodded and went to sit beside his sleeping daughter...

I opened the front door of my house and waited... silence greeted me but I knew better than to trust it. I had two older sisters who didn't live in the house anymore but loved to stop by and torture me. And then Scarlett was very loud. My parents would still be at the hospital, working. Scarlett would still be in her practice...

I was alone, there was peace and quiet, at least for a little while. I went up the stairs and then back to the attic. Living in the attic was a choice. When my sister's were younger we each had our own room and when Scarlett was born none of them wanted to take the attic so I did. When they moved out, I decided not to move back downstairs.

I set my backpack on the floor next to my desk and smiled at the poster of Scarlett. She was in the middle of a turn, her face completely serious. She loved that she had been chosen to be on the poster for one of her company recitals. That poster and several pictures of her in differing costumes covered the wall around my desk.

The room was big, the walls purple. Once Scarlett had tried to make my entire room pink, pink walls, pink rug, pink bed, pink everything... That lasted a whole five minutes. I laid on my black covered bed and stared at the ceiling...

Sleep was disturbed by my sister sitting on my stomach and bouncing. "Get off me brat," I said sleepily and shoved at her. She didn't move. "Come on Scar, off."

"Are you finally awake?"

"Yeah, now move." She stood up and I looked at her with question. She was still in her black leotard and blue tutu, the current costume for her recital. I hadn't seen her come home in her costume for years. She was always afraid of it tearing or getting stained.

"I wanted to get home so I didn't change." I sat up and rubbed at my eyes. "Now... Tell me everything!" She sat on my lap and wound her arms around my neck. "Please, please, please, please, please!!" she begged loudly.

"What do you want to know?"

And the questions started pouring out. "What was she like? What did you do? Did she dance? Is she really as gorgeous in person as she is on stage? Does it look like she's dancing when she's walking? What was her father like? Does she act like a spoiled rich girl? Is she really that pale? Or is it just tons of makeup? What kind of clothes was she wearing? Did you ask if I could meet her yet? Oh please, please, please, answers!" she insisted. I shook my head and clasped my hands around her waist. Sometimes I wondered how she could get so worked up over one person.

"She's just like a normal teenager, not spoiled. Like us sort of, even though she lives in a mansion. We did school work and she fell asleep. She didn't dance. But she is very graceful. She just wore jeans and a t-shirt. She is really that pale and without a doubt gorgeous. Her dad is just like mom, there for a second gone in the next. And no, I might ask her later, when she's more comfortable."

She was silent for a minute, as if thinking everything over. "So she's really that pale?"

"Yeah."

"And gorgeous?"

"Yes."

"I would give anything to be as beautiful as she is..." she sighed, daydreaming.

I smiled. "Yeah, you need it brat." She hit my arm. "So how was the rehearsal today?"

She stiffened and I knew something had happened. "It was all right. We got all the lifts, which is a first. I don't like the guy who's supposed to flip me and do my lift... He's dropped me four times already." And I didn't like the sound of that either. "And I can't get two of my turns."

"Do you want to practice?" I asked and she shrugged. That was Scarlett's code for, please, I don't want to ask and make you feel obligated but I need it and I know you'll help. "How about you go get the music and I'll change."

She nodded and disappeared down the stairs. I sighed and stretched.

### Anastasia

I opened my eyes and realized I was asleep. When had I fallen asleep? I asked myself and felt my kitten padding on the bed beside me. When had Luke left? I must have fallen asleep at the table. Which meant he brought me to bed... Of course. I smiled to myself at the thought of Luke.

I heard my door open. "You're awake?" my dad asked and I nodded, sitting up. "How did you sleep?"

"All right." I waited for him to say something about my dancing. Luke would have told him when he asked what we had done.

"That's good. How was your lesson?"

My father wasn't one to beat around the bush, he liked to get right to the point. "It was good, lots of reading."

"That's what Luke said. All right, there's dinner if you want it." I remembered what Luke had said about me needing to eat... Maybe I would eat something. "I've got a late shift tonight but you have your cell phone next to you on your night stand. Just call if you need something. All right?" I nodded.

He started to walk away. "Daddy?" I said and he stopped. "I love you."

"I love you too honey."

A few minutes later I heard the front door close. If he wasn't home then the entire kitchen and maid staff was. I took a deep breath and stood up. Nothing about the dancing... No questions or comments... Maybe Luke hadn't told him. Why wouldn't he though? I traced my way along my wall to the closet and changed into pajama's.

### Luke

Trust me Scarlett I don't think it's anything you're doing wrong. I think it's your partner's fault." She shrugged and took a deep breath.

"But why can't he do it?" she asked, sitting beside me on the studio floor. "This recital could mean a tour for me. I can't miss these lifts."

"I don't know what else to do. Let's run through it again."

We stood up and she walked to the far side of the room. I hit play on the stereo and waited. She fell into step and jumped on the cue. I lifted her with ease and dropped her back to the floor. "Why can't he do that?" she asked, stressed and annoyed.

"What do you want to do about it?" I asked her.

"I don't know what I can do. We can't switch lift partners, everyone else has gotten them perfectly. Could you come to rehearsal tomorrow and watch? Maybe it'll help?" I didn't really like going to the studio while they were rehearsing. "Please Luke? You know I need this."

"Maybe, I don't know if I'm supposed to be tutoring tomorrow or not. But I have to go to my first class and then go check on Anastasia and maybe I'll come by towards the end. Okay?"

She nodded, for once not begging to meet Anastasia.

♪♪♪

I turned the papers in to the school guidance counselor and she smiled. "You two got a lot done," she commented and I nodded. "You know Luke, she really does need this."

"I know. And I'm willing to help."

I left the school and began the drive to Anastasia's house. Maybe we would actually do some work and I wouldn't have to go to the rehearsal. My phone rang and I reached for it. "Hello?"

"It's Nick Faith. Luke, are you doing anything?"

"Not really. I was on my way to check on Anastasia, like you asked me to."

"Okay, that's good... could you take her somewhere. Anywhere. She's been sitting in the house for a week now."

"I would but the only place I have to go after this is to my sister's dance rehearsal."

"It doesn't matter, she can't see it anyways."

I sighed. "All right. What time do you want her home?"

"I don't care, as long as she does something."

♪♪♪

Anastasia was sitting at the dining room table when I walked in. A chef was standing beside her, asking what she could possibly want to eat. "Please Anastasia. I'll make anything. You're father says you need to eat."

I stepped into the room and the chef looked up. "Who's here?" Anastasia asked quietly.

"I am."

"Oh. But you were here yesterday..."

"Yes I was. But your father asked me to come check on you. And you really should eat something."

The chef nodded. "Her father says she must eat, he said that it was doctors orders but everything I make, she will not eat. I don't know what to do." The chef wasn't upset, he seemed worried. Maybe for his job.

"I'll talk to her," I said. The chef nodded and walked back to the kitchen. "Not hungry?" I asked and Anastasia shrugged. "Or do you just not want to eat?"

"Aren't you supposed to be my tutor? Not my guardian?"

"Uh, the job description required both. What do you want to eat?" I asked and she shrugged again. "What about one brownie?"

She didn't move. She was considering it. "Maybe... One."

"Good and then I'll tell you where your father wants me to take you." I walked into the kitchen and the chef was pacing nervously. "She said she'd eat a brownie. But only one, so get the biggest brownie you can find. And then put strawberries on it."

The chef nodded and pulled a cover off a plate of brownies and began to compare. I waited until he handed me a plate. I took it with the fork he held out and went back to Anastasia. "Here you are," I said and put the plate in front of her.

I sat down and she slowly started to eat her brownie and strawberries. "Where does my father want you to take me?"

"Well, he said that I don't have to tell you because you can't see it anyway. But I'm going to tell you because I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"Okay..."

"My sister is at a rehearsal and she needs me to help her partner get a lift. Your father asked me to take you out of the house but once I leave here that's where I have to go. So... Would you like to come? After I'll take you anywhere you want to go, I just don't want you to feel upset. And your father might kill me if I don't bring you with me."

She didn't answer for a long time. I wasn't sure what she was thinking but I knew she was considering at least. She ate another strawberry and shuddered. I wondered idly if she was cold... "All right," she whispered, "as long as it's not long."

"Just enough time to talk a guy into catching my baby sister."

She nodded and took another small bite. "I'm done."

"Two more bites and then you're done." Two more bites and at least half of what she had been given would be gone. I smiled and she paused for a second.

"Luke?" she murmured and I waited...

She didn't say anything else. "Yes?"

"What do you look like?" She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat, taking another quick bite of her brownie.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... Never mind. I'm going to go change. Then we can leave."

She stood up and left the room. I shook my head and then realized what she meant. She literally wanted to know what I looked like. I smiled to myself and nodded. I would tell her, but in small doses. And nothing but the truth. Telling her a lie would be completely pointless.

I stood up and went to the foyer to wait. When Anastasia came back she was wearing shorts and a tank top. She was shorter than I was, but most girls were. I opened the front door and she took a deep breath. "Ready?" She nodded and I took her hand, she couldn't see and my guess was she wouldn't use a walking stick.

Guiding her with just one hand was hard so I tucked one arm around her waist and led her to the car. I opened the door and helped her get in. I sat behind the wheel and started the car. "What do you think about being blind?" I asked and started to drive away from the house.

"What do I think? I don't understand the question."

"When you know there's a mirror, but you can't see yourself, what do you think?"

"Sometimes I'm afraid... other times I'm upset. Supposedly there's a surgery that could make me see again but it's risky."

"It's all up to you in the end."

I took a deep breath and turned onto the road to the studio. "Maybe."

The studio was huge, only half of it was actually in use. I parked in an open spot next to Scarlett's Porsche. I got out and walked to the other side of the car. "Before we go in," I started, helping Anastasia out of the car, "If you want to leave, at any time, just say the word and we're out."

"What's the word?"

"I don't know. What would you like it to be?" I asked leading her slowly to the front door.

"Hmm... Pancakes, I don't really like pancakes."

I smiled, at least she still had a sense of humor. "Pancakes it is."

I opened the door with one hand and led with the other. "All right, come on then."

We walked past the reception desk and past a couple of studio rooms. My sister would be working in studio D. I opened the door with a giant D on it and sat Anastasia down on a chair next to the door. "It should only be a little while."

She nodded and stared blankly ahead. I looked around the room at the dancers. I spotted Scarlett who was sitting on the floor, nearly in tears. The instructor looked over at me and I walked to them. "Luke! What are you doing here?" the teacher asked and I shrugged.

"Scar mentioned she wasn't being caught, so I figured I'd drop by. See what was going on."

"I'm not exactly sure why he isn't catching her. Maybe you could watch."

"All right."

"All right, all right!" the instructor, Maria, called and the class quieted then came to a stop. They separated to the sides of the room and waited. "Okay, try the lift," she instructed and they separated to the two different sides. "One and two and three go five, six, seven, eight."

They came together, Scarlett had no hesitation, even though she figured she would be dropped. He grabbed her waist and I followed every movement. Halfway up he lost the grip and they both tumbled to the ground. Scarlett cried out and I fell to her side. "Are you all right?" I asked and she grimaced. "What hurts?"

"Everything right now. I haven't had such an inadequate partner in years. The recital is in three weeks."

"All right, do it one more time and we'll take it step by step."

She nodded and I helped her to her feet. Her partner shook his head and went to the other side of the room. "All right, step one," Maria said and the each took their first step. "Two." It went like that to the lift.

He stumbled just picking her up. "Had he ever done a proper lift before?"

Maria looked ashamed. "He's never done a lift in a recital?" She shook her head slowly. "Why in the hell is he dancing with my sister!?" I exclaimed and she took a deep breath.

"I know that she needs a good partner but she's the lightest in the class and the light girls are always easy to lift."

"No! She could get hurt."

"There's no one else to partner with her. I'm sorry Luke but there's no other option unless we pull them entirely."

I shook my head and started to pace. "There has to be something. Damn it. Do the lift again. With the music." I turned and watched. I made them go it three times before Scarlet fell and gasped in pain.

"Luke, I can't do it again. I can't," she cried and Maria took a deep breath. "Please don't make me do it again."

"All right..." I let out a breath. I hated seeing her in pain but I hated the fact that she was put with an amateur even more. Maria pulled the three of us aside and set the rest of the dancers to their rehearsal.

"I won't have her falling on stage."

"There is nothing else to be done."

I ran my hands through my hair and took a sharp breath in.

Scarlett laid her hand on my arm and rolled her opposite shoulder. "You need to back off," her partner said and I turned to glare at him. Scar took her hand back.

"Excuse me?"

"I can get the damn lift. She hesitates every time and it's that half beat the screws all of it up."

I shook my head. "You don't have any experience with lifts which is the problem. You need to be comfortable with your partner to do a lift and you aren't. I will not have her on stage with you."

"What if you did the lift?" Scarlett asked and I looked down at her. "I know, dad will be mad but I need this performance. Please Luke?"

"Maria?" I said and looked to the instructor.

"I don't see why not. You know the routines well enough. With a couple of weeks of practice you could have it down."

"What!? I need this too!" Scarlett's partner said and I glared again.

"She could get hurt."

"There's a bigger chance of her falling out on the street than falling in a lift and getting hurt."

I shut my eyes and tried to remain calm. "One out of every two dancers is injured in a lift. I will not have you lift her again."

"I need this recital."

"And I need my sister unharmed."

"Luke," I heard softly and I turned to Scarlett. "Luke..." I heard it again and turned to see Anastasia with her eyes closed, her hands gripping the sides of the chair. Tears streaked down her cheeks.

Scarlett's jaw dropped and I moved quickly through the dancers to Anastasia's side. I touched her hand and knelt beside her. "Can we go now?" she whispered and I lifted her into my arms. Her hands clasped around my neck and her face buried into my shoulder.

"It's all right," I murmured and carried her from the room. I walked out of the building and sat on one of the benches outside. "Are you all right?" I asked, smoothing her hair from her face.

"I'm fine... I just... couldn't breathe... You can put me down now." She didn't release her hold around my neck though. I pulled her a little closer.

"This is nice. Are you feeling better?" She nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really..." she muttered.

"Okay... we could talk about what I look like." She needed to be talked down, away from the thoughts of dance and the fall. "My eyes are brown, or at least that's what it says in my baby book. Scarlett says that my eyes are hazel, sometimes brown, sometimes green."

I wondered idly how long it would take Scarlett to come out and see us. "They sound pretty..."

"Now do you want to talk about what happened?"

She took a deep breath. "I don't know what happened. I could hear her fall and every time it was like I could feel my fall again. And then she cried out and I knew that's what I must have sounded like when James dropped me. But you were there... Every time. No one was there for me like that."

"When did you first start freaking out?"

"The first time she fell," she admitted slowly.

"Why didn't you ask me to take you out?"

"Because I thought I could handle it..."

"You know, you don't always have to handle everything."

For a second, my eyes met hers and I felt like she could see me. The doors burst open and the illusion shattered. "So, I've been back there trying to figure out what just happened, but... What happened? Oh my gosh, you're Anastasia Faith."

Anastasia stood up and I stood beside her, resting an arm around her waist, for support, and balance if she needed it. "Yes I am," Anastasia whispered.

"You... You're... She's... She's here?"

I nodded. "Ana, this is my sister Scarlett."

"I can't believe I'm meeting you. Luke told me he wouldn't let me meet you for weeks, possibly months. Oh my gosh. What am I doing talking. I should be asking questions. I'll change, rehearsal is over and... then... would you mind if I asked you some things?" Anastasia held her breath and shook her head. "Thank you, so much."

Scarlett ran back into the studio and Anastasia fell onto the bench. "You don't have to answer anything you're uncomfortable with," I said to her quietly. She nodded.

"Luke?" she whispered. And I waited. "How are you okay with all of this? You barely know me... But it seems like you care..."

"I wouldn't expect you to remember me. When Scar's done asking her endless list of questions we can talk, about anything you want to talk about."

She nodded and Scar came running from the studio, jeans and a t-shirt messily pulled on. Anastasia sighed, she seemed to lean against me a little more. I smiled and Scarlett looked from me to her, then back again. "You're lucky she can't see you."

"What?"

"Nothing," I said and glared at Scarlett.

She sat down next to Anastasia. "I can't believe I'm finally meeting you... Wow. I... I don't even know where to start. I have so many questions."

"Why don't you start with the first one you say," Anastasia suggested.

"Why did you dance?"

"I danced because my mother danced. She was my inspiration until she died when I was six. She was in a car accident. Though you probably know that. If you know anything about me."

Scarlett nodded. "I know... um... If you danced for her then why did you keep dancing after she died?"

"I promised her..." Anastasia whispered. "I promised her that I would keep dancing. Every day before we started and every day when we turned the studio light off she made me promise her that I would never give up the thing I loved the most..."

"Can I ask you something about the fall?"

Anastasia nodded. "I might not answer. But you can ask."

"Were you afraid?"

"No. I wasn't. I learned through many harmless falls that being afraid could hurt me more than complete trust."

"Did you know your partner?"

"Yes. James and I had worked together many times. He didn't mean to drop me, I didn't mean to fall. But things happen..."

I took a deep breath. Scarlett needed to ask a different sort of question. "How do you feel when you dance?"

"I feel alone. Yet surrounded at the same time. I don't know if that makes sense. But it does to me. I'm alone, it's always a solo performance no matter who's with you. But there is always someone watching, someone to see what you're doing."

"I... You don't have to answer me if you don't want to... I should be getting home anyways but... What won't you dance anymore?"

"I don't really know right now..."

Scarlett stood up. I knew she had a thousand more questions. "Thank you, for talking to me. You'll be home later Luke?" I shrugged. "Well if you aren't there's a rehearsal tomorrow. You have to get fitted for a costume."

"Don't tell Dad though," I said as she turned to her car.

"Okay... You know he's going to find out... You really don't have to do this Luke..."

"No. You need this."

She nodded and got in her silver Porsche.

♪♪♪

What is it?" she asked and I laughed. "No, seriously, what are you trying to feed me?"

"Just try it. Come on."

I smiled at her and held up the ice cream in front of her. "Maybe, if you got out a little I wouldn't have to do this. Try it," I insisted.

Her mouth opened and I put the spoon in her mouth. She shut her eyes and sighed. "What is that?"

"It's this amazing thing called ice cream."

She smiled "I know what ice cream is, that is not vanilla ice cream."

"No, it isn't."

We were sitting in a park, on the part of the jungle gym where the slide started and the stairs ended, we were squished onto the platform, even though we could have just sat on the ground, or at one of the tables... One of my knees was bumped against Anastasia's and the ice cream sat on my opposite thigh. She sat cross legged beside me.

"Then what is it?"

"It's strawberry ice cream, with pieces of brownie, I think that there's some chocolate fudge in there somewhere. You've never had any other ice cream?"

"No, when I was little I got one scoop every other day, and it was always vanilla. And then when I got older, I stopped eating it. Like the brownies, I wasn't supposed to have them while doing dance. Can I ask you a question about your sister?"

"Sure."

She pulled on the hem of her jeans for a second and then asked, "When did she start dancing?"

"When she was twelve. You were in the talent show and she thought that was what she wanted to do more than anything in the world."

"How long have you danced with her?"

"Since she started."

"Why doesn't your dad want you to dance?"

"He thinks it isn't appropriate for boys."

She nodded and I held a spoon of ice cream in front of her. "How long have you known me?"

"Bite," I said and she opened her mouth. "When we were in kindergarten the first day we had to stand up and say our names, then we had to say something interesting about ourselves. You stood up, said your name and then said, 'I dance.' The teacher asked what you meant and you said it again. That's how long I've known you."

She smiled a little and bit her lower lip. "I can't believe I've never noticed you..."

"You did notice me. Up until third grade. Then we were in different classes and after that we just sort of stopped talking. You fell in with your crowd and I hung out with a few all right kind of people."

"None of them have come to see me..." she whispered.

"Maybe, none of them were your real friends," I suggested gently and she shrugged. "So have you had a good time?"

She smiled. "Yeah, for the first time in a while."

"Good." I smiled at her and took one of her hands. She couldn't see me but she still blushed. "What do you want to talk about now?"

"What kind of girls do you like?" she asked and I traced my thumb over her palm.

Her blonde hair fell across her shoulders, down her back and over her chest. Her hand was soft in mine, soft and milk white. "That's a heavy question. What kind of girls do I like? I've dated girls before." I felt her hand stiffen a little, jealousy? What would she want me for? "Some of them were popular, I went out with one girl because Scarlett thought she was perfect for me. Most girls usually remind me of Scarlett, and it's weird to be watching a movie feeling like your sister is sitting beside you. I usually like girls that don't remind me of Scar."

"Do I remind you of her?"

"In some ways." Her face visibly fell. "Like the fact that you both have outstanding talent. But going home last night a lot of the things in her reminded me of you."

She relaxed and sighed. "Would you believe me if I told you I have never gone out with anyone before?"

"Probably not to be honest."

"No one ever does. This is as close to a date as I've ever been." I knew she wasn't lying when she tilted her head down and attempted to tug her hand from mine. She thought that once I learned that I would turn away.

I held her hand tight. "All right, we should get going. Do you want to go home, or come home with me and meet my family?"

"When do I have to be home?"

"Your dad said he didn't care."

"And your parents don't mind?"

I was already standing up, pulling her to her feet. I held the dish of melting ice cream in my other hand. I led her off the jungle gym and as we passed the trash can I stopped. "One sec, I've got to throw this out." I started to walk away but she tugged on my hand. "Or do you want it?"

She answered with a big smile. I hadn't seen her smile like that in years. "All right, but you get to carry it." I handed it to her and we headed to the car. A little boy ran down the sidewalk beside us and his grandmother came grinning behind him.

"Good afternoon," she said and nodded at us.

"Good afternoon," I responded.

"It's nice to see that young couples still take walks in the park," she said and grinned. "Have a nice evening."

She walked to catch up with the little boy who was calling for her. We kept walking to the car. "Why didn't you correct her?"

"Why didn't you?" I countered.

When she didn't answer I smiled. In the car she ate the ice cream and took a deep breath. "With your sister and that guy," she started and I turned to hear what she had to say. "I think he's a half a beat short. He needs to take a longer stride the first step so that he's a little closer to her... I think maybe that's what's wrong."

I started to stare at her and then remembered I was driving. "How can you tell?"

"I could hear his steps and hers, and they don't sound the same." She shrugged. "I don't know, that's what I think."

"We'll try it," I said and nodded to myself. Maybe I wouldn't have to get on stage and completely disappoint my father.

### Scarlett

Scar!" I heard Luke call right after I heard the door open and close.

I ran down the steps yelling, "What happened? You've been gone forever!" I stopped at the bottom of the stairs when I saw Anastasia Faith standing silently beside my brother.

"Ana thinks she can help you get the lift," he said and slid his arm protectively around her waist. He liked her, I knew that the second they walked into the studio. And she trusted him... They look so different, standing side by side. She was thin and he was built, her light hair and his dark hair, his bronze tan face and her pale skin.

"What do you mean?"

"She doesn't think it's the lift. It's the timing."

I nodded, if anything could help me with this lift I would take it. I had been transferring ice and heat on my hip from where I had slammed it onto the floor earlier that day. "So come on, let's go try it."

"All right, I'll change real quick."

I turned and ran back up the stairs. My idol was standing in front of me, in my house, and all I could think about was how I could impress her. She couldn't see me, so that ruled all looks out, not that she cared anyway. I wondered if she had said anything about me, but there was no way I could be sure.

### Luke

Anastasia walked beside me as we made our way to the studio. "She wants to impress you," I said.

"Who?"

"Scarlett."

"Why would she want to do that?"

"The only reason she danced was because of you. And then, the only reason she kept dancing was because of you. She looks up to you, not literally because I think she's a couple inches taller, but as a role model."

She shrugged. "You have to dance for yourself and want it enough... Want it to the point where nothing else matters. Otherwise, it's pointless."

I opened the door to our studio and she sighed. I wonder if she felt like she was in a studio. It was about the size of the one Scarlett rehearsed in. "All right, you just tell us what to do and we'll do it."

Scar came in the room, wearing a leotard, tights and a pair of shorts. "Okay, I'm ready. Just don't drop me."

"Do the lift," Anastasia murmured and shut her eyes, not like she could see anything anyways. She seemed to be paying attention to us though. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's a half step off."

"What do you mean?" Scarlett asked.

"All right, stand where I'm standing and watch."

I shook my head while they switched places. "Okay, now what?"

"Watch where his foot falls on the first step and then the follow through. Ready? Step one..."

And the follow through lift. She was lighter than Scar I realized. Maybe it was because she was shorter, maybe it was because she was not eating anything. Her hands rested on my wrists as I brought her back to the floor. "And then watch if he takes a couple inches off the first step." I went back to my side and waited. "Just take a half step instead of a full one. Step one..."

I knew by the time she was a half step in front of me that I wouldn't be able to do the lift. But she didn't stop. I put my hands on her waist and her hands went to my shoulders. When I started to lift her my foot went back under her weight and I fell backwards.

"That's what happens if he's a half step off."

"But I could barely see the difference. And you can't see it at all."

"Maybe, but I can hear the difference. When your steps are off the entire routine is off." I opted not to stand up but to wrap my arms around Anastasia's waist. She attempted to tug away for a second but I just tightened my hold.

"I've got to go call Holland and get him to come and see if that's it. Thank you, so much."

Scarlett ran out of the room. "Why don't you dance anymore?" I asked and released one of my arms to smooth a strand of hair from her face.

She started to pull away. "No, why?"

"Just... Nothing. You wouldn't get it."

I decided again not to push her. "All right. Do you want me to take you home now?"

She didn't answer. I took that as a no, I doubted she liked sitting at home. "All right, I would say we could watch a movie but..." I trailed off and she sighed. "We could do school work. When my mom gets home I bet she'll make you eat something."

"School work sounds all right."

I stood up with her cradled against my chest. "I can walk," she said and I laughed.

"Yeah, I know."

She tried to hide her smile and turned away from my face. I carried her out to the front stairs and saw Scarlett opening the door. "Come on," she said to Holland and started walking back to the studio room. "Hey Luke, is she staying for dinner?" I nodded. "Well you'd better call mom."

I continued walking up the stairs, then to the attic staircase.

Upstairs I sat on my desk and Anastasia sat on my bed. "If you have a dodecagon what is the measure of one interior angle?"

"Is it regular?"

"Yeah."

"Then it's something that has to do with n and a hundred eighty."

"Close enough."

She laughed and fell backwards. "What color are your walls?"

"Purple."

"What kind of purple?"

"More blue than red, dark but not depressing."

She smiled. "I liked my room. It's gold. I can feel it sometimes, when my windows are open. And I don't have to see it to know that it's all warm and light."

I set the math book aside and took a deep breath. My phone rang and I picked it up off my desk. "Hello?"

"Luke, is Anastasia there? Scarlett said she's there."

"She is here."

"Why didn't you call? I have a dinner to make. And how that girl looked last week at her follow up was not all that great. Are you sure it's all right for her to be at the house? Her father could be worried, or angry."

"He told me to take her. I asked what time she needed to be home and he said he didn't care."

"He's working a late shift at the hospital tonight. He probably doesn't care."

"Okay... Are you going to keep yelling at me?"

"No... I'll be home in an hour all right?"

"All right. Bye mom."

I rolled my eyes at the phone and set it back on my desk. "Okay, so... Tired of math yet?"

Anastasia shrugged rolled onto her side. "What does your mom do?"

"She's a pediatric surgeon and a nurse for teenage athletes. She's one of your nurses actually."

"Oh," she drew the word out and sighed. "My dad's a doctor. Well, sort of. He owns an insurance company and he's a doctor. Does she like working with children?"

"Most of the time. Sometimes it's hard."

"What does your dad do?"

"He's an optometrist."

Anastasia laughed. "That must be fun."

"Oh it is. It really is." I tapped my pen against the desk. "What does your dad think about your dancing?"

"I don't know..."

"Huh? How could you not know."

"He hasn't seen me dance since... I must have been three or four. Once my mother died he stopped coming to practice and started spending more and more time at the office. Then he stopped going to rehearsals and recitals all together. He had the studio built when I asked for it but he's never come in. I don't mind really... He's supportive and pays for everything I need, which is more than I could ask for."

I just stared at her. I couldn't imagine going to a hockey game without my parents cheering me on. Or Scarlett going to a recital without at least one of my parents there to watch. How could she be okay with her father never watching her dance? "Wow," I breathed and she shrugged. Instead of asking questions I changed the subject, "Why does everyone call you Anastasia?"

"Uh, it's sort of my name..."

"I know but why not Ana?"

She shrugged again. "Some people do... Well not really. I think you're the first one who's called me Ana since..." She trailed off, thinking. "Since once I was five and the announcer for the medals at one of my recitals called me Ana."

"Really?"

"I guess. I don't mind. Sometimes Anastasia gets a little long and when I was little I loved the name Ana."

"So you don't mind if I call you Ana?"

She shook her head and smiled.

### Scarlett

We all sat around the dinner table. Dad was glaring at Luke and Mom was attempting to get Anastasia to eat something. I was going over costumes for my individual performance at the end of the year. "Scarlett, put that book away and eat your dinner," Mom scolded and I set the binder on the floor beside me. She smiled, I knew she was stressed and anything I could do to make her life easier, I would do.

"Why is she here?" Dad suddenly asked, he had been silent the entire meal. I only hoped he would keep it that way.

Luke mumbled something and looked down at his plate. "Zackary, one dinner. That's all I want. Leave Luke alone."

"Fine," he grumbled. Luke looked nothing like either of my parents. My father had dark auburn colored hair and brown eyes. My mother had light brown hair and blue eyes. I looked like them both, with the red hair and blue eyes. And then... Luke... Dark brown hair, sometimes it was almost black and green eyes. He looked like our grandfather though, Mom said that's where he must have gotten it from.

I sighed and stabbed a piece of broccoli with my fork. The phone rang... The whole room was silenced. The only reason the phone rang was school and work. No one wanted to find out what it was. Luke stood up and Anastasia jumped a little. He put his hand over hers and went to get the phone. I hadn't seen him so comfortable with a girl in ages.

He went into the kitchen and grabbed the phone from the counter. "Hello?" He waited for a long time. "No... She doesn't go to school anymore... Well she's homeschooled... Okay... Mom?"

She stood up and he sat back down. "Who was it?" I asked.

"Someone saying something about how you need to be attending classes and that skipping is not tolerated. I don't know, it wasn't my school. Which is where you would be going if you were attending classes."

I shrugged and looked at Dad. He was still glaring at Luke. "Daddy," I said to distract him. "Are you coming to the show?"

"I bought the ticket didn't I? Of course I'm going Scar. To at least one performance."

He smiled at me and I forced a grin. Mom sat back down. "That school is insane."

We all laughed, it sounded completely natural. I wished it really was. "How was your day?" I asked mom and she shrugged.

"It was all right, better than most days. Got another football player. They think that training is when they need to push themselves."

"Why is she here?" Dad asked again and Mom laid her head in her hands.

"Because Luke invited her to the house," I said, hoping it would soften his blow on Luke if it came from me.

"Why? I mean, he's only known the girl for a few days."

"Stop it," Luke said and Anastasia turned her head, almost as if she was looking at him.

"Stop what?" he asked calmly. He turned back to me and continued speaking. "Why did he invite her... of all the people he could be spending his time with. I mean, she's just some blind, has been, ballerina."

Anastasia froze. Luke took her hand under the table and glared at our father. But he didn't stop. "Obviously she isn't that great, she fell."

"So have I!"

"Yeah, but she was supposed to be perfect. Why is he hanging around with her? She's not all that amazing."

"Stop," Mom said and he took a deep breath.

"I'm just saying that he could do better, that's all."

Anastasia looked like she was about to cry. "Can you take me home?" she whispered and Luke stood up.

"Yeah, come on." They were both quiet as he led her out of the room. We all heard the front door slam.

Mom glared at Dad and he shrugged, continuing with his meal. "Why did you do that?" she asked. "She's a perfectly fine young girl."

"Why do you hate him!?" I burst out and then ran from the room. I opened the front door and saw Luke holding Anastasia. She was sobbing and he was trying to comfort.

"It's all right," he murmured and I was struck speechless. I hadn't seen my brother act that way with a girl... ever. He loved me and that was it. He never fell for anyone...

"He didn't mean it," I said and Luke turned. "He's just... He's just dad. He didn't mean it."

He shook his head and turned away from me. That was the first time my brother had ever turned away from me to comfort someone else. I turned and blankly went back into the house. Could he be in love? I never pictured my brother in love... I didn't see him with a girlfriend or wife or kids...

I went up to my room and pressed my back into the closed door. I slid until I was sitting on the floor. I pulled my head to my knees and took deep breaths. I didn't know what I would do without my brother. He was always there... Always. I was so afraid that now something was going to change that.

### Luke

I sat on the park bench beside Ana and waited for her to calm down. "Do you really want to go home?" I asked and she shook her head.

"No, but I couldn't stay there."

"He's just an angry person. Just ignore him."

"I can't just ignore him."

"Why not?" I asked and smoothed one of my thumbs across her tear stained cheek. She looked like a little girl when she cried. She turned away and I pulled my hand back. I had turned away from Scarlett, she hated it when our father yelled at me. But when Ana was crying... She mattered more.

How could I like her so much after just two days with her?

She shook her head. "Everything he said was true. All of it. About the fall, and how I'm supposed to be perfect. That performance was supposed to be my best. It was supposed to be completely perfect, flawless, nothing out of place. No ribbon or hair or piece of lace was supposed to be messed up. And then everything got messed up. And I wasn't supposed to let that happen.

"And you do deserve more than some has been ballerina. He was right about that too. More than anything he was spot on when he said that." She shut her eyes and rubbed her cheeks dry. "Maybe you could just take me home..."

I took her hands and stared at her, I knew she couldn't see me but I didn't care. "My dad is stupid and wrong, okay? When you fell it wasn't anyone's fault. All right? Things happen. He was dead wrong about me and what I deserve. Okay? He was wrong about you and about whether or not you're right for me. Just forget what he said."

"No, he was right. Could you just take me home?"

"Listen to me Ana, he was wrong. You aren't any less to anyone because you fell. That's it, you fell. Anyone could have done it." I stood up and took her hand. She had no idea where she was going so it wasn't like she could protest when I wrapped my arm around her waist.

We walked to the car and I drove her home. All the lights were off and there were no cars that I could see. I walked her up to the door and figured out it was locked. "Do you have a key?" I asked and she shook her head.

"I've never needed it."

The sun had set long before and it was starting to get cold. I rang the bell. "I don't think anyone's going to answer it."

She shrugged and shuddered. I rubbed my hand on her arm and she leaned into me, she had probably forgotten that she wasn't talking to me. "Well, you have two options now. You can come home with me and I could drive you home in the morning. Or you could sit out here with me and we wait for someone to get home."

"My dad probably won't be home until tomorrow morning."

"Then let's go, it's cold."

We got half way to the car when she stopped. "I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow..."

"Well my mom can take you to the hospital in the morning when she leaves for work."

"No, not doctor like physical. It's an eye appointment. It's an examination to see if I could get the surgery to make me see again."

"Even then, I'll drive you in the morning. It's cold, let's go."

We walked the rest of the way out to the car.

### Scarlett

I laid on my bed and sighed. Luke had been gone for three hours. I thought he was only driving her home. My door opened and I rolled over onto my side. I didn't want to talk to my father. I pulled my stuffed flamingo closer to me and shut my eyes. "Scarlett? Are you asleep?" I didn't answer. The door closed and I let my breath go.

A car pulled up to the house and I knew it was Luke. He would come check on me, make sure I was okay. So I waited... The front door opened and I heard him come up the stairs. He passed my room and went up to the attic. And the tears came...

He walked around the attic and then went back downstairs. I heard my door open. "Hey Scar," he whispered and stepped into the room. "Are you all right?" He sat on my bed beside me. I didn't want him to see me crying.

"I'm fine," I murmured.

"Why are you crying?" he asked and I didn't answer. "Come on Scar, you can tell me anything."

I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut. "What's going to happen when you admit that you love her?" I asked and he laid his hand on my shoulder. "You've barely known her for three days and it seems like you care more about her than anything else. What happens when you've known her for weeks and then months?"

"I've known her for years Scarlett. Since before grade school. Our parents work in the same hospital, we've always gone to the same schools. We were friends when we were little. Scar, she's just a girl that I might be falling for. You're my sister, that could never change. It couldn't ever change. I will always care about you. And one day, maybe a dancer, maybe not, he's going to fall for you and you're going to be together. And you're going to understand everything that I feel for Ana."

"I'm never going to understand that."

"You will, some day. You have to remember that you're two years younger than me. That puts you a year younger than Anastasia. You've got all the time in the world to find someone. You still have college and a career."

Everything he said was making me feel so much better. I loved him, more than I wanted to admit. "Maybe it's only been a few days that I've gotten to actually spend time with her, but it's two days more than I would have had a year ago."

I nodded. He hugged me and kissed my temple. "Now, I'm going to go to bed and you should get some sleep too, you have an early practice. And when you get home we can go over your solo performance."

♪♪♪

It got to the point where Anastasia spent more time in our house than anywhere else, or that was how it seemed. Sometimes they went out, some nights she stayed at home, some days she went with her father to a doctor's appointment but most of the time she stayed with us. I grew to love her like a sister. She helped me with my solo piece when I was having trouble landing a leap or controlling a turn.

With every day that passed Luke seemed to love her more and more. Most nights she slept on his bed and he either slept on the floor or he would fall asleep next to her. My father grew more and more accustomed to seeing her around and he learned to deal with it.

Two weeks went by... And then three. My recital drew closer and I still had a costume to get fitted and twenty four hours of rehearsing to do.

I ran up the attic stairs and threw open the door. Luke was sitting at his desk, reading a book... Anastasia was nowhere to be seen. "Where is she?" I asked and he jumped. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's all right. Ana had an eye appointment."

"Another one?" He nodded. "When are they going to give her the surgery?"

"Today she's supposed to get her final exam and they start surgery next week. But it might not even work. No one is completely sure. But why?"

"I was just going to ask her if she's helping me pick a costume..."

"But she can't see them."

"Exactly."

He made a face but didn't question me. I shrugged and turned to run back down the stairs. I needed to pick a costume.

### Luke

I parked my car and went into the doctor's office. Anastasia was sitting in the lobby. Her father had dropped her off and I had been instructed to pick her up. "Are you all right?" I asked and sat next to her. She nodded and yawned. "Are you ready to go?"

"First the doctor said he would bring out the paperwork. And that he wanted to go over it with me when I had someone here with me."

"All right," I said and took her hand. "How do you think it went?"

"I think it's going to be all right. It's expensive but that doesn't really matter. And it might not work but it's worth a shot."

"That's good."

The examination door opened and my father stepped through the door. I glanced quizzically at him. "I'm supposed to be going over a surgery procedure with..." He flipped a paper over on his clipboard and sighed. "Anastasia Faith. If you would follow me to my office we can begin discussing the process. Isn't your father supposed to be here?"

Ana shrugged and walked beside me. "He said that Luke was going to pick me up and that I wasn't allowed to leave with anyone else. And the doctor said I couldn't leave until my surgeon talked to me but I wasn't supposed to talk to them until someone else was with me. Luke is someone else."

He looked at me and opened a door. I guided Ana to a chair and then sat down next to her. My father went behind the desk and sat in the high backed leather chair. "All right, well I'm Dr. Surmise and I'll be performing your operation. Your father will be going first and he's already signed off on the forms needed to complete the process. We just wanted to go over any questions you might have or concerns you may want to discuss."

"Do you hate me?" she asked blatantly and his jaw fell. He stuttered for a second and then cleared his throat. "It's a simple question really. I just don't think I feel comfortable with you as my surgeon when you don't exactly approve of me."

"I... To have me taken off a surgical procedure proper papers must be filed and complaints filled out..."

"And with the amount of money my father has I have no doubt that those papers could be overlooked. I have no trouble playing that card Dr. Surmise. I am my father's only daughter, his only child. And he's not going to be having any more. So he will do anything to keep me happy. And I can throw a fit when I want to. Now, I would like to request another surgeon to complete my procedure or you could just get used to the fact that I'm not leaving any time soon."

I stared at Ana, I had never seen her act like that much of a spoiled brat. "Luke, talk her out of this," my father said and I just looked at him.

"You think I can talk her out of this? You think that I can just say, 'be quiet?' I think she has every right to request another doctor. You've said it yourself that you don't approve of her. She wants to see again, and dance without hesitation. With you doing it she'll be nervous the whole time. She's not just some once was, screw up, ballerina like you are always saying."

He gaped at the both of us. "Which will it be Dr. Surmise?"

"I don't think you're the right girl for my son... And I'm sorry, but that won't change, at least not any time soon."

"Fine. Luke could you call my dad?" she handed me her phone and I dialed quickly. I handed it back. "Daddy? No... It went fine. Did you know Luke's dad was supposed to be doing my operation?" She paused. "No. I don't want him to do it. Please daddy? He doesn't like me.... I know he's a doctor but I don't want to be afraid..." She smiled a little. "Thank you, so much daddy. I love you too. Yeah, I'll come home tonight... You want Luke to come too? Okay... Bye."

She closed her phone and slid it into her pocket. "Thank you Dr. Surmise you should be receiving a call from your boss within twenty-four hours informing you that you will no longer be performing my operation."

I stood up when she did. I had to admire her courage, standing up to my father like that. He respected people who stood their ground and I could tell as we walked out that he was beginning to respect her. We walked out of the office and she held her head high until we got into the car. "I feel horrible."

"Why?"

"I don't like being a spoiled rich girl. But if he was going to do the operation I would have been so scared the whole time."

I put my arm around her shoulders. "It's going to be just fine. He'll get over it. You have every right to request someone else."

She shrugged. "I want to see again."

Then I didn't say anything. Somewhere in the back of my mind I didn't want her to see again. Then she would go back to school, start dancing again... And through all that she might forget about me. I took a deep breath and pulled her closer. Her arms wrapped around my waist and she pressed her face into my chest.

I didn't want her to forget me. I didn't want her to just turn around and forget about everything we had shared...

### Ana

We sat around the table and I slid my fork across my plate. My father probably thought I was searching for food. Luke nudged my ankle under the table, urging me to eat something. "So, Luke, where are you planning on going to college?"

"I want to go to MIT," he said and my eyes widened. "Or maybe Virginia Tech. And if either of those don't work out then Yale or Harvard. Ivy league is sort of my ultimate goal."

"What do you want to go to MIT for?"

"My teachers tell me game designing is in my future but I would rather do architecture work. Landscape and exterior home designing. It's going to be hard but I know that I can do it if I try."

He was amazing. And he was completely winning over my father. "Do you play any sports?"

"Hockey. I was never one for football or basketball."

"I never played hockey. My mother was always so worried I would get hurt." And that's why she won't talk to me, I added mentally. My grandmother told my father that dancing was dangerous and when he enrolled me full time she stopped talking to us.

I took a deep breath and set my fork down. "I'm full," I murmured and I could feel Luke looking at me. I didn't want to eat whatever was in front of me and he would be mad because of it. I didn't really care. "I'm going to go change into my pajamas."

I stood up and left the room, I knew the house well enough now to walk around without needing any sort of guidance. I could probably maneuver Luke's house the same way, but with all the stairs I was never completely sure.

My room was warm and welcoming. I heard my kitten make a little noise. "Hello," I murmured and sat on my bed, after making sure she wasn't lying there. I waited for her to bump against my hand. When she did I ran my fingers through her soft fur.

♪♪♪

I must have fallen asleep on my bed because I woke up with someone sitting beside me on the bed. I could hear the pages of a book turning. "Good morning," Luke said and I heard the book get set aside. He took my hand and I sat up. "How are you doing?"

"I'm all right. It's morning already? I don't remember falling asleep..."

"I don't know, I came in to check on you and you were asleep. I slept in one of the guest rooms and your father told me to look after you when I woke up. He said that he's going to the hospital for a couple of hours before he goes for the surgery this afternoon." Luke always gave me a rundown of everything. I liked it, I never had to ask for him to tell me anything. "And that I was supposed to pick him up from the hospital tomorrow morning and drop you off so he could try and get back to work. Then the doctor called and told me to drive him straight home, no work. And that you would be in surgery almost all of tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, your dad said something about money talking and then he went to bed."

"Luke?" I whispered.

"What?"

"Will you be there when I wake up?"

I knew he was smiling when he tucked a strand of lose hair behind my ear. "Of course. I'll be there before you go in and after you come out. You know you won't be able to see right away..."

"I know. It could be two to four weeks before they know if it worked. I still want you to be there." I wanted to see Luke. I had vague dreams about him sometimes, where he would say something and I could start to see him but I would always lose it. I hated that.

"Then I'll be there. You know Scarlett wants you to see one of her performances."

I flinched. Dancing was still sort of a sore subject with me. I could help Scarlett practice but that was all technical. I hadn't danced in over a month, since I had shown her and Luke what a difference that half step made. I took a deep breath and settled my nerves. My head rested on Luke's shoulder and his arm was wrapped protectively around me.

We spent another day together. Like we did almost every single other day. I wasn't allowed to eat anything so he couldn't tell me to eat something, like he usually did. The next day I woke up to Luke gently shaking me. He stroked the pad of his thumb over my cheek. "It's time to go."

As we walked to the car I got more and more nervous. In the hospital I had to focus on my breathing or I was going to pass out. I heard my father ranting to someone about how he was well enough to go to work. "I'm sorry Mr. Faith but you will be put under observation if you do not promise to go home and rest," a nurse was saying, not just any nurse, Luke's mother.

"Fine," he mumbled. "Not like I can see with these paper things over my eyes anyways... Where's Luke? He's supposed to be driving me home."

"What?" I shrieked and grasped at Luke's arm. "No, you promised..."

"Anastasia?" Dad asked and I started hyperventilating.

"Deep breaths Ana, okay? I'm not going anywhere." He squeezed my hand. "Scarlett is coming to drive you, she should be here in a second."

I tried to breathe, tried to take deep breaths. When had I become so dependent on other people? When had I become so dependent on Luke? I heard someone come into the room. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I'm late. I wasn't supposed to be late. But there was almost no where to park."

Then came my sigh of relief, I was going to be okay. Luke would be there...

... "Please count backwards from twenty."...

### Luke

Do you know how long it could take?" I asked my dad at dinner a week after Ana went through her sight repairing surgery. "For her to see again?"

He shrugged. It was just us and instead of silence like we usually had it was fairly comfortable. He was a little upset that he was kicked off the surgical procedure, but it didn't go on his permanent record so he wasn't mad. "It could be a few days, and it could be a few weeks. She'll be very sensitive to lights being on for the first month or two. It'll get easier as time goes on. It may take time for her to properly distinguish colors. Since her father was her donor she could become color blind. She'll be allowed to take the bandages off in a week, after everything has healed up."

"So... How long is it before you know it won't work?"

"After two weeks. If she still can't see anything we'll know that it didn't work."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Luke, how do you feel about this girl?"

Instead of answering I shrugged. "I don't know... I have no idea... I don't want to say that I love her. Because I don't know if I do. I'm only seventeen."

"Do you know how old your mother and I were when we met?" I shook my head. "We were in the seventh grade. We lived in Kansas..." He kept talking, falling back in time. "We went to a catholic school, uniforms were required and everyone was 'related.' She was top of the class and I always fell just a little bit behind. We didn't talk to each other until the end of eighth grade. We talked all summer, and spent most of our time together. When school started the next fall I knew that I loved her.

"Throughout high school we had our share of ups and downs. We went from spending every day together to seeing each other for thirty seconds at a time. Our junior year I proposed. Her parents disagreed, my parents loved the idea. Just because you're young doesn't mean you can't fall in love."

Again, I shrugged. "Maybe... I don't think she'll want to hang out with me after she gets her life back. She'll have her friends again. Her dance. She won't need me anymore..." I stared at my plate and took a deep breath. Thinking about Ana leaving me was hard but I knew I needed to think about it. I didn't want to let her go. It was nice to feel wanted.

"I think you two will be able to work it out and that everything is going to be okay." At that, I stared. My dad never thought anything in my life would work out. "Scarlett has recitals in two weeks, the hockey conditioning starts soon, doesn't it?"

"It started today," I mumbled, not wanting to completely ruin the moment. He was attempting to talk, so I would try too. "That's why Ana's not here today."

"Oh... Well you need to put the game days on the calendar."

"I will."

♪♪♪

I took my phone from my pocket and took a deep breath. I was supposed to be going to school for two hours then picking up Ana to bring her to the doctor. "Hello?" I asked, turning into the school parking lot.

"Luke, I'm going to bring Anastasia to the eye doctor. Turned out I don't have to work the double shift. She wants you to stop by after school though."

"All right. Is she okay?" She made me promise I would go to every doctor appointment with her.

"She's just fine."

"Okay, I'll call when I get out of last period."

I sat in my car for a few seconds and then went into school. Everyone walked around the halls, a few of the guys from the hockey team started walking beside me. "Leaving to hang out with your fake girlfriend later?" Mark asked and punched me in the shoulder.

"You're so funny," I said and continued walking. "And no, her dad decided to take her to the doctor."

He started laughing. None of them believed that I was tutoring Ana. I ran a hand through my dark colored hair and then realized that I needed a hair-cut. "I'll see you guys later," I said as the group started to break up. Mark and I had first period together.

"So, what do you even do? I mean, she's like blind isn't she?" I nodded and walked into my first class. "So what is there to do?"

I dropped my backpack to the floor and sat down on the desk. "What are you going to do this weekend?" Mark asked.

"Probably go to the rink and practice a little, help my sister with her recital practice and then hang out with Ana."

I heard a sharp gasp and I turned my head idly to the direction it had come from. "No way in hell," I breathed and held my breath.

"What?" Mark asked and punched me in the arm. "What? Tell me."

But I couldn't say anything. I was completely awe-struck. What was she doing there? Why was she in class? I blinked but she didn't go away. She was standing behind the teacher's desk, listening to what he was saying. Finally he dismissed her and she turned away. Her gaze fell on the class full of students. A girl ran up to her and started talking.

She nodded and started looking over the room. Her eyes met mine and she paused for the smallest second. She had no idea who I was. Of course. She didn't remember what I looked like. "No. No, I can't. Thank you though," she whispered and turned back to the desks. "Umm? Where do I sit?"

"You will be taking the empty seat... There, behind Mr. Surmise."

Mr. Sellers pointed to the desk behind me. I saw her head turn quickly. She looked at Mark and there was a slight grimace on her face. "Dude, new chick's looking at me."

"I will beat the shit out of you if you stand too close to her," I grumbled through clenched teeth.

"She's Ana?"

"No duh," I said and he started laughing.

"No wonder she's looking at me. She already knows what's good for her." I glared at him as she slowly began walking to the desk.

She stopped as Mark blocked her path. She waited but he didn't move. He looked at me. "What?" I asked and he started laughing. A confused look crossed over her face and she took a deep breath. "Mark, stop being a jerk. Move."

He rolled his eyes and sat in the desk beside me. "All right, class," Mr. Sellers started and the class quieted down. Everyone took a seat. I couldn't force myself to turn all the way around, not when I knew Ana was sitting right behind me. "Let's all get settled down and turn to chapter sixteen."

The lesson was boring and the class seemed to go on forever. Knowing that Ana was behind me distracted me beyond belief. I wanted to know what she was thinking, how she was feeling, what she saw, everything. "Mr. Surmise, could you read the first three paragraphs?"

I nodded and turned to my book. "Mark Twain once wrote, 'A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.' Mark Twain had said and written hundreds of things during his lifetime but in my own opinion this was one of the most truthful things he every wrote..." I read the passage and then someone else was told to read.

"All right class, break up into groups of two. Then I'll give you your project guidelines."

The class started to get loud again. I started to turn around and Mark looked at me. I started to shake my head when Mr. Sellers said, "Ms. Faith, I need to see you for a minute."

She stood up and walked to the desk, waiting for Mr. Sellers to sit down. "Dude, you're my partner."

"Dude," I said, "No."

"What? You're barely here half the time and when you are you aren't going to help me?"

"Fine," I snapped. "I'll be your partner."

Ana had finished talking to Mr. Sellers and she looked at the room again. "Umm, Mr. Sellers? It looks like everyone has a partner."

He looked up from his laptop.

"It seems that way doesn't it?" She nodded. "All right, you can either work by yourself or be in a group with Mark and Luke."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay."

We were quieted down and then given the project instructions. Ana still hadn't said if she wanted to work with us or not. "All right, you have two weeks to complete this project. Get to work."

Mark looked at Ana. "Do you want to work with us?" he asked and she held her breath.

"Sure."

I turned my desk to face them both and Mark started talking. He always talked. Ana nodded every once in a while but she never looked at me. I wrote on a sheet of paper and turned it so Ana would see it.

Are you okay?

Yes

Really?

Yeah, just tired

"But they won't let me get the bike," Mark said and Ana looked at him, then nodded slowly.

"Sounds interesting," she murmured and cleared her throat.

The class ended and Ana was called to the guidance office. "She doesn't seem that into you man," Mark commented as we walked to second period.

"I know."

I didn't have second period with Ana or third period but I had lunch with her. I sat on the wall of the courtyard and waited for her. Ten minutes before the bell rang she came from the back building. From across the courtyard her gaze met mine. She walked towards me, moving around the people sitting on the ground and stepping over the backpacks that cluttered the pathways. I stood up and waited. She didn't say anything, she took a deep breath and shuddered letting it out. Suddenly, her arms were around my waist.

For a second I was shocked. Then I smiled and kissed her hair. My arms held her tightly to me. She sighed and rested against me. "Maybe I was wrong," I heard Mark say and I turned. Ana didn't move.

He was leaning against the brick wall, his lunch sitting next to him. "Yeah, me too."

"Never pictured you with a blonde though," he said, sitting on the ledge. "Or a dancer."

I shrugged and closed my eyes. "Do you have to go to the doctor tonight?" I asked and she shook her head. "Then do you want to come and see Scarlett practice?"

"Sure. Oh gosh, I picked out her costume and I couldn't see. Is it horrible?" I chuckled and smiled. "I'll feel so bad if it looks horrible."

"It looks great. Don't worry about it."

The bell rang but we didn't move. "Dude, you can't miss fourth period again," Mark said.

"Actually, I don't have fourth period anymore so... There is no fourth period to miss."

We didn't move as the courtyard started to clear. "I have to go to class," Ana finally said and I nodded.

"All right, I'll go to the library and I'll wait out front for you when class ends." She nodded.

The library was quiet, I sat at one of the several empty tables and took a deep breath. Ana could see again... What was she thinking? What did she think about me? Did she love me? Did she still care about me? Had she ever cared about me? Did I love her?

I rested my head in my hands and tried to think clearly. Why did she have to be the girl that didn't remind me of Scar? Why did she have to be the one who made me think that maybe I had a future, one with a family? Why was it happening to me?

The bell rang and the halls filled with hundreds of students. I went to the front of the building and stood next to my car, waiting. Mark came by and punched me in the shoulder. "What was that for?"

"Dude, she's hot."

"Yeah, I know."

"And she's frickin' smart." I nodded, rubbing my bicep where he had punched me. "How did you get her? And what is she doing staying with you?"

"I have no idea." Ana came out of the school, staring at her feet. She looked up and turned her head. She quickly began walking towards us. And then there were five girls following her. She walked faster and stopped at my side. She looked like she was about to cry. What was going on?

Mark looked from her to me. "What happened?" he asked as I slid an arm around her waist, pulling her closer possessively.

"I can't..." The five girls came closer.

"Anastasia, we were looking for you," one of them said, I recognized her as head of the dance team. "Me and the girls were talking and we wanted to invite you onto the team."

They didn't care about her... They wanted her to dance for them. I held Ana away from them, turning her to me. "Ladies," Mark said, saving the day. "I'm sure that maybe one day, she'll want to be a part of your pathetic little dance team. But until then, go away."

Two of them began walking away the other three made faces. "That's right. I said pathetic."

"You're just jealous," one of them said and they all left.

"I hate them," Mark said and gave one of them the finger as they turned back. "They think they're so amazing." He just hated that people would rather go to a dance competition than to a hockey match. "I'd better get home before my mom starts freaking out. I'll see you at practice tomorrow bro?" I nodded, still holding Ana.

He walked away. "Can we go now?" she asked quietly and I opened the car door for her.

I sat behind the steering wheel. Ana drew her knees to her chest and leaned against the window. "Where do you want to go?" I asked and she didn't answer. "Do you want to go home?"

"No, no, I can't go home right now." There was a slight quiver in her voice, was she crying?

"Okay, do you want to go to my house?" She shook her head. "Then let's go to the park, although it may be swamped with little kids."

I drove to the park, as I predicted little kids were running over the playground, exhausted parents were running after them, some of them sitting on the benches taking a break. There was one empty swing. I pulled Ana to it and held her on my knees. "Now will you tell me what's wrong?" I asked and she just laid her head on my shoulder. "What are you thinking?"

"That I love you." And I was speechless. Had I heard her right? "You have no idea how amazing it was to be able to see you. I saw you in class, watching me with your friend, but I had no idea who you were. And then the teacher said your name and I thought that guy was you and I was like, what is he talking about, how could he be the amazing guy I've spent my past few months with. And then you started talking, reading that passage in the text book... And it was just like my whole world came together.

"I woke up this morning and all I wanted was to see you. I didn't care that I could finally see again, but that I would be able to see you. I wanted to call you right away and tell you but daddy said it would be more fun if I waited to see you in school. And then after class you were waiting for me and all I could think was, how can I love someone that I've only known for a few months?"

She shut her eyes and leaned back onto my shoulder. I smiled and let out the breath I had been holding. "And I'm afraid that maybe when we start going to school again, and you're hockey season kicks in, maybe you'll forget about me."

"Oh no babe. That won't be happening. If you go back to dancing and school and your friends, trust me, you're going to forget about me."

"Never," she whispered and looked up at me. "That could never happen."

"Ana... I'm going to kiss you now." I lowered my head to hers and kissed her. Not my first kiss, but by far the absolute best. When I pulled back she rested her forehead against mine.

She smiled and let out a soft laugh. "I never expected it to be that amazing."

"Neither did I..."

We sat on the swing in silence for a long time. The park slowly emptied and then the sun started to set. "Do you want to go home?" I asked, finally breaking the silence. "Or do you want to come home with me?"

"I don't really want to go home."

"Okay, then come on, Scarlett will be happy to see you."

### Ana

I heard music coming from the studio room, Scarlett was practicing. It showed discipline, which she would need if she thought to ever make it in the dancing world. Luke had his arm around my waist, it was comfortable.

And he was absolutely amazing. He was a light copper color, he probably got really tan over the summer. His hair was just a little too long, hanging in his amazing hazel colored eyes. He pushed open the white door to the dancing studio and I held my breath, I hadn't seen a studio since before my last recital. The mirrors reflected a twirling Scarlett. Her auburn hair was pulled back, away from her face and her face was painted a pale mile-white. I loved having pale skin so I didn't have to wear make-up.

"Scarlett?" Luke said and she finished her turn before stopping.

"What? Hi, Ana."

"Hi," I said, seeing her for the first time. She really was stunning, she didn't have the dancer build, but she was trying.

"Scar... She can see..." Her eyes widened and she gaped at me.

"You mean... She can see?"

"Yes, I can see."

"Oh my gosh..." It wasn't as if it made that much of a difference. I had talked to her for months. I just hadn't been able to see her.

"Hi," I said again and Luke pulled me out of the room.

"We'll let her adjust."

We walked past the kitchen, the walls were creamy in color and green olive branches stenciled the floorboards. It was a very peaceful room, nothing like what I could have imagined. The stairs were covered in a dark green carpet, we walked up and to the end of the hall.

The attic was dark, even when Luke turned the light on. The walls were purple, not light or dark, just purple. As I was accustomed to doing, I sat on the bed and turned on my side to watch him sit in his desk chair. "So..." I trailed off slowly. "Do you think it's different?"

"Maybe... Not that much. I've talked to you for weeks now. It's not like all that much is changing. The only thing different is that you can see. Have you thought about dancing again?"

I shrugged and turned away from him. I heard him stand up and walk over to me. "Have you?" he asked and I didn't answer. "You have to talk about it eventually. Is that why you don't want to go home?" He sat next to me and rested his hands on either side of my body, so I couldn't just get up and walk away. "Is it?"

"Maybe a little bit. My dad just wants me to be happy. And he thinks that dancing makes me happy. And I don't know if it will anymore. I just don't really want to go to home and listen to him tell me all about how I should get back into the sport."

"What do you want to do?"

I shut my eyes. "I don't know. I don't think I want to go back to dance. I don't think that it's the right thing for me to do. I... Have no idea."

"Why don't you think it's the right thing?"

"Because it just doesn't feel right anymore. A good dancer can dance by themselves on stage, in front of thousands. A great dancer can dance with a group, or as an individual and be nearly flawless. An exquisite dancer can dance in any way they chose, mostly with a partner, for hours upon hours without letting up, and love it. I don't love it anymore. I don't dance with other people anymore. I don't dance for hours and hours anymore."

He nodded and leaned down to touch his forehead to mine. "You're going to do what's best. And if dancing is what makes you happy, then you should try to pick it up again. But if you really don't want to, then you don't have to. It's all about what you want Ana. Anything you want can be granted."

Why did he always have to say the right thing? Why did he always have to be so perfect? So amazing? So extraordinary? I took a deep breath and bit my lip. "I have no idea. Please... I don't want to talk about dance anymore."

"What about where we're going to dinner tonight?" I automatically looked up and caught his gaze. He laughed a little. "My father has taken a new look on me and on you and decided that we should go out. Of course I agreed because the other day your father told me I'm not allowed to take you on your birthday. Which you failed to tell is in three days."

"I hate my birthday," I grumbled and suddenly Luke kissed me. I smiled and kissed him back. My fingers tugged through his dark colored hair and it was complete bliss. The feeling of being completely enveloped by the guy I was in love with.

### Luke

I woke with a jolt and pulled my arm towards my body. When I couldn't move I looked over at my arm and saw Ana. When had we fallen asleep? The light was off and one of my blankets had been thrown over us. I felt vaguely like a four year old. But not entirely. Ana was breathing steadily. I brushed some of her hair from her face and watched her sleep.

She probably felt me watching her and her eyes slowly opened. I watched her go through the early stages of confusion. And then recognition. She relaxed against me and I kissed the top of her head. "Where are we going?" she murmured and I glanced up at my clock, we'd only been asleep for a few hours.

"Nowhere, we can go tomorrow. Go back to sleep."

Her eyes shut, her head rested on my shoulder and one of her hands laid on my stomach. "I'm so tired," she whispered. "And I have such a headache."

"Don't you have post-surgery meds you're supposed to be taking?"

She didn't answer, her breathing steadied out and she was asleep again. I tried to shut my eyes but couldn't seem to stop watching the girl I loved. She was amazing. I wondered what she was dreaming about, if it was me. "I love you," I murmured and sighed at how easy it was to say it to her. Why couldn't I say it when she was awake and listening to me?

Because she's not who you think she is... came floating into my dreams. She's different, beyond your wildest imagination. And until you know about her, you'll never be able to say it. No boy nor man can ever say I love you to my daughter. Not until she knows the truth about herself and he accepts her for it.

I woke up to quiet sobs, the commentary in my head forgotten. The light in my room was on and Scarlett was sitting beside Ana, rubbing her arm, trying to get her to stop crying. "What's wrong?" I asked and took Scar's place beside Ana. She pressed her forehead into my shoulder and shut her eyes. "Are you alright?"

"No... Maybe... I don't know. They said headaches would be a huge side effect but I can't do this. It hurts..."

"Okay. Scar, go get Dad. You're going to be okay," I murmured, rubbing my hand up and down Ana's arm. "It's going to be all right..."

I heard someone open my door and I turned, my father was walking in, his entire being in doctor mode. He moved me away from Ana and took her hands in his. "Anastasia, can you tell me where it hurts?"

"Everywhere," she breathed, shutting her eyes against the world.

"Take a deep breath, all right... In..." he waited as she took an unsteady breath in. "And out... Okay? Count to twenty for me. I'll start with you, one... two..."

"Three... four... five..." she got to thirteen and then was overwhelmed with sobs. "I can't... It hurts."

"Open your eyes Anastasia, can you look at me?"

She nodded slowly and looked at him. He pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and scanned over her eyes. "I see it," he murmured and turned the flashlight off. "Luke, go get an ice pack, hurry though."

I ran from the room as fast as I could. Down two sets of stairs and into the kitchen freezer. Then back up. I wasn't breathing hard as I came to the top of the stairs, like most people would have been. "Turn the light off," my father commanded, directing Ana to the bed. "And keep the ice on her forehead if possible. If not lay it right here." He indicated to an area of her head and I nodded.

I sat next to Ana and held the ice pack on her forehead. "Is she going to be okay?" I asked and he smiled at me a little.

"She'll be just fine. She's having some of the common side effects. Remember when I said she'd be sensitive to light? That's all that's happening. Her pupils are dilating and refracting at such rapid paces that her brain is having trouble trying to register everything."

"But she'll be okay?"

"She's going to be all right, just let her sleep it off. I'll look into getting her some eye drops and medication for when she needs it. Just let her sleep. In four hours you have to go to school though. So make sure you get up."

♪♪♪

I sat in psychology and only half-listened to our lecture. "Mr. Surmise could you read what you wrote in your journal today?" the teacher asked.

Flipping open my composition book, my mind drifted to the strange dream I had. "Yesterday was strange. I spent my day with Ana. I wonder what she's doing right now... Sleeping... Sitting with my father... doing homework... She is amazing. I wonder what my dream was about, the one where someone tells me she's different. Where they tell me she doesn't know the truth about herself. It's going to be hard to talk to her about it, about her mother. I've never tried talking to her about her mom. It probably won't be completely horrendous, but I really don't want her to be upset."

That was my two minute tangent, the two minutes we had to write about anything we wanted to. "All right, this is a perfect example of how school is dictating everything. That passage is properly organized and worded..."

The teacher continued on and I shut them out, no longer paying her any attention. I stared out the window, looking at the bright blue of the sky. No clouds or trees were able to obstruct my view. No one can ever say it to her. You have to help her understand... You have to...

The voice faded out of my head and again I was left with a mystery. What was different about Ana? I asked myself. Everything, she was everything I could have every wanted and more. But why couldn't I say the words and tell her how much I loved her. Because she's different, I snapped at the voice in my head.

### Ana

I sat on the floor of my studio, in jeans and a tank top. There would be no dancing. I couldn't. Dancing would mean finding a new partner. Dancing would mean giving up my time with Luke. I couldn't give up my time with Luke. And finding a new partner would mean that I would be spending hours and hours with them. I wasn't going to find a new Luke.

The door to the studio opened and I looked up. Luke sat down beside me and took my hand. He didn't ask any questions or expect me to say anything. He was comfortable in the dim silence. "Can I ask you something?" he asked and I nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"Do you remember your mother?"

I was silent for a long time. Did I remember my mother? "Every day," I whispered and leaned into him, to show him that I wasn't upset that he had asked. "I remember her every day..."

"What do you remember about her?"

Shutting my eyes a faint smile appeared on my face. "I think I remember everything. But I barely know anything. She danced, she was an amazing dancer... Better than I was. She always smelled like apples, her hair was blonde, like mine. And her eyes were the same shade of blue. She brought me to a studio... probably before I turned one. Her parents resented the fact that she had married a doctor, I never got that. When she died... I stopped dancing for a long time. I stopped doing anything that made me happy. It was probably a year after that when I went back to dance."

"What did you talk about with her?"

"Mostly she talked to me about dance. About passion and love. About how dedication meant nothing if you didn't have the will to do it. I miss her sometimes. But I was so young... So I don't remember everything. But I remember the important things. Why are you asking about my mother?"

"No reason really, I was just wondering."

The door opened and Dad looked in. "Oh... I heard something, I thought you were dancing..."

"No. I'm not."

He nodded and started to leave the room... Suddenly he turned around, "I know you're older... And I probably should have had this conversation with you a long time ago but... Umm... You know how to be safe right?"

"Safe with what?" I asked, playing dumb. Luke shook his head and smiled. "No, I'm confused."

"Safe with... When you... There are things that happen when you're with a person for a certain amount of time... Damn it, you know what I mean. Why is it I can have this conversation with my patients but not my own daughter."

"What conversation?"

"The conversation I've been trying to have for weeks... You know what, never mind. If you need anything pertaining to... that thing... then come and ask me. Okay?"

"Oooooh," I drew the word out for a few seconds. "You mean if I want birth control." I smiled at him and he walked out grumbling. "I love you!" I yelled before the door closed. "He's insane."

Luke laughed but he seemed distant. I turned to look at him and watched his expression. He seemed to be in some place far away. "Are you all right?" I asked and he jolted.

"Yeah..."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, a little too quickly. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

He shrugged. "Things."

"Like what?" I couldn't ever remember a time when I had to ask him to tell me what he was thinking. He usually told me without me saying anything.

Again, his shoulders went up. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"I'm sure."

"Okay..."

### Luke

I sat at my desk and scrolled through a Google page. Ana was asleep on my bed and the house was quiet. It was two in the morning and even Ana's kitten was asleep in her basket. I clicked on the search bar and typed in Holiday Faith... The first site that appeared with the newspaper article about when and where she had died. I read through it. She was killed in a car crash, her body was too mangled to have an open casket and her daughter was completely distraught, or so the article said.

That didn't tell me anything. I saw a biography and clicked on that. 'Holiday Faith was a dancer who was tragically killed. She danced with a passion few people have in their entire lives.'

I spent about an hour going through web pages that told me nothing. There was absolutely nothing to be said. How was I going to figure it out?

Keep trying! The voice encouraged. Ask her father about me. Ask him and don't let him push you away.

There was nothing for me to do. I shook my head and pulled my shirt off. Laying beside Ana had become practically an everyday thing. She sighed and rolled to rest her head on my shoulder. "I wish you could hear me... I love you..."

When she didn't respond I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Days went by and every time I saw Ana's father she was there and I didn't want to seem crazy so I never said anything. A week before my first game I was sitting at the hospital waiting for my mother, I was supposed to be driving her home. I wandered around the hospital, until I found his office. His secretary was sitting silently, going over papers.

"Is Mr. Faith in his office?" I asked and the secretary looked up. She was older, gray hair covered her head.

"Yes, I believe he is."

"Is there any way I could talk to him?"

She nodded. "All right, just let me tell him you're here." She picked up the phone and dialed an extension number. "Nick, someone's here to talk to you. Your daughter's boyfriend I believe." She set the phone back on the cradle and nodded to the closed door.

I went through it and saw Ana's father sitting behind an old desk. He was looking through a photo album but he closed it as soon as I walked in. "Luke, what are you doing here?"

"My mom needs me to drive her home. But... Actually I was wondering if I could talk to you about... Umm.. About Holiday Faith..."

His eyes went blank. "You don't have to... I was just wondering about her."

"I haven't talked about Holiday in years. Not even Ana asks about her anymore."

"Ana told me what she remembers but I was just wondering about some things..."

He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. "I guess I could answer some questions if you want to ask." I sat down in one of the chairs that sat in front of the desk.

"Was she different at all?"

And then he was smiling, obviously going back to a time where he was happiest. "Was she different? She was... everything. She could dance and it was as if the rest of the world fell away. That's what I remember most about her, was watching her dance. It was bewildering how she could capture the attention of every single person in the audience. And then she taught Anastasia, and she grew to have the same sort of power. When Holiday died I couldn't bear to watch Anastasia dance anymore."

"What about her parents?" My mind said one thing and my mouth said another. I wanted to ask about anything she had said and instead I was asking about her parents.

"Her parents were... enthusiastic to say the least. They loved the idea of Holiday getting married and having children. They loved that I accepted her dance and that I had no plans to make her stop. But... when she died I told them not to speak to me or to Anastasia. I didn't want them to encourage her dancing, but she continued without encouragement. They go to all her recitals, she doesn't remember who they are, but they sit in the front row, and watch. They respect me enough not to talk to her, but every time they try to talk to me. The last time I saw them they said they had something to explain to me, but I couldn't seem to listen."

I nodded and took a deep breath. "I just... Would you mind if I went to talk to them? About Holiday?"

"No, but don't take Anastasia. She doesn't need them to be a part of her life right now."

"Okay," I said and stood up. "Thank you."

He nodded and I left the large office. What would Ana's grandparents have to tell me?

♪♪♪

Ana was laying on my bed, her face was relaxed and her eyes were shut. "I love you," I murmured and knew she was asleep. My muscles were sore from the hours of practice I had been pushing myself through. I had been spending tons of time on the ice to avoid the action of seeing Ana's grandparents.

With Scarlett's recitals coming up I knew that I couldn't leave for at least a week. Ana's father told me where they lived and only asked that I didn't tell Ana where they were. After Scarlett's second recital I was leaving, I was going to go and see them.

♪♪♪

I took Ana's hand and she sighed. We were watching Scarlett's recital. There were five dance groups and Scar was in the third group. The second group finished and everyone clapped quietly. Everyone was respectful, nothing out of the ordinary.

The curtains closed and within minutes they opened again. All ten dancers were in different positions around the stage. I could tell who Scarlett was in less than a second. The tutu's were all black and lined with blue lace. Their leotards were black too. The whole dance was a little dark and upsetting.

Ana sat up a little as they all got ready for the first lift. I could tell she was watching Scarlett and Holland's feet. She started to shake her head. "No, she can't do the lift... He's even farther off than usual... Luke," she said desperately and looked up at me. I stood up and walked up to the stage. Maria was standing by the stairs, watching. "Luke?"

"She can't do this lift. Get them off stage now."

"What?"

"He's more than half a step off. Please, Maria. How do I get them off?"

"You can't, there's no way for them to just go off stage." The lift came but Scarlett didn't jump like she was supposed to. Instead, she spun and let him catch her arm. It looked natural, maybe a tiny bit out of place. "Oh god, okay." They picked right back up in the dance and got the second lift. How did they do that?

I nodded went back to my seat. "She's smart," Ana whispered.

Once the recital ended I walked outside with Ana. The air was cool and the night sky bright with the light of the moon and stars. "So what did you think?" I asked and Ana shrugged.

"Honest?" I nodded. "I think she's got all the technical aspects down. But I don't think she has the passion and the drive. It sounds a little harsh to say that, but it's what I can tell."

And that I completely understood. I could see it too. She could do everything with technical precision, the passion was missing. When Ana danced... She had all of it. She could capture an audience with one turn. There was nothing she couldn't do without perfection and creativity. Maybe I would talk to her about being her partner... It would be a suicide in my house but if it would get her to dance again then it would be worth it.

Scarlett came out and I put on a smile. Neither of our parents had been able to make it to opening night but that wasn't completely horrible. They were both going to the next three, together. Unless they got an emergency call or something like that.

"What did you think?" she asked, slinging her dance bag over her shoulder.

"It was really good," Ana said when I didn't offer anything. "You did a good job counting the steps." Ana looked at me and I still didn't say anything. Why wasn't I able to say anything? Oh yeah, probably because I was so focused on telling Ana how I felt about her. I would figure it out. All of it.

♪♪♪

The week dragged by agonizingly slow. Hours seemed to stretch on for days. The school day seemed like it lasted a year long. I saw Ana though, so it wasn't all bad. When Friday rolled around I didn't want to tell her where I was going, so I lied. I told her I was going with my father to Kansas while he rounded up some business stuff.

And that was somewhat the truth, my father was going to be there and he was going to be doing business things. I, however, was not taking part in any of that. I felt a little guilty... for the plane ride there... and then I realized that what I was doing would help her. If there was anything to be gained, she had every right to know what was happening.

Her grandparents lived out on a small farm, in the middle of what seemed like nowhere. I knew that I was only... a half hour or so away from downtown. The main house was huge, dark grey and very isolated. I could see the land extend for what seemed like forever and nothing interrupted the view. Not cattle, or buildings, or any vehicles at all.

I hoped they weren't away at work or anything while I rang the bell. I heard numerous voices behind the door. "He's here!" someone shouted. "No, shut up... Leave the poor boy alone, he isn't even in the house yet."

The door opened and I took a deep breath. "It's nice to finally meet you Luke," a woman said and smiled widely. Her hair was dark blonde and her eyes were green like emeralds.

"You know who I am?" I asked and she nodded vigorously.

"Of course, we've been expecting you for a few weeks now."

She ushered me inside the house where the talking started up again. "Everyone, calm down!" she said as we entered a huge living room. The walls were white and so was the floor, all the furniture was black, it gave the room an open sort of feeling.

Six other people were in the room with me, including the woman who had answered the door. "He didn't bring her," one of the men complained. Then I realized that the room was evenly divided, three men, three women and then me.

"No he didn't bring her. I told you he wasn't going to bring her. See, you never listen to me!" a woman complained, she had deep blue hair and her eyes matched. I shook my head and took a deep breath.

"Let's not fight now, Gregori," the woman said, looking pointedly at the man who had complained about me. "The boy has enough to learn in a matter of hours. All right, introductions are in order. Luke, we all know who you are, but I'm sure you have no idea who we are. I'm Kaitlyn, and my husband is Jack," she gestured to the only person in the room who had yet to say anything. He smiled at her and she took a deep breath.

"Next to him is Gregori, just ignore him, we all do. His wife is Valarie. Valarie is my sister and so is Elizabeth. Elizabeth is married to Jess. And that's everyone... Well everyone that I let come. There are so many more people who want to meet you."

"Meet me? Why would they want to meet me?" I asked, taking a step away from the entire family. I wasn't entirely sure who Ana's grandparents were, the sisters all looked similar... Well, besides Valarie with the blue hair.

Kaitlyn looked surprised. "You mean... Don't you know what Anastasia is? What all of us are?"

I shook my head. "That actually why I came here. To figure out what she is and how I can help her learn and remember it." She looked... disappointed.

"Great," Valarie said, "Can I go now?" Kaitlyn nodded absently at her and she walked out of the room, followed closely by Gregori. How were they going to leave without cars? Maybe there was a garage somewhere behind the house...

"You're saying that you have no idea what we are?"

"No... I'm sorry."

Jack stood up and went to her side... Suddenly I realized they were pretty young to be grandparents. Grandparents? They looked like they were in their thirties. Elizabeth stood up. "Kait, I think we're going to go. You can talk to him. And I'll go make sure Valarie doesn't do anything stupid. All right, it's going to be okay. You're going to get her back. I promise..."

She left and a few seconds later her husband followed. I took a deep breath. "Can we talk about why I came here?" I asked and Jack nodded, gesturing to one of the empty chairs. The room suddenly felt too open, too big.

I sat down and they sat across from me. "How could you not know?" Kaitlyn asked.

"I... I know I'm going to sound rude but could I tell you why I'm here and then you can ask me stuff?" She nodded and Jack took her hand. "You probably know Ana went blind." They nodded. "And I was supposed to be her tutor. I don't know how or even why but I think I love her. She said it to me but I couldn't say it back. I know I'm going to sound crazy and insane but there was someone in my head, telling me that she was different. That I would never be able to tell her how I felt until she knew the truth about herself. The voice told me to talk to her father but he doesn't seem to know anything either so he told me to see you two and that maybe you could help me...

"I know that we're young. I'm barely eighteen and she's just past seventeen. But... I want to be able to tell her how I feel..."

Jack smiled. "Luke, love at a young age is never quite impossible. I think it's our turn to explain."

"Can we though? Explain it to him?"

"We can tell him anything we want to tell him."

They both looked at me and I nodded awkwardly.

### Ana

I heard something moving in my room and I turned over in bed. "Fish?" I whispered sleepily but the kitten was sleeping by my feet. I shook my head and sighed. But then someone sat on the bed with me.

"Go back to sleep," I heard Luke whisper. His thumb traced over my cheek and I opened my eyes to look at him. He looked tired...

"What's wrong?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Nothing. Go back to sleep. You need it."

"You look like you need it more..." I pushed myself to sit up and he gently put his hand on my shoulder. "Then at least lay down."

He nodded and laid next to me on the bed. Fish was disturbed and padded over to the other side of my legs, then settled back down. "I missed you," he whispered and pulled me closer. "More than you can imagine."

"It was only three days Luke..."

"I know... But it seemed like so much longer..."

Within minutes I was asleep again...

When I woke up Luke was no longer beside me, he was sitting at my desk with Fish purring away in his lap. He didn't realize I was awake... Or I didn't think he did. He was staring at his hand, which was idly stroking Fish. "Are you okay?" I asked him and he nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it just felt like a lot longer than one weekend."

He yawned and I stood up. "You seem really tired... Did you get any sleep at all?"

"I slept... I just feel sort of drained."

### Scarlett

Luke walked into the house with the same blank expression he had been wearing since he had gotten home from Kansas. Sometimes people went through moods, but they weren't usually two weeks long. "Luke!" I said when he walked by me without saying anything.

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong? What happened in Kansas?" He shook his head like he had done every other time I asked. "Where's Anastasia?" At least when she was in the room he had some sort of personality.

He turned to me and took a deep breath. "Ana is at a dinner with her father."

"Luke? What's been going on with you lately? I promised that I'm not going to tell Anastasia if it has to do with her. Please? Something has really been wrong with you lately."

"Nothing."

"What happened in Kansas? Please tell me."

He sat down across from me and dropped his backpack to the floor. He looked tired and rundown. I knew he had just been to hockey practice but still... He was never that tired. I hadn't ever seen my brother so... dejected. "I went to see Ana's grandparents. Her mother's parents."

"What happened?"

"Nothing... I just talked to them. But I learned some things that I don't know if I even wanted to know."

I nodded and leaned across the dining room table to take his hand. "You're going to be okay Luke."

"I know that I'm going to be okay. I just don't know how Ana's going to be. I'm going to bed, good night Scar."

I watched as he gently took his hand from mine and walked away. "Night Luke..." I whispered but he was already gone.

### Nick

Luke was sitting at my dining room table, reading a text book. Ana must have been asleep, or she was changing. "Luke? You went to see Holiday's parents didn't you?" He nodded. I took a deep breath. "Did they say anything about Holiday?"

"Tons... More than I cared to know. They told me that you would remember it, all of it, if you still had the thing she gave you before she died. I have no idea what it is because they wouldn't tell me and they wouldn't give me any hints. They just said that you would have it and that if you knew it held a secret you would remember."

I shut my eyes and thought back to the day so many years before...

... "Nick," Holiday giggled and I wrapped my arms around her waist, lifting her off the ground. She had gotten her national tour and we were both excited beyond belief. "What about Ana?" she murmured and looked down at our sleeping daughter. Anastasia was asleep on the floor, her face buried in the fur of her golden teddy bear.

"She'll be okay."

"I'm going to give her my locket," she whispered and pulled away from me. She wore a pink colored locket and I had never seen her without it. Anastasia sighed as Holiday slid the necklace over her head. "When she's old enough I'll show her how it opens my journal."

I nodded and took her into my arms again. "I love you," I whispered and she smiled.

"I love you too."...

The journal? Did I still have it? I couldn't remember if I had kept it or buried it with her. "Ana has to have the locket. I don't know if she still has it... She hasn't worn it for years. The locket opens the journal. If it isn't the journal then I have no idea. She never said anything about a secret or anything."

### Ana

Dad walked into my bedroom with a book in his hands. "Do you remember this?" he asked and held up a leather-bound journal.

"No..."

"It was your mother's. She wrote in this... at least six times a week. Sometimes she would write ten times in a single day. I think that in this are some things we both need to learn. But to open it we need the locket..."

"The pink one?" He nodded and I stood up, leaving the softness of my bed. In my closet was a small jewelry box, inside that there was a smaller box and finally there was the old pink locket. It was a simple little heart, nothing etched on the outside or on the back, I didn't even think there was a picture inside. "Here," I said and sat back on my bed. "I've never been able to open it though..."

He sat on the edge of my bed and set the book next to him. I looked at the journal while Dad fiddled with the locket, trying to open it. On the front of the journal there were two halves of the locket, it was obviously the lock. "She gave me the locket before the tour, didn't she?" I whispered and he nodded. "When she got home... It was when she got home that she showed me how to open it... Why can't I remember it?"

"It won't open. I can't ever remember it opening. She always had it on but it would never open."

"I don't think it's supposed to Daddy."

I shut my eyes and tried to think back... It was so many years. "The locket doesn't go in the front. There the little thing here..." I took the necklace from him and pressed the bottom of the heart into an indent in the side of the journal. The lock snapped and fell open. "And now?"

He started to say something and then stopped. "I can't do this..." he whispered. "I'm sorry, I thought I could look at Holiday's most prized possessions and finally be okay with it but... I can't. I'm going to go to the office..."

I let him leave and I didn't open the journal until I heard the front door close. Taking a deep breath I opened the journal and fell into my mother's world.

'Oh, baby girl, you would love it here. I wish your daddy would let me take you to Paris. But you'll see it someday. Maybe we could even go this summer. You can't even walk and I want you to come see the Eiffel tower. It's so beautiful in the spring and summer times. There are so many people but you love people. Your daddy loves it here too. He loves coming to see the parks and sit on a picnic blanket. I miss you baby, but I'll be home tomorrow.'

'Today I got off the plane and there you were. You and Nick of course. He even put you in a little tutu. It means so much to me that he accepts me for being a Dancer...' Dancer? Capital D? Misprint? 'And that he puts up with my insane family. You look like you've grown so much. Every day I try to tell you about the world I grew up in. I want you to grow up the same way. Sometimes you look at me so intensely that I know you can hear me.'

'Mami came by today to see you. She thinks you've grown fast too. But that's not abnormal for an Artist baby. She's crazy sometimes. You always look at her like she's crazy, but that's probably because she is. But she'll help you, if I ever die and I don't know it's going to happen, she'll always be there to help you and help you get through you're Artist stages.'

Pages and pages of little daily anecdotes. Something new I learned, something amazing that I had done. Years of daily notes...

'Baby doll, today I think you met your Passion. His name is Luke and he's about a year older than you are. He pushed you in the swing at the park. The pink one that you're in love with. Daddy works with his parents, but we never really see each other. When you two are together though... Oh what am I talking about, you're barely four year—'

And suddenly it was like a flood invaded my mind. Dancers, Artists, Passion, Luke, Dad, Mom, comfort, love, peace, music, mirrors, colors, everything. Everything that she had ever told me. When the feeling of slight discomfort subsided I sat on my bed in complete awe. What had just happened? Did any of it really mean anything? Could I ultimately be a part of another race? A race of Dancers?

Luke... I loved him with all my heart. A Passion, someone a Dancer couldn't live without. Of course, that would have been why I was always so comfortable with him. My phone beeped and I looked to see that I had missed a call. How long had I been reading? Luke had called twice, thirty minutes apart. It probably wasn't important but I wanted to talk to him.

I hit the redial button and he picked up on the first ring. "Hi Ana," he said, he sounded a little tired. Maybe it wasn't the right time.

"What are you up to?"

"Just sitting outside, waiting."

"For what?"

"Look outside."

I stood up and went to my window. Luke was leaning against his car, obviously waiting to me to notice him. "I have so much to tell you," I murmured and he looked up, smiling at me.

"I love you..." he said hesitantly and then froze.

"Come inside, it's cold out."

I ran down the stairs and by the time I got to the bottom Luke was there, shaking a light dusting of snow from his jacket. I hugged him tightly, melting snow and all. He laughed a little and ran his hand over my hair. We stood like that for what felt like ever. "I love you so much," I whispered.

"I love you too. More than you can imagine."

### Luke

Luke?" And whispered, the room was dark and her finger was absently tracing patterns on my chest. I sighed. "What do you think is going to happen?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, pulling her tightly against me.

"I mean, when you go to MIT and I stay at home?"

Now, I would have to tell her. "What if I didn't go to MIT?"

"You have to go to MIT, it's what you want... isn't it?"

I shrugged. "I want to be with you more."

"But... I won't let you do that," she mumbled against my shoulder. "I'm not letting you give up everything you've worked for."

And then I smiled. "What if we both went to NYU or Julliard? What if we did that?"

"No, I don't want to dance anymore and you want to go to MIT more than anything. Do you remember why you even did the tutoring? For the letter of recommendation my father is going to write you. How could you just throw away all of your efforts to go to your dream school?"

"You have to keep dancing, you'll die without it."

"I cannot!"

"That's what Jack told me. He said that without practicing your art you can go into an Artist withdrawal and die. That's how immortal Artists kill themselves. So you have to dance."

She shook her head. "I can just teach it, volunteer some at the community center. I don't need to go to NYU or Julliard..." she said it hesitantly. "Even though they invited me without an audition..."

"Ana, you have to go. Please? It would make me so happy if you would just go to the art school."

"But then we'll barely have time to see each other and I don't know if I'm willing to give that up."

"I've been thinking about something for a few weeks now... What if I was your partner?" Her eyes went wide. "I mean it. What if I showcased with you and then took the same classes you did?"

She seemed to consider it, at least for a second. "No. You have to go to MIT; I won't let you give it up. I can't do that. You want to go there, so go. I don't want to go to college next year, I just want a year off to breathe and get over everything that has happened. Maybe I could go see my grandparents and learn at least a little bit from them."

Why did she had to be so against going to college? And what did it matter if I went to MIT or not. I still didn't even know if I got in. I didn't really have everything I needed to pull through. The letters weren't coming for two more weeks and until then I didn't have to worry about it. I just wanted Ana to be happy, I wanted her to be able to do something she loved. She needed to keep dancing, and I would do everything I could to get her back on stage.

### Scarlett

I sat at the table eating half a cup of cereal and stared at the MIT letter that sat on the center of the table. Dad wouldn't let me open it without Luke at home and Luke didn't get home until three in the morning so he went right to sleep. But then, he was home, I was awake... I reached for the letter and pulled my hand back, Luke would kill me for opening it without his permission and mom would be upset because she wanted to see him open it.

Damn it, why did I have to wake up so early? I didn't hear anything upstairs and I knew no one would wake up for hours. It was a Saturday and Ana wasn't coming over until noon so Luke would be asleep until at least ten. I groaned and stared at the envelope.

In the kitchen Dad was pouring himself a cup of coffee. He was wearing a suit and I knew he wasn't sticking around long. "Can I open his letter?" I asked as he walked through the dining room.

"No, he'll be up soon and you know your mother wants to be here."

"Ugh, please?" He shook his head and I groaned. "Fine." I stood up with my empty cereal bowl and Dad kissed my forehead. "Are you going to Luke's game tomorrow?"

"I might be able to make it."

He left the house and I brought my bowl to the kitchen. One of our new maids was standing beside the sink, waiting to be able to do something. I couldn't even remember why we had hired her. "Good morning Mr. Surmise," she murmured softly and I turned to see Luke yawning in the doorway.

"G'morning," he mumbled and stretched. "What time is it?"

"Time to open your MIT letter," I said and he covered his face with his hand. "Now, please?"

He shook his head and looked at the maid. "I suppose if I went to pour my own coffee you'd do it for me?" She nodded and smiled as she got a mug from the cabinet and poured Luke a cup of coffee. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. "What Scar? I'm not opening it until Mom is awake. You can wait a few more hours. I swear, you're the only one who really cares."

Maybe I was the only one who cared. And to be completely honest, when I think back on it, I only wanted him to go so that he would get away from Anastasia. Maybe that was selfish of me, but I hated that he spent so much time with her. "Fine, don't open it."

"Would you like something for breakfast?" the maid asked both of us, handing Luke his cup of coffee.

"I already ate," I said, gesturing to my dirty bowl in the sink.

"All right, what about you Luke? Would you like something to eat?"

"Sure..."

### Luke

Scarlett held the letter in her hands and took a deep breath. "Are you sure you want me to open it?" she asked and I shrugged. My arms were around Ana's waist and I was whispering to her about how completely stupid MIT was. Mom was standing beside the dining room table, gripping the chair so hard that her knuckles were white.

"Okay..." She carefully opened the letter and Ana smiled as I told her how much I would hate being away from her. Scarlett started reading the letter and frowned halfway through.

"What? What does it say?" Mom asked and Scarlett started reading again from the top.

"Dear Mr. Surmise, we're sorry to inform you that while you would be an outstanding candidate in our program we do not wish to bring in unwilling students. There are times when you have to make the decision for what you want and it was clear to the board of admissions that your choice has already been made. We would like to extend an offer to you however, one where you can reapply and gain reentry into the school system any time within the next year. Early admission does show a level of dedication..."

I reached over the table and grabbed the letter, not letting her read anymore of it out loud. Ana glanced up at me accusingly and I scanned through the letter. "What happened at the interview Luke?" Mom asked.

"I don't know..."

Scarlett turned and stormed out of the room... Okay... I would deal with her when I had to. Mom looked at me questioningly. "Did you say anything about not wanting to go to MIT?" she asked.

"No... I mean... They asked what my fall backs were and I told them that up until a year ago there were no other options. But as of recently I wouldn't be completely devastated to go to Julliard or maybe NYU but I didn't say anything about not wanting to go..."

Ana took a deep breath but didn't pull away from me. "Do you want to go to Julliard Luke?" Mom asked and I didn't answer. "Do you or do you not?"

"I would go if I were able to get in."

She nodded and left the room for a second. When she came back she was holding an envelope in her hand. "Because your letter came last week."

"What? I didn't even apply..." Ana reached out and took the letter she was holding out to me. "How did I get a letter if I didn't apply?"

"Well, Ana told me about how you weren't sure where you were headed with your career and how you were looking into an art school. I talked to your father about it and he helped us put together some recommendation letters and a portfolio with some pieces you've done with Scarlett. I had you sign the forms a few weeks ago when you were half asleep after a game. There's a chance you didn't even get in, so just look and see."

I looked down at Ana but she didn't do or say anything. Her fingers traced the small opening of the envelope and I guided her to tear it. She started reading aloud while I read over her shoulder. "Dear Mr. Surmise, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Julliard: School of the Artistically Gifted, early admissions. You have been chosen, among hundreds of other students..." her voice trailed off as she continued to read.

Mom smiled at me and I was frozen. Dad helped me apply? What had happened to make him agree? I took a deep breath and realized Ana was waiting for me to say something. "I... If you aren't going then I'm not," I said and Mom whistled low.

"I've got to get to work. I'll see you two tonight."

She walked out of the house and I couldn't believe what had happened. She was leaving without giving me a lecture on how I couldn't let a girl make me choose where I went to college. "I got you in Luke, that wasn't what you wanted?"

"You got me in? How? And I already told you, if I didn't get into MIT then I wasn't going unless you agreed to go to Julliard or NYU with me. That was my deal."

"Who said I'm not going? Do you know how hard it was to get you in? I had to find four letters of recommendation, build an entire portfolio out of nothing and then agree to go to the stupid school. If you go, I have to go. That was the deal."

I turned her around in my arms and stared into her blue eyes. "Why would you do that?"

"I didn't have anything to do with the MIT thing. I didn't call them or talk to them. The Julliard thing though... I knew that you wanted to go to college with me. And while I can't take MIT from you I can give you something else you want."

"Going to school means you have to keep dancing, right?" She nodded and then smiled.

"Yeah, it means I have to keep dancing..." She said the words dreamily, like she was far away somewhere. I smiled and pulled her closer.

### Ana

I watched Luke as he raced against one of the other players to reach the puck. His stick slammed onto the ice and the puck slid to one of the other guys wearing a red jersey. Scarlett was sitting next to me, sulking. What was her problem? Ever since Luke decided he was going to Julliard she acted like she hated me. I didn't say anything to her, just continued to watch guys smash into each other on ice.

The game ended and Luke skated over to where I was standing. He pulled his mask off and kissed me. It was an end of the world kiss that seemed to last forever. When I pulled away he grinned and then glanced back to see Scarlett waiting for me. "I love you," he murmured and I hugged him close. "I'll go change, we'll drop Scarlett off at home and then we'll go out."

I nodded and he pushed himself away from the wall. I turned to Scarlett and she walked off the bleachers. I took a deep breath and followed her. I didn't exactly want to follower her and risk having to talk to her without Luke there. I didn't know what she had to say and a small part of me didn't want to know.

We stood in silence for the first few minutes. Everything was cold and covered in snow. I breathed in the smell of the fresh snow and then turned to Scarlett. "Scarlett? Can you tell me what I did to make you hate me?"

She just scoffed and turned around. "Please? I want to know what I did because I really don't know."

"You don't know!" She turned to face me with a brutal glare on her face. "How could you not know? You're taking my brother away from his dreams. He wanted to go to MIT forever, and then you come in and all he wants is to make you happy. He doesn't care about his dreams anymore, all he cares about is you. He forgot about school, hockey, me!"

"Is that what this is about Scarlett? Him not being there for you? He'll always be there for you, always."

"No! He doesn't care about me anymore. Because you had to come and take him away. I never thought my brother was capable of falling for a selfish, vain, conceited, slut." I took a step back... What had I done? I was on the verge of tears when Luke stormed by me.

"What the hell was that?" he half growled at Scarlett. He grabbed her arms and shook her a little bit. "What in the world gives you any sort of right to say that to her?"

She struggled to get away from him but he wouldn't let her go. I turned from them and walked back into the ice rink. "Get your ass in the car, mom's going to come and pick you up." I heard him following me. I didn't want to talk to him or her or anyone. I just wanted to sit by myself and cry.

I pulled open the doors and Luke caught my arm. I tugged away but he wouldn't let me go. "Ana..." He wrapped his arms around me and I just stood there. I had no idea what to do. "Don't listen to her, okay? I don't know what her problem is. I think she's on her period or something..." I smiled a little, but it wasn't enough, the silent tears just continued to fall. Luke tipped my head up and his face fell as his thumb traced the tears that were falling down my cheeks.

"She was right," I whispered. "About... All of it..."

"No, Ana, she wasn't right about any of it. You aren't any of the things she said, none of them, I promise you. I made the choice to give up MIT, I don't want that life if you aren't there. I'm going to call my mom, she's going to come pick up Scarlett and we'll talk." I didn't answer. "Ana, college is still a year away. We have one more year of high school and then you have to officially make your decision, until then, don't worry about it."

His kissed me and walked off to call his mom. I wiped my face dry, he was right. I had one year to officially decide if I even wanted to go to college. And until then, there was no reason to worry about it... I didn't even need to think about it until then...

### Luke

My winter passed quickly with hockey games and tournaments. My spring came slowly and lasted a while. When school got out my outlook on life really picked up. I spent nearly every waking moment with Ana. Her house, my house, the park, the mall, anywhere and everywhere.

"Dad, please. I want to go see them," Ana said one night at dinner.

"No. I said you can't and I meant it. I will not allow you to go see your grandparents. They're crazy Anastasia. They're all insane. They have this idea that-"

"That I'm not human?" Ana finished for him and he shrugged. "I think it's time for you to suck it up and read mom's journal. She wanted both of us to read it and it does not good if you won't. If you read it then I'll agree not to argue any more about going to see her parents. But until you read it, don't tell me no. Please?"

He didn't say anything back to her. He just nodded and continued eating. Ana took a deep breath and stared at her plate. I kicked her lightly and she scowled at her plate. I just waited, kicking her again. She groaned and reached for the bowl of strawberries that was sitting at the edge of the table. "Anastasia," her father said and she shrugged. "Weren't those supposed to be for desert or something?"

"If the maid was stupid enough to put desert on the table while we're eating our entrée then yes and you should fire her. Or maybe the chef listened when I said I like strawberries." She used her fork to stab a strawberry.

I sighed but didn't say anything.

♪♪♪

"Ana!" I called through her shut door. "Are you ready yet? The plane leaves in two hours. Come on!" I heard the kitten meow at her, why she had named it Fish was beyond me. "Ana!"

She was supposed to be changing and then we were going to leave. I opened the door and saw Ana sitting cross legged on her bed, half dressed. Her white jeans matched the white lace in her bra. She was reading her mom's journal and she seemed too wrapped up in whatever she was reading to pay me any attention. I sighed and said her name again, she didn't react. And then I realized she wasn't moving... Well her chest was moving up and down so she was obviously breathing. "Ana!"

I looked around the room and saw her shirt sitting on the foot of the bed, Fish making herself very comfortable on her new bed. I sighed and went to Ana's closet. I grabbed another solid color t-shirt, pink, not purple. When she still hadn't moved and I gently eased the journal away from her fingers and guided her arms through the holes in the fabric. "Come on Ana, we have to get you to the airport and to your grandparents."

One the shirt was completely covering her torso I set out to finding her purse, she always had a stupid purse and it would just get in the way at the airport but if she wanted it I didn't care. Finally she snapped and I heard her gasp. "Oh gosh... I'm sorry... How long was I there?"

"Where?"

"In the memory..."

"Ten... Twenty minutes. Not too long..." She looked down the bed and saw Fish sleeping on her shirt. "Come on, we've got to go."

She nodded and looked down at her shirt. "What... Did you?"

"Yeah." I tugged on her hand and she stood up, fixing the hem of her shirt, smoothing it over her jeans.

"Perv," she grumbled and I just grinned. "I have something to tell you about," she said louder and grabbed her purse from where it sat on her desk.

I nodded and turned her light off, it still glowed gold. As we walked out of the house her maid came into the foyer. "Make sure Fish gets fed," she called as I pulled her to the car. "What's the rush?"

"We have an hour and a half to get you through security and onto the plane."

"Me, what about you?"

"I don't have anything besides my phone to take on the plane. You, on the other hand, have a purse and a carry on. And we have to get our luggage checked and everything."

I opened the door for her and got in the driver's side.

### Jack

I heard the doorbell ring and smiled to myself. I knew who was there, Kaitlyn had no idea though. I had been avoiding her for days, waiting and waiting for the perfect moment. I didn't know when it was going to happen, but I knew that they were going to show up. It was the perfect moment. I heard a greeting and then Luke, I didn't know why he seemed so familiar, why he reminded me of someone I once knew...

Then I heard the soft gasp of my eternal Passion. She sighed, a very feminine sigh, and I waited. "Jack," she called softly, "Jack they're here."

And then she appeared in the room, followed by Luke and then my granddaughter. She seemed so different, but I hadn't seen her in almost two years. She resembled her mother in so many ways... Oh I missed them both so much. Her eyes met mine and I saw a mirror of myself in her deep pools of blue. She smiled and glanced away. Luke took her hand and I stood up.

"Look who came to see us," I said and Anastasia took a deep breath. "We've missed you Doll."

She tugged her hand free of Luke's and slowly walked to me. I knew that she was seeing what I saw, bright blue eyes with light blond hair. Very suddenly she threw her arms around my neck and I sighed. "I missed you," she whispered and I knew neither Luke nor Kait had heard.

"She was always close to her grandfather," I heard Kait say to Luke.

And just as quickly as she had hugged me, she was crying. I didn't understand why but I knew that there didn't have to be a reason for women to cry. I held her tighter and the tears streaked rapidly down her cheeks, staining my red shirt and breaking Luke's heart.

I knew Luke hated to see her cry, he hated to see her upset in any way at all. It had been that way since they were young children. That was how it worked with Dancers... Or with any Artist. Your eternal love was always there to comfort and to protect. I missed being so young, when everything was new and understanding things didn't really matter. But sometimes I would look back and be happy that I knew what was going to happen almost every day.

### Kaitlyn

I pressed play on the TV remote and waited for the video to play. The screen flickered and suddenly there was small Anastasia sitting on a bench, crying enough tears to drown the world. Her knees were skinned and Jack was attempting to put the antiseptic spray on the worst of the cuts. He sprayed and she screamed.

"Come on Doll, don't you want it to be safe?" She whimpered but nodded as he sprayed again. And again she screamed. "There, you're done. I'm going to clean it up a little more and we'll find some bandages. All right?" She nodded and her chin quivered. A little Luke toddled up and sat next to her on the bench. She didn't look at him, just watched Jack go to the water-fountain and wet a cloth.

"Hello Luke," Jack said and Luke stared at him.

"Is she going to die?" he asked and Jack's eyes went wide.

"No, it's just a few scrapes." He set to cleaning the bloodied knees.

Luke seemed to think about it for a second. "Are you okay Ana?" Anastasia nodded and Luke looked at her skeptically. He smoothed his small hand over her little cheek and he leaned over to kiss her knee. Ana made a face and he made the face back. "My mommy says kisses make everything better." Jack chuckled and Luke ran off yelling that Anastasia wasn't going to die.

I glanced over at Anastasia as the screen faded to black. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and one of her hands was intertwined with Luke's. He glanced at her and she met his gaze. They both smiled and then turned back to the screen as the video continued. Anastasia sat beside Holiday on the top of a high hill. They were watching the sunset fade from blues to purples to reds and finally to black.

Luke and his mother walked up and sat beside them. Anastasia laid down and rested her head on Luke's lap, yawning. "All that playing must have tuckered them out," Luke's mother said and Holiday laughed. "They weren't too much of a handful?"

"Oh never. They're both good children." Luke began to drift, leaning on his mother's shoulder. "He's so protective, never letting anything bad happen to her. It's sweet really."

"I've noticed. I think it's going to get worse as they get older." They both chuckled. "I'm going to take him home, he's got to get registered for school tomorrow."

Holiday nodded and Luke was carried away. "Mommy," Anastasia whined sleepily. "Mommy's where's Luke? Mommy?" Holiday smiled down at her exhausted daughter and brushed her hair from her face, picking her up and standing.

"He's going home to go see his family. You spent all day together. You'll see each other soon."

"But... Mommy..."

"I know baby, it's going to be all right. You'll see each other soon. It gets easier, letting go," Holiday continued as Anastasia slept on her shoulder. "It gets a lot easier. I know it feels bad now but after some time it won't hurt, it'll just feel a little awkward. Like a part of you isn't there that should be. Maybe he isn't your Passion though. I think he could be but I can't see your mind like I can with everyone else."

The screen flickered again. "Ana?" Luke whispered, the room was very dark and you could barely tell they were lying on the floor wrapped up in a blanket. "Are you awake?" She didn't respond. "Ana?"

"I'm awake," she breathed and giggled. "We're supposed to be sleeping..."

"I know..."

"I have butterflies living in my tummy. I'm nervous about dancing tomorrow. What if I mess up?"

Luke was silent for a long moment. "You won't mess up..." They were quiet for a long time until Anastasia's breath steadied and Luke was the only one awake. "You're perfect."

When I looked over again Anastasia was leaning on Luke's shoulder, her eyes were closed. I smiled and Luke tilted his head so his cheek rested on her hair. She sighed and he pulled her closer. I grabbed the TV remote and his the power button. "I think everyone should get some sleep. We can talk more tomorrow," I said. "You two can take the room upstairs. It's the first one on the left."

Jack started to protest as Luke lifted Anastasia into his arms. "But... They're not even eighteen..."

"How long did we wait?" I asked and he grumbled about it but stopped talking.

"Thank you Mrs. Lovet."

"Kait," I corrected automatically and he nodded. "I'll see you two in the morning."

Luke walked away with Anastasia and Jack moved to sit next to me on the love seat. "How long did we wait?" he asked and rested his arm over my shoulder.

"Well, we met when we were two... We started dating when we were fifteen and had Holiday at twenty-two. So, seven years."

"Did we ever talk about it?"

"Yeah..." I laughed, remembering. "When we were sixteen. You wanted to have sex but I said no. We didn't talk for a little while after that. Elizabeth talked to me and told me that we couldn't just ignore it and that we had to talk about it." He nodded. "And then I told you that I wasn't ready... You said that you didn't understand it and broke up with me."

"I remember. My brother got so mad at me because he knew what was going on. He punched me in the gut for trying to pressure you into it. And told me if I ever forced into doing something you didn't want to do then he would make sure I could never sleep with any girl. I believed him and told you that it was okay if you wanted to wait..."

I nodded and rested closer to him. "And we waited."

### Luke

I sat at the dining room table with Kaitlyn. Jack had taken Ana somewhere and we had been spending our day in separate rooms. She sat across from me and smiled at her scrapbook. She looked up at me and smiled. "Do you like not ever getting older?" I asked.

"I like it for the most part. We stopped at a good age so we're not really questioned. We've lived here... Pretty much our whole lives. But we've been everywhere."

"Do you know a lot of people?"

"We know hundreds... Maybe thousands of people. But they get older and die while we stay here... You know, Jack thinks he's met your parents somewhere," she murmured.

"What?"

"You're parents."

"Well... If I kind of grew up with Ana and you two were always around then I'd imagine he met them."

She looked down at her scrapbook and gasped. "You don't know... Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to tell you that... I thought they told you... I'm sorry. For—"

I cut her off. "What do you mean, you thought they told me? You thought who told me what?"

"I really shouldn't be the one to tell you. It's not my place to tell you about it. I'm sorry, please forget that I said anything. Please?"

"No. That's not fair. I want to know."

"I... Obviously your parents didn't want you to know or they would have told you. So, forget I said anything at all."

She stood up with her scrapbook and I put my head in my hands. "What's wrong? It's not really that important..."

"No one ever tells me anything. They always tell me that it's not important. That I'm too young. That I wouldn't understand. And when it's actually about me they just kind of blow it off. I want to know what you mean."

Her eyes went from the ceiling to me, to the door way to me. I took a deep breath and shook my head. "It's okay. If you don't want to tell me... Just forget I said anything." I shrugged and stood up, I stepped past her and started up the stairs to the bedroom I was sharing with Ana.

"Okay, I'll tell you. I wish they would tell you. I wouldn't tell you if I didn't think it were important... Sit down..."

I turned back to the table, regarding her pretty cautiously. Maybe I didn't want to know what she had to say. She sat back down. "So, there's this family, the Parks. They're Dancers too. I... Jack's family is really close with theirs. They're all very English. When they had a baby they're parents thought they weren't ready for the responsibility and forced them to put the baby up for adoption. The contract says that when the baby turns eighteen they get an explanation and a choice."

"So I'm the baby?"

She nodded slowly. There was no way to describe what was running through my mind. Adopted? That explained why I didn't look anything like my parents. Adopted? Was that why my father didn't like me?

"But... I turned eighteen weeks ago. Why didn't they explain it then?"

"I'm not sure. Which is why I don't know... Maybe we're wrong." I doubted it.

♪♪♪

I walked into my house with Ana at my side. She claimed I needed to do it alone, I told her I would go insane if she weren't there for me. So she went with me to ask my parents about me being adopted. Mom walked down the hall and smiled at me. "Oh honey, you're finally home. Scarlett seemed like she was ready to send out a search party... Are you okay?" I shook my head. "What's wrong?"

"I just... Can I talk to you and Dad?" She nodded hesitantly and turned to my father's study.

"I'll go get him and we can talk in the living room."

I pulled Ana down next to me on the couch and she took my hand. "Whatever it is I know you're going to be okay." I looked down at her and attempted to smile. She kissed me for a moment and I nodded. "I love you, no matter what happens. You believe that right?"

"Of course I do."

Her fingers twisted with mine and my parents walked into the room. They sat in separate chairs, on opposite sides of the room. How could they do that? I knew they weren't any sort of Artist if they could just sit on opposite sides of the room and not think about it. I felt weird if I wasn't next to Ana when we were together.

Mom looked worried, Dad was tired. "What's going on Luke?" Dad asked and I took a deep breath.

"When I was in Kansas, Mr. and Mrs. Lovet said that they knew my parents..."

"Well, yes. You two were friends when you were little, I met them several times."

I shook my head. "You know what I'm talking about."

"No. I don't think I do," Mom said and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Jen, they know, it's time to explain everything." Mom shook her head. "Jen. They know! You can't hide it anymore. We have to tell him or we disobey the contract you signed. And if we disobey the contract then they'll sue us."

"They wouldn't do that."

"If they don't I will. It's time to explain to him. And he's going to tell her so you might as well just tell them both, right now. Or leave and I'll tell them."

Mom stood up and walked out of the room. I heard the front door slam and then her car started. Dad took a deep breath. "Okay, I guess I get to tell you by myself. It's really a short story and your mom would drag it out. I lived in London for a year and a half next to these people who were very traditional. Their children got married very young and she got pregnant three weeks later. Your mother was told she wouldn't be able to have any more children and she wanted a son. So when word spread that they wanted someone to adopt their baby we accepted the offer.

"They told me all about the Artists and what you would become. The first time I ever saw Anastasia dance on stage I knew that she was one too. Your mother didn't want to hear about what you were, she just wanted the baby boy so she signed the papers and told me to deal with it. Once I tried to tell you. You were... Five.

"You were crying because you had to come home instead of over to Anastasia's. It hurt for you two to be apart if you were together all day. I don't mean you didn't like it, I mean it hurt. You would cry and scream for hours... One night you were crying and you asked me why I was hurting you and I said I wasn't doing it. So you asked me who was doing it and I tried to explain. Your mother came home and yelled at me for telling you the truth."

I shook my head and started laughing. "And what about Scarlett? Is she adopted too?"

"No, your mother didn't think she was having another child. We didn't pay attention and two years after we adopted you she was born."

"I can't believe this." I stood up and laughed, running my hands through my hair. "This is insane." Ana took my hand but I started walking away. I walked out of the house and Ana didn't follow me. I got in my car and started to drive.

### Scarlett

Luke?" I whispered quietly and knocked on his door. I thought I had heard him come home... It was four in the morning. I hadn't seen Anastasia around when I had been home and I hadn't seen my mother. I pushed to door open slightly and saw Luke laying on his bed, twirling a piece of Anastasia's blonde hair between his fingers.

She smiled and nodded. They were whispering to each other but I couldn't hear what was being said. I turned around and bolted to my room. I couldn't take watching them any longer, it was slightly sickening how in love they were. I heard someone coming up the stairs and pretended to be asleep when Mom looked in my room.

### Luke

Ana's hair was so soft between my fingertips... She shut her eyes and I touched my forehead to hers. "You know that it doesn't matter who your parents are... Or what you are... You're still you, right? I still love you, more than anything in the entire world."

I nodded, my self-esteem needed the boost and she knew what I wanted to hear. "Almost every day I wake up next to you and smile because I know that you'll always be there. And almost every night I go to sleep with you there or knowing that you'll be there later. My dad said that it was the same way with him and my mother, so he understands. I used to think the only thing that could make me happy was dance, but now... You make me happy."

"Ana?" I murmured and her eyes met mine. "I wrote something the other day for you. And it sounds really stupid to be honest."

"I want to hear it..."

I smiled and kissed her forehead. "Your eyes are like oceans, endless, open, care. Your hair is like tiny little ribbons of gold, soft, beautiful, peace. Your skin is like satin, warm, colored, courage. I could go through each individual aspect of you but none of it compares to who you are. You are like you, amazing, gorgeous, wonderful... The list could go on forever, but most of all love."

She sighed and bit her lower lip. "I love you Luke."

"And I love you Anastasia."

I knew the exact moment when she fell asleep and I knew that my mother had come home. I had to talk to her, about everything. Part of me wanted to ignore what happened and leave it alone... But another part of me wanted to go and find my real parents. I wanted to meet them, to know what they were like, to see if I looked anything like them.

I wasn't entirely sure I would even ask my mother about it. I would probably just ask my father and... That was when I realized that calling them mom and dad, mother and father, wasn't accurate. They weren't really my parents. Maybe it was a little mean to admit that but it was the truth. I shut my eyes and made it my summer mission to go meet my parents.

♪♪♪

In the morning I left Ana to sleep and went downstairs to see if Scarlett had heard about anything. She was sitting at the table, measuring out her cereal and milk. It wouldn't matter, she wasn't really a Dancer... I knew it, and eventually everyone would turn her down for a real Dancer. I took a deep breath and sat down. The maid walked out into the dining room and stood patiently.

"What would you like to eat?"

"What did you eat?" I asked and she tilted her head, staring at me with a puzzled expression. "Never mind... I'll have eggs."

"All right, how would you like them?"

"Just scrambled. With some toast. Do we have any strawberries?" Scarlett made a gagging sound and I rolled my eyes. The maid nodded. "And a bowl of those."

The maid walked out and I looked at Scarlett. "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem? I don't have a problem."

"Fine, what do you have an issue with? Huh? A year and a half ago you idolized Ana. Everything she did you wanted to do. If I told you she wore something to school you wanted to go buy the same thing. Now you hate her. She walks in the room and you glare. I say I'm going out with her and you either beg me not to go or stop speaking to me. Want to tell me what happened?"

She shook her head. "Nothing happened. I just don't think it's right for you to give up your dreams for her."

"What dreams? I wanted to go to MIT, I knew I probably couldn't do it. So what if I'm not going. It has nothing to do with you."

"Maybe it doesn't but it's so stupid that you would give up what you wanted for a girl."

"You don't get it Scarlett."

"No, I don't. And I don't ever want to. I don't ever want to give up what I want for someone else. And I won't let you do it either." She looked down at her cereal.

The maid came back with a bowl and a plate. She set the food in front of me and I took a deep breath. "Could you put that in a container?"

"Okay." She took the strawberries and I ate my toast.

"What the hell do you mean, 'you won't let me do it either?' What do you mean?" I asked again and she didn't respond. "Scarlett, tell me."

She shrugged. "Nothing, I just won't let you throw away your future for a worthless girl. She's meaningless and doesn't deserve you."

"Go to hell Scarlett," I said and stood up, taking the strawberries from the maid who had been standing there with the container.

I left the dining room to go upstairs and when I turned the corner I saw Ana... Frozen... Just standing there. It was obvious that she had heard everything. She turned around and ran out of the house. I dropped the container and jogged after her. Damn, she was fast. I was only a hockey player, not a track runner. "Ana!" I yelled after her as she turned the corner. I would have gotten so much farther if I had taken the time to get in the car. And when I turned the corner I couldn't see her anymore. "Dammit!"

I turned around and jogged back home, still wearing my plaid pajama bottoms and ballerina t-shirt. Then it occurred to me that Ana was barefooted, just like I was, so she couldn't get to terribly far. I went in the house and ran upstairs. I changed and got in my car. Where would she go?

♪♪♪

I drove to her house first, she knew how to get on a bus. No one was there but her maid who told me that Ana hadn't come home. I called her father and he said he would call me back if he heard anything. I drove to the high school, the studio and then to the park. She didn't seem to be anywhere. I drove around for hours and then finally got the strange idea of calling her grandparents.

"Luke? What happened to Anastasia? Where is she?" Kait asked and I heard Jack yelling at her in the background. "I want to know what happened to my granddaughter!"

And then Jack was talking to me. "I can't see her. Usually I can see her. But right now I can't. It's just a blind spot. The last place I saw her was the park but after that it's gone. I don't think she was able to do it intentionally. You're her Passion, open your mind and see her."

"I don't know how dammit. I hardly know how to do anything. Tell me what to do."

"Stop driving, that's number one. Park right there at that gas station. I'm not kidding Luke, park, now." I looked to the side and pulled into the gas station without asking how he knew it was there. "All right, now let's go through this step by step. Just take a deep breath, you need to calm down. You need to calm every nerve in your body."

So I took deep breaths and waited until I felt my nerves settle. "All right, now what?"

"Now open your mind and try to envision her. Imagine her and nothing but. All right, tell me when you can practically feel her." I shut my eyes and took another deep breath.

"All right..."

"Now try to tune in to exactly what she's thinking." I took a huge breath and tried to imagine what she was thinking. Suddenly I felt like my mind was being blocked by a brick wall. I couldn't move anything. I opened my eyes and lost the feeling. "Sorry, I don't think she's doing that on purpose."

I nodded and sighed. "Okay, so what do I do? I don't know where to go..."

"Call her father, don't go home, go sit at the park or the library or something. Or go to her house. Just don't go home all right?"

"Okay..."

### Jack

Kaitlyn was pacing back and forth. "Why can't you see her?" she asked for the millionth time and turned to look at me. And suddenly she stared sobbing. "What if she..." Her chin quivered and I stood up to hold her against me. "I can't lose her like I lost Holiday," she whispered and the sobs overwhelmed her body. I wrapped my arms tightly around her, holding as hard as I could.

"I know, darling, I know." I kissed her hair and ran my hand over her back.

"What if you can't see her because she... because..."

"I would have seen it happening. Luke wouldn't be hitting a wall, he would be falling into a black hole. She's going to be okay, darling, I promise."

She shook her head and continued crying. "You can't promise that. You can't see it."

No, I couldn't promise that she would be okay. I couldn't promise that she would remain alive. All I knew was that she was alive...

♪♪♪

A glimmer came two weeks later. There was still no word from Anastasia to anyone. Luke was getting more and more anxious with each passing minute. But there was a tiny glimmer of something... I sat at the table and sketched out exactly what I had seen. Kaitlyn sat, waiting patiently. She was holding a rosary in her hand and she was counting beads but I knew she wasn't reciting the actual verse. She was just holding it, counting to keep herself calm.

I sketched until the page was completely covered with my picture. Anastasia was sitting in the corner of a dark room, her knees drawn to her chest and tears falling down her cheeks. "My sweet grandchild," Kaitlyn cried out and sobbed again. "Oh what's happened to her...?"

"I have no idea. I only saw that and even then I'm not sure about some of the details. I'm sorry, sweet, but now we at least know that she's alive. She's alive and we have more time to find her. Doll is going to be fine, she's strong."

### Luke

Up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down...

I climbed the stairs for hours. Hours and hours. Scarlett didn't say anything, just smirked every time she passed me. My father tried to get me to sit down but I couldn't stand still for more than thirty seconds. Mom avoided me as if I had the plague.

When Jack told me about what he had seen I got even more worried. So she was alive. That didn't give me any other information. Was she healthy? Was she okay? Was she eating? Was she happy? Was she being taken care of?

I heard the doorbell ring and I ran down the stairs. A police officer was standing outside. "Luke Surmise?" he asked and I nodded. "I'm Officer Carson and I'm here to ask you a few questions about Anastasia Faith."

I nodded again and gestured for him to come inside. He was taller... and maybe a little overweight. We went to the sitting room and he sat on of the chairs. "Do you want something to drink? Coffee, water, tea?"

"A glass of water would be nice," he answered and opened his notepad. I poured a glass of water and gave it to him. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and waited for me to sit down again. "All right, if you feel uncomfortable about any of these questions just tell me and we can move on."

"Okay..."

"But the more information we can get the better." I nodded. "Okay. When was the last time you saw Anastasia?"

"It was... twenty three days ago. It was about ten in the morning."

"Do you know anyone that would intentionally want to hurt her?" I shook my head. "All right. So, the last time you saw her did she say anything about leaving? Or any place she would go if she ever ran away?"

I took a deep breath. "No... She never talked about leaving... I mean, we talked about it, once. About leaving to see her grandparents but I've talked to them and she hasn't gone to see them. And she never really had any place she really wanted to go..."

"Okay. This is helping..."

Scarlett walked by the room. "What is he doing here?" she asked, leaning against the door frame. "Obviously, she doesn't want to be found."

"Go away Scarlett," I nearly growled at her.

The police officer looked at her ominously. "It's been nearly a month. I told you she didn't really love you. Otherwise she would be back, wouldn't she? Sorry Luke, but I did tell you so."

She shrugged and walked away. "Who was that?"

"Scarlett, she's my sister."

"She doesn't like Anastasia?"

"No, she doesn't. She really doesn't like her. We've all kind of had to get over it though."

"All right, I'm going to get back to the station. If you hear anything from her you make sure to call." I nodded and he stood up. "I can't promise that she'll turn up. We see cases like this all the time. Your sister may be right, she might not want to be found."

I shook my head and stood up, walking slowly to the front door. "No, she wouldn't do that. I am very serious, she would never run away. That's not what she would have done. She would have told someone, anyone. I don't think she ran away."

"I'm just trying to get you and her father to look at different endings. You'll receive a call if we figure anything out."

### Jack

I think it's time to resort to a Seeker," I said and Kaitlyn gasped. "What?"

"Why didn't I think about that? A Seeker would most definitely be able to find her. Now! Now. We need to get one now..."

I nodded and began making calls. Ever Seeker I could think of didn't want to waste their time looking for a teenage girl so I called the only one I knew who had a daughter. "Madeline? I know that this is really late notice but could you help me look for Anastasia? I... She's been missing for weeks and we just now thought of calling a Seeker to find her."

"Oh Jack, of course I'll help. Okay, let's meet up in the Music bar near her house."

"All right, that sounds good. It'll take me a few minutes, I have to tell Kaitlyn."

Within a half hour I was five minutes away from Anastasia's house and sitting with Madeline. She pulled her hair back and took a deep breath. I knew she would be using tons of energy to search for and find Anastasia. "Okay, do you have anything of hers?"

"No, but her boyfriend would..."

We went to Luke's within the next second. I knocked on the door and Luke opened it. "Did you figure anything out?" he automatically asked.

"No, but I think Madeline can help us. She's a Seeker and it's sort of what she does. She's a Musician and right now she works with her husband as a private investigator. We need something of Anastasia's."

He nodded. "Like what?" He led us all inside and then up two flights of stairs to his room. "Something she wore? Something she touched? Like what?"

"Oh geez," Madeline said. Her heightened senses as a Seeker meant she felt things differently than other Artists did. "I would say this room is enough but anything she wore would be amazing. Or a hairbrush... Lip gloss... Those would be even better."

She ran her fingers along the bedspread and breathed in. I knew she was getting visions of where Anastasia was. "Not enough, I can't really see anything. Just a dark room... The more potent the item the better my vision gets."

Luke riffled through his closet and pulled out a red ACDC shirt. "I don't think I got this washed." He handed it to Madeline and she held the hem between her fingers. Then Luke went to his desk and came back with a hair brush, tube of chap stick, lip gloss, eye-shadow compartments....

Madeline just dropped the shirt and reached for the lip gloss. She uncapped it and smiled, I hoped it was at what she saw, not just the happiness of finally seeing something. But her face began to fall... She closed her eyes and I felt Kaitlyn tense next to me. Luke was struggling to remain calm.

"She's... We need to get to her. She's in an apartment..." She shut her eyes again... "Downtown. On fifth street... It's next to another apartment building with white flowers in the windows. The apartment building is brick... I can't see anything else. Room number six-eighteen." Suddenly Madeline's knees buckled and she fell to the floor. All of us rushed to her side. Her eyes opened. "You need to get to her, right now. You've got ten minutes." She looked at me desperately. "Go, now!"

I grabbed Luke's arm and shoved him down the stairs. He stumbled a little and Kaitlyn knelt beside Madeline, taking the lip gloss from her and comforting her. Luke and I ran down the stairs and out to his car. We ran like the world depended on it. I knew that for Luke, his world did depend on finding Anastasia.

I didn't know where fifth street was but Luke did so he drove. We probably broke ten laws trying to get to the apartment building. I glanced over at Luke and I saw him on the verge of tears. "She isn't going to die," I said and he shook his head. "If she were I would see it."

"But she's isn't okay!" he yelled. "No, she might not die but she's not okay. I let her go, I let her run, I wasn't paying attention and now she's hurt or in pain or dying and it's because I let her go! Damn it, I missed the turn." He didn't look, just turned the car around and turned down another street. "We have three minutes if Madeline was right."

"Of course she was right."

We both watched the buildings we were passing. "There!" I said and Luke slammed on the brakes. He yanked the keys from the car and we ran. I looked up at the apartment buildings and only one had white flowers. "Then it's the other one, come on. Six eighteen."

Inside the first set of doors was a locked door. I shoved on it but it didn't move. Someone walked in behind us and opened the door we ran past him and I turned around. "Do you know where from six eighteen is?" I asked.

"Third floor to the right." Luke started sprinting to the stairs, he was smart, there was a line for the elevator. "Do you need any help?" I shook my head.

"No, thank you." I ran after Luke but he was already up to the third floor. I heard a door slam and chased after it. He was running down the hall way, glancing at the door numbers.

Finally he came to a dead stop. He grabbed the door handle and twisted. The door was locked and he didn't know what to do. I stopped beside him. He pounded on the door. "Ana! Ana!" he yelled and I grabbed the door handle myself.

I would lose energy but I would be able to walk and speak and after Luke got Anastasia it wouldn't matter if I could do anything else. I felt my powers give into the door and Luke heard the lock snap. He shoved the door open and I stumbled backwards. The room was dark and Luke didn't turn on the light. "Ana!"

He started opening doors. And then he stopped. "Ana," he whispered and walked into the room. I stood up and stumbled my way to the open door. Anastasia was sitting in the corner of the room, just like I had seen. Her eyes were open but she didn't move. Luke knelt down beside her and took her into his arms. He stood up and she leaned her head on his chest. She looked too thin... Well she already looked too thin now she looked almost malnourished. And then she started sobbing. It was weak and strangled but the effect was powerful.

Suddenly there was a loud scream. I turned around and saw Luke's sister standing in the door way. She screamed again and Anastasia cried out. "No, no, no, no, no..." Anastasia started whispering. "No..."

"What the hell did you do to her?" Luke yelled and set Anastasia back on the floor. I knelt beside her and took her hand. She seemed so delicate. "Scarlett!"

"It's ruined!"

Luke picked up the phone that was sitting on the small table beside a small folding chair. The room was still dark as Luke dialed nine-one-one. "Yes, I'm in apartment six eighteen, on fifth street. I thinks it's building seven twenty..."

Scarlett started laughing hysterically. "Try it," Luke threatened as Scarlett turned around. He took a few steps toward her and grabbed her wrist. "You are never going to get away with this."

Within seconds we could all hear sirens...

### Luke

I sat beside the hospital bed with Ana's hand in mine. She smiled weakly as the people on TV started screaming at each other in Portuguese. "They're so funny... They just walk around yelling at each other and expect all their problems to be solved." She took a deep breath and glanced at the door. Another police officer stuck their head in the room.

"Luke, would you mind answering some more questions?" she asked me and smiled. Her black hair was braided and her uniform was neat, she exhibited perfect order. Something that I wish I had. "It will just take a few minutes."

Ana gently pulled her hand from mine and I knew it would have been stronger... If she had the strength. I kissed her forehead and she sighed. "Tell me what happens," I whispered and she nodded. I walked out of the room with the police officer and when I looked back Ana had her eyes closed.

"We just need to ask a few more questions."

"All right..."

"Did Scarlett ever threaten Anastasia before this?"

I shook my head. "Not that I know of. I mean, she said she didn't like her a couple of times but she never physically threatened her."

She nodded and made a note on her pad. "Your parents have hired a lawyer for your sister and your father said something about telling you not to go home. Not that I imagine you will be. I'm going to go and speak with her father. Thank you for your cooperation."

I nodded and went back into the hospital room. Ana looked over at me and I forced a smile. She was in the hospital because of me... I took her hand again and sat down next to her on the bed. She rested her head on my shoulder and shifted closer. "I love you," she murmured and I sighed. "And I don't blame you..."

"We don't have to talk about this now. What happened?" I asked, gesturing up to the TV.

"I think that he cheated on her so she started yelling in Italian and then the grandmother came in. I don't know what she said though."

We sat on that hospital bed for days. She slept and ate and grew stronger. She got cards and letters, from scouts, from teachers, from her mother's family. Jack stopped by for a few minutes every day and kept us up to date on the court case against Scarlett. "Your sister could be tried as an adult..." he said one time.

"I don't care," I said back. Ana was sleeping and we were standing outside the room.

"You do care Luke. She's still your sister."

"No, she's not. Not by blood and not by spirit. My parents are still my parents, they at least tried to love me. But she didn't. She hated the girl I love, she tried to kill her. I don't care about what happens to her."

"All right... Well she's going on trial in three days. They want you to be there. I was able to convince the court to let Doll opt out. That it would hinder her mental health. That she could be mentally insecure or something like that. But they want you to be there, they want you to go and testify against your family."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, she isn't my family. I don't have any problem testifying against her. All right? If anything I'm glad to go and see her again. I want to hear what she has to say about what happened."

"Do you still blame yourself?" he asked and I turned to look inside the hospital room. Ana was on her side, sleeping. "Do you? You shouldn't blame yourself for this. None of this is your fault. Luke, listen to me. It was her choice to run away, it was her choice to follow Scarlett. Did Doll tell you what happened?" I shook my head. "She went to the park and took a bus home. She changed and then walked around the mall and then the national park. Scarlett found her and asked her to come and talk to you, told her that you just wanted her to come home, that you weren't really that worried.

"She got really mad and followed Scarlett to her car. Then Scarlett started to go downtown, not to your house. She freaked out and Scarlett knocked her out. Then she was locked up in the apartment. She had no idea what was going on. She had no idea if it was bad, if she was going to die. And she knows that it isn't your fault. She made the choice to follow Scarlett out of the park and get into the car with her."

I leaned my head on the window. "I don't think that matters... I let her run."

### Jack

I sat with Doll on the day of the trial. "Are you okay?" she asked and I nodded, keeping a close eye on the trial. "What's happening?" She turned the TV off and waited for me to answer.

"The judge just called everything to order. Your father's lawyer... Her name is Isabell. Luke's getting sworn in and now he's sitting down..." I took a deep breath and laughed. "They asked him if he was testifying for Scarlett. He said no and now they're talking about what happened."

I stopped talking and she waited. The trial kept on for about an hour. I didn't give Doll the play-by-play, she didn't need that. "Will you tell me what happened now?" she asked when I shook my head.

"Scarlett is going to an all girls detention center until she's eighteen and then her file will be looked over again. She was tried as a minor. She and Luke did kind of start screaming at each other. What did you do to make her hate you?" I asked and Doll shook her head, her chin quivered and I rested my arm over her shoulders. "You're going to be all right, it'll all fade away and none of it will matter."

### Luke

Ana?" I asked and stepped in the studio. When I went to the front desk they told me that she was alone in one of the never used studios. She had her pink headphones in and I knew there wasn't a chance she would be able to hear me.

She took a deep breath with her back to me and grabbed hold of the point bar. Her feet automatically went to first position and then she fixed them to fourth. I leaned against the doorway and waited. She had to turn around eventually. She went through about ten minutes of warm-ups before she finally turned around and saw me.

"Hey," she said and pulled the headphones from her ears.

"I thought you were coming over," I said and she shrugged, looking down at her feet. "What happened?"

"Nothing... It's just that... Well, your mom is kind of pissed off that Scarlett's in the detention center and your dad still doesn't really like me..."

"So?"

"I don't need to make it any harder for them. They have enough to deal with. And I understand. So I'm just going to try and stay out of it."

I took one of her hands. "Why do you care what they think?"

"Because they are your parents Luke. You can say they aren't all you want but they really are. I don't want them to ban me from you completely."

She shrugged and tried to pull her hand from mine. I held on tighter. "I think we should go to London and find my parents." She rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. I'm eighteen and the deal was, when I turn eighteen I get to meet my real parents. Please, come with me. I'm going with or without you but I wish you would just come. Please?"

"I have to talk to my dad about it. He might not want me to go. School is starting again soon and Julliard sent me a letter claiming they need a portfolio. So... I have a ton of work to get done."

"You can do all of that here or in London or in Paris or New York or anywhere. I don't want to go by myself, but I will."

She put her hands on my chin and kissed me. "You are such a liar," she whispered and kissed me harder. "But I've got to talk to my dad. If he says it's okay then I'll go." I smiled and put one of my arms around her waist. She went on her tip toes and kissed me again.

### Ana

I sat outside, on the porch step, while Luke screamed at his parents. Obviously he hadn't told them he was going to London. I took a deep breath and leaned my head against the rail. "You don't need to find them!" his mother yelled and he just laughed.

"What kind of agreement did you sign mom? You are obligated to tell me where my parents live. And if you don't tell me then I'll just go to London and search for them. I know how to use a phone book."

"Fine! Then go and find them! You don't care what I want or how I feel about anything!"

"Of course I care. You just don't care about anything I want. You don't care that I want to at least see my real parents. You don't care that I want to have a real family! One that doesn't hate the girl I love. One that doesn't care if I play hockey or dance or write or run track or anything else! One that accepts me for me, accepts everything I am. I'll be home in two weeks, don't wait up." He opened the door and slammed it behind him as a final sort of note to end his argument.

I stood up and wrapped my arms around him. "I love you Luke, remember that."

"Always," he whispered and kissed my hair.

"Forever and sixteen days," I said back and he grinned.

The airport was packed, last minute trips to Europe... We were in coach, not wanting to sit with all the first class people. We sat in our seats and I pulled out a word search book, Luke got his video camera and flipped open the LED screen. "Luke," I said and put my hand over the lens. I laughed and he jerked it free. "Stop!" I said and put the book over my head.

"Too late, I already started recording," he said, smiling. "I want to save this moment, all right? I just want to be able to show our kids and their kids and forever on what it was like for me to be here with you, on a plane, going to see my real parents."

I rolled my eyes and took out my highlighter. "Okay, record all you want." I leaned over and kissed him quick. I buckled my seatbelt and settled in for the long flight to London.

We went to the hotel and up to our room. We both collapsed on the separate twin beds. "I'm so tired!" I said and shut my eyes. The sun was still shining outside the window... Jet lag. "We've spent three days searching for your parents and no one has ever heard of them. Can't we give up and enjoy the country? Please?"

"I need to find them." He stood up and collapsed beside me again. I turned on my back and he settled on his elbow, propping his head up. "It's not so bad." I shut my eyes and he traced his thumb over my cheekbones and then kissed me. "Just tomorrow, after tomorrow we can go somewhere else and walk around there." I sighed but nodded. He would be there for me if I ever needed it, I needed to be there for him.

♪♪♪

Luke grinned and ordered me some coffee at the little independent café we had stopped at. I sat down at the front table and picked up the newspaper that had been left over. None of it was any good to me so I set it aside and Luke walked over with coffee and pastries in hand.

He sat down and held out a blueberry muffin. "Come on, I know it's your favorite breakfast and they didn't have strawberries." I took the muffin and broke off a small piece. It crumbled in my mouth and I sighed, it was so good.

Someone walked by the café and then stopped. They turned around and looked at me for a second. The lady was tall... well taller than I was, and dressed like an officer worker. She had a grey pinstripe suit on and ordered herself a plain coffee. She took the cash from her pocket, not a purse or pocketbook or even a wallet.

She walked by me again and I smiled a little. She stopped and took a deep breath. "Have you been around here before? I mean, you remind of someone I once knew, it would have been... oh gosh fourteen maybe fifteen years ago... I'm probably wrong..."

"A lot of people say I look a lot like my mother..."

"Was her name... Oh I sound crazy... Was her name Holiday? Holiday..."

"Faith?" I asked and she nodded, smiling. "Yeah... She was my mother."

She grinned at me. "I met your mother a long time ago. She told me all about you, she loved you so much. And that means you must be Luke?" she asked, finally looking at him. "Oh wow..."

"What?" I asked and she turned back to me and then to him.

"He just... I live in an apartment with these other Dancers and you look just like him. Him and her, I mean, more him than her but both..." She laughed. "I'm probably crazy, people are always telling me that. Well, I just wanted to know if you were her daughter... It was nice to meet you, I have a studio to get to."

She started walking away and Luke let her get a block down the street before jumping up and running after her. I smiled and ate more of my muffin. It was probably twenty minutes before he came back. I was on my second cup of coffee and down to half a muffin.

"I... They live three miles away... In a penthouse apartment. Their names are Charlie and Lucy Prelapsarian. They won't be home for an hour or two but..."

"Let's go," I said and took his hand, standing up.

### Luke

What was I supposed to say to them? Was I supposed to hug them? Would they even want to talk to me? I paced in front of their door while Ana sat on the bench, beside their door. Their door... Did that make it my door too? I took a deep breath and heard the elevator ding. I froze. Ana stood up and took my hand.

I saw them, she was laughing and he had his arm around her. I tried to take a step back but I couldn't move. The man noticed me first and turned the woman to see me too. They both sort of stopped... He took a step forward and she stepped with him. "Are you Charlie and Lucy Prelapsarian?"

The woman nodded and Ana nodded with her. "All right, Charlie, Lucy... About nineteen years ago you made an agreement about a baby boy. This is Luke Surmise and he is your son."

"My son?" Lucy whispered and Ana nodded.

"Maybe you could all talk a little more inside..." she suggested and Lucy nodded, still watching me. Charlie unlocked the door and we all went inside, the whole front room was green and pink. The couches were pink and so was the carpet, the walls were green. I felt like we had just walked into a watermelon.

I sat down in one of the pink chairs and my parents sat across from me. Ana sat next to me, her hand still in mine. None of us could seem to actually say something... "You do know he's your son right?"

"Of course. I mean, why wouldn't he be?" Charlie asked and Ana nodded. "Of course he's our son, he's the right age and the right hair color and... I'm sorry, I know that he's our son but she can't really get over it... There have been a lot of eighteen year old boys coming around here lately, claiming to be our son. Everyone knows that we've been waiting for him to come home for about a year and a half now."

Ana squeezed my hand. "You're Luke?" Lucy asked and I nodded. "You're my son?" I nodded again.

"Or at least I hope so... I've been searching for my parents for days now... Waiting for months..."

"I... Could I just... There's so much I want to ask." She looked at Charlie and he smiled down at her. For a second it seemed like they were having some kind of a conversation all on their own... And they probably were too.

Finally they turned back to us and Lucy smiled, tears in her eyes. "You can ask anything you want," I said and she let out on short laugh.

"I know... What's your favorite color?" she asked and it was my turn to laugh.

"It was purple, for a long time. And then it became gold about a year and a half ago and now it's blue." She glanced at Ana and her smile got wider, she knew why blue was my favorite color... Charlie took her hand and the questions went on... for hours and hours.

What foods do you like? Do you play any sports? What's your favorite kind of music? Do you have a favorite movie? Do you have pictures from when you were a baby? How did you grow up? What do your parents do? Did you have a happy childhood? Do you want kids? What college are you going to? Do you already know about Dancers? Have you found your Passion?

The last one got a laugh from Charlie. "What?" Lucy asked and he just shook his head, smiling.

"She really is oblivious," he claimed and she pouted. "Love, can't you tell? Look at them."

Lucy looked at Ana and then glanced at me. "You're the little boy Holiday would tell us about..." she whispered. "She would come at least once a year to visit with us. She had a daughter a year or so after our parents told us you were stillborn. We should have known but by the time we found the agreement it was too late... Anyway... She would come and show us pictures and tell us stories.

"We knew that our little boy, wherever he was would be doing something like what she was doing. Walking, saying his first words, playing ball. And one year she came and told us about how strange it was to see her daughter growing up next to her Passion. She never said anything else about him but that was sort of it... and the year she promised to bring pictures she never came back. We never expected..."

It was silent for a few seconds. "Luke?" I looked at Lucy. "Do you think you could ever see us as your parents? Like me as your mother and Charlie as your father?"

I was quick to answer with, "Maybe one day. My parents... Or I guess the people who raised me, they don't really act like my parents. They have three children of their own and I've never really fit in. I think that I want someone I can really call my mom or my dad."

### Ana

I stood in the studio and stared at my reflection. Exactly one year. I looked at my watch and took a deep breath. It had been exactly one year since James had dropped me in the lift. How much had changed in that small amount of time? Everything. Almost everything had happened... I found my grandparents, learned about an entirely different breed of people, found my one true love, was almost killed, gained my sight back, found my boyfriend's parents, got into Julliard, built a portfolio in a matter of days and survived.

Shutting my eyes, I turned in a slow circle. How odd it had been to be blind. I bit my lip and remembered the day I had met Luke... I didn't really remember our childhood together, but there were pictures and video's to prove that it had happened. I loved him, so much. I hated that he was giving MIT up to go to school with me. I hated that he didn't move in with his parents because my dad wouldn't let me live in London. I hated so many things... But none of that mattered because I loved him.

I walked to the lights and turned them off. And then I went to sit in the corner of the studio. I hugged my knees and cried... I wasn't sure why I was crying. I just was. The entire room was dark, until my door opened. "Oh God," I said and wiped at my cheeks. "You weren't supposed to be picking me up until six thirty." I huffed a small laugh, trying to keep him from asking questions. "And I don't want to talk about it..." I added softly.

"All right." He shut the door behind him and then sat down beside me, leaning against the wall next to me. He took my hand and our fingers twisted together. "Then we won't talk about it," he whispered and I rested my head on his shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you more than strawberries," I said and he smiled.

"Hmm, I love you more than hockey."

"And I love you more than Fish."

"I love you more than the stars in the sky."

"I love you more than..."

We went on for what felt like hours. We sat together in the dark room, part of the time was in complete silence and the other part of the time we just talked. He really was the love of my life and at that moment, everything seemed to just click. It must have been getting late because I was starting to get tired, I was falling asleep on Luke's shoulder and he said he'd be right back.

He left me alone and I took a deep breath. I loved him so much, maybe too much. But it wasn't odd to any of our families. When Luke came back he had a pile of pillows and blankets in his arms. I smiled and he set them on the floor. He tossed me a pillow and I set the pillow on the floor behind me. He handed me a stack of clothes, pajama bottoms and a t-shirt.

I walked to the opposite side of the studio and turned to face the wall. I could hear Luke spreading out the blankets, probably making more noise than he needed to so that I would know he wasn't watching me. I took my tank top off and then pulled the t-shirt over my head. When I looked down I noticed that it was his t-shirt, long enough to reach my thighs. He probably didn't do it intentionally, he probably just grabbed a shirt from my drawer.

So instead of pulling on the pajama pants I just stepped out of my shorts and went back to the blankets, leaving the pile of clothes in the corner. Luke settled with his hands under his head. And then I laid down next to him, pulling the blanket over my shoulder. He smiled and rested one of his arms around my shoulders, twisting a lock of my hair between his fingers.

I turned on my side and the shirt rode up, my bare thigh bumping against the bottom of his boxer shorts, skin touched skin and neither of us moved. He let out a small breath and kissed my hair. I looked up and he kissed the tip of my nose, finally kissing me on the lips. I sighed and then kissed him back.

"Ana," he murmured but kissed me again. I loved that he called me Ana instead of Anastasia. Anastasia was a little long and everyone said it. I got tired of it sometimes. I really loved it because it was what Luke called me. I felt him pour everything into the kiss, love, hope, courage, belief... Everything. And I tried to give him everything back. Suddenly he pulled back and I shut my eyes. "We have to stop."

"Maybe."

"You can't be pregnant and go to school," he reminded me and I rolled my eyes. "How do you feel about kids?" he asked and I shrugged, picking up his guitar pick necklace from his bare chest. "I'm serious Ana..."

"I like kids."

"And when we get married, how many are we having?"

I looked at the black and blue tie-died colors and took a deep breath. "Two."

"Two? That's it?" I laughed and nodded.

"Why? What did you have in mind?" I asked.

He shrugged that time. "Six."

"Six?" I nearly shrieked. "Six kids?"

"I liked growing up with three siblings, even if they weren't my real sisters." I took a deep breath and settled back on his shoulder.

"I liked being an only child... But six kids...? As long as you promise they'll turn out like you."

He rolled his eyes and laughed. "I'd rather that they be like you."

### Luke

We spent the night together, in the corner of the studio. When we woke up neither of us wanted to leave the dark room. It was like a little sanctuary, where nothing in the outside world could affect us. We sat around and the maid knocked on the door and then opened it. "Your father said you would be up around now and that I was supposed to make sure you got something to eat. So I came to ask what you wanted to eat."

"I'll just have some strawberries."

"I'll have toast and scrambled eggs." She nodded and went to the corner of the room to collect up Ana's clothes. She picked them up and left us alone in the room again.

She came back about twenty minutes later, we had just been lying on the floor in silence.

♪♪♪

The school seemed small after the summer. My parents had tried to convince me to live with them and go to school in London. I had refused, not wanting to leave Ana, even if it was only for one school year. I had one class with Ana, advanced biology. And my teacher had threatened to move us to opposite ends of the room if we didn't stop talking during class.

But we could never seem to stop. The days were long and the evenings were short. I knew that at college it would just get worse.

"You should try out for hockey again," Ana whispered while taking notes from the board.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you enjoy playing hockey."

I leaned over the lab table, pretending to be completely engrossed in what the lecture was about. "Not as much as I like spending time with you. And when I'm playing hockey I wouldn't be able to do that."

"You would still see me," she murmured as the teacher turned around to look at us. Her eyes dropped to her notes and she started writing again.

"Every day after school I would have practice and then if we were to make districts or something then it would be like four days that I would go out of district or out of state. So that's like fifteen less hours a week that I would be able to see you not counting the days we go on trips."

"I still think you should do it. If we saw each other less then you could just stay the nights at my house. That way you still get to see me."

"Like I don't already spend the night over at your house all the time. I spend more time over at your house then I spend anywhere else, well, maybe school but I don't count that."

Why did she want me to go for hockey so bad? "You could spend time with Mark."

"You know what, I'll think about it... If you tell me why you think I should try out."

She opened her mouth to answer but suddenly our teacher called on her to answer a different question. "As the time had passed evolutionary studies have led us to believe that..." Ana kept going, answering the question as well as she possibly could. I tuned her out and just sat there. It was our senior year and she wanted me to try out for hockey. We barely spent enough time together as it was and if I was playing a sport we would barely see each other for like three months.

And then it suddenly clicked, playing hockey would mean more nights at her house which would also mean more chances for her to try and get me to sleep with her. It wasn't like I didn't want to, and God knew, I wanted to, but sleeping together would mean a baby, an Artist baby, which neither of us really needed during college. I was all for skipping college but my parents... well... The people who raised me, would never allow me to just skip out on a few years of school. And they already hated Ana enough, they didn't need another reason to pull me away from her.

The class ended and I took Ana's hand as we walked to the courtyard for lunch. "You should do hockey because it's something you like to do. You can see your friends and I get to say that my boyfriend is on the hockey team." She sat on the brick wall that bordered out courtyard. Sitting on the wall brought her to my height, so I didn't have to look down.

"I still won't sleep with you," I said and she rolled her eyes. "You think I'm kidding."

"One of these days you'll crack. I know teenage guys and they can hardly resist long enough to last a few hours without their girlfriends."

"They don't have a hundred percent chance of pregnancy to deal with."

"So? You're still going to crack. And if you don't, I'll sleep with someone else."

"No you won't."

Her eyes brows went up. "Really?"

"You aren't giving up college, me, a life, the next nine months and the rest of your life."

"So maybe I wouldn't sleep with someone else. One of these days I'm just going to the bathroom and then I'm going to come back to bed..." Her voice lowered and she spoke slowly, "Wearing absolutely... Nothing..." One of her nails trailed over my collar bone and I swallowed.

I shut my eyes for a second and took a deep breath. "First you have to get the nerve to do it," I said and she smiled.

"Oh, I've been working on it... For the past month I've come really close.. I've gone to the bathroom and gotten naked and then I put on my pajama's but the whole time I'm doing it I imagine your face if I were to just go to bed, without the pajama's."

"You barely wear anything, as is."

"I wear a t-shirt," she protested and I laughed. "Your t-shirts, which are long enough that I walk around the house in them, even when you aren't there."

And I needed to think clearly... "Why do you want to sleep together?" I asked suddenly and she kissed me.

"I don't really know... I was just talking to Kait and Grandpa Jack about what it was like for them... They had my mother when they were sixteen... She said that it was like one of the most amazing things she had ever been through. First the sex, and then the pregnancy and then having a baby. I want to do that..."

"And you'll be able to do all of that in a few years, when we're married and done with college."

She shrugged, at least she wasn't completely focused on seducing me anymore. And then I smiled, it was an awkward situation. Traditionally I was supposed to be arguing for the sex. But we weren't all that traditional of a couple. "I don't even want to go to college. Why don't you go to MIT and I'll do the whole dance teaching thing?"

"Because we agreed on Julliard."

"And I still don't want to go."

She didn't say anything else as I just stared at her. I wanted her to tell me why. "Why not?" I asked and she shoved at my shoulder. "Why don't you want to go to Julliard?" Again, she didn't answer. She jumped off the wall and pushed at me when I stopped her. "Answer me Ana."

"I'm going to class." She slipped past me and I watched her walk away from the courtyard. Her hand went up to her cheek and I knew that she was crying... What had I said to make her cry? I really didn't know and I was worried about her. First about her and the sleeping together thing and then about the not wanting to go to college and then about not answering me.

When school let out later that afternoon she wasn't waiting by my car and I didn't wait to see if she would show up, I knew that she wouldn't. When I called she didn't answer... Her father told me that she had gone to her room and wouldn't talk to anyone. She did have Fish in the room but she wouldn't even talk to the maid.

And then I had no one to call. She didn't have any close friends, no one she would talk to... So I did the only thing I could do... I went to the park and called my parents. They had to have some sort of advice, anything at all would be helpful. I just wanted to know what was going on with Ana...

"Luke? Why are you calling?" Lucy asked and I took a deep breath. "Not that I don't like that you're calling I just... I kind of want to know why."

"Ana's upset and I don't know what I did. She won't talk to me..."

"Well... What happened?"

"She was trying to get me to sleep with her and then she decided not to go home with me. I called her dad and he told me that she didn't want to talk to me. And then she told me that she didn't want to go to college at Julliard and that she wanted me to go to MIT." I took a deep breath and climbed the ladder to the slide. I sat at the top of the plastic tube and waited for my mom to answer.

It was a long moment before she responded to what I had said. "Maybe she wants a baby Luke... Did you ever consider it?"

"Yes I considered it! I've had to consider it for the past few months while she's tried to get me to sleep with her. I love her and I want kids but not until we're done with college. It means a lot to me to go through the last four years of school."

"Then why don't you go to MIT and let her stay at an apartment on the campus while raising your child?"

I closed my eyes and sighed. "Because I want to be there to watch my child grow up. Not in some stupid on campus apartment but in a house. In a place where I want to spend the rest of my life. I don't want he or she growing up somewhere unstable."

"Okay? Then let her live in a house somewhere... somewhere you know you'll want to end up and then you can go to college and she can raise the child."

"Why won't she just go to Julliard with me?"

"Do you know anything about her mother Luke?"

"She doesn't like talking about her anymore. And her father goes to his office whenever she comes up in the conversation. And I can't just call her grandparents..."

I could hear Lucy take a deep breath. She let it out slowly. "Why don't you take the winter break to go and meet Ana's grandparents again, actually ask them about Holiday? Then you can get to know her mother."

"But Ana wants me to go out for hockey again... And if I do hockey I won't be able to go for any of the winter break."

"Then don't do hockey."

"If it'll make Ana talk to me again then I want to do it."

"She'll talk to you again even if you don't do the hockey thing. Someone can only go so long without their Passion without feeling horrible."

"Maybe... I don't know what I'm going to do... I just want to know what's wrong. Thanks..."

She told me a little bit about where she was going on her dance tour and then told me she had to go. I hung up and just sat there for about an hour. I called her cell phone again and her father answered. "I'm sorry... I thought she would answer..."

"I told you earlier Luke, she doesn't want to talk to anyone."

"I know... Actually, could you give me her grandparents number? Or text it to me?"

"All right."

♪♪♪

Ana didn't show up to school for the next day... I started to get worried and showed up at her house about a week and a half after the original conversation had occurred. Her maid answered the door and then started to close it. "You aren't supposed to be here Mr. Surmise."

"It's Prelapsarian... And I know. Is Ana home?"

"No..."

"Could you tell me where she went?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"She asked me not to tell you. And she told me you weren't supposed to be visiting so I have no idea what to say."

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "Can't you give me a hint?"

"I... Why don't I go get her father?"

"Actually, it's fine. Can I just run in her room and grab something?"

"She didn't say anything about that..." So the maid let me into the house. I went to Ana's room and headed straight to her closet. I went to the very back and turned on the vanity light, why she had a vanity table in the back of her closet, I did not know. I opened the top drawer and saw nothing, she had taken her journal with her. So she wasn't planning on being home any time soon.

I opened the second drawer and saw a pile of hair bands and different colored clips. "Okay..." I breathed, then opened the third drawer held her mother's journal. So she was at least planning on coming home... Where had she gone that would mean leaving town? When I couldn't come up with an answer I sat down in the chair and took a deep breath...

First, visualize. So I imagined her every possible way that I could. The way she smelled, the sound of her voice, the look of a smile on her face, how impossibly soft her skin was... Until I believed she could just materialize in front of me.

Second, try and think what she would be thinking. I started trying to think about what she thought about. Dance... Me... her father... her grandparents... And then it felt like I was with her. She was sitting at a table across from an older man. He smiled and I rolled my eyes. What was she doing? Where was she? She nodded and picked up her coffee. Well, she didn't really drink coffee so it was probably hot chocolate... The man across from her lifted his drink and took a deep breath.

He started talking again... "She could dance better than any student I had ever taught. When I heard that she had died I was so confused. She was always so careful with her health and with her safety. I heard that she had a daughter and I had seen pictures but once she died it was as if her legacy was gone."

"I know that she was pregnant with me after school but... Did it really impact her career that much?"

"No. She took the nine months off, you were three weeks early and about three weeks after you were born she was on the stage again. She was able to balance her home life and her work life, which not many people could do."

"People say I'm a lot like her."

"I must say you have her looks and skin tone. She never wore even the slightest smudge of makeup. And her ambition. The fact that you came all the way to New York just to speak with her teachers shows that you have her will. When she wanted something she went after it."

New York? As in Julliard? "I was offered the chance to go to school here. With my boyfriend. But he has wanted to go to MIT for... His family says forever and I never would have met him if he didn't want to go there. I don't know if I even want to go to college... I just... I want to know if I really should be following in my mother's footsteps."

The man nodded. "I understand what you're saying and I think that it's all up to you. In the end all that matters is what makes you happy? Do you want to go to school and continue studying dance? Or do you want to go out and try to find a job without a college education?"

"That's the thing, I've already been offered a spot in all these tours and shows and performances that I don't think I need to go to school to continue with my dance."

"When you say that you're following in your mother's footsteps are you doing that because you want to or are you doing it because it's what other people want you to do?"

She shrugged. "Sort of both I guess... For so long my father has wanted me to follow after my mother. And I want to continue on with what she did but I don't want to have to take anything away from my boyfriend."

"Boyfriends aren't forever Anastasia."

"I know... But he's... Different."

"Your mother said those exact words to me when she told me that she didn't want to go on tour because of her boyfriend. He would be your father now, wouldn't he? What was his name... Nick? Or something like that." Ana laughed and nodded. "She knew that he was the one for her and he was completely open to anything she could have wanted."

"I know that the boy I'm with will become a man just like my father... If not better. He wants me to go here. He's giving up all of his dreams to go here with me. But I'm not sure I'm ready to let him do that for me."

"It's only four years. Four years where you can see each other during breaks and on every holiday. It might seem like it's forever but it really does get easier."

"No... I've only been gone from home for a week and a half and it's already horrible to be away from him. I miss him. And I sort of left on a bad note so I can't call him... I didn't even bring my cell phone. I don't really want him to know that I'm here."

"If he's as good a person as you say he is then he's probably worried about you..."

And then I realized that the maid was talking to me. I shook my head and rubbed my hand over my face. I grabbed one of my shirts from the top of the dresser and smiled. "My mother wanted me to wear it to a dinner tonight," I said and she nodded. I left the room and went to my car. I felt like I was about to cry. I started driving, anywhere... Wherever the roads led. I tried not to cry. Surmise men didn't allow themselves the self deprecating show of tears... But Prelapsarian men did.

### Ana

I laid out on my hotel bed and shut my eyes. There was a message from my father on the answering machine at the hotel, so he wanted me to call him. I didn't really want to talk to him but I sat myself up and dialed the house number. "Hello, Faith residence," I heard my maid answer back in a cheerful voice.

"Hi Jennifer... Is my father home?"

"Actually he went to the office about an hour ago. Do you want me to call him for you?"

"No, I'll just call him at the office. I just figured that I would try home first." And I was avoiding the act of actually talking to him.

"Anastasia, your boyfriend came by today. He didn't know that you had left?" I didn't say anything. Of course Luke didn't know I had left, I didn't want anyone to know that I had gone to see my mother's old school. "He asked if he could look for something in your room and I said sure... Anastasia, he's worried about you. Why didn't you tell him you were leaving? Even if it is only for a few days?"

I wiped at the tears in my eyes and didn't answer her questions. "I'll call my father at work," I whispered and hung up. When I went to dial the phone again my fingers automatically went to Luke's cell phone number... I would call him after, when I had more time. And then I dialed my father's work number and his secretary answered in her happy-go-lucky voice. She connected me with the main office and I waited for him to say something.

"Anastasia? I know that you don't want to come home but everyone is worried about you."

"Everyone?"

"You know that I'm worried. And Luke has been completely out of it for the past week. But I can't tell him where you went because you asked me not to. I figured when you asked me that, that you meant you were going to tell him. But no, he calls at least five times a day asking if you've come home or if you've called. When he calls again I'm going to tell him where you are."

I shut my eyes. "Okay... I can't do anything if you want to tell him. I'm going to go and get something to eat... Bye dad."

"Come home soon Anastasia."

I set the phone on its cradle and took a deep breath. If I didn't call Luke my father would, and that would just cause a fight. I didn't want to fight. I just wanted answers and I wasn't sure if Luke would be able to understand that. But I had to think that he would as I dialed his cell phone number. "Hello?" he answered on the first ring.

"Luke..." It felt so good just to hear his voice.

"Ana?"

"Yeah... It's me..." I rolled over onto my side and shut my eyes so I could imagine him.

There was a long moment of silence, but it didn't seem all that uncomfortable. "I love you," he whispered and very suddenly I felt horrible. Why hadn't I called him? Or at least told him what I was doing? Why did I let him worry about me?

"I'm sorry," I murmured and he sighed.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't tell anyone... If that helps. I didn't know where I was going. I just told Dad that I had to get out and he gave me a credit card. So I went to the airport and flew to New York. I don't know why I just didn't know where else to go."

"I don't mean about that. I understand the need to leave. I just... Why didn't you tell me that your mother went to Julliard?" I didn't answer right away. "Ana?"

I shut my eyes. "I didn't know that she went to Julliard. I walked on campus for a tour and someone said I needed to go and talk to the admissions officer because I didn't put an alumni status on my application. I didn't know... Even though my father must have told me a dozen times as a child."

"Ana?" I waited for him to continue. "Are you serious when you say that you really don't want to go to college?"

"I don't know anymore. I really don't. I want to go but I don't want you giving up anything. I don't want you to give up what you worked so hard for... Luke, I love you. I'll always love you. I'm never going to love anyone else the same way. And maybe everyone is right... For me it's only four years. And then we would be together again."

Luke laughed a little and I knew he was shaking his head. "No. I'm not going four years without you. We might see each other on breaks and over the summer but I don't think it will be enough. I don't care about going to MIT. If I'm a Dancer then I should be going to the art school."

"Then I'll go to MIT."

"What?"

"Money can get you anywhere. And then we wouldn't be apart. And you can still live your dreams. I can live mine without going to school at Julliard."

"No."

"I can do anything at MIT, I don't have to do the whole math thing. I could study American Literature or something history related."

"You haven't even applied," he murmured.

"I can apply with the late admissions and get my father to pull some strings. Let me do this Luke. I want to stay with you but I want you to be where you've always wanted to be. Please?"

And when he was silent I knew that he would do it and that he wanted to do it. "Luke?" And it was his turn to wait. "I still want a baby."

"Ana..."

"Not now... But in a few years... Maybe before we're out of college. I would want to actually talk about it first. And not just like me and you... But I would want to talk to your parents and my mother's parents. I would want to ask them what they thought about it and what happens. Obviously we aren't human and it would be different. I love you Luke. For forever and sixteen days."

### Scarlett

I sat in the visiting room while I waited for my mother. She visited at least three times a month but it took a while for the stupid security to get her through. I saw my bunk mate across the room, she was talking to her brother. She wouldn't tell anyone why she was even in the detention center and she was punished for it. Out therapy meetings were supposed to be for us to talk about what happened. Some people refused to say anything.

The doors rattled as metal scraped against concrete. I looked up and smiled, expecting my mother. When I saw who was walking in the door though, my face fell and I started to stand up. Anastasia sat down on the bench across from where I was standing. She adjusted her white skirt and tugged on the hem of her shirt. It was pink, obviously Luke had put together her outfit, he loved seeing her in pink. I turned to one of the doors and she murmured, "Sorry Scarlett, for the next hour you aren't allowed to leave this room."

I looked to all the exits, of course there was a guard at each but they didn't budge as I looked at them. "What the hell are you doing here? Does Luke know you're here?"

"Yes, Luke knows I'm here. I told him I was coming and I asked him to come but he wouldn't. He said that you weren't his sister and that I had no reason to see you."

"He's right. But not only is there no reason, you have no right to be here."

"Excuse me? I have no right? I have every right in the world to be here. Do you want me to remind you? Do I really need to remind you? For thirty nine days I was locked in a room with nothing. With no one. I had to sit by myself for thirty nine days. Do you have any idea how hard it is to live like that? You're lucky they didn't put you in solitary confinement."

I sat down and shut my eyes. "What do you want Anastasia? To yell at me? To tell me it's all my fault? To say you hate me?"

"No. I'm telling you I forgive you."

"What?"

"I forgive you." And she stood up. Silently, she walked out of the room and past the guard with her head held high. Forgive me? That wasn't anywhere near what I was expecting. Forgiveness? How could she ever forgive me for what I had done?

During my months of therapy I had been forced to realize that what I had done was wrong. I was forced to admit that I had issues. What exactly my problems were had yet to be deciphered. The therapist told me that forgiveness would be one of the hardest things I was ever going to gain from everyone. It seemed to me as if gaining forgiveness would be the easiest thing for me to do.

I wasn't allowed to leave the visiting room for an hour, I wasn't sure why. But fifteen minutes before my hour was up the doors opened and Luke walked in. He sat in the corner, as far away from me as possible and stared at his hands. I thought Anastasia had said he wouldn't show up... I walked to the bench across from him and sat down. I didn't know if I was supposed to say something or if he was going to say something. So I waited. "Lu—"

He automatically cut me off. "Do you have any idea what you did Scarlett?" I nodded. "No, I know that you get what you did to Ana. You ruined her, physically and mentally. While she would never admit it to me or to you or to anyone but her doctor she still has nightmares and sometimes gets the phantom pains and she remembers everything that happened. When I asked her what was the worst thing that had happened in the past year she said it was what you did to her. It had nothing to do with the fall or going blind, but what you did to her.

"But you already know all of that. I'm talking about what you did to me. And to her father. And her grandparents. I don't think you get that. I don't think you really get what you did to all of us. For weeks you knew where she was and you knew that I was worried. You knew that I was afraid and that all I wanted was to see her home and safe. But you told her that I wasn't all that worried to get her to follow you.

"She said she was coming to see you today and that I should come with her to talk to you and I told her that I wouldn't. She told me I had an hour after she left to come and talk to you. So I've been sitting outside for that past four hours deciding on whether or not you're worth talking to."

He started to stand up when I didn't say anything. "I'm sorry Luke. I don't know what else to say, but I'm sorry. I know that you were worried and afraid and that you love her. I know that I hurt you and her family. I know that what I did was wrong. I don't know why I hated her so much. I just didn't like the idea of your dreams being ruined. Okay? I don't know why I hated that she was close to you. I don't know why I didn't want you to love her. I don't know why I wouldn't listen to you. I don't know how to make up for what I did."

When I finished he shook his head and smiled. It wasn't a genuine smile. It was one of those smiles that people use when they know what they want to say but they won't say it. "There is no way for you to make up for what you did Scarlett. There is no way for you to give me back those two months I spent waiting for her to come home. You won't ever be able to make up for it."

He stood up and shook his head again. And then the smile. One where he knew something I didn't know. I looked at my hands and then at the hem of his blue shirt. "And just so that you can feel even worse, Ana and I talked it out. Next year we'll both be going to MIT. We still had a year to figure everything out Scarlett."

"I know... I just... I'm sorry. What can I do to make it better?"

"Absolutely nothing. I could never forgive you for what you did to me."

### Ana

Luke sat down at the computer in our small apartment. He stared at the blue wall and I walked up behind him. He shut his eyes and I rested my hands on his shoulders, massaging lightly. "Human anatomy is paying off," I whispered while he sighed and his muscles relaxed.

"Yes it is."

He reached forward and grabbed the keyboard, setting it on his knees while I rubbed at his neck and shoulder blades. "I thought you promised that this weekend we wouldn't do any schoolwork..." I muttered as he signed onto his e-mail account.

"I'm not. I promise. Lucy said she was sending me the website where we can confirm our boarding times and locations..." He trailed off as he clicked on the first new e-mail.

"What's wrong?" I asked, knowing that he hated when I read over his shoulder.

"Dear Mr. Surmise, I am Brandon Smith your parents attorney and they told me that you had testified against your sister at her trial two years ago. We are reviewing her case file and we need you to give a statement and possibly come to court within the next few weeks. If you could call me and schedule an appointment to meet... I thought I didn't have to testify again."

I kissed his hair. "I know you don't want to. Neither of us want to. But we have to."

"We?"

"I was called to meet with him last week. I can't get out of a deposition this time. I have to go. You don't have to if you don't want to. And her lawyer just wants to talk to you about testifying against me. You don't have to," I repeated and he set the keyboard back on the desk. He turned in the chair and pulled me to his lap.

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He pulled me closer and I leaned against him. "I love you," he whispered. "And I'll testify. But I won't meet with her or her lawyer."

"You'll have to meet with my lawyer. Well, my father's lawyer since he's the one who's pressing charges with my consent."

"It's only a few weeks, right?"

I nodded, even though I had no idea how long the trial would last. Scarlett could be officially tried as an adult and I had to make a deposition and officially testify against her. I didn't want to do that. I had forgiven her and that was it. I had gotten over it. I had been dismissed from therapy because my therapist thought I was finally mentally stable.

### Luke

All right. Anastasia you went into therapy for several months after the incident. Could you tell us about how that felt? About what you talked about?"

Ana shook her blonde hair from her face and shook her head. "I'm sorry but I can't tell you what we talked about. That was between me and my therapist."

"How did you feel after the incident?" the lawyer asked and I looked over at Scarlett. She was staring at her hands while her lawyer whispered to her about what was going to happen.

"Could you clarify?" Ana asked and the lawyer sighed.

"Were you afraid?"

"Yes. But who wouldn't be afraid after being kidnapped and locked in a bedroom with minimal food and water for a month?"

The lawyer nodded. "Could you tell us what happened? From the very beginning of the first day?" Ana started to shake her head. "Why not?"

"Because it was horrible, all right? You people ask me all of these questions. Did it hurt? Were you in pain? Were you sick? Was it scary? Yes, it hurt. Yes, I was in pain. So much pain you can't even begin to imagine. I got sick from not eating steadily and had to be in the hospital for a month afterward. I missed some school and part of my summer. And yes, it was scary. Being completely exiled from everything you've ever known and dying... Slowly dying... It's scary. So don't ask me to describe what happened, you already have my deposition and I'm not talking about it again."

"No further questions, your honor," the lawyer said and sat down in front of me. "You'll be next Luke. She did a good job with the almost tears and stuff," he said and smiled at me. I just sort of stared at him. "She wasn't really that upset, was she?" I nodded. "But we've talked about all of it before?"

"Just watch the stupid trial."

Scarlett's lawyer stood up and her black heels clicked as she walked across the floor. "Your files say that your father is the one who officially pressed charges, is that correct?"

"Of course," Ana responded.

"I'd like the jury to note that she isn't the one officially pressing charges..."

"Wait. You aren't even going to ask me why my father is listed as officially pressing charges? I don't see how it's fair to have them note it when they obviously don't know why."

The lawyer frowned. "All right then. Why is your father's name on the forms and not yours?"

"As I said before, I was in the hospital for a month after the 'incident'- as you like to call it. I was unstable for most of that month and unable to respond to even the most simple of therapeutic exercises, much less file papers against my captor. My father decided to file the charges the moment he got a chance."

I glanced at Scarlett again, she was watching Ana... "Scarlett said that when you visited two years ago you said that you forgave her. Could you explain that to us?"

"What do you mean... Explain? Do you want me to tell you that I forgave her or why I did it?"

"I just want you to tell us about forgiving her. It couldn't have been that horrible if you forgive her for doing that to you, right?"

"It was still horrible. If you haven't noticed no one else has forgiven her. I did because I saw what it was doing to everyone, the hate. Hating her didn't make what had happened disappear. Hating her didn't change the fact that I would still wake up with nightmares and start crying randomly because I wasn't mentally stable. Hating her did make life any easier for me. So I forgave her. Because then, I could move on. I visited her once, to tell her that. I did it because I knew her life was hard, being hated by everyone, so I told her that I had decided to forgive her and I've spent years now, trying to forget about what happened. I forgave her because it was easier than hating her."

I wondered if Ana still dreamt about what had happened to her. I knew she still thought about it sometimes... "No further questions..." the lawyer murmured and sat back down.

"If that is all then I call this trial to an end and we will resume tomorrow at one thirty sharp."

The gavel sounded throughout the room and Scarlett stood up. She followed her lawyer over to us and stood silently. The lawyers glared at each other for a moment. I took Ana's hand and we waited for the lawyer to dismiss us. "Luke," Scarlett said and took a step towards me.

"No." I turned away from her and Ana followed.

"Luke, I'm sorry..." she whispered but I didn't turn back. There was no way that I could ever forgive her for what she put me through. What she had done was horrible and I couldn't imagine just... forgiving her. Ana could do whatever she wanted, and I respected that she wanted to forgive Scarlett, but I wouldn't. I liked that Ana never seemed to try and force me to forgive her. She just sort of lived with what had happened and we tried to move on.

♪♪♪

We sat down with the lawyer and he smiled at us while opening his briefcase. "Now, I've already talked to your father about what has been decided on and he chose not to come to this meeting." Ana nodded and I gripped her hand. She looked up at me and smiled softly. "The jury has decided to allow Scarlett to leave the detention center and take on a ten year parole. At the end of her parole there is the chance it could be removed from her record but that's very unlikely. Your father was very upset when he heard this, and I want you to understand that these are very good terms."

"Of course," Ana said. "I think it's completely fair. I think that going through two years in a detention center was enough but I don't get to decide on those things. Thank you for meeting with us Mr. Jones." She stood up and they shook hands.

"Ms. Faith, could I speak with you for a second... Privately?" He looked pointedly at me and I just shook my head, walking out of the room. I couldn't hear any of their conversation and I hadn't done any of the freaky mind tricks since Ana had gone to New York without telling anyone.

I waited in the lobby for a few minutes until she came storming out of the office. I followed her to the elevator where she violently stabbed the button to the parking garage. "What did he want?" I asked and she just hit the button again. "That won't make it go any faster."

"I know. Okay? I'm mad. I'm allowed to be mad. You know sometimes you act like you're never mad or upset or over the moon about anything. It's so hypocritical."

"All right." I stepped into the open elevator and she walked in behind me. I stood in the corner, waiting for her to calm down and tell me. She would calm down, Ana could never be mad for more than five minutes. She never hated anything or held grudges... If she did there was no way I would still be around. Her heels clicked as we walked to the car, the footsteps sounded through the empty concrete structure. I could actually feel her calming down with every step.

I opened her door and when she got in she shut her eyes and I was blocked off from my beautiful, blue-eyed Passion. I got behind the wheel of the rental car and waited a few seconds before starting it up. "He asked me if I was interested in dating his nephew..." Ana grumbled.

"What?" Then I wasn't sure if I was pissed or not. So I just put the car in drive and made my way toward the exit of the ramp. I paid my toll and waited for Ana to continue.

"He asked if I was interested in dating his nephew. I told him no, that I had a steady boyfriend and he asked who. I just sort of looked at him and said, 'Well, Luke... We've been together nearly four years now.' Then he said, 'Oh, you two just never seemed like the couple type.' That you 'aren't that interested in me.' And how, if we are a couple, we should stop acting like siblings. So apparently not having sex means you can't be a couple."

I waited for her to calm down again. She had gotten aggravated just talking about it. "I hate it when people do that. Make their stupid assumptions and then think they know everything about people. That's not the first time someone has told me that we act more like siblings than like a couple. And it's also not the first time someone has asked me if I would consider dating their nephew, cousin, brother, son, grandson, best friend, and so forth."

A red light turned green and we started moving again. "What do you want to do about it Ana?"

"Nothing, I'm just complaining. I just don't like it when people don't realize we're a couple. It's not like we look alike in any way or really, really act like siblings. I don't know." She rested her head against the leather head rest and sighed.

The rest of the ride to the airport was quiet. The flight back to our dorm was filled with book pages turning and steady breathing.

"Are you going to talk to me Ana?" I asked as we walked into our apartment. She didn't answer, just went to the living room and dropped her purse on the couch. I reached out and grabbed her hand. "It doesn't matter what other people think, listen to me." I tipped her chin up so she was looking into my eyes. "We are a couple, in a few years we'll get married and..."

"I'm so tired of hearing 'in a few years.' I've been listening to you say, 'oh it's only a few years,' for three years now. Nothing has changed, if anything we act less like a couple than we did when we were seventeen."

Instead of responding I leaned down and closed my mouth over hers. She didn't move for a second, like she didn't know if she should push me away or hold me close. Luckily for me, she choose that latter and her hands tightened in my hair. That was when I realized... How long had it been since I had kissed her like that? Months maybe? I wasn't sure... Mostly it was just pecks on the cheek and mouth before school or bed.

I pulled her impossibly closer and she pulled back for a second. "Sleep with me Luke," she whispered and I shut my eyes, trying to come up with all the reasons for why we shouldn't do it. I had hundreds of reasons, but at that moments I could barely remember any of them. Why couldn't I remember them?

Instead of stopping though, I found myself asking her, "Are you sure?" She nodded and kissed me again. "I don't want to do something you aren't ready for..."

"This is something I've been waiting four years for, I'm completely sure."

"But... What if you regret it when you get pregnant? There's no way you won't get pregnant..."

"Then we have a baby. Luke, I'm one hundred percent positive."

I groaned and tried something else, "What if we got married first? This summer. It's only like, a month away. We could get married and then, we'll have a baby. Please Ana, this means a lot to me and you know that if we don't wait you'll regret it too." She sighed but dropped back down to her feet from her tiptoes. "I'm sorry Ana..."

"Luke, there's nothing to be sorry about. I get what you're saying and I know that it's true. I probably would wake up and regret everything that happened. I love you, no matter what. And Lucy would kill us if we didn't let her help plan the wedding."

"She'll want you to wear her dress..."

"I'm going to wear my mother's dress, and she'll respect that." Ana stepped away from me and into the bedroom. "Do you have class tomorrow?" I rolled my eyes and followed her, tugging off my tie and unbuttoning my shirt.

She turned around with a toothbrush in her mouth and the smell of bubble gum pouring from the bathroom. "I have one class at six in the morning and then I'm done for three days."

"So what are we going to do?" she asked with pink foam in her mouth. She looked like a rabid Barbie doll. She spit into the sink and pulled out a string of bubblegum flavored floss. When she turned back to look at me she looked like she expected me to have an answer.

"I think I'm going to go get a ring. Without you. So you have to find something to do."

Her eyes went wide. "You should call my father, or someone to go with you."

"We're across the country from everyone."

"Not your family. Oh, call Grandpa Jack."

"Why?"

She ran her tongue over her teeth and pulled her hair from its tight bun on the top of her head. "Because he'll be able to uh... keep you company."

"Why don't you go hang out with him then? I have no problem with going to jewelry stores all day, by myself."

"Or Charlie, I bet he would love to spend the day with you."

I sat on the edge of the bed and slid my shoes and socks off. "Are you afraid that I'll pick out a bad ring?" I asked and she shrugged. "Really? What about that necklace thing I got you last valentine's day?"

"It was a bracelet and I loved it, but Lucy helped you pick it out. The last time you bought me jewelry was freshman year, for my birthday, that ugly necklace thing."

"Yeah right, and I picked out that bracelet. Are you sure it's a bracelet...?" I could have sworn I got her a necklace for valentine's day...

"Would you like to compare?" She opened the drawers in the bathroom and came to me with two different boxes. "This is a necklace Charlie helped you pick out last year for Christmas. This is the necklace you got me freshman year for my birthday."

I looked down at the two different pieces of jewelry and laughed. One was gaudy and big and dark blue. The other was simple and classy, pink diamonds were strategically placed for a nice visual effect. "Okay, okay. I'll call Charlie in the morning." She smiled and went back to the bathroom. She put the boxes back and rinsed her mouth out with bubblegum mouth wash.

I changed my pants and pulled the blanket down on the bed. Ana went to the closet and changed, when she came back to the big green and purple covered bed she was wearing a bright orange t-shirt and pink sweatpants. She turned to face me and I kissed her. "You remind me of a six year old sometimes," I murmured.

"Why?"

"Bubblegum toothpaste, doesn't it have a princess on the front or something like that?"

"At least I brush my teeth. And it's Pooh Bear, he's very sophisticated."

"I brushed my teeth on the plane."

"Oh, okay. That's cool too."

I grinned as she shut her eyes and settled in to sleep.

The next day I was taken through twenty different jewelry stores, shown two hundred different engagement rings and bands. Charlie walked around with me and every time I mentioned getting home to Ana he reminded me that she was with Jack and I didn't need to hurry to pick a ring. "How does Mom feel about me picking out a ring?"

"She wishes that you would take hers but she understands that it's right to pick your own and she isn't ready to give up hers yet. So you're safe on the guilt trip. What about that one?" he gestured to a ring under the class case and I shook my head. "You know, you keep complaining that you want to get home but you have yet to pick a ring."

A woman came over to us and smiled widely. "Good afternoon gentlemen, is there any way I could assist you?"

I shook my head and Charlie rolled his eyes. "He's looking for an engagement ring. Have you got anything that looks classy, not simple but not ostentatious, she doesn't need a huge rock on her hand."

"What kind of ring did you have in mind Mr...?"

"Prelapsarian," I answered automatically, looking at the rows of rings in the display case. Charlie looked at me a little funny and I took a deep breath. "I want something with a little color, preferably blue. Just a classic, gem style cut. And I want it to be closer to simple than absurdly showy. She still gets a wedding ring."

Five stores later I was able to find the perfect ring. Simple and elegant, just like Ana. When we got back to the apartment I did the whole, kneeling down, 'Will you marry me?' bit and laughed when Lucy was the only one with tears in her eyes. The ring fit Ana perfectly and looked like it was made just for her. "I love you," I whispered when she hugged me.

"Well now we know the colors of your wedding," Lucy said, looking at the ring.

Ana was sitting on my lap, her arm was outstretched to Lucy and Kaitlyn. "Doll, I think it's time Kait and I went back home, alright?" Ana nodded and smiled at Jack. He was forcing Kaitlyn to leave, leaving me with some time to share with my mother and father.

They left and Ana was sleeping on my shoulder. "I love that you're getting married," Lucy said and I smiled.

"Thank you."

"Before you have a child," she added. "You know it probably wouldn't be hard for her to have a child, since it would be full Artist. I mean, the pregnancy itself would last a month maybe two, at most. And the child would age rapidly for the first few weeks of life, I think that there's a few Artists who can help control the aging, or maybe you'll be able to. I don't know, all I know is that since the baby will be full Artist they'll age fast and Ana will only be pregnant a few months at the most."

"So you mean that we could get married in June and she could have a baby by August?" Lucy nodded and I smiled. "That would make things a lot easier..."

"I figured I should explain that to you. And how do you feel about twins?" My jaw dropped. "Yeah... Her grandmother is a twin, so is your father... It's sort a hereditary thing. So maybe she could have twins. You just have to keep an open mind. And if anyone tells you it's a stillborn, don't believe it."

I nodded at her and took a deep breath. "Will the baby look like me or her?"

"It depends, most of the time it's male dominant. Like you. But sometimes it's from the mother, like Anastasia. It just sort of depends. The baby could have oddities about it..." I must have been making a pretty odd face because she laughed a little. "Not like an extra leg or anything, just some physical things, like hair color... It could have hair that's two colors. I knew a Musician once, her hair was black and red, it was never just one color, and whenever she cut it the ends would change back to red." I let out a sigh of relief.

"It could be a he or a she, a blonde or a brunette, blue-eyes or brown-eyes. It's just random, she might know, if she remembers her dreams about it. All Artists dream about their children before they are born but few of us actually remember what we dreamt about. You two will be just fine."

She reached out and squeezed my hand. "And we're always here for you Luke, whether you think we are or not. We're always here for you."

"I know Mom," I said and her smile was like the light of the sun. I didn't get why she was so touched by me calling her mom, I had called her that plenty of times before.

### Ana

I spent hours with my grandmother and soon to be mother-in-law. They planned most of the wedding, besides the colors and the dress. My mother's dress was gorgeous and fit me perfectly. Luke was getting excited about the wedding and whenever I tried to talk about it with him he wasn't completely opposed to children. I wondered if anyone had talked to him...

My classes went by slowly and all I wanted to do was go home, see Luke and get closer to summer...

"I love you," I whispered and he smiled.

"I will never be able to chew bubblegum again without thinking about you." He kissed my forehead and I slipped into a deep sleep moments later...

### Luke

I sat in the apartment and flipped through the twenty different local TV channels we had. Sesame Street was about the only interesting thing on. Ana wasn't due home for about two hours and I didn't have any plans until she got home. We were watching movies and ordering pizza.

The phone rang and I almost ran to it, a phone call was a diversion to my incessant boredom. "Hello?" I answered quickly.

"Luke? Is that you?" a female voice asked.

"This is he. Who am I speaking to?"

"Your mother!"

I tilted my head to the side and thought. "But... This isn't my mother... Lucy?"

"No. Your mother. That bitch can say whatever the hell she wants to say. She's not your mother though. I am your mother. I raised you. But whatever, that's not the conversation I was trying to have. I was mad at you for something else. Why did you tell me you were getting married?"

"Because you aren't my mom."

"Of course I'm your mom, I deserve to know when my only son is getting married."

I shook my head. "No... You don't. Diana, Adriana, they know. And Scarlett because Ana sent her an invitation. They deserve to know. That's it. So go away, don't call me again."

I hung up the phone and took a deep breath. That was such a distraction from my boredom. I wondered idly if I would need a restraining order against the woman who raised me. I shut my eyes and ended up falling asleep on the couch. I didn't wake up again until the doorbell was ringing hours later. Ana was walking to answer the door and she paid the delivery man.

The smell of pizza invaded my senses and I sat up. "Good evening," Ana said and smiled at me.

She grabbed two plates from the cupboards in the kitchen. I could see through the hole in the wall. When she came back I was rubbing at my eyes and yawning. "I fell asleep..."

"Yes you did."

"I'm sorry..."

"It's okay," she said and smiled at me. "So what did you do today?" she asked, setting the pizza in front of me. I took a bite of the pizza and shut my eyes, I was so tired.

"My mom called," I said and she nodded. "No, not Lucy. Jennifer. Yeah... She called a little while ago and yelled at me for not telling her about the wedding. I thought you said you sent her an invitation."

"No, I asked you if you wanted to send an invitation and your response was, 'Sheflemengisma,' something or other." I laughed as she made indescribable words. "So I took that as a no." And then I laughed again. "It was your response. And I also figured that you wouldn't want her to even show up. So she's not coming, Diana and Adriana are coming, Scarlett has yet to respond."

She shrugged and turned on the TV. "Thank you," I murmured and she looked at me with a confused expression, "For dealing with my insane family. For putting up with me. Thank you, for loving me." I kissed her and she smiled. "Soon we'll be married."

"And have a baby."

"And then graduate."

"And move back west."

"And grow up happily ever after."

I smiled and she laughed. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and we sat on the couch, eating pizza, watching movies. The phone rang and when Ana answered it she hung up. "I supposed that was the appropriate response to, 'Why didn't I get an invitation bitch?'" Ana shrugged and sat back down. After three more calls that all started with insults we disconnected the phone... Anyone who was important would call our cell phones first.

♪♪♪

The wedding came so much sooner than I thought it would. It wasn't like I had to do anything, Lucy and Kait pretty much took care of all that. When the eve of the wedding came up I was so confused. Charlie's idea of a bachelor party was to take me to meet his friend with a baby. I liked it, the baby wasn't really a baby, she looked like she was a year old. They told me she was really only a week or so old.

Lucy and Kait took Ana for a bachelorette party but they were probably just sitting around, talking and watching movies or something. I knew Ana wouldn't do anything too crazy. The day of the wedding was sort of insane. I just sat in my dressing room pretty much the whole time and watched everyone else run around like chickens with their heads cut off.

Charlie stayed in the dressing room with me the entire time. My other groomsmen walked back and forth between dressing rooms and the chapel. "Hey, how are you feeling?" Lucy asked me, peeking her head in the door. Her dress was long and light blue, she wasn't a part of the actual ceremony, even though Ana had begged her to.

"Nervous, sort of. I don't know. We've been waiting four years to get married and have a child. I'm just nervous that she isn't really ready..."

"Of course she's ready. She's been ready for years Luke, so have you. You're both going to be a wonderful married couple and amazing parents. You will love that child like nothing else in the world. Nothing is going to go wrong Luke." She smiled at me and squeezed my hand. "We all love you... But now you have to get out to the altar," she whispered and I felt my whole body tense up.

"What?"

"Yup, now." She tugged on my hand and Charlie stood behind me, pushing me forward.

"But, what if she doesn't love me?"

"Of course she loves you." She pulled me out the door and tugged me to the altar.

I was so close to running. I made lists and lists in my mind of why I was justifiable to run... And then Ana walked in the room and I stopped making lists. I was frozen again, but this was the good kind of frozen. The moment where everything in the world seems right and together and I got to feel it. There was a long moment of awed silence as she walked down the aisle.

My whole world fit... It all felt amazing. And we hadn't even slept together yet...

People told me the ceremony was beautiful, but they were talking about the flowers and the clothing and the décor, when I said I knew it was beautiful I was only talking about Ana. After the ceremony the reception was... interesting to say the least.

Mark was my best man, he didn't go to MIT but to Harvard on a full hockey scholarship. I knew that his toast would most likely be embarrassing but I knew he had spent weeks writing it. When the glasses started ringing Ana laughed and leaned over to kiss me. Then Mark was standing up with a microphone in his hand. The room was huge, it had to be to fit the three hundred people we had at the reception. Most of the tables were round and there was one long strip for the family of the bride and groom. People I had never even met showed up to see us together.

Mark coughed and the microphone screeched. "Oh wow... Okay, cool." He looked at the microphone and cleared his throat. "I'm Mark, for everyone I haven't met, which is almost everyone. I do know Luke and Anastasia. I think I dated Anastasia once when we were freshmen in high school. She was always obsessed with dancing and after middle school he had his sights set on MIT.

"Luke and I have been close since before I can remember. Now, I remember a night that must have been six years ago, at least. My girlfriend at the time was spending almost every second with me, we weren't really a concrete couple but it didn't matter. Luke was dedicated to hockey and all things math related. One night we were playing some Call of Duty and I told him that he would get why I spent so much time with a girl when he met the one for him.

"He just laughed at me and then said that no girl would ever be important enough to give up his life for. And then he met Anastasia. He told me that all girls sucked. So I would just like Anastasia to know that Luke hates all girls." He grinned. "I love you both. Keep him in line," he nodded at Ana and she smiled, "To a happily ever after."

The crowd clapped and everyone was smiling. I heard the doors open and when I glanced over it was Scarlett. She walked silently to the empty seat on the far end of the table on Ana's side and sat down. No one said anything, which was probably for the best. There were only a few toasts until the dancing started.

I held Ana close as we danced among the other dozen or so couples. "I love you," I whispered and she held me tighter.

"I love you too... Sometimes there are moments when I want time to just stop, you know? Where I want everything to just stay exactly like it is... And then I remember that there are always good times ahead and that I'm able to make it through anything. I don't know what I would be able to do without you." I closed my eyes... she was right, it was perfect moment.

"Can I cut in?" I heard Jack ask. Ana pulled away from me and Jack took her hand. "Happy wedding day Doll," he said and whisked her away.

I turned around and ran into Adriana. She smiled and I took her hand. "So, are you happy?" she asked as we swayed back and forth, she was never to into dancing. I nodded and she laughed. "I can see it, whenever you look at her. We're all happy for you Luke... Well maybe not mom, but she can just get over it. You're still my baby brother."

"Maybe, but I'm taller than you," I said and she just rolled her eyes.

"You've been taller than me since you were thirteen."

The night went on and I rarely saw Scarlett. She didn't come up to me and it took me two hours to walk over to where she was sitting and take a seat. "I would have thought that you two would have left by now," she murmured, balancing a fork on the table.

"We haven't been ready to leave quite yet. Scarlett... Can I ask you something?"

She sat up and nodded, looking at me for the first time. "You can ask me anything Luke. Anything at all..."

"Why are you here?"

"Because I was invited... And I wanted to see you get married. I'm still sorry for what happened. And I know that you don't want me here but please don't hate me any more than you already do... Please."

"I don't hate you. I can't forgive you, I don't know if I could ever forgive you but I don't hate you." I stood up for the table and turned around. "Have a good night Scarlett."

"It just got a whole lot better," she whispered and I walked away with my hands in my pockets.

### Kaitlyn

You don't need a pregnancy test to tell you what you already know," I told Anastasia as she walked down the aisle of the store which featured hundreds of pregnancy tests. She looked like she was dying... sort of. Her face was pale and she looked thinner than she had in a long time, her hand was on her stomach and I knew she felt like crap.

She shook her head and wiped at the tears in her eyes. "Why can't I stop crying?"

"It's not anything honey, just your hormones overloading. It's going to be okay. Do you want to take a test?" She shook her head and sighed. I laid my hands on her shoulders and looked into her stunning blue eyes. She looked horrible in her hot pink sweat pants and lime green tank top with a messy bun on the top of her head.

"I don't know... I mean, there's nothing else it could be. I don't know. I just kind of want to go home and throw up. I don't know... Why can't I make up my mind?" she cried and I hugged her close.

"You're going to be just fine. Do you want to take the test to see that you really are pregnant?" That time she nodded and I rubbed her arm. "Everything is going to be just fine Anastasia. We're all here to help you and make sure you don't go through this alone."

"I know... I know... I think, I just want to go home and sleep and sit with Luke. Thank you for bringing me here." I nodded and we walked out of the store.

She fell asleep in the car on the way to her apartment. They were in the process of moving everything to a house, it was farther away than the off-campus housing but close enough that they could both still take classes whenever they needed to. When I pulled up Luke was carrying a box out to his car, I made sure the door shut softly behind me when I got out and went over to talk to him.

"I got home and everyone was gone..." he said, setting the box next to four other boxes on the back seat. I knew the trunk was already full.

"Jack had to go home and talk to Valarie, and Anastasia wanted a pregnancy test."

"But... Did she get it?"

"No, she started crying and we left." I could see the instant concern on his face. "Nothing bad, I promise. She's going to be this way, for the next few months, and you knew that. She's going to be just fine Luke." I smiled and he nodded.

"Is she asleep?" he asked when the door opened and Anastasia stumbled for a second before walking up to the apartment building. "Ana!" She turned around for a second and sort of made an attempt to wave at Luke. Then she went in the building.

"Just keep an eye on her. Call if you need anything," I said and left them to be together.

### Luke

When I was done dragging boxes from the front common room to the car I went upstairs to see if Ana had woken up. What I found was Ana sitting in front of the door, almost in tears. It hadn't occurred to me that she didn't have a key with her. She looked up at me and I helped her up. "I don't like being pregnant," she mumbled as we walked into the apartment.

"Imagine having to last nine months," I whispered as she went to the kitchen. She started opening cupboards. Her eyes went wide. "You think it's bad now... You're only two weeks in." She made a face at me and continued opening the pantry and fridge. Finally she stopped and took ice cream from the freezer.

She grabbed a spoon and went back to the bedroom. I followed and sat beside her on the bed... or mattress really, it was just a mattress with a box spring. She took a bite of the ice cream and I took the spoon from her. "So, what do you think it's going to be?" I asked with ice cream in my mouth and then handed the spoon back.

"A boy... I don't know if I want to know what it's going to be. I might want to be surprised. My mother didn't know if I was a boy or girl until three hours after I was born..."

"I think it could go either way with the gender and maybe we'll want to find out. That day is a few weeks away."

I rested my arm around her shoulders and she leaned against me. Within minutes she was fast asleep. I was careful to set the ice cream aside and move slowly. I leaned over slightly and flipped the light off, Ana murmured in her sleep and turned so I was her pillow. "I love you," I whispered and smiled, how many times had I whispered it to her before the whole thing with her grandparents? Before we even knew what Dancers were... "I love you more than all the stars in the sky... And I'll love you for forever and sixteen days."

### Ana

Waking up every morning was hard and I didn't want to do it. My stomach got bigger and bigger while my energy got lower and lower. Jack said I was just one of the few people who reacted badly to pregnancy. Luke tried to get me up and moving every day... Most days I just threw stuff at him until he went away.

"This is so stupid," he mumbled while putting together my meal. "She's so stupid... Thinks she can just tell me what to do and I'll do it. She's so stupid."

"What babe?" I asked, sitting on the table and eating a twizzler.

"My mother called again."

I nodded and grimaced as I swallowed a piece of twizzler. "Just ignore her, she doesn't have any control. I love you, so much, more than anything in this entire world."

He looked up at me and raised his eyebrows. "Please don't tell me that you want me to make you something else..." I shook my head and looked at the twizzlers. "Then what?"

"You got me twizzlers..."

"Yeah... that's what you asked for."

"But red vines are better," I whined and he rolled his eyes. "What's your favorite vine that's not green? Red vines!"

Then he handed me a plate. "They're disgusting and you go on the computer way too much."

He hugged me around my baby filled stomach and kissed my forehead. "I love you so much," I whispered and he smiled.

"I love you too." Over the course of my pregnancy our love grew and then expanded to include our child. We moved from out smaller apartment to a full four bedroom, four and a half bathroom house. I got bigger and bigger until the time to give birth came...

### Luke

We sat in Kaitlyn's house, in one of her guest rooms, watching our baby sleep in Ana's arms. "Isn't he gorgeous?" she whispered and I nodded, touching his tiny fingers, then his tiny little feet.

"And so little..." I murmured. He was so small. His mouth opened and he yawned while opening his endless blue eyes. They were bright and reminded me both of Ana and of a husky, one of the snow dogs. I ran my fingers down his arm and his eyes closed again. "What are we going to name him?"

"I don't know... I had a million names but seeing him in my arms and I can't think of anything. It's like there's no name to fit him..."

I smiled and nodded. "I know what you mean. His eyes are so open, like you could just fall into them and it would be like falling into infinity."

"That's it," she whispered, touching the baby's tiny nose. "Infinity."

"Infinity..." I breathed. "It's perfect. Do you think he'll like the house?" She nodded and cradled the baby closer to her warm body. And then she fell asleep herself. "You're both perfect... You'll always be the center of my universe though Ana."

I told you she was different, the voice drifted into my head. You're wonderful for her Luke and she's good for you. Take your baby home, stay away from Valarie and love her forever.

What about Valarie?

I can't tell you. I'm just telling you to stay away from her. We don't need a repeat of what Scarlett did. Just keep a close eye on her. I'm watching over you both, now get some sleep with your wife Luke.

My mind felt empty and I sighed, falling asleep with my forever love and my son.

When I woke up I was alone in the bed... But when I looked up I saw Ana in a rocking chair, holding our son. She smiled at me and leaned over to turn on the light. "Oh yeah, look at who woke up," she murmured to the baby, holding him up to face me. "Yeah, that's your daddy."

I smiled and sat up. "Kait said that it'll be all right if we want to go home today."

"That'll be cool. How about we all go downstairs and get some breakfast?" It would give me a chance to talk to Jack about Valarie. Valarie was the odd sister, she always remained distant, sort of away from the rest of the family, especially Ana and I.

Downstairs Kait was making waffles and cutting up a huge assortment of fruit. She smiled when we walked into the kitchen. "I was wondering when you would get up," she said and laughed at Infinity when Ana set him into the baby carrier on the counter. "Jack is out in the garage, would you go tell him that breakfast is done Luke?" She looked up at me and I nodded, she must have known that I needed to talk to someone.

There was a garage behind the house on the acres of land the family owned. Jack was working on finishing some new mirrors for the empty space. The family had no need for cars so their garage was like a studio, simple yet useful. "Luke, is Kait done cooking?"

"Yeah... Can I ask you something though, before we go back into the house?"

"About Valarie?"

"Well yeah... sort of... How did you know?"

He shrugged and wiped down the mirror. "I'm a Seer. I see things before they happen. Not all things and I can't usually control it. But I figured you would ask eventually. So what do you want to know?"

"Why does she not like Ana?"

"It's not a long story, it's actually a very simple story really. She was the youngest daughter even though they're twins, she and Kait, and it took her until she was thirty to find her Passion. By that time most Dancers already have a few kids so she decided not to have children. She doesn't like Ana in particular because she sees how happy everyone is around you two and how happy everyone was around your mother and she wishes she could have that.

"I would warn you to be careful around her. She's always had a very short temper and she isn't one to just go mess with, trust me, I've learned from experience. Just watch out, make sure she isn't the only one with you if she comes over. All Artists are very jealous and protective of everything they think they're entitled to and Valarie isn't a pure of soul Artist, she can lie and cheat and not feel anything about it. Not many true Artists can do it."

I nodded and he smiled, "Now let's go eat something."

### Ana

When school started back up again my days were completely packed, I had dropped two of my optional classes and I was nowhere near devastated. Kait was right and Infinity had grown abnormally fast. He was only a month old and he would be starting kindergarten within the week. Of course, getting him enrolled was easier than I thought it would have been.

"Are you ready for school?" I asked Infinity one morning while helping him dress. "You know some mothers say that they watch their kids grow up so quickly... well, I've literally watched you grow up so fast."

"Mommy," he mumbled and held out his blue and black shirt. I helped him pull it over his head, even though we both knew he could do it all by himself. "Is school scary?" he asked when I took the comb from the top of his dresser and began combing through his long black hair.

"You know how you thought that the teleporting thing would be scary?" He nodded, hell, I still thought it was freaky. "It's sort of like that, it feels a little funny the first few times you do it and then as you go more and more often it feels normal... Honey, you know that at school you can't tell anyone that you aren't really six years old... right?"

He nodded and sat to pull his tennis shoes on. "Daddy told me," he said. I nodded, of course Luke told him before I could. Luke was so proud of Infinity, no matter what the child did and he adored spending time with him. "Mommy, I have a question..."

I sat down in his high backed grey chair and pulled him onto my lap. Fish meowed from the floor, crawling out from under the bed. "What do you want to know?" I asked while Fish jumped up on Infinity's bed and laid down.

"Who's Scarlett?"

"Your father's sister."

"But Charlie said daddy doesn't have any sisters... Mommy?" I looked in to his endless blue eyes. "Do you always tell the truth?"

I shook my head and smiled. "Not all the time, no."

"Does daddy always tell the truth?"

"No... Sometimes there are times when we have to lie."

"Like when I tell you I need help getting dressed?" I laughed and nodded. "It makes you happy though, doesn't it?" I nodded again. "So then all lies aren't bad?"

"No, not all lies are bad. Some lies are very bad though, like if I told your daddy that I didn't love him. Or if I told you that you weren't completely gorgeous. Some day you'll understand about Scarlett and everyone your father ignores." I ran my hand over his hair and hugged him.

### Infinity

I threw my arm over my eyes and rolled over in bed. "Infinity," I heard my father call, he yelled again and then I heard two sets of feet on the stairs.

"Infinity, Infinity," two voices chorused at my door. "Daddy says you have to come downstairs for breakfast," Perpetual said in her sing-song voice.

I couldn't throw anything at them, like I could my younger brother so I had to settle for ignoring them. "Infinity," Eternity said and walked over to me. I yanked the blanket over my head and held it there. "Please, daddy said."

Then they started jumping on the bed. I knew exactly how they would look with their blonde hair flying up in their faces. "All right, all right," I sat up and grabbed them both by the waist. I laid back down and pulled their giggling bodies to my sides. "Much better, now let's all go back to sleep." They squirmed and giggled until they got tired and then they threw their arms around my neck. "Let me get ready and I'll go downstairs."

I let them go and they both jumped off my bed and ran out of the room, calling for our father. I was tired but I knew they would come up and attack me again so I went to get dressed. My bathroom looked like I had walked into a portal of space, it had been that way since before I could remember. The toothpaste, floss and mouthwash were all cinnamon flavored but that hadn't been there for long. I was obsessed with blue bubble gum flavored stuff for a long time before that.

Downstairs my entire family, minus my mother, was in the kitchen. I took a deep breath and stepped into the chaos. "Good morning Infinity," my younger brother, Everlasting, said from the table where he was setting out plates and silverware.

"Where's mom?" I asked, looking at my father. Everyone in the house knew she had been going through something, even though she wouldn't tell anyone what it was.

"I think she's still asleep," he said and I nodded. I turned from the kitchen and went upstairs to find my mother. "Don't wake her up if she is!" he called and I rolled my eyes. So it was okay for the twins to wake me up but not okay for me to wake up my mother? Double standard much?

I opened the door to their room and saw my mother sitting at her desk, reading what looked like a journal. "Mom?" I whispered and she turned to look at me. I saw myself reflected back in her own endless blue eyes. "Do you want to come downstairs and eat breakfast with us?"

"We're eating breakfast?" I nodded. "No one came to tell me... I would love to go and help but I suppose your father had already done all of that... And then I would set the table but your brother has already done that... Do you know why their all acting like I'm incompetent?"

So nothing was wrong with her? What was wrong with my father then...? "A week or two ago dad said you were going through a phase and that we should just leave you alone and let you get over it. We didn't know anything different... Are you okay mom?" She nodded and ran her hands through her long blonde hair. My sisters looked exactly like her and my brother looked exactly like my father, I liked being a mix of them both.

"Of course I'm all right. I did find out that..." She groaned. "Your father's an idiot. He doesn't like reading my mind because he thinks it's an invasion of privacy. I found out two weeks ago that I'm going to be pregnant again. Your grandfather told me. So I was waiting for when I would actually be pregnant. I found out yesterday. Don't tell your father," she warned and I didn't respond.

"Do you want to be pregnant?"

"Of course I do, but I already have four absolutely perfect children. But then again, you'll be going to college in a couple of years and Everlasting will be following soon after. Another baby would be nice... if we had a bigger house. But to get a bigger house we would have to move and I don't want to move you kids away from your schools when we could just as easily stay here."

"I think that we'll all understand if that's what you want to do mom. It's not like we can just make another room appear. My room is too small to be sharing with an eight year old. Eternity and Perpetual wouldn't share a room again if you begged them too and Everlasting lives in the attic as it is."

"Your father lived in the attic when he was younger. And I know all of those things, but I also know that you guys won't like changing school in the middle of the year."

I laughed. "If it means we get to keep our rooms I don't think any of us care. The girls won't mind, they make friends everywhere. I don't care, I don't have friends anyway and hockey won't start for another three or four weeks. Everlasting might be annoyed but if you put him in a science school I bet he wouldn't argue."

She nodded. "I know... Maybe we will move. But I don't know. I'd have to find another studio to teach at and the girls would need a new place for lessons..."

"You could build a studio in the new house, that way you or dad or me, even, could work with them."

"It would be wonderful..." she sighed and we both heard the phone ringing downstairs.

"See, it would be good for us, for all of us. Maybe a change is what we need."

Suddenly everything downstairs was dead silent... "Ana!" my father called and she looked at me with a sudden sense of terror in her eyes...

♪♪♪

There was silence throughout the entire chapel. My mother barely moved throughout the entire service. People walked up to her and expressed their sympathy, just like they had at the visitation the night before. "Mom?" I asked and took her hand at the grave side. My father had her other hand, we both just wanted her to say something.

When everyone started walking away she turned from both of us and walked further into the cemetery. Instead of leaving her alone we followed and stood, waiting. "He left me everything," she whispered. "Everything."

"Okay..." dad said and rolled his eyes. "Ana, you helped him write his will. You knew that he was leaving you everything."

"No. I mean everything. The houses, the yachts, the private jet, the cars and the business. His entire business. And I have to run it... Everyone wants me to do stuff. Everyone is calling and telling me that I have to go to these meetings and show up to conferences. I didn't go to school to be an insurance provider." My father went and wrapped her arms around her.

He just held her, not saying a word. "I can't do it Luke. I don't want to do it." He kissed her hair and I turned to find the three kids who were no doubt playing tag or something in the cemetery.

I opened my mind to my siblings and found them playing hide and seek. Once I found all of them I heard my father in my mind, Take the car, bring them to the house. We'll be there soon.

"Perpetual!" I called and she ran over to me, her long blonde hair coming loose from its twist on the top of her head. "Come on, go get in the car, we're going to be leaving in a few minutes." She nodded and Eternity ran behind her to the car. Everlasting came to my side, he was fourteen, two years younger than myself.

"What's wrong with mom?"

"She's pregnant again."

"But... Luke you'll be gone to college in two years."

I nodded and we started walking to the car. I knew that my black pants were probably getting grass stained. "I know. And that doesn't matter. You'll all be just fine."

"But you've always been here..."

"I know..."

"Always. What's going to happen when you leave?"

There was a moment of silence. "Nothing. You three will be just fine. There will be a new child to take care of. They won't be a baby for long but they'll still be there. And I don't even know where I'm going to school. We're going to be okay."

In the car everyone was quiet.

### Luke

We sat the kids down at the table and told them we were having a family meeting. They all took their usual seat and waited until Ana got to the table. She sat across from me and everyone waited. "All right, we're going to have a vote. Soon there will be five or maybe six of you and we need to make a decision, as a family." The girls nodded and Infinity turned a page in his book.

"There are a few options and everyone gets a choice. We can stay in this house, right here on the east coast, but that means Perpetual and Eternity have to share a room again. Or the boys share a room and the girls take the smallest rooms."

"Daddy!" Perpetual whined.

Ana took a deep breath... "Or we could move to a bigger house near the mountains in North Carolina," she said. "You would all move schools and your father would have to find a new job. I could open a home studio and teach from the house."

"I don't want to live next to mountains," Everlasting said, he was always our practical little genius. "It's not safe."

"Okay," I said and Infinity took a pad of sticky notes from his pocket, he stuck one in the book and I continued. "There is a third option. Your grandfather left us his house in California. It's where your mother and I grew up. We could move there, you would all have to move schools and make new friends but there would be no job searching and we would have a full studio in the house."

Ana suddenly jumped in, "No one say anything. I want you all to write your vote on a piece of paper. All right? If it comes out as a tie then we'll ask Jack where we would be happier. Infinity? Could you give everyone a sticky note?"

He nodded and handed out the little blue pieces of paper. Everyone took their turn writing with his pen and passed the papers to me. "All right, do you want to know now or tomorrow?"

"Now," Perpetual whispered.

I opened the papers one by one. "California, west coast, California, dibs on mom's old room," I said and Ana smiled. "So we're going to California. And the only thing I have to say is that your mother and I already have dibs on her old room, so you'll have a whole house to fight over."

"I suppose we should start packing," Ana said and suddenly smiled, she was going home.

### Infinity

I stood in front of the mirror in my bathroom and took a deep breath. It was my first day at the high school where my parents had gone. There was no doubt in my mind that it was going to be hard, not the work, just the school transfer. I would still be able to go out for the hockey team though and I got all the classes I wanted to go to.

"Infinity!" I heard my mom yell, why was she awake? I didn't even have to go to school for twenty minutes. I went downstairs and back into the kitchen. She was waiting for me with a bowl of cereal in her hands. "I figured we could have breakfast before your first day at the new school."

"All right." She held out the bowl and I took it to the table. I started eating the cocoa pebbles while my mom sat across from me with a bowl of apple slices.

"I love apples. I love apples for breakfast and lunch and dinner and every time in between. Oh how I dislike being pregnant." She didn't usually like apples. Every time she got pregnant she was usually sick.

I lifted my spoon out of my bowl and saw something shine. I spilled the milk out and saw a key. "Mom?" I asked and held it up for her to see. "What's this for?"

She smiled... "All right, that's just one of seven keys that you can choose from." She stood up and took my hand, pulling me down the hall and out of the house. I didn't have shoes on and it was getting cold. Then she pulled me around to the garage. In the garage were a dozen or so cars. A dozen expensive, European cars. "The seven on the left are free, and one of them is yours."

"What?"

"My dad left me his entire collection of cars, I swear, I didn't pay for any of them. Now, your father already took the Harley and the blue Lamborghini. I took the silver Mercedes and the white convertible Porsche. We decided that you need a car too, and these will just sit in the garage. I'm giving two of them to a charity to auction off because after this baby, I am done."

I looked at the row of cars and took a deep breath. I liked fast cars. There were so many to choose from and I had no idea how I was going to make the decision. "Which is the fastest?"

"Probably the Ferrari. It's a Spyder, I think it tops out at two hundred and some odd miles. It's that one." She pointed to a red car. "Do you think that's the one you want?" I nodded and smiled.

♪♪♪

The school was huge. I went over to the office and waited for my schedule. I saw a flier for the hockey try-outs and grabbed one. All that it required was a physical. "Prelapsarian?" the principal muttered and nodded. "You're Luke and Anastasia's son, correct?" I nodded. "They were two of our best students. I saw you took the hockey flier."

"Yes sir. I suppose I take after my father in that way."

"I hope so. Our hockey team hasn't been the same since he and his friend graduated. So, we usually have another student to lead you through your schedule..."

"That's fine, really."

He ran a hand over his bald head and looked over my records. "You've got good grades, taking forward English classes?"

"Yeah, and one science class. I know that next year I won't be able to take the class I had scheduled but that gives me another elective to put in place and I was hoping to actually take a second English class."

"So you plan on being a lit major?"

"It's actually sports major and then a literature minor."

I hated how most educated people treated me like I was stupid because I played hockey. We went through my schedule, parking passes, text books and then he sent me to my first class. Walking in was the hardest part. It was my math course, which was technically my worst class.

The teacher greeted me with a smile. "All right, class, this is Infinity? Infinity?" I nodded. "Infinity Prelapsarian. Some of your parents might remember his parents. It's good to have you," she said and gestured to the one open seat in the back of the room.

When the class ended shortly after I arrived everyone poured into the hallways. I had weight training after, with the hockey coach, the faster I could make an impression the better, even if it wasn't a good one. The class started with general stretches and then we were told to partner up and do spot checks with our most comfortable machine.

I went straight for the coach, I had already counted and knew there was an uneven number of guys in the class. "Coach Harper? There's an uneven number..."

"Then go and join a... You're Luke's boy? Right?"

"Yeah."

"My father coached here when your father when to school here. He was always boasting about the Surmise kid. At the end of senior year however he was the Prelapsarian kid. Hockey, right?" I nodded. "You're going to try out aren't you?"

"I'm planning on it."

He looked at his clip board. "Good. Well join up with Jason and Elliot, they're both trying out too." I nodded and he pointed across the room to the pull up bars. One guy was doing pull ups and the other was counting.

The first guy dropped from the bar and swung his arms to loosen the muscles again. "Twenty seven," one of them said and laughed.

"Damn I'm out of shape."

I decided to cut in, "If you held your head higher it would reduce the stress on your shoulders and you'd be able to raise yourself faster, get more reps in." They both turned around to face me. "Infinity," I said and we all shook hands.

"Elliot," the pull-up guy said. He had almost blonde hair and he sort of reminded me of my grandmother.

"Jason." The other guy had died black and green hair.

We spent the class talking about hockey and doing pull-ups, sit-ups and push-ups. My first few days were slow, it took a while to pick up the rhythm. And then I had it. I hated that girls thought I was a player. No girl was interesting enough for me to talk to more than once. And some girls would never give up.

"Infinity! Would you be my partner for that biology assignment?" the blonde cheerleader giggled and twisted her hair between her fingers. "Mrs. Gardner said that we needed to work with a partner."

"Actually..." I looked around the room for a quick getaway. "I'm working with Megan." I pointed to the brunette across the room and she turned around with a puzzled look on her face. "Yeah, sorry Courtney. But I can't work with you."

Megan walked over and sat in the desk beside me. "You're really working with a partner? Ugh, you're such a bitch Megan." Courtney walked away to her other cheerleading friends.

"Thanks, that just saved my ass."

"No problem," she murmured and took a deep breath. "You do realize this means we have to do the project together? She may seem stupid but she'll realize if we don't present together."

I sighed and then nodded. "That's cool. I don't mind. Unless you already had a partner, I probably should have thought about it first." I opened my notebook and took a deep breath. "Sorry, you don't have to actually work with me."

"I don't have a partner. I never work with partners. So if you want to work together, I wouldn't be completely opposed."

"So it's agreed, we're working together."

The project wasn't due for three weeks, but we had tons to get done and I knew it. "So, we could go to the library tomorrow if you want," I suggested.

"That would be fine."

And then I remembered that I had agreed to watch my siblings all weekend while my parents went to see my grandparents in England. "Actually, I have to stay home pretty much all weekend... Um, would you mind if we met up at my house? It's probably ten minutes away from the school."

"That's cool too."

The class started and I had plans for working on a school project. Megan was sort of a loner, Elliot told me that I was like her, in the classes anyways. She sat in the back of every class and got really good grades.

On Saturday I was busy pulling Perpetual's hair up while Everlasting helped get Eternity's hair fench braided with ribbons. I heard a knock on the door. My hands were buried in Perpetual's long hair. And looking over Everlasting looked very determined while dealing with Eternity's blonde hair. "Why did we get stuck with the younger sisters?" Everlasting grumbled as the doorbell rang again.

"All right Perpetual, let's go. Take small steps to the front stairs." With my hands in her hair we went to the stairs. "It's open!" I yelled and the big door opened. "Hey Megan," I said and when I went to wave my fingers pulled on Perpetual's hair and she whimpered. "I'm sorry darling, I'm sorry."

"I wish I had my camera," Megan said and smiled.

"Come on up while I finish this and then we can get to work." She climbed the stairs and we made our way back to the master bathroom. Everlasting was wrestling with the French braid and Megan laughed again. "Sorry, the deal was that if we do hair and make-up they won't make us play with their Barbies."

"It's all right, are you trying to get it like the picture?" she asked me.

"Yeah, but I'm sort of failing. I'm not very good at this part of the makeover deal."

She smiled and flashed her perfect white teeth. "Do you want any help?"

"Uh... If Perpetual doesn't mind?"

"I want it to look like the picture!" Perpetual whined. "And you promised."

"I know, and Megan can make it look like the picture."

"Fine."

I let go of her hair and Megan took my spot, running the brush through Perpetual's hair. "If anyone at school could see you like this... you'd be dead. Pink or purple ribbons?"

Before the screaming started I made a leap for the white ribbons. "No pink, no purple, no blue, white. Right Perpetual?" Perpetual nodded and Megan began to seamlessly twist and turn her hair so it began to look like the picture. "Right... Megan this is Perpetual and Eternity, they're the youngest right now. And Everlasting, he's fourteen."

"You're parents have a thing for stuff lasting forever?"

"No, mine is that when my father saw my eyes he said it felt like he could fall for an infinite amount of time. Everlasting is that my mother was in labor for three days and she said it was like she would be in everlasting labor. Perpetual is that she was constantly screaming and Eternity because she's eternally pure of heart."

She nodded. "And I'm Megan." She tied a ribbon into Perpetual's hair and smiled. "All done."

Once Everlasting finished we all went downstairs to the dining room where Perpetual had laid out all the make-up she could find. They were eight years old and loved attention. "So I thought we could start with a quote from Mark Twain about money, to compare it to the economic sort of idea's today," Megan said and I nodded, attempting to hold a steady hand while applying shiny silver glitter to Perpetual's hair.

"That's cool. We could compare his theory to the president's ideas now or something like that. You know, I'm really sorry about all this... I didn't realize I would be stuck giving makeovers."

"It's fine. I don't have any objections."

"Infinity, she's nice," Eternity whispered from across the table and Everlasting swore under his breath.

"Darn, I said darn," he muttered and I laughed. "And yeah, you know mom is going to harass you like there's no tomorrow about her." Megan looked at him questioningly and he explained while brushing dark blue eye shadow on Eternity. "Our parents are... They like the idea of meeting your one true love early and then staying with them. They grew up together. Once I was lending a girl my notes and my mother bugged me about it for about a month afterward."

I made a face. "She doesn't have to know. She's sick anyways, there's no reason to bother her."

"Why is she sick?"

"She's having a baby," Perpetual said and handed me another tube of colored glitter.

"And that makes her sick?"

"Our mother doesn't take well to pregnancy. So you were saying something about using quotes with the presentation?"

The day seemed to go on forever, between the project and my siblings I was starting to freak out. Megan asked questions about my family that I wasn't comfortable telling anyone and it was hard to distract her once she had a question in her mind. When the girls started to get tired I carried them up to their rooms and got them in bed. Megan was finishing our presentation on my laptop.

When I went back downstairs she asked me, "Do you have a big family?"

"Sort of," I walked over to the cabinet where my mother kept all of our photo albums and took one of them out. I opened it to the pictures of our family reunion the year before and held it out. "That was a year ago."

She raised her eyebrows and whistled. "Big family."

"That was only the people who could actually make it." I sat on the couch in the living room next to her as she turned the page.

"Your parents?" she asked, gesturing to one of them dancing together.

"Yeah." She turned the page and I saw myself dancing with one of my cousins.

"Your girlfriend?"

Then I laughed. "No, she's one of my cousins from Italy. I have yet to have a girlfriend actually."

I took the book back and stood up to put it in the cabinet. "Why not?" Megan asked, turning back to our project. I opened my mind to her and was contented to find that she wasn't interested in actually being my girlfriend.

"I really want to go to a good college. And between college and studying, there's not really time for a girlfriend."

"And two sisters. You know, if any of the girls had seen you fixing their hair and doing their make-up they would just love you even more."

"And I don't care. So let's run through this."

### Megan

So he didn't have an ego, didn't care what the girls thought of him, didn't hang out with the popular crowd, cared about his family, spent his time training and learning instead of drinking and partying, he was the perfect guy, and yet... He wasn't an Artist. My parents had strong issues with me seeing people who weren't Artists.

After our project we had no reason to talk but I couldn't get him out of my head. He was perfect, in every way. I wanted to know if he was the one for me, but the harder I tried the harder it got to even touch his hand. All I needed was a millisecond of skin to skin contact, that was it but I couldn't get it. "Hey skank," Courtney said while walking by my desk in our European history class.

Instead of ignoring her like I usually did I stood up and smiled. "I'd rather be a skank than bitch," I said and crossed my arms over my chest. I could see Infinity rolling his eyes and walking to the back of the class, I doubted he even knew what was going on.

"You did not just call me a bitch," she gasped and I shrugged.

"Well it can't be the first time someone's told you the truth."

"Burn!" some random guy yelled out and I just stood there.

Courtney was fuming and it was an amazing feeling. She pushed her fake blonde bangs from her eyes and glared at me. "You're just jealous," she huffed and stuck her nose in the air.

"Jealous of what? You have no boyfriend, no guy wants you because you're a whore, none of your friends care about you and if they do it's because you make them look good, your hair is dyed, your nails aren't real, you wear about a pound of make-up, you have no life outside of this building... And I'm jealous of that? Sure, whatever makes you happy."

Some of her cheerleading friends were laughing behind perfectly manicured hands. "You... You... Bitch!" And she slapped me.

Her face turned red and her hand raised to hit me again. I held my arms over my face, so maybe I was a little bit of a coward, but I wasn't going to hit her back. "Hit her again and you'll regret it," I heard Infinity say. When I looked up he was holding her wrist. The entire class was so silent you could have heard a pin drop.

"Infinity," Courtney stuttered out and he shook his head.

"I don't care for class A bitches."

He dropped her hand and went back to his seat. How in the world had he kept his cool? Everyone dropped back into their seats and the teacher walked in with a smile on his face. I spent the entire hour wondering if Infinity cared...

After my last class I went out to the parking lot and waited for my brother to come out of the school. Courtney walked over to me with two of her friends and glared. "You ruined everything!" she yelled. "Now Infinity won't even look at me. I hate you! I can't believe you did that!"

"I thought he made it pretty clear that he didn't want you. Get over it."

"Well he's not here now."

She slapped me for the second time that day and I held my hand on my cheek, it stung horribly. There was a moment of silence before all of us heard, "What the hell is your problem?"

And then she was smiling, batting her eyelashes and trying to flirt. "Infinity," she giggled and grabbed one of his hands in both of hers. "I knew you'd see it my way. Aren't some people just completely horrible?"

"I think you are one of those people Courtney."

Why could I just take his hand like she could? Why couldn't he just touch my shoulder or my hand for one second? I took a deep breath and took my hand from my cheek. "We," he looked at me and pulled his hand from hers, "Need to talk. And unless you'd like to get hit again you'll go get in my car. It's the red one over there."

I walked with him to his car and he opened the door for me. I got in and then he got in beside me. I waited for him to say something but he didn't say anything. We just sat in the car, waiting for something to happen. "Infinity..." I turned to apologize for what happened but he gave me a look and I stopped talking.

"Did you know that this sucks? All of this. You. You are horrible. You screwed it all up. I have never liked a girl. Maybe, maybe for a second I'll think, 'She's cool,' or 'Wow, she's really hot,' but not with you. No, with you I spend a few hours working on a project and I can't get you out of my head. And my mother keeps telling me that it's because you're meant for me or whatever.

"Coach says I need to get you out of my head because you're screwing with my form. My sister's tell me that I'm distracted and Perpetual screamed at me for not watching her routine all the way through. All of this is so stupid. And then today, you got in a fight with Courtney, when I thought you couldn't get any better... You went off on her, which no one seems to have the courage to do."

I just stared at him while he yelled at me. He wasn't exactly yelling and it wasn't exactly directed towards me but the effect was still astounding. "Infinity, do you know what Artists are?" I blurted out while he went on about how I was screwing with his head.

"Someone who loves art," he answered and it could have been constructed either way.

"With a capital A?"

"I would bet twenty dollars you're a Musician," he said and rested his head against the steering wheel. "Nothing can ever be simple."

"You would win that bet," I whispered and he looked up. "You're what... A writer?"

"No. Though most people think that. I'm not a Writer. My parents are both Dancers."

And then everything was awkward for a few seconds... Until he leaned over the seat and kissed me. It was sweet and magical and it felt like it was my entire life. Had I finally met my Composer? My parents had been setting me up for months with guy after guy after guy... Was he my Composer?

When he pulled away I bit my lip and took a deep breath. When I looked in the rearview mirror I saw that my brother's car was gone. Of course he would leave without knowing where I was. "I... My brother left. I need a ride home."

"Do you have ten minutes?" he asked and I nodded. "My mother will kill me if I don't introduce you. Oh yeah, we have two four year olds running around so if you see one of them just walk the other way, we have yet to control their powers. They don't realize that people dislike having images of cartoons and toys running through their minds."

So he had no trouble accepting that I was a Musician... I was still reeling at the fact that he was a Dancer. I never would have expected him to be a Dancer, ever... But then again I only pictured Dancers as ballerina's. Obviously, he wasn't a ballerina.

I took a deep breath and he sped along the empty back roads to his house. When we pulled up to the huge house two cars were in the drive way. He parked his car and walked around to open my door. When I stepped out of the car he grabbed my hand. "The second that door opens we're running, and then I can technically call it an introduction."

"You don't like your parents much, do you?"

"I love my parents, more than almost anything but when it comes to talking about my personal life my mother gets a little insane. So, ready? Upstairs to the right and third door on the left."

"All right..."

He opened the door and pulled on my hand. I felt bolts of energy running between us. And then we were climbing the stairs. "Infinity! Is that you?"

"Mom, this is Megan! She's my Passion! We're going to upstairs! I'll be down later!" He pulled on my hand while we ran up the rest of the stairs and down the hall.

"What? Did you just say something about your Passion? Who? Where are you going?"

When he pulled me into a room and shut the door I felt like I was trapped in a space portal. Glow in the dark stars covered the ceiling and parts of the wall so it looked like the stars were falling into the room. "Infinity, I have no problem meeting your mother."

"Well I do."

"Okay, I'm going to go down there and talk to her while you sit up here. By yourself." I kissed him quickly and left his room. I walked back down the stairs and towards the main living room. "Hello?" I called and a little boy came running down the hall.

He toddled to me and raised his arms. "Up!" he cried and I lifted him into my arms, putting up my mental walls, cartoons were not my preference. "Mommy!"

A woman came from the same direction, holding another boy in her arms. "Endless, come on, you can't go running to other people. Who are you exactly?"

"She wanted to mommy," the boy in my arms said and tightened his hold around my neck.

"I'm Megan," I said and reached out to shake her hand.

"You're Infinity's Passion... Right?" I nodded and she smiled. "But... You aren't a Dancer." She didn't ask, she said. "That's good, he's never been to into Dancing. All right, you can put him down if you want to, I know that they're a handful."

I smiled and looked at the little boy in my arms. His eyes were pleading for me to keep him up. "He's just fine," I said and he smiled. "I don't mind kids."

"I've had teletubbies playing in my head for about thirty six hours now."

"Just block it out," I said, bouncing Endless on my hip.

"What do you mean?"

I looked up at her. "You just uh... I don't really know... You just sort of block it out. Build up mental walls. I don't know, I just sort of block out the rest of the world... Mentally of course."

And then she was breathing a sigh of relief. "My grandmother failed to mention I could do that when I called earlier. So, they are just about to go down for their nap and then... we could talk?"

"That would be good," I said and followed her down the hall to another bedroom...

### Infinity

I stood in the studio, counting perfect turns while Megan talked to my mother. I yawned and nodded. "Sixty four..."

Perpetual stood with her hands on her hips and stopped turning. "I was on sixty five."

"Your point was off on the last one."

"No it wasn't."

"Yes it was. Don't ask me to critique you and then tell me I'm wrong."

She took a deep breath and started to work on her stretches. "You're cranky, go to sleep." I yawned again and she rolled her eyes. "Go to sleep."

"You go to sleep, I'm the sixteen year old."

"I can't sleep."

"Fine. Do you want Dad to come and count your turns?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine, good night Infinity."

I kissed her hair and left the studio. I saw the kitchen light on and I knew that Megan and my mother were still talking. Faith came into the hallway, rubbing at his eyes. "I'm sleepy Fin," he murmured and I leaned down, lifting him into my arms.

"Me too Faith, me too. Do you want to sleep in my room tonight?" He nodded and I carried him upstairs to my bed. We laid down and within minutes we were both asleep.

### Ana

He should just be up in his room, he's usually up for hours. Twenty minutes Perpetual and then you need to get some rest, not sleep, just rest," I said while we walked by the studio.

Megan seemed like a nice enough girl. She was quiet, didn't talk much about her family or herself but she could write novels about other people. One quick peek into her mind and I already knew how much she cared for Infinity and how he had stood up for her that same day.

Upstairs I looked in on Luke who was asleep at his desk. After my father had died I turned over to business to his vice president and then when he died Luke decided to take it. I had found Luke asleep at his desk more times than I had found him sleeping next to me. I opened Infinity's door after a quick knock and looked inside. The entire ceiling was bright with the glowing stars. The walls were dark, besides the falling stars.

On the bed I saw five of my six children, asleep on the king sized bed. Infinity was asleep in the middle, Faith and Endless were curled up next to his shoulders, in the crook of his arm. Eternity had her head on his stomach and her eyes closed. And Everlasting was stretched out on the bottom of the bed. It was only a matter of time before Perpetual came up and fell asleep next to Everlasting.

"You know what... It's already late... You could call your parents and stay in one of the guest bedrooms," I suggested and she didn't answer, her eyes were glued to Infinity. "He's going to want kids, I hope you know that."

"Good," she whispered. "My parents didn't want me... Well my mother didn't. I want kids, I want that." She gestured to the bed and I smiled. She was perfect for Infinity, better than perfect even... is there even anything above perfect? Probably not.

After all, perfect is just an ideology that people have. We think that he's perfect, she's perfect, everything is perfect... Some people tell us that perfection doesn't exist and maybe their right. Luke's perfect is different than my perfect. Perfect is different to everyone. Perfection exists in all aspects of life. Perfection is everything... and nothing...

Perfect is just a word.

[198]

