Disclaimer: Standard. You know it by heart.

Author's Notes: More thanks for your continued support and kind reviews;) I'm sorry for the shortness of this chapter...I took a few days break from writing and I'm just getting back to business. More soon, I promise. On the other stories of mine, too.

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To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky
by Kristen Elizabeth

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"Dance is a little insanity that does us all a lot of good." -Edward Demby

"I don't want dancers who want to dance; I want dancers who have to dance." -George Balanchine

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"Flowers, check. Candy, check. Apologetic face..." Duo molded his handsome features into the desired look. "Check." Taking a breath, he reached out and knocked on the door to Hilde's apartment.

It was a long minute before the door opened a crack. A little stab of hurt hit his heart when Hilde didn't automatically remove the chain lock. "Duo...what are you doing here?"

He held up the flowers. "I come bearing pollen."

The corners of her mouth involuntarily lifted. "You don't have to..."

"Can I just come in? Please? I won't take long; I just have some things to say."

After a second's hesitation, Hilde closed the door and reopened it after dropping the chain lock. "Only a few minutes. My mom will be home from work soon."

He nodded and strode in, reviewing his prepared apology in his head. The apartment Hilde shared with her mother was small, even by New York standards. Everything was plain...white-washed walls, mismatched furniture, worn throw rug. Hilde was the brightest thing in the apartment. Not for the first time, Duo imagined what it would be like to take her away from all of this forever. To move her into their own apartment in Soho or Chelsea or maybe even the meat-packing district. They'd have colorful, clean furniture and paintings on every...

"Duo," she interrupted his thoughts. "You said you had something to say?"

Turning around to face her, he stuck out the flowers and the candy. "Hilde-baby," he began. "I am so sorry about last night. I wasn't thinking and I was a jerk and I don't deserve to have a girlfriend like you, but if you take pity on me, I'll be eternally grateful."

Hilde looked down at the tired wood floor; she had her pointe shoes on, evidently she had been practicing. "Oh god...why do you have to be so cute?"

"Is that a 'yes, I forgive you'?" he asked, hopefully.

She nodded. "Of course I forgive you. I love you."

Grinning, Duo tossed the flowers and the candy onto the dining room table and lifted her into the air. "I love you more than my tights, Hilde Schbeiker."

Hilde didn't wait until he had set her down to kiss him. After only a day, her lips missed his. When they broke apart a minute later, Duo gently lowered her back to her feet. She looked up at his gorgeous eyes. "Promise me that you're not at all interested in her."

"I swear." He placed his hand over his heart. "She is my friend. You are my girlfriend."

"And the princess thing...?"

Duo lifted his shoulders. "A nickname. She lives like a princess; you are one." He winked at her. "But knowing you, you'd deck me if I started calling you something so frilly."

She sniffed. "Probably." Her next-door neighbors began yelling at each other in Spanish. "I'm glad you came by Duo. I was feeling kind of...bad about the way I acted last night."

"Really?"

Hilde poked his chest. "Not that you weren't still a flirt. But I was a little bitchy." She blushed. "I actually thought for a minute that Relena deserved Heero...especially when he's moody and withdrawn and completely insensitive."

Duo winced. "Ouch. I thought they looked good together."

"Oh, they do. It's kind of scary how beautiful they both are." Hilde frowned. "Are you sure he's not gay?"

"I'm hoping he's not," Duo replied. "That would just blow my plans to hell."

She groaned. "Another plan??"

"It's ongoing." He kissed the top of her head. "Get some different shoes on. I'm taking you out on the town."

For the first time since she had let him into the apartment, Hilde gave Duo a real look. He was wearing a thick black sweater to guard against the cool, late winter air outside, but there had been no hiding his muscles when she had been in his arms. A sudden bolt of desire ran through her.

"Do you think..." She reached up to comb her fingers through his bangs. "...we could stay here instead?"

He swallowed, catching on quickly. "And do what?"

"Not...you know...go the whole nine yards." Hilde let her hands drift down his sides. "But some of that other stuff you've mentioned before...I think we could control ourselves and still have fun."

"But your mom...."

"I lied. She's at work until eleven tonight." She took his hand and led his shell-shocked, but eager body towards her room. When Duo left the apartment three hours and two orgasms later, she watched him hail a cab from her bedroom window. He hadn't gone back on his promise of mutual pleasure; her entire body still sang, in fact. But Hilde was absolutely convinced that she had forever erased any stray thoughts about Relena Dorlian from her boyfriend's mind.

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Relena was ten minutes late for biology class the Monday after the gala. She walked straight into a pop quiz. Mentally, she shook a hand at the fates as every eye in the class except the Prussian blue ones in the back shot up upon her tardy entrance.

"Nice of you to join us this morning, Relena." Mr. Berardis handed her a copy of the quiz. "I hope you're up to date on arachnids."

She shuddered as she slide into her chair next to Heero. Spiders. And she hadn't even looked at the book over the weekend. Heero was deep into his test and didn't even glance her way. After situating herself, Relena settled down to bullshit the quiz as best she could.

Fifteen minutes later, when the quizzes had been passed to the front, Mr. Berardis began his lecture. Relena shot a glance at her lab partner. "Morning," she whispered.

Heero scribbled something their teacher had just said into his notebook. "Hello."

"So..." She pulled her own binder from her leather backpack. "Today's the big day." He frowned. "The workshop casting."

"Oh. Yes." Heero busied himself with his notes.

Relena was silent for a couple of minutes until there was a break in the teacher's speech as he attempted to work the overhead projector. "Are you nervous?" she asked him.

Heero set down his pen. "No."

There was more than a little impatience in his voice. She crossed her ankles under the table. "Am I bothering you?"

"Yes," he replied, without hesitation.

Relena blinked. "I'm sorry." She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. "I'll be quiet."

"Thank you."

She wiped under her eyes before his hurtful words could smudge her makeup. "You're welcome."

When the bell rang at the end of the period, Heero gathered his things and left without a word. Relena slowly stood up and replaced her binder in her bag. She didn't even notice Kyle approaching her until it was too late.

"Have a fight with your bitch boy?"

She fastened the bag's buckles. "Go away, Kyle."

"Oh come on. It's not like you were ever gonna get to ride that train. It's reserved for ass, not pussy."

Relena shook her head. "You're disgusting."

Kyle put his hand over his uniform sweater. "I'm crushed."

"Why can't you just leave Heero alone? He's not done anything to you."

"Hmm..." The football player pulled at his perfectly clefted chin. "You're right. My god...why haven't I seen the error of my ways before?"

Relena rolled her eyes and walked away, pulling on her backpack. "Grow up."

As she walked out of the bio lab, she was too upset to notice Heero standing just outside the open door, listening.

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"Reach for it, Miss Dorlian! Reach for that jete! Mr. Maxwell, watch your foot; you nearly caught Miss Catalonia in the eye. Mr. Yuy, good, very good. Higher, Miss Yoshikawa...I want to see you fly. Jete...a regular jete, Miss Schbeiker. I know you can do an entrelace. Mr. Simpson, straighten your leg..."

As Treize continued shouting instructions to the line of students, jete-ing their way across the floor, Relena glanced at the people sitting in chairs along one mirrored wall, watching the class. Her brother and Lucrezia, along with Anna Une and the corps de ballet master. Each person had a clipboard in their hands and were taking thorough notes on every student.

Her throat stuck for a second. This was almost worse than a formal audition. What those four people were writing in regards to casting the workshop would decide, for most everyone, herself included, the rest of their entire lives.

"Pay attention, Miss Dorlian," Treize snapped her to attention. "Pirouette and then grand jete now, please."

She nodded and did the required movements. She didn't even stumble...until after she had landed the jete. Her brother scribbled something onto his pad of paper and she mentally groaned. Millardo was a fair director. He wasn't about to cast her in anything, sister or not, if she kept performing like this.

"All right everyone!" Treize clapped his hands. "That'll be all. Take a half hour break and, hopefully, we'll have made our final casting choices."

Relena followed Hilde and Duo out of the studio. Duo immediately annexed the hallway water fountain, drinking like his life depended on it. Hilde sat on the floor with all the grace she had just presented in class and spread out her legs at a nearly a 180 degree angle. She began to stretch. Down the hall, Heero also used his break time to continue working, using the ledge of a window looking into one of the studios as a makeshift barre.

"So..." Relena said once Duo came up for air. "How worried should we be that they're only going to take a half hour to decide?"

"I think it's safe to say that they've pretty much already decided." Hilde lifted her arms above her head and bent over until her nose was only an inch from the floor.

Duo reached for Relena's hand and adopted his hustler accent. "Don't schweat it, schweetheart." He leered at her. "Ya looked like a doll out there."

Relena laughed, despite herself. "You're such a goon."

"He's *my* goon," Hilde said, straightening up. "Get your own."

Duo lifted an eyebrow. "Have I mentioned, *schweetheart*, how much I love being your property?"

She stood, grasped the arch of her left foot with her left hand and lifted her knee up to her ear. "Hey, I didn't make you wear the 'if lost, return to Hilde Schbeiker' sticker, did I?"

"No, you just get this feral look in your eyes..." He fanned his hands around his own eyes to demonstrate. "Very predatory."

Hilde smiled sweetly. "I just don't like sharing you. With anyone." She directed a look at Relena.

"You know...I think I'm going to practice my jetes in there." Relena pointed to an empty studio across the hall. "Come and get me when they're ready?" Duo nodded before she slipped away.

When she was gone, all joviality was cast aside. "Okay. Just how many times to I have to tell you that you're the only girl for me before it gets through the glitter on your head?" Duo folded his arms over his chest.

His girlfriend dropped her foot and ignored the growing number of stares from their classmates. "How am I supposed to react, Duo? I'm your girlfriend! I'm the one you say you love. But all you do is defend her and laugh with her and...and.... I mean do you have any idea how much that hurts?!"

"Babe..." He reached for her and at the same moment, caught sight of all the stares. "Hey...mind your own business!" The other teenagers looked away or returned to what they had been doing. "Hilde," he started again after he moved her a good ten feet down the hall. "Ever since Relena started class, everyone has been down on her. And she doesn't deserve it. So, yeah...I stick up for her. She's my friend. But you..." Duo smiled. "You're much more." Hilde looked away.

He took her chin and directed her gaze back to him. "You're my girl. And if me being nice to a fellow dancer who happens to be my pas de deux partner upsets you this much...you're not the person I thought you were."

"It's just..." She shook her head. "She hasn't had to work for anything! Probably ever! She doesn't just have a silver spoon, she has a whole fucking flatware set! And I..." She stopped. "It's just not fair."

Duo shook his head. "No, it isn't. But I'd be willing to bet Relena's had her share of rough shit. It's just a little more hidden than us average folks."

Hilde laughed and rubbed her eyes. "She was right. You are a goon."

"Your goon." He gave her a soft kiss. "Always."

With a spark in her blue eyes, Hilde reached around and slapped his well-muscled behind. "Don't you forget it."

Down the hall, the door to their practice studio opened and Treize stepped out. "Class," his voice echoed down the corridor. "We've come to our decisions."

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To Be Continued