Disclaimer: You know it like you know the Pledge of Allegiance. Like Puff the Magic Dragon. Like the opening speech of Star Trek. Like the words to Britney Spears' Pepsi commercial (even if you don't admit to that).

Author's Notes: More and more thanks. You guys are so cool! I might not be able to update in the next day or so. Besides my birthday being on the 15th, my parents are having a huge party that I get to help work on, and I use the phrase "get to" loosely. I hope ya'll enjoy!

****

To Dance Beneath the Diamond Sky
by Kristen Elizabeth

****

Heero tossed and turned in his bed for two hours before he reached for his phone. All he had been able to think about during his solitary dinner, homework and long shower had been Hilde's accident. More specifically, Relena's reaction to Hilde's accident.

Her first instinct had been to run to the other girl. It didn't matter that Hilde had never been particularly friendly to her...in fact, she had always been downright hostile towards the new girl. But in spite of that, Relena had wanted to help Hilde the second she went down. It wasn't in Relena's nature, he had come to understand, to hold a grudge.

And he admired her for it. Already, every other girl in the company had to be dreaming of taking over Hilde's role if she were out of commission until the workshop. But not Relena, Heero had a feeling. Greedy ambition was not in her personality.

For these reasons, he found himself dialing her number. And this time, when someone answered, he didn't hang up.

"Hello?" Relena's sweet voice reached through the phone line.

"Relena," he started, his words halted by the fact that he had no idea what to say. It wasn't as though he had a lot of experience talking to girls on the phone late at night. "It's Heero."

"Heero?"

He bravely continued. "How are you?"

There was a pause. "I'm worried about Hilde."

"Yeah," he replied.

"She was in so much pain," Relena went on. "Millardo didn't tell me much; apparently they won't know more until she has surgery tomorrow."

Heero closed his eyes. "That doesn't sound good."

"It's not." He heard sheets rustling, as though she were climbing in or out of bed. "How are *you* doing, Heero?"

The answer to her question was perhaps his ultimate motivation in calling. But how could he explain the guilt to her? The pressing weight of having seen his partner fall and while realizing that there wasn't anything he could have done, still believing that if he had only been by her side, it never would have happened.

"I couldn't sleep. I'm..." He stopped and looked up at the ceiling over his bed. His next words flowed out of his mouth; whenever he spoke with Relena, he lost some of his control. "I should have protected her. I'm her partner; it's my job to help her and make sure she doesn't get hurt. And I failed...I stood by and I watched her fall and...."

"Heero!" she interrupted him with calm determination. "It's not your fault! You have to know it wasn't your fault; the choreography didn't allow for you to be by her during those pirouettes."

"I know that," he replied, louder than he had intended. "But I just can't be that rational right now."

Her voice was soft. "I understand." There was a pause. "You're a wonderful dancer, Heero. But more than that, you're a good person. I mean...partner." He could almost see her biting her lip. "Well, I mean you're a good person, too, but what I'm trying to say is..."

"Thank you, Relena." The words were simple, but heart-felt.

Another pause followed. It was comfortable, not awkward. Finally, Relena spoke. "Go to your window, Heero."

Frowning, he threw off the covers and got out of bed. It was a short walk to his window. "Why?"

"Just look up at the sky," Relena said. "Are you looking?"

Heero pushed the drapes aside. The moon hung over Manhattan, full and luminous, bathing the uptown buildings in a celestial glow. Without knowing it, he smiled. "It's amazing," he said into the phone.

"Full moon." Relena sighed happily. "There's not many things more beautiful."

"I can think of something."

He could hear the surprise in her next words, as though she were trying to come to terms with his statement. "It's the second day of the full moon, so it's...um....really bright. Sometimes, in Paris, I would have to close my drapes so the light wouldn't..."

"Relena," Heero gently cut her off. "I'm glad you shared your moon with me."

Some of the anxiety left her voice. "Are you going to be able to sleep now?"

"I think so." He paused before hanging up. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Heero." Once she had spoken, Heero ended the call. He stared at the moon for a few more minutes before crawling back into bed. His slumber was peaceful and deep; he slept with the knowledge that only a few blocks away, Relena rested under the same gentle light from the moon.

****

The sun, not the moon, roused Duo out of his sleep. That and the sound of a doctor being paged over the hospital intercom system. He lifted his head from its uncomfortable position on his forearms. In the bed he had been using for support, Hilde lay, still sleeping. Although not a critical patient, the hospital had admitted her for the night seeing as how her surgery was scheduled in another few hours.

He rubbed his hands down his face, blinking away the bleariness. He was still clad in his rehearsal clothes; he even still had his ballet slippers on. The nurses looking after Hilde during the night had urged him to go home, but he had steadfastly refused. Hilde's mom still hadn't shown up and he would be damned before she had to wake up in the hospital alone. His parents had understood when he called them after Hilde had fallen asleep.

"Duo?" His name, a whisper on her lips, drew his attention down to her lovely face.

"Hey, babe." Duo reached for her hand. "How're you feeling?"

She tried to sit up. "My ankle hurts. Where's my mom?"

"I called her at work...found the number in your bag." He fiddled with the controls on her bed until she was sitting upright. "They said she might have to pull a double shift."

"In other words, she's not coming." Hilde looked down at the plastic ID bracelet on her wrist and studiously ignored the IV needle protruding from the back of her hand. "That doesn't really surprise me."

Duo smoothed hair away from her forehead. "You're stuck with me, gorgeous."

"But you'll be leaving for school soon." She frowned. "Won't you?"

"Like hell," he replied, cheerfully. "My butt is committed to a plastic chair while you're in there and until you wake up again."

Hot tears pricked her eyes. "Duo, I..." She lowered her eyes again; she couldn't possibly have ever done anything good enough in her life to deserve him. Her throat closed up. "I'm so scared."

"It's going to be okay, babe." He kissed each of her fingers in turn. "I can't make any promises, but they seem to know what they're doing here. I think we can trust them to patch you up and ship you out, good as new, in no time."

She shook her head. "You heard them last night. Everything is torn. I mean...it might be months before I can dance again! The workshop..."

Duo put one of his own fingers to her lips. "Why don't you just worry about now? The future's out of your control, babe."

"You don't get it, Duo. I have to worry about the future. There's only one way out of my neighborhood....out of my life." Hilde pointed to her feet, specifically the one suspended in traction. "If I can't dance in that workshop, I lose that way out and I'll end up just like my..."

"Hilde Schbeiker?" A nurse poked her head through the door. When she saw her patient awake and alert, she pushed the door open the rest of the way. With another nurses' help, she pushed a guerney into the room. "We're going to prep you for the surgery now. There's been a cancellation and the OR is open earlier."

The blood drained out of Hilde's cheeks. "Um...doesn't my mom have to sign some papers or something? I mean, I don't know anything about insurance or things like that."

"She signed them when she stopped by last night," the nurse informed her.

Duo blinked. "Her mom was here? I didn't see her."

"You were both asleep. She said she didn't want to disturb you." The nurse glanced at her watch. "We need to hurry, Hilde."

Hilde glanced at Duo. "Can he stay with me?"

"Only until the OR. Then he'll have to wait in chairs."

Duo ran his fingers through Hilde's hair. "I'm not going anywhere, babe. I swear."

She smiled weakly and looked at the nurses. "All right. I'm ready."

****

"So..." Treize leaned forward across his oldest friend's desk. "What are we going to do?"

Millardo sighed and turned his chair to look out the full-length window. The green of Central Park greeted him, having bloomed seemingly overnight as a result of the steady downpour of the day before. "No matter what the surgeon finds today, having the surgery itself means that Miss Schbeiker will be unable to dance for at least two months. We really don't have a choice, Treize. We're going to have to re-cast."

The advanced classes instructor picked up Millardo's ball-point pen. "Anna has the part completely memorized. She and the Yuy kid would dance well together."

"Anna will be busy with *Giselle*. I don't want her overextending herself."

"Well, you have Sally playing the Queen in *Swan Lake*. And she's in *Giselle*, too," Treize reminded him.

Millardo watched a black bird fly past his window. "The Queen is in the ballet for maybe five minutes and doesn't do any real dancing. Besides, this is a workshop. We're showcasing our advanced class, not the company members."

"I recommended Miss Schbeiker for a reason; she's the best in the class....the only one who could play Odette."

"Actually..." Millardo swiveled his chair back around. "I have someone else in mind. You'll have to trust me, but I know this girl can do it."

Treize lifted a forked eyebrow. "Who is it?"

****

"Relax your fingers, Heero. You're stiff as a board. Good, Marisa...perfect plie. Relena, mind your turnout...that's much better." Lucrezia walked up and down the rows of barres, watching the advanced students warm up. The truth was, she was stalling for time. Treize was late for the class; he and Millardo were still deciding what was to be done about the workshop.

Lucrezia could feel the wave of general disinterest in dancing that day. No word had come from the hospital since Hilde had gone into her surgery and it was starting to weigh heavily on her peers. Instead of trying to actually rehearse, Lucrezia had chosen to walk the students through a regular class, something they hadn't done since the workshop was cast.

She was about to signal for floor exercises when Millardo and Treize entered the studio. The students immediately lowered their arms or legs; the piano stopped. Lucrezia caught her fiancee's eye. His expression was impossible to read.

"All right everyone. Take a seat." Treize indicated the floor. He cleared his throat as the dancers followed his instructions. "I know you all feel Miss Schbeiker's absence and we're all very sorry about what happened to her. The truth is, we have yet to be informed exactly how serious her injury is, although she should be out of her surgery by now."

Millardo took over. "Obviously, no matter what, Miss Schbeiker won't be back, able to dance, in time for the workshop. Don't get worried; we have no intention of canceling. You have all worked too hard and your futures are too promising. Therefore..." He glanced at Treize. "We have chosen a replacement for the lead role of Odette."

Treize nodded. "Taking over for Miss Schbeiker will be..." He paused. "Relena Dorlian."

Every single person turned towards the dancer in question. Relena's face was suddenly the color of chalk, her throat, dry as lint. Unable to meet the accusing glares of the other corps members and the surprised eyes of everyone else, Relena stared at her brother and Treize, uncomprehendingly. "Me?" Her gaze swung over to Lucrezia, the only person in the room smiling. Relena swallowed.

*Oh god...* she thought. *Whatever I did to deserve this....I'm sorry.*

****

By early evening, Hilde had roused herself from the pull of the general anesthesia and was feeling well enough to let Duo spoon-feed her green cafeteria Jello. He was enjoying the chore; Hilde rarely let him pamper her as he would have liked to all the time.

They were both trying to avoid looking at her left leg which was swaddled in a thick layer of white surgical gauze. Hilde no longer resented the IV in her wrist; it was administering a steady drip of painkillers, the only reason there was a smile on her face.

"One more bite?" Duo asked, holding out a jiggling spoonful.

She shook her head, her motions loopy. "Reached my limit. I could use a kiss though."

"Well, I've got plenty of those." He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.

Hilde touched his stubbled cheek. "You're just as much fun as Jello."

"It's just because I jiggle, too."

The good mood was spoiled by a sudden knock on the door. Without waiting for a reply, two men in white lab coats entered. Duo set the Jello aside. One doctor pulled up a stool next to Hilde's bed. "Hi, Hilde. I'm Dr. Amos. How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"

"No, I'm okay." Hilde took a breath. "Are you the doctor who did the surgery?"

Dr. Amos nodded. "Myself and my colleague, Dr. Tamaki, performed the procedure this morning, yes." He paused. "Has your guardian arrived yet?"

Duo took her hand. "Mrs. Schbeiker is at work," he explained.

The doctors nodded, as if this were an interesting fact. "Well then..." Dr. Amos held out his hand for the manila envelope Dr. Tamaki carried. "Let's discuss what we found." He extracted an X-ray of Hilde's ankle and held it up to the light. "Now, like you've been told, you tore more than one ligament. In fact, Hilde, you ripped two of them right away from the bone."

She swallowed. "You can repair torn ligaments...right?"

"Yes, we can. And we can repair the damage to yours. It will take a long, complicated operation, but it can be done." Dr. Amos lowered the X-ray. "What we need to talk about is what comes after the reparation. I understand that you're a dancer?"

"Ballet, yeah." Hilde glanced back and forth between the two surgeons. "I understand that I won't be able to dance for awhile."

"Hilde..." Dr. Amos removed his glasses. "You won't be able to *walk* for a long time. It's going to take months of physical therapy after the operation."

Hilde blinked. "Okay, so it'll be more than a few months before I can dance."

"No. I'm sorry, Hilde. With an injury of this magnitude...your ankle will never be strong enough to support you. You'll walk again for sure, not without some pain, though. But other, more strenuous activities...they just won't be possible." Dr. Amos' eyes were genuinely remorseful. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "But you won't ever be able to dance again."

****

To Be Continued