The Royal Scandal | Prince William |

The Fall

May 26, 2001

Jaclyn stood backstage going through her routine for the fifth night in row. She stood with the dancers marking the hardest parts of her variation and finding any sections of the floor that were sticky or slick. The curtain was down, but they could all hear the shushed commotion and excitement from the packed audience.

Her eyes bore holes through the curtain right into the section she knew the recruiters and heads of all the biggest professional companies would be sitting. With tonight being their last performance not many would be left, but there were rumours that Monsieur Michael would be sitting down with The Royal Ballet Company director tonight to watch.

"Five minutes till curtain," the stage manager called out and slowly they all made their way off stage.

Jaclyn was the fifth number so didn't go back to the dressing room. Instead, she focused on checking her ribbons to make sure they were tight and tucked in properly, and shook her head to make sure the pink petal tiara didn't move. Her costume was a gorgeous shade of pink with silver swirls on the platter tutu, and jewels over her top. She felt like a princess, so much so she believed herself to be Aurora which was what she needed.

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Jaclyn landed her turn sequence down stage right, and the second she stopped the audience was clapping. William was proud to say he was one of them. His flight had landed and he had immediately ran to the Opera House to meet his father, brother, Camilla, and Zara in the royal box.

For the past week he had been going over what their first interaction would be. She wasn't answering his calls, and when she finally did their conversation hadn't gone over so well, not to mention the stories circulating about her were getting worse and worse. They believed her to be derranged, anorexic, or both. He almost cut hair trip short seeing it all.

Now though he could see her glowing even at a distance. She was strong and thriving in the one place that she felt she was completely safe, and the crowd absolutely loved her. His heart ached at the thought that he had gotten the chance to love her more intimately but had screwed it up.

More soloists came, duets and trios too, but nothing compared to her.

When the second act started and she stepped out on stage again with Natania and another girl he sat up straighter.

Her trio was new to him. Gone was her delicateness and soft expressions, replaced with rage filled movements and gritted teeth. She felt pain, reflecting that pain into him, but she was angry guided by the words of Rolling Stones.

He glanced to his family and then down to the rest of the audience. It seemed all of them were on the edge of their seats watching it play out like it was a drama show.

The finale was what really grabbed his attention.

From the second she came out in her bouncing white tutu, the blue accents enlarging her eyes. Watching her dance so joyfully, it showed how beautiful she was. She finished another solo, and it seemed her smile was touching every person individually.

I love you

It only hit him when the next dance started what he had thought, but he quickly accepted it's truth. He loved her more deeply than he should have, in ways he never thought possible, and that scared him because he was sure it was over between them.