A few months after the shooting, Emma and Lexi were both starting to thrive again.  Panic attacks and nightmares were fewer and further in between.  Emma was cast in the lead of her ballet studio's spring production.  As she started to wind down her junior year, she knew she needed to start thinking about the future.  The summer would be a good time to visit colleges.

Emma began researching the best colleges for ballet programs, and made a spreadsheet.  Most of them required a ballet audition on site, so she'd have to travel.  Also, the Youth America Grand Prix was coming up, which was basically the biggest ballet competition there was.  There were chances for scholarship to schools and even spots in professional companies.  Last year, she'd gotten a spot at an ABT camp, which had turned into a spot in the pre-professional company.  Emma knew she was already on a lot of people's radar.  She couldn't let up.

Emma doubled down on her training, staying late and working at her own barre at home.  As was her calling card, she overdid it.  Her dance teacher actually had to limit her hours in the studio.

As the competition neared, Emma began getting more and more nervous.  She was actually relieved when the day of the competition rolled around.  Lin and Vanessa were there, of course, and had Lin's parents take the little kids for the afternoon.

Watching the other dancers, Lin and Vanessa were very impressed.  They didn't know about all the technical work, and they all seemed equally impressive.  They had to leave it to the experts as to who was the cream of the crop.

Emma danced beautifully.  Her movements were graceful and precise, and she had emotion in the way she moved.  When she finished, they were clapping the loudest.  Lin took a video and posted it to Twitter, where his fans left messages of encouragement for Emma.

Finally, the award ceremony arrived for the pre-professional group.  Emma was hoping to secure a scholarship offer, or perhaps an opportunity to do a seminar at another company for experience.  What she wasn't expecting was an offer to join a professional company.

The San Francisco Ballet had been impressed with her skill, and offered her a spot.  Emma was completely shocked.  She still had another year of high school left.  She had a lot of questions to ask.

When the ceremony was finished, Emma found her parents in the hallways and she squealed, jumping up and down in her pointe shoes, and hugging them excitedly. They were incredibly proud of her, and celebrated, but they were concerned about the offer.  She needed to finish high school and they wanted her to go to college.

"Can you believe it?!" she asked excitedly, amidst the chatter of other excited dancers and their families.  "I never even dreamed I'd get an offer from a company!"

"We're so proud of you, sweetheart," Lin told her, hugging her tight.  Her face was lit up with pure joy.  Other ballerinas came up to her and congratulated her as well.

"But Em," Vanessa said.  "We need to talk with them about this offer so we know what's involved.  You still have your senior year ahead of you."

"I know," she said, but truthfully wasn't even thinking that far ahead.  She was still riding on cloud nine.

Emma was swept away by a cluster of ballerinas, so Lin and Vanessa stepped back as they squealed and laughed.  Lin leaned against the wall, watching.

"She has to finish high school," he told his wife.  "And she needs to go to college."

"I know," Vanessa agreed, hoping they'd be able to get Emma to see things clearly.  An offer from a professional company was a dream, but she also needed to be reminded of reality.

Lin stopped Emma's dance teacher and asked if it would be possible to meet with the San Francisco Ballet.  She did some asking around, and they agreed.  About half an hour later, Emma was changed and she, Lin and Vanessa were escorted into a private room.  A couple officials from SFB were there.

Emma walked up to introduce herself formally and shake their hands, thanking them for the offer.  Lin and Vanessa started doing most of the talking.

"So, Emma's a junior in high school right now," Lin told them.  "Obviously, she needs to finish high school.  How would that work if she were to go professional?"

"She would need to homeschool," they told her parents honestly.  "She'd need to work with the company during the day and do her school work during her off time."

Emma seemed perfectly willing to do that.  She liked going to school, but she loved ballet more.

"And what about boarding?" Vanessa asked.  "Where would she live?"

"We maintain a few rental apartments for that purpose," one of the officials said.   "We would offer her a unit, which rents for $1,500 a month."

"And food?" Vanessa followed up.

"She'd be on her own for that."

Lin and Vanessa didn't like the idea of Emma living in an apartment all by herself on the other side of the country.  They both thought about the possibility of having one of them move out there with Emma, if she were to accept the offer.

There were more questions, which the SFB answered thoroughly.  One of them gave Lin his card so they could contact him with more questions.  Emma looked like she wanted to sign a contract on the spot.  They thanked the SFB people for their time and shook hands, promising they'd been in contact soon.

Emma practically skipped down the sidewalk as they made their way to a restaurant nearby to celebrate.  Lin and Vanessa were happy with her, but they also knew they needed to bring her back to earth.

They were seated and Emma chatted away about how she'd always wanted to visit San Francisco and she didn't mind homeschooling and could they go visit over Spring Break.

"Em, this is a big decision," Lin told her.  "There's a lot of things to consider."

"I know," she said.  "But I really want to do this.  This is a huge opportunity."

"Yes, it is," he agreed, "But this decision affects the whole family."

"How?" she asked.

"Well, you're 17 years old.  We're certainly not going to ship you across the country for you to fend for yourself."

"Lin, I'm almost 18," she pointed out.  "I'm an adult.  Plus, I'd be out on my own anyways next year."

"You're not living on your own," Lin told her.  "So, if you were to do this, either me or Vanessa would have to move out there with you.  Which means the other person would be left with four kids to take care of single handedly."

Emma felt her heart drop a bit.  This was going to be more complicated than she thought.  Leave it to the adults to point out issues.  Couldn't they just be happy for her?

"So, what, I have to give up my dream because I happen to have three siblings under the age of five?"

"No," Vanessa said.  "We just need you to realize that this decision doesn't just affect you.  Other people would have to make sacrifices."

"I'll get a roommate," she told them.

"Do you know how to cook for yourself?" Vanessa asked.

"I can make a couple things," she said.  "And I can eat out."

"That's not healthy," Vanessa said.  "Em, I know you're excited about this, but you're not ready to be on your own completely yet.  Plus, we haven't even gotten to the part about college.  If you're in a professional company, will you be able to go to school?"

"I won't need college if I join a professional company," Emma said.

"You need to go to college," Lin told her.  "That's non-negotiable."

"It's my life," Emma pointed out, getting frustrated.

"You need a college degree to get a good job," Lin told her.

"I'll be a dancer," she said.

"Not for the rest of your life," Vanessa said.  "How about when you're fifty?  You're not gonna still be performing in productions.  You need a career to fall back on.  What if you get injured?"

"Why are you guys being so negative?" she accused, leaning back and crossing her arms.  "I just got the opportunity of a lifetime, and you two are finding everything wrong with it."

"We're just trying to be realistic," Vanessa told her.  "This is not a quick decision."

Emma sighed and stirred at her drink with her straw.

"Look, let's have a nice dinner and tomorrow we'll look into this more," Lin said.  "We're very happy for you and very proud."

Emma tried to let her annoyance go and enjoyed a dinner alone with her parents.

___

The next day, Emma was on her computer researching the ballet company and San Francisco.  She found the names of some of the other dancers, ones that were in their late teens and early twenties.  She found a couple on Twitter and tweeted at them.  They all had great things to say about the company and San Francisco.  Emma got more and more excited.

One of them gave her a link to the apartment complex where many of them lived.  She scrolled through some pictures, and it looked like a decent place to live.  Emma thought her parents underestimated her independence.  She was perfectly capable of living by herself.  She could cook a few meals and knew how to microwave.  She could do her own laundry.  The only thing she'd have to adjust to was living on her own.  Maybe one of the other ballerinas would want to room with her.  It would be like college.

Emma had always assumed she'd go to college, but it didn't seem like a necessity.  Didn't dancers go to college so they'd be accepted into a professional company?

She looked into universities in the area.  Plus, there was online school.  Emma started another spreadsheet and knew her parents would like she was being so organized about this.  She was thinking this through, but she was operating with her decision already made.  She was going.  She just had to figure out how to get Lin and Vanessa let her.

"Lin," she called her father from where she worked at the kitchen table.

"Yep?" he said from the kitchen.

"Come take a look at this."

Lin walked over and rested his hands on the top of Emma's chair, looking over her shoulder.  She had an Excel spreadsheet with all sorts of information.  The girl had done her homework.  He shouldn't be surprised, really.

"You've been busy," he commented, rubbing at his goatee.  He could tell her decision was made.  She wanted to go.  Badly.  "Let's sit down this afternoon with V and we'll talk about it."

Emma nodded and went back to her work.  She looked up more details and found out the pricing of utilities and other expenses, adding it to her spreadsheet.

In the afternoon, Cisco and Emilia went down for a nap, so it was a good time to talk.  Emma sat on the couch with her parents on either side of her.  She had a whole spiel ready.

"So," she said.  "I've been talking to some of the other dancers in the company.  Several of them have roommates.  Other ballerinas.  There's one girl who's about to leave for another company, so I could move in with her roommate.  Since there's two of us, the rent would be $750 a month instead of $1,500.  She gave me a breakdown of regular expenses like utilities and food and transportation.  With my parents' will money, I could cover it easily."

"For how long?" Vanessa asked.

"I don't know," she said.  "I'd be making my own money, so I'd start to have savings too."

"There are quite a few universities in the area," she went on.  "I wouldn't want to go full time, but I could take two or three classes a semester.  So I could graduate in six years or so.  I'd probably study business so I could open my own ballet studio when I'm done performing.

"Since I have a roommate, one of you wouldn't have to come live with me," she said.  "I'd do online school senior year and apply to colleges in the fall."

Vanessa and Lin looked at each other, impressed with all her work.  And in such a small amount of time.

"Wow, kid," Lin said.  "You've thought a lot of things out."

She smiled and looked at him.  "Yep.  So can I go?"

They both chuckled.  "Sweetheart, it hasn't even been 24 hours since you got the offer," Vanessa said.  "Let's ponder it for a while."

"But whyyy?" she whined a bit.

"It's still a big decision," she said.  "Your life would change completely.  And you've never lived away from your family. Do you think you might get homesick?"

"We can FaceTime," she pointed out.

"Plus, this is a professional company.  This would be your job.  You'd have to be super responsible."

"I am responsible!" she said.

"You're still seventeen," Vanessa said.

"Alright, party poopers," she said, closing her laptop.  "I'll share the spreadsheet with you and I promise I'll think about it."

Emma stood up, tucking her laptop to her hip.  "But I really really want to go."

"We know," they said smirking.  Emma smiled and disappeared back to her bedroom, leaving the adults to talk.

Lin sighed and sat back, putting his hands behind his head and his feet on the coffee table.  "The kid has thought through everything.  She could do it."

They both knew Emma was a very determined and hard-working young lady.  If she wanted something, she went after it full force.  She loved dance and this was an amazing opportunity.  They just didn't want her to rush through her decision and end up getting in too deep.

"She could," Vanessa admitted.  "But, if she's really this good at 17, how good will she be when she's 22 and gone to college for it?"

"Good point," he said. 

"She'd get tons of offers," Vanessa reasoned.  "I mean, why jump in to turning professional when you're 17?  I worry she'll regret not going to Hunter senior year and going to college full time."

"Me too," Lin said as Vanessa sat back with him.  "But she's right.  It's her life.  It's her decision.  I'm afraid she'll resent us if we tell her no."

"She doesn't like being told no," Vanessa mused.

"Little hellion," Lin said, sighing.  "Why does she have to be so damn talented?"

Vanessa let her hand rub over Lin's stomach and they just sat there and cuddled for a while.

___

Lexi passed by her sister's room, finding her laying on her bed with her laptop, legs tucked up behind her.

"What are you so happy about?" Lexi asked her sister.

"I got an offer from the San Francisco Ballet," she smiled at her sister.

"A professional company?" Lexi asked.

"Yep," Emma sat up and waved her sister over.  She started showing her pictures of the company and of San Francisco.

"That looks amazing," Lexi said.  "But don't you have to finish high school?"

"I can home school," she said.

"But...where would you live?" Lexi asked.  Emma smirked and pulled up her spreadsheet, explaining the apartment situation.  She went through all the other details and possible snafus.  Lexi wasn't surprised that her sister had thought all these details out.

"What did Lin and Vanessa say?"

"They haven't said yet," Emma said.  "They want me to finish high school and go to college and they're not sure they want me living alone."

Lexi scratched her chin.  "But...you'll be on the other side of the country."

Emma looked at her sister, surprised she was so concerned.  They'd never been terribly close, but they were sisters.  "I'll still visit.  And you can visit me."

"But it won't be the same," Lexi rested her head on her sister's shoulder.  Emma closed her laptop and set it aside.  She hadn't thought about how hard it would be for Lexi.  They'd always been together.

"I didn't think you'd care," Emma admitted.

"Of course I care," she said. "You're my sister."

Emma smirked and felt loved.  "This is my dream," she told her sister.  "I've always wanted to be a professional dancer."

"But can't you be a professional dancer in New York?"

"I got an offer from SFB."

Lexi sighed and closed her eyes.  She knew it was her sister's dream, and she wouldn't want to stand in the way of it, but she didn't like the idea of her moving across the country.  Plus, Sebastian, Cisco and Emilia would miss her too.

___

Emma didn't bring up the subject over the next few days, hoping her parents were thinking it through.  There was no good reason they shouldn't let her go, only that they'd miss her and worry about her.

On Wednesday night, Emma helped Lin with the dishes.

"Have you thought any more about San Fran?" Lin asked his daughter.

"All the time," she admitted.

"And have you weighed the negatives too?" he asked, knowing she was only thinking of the fun she'd have.

"Yes," she said, though she hadn't given much thought to it.

"V brought up a good point," he said.  "If you wait until you've finished college and majored in dance, wouldn't you get tons of offers from across the country?  Why jump on the first offer you get?"

"Because it's my dream!" she told him.  "This is what I've always wanted to do."

Lin smirked and shook his head at her headstrong nature.

"What?" she asked.

"You're so much like your mother," he said, thinking of Melissa.  Emma stopped and thought of her mother.  She was always so supportive of her dancing.

"Mom would let me go," Emma told him.  Lin stopped what he was doing and stood up straight, studying his kid's face.  She was determined and serious.  This is what she wanted.  Who was he to stop her?

"Alright," he told her. "If this is what you really want, you can go."

"Yes!!" she yelled, jumping up and down.  Emma gave him the tightest hug she'd ever given anyone.  "Thank you thank you thank you!!"

Lin smiled as he hugged her back.  "Under two conditions," he told her.  She pulled back and nodded.  "You finish high school on time, and you go to college.  And get a degree."

"I will," she promised him.  Lin could tell she was raring to let everyone know.

"Go," he said, nodding his head to her bedroom.  "Go tell everyone."

Emma rushed off to her bedroom and started texting and calling everyone she knew.

Over Spring Break, Lin took Emma to San Francisco so she could see the town, the company, and her apartment.  They met with the company higher ups to discuss her contract and pay.  Lin could tell his daughter was excited at the prospect of actually getting paid to do what she loved.  She would have her own money, and that would feel really good.

They met her roommate and she seemed pretty sweet.  It would be nice to live with someone who knew what she was going through.  She was twenty and was going to college part-time as well.  Lin was feeling encouraged after the conversations he had.  The directors seemed caring, and knew it was a huge deal for Emma to move across the country.  They checked in with their young dancers a lot and gave them guidance.  Lin had never seen Emma so excited.  The plan was to move out at the end of April and finish her junior year online.

As late April approached, Lin and Vanessa started to feel their hearts ache.  Emma had lived with them for over two years now.  She was their daughter, and she was part of their family.  It would be really odd not having her around.  They would miss her terribly.

The day of her flight, Emma was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement.  Everyone else was a bit withdrawn, dreading her leaving.  She began to hug the little kids and promised they would FaceTime.  It was hard for them to understand what was happening.  Lexi hugged her sister tightly, knowing she would miss having a fellow teenager in the house.  She'd be all alone against three little kids.

Vanessa hugged her daughter and smiled, trying to focus on the fact this was her dream.  She was leaving for a happy reason.  It was an adventure.  Lin was going to take her to the airport.  He carried her suitcase and loaded it in the car, then took off for the airport.  The ride over was silent.  Lin wasn't sure he should start talking, because he might cry.

They parked and he took her to the check-in counter.  She checked her baggage and received her ticket.  They finally reached the point where it was time to say goodbye.  Lin sighed and turned to his daughter.

"I'm gonna miss you like crazy," he told her.  Emma smiled.

"I know," she said. "But I'll be having so much fun!"

"And I'll be stuck changing diapers," he countered, causing Emma to laugh.  "Call anytime."

"I will," she promised.  Lin took a good look at her, then brought her in for a long hug.  He rocked her back and forth a little, not wanting to let her go.  This was incredibly brave of her. Moving across the country by herself at the age of seventeen.

"I love you so much," he said softly.

"Love you too," she said into his shoulder.  They finally pulled back and Lin had tears in her eyes, causing Emma to tear up.  "Stop it!"

Lin chuckled a little and wiped at his eye.  "Sorry.  Go.  Call when you land."

Emma nodded and adjusted her backpack.  She turned and headed to the security line.  When she got to the entrance, she turned around and waved once more.

Lin waved and held his tears back.  This was the hardest thing he'd ever done.  Letting his daughter go.