And through the howling winds that blow, across the ancient distant flow

Ella and Sylvia both left the Master’s Suite at the same time. Both girls were smiling, but for different reasons. Sylvia was happy that she’d gotten to have such a fun and refreshing dinner, and that everyone had enjoyed her tomato soup. She was also happy that she and Nick had gotten to spend more time together. Since her confrontation with Dakota earlier today, and even before that, arguably, Sylvia had been thinking about how she wanted to approach her relationship with her “Daddy” given the complicated circumstances between the two of them- and her compulsion to call him “Daddy” even when he didn’t want her to. So getting to spend more time with him in a casual context like that put her heart at ease, and made her smile.

But Ella couldn’t have guessed at any of that. Because behind her smiling face, the shy girl’s emotions were dancing in a complicated rhythm in her heart. She touched her hand, the same one that Amelia had taken, and relished in the warm she felt running through her skin. It was a complicated feeling; prior to tonight, she hadn’t though much of the older woman. She’d been keeping her distance, in no small part due to Amelia’s nature and her role as Nick’s stepmother.

Ella thought she should stay as far away from the older woman as she could- but she couldn’t have been more wrong!

Amelia had comforted her, tried to help her, in her own clumsy, awkward way. And Ella knew all too well what it was like to be clumsy and awkward. For the first time it felt like she could really understand the older woman, like she could see her for who she really was.

It was a wonderful feeling.

Nick was right. Amelia really is a nice person… I’m so glad. Ella just couldn’t stop smiling. Sylvia even commented on it when the two of them went their separate ways.

“Somebody looks happy,” she chuckled, wiggling her eyebrows. “Dinner go that well for you, then? Ella?”

“Eh? Oh, y-yes, it was quite delicious,” Ella confirmed with a swift nod. “Your tomato soup-”

“Oh, I’m not talking about the food, my girl,” Sylvia cut her off, shaking her head. She wiggled her eyebrows, a playful smile stretching across her lips. “Just some advice, Ella. If you open your heart up more to others, then you’ll get to have more fun, just like that!”

She turned and walked away, leaving Ella feeling grateful for the other girl’s advice. Until…

“…And if you open your legs to others, too, then… …Well, I’m sure you can guess,” Sylvia added, picking up the pace while Ella turned scarlet as she glared at the retreating girl’s backside.

“You… you-! Y-you’re a virgin toooooo!” She cried, stomping her foot. Sylvia just laughed, even though Ella’s words hit a little too close to home.

Flustered, Ella quickly snapped her rubber-band a few times to calm her nerves down, “Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!”

It’s okay, she was just teasing you, she urged herself carefully, letting logic and rationality keep Cinder at bay. That’s a good thing! That’s what friends do, right? They tease each other! So there’s nothing wrong with that! It… it means we’re friends, right?

Ella wasn’t used to “looking at the positive side” of things. As embarrassing as it was, that just wasn’t in her nature. So she couldn’t help but second-guess herself.

Then she thought of someone else who enjoyed teasing her, and a shiver ran down her spine. Shaking her head quickly, she pictured Amelia again, and then Nick, and a bright smile naturally returned to her face.

Putting Sylvia out of her mind, she strutted into the Fashion Suite with her head held high, glad to end the round on such a good note.

“Oh, Ella! Hey!” Rose had just finished changing into her pajamas. “You seem pretty happy. Something good happen at work today?”

Referring to Ella’s duty from her transformation as “work” wasn’t anything new from the actress. Ella just smiled.

“Yeah,” she said, nodding. Her eyes twinkled as she remembered that nice dinner. “Something good happened…”

She didn’t give Rose any specifics, which was like **** to the curious blonde. “Oh, you can’t stop it there!” She whined, scurrying over to Ella as she walked to her closet to get a change of clothes. “What happened? Did you and Nick share any furtive kisses when his stepmother wasn’t looking, perhaps?” She joked.

Ella blushed, and locked a glare on the teasing blonde. Which was basically an admission that Rose was correct.

Rose smirked, holding her head up high. “Yep, that’s what I thought,” she crowed, placing her hands on her hips. “You little minx!”

“Don’t call me that,” Ella pouted, and Rose acquiesced.

“I’m not being sarcastic here!” She insisted, shaking her head. “I’m seriously proud of you, Ella! Way to go!”

Ella looked suspiciously up at the older woman, studying Rose carefully. It was hard to know when the actress was being sincere and when she wasn’t.

But the way her face softened…

“You really had a good time?” She asked, her voice tinged with hope.

Ella paused, and then nodded slowly. “…Yeah,” she said bashfully, smiling up at her roommate. “I really did. …And no, not because we kissed!” She knew that was where Rose’s mind would go. “Now, if you don’t mind, could I get some privacy, please?”

She grabbed her clothes and stormed over to the bathroom, leaving a surprised and very pleased Rose in her wake.

“Not bad,” Rose said, nodding approvingly. At the beginning of the round, Ella never would have spoken to her like that. The girl wasn’t just shy, but she was easily intimidated, too. And while Rose wasn’t trying to intimidate her, she knew how she came across sometimes, especially to more wallflower-ish girls like that.

For Ella to state what happened with such pride… it was progress. She’d really grown quite a lot this last round, and Rose couldn’t be happier for her.

Normally it’s Cinder fighting her battles for her, Rose thought, stroking her chin thoughtfully. But Ella’s getting more confident now. I wonder… what will happen to Cinder, then? If the day comes when Ella is strong enough to get by without having to rely on her?

That day was a long way off, but Rose still didn’t like thinking about it. After all, she liked Cinder. Maybe even more than she liked Ella. It was complicated… the two girls were the same person deep down, right? Rose could see the similarities between them, but she also liked the way Cinder could be so confrontational and self-assured, plus the way she dressed was pretty cool.

Rose didn’t want to lose either of them. But she also wanted Ella to be her best self. Aagh, this was way more complicated than movies made it seem! Why couldn’t split personalities have such a simple, clean solution in real life!

Could it be… had movies lied to her?

Rose nearly slapped herself across the face for humoring such blasphemous thoughts. How could she dare?!

A few seconds later Ella stepped out of the bathroom dressed in nice pajamas to head off to bed, but Rose wasn’t quite ready to go to sleep just yet.

Not until she finished her interrogation, anyway!

Ella saw the twinkle in her roommate’s eye, and froze. Her heart sank in her chest. Oh great… what does she want now? Ella wondered, knowing that whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. This would have been the perfect time to turn things over to Cinder and let her have at it, but Cinder was being unusually quiet right now.

“So, about those kisses…” Rose drew closer to Ella, like a buzzard circling a fresh kill.

But Ella wasn’t dead yet. She followed Rose with her eyes, making sure to meet the other woman’s gaze as she kept her expression even. “Ever heard of the phrase, ‘Don’t kiss and tell’?” She asked with a mocking tone and the faintest hint of a smirk.

Rose nodded in approval. “Fair enough,” she conceded, holding her hands up. “I just thought it would be nice to chat with you a little, get to know you better. Seeing how this is our last night together and everything.”

Ella blinked, her confident smirk wiped away for a look of surprise. “Huh? What do you mean?” She asked, confused. “Our last night?”

“Well, yeah,” Rose said, flopping down onto the bed. She looked up at her roommate, surprised that the other girl was so surprised. “It’s the last night of the round, remember?” She reminded the other girl. “Tomorrow’s the challenge. Then after that, we’re going to be getting new room assignments, and new roommates, probably. That’s what happened this week, remember?”

Ella’s heart sank in her chest, and then started to pound like crazy. No, she hadn’t even thought about that… but Rose was absolutely correct!

“Well, I’m sure it won’t be so bad,” Rose said, noticing how panicked and worried Ella looked now. “You’ve really opened up a lot, Ella! Getting to know everybody around you, making friends, I’m sure you’ll have a good time with whoever you end up paired with!”

Ella was surprised to hear such kind and supportive things coming from the blonde’s mouth. Normally Rose just teased and made fun of people. And, very rarely, behaved like a friend when it suited her whims.

But she was being so supportive…

Just like with Amelia… maybe I wasn’t giving her a fair chance, Ella admitted to herself, guilt welling up in her chest. Sure, the two of them hadn’t started out on the best of terms (Which Ella guessed was probably a recurring thing for Rose, even though she couldn’t prove it) but Rose had been one of the first people to openly accept Cinder as a part of herself.

Maybe it’s not just because Cinder likes her that I’m feeling this way, Ella realized, drawing closer to the kind-eyed blonde. Maybe… I kind of like her myself now.

Her transformation sometimes made it hard to say for sure. This could still be Cinder’s feelings affecting her. But Ella didn’t think that was the case.

Even her teasing earlier about kissing Nick, Ella was starting to see that in a whole different light. For better or worse.

“Ella? What’s up?” Rose asked curiously. “You’re looking at me kind of weird.”

“I…” Ella’s lip quivered. She drew even closer to Rose and found herself joining the other woman on the bed.

For once, Rose was silent. She could tell that Ella was working her way up to something, and she didn’t want to upset her. So she just sat there patiently and let Ella open up when she was ready.

Ella raised her head and met Rose’s compassionate gaze again.

“Rose… what… what do you think about Amelia?” She asked.

It was a surprising question. Not at all how Rose expected this conversation to go. From how Ella was acting she would have assumed Ella was ready to confess her feelings to Rose or something, instead of bringing up Amelia of all people! (It made sense. Rose was so cool and beautiful, everyone was likely to develop a crush on her after so long living together!)

“Amelia? Oh, she’s the greatest!” Rose didn’t let her surprise stop her from sharing her feelings with the flustered girl. “She’s cool and amazing, and incredibly smart! We’re, like, the best of friends, and I’m like a daughter to her!”

Ella squinted at Rose, not sure if she was being serious or not. The number of times she’d seen the two blondes speak she could count on one hand. But then, it wasn’t like she’d been looking, was it?

“S-so… she really is nice…” Ella smiled a little. She knew Rose wouldn’t hesitate to say if there was anything she didn’t like about a person, she was too open about her feelings for that. So Rose must have really thought the world of her, too. “I… I think so too.”

Rose realized then that something really had happened at dinner tonight. But instead of with Nick, it had been with Amelia.

“…I’m surprised,” she admitted, shaking her head. “I would have guessed the two of you wouldn’t get along. At least, not until Amelia’s transformation kicked in and she started seeing you as a daughter, anyway. Like me.” She couldn’t help that last part.

Ella blushed, knowing all about the “conditions” for Amelia to start seeing her as a daughter. She quickly shook her head. “N-no, not… nothing like that,” she said firmly. “She just… saw I was getting really nervous, so… she held my hand.”

“What? Lucky!” Rose groaned, fuming with jealousy. Amelia had never held her hand! “You’re not even married to Nick! Unfair!”

“Neither are you,” Ella mumbled under her breath.

Feh. Details.

“That’ll happen soon enough,” Rose declared confidently, actually impressing Ella a bit with how self-assured she was.

For all the many, many faults Ella could see in her roommate’s character, she really admired the absolute faith Rose had in herself. Even if at times it bordered on self-delusion.

“…And we’ll have a big wedding, and invite all the A-list celebrities in Hollywood, and my brother will be there, and Mary will be so jealous…”

…Like right now, for instance.

“I thought we were talking about what happened with me and Amelia?” Ella interrupted Rose’s ramblings.

Rose frowned and put her hands on her hips. “Ella, don’t be so self-absorbed,” she chastised the other girl. “The whole world doesn’t revolve around you!”

Ella’s mouth dropped open and she stared at Rose in utter disbelief, her brain ceasing to operate properly for a second.

Rose seized the opportunity to keep going while her roommate just shook her head slowly.

“And then for our first dance, we’ll- …Hey, Ella, are you even listening!?” Rose exclaimed, glaring at her roommate. Her eyes weren’t even open!

“No, I’m trying to ignore you,” Ella replied honestly, opening her eyes a crack. Ella was no expert in conversations, but she could confidently say that there was nothing more boring than hearing someone else talk about their wedding plans.

Cinder, you coward, she bitterly derided her alter. You’re supposed to save me from stuff like this!

But alas the tired girl was on her own tonight it seemed.

Fortunately for Ella, while she had been busy throwing shade at her alternate self, Rose had snuck a glance at the clock hanging on the wall, and realized that she had been talking for a lot longer than she’d intended.

Her face burned with embarrassment and she decided to mercifully end the conversation there.

“…But enough about my wedding,” she said, turning back to Ella. “You said you and Amelia had a good night together? That’s good.”

Ella nodded. She was so relieved that Rose was done, she would have told her practically anything! “It was pretty awkward at first,” she admitted sheepishly. “But I realized that she was a nice person, just like you and Nick said.”

Rose nodded sympathetically. “I understand what you mean. Not everyone has as easy a time sharing their feelings as me. It can be really hard, huh?”

For once, Ella actually agreed with her.

“I was thinking about what you said earlier… about how… I’ve been improving so much… did you really mean that, or were you just being nice?” Ella asked, turning to Rose with a dubious expression on her face. She wanted to believe her roommate was telling the truth (why would she lie?) but her own doubts and insecurities just made that too difficult.

Luckily, Rose wasn’t the kind of person to dress up how she felt in a bunch of sappy bullshit. “You’ve improved a lot, Ella! Trust me!” The blonde declared with certainty. “Now, yes, you still have a lot of room for growth. Especially when it comes to listening to your friends talk about their weddings.”

“Oh come on, just drop it already!” Ella groaned in exasperation.

“…But I can tell how much of an effort you’re putting in,” Rose finished.

Ella perked up. “R-really?”

“Yep. And I’m guessing that’s what Amelia picked up on, too,” Rose tittered, nodding. “She really respects people who work hard and put the effort in. So do I, by the way. And that’s why I can confidently say, Ella, that you can make friends if you want to! You just have to have confidence in yourself!”

Ella wanted to believe her, she really did. She knew Rose wasn’t trying to butter her up or anything- no, this was one of the rare moments she could tell perfectly that the other woman was being sincere.

But… it wasn’t as easy as she was claiming it was, was it?

“But… what if I can’t do that?” She asked quietly, looking down. “You might like Cinder just fine, Rose… but everybody else…”

“Well, Nick likes her too, doesn’t he?” Rose pointed out.

Ella nodded. That was true.

A smile broke out across Rose’s face. “Then don’t even worry about it!” She chirped, shaking her head. “As long as Nick likes her, then you’re golden! Everyone likes you, Nick and I both like you and Cinder, it’s all fine!”

But it didn’t feel fine.

Ella knew deep in her heart that while Rose’s words were shared with the best of intentions that her roommate just didn’t get it. She didn’t understand Ella’s dilemma and the turmoil that she went through every day, living like this.

It wasn’t enough for a few people to like her, and tolerate Cinder’s presence. Because as much as she hated that side of herself… Cinder still was a part of her.

That was the moment Ella realized that, as weird as it was, Rose might just be the closest thing she had to a best friend. Even though she got along better with Dawn and Morgana and liked them a lot more than the haughty blonde, the two of them weren’t that close with Cinder. They still kept her other self at a distance.

Not like Rose. Rose embraced both sides of Ella and was fine with either of them. She was trying to get along with them both, in her own strange, presumptuous, self-aggrandizing way. And that… that came as an odd comfort to Ella, who couldn’t even imagine accepting that side of her herself.

The first inclination Ella had after that realization was to throw up. And not just because she’d maybe eaten a bit too much at dinner tonight. She scurried off to the bathroom to go get some water to wash down those urges, and get a much-needed break from her roommate. Even if she was going to miss Rose when the rooms switched…