Namiko projects her unfulfilled dreams of a career as a dancer onto her daughter Shinako, who is a member of a ballet ensemble.
When Namiko learns from Takao that Yagi has secretly been putting money on the side during their years of financial hardship, she considers giving up her marriage for Takehara.
Together with her friend and ensemble colleague Nozu, Shinako visits her former ballet teacher Kayama at his sickbed.
Determined not to give up her dream of becoming a ballerina like her mother did, Shinako later rejects Nozu's proposal.
Namiko, after seeing her daughter perform in a staging of Swan Lake, decides against Takehara's offer to accompany him to a trip to Kansai and returns to Yagi.