A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the positive feedback from chapter one. I really appreciate all of the words of encouragement I've received. If you wouldn't mind, please review this chapter as well (or contact me through my Tumblr, Rumbellelives). Thanks!
Here is chapter two (which took me a little while to figure out, but I hope it is okay!) I'm nervous about posting this for no reason... I don't know, I just hope you like it as much as the first chapter.
Note: The song Belle sings in this chapter is called Sleepsong by a Secret garden. I can't add the lyrics because of copyright, but listen to this when you read that part to add to the effect. It makes it a little more beautiful.
Chapter 2: The Phantom of the Opera!
"What's stopping you, my child?"
Belle flinches backwards, whipping her head around. But the voice doesn't have a face (or at least, one that she can see right now).
It's hard to describe the sound of the voice echoing around her. It's gentle and light, floating in the rafters and sending chills down her spine. It reminds her of deep blue silk, dark and smooth and beautiful.
"Hello?" she asks, resisting the urge to run. Her voice is weak and quivering. She looks up into the audience of the opera house but sees nothing but darkness.
"No need to be frightened, dearie. I will not hurt you," the man says, his tone airy. She can hear the laughter in his breath.
Belle doesn't know why, but she believes him. Maybe it's the slight desperation in his voice. Maybe it's because she has had a long day and just wants to have a little fun. But she walks up to the stage, climbing up the narrow stairs and stepping towards the very middle.
It is dark, and she can't see. She is completely exposed out here, and images of what happened to Zelena are flashing through her mind. Her heart pounds.
"What are you waiting for?" the man asks.
"I can't sing," she says, unsure of why she is humoring the man by even standing here on the stage.
"Don't be ridiculous." The man's voice has no malice in it. "I've heard you sing before."
"What… what do you mean?" Belle asks him. "I haven't sung here in years…. and that was for a few minutes after rehearsal."
"Yes, and I heard it," the man says.
"How? That was ages ago!" Belle says, shocked. There was no way he could have heard that let alone remember it…
"I live here."
She suddenly knows exactly who she is talking to. Her breath catches in her throat. She wipes the sweat off her palms. "Are you the Phantom? The Phantom of the Opera?"
"That's not important right now," the man responds, but he doesn't have to say it for Belle to know that it's true… that he is the Phantom of the Opera.
Until now, she hadn't been sure if the Phantom actually existed. Part of her has always thought the Phantom was a myth, a story that the managers told the singers and dancers to make sure they were in line and did their job. Now it is confirmed to her to be true.
She doesn't know how to feel.
Belle wonders if she should just run. He is a dangerous man. She has seen the aftermath of his actions, has seen the broken props and the injuries. She remembers one time, the lights went out during a rehearsal and an actress fell off the stage and broke her arm.
But the man hasn't hurt her yet, even though he probably could have. So Belle decides to just play along with it. She doesn't believe this to be the 'monster' that everyone else claimed him to be.
She opens her mouth to start singing a song, but this time something else stops her.
"What are you waiting for now?" the man asks, sounding a little impatient with her, but not angry.
"I…" Belle laughs a little, wringing her hands on the edge of her pale green skirt. "I don't know what to sing. Ten years working in an opera house, and suddenly I've forgotten every single song."
There is a few seconds of silence. Belle takes this opportunity to look around her, to try to see who the man is. She sees nothing in the shadows. It doesn't even help that she can hear his voice. It sounds like it's coming from everywhere, bouncing off of every corner, every little dark nook in the opera house.
"Sing me something you know, something that you've heard before and that is close to your heart," the man says.
Belle thinks for a moment. It doesn't take her long to think of the song. It is something that her father used to sing to her when she was a child, his voice soothing her into a peaceful sleep. She can practically hear him now, and she starts the song.
She begins timidly, letting the words slip out of her mouth almost reluctantly. She can feel her heart racing despite the slow and flowing and she takes a little breath. Eyes closing, she lets the song take over, remembering her father singing these words to her.
Belle gets to the second verse, feeling a little more confident. Her voice grows stronger and a smile comes over her face. She opens her eyes again, brushing her hair out of her eyes and letting the music swell through her heart. She can now almost hear the sound of her father's violin playing along with her, warm tones swelling with the sound of her voice.
She sings the last verse, a tear slipping down her cheek. She bites her lip nervously.
There is silence.
Belle can feel the blood rushing to her face. That was bad… the Phantom would be disappointed in her. He had been expecting something beautiful and she had sung him a child's lullaby. She knows that she should have just run while she had the chance.
"Why do you look so distressed? That was beautiful," the man spoke after a long moment of silence.
Belle looked up and around. He could see her face! That meant he had to be somewhere in the audience. If he were backstage, the only thing that he could have seen was the back of her head.
"I… thank you…" she says.
"Now, we have a lot of work to do," the man says, more to himself than to her. "The passion is there, but the technique is lacking."
"What do you mean?" she asks.
"I'm going to tutor you. I'm going to teach you how to sing."
XXX
He listens to her voice in the darkness, closing his eyes and tipping his head back. It is as beautiful as he remembered, clear and floating like water on an early spring morning. It makes his heart clench and his chest ache with pain but he doesn't ever want her to stop, wants to sit there and listen to her forever.
He sits in box five, where he always does, watching the rehearsals and performances take place. From here, he can see almost the whole theater, can look out upon the singers and dancers moving about the stage with a strange sort of grace. It was here where he first saw her, where he first lay eyes on beautiful Belle.
He hasn't stopped thinking about her since.
He can just make out her face in the darkness, can see the tears welling in her eyes as she finishes the song.
He must teach her. The desire to train her voice has turned into a need, burning like a wildfire in his chest.
XXX
Rumple isn't sure about how much time passes after the doors of the opera house close behind Belle, leaving him alone. He sits there long after she leaves, watching the empty stage and imagining her there. The sound of her voice still echoes in his ears, and he closes his eyes, remembering.
He has never heard anything more beautiful than her voice.
"Rumple."
The sound of his name makes him flinch, standing up from his chair, ready to flee. But the words come from the stage, and he can see Madame Mills standing there, her face it's usual scowl.
"What is it, Regina?" he asks, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. His hands shake a little and he is not sure why.
"You can't keep doing this!" Regina Mills snaps. She stares off into the audience, but sees nothing in the dim theater.
"Doing what, dearie?" he responds, though he is sure he already knows the answer to his own question.
"This!" she exclaims. She throws her hands in the air in frustration, unable to put her thoughts into words clearly. "This… dropping props on people and slinking around in the dark!"
She clenches her fist and takes a deep breath. "I can not allow what happened to Gaston to happen to Zelena. Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean you should try to murder them!"
Rumple just stands out of his chair, pulling his dark cloak around his figure and pressing back into the shadows to ensure Regina wont see him. "I will do as I please. Gaston deserved it. I didn't like the way he looked at Belle… plus he was a danger to us all!"
Regina lets out a sigh and runs her hand over her face. "I can't keep protecting you like this…" she says. "People are beginning to suspect…."
"Let them!"
The silence is heavy. Regina's shoulders slump. Rumple has never seen her look so old before. In his mind, she is still the young woman who helped him so long ago.
"And now… the girl…" Regina trails off.
"What about her?"Rumple tries to keep the defensiveness out of his voice, but fails miserably.
"Is it wise to…. involve her?" Regina asks him. She is back to normal, her shoulders square and her eyes facing firmly forwards. She is iron.
There is silence. Regina feels a spark of anger in her chest.
"Are you really willing to risk her life?" she asks, fist clenching at her side. There is still no answer.
It is too late. The Phantom of the Opera has faded into the darkness, becoming one with the night.
XXX
The next day, Belle is actually excited to get to rehearsal. It's a little bit strange, the spring in her step and the brightness in her heart. Something in her has changed since yesterday.
She's so excited, she shows up to work twenty minutes early with her hair done and her uniform on. The stage is empty except for a few people, who sit away from her talking in low whispers.
She takes a seat on the edge of the stage, swinging her legs back and forth, heels hitting the back of the the wood. She wishes the other dancers would leave so she could sing.
"What are you doing here so early?" Ruby asks from behind her.
Belle looks over at her friend, who has just entered the stage. She pads over on light feet. The ribbons of her skirt swish around her legs.
"I… I just didn't want Madame Mills to be angry with me, so I decided to try my best to not be late. I guess I tried a little too hard," Belle responds. Her friend sits down next to her on the stage, grinning.
"You, Belle, not late to something?" Ruby says. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?" She tries to reach over and place her palm on Belle's forehead, as if to check for a temperature.
Belle glares at her. "I'm not late that often."
"Joking, Belle. I was joking." Ruby gives her a little shove and stands back up.
In no time, dance rehearsal has started, and Belle goes to the back row, her mind in the rafters of the opera house, thinking about her voice, thinking about singing for him once more.
Madame Mills didn't seem to notice her distraction or didn't seem to care, because she made no comment on Belle's dancing the whole rehearsal. It is a nice change, and Belle actually finds herself smiling as she moves from pose to pose, her feet light.
In no time, the rehearsal was over. Belle stood in the back, waiting for the stage to clear, her heart pounding. Ruby walks over to her.
"Hey, what are you doing for the next hour? I had this idea. See, my friend has this friend…." Ruby trails off, looking at Belle. The girl is obviously not paying attention. "Are you even listening to me?"
"What?" Belle asks, her voice airy.
"Belle, what's gotten into you? You're acting so strange today… early to rehearsal and staring off into space. Are you on narcotics?" Ruby asks.
"No!" Belle responds, and her voice sounds so appalled that Ruby drops the subject immediately.
"So what are you doing later today?" Ruby asks her friend.
"I… I have a lesson," Belle responds.
"Oooh what kind of lesson?" Ruby asks. "Can you afford lessons?"
"I'm learning to sing, and they are free," Belle responds.
"Singing?" Ruby stares at her friend for almost a full minute. Belle didn't seem like the kind of girl to sing. Ruby has always seen her friend as a dancer.
Belle just nods in response.
"Who's your tutor?" Ruby asks.
"I… I don't know."
Ruby just stares at her friend, not quite understanding. Free singing lessons? From someone that she didn't know? This doesn't make any sense to her. How can a person not know their own tutor? It sounded strange and odd and rather dangerous.
Now it is just the two of them standing together, alone in the opera house. Belle looks up into the audience. She seems distracted, and Ruby doesn't even bother saying anything to her for a few moments.
"Belle? Are you sure this is a good idea? Lessons from…. a person you haven't met? How is that even possible?" Ruby asks.
"I… I don't really have time to explain it to you right now, Ruby… I'm sorry," Belle says. Her tone isn't rude, but Ruby can feel the slight impatience. Belle is obviously waiting for her to leave.
"I… I'm going to go now," Ruby responds, and with that, she walks away, not looking back at her friend.
"Wait…" Belle calls out to her friend, suddenly feeling horrible. She had just pushed her best friend away in favor of someone whose face she hasn't even seen yet.
It is too late. Ruby is already outside, the door closing behind her with a click. Belle is alone, with nothing but the empty chairs and high ceilings.
