Disclaimer: Oh boy, I missed writing these things. After I find the Golden… Straw in the Victorious chocolate … smoothie, dance with a bunch of neon 'vertically challenged' people, drink soda/burp in a room I'm not supposed to be in or touch, and beat out like 5 other people (and their legal guardians) who also want to own Victorious… Then, and only then, will I own Victorious or Phantom of the Opera.

When the lights came back on the scene was set to outside the Opera House again, this time the background was following a carriage that was being driven down the street. Inside it was Andre, who was looking extremely excited about how the Opera House had a line up going past the block, and Robbie, who had the facial expression of someone feeling something between smug and impatient.

After clambering out of their carriage they made their way through the doors into the Opera House and bee lined their way to an older man. We were running out of people and this was just a really small minor role, so we made the group decision to ask Sikowitz if he could act as Mercier for one scene. Just one. Nothing big, he just had to talk and pretend to be normal for five seconds. Yeah, I know, weird asking the person that's supposed to grade you to be a part of the project, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

"Bonjour Monsieur Mercier!" Andre grinned and went to shake Sikowitz's hand enthusiastically. "Comment ca va?"

Sikowitz shook his head after letting go of Andre's hand and laughed. "Please, Monsieur Moncharmin. Your accent is most hideous; English, please." Sikowitz had a rather believable French accent going on that… none of us really knew he could do until we rehearsed.

"In that case," Robbie stepped in, "how's the business doing Mercier?"

"Blunt as usual, Richard." Sikowitz looked more annoyed than taken back by his question. It didn't last long, as he was booming with excitement next. "Business is great! I think 1870 will be our best year yet. We have yet another full house booked for tonight!"

All three men looked dressed for it as well, suited up in what was then considered 'casual' tuxedos. Besides the outfit they mostly looked the same, with the exception of Andre's hair. It was really different compared to his old hair. We had offered to let him use a wig because his hair definitely wouldn't fit in, but he refused and the next day he came back with it cut and styled for the play. When I asked him why he would do that to himself he said it was important to Tori, so it was important to him. I punched him for being a sap afterwards.

"Oh, enough with the numbers talk," Andre grinned playfully and put his arms over the shoulders of the two other men, "I want to see everything inside!" Neither of the others looked as amused.

"Hmm…" Sikowitz pondered for a moment before deciding his course of action. "I suppose our last guest is late then, I guess we'll have to go on without him for now. Very well, follow me!"

They walked through the theatre, past random stage crew members working on fake cleaning and in the background you could hear Tori, Cat and Trina pretend practicing faintly; just loud enough to make a whisper in your ears. Echoing their voices was the mini orchestra hidden in front of the stage that was playing softly on their own.

Out of nowhere Sikowitz jumped aside, and Robbie mimicked his actions. Andre however, was purposely too slow to move aside. He almost fell over after Tori ran smack into him, causing her to lose her balance. Luckily Andre caught her in time, or else she would've fell. Tori wasn't supposed to run into him that fast, and they stared at each other a little too long after he caught her, if you catch my drift. She looked a bit better than usual in the dancer's uniform dress though. Didn't hate it or anything.

Finally, Tori remembered where she was and spoke. "I'm so sorry Monsieur!"

Andre stood there with his jaw hanging out. Good thing that they went back to the script or I'd have thrown something at the two of them. The hell were they doing spacing out like that. She blinked at him a few times and then reached out to pat his face and close his mouth for him. Tori flushed when he didn't say anything and turned to walk away.

"Uh, wait! Mademoiselle, what is your name?" Andre managed a sentence.

"Oh, how rude of me!" Tori curtseyed and stayed in that slightly bowing position as she continued speaking. "I am Meg Giry, I dance here." Trina called out the name Meg from backstage to cue Tori's exit. "Sorry, I must go. It was nice meeting you Monsieur!" And then she sprinted head first backstage.

"Stunning, absolutely breathtaking…" Andre muttered, still gazing at where Tori had disappeared. Robbie cleared his throat loudly and as usual, looked annoyed.

Sikowitz chuckled. "Not only that, but Mademoiselle Giry also helps me manage the funds and people here; she is a great hand to have around. Just because I own the Opera House does not mean I take care of it myself."

They continued onwards through various areas until they reached a miniature stage. I chuckled to myself. Half a fake auditorium on a stage, it was the … funny? Not like haha, but you get it? thing we had to build. On the second stage stood Trina, who was singing mutely as if she was in the background. She was in full dress costume and make up as if it was the big night already.

"I see you've noticed another one of our prizes," Sikowitz paused to let Andre look at Robbie. He had the awkward stare for Trina that Andre had been making mere seconds ago at Tori. "This one is Carlotta."

"Carlotta? The Carlotta? The one that stars in almost all of your recent shows?" Robbie asked, still gawking pathetically.

Trina paused in the middle of her speech and responded to him as if he'd also caught her eye. "One and only, Monsieur." She then curtseyed to be polite.

"Well then, if Carlotta does not mind?" Trina shrugged and shook her head no, so Sikowitz continued. "By now I don't think I need to announce that I'm going into early retirement, most of you gossips have spread it around much more than I'd like, thanks." He squinted his eyes at the visible stage crew but smiled to let them know he was kidding. "Your new managers will be Messieurs Moncharmin and Richard!" A bit of applause broke out from the stage crew as Andre and Robbie bowed happily. "I was going to introduce you to our third and final guest, but-"

"He likes making dramatic late entrances. My sincerest apologies for being tardy, gentlemen." Beck walked out of the backstage shadows and took his place with the other three. He'd styled his hair back so it seemed a little bit shorter than usual for a later scene. I wonder how much gel that took.

"Aha! That is no problem, just good to have you here. Ladies and Gentlemen, our third guest is le Vicomte de Chagny!" Sikowitz proudly showed Beck off to everyone. I have to admit, Beck in a tuxedo type outfit is really kind of… awesome. Maybe I just have a thing for formal wear.

Beck laughed a hearty laugh, and it was nice even though just an act. "Please gentlemen, just Raoul is fine."

"Well now that you are all acquainted, I think it is time I take my leave." Sikowitz looked up at me and gave me that 'I did it, I did it' look that probably seemed like a dramatic stance to our audience. "Au revoir, et bon chance!" With that he grabbed a small bag of luggage in one hand, put on his hat with the other, and walked off stage while waving goodbye.

"May we return to rehearsal?" … I don't know when Sinjin got there, but he was already on stage and talking. His hair was tied back into a ponytail and though it was white he was only meant to look in his late twenties or thirties, a few years older than the rest.

"Of course, of course-" Andre started, but Robbie interrupted.

"Actually, I was hoping Carlotta could sing an aria for me. That wonderfully sweet one that Elissa sings in Act Three. If she does not mind, I mean."

Trina smiled some sort of devilish smile and tilted her head. "If you so wish me to then I do not mind, Monsieur Manager."

Sinjin looked peeved but tapped his stick at the piano boy in the back. A soft melody began to play, and after hearing it for a little while Trina's voice accompanied it.

Think of me,
think of me fondly
when we've said
goodbye.

The lights grew dim for a second and I saw that was my cue. I grabbed a pair of scissors and reached my gloved hand out just far enough that the audience could see it but not me. My hand pretty much shined due to how white it was, and the metallic scissors weren't dull either. It was great because my suit was black, meaning they couldn't see my arm, just a floating hand with scissors. The audience gasped in warning as they slowly realized I was going to cut the sandbag that seemed to be hovering above Trina while she sang. That was a stage trick though; it was actually a bit in front of Trina's standing spot so when she jumped back after the dust cleared it was sure not to hit her.

When you find

Two inches away from the string.

that once again you long

One inch.

to take your heart back

I grinned.
Snip.

and be-

SMASH

A giant cloud of dust formed as cover for everyone to get into their shocked positions while Trina screeched at the top of her lungs through coughs. The dust cleared relatively fast thanks to the stage crew and their vacuum fan, but by then my hand had already disappeared out of place. The females of stage crew were screaming "The ghost! The phantom! He's here!" in the background.

Trina was stomping her way backstage when Andre blocked her path. "Mademoiselle, please! It was merely an accident. They happen, everything is fine!"

"I cannot work under these conditions, sir!" Trina huffed and looked as though she meant to slap Andre, but Robbie slid over. Trina glared at him. "Get rid of this so called Phantom, or you'll never see me again!" And then she pushed by both of them and continued to stomp out dramatically.

Robbie looked furious, rage spewing from his eyes as if it was trying to melt Andre in front of him. "What are we going to do? That's a full house tomorrow, a full house! We'll have to refund a full house, out of our own pockets!"

"Come on now, Richard…" Andre turned to talk to Tori who had reappeared. "Where did Mercier say he was going, again?"

"Around the world, Monsieur…" Tori looked down in response as Andre started to pale. "And furthermore, I have a note from the Phantom for you. It's always left for whoever organizes and deals with funds, so… that would be me right now."

Robbie whipped around and shouted at the audience. "Good lord, you're all fruits!" Andre signaled weakly for Tori to continue explaining.

"Um, well. She says 'Hello, welcome to my Opera House.', and that she expects the same as she did with Mercier to keep the peace." Tori nodded as though it was obvious.

"Her Opera House? How do you know it's a her? Never mind that," Robbie paused and looked up at the ceiling where my hand used to be. "This is our Opera House, not yours!"

Andre ignored Robbie's fuming and continued talking to Tori as though Robbie wasn't there at all. "And what would her usual be, Mademoiselle Giry?"

"Box five remains empty and seventy-five thousand francs are left there for her per month." Tori whispered, seeming to be afraid of Robbie's outburst.

Robbie can do this thing where he makes the veins in his forehead pop out, and it comes in handy when you're working with him on things like this. "Seventy-five thousand francs?"

Again ignoring Robbie, Andre asked Tori another question. "Who would be Carlotta's understudy?"

"With le Vicomte de Chagny as your new guest, seventy-five thousand francs is not much of a sacrifice. And there isn't one, but I know who could sing for you." Robbie started grumbling and muttering on about how nobody would be able to replace Carlotta because she's the Carlotta, but nobody really paid attention to him and kept talking anyway. "Christine Daae, Monsieur. A personal friend of mine who sings chorus here, she's been taking lessons."

Out from behind the fake stage Cat's head popped out, and you could see she really was just a lowly chorus girl from the way she acted and how she was dressed. "I heard you say my name, Meg? Oh, good evening Messieurs."

"Elissa's aria, Act Three. I know you heard, so continue where she left off." Sinjin instructed Cat mercilessly and instructed the piano boy to play again. He played it even softer this time, and with more feeling as instructed.

We never said our love was evergreen,
or as unchanging as the sea.
But if you can still remember,
stop and think of me.

Beautiful. You could mute everything else in the world, make me blind and have the only sound I hear Cat's voice and I'd be happy. Hearing her sing after such a long time of barely hearing her talk, it was like letting a recovering alcoholic into the liquor store. I almost fell off the rafters.

Think of all the things
we've shared and seen,
don't think about the way
things might have been.

Andre scooted over to where Robbie was watching carefully and whispered loud enough for the audience. "She does have a beautiful voice, and looks as well." Robbie grumbled a 'maybe' and Tori shared a triumphant smile with Andre.

Think of me, think of me waking,
silent and resigned.
Imagine me trying too hard
to put you from my mind.

I was staring at Cat the entire time, waiting for the fourth and last verse to come. I should've cut it at three verses or so, so that her singing wouldn't be so long but… I couldn't help it. This verse was for us, from me to her. As I was hoping she got it, she looked up at me and confirmed she did with a small smile. It wasn't forgiveness, but it was acknowledgement. That's a start.

Recall those days, look back on all those times,
think of the things we'll never do.
There will never be a day
when I won't think of you.

Closing my eyes, I smiled and let her voice briefly take me away.

–To be Continued–

A/N:
ohayguise, I'm back. 8D and pretty hyped up, actually.
There may or may not be problems with this chapter because I found myself making a lot of strange errors (?) around halfway through at 5am. … I'll fix it later.

And as a warning, the rewrite chapters are going to be quite long. Like this one.
… I'm not sure if that's good or bad to you.

If you like (I made cupcakes for you) or dislike (I have throwing stars, you get one in your eye(s)), let me know with a review.
*Either way, more reviews mean faster updates, yee yee.