DISCLAIMER: Nothing: I own it.

Eponine shivered offstage, partially from excitement, and partially from nerves.

"Break a leg, 'Ponine!" Meg called, dancing off to her place.

"You too!" Eponine replied.

One of the costume ladies came running up to Eponine and quickly began fixing her make-up and hair.

"That's enough! Anymore and the audience won't be able to see her face!" Madame Giry cried, walking up to Eponine and looking her in the eyes.

"Now, do you remember all of your dances?"

"Yes, Madame Giry,"

"Your songs and cues?"

"Yes,"

"Good girl," Madame Giry said before looking up at the rafters.

"Is he –"

"I don't know. 'e came to my audition and the masquerade, so 'e might be 'ere. Probably lurkin' someplace," Eponine said.

Madame Giry nodded and patted Eponine on the shoulder. "Yes, well, do your best out there. Make him proud,"

Eponine nodded and smiled. "I will,"

Madame Giry nodded and straightened up as the curtain opened, Francois already onstage with his little puppet theatre.

Eponine smiled and looked out at the audience, though she remained unseen behind the curtain. If Erik was out there, she couldn't see him. But she hoped that he was.

Erik would have preferred to have been sitting in a box seat, but the balcony would suffice. He looked down at the stage as the curtain opened, and smiled. Ah, Clopin. One of his favorite characters. The narrator of the opera. Erik watched as Clopin told the story of how Quasimodo came into Frollo's care, and then finished the opening number. The audience clapped, and Erik smiled in triumph. So far, so good.

Erik found himself mostly smiling and nodding in approval as the opera progressed. All of the performers were fairly strong in their singing and acting ability, and Erik approved of their choices as well. Frollo was more complicated than just a villain, Phoebus was charming yet arrogant, and Quasimodo was wretched without being pathetic. So far, Eponine's appearances as Esmeralda had been fleeting, but Erik knew she would be having her "big dance" during the Festival of Fools, which would be coming up soon. Erik sat back in satisfaction as Quasimodo snuck out of his tower to go to the Festival. Ah, here it was.

"Come one, come all!" the crowd sang.

"Leave your loops and milking stools

Coop the hens and pen the mules

Come one, come all!

Close the churches and the schools

It's the day for breaking rules

Come and join the feast of –"

"Fools!" Clopin shouted, jumping up from amongst the people, confetti flying everywhere. Clopin laughed and addressed both the audience and the crowd onstage.

"Once a year we throw a party here in town

Once a year we turn all Paris upside down

Ev'ry man's a king and ev'ry king's a clown

Once again it's Topsy Turvy Day," Clopin sang, grabbing random women from the crowd and dancing with them before prancing around the stage. Erik smiled. Clopin almost made Erik like gypsies.

"It's the day the devil in us gets released

It's the day we mock the prig and shock the priest

Ev'rything is topsy turvy at the Feast of Fools!" Clopin sang as the crowd parted, revealing gypsies in bizarre and almost gruesomely comedic costumes.

"Topsy turvy!"

"Ev'rything is upsy daysy!" Clopin laughed.

"Topsy turvy!"

"Ev'ryone is acting crazy

Dross is gold and weeds are a bouquet

That's the way on Topsy Turvy Day," Clopin sang, skipping off to allow more colorfully dressed gypsies to parade in their costumes.

"Topsy Turvy!"

"Beat the drums and blow the trumpets!" Clopin sang with the crowd.

"Topsy Turvy!"

"Join the bums and thieves and strumpets

Streaming in from Chartres to Calais," Clopin sang with the crowd before once more singing alone.

"Scurvy knaves are extra scurvy

On the sixth of 'Januervy'," Clopin laughed, the crowd joining in again.

"All because it's Topy Turvy Day!"

"Come one, come all!" Clopin sang solo again.

"Hurry, hurry, here's your chance

See the myst'ry and romance,

Come one, come all

See the finest girl in France,

Make an entrance to entrance," Clopin sang, elbowing one of the men in the crowd before winking at the audience. Erik sat up straighter. He knew this cue . . .

"Dance la Esmeralda

Dance!" Clopin commanded, throwing some substance onto the stage, creating a cloud of purple smoke. The audience gasped, and out of the smoke came Eponine, already in dance.

Erik nearly fell out of his chair.

Eponine was wearing a red silk dress that clung to her torso and billowed out around her legs. Her hair had been piled in part on top of her head, a few locks straying down her neck. She had a golden tiara on her head, and Erik wondered how it stayed on her head – what with all of the moving she was doing onstage. Speaking of which – Erik found her dance to be a little too provocative for his tastes. Yes, Esmeralda was supposed to be sexually appealing, but she also was sixteen and still fairly naïve and innocent – which made the lust of Frollo and Phoebus even more sinful. An unknowing temptress; that was who Esmeralda was supposed to be.

And it seemed that she was doing an excellent job at the tempting. Quasimodo, Phoebus, and Frollo alike were staring at Eponine as she danced, though each with their own version of their lust – or in Quasimodo's case, awe. And it was then that Erik noticed that it was merely the dance that was provocative, not Eponine – or Esmeralda – herself. There was just a hint of discomfort in the way she moved, like she knew this wasn't who she was. Men in the crowd reached out to touch her, but she shied away from them. It was subtle, but visible. And Erik loosened his shoulders and sighed. He had been afraid that those damn fools Andre and Firmin had turned Esmeralda into slut.

Erik watched the rest of the opera in satisfaction. Eponine was well-received by the audience – better than well-received – and when it came time for the curtain call, she received a standing ovation. Erik himself stood up and clapped – paying no heed to keeping himself concealed.

And he could have sworn that Eponine looked straight at him as she bowed.

Eponine felt exhilarated. This was a thousand times grander than when she had done the preview at the masquerade! Madame Giry shielded Eponine from the opera goers trying to talk to her or hand her flowers, and eventually Eponine had been led safely to her – previously Carlotta's – dressing room.

"If anyone steps within ten feet of this door I will throw them in the river!" Madame Giry warned before closing the door.

"Mon dieu . . ." Madame Giry muttered under her breath before turning to face Eponine, a smile on her face.

"Well done, my dear. You were wonderful," Madame Giry said, gently putting a hand on Eponine's shoulder.

"I'm sure he was very proud of you," Madame Giry added.

"In fact, I know that he was proud of you," she said, pulling out a rose with a black ribbon tied to the stem.

"Amongst the chaos I found this suddenly pressed into my hand. I can only imagine who it was for," she said, smiling as she handed the gift to Eponine.

The street waif took the rose with a kind of reverence, and she gently fingered the ribbon, a smile on her face.

"Thank you, Madame Giry. Not just for this, but for everything. Thank you for being so kind to me, and for giving me a chance, and for rescuing him from the gypsies. God knows what would have happened had you not," Eponine said, looking Madame Giry in the eye.

Madame Giry blinked, and she nodded, giving Eponine a small smile before exiting the dressing room.

"I thought I told you to stay ten feet away!" she scolded before closing the door behind her.

Eponine chuckled and looked back down at the rose, gently stroking the ribbon before putting it down on her dressing table. She gently let her hair down and took off her ankle bracelets. She made to start unlacing her dress when she suddenly stopped, smirking.

"I know you're there," she called out.

There was silence, and then a panel in the wall opposite Eponine's vanity mirror opened, Erik stepping out.

"Did you just make that passage there, or was it 'ere before?" Eponine asked, crossing her arms.

"This is an old building, 'Ponine. They may have remodeled most of it, but many of the old passages are still intact," Erik said, closing the panel behind him.

Eponine just raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Old 'abits die 'ard, I guess,"

"You're one to talk," Erik scoffed.

"Only my personality's stayed the same: I don't go around stealin' bread and gettin' in trouble with the police," Eponine said.

"And this is the first time I've used any sort of secret passage to spy in a long time," Erik retorted.

"You're just lucky I realized you were 'ere before I was completely undressed," Eponine said.

"There's no one-way mirror, 'Ponine. I doubt I would have seen anything," Erik said, rolling his eyes.

Eponine just sniffed. "Is there any particular reason you came 'ere? I mean, I enjoy your company and all, but –"

"I just came to congratulate you. You truly were magnificent," Erik said, smiling.

Eponine smiled back. "Thank you. I got your rose," Eponine said, gesturing towards the flower on her table.

"Yes, I saw Madame Giry give it to you. I never told you that it was her who rescued me, how did you –"

"Please, I'm not an idiot: she obviously knew more than she was lettin' on, and you said a ballerina freed you," Eponine said, crossing her arms.

"You're a little too clever for your own good sometimes, you know that?" Erik asked.

Eponine flashed him a grin.

Someone suddenly knocked on the door, and both Eponine and Erik jumped.

"Hide," Eponine hissed.

"Where?" Erik asked.

Eponine looked around frantically and then roughly pushed Erik behind the screen.

"Who's there?" Eponine called.

"It's Madame Giry, there's a Monsieur Marius here to see you," Madame Giry replied.

Eponine nodded, her heart pounding frantically. It shouldn't be too hard to keep Marius from looking behind the screen; she could say that she had her undergarments over there and he'd blush like a school boy and keep away from it like the plague.

"He can come in!" Eponine said.

"Are you decent?" Marius asked.

Eponine rolled her eyes. Oh yes, keeping Marius away from the screen should be no trouble at all.

"I am fully clothed, Marius," Eponine replied.

The door cracked open and Marius entered, a bright smile on his face.

"You did wonderfully, 'Ponine! You stunned everyone in the audience!" Marius exclaimed.

Eponine just smiled.

"I'd ask you who your teacher was, but I have a feeling that you wouldn't tell me," Marius said.

"He just prefers to be kept anonymous," Eponine said, shrugging. She had to keep her eyes from wandering over to the screen.

"Right. Well, I have someone who'd like to see you," Marius said, opening the door a little wider, Cosette stepping into the room.

The lark seemed to have undergone similar changes that Christine had, looking older and wiser, a happy glow around her face and a slight bulge to her stomach. Mon dieu, did every married woman get pregnant instantly?

"Oh, Eponine! It's so good to see you!" Cosette exclaimed, embracing the street waif.

Eponine stood there in shock. Cosette, happy to see her? That was a surprise, considering how awfully Cosette had been treated by Eponine and her sister as a child.

"You were amazing out there, 'Ponine! I wish I could sing and dance half as well as you!" Cosette said.

Eponine blinked. "Thank you. 'ow've you two ben?" Eponine asked.

"Oh, wonderful! I'm expecting!" Cosette exclaimed.

"Yes, Cosette and I will be starting a family soon, we've got a new house . . . ."

Eponine nodded, smiling. "I'm 'appy for you two,"

"And you've obviously been doing well! The lead soprano, who would've guessed?" Cosette exclaimed.

Eponine smiled. "It certainly wasn't what I was expecting,"

"And I see you've even got an admirer!" Cosette said, pointing to the rose in Eponine's hand.

Eponine looked down at the rose and had to keep herself from laughing. "Oh, no, this is from a friend, that's all,"

Cosette looked like she wanted to inquire further, but Marius laughed and put a hand on Cosette's arm. "Let it rest, Cosette. Let 'Ponine keep her secrets. If she doesn't want to tell you, she won't speak a word of it,"

Cosette nodded, and then her eyes brightened, looking over at Eponine. "Would you like to come with us to the ABC Café? It would be our treat!"

The mention of the old meeting place of the Les Amis ABC sent a pang through Eponine's heart, and she shook her head. Marius nodded knowingly, and then turned to Cosette. "I think we should leave 'Ponine now: she's had a long day, and she's going to need her rest for tommorrow's show,"

Cosette nodded and hugged Eponine again. "It really was wonderful to see you again," she said before letting her go. Marius walked up to Eponine and he put a hand on her upper arm, a familiar gesture. "I'm glad that you've found a better life, 'Ponine. I'll sleep easier knowing that there's no danger of you starving on the streets," he said before turning and walking out of the room with Cosette.

Eponine watched them leave, and she sighed when the door closed. It was nice to see them happy, but she couldn't help the ache she felt in her heart when Marius touched her shoulder, and said how her being safe was so essential to him. Over the past few months she had been wondering as to why she had ever been in love with Marius, but now she remembered: it was how much he cared. He had such a kind heart, he was the first person to ever give a damn about her. That's why she had fallen in love with him.

"I recognized that boy's voice: he's the one you almost died for at the barricades, isn't he?" Erik said, having appeared behind Eponine without her noticing. He was standing behind her right shoulder.

Eponine nodded.

"He was the one you were in love with, wasn't he?"

Again, Eponine nodded.

"You still are in love with him, aren't you?"

Eponine clenched her teeth, and she nodded again.

Eponine heard Erik take in a deep breath. "I see," he said.

Eponine sighed. "Not as much as I used to, but . . . . 'e was the first person to ever give a damn, the first person whom I ever gave a damn about . . ."

"He'll always have a place in your heart," Erik whispered.

Eponine nodded.

Erik took in a deep breath. "I know what you mean,"

Christine, of course, Eponine thought, feeling something in her twinge.

Erik put a hand on Eponine's shoulder, and she almost jumped in surprise. She turned her head to look at the Phantom, and he was staring back down at her with those intense eyes. Those eyes so full of sadness and hurt. That madness that Eponine had seen when she first met Erik was completely gone, and she liked to think that she was the reason for that.

"Yes?" Eponine asked.

"I was once told by an incredibly brave and stubborn girl that I wasn't alone. I'd like to tell you the same thing," Erik said.

Eponine smiled up at him. "I know. I know I 'aven't been alone for a long time," Eponine replied.

Erik raised an eyebrow, and he slowly smiled. "When did you realize that?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it was when we became friends," Eponine said.

Erik smiled down at her. "I believe the same holds true for me,"

Eponine smiled.

Erik smiled back down, and he did something very un-Erik-like. He hugged her. He wrapped his arms around her and he hugged her. Eponine stood there, stunned, and then she slowly hugged him back.

"You are by far a better student than Christine ever was. I value our time together more than I ever did with her," Erik whispered.

Eponine's eyes opened wide. Did he really just say that?

"I wouldn't trade our lessons for the world, my friend," Erik said.

Friend, Eponine thought. Why did she feel that slight twinge of disappointment when he said that?

Erik pulled back, and with his thumb he gently brushed back a piece of Eponine's hair from her forehead. "I'll let you finish getting out of costume: tomorrow is going to be tiring for you; you'll need your rest,"

Eponine blinked, and she nodded. "I'll see you in the morning," she said.

Erik nodded. "Sleep well," he said before exiting through the passage in the wall.

Eponine blinked, staring at the place in the wall where the door had been, then looking down at the rose still in her hand. She lifted it and gently sniffed the petals, smiling. Freshly cut. Eponine fondly fingered the black ribbon tied to the stem, a small smile on her face.

"Mon ange," she whispered.

*holds out Punjab lasso to readers* You know you want to. DX Go ahead! Kill me for being an awful author and not updating in months when I used to update at least once a week! Go ahead! I'm putting my head on the chopping block! Go ahead and maim me to your heart's content! *whimpers*

I hope the slight E/E in this chappie made up for my absence.

Ah, who am I kidding, NOTHING CAN MAKE UP FOR HOW AWFUL I'VE BEEN TO YOU WONDERFUL READERS! DDDDDDDDDDDDX

~FantasticMisticalWonder (FMW/Wonder)

p.s. The song was Topsy Turvy from the Hunchback of Notre Dame