A/N: Wow, again its been a long time since I've updated. Opps. I swear, I still am putting my all into this story (okay maybe not... I did start an origional fic, which I am not going to post anywhere until I'm done.) I've been out of school for 2 weeks, so ya think I would have updated sooner, well I have a good excuse, I was at the Naval Academy's Summer Seminar for my first week of summer. I do not think I have ever physically worked harder in my life, advil was my best friend by the end of the week, but the whole experience was a blast. I've also been working, but that is no where near as draining.

A big thanks to all of those who keep upwith this story, as well as all those who review! You guys really help the creative process going.

Disclaimer: I am not going to say this again... and now to our feature presentation.

"I need a black dress," Aslynn told herself out loud, looking at the few dresses she had in her wardrobe. She only had three presentable dresses, and the patched up brown thing that she wore, and destroyed, her first day here. "If only I could just wear pants and one of Erik's opera suits."

The masked man was leaning on the doorframe when he heard this. "For one thing, I doubt they would accept you in the church. I also doubt that my clothes would even fit you," he chuckled. Jumping at Erik's voice Aslynn turned to find him.

"How do you know they won't fit me, aye? I mean look at this shirt on me. I could see with the pants because they are pretty loose, and long." She smartly replied, gesturing to her outfit.

Erik's eyes traced her body, pausing a brief second at her bosom. 'Yes, that shirt does show off her…curves', he thought to him self before saying, "I'm surprised you still wear those things I gave you. Just think what others would think if they saw you in that."

"Well Erik, as far as I can tell, you're the only one who has seen me wearing them. But you're welcome to have them back, if you want." Aslynn playfully teased, moving towards the man. She started to unbutton the top two buttons on her shirt. Instantly she saw Erik's stone face turn a light shade of pink as his eyes widened, realizing that she was going to give him his shirt back right then and there. She smiled as he turned his head away and averted his eyes to the floor.

"Don't worry; I wasn't planning on giving it back…yet. I like wearing it more that those damn dresses."

Erik turned back to face the woman, and found her less than two feet from him. His eyes instantly locked with hers. Even though she had just been joking around with him and appeared to be in a better mood that the day before, her eyes said otherwise. Her blue eyes were darker than normal, like a foggy day at sea. There was no sparkle in them, just a dull numbness.

'This s guy's death really is affecting her. I miss looking into her eyes and finding a sparkle.' Erik's mind raced with thoughts as they stood looking at each other. Aslynn approached him again, her eyes never leaving his masked face. She was close to him, what some would call to close than appropriate, but Aslynn didn't care. She could feel his warm breath, and hear his pulse rising. His stone face tried to remain emotion less, but everything else didn't hide his emotions.

Aslynn pulled back slightly, lowering her gaze away from Erik. "Can you take me up now? So I can get a new dress before going to M. Garnier's house?"

"Yes, but you need to change." He glumly replied, his voice showing a slight disappointment.

"Why can't I go out like this?" Aslynn asked, looking back up. She was trying to lighten Erik's suddenly gloomy mood.

"We've already gone over that," he dryly replied, turning to leave.

"Erik?" she called out as he started to walk down the hall. He stopped, but didn't turn to look at her. "Don't be afraid of… don't… never mind," she stumbled. With that she closed the door, leaving the Phantom standing in the hall, wondering what she was going to say. 'If he wanted a kiss, he should have kissed me himself.'

As they neared the door to the street, Erik finally broke the uncomfortable silence by asking, "What where going to say don't be afraid of?"

Aslynn stopped. 'What do I tell him?' she asked herself, thanking the darkness that his the blush on her cheeks. "Don't worry about it, I wasn't thinking when I started to talk." Erik could tell she was lying, but didn't press her further.

The door to the outside opened to a gray, rainy day. "Great." Aslynn muttered, "I felt my cloak." Turning to Erik, she glanced at his large black cloak. 'Maybe I could use that as an excuse to get him to come out with me.' "Hey Erik," she sweetly cooed.

Looking from the street to looking down at the woman he scowled. "Yes Mademoiselle?"

"Well, I was wondering… since it's raining... could you…" but before she could finish, Erik started to take his cloak off.

"Oh, no, I didn't want your cloak. I… er… wanted you to walk with me. Since it's raining there will be less people, if anyone, on the streets."

Pausing, Erik put his cloak back on. "How would my coming with you keep you dry?"

"Well, uh… we would walk together," seeing Erik's puzzled look she went on, "well, like you know…"

"No, I am afraid I don't know." Was what the masked man replied back with, in a cautious tone.

"Oh… well… like a couple." She finally said, blushing violently. Erik remained silent, but his face said what he was thinking, a big "OH" of shock.

Since he didn't say anything, Aslynn nervously went on, "So, are you going to come with me, at least just to get a dress?"

Erik thought about it for a minuet. 'This beautiful woman wants me, the angle of death, to walk with her in public. She even wants me to come into a woman's clothing shop with her. Let alone she wants us to walk together, I don't know how exactly, but I'm guessing that she doesn't just mean walking next to her. What do I have to loose, besides having the lady in the shop stare at me? People, the few on the streets, shouldn't think too much of it…'

"As you wish," he said.

"Okay, so how I think we should do this is… like… umm, here," she said, giving up on how to describe what she had in mind. She wrapped her left arm around his waist, and gently pulled his arm over her shoulder, pulling the cloak around with it. Then with her free hand she adjusted to long black cloak so it covered her head. With a smile she turned to look up at the masked part of Erik's face. He looked down at her grinning face. The grin slowly faded as she couldn't tell what Erik thought about the situation.

Erik pulled his hood up, locking his face completely and pushed the door open again. They quickly, or as quickly as possible with two people, crossed the street. Once on the other side, they tried to stay under the cover, or at least have Aslynn under the cover because Erik had the hood.

Aslynn pulled herself closer to Erik as the cool rain chilled her body. His response was to grip her shoulder. "Relax dude, if anyone was watching they might be suspicious of you. You're too tense to be walking with you…" she stopped, unsure of what to say.

"Walking with my what?"

"Your girlfriend." Erik remained silent, but loosened his grip on her shoulder. "Better, we are going to the lady I go my other dresses form. I think its two streets over."

When they got to the shop, Aslynn hurried inside. Once inside she realized that Erik didn't follow her. Growling, she opened the door. "Are you just going to stand there?" Before he could respond the woman grabbed his arm and dragged him inside.

A strong scent of perfume instantly filled his nostrils, making he lightly cough. He looked around and realized that he had never been in a woman's clothing shop before. The walls were adorned with dresses of all colors, shapes and sizes. Everything from sparkly pink gowns, to simple gray dresses, from silk to cotton, filled the room. Toward the back corner he saw a display of corsets and stockings, as well as other personal clothes, making him blush slightly. Just as his nose was adjusting to the heavenly aroma, a slight gust blew a stronger concentration into him. He quickly turned to see an elderly woman greeting Aslynn.

"Ah, Mademoiselle! It is good to see you back. I hope all has been well for you." She said in rich florid voice. "And you're wearing one of my creations! How splendid. I never forget a dress that I've sold."

Smiling Aslynn replied, "Yes, I was very pleased with what you should me a while ago, and since I need a black dress, I came right back to your shop."

"I'm so very glad that you did." Turning her gaze away form her customer, the old woman noticed the man in the shadows. Jumping back in shock, she quickly asked, "Is he with you?"

"Oh yes, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce you. Madam Mersaux this is my… my friend Erik." She softly added, "He isn't much of a social person and he doesn't like people to see his face."

"Greetings Monsieur." She said with a slight curtsy. Erik nodded his head slightly, remaining in the shadows.

"Well, let us start looking for that gown." Madam Mersaux said as she made her way around displays of dresses. "Ah! Here, this is made from a lovely silk from the east. Oh and this one, a nice satin blend." The elderly woman ushered Aslynn back to the changing room where she was given the dresses.

As she changed, the woman was chatting away a storm, informing Aslynn of all the latest gossip in Paris. "The DeChangye's are taking their son to England to meet with some great music teacher. Oh, and most interestingly is a wealthy merchant, M. Garnier, just died and his funeral is today. Rumor has it he is leaving a lot of his wealth to, not a servant, but someone who had worked for him. I think one of his captains might be the heir."

Aslynn's ears perked up at the last bit of news. "I am going to his funeral today," she said, over come with shock about the insight of the will. 'What if he is leaving me something? Charles did say that I should come to the will reading. Could I be the employee? I doubt it, since he hasn't known me that well.'

As Aslynn emerged from the changing room with the silk dress on, Madam Mersaux exclaimed, "Really? You sure have made some promising friends in your time here. I forgot, did you say that you are visiting our great city, or moving here?"

Aslynn was caught off guard by this question. Glancing at Erik in the shadows, she saw his eyes shine like gold, like they do in the dark. She said, "Well, I think I've settled down, and plan to stay for sometime. It's quite nice in the city."

Madam Mersaux nodded as she examined the gown on the younger woman. She pulled Aslynn's arms up, then back down, and tugged at the hem several times. " Well Mademoiselle, I think this fits you mighty fine. You have such a perfect figure, all the dresses fit you perfectly. He is a very lucky man."

"Excuse me?"

"The monsieur in the corner, his eyes haven't left you all the time you've been in here. He has the most enchanting golden orbs. Didn't he give you that ring?"

'You have no idea how enchanting he can be.' "No, my late fiancé gave me this ring. And we really aren't… how do you say it? Courting."

"Ah you wish mademoiselle, I'll say nothing further. Do you just want to wear that dress now? I can wrap your old one up."

"That would be great," Aslynn replied still thinking about what the shop keeper had said. She glanced at herself in the mirror before heading to the counter. The woman was right; the dress did fit her great. The silk ruffled out at the waist and the neck v-ed very modestly.

After she paid and said farewell to Madam Mersaux, Aslynn turned to Erik and gently put her arm around his waist. Automatically Erik pulled the cloak across her shoulders and rested his hand there. After pulling the cloak over the woman's head, they departed.

"You are going to Garnier's now, right?" he asked in a soft, deep voice.

"Yes, are you coming?"

"No," he said in such a dark tone that Aslynn didn't even try arguing with him. When they finally made it through the light rain to the foot of Garnier's driveway, Erik said, "I'll be with a husband at the graveyard."

"What the hell Erik? Please do not tell me that you're gay." Aslynn said, stepping away from the man.

"I do not know what you mean by 'gay', but I don't think you mean happy. I will have a carriage for you."

"Oh, well then. I'll see you later?" she replied with a relieved sigh. She gently kissed him on the non-masked cheek before turning to leave.

The house was crowded, with men and women of all sorts. Garnier was a popular man in his life time. Some men were dressed in sailor's uniform, while others looked like business men. All of his staff was there, as well as some other important looking people.

Aslynn stood in the door way for a while, looking around. She felt like some kid who was invited to a party out of charity. She recognized only two people, Louisa and Gareth, but they were too busy serving the guests to notice her. She stood unsure of what to do until a man cleared his throat behind her. Jumping she turned around and saw a white haired man waiting to get by.

"Sorry," she quickly said, getting out of the man's way.

Just as the man passed, Charles entered and called the room to attention. "The reading will begin in five minuets in the ball room."

"The reading of what?" Aslynn asked herself out loud.

A passing lady wearing furs answered, "Monsieur Garnier's will, of course!" She spoke to Aslynn like she was a young child, who didn't understand anything.

"Oh," she replied, while thinking, 'Who stuck a stick up your ass?' The crowd started to move out of the room, taking Aslynn with it. By the time she made it to the elegant ball room, all the seats were taken. She walked in a bit more, and started for a wall when a man with curly, gray hair and a small mustache rose and offered her his chair.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "You look familiar, have we meet?"

"I think so, as I was just about to say that myself. Let me reintroduce myself, I am Monsieur Andre" The man said with a slight bow.

"Yes, I think we briefly meet one day when I was coming to work."

"Ah! Mademoiselle O'Neil! Yes I remember now. How have you been?" Andre smiled warmly.

"To tell you the truth, M. Garnier's death has been hard on me. He was like a father." The young woman softly replied, tears starting to form in her crystal blue eyes.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. Yes, I do remember that he spoke very highly of you." He gently said, handing Aslynn a handkerchief.

Aslynn was about to reply when Charles entered with another man, and the room hushed instantly. "Who is that?" she whispered instead.

"That, mademoiselle, would be M. Garnier's lawyer. He will be the one to read the will and deal with all the legal components."

Aslynn nodded in understanding as the lawyer started to address the room. As he read through the list of people and what they are to receive, she started to drift off into a daydream. She heard Louisa get some kind of jewels and some other heirloom, as well as Charles receiving something of value. When she heard her name she perked up, but too late to hear what she was left. The room was suddenly full of whispers, and glances, looking around to see who this mademoiselle Aslynn O'Neil was. Glancing to Andre, she had a questioning look on her face.

"You are a very lucky lady, mademoiselle." Andre said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Why, I must have missed what was said just before my name."

"My dear, you see everyone looking around for Mademoiselle O'Neil? Most all of them came today in hopes of what you just inherited." Seeing the puzzled look on her face, Andre went on. "My dear, you are the heir to the Garnier estate. He left you everything else."

Feeling her jaw drop in a very un-lady like fashion, Aslynn gasped in shock. "What do you mean by 'everything else'?"

"Mademoiselle, you've just inherited all of his property, including the shipping company, vacation homes, and this house as well."

A/N: A bit of a cliffy... but it shouldn't be as long until the next post. Now please review and tell me what ya think!