D.A.: I am SO sorry it's taken so long for me to update, but I've been so busy lately! I've had projects due in almost every class at school, and I just haven't had the time. Sorry! Oh, and by the way LoverofBalto, I do believe I shall take your advice and dispose of Raoul soon.

RAOUL: Hey, you can't do that to me!

D.A.: (bashes Raoul on the head with a pole) Yes I can, now stop whining!

RAOUL: But-

D.A.: (bashes Raoul again) No 'buts'! I am the authoress! I am all-powerful! Keep annoying me, and I'll kill you off instead of what I have planned!

Tag

Aminta raced blindly, furiously through the darkness. She had no idea where she was going; she was just following her feet. She ended up in the catwalks above the stage. Well, that was just fine. She glared down at Raoul, who was still on the stage below her, staring up at Box 5 as though she would reconsider her actions and come back. When that didn't happen, Raoul turned and hurried away up the aisle. She growled in her throat as she watched him. Fool, he'd never figure out how to open the door. But where was Erik? She glanced around for him, but did not see him anywhere. He must have followed her, so where was he? Her eyes widened and she spun around and saw Erik watching her. He had been trying to catch her unawares so she couldn't run away from him. He had forgotten how sensitive she was to being watched. He was slightly startled when she turned on him so quickly, but he composed himself.

"Aminta-" he said gently, reaching out to her. "Aminta-"

"No!" she shouted angrily. "I don't want to see either of you right now!"

"Aminta, what I said, I didn't mean it like that," he said.

"I don't care! I really don't want to hear it! I don't want to talk to you or anyone right now, so go away."

"Go away? No one says 'go away' to the Opera Ghost!"

"Oddly enough, I think I just did! Don't try to be funny, I'm not in the mood." She turned to leave across one of the catwalks, but Erik moved and blocked her path. She glared at him for a moment, then darted halfway across one of the others. She froze when she saw Erik directly across from her on the opposite walk. She made as though to run to the left, but Erik moved too. The same thing happened when she tried to go to the right.

'This must be how Buquet felt in his last moments,' she thought. 'Severely disquieted.' She bolted finally into the shadows and didn't hear Erik following. Had she outrun him? Not likely. Something was going on. She made it up to the third level catwalks…

…and almost literally ran into Erik.

She backed away slowly, not taking her eyes off Erik for an instant. He smiled at her somewhat darkly as she tried to figure a way out. She bumped into something and glanced back. Somehow some of the sandbags had fallen, blocking her path. From Erik's dark laugh, she guessed it wasn't an accident. She glared back at him, and nearly jumped when she realized how much closer he had come.

"Now will you please calm down and talk to me?" he asked.

Aminta's eyes darted around, and she smiled grimly as she got an idea. "No." So saying, she whipped her handkerchief out of her pocket, wrapped it around one of the ropes, and slid down to the stage. She started to run, but Erik slid down right in front of her.

"Just leave me alone!" she exclaimed in exasperation, backing up and holding out one hand as though to fend him off.

"Aminta, I just want to talk to you," said Erik gently, reaching out to her. As luck would have it, that's exactly how they were when Raoul came back. You can imagine what it looked like to him: Erik reaching out for Aminta, Aminta backing away holding out her hand. He just stared for a moment, then his face darkened.

"Is this what it looks like?" he demanded.

"Uh…" said Aminta cleverly, trying to think of a way to make things look less like what they were. An idea came to her, but it was humiliating. She groaned silently. 'I'm gonna hate myself for this,' she thought. She reached out just a little further and tapped Erik's arm with a childish cry of, "Tag, you're It!" before darting off. Erik blinked, staring after her for a moment before pursuing her.

"Where do you think you're going?" snapped Raoul, jumping up on the stage.

"Didn't you hear her?" asked Erik coolly. "Apparently, I'm It." With that, he gave chase to Aminta.

He pursued her all the way up to the rooftop, where she sat broodingly on the ledge, her legs crossed loosely, elbows resting on her knees, mouth pressed against her folded hands. He stood watching her for a time, silently considering her. Her thick, long hair had come loose from its ponytail and streamed behind her in the wind, catching the light from the moon. She looked like a shadow, or a secret.

"I know you're there, Erik," she said icily.

"Aminta, what's really upsetting you?" he asked. Aminta looked over her shoulder at him in surprise.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"There's something more here that's upsetting you," said Erik. "What is it?" Aminta didn't answer, just turned away again. "Aminta, please. Confide in me. You said you could tell me anything."

"Did I?" she asked, not turning this time. "When was that?"

"Three days ago."

"Can you give the exact time and place?"

"Yes."

Aminta laughed in her throat and turned around fully.

"Aminta, please come away from the edge. I don't like you sitting like that."

"You are a father, aren't you." Smiling, Aminta hopped down off the ledge and walked towards him a ways.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong now?" Erik asked gently. Aminta sighed.

"No, but I will anyway," she said. "You're not going to leave me alone until I do. I'm just so confused! Ever since I met you, things have gone from bad to worse, and nothing's ever OK unless I'm with you. You make the world stop spinning out of control for a while and give me peace and time to think and make sense of things. But even though I'm so happy with you, no one else seems willing to let us be together. And by that, I mean Raoul. He's never going to just accept this whole situation, and I'm afraid that someone's going to get hurt. What if I'm not there next time he brandishes a pistol? I couldn't stand to lose you, not now, not after everything that's happened. And I don't want him getting hurt either. I don't want anyone getting hurt, but I'm so afraid that that's how this whole opera of ours is going to resolve itself, and I can't stand the thought of that happening, of someone getting hurt or killed because of me, I…"

"Shh," said Erik softly, taking her into his arms. "It's all right, no one's going to get hurt. And it's not your fault, any of it. You can't control what's happening around you now. Don't cry, Aminta." For Aminta had started crying softly. She just cried for a time, and Erik held her close, trying to comfort her. He could feel her tears soaking into his shirt, but it didn't matter. Finally Aminta caught her breath and stepped back a little, trying to calm herself. Erik gave her his handkerchief, since she had dropped hers on the stage.

"I can't go on like this," she said softly after drying her eyes. "This is crazy. It's not supposed to be this hard."

"What isn't?" asked Erik.

"Living! Just being alive! I've spent my whole life wishing I were someone else, or somewhere else, on a grand, epic adventure. My own adventure turned out to be quite different."

"It'll be all right, I promise."

"Will it?"

"It will."

This new voice caused both Erik and Aminta to look up in surprise. Christine stood in the doorway watching them, her eyes infinitely sad, just like Aminta's could be. She walked towards them slowly.

"It will be all right," she said again. "I'll make sure of that. Aminta, I'm so sorry. For everything. This isn't your fault, or Erik's. It's mine. I've made mistakes, the worst of which being not telling you the truth, either of you. I don't know what I was thinking now. I probably wasn't thinking at all. But I've caused a lot of confusion and pain that could easily have been avoided if I had just told the truth. I thought that hiding it from everyone was the best thing, so no one would ever know what I had done. No one would ever know I was unfaithful to Raoul. I should have known better. I don't think I can ever make it up to either of you, but I want to try, if you'll let me."

"Mother," said Aminta softly. Then, smiling, she went to her and hugged her tightly. Christine smiled and returned the hug. "It's all right. I forgive you."

"As do I," said Erik softly, but he didn't move towards her. Christine smiled at him over Aminta's shoulder.

"So what do we do now?" asked Aminta.

"You explain to me what the hell is going on up here," came another new voice. Aminta rolled her eyes and pulled apart from her mother as Raoul joined them on the roof. He did not look pleased.

"Well?" he demanded.

"Well what?" retorted Aminta. "Who invited you? This is a private party."

"Don't be funny, Amy," said Raoul coldly. "This is not the time for your silly jokes."

"Must you be so theatrical?" asked Christine.

"Well, we are on the roof of a theatre," Aminta pointed out.

"Enough!" shouted Raoul.

"Father's right, you do yell a lot," commented Aminta. Raoul's face nearly turned purple when she said this, for he knew she was not using 'Father' to refer to him.

"What is going on here?" he demanded.

"I'm talked with my daughter and her father," replied Christine. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for our daughter!" snapped Raoul. "You didn't see what happened before, she didn't want anything to do with him!"

"Or you," said Aminta icily. "I have since changed my mind. Now I just want nothing to do with you." She turned and walked back to Erik and stood by his side. "I have made my choice," she said. As though to punctuate this, she leaned up and kissed Erik's cheek. He seemed surprised by this, but said nothing, only took Aminta's hand. Raoul was nearly apoplectic with rage and turned to Christine for help.

"Christine," he said. "Little Lotte, you must have something to say about all this! This is madness!"

"No, Raoul," said Christine tiredly. "Madness is living in the lie I wove so long ago that has been building and growing all these years. The lie is exposed and destroyed now, and where does that leave us? It leaves me guilt-stricken and sad, it leaves Aminta lost and confused, it leaves you nearly maddened by jealously and rage, and it leaves Erik with the prospect of a family."

"What are you saying?" demanded Raoul.

"I'm saying that jealousy and rage do not become you," she said. "I'm saying that I've had enough lies. I'm saying that I want a normal life for my daughter, as normal as it can be. I'm saying that I want her to be happy."

"Christine…" said Raoul softly, eyes widening as he realized what she was getting at. "Christine, darling, we can work through this. We'll figure this out, just calm down and…"

"I am calm," replied Christine coolly. "You are the one getting bent out of shape over this. And that too is very unattractive. There's something else that I am saying, in answer to your first question."

"Christine," groaned Raoul.

"I'm saying that I made a huge mistake the night of Don Juan."