Chapter 6: All I Ask Of You and the New Opera

It was a week later and Meg was sitting in the dressing room with the other dancers, talking and laughing as they changed into their costumes. Meg, along with three other girls were ready before the others and headed to the opera stage where Madame Giry was waiting for them. Standing near her was Monsieur Rayer, the conductor and Monsieurs Firmin and Andre. They stood in a circle, quietly whispering to each other.

"Has anyone seen Rose?" Meg asked the other girls. They all shook their heads sadly.

"I think she moved," said one of them—a petite girl with long blond hair and green eyes. Meg had never seen her before.

"Who're you?" Meg questioned.

"I'm Rosalyn, but everyone calls me Rose. I think I recognize you from somewhere," Rose said. Meg shook her head, but stopped when she saw Rose's face—it didn't have the mask on the right side.

"I'm Meg De Chany. Were you in my dance class before?"

"Yes, I was. Oh my God, it is you, Meg! I've been busy raising my daughter, so I quit dance for a while. She's old enough to stay in my dormitory while I dance. I wish my idiot boyfriend could have watched her once in a while, but he's older, so yeah. Uh oh, Giry alert," sure enough, Madame Giry was walking swiftly towards them.

"Girls, you should be stretching, not talking," Giry told them. By this time, the other girls were onstage, stretching as well.

"Ladies, could I have your attention, please?" Monsieur Firmin told the group. At once, the girls stopped their talking and looked at Firmin.

"A new Opera is being performed at the end of next month, but Carlotta has been missing for a long time now, so we need a new star. The opera is called Les Miserables by Mackintosh. We need a few girls to audition, so if you're interested, please let myself or Madame Giry know. That is all," scattered conversations started when Firmin announced the new opera.

"Oh, Meg. You should try out," one of the girls piped up.

"You were so great in Schubert's Lover Boy. I started crying when you sang 'Dare I Dream'. That was beautiful," one of the other girls chimed in.

"I don't know. . .it would be a lot of time away from ballet. I'll think about it," Meg told the group of girls. Giry clapped her hands and the girls took their positions on the stage. Monsieur Rayer had the orchestra play the main theme from Lover Boy while the girls stretched and rehearsed. Meg saw Raoul's form standing near the left wing of the theatre. She smiled at him as she leapt from center stage to stage right, not watching where she was going. She bumped into a girl named Belle. Meg was shoved to the floor, landing hard on her left arm.

"OWWWW!" she screamed. Both Madame Giry and Raoul rushed to her side. Belle ran off stage, crying. Meg cradled her wrist, whimpering in pain.

"Where does it hurt, Meg?" Raoul asked, running his hands up and down Meg's arm. Madame Giry soothed her. Meg winced in pain when Raoul touched her wrist. He looked at Madame Giry sadly.

"What is it, Monsieur?" she asked.

"I think her wrist is broken," Raoul responded, forlornly. Madame Giry gasped and the girls began crying.

"Ladies, please don't panic. I'm sure it was only an accident," Monsieur Andre told the group of girls. The girls looked at each other, frightened.

"I'll see what the physician can do," Madame Giry told Raoul and Meg. By this time, Raoul had picked his daughter up gently from the hard stage floor. Meg and Raoul walked silently back to Meg's dormitory.

"Be careful, papa," Meg told him as he opened the door to the dormitory. Raoul smiled weakly at her. Closing the door behind him, he asked about her arm.

"It's my wrist that hurts," Meg said, trying not to cry from the pain. A few minutes later, Raphael, the physician and Madame Giry entered the room. The physician took one look at Meg's wrist and shook his head sadly.

"What is it, Monsieur?" Raoul asked.

"This girl won't be able to dance for a while," the physician said sadly.

"What?!" Meg exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, my dear. You'll have to leave your wrist in a cast for eight weeks and then I'll move it to a smaller cast a week later. So that's, if I figure correctly, a month of no dancing. If you dance and move your arms, you'll injure your wrist far beyond repair. I'm sorry," with that, he gathered up his medical bag and headed out the door. Madame Giry and Raoul tried to comfort a crying Meg, but she ordered everyone out of her room, except Raphael. He was the only one she could talk to, besides her Angel, about what was going on. Raphael held her in his arms, being careful of the tightly-bound rag that kept Meg's wrist wrapped. She smiled at him and sighed.

"What is it, Meg?" Raphael asked.

"I'm just so upset that I can't dance for a while. Dancing has been my life since I was three. My mother. . ." her voice cracked at the mention of her mother. Raphael smiled sadly and continued holding Meg in his arms.

"I remember when my father died. I was four years old. He and I had been playing some game when he collapsed. I went to go find my mother, but she had been out of the house, seeing her friend Christine. I didn't know what to do. I called for my father's servant, Therese, but I couldn't find her anywhere. . ." Raphael suddenly shuddered.

"I didn't know your father died. I'm sorry," Meg said sadly.

"Meg," a voice whispered. Meg looked around.

"What is it?" Raphael asked.

"Nothing. It's nothing really" Meg told him.

Suddenly, Raphael started singing in the most gorgeous voice Meg had ever heard in her life.

"No more talk

Of darkness,

Forget these

Wide-eyed fears.

I'm here,

Nothing can harm you -

My words will

Warm and calm you.

Let me be

Your freedom,

Let daylight

Dry -your tears.

I'm here,

With you, beside you,

To hold you

And to hide you . . ."

Meg joined him

"Say you love me

Every

Waking moment,

Turn my head

With talk of summertime . . .

Say you need me

With you,

Now and always . . .

Promise me that all

You say is true -

That's all I ask

Of you . . ."

"Let me be

Your shelter,

Let me

Be your light.

You're safe:

No-one will find you

Your fears are

Far behind you . . ." Raphael sang.

"All I want

Is freedom,

A world with

No more light . . .

And you

Always beside me

To guard me

And to guide me . . ." Meg crooned

"Then say you'll share with

Me one

Love, one lifetime . . .

Let me lead you

From your solitude . . .

Say you need me

With you

Here, beside you . . .

Anywhere you go,

Let me go too -

Meg,

That's all I ask

Of you . . ." Raphael crooned back.

"Say you'll share with

Me one

Love, one lifetime . . .

Say the word

And I will follow you . . ." Meg sang sweetly.

"Share each day with

Me, each

Night, each morning . . ." They sang to each other.

"Say you love me . . ." Meg said, spoken.

"You know I do . . ." Raphael told her, also spoken.

"Love me -

That's all I ask

Of you . . .

Anywhere you go

Let me go too . . .

Love me -

That's all I ask

Of you . . ." They told each other. After they stopped singing, Meg felt someone watching her. Raphael placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently.

"Meg I love you" he told her. Meg felt herself blush.

"Y-you what?" she asked, caught off-guard.

"I said I love you," Raphael repeated.

"I-I love you to, Raphael," Meg said. Raphael kissed her and spun her around.

"Raphael, be careful—my wrist," Meg pointed out.

"Sorry," he apologized, kissing her injured wrist. Meg smiled, but that smile turned into a frown when she heard Erik's voice up high in the rafters:

"I gave you my music

Made your song take wing

And now how you've repaid me

Denied me and betrayed me

He was born to love you

When he heard you sing. . .Meg,"

"Whose is that voice?" Raphael asked, whispering.

"That, Raphael, is my Angel of Music," Meg told him.