Disclaimer: I do not own most of these characters, just a few here and there that I have made up somewhere along the line, and you'll be able to pick those out easily. I do not own any of the songs in the story either; I just really love them and find that often songs just fit in too well in my stories. I'm going through another "Scarlet Pimpernel" phase right now, so more lyrics from that show might pop up here… oh, right, and I don't own any of the Shakespeare either. Please read & review, I am always open to any ideas and suggestions.

OperaDove: You've got most of it figured out, and yes, it's definitely before the original story… you'll see. :-D

Mouse: You sure about that? Hehe. Appearances can be deceiving…

Note: this final part of the story will most likely end up being dived into several parts.

Many thanks to my faithful reviewers! And now, the conclusion of this story! (Or the beginning of the conclusion anyway.)

Carlotta spent the remainder of the day on edge. The police came, as promised, within the hour of her phone call, and was thoroughly interrogated on the events that had occurred that morning. As soon as the police had left, she made her way to the managers' office to find out what they wanted. She was sure she was going to be reprimanded smacking Yvette.

As it turned out, Andre and Firmin just wanted to go over her current contract with them which involved La Boheme, Il Trovatore, and La Gioconda in addition to her Tosca, and sign her for an unlimited period of time; with her success in Tosca, they wanted to ensure that she would not sign with anyone else and that she would remain at the Opera Populaire to sing leading roles in their upcoming productions of Madama Butterfly, Turandot, I Pagliacci, Le Nozze de Figaro, La Traviata, I Puritani, Norma, Macbeth, Carmen (though it would be a true stretch for her soprano pipes), La Sonnambula, Medea, and a new production that was being written exclusively for her – Hannibal. As soon as they assured her that all of those productions would be spread out within a period of at least two years, she signed.

Between her attack that morning and the interrogation with the police and the meeting with the managers, Carlotta was exhausted by the afternoon. Oh, how was she going to make it to midnight?

Carlotta returned to her rooms to find Carmen in much better condition than she had been that morning. She had also spoken to the police, and she felt confident that they would soon catch Lucio and put an end to his madness.

"How's that gash doing?", she asked as soon as Carlotta returned.

"It burns."

Carlotta had not realized that Lucio had stuck her with the knife until she was putting on her new purple dress and found her left arm caked with blood. Carmen had dressed the wound up and Carlotta was thankful that the dress's long sleeves concealed it in its entirety.

"Come here, let me see it…"

Carlotta went over to Carmen and sat down on the bed. Within seconds, Carmen had taken off Carlotta's sleeve and began changing the dressing on the cut.

"You should really go see a doctor about this, Lotta… it's pretty deep…"

"What, and have someone order me to stay in bed for the rest of the day? I have too much to do."

"So what did the managers want?"

"To make sure that I won't leave them now that I'm an even bigger star… I signed for twelve more productions, including one that Chalumeau is writing exclusively for me. I could really get used to this, you know."

"Lotta, you're already used to it".

"Oh. Right."

Carlotta laughed.

"It's quite nice, actually. They're going to work their season around my engagements at La Scala and Covent Garden, and I will also have a say in casting… this is quite to my advantage, you know… not that I have any objections to the principal tenor, of course, but I object to those horrid mezzos and basses that they often bring in. I can't stand half of them… ouch!"

"Sorry… you should really see a doctor about that…"

Carlotta snapped her arm back and fixed her dress.

"I told you, I'm busy".

She stood and stared at Carmen.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Carlotta walked over to the other side of the room.

"I have so much to do… you know, I haven't even finished my shopping… I should wrap these…"

Within minutes she was lost in her own little world as she went about wrapping presents and talking about them. Carmen stared at her in disbelief. How could she possibly be so cool after that morning?

"Carmen? Carmen, are you listening to me? I asked you what you thought of this silk scarf that I bought for Leonora."

Carmen continued to stare at Carlotta. She had known her since she was seven years old… she had always been like this. As much as it angered her, there was no point in trying to correct her behavior, she would never change. Perhaps this was just her way of panicking.

"It's fine, Carlotta. Here… I'll help you wrap".

She moved over to where Carlotta was.

"Thank you", said Carlotta.

Carmen nodded.

"You're welcome."

The two women spent the rest of the afternoon wrapping gifts and talking. Underneath everything, Carmen knew that Carlotta was just as frightened as she was, if not more. This was just her way.