Minutes passed.

Neither the girl nor the man spoke a word. The girl went on playing. The man went on watching, mystified by her music.

The bow smoothly glided across the strings, as though to her the motion was as natural as breathing. Neither mind was able to stay in reality as the music snatched them up and carried them away to some fantasy place, each note creating something new.

One final note ended the song. Slowly the world around them faded back into focus. The girl's eyes slowly opened, but they did not turn towards him. The man still stood there, motionless. Once more, he was hit with a barrage of questions to ask. What was she doing here? How did she find this place? Whatever anger he'd had disappeared. He desperately wanted to be angry, to be absolutely furious at her, but whatever spell she'd cast upon him appeared to be unbreakable.

It was a long time before anyone spoke.

"Who are you?" was his only question.

His voice seemed to tug her back from whatever dream world her thoughts still lingered in. The words echoed inside her head, over and over, gradually fading away into silence once again. At last, she gave an answer.

"I'm Celine."

"So you mean to tell me that this... i Phantom /i is alive and well and back at the Opera Populaire?" Monsieur Lamarre was still rather skeptical. All this was just too... bizarre to be true.

Rousseau, a firm believer in the mysterious occurances those few years ago, let out a heavy sigh. He had a feeling Gerard wouldn't believe him. He could only hope to convince his partner to at least allow the Opera Ghost his box this one night.

"Look," Monsieur Rousseau began, "let's just leave Box Five open this one night and see what happens. There's nothing to lose."

Lamarre looked almost insulted when he said that. "Nothing to lose? There's money to lose!"

"It's just one night," Rousseau protested. "What difference will it make?"

After taking a moment or two to think this over, Lamarre finally nodded in agreement. "Fine. But just this one time. If nothing happens, I'm making sure that seat is the first to be sold."

He couldn't figure out why exactly he let her tag along. At this point, she was becoming almost a nuisance. But when she asked him if she could go with him, she sounded so innocent, so much like a child, that to refuse her just seemed horrible. Thankfully, as she followed him through the opera house, she was silent.

They arrived at the box no more than 10 minutes after the curtain had gone up. The actors already were on stage, the opening notes of the opera filling the theater. Celine had remained quiet the whole way here, but now that they were inside the auditorium, she could hardly contain her excitement. This was her first time seeing an opera, and what was even better was that she didn't even have to pay for it! Every so often, the man would have to yank her back from the edge of the box. If she leaned too far forward, someone might see. She was quite childlike in her fascination, he noticed, her eyes glittering with amazement. To him this was nothing special. To her it seemed to mean the world.

When the performance came to an end, the entire theater was on its feet with applause. Celine just sat there, grinning to herself, the remnants of the music still drifting through her head. She didn't look at the man beside her; She couldn't look away from the stage.

"Are all operas like that?" she inquired suddenly, the applause still thundering through the theater.

"Yes," was his simple reply. She really was quite strange, he decided. But that was only because he couldn't understand her. Their worlds were different, and he had no desires to get mixed up in hers, but it seemed he was in this by force.

Her smile broadened. "Then I'm coming to see every one."

What? After thinking that statement over for a moment, he realized that he couldn't let that happen. If she was going to see every one, then that must mean she intended on staying, something he just wouldn't allow. No matter who she was, no matter how long she'd been here, it was time for her to clear out.

"No, you're not," he stated, sounding rather annoyed. Immediately, the happy expression dropped from her face and she turned to face him, her eyes slowly narrowing as stared up at him .

"What?" It was difficult to read the emotion on her face. First it was plain confusion, which slowly gave way to utter disappointment. Behind it all was a slight hint of anger, as if the fury was currently kept at bay but soon threatened to break loose.

Was it hard to understand? Or did she just not hear him right. Standing up from his seat, towering menacingly over the poor Celine, he repeated himself. "You are not going to see another opera. You're leaving. Tonight."

Her expression changed to one of absolute horror. She brought her hands to her mouth, her eyes wide as she shook her head. "No... No! I'm not leaving!" She rose from her chair abrubtly, trying to look as tall as she could, but compared to the man she looked quite puny, no matter what she did. "You don't know how horrible it is out there!" This response, as she would soon learn, was entirely incorrent. She had no way of knowing what he'd experienced, and by her own selfish anger she'd turned him into a cruel, heartless person in her mind.

Without a second thought, he grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, lowering his face close to hers. His voice was brought to a whisper, but was even harsher than it was before. "Don't you tell i me /i what it's like out there..." He didn't release Celine. He kept his gaze fixed right on hers, eyes narrowed as if channeling all his anger right into her.

Celine stared up at him timidly, her eyes clouding over with a layer of tears. He couldn't do this to her.. Just turn her out on the streets. That's only what everyone else had done for her. When she came here, she was happy. It became her own little world, in which everything was hers. Being told that she had to simply abandon everything she had come to know and love, that she was to return to her old life without a home, was so horrible, so unbearable...

The man's expression was unchanging, but in his head he began to realize how much this place meant to her. Still, it wasn't his idea to have her here, so it wasn't any concern of his what happened to her when she was gone... Right? With a force that knocked Celine back into her chair, he pushed her backwards, turning away from her. A deep sigh could be heard as he placed his head in his hand, going over the situation carefully in his head. Without looking back at her, he finally gave his answer. "You can stay for one more night. i Just /i one."

Celing, though slightly relieved, wasn't pleased with his answer. "And what'll happen to me tomorrow?"

The man didn't look back at her, slowly heading for the door to the box. "I don't know, and, quite frankly, don't care."