AN: I must admit, I am quite proud of myself! I didn't take forever to update for once! Yay! I get the feeling there was something else that I wanted to say here, but I forget what, so let's hope it's not too important.

"Kris! Aren't you ready yet? Tony is going to be here soon!"

"I know Meg! I'm hurrying as fast as I can, it just that I can't get my stupid hair right, and I can barely breathe in this stupid dress!" I replied.

"So what, you look great," she came to stare at me in the bathroom, "God Kris! Stop fussing over your hair! It looks fine how it is, and if you don't hurry, we won't be ready when Tony gets here, and that wouldn't look to great, would it?"

"Fine, fine whatever, just let me do my makeup and I'll be ready."

"Great, I'm so excited! It should be so much fun, don't you think?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess so. But I'm still a little nervous. I mean, should we really be going, I mean-"

"We barely even know the guy," Meg said in a mocking voice, "Yeah yeah yeah. We went through this last night, remember? And we already decided to go. For the sake of all the gods in the universe, just drop it! Erik's already paid for my dress, so we can't exactly not go. Besides, I look too stunning in this dress not to show off."

Megara was right, of course. Especially when it came to her dress. By some stroke of luck, we had managed to find a dress that looked exactly like the one Meg had worn to the Masquerade in the movie. The only real difference was that the train wasn't as long, and I thought it looked better this way. We had had to buy wings for the dress separately, but they still looked heavenly. And, alas, she had to decide not to even look for something to put in her hair as Meg had done, but she did have it in the same style. She looked truly amazing.

But with that said, I can't exactly sell myself short. I did look pretty good. As hard as it was to breathe in a corset, it did make me look like I'd always wanted to. It was a beautiful white dress that had a Chinese design to it, and it clung to all the right places. I was sure it would make Erik's jaw drop, which had, of course, been my goal.

"Ok, I think I'm ready," I told Meg as I finished up my makeup, "What about you?"

"Are you kidding, I've been ready for forever!"

"All right. Now all we have to do is wait for Tony." As if on cue, there came a knocking at our door.

"I'll get it!" Meg half yelled while rushing to the door as fast as she could in her high heels.

I took one last look in the mirror to make sure everything was perfect. But something seemed to be missing. While trying to figure out what it could possibly be, I heard Meg yell for me to come to the door. I sighed, and figured that meant that Antonio was here, and it was time to leave. So I gave up on trying to figure out what was missing.

"Coming," I called out.

As soon as I walked around the corner, I walked straight into a bouquet of flowers.

"Meg! What is this?"

Meg moved the flowers to the side to let me see the rest of the room. I couldn't believe the sight before my eyes.

The entire roomed seemed to be covered with roses. And right in the middle of them stood Erik, with the Phantom's mask firmly in place. And looking quite dashing in his suit, I might add.

"Erik!" I exclaimed, "What are you doing here? I thought you said you were sending someone to get us!"

"Actually," he said while walking towards me, "What I said was that I would send someone to pick you up. Meg here is just an added bonus." He said with a smile while glancing at Meg.

"And to answer your question, I decided I had to see you before the party. Especially after hearing Tony talk about how you looked. I had to see for myself," he let his eyes roam over my entire costume, and I felt myself blush, "I most definitely am not disappointed, mon ange," He said while gently taking my hand in his and kissing it.

My blush deepened, "I thought you said you wouldn't make that mistake again."

At this Erik laughed, "Believe me, Kris, it was not a mistake," he said while looking at me. His eyes seemed to be telling me something, but I couldn't figure out what, so I quickly averted my own eyes.

Meg gently coughed to remind us that she was still there, "You know what? I think I'm going to go ahead and head down to the car. Is Tony there?"

Erik slowly pulled his eyes off of me, and smiled at Meg, "Do not think that I forgot you were there, my dear. I must say, you look quite lovely." He quickly strode over to Meg, "I do not believe that we have yet been introduced. My name is Erik Claudin, and it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance." He said while reaching out and shaking Meg's hand.

I had to quickly turn away to hide my laugh. It seemed to me that Erik was showing off for Meg's sake. And for some reason it made incredibly happy that he hadn't tried to kiss Meg's hand.

Meg laughed, "My name is Megara Kingsley. And I must admit, knowing you should prove to be most interesting." She replied while walking out the door.

Once the door Erik quickly turned to face me, "Ah, alone at last I see, mon ange," he said with a smile.

"So it would appear," I replied with the same easy smile he had on. "So, what's with all the flowers?" I asked while surveying the room.

"What? You don't like them," Erik said as he continued to smile, "I was originally going to buy all red roses, but Tony informed that your dress was going to be white, so I bought these accordingly."

"You don't expect me to bring all of these to the ball, do you?"

Erik chuckled at my statement, "Of course not, but they had to match your corsage, hadn't they?" he answered while grabbing a corsage from where it had been hidden among all the flowers.

"Oh! Thank you so much!"

"You are very welcome," he said while gently putting it on my wrist. He then looked into my eyes again, and once again I could feel his eyes whispering to me. Telling me things he couldn't. Begging me to understand. "You know Kris, something appears to be missing from your wonderful costume," he informed me, pulling me out of the depths of his eyes.

"You think so too?" I asked with a smile, "that's exactly what I was thinking when you came in."

"Ah! I know!" Erik exclaimed, "Tony told me that you had managed to find a ring that bore an incredible resemblance to the one in the movie. May I ask where exactly it is?"

"That's it!" I said with a smile, "You figured it out!" I quickly ran into my room, and grabbed the ring and it's chain from where I had left them on the night stand. "Thank you so much! I would have felt incredibly stupid if I had left it here!" I told him as I started to put the chain on.

"Here let me," he said as he rushed to my side. I hesitated for a second, the acquiesced and handed him the chain. I carefully lifted my hair, trying my hardest not to muss it. "There," he whispered as he latched it in place. He gently turned me around to look at the effect. "Perfect," He whispered so lightly I could barely hear him, "Absolutely perfect, mon ange."

I blushed again, and quickly turned my head. I didn't understand how someone I barely knew could affect me so deeply. But Erik lightly grabbed my chin and made me face him, just as he had done at the Opera the day before.

When I finally made myself lock eyes with him, I wouldn't have been able to turn away if I'd wanted to. He had a look of sad longing on his face. "Kristina, try not to turn you face away from me when I'm talking to you. You have the most beautiful face I have ever seen, and I would like to look at it as much as possible."

My face must have gone scarlet, but I didn't avert my eyes. I just knew he was going to make up for not kissing me the day before. I was, of course, sorely disappointed. He cupped my cheek, and smiled at me before letting go.

"So," he asked, "are you ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah," I stammered.

"Wonderful," he said as he grabbed my arm to guide me to the door.

"Wait a second," I said while trying to let him let go of my arm, "I've got to get some money."

This just made him laugh, and grab my arm tighter. "Do you really think that I'm going to let you pay? If I had had my way, you wouldn't have even paid for your costume."

"Erik," I started to admonish.

"No Kris. I'm sorry, but I insist that you let me pay."

"No chance of you dropping this?"

"Not at all."

"Um, ok. I guess. So long as you realize that I am doing this against my will and better judgment."

"You know, you really should allow yourself to be pampered every once in a while."

I decided to just stay quiet. We were almost to the car, and I was dying to see what Tony was wearing.

"Here we are," Erik said as he opened the door.

As soon as I saw what Tony was wearing, I had to smile. "Tony, you look truly spectacular as a military man. However, I don't understand why you would wear a costume so similar to that of Raoul's in the movie, when you are in fact, friends of the man going as the Phantom."

"You know," Erik whispered to me, "I don't understand it either. Raoul was a fool of a man, and Tony is anything but."

I laughed, and Tony just glared. "You know Erik, the phantom was a cold hearted monster, and you-well, never mind."

At this Erik threw back his head and laughed heartily. "Ah Tony, you never disappoint. That is why you are so very important to me. Now, let's be off!"

And with this, we got into Erik's limousine and headed to the ball.