It was a cold day in November and times were difficult for the people in Paris. Poverty was a common sight in the streets and since the Opera had burned down, over two-hundred former employees had become homeless. It were mostly the stage workers and the ballet rats who were bound to live in the streets and find shelters in old warehouses. This included the sixteen year old Elizabeth. If possible, she had an even more difficult time keeping herself alive since she had to take care for her niece as well.
Anna, who just turned six, came to the Opera two years ago. She thought it was just for a while, but unfortunately Elizabeth knew better. Her mother, who was actually Elizabeth's aunt, had sent her away to be with her new lover who hated kids. She promised her she would be back one day soon, because she was going on a vacation for a while, but she never returned home.
Elizabeth never knew her parents. Her father was killed when she was just a baby, he wasn't guilty, he just got hit by a lost bullet. At least, that was what her mother used to tell her. She also died when Elizabeth was just a child. She was five years old when her mother gave birth to her second child and died in childbirth. Her sibling, of which she never knew whether it was a boy or a girl, died just two days later. She was found wandering on the streets by Mme. Giry, who took her in to live at the Opera, just as she had done with many other girls who had become young orphans and were otherwise bound to live in the streets of Paris forever, or live at the orphanage, which was a terrible place to grow up.
Yes, things had gone from worse to better to worse once again for Elizabeth and her niece, but she knew they would manage, they always did.
Because it was a Saturday, the market was in town. The two girls were strolling down the streets, their stomachs grumbling at the smells of freshly baked breads, delicious fresh fruits and all sorts of meat laying in the stalls of the salesmen, patiently waiting to sell their goods.
They walked towards the corner of the street, where a tall, skinny man in his mid-twenties appeared to be waiting for them.
"Tobias!" Anna yelled. She ran up to him and flew right into his arms. The man picked her up easily, swung her around for a couple of time, which, by the sound of her squeamish laughter's, she didn't mind at all, and put her down again.
The now dizzy look on Anna's face made Elizabeth laugh as she walked up to Tobias to greet him.
"Hello miss," he said with his gallant voice, only to make a little bow towards Elizabeth right afterwards.
"Hi Tobias," Elizabeth said, still half laughing of what just happened. "Did you bring us anything to eat today?" She asked him with a much more serious, almost sad face.
"Yes, I did." He smiled at the two of them "Follow me!"
Tobias was leading them to the very end of the market and then turned left into a dead end street. They climbed through an open window of an old warehouse, took two stairs up and ended up in a small but cosy room with two worn-off chairs, a little table with a few pictures of an old man and woman and a young boy on it, and a pile of blankets, which served as a bed.
This was Tobias' place. Even tough he had a home he could return to, he had chosen not to after the fire. He told his parents that his heart belonged in Paris now, not in London, where he was born. This devastated his parents because they never liked the idea of their only son being in Paris anyway, but he was already an adult and had to make his own choices in life. They supported him by sending him some money and needful things like clothing, candles and once in a while a new blanket. He never liked the idea of still being looked after by his parents at the age of 24, but he accepted the things they send him, not only to use for himself, but also for the use of the two young girls he had grown to love in the years they spend so much of their time together at the Opera. He had worked there as a stage boy since he was sixteen years old and thought he would never have to leave the place he loved so. Unfortunately, the fire destroyed his dream as well.
Three people were now in the small, cosy room, eating bread and fruits as they sat on the blankets and were chatting and laughing. It were a few wonderful hours without having to worry about anything.
It was getting late and Elizabeth decided they should go home for the night, but Tobias didn't like the idea of them walking through the mostly unlit streets, especially not in this cold weather.
"And besides," he argued, "Anna is already asleep. Why don't you just spend the night here, I've got plenty of blankets for you to use, and you could go home as soon as it gets light again."
He was right, Anna was already sleeping between the pile of blankets, only her head was sticking out of it. It gave Elizabeth a warm feeling to see her asleep so peacefully.
"Alright," she gave in "We'll stay here for the night, but only because Anna appears to like it here," she joked.
She crawled under the same pile of blankets as her niece was under and fell asleep almost immediately.
Tobias, on the other hand, didn't feel like sleeping at all. He sat on one of the chairs, leaning on its left arm, just looking at the two peacefully sleeping faces in the dim light of the few candles they had lit an hour before.
Every time he looked at Elizabeth's face he knew he loved her more than he should. He could still remember the day they met. She was only eight years old at the time but she danced with the elegance of a professional dancer. She had made a mistake by tripping over one of the girls foot and he had to take care of her ankle. They became friends right away and they had been ever since. But as she grew older, his feelings for her had started to change. She had turned into a beautiful little woman and that didn't go unnoticed by a lot of guys. He protected her against those guys and yet he couldn't help but falling in love with her himself. If only she knew, he thought.
He was getting tired, so he gently took one blanket off the pile, crawled onto his chair, blew out the candles and closed his eyes. He thought he heard footsteps inside the building, but then again, he was already half asleep. That's something to worry about in the morning, he thought, and went off into a deep, dreamless sleep.