sorry this took so long, guys. I had a little case of writer's block. Enjoy! I know I did when I wrote this chapter.

Memories

Amelia's head appeared as she looked around a corner. A smile appeared on her lips when she saw Caitlin coming towards her.

"What is this all about?" Amelia asked her.

"Don't ask questions, I'm on a mission."

Caitlin turned her around, and marched her down the hallway. Amelia sighed after a while; there was no way she could get Caitlin to tell her where she was taking her. "I'll tell you this," she said a little while later, "you're going to love it!" Amelia whined and begged for her to give her more hints, but she wouldn't break.

It had been nearly a year since Amelia and Erik had…well, kissed and made it clear to every one they knew that they liked each other. They were both barely fifteen now. Only a few people knew about Erik. Marie did, of course. But you couldn't keep anything from Caitlin for very long, so she found out rather quickly. And Marie's man companion (or shall I say boyfriend?) also knew because, well, Marie told him.

"Okay, we're here!" Caitlin said happily.

"Where is 'here'?" Amelia asked.

"The kitchen, silly!" Then she sauntered off.

The kitchen…A hint of knowing appeared in Amelia's eyes. As she opened the door, she could smell fresh bread. Amelia's eyes closed as she inhaled the scent.

"I thought you would like that smell," came an all too familiar voice. She smiled, and opened her eyes slowly. "Keep them closed," he whispered softly. Amelia humored him, and closed them again. "It's been a year," he said. "I know, a year today," Amelia smiled. He took her hand and kissed it. She opened her eyes to look at him. Erik was so handsome; it wasn't the kind of handsome that made all girls fall over for him, but it was the way his features led up to his dark eyes.

They gazed into one another's eyes for a while. Erik placed his hand on her cheek, and she rested her head into his palm. He took a step closer, eliminating the space between them. Amelia looked up at him; he was a few inches taller than her. It was so natural for the two; neither of them really noticed that they had closed their eyes, until their lips touched. She put her hand on his bare cheek.

It had been a year, so it was okay, wasn't it? Erik had been planning this day, this moment, for a week now. He was waiting for just the right second…. there it was. Her lips parted, unknowingly. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, he slid his tongue into her mouth. Once their tongues came into contact, he felt her hesitate, but she returned his fervor.

Her stomach flipped when she felt his tongue caress hers. She hesitated, slightly confused. 'Is he actually doing that?' was the first thought that came to her mind. Not that she didn't want him to, she just didn't think that he would. In the instant when she hesitated, she realized that she loved the feeling of his mouth.

After a while, the pair pulled away from each other, in need of breath. Erik moved his hand from her cheek to the small of her back, and held her close. Amelia rested her head on his chest and let her hand slowly fall from his cheek to his shoulder. She sighed softly. They started swaying, back and forth, like they were dancing. Erik's free hand took Amelia's that was on his chest. They kept on swaying for a while. But after a while, Amelia looked up at him and gently kissed him. The couple sat down in the deserted kitchen, Erik's arms around her.

"You know, Caitlin said, and I quote, you are going to love it!" Amelia said teasingly.

"You didn't like that?" Erik asked innocently. She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, there's more," he told her. "Okay," she replied, waiting for it. "Well, not now," Erik said, like it was obvious. Amelia sighed loudly, jokingly. "Fine, I'll just wait." He smiled proudly.

Erik pulled her by the hand up spiral stairs above the stage. "Come on!" he said, practically dragging her up them. Once they reached the top, Erik gently kissed her. Amelia looked up at him. "So is this the other part?" she asked sarcastically. Erik didn't even bother to respond, smiling. "Okay, what is it? Where is it?" she inquired, looking behind him.

Childish lightheartedness took over, and he said, "You'll have to catch me to find out!" Erik started running for another flight of stairs. "What --?" Amelia chased after him, dodging all sorts of ropes, backdrops, and props. She lost him and was out of breath. "Erik?" Amelia walked around. Where was she? She wasn't even looking where she was going before, just following Erik.

She took another step forward, and the bored gave out. A scream came from her lips as she fell through the hole. The only thing keeping her from falling onto the stage was a few ropes. One of the ropes, however, wound itself around her neck.

"Erik!" Amelia cried in a strained voice. She tried to hold herself up by that rope so she wouldn't be strangled. She heard footsteps above her, then, "Mia!" She glanced up and saw Erik looking down at her through the hole.

"Erik, cut the rope!" she cried.

"You'll fall! What if you get hurt?"

Amelia struggled to swallow. She could feel the rope digging into her neck, and gasped for a breath. There was another one around her back, also holding her up, but barely.

"It's okay, Erik. I'll be fine. Just cut the rope," she told him calmly, though in her mind she was anything but calm. Erik hesitated.

"No matter what happens, I want you to know…I love you," she said, barely above a whisper. (A/N: as clichéd as it sounds, I thought it was kinda romantic. :-P) Amelia saw something change in Erik's face. He looked determined.

Biting his lip, Erik grabbed his pocket knife, and sawed at the rope. He was whispering things to her, but Amelia could barely hear him; she was slowly losing consciousness… Then the rope snapped, and she fell to the stage. The sound of a thud echoed through the auditorium. After hitting the floor, she didn't move. Erik reluctantly looked down at her poor form.

"Mia?" he said softly. He ran down the spiral stairs, and actually skipped the last few and came to her side. "Amelia?" Erik gently shook her. His mind was racing with thoughts. Is anything broken? Does she have a pulse? He lifted her wrist and felt it, and let out a breath. Thank God, she had a pulse.

It seemed as though she had landed on her back, and then rolled slightly to her left side. Erik lifted her head and felt something. Oh, God… He looked at his hand and saw a little bit of blood. "Mia," he whispered feebly. Tears stung his eyes. Erik pulled her close, and held her to his chest. He put his ear next to her lips and could hear a wheeze deep in her throat, keeping her from breathing properly. Thought swimming through his head, Erik turned her around and slapped her on the back.

Amelia let out an agonizingly long cough. Then he listened to her breaths again. They were louder and longer. The impact of the fall must have knocked the wind out of her. Erik touched her cheek. What am I doing? She needs to go to a doctor, or someone that can take care of her… And so Erik picked Amelia up and carried her out of the auditorium to the one person he knew he could trust: Marie Giry.


Amelia felt something cool on her forehead. She tried to open her eyes, but it hurt to do so. What had happened to her? Did she fall on her head trying to climb out of the window? Yes, that must have been it. When she was escaping from her mother…

"Paul…?" her voice sounded different to her.

There was murmuring, but she couldn't make out any of it. She did hear her name once, though. Where was she? Whatever she was laying on didn't feel like her bed. The voices in the room slowly became clearer.

"Who is Paul?" one whispered.

"What happened to her?" asked another.

The voices were hushed by a young woman's. "Shhh, all of you. Amelia had a terrible fall…she needs peace and quiet." That voice was most definitely not her mother's. It couldn't be a doctor; maybe it was a nurse from the village close by.

"Mother…?" Amelia actually wanted to hear her mother's voice, just to know she was safe at home. When no one answered, she slowly opened her eyes. Everything was blurred and a terrible pain went from her head down her neck as she tried to sit up. Gentle hands kindly pushed her back down.

"Where am I?" Amelia whispered to the unknown person. There was silence for a moment, then the young woman's voice spoke again.

"You're at the Opera Populaire in Paris."

Amelia's eyes shot open. She struggled to look at her surroundings. It seemed as though she was in a dormitory; the woman that had spoken to her was sitting next to her on the bed. Her face and jade eyes were full of concern. The two girls' eyes locked for a moment, but Amelia saw something in a corner. She turned her head and saw a dark figure watching them. Her brow furrowed in confusion, and then her eyes slid out of focus again. Amelia shook her head and blinked a few times.

When she opened her eyes again, the door was closing. The figure left. When the door opened again, another girl came into the room. She had very dark hair, a pale complexion, and piercing blue eyes. She looked a little older than Amelia.

The two unfamiliar girls were conversing in a corner, and Amelia sighed. What is going on? How in the world did I get in Paris, when I live in Nice? Her head hurt terribly. She gingerly touched the back of her head, and felt a bandage. A groan came from her lips. She didn't even want to know how that ended up there.

"Caitlin, Erik said that he doesn't want Amelia to feel obliged to get into a relationship with him if she doesn't remember him. So don't say anything about him," Marie told her. "So what do we tell her?" Caitlin asked. Marie gave her a look that said 'I have absolutely no idea'.

"Excuse me," Amelia said to the girls, "can you tell me how I got here?"

The dark haired girl looked like she was about to cry. "Oh God, she doesn't remember," she whispered to the other girl.

"Remember what?" Amelia asked, utterly confused.

"Well, what do you remember?" Marie asked.

Amelia thought for a moment. "Well, I remember my mother slapping me…and I ran away in the middle of the night, and I fell asleep under a tent."

That must have been right before she met Erik. Marie sighed.

"Well, you see, Amelia," she looked over at Caitlin for help. Her eyes widened as she got an idea.

"You see, Amelia," Caitlin started, "the Opera was looking for a new violinist for the orchestra," she eyed Marie's curious face. "I think Monsieur Reyer, the head of the music department, was so desperate to get one that he sent messengers to other cities to find the best violinists. Somehow they must have found out that you're really good, especially for your age, so they brought you here." Caitlin's bright blue eyes looked nervously between the two disbelieving eyes staring at her.

"So, how come I don't remember any of this?" Amelia asked suspiciously.

Marie's stomach lurched. Erik said not to mention him to her, so she would have to make something up… What on Earth could she have done?

"Y-you fainted," Marie said suddenly. The two other girls looked over at her.

"Why?" Amelia asked.

"…Because…Well, it was right after a show and you were really tired, and I think you hit your head on something," Marie tried her best to sound convincing.

Amelia closed her eyes and groaned. Whilst the groaning continued, Caitlin managed to give a look to Marie. 'Fainted?' she mouthed. She rolled her eyes, and then looked back down at her friend.

"Listen, Amelia. We'll help you recover, and then you can come back to the orchestra. It was so much fun with you there."

"But that's just the problem," Amelia said, opening her eyes. "The last time I can remember playing my violin was a few years ago. I barely even remember shifting higher than fifth position. And I get really confused with rhythms." Amelia put her hands over her face. Marie looked over at Caitlin, who had a devilish grin on her face.

"Will you excuse us?" Marie said politely.

Amelia nodded with her face still covered. The two older girls went out of the dormitory, into the hallway.

"What on Earth are you smiling about? There's nothing to be smiling about!" Marie said, exasperated.

"Oh, I believe there is," Caitlin said, with a mischievous look on her face.

ohmygoodness. It took me a long time to figure out what their story was gong to be. But once I did, oh boy I loved it!

Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I couldn't resist!
reviews are my favorite