Disclaimer: Don't own POTO

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GOSSIP PART I: MEG AND THE BALLET RATS

Meg Giry leaned against the bar in the practice room, stretching her slender legs until she could feel tautness in her muscles dissolve. It had been a long day of extra practices for the ballet rats. Madame Giry had found great fault with their performances on the gala night. Of course, when does she not find fault, Meg thought to herself. She winced at the ungrateful tone of her musings. The little ballerina knew her mother was merely dedicated to her art. It was her passion and desire for excellence the older Giry had imparted to her daughter, which made Meg work harder than any other girl in the corps.

The work paid off. She was given leadership of a row and had a fair chance at being made prima ballerina, once La Sorelli left the position. Meg did not know that she had been made leader of a row because the Opera Ghost had suggested it to the managers. However, it was not simply because the Ghost like doing favors for his faithful box keeper, but Erik really did think the Meg that great potential.

Meg's thoughts, however, were far away from her career as a dancer. Switching legs, she watched a group of girls huddled at the far end of the room, all whispering and giggling together. It had been a long while since Meg had really joined in with the childish antics of the other corps members. No one truly understood Meg's devotion to ballet. Her seriousness with regard to the craft was looked upon as something of a humbug by the other ballerinas. Though, the distance had undoubtedly grown since she had begun seeing the Persian on a regular basis.

Speaking of Nadir, he had promised to take her to the street fair in the art district this evening. Meg glanced at the clock hanging over the doorway. It was time to put up her slippers and get ready for the night's activities. The little dancer mindlessly wound her way through the corridors and up the stairs until she reached the dormitories, several floors above the stage. She found a couple of other girls lounging on their beds when she opened the door, but no Christine.

Meg mentally rejoiced when she remembered that the new prima donna had been given her own room as part of the elevation to star status. She was really getting fed up with Christine's diva attitude. Little Giry suddenly became aware that two pairs of impish eyes were watching her as she moved about the room. Slowly, she turned to regard the two girls at the opposite side of the chamber.

"Hello, Meg," said little Jammes, the girl with the tip-tilted nose, the forget-me-not eyes, the rose-red cheeks and the lily-white neck and shoulders. Sitting on the bed beside her was a slender girl from Yorkshire with dark blonde curls and bright green eyes.

"Hello, Jammes, Kathryn…" Meg nodded to each girl, noticing as they exchanged knowing looks. "Is everything all right?"

"Are you going to the street fair with that foreigner?" Kathryn asked her French complicated by her English accent.

Meg stiffened, drawing her body up to its full four feet, eleven inches. "Do you mean M. Khan?"

"Is that his name?" Kathryn puzzled. She gave Jammes another look.

"Yes," Meg hissed through gritted teeth. "What is going on?" She sat down on the bed facing them. They glanced at each other again. Meg bit back a scream of frustration.

Jammes took a deep breath, as though she was preparing to tell Meg that her mother had died, "Meg…we think he's cheating on you."

Little Giry blinked. "Come again?"

Kathryn sighed gently, "We think M. Kaa…or whatever his name is…is cheating on you…with another woman."

Meg threw back her golden head and let out a clear peal of laughter. "Nonsense. M. Khan is not the sort of man to do that kind of thing, I assure you. Really, girls, you'll have to come up with a better joke than that."

"This isn't a joke, Meg," Jammes insisted, her forget-me-not eyes deadly serious. Meg swallowed her giggles, growing quiet as she saw the intense sincerity in both little faces.

"But how do you know?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"We saw him with a lady at the Café la Dynamite de Napoleon," Kathryn said.

"When?"

"About a month ago. We went out for some supper at the café and we saw the Persian sitting in a corner booth with a very pretty lady with black hair and an expensive dress," little Jammes elaborated.

"A month ago! Why didn't you say something sooner?" Meg exclaimed, still attempting to remain unconvinced, though her resolve was rapidly crumbling.

"We didn't think we should say anything. It looked like they were having a row...but then we saw her talking to him at the gala the other night. I think she's the new patroness," Kathryn said.

Meg's face fell. She had seen that woman hanging about the foyer and auditorium lately. Could it be possible? But Nadir didn't seem at all like the sort of man who would behave so barbarically.

"You know, I have heard that Persians often take more than one wife," Jammes said, as though it helped.

A sharp pain pierced Meg's heart, boring into her like a wedge of ice. She had heard rumors like that, too. Though Meg was not easily inclined to be prejudice, the idea did make sense. A knock at the dormitory door startled the girls from their quiet talk. A small rat appeared and shuffled up to the moping Giry.

"The Persian is waiting for you down stairs, Meg," she squeaked.

Meg glanced up at Jammes and Kathryn. Their eyes were expectant.

"Um, would you apologize to M. Khan for me and tell him that I am feeling ill tonight and cannot accompany him?" she mumbled. The tiny girl curtsied and scampered away to deliver the message. Jammes and Kathryn nodded their approval. They were not vicious girls, the sort who spread malicious gossip to ruin their friends' lives, and they honestly thought they were doing Meg a service by exposing her suitor's double life.

Giving them a weak smile, Meg got up and changed into her nightgown and crawled into bed. The little girl who had delivered the messages returned shortly with a bouquet of pink roses in her hands.

"The Persian said to give you these. And he says he hopes you feel well soon," the girl chirped. She giggled and simpered over the flowers as though they were hers. She couldn't wait to tell her peers about it. Meg woefully accepted the flowers, laying them on her bed stand and curling up under the covers.

Kathryn, feeling sorry for her broken-hearted friend, found a pitcher of water for the roses. She patted the shivering mound beneath the blankets before returning to her own bed for the night.

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A/N: The Gerry was surfing ff .net for any new phics that might catch his or Misty's interest. His turquoise eyes alighted on a familiar name. Misty would definitely be happy to see this, thus the Gerry left the safety of the den and shuffled down the hall to Misty's room, carefully avoiding any detection by the minions.

He found Misty, sewing beads onto one of her fleece blanket creations and listening to her music.

"Misty, love, come and see this," he said. Misty would have hardly moved for anyone, but she could not resist the Gerry's voice and so followed him back to the den.

"Look, Phantress actually submitted her story to the site! Isn't she the one you based Kathryn the ballerina on?" the Gerry exclaimed, pointing to their friend's name on the computer screen.

Misty did a happy dance. "YAY! Yes, she is my inspiration for Kathryn. I'll have to post a notice in Minion HQ about it." She gave the Gerry a kiss and departed. The next morning the minions found a note pasted to their announcement board that went something like this:

Hey everybody, a good friend of mine posted her first serious phic. Her story is really unique and I think some of you might find it an interesting twist. Please look her up. Her penname is Phantress.

Your obedient servant,

M.B.