I was reading all your reviews on the previous two chapters, and now I feel really sorry for Erik! Wasn't on purpose, it just happened.

"You're an idiot." Laetitia informed Erik as soon as he returned from talking with Amme.

"What did I do this time?"

"She was practically begging you to take her back! And you! Not only did you blow her off, you threatened to kill her! No wonder you're still single."

"This has nothing to do with you, Laetitia, so don't comment." Erik snapped.

"You asked!"

He ignored her. Instead, he went over to his desk and picked up his quill. Not for the first time in two weeks, no notes came.

"This is your own fault."

Still ignoring her, he started drawing absentmindedly.

"She looked really bad. Really, really bad."

When he realized what he was drawing, he quickly crumpled up the paper and set it on fire, watching it turn into ashes. He didn't want any more reminders of Amme. He had already destroyed all the other pictures of her.

"Are you listening to me? Hey, bossman, I'm talking to you!"

He went over to the organ and started playing random notes.

"I think you should find out what's going on with her!" Laetitia shouted.

He responded by playing even louder.

"Moron," Laetitia muttered before sinking under the water.

Erik didn't stop his playing after she left. If he stopped, he would think about would she said, and he couldn't bear that. If she and Christine were right, if something was hurting Amme…no. He couldn't let himself believe that.

When Amme got back to the opera house, she had stopped crying. Crying never helped anyone, why should she be the exception? She had to keep telling herself that, because the tears kept threatening to rise up again. She would not cry, she would not cry, she…

Damn it.

The tears won again, and she collapsed into a corner. If Michel saw her like this, she wouldn't be standing for a month.

Of course, he wanted to see her in only ten minutes, and if she wasn't there, things would be worse.

Carefully, she got up. Being able to only use one hand made things very difficult; her right arm was currently out of commission. Being broken usually had that effect on people's limbs. Amme could only be grateful she was left-handed.

"Amme?"

Christine had found her. Amme wiped the water from her eyes quickly before she saw.

"Amme, what happened to your arm?"

"I…"

"Don't you dare say you tripped," Christine warned.

Amme had to smile. "Alright. It's nothing, though. I can handle it."

"Amme, we really, really need to talk."

"There's nothing to say." Amme started to leave. "Excuse, Michel is expecting me."

"Did he break your arm, Amme?"

And Amme thought humans weren't intuitive. "I broke my arm. I fell on top of it."

"And how, pray tell, did you fall?" The human asked relentlessly.

"I just fell."

"Amme! I told you not to say that! We both know you didn't fall, so just admit it."

"Christine, this is my business, so please, please stay out of it. Please?"

"Could you at least tell the Phantom what's happening? He'll listen." I hope, Christine added to herself.

Amme sighed. "I already did. At least, I tried to. He didn't want to talk with me."

Christine's already wide eyes widened. "I can't believe that!"

"He said if I came back down, he'd kill me," Amme added sadly. Two tears slipped from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Amme. Do you want me to talk to him?"

She shook her head. "No, that's alright, Christine. I need to go, now. Michel will be…worried."

Starlight, who was very clearly not a human, was very intuitive. Cats had much better sense than humans could ever hope to achieve, so she knew right away what was wrong.

But Amme wouldn't talk to her about it. Whenever Starlight brought up the topic, Amme would either change it or just leave.

Starlight knew Amme. She knew what the elf was doing. Amme wasn't used to people helping her; she was used to helping people. And she would never, ever, ever dream of asking for any assistance, because that just wasn't what she did. In was coded in her DNA to take everything upon herself.

Starlight, armed with this information, wasn't stupid enough to press Amme too much for any details about her injuries. But she needed to do something, and she was a cat. And a tiny cat at that. It was hard to convince people you were dangerous when you were as big as a good-sized mouse.

But that didn't mean she had to sit around and wait for someone to save her friend. What she needed to do was find the someone who'd do that.

And Starlight already had a candidate in mind. He just needed some serious convincing.

Amme, rubbing a brand new bruise on her leg, looked around.

"Where's Starlight?" She asked.

Fate, standing next to her, merely tossed her head.

"If you don't want to tell me," Amme shrugged. Sometimes horses were just as bad as cats with their like of mysteries and being mysterious. "I was just hoping to talk with her, that's all."

Fate whinnied she said she needed to find someone. I don't know who she was talking about, though.

"I see." The elf tried to stretch. "You know," she joked weakly. "If I don't stop falling soon, I won't be able to exercise. Then I'll probably get fat."

The horse was too depressed by that comment to answer it.

Erik was busy writing an especially scorching note to the managers complaining about how they, once again, failed to obey his wishes, when he heard a meow. Completely nonplussed, he looked up. Was there a cat down here?

The meow came again, and he found himself staring at tiny black ball of fuzz he recognized as Starlight, Amme's cat.

"What is a cat doing down here?" He muttered. "This cat, particularly."

Starlight batted his nose. Erik drew back.

"Don't do that!"

Ignoring that, she jumped onto his shoulder and started boxing his ears.

"What on heaven, earth, and hell?"

Erik jerked up, and Starlight fell onto the chair. She meowed disapprovingly, jumped off, and started attacking his leg.

"Excuse me!" He picked her up. Holding her at arm's length, he said, "What do you think you're doing?"

I really must be insane! Erik realized. I'm talking to cat!

Said cat leaned forward, staring at him intently. Then she started licking his hand.

Erik couldn't help it; he smiled.

Starlight seemed to be waiting for that. She wiggled from his grasp, leapt down, and started tugging impatiently on his pant leg.

"Fine," Erik sighed. "I'm coming."

Starlight led him up one passageway and down another. Erik wondered if she really knew where she was going. Than he'd remember she was a cat, and he'd make a move to turn around. Whenever he did that, Starlight would instantly start attacking his leg again.

Erik finally stopped wondering; Starlight was an elf's cat, after all. She was probably much smarter than any other ones.

At last, she seemed to have reached her destination. Erik looked out the one-way mirror to see Amme sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"I don't want to see her!" He snapped at the cat.

Starlight bit his hand.

"Alright! Alright!" He turned back to Amme.

She did look bad. Erik frowned thoughtfully. Why hadn't he noticed it before? Her right arm was definitely broken, and there were bruises, cuts, and burns all along her face and arms.

There was a knock at the door, and Amme, shaking, went to answer it. Michel Leclerc, the man Erik hated above all others at that moment, stood there, looking furious.

"You're too slow!" He shouted. "I don't have all day to wait you know!" He slapped her across the cheek.

Amme fell on the floor. She winced when she landed on her broken arm, but she didn't let one noise escape her lips.

Michel, standing over her, smacked her back down as she tried to get up.

"No!" Erik whispered. "No, this isn't…no!"

Starlight rubbed against his leg.

Amme stayed silent as Michel hit her over and over again. Clearly frustrated by this lack of response, Leclerc grabbed her hair and bashed her head against the wall, knocking her out.

The Phantom was too shocked to do anything.

The man struck the unconscious elf a few more times, before leaving, slamming the door behind him.

Starlight, jumping onto his shoulder, meowed in the Phantom's ear. This woke him up. Quickly, quietly, he stepped into the room and crouched next to Amme. He reached out and touched her hair gently as a tear dropped.

"Amme, I'm sorry, Amme…" He trailed off.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Erik turned. Michel Leclerc had returned, and he had drawn a sword. Starlight hissed, her fur standing on end.

"That's my fiancée you're with! I knew she was cheating on me! Get away from her!" He brandished the sword around clumsily.

Erik dodged it easily, wishing he had brought a weapon of some kind with him.

Leclerc might have been clumsy, but he certainly was not slow. He swung the blade again, this time cutting the Phantom on his upper arm. A few drops of blood appeared.

Erik, swearing violently, responded with a well-aimed punch right on Leclerc's nose. A crack told him he broke it.

Just like Leclerc had broken Amme's arm.

That thought flamed out his temper to a point Erik hadn't felt in years. That man had tortured the woman he loved, and Erik had nearly let him get away with it.

He hit Michel once again on the nose, before kicking his legs from under him. The other man fell to the floor. Erik, bending over, grabbed his right arm and twisted hard. Michel whimpered and flailed around, dropping the sword as he did. The Phantom seized it before Michel. Then he proceeded to left the other by his shirt, ran the sword straight through his stomach and into the wall behind him.

Michel's eyes bugged out, and Erik smiled coldly. Leaning forward, he whispered, "Consider us even."

A scream alerted Erik to the still open door. A crowd of people had just witnessed his kill. The Phantom took one step forward, and all them scattered like sheep.

Chuckling, he turned back to the room. The sight of Amme, still out cold, wiped all the mirth from his face. He went to pick her up.

"What about me?" Michel Leclerc gasped. "Are you just going to leave me like this?"

The Phantom, without looking at him, said, "Well, it's not my sword, so I don't care if I leave it here. But don't worry, you'll be dead soon, so you won't feel anything else." With Amme in his arms, he finally faced the dying man. "I only wish I knew how much damage you inflicted on her before, so I could've done the same to you. Only worse, of course," he added, smiling coldly once more. "Farewell, Monsieur."

When Amme came to her senses, her first thought was am I suppose to meet Michel now? He'll kill me if I'm not there! The next was where am I?

She appeared to be lying on a large, comfortable bed. Amme couldn't remember the last time she had been on a bed. There was a thin curtain separating this…room? The walls seemed to be made of a rock she had only seen once before since she came to France.

Amme jumped out of the bed so fast, she fell over, dizzy. Both arms automatically went out to balance herself. Both arms…

Amme slowly flexed her right arm. It didn't hurt at all! What was going on?

She decided to ponder that question another time. The most important thing was to get out before the Phantom found and killed her, and before Michel realized she had been gone too long, and killed her as well.

She moved resolutely, but quietly, through the curtain. She almost to the dock when she realized the boat was gone; she'd have to swim across, and swimming meant getting wet.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Amme squeaked in terror, and tried to run, but a hand closed around her wrist, forcing her to look at him.

"I'm sorry!" She cried. "I don't know how I got down here, but I was just leaving, and…"

The Phantom placed a cold hand over her mouth. "I brought you down here, Amme. There's no use for you to apologize for something I did. What I wanted to know is: why aren't you in bed? I thought that's where I left you."

"Oh! I, oh," Amme stopped struggling. "I thought…you're aren't going to kill me then?"

The Phantom's face, the side she could see at least, crumpled, but his voice remained level. "No, I'm not going to kill you."

"Oh, alright then."

They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Amme's legs collapsed below her. The Phantom caught her and carried her, bridal style, back to the bed.

Laying her down carefully, he said, "You need to rest here until you've completely recovered."

Amme wasn't in the mood for arguing. But there was something she wanted to know. "What made you change your mind?"

"Your cat."

"Starlight? She's not my cat, she belongs to herself." Amme sat up. "What did she tell you?"

"She didn't tell me anything. She made me follow her, and I saw…Leclerc…" he waved his hand, as if that explained everything.

"Michel!" Amme gasped. "Oh, no! He's going to be so angry! I need to go!"

"No, you don't," the Phantom pushed her gently back down. "You don't have to worry about anything, Amme. I've taken care of it all."

Amme turned her tortured eyes up to him. "But he hates it when I'm late! And when he finds out where I've been…"

"He's never going to. And you being late is the least of his troubles now," he smiled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she cried.

"He's dead, Amme. I killed him." His smile widened.

"Oh," Amme said foolishly. "Oh, I see."

"Do you?" His fingers traced her jaw line lightly. "Then you also know why you don't have to be afraid anymore. No one will hurt you!"

"I wasn't afraid," she denied weakly.

"You don't have to pretend with me, my love," he whispered, moving closer. "I'll understand."

"But you didn't understand when I said I was sorry before," she replied, confused.

Pain filled his eyes, and he jerked himself away. "I know, I know I didn't. I have no excuse for such behavior to you, Amme, my love. None whatsoever." He hid his face in his hands. "I was angry. So angry. Seeing you hurt me too much. I couldn't…bear it. Not at all. And every time someone spoke of you, the pain was renewed." He raised his head again, and his pleading eyes meet hers. "But that's no excuse. I should have keep a closer watch on you. I should have stopped this the moment he first laid one finger on you."

"Stop it!" Amme cried. "It's not your fault! I'm the one who agreed to marry someone I didn't know! Just like what you were warning me against! You can't blame yourself for this; it'll just make things worse for both of us!"

"You didn't know, Amme."

"Just like you warned me." Amme repeated. She moved over. "Would you like to sit down?"

The Phantom stared at her, not sure what she meant. She pointed at the space next to her, and he, unthinkingly, went and sat next to her.

Amme smiled shyly, and rested her head in his lap.

"Amme?" He whispered. "I love you!"
And Amme blushed.

Progress report time!

Erik- Aw! He loves her! How cute!

Amme- She's warming up to him quite a lot, but she's not even close to actually loving him.

Josh- wasn't in the chapter (yippee!).

Michel- dead (yes!)