A/N: Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out. Summer will come soon and I'll have time to update more. I did my best to write the show, but I don't know how well it turned out.

The soundtrack for the show it The Phantom of the Opera by Lindsay Stirling.

Also, a friend of mine drew Tsubasa! She's the one at the cover. :D

Chapter 12. Phantom of the Opera

"Are you ok?" Edward asked as he finished putting on his skates.

It's been a month and two weeks since Tsubasa started practicing for the new show with Edward. It took her some time to get used to practicing with Edward and with the choreography, but she managed. In the past week they would only spend three hours training since they were already able to perform perfectly.

She didn't receive a reply from her mother, but she didn't worry. It's a decision that takes some time and she hoped that her mother would accept after seeing her performance.

The two of them would attend classes as the rest of the newcomers. Tsubasa often tried peeking at Yume while she was training, but she didn't even get a glimpse. What made Tsubasa even more curious was that she didn't see Yume for weeks for. She heard whispers from the other performers that she's training all day.

In the past weeks, Tsubasa realized she isn't liked by the other newcomers. No one except Edward was speaking with her. Moreover, they would often say that she was accepted only because she is Leon and May's daughter, but she didn't even listen to them. Edward turned out to be a good friend that would always make pick her up when she would fall on the ice and make her laugh off the ice.

"Yeah, I just have this weird feeling." Tsubasa replied.

They are preparing for the single, complete rehearsal of the show. Everyone taking part in the show will perform, including Yume.

"What feeling? Are you sick?" Edward asked worried.

She looked at him skeptical. Sure, they are friends, but he is more like tease-all-day type of friend than the worried type.

"No." Then she realized. "Are you nervous?"

"Yes!" He replied fast holding a hand on his stomach.

Tsubasa giggled. "Don't worry, if we make a mistake the worst that could happen is we'll be fired." Edward's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. Seeing his face, Tsubasa begun laughing. "I'm kidding. Really, don't worry, we've practiced a lot."

He then smiled and nodded. "You're right. Anyway, what's bothering you?"

"I'm not bothered, I'm excited. I want to see Yume's performance." She replied honestly.

"Now that you mention it, I'm quite curious too."

Someone knocked on the door. "Tsubasa, Edward-san, the rehearsal starts in two minutes." Hilary's voice followed.

"We're coming now!" Tsubasa replied and the two of them exited the room.

They walked on the dark hallway until they reached the backstage from where they could see the stage. It wasn't decorated yet, but the trapezes for the first part were there. Tsubasa looked around, the backstage was full, but Yume was nowhere to be seen. Mia and Anna were looking at a big screen.

"Tsubasa-chan, Ed, morning!" Anna greeted them as soon as she observed them.

"Good morning." Tsubasa replied as Mia gave a short nod.

"Yume, are you ready?" Mia asked making Tsubasa look at the screen immediately.

Yume was standing on a trapeze, tall and confident. She made it look so easy to stay on a trapeze nearly twenty meters above the ground. Yume gave a nod and Mia raised her hand, which was a start signal.

In the next moment, Yume jumped off the trapeze and fell just like a feather.

XXX

Tsubasa threw herself on her bed looking at the ceiling.

"Welcome home, how about a shower?" Fool asked as he placed himself in front of her, blocking her view.

The dark-haired girl wasn't even looking at him, she was spacing out. Seeing that he received no attention, Fool took out his pack of cards and placed them around him.

"The Wandering Rabbit. You're still searching for it but you keep walking in circles. This endless loop will end soon but it's up to you if you find it or lose yourself."

"'It'?" Tsubasa asked moving her head to look at him. "What am I searching for?"

"I don't know." Fool replied all serious.

Tsubasa had no idea what Fool meant and she didn't want to think about it either. She let out a sigh.

"It is Naegino Yume's performance that's bothering you?" Fool asked.

"So you've seen it too."

She remained silent for a moment. She then put her hand to her heart and grabbed her shirt.

"My heart's still beating fast. From the beginning of the show until now." She said. "She's just.. amazing. That was amazing. We're both newcomers but she managed to do that in six weeks. Not only her but everyone was amazing, I and Ed had the easiest part, I feel that we're nothing comparing to them."

"This is what Kaleido Stage means." Fool told her.

Tsubasa narrowed her eyes. "If that's so, I don't know if that's the place I belong to."

"You don't want to be there?"

"I do!" She replied getting up and facing Fool. "But.. I don't know if I can do it."

"You can do anything." Fool said on the next second.

Tsubasa looked at him surprised, he's never said anything encouraging before.

She smiled. "That's what Onee-chan used to tell me." Fool kept looking in her eyes. She threw her arms in the air and jumped off the bed. "Alright, let's do this!" She ran towards the door and stopped as she touched the knob. She turned her head around and smiled at the Stage Spirit. "Thanks, Fool."

"Where are you going?" The spirit asked her.

"To run!" She replied and left.

"Are you sure this is enough?" Fool asked.

Right next to him could be seen the silhouette of a girl looking almost the same as Tsubasa. The only difference was the color of the eyes and the way her hair fell. She wasn't human, not anymore. She was stunningly beautiful, her long, dark-blue hair falling over her shoulders.

Mirai nodded. "She'll be alright." She smiled.

XXX

"Tsubasa, wake up." The girl heard her mother's voice but she couldn't open her eyes, she was too tired. "You act as if you don't hear me?" Still no answer. "Tsubasa Oswald, wake up in this moment!"

The teenage girl didn't have time to get up since her mother grabbed her blanket and pulled it, thus she fell on the floor.

"Ow, Mom!"

May was standing next to her daughter, her arms crossed up her chest and an irritated look on her face.

"Isn't today the première of the new show?"

Only then did Tsubasa remember the première was indeed that day. Her eyes searched for the clock on the wall-12:06. The show starts at 1.

"Oh, no, no, no!" The girl said panicked as she started searching for some clothes to wear. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" She asked her mother.

"I thought that at least on such an important day you'd be able to manage alone."

Tsubasa changed clothes, brushed her hair and tied it in her sign-ponytail and brushed her teeth in 15 minutes.

May was waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a sandwich in her hand. Tsubasa picked it up as she ran downstairs. She put on her knee-length and black socks and her sneakers.

"I'm off, Mom." She announced as she got up. She turned around ready to open the door and hear the usual 'take care'.

"Tsubasa, do your best on stage today." Was what she heard instead. She turned her head around and saw her mother smiling brightly. "We'll be there rooting for you."

She smiled back and ran outside.

XXX

"Hilary!" Tsubasa yelled seeing her blonde friend. As soon as the staff-member turned around, her usually gentle expression changed into an angry one.

"Tsubasa, where have you been?!" She asked the young performer, making her step back scared. "The show's starting in 15 minutes!"

"S-Sorry, I slept in."

"Don't give me that excuse now, we have to hurry to get you ready!" The blonde said as she caught Tsubasa's wrist and begun dragging her in the changing room.

There was no one inside, everyone was already on the backstage listening to final instructions.

"Hurry up and undress, I'll get your costume." Hilary ordered and Tsubasa took off her blouse and shorts, wearing only her underwear. "What are you doing? Take the bra off too."

Even thought Tsubasa was embarrassed she didn't have the guts to protest Hilary's orders.

"Here."

Hilary handed Tsubasa her costume and if she would have had the time, she would have stared at it longer. It was a short, sleeveless, blue dress. It covered her chest up to her next, but her stomach was revealing since the dress had a diamond-shaped cut. There were small, white diamonds at the bottom of the dress too. She had a pair of white, long gloves too.

Tsubasa sat down on a chair as Hilary fixed her hair. She decided to just straighten it and take her bangs from her face, tying them at the back of her head.

"Put this on too." Hilary handed her a mask.

It was a white mask that covered only the upper part of her face with blue diamonds on the edges.

Tsubasa got up and stood in front of Hilary.

"You look very b-beautiful." She told her, going back to her usual self.

"Thank—"

Tsubasa was interrupted by the ring that announced the beginning of the show.

"Go!" Hilary gave Tsubasa her white skates and pushed her out of the room.

The brunette ran on the hallways until she reached the backstage. Everyone was there, including the boss. She could see Yume standing tall on the trapeze, waiting for Sarah to finish the beginning song.

"What have you been doing?" Kalos asked making the girl tense up.

"W-Well, you see.."

"Tsubasa!" Ed called out and Tsubasa thanked God for his existence.

"Sorry boss, gotta go!" She excused herself and turned around. " Ed, you saved me there." She told her partner.

She observed he was wearing mostly black, his costume looked like a tuxedo.

"OhmiGod, you look great!" He told her after analyzing her.

"So do you." She replied which was true.

"The show's starting." He said turning to look at the stage.

Tsubasa did see the whole thing yesterday but it was a different thing now. There was music, lights, costumes and the audience.

Yume was wearing a dark-blue, long dress cut in the middle so that she could move freely. Her short, brown hair was falling freely. She was also wearing a pair of short, black gloves and was barefoot.

She looked stunningly beautiful, even Tsubasa—as a girl—couldn't take her eyes off her.

There were two big screens recording her from up-close, the audience could see her every expression.

She fell from the trapeze and right into what looked like a big, white bubble. It exploded and a lot of little lights filled the stage. Yume then jumped up in the air, the bubble hid a trampoline. Tsubasa was still as amazed as the first time, she jumped at last 10 meters. In the moment she reached the greatest height, two men swinging on the trapeze appeared behind her. They jumped and exchanged trapezes. One of them was wearing a white mask that covered the right side of his face and a black cape while the other was wearing a black hat. She recognized the masked man as Alexei and the other one as Ben. Even though Ben has been part of Kaleido Stage for more than Alexei-or so she heard from Hilary-it was obvious Alexei was a far better performer.

"Christine Daée was loved by two men." Tsubasa heard Ed whispering.

The rest of the first act ended with the others performers playing the other members of the opera. The second act begun with Yume's amazing jump. She was about to catch the trapeze when Alexei appeared on it and caught her, holding her in his arms. She only stood there for a moment and then ran, catching the other trapeze where Ben was waiting. They danced between the trapezes —the dance representing their love. At the end of the dance—and at the same time the end of the second act—Yume received a white rose from Ben.

The next act's stars were Yume and Alexei. They danced again, but it was different this time. It looked like Yume was running from him, but somehow she wanted to be close to him. It was like a guilty pleasure. At the end of the act, Yume received a red rose from Alexei. Performers filled the stage once again.

"Ed, why did she receive roses from them?" Tsubasa asked seeing that Edward was informed.

"A white rose represents pure love, which is what Raoul feels for Christine, while a red rose means a passionate love, Erik's love for her." He replied serious.

Yume came in the backstage,she had to change her costume. Two staff-members brought her the new costume—a white dress—and helped her change. When Yume turned around to walk to the stage she passed by Tsubasa and their eyes met. There was something in the way she looked at her-it made her shiver.

"Are you alright?" Edward asked seeing her wrapping her arms around her.

"Yeah." She replied.

The final act was represented the scene where Christine is kidnapped by Erik and Raoul comes to save her. Alexei did an amazing jump, leaving Tsubasa mouth-dropped. She couldn't imagine how he could move that fast between the trapezes. He was about to fall-just like Erik-but Yume caught his arm. Tsubasa was hooked by how well they could act. Yume really looked like she didn't want Alexei to die and Alexei looked like he was ready to die for her happiness. Instead of going up on the trapeze, next to Yume, Alexei took the red rose he gave her, threw it in the air, jumped and spun after it and then disappeared.

Yume was on a trapeze on the other side of the stage and Ben was very far. His trapeze was lower than hers. Tsubasa already knew the jump she will be doing. There wasn't a single trapeze between them and the distance was about ten meters.

"Tsubasa, we have to go on the stage." Ed announced and they skated to the stage.

Everyone was looking up and they didn't see them.

Yume balanced as fast as she could. She curled up in a ball and spun until she reached half the distance. There, her costume changed and for a slip of a second, it looked as if she was flying. She was about to fall when she turned upside down and twisted in all directions, until she reached Ben who was swinging . He caught her hand and they hung on the trapeze upside down, embracing each other.

The light moved from them to Tsubasa and Edward that were in the middle of the ice rink.

In that moment, Tsubasa's heart stopped. She could see the audience. She was too busy looking at Yume and didn't notice that all seats were full.

"Tsubasa." Edward whispered. He was waiting for her to take his hand and thus start the dance.

She moved like a robot and took his hand. She could barely remember the choreography. Edward felt she was tense and took control, but he couldn't do everything for her. He couldn't tell her anything anymore, the cameras were on them.

Tsubasa was afraid. She was shaking from every angle. If Edward would let go of her hand, she wouldn't know what to do. Her head was spinning.

At some point, Edward let go of her hand. He had to grab her waist and hold her up, but she didn't know the choreography anymore. In the moment he let go of her hand, she panicked. Her legs were shaking too much and she couldn't skate anymore, she fell and almost hit the edge of the stage. Her mask fell off her face.

Her eyes were shut. She was scared, she couldn't open her eyes. She wanted to disappear, to cry.

Suddenly, she felt a warm hand on her head. She opened her teary eyes and saw a little girl. The girl was looking at Tsubasa with a curious look, when their eyes met the little girl smiled brightly.

"Brittany, you're not allowed here." A woman came and took the girl's hand.

"But mommy, she fell and needed a pat."

Tsubasa looked at the woman bowing her head as an apology and leaving.

In the next second, she got up. She took a deep breath and skated fast towards Edward. She looked him straight in the eye and nodded, hoping he will follow her lead. He nodded back and caught her waist. The moment her hair fell over their faces, she whispered him something.

"Throw me as high as you can."

Seeing her confident smile, Ed nodded and did as he told.

She put her hands in an X and spun in the air. A loud cheer of applause was heard and Tsubasa could feel the audience's excitement.

She still didn't remember the choreography, but she didn't need it. She will just make her own show.

Tsubasa begun skating freely but she didn't forget about Ed, he paired with him and they made their own show. She felt like she was 12 again.

Edward didn't know what happened with Tsubasa, but he was glad she was fine. Not just fine, she was amazing, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was jumping, spinning and dancing-he enjoyed watching her as if he were a little kid. She was charming.

Tsubasa didn't want to stop, she could have skated all day but the song ended. Edward caught her in his arms and lifted her up the ice, thus stopping her. The crowd burst out in applause. The whole cast came on the stage. Some on the trampolines, some on the ice next to Tsubasa and Edward and others on the trapezes, where Yume, Ben and Alexei were.

The applause made Tsubasa happier than anything else, she was smiling brighter than ever. As the applause continued for minutes and Tsubasa knew that this is the place she wants to belong to.