Disclaimer: I do not own Erik, or Meg, or Madame Giry, or any other characters from the ingenious mind of Gaston Leroux! Anne just currently resides in my head until she's done telling her story. She's getting alone quite well with all of the other voices that reside up there. :)

AN: Anne this is getting ridiculous! COME ON ALREADY! ~grumble grumble mumble mumble~

Chapter 34

"Anne! Your invitations to the de Chagny ball are here!" Meg's thrilled voice echoed throughout our bedroom and the smile on her face very nearly rivaled the brightness of the sun. I had never seen her so truly excited about anything in the short time I'd known her.

"Here! Here's yours!" She handed me my envelope even though I already knew what the invitations looked like. I had helped design them.

The parchment was blue-black and had a beautiful silver mask drawn on it. In elegant gold calligraphy were the words:

Your Presence is requested on October 31st, 1875.

A Masque Ball will be held in honor of the Vicomte and Vicomtess de Chagny.

The Ball will commence at 8:00 p.m. with a Masque unveiling at midnight.

Please bring this invitation with you.

"Oh, Anne! We have to go get dresses! We'll go see La Marguerite tomorrow where we shall be measured for beautiful costume gowns! Oh, what shall I go as?"

"With your blonde hair you could certainly pass for a beautiful Aphrodite."

"And what about you? What will you go as?"

I personally did not have the monetary means for any such extravagance, but I humored her. I said the first thing that came to mind. "A bride."

She laughed. "Why on earth would you go as a bride?"

"I'll never be one in real life, might as well pretend while I still look the part."

"Oh, you'll get married. Perhaps you'll meet someone at the ball."

"That's exactly what Christine said. And believe me, I have no intention of finding anyone at the ball, for I have no intention of going."

"Oh, but you must!"

"Meg, I had my seasons and believe me, I have had my fill of high society. The same lines of conversation in which no one learns anything about person's character except that they care only for fashion and gossip are enough to drive me to distraction." I placed the invitation on my dresser, pleased with how it turned out seeing it in print. "But…seeing as you are so determined to go, I will help prepare you in any way possible. Starting with your costume."

"What do you mean you're not going?"

I wasn't prepared for Erik's insisting that I go. I had assumed that he would want me to stay with him and we could get some work done on my lessons. We had spent a lot of time talking and less and less time practicing. I focused my attention on scrubbing the dishes in the sink. I needed something to focus on, and I had waited until after lunch to bring up Christine's ball. Generally, he seemed almost…pleased that I was having some sort of relationship with her. I found it odd, since I assumed that he would have wanted me to stay as far away from her as possible considering their circumstances. But, he said that he wasn't bitter over her leaving any more…that there was something else that he was more focused on. Then when we talked about the ball, which I conveniently brought up after we had eaten our fill, I told him simply that I wasn't going.

"Erik, really. Do you expect me to parade about in some costume and socialize with people who in all reality are looking down their noses at me and anyone else whom they believe to be inferior to them?"

"But, you'll let Meg go?"

"Meg is different. She's a Prima Ballerina with a bright future ahead of her. And what do I have? I've been estranged from my Grandmother and basically working to make my ends meet…not that I have ends since I am living comfortably here. But, in truth, I'm nothing to them." I've always been nothing to them, was what I didn't say. "I'll never amount to anything useful and have to make do with each day as it comes."

"Anne…" He placed his hands on my shoulders, and I could feel his breath on tips of my ears. "If you keep telling yourself that, then you are setting yourself up for failure."

"It's the truth."

"A lie that's been spoon-fed to you ever since you were fifteen. For ten years, your Grandmother, who I will be paying my respects to after the beating she gave you, has lied to you and made you feel as if you didn't matter."

He turned me to him and I was startled by the look of fiery passion that I saw there. "Anne, you must listen to me. You are a bright shining star in a sea of darkness and all must see that. You cannot see the effect you've had on…on…"

He was struggling with the words, and I was confused at what he was rambling on about.

"There are lives that you've touched here at the Opera House and I have no doubt elsewhere. You cannot let yourself continue to believe that you don't mean anything at all. You have great value if only would let yourself see it."

"And you think going to a ball will allow myself to see my worth."

"No…I…ugh! I don't even know what I'm talking about."

"Is it so important that I go? Do you want me to go?"

"Well…you won't go as a bride, that's for sure."

I smiled. "You were spying on us? Erik, that's very bad manners."

"I wasn't looking at you two. Just standing on the other side of the wall, listening."

"Well, what would you have me go as?"

"Diana," he said resolutely.

"You sound as if you've given this some great thought." I returned to my dishes, very much pleased that he picked up a towel to dry them for me.

"Well, you know who she is, don't you?"

"A Roman Goddess."

"Is that all?"

"I never got around to reading the Odyssey or the Illiad, Erik."

"Well, she was originally the goddess of hunting."

"Well, that's quite a depiction you have of me. I suppose you want boots and a tunic as well?" There was something in his eyes that I couldn't quite put a name to, but there as a fire kindled there.

"Um…no." He cleared his throat and seemed a little too preoccupied with drying a tea cup. "She eventually became the goddess of the moon, and that transformation is exactly what I propose. Something ethereal and magical."

I laughed. "I'm not a great beauty so don't you go and try to make me one." I dried my hands on my apron, relieved at finally being done with the dishes. It wasn't the most pleasant of tasks, but it was a necessary one.

"Here, let me get something for your hands." He put down the towel, and stepped out of the room.

I inspected my hands, and found nothing wrong with them. I wondered what I needed for my hands when I heard his footsteps coming back down the hall and into the kitchen. In his hands he held a bottle that had a small pump screwed to it, much like a lotion bottle.

"What is that for?"

"Something special to keep your hands from cracking. You play so much that you can hardly afford anything to happen to your hands."

He handed me the bottle and I sat it down on the table. I took a seat, and pumped a little into my hands. As I rubbed the cream colored mixture into my hands I smelt a strong scent of vanilla.

"Helps to mask the chemicals that repair any damages done to the skin."

"Is it so supposed to tingle like that?"

"A sign that it's working. Here, let me help you."

I hardly had time to object as Erik took hold of my hand and began to rub a little more of the lotion onto my hands, going up to my wrists and almost to my elbows. I had dispensed of the usual dress and had been allowed to raid through the old costume department finding a simple black skirt and a white shirt that stopped just below my elbows. It was almost hypnotic, the feel of his hands on my skin, the cool lotion slowly becoming warm as it was rubbed into my arm.

"So…will you go?"

"You're quite adamant…aren't you? Would it make you happy if I went?"

"You should take every opportunity to enjoy yourself while you're here. And besides, it's best if you get outside the Populaire as often as you can."

"Erik…I haven't a thing to wear, nor the funds to purchase such an extravagance."

"I will take care of that."

I opened my mouth to refute such an offer but he placed a finger over my lips.

"Think of it as a gesture of friendship, Anna."

The slight alteration to my name struck me and I was unable to say anything more. I simply nodded in agreement and the discussion was over.

"Oh, Anne! I just can't decide!" Meg danced around La Marguerite's for nearly half an hour, going through different costume ideas.

"What about our original idea of Aphrodite?"

"Oh, Mama wouldn't dream of letting me wear anything so scandalous!"

I flipped through the costume book, before stopping at an interesting number. "How about Odette from Swan Lake?"

"Hmm?" Meg came over and peered at the page, gasping in delight. "Oh, look at all those feathers!"

"You could wear it as a message to your mother that you want her to bring back the Paris Ballet Company and that you could truly fulfill your role as Prima Donna."

And in just a few moments, Meg was finished at La Marguerite.

"I'm so glad you've decided to come with us," she said, looping her arm through mine as we walked down the street back to the Populaire. "Who are you going as?"

"The Roman Goddess Diana, but as she was after she became the goddess of the moon."

"Oh, that's going to be beautiful! I'm sure you will dazzle everyone there! What does it look like?"

"It's a simple white silk dress, laced with silver and gold that sparkles like diamonds. I'll have long white gloves, but my mask is my favorite part. I'll be wearing a crescent diadem, that looks like it's part of my mask. The two are separate pieces, and the mask looks like the dress, solid white with silver and gold."

"What are you going to do with your hair?"

"Leave it down."

"Bold. Of course, you're black hair will look marvelous against the white costume. You'll have men…"

"No, Meg. No talk of men. Instead, we're going to do everything we can to make you look absolutely perfect. You are the one who is going to be the belle of the ball. I hope Christine won't mind being upstaged."

"She's never been upstaged. Not really. She's always been the one upstaging other people. Oh, not in a bad way. She became Prima Donna practically overnight, and has had everything handed to her. The infatuation of our Opera Ghost, the Vicomte, and the adoration of almost all of Paris…it's been easy for her."

"Oh, Meg, don't think that. Every person has their own trials. Being a Vicomtesse is quite hard for her."

"How on earth could it possibly be hard for her? All that wealth and a husband and children!"

"Meg, don't be so bitter. Christine has had to make a hard jump in society from being almost nonexistent to in the spotlight almost overnight. This ball is to help make a good transition for her. She has almost no idea of what she's doing and it's up to us to help support her and let her know how much we care about her."

"While at the same time trying to snag a husband?"

I couldn't help but laugh at her. She truly was a distraction but I couldn't help but wonder if she too would be faced with the hardship of having to wake-up from her current day dream of a carefree life and see what life was really like once all the glamour was stripped away.

AN: Next chapter will be the ball and it should be a long one so don't expect it up tomorrow night. Lots to do! But it's gonna be good! Cliffhangers to ensue! ~evil laugh~