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: Okay...so, you remember that part where I said don't expect an update tomorrow? Well, apparently Anne had other ideas and whatever was supposed to happen at the ball didn't really happen, so here's what did! Enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!

Chapter 35

Christine, in a super sweet way that I was slowly recognizing in her, had ordered a carriage to come for the two of us. Meg was thrilled to arrive in a de Chagny carriage, the family crest clearly marked on the doors. She look positively beautiful in her Swan Lake dress that wasn't really covered in thousands of feathers. La Marguerite's was clearly a genius in their designs. The fabric, which appeared to be lace but definitely wasn't, was cut, styled, and layered, in such a way that it looked like her dress had feathers on it. When she turned and the light hit it just right, you could see feathers and then they disappeared. The same was said for the gloves that trailed up her arms. It was truly a remarkable design.

Erik, had truly outdone himself with my costume. I don't know where he found it or how much it cost because it was probably the most expensive thing I'd ever seen, let alone worn. The fabric felt strange against my skin and was a soft white color that truly looked like it sparkled with diamonds. The diadem on my head felt foreign, but it wasn't heavy. The crescent moon even looked like it had a diamond hanging from the tip.

"You look beautiful, Anna," Erik whispered.

I stood in front of the mirror, Meg already having left for the carriage. "I feel slightly ridiculous in all of this finery. I'm not fit for it."

"Well, luckily you only have to wear it for the one night."

"Almost seems too long." I picked up my cloak, something else Erik had found me. If my dress was the starkest white, my cloak was the darkest black, that still had small hints of a sparkling night sky.

"An Angel."

I scoffed. "I'm no more an angel than you are a phantom, Erik. But, I do thank you for the compliment." I looked at my reflection, suddenly liking Erik standing so close to me, looking at me with such praise. "You have been very kind to me."

"I think we've been kind to each other." He placed his hands on my shoulders, and I was very aware of the closeness between us. Something in the air and in his expression changed. I felt my breath quicken, my heart race, and I was suddenly very nervous.

"You should go. You're going to be late, and that won't do for the Vicomte and Vicomtess." He broke the contact.

"I wish I could see you there. You have certainly proven yourself quite a dancer."

"You've not said anything about…"

"Because I knew you wouldn't come. You still care a great deal about Christine, and I know that if you did come, it wouldn't be to see me." I bent to pick up my mask, and when I looked back up into the mirror…he was gone. I turned around, trying to see him, to see if he was playing some sort of trick on me. "Erik?" But there was no answer.

"Anne! Hurry dear, you're going to be late!" Aunt Giry came through the door and I was whisked away, without ever having a chance to say good night to Erik.

"It's positively divine!" Meg gasped, seeing the splendor of the ballroom. We had just given our cloaks away, tied our masks in place, and had picked up our dance cards. The decorations of the hall had worked quite well with the simplicity of the floral arrangements balancing so well with the grandeur of the room. "And to think this all came out of your mind, Anne."

"Nonsense! I simply gave some direction to the Vicomtess and she did the rest."

"Still, it's lovely. Shouldn't we go introduce ourselves to our hosts?"

I nodded, and led Meg to the welcoming line, which was exactly where I had suggested.

"Ah, and who do we have here?" Asked the Vicomte and I was amazed at how much a smile transformed him. What would he do when he realized who we were?

"Meg Giry, and Anne Hillcrest!" Christine guessed, correctly. "I remember Meg's dream of wanting to dance Swan Lake, and Anne is the only person who would come with her"

"Don't speak so loudly, Christine," Meg whispered, jokingly. "We want to surprise everyone at the unmasking."

"Ah, you can rest assured that I shall not tell a soul. It will add great mystery to the two of you, and since you look so beautiful, I dare say you will not rest this whole evening."

I had seen the change in the Vicomte when our names were spoken and it was revealed who we were. It was plain to see that he wished for nothing more than to be as far away from us as possible.

"And speaking of dancing," I whispered to Meg. "We should be on our way so that others can take up their time. You, already have a few admires." I looped my arm through hers and walked her to a table and two chairs that were situated along the wall. We each sat down, and admired the costume parade surrounding us. We had arrived fashionably late, so, Meg had made quite an entrance though she seemed quite persistent in the fact that they were all staring at me. When a tall man, wearing a costume that depicted the high Julius Caesar, and asked Meg to dance, I had the most extreme satisfaction of knowing that this was going to be a good night for her.

She seemed in very high spirits and laughed as she moved from person to person in the dance. Everyone, it was obvious, wanted to know who she was, and were all making their own guesses. Words like "nobility" and even "royalty" reached my ears that I wanted to burst out laughing. She didn't even come back to the table for, as the next dance began, she was asked to dance by someone else.

"Such a lovely lady should not sit alone."

The voice was not one I recognized. I looked up to see a man rivaling Apollo himself standing before me. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and such a build that I half wondered if he came out of the Grecian sky itself.

"May I have the pleasure?" He extended a hand to me, and I almost looked about, wondering if he put his question to the right person.

"Of course," I found myself saying, and that was it. I, like Meg, moved from partner to partner, from dance to dance. It was such a feeling that I had never felt before. I tried not to let it be dashed when it dawned on me that their only first reason to ask to dance with me, was because I looked pretty. I wondered if this was how Elizabeth felt when she made her first debut. I felt so alive, and so noticed that it was disconcerting. I was entirely out of my element, but I couldn't help but enjoy myself. Apollo, Zeus, King of France, Russian Prince, they all passed before me in a blur and in time I had to sit down. Meg and I took the same dance to reprieve ourselves, and we sat at a table in a secluded corner where no one tell we would be.

"Oh, Anne, this is positively the best night of my life! I have met so many people!"

"In a way, Meg. You've not even seen their faces, and words are meaningless in a time where actions have greater power."

"Don't try and ruin it for me, Anne. I haven't danced this much in all my life, even with Mama always working us to the bone."

I laughed at her. "Well, I can honestly say that I've never met so many engaging people. Despite the fact that none of them have really said anything to me."

"Really? I've been asked so many questions. They all want to know where I live, and who I am, and who my parents are."

"And what did you tell them?" Caution nipped at me. Naïve Meg could be at times, I didn't want her to see the change in people when they found she was a working girl.

"I decided to keep up an air of mystery and gave them answers that would baffle them further. I told them I lived in Paris, that I am obviously a woman, and that my Mother is an excellent woman whom I love very dearly. None of them have an idea what to think."

I smiled at her, quite pleased with her. She could fend for herself, if only given the opportunity. It was foolish to guard her, despite my natural instinct, and I knew that only letting her live and to make her own decisions and mistakes would be the only way she could grow.

We soon made our way back to the ballroom, and Meg was whisked away immediately. I, however, found myself in the arms of the Vicomte himself.

"This has to stop," he said the moment that we were dancing.

"Whatever could you mean? I have not done anything…"

"You and Meg being here is not good for my wife. She needs a break from your type of society. She's in a new world now with new rules, and in a society that will judge my wife just by whomever she looks at. I have been kind and courteous up until now, but…"

"You will forgive me, I am sure, when I call you a liar and say that you have not been courteous and kind to me. You have been cold and arrogant and, quite honestly, I cannot stand you. Christine, I like. Granted, in the beginning I did not, but then I have a bad habit of judging people by first appearances." I thought of Erik and my heart warmed. How I wished that he was here with me instead of this fool of a man.

"Perhaps you should stop accepting my wife's invitations here."

"Who Christine chooses to see and who chooses to see her, is entirely none of your affair."

"While she lives under my roof it is."

"Keep pushing her the way that you do, and you could lose her forever."

It all happened so quickly then. In the dance we were to turn about and reunite with our partner, but when I turned around to go back to the Vicomte, it was not him who stood before me. Instead, a man wearing a black tuxedo, cloak, black gloves, and a white mask stood before me. I was at first confused and puzzled and unsure of what to say until I looked at his eyes. Recognition, apparently, dawned on my face.

"I thought I should steal you away before he took you from me too." A smile tugged at his mouth.

"Erik…" I whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"Come. It's not safe for us to talk here." He danced me away from the ballroom floor, and before I could even breathe, we were outside in the gardens that had been made accessible to the guests. Everyone was busy dancing, so no one saw us leave, and I was grateful. I didn't want anyone to see Erik. I did not want any danger coming to him.

"Erik," I repeated, as he drew me into the shade of a tree, away from prying eyes. "What are you doing here? It's not safe here."

"I thought I would humor you by coming to see you. You do look lovely, and you've made quite an impression on the guests of your hosts. Everyone wants to know who the Swan Princess and Diana really are."

"Seriously. You can't risk your life…"

"For what? One moment to dance with you in public even if no one were to ever see our faces and know who we were? Please, I've had such little true pleasure in life, so don't take this from me." I couldn't tell if he was joking with me or not. "I wanted some small chance to feel human, Anna. Not just some prisoner locked away in my dungeon of Hell."

My heart wrung with pity and another emotion that I couldn't quite describe it was so foreign to me. "Erik…" I sat down on a bench. "I'm not saying that I don't want you here. It's just, that you took me completely by surprise, is all. You, yourself, told me what your life was like, and I don't want it repeated by taking some risk."

He sat next to me and took my hands in his. "Any chance to see you, no matter where you are, is a risk I'm willing to take, always."

I smiled. "Erik…I…" I couldn't go on, because just like in my room earlier, the air changed. There was a strange electric tension that was hanging between Erik and me. My heart began to race again, and I felt as if I would jump out of my very skin. His face was so close to mine, just like that time we had danced a waltz in his music room. That look was there, and I realized that I was just a few seconds away from being kissed, and this time, there was no fear. I didn't instinctively pull away like I did last time. Everything changed in that one moment. Erik was no longer just my friend, my protector. He had stopped being that for some time, and I just didn't realize it. I loved him. I loved him in such a strong powerful way because we were two broken people trying to be put back together, and we were being put back together with the help of the other. I lost myself to the moment, the music of the night, and to the kiss that was so close…so very, very close.

AN: I completely expect my review/pm box to be completely filled with freak outs by the time I wake up in the morning. Love you all!