Disclaimer: I do not own Erik, or Meg, or Madame Giry, or any other characters from the ingenious mind of Gaston Leroux! Anne, however, she's mine...well, she resides in my head until her story is done.

AN: I am glad that I am able to bring you another chapter so soon. I can say that the reason why I finished this chapter is because I've been dying to have this argument between Anne and Christine ever since I started writing this! And now that it's here...YAY! Anne's point of view is the same as mine so it gives me a personal satisfaction to finally be able to put it to paper...or a word processor. lol Leave a review and feel the full breathless pull of the beauty underneath!

"Oh, Ms. Anne, it's so good to have you back!"

I looked up from my seat and found Madame Carrolton standing over me. She was in her Juliette costume and she was wearing a beautiful smile on her face.

"Thank you, Madame. It's good to be back. I have missed this place." I gestured to the auditorium.

"And we have missed you as well." Her voice took on a more somber turn. "How is your friend, if you don't mind my asking."

"She died before I had reached England." The lie had fallen from my lips so easily that for a moment I was shocked and unable to continue.

"Poor dear. And you came right back?"

"Well, I paid my respects to her mother, of course."

"Oh, Annie, that's such a lie."

I turned in my seat to find Elizabeth standing arm in arm with Christine, glaring at me with contempt. Christine's expression was difficult to read. She appeared torn between staying on Anne's arm and rising to my defense.

"You have no friends in England. Everyone knows that."

"Your world must be so small, Elizabeth, if you believe that 'everyone' is just you and Grandmama." I rose from my seat and straightened my skirts. "I actually made some friends when we were shipped off to finishing school. You were too busy flirting with every male you could find to even notice anything else happening."

I stepped out into the aisle and stood next to Madame Carrolton.

"You've never talked about her."

"Why would I ever talk about her to you?" I crossed my arms and looked at her daring to continue this conversation. "Time and time again you have proven that we have as much in common as the grass does to the sky."

Elizabeth, thankfully, was at a loss for words, struggling to come up with some sort of retort. I was not going to give her such a pleasure.

"Now, if you will kindly excuse me, I have a word or two to say Monsieur Moreau. There's a oboist who is still too sharp." In truth, I had nothing of the sort to say to the conductor, but he did want to show me the score as well as some special alterations he had made.

"Will you be a regular spectator for our rehearsals now, mademoiselle?"

"Yes, I believe so."

He handed me the score. "Well, then, perhaps you could study the score so you could direct the orchestra."

My hands stilled as I reached for the music and I looked up at him in shock. It was clear in his expression that he was entirely serious in his request. "I...I don't know what to say. It's a huge honor...and responsibility."

Monsieur Moreau smiled at me, and I was a little wary with his expression. He seemed to know something I didn't...and he wasn't too interested in sharing. "I have no doubt, mademoiselle, that you will astound us all."

Erik watched from his usual seat in Box 5 the scene that had just played out below in front of the orchestra pit. A smile slowly spread across his face, but the mischievous glint was not far from his eyes. Anne was going to prove exceptional in this grand scheme of his. Soon, she would be asked to sing, and then everything would fall into place.

"I honestly expected it, Anne," Meg furiously ran a brush through her tangled blonde hair, her frustrated movements showing that she was not as calm as her words sounded. "I knew that you were living with the Phantom."

I took the brush from her hands and made her sit down on the bed. I sat behind her and began to gently run the brush through her hair, the same as she had done for me when we first began to share this room.

"I'm sorry that you had to be lied to."

Meg shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I've been lied to so often that I suppose now to be now different."

I felt tears prick my eyes at the terrible way that Meg had been treated. I cleared my throat and blinked quickly to keep the tears at bay. "Well, Meg, ask me anything and I shall tell you about my stay with the Opera Ghost."

"What happened to Faucher?"

I took a shaky breath and answered. "Faucher tried to rape me and Erik saved me. In doing so...Faucher was killed."

Meg gasped and turned to look at me. "Anne, I had no idea!"

I smiled sadly and turned her around so that she faced the front again. I resumed the soft brushing of her hair trying to let the gentle movements calm my anxiety. It brought back painful memories of when I had been raped as a child by a man who I was supposed to trust...my voice teacher."

"So that's why..." She left the question unspoken.

"Yes, Meg. Erik was able to help me put that behind me."

"So you'll sing now?"

I chuckled. "You have been quite adamant for me to sing. So, I think I shall be able to honor you with a song one day."

"Why not now?!"

"Meg, it's time for us to be in bed."

She huffed and crossed her arms. "But you will sing for me?"

"Yes, Meg. Now, back to my story. It was decided that I should stay until I could recover. So, under the ruse of visiting a sick friend, I stayed."

"You sound...happy."

I smiled and a sigh escaped my lips. "I am happy, Meg. Erik...the Phantom...loves me. And I love him."

Meg whirled around, her eyes wide with shock. "You can't be serious. He's so..."

"Don't you dare call him ugly, Meg."

"But...Anne..."

"No 'buts' Meg. I am deeply in love, and he loves me."

"He loves Christine."

"Well, Christine is married, and he's moved on. Now, no more, Meg. I want you to be happy for me. I love and am loved."

Meg was silent for a moment, apparently trying to decide if I was telling the truth and then accept it. "Well...I do want you to be happy, Anne. If you love him...I suppose there's little I can say."

I wrapped my arms around her. "Thank you Meg."

"Has he proposed?"

I burst out into gales of laughter. "It took us so long to admit that we love each other, I think it might take us twice as long for him to propose Meg. However, I promise, when that happens you'll be one of the first to know."

"Madame Carrolton, you are coming in two beats early. The flutes come in first, and then you." I stood next to Monsieur Moreau in the middle of rehearsal, and he was letting me correct mistakes before I got the chance to actually conduct. I had spent the entire night and early morning pouring over the pages and trying to make sense of it. Erik had left me a note giving me some idea of where to begin, but I was hesitant to listen to him. I was still upset about his lack of trust when I told him that I would return.

I reached up to touch the place where my locket had once laid against my skin. I could feel its absence after wearing it for so long. Returning my attention to the present I looked at the young man who played first chair in the flute section. "Will you please play those two measures?"

He played what I asked, a smile melody that had to be played before our Prima Donna began.

"You have to hear that before you can begin."

Madame Carrolton nodded but she did not appear to like being corrected by me...or anyone who hadn't put in the practice that she had. However, she listened and the next time she sang the passage, she did it correctly. I gave her a smile which she returned and I felt the incident over. The rehearsal continued to go well, until we had an unexpected visitor...or rather, visitors.

"Vicomte, Vicomtesse, we are in the middle of a rehearsal," I called out, despite the fact that everyone had parted on the stage to allow them access and the orchestra players had put down their instruments. I gave an exasperated sigh and walked up the stage. "I'm sorry but you can't just interrupt rehearsal when ever you choose. We are trying to be ready by opening night."

"Ah, so you say 'we' now, mademoiselle?" The Vicomte de Changy cast me a very dark look and I wondered again what Christine had ever seen in him. "So, you consider yourself part of this...society?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, Vicomte. You obviously thought so when you married Christine."

"Well, I've risen my wife to a higher calling now. She's managing quite well, wouldn't you agree?"

I gave Christine a very pity filled look as by her almost broken demeanor that it was quite clear that she was not "managing quite well." She seemed quite bent to her husband's will. I had heard so much about Christine's free and gentle spirit, especially when she had been an Opera girl. I felt sorry for the loss of such a person.

"Well, it all depends on what you mean by managing, Monsieur." I shook my head. "It's a shame really."

"What is?" Raoul took hold of Christine, possessively.

"I once thought that Christine was better off by choosing you. I can clearly see now that I was wrong. Her Phantom would never have done such a terrible thing as to break her spirit as you have done." I don't know why the words fell from my lips, as I clearly recognized the fact that by Christine choosing Raoul, I had been able to fall in love with Erik and to be so happy with my life now.

"Raoul loves me a thousand times more than the Phantom of the Opera ever could!" Christine took a few hesitant steps towards me, but she was vividly angry.

She came up so close to me that she was just standing a mere arm's length away.

I shook my head. "No, Christine, that is impossible."

"Would you like to explain that?"

I had not the desire to do so in front of such a group of spectators, but as moving to a safer location would only show as weakness on my part, I continued.

"There's a story that my mother used to read to me. Two women fought over a baby and they were brought before a great king. Both women swore that they were the child's mother and that the other woman was lying. So, the king looked to one of his guards and ordered him to take a knife and to cut the child in half, giving one half to each woman. Before the blade could be lowered, however, the woman who was truly the child's mother begged the king to give the child to the other woman so that no harm would come to it. The king then gave the child to the woman who begged that the life of the child to be shared for he knew that she was the child's mother."

"And what does that lovely little story have to do with my situation?" Christine's eyes blazed fire and her words were dangerously quiet.

"The Phantom saw that he and Raoul were constantly fighting over you and that it was hurting you in the process. You were not happy. He loved you the most by letting you go so that you could be happy. He couldn't bear to let you constantly be pulled in two."
It happened so quick that I couldn't even prepare for it. Christine had raised a hand and had soundly slapped me across the face. As I couldn't brace myself for it, I ended up losing my balance and falling on the floor.

"How dare you say such a thing to me!" I had not anticipated her anger, but she knelt down, grabbed my upper arms and tried to shake me. "How dare you! You know nothing! Do you hear me?! Nothing!"

"Madame, I think it's best if you leave now before I have you forcibly removed from the premises." Aunt Giry's came from out of nowhere and I was grateful. Christine hadn't scared me, but I was scared for her as I was quite sure that Erik was watching.
Christine stood up and glared down at me. "I never want to see you again," she whispered furiously. She turned and walked away. I felt Meg's reassuring arms help me up and she pushed my hair back. "There's a cut, Anne," she whispered, tears rising in her eyes.

I gently pushed her hands away. "I'll be okay."

"He'll be furious if he sees it. Let's go put a cloth on it." She turned me around to guide me off stage and I turned slightly to look up at Box 5. Erik was standing there, glaring at me, his hands tight on the railing. And then, he was gone.