Hey everybody! Just as an FYI, this is story is going on hold. Not for long at all, just about a week, which isn't long for most stories, but it's a pretty long time for me, since I usually update at least once or twice a week. But I'm off to college in the fall and applications and scholarship essays are due next week, so I need to focus on those. But then I'll be back again and writing in full force! Until then, read and review!

~nibblesfan

Mia watched as the ballerinas gathered on the stage, all of them twittering with excitement. Everyone was talking about the Masquerade tonight. Even a small part of Mia couldn't wait. There was just something contagious about the ballerinas' excitement.

"You should see my dress!"

"You should see my mask!"

"I can't wait to see everyone!"

"Just think how many handsome men are going to be there!"

Meg Giry was by far the most excited. Mia had learned that she had been a ballerina for the longest here and therefore had been hit by the fire the hardest of all the dancers. The Opera Populaire had been her home since she was a child, so she had been devastated when it was destroyed. She was twirling around, practically bouncing off the walls.

"The window is open!
So's that door!
I didn't know they did that anymore!
Who knew we owned eight thousand salad plates...?
For years I've roamed these empty halls
Why have a ballroom with no balls?
Finally they're opening up the gates!
There'll be actual real live people
It'll be totally strange
But wow! Am I so ready for this change
Cause for the first time in forever
There'll be music, there'll be light!"

Meg's eagerness was spreading among the ballerinas like wildfire. Another dancer picked up her song dreamily as she waltzed around the stage.

"For the first time in forever
I'll be dancing through the night..."

One of the newer, less experienced dancers took the song as she became the other girl's partner, the two pretending to be at the Masquerade together.

"Don't know if I'm elated or gassy
But I'm somewhere in that zone!
Cause for the first time in forever
I won't be alone"

Everyone giggled at her, but Meg, who kept going. "I can't wait to meet everyone!" Suddenly she gasped as a thought struck her. "What if I meet…'The One'?" The ballerinas began to chatter excitedly, dreaming of meeting their true loves.

"Tonight, imagine me gown and all
Fetchingly draped against the wall
The picture of sophisticated grace...
I suddenly see him standing there
A beautiful stranger, tall and fair"

The youngest girls wanted nothing to do with all this talk of true love. They were too occupied with the tables that were being set up for the banquet later that night and with the sweets that they knew they would have later tonight.

"I wanna stuff some chocolate in my face!"

Meg was hardly slowed by their interruptions; too busy dreaming about her imaginary suitor.

"But then we laugh and talk all evening
Which is totally bizarre
Nothing like the life I've lead so far!
For the first time in forever
There'll be magic, there'll be fun!
For the first time in forever
I could be noticed by someone...
And I know it is totally crazy
To dream I'd find romance...
But for the first time in forever
At least I've got a chance!"

Mia laughed at their antics before she remembered that they were all acting like children, Meg Giry especially. She wiped her face clean of all emotions, suppressing her amusement. They shouldn't have been playing like this, especially not now, not with the Masquerade in only a few hours. She closed her eyes and began to recite the lessons her mother had taught her.

"Don't let them in
Don't let them see
Be the good girl
You always have to be
Conceal
Don't feel
Put on a show...
Make one wrong move
And everyone will know"

"Amelia, what the hell are you still doing here?" Gaston demanded when he saw her.

"I was waiting for you," she replied honestly.

"Go home and get ready for the Masquerade," he growled. "I swear to God, if we're late because of you..."

"Don't worry, I'll be ready," she assured him.

"Then go," he snarled. Mia nodded and turned, trying to force away the tears that pricked at the corners of her eyes.

Erik watched the ballerinas as they laughed and chatted, totally lost in their dreams. He kept his face blank as his real target was directly in front of him. Only he could hear the words she sang quietly to herself. They seemed strange. The other girls were only having a little fun. What did she have to hide? Perhaps there was more to this girl than just de Chagny arrogance. But soon enough, Erik would have ample time to unlock the secrets within Amelia Barineau once he had her in his grasp.

He remained in his hiding place as her husband came storming over from seemingly nowhere. Barineau proceeded to yell at her about the Masquerade, Amelia just kept her head bowed and mumbled a response. Anyone with eyes could see that their marriage was far from a happy one. If that was what she was trying to hide, she was not doing a very good job of it.

Silent as a shadow, Erik followed Amelia through the opera house. She kept her head down as she ran towards the door. Once or twice he thought he saw her wipe away tears. Could this girl really be capable of actual emotions?

As Amelia unknowingly led Erik closer and closer to the door, Meg's song followed them. However, Amelia kept shaking her head and repeating her little mantra over and over again as she ran, the voices of the two girls blending together to form a song of its own.

"For the first time in forever"

"Don't let them in, don't let them see"

"I'm getting what I'm dreaming of!"

"Be the good girl you always have to be"

"A chance to change my lonely world"

"Conceal"

"A chance to find true love!"

"Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know"

As Amelia ripped open the door to opera house and ran down the stairs to her waiting carriage, Meg's voice drifted down, unknowingly finishing the song alone.

"I know it all ends tomorrow,
So it has to be today!
'Cause for the first time in forever...
For the first time in forever
Nothing's in my way!"

The carriage door slammed shut and took off down the streets of Paris, leaving Erik hidden in the darkness. She was gone again. But he could wait a while longer. After all, he had been planning for quite a while now, nearly a month, and tonight was the night. Tonight, after the Masquerade, Amelia would be his.

Mia closed her eyes as her maid Hazel ran a brush through her hair. "You're going to look lovely tonight Madame. That shade of blue compliments your eyes beautifully."

"Thank you Hazel," Mia murmured softly. She let out a heavy sigh. "I just wish that Gaston would say that for once."

"Monsieur Barineau is very lucky to have found a woman such as you and he knows it," Hazel assured her. "He just doesn't always know how to express his feelings."

"AMELIA!" she could hear Gaston scream from the bottom of the staircase outside her room. "It's time to go. Goddamn it, don't make me come up there!"

She glanced back at Hazel. "He sure has a funny way of showing it," she whispered. Mia wiped her eyes quickly, grabbed her mask, and ran down the stairs to her waiting husband.