Mia closed her eyes, the sunlight still slightly painful, but she wouldn't trade the sun's warmth on her face or the breeze blowing through her hair for anything. After such a long time trapped in that dark lair, this felt heavenly. The Phantom, no, Erik (That was going to take some getting used to, she thought) paced behind her, careful to stay between her and the door back down to the opera house to prevent escape, but at the moment, escape was the furthest thing from Mia's mind.

She leaned against a nearby statue contently, enjoying the feel of the cool stone contrasting with the warm sunlight. A soft smile touched her lips. There was just something incredibly freeing about seeing the sky again. Mia thought it had never been a more beautiful shade of blue in her life. For a moment, she was able to forget she was a captive.

Memories came rushing back. Back when she was growing up, her room had a lovely little niche beside a large window, which she had filled with several pillows. Before her poetry was forbidden, Mia would spend hours upon hours curled up there with her journals and her books, enjoying the sunlight.

Her eyes narrowed as a cool breeze blew around her, and Mia realized that fall would be coming soon. She couldn't bear the thought of winter. She didn't know why, but she tended to cut herself more when it was cold. The dark, grayness sky just made everything worse for her. There was just something about spring and summer that was comforting.

The Phan- Erik grunted behind her as he paced, clearly not liking how much time they were spending up here, but he didn't say a word. Mia was so overjoyed to see the sun again that she wasn't about to leave until he forced her back down. But as she saw storm clouds rolling in, with a sinking stomach, Mia realized that would be sooner instead of later.

As the sky began to darken, the Phantom cleared his throat, but Mia ignored him, not ready to go back down yet. She wasn't ready to be caged up like an animal again. However, as the first drops of rain began to fall, Mia knew that she was out of time.

When she felt his hand on her arm, Mia began to panic. She twisted away and tried to run, but with Erik between her and the door, there was nowhere for her to go. Erik had her trapped between him and the edge of the roof. Desperate, she backed away from him until she hit the edge. Mia glanced down, trying to judge the distance and whether or not it would hurt to jump. She'd rather die than continue to be the Phantom's captive, so she climbed onto the ledge as he approached. The rain began to pick up, plastering her hair to her head. She took a deep breath and...

"No!" she screamed as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her backwards. She kicked and screamed, struggling against his hold on her, as he carried her inside.

"Stop it," he hissed in her ear, as he put her down.

Mia turned back around and when she couldn't get past him, she began to pound her fists against his chest. "You monster!" she sobbed. "You monster!"

Erik had to admit it, Mia's words hurt, definitely more than her striking him. Although in hindsight, it had been extremely cruel of him to allow her such a brief glimpse of freedom, only to take it away. Mia clearly believed he was torturing her, and he could see why. He caught her wrists in one hand so she would stop hitting him. With his free hand, he raised her chin so that she was looking him in the eyes, but she tried to twist away. "Mia," he said. She froze, as he had never addressed her like that before. "Provided you don't do anything foolish, I don't see any reason we can't come back up here tomorrow."

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Do you mean it?"

"You have my word." She hesitated before nodding slowly. Erik held out his hand, not wanting to fight her if he could get around it. So far, avoiding confrontation seemed to be working best with her. Mia stared at his outstretched hand for a long while before finally taking it.

He silently led her back down towards the lair. Mia was quiet and cooperative until they could hear echoes from rehearsal. Her head snapped in the direction of the sound, and instantly Erik could tell what she was going to ask. "No," he answered before she could even begin her question.

"Please!" she begged.

"I'm not stupid!" Erik snapped. "I know what you're trying to do."

"No I won't," Mia protested. "I just...just need to see another human face. Please. I won't do anything foolish. You have my word!"

"And what good is your word?" Erik demanded.

"What good is yours?" Mia shouted back. "You're just going to have to trust me, like I'm going to have to trust you. What's the difference?"

"The difference is that I have nothing to lose if I choose to break my promise."

"Neither do I."

Erik opened his mouth to argue, but he realized that once again, Mia had come up with a valid argument. "Fine," he snarled. He took her hand and led her down a different tunnel, this one towards Box Five. "But if you do anything stupid, I swear to God, I'll make you regret it!" She nodded in agreement, and he allowed her in the box.

Almost immediately, Amelia was practically leaning over the edge of the box, captivated by the music. No, not the music, he realized. The lyrics. Her interest in poetry clearly transferred over to song lyrics as well. Madame Giry had changed the choreography mid-production, and they watched as the ballerinas were struggling to learn the proper steps before the show tonight.

Suddenly she gasped. Erik followed her gaze to Gaston with his mistress hidden in the shadows as just the dancers practiced onstage. Her eyes began to tear up, but she shook her head and turned to Erik. "What show are they doing?" she asked, clearly trying to cover up her feelings.

"Romeo and Juliet," Erik replied stiffly.

"Oh."

Mia wrapped her arms around herself and Erik noticed she was shivering. She was soaking wet from the storm above. "We can go back down if you want," Erik offered.

She shook her head immediately. "No. Not yet." He knew that she was going to catch cold like this, but he also knew she wasn't going to go down without a fight. With a sigh, Erik undid the ties of his cape and draped the fabric over her shoulders. Mia glanced up in shock but didn't say anything; instead she wrapped it tighter around herself.

When rehearsal ended, Mia's face fell. "What?" Erik asked.

"Nothing," she said dismissively.

"What?!"

"I was just wondering if..."

Erik raised an eyebrow. "If what?"

"Ifwecouldseetheshowtonight," Mia blurted out.

Her request took him by surprise, but Erik kept himself composed. "Well, if you behave yourself, I don't see why not." He extended his hand. "But we're going to have to go back now, because you need to change." Mia nodded and allowed him to lead her back into the tunnels.