Unexpected

Mischievous idea

There was a knock at his door. "What?" He called with a little more venom in his voice than he meant to be heard. His door opened slightly and he was met with a pair of striking green eyes and a head of platinum blonde hair. She stifled a giggle at the sight of his getup.

"Annette." He glared; he knew that she very well knew that he abhorred being laughed at.

"I am sorry." She said in English. "You look, how you say, funny."

"Annette you can speak in French with me." He said, exasperated.

"I know, but I must work on English." She said in her thick accent.

"What do you want, Annette?" Leon sighed, exasperated.

She smiled sweetly as she stated, "I wish to borrow your car please."

"Can you really drive here?" Leon raised his eyebrows at her.

"Of course." She chirped like it was the most obvious thing, "I've driven all over Europe." She stared at him. "Why would you ask me such a thing?" She turned away from him.

"Annette," Leon sighed, rubbing his hand over his face, removing the mask. "They drive on the right side of the road here."

"Yes, yes I know zat." She said in a way that made Leon question whether she really did. "Please? "Her gaze found its way back to Leon.

Leon was a little skeptical about letting his friend drive his Aston Martin. He knew she was a good driver and all that, but it was his car! (You know, guys and their cars) "Well," Leon continued, "I suppose I can allow it for a little while."

Annette squealed and said her 'thank-you's' and 'merci's' and then she finally got a good look at what Leon was wearing. "Ze show is tomorrow, no?" She finally asked.

"Yes." Leon looked down at his costume in disgust.

"You cannot go out wearing zat." She laughed. "I simply will not allow it." She said with a wave of her hand. Her 'it' sounded more like 'eet' but that's beside the point, her eyes shone, a grin spread across her face, "Perhaps I can help."

Sora waited on the platform above the trapeze, watching as the others performed their parts of the show, the dancers who were to play the opera cast, the young man who was to play Raoul, whom, in the original story was Christine's love but in this case was just longing to have her, among the others. She watched as May danced in the air, playing Carlotta, the jealous performer whom Christine replaced, her red dress glittering in the bright stage lights, her long black hair flowing behind her. She spun, leapt, and flipped higher than all the rest, clearly upstaging them all like the diva Carlotta was.

Sora stretched as the others performed, pulling a muscle the day before opening night wouldn't be very good; at least she had an understudy. Sora pulled her leg behind her in a scorpion pose and looked out in time to see Leon take his place on the opposite platform, out of costume. Maybe there's something wrong with the fitting, she thought to herself. She caught his eye and waved. He returned the gesture and began his stretches. She couldn't help but stare at the way he twisted and guided his lithe body into positions that couldn't be pulled off by a normal 23 year old, but then again, he was not a normal man.

Sora was envious of his grace and the beauty of the way he guided his body into different poses, probably unaware of the fact that Sora was staring right at him like he was the most beautiful exhibit at an art museum.

Leon felt as though he was being watched. He looked up and met Sora's eyes, finally noticing that she was staring. He winked in her direction which elicited a blush from her, which she hoped he wouldn't notice.

Had he really winked at her? Sora laughed. Why would she think Leon would do such a thing, Leon wouldn't that, at least not at her, would he?

Leon smirked and turned his attention back to his stretches, it was going to be an interesting rehearsal.

"Leon!" Cathy called as he stepped down from the stage. "Why aren't you in costume?" She said rather loudly, there were circles under her eyes and Leon could tell that she wasn't really in the mood to hear his excuses; she was always stressed the day before opening night. Cathy's attention turned back to the taping of the rehearsal and visibly seemed to relax. She seemed rather pleased with the performance apart from Leon's little stunt.

Leon sighed. "I could not wear it." He said simply.

"Why not?" Cathy's attention was only half on what Leon was saying.

"I looked ridiculous," He replied flatly, "in no way does that costume even remotely resemble the Phantom." Then it all clicked.

"Wait," Cathy finally turned her full attention on Leon. "What do you mean you can't wear the costume?" She practically screamed. "It's the day before the show! What the hell are you going to do!" She started barking orders to the costume crew when Leon told her not to worry.

"Do not fret over such a trivial matter." Leon said calmly. "It will be ready for tomorrow; I can assure you of that." And without another word, Leon Oswald turned and walked away from the director, hoping Annette knew what she was doing.

"Great job today, Sora." Someone called from behind her.

"Thanks." She replied automatically without even really know who said it. Sora lingered backstage for a moment, almost dreading Cathy's critique, which was rather unusual for Sora. She was feeling a little more tired than usual and that made her a little more wary of her surroundings.

"I heard they were living together." Sora heard someone whisper.

"I heard she was some kind of royalty, the daughter of a Duke," A pause, "or maybe it was a Count."

Gossip. Sora tried not to listen. She knew from past experiences that nothing good ever came from taking part in gossip. Most of the time there wasn't an ounce of truth in it. She just kept walking, trying her best to ignore.

"But who knew that Leon would actually have a girlfriend." Sora's veins turned to ice.

Cathy was watching the dancing scene yet again. It was nearly perfect, but something seemed to be missing, something to tie the whole thing together, but what?

She watched as Leon pulled Sora from the air, as the stood, like living artwork on a single trapeze. She watched as the pulled closely together, almost as if they were one person, she could feel the anticipation build up between them, they pulled away.

"AH!" Cathy cried so suddenly that Mia dropped her clipboard. "Sora!" She yelled to the Japanese starlet hanging out near stag right. She seemed to be lost in thought; Cathy inferred by the way Sora jumped when her name was called. She seemed a little pale but

Cathy just chalked it up to being surprised.

Sora was still in her white costume, Cathy noted, as she walked quickly to her side.

"Y-yes?" She asked, almost as if she was an elementary school student, scared of getting her name put on the board.

"Come see this." Cathy ordered, indicating the taping. She replayed the scene yet again. "What do you see?"

Sora thought of her answer carefully, thinking it was a trick question. "I see, um," she swallowed quietly, "Christine and the Phantom dancing." Her voice cracked a little at the end of the sentence, almost as if it was a question. It seemed as though Sora was nervous about the show like Cathy was.

Cathy smiled. "Exactly," she paused, "But something's missing."

Sora tried to think of what she forgot. "Missing?" She stalled, trying to find her mistake.

"Yeah," Cathy continued, "Like something left unfinished." They both turned back to the screen, the scene played out until the two stood together. Sora seemed to pale at the image. Cathy chose to ignore this. "Right here." She paused the video right before Sora and Leon pulled apart.

"I don't understand." Sora finally admitted.

Cathy's face broke out into a grin. "Here's what you need to do." And she whispered something in Sora's ear.