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"Why is she such a b***h to me?!" I shouted angrily at Mat. We were arguing about Melissa's behavior and I had no intention of being quiet about how much it had hurt me. I sat down on the sand in a huff and crossed my arms firmly across my chest; it was my house and I could be mad if I wanted to. xp
"Ana, was that really necessary?" Mat asked, for the third time. scream "I don't think she hates you. You have to remember Lelouch pretty much brainwashed her and erased all of her memories. (Not this defense again!) She may still be struggling to remember you as a friend."
Since he insisted on making the same point, I gave him the same retort. "She seems to have no trouble remembering you," I spat at him.
"That's because I've spent a lot of time with her, and somehow, for whatever reason, she warmed up to me faster than you. (Well, this was different. He had finally given a reason why.) I don't think she hates you either. (You're doing it again!) I think maybe her always being angry with you is how she shows affection towards you."
rolleyes Yeah right, lover boy. "How is that affection? mad Why are you always taking her side?!" I snapped at him. I was just about fed up with him tolerating this outrageous behavior.
"I'm not taking sides! I just have a better understanding about what's going on with Melissa than you right now because I've been around her for so long lately. It's almost as if I can see right into her heart and mind. I can see her aura; it's changing moods all the time and at a rapid pace."
Oooooookay. I kinda' got what he said about her aura, being experienced in chakras and meditation, but I didn't understand how it could change so fast. He left me alone to my doubts, which was just as well; I had to prepare for an opera tomorrow night and I did not intend on messing up, whether I was Mei Li or myself.
Later that night, it was nearly curtain time. Everyone, including Mei Li, had practiced hard all day in the hopes of putting on a great production. Flet and Jet had said they'd be coming over later to hear me play, and perhaps drag Mat along (He'd probably go just to protect Melissa. I could not picture him in a tux and liking it.) The last thing I wanted to do was lose my focus, but I couldn't shake the slight guilt I felt for making Melissa cry last night.
I met her backstage on my way to the orchestra pit. She was thinking about something. 'Her angel probably,' Mei Li thought. 'They make a good couple.' 'Be quiet,' I thought back. "Umm..." I said aloud, awkwardly interrupting her thoughts. "You can stay at my place whenever you like."
"Thanks," she said, willingly accepting my apology. "What's her name?"
"Huh?" sweatdrop I thought this was going to come up, and I knew exactly who she meant.
"That diva who quit... you didn't seem to like her. You know her; I know you do. What's her name?"
We had arrived at the door to her dressing room. No use hiding anymore. "Her name is Sophia," I said, struggling to bite back the contempt in my voice. evil Just the mention of her name made my blood boil. "Though apparently her friends (I'm surprised she has any considering her primadonna, Queen of Hearts personality. She had to be the hero, or have her way, or else it was "Off, with your head!" wink call her Serena now."
"And, how do you know her?"
I looked down at the floor, not wanting to meet her eyes; I had never told her about my family whereas I knew all about hers. She deserved an explanation. "She's... *sigh* she's my sister. I'll explain more about it later (I wanted to prevent the heart-wrenching memories as long as possible.); right now, we have an opera to put on."
I walked off towards the stage. I took my seat in the orchestra pit and then glanced out at the audience, searching for my boys and Mat. Melissa was looking for the same people from above me; I smiled slightly at her as I arranged my music. Then, BOOM! I spotted who we were looking for. I giggled as I turned back to my music and pointed directly behind me in the first row. Flet and Jet were both there, looking fine as humans, with Mat between them; he looked less than happy to be there in a tux but when he saw Melissa, he perked up. She blushed and ducked back behind the curtain. As the lights went down, my eyes went to Box 5, which Jareth had kindly left empty. 'A manager who knows what he's doing,' I thought. 'I just hope Lelouch makes it in time to watch Melissa's debut. I may hate him, but even I couldn't deny him this opportunity.'
I picked up my flute and the opera began. Jareth came out on stage to wish everyone a good time and the curtain went up. The first two acts went off without a hitch, in spite of the fact that we had only practiced for less than a week, but when a brief intermission was called before Act III, my fingers still hurt like crazy. I lifted my fingers to my face and breathed on them; the tips of my fingers caught the water, froze it, and then melted it away, along with the pain, all in one water-bending move. 'Good thing too,' I thought. ' "Think of Me" has a prominent flute part in it, and the maestro gave me a solo. I just hope Lelouch will be here to hear it; he seems to like my playing.'
My eyes immediately went to Box 5; it was nearly time for "Think of Me" and I hadn't seen Lelouch all night. Sure enough, he was there, nearly invisible in the receding light, but I knew he was there, just he knew Mei Li was in the orchestra pit, even though he probably couldn't see her. I exhaled deeply as the curtain rose and Melissa's solo commenced.
Think of me
Think of me foundly
When we've said goodbye
Remember me once in a while
Please promise you'll try
When you find
That once again you long
To take your heart back
And be free
If you ever find a moment
Spare a thought for me
I couldn't look up from my music, but I knew she was wearing a beautiful white dress and diamond earings and hair jewelry. I let the music be my eyes and saw that she was amazing the crowd with her voice. I picked up my flute as the key shifted from D to E-flat. I tooted lightly and sweetly, but only just, until it was time for Melissa to sing again.
We never said our love was evergreen
Or as unchanging as the sea
But if you can still remember
Stop and think of me
Think of all the things
We've shared and seen
Don't think about the way
Things might have been
Think of me, think of me waking
Silent and resigned
Imagine me, trying too hard
To put you from my mind
Recall those days
Look back on all those times
Think of all things we'll never do
There will never be a day
When I won't think of you
The audience clapped as she stopped at the end of the verse. Above the cacophony though, I heard a different sound: Lelouch versing sing-song love to his angel. 'He really misses her,' Mei Li thought. 'Why do you want to break them up anyway? Leave well enough-'
'And with that,' I thought back, cutting her off, 'it's time for your solo.'
Flowers fade
The fruits of summer fade
They have their seasons
So do we
But please promise me
That sometimes
You will think
Ooooo oooo... As she vocalized, I followed along, piano (quietly), all the other instruments silently listening to me. (By the way the silence hung in the air, you'd think I was Melissa's voice in flute form, to my orchestra mates anyway.) As she hit her low E-flat, I got ready for a giant octave jump. (Octave jumps are hard on the breath for a fluteist, just so you know.)
Of Meee~! I smiled inside as I hit the high B-flat, the highest note in my flute range, with ease. I faded out as Melissa hit her final note and the orchestra punctuated her triumphant debut. The audience stood and cheered wildly; my friend had made an impression, and it was a marvelous one. (I even heard a "Stupenda!" from Jareth in his box.)
My orchestra mates and I put down our instruments and joined in the applause. The fight we had had last night was completely forgotten; all that mattered was that for once there was something Lelouch and I agreed upon: the fact that Melissa sang like a- "Melissa!" Mat and I yelled at the same time as she passed out, right on the stage. "My angel!" I heard Lelouch cry from Box 5. 'I'll deal with you later,' I thought.
After braving a typhoon of loyal fans, Mat and I were alone with Melissa in her dressing room. When she came to, we congratulated her on a job well done, and helped sooth her aching head from hitting it when she fainted on the stage. "You should have seen Mat when he was trying to get up to the stage to help you," I said. "He looked funny. Nearly tripping over everything in his path. He acted like Lelouch was going to get you if he didn't hurry."
"I did not!" Mat blushed. "Yes you did," I goaded back. "Guys, can we not do this now?" Melissa asked, holding her head in pain. "Sorry," I said quickly.
She glanced around the room, the walls of which were stacked floor to ceiling with flowers. "Where'd these come from?" she asked. Like she didn't know. "Admirers, fans," I told her, shaking my head as I smiled. "Seems like you've become a star in no time flat," Mat added.
Mat and I left Melissa to give her time to change before we all went out for supper under the stars. Mat stayed close by the door (worrywart! He said he would bring Melissa along later while I picked up Chinese take-out and a picnic blanket.) while I squeezed through the crowded hallways down into the operahouse's chapel. To my surprise, a grapefruit-pink rose was on the floor, right beneath the place where the portrait of Gustav Daae would be. I knelt down, picked it up, and sniffed it. 'Same smell of music and apples,' I thought with a smirk. 'I guess Lelouch doesn't hate Mei Li after all.'
"Brava," said a voice from behind me. Knowing Lelouch, he had probably gone to congratualte Melissa; I turned around, unafraid, to find Phoenix Rose behind me. "I think it's time you changed back," he said.
"But Lelouch-" I said, suddenly wary.
"I'm thinking just once won't hurt. Besides, he's busy going ga-ga over your friend; you're the last thing on his mind at the moment."
"Why?"
"I want to congratulate the real Anastasia, not her masked identity."
To humor him, I changed back into my normal self but kept Mei Li's dress on. (What?! I look good in it.) "Congratulations, my muse," he said, using the name he had called me when I was under his tutelage. "You have proven tonight that you are a multi-faceted diamond of musical talent in the rough and tumble of an operahouse run by a monster."
"Don't talk about yourself like that," I said. "It's not even your operahouse to begin with."
"Really? It's a pretty convincing copy then; it's all the same, except for the gardens and this place. Christine's father's picture has been replaced with..."
"With what?" I hadn't glanced up at the picture, or whatever was there, since I had ben so busy with the "New-Age Angel's" rose. I glanced at the circular space and what I saw perplexed me. It was a woman, with silvery wings sticking out of her back. "Wait!" I said as her form became familiar to me. "You don't mean-"
"Yes, that is my mother. I thought I might pay my respects before I left the operahouse for the night. Just know that I'm watching over you, even when I'm not here. Anastasia (He stood up and turned to leave.), don't ever leave me."
That night as we chowed down on Moo-Goo-Gai-Pan and Chicken Lo-Mein while gazing up at the early winter sky (Melissa had a bouquet of red roses with her. "From an admirer," she said, but she didn't fool me for a second. 'Always trying to upstage his namesake,' I thought with a mental groan. 'If only you knew Phoenix. If only you knew.'), I thought about how much Lelouch compared to Phoenix. 'He may his voice,' I thought, staring at the waning gibbous moon, 'but he'll never have his heart. Rather sad really, but why spoil a perfectly good batch of noodles over it? They're both really cute besides.'
 srs diva 2011 xxl · Wed Jul 29, 2009 @ 02:32am · 2 Comments |
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