Look with your Heart

A Heart Understands

Erik sat in his office, his hand where Lily had kissed his cheek. He was trying to focus on his work, but kept getting distracted by thoughts of the silver eyed girl. Regardless of what she had said the night before, he was still stunned that she was willing to touch him, much less kiss him.

Shaking himself back to reality, Erik grabbed his letter opener and opened the envelope that was sitting in front of him. It had the Opera Populaire wax seal and there were two papers inside.

"Erik, I think that, knowing you, you will likely attend this event. However, if you come as Red Death again, people shall know who you are, so be smart and don't make any foolish decisions. I know that you have spoken and met with Lily, so if you dare hurt her, you will be sorry.

-Antoinette Giry

Erik chuckled softly, shaking his head as he read Madame Giry's words, then looked at the second piece of paper, which was an invitation to a masquerade ball. He smirked, now understanding Madame Giry's words, then wondered what to wear.

~~~

"Oh, Maman said that there was going to be a masquerade in about a month, Lily!" Meg exclaimed. "I wonder what I should wear?" Lily was sitting behind her friend, putting the blonde's hair into a chignon bun.

"Perhaps I should go as Cinderella, from the Brothers Grimm fairytales," the silver eyed girl laughed. "I think that her dress should be quite beautiful." As she spoke, Lily grabbed a ribbon that was tied around her wrist and used it to tie Meg's hair back.

Meg nodded eagerly. "Yes, you should go as her! But who should I go as?"

"Juliette," Lily offered. "All you would need for the rest of your costume is a mask, unless you wish to have a different dress. Perhaps they shall have you sing at the event as well."

Meg's blue eyes lit up. "Yes, that's brilliant! I think our masks should be quite easy to find, right? And are you going to make your own dress?"

"Yes," Lily nodded. "Perhaps a light blue ball gown, made out of many layers of tulle and elbow length gloves, with a dark blue mask and a crown..." She looked into the air dreamily, imagining the dress. They were sitting in a park on the snowy ground, not caring that some people were giving them strange looks.

"We should go back, Meg. I need to begin sewing your dress and I need to start designing my masquerade dress." Lily rose, brushing the snow off of her dress, her breath showing in the cold air as snow began to fall.

Meg begged, "Can we get hot chocolate first, please?" Lily laughed and nodded, so the blonde bounced to her feet. "There's a shop a few streets away!"

The younger girl began running, Lily chasing after her. "Meg, wait for me!" Lily called, her cloak flapping as she ran.

Meg stopped running as she reach her destination, Lily coming up behind her with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. Meg gestured to the shop, where there was a small line of people and the fragrant smell of chocolate drifted out.

"Mmm..." Lily sighed, sniffing the air. "Let's wait in the line." They stood behind a young mother with two girls, Lily grabbing her money. The mother looked behind, then gave a gasp, staring with horrified eyes at Lily.

The brunette flinched hard and cast her eyes down when the mother shoved her daughters in front of her. Meg glared daggers at the lady and gently touched Lily's arm.