Chapter Four: Questioning Over the next couple of weeks, Leon tried several more times to tell Gabrielle the truth, but every time, he backed out at the last minute, unable to go through with it. He told himself that it just wasn’t the right time, but he realized the longer he kept putting it off, the more attached Gabrielle would become to her new life in Cape Mary. Indeed, she and Sora had grown especially close, as his partner took advantage of any excuse to come by the apartment. “Hey, Gabi, I brought over the DVD of Swan Lake,” Sora announced one evening after Leon let her in. “Is that the show with the Angel move?” Gabrielle asked, setting aside the picture book she had been flipping through on the couch. “Yeah. You said you wanted to see it, right?” “Yay!” she squealed, running over to take the DVD from Sora. Leon, however, snatched it from her hand first. “After dinner,” he said, causing both girls to sport matching pouts. “But Papa!” “But Leon!” He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, suddenly feeling like the father of two children instead of only one. “No ‘buts’. First we’ll eat, then you can watch the show. ” Leon headed to the kitchen, the two of them following after him. “What’s for dinner tonight?” Sora asked. “Bouillabaisse,” he replied, taking a sip of the broth to check that it was done. Satisfied with the taste, he began pouring the soup into bowls. “It’s Gabrielle’s favorite.” “Smells delicious,” she said, sitting down at the kitchen table with Gabrielle. “Are you sure it’s okay that I keep coming over for dinner like this, Leon?” she asked as he set one of the bowls in front of her. “I’m starting to feel like I’m some kind of freeloader.” He shrugged. “I don’t mind. Cooking for one more person isn’t much trouble. Besides, Gabrielle enjoys it when you eat with us.” “I think Papa likes it, too,” Gabrielle added in a sly tone. “Gabrielle…” She stared down at her bowl, chastised. “Sorry.” Leon coughed into his fist, inexplicably flustered, and joined them at the table. “But, yes, I suppose it has been rather nice, having you here,” he was forced to admit. Sora grinned. “I enjoy it, too!” When dinner ended, they moved back to the living room to watch the DVD. Sora and Gabrielle cuddled up together on one side of the leather couch, while Leon sat on the other side, drinking a glass of wine. Gabrielle was instantly entranced by the spectacle. “So pretty…” she said in a hushed tone, in awe as Sora changed from her “swan” form into the human Odette in a burst of sparkles. “Yes, she is,” Leon found himself agreeing, unaware he had voiced the opinion aloud until he noticed Sora brightly blushing. He cleared his throat and stared down at his glass, wondering what had gotten into him. He hadn’t had nearly enough wine to be anywhere near drunk. Halfway through the show, the telephone rang. Leon told the girls to keep watching and went to the kitchen to answer the extension. “Hello?” “Monsieur Oswald? It’s Henri Joubert.” Though Sora and Gabrielle weren’t paying any attention to him, too enthralled by the DVD, Leon moved further away from the door and lowered his voice. “Is this about the hearing?” he asked. “Have you managed to get a court date?” “I have. It’s set for March 6th,” Mr. Joubert said. “However, that is not the only reason why I’m calling you. Nicolas Paradis is dying. His doctors are saying he probably has about a week left, two at the most, and Monsieur Paradis has requested to see his niece at least one more time before he dies.” “Nicolas wants us to come to Paris?” Leon rubbed his cheek, remembering the last time he had spoken to Emilie’s older brother. To say it was not a friendly meeting would be a severe understatement of the highest order. “I don’t know, Monsieur Joubert. I am busy preparing for a new show at Kaleido Stage, and Gabrielle has begun attending kindergarten…” “It would make a dying man very happy, and I’m certain Gabrielle would appreciate the chance to say her final goodbyes. She and her uncle were quite close.” Leon frowned. That was another reason why he was reluctant to go to Paris. Emilie had died less than a month ago, and he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to expose Gabrielle to death again so soon after her mother‘s fatal accident. “I’ll consider it,” he finally said after a long pause. “Let me think about it for a couple of days. In the meantime, keep me posted if anything changes.” “Yes, of course, I understand. Let me know as soon as you’ve made your decision, and I’ll make the arrangements if you decide to come.” After saying goodbye, Leon placed the phone receiver back into its cradle and returned to the living room, surprised to discover that the sound had been muted in his absence. Gabrielle was standing right in front of the television set, her nose nearly pressed up against the screen. “Gabrielle, you shouldn’t stand so close --” Sora reached for his arm. “Leon.” Gabrielle finally stepped back, allowing Leon to see what was on the screen. The DVD had been paused, showing a close-up of the audience. Among those in the crowd was a pretty red-haired woman, clapping enthusiastically. “Papa, look, it’s Maman!” Gabrielle said, pointing to the woman. Leon’s wine glass slipped from his fingers and shattered on the floor. ***** “So you’ve decided to take Gabrielle to Paris?” Sora asked Leon the next day after practice. He nodded. In the end, he had left the final decision up to Gabrielle, although he now had his own reasons for wanting to see Nicolas. “She wants to say goodbye to her uncle. We‘re leaving tomorrow.” “I think it will be good for her to see him,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself. The look in her eyes was distant. “I wish I had the chance to say goodbye to my parents before they died...” “I’m sorry to do this right when we’re in the middle of preparing for the new show,” he apologized, glancing away. He had forgotten that like himself, Sora had lost her parents at an early age. Sora shook her head, her focus returning. “Don’t worry about that. I can practice on my own. When will you be back?” “We’ll stay for the funeral, so I don’t know the exact date of our return. We shouldn’t be gone for more than a week at the most, though. Nicolas isn’t expected to live much longer.” “Nicolas is Emilie’s brother, right? Maybe he knows why she was in the audience for Swan Lake.” Leon frowned. The image of Emilie on the DVD had certainly thrown him for a loop, leaving him with even more questions than he had before. “I intend to ask him if I have the chance.” She leaned back against the wall. “It’s strange that Emilie would come all this way to see the show, yet leave without seeing you. Do you think she wanted to tell you about Gabrielle, but changed her mind at the last minute?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine,” he said, zipping up his duffel bag and throwing it over his shoulder. “Um… Were you and Emilie really close?” Sora asked, her cheeks burning a bright pink as she began frantically waving her hands in front of her. “Never mind, never mind, silly question! You two had a child together, so of course…” Leon sighed. “No, I’m certain Emilie must have hated me,” he said in a soft voice, turning his back to Sora as he recalled the last time he had seen Emilie in the hospital. His free hand clenched at his side. He had hurt her so terribly… “Leon?” He shook his head, erasing his mind of the awful memory. He hated remembering that night. “It’s nothing.” “Sorry, it’s none of my business again, right?” “It’s fine.” He cleared his throat and turned back around. “Anyway, it looks like you’ll have to eat your dinners in the dorm cafeteria again, at least for the time being,” he said, changing the subject to a more neutral topic. Sora smiled. “Mia and Anna will be happy about that. They’ve been teasing me about going on secret da--” She abruptly stopped in the middle of her sentence, causing Leon to raise an eyebrow in her direction. “Secret what?” “Nothing!” she said in a tone pitched several times higher than her natural speaking voice. “Nothing, nothing, nothing!” Sora glanced up at the clock on the wall and started pushing Leon toward the door. “Hey, isn’t it time for you to pick Gabi up from school? You shouldn’t keep her waiting.” “Okay, I’m going, I‘m going. You don‘t have to push me,” he said, wondering what had suddenly gotten into her. “See you later, Sora.” “Bye! Have a safe trip!” ***** Leon and Gabrielle flew to France the next day as planned. Since they had arrived in Paris in the middle of the night, they checked into a hotel rather than heading straight to Nicolas’s place. Gabrielle fell asleep almost right away, exhausted from the long day of traveling, but Leon was still wide awake. He poured himself a drink from the minibar and pulled back the curtain on one of the windows, looking down at the night-time scenery of his hometown. But Paris had never felt much like a home to him, just a city he happened to reside in. He hadn’t returned since winning the International Circus Festival with May Wong over three years ago. As the previous champions, he and May had been invited to come back and compete again in last year’s Festival, but since Sora had no interest in such cutthroat competitions, he had declined the offer and given his invitation to rising star Rosetta Passel instead. As he continued staring out the window, tiny white flakes began falling from the sky, just barely discernable in the darkness thanks to the street lights. Despite himself, a small smile tugged at the corner of Leon’s lips. One of the few things he missed about Paris -- besides that little patisserie that once stood near his old apartment -- was snow. Winters in Cape Mary just weren’t the same without it. Winter used to be Sophie’s favorite season, too, he remembered, his smile disappearing nearly as fast as it had appeared. Leon took a sip of his drink and sighed, closing his eyes as visions of happier days came to mind. Sophie twirling around, attempting to catch snowflakes on her tongue… The two of them juggling snowballs, the practice inevitably dissolving into a snowball fight… Skating on a frozen lake after Sophie had expressed an interest in learning to how to figure skate… The day of her funeral… “Papa?” Pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Gabrielle’s voice, Leon let the curtain drop back down and turned around. “I thought you were asleep,” he said. From her spot on one of the two beds in the room, Gabrielle yawned and rubbed at her eyes. “I have to go potty,” she mumbled drowsily. “Over there.” He turned on one of the lights so that she could see and indicated the door leading to the bathroom with a nod of his head. Gabrielle climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom. While she was gone, Leon downed the rest of his drink in one gulp and set down his glass. The liquor burned at his throat. She returned a couple of minutes later and got back into bed, Leon moving to tuck her back in. However, as he was about to pull the covers over her, Gabrielle surprised him by reaching up to touch his face. His eyes widened. “What’s wrong, Papa?” she asked. “Why do you look so sad?” Leon averted his eyes from hers and began tucking the blanket around her. “Do I?” Gabrielle nodded. “Are you sad because Uncle Nicolas is dying?” “I barely know your uncle,” Leon replied. “I only met him a few times before.” And none of them on good terms, but Gabrielle didn’t need to know that. “Then why?” He sighed. “I was remembering your Aunt Sophie, my little sister,” he reluctantly admitted. “I have an aunt? Why haven’t I met her?” “She died about a year before you were born.” “Oh.” Gabrielle went silent for a moment before asking, “What was she like?” “A little like you, I suppose,” he answered. “You look like her.” “I do?” “You have your mother’s eyes and nose, but otherwise, you could have passed as twins.” “Really? Do you have a picture?” Leon hesitated a moment before pulling his wallet of out his back pocket and taking out the small photograph of Sophie he kept hidden behind his driver’s license. “She’s about fifteen or sixteen in this photo,” he explained before handing it over to Gabrielle. “Wow, Aunt Sophie’s so pretty,” Gabrielle said, staring at the picture. “If I look like her, does that mean I’ll be this pretty when I’m grown-up?” “I’m sure you will be.” “I hope so.” She handed the photograph to Leon, who placed it back in his wallet, and rolled over on her side. “What else? Tell me more about her, Papa.” “That’s enough for tonight,” he said, not wanting to talk about Sophie any longer. Even after so many years, it was a painful subject to discuss. “It’s late. You should go back to sleep.” Though disappointed, she rolled back over and obediently closed her eyes. Once he was certain she was asleep, Leon turned off the lamp and climbed into the other bed, eventually falling into a less-than-restful slumber. ***** Nicolas Paradis, a successful investor in his prime, lived in an old townhouse in one of the historic districts of the city. When Leon and Gabrielle arrived the next morning, they were greeted at the door by a woman in her mid-fifties who introduced herself as Nicolas’s caretaker. “Monsieur Paradis will be so glad you came,” the woman said as she took their coats, hats, and scarves. “He’s been looking forward to your visit.” “How is he?” he asked. Though he had brought Gabrielle along, if Nicolas was in too bad of shape, Leon was disinclined to allow her to see him. “As well as to be expected, considering. He’s in pain, but the medications help. Though he’s been depressed these last few weeks since his sister died, I’m certain seeing his niece will brighten his mood.” “I’d like to speak with him first,” he said. “Would you mind looking after her for a bit?” She nodded and took Gabrielle by the hand. “Go right ahead, sir. His room is on the second floor, the first door on the left. You can feel free to go right on in.” Following the woman’s directions, Leon climbed up the stairs and came to a stop in front of the door to Nicolas’s room, though he didn’t immediately go in. He took in a deep breath, exhaling before finally knocking and opening the door. Nicolas looked very different from the man who had nearly beaten Leon to a bloody pulp six years ago. Once a tall and robust man, thanks to his illness, he had been reduced to a pile of skin and bones, rendering him almost recognizable. His hair was gone, and his complexion was pale, nearly the same shade as the white pajamas he wore. “Leon Oswald,” he said in a weak voice, craning his neck in the direction of the door where Leon stood. “Heh, I can’t say I ever wanted to see your sorry face again.” “It’s been a long time, Nicolas.” Nicolas waved him over and moved to a sitting position, propping a pillow behind his back. “Well, don’t just stand there. Come on in, unless you’re afraid I’m going to kick your ass again.” Leon walked in further and took a seat in the armchair next to the bed. “You would be more than justified.” “Yes, I would,” Nicolas agreed. “I went easy on you the last time. Unfortunately…” He shook his head regretfully, looking down at his emaciated body. “Anyway, where is Gabi? Did you bring her?” he asked, changing the subject. “Your nurse is looking after her for the moment,” Leon said. “I wanted to discuss some things with you first.” “Emilie?” Nicolas sighed and folded his bony hands in his lap. “Yes, I thought you might have some questions. What do you want to know? I‘ll try to answer as best I can.” “You knew, didn’t you? That night you came after me, you knew that she was pregnant, but you didn’t tell me.” “Emilie didn’t want you to know, and quite frankly, neither did I. After what happened…” “Then why did she change her mind?” Leon demanded to know. “Why did she name me as Gabrielle’s guardian in her will?” There was a long pause before Nicolas answered. “For a long time after that night, Emilie couldn’t perform on the trapeze,” he began in a low voice. “Of course, her injuries and her pregnancy kept her off the stage for quite some time, but even after Gabi was born, she refused to resume her training. She claimed she was retiring from performing so that she could focus on being a good mother to her daughter, but I knew that wasn’t the real reason. Emilie was a born performer. She wasn’t the type to give up the stage so easily.” “She was scared,” Leon said, his hand clenching into a fist as he again flashbacked to that horrible night. Nicolas nodded. “Yes. After what you did to her, she became frightened of the trapeze. She quit the circus and started a new career as a costume designer.” “Wait.” Leon glanced back up, confused. “I thought Emilie died after falling from the trapeze.” “It was about three years ago when she next saw you again,” he continued without answering the implied question. “Though she was no longer a performer, she had been invited to serve as a judge at the International Circus Festival.” “Emilie was at the Festival, too?” Leon didn’t recall seeing her there. He had run into Emma, another one of his former partners, at the hotel where he and May were staying, but not Emilie. “I remember she was quite impressed with that Demon Spiral you performed with your partner, but she wondered if the girl was really the partner you had been searching so desperately for. After you won at the Festival, Emilie began following your career at Kaleido Stage. When she heard you were planning to perform the Angel’s Maneuver with your newest partner, she decided she had to see it for herself. “I tried my best to talk her out of it. I thought it was a bad idea for her to see you again, but she was stubborn and wouldn’t listen to me. She left Gabi with me and went to Cape Mary on her own. When she came back, though, it was like the real Emilie had returned. She began training on the trapeze again, determined to perform the Angel’s Maneuver herself.” Leon’s eyes widened. “The Angel’s Maneuver? Then when she died, she --” Nicolas shook his head. “No, as much as I would like to place the blame on you for her death, I’m afraid I’m the one at fault.” “I don’t understand. What do you mean?” He closed his eyes, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. “A couple of hours before it happened, I called Emilie,” he confessed. “My latest lab results showed that the treatments had stopped working, so I had decided to stop fighting the inevitable and go into hospice care. She didn’t take the news very well.” Nicolas paused, his skinny fingers grasping at his blanket. His voice trembled with emotion when he finally resumed speaking. “At her funeral, her partner Rene told me that Emilie had fallen on a basic maneuver that she had performed a thousand times before. He called it a ‘freak accident’, but I knew it was really because she had been distracted by what I had told her. She would have never made such a simple mistake otherwise.” He brought a hand up to his face, discreetly wiping away a tear. “Sorry, it’s difficult to talk about that day.” Leon stood back up. “I should come back later,” he said, but Nicolas motioned for him to stay. “No, sit.” Leon did as he was told, feeling awkward as Nicolas struggled to compose himself. Unexpected sympathy welled up inside him for Emilie’s brother, knowing from personal experience the pain of losing a beloved sister, but unaccustomed to offering comfort to others, he simply kept silent until Nicolas spoke again. “Sorry about that,” he apologized again, turning his attention back to Leon. “I’d rather not have to do this more than once, so what other questions do you have?” “Did Emilie ever perfect the Angel’s Maneuver?” Leon asked, going back to the previous topic. “Not to my knowledge, no. She always said that when she did, she planned to return to Kaleido Stage and tell you about Gabi, but she obviously never did.” “Why wait until then? Why didn’t she tell me about our daughter when she was in Cape Mary?” “That, I do not know,” he admitted. “She never told me the reasoning behind her decision, but if I had to guess, I think it was because she wanted to be acknowledged as your true partner.” “What?” Nicolas frowned. “Emilie -- for whatever reason -- loved you, Leon. Even when she hated you, a part of her heart always belonged to you, and when she saw you in Swan Lake, I think she fell in love with you all over again. She told me that she had sensed a change in you, that you were no longer the God of Death she so feared. That’s why I think she wanted to perform the Angel’s Maneuver, to prove to you that she was worthy to be your partner, both on and off the stage.” He scoffed. “Of course, if anybody was unworthy in that relationship, it was the other way around,” he said. “You were the one who was never good enough for her.” “You’re right,” Leon agreed, unable to deny the truth of the matter. “I treated Emilie horribly. There’s no excuse for what I did to her.” The glare on Nicolas’s face softened somewhat. “You really have changed, haven’t you? You used to be such a smug little bastard, thinking you were so much better than everybody else. It irritated the hell out of me. I never got what Emilie saw in someone like you in the first place.” Leon bowed his head. “I’m sorry for the pain I caused your sister, Nicolas,” he said in a soft voice. “I sincerely mean that.” Nicolas sighed. “It does no good to apologize to me, although I do appreciate the sentiment. If you really want to make amends to Emilie, then take good care of your daughter.” His shoulders dropped. “I won’t be around for much longer, but as long as I know Gabi will be looked after, I can die in peace.” Leon glanced away, uncertain as to how to respond. He had assumed Henri Joubert had informed Nicolas that he planned to sign away his parental rights, but it seemed like he was in the dark. Fortunately, before the silence between them became too much to bear, there was a knock on the door. The caretaker and Gabrielle entered the room, Gabrielle running over and jumping on the bed to hug Nicolas. “Uncle Nicolas!” Leon rose from his chair, noticing the grimace that had briefly flashed across Nicolas’s face. “Gabrielle, get down from there. Your uncle is in a lot of pa--” “No, it’s fine,” Nicolas said, hugging her tighter despite the agony he must have been experiencing. “Oh, it’s so good to see you again, my little Gabi!” “I brought you some more pain medication if you need it, Monsieur Paradis,” the woman said, setting a tray down on the nightstand. He shook his head, refusing the pills. “Thank you, but not now, Pauline. They make me too sleepy.” Feeling out of place, Leon took their arrival as his cue to leave. “I’m going out for a bit,” he announced mostly to Pauline, since Nicolas and Gabrielle were barely paying attention to him. “I’ll come back for her later.” ***** Having no real destination in mind, Leon strolled aimlessly through the neighborhood. A light dust of snow covered the ground from the previous night’s snowfall, and ice crunched under his boots as he walked along the sidewalk. Due to near freezing temperatures, the streets were mostly clear of pedestrian traffic. Only a few souls were brave enough to venture out into the cold, including a group of kids having a snowball fight in the park. Leon paused a moment to observe them, but when he turned to leave, an errant snowball hit his shoulder. “Sorry about that, monsieur,” the oldest of the children said, running over to apologize. “I didn’t mean to hit you. I was aiming for my cousin.” Leon brushed the snow off his coat. “No harm done,” he said. “You and your friends better get inside soon, though. You don’t want to catch a cold.” “We will,” the boy promised before rejoining the others. Continuing on his walk, Leon shook his head. Sora was right; he was acting more like a father. Now he was even parenting other people’s children! But he wasn’t the father Gabrielle deserved, no matter what Sora, Nicolas, or anyone else said. After what he had done to Emilie… When he next came to a stop, it was in front of a familiar cemetery. Unwittingly, he had walked to the site where Sophie was buried -- a place he had not visited since the day of her funeral. Even when he last came to Paris with May to compete at the International Circus Festival three years ago, he had avoided visiting her grave, telling himself that he needed to focus on the competition. Leon sighed as he looked through the cast-iron gate that stood at the entrance of the cemetery, his breath clearly visible in the chilly air. Though tempted to keep walking, he wrapped a gloved hand around one of the bars on the gate and pulled it open. Other than himself, there were no one else around, the cold and snow keeping visitors away. Leon walked the snow-covered path to Sophie’s grave, mildly surprised he still remembered the way after so many years. When he finally reached the headstone marking the spot where her body lay, he dropped to one knee in front of it, running his fingers across the engraved letters of her name. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Sophie?” he said in a soft voice. “I’m sorry I haven’t come by to see you. I…” Leon’s voice drifted off, feeling silly talking to a piece of stone as if it was a real person. He had never really believed in the concept of an afterlife, not since the death of his parents when he was a child. Some well-meaning person had told him at the funeral that his parents had gone to a better place, but he failed to see how that was possible. How could that place possibly be better, when it meant they could no longer be together? Sophie believed, though. Unlike him, she had taken comfort in the idea that their parents were in heaven, always watching over them like guardian angels. “I don’t know if you can even hear me,” he began again after a short pause, “but there’s so much I wish I could tell you. I don’t even know where to begin.” He brushed some snow off the top of her gravestone, taking a moment to compose his thoughts. “I finally fulfilled the promise I made to you on your deathbed. Performing the Angel’s Maneuver was just as amazing as you always hoped it would be, Sophie. Everybody’s angel hearts were awakened when they saw it, just like you said. I wish you could have been there to see it, too. My new partner Sora is a lot like you, just as strong and determined as you were, with the true heart of a performer. You would have liked her very much, I think.” “And you’re an aunt now, too, if you can believe it,” he continued, a slight smile on his face. “Her name is Gabrielle, and she’s almost the spitting image of you at that age, so much so that it hurts to even look at her at times.” Clutching at his heart, Leon shook his head. “No, that’s not the only reason,” he admitted, his smile disappearing. His voice trembled. “Oh, Sophie, if there‘s any chance that you are listening, tell me what to do. I think I’m doing the right thing, but… I’ve hurt so many people since you died, especially Gabrielle’s mother. You would have been so very ashamed of your brother, had you seen the lengths I was willing to go through to find a partner worthy enough to take your place. No matter how much I wish I could go back in time and make things right, I know no matter what I do, I'll never be able to atone for my sins against Emilie…and Gabrielle.” For a long moment, Leon sat in silence, waiting for an answer. He wasn’t sure what he expected to happen -- perhaps he would be given some sort of sign, or maybe even Sophie herself would appear before him in spirit, bathed in angelic light -- but when it became clear that nothing would, he stood back up and swept the dirt and snow off his pant leg. This is ridiculous, he thought. It’s like I always thought. Once somebody’s dead, they’re gone forever. Did I really expect a gravestone to solve all my problems? He began heading back to the entrance of the cemetery. Roughly an hour had passed since he left the house; he supposed he ought to go back so that Nicolas could get some rest. On his way back to the gate, however, one of the headstones caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Along the top of the stone, the surname Paradis was carved in large block letters. Leon paused for a moment, then shook his head at the thought that briefly passed through his mind. What were the odds…? No, it has to be somebody else with the same last name, he thought. Yet, almost as if being pulled by some invisible force, he walked over to the gravestone and swept away the snow and ice covering the hidden names and dates engraved underneath. Leon sucked in a sharp breath upon reading Emilie’s name, joined by those of her deceased parents. “She’s buried here as well?” He glanced up at the sky. Was the revelation that Emilie was buried in the same cemetery a sign from Sophie, or merely simple coincidence? If it was some sort of sign, he was at a lost as to what it could mean. Still, as long as he was there, Leon figured he might as well pay his respects. He kneeled down in the snow in front of Emilie‘s grave, folded his hands together, and recited a half-remembered prayer from Sophie’s burial. He concluded by making the sign of the Cross. Before standing back up, however, Leon brought two fingers to his chapped lips, then touched Emilie’s name. “I’m sorry, Emilie,” he whispered. “For everything.” DISCLAIMER: Kaleido Star doesn't belong to me.