DISCLAIMER: Nobody is mine! Leroux, ALW, Kay (sort of in the sense that I stole her idea for the Dargoa's name, hehe) etc. etc.! Song "Nature Boy" belongs to Nat King Cole (you may recognize it from Moulin Rouge as well, David Bowie and John Leguizamo performed it).

NOTE: If you wanted to, this could easily be a follow up to my other songfic "Full of Grace", or it can be a stand-alone. Combination of Leroux, Kay, and the MOVIE (emphasis on movie)

Any way you want it! Remember, flames feed my fire and constructive criticism feeds my soul thankyouverymuch!

The crazy part of me loves imagining some guy, say Ramin Karimloo (who is AWESOME) singing this as the Daroga….but hey, like I said, only in my crazy mind!

___

There was a boy

A very strange enchanted boy

Never in his life had Nadir met such an oddity. Truly, this thing was the most interesting organism that had ever crossed his topaz eyes. The tales of his musical ability as well as his mastery at architecture had traveled as far as Persia, and now Nadir knew why those who always told the tales had dodged around the character's physicality.

The man standing in front of him and the Shah had initially refused, point blank, to remove the gold mask. Nobody, Nadir had explained, refused the Shah!

"Well, I'm afraid that I am the exception to that rule, monsieur." Erik had given a sarcastic bow that Nadir was sure would get him killed- instead the Shah had laughed, leaving the man to his left perplexed.

The meeting had continued, so long that Nadir was sure he would fall asleep standing up. Finally, the Living Corpse was released without ever removing his mask. The Shah had turned to Nadir and urged him to keep a close eye on this..delicacy? Was that the word? Surely not..

From the moment of their first meeting, Nadir knew he had his hands very, very full. Erik was brazen, unapologetic, sarcastic, and altogether rude- especially for a Frenchman, the chief of police thought to himself with some contempt.

They say he wandered very far, very far

Over land and sea

And yet, strangely, with the building of the Shah's palace (which Erik revealed little of to Nadir), a friendship had been established between the two. It was a hesitant, flimsy friendship, especially with Nadir's knowledge of Erik's love of deranged and toxic affairs.

If Erik shared little of the torture chamber, his remarks on his own life were in even fewer supply. None of this bothered Nadir; part of him did not care to know, and yet there was a piece of him that wished he did- he longed to save this man, this beast, this man of the Living Dead.

"Tell me, Nadir, what attracts women to those flowers?" he asked one day as they sat near one of the Shah's fountains. A group of young women had silently been examining the newly bloomed tulips, touching their colourful petals with a sort of reverence Nadir had never seen outside of a religious monument.

"What kind of question is this, Erik? What does that have to do with anything?" Nadir had been chastising Erik after he had heard the news of one of his creations- a sort of labyrinth of mirrors, supposed to drive a victim to insanity. "You're changing the subject as usual, trying to drive my attention-"

"Can't you answer a simple question?" Erik had asked almost playfully, and yet the Persian had detected a hint of anger in his voice. "What is it about flowers? Have you seen how they run from the weeds, pull them by their roots and throw them away without a care in the world?"

Nadir shifted uncomfortably. "They are young women, Erik, they love petty things like flowers, what do you expect of them?"

Erik's long fingers clenched tightly, so tightly Nadir was sure he saw blood in the man's palms. "Really? It's just a stage we all grow out of? Or do they really that afraid of what is different in their lives that they'll uproot it and toss it away, as if it does not feel, does not notice its displacement and its difference? Doesn't it deserve as much love as the tulip?"

"Yes." Nadir responded quietly. The women were staring, whispering behind their veils, pointing at the man in the elaborate mask. Erik was ignoring them, staring into his hands; Nadir shooed them away with his hand.

After a moment, Erik glanced up. "Go, my friend. You've work to do, do you not?"

"What of your own duties?"

"The Shah can wait." He murmured, bringing a pale finger to his lips.

As Nadir walked away, he was sure he heard a stifled sob behind him.

A little shy

And sad of eye

But very wise

Was he

Imprisonment was not so bad, Nadir had found grimly. As long as Erik was safe, somewhere, anywhere but Persia. Their last meeting had been fleeting, quick.

Initially Erik had been confused as to why a group of policemen had covered him in a sack-it brought back haunting memories and he had been on the verge of killing them-and thrown him among a group of other goods. It wasn't until he had heard Nadir's voice that he tore the sack off his face and stared at the Persian man, feeling confused and betrayed.

Nadir had bent near the magician, whispering it was for his own good, that he would be killed, that-

"I don't care!" Erik had howled, "Let him! Let the bastard try and kill me, he can never succeed!"

Nadir refused to speak to Erik until they were far away, away from anywhere the Shah's forces could easily reach them. It's for his own good, Nadir had whispered to himself.

When they'd reached the Caspian, Nadir had dismounted his horse and walked towards the Corpse, his eyes cold.

"Go now, get away, as far as you can. As long as you are in the region, he will find you. I can guarantee that, Erik." The man was oddly silent, a silence more stifling than anything else. He'd waved Darius and the few other men away. Nadir's eyes remained expressionless as Erik removed the mask and took a deep breath.

The dark tunnels of his eyes scrutinized Nadir; the Persian's expression had barely changed, and yet the fear that he observed in the twitch of his mouth and the slight widening of his eyes proved to Erik that, yes, even Nadir could be frightened.

"I must repay you, somehow." Erik muttered, his torn lips barely moving. "One day, Nadir."

Nadir had smiled and reached for Erik's shoulder. His friend recoiled for a moment as the man opened his mouth to speak. "One day, but not too soon, Erik. Good luck, my friend."

The Living Dead had then replaced his mask, given one glance back at the Persian, and mounted the horse. Nadir stood there, beside Darius, then turned to his men.

"And now, my friends, we return. Erik, if it is Allah's will, shall be safe."

And then one day

A magic day he passed my way

And while we spoke of many things, fools and kings

To say Nadir was astonished by the state in which he found Erik was the understatement of the year. No, Nadir was disgusted and repulsed, afraid and ashamed of the state in which he found the strange man.

He had been too busy inspecting the Louis-Philippe Room, which was very nearly completely destroyed. Sheets of music- and here Nadir's heart broke- were torn and stamped on, stuck into the carpet by shards of glass. A chair had been overturned, its upholstery covered with a bloody and soiled blanket.

And then, there was Erik. Erik, lying forlornly against a wall, his arms outstretched on either side of him. The dark eyes were turned towards the ceiling, blood splashed across his chest. The Ghost, after a moment, noticed the man standing amongst the ruin and scrambled to his feet, his legs trembling with the weight of carrying his skeleton, his hands shaking as he lifted them to his face.

"D-don't look at me, Daroga!" he cried, one arm held out dramatically in front of him. "You will die! She a-almost did, s-she saw me, but she-she's still alive, b-because of the boy..he was h-her knight…"

This he said to me

Nadir supported Erik as he led him to a couch and laid his friend across it, the man continuing to babble.

"You're speaking nonsense, Erik!" Nadir shouted, shaking his shoulders. "Nonsense!"

"I will die…die..without her..die…she threw me away, remember the-the weeds.."

The greatest thing

You'll ever learn

Nadir turned away. Little Daae, he thought sadly. He could always find her, bring her back to Erik- but by then, it would surely be too late.

Erik's breathing was now a rattle in his chest, a loud rattle that sounded barely human. The sunken eyes, the missing nose, the lips, the infection that spread across the side of his forehead- that was all barely human.

"Nadir. Do y-you know, my friend..she loved tulips.." he laughed and promptly sent himself into a coughing fit. "Almost as much..as the music.."

Is just to love

And be loved

In return

He hadn't survived the night. Nadir knew it would be so- Nadir, who had always been so sure that this Corpse would outlive himself.

Before he had died, Erik had dictated Nadir in writing a letter. "Find her," he had barely whispered, "Give it to her. For me, my friend."

Nadir had been sure he heard that sob once more before he walked away from the man. My friend.

Nadir had always thought Erik incapable of feeling- how wrong he had been. Oh, how unfortunately wrong. He had found Christine weeks later, her own eyes dark and rimmed with red. When he gave her the letter, she collapsed on her hands and knees and sobbed.

At least, Nadir thought sadly, they could be together in death.

"The greatest thing

You'll ever learn

Is just to love

And be loved

In return"