*Note: This takes place after the swordfight, after Raoul and Christine arrive back at the opera house after almost killing Erik
-Characters: I wrote these characters with the 2004 cast in mind, as that it the version I am most familiar with. Happy reading! :)
PS, As you can probably tell, I get a little carried away with Christine's dialogue-I just understand so much from her point of view, and can even sometimes relate. For me to write about, Erik is so difficult-I find myself always contemplating what he would or would not say. Raoul is just a... fop, 'nuff said :) But I 3 Patrick Wilson (and Ramin Karimloo, as he played Raoul as well!) so it's all good. Hope you enjoy! :)
~mockingjay08
It was just over. Just like that. Now they were just silently riding back to the opera house. After Raoul had almost killed Erik...
She shuddered and looked behind her as she had been doing. Maybe he would follow them. Would he come back to the opera house? Was he hurt in any way? Christine closed her eyes, wishing that she could wipe away any memory of Erik, which would be impossible; he had been such a big part of her life.
If only she could start over. If only she had never believed that he was her Angel, told Madame Giry... She wouldn't be feeling this way. But then again, imagining the world without Erik was a very difficult process indeed.
Without realizing it, Christine was being lifted off of the horse. Raoul noticed how much of a daze she was in. How dare that opera ghost do this to her?
He led her inside like he would lead a little girl, maybe a little sister. He sighed. Here he was, wanting to marry Christine, and yet the actions between them were of family, not of husband and wife. He pushed that out of his mind. He always did when he thought of that. They loved each other, and nothing could part them.
"What is the matter with her?" Madame Giry inquired, a worried look spreading across her wise face as she saw Christine.
Raoul hesitated, knowing how well she knew the opera ghost, this demon, that had done such a thing to his Christine. "If you'll excuse us, she needs rest first, Madame Giry. I'll tell you about it later", he said, opening the door to Christine's room.
"Raoul I'm not a child. I am perfectly capable of telling Madame Giry myself", Christine finally spoke, her sweet voice interrupting the silence that maintained between them.
"Little Lotte the only thing you need to do now is get some rest", he said.
"Thank you Raoul. I can get dressed by myself, thank you", she said. It came out firmer than she had meant to, but he had just almost killed Erik! She would never let him live it down. But why should it matter to her? Wasn't his face terribly horrifying, and hadn't he tricked her multiple times, taking advantage of her just to gain the love he sought?
Raoul quietly left, along with the stiff and hurt atmosphere around him.
Without undressing, Christine sat on her bed. It would be impossible to go to sleep after was she had just encountered. She had never seen Raoul filled with that much hate; enough hate to almost make him kill a man. And surely, he would have killed Erik had Christine not been there.
Raoul loved her, had even kept watch outside her bedroom. It surely must have been for her. What else? To kill Erik, a little insistent voice inside Christine's head persisted.
The all-too-familiar excitement of the ballet girls interrupted Christine's deep thoughts of her childhood sweetheart and angel of music.
They were rehearsing for Don Juan, Christine knew. A consummate reason for not resting as Raoul had told her to, she dressed into her practicing ballet attire.
She glanced into the now-empty hallway before heading out, bumping into a tired looking Madame Giry. "Christine, I thought you were resting?" she said, speaking as if it were a question.
"I couldn't, Madame Giry, and since I heard you rehearsing..." Christine trailed off, looking at the last flowing skirt that rounded the corner to the stage.
"Oh no, dear. It's only the ballerinas that are rehearsing. They need all the practice they can get, at the moment", Madame Giry scowled after the tittering voices.
Christine blushed. Usually she remembered these things but today... "Oh. I remember now, I'm sorry".
The strict older woman began walking away when she turned abruptly, as if forgetting to tell Christine something. "And the patron... I would go to him, Christine. I saw him; he didn't look... as he usually looks, with his cheerful ways", Madame Giry said, hinting to Christine.
The soprano felt her heart drop. Poor Raoul! She had been so horrible to him. "Thank you, Madame!" Christine tossed over her shoulder as she picked up her skirts and began to run to where Madame Giry had directed her.
Madame Giry looked after the young, running figure and sighed. "Will you ever decide, Christine? To whom will you turn to?" the older woman sighed to herself. She had followed Erik's interest in the young girl. She knew he would never hurt her, but motherly instincts still kicked in when he thought about the two of them, alone. With Raoul, it was different. He was too gentlemanly to touch Christine other than a hug or a kiss.
Raoul was getting on his horse. He had spent too much time at the opera house already, planning. Now it was time to talk to the police.
"Raoul! Wait!" that clear voice rang out to him, stopping him in his tracks. His horse reared in surprise, his breath puffing into the cold winter air.
He dismounted and ran over to Christine in her thin sleeveless ballet attire. He pulled his coat on over Christine's small frame. "Raoul, I'm sorry", she said, staring at him.
He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted. The trotting of horse hooves drew closer, until Christine and Raoul could see a lone horseman. To distraught to even glance aroung, he opened a grate and went in, forgetting about the horse, leaving it there.
As they saw the grate open, Christine opened her mouth, tried to call his name. But nothing came out. Her quaking body as not only shivering of cold, but also because she was frightened.
She looked up at Raoul, wondering if he too had realized who that was. Obviously he had, and his mouth set in a hard line.
"Christine", he said, gripping her shoulders tightly, and glanced back toward the grate. "We can capture him. It is possible, believe me. Tonight, at the Don Juan performance. He is certain to attend. We can trick him, Christine. End the opera ghost's reign. But it all rests on you, Little Lotte", he said urgently, his tone softening as he broke into a reassuring half-smile.
Christine herself glanced toward the grate. "No, Raoul. Just because he thieved and murdered, doesn't give us the right to..."
He lightly shook her, as if he were shaking sense into her. "I'm sorry, Christine, but we must. He will be treated fairly like any other criminal is treated. He'll serve his time, and you will make it happen".
"No, I can't. He's given me so much..."
He interrupted her again. "This isn't about that! Do you realize, that even after we're married, we will still have to constantly be looking over our shoulders, checking to see if he's there. He can still take you after we're married, Christine. I can't let that happen to you. I love you too much", he said firmly but softly.
She could see in those very familiar eyes how much this meant to him. She had forgotten what it was like, to live without being preyed on constantly. To have a safe marriage with Raoul sounded like a safe haven...
"Alright Raoul. But... make sure he's going to be treated right. He's been treated like an animal his whole life... we don't need to continue that..." she gave in.
He hugged her. "Thank you Christine. Don't think that I don't care but every hope and every prayer rests on you now", he said, his voice muffled by her tied back curls.
Christine walked back inside, in a daze. No matter what Erik had done, or what she had told Raoul, she couldn't do it.
Breaking out of said daze, Christine walked into her room, realizing that she still had Raoul's coat. Oh well. She would see him tonight, at Don Juan and would give it to him then. Right now, she needed to visit someone.
She splashed through the water, not minding it. Her ballet dress wasn't the best to go swimming in, but at least she had taken off her toe shoes and was now barefoot.
The prima donna got to the lake, and, not seeing or hearing Erik anywhere, swam. As her swift, timed strokes of her arms paddled through the slightly murky water, memories of swimming with Raoul when they were children erupted from her mind. They weren't supposed to, but he had taught her how to swim. Now that she thought about it, she had swam in her petticoat in front of him. A blush crept over her face through the water, but that was different; they were children, and much had changed now.
Finally reaching the sand, she came out, still not seeing Erik anywhere here, unless...
She quickly looked up from wringing her dress and hair out when she heard soft footsteps. Erik stood in front of her, silent and intimidating.
Her breathing sped up, worried what he might do. He probably didn't know what to do; having encountered Christine, looking still beautiful soaked to the bone.
She opened her mouth to speak, but again, nothing came out. He walked closer to her. She didn't think it was possible, but her heart beat even quicker.
She was almost hyperventilating as he put his cloak around her. She cringed, not expecting it. He gave a small sigh and moved away from her.
"I..." she tried speaking again.
"Why did you come here, Christine?" he finally spoke.
Christine closed her eyes, just the sound of his voice satisfying.
"Raoul is planning your capture at Don Juan tonight", she murmured looking down. It was so soft, she doubted that he had even heard her.
"I realized", he said. She walked closer to him, the lapping water still getting her feet wet.
Already, her light, springy curls around her face had started to dry, framing her face like an Angel.
"I... I didn't want you to get hurt", she said, still shivering. He sighed.
"Your Don Juan costume is still here-I haven't yet delivered it to the costume wardrobe. if you would like to change..." he trailed off awkwardly.
"Thank you", she almost whispered, and he led her to his room. He motioned to the bed, and her costume lay there. He left without another word, closing the curtain behind him.
He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. Why was Christine here? And then besides that, she was ten feet away from him, getting dressed...
Christine came out, dressed in her Aminta costume, her pale shoulders giving off almost an angelic glow.
"Erik... please. I don't want you to get hurt. Don't come tonight", she pleaded him, noticing that he was dressed as Don Juan, which was supposed to be Piangi's role.
"I have to go, Christine. It's probably the last time I'll ever see you", he said, not even able to bear the thought. Rumor had been going around that this would be Christine Daae's last performance in the opera house, and then she would be married to that fop.
Despite his coldness toward her, Christine knew that he loved her now more passionately than he ever had. Her thoughts were confirmed with those words.
"No, Erik. You don't know that for sure", she said, then it dawned upon her. They would both never see each other again, unless...
"I'm coming back, Erik", she said abruptly.
He glanced at her quickly. She couldn't mean it. "Why would you come back to me, especially so soon before marrying him", he said. They both knew who him was; he had never spoken Raoul's name and certainly didn't want to start now.
"I'm having... reservations about him. Especially after he tried to kill you", she said softly, trying to catch his fleeting gaze, but she could never quite grasp it-it was like holding water or air in your hands.
"You didn't seem to have reservations after Il Muto", he said wryly to her.
"I was... unknowing. I didn't know who you really were. All you were to me was a hidden man that had lied to me my whole life... then, at least".
"But still, why should you come to me one last time? What's the difference? I would rather die at the hands of that fop tonight then have to experience the torture of you... like I have all these years".
"Erik, I need to say something. I'm not going to marry him. No, I haven't told him, but I've made up my mind. It can't happen-it was never meant to happen. What love we shared was childhood love, and even now I can see how this love has changed; transformed. He knows inside but has never thought about it. He looks after me like I'm his sister Erik. We both denied this. We wanted that fairytale love that was read to us as children. The kind of love that it too perfect; too sculpted for man kind. It just would never be able to happen, Erik", Christine insisted.
He listened to the wise words of his Angel. Never had she spoken like this to him, so confident and knowing. She was usually so timid around him, and yet now she was giving speeches about love.
This fact-of Christine not marrying Raoul after all-was very delighting to the opera ghost at first, until he realized. Never once did she say that she would marry him instead, or had changed her mind because she fell in love with him.
"This still has nothing to do with me", he told her quite bluntly.
"Indeed it does. I can't marry him; there's someone else", she said, her eyes now sparkling, like someone who just revealed such a revelation...
This sparked a light in Erik. But now, it couldn't possibly be...
She was moving closer to him, and he didn't realize why; his mind was in a tornado, his blood on fire, he must be dreaming. It was impossible, maybe he had gone to heaven, but why would a man like him go to heaven?
And then her lips pressed against his, and his thoughts were confirmed-at least, he believed them to be confirmed. He still didn't know if he was dreaming or not.
She stepped on his feet for a better reach. All too soon, it ended. And she was still there.
He stared at her. "Christine?" he breathed.
She let out a giggle-the expression on his face was priceless. "I love you, Erik", she said, starring into the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.
"You love me, Christine?" he repeated, only now beginning to believe it.
"You and only you. Forever and forever".
FIN
Thanks for reading! Please comment! By the way, I don't know if the last line is already taken or a famous quote or anything, but I made it up from my head-sorry if anyone has already used it, but I really love it, and was glad I came up with it.