Phantom of the Opera
Beneath a Moonless Sky (Caroline's POV)
Disclaimer: Phantom of the Opera does not belong to me, but Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Caroline was busying herself putting her brown curly hair into a bun. It was the only thing she could do to pass the time while not thinking of things that were going on in her life. There was Christine, with Raoul, her husband who had turned into a lowly drunkard, and their son Gustave, who had a certain love for music. She recently had to live with them since there was nowhere else for her to go after the Opera Populaire was burned down that night.
And…he was there. He was there when the building burned to smithereens, when she and Christine were pulled down to his lair and she married him, and he promised her he'd return. But that was ten years ago….and now he's dead…she thought to herself as she finished putting her hair into the bun she had desired. There were still a few curls loose, but she didn't care. Besides, it wasn't the curls that was bothering her. It was her heart. Her heart was aching and breaking into a million pieces. It was telling her to be angry because he betrayed her, broke his own promise. He was never coming back, because he was dead.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a very familiar tune. Caroline turned to see it was coming from the musical box that Gustave left behind when he went to bed. That tune…it sounded like…Past the Point of No Return…but no…it couldn't…but it was. She went to the box and picked it up as she placed it far away from her so she wouldn't be able to hear the unbearable song again.
But, wait a second…did it seem that the room was becoming darker? Darkness was the only thing that surrounded Caroline as she looked around the room with fright. This hasn't been happening since ten years ago. But that could only mean…no…it couldn't be…
The door was quickly opened and in stepped a man she thought she would never see again. His looks had changed in this large amount of time. He still wore the color black, and that was certain. His white mask was different as was his wig, but Caroline only took one look in his green eyes and she knew it was him and that he had the same effect as did long ago.
"No…it's not you…no…" she muttered in shock before she passed out. The last thing she saw was he coming over towards her before everything went black.
When she awoke, she noticed a hand had come to touch her face. When her vision cleared, she noticed it was the same man who had lied to her, broke her heart, and left her in grief for ten years. And besides, from what Christine told her, she couldn't take any chances.
She gasped in fright, but he placed his hands up as if to tell her not to be alarmed.
"So it was all an empty lie…one final lie to fool us all…to make your death our story's end, to put your life beyond recall."Caroline sang, as she instantly sat up and started to move away from him when he tried to touch her again. These next few lines she didn't want to sing, but she knew she had no choice. "How dare you try and claim me now? Invade my life, ensnare my voice!"
"If you could know the pain I've known…then you would know I had no choice…"he sang in reply as he began to once again walk towards her. He placed his hands caringly on her left cheek and on her shoulder. "My Caroline…"
No. I'm not yours. You don't belong with me. Caroline could only think as she took herself from his touch. "Your Caroline…I was yours one brief night long ago…long ago…with a man I no longer know!"
"Ah Caroline…you came and found where I hid…don't you deny that you did…that long ago night…"
"No! You're wrong!"
"What do you-?"
"Oh, don't pretend you don't know! You called to me with that same…chant! That you were my Angel of Music! No, I can't believe that! Not after what you did to me all those years ago!"
"My dear sweet Caroline…" the man held his hands out in Caroline's hair as he began to rub her head in the most caring manner that Caroline couldn't help but fall deep into his touch. "I am so sorry for what happened. I did not mean to leave you in such a state of grief. Once there was a night, beneath a moonless sky. Too dark to see a thing…too dark to even try…"
"I stole to your side, tormented by my choice…I could not see your face, yet trembled at your voice. And I touched you!" Caroline replied, as memories gave way like an overflowing dam. Still thinking of the night and the things that were discussed, including their private moment together, brought a smile to her face.
"And I felt you." was his reply.
"And I heard those ravishing refrains!" they both sang together.
"The music of your pulse," sang Caroline as she once again rushed away to a place where she wouldn't be touched. She never wanted to be touched by him again, no…
"The singing in your veins," he sang as he knelt down to where she was and still tried to lean her body against his, but she moved away from him.
"Keep away from me!"
"Caroline!"
"No! I won't listen to you! No, never!"
"Caroline, please!"
"NO! I won't! Stop fooling me with your lies!"
"Lies? Caroline, do you think my love for you has been one big lie?"
"It depends."
"…"
"Phantom…" Caroline muttered under her breath when she didn't hear anything.
"What have you been told?" he demanded to know.
"You broke your promise. That's all." Caroline answered as she turned away from him. There was no way she was giving him the full story.
"There's more."
"No. There isn't. Please, just…let it go."
"Tell me everything."
"No. Th-There isn't! Please stop!"
He didn't listen. He neared her once more and gently and lovingly placed her hands on her back and rubbing it in nice massages.
"No, Phantom-"
"Call me Erik."
"Erik, no…this isn't right…let me go…"
"I want you to know the truth. I love you. And I deeply care for your well-being. But, during that night, I knew I had to leave."
"Erik, I'm not that angry, I just want to know why. Why did you leave me if you loved me? Why did you leave me in a life full of nothing but no love and grief and regret? And I held you!"
"And I touched you!" Erik placed his hands on her face and began to stroke it ever so gently to demonstrate his love for her.
"And with every breath and every sigh!" they once again sang together.
"I felt no longer scared…" Caroline whispered as she looked only in his eyes and saw the show of true devotion and the kind of love that a man could give to a woman who truly respected her.
"I felt no longer shy…" Erik sang and he smiled as he felt her relax into his touch.
"At last our feelings bared, beneath a moonless sky…" they both sang as their heads and lips barely touched each other.
"And blind in the dark, as soul gazed into soul…I looked into your heart and saw you pure and whole…" said Caroline as she began to look away from her love. She felt Erik placed his hand and turn her face back to his.
"Cloaked under the night, with nothing to suppress…a woman and a man, no more and yet no less…" sang Erik as he leaned down and gave her a quick, but breathtaking kiss that made Caroline gasp when he pulled away. "And I kissed you!"
"And caressed you!" responded Caroline as she could do nothing but gaze at him in longing.
"And the world around us fell away…we said things in the dark, we never dared to say…" both said as they were once again close to one another.
"No, Erik. This can't be…" Caroline made a move to get up, and she once again rushed away from him. If Christine were to ever find out about this…no…she couldn't!
"And I caught you!"
"And I kissed you!"
"With a need too urgent to deny! As nothing mattered then, except for you and I! Again and then again, beneath a moonless sky!" both sang once more.
Erik made a move to where Caroline was, near the piano, and wrapped his arms around her in a caring embrace as he sang the next verse. "And when it was done, before the sun could rise…ashamed of what I was, afraid to see your eyes…I stood while you slept…and whispered you a good-bye…and slipped into the dark…beneath a moonless sky…"
"And I loved you, yes, I loved you! I'd have followed anywhere you led!" Caroline answered as she placed her hands on Erik's arms. "I woke to swear my love, and found you gone instead!"
"And I loved you!" he responded.
"Oh, I loved you!"
"And I left you!"
"How I loved you!"
"And I had to, both of us knew why!"
"We both knew why!"
"And yet I won't regret from now until I die…" they both sang. "The night I can't forget, beneath a moonless sky!"
"And now…"
"How can you talk of now? For us…can I really be your now?"
"Yes. All of that and more. To me…you were always my now."
And with that, Erik placed a long and heartfelt kiss on Caroline's lips. Caroline could have never felt happier as she kissed him and pulled away from him to gaze into his eyes. He truly loved her, even after masking his death, after being hidden from her; he didn't denounce his love for her even once. And now, she felt as if she could do the same.