Disclaimer: I do not own Phantom of the Opera or any of its characters except what I create out of my own imagination here.

Rated: K+

Summary: Based more on the movie than the book. What happens after Raoul and Christine's escape from the phantom's lair? Will they indeed get the happy ending that they deserve or will new trials and tribulations be placed in their path? Also details by alternating chapters, the story of Meg, Madame Giry, and Erik as they struggle to discover their own new beginnings.

Author's Notes: I wrote the prologue months before the other chapters and had originally intended for it to be a one-shot. The writing style for the following is therefore quite different from the rest of the story. I have now decided to continue after getting a number of wonderful reviews and it seems that "New Beginnings" will be a fairly long piece. So hopefully you will enjoy my first ever fanfiction.

Prologue

For what seemed like eternity, Christine stood rooted to the cold dungeon floor, scarcely able to breathe let alone speak. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she cried not only for her fate but for that of the man she loves.

"Make your decision. I grow weary," the Phantom growled as he gave a sharp jerk to his Punjab lasso. Even in the dim light of his lair, his disfigurement is horrible to behold and at that moment, he seemed more animal than human. How could I have been so blind as to believe that he was an angel sent by my father? How could I have trusted him so? As these thoughts race through Christine's head, she saw behind her, Raoul gasping for air. He was almost unconscious and time was quickly running out. She would have to decide both of their fates now.

"I love you," she mouths softly to Raoul and sees a look of relief flit cross his face. If this was indeed the last time they would ever see one another again, she wanted to leave him with no doubts or regrets in his mind. That she would make this eternal sacrifice of her life and freedom for the love of him. I'm so sorry Raoul but you mean too much to me. I would gladly give my life for yours and someday, you will be happy again.

Christine forced herself to look away and turn back once more to the Phantom. His swirling dark cloak along with the rest of his disguise was gone and he stood there dripping in the dank water, forlorn and yet with a dangerous determination in his face. His scarred eye focused sharply upon her. Even now, she could observe the passion that he had for her in his face but it was the sort of love without hope. I pity you…I pity you…

"Pitiful creature of darkness,

What kind of life have you known?

God give me strength to show you

That you're not alone,"

She sang and with a certain regal grace and compassion in her person, walked calmly to her fate. I must accept my destiny and I will make him believe that I love him in order to provide him with some comfort. Let me pray that he will at least release Raoul. She kisses him and feels him shudder in her embrace. Their tears for a moment mingle as one and fall to the water like drops of rain. She sees him linger and wear such an expression of regret and disbelief. She kisses him again to better convince herself. Oh please God, let me at least restore some of his humanity so that he will do right. Let him feel some semblance of love that has been absent in his life.

The Phantom pulled away and staggered up the stairs. "Take him. Leave me! Don't let them find you! Go now! Go now!" he cried. Christine could scarcely believe her ears. Was he truly letting them walk away? Her hesitation lasted for only a second before she was rushing to Raoul and untying the cruel knots that had cut into his flesh. She could feel him heaving shuddering breathes against her as she pulled him into a tight embrace. I never want to let go again. Oh Raoul…I was so afraid that I'd lose you forever.

"My little Lotte," Raoul murmurs against her, "Come, let us go". He pulled her towards a small gondola stationed in the water nearby. Christine, herself, was all the more eager to leave but a thought stopped her. I can't leave without finding some closure. For all the horrible things that he did, he did for the love of me. I have no right of all people to hate him.

"Oh Raoul, he was my teacher if anything and I at least owe him a last good-bye. Will you let me do this one thing?" and Christine turned to her fiancé with such a mournful expression on her lovely face that he at that moment could not have refused her the world.

"Go my love and be safe. I will wait here for you when you are ready." replied ever faithful Raoul though it tore a part of his heart to see his Christine still so attached to her angel of music. She smiled bravely then and reassured him with a gentle kiss on the lips.

"I love you, Raoul; you must know that. I promise to return right away."

She ascended back up the stone steps to where she knew the Phantom would be. Indeed, he sat hunched over his organ, singing a mournful tune to himself. At the slight rustle of Christine's skirt, however, he stopped and looked wistfully up at her.

"Christine, I love you." he murmured. She did not answer for what could she say in such a situation? Instead she simply drew from her finger, the ring that both Raoul and the Phantom had given her and closed it in his hands. Once this ring had represented that of the purest love between her and Raoul and now she found it a symbol of her long and waking nightmare. I cannot keep it. Let this ring instead bring him some comfort and show that I am indeed grateful for his gift of music. He stared at the golden circle in the palm of his hand in wonderment. And with that, she descended down the stairs and back to her Raoul. They embraced as only a pair of lovers could embrace, happy and secure in their love for one another. She placed her arm around Raoul's shoulder as he guided her onto the gondola and noticed with a look of concern that the wound on his arm had opened again due to his exertions. Because of me...always because of me... Do I bring a curse on those whom I treasure the most in this world?

"Raoul, are you angry that I gave your ring away?" Christine asked sleepily as she leaned her head upon his shoulder. The nagging feeling that he had seen her kiss the Phantom in the lair and had misinterpreted her intentions clung to her.

He gave her a gentle smile. "Not at all, he had placed it on your finger through force and had almost succeeded in taking you away from me. I am glad to see that tainted object gone, Christine."

"That was my thought as well, Raoul. Oh if he had indeed succeeded in entombing me in his black abyss tonight. What madness I would have endured without the daylight and your presence." she shuddered and clasped him even closer to herself.

He kissed the top of her head as he continued guiding the gondola through the many winding passages of the dungeon. "Do not dwell anymore on such unhappy thoughts, my little Lotte. We have our whole lives ahead of us now and I will always be by your side to guide and to guard you. There is no need to be afraid any longer."

She sighed in contentment as he, eager to prove his last words, sang softly to her their words of love as on the Opera Populaire rooftop. His soothing voice so full of adoration enveloped Christine, calmed her fears, and as always invigorated her soul.

"No more talk of darkness,

Forget these wide-eyed fears.

I'm here, nothing can harm you,

My words will warm and calm you

Let me be your freedom.

Let daylight dry your tears.

I'm here, with you, beside you,

To guard you and to guide you."

She joined in to sing her own part,

"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime

Sat the word and I will follow you."

Their voices mingle into a final crescendo that echoed through the dungeon.

"Anywhere you go, let me go too

Love me, that's all I ask of you."

As if heaven itself had heard their call and rejoiced in celebration, there appeared ahead of them a small circle of light as the last few words were sung. Christine quickly spotted it and clutched at Raoul's arm.

"A light, Raoul! I see a light! We're almost free." she cried in joy despite her trembling. It's so cold…my skirt feels as if it weighs a ton. Raoul, meanwhile, gathered the last of his exhausted mind and body to guide the gondola to the bottom of a set of narrow stone steps, where a few strands of light had bravely crept their way down. He halted the gondola, leaped from it onto the steps first, and stretched out a hand to help Christine from the boat. She stumbled at first into Raoul's arms, feeling the full weight of her damp skirts drag behind her as utter exhaustion settled in.

"It'll be alright, little Lotte. We are almost there and my carriage will be waiting at the gate for us. Yet I must warn you first, when the Phantom first opened the trapdoor during Don Juan Triumphant, he released the chandelier that hangs over the ballroom. There was a small fire and I do not know if they have succeeded in extinguishing it. Stay close to my side." Raoul tried to say calmly. In all the confusion and horror down in the lair, he had almost forgotten.

"A fire!" Christine gasped in horror, "My home and my friends. What if Madame Giry and Meg are still trapped inside?" And she would have rushed headlong up the stairs, had Raoul not held her firmly around her waist to stop her.

"You must be calm, Christine. Only trust me and I will lead us from here. You mentioned once that the Phantom had led you down her before. Do you recognize where these stairs might lead?" Raoul questioned urgently.

"Yes, I remember the day that he took me from a secret door behind the mirror. These stairs and the passageway beyond lead to my room." Christine replied, trying desperately to be brave though the urgency evident in Raoul's voice frightened her. Are we to escape from the Phantom only to meet our doom in fire?

"Then let us go and remember to stay by my side." And with that Raoul firmly grasped Christine's hand and led her up the stairs. Indeed at the other top, they saw a long narrow passage, the stone walls dark and slick with algae. Having no light to guide them, they felt along the walls, Raoul in front and Christine behind. The walls feel strangely warm. In this way, they made it to the end of a seemingly solid door without a knob, the outline of which was illuminated by a bright light from outside. Raoul reached the door and felt its surface. It was hot and they could smell the smoke from the other side. The fire had spread all the way to the third floor where Christine's room was situated.

Raoul attempted to slide the door back but it seemed to have stuck fast from the outside. He threw himself against it again and again and only after the fourth try, did Christine hear a great crash as the door tumbled to the floor and the great mirror in its front shatter. A cloud of thick black smoke immediately blew towards them and obscured much of their vision. Christine coughed violently and struggled desperately to breathe. Tendrils of flame with a ruthless persistence were already eating their way to the corners of the room. The heat was unbearable and they could hear the shrieks and general chaos from the street below. Any minute now, the bottom two levels of the opera building could collapse from the flames. Raoul, choking himself from the smoke, ran to one of the windows in the room, grabbed a lamp, and smashed the panes. He, then, felt his way to Christine's bed and tore from it a great white sheet.

"We have no way to escape down the stairs, Christine. Our only choice is to jump from the window. Do you trust me, my little Lotte?" he cried, stretching out his hand. His face despite being covered with soot never looked as beautiful to her as at that moment. My hero, Raoul. My knight in shining armour.

Christine did not hesitate for even a moment before firmly putting her hand in Raoul's.

"I would follow you anywhere." she exclaimed with an expression of utter courage.

"Then hold tightly to me and do not let go. I will try to use this sheet as a parachute. God be willing and remember that I love you, Christine."

She clung tightly to Raoul and tightly closed her eyes as they both stood on the ledge of the window. Three stories including the soaring ceiling of the ballroom in the first story was a long way to jump. Raoul had one of each of his hands wrapped tightly around two of the corners of the sheet and before Christine had even had time to murmur her love back, a feeling of weightlessness overcame her and made her dizzy with fear. It seemed like an eternity as they fell through the sky but to the people in the streets below who witnessed the peculiar sight, it was only a matter of seconds.

A delicious breath of fresh air and a coolness all around her. She felt hands helping to lift her up from the snow amid cries of joy and prayers. Am I in heaven? And if so, will I meet papa again? But this couldn't be because I ache all over and in heaven, there is no pain. There was soon a familiar warmness at her side and a concerned voice tenderly calling her name.

"Christine! Christine! My love, speak to me!"

Her eyelids fluttered open to a white light and the first sight she beheld was Raoul's loving face as she lay in his arms. His handsome face was bent close to hers and his deep blue eyes were moist with worry. And then as she slowly turned her head, she beheld Meg and Madame Giry huddled around her as well. Maybe this is heaven after all. And with this last little thought, her world dissolved into blackness and she felt nothing.

Thanks for Reading: I've always considered this chapter to be my weakest so hopefully readers haven't been scared away and will try chapter two. Hopefully one day, I'll have the motivation to write a new prologue that fits more with the rest of the story that is. There will be no singing, repetition of lines from the movie, nearly so many thoughts written in italics, or phantom-bashing ahead, I promise. Erik has become afterall an essential and beloved character in this story.