A/N: This little one-shot came about from pure boredom. And lack of inspiration for my other two stories (which will be updated as soon as my muse returns). But as I was laying in bed this morning, I contemplated about Raoul's decision to enter the Navy from the original novel and going in depth with it if Christine had chosen Erik. However, since this is modern day, I changed it from the Navy to the Marine Corps, but it's still part of the Department of the Navy, and it's a bit personal.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, save for the Erik plushie that keeps me company at night. The poem at the bottom is the second to last stanza from a poem I found by an anonymous author, titled "I Thought It Was You".

Dedication: This story is in honor of my favorite Lance Corporal. You make me so proud and it's an honor to stand by your side on your arm. Come home soon. OORAHHH!

Semper Fidelis

War. That's what Raoul de Chagny's mind should have been on. He'd been in country for months now and he thought he would be able to focus, but time and again he had been proved wrong. Raoul had twice seen war since enlisting in the United States Marine Corps, and he thought this deployment would be different. Maybe for once he would be able to concentrate. On anything. But the only thing his mind drifted to was her. Even after sweating through his cammies and being tortured by the bright sun, his focus was still on Christine.

"Hey, de Chagny!" Raoul straightened up from the wood post he was leaning on as a member from another platoon approached him. He didn't recognize the Marine, but then again, he didn't recognize most of them anyway. Less than a year previously, Raoul reenlisted and was placed in a different battalion. He was familiar with the men in his platoon, but did not get to know many men from the rest of the company.

"Yes, Staff Sergeant?"

"I'll be on post with you until we hit the racks tonight. Newman's knee is acting up again," Staff Sergeant Williams said casually.

"Aye Staff Sergeant," Raoul responded respectfully, as he was two ranks beneath SSgt. Williams; a Corporal.

"You want some chew to pass the time?" SSgt. Williams asked as he pulled an open can out of his pocket and offered it to the young Marine.

"No thank you SSgt." His fellow Marine shrugged his shoulders and placed a chunk of tobacco in the back of his mouth.

"You're very distant," he said with a Massachusetts accent from what Raoul could gather. "And that's not a good thing Marine. Get your head in the game before someone has to save your ass from being shot at. These enemies are different. They're sneaky little bastards, and if they catch you in a moment of weakness, they'll exploit it and come after you. Remember what your drill instructor said all those years ago? Ears, open! Eyeballs, click!"

"I'll kill 'em all, SSgt.," Raoul said with conviction in his voice.

"There you go, killer. So," he leaned back on the post as Raoul had before and kept on chewing the tobacco. "Who was it you were thinking about? The wife and kids back home?"

I should be, he thought looked out into the distance and thought about what it would be like to come home to Christine holding two little dark haired babies. There would be a girl with his dark hair, but her soft, curly tendrils. And there would be a boy with brown hair and Christine's forget-me-not blue eyes. But, of course, he knew that would never be. "I have no wife or children, sir."

SSgt. Williams stared at Raoul, dumbfounded. Surely a young Marine as good looking as him would be married by now? He himself was only twenty-eight and had been married for seven years, had two children, and a third on the way. He raised an eyebrow. "Girlfriend?"

"No, sir," he said sombrely.

"How old are you, Corporal?"

"I'm twenty-five sir. I didn't enlist right out of high school."

"Ah, college student. Most guys your age are Sergeants by now," his senior said with a hint of scorn.

"Yes, but my main priority was always her," Raoul said, pulling out a picture from his flap jacket. He handed SSgt. Williams a picture of he and Christine from a Christmas gathering when they were both eighteen, his arms going protectively around her in front of a lavish Christmas tree. "My ex-fiancée."

"Damn! She's a hottie!" SSgt. Williams said and gave a low whistle before returning the picture to Raoul. "What happened?"

"He needs me Raoul. I…I love him," Christine sobbed. "But I love you too! Just not the way you need to be loved. The way you should be loved."

"He's put you under some kind of spell, Christine! I've always loved you! I was the one who has always been there for you, taken care of you, and provided for you! Who was there to comfort you when your father died?" His voice grew quiet. "Please, Christine, you're going to be my wife. I know you still love me. Please, just come home with me."

Christine stood silently on the sand and sobbed with her head down. Raoul placed his finger under her chin thus placing her teary-eyed gaze into his. "I know in my heart that it's Erik I love, Raoul, but I'm so, so sorry I came to that realization hurting you in the process. I never wanted to hurt you. You've been my dearest friend from childhood." She placed her hand on his cheek affectionately. "You'll always be the little boy who saved my scarf from the sea."

He placed his hands on her upper arms. "But he frightened you, Christine! How can you forget that? You came to me that one night. Don't you remember how scared you were? How you thought he would hurt you? I protected you Christine! I made your fears disappear! I would never hurt you Christine! Ever. How can he claim to love you if he frightens you?"

"You don't know him like I do, Raoul," Christine whispered, gazing out to the sea; the very place they had met, and now the place they would end. "The world has done so much hurt and damage to him. All he knows is pain and anger. But I know he would never harm me. He loves me so much. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at me; there is so much love in them."

Raoul sighed, and at this point, he knew he would give or sacrifice all that he had to make her happy, even if that meant himself. He breathed in deeply and pulled her body as close to him as humanly possible, just content to hold her.

He pulled away and willed the tears away, but still held her upper arms. "This Erik, does he have a suitable place to live? I will not have you living in a shack. Does he make enough money to support you and buy you nice things? Because that is what you deserve Christine. I won't settle for anything less than the best for you."

Christine grinned from ear to ear and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Oh yes! I promise you, Erik has all that I'll ever need! And I assure you his income could support ten of me!"

"If I ever get a word that he has harmed you, Little Lotte, he will not live to see the next sun rise."

"You won't ever have to worry about that, Raoul," she said seriously. She looked back out to the sea and Raoul could see a lone tear making its way down her porcelain cheek. Raoul looked out to the sea as well, knowing that there was nothing left to say to his beloved. He nearly laughed at the irony that his relationship with the only woman he would ever love was ending as the sun was disappearing below the horizon.

"I suppose I should go. He'll be worried if I don't return soon," she sniffed. "Raoul?" His attention returned to Christine, and he nodded, unable to speak.

"Yes, you should go. But please, I have one last request," he coughed out.

"Yes?"

"One last kiss." It wasn't a question. He cupped her face in his hands before she could respond and kissed her fully on the lips. He wasn't rough; it was passionate and his way of telling her all that could have been and all he would have done for her.

He pulled back to see her crying freely now, which instantly set his tears free. He noticed that she fumbled with the engagement ring as she pried it off her finger. "Keep it," she said, as she placed it in his hand. "And remember all the fond memories we shared because I'll never forget them. You'll always hold a special spot in my heart, Raoul de Chagny." She smiled warmly at him through her tears, then turned and began walking away.

"Goodbye Christine Daae," he whispered to her retreating form, knowing that she couldn't hear him.

"That's rough man, I'm sorry," SSgt. Williams said, and patted him on the shoulder. "Haven't you tried finding another girl? There has to be someone else."

"There will never be anyone else, sir. I had my heart set on her. No one else will do," Raoul said in a low voice.

"Ok, well-" He was cut off by Lieutenant Colonel Elliot. Both men assumed the position of attention as he called out their names.

"Staff Sergeant Williams! Corporal de Chagny! Hit the rack. Company patrol in the morning."

"Aye Lieutenant Colonel," they said simultaneously and saluted the officer.

Raoul quickly strode to his rack, changed out of his sweaty cammies and tried to get comfortable under his blanket. He took the picture he kept of Christine out of his flap jacket and gazed at it until he could no longer keep his eyes open. It did him no good though-the image seared itself into his retinas, and as always, she was the last thing he saw before slipping into unconsciousness. Yes, he would remain Semper Fi to his beloved Corps. And to his Christine.

Even now I see your face
And I feel your arms holding me tight
Yet your shadow flees at my touch
For I am alone tonight