Ok here we go! I finally got around to writing a POTO fanfic! YEAH! I'm a big fan of E/C, but I don't hate Raoul even though I make him out to be a jerk at the beginning of my story. I PROMISE he will regain his honor by the end of this tale! Please please PLEASE remember to review guys! If no one reviews this story then I 100% will NOT continue the story (as much as that would pain me) so if you like it, Review and say so! One person! That's all it takes! Anyway... hope you enjoy this!

A New Life

Chapter 1: Change of Heart

As Raoul and Christine fled the Phantom of the Opera's lair down a secret waterway he previously used to return Christine to her dressing room a more direct way, Christine looked over her shoulder and saw the broken expression on the man's face. What have I done? He gave me everything that made me who I am and I denied him! What HAVE I done? I can't just leave him like this, not after all we've been through, not after that kiss. What was she saying? Wasn't this the man who had kidnapped her just now? Hadn't he been taking advantage of her youth by pretending to be some heavenly being? NO. A voice in her head responded. Look into your heart and find what you truly think of this man. She reflected on this for a moment. He had always been protecting her from harm, since her father had died. He was her teacher and her Angel of Music, but most of all, he was... She gasped as she finally understood what the voice in her head had meant. I love him.

Upon realizing her true feelings for the man she was leaving behind, Christine gasped and felt her eyes well up with tears. She took her hand from Raoul's shoulder and held it to her mouth. She began shaking as the tears ran hot down her face once more. Raoul, hearing her gasp and following tears, stopped and turned around quickly to face her.

"Christine?" He asked in alarm, "What is it? Are you hurt?"

He looked her up and down and lifted her arms up to examine them and the rest of her exposed flesh. Nothing seemed to be amiss.

"Christine answer me!" He demanded worriedly, "What's wrong?"

As Raoul looked into her eyes, Christine saw the love and worry etched in them and began crying more forcefully and pressed her face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and patted her soothingly, resting his cheek against her hair.

"Shhh," he crooned, "it's alright now Christine, I'm here."

Christine hiccuped and tried to speak but only resulted in a sort of strangled cry coming out.

"I-I-I'm s-s-soo sor-r-ry..." she sobbed.

Raoul pulled away from her and looked at her, shocked, "What? Christine, you have no reason to be sorry!" He insisted.

"I h-have to go back Raoul," she said, her voice becoming more steady as her tears began to subside. "I have to go back."

Raoul looked at her like she was going crazy.

"Christine what are you talking about?" He began slowly, "We've only just barely managed to escape and now you want to go back? Was it not enough for you that I nearly died for you once?" He asked rather coldly.

Christine flinched inwardly as his words cut her heart.

"Raoul, I can't leave him so alone." She almost whispered.

"He's a MONSTER Christine! He deserves to be alone!" Raoul exploded, throwing his arms up in the air, "Why should you care anyway?" He asked with a sneer, "just a moment ago you were hurrying to leave!"

Christine turned away from him as if slapped. He was right, what if the Phantom thought the same thing? What if he killed her when she got back? Then it would be no more than I deserve after hurting him so deeply. She told herself. She just had to try.

Christine drew herself up to her full height and looked Raoul in the eye as she spoke.

"He is NOT a monster." Christine began, stabbing her finger into Raoul's chest. Very suddenly she began to wonder what she had ever seen in this man standing before her now.

"I have made a horrible mistake Raoul," she said with her eyes downcast, "I made the wrong choice and now I must go back and beg his forgiveness."

Raoul just stared at her, mouth agape.

"What are you saying Christine?" He asked darkly. "Are you telling me that you actually wish you had chosen tha-tha-that that THING? Over me?"

They were toe to toe now and it was only too easy for Christine to reach her hand up and slap him in the face.

"You go too far Raoul," she whispered threateningly, "he is NOT a thing, HE is more of a MAN than you will ever be."

Raoul was holding his face in shock when Christine made her final decision.

"Good-bye Monsieur de la Vicomte." She spat, and jumped off the boat while Raoul was still standing there dumbfounded.

Suddenly a rumble sounded from above and the ceiling collapsed, raining stone and dust down right where Christine had just been standing. She was effectively separated from Raoul by the impassible pile of rock, and she took it as a sign from heaven that she had made the right choice by turning back.

As Christine half waded, half swam through the chest high water, she knew that she had to hurry if she wanted to catch the Phantom before he was gone forever. She knew that she would not beat the angry mob before it descended on his lair, for the voices had been close when she and Raoul had boarded the boat, but she prayed to God that he had managed to escape them. Suddenly, the stone bottom of the waterway she was plowing through dropped out from under her and Christine was swept under the surface. Her dress was very heavy, and she struggled to kick her way back to the surface before she ran out of air. She kicked furiously and soon was able to breach the surface of the water. Christine gasped and swam back to where she could touch the bottom. She knew she would never be able to swim through that wearing the heavy wedding dress. Christine suddenly had an idea, if she could manage to hold herself up out of the water by holding onto the small ledge on either side of the water, she should be able to make it through that section without having to struggle to swim.

Christine pushed back her sopping wet hair out of her face and quickly grabbed onto the ledge to her right. She began shimmying her way down the passageway, succeeding in keeping herself from sinking to the bottomless depths of this particular channel by hanging from the ledge. The going was slow, as she often had to stop to rest due to the added weight of the saturated fabric. Obviously this dress was not designed to be swam in. Christine chuckled to herself and once again continued her quest back to the lair.

A few feet later, Christine decided to test the depth of the channel, knowing full well that it was unlikely the same depth remained all the way through. She hoped that she would be able to pull herself back up if the water was still too deep, or she would be lost to the fathomless depths of this channel before she could even blink. Christine slowly lowered herself into the water more and was relieved when she felt solid ground when the water reached her neck. The rest of the way back, Christine clung to the wall in case she should once again fall into a deeper pool of water.

After ten more minutes of wading through the icy water, Christine could finally begin to make out the portcullis ahead of her and she urged her tired limbs to move faster. When she reached the great gate, she was relieved to find that it was still open. She cautiously walked through the mouth of the lair, making sure she avoided the deep pool in the middle of the water. When Christine stepped onto the stone floor of the lair she had so recently vacated, she collapsed, utterly spent from wading through so much water wearing the heavy dress.

Well that's the first chapter! Remember, if you don't review then I won't continue posting the story so please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading guys!