He sat alone in the thick darkness of his lair, remembering his student's choice to abandon him. Christine Daae had left the phantom of the opera with a broken heart as well as a broken spirit, and after a month in his hidden tunnels, the phantom had returned to his 'home.' It was, to his surprise, still in a presentable condition. A few things were knocked over, and papers lay scattered across the floor from when the mob had been searching for him, but nothing was destroyed. He lit a few candles and began to reorganize his things. He picked up a paper from the floor and looked at it to see what it was.

Seeing the drawing of Christine, tears began to fall from his eyes again. He crumpled up the drawing and threw it into the water. He began to collect all drawings and sketches of his 'beloved,' tossing them into the water, watching them as they all floated briefly but then sank as they became waterlogged.

He wept as he continued to clean, mourning his loss, feeling a pang of sadness that he had to let Christine go, but also feeling a pang of relief knowing that she was happy. The Phantom finally came upon his mask as he was cleaning his bedroom. He placed it in its proper place upon his face, feeling even more relieved, now that his accursed face was hidden, although no one was there to look upon him in horror, mask or not.

He sat down at his organ and began to play a piece of music that reminded him of Christine and fell into another crying fit. Tears fell upon the keys, but the Phantom continued to play…

Meg Giry was sitting in a chair in her new room, her mind continually wandering back to the Phantom of the Opera and the insane night that had burned her home to the ground. Part of her felt for her friend Christine, who was clearly happy with Raoul, but another part of her felt for the man who had been Christine's teacher since she was a child and had made Christine the woman who most of Paris recognized as one of France's greatest opera singers. Meg remembered the first time Christine sang for an audience in Carlotta's place and remembered how jealous she had been of that wonderful voice.

Christine had run away with Raoul to his estate, living in luxury and planning her wedding. Meg and the rest of the ballet girls had been transferred to another opera house and Madame Giry had been given a job as an instructor there due to her admirable credentials.

After that, life had continued as if nothing had happened. Sure, the ballet girls gossiped about the "Phantom Ordeal" in secret, but most people thought it had been a publicity stunt that got out of hand. It had been a month since the eventful night, but Madame Giry and Meg still took the seriousness of the event to heart. Madame Giry had told Meg to move on and forget what had happened, but Meg visited the burnt down opera house daily, looking for something, not knowing what she was looking for really. Just…something.

Meg sat up quickly in her chair. She suddenly wanted to go visit her old home. She grabbed a cloak and walked out into the busy street that ran along the front of the opera house she now lived in. When she arrived at the Opera Populare, she wandered around the building's remains about three times before she saw what she wanted to find. She knelt down and opened a small door that led to the prayer room she had seen Christine visiting so many times. She crawled in and looked around. This room didn't seem to have any damage done to it. She looked up at the stained glass window in the middle of the wall and noticed that it was cracked open on a hinge, almost like a door. She pushed it open and looked down a corridor that seemed to be familiar.

Meg wandered down the hallway and came upon a staircase, finally realizing where she was. She carefully made her way down the stairs that led to the lair of the Phantom, where she had been only a month before. She had almost made it to the last staircase when she froze on the stairs. She listened carefully, making sure she hadn't been hearing things. She let the sound of a piano reach her ears again before she confirmed that the music was indeed real. She quietly made her way down the stairs and looked carefully around the corner, peering out into the darkness.

A few candles were lit in the lair, and the light fell upon a cloaked figure at the Phantom's organ. Meg felt her heart rise in her chest. The Phantom was sitting right in front of her! She felt honored in a certain way, having a master of music so close, but also felt concern, knowing that same man was heart broken.

Meg listened to the Phantom play and almost immediately fell into a deep depression. She could feel the sadness in the notes, the emotion seemed to flow from the music. When he had finally stopped playing, Meg was crying on the stairs. At first, she didn't realize she was crying, the tears had just started falling. She reached up and wiped the tears from her face, rising from the stairs. The Phantom continued to sit at the organ, face down and shoulders continuously rising and falling as he wept.

"What do you want?"

Meg almost jumped at the sound of the deep voice rolling through the passage. She came out from behind her corner and looked at the white mask turning towards her in the darkness.

"You came back," Meg stated the obvious.

"Where else is there for me to go? The world has rejected me and my last connection to it has left me in the darkness."

Meg continued down the stairs, towards the organ, staring at the Phantom.

She finally came into the dome of candle light, "That piece, it was so sad, so beautiful…did you write it?"

"Ah, you're Giry's daughter," the Phantom stated, recognizing her, "Yes, I wrote it. I don't do much else down here except drown myself in my music."

The Phantom rose and walked toward Meg, passing her, and continued toward his bedchamber.

"Wait!" Meg called out, "I felt so bad for you, when I found out about Christine. You raised her into what she is…"

Raising a hand, the Phantom silenced Meg.

"Do not pity me," he muttered.

Meg looked down at her feet, not knowing what to say.

"Now, you should go," the Phantom continued, "A girl like you should not be down here. It's unfit for you."

"I don't mind!" Meg was shocked by the anxiousness in her voice, as was the Phantom. She put her hand to her mouth.

A light shown in the Phantom's eyes as he looked his intruder over. His mind raced as he tried remember the sound of her voice. He wondered why she was really here.

"She could become great with training," he thought, "...N-no. She will be just like everyone else."

"Please," Meg interrupted his thoughts, "At least tell me your name. You are such a great man, but I don't even know what to call you…"

A sad smile flashed to the Phantom's face. Christine had never even asked for his name. This girl was very interesting.

"Erik. My name is Erik, Madame Giry."

"Please. Call me Meg."

The two smiled at each other in the darkness...

Erik looked upon his many sheets of music, looking for a simpler piece. Meg Giry had shown an eagerness to learn and when she had told him of her jealousy towards Christine's voice and how she understood her, but still understood him more in his situation, he was touched. He was not sure what to think of the young woman. She was innocently ambitious. She wanted to learn from the man that her friend betrayed. She had practically jumped to her knees, begging for his guidance. Erik had jumped up to lift her from the ground, knowing she had probably bruised herself. He laughed slightly and agreed to teach her.

After finally finding the piece of music he had been searching for, he sat down on his bed and waited. He had nothing else to do. All he had to look forward to was teaching Meg. She had pulled him out of his funk and had given him something to do.

After Christine had left, he was tempted to take up drinking or to commit suicide. His life had been set upon Christine's. But this…Meg, he remembered her singing. She had a very reasonable singing voice, nowhere near as good as Christine's, but then again, it was due to Erik's teaching it was as good as it was. Maybe he could make his work known through this new voice, and win back Christine through her friend. His hopes rose at this thought. That rich boy Raoul had just shown up out of nowhere and stole Christine from him, but he could win her back. He felt it in his soul…

Meg's face was sore form smiling so much, but she couldn't contain herself. The man, the master, would be teaching her! Maybe she could also learn more about the 'opera ghost' that had hidden in the shadows of her home through her whole life. She had always been entranced by the stories of the phantom of the opera, both the horrid and the passionate. Horror stories of his face and tales of his emotions, the latter only spoken of from Christine, had become her dreams. Meg had even found a few of his passages throughout her childhood only to be kept from them by her mother. Now she would be going every day to these "forbidden" passages with no worries.

"-eg…Meg!"

Meg jumped at the sound of her mother's voice, practically screaming her name. The chorus girls were giggling behind their hands as Meg began to faze back to reality.

"Meg! You are not going to learn this dance by daydreaming," Madame Giry spat.

"Sorry, mother. My mind was…elsewhere."

Madame Giry eyed Meg, then turned around and waved her hand for the group to continue training as she instructed. Meg sighed, continuing the steps to the dance, impatiently waiting to be let out and get to her singing lessons…

"She's late…she must have done this to toy with me…"

Erik was more than frustrated. He had been waiting all day and the time for his lesson to begin had come and gone. He had been worried, but then realized that it may have just been a sick prank. The world coming back to spit in his accursed face, just to kick him when he though he could rise. He was about to give up and fall back into his depression when he heard footsteps. Joy fluttered into his heart and brought him back to life. She had come after all.

"I'm sorry," Meg gasped, reaching the bottom of the stairs, short of breath, "I was held back by my mother for punishment."

"No time for excuses, come," Erik shrugged, "Let us begin."

Meg stood where she was told and took the sheet he handed her. Erik sat down at his organ and began to play, waiting for her to sing.

"I will be able to know how far you are after you've begun."

Meg nodded and began. Not even ten measures in, he stopped her. Erik instructed her to listen to his voice and where he did certain changes. He began to sing the same song, but to Meg it sounded entirely different. The phantom's voice, deep and strong, put out beautiful notes of magic it seemed. When he had finished, she was mesmerized.

"Now," Erik stated, when he got her attention, "When I'm done with you, you should sound like that."

"Like a man?"

Erik stopped and stared blankly for a moment. He suddenly laughed at the odd humor of this girl.

"No, not like a man. I mean you should be on the same level as I am."

Meg smiled. She had made Erik laugh. Maybe it was only subconscious, but she had felt him grow darker as he sang. The song had been a love song and it may have reminded him of his tragedy. She felt like maybe she could lead him away from his past…

The lesson had gone well, Meg thought. She knew she had a while to go yet, but for a first lesson, it was better than most. Erik had taught her, and she had made him laugh more than once. He seemed in good spirits when their lesson had come to an end, and told her when the next lesson was. He was officially her teacher. She was now on her way home in the darkening streets, hoping to get to dormitories before dinner.

She had almost reached the halfway point before she realized someone was following her. Thinking it might be HER teacher (the fact he was teaching her and not Christine gave her satisfaction), she turned to greet him, but was quickly dragged to an alley.

Two men stared at her with anger in their eyes.

"Girls like you shouldn't be around the cursed opera ghost's place. He doesn't deserve contact with us. We'll make you an example of whoever tries to go to him."

The two men were survivors of the opera burning. Some of the former stagehands had become drunks after that night, the tragic event haunting them, most having lost friends and loved ones. These two men had seen her around the opera house and thought she was looking for the 'ghost' to save him.

Meg struggled to get free, but the two men were strong with renewed rage as they remembered the past. They began to tear at Meg's dress, slapping her and beating her. Meg began to scream, but her screams were stifled by dirty palms. The men had even begun to violate her, but they were interrupted by a deep booming voice from the back of the alley.

"Death comes quickly to you scum of the earth."

In less than a second, a sword was thrown from the darkness into the knee of one of the drunks. He howled in pain and wrenched the sword from his flesh. His partner had already fled, leaving the man alone and helpless. He immediately threw himself down, begging for mercy.

Erik stepped from the shadows, another sword drawn, aimed at the bowing man.

"Meg," the phantom asked, "are you okay?"

After she nodded, he turned his attention back to the groveling man. He looked down at him in disgust but lifted his sword. The man took the opportunity to crawl away. Erik removed his black velvet cloak from his shoulders and covered his student with it.

After asking many more times about her condition, making sure she was okay, he pulled out a small extra cloak and threw it over his head, his face in shadow.

"Come, I'll take you home."

Meg hid herself in the arms of her savior. So, he had followed her after all. Her instincts seemed to be right about him most of the time, but she said nothing about that fact. Meg continued her embrace as she and Erik walked down the road. They began to talk about lighter subjects: how life was for Meg, Meg's mother, Meg's hobbies, mostly things pertaining to Meg. By the time they had gotten to Meg's opera house, it was well past her dinner, but she didn't care. She had spent time with her great teacher and to her it was the best thing she could have done with her time. As she waved goodbye, Erik said something about being more careful and then disappeared. As Meg walked into the dormitories, a pair of eyes peered out of the shadows and Madame Giry's mouth twitched as she watched the phantom walk around the corner of a building into the alleyway…

Meg had quickly recovered from the day before, and after her daily lessons, she was ready to go out and meet Erik again. She was on her way out the door when she saw her mother holding the cloak Erik had given her the night before.

"Oh, hey, mother. I was just on my way to town…"

"Do not take me for a fool, Meg Giry!" Madame Giry snapped, "Do you not think I realize whose cloak this is? I saw you last night! All of this was supposed to die out. Erik would have been fine if we had left him alone! Now you go behind everyone's back to do exactly the opposite. Maybe you completely forgot about what he tried to do to his last student. You being around him will only draw you to the night, not the other way around."

Madame Giry had already grabbed Meg's arm and was taking her down the hallways of the opera house. She took Meg to her room, pushed her in, and locked the door from the outside. Meg banged on the door, begging to be freed.

"I am only doing what is best for you," Madame Giry stated, "I am protecting you. And I'm going to do what is best for everyone now."

Meg continued to scream, but her mother ignored her as she put the phantom's cloak around her and walked out into the street. She went down the streets at amazing speed for a woman her age. She finally came to her old home, the Opera Populare…

Erik had already placed the music for today's lesson out on an easel. He picked up his cup of wine from a table and took a few sips. It was delicious. He hadn't been able to realize the greatness of many things since Christine had left him, but his passions were renewed.

Erik had begun to practice the piece on the piano when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw a hooded figure behind him. Recognizing the cloak as his own. he assumed the intruder to be Meg.

"Welcome," he said, "and thank you for bringing back my cloak…"

He suddenly froze. The hood was pulled back, and Madame Giry revealed her face. She pulled a knife from the folds of her clothes and brandished it towards the phantom.

"Erik," she said, each word like ice, "I let you raise Christine as your own and gave you your lifetime of love, but my daughter is off limits. It was a mistake for me to even let you care for Christine, seeing now what it did to the place I called home for so long. I will not let you continue and ruin more lives!"

She jumped at Erik with an unruly fury. The knife swung wildly in her hand, and she hit her mark. The knife dug into Erik's shoulder, blood quickly staining his white shirt. The knife was dangerously close to his neck, and if he hadn't moved at the last second, it would have pierced his jugular.

He stumbled backward, pulling the knife from his flesh, and chucked the blade into the water.

"Your daughter came here on her own accord," he mumbled, "She is just a student. Do you fear that she would fall for a man like me? Do you fear I would hold her here as I did Christine? Christine was my one and only masterpiece. If I teach your daughter, Christine's best friend, then maybe she'll see a new side to me and come back. Your daughter is only a student to me."

Madame Giry was shocked. She wasn't sure if she should be happy or enraged that Erik didn't consider her daughter as Christine's equal. Yet, it seemed that Meg cared for him as more than a teacher.

"Well then what about what I saw last night?!"

"I wouldn't want anything to happen to my student," Erik stated as he put pressure on his shoulder, stopping the blood, "She's my ticket to a better life. She my voice in the world."

Madame Giry shook her head in disgust.

"Using others for your benefit. You'll just drop Meg off once you've finished with her?"

"Yes."

"Do not think that I don't plan on telling her all of this."

"If she didn't see it coming, she is naïve."

"If you go back on your word, I will reveal that you still live here."

"I understand."

"Christine will not come back to you."

"We shall see."

With that, Madame Giry left the phantom in the darkness, leaving his cloak on the floor…

"What?"

Meg couldn't believe what she was hearing. He heart began to ache a little, but she didn't understand why. She had always known that Erik had loved Christine and would probably never stop loving her, but hearing it from her mother made it seem like she wasn't even a replacement.

Meg's heart began to ache again, but she just ignored it. She had always been fascinated with Erik and admired him, but she had never thought of it as…love. But it would be the only thing to explain her pain. She stood up and walked to her bed.

"I will still be his student. I want to learn to sing like Christine, and if my voice doesn't bring Christine back to Erik, I just wasn't good enough."

Madame Giry saw tears well up in her daughter's eyes. She felt sorry for her. The girl had fallen for the man of mystery and shadow, the genius of the music of the night. She understood how she felt. She put her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"If it pains you, you don't need to go."

Meg shook her head.

"No," she whispered, "I can at least do this for Erik."

Meg knew that what she was doing was good for her teacher, but hopefully it wouldn't be too much for her to bear. She wouldn't want to die from a love that only existed in her dreams…

Erik and Meg continued in their lessons. Day in and day out, they practiced and practiced. But it seemed that during that whole time, Meg grew sadder and more depressed. Erik noticed this and began to wonder what was making her so distraught. He then remembered Madame Giry's warning.

Meg was truly hurt by her teacher's intentions, but came to learn from him anyway. Erik didn't understand this, so one day, actually, her last day of learning, he asked her why she was continuing to learn even if it meant he was using her.

"I have always admired you, your music of the night, your passion. I loved the voice you gave Christine. I saw a chance to submerge myself in all of it and dove in. Afterwards, I came to realize that it was more than admiration I had for you. I loved you; loved you more than the voice I cherished and wished to have so dearly. I found you in a rut, and pulled you out to have you teach me, and your teaching led to my love for you. Even so, it seems that the passion you've had for so many years has yet to die, even after rejection. So, even though my spirit was broken for a moment, my mind revealed that both of our original goals can be met. I get an amazing voice, and you get the woman of your dreams. I have no regrets…"

Erik stood still for a moment and finally processed all of what she said. After a few moments, he said, "Come, all that you have learned through my teaching will be used tonight. I have arranged you to play a lead part in the largest opera house in Paris."

Meg had realized that she had, in fact, been learning all of the songs of the opera Faust during the last part of her training. She silently nodded and followed Erik, who threw a cloak over himself, out into the street, where they hailed a carriage to take them to the heart of Paris…

"There are so many people…"

Meg looked out from the side stage and saw that every seat had been filled. She looked to her teacher for confidence, but saw he was looking elsewhere. She followed his eyes to a box seat where Meg saw Christine and Raoul seated hand-in-hand. Rage flashed through Erik and then sadness. He threw off these emotions and looked down at Meg.

"You will do just fine, Meg. You learned much more from me than Christine did."

The house quieted and the orchestra seated themselves and began to play the music for the opening scene. Meg gulped as she waited for her time to play the part of Margaret…

Christine waited anxiously. She had heard rumors of a new great talent with an unknown teacher, and she became quite curious. She too had been heard of in such a way, and she wondered if Erik had found his love. She had always pitied the man for being the way he was, but Raoul was…was, Raoul. He was her age, he was rich, he could give her anything she wanted. Erik would have kept her in his shadow realm. Deep down, Christine knew she was a socialite, but she would never admit it. She loved the attention the same way Carlotta had, to be recognized by everyone.

Raoul squeezed Christine's hand a little, and she looked into his eyes. He was not very sharp, but he was loyal. Her mind flashed back to several occasions recently where she had visited many of her husband's friends on rather dark nights. Raoul was clueless and she was satisfied, nothing could make her more content. She pushed these thought to the back of her mind as the play began…

"This is it, my dear," Erik whispered, "Your dream is about to come true!"

Meg doubted that, her dream being aimed toward her teacher more than her voice, but she nodded nonetheless. She walked slowly onto the stage as she was summoned, and turned to face the numerous, nameless faces in front of her. She opened her mouth and all of Paris beheld the Phantom's best work yet…

Christine froze when she saw her old best friend walk out onto the stage. Meg had not been one to sing in public often unless it was with a group in chorus, but she walked out onto the stage alone. Raoul looked at Christine, as puzzled as she was. He had hardly ever spoken to Meg, but he had considered her as Christine's subordinate. They both wondered how she could have gotten a main role in Paris of all places. Then she began to sing. Christine, along with many others in the crowd, was brought to tears by the beauty of the new angelic voice coming from Meg Giry. Christine knew who her friend's teacher was, and knew he had done a better job on Meg then he had on her. Was this what she had lost when she picked the man beside her? Christine desired to take what was rightfully hers. She had been chosen first for the music of the night, and she would have it…

Erik did not realize how good a job he had done. He was mesmerized by his own work and wouldn't have come out of it, except his focus was interrupted by two stagehands behind him.

"Oi, this gal reminds me of…what's 'er name?...De Changy! Her!" The one speaking pointed out Christine in the box seat.

"Oh, her?" the other asked, "Heard a great many rumors about her, I have. A friend of mine works for Count Phillip of Luxemburg, and he told me she fancied him a visit in the night while he was visiting Monsieur de Changy. He talked with some of the servants of the house and found out it was a common thing there. She often visited guests in the middle of the night, they said…"

Erik had been frozen in shock from what he overheard. His beautiful Christine was a whore? He looked at the men out of the corner of his eye, staring at their faces, looking for some kind of conspiracy, but they were telling the truth, or at least didn't know it wasn't the truth if it was false.

A tear streaked from under his mask…his love was not his love anymore…he felt hate flow into him as he watched Christine rise from her seat and leave the box seat. He knew she was coming to look for Meg's teacher. He wouldn't disappoint her…

Christine told Raoul she would be back in a moment, and disappeared. She would run off with Erik, and take what she had always been offered. She went backstage and was quickly met by a shadow.

"Erik!" She whispered excitedly. He had come for her! She was ready for him to take her away, but no embrace came to do so. She looked up into her teacher's face and saw a sadness she had seen once before…when she had left him.

"You…get away. Go away," Erik said, his voice cracking, "I never want to see you again."

Christine and Erik did not notice that the music had stopped. The play was over, but they still stared at each other, one with confusion, one with sadness. Then the applause came. Neither expected it. The noise was so sudden Christine fell back, and with the eye contact broken, Erik turned away to leave. Christine reached up to his arm and looked at him with pleading eyes.

"I came back to you," she said, "for your passion and music."

"You came back," Erik said coldly, "to make yourself more popular in public and eventually in bed."

He knew. Christine's world crashed. She didn't argue, further admitting guilt. Erik left Christine there backstage, broken and silent. She would never be able to use his music of the night again. Her singing voice would never come again…

Erik felt a weight lifted off of his shoulders as he walked away from Christine. He was suddenly filled with love, but not for Christine, but for another…

Meg was in her dressing room, crying. Erik had not been there at the end of the play and Christine was not in her seat. She had assumed Erik's plan had gone smoothly. Meg's tears stopped when a rose with a black ribbon tied around it was dropped in front of her. She looked up to see Erik standing there, a smile crossing his lips.

"My dear, you were magnificent," he stated surely. Meg jumped out her seat, emotions leaping from sadness to peace to joy. It took her a moment to realize she was kissing Erik full on the mouth.

"I…I'm sorry," she said, pulling back.

Erik looked down at Meg, lifted her chin, and said, "Don't be." Then he pulled her into another kiss. Meg felt like she was floating. So, she thought, this is the power of the music of the night…

The End