AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am writing this because after an afternoon of reading fanficiton, I am frankly disappointed at the quality of fanfics on here, and how OOC and irritatingly angsty everyone seems to be. Also, I found about one Christine/Erik fic that deviated from the "Christine changes her mind in the final scene" standard. I mean, I love that as much as your average Phan, but after literally going through every singe Christine/Erik fic that caught my eye I got pretty tired of the repetitiveness. Not to mention that I only managed to find ONE fic where Christine goes with Erik in the graveyard scene, which I honestly find to be a more plausible thing. So enough with my ranting, on with the fanfic! Oh, and for the little it matters, I am following the stage time line, not the movie. Gerard Butler is fabulous and ridiculously sexy and everything, and his face shall always be the face of my phantom, but there really is no contest between the movie and the voices of the 25th anniversary cast.

Christine knelt at the foot of her father's grave as lone tear slid down her cheek. Her breath made puffs of smoke in the air, but she wouldn't let her feel the cold. She was sick of feeling numb. More tears joined the first one, following its glistening track down her face and falling into the snow at her feet. It was all to overwhelming. She was just so confused about everything. It was all catching up on her at once. First she was suddenly thrown into the spotlight, and it had been amazing. As she sang on stage at the gala she felt herself soar, and for the first time in years she truly remembered why she had begun to sing in the first place: to feel as though, even for a brief moment, that she was back at the cottage by the sea with her father, with music in her heart, in her mind, in her soul. As if he was and always had been right there beside her, guiding her each step of the way. And even when the opera had finished she still felt the rush, and it had taken her higher than she could ever remember feeling.

Then Raul had returned, and it was though her father was smiling down on her, saying here child, you know I never left you. Raul felt like a gift from her father. Then the Phantom had appeared and she learned that her angel of music, who she had already begun to feel slightly too strongly for, had been revealed to be not an angel at all, but a man. And that shook up her world even more. For as an angel he had been unattainable, forever with her, but still never quite within her grasp. Learning that he was a man opened up entirely new possibilities...

Then Carlotta had returned and, though it was slightly disappointing, it had not been entirely unexpected, nor entirely unwelcome. Being the Prima Donna was nice, but it had all been so sudden. But the phantom, her phantom, had seen it differently. To him it was as though the managers were thumbing their noses at both him and Christine, and he began to feverishly advocate for her career, which though flattering, didn't exactly put her in a good light with the managers and the rest of the company.

Then there had been the night of the performance, and Buquet's murder. To say that that shook her was an understatement. Now her angel was not just a man, but a dangerous one, and the feelings that she was beginning to realize that she had for him seemed to be incredibly stupid. And in the midst of all of this terror and confusion Raul had taken advantage of the situation and proposed to her, and so anxious was she for something to steady her in this whirlwind she had fallen into that she had agreed. Then after the show had been over and the familiar high was settling in on her the chandelier had fallen and everything had fallen into turmoil again.

She didn't exactly know why she had forced Raul to keep their engagement a secret, weather it was because as she claimed that the phantom would find out, quiet as he had been, or if it had been because she had been having doubts about how she was feeling about Raul and about the Phantom and really, just everything in general. Things had just been beginning to calm down again when he had shown up at the masquerade with his opera that he demanded she star in, turning her life upside-down once again. And when she had stood in front of him she had almost forgotten Raul and their engagement and was reminded why she feared him; not just because of his murderous capabilities, but because of how he made her feel. And now here she was, still completely overwhelmed by her father's death, still not fully able to accept that she would never see him again, would never hear his violin late at night when he awoke with the desperate need to feel some Mozart under his fingers, flowing from his bow. It made her heart ache to even think about it. She didn't want to have to deal with all of this at once, it was just too much.

She tried to push the isolation and fear out of her head, but in their wake huge waves of desperation began to overwhelm her and she began to sob, her shoulders shaking. In the back of her mind an old, familiar tune floated through her head. She thought she remembered her father playing it one evening as they sat on the shore by their cottage. It was funny, she could almost swear she could actually hear it... She looked around, startled. She could hear it! Someone was playing the vioin. A tender voice drifted through the air, sweet and comforting.

"Wandering child, so lost so helpless,

Yearning for my guidance"

She stood up with a start. She knew that voice. It ran through her head all day and night whether she wanted it to or not.

"Angel, or Father?

Friend, or Phantom?

Who is it there, hiding?"

She trembled as she backed away from the tomb, terrified. His voice drew her in, but she could not surrender to it yet. She had to fight it! But it drew her all the same.

"Have you forgotten your angel?"

No, never. Fight as she might against him, she could never forget him. He would always have a hold on her soul, and she wasn't completely sure she didn't want him to.

"Angel, oh speak,

What endless longings,

Echo in this whisper!"

The tears were beginning to flow again, she was so completely helpless under the power of his voice, and it had been so long since she had heard him like this, he sounded like the angel she had grown to... feel for. Not the dreaded Phantom she had grown to fear.

"Too long you've wandered in Winter,

Far from my fathering gaze..."

She blushed at that, whatever she felt for this man, it was not the feelings that passed between a father and his child. But no, she was giving in too easily, she had to fight him! But she moaned as she felt the power of his voice wrap her up, pulling her towards him, she struggled and jerked backwards, trying to get free.

"Wildly my mind beats against you.."

"You resist..."

"Yet my/your soul obeys!"

She knew now that she could not fight this, and maybe she didn't want to. If this was the power that he had over, maybe it was God's will, and she should not fight him. She flung her arms into the air and sang as she had never before.

"Angel of Music, I/you denied you/me

Turning from true beauty"

Their voices melded together perfectly, forming a hauntingly beautiful melody that filled her heart and her soul to the brim. Her gaze was fixed solely on him, nothing else matter but him, his voice, and getting closer to both of them. In the back of her mind, she almost felt as though someone was missing, that someone else was supposed to be here, but she brushed the suspicion off and continued singing with him.

" Angel of Music, my protector/do not shun me

Come to me/your strange Angel!"

She stopped singing, panting, as her breath made miniature clouds in the air before her. Her gaze never once left the main atop the tomb. He jumped down to the ground, making a soft crunch as he landed in the snow. He extended his black gloved hand towards her.

"I am your Angel of Music,

Come to me; Angel of Music."

She took a tentative step towards him, arm extended to take his. She was barely three feet away from him now, one more step and she would be able to touch him. His white mask gleamed in the moonlight as snowflakes drifted down and settled on his cape, littering the black with soft flecks of white. He sang again.

" I am your Angel of Music,

Come to me; Angel of Music!"

He let the final note hang in the air as she took another step towards him, hesitated, and then slowly placed her hand in his. A triumphant grin spread over his face, and somewhere off in the distance, Christine thought she hear an organ blare.

Back in his mansion, Roul slept soundly, unaware of the story changing events going on roughly a mile away in the snowy graveyard.

So what do you think? Be warned, this is my first phanfic, so please be gentle. That seemed to clear up my bout of irrational anger at fanfiction :P oh well. Reviews are my bread and butter, and make me more likely to update! :)

Also, If anyone is interested in beta reading this, PLEASE pm me, I would love to hear from you :)