A/N: I would be remiss if I did not tell you the cover art for this (and also for my story If This Be Heaven or Hell) belongs to the utterly fantabulous Muirin007, whose profile you can find on DeviantArt. She does some AMAZING work, be it POTO or otherwise; I'm a huge fan.


Erik, Erik, here I am

I've come back to see you again

Oh, Christine, do you not see?

You've killed me, child, for here I lie

Erik, Erik, you aren't dead

How can it be that you speak to me, then?

Oh, Christine, I'm not dead yet

But soon enough I shall be so

Erik, Erik, don't say that

Here I am, and here I'll stay

Oh, Christine, you're far too late

It won't be long until I fly

Erik, Erik, you don't understand

I'm back. I love you. Please don't die

Oh, Christine, I love you well

But time is not a friend of mine

Erik, Erik, what can I do?

How can I stop this? What can I try?

Oh, Christine, there's nothing, child

Nothing but to wait a while

Erik, Erik, you're making me weep

How much longer until you sleep?

Oh, Christine, a matter of hours

Please, I hate to see you cry

Erik, Erik, it can't be helped

I found too late I'd chosen wrong

All this time I loved you so

I had loved you all along

Oh, Christine, I did not mean

To steal your heart and life away

I was selfish, I was cold

Obstinate, I barred your way

Erik, Erik, my love, my heart,

There is one thing I can do

Even though you'll leave me soon

Let us now begin anew

Oh, Christine, you cannot mean—

What is in your head, my child?

Erik, Erik, I'm not a child

Not anymore, and never again

Oh, Christine, your lips are soft

Warm and welcoming and wild

What have I done to deserve this now

After all I've done to you, child?

Erik, Erik, I told you already

A frightened girl I am no longer

Let me show you, let me prove it

I was weak, but now I'm stronger

Oh, Christine, your hands, my love

Oh, how long I've wanted this

Soft as the wings of a sweet pale dove

I never thought I'd know this bliss

Erik, Erik, touch me, please

Before you slip away from me

Oh, Christine, I'll try, my dear

But it isn't easy to stir my limbs

I am old, and weak, and spent

And I think you'll be the death of me

Erik, Erik, don't make jokes

I can't bear it, it isn't fair

How am I to carry on?

Where am I to go from here?

Oh, Christine, don't think of it now

I owe you a hundred apologies

For all of this, and more besides

And time is slipping away from me

Erik, Erik, what should I do?

Should I put out the little lamp?

No, Christine! Don't make it dark!

Brand this into my very soul—

Your beauty unveiled, your hair unbound,

Looking at me, and not afraid

Erik, Erik, feel me now

Put your hand upon my heart

Oh, Christine, with skin so soft

Every curve a work of art

Erik, Erik, is this how it's done?

I don't know if I'm doing it right

Yes, Christine, I think—oh, god

Pardon me if I don't speak—

Erik, oh, Erik, I think I'm—oh!

Oh, Christine, I've closed my eyes—

Erik, Erik, I love you so!

Oh, Christine, you've given me

The greatest gift a man could know

Erik, my Erik, come here to me

Let me kiss you, let me hold—

Erik, Erik, your hands are cold

Oh, Christine, they always are

Erik, Erik, your eyes grow dim

Lay your head upon my breast

Let me sooth your fears away

I won't let the shadows in

Erik, my Erik, my love, my only,

Let me sing you to your rest.

Yes, Christine, a lullaby

For your Erik, as he—

Erik? Erik!

Oh, my heart, my soul, my love.

Yes, I will sing a lullaby

For my Erik

As he dies.

- Finis -