Title: Spiriting Away an Angel
Author: Zi Ma Gesto
Summary: When he dies, Christine's father leaves her on the hands of the wrong man… R/C, E/C.
Chapter 1
Gustav Daae lay dying in his bed, feeling even his last drops of power leaving him slowly, tantalizingly. An old nurse was sitting by his side, looking stern and it crossed his mind that for her, the sad scene was not unusual. Perhaps she was already used to the tears and pain.
Christine however, on the other side of his bed, was not. He had hidden his illness from her for as much as possible and now she was crying on the side of his bed.
"They must be able to do something!" she cried. "Please…"
"Christine…" he breathed heavily. "Even though I die… I will be in heaven, watching you… I'll send the Angel to you… the Angel of Music…"
"I don't want the Angel, papa! I want you!" she sobbed.
"I am but a man… but he is an Angel…" Gustav tried to smile at her. "He will sing songs in your head… And you will know I sent him…"
"Papa… Don't die…" Christine begged of him, but he only smiled at him, trying to hold back the coughing fit he knew would come.
"When I'm in heaven, child… I shall send the Angel to you…"
Christine took his hand and caressed her cheek with it, kissing it again and again, large tears rolling down her cheeks.
"I'll be good and wait for him then, papa," she whispered.
It was at that moment that Raoul de Changy put his head through the door, blushing for some reason, and looking very agitated.
"My father… He's come, sir…"
The nurse, Christine and Gustav all watched Raoul scatter inside, a tall, solid, stern-looking man coming behind him. He looked unpleasant enough and had small, calculating eyes even as he watched the dying man before him.
"Count," Gustav breathed slowly. "I don't know you too well… but seeing that our children are friends… and I know nobody else here… I left her legally in your care…"
He started coughing badly, blood spluttering out his mouth and scaring the children half to death. The nurse was a tiny bit impressed, knowing he would die soon. The coughing fit seemed to last forever, but in the end, it finally stopped and Gustav looked at the count again.
"See that she is well treated… please… help her… I beg of you…"
The count de Chagny walked to the dying man's side and sat on the bed, solemnly.
"I swear that I shall," he said, simply and Gustav smiled slightly, before falling into another coughing fit.
And so it went for hours, the coughing coming and going, but Christine would never leave his side, crying desperately. The count also stayed there and watched the man dying. Raoul was on the verge of tears also. Gustav had been very kind to him… And Christine… how would she ever recover?
It was painful, the day ending slowly, going into night. The dying man was less and less conscious, only whispering half-coherent things from time to time. Christine kept washing his face while the nurse watched with something akin to impatience. Raoul wanted to cheer her, but knew that it would have been terribly wrong to try to do it.
"You'll play the violin in heaven, won't you, papa?" she asked him once. "And the Angels will listen to you play… and the Angel of Music, he will sing his wonderful songs and you will learn them from him…"
Tears flooded her eyes and she smiled slightly, painfully.
"And then you will tell him to come to me, and tell me how you are doing…"
Gustav died the next morning. Christine only remained around the house for enough to attend the funeral, and then she was sent to the Opera Populaire.
