The cool breeze of the sea water swung in the midst upon his face. Mr. Y, or the Phantom, or Erik (at times he did not even know what his name was) clasped his hands on the railing of the boardwalk overlooking the water at the beautiful Coney Island. It was the very spot where his love had bid him a passionate farewell while in his arms.
"Kiss me, one last time"
He shuddered at the very thought and closed his eyes. But for a man who spent his life abused by his mother, raddled in a cage, and rejected by society, he was prone to being drawn back into awful traumatic experiences.
He saw the face of his love go white, he could feel the gun smoke burning his eyes, the sight of little innocent Meg Giry, broken, used, and torn with the revolver in her hands, crying beyond control. He could feel the pain of little Gustave rejecting him, and then suddenly, the very incident began to vividly play like a cinema in his mind
The Phantom held Christine, lifeless, pale, bleeding, but still beautiful. The sounds of his sobs were cancelled out by the crashing waves against the large pillars sitting in the water beneath them. He heard a pair of tiny footsteps pattering behind him, and a pair of large commanding ones. He turned, before he could even see Gustave's face he leaped onto his mother and began to weep. And he saw Raoul, dazed, distraught, and standing there like a fool. But in that moment, the Phantom did not hate him. He didn't see an enemy, he saw a poor unfortunate man whose only crime was that he loved a very beautiful woman. He grabbed Gustave and could feel the sad eyes of Raoul beating down on the sight of his once thought to be son cuddling with his worst enemy, over the body of his wife. But the Phantom took one last feel of Gustave, his son, his blood, and then looked up at de Changy. He nodded at him, and Raoul came down on his knees and held Christine in his arms. The Phantom collapsed to his knees, and Gustave came up to him
"Love never dies…..love will continue…"
Then Gustave took his mask off, and felt his deformed face, as the Phantom cried, and Raoul looked on with grief.
Later at the police station, the Phantom sat in a small dusty room packed with wooden chairs after being interrogated for hours about what happened. Gustave and Raoul were now doing the same. Then the door opened behind the Phantom, he turned his head, Raoul walked through.
They nodded at each other; Raoul sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room. It was silent for a while. What could have been a fight, a great rumble, a heated argument, was simply nonexistent for what seemed like hours.
Then Raoul looked directly at the Phantom, stood up, and slowly walked towards him. The Phantom sat up in his chair and they were soon within a foot of each other, Raoul standing and looking down on him. The Phantom began to rise, but Raoul motioned for him to remain seated, and he did. Their eyes were in a gazed lock
"I know what I had with my wife" Raoul said, The Phantom frowned a bit, expecting a curse or drunken slur. But he said it with command and confidence
"I loved her. And she loved me. I knew that. So I never fully understood why she never seemed completely with me, completely in tune with our lives. Why she winced when my mother said she didn't think Gustave looked like a Changy at all. And now I know"
The Phantom nodded, curious of what was next
"Her love for you was not dead"
The Phantom was taken aback, Raoul began to rub his neck and look at the ground
"I suppose I always knew that she loved you, in your own weird, musical way…"
The Phantom chuckled at his stutter
"But I never accepted it." He paused for a while and thought "Maybe it was so hard to decide that fateful night after Don Juan that she simply chose the seemingly easier and safer choice. Maybe she was just afraid. But she loved you, you were her angel, and in a perverse way, you were almost the third man in our marriage." He cracked a small smile and the Phantom did as well
"I want you to know that I know she loved you, and that I accept it. But I also want you to know that there was love between my wife and I as well. The only difference was that I could not give her the music. You could. We both shared her heart, in different ways"
The Phantom stood up and nodded "Very shrewd vicomte" he said, and put his hand out to shake, but Raoul grabbed his ex-nemesis and hugged him instead. They stood there, like old pals, hugging, finally at peace with the love they shared for Christine.
Then the door opened again, in walked Gustave. They both broke their hug to look at him, and then they looked at each other, and as quickly as their rivalry disappeared, it returned.
"He's MY son god Dammit!" Raoul exclaimed
"YOU'RE SON?" the Phantom returned. Raoul held one arm of Gustave and the Phantom the other, as they tugged at him back and forth
"I have been his father for 10 years! I don't care if he is biologically yours, his heart belongs to me!"
"Don't forget that it is my blood that runs through his veins you ignorant cad!"
They stared at each other with steely eyed hatred. Then Raoul let go
"This is ridiculous"
"At last you see the light" the Phantom said
"No!" Raoul quipped, "let the BOY decide, he will choose me anyway just you see!"
"Are you so sure!?" The Phantom replied, letting go of his share of Gustave "Fine!"
They both paced backwards to opposite sides of the room, Gustave in the middle, quivering and looking back and forth at both of them.
"Just choose son" Raoul said gently
"Make your choice" the Phantom commanded, Raoul's skin stood up at the familiarity of the statement
Gustave looked back and forth, both Raoul and the Phantom felt the most déjà they had ever felt in their entire lives. Gustave looked at Raoul, in him he saw dad, the one who nursed him while mother sang at the opera, the one who played with him, at least until he was 6, which was around when he started drinking. But in totality he saw the man who had been his father figure since day one. Then he saw the Phantom, he could feel the connection to his real father. He saw himself. He saw the beauty underneath, the music, the love.
The overwhelming decision hit him like a tidal wave. And he instead fell to his knees and began to sob. Both his father's dashed to comfort him almost running into each other. He felt the love and warmth of both of them….oh how could he choose?
The Phantom immediately fell out of the day dream, opening his eyes and seeing and feeling the water again. He let go of the bar. He then removed the rose from his robe and dropped it on the very place Christine had fallen.
The walk back to his home was long, and once he returned, he felt relieved. He walked up the spiral staircase to his very living quarters inside Phantasma. He heard the piano playing, and walked into the parlor, where Gustave played a sweet melody.
"Very nice Gustave!"
"Father!" he exclaimed. He ran into his arms "I wrote it this morning, did you like it?"
"Loved it!" they hugged and had their meal. They discussed Gustave's upcoming concert, and how they thought it would be a nice idea to visit Aunt Meg. She was so very lonely in that cell all day Gustave figured. When they would visit Meg, they would sing, dance, and play. Many of the officers were flustered, but allowed the child into the cell anyway to visit her. Then, a knock at the door.
"Do you have a packed bag?" the Phantom asked his son as he walked towards the door
"Yes father" he said as he pulled his suitcase out from under the table. The door swung open
"Papa!" Gustave exclaimed, he ran into Raoul's arms and he swung him about
"Ready for an exciting visit Gustave?" Raoul asked
Gustave nodded as Raoul put him back down
"Can you tell me the story of how you and mother rode the boat in the Opera house again tonight?"
The Phantom chuckled and Raoul could not help but crack a smile,
"Maybe Gustave, go downstairs and get on into the carriage, I will be down in a minute"
Gustave bolted down the stairs
Raoul looked at the Phantom "So?"
"You have him for two weeks" the Phantom said
"No" Raoul replied "When is our next music lesson"
"When you bring the boy back I suppose"
Raoul could not help but laugh "Christine will do a jump in her grave"
"She probably has already!" the Phantom replied
They both laughed and shook hands
"Farewell slave of fashion!" the Phantom said with glee
Raoul turned and looked at him as he neared the top of the stair case
"So long….. angel"