Sorry I've been dead for so long guys! IB is a killer. Word of advice, don't do it. Anyway...
-CUE AWESOME THEME MUSIC-
Louise packed her trunk, neatly fitting her new clothes over her old. On top of those she added the letters she had received from fans around Europe, and on top of those she placed the scores of sheet music she had needed for so long.
'It's been almost a year,' she thought, turning to her second trunk. 'I'm going home.'
She didn't know what to think of 'home'. Could she even call it that? With the murder of her mother hanging heavily over the de Chagny estate, nothing kept her there, as the Viscount wasn't even her father. Unfortunately according to the rest of the world he was though, and as a result Raoul had to offer her a bed in his mansion.
'But Meg will be there,' she scowled at the thought of the Viscount's new wife. Her old dance teacher was easily her most hated person of the hour – after murdering her mother and humiliating her countless times. Why, she hoped that witch would-
"Louise," she turned around. Towering over her slightly, with an air of majesty, her father stood in the doorway. "Are you packed?"
"Nearly," she gestured to the trunks. "I included your new suit and the extra parchments."
"Good." The Phantom walked in. "Are you sure you want to go back?"
"It's been over a year." Louise looked at him. "If I don't make peace now, we may never get it. Also I want to see Lena and the others. I won't let her take them away from me as well," she paused, looking at a small piece of paper. Wait, it wasn't paper – it was a photograph. In the brink of their success of buying the new theater the Opera Dauphine, Raoul had celebrated with a family photograph with the newest of technology. Now, he beamed at them with what could be a fake smile, and Christine; his 'beloved' wife and her beloved mother; smiled genuinely. Then little Louise, no more than a year old, slept in her arms soundly, the fuss around the photograph did not wake her.
"I can't believe it, sometimes," Louise murmured. "This photograph is both fake and real. Sometimes it says so little, sometimes it says so much," she sighed, and then tucked it into the corner of her trunk.
"I understand," The Phantom agreed. Sitting on the second trunk and shutting it closed, he sighed. "I wish I could bring her back. But once a soul has gone, it's gone." He put a hand on her shoulder.
Louise frowned. "I hate being a victim, I want to bring the fight back. She took her away from me, from us. She hurt us – and now, I want her to feel hurt." She got up. "Papa, would you help me bring the trunks down?"
"Of course, Louise." The Phantom nodded.
"Louise!" Raoul stood at the steps towards his mansion. "Welcome home!"
"Hi," she accepted his hug, and gingerly patted his shoulder blades. "It's good to be back."
"How was Europe?" Raoul asked her with a gentle but cautious smile. "Which royalties have you played for now?"
"It was alright," Louise shrugged. "I met Queen Victoria of England,"
"Ever the ambitious child!" He ruffled her hair. "Footman, take her luggage inside to her room."
"Thank you Monsieur," Louise glanced at the man with the top hat. "It's good to be home."
"I agree, we missed you!" Raoul grinned. "We kept your room the same way as it was – have a look!"
With that he dragged her up the stairs. To the girl's surprise Raoul was right – the room was exactly the same as she had left it. The book she had been reading was still on her desk too – at exactly the same page it had been before she left.
"You must be tired from the journey," Raoul went on. "I'll have the maids bring up dinner for you. I'll be eating later tonight when Meg gets home."
"She's living here?"
"Yes, as of 12 months ago." Raoul grinned. "She's even expecting the Heir of Chagny now!"
"That's lovely," she nodded. "Well, I better start unpacking,"
"I will leave you to it," Raoul left quickly, Louise watched him leave and smirked to herself. Her 'father', always thinking in more ways than one, actually was treating her with more respect now that she had a name. Before he would have made her go down to eat dinner alone, but now she could eat in the safety of the presence of her real father, as the door knocked and he entered, heaving her trunks in.
"Thank you, Papa" she smiled. "Raoul hasn't changed much."
"No," The Phantom smirked back. "I didn't know you used to live in such luxury," he sighed.
"You can join me, please do," Louise begged
"No," The Phantom repeated. "The Opera Dauphine calls to me – I survive in the theater, not in amenity. My bed of roses is when I hear good music, and when I teach you," he stopped. "But I think I will stay the night here,"
"I wish you would stay with me here," she sighed. "So I wouldn't be alone with them. I never know what they will do to me,"
"You're never alone," the Phantom countered. "And they would never hurt the ever-famous Louise de Chagny – if they do anything you can follow the music again. Perhaps you can bring the music to me now,"
Louise nodded. Then she turned around and grabbed her violin case and pulled out the instrument. The violin was well worn and tired looking, but had been a source of life to the girl. It had been a while since she hadn't needed to practice, but passion overtook her and she played a simple nursery melody – something her father scorned, but despite the simplicity she added something extra as she repeated the notes. A small trill here, an octave change there, ornamentation all around, until the tune did not sound like a nursery rhyme anymore, but a jazzed up work of art. And so Louise happily continued to play this melody into the night, under the watch of the Angel of Music.
