If I owned Phantom, it would have ended a whole hell of a lot differently.


Chapter Two: Return to Happiness

When Christine Daae returned to the Opera Populaire, it was Madame Giry holding her hand. This Christine had shadows in her eyes and tear stains on her cheeks. She did not frolick behind the scenes; there were no trips to the prop and costume rooms, and her sobs came too strongly for her to sing when she sat on stage.

This Christine was a mere shadow of the girl she had been during her first visit.

Worried for the future health and happiness of her charge, Madame Giry did her best to find a place where Christine could cope with her father's death, but she was at a loss. However, one night, while rocking the child who had woken screaming from night terrors, she experienced a moment of clarity.

Wrapping the girl in a blanket, she took her candle and led her from the bedroom to a place not even Christine had seen before. A narrow, stone stairwell befuddled the already confused child until she came to stand in the small room at its base….and saw the angelic portraits that adorned its walls.

From then on, at least one moment in Christine's day was spent in the little chapel at the bottom of the stairs. She placed her favorite picture of Papa in one of the picture frames and prayed for the strength to live in a world without him.

One morning, she arrived to find a bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley with a short note:

You will not be sad forever.


Lily of the Valley: Sweetness, Tears of the Virgin Mary, Return to Happiness, Humility, You've Made My Life Complete