As you guys know, my computer died, and new fandoms got away from me. Sorry. But I'll work at it, now. I promise.

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Night Unfurls its Splendor
XxX

Two days later, Erik was able to leave the hospital, something Lindsay and Nadir were grateful for. It was clear being there made him tense, and if Lindsay and Nadir hadn't been able to stay with him things would probably not have turned out well. If he had to go through too much stress now the effect on his heart was not something either wanted to think about.

Lindsay was grateful her job as a columnist let her work from home, and she was able to write most of what she needed while staying with Erik.

Back at home, Erik still needed to rest much of the time, but now it was actually helping him to recover. He spent more time resting on the couch than in bed now, and it seemed to do him good to be out and apart of things.

As he started to stay awake longer he would sometimes tell stories. There were ones from his travels, ones the books never went into, and different tricks he'd played on the managers of the Opera house and on Carlotta, legends from different places he'd been on his travels, and ones Lindsay could tell he'd made up himself.

He was a born storyteller, as Nadir had said, and Lindsay hung on every word. Her favorite was the one about Erik having a dragon. The way he told it she could almost have believed it. She wished he'd tell the story of the nightingale and the rose, but he didn't and she didn't ask him to.

That story would probably stir up too much pain for him.

Soon, Erik was as recovered as he ever would be. The doctor had warned he would always tire a little easier now than what he used to and would have to be careful of straining himself, but other than that he was basically over the attack.

But for the most part, the life had gone out of him.

He'd listen to music, but made no attempt to make any of his own. He hadn't even touched his violin or the keyboard and except for that one night he hadn't sang that Lindsay had heard.

Then one day Lindsay had to go to the newspaper office and leave Erik and Nadir alone in her apartment. She'd come back to find Erik had taken apart her CD player and was examining it carefully to see how it worked. She bit her lip since she didn't know if Erik would be able to put it back together again, but then she smiled. A CD player was replaceable after all, and Erik was showing an interest in something!

Any sign of life from him was good, and worth far more after all they'd been through than the price of a stereo.

"He's promised if he can't put it back together he'll replace it," Nadir said quickly, seeing Lindsay come in.

Erik turned towards his friend impatiently.

"It's not as if I broke anything. It's easy enough to reassemble."

"No, it's Ok, really," Lindsay assured him.

After that, Erik started taking apart other things. It wasn't long before almost every electrical appliance in the house had been disassembled by him, although now he asked permission.

Lindsay grew increasingly nervous about this new habit of his, wondering which thing he'd take apart that he couldn't put back together. She wished he'd play music instead, but although Erik listened with seeming enjoyment when Lindsay put music on, he still wouldn't make music of his own, using his new "hobby" to distract himself instead.

It was so wrong. Erik couldn't walk away from music. Music was such a part of who he was that he might as well have tried walking away from part of his heart.

Lindsay came to realize that was exactly what he was trying to do. No more singing. No more playing. Nothing to remind him of Christine and the music they'd shared.

One day Erik asked if he could take apart the electric keyboard. She'd given it to him as a gift a few days after he came home from the hospital knowing how he loved music and that he could play it better than she ever could.

He'd thanked her politely, but was too disheartened yet to play it or show any real gratitude. Besides, he would tell her later, he still thought of it as hers at that point and the idea that it was a gift for him still hadn't sunk in yet.

So when he asked to take it apart, Lindsay had reminded him it was his to do whatever he wanted with. She winced painfully when he was out of sight though. She didn't believe he'd destroy it, but it still made her nervous. That keyboard had been her favorite possession.

Erik occupied himself with it for some time, before calling Lindsay into the room. Mercifully, the keyboard looked intact.

"Play," Erik instructed calmly.

Lindsay obeyed, and opened her mouth in surprise.

Much as she'd always loved the instrument, she knew it didn't sound quite as good as a real piano. But now the sound that came from it was clearer and the keys were more sensitive to her touch.

"How did you do that?" she asked him in amazement.

"I merely adjusted a few things," he said with a shrug.

Lindsay grinned at the improvement and lovingly ran her fingers over the keys, playing a few scales before looking at Erik.

"I'd love to hear you play."

Erik shook his head.

"No, I don't feel like it."

And he refused to say or hear another word on the subject. There was nothing Lindsay could do except
give him time.

By now she was beginning to think nothing was beyond Erik's abilities, but nothing prepared her for the night she woke up with a nagging feeling she should check on Erik. She'd gone to his room to find he wasn't there.

"Maybe he's talking to Nadir," she told herself, but he wasn't there.

Nadir would have gone with Lindsay to look for him, but she told him to wait and call her on the spare cell phone if Erik came back.

Leaving the building, she tried to think of where he'd be.

Anywhere but New York most places would be closed, but this was the city that never slept after all.

Well, places Erik would like, such as museums or concert halls, would be closed.

She couldn't imagine him just walking the streets. Maybe he'd gone somewhere secluded.

Central Park? She absolutely hated the idea of going there at night, but what choice was there?

What if Erik had another attack and was laying somewhere in need of help? Luckily she didn't live far from the park, but she took a cab just to be safe.

It didn't take much to find him. There weren't any other people around that she could see, and even at a distance and with him kneeling down she recognized his tall, thin frame.

She started to walk up to him when he held up a hand to stop her. He was facing away from her, so she guessed he must have heard her footsteps. He gestured for her to step forward slowly- very slowly. She didn't see why until she got closer.

Playing in front of Erik were two fox cubs. They were no more afraid of him than a dog would have been of their master.

When one of the two nipped the other playfully, the bitten one actually ran up to Erik for protection.

This was impossible! Wild animals completely trusting a human?

"Kneel down," Erik whispered. "Be as quiet as possible."

She did as she was told and felt something appear in her hand, a snack for the foxes. She held it out, and the bolder one of the two came forward. Cautious, to be sure, but still coming up to her.

He snatched the treat and backed away before tossing it in the air and eating it. Then he came closer again to sniff her hand hopefully for more, finding nothing, he licked her hand before looking at Erik. The masked man had just finished giving a snack to the shyer of the two cubs and was scratching him behind the ears. The cub's tongue was hanging out and he had a silly, contented look just like a dog being petted.

The spell was broken when a sharp yip was heard from out of sight. It was the mother fox calling her young. They took a backward glance at Erik before minding their mother.

"That," Lindsay said. "Was unbelievable."

"They know they can trust me," Erik said in answer. "Although perhaps I shouldn't have taught them that. Maybe it would be safer for them not to. Trusting people doesn't always end well."

"You're not just talking about the foxes, are you?"

"Clever of you to realize that," Erik said with dry humor.

Lindsay didn't know what to say to that. She might have said not everyone was like the people who'd hurt him before, but how could someone with Erik's past believe in the best in people? She was glad when he changed the subject.

"The night is beautiful, isn't it?"

Looking up at the sky as they started walking back together, she had to agree with him. There was only a crescent moon tonight, but the stars were bright. It had been a long time since Lindsay had seen them. Since her last visit back home to Wisconsin. The lights in the city were just too bright except for here, and she never would have come here if she hadn't been looking for
Erik.

It was late August, the best time of year for seeing shooting stars. Lindsay had only seen one twice in her life before. One streaked through the sky now, as if it was just for them.

"When- when I had that last attack –" Lindsay wondered if he'd been going to say when Christine left "I wondered if what time I have left in this world wouldn't be like that star," Erik commented.

Lindsay looked at him in confusion before he explained. "Brief. Burning out quickly. I'm fifty one, but I feel older. Much older. I'm worn out and tired."

Lindsay knew he didn't mean just physically.

"Things might take a turn for the better yet."

"I don't know how safe it is to get my hopes up," Erik said before asking, "Do you know any stories from Greek mythology?"

"Some."

What did that have to do with anything?

"Then maybe you know the story of Tantalus."

Nodding, Lindsay said, "He was condemned to always have what he wanted recede just beyond his reach whenever he tried to take it, wasn't he?"

"Yes, and I can sympathize."

Lindsay could see what he meant. He thought he'd found happiness with Giovanni, then that had ended in tragedy. Then he'd thought Christine could love him, and she'd left with Raoul. To a person who'd lived the kind of life Erik had, it would seem like it was safer to just accept the sadness and not risk even worse heartache when happiness was taken away.

Looking at the sky again, Lindsay said, "Shooting stars light up the whole sky for as long as they last."

Erik stopped in his tracks.

"But they can't ever belong with the other stars. They can't stay in the Heavens with them. And not many get to see their brilliance, so what good is it to be one? I'd trade anything to be an ordinary star."

Lindsay thought of Erik's beyond beautiful voice, his genius in so many fields, and the amazing depth of the love he'd felt for Christine. She thought of the magic in him that went beyond the illusions he could so
skillfully create, like the way he'd been playing with those foxes.

"Someone spectacular can never be ordinary, Erik."

She'd meant it as a compliment, but she saw the pain in Erik's glowing eyes.

"And a nightingale can never be like a rose."

"The only difference between you and other people is your beautiful talents," Lindsay told him firmly. "You're still a person, no matter what you look like." She stopped to consider her next words. "There's a song you remind me of. The chorus of it, especially."

She quoted the words, as always speaking instead of singing, but with such feeling she might as well
have sung them.

"I laugh. I love. I hope. I try. I hurt. I need. I fear. I cry. And I know you do the same things too. So we're really not that different, me and you."

Erik looked at her in complete astonishment. His mind went back years ago, when he was barely thirteen and had been talking to a gypsy girl. She'd said it felt strange to be talking to him like he was anyone else. He'd
tried to explain to her that inside he was the same as anyone else, but she hadn't understood. Lindsay did.

When they got back, he sat at the keyboard and played for the first time in a long time. It was still night out and Lindsay had barely slept at all, but she stayed up and smiled as she listened.

Erik's soul was in that glorious music. Nobody who played like that could have a soul that was anything other than beautiful.

Hearing music like that, as well as knowing Erik was getting back to being himself, was worth the lost sleep.

When she finally did close her eyes again Lindsay couldn't help thinking contentedly, It's not over yet, the
music of the night.

XxX
AN: I would like to wish a belated happy birthday to WanderingChild96, who has reviewed every chapter so far. Thank you for the kind words about the poem. They made my day.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed thus far and as always to the amazing Anawey for putting up and betaing my work.

The part of the song Lindsay quotes for Erik is from "Not That Different" by Collin Raye. The scary thing is I actually found a youtube Phantom video to the song after writing this chapter! Here's the link if anyone wants to see it; /watch?v=GhFfvoLnkpg