Disclaimer & Author's Note: Once again, I have to tell you the sad misfortune that I do not own the Phantom or his musical. *Sigh*

Chasing the Phantom

The dinner Kristen and I prepared for the Phantom and Megan was a strange combination. We cooked spaghetti and meatballs, but we served it with barbeque flavored potato chips and some plums that we pulled out of the fridge. All the same, the food tasted good and everyone seemed to enjoy dinner. (We girls loved hearing our beloved Phantom sing while I think the Phantom loved the attention he was getting from us.)

Besides the fact that the Phantom and Megan had popped into our home without much warning, they were gracious guests. The Phantom actually helped Kristin and I wash dishes while Megan cooked flan for all of us. While we ate our flan, Kristen and Megan had a ferocious argument about who was going to have personal time with the Phantom first.

"I haven't had much time to be with him yet!" Kristen complained, "I've cooked and cleaned so that took up most of the time he's been here!"

"But don't forget, Kristen," I added, "You got to show him his movie before Megan showed up."

"Yeah!" Megan agreed, "You two were looking pretty cozy on the couch when I walked in."

"That only lasted 'bout half an hour though. Technically, I wouldn't even count it as being personal time with him! Then Megan started hoggin' Erik-!"

"That's because I had flown halfway around the world to see our handsome Phantom. I paid a lot of money too!"

"But that can't compare to actually building the machine that brought him here! You can't even imagine the hours I spent slaving away-"

"Don't you mean the hours we spent slaving away, Kristen? I'd like to have a little credit for the time machine too," I cut into her rant.

"Hello!" Megan cried, "I've spent a long day traveling all the way over her just so I could see Erik! I should get some alone time with him!"

"Ladies, ladies!" the Phantom quieted our bickering. "I'm flattered by all of your efforts to meet me in person. You'll all have time to spend with me and get to know me on a personal level."

All of us girls giggled at his statement. After our laughter died down Megan asked, "But who's going first? Can I see you first?" Since she was sitting on Erik's right at the table, Megan started stroking his arm and gazed at him with pleading eyes.

The Phantom replied, "Actually, I think we should let our talented writer go first. She's been busy re-writing the manuscript, helped build the time machine and has also helped make us feel at home. Wouldn't you agree, Megan?"

"Well, I guess so," Megan sighed in defeat. "But-"

"Actually, I don't care if she goes first or Kristen," I told the Phantom, "I really need to finish writing the changes to the script. I would also like to have your approval of it before you leave."

The Phantom paused a moment to think before saying, "Alright, Megan can come with me first. Then Kristen will come and then you."

"Yay!" Megan cried out in joy. She jumped out of her seat in triumph and grabbed the Phantom's hand.

"Lets use 'our talented writer's' room. Is that okay with you?" Megan asked me.

"Well-"

"Thanks! I promise if things get too crazy then I'll wash your bed sheets for you!"

Megan then dragged the Phantom out of his own seat and out of the room.

Kristen and I exchanged glances before she said, "Better you than me. Though I wish I could've gotten time with Erik right away." A moment after she grumbled, however, Kristen asked, "Now why didn't you want to go first? You're practically done editing the libretto. Why don't you take a break?"

"It seems like he's flirting with me more than you guys. I think he's buttering me up for some kind of favor. I don't know what he'd want though."

"Well, I think he just wants to make sure his story ends with a happy ending this time. You shouldn't worry about it," Kristen tried to reassure me.

"Ohh-kay," I said. Despite Kristen's advice, however, I still felt anxious about the Phantom's behavior. I wondered if that was what he was really up to.


The gondola approached the candle lit cavern that the Phantom called his home. Just looking upon his lovely shrine sent a tremor of relief through the Phantom.

However, the un-masked man didn't have much time to relax. Christine was still weeping from the time they crossed the gorge so the Phantom couldn't be happy until his angel of music was. He tried his best to console Christine as he pushed his boat closer to shore.

"There, there my sweet," he spoke softly, "We're home."

Unfortunately, Christine only continued to sob as the sleek boat pulled up to the dock. The Phantom sighed as he secured his gondola to the dock. Once this had been done, he turned back to his love. The opera ghost offered Christine his hand.

"Please," the Phantom begged his distraught diva, "I want you to be happy. I want us to be happy-away from the rest of the world. Away from the cruel world that won't accept a devilish face," the Phantom ended his statement with an air of disgust.

"But you never gave it a chance," Christine almost whispered.

"What?"

"I said you never gave the world a chance to accept you," Christine answered him.

"I never gave it a chance?" the Phantom asked Christine, tension rising in his voice. "I didn't give the world a chance?" He emitted a dark chuckle. "I think it's the other way around. This damn, god-forsaken world never gave ME a chance!"

Christine flinched at the Phantom's loud outburst.

"From the moment I was born, the world turned its back on me! My parents cast me into the cold almost immediately because they didn't even love me! Even when I found people who would 'willingly' take care of me I was still despised. The torture didn't stop until I escaped the whip in the circus and came here."

The Phantom paused to take a breath before asking Christine, "Can you even imagine what I've lived through? I had no hope or real home until Madame Giry brought me here!"

"I know how it feels to lose your parents…"

"No you don't!" the Phantom exclaimed, "At least your parents loved you before they died! Mine were frightened of my hideous looks and just cast me out-!"

"…and finding my only hope in the theater!" Christine bellowed over her captor with a sob.

The Phantom became silent for a moment. He heaved a great sigh before he said, "Alright, I admit that we share that faint glimmer of hope that could only come from the opera house."

The man with his disfigured face wearily offered his hand to Christine once more.

"Please," the Phantom pleaded with Christine again, "Won't you take it?"

Christine turned her gaze upward into the Phantom's eyes. She told him, "Alright. I will take your helping hand at least."

The Phantom heaved an internal sigh of relief as Christine took his hand and he hoisted her onto the dock.

As the diva's feet came into contact with the wood, she tripped and fell onto her captor. For one brief moment, the Phantom held shaking Christine in his arms. He longed to stay in that embrace forever, but Christine quickly regained her balance. She pushed herself away from his strong embrace.

The distraught diva awkwardly stepped off the dock and onto the stone floor. The Phantom smoothly leaped off the wooden dock and followed his love. He quickly wrapped his arms around Christine's slender form before she walked any farther from him. "Now, my dear, we are free to sing, compose, in fact, do whatever we please. Together we will write and perform magnificent operas. Everyone in Paris will come flocking to our opera house to see our shows filled with grandeur and originality. You'll see-"

"No."

"What? I beg your pardon?"

"No, I can't stay here," Christine answered with reproach. She pushed herself out of his embrace once more and started to run for the water.

"My-my dear!" the Phantom pleaded with Christine as he moved to block her, "I've worked to build and furnish a home amongst the gloom for years! It has all of our necessities. Even an organ for music! If you so desire, I can-"

"It's more than just this place, although this cave is dark enough anyways. I mean that I can't stay with you."

The Phantom stopped trying to block Christine's escape for a moment. He stared at her dumbfounded.

"Christine, why is this so? Why do you not want to be with me?" The man snarled with fury, "After all I've done for you?"

The furious Phantom quickly lunged for Christine. The frightened diva screamed and jumped to evade the Phantom's grasp.

"I've watched over you ever since you first came to the opera house!" The Phantom ran after the terrified Christine. "I helped you develop your voice!" Christine dodged around candles and mirrors. "I even wrote and opera for you and I to perform together!"

The two of them came head to head on the edge of the lake again. Christine finally answered the furious man as she tried to back away from him, "True, you did all these things for me. Only after you killed Buque, however, that I realized how possessive you were acting over me. Being practically alone, you were yearning for my company and song and so you tried to win my love. But your heart is so disfigured, like your face, that I don't believe you would know true love even if it-!"

At that moment, the Phantom finally caught Christine by the arm. The frantic diva struggled to get away from the angry Phantom but he just held onto her even tighter.

"I love you Christine! You see that everything I do is a token of my love for you. I'm trying to show my affections for you! WHY WON'T YOU LOVE ME BACK?"

"Well, maybe I would love you if you weren't SUCH A MONSTER!"

At her outburst, the Phantom suddenly let go of Christine. Christine fell into the lake with a splash.

"Damn!" the Phantom swore. He jumped in after her.

By the time the Phantom had pulled her out of the water, they were both soaked head to toe. Christine shivered in her captor/rescuer's arms as he carried her to shore.

The drenched Phantom gently set the wet and shaking diva on the floor. He kneeled close to her and asked, "Do I frighten you that much?"

She nodded her head.

The Phantom wrapped his arms around his sobbing angel of music and whispered, "I'm sorry. Will you ever forgive me? I didn't realize I hurt you so much."

The distraught opera ghost couldn't say any more after that. With Christine in his arms, the Phantom broke down and wept.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who's stuck with me this long. Whether I know you personally or you just like to read my story, I would like to thank you for being patient with this fanfic and I promise you that Chapter 8 will be out in a couple weeks at the most! (I actually wrote Chapter 8 before I wrote this chapter. xD) I'm sorry that I've kept you waiting this long and I hope you continue to read and review! Until next time…

Fan of the Phantom is signing off!