Chap 8
The next three days in the De Changy household were quiet ones. Raoul and Christine were not on speaking terms and after their argument neither was able to face the other. Sensing the tension, Ilisandra spoke as little as possible. Her silence and near sullen behavior earning praise from her father as 'much more ladylike' then her usually endless chattering. Slowly, Helene's bruise faded and her skin was near its normal hue once more. At last, Christine could no longer stand the oppression of the house and decided to take Ilisandra with her to the opera house for Meg's rehearsal that afternoon.
The moment the estate was out of sight a cloud seemed to lift from both their spirits and the mother and daughter were animate once more. Lost in recollections of the past Christine told Ilisandra of her first days at the opera, unwittingly excluding all references to Erik, keeping him locked in a corner of her mind. Since the day of her argument with Raoul, she'd moved Erik's ring from the chain around her neck onto her hand, thinking only of protecting Ilisandra from the malicious gossip of servants. Yet despite all of this she was yet unable to admit the truth that lay caged within her heart.
When Christine arrived she was received by the managers without the pomp and circumstance she had become used to over the years. Partly grateful for this she led Ilisandra to the auditorium where the others had all gathered. "Christine! You came!" Beaming with joy, Meg greeted them by raining hugs and kisses upon the two. On stage there were as many familiar faces as there were new ones. The familiar ones greeted her with reserved enthusiasm, for though she had been with them for three years, the conditions of her leaving were too mysterious for them to easily accept. The new ones could not get over Meg's familiarity with someone so socially elite, but then again, few could accept that she was about to be the wife of an earl.
"Of course I came Meg! This is your parting performance, I would wish it to be perfection." As Meg introduced Christine to the new members of the company Meg glanced around, trying to imagine what the boxes looked like from the stage when they were filled with people. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something flash from one of the boxes, and immediately recognized it as the one she had sat in earlier that week. Timidly she pulled on her mothers skirts, catching her attention long enough to ask for what she wanted.
"Mama… may I go up to the boxes?"
The word 'no' was on the tip of Christine's tongue when Meg interceded. "Let her go Christine, I used to wonder about here as a girl and it did me no ill." Waving her hand Meg shooed the child out of the room then dragged Christine further upstage to where libretto and music were being handed out.
***
Ilisandra had always been possessed of an inexplicable curiosity; it was something that her father could not understand and something he could not accept. In secret her mother, Helene, and at times even Meg had worked against this - well aware that women as pampered and ignorant of the world as Raoul's sisters could not survive without wealth and servants. It was that same curiosity that carried her to Box Five in search of the gleam she had seen earlier.
When first she entered the box there was no one about in confusion she walked to the balcony and looked down, when there seemed to be no one about save those on stage and the two managers in the audience, she turned around to find Erik standing there. "Mousier!" Breaking into a smile, she flung herself into his arms, glad to see him even if she'd only met him twice. In the way that Children will, she had already decided that he was someone she could love and trust and be herself around. Erik had not expected her warm greeting and as a result of catching her he fell into the seat behind him. Not noticing that his movements were unintended Ilisandra settled herself comfortably into his lap. "Am I ever so glad to see you! Things have been ever so glum at home, I'm not even allowed to play piano when Papa's home anymore, he says it gives him a headache. And whenever I ask Maman if you can come and see us she turns all quiet."
"Does she." In all his years, Erik had never been treated as if he were just another person, and Ilisandra's warmness overwhelmed him almost as much as her words. Not for the first time he wished that he had not sent Christine away that night so long ago and not for the last time he wondered why it had taken him so long to realize he wished he hadn't. Suddenly of all the voices warming up on stage, Christine's rang out clear and pure as it had always been. Filled with a sorrow it should never have known.
"She sounds so sad." As if reading his mind Ilisandra expressed his thoughts exactly. "I wish I could make her smile, she hasn't smiled in days." It didn't take any stretch of the imagination for Erik to figure out that he was the cause of it. All of a sudden, something of his old mischievous self resurfaced and a sudden need to make his presence felt took hold.
"Perhaps we can make her laugh Ilisandra." Setting Ilisandra on the ground he himself stood up. "What do you say?"
"How mousier?" Erik didn't answer her words but only winked and in seconds he was gone.
***
"I don't like this Andre - I don't like this at all." In their seats the managers watched Christine with more then a little anxiety. Since her departure they had quietly paid the phantoms salary, and until three nights ago it had seemed enough to alleviate them of his demands. "Why won't she act like a sensible woman and stay away from here!"
"Perhaps mousier, she does not wish to." The voice came from no where and everywhere all at once though only the managers heard it. With widening eyes Fermin suddenly found his fears confirmed as the piano began playing on its own accord. The music was unpleasantly familiar to their ears and on stage Christine moved forward in a bittersweet recognition, a half smile upon her lips she felt the memories and pain of years gone by melt away into oblivion.
"The bridge is crossed so stand and watch it burn… we've past the point of no return…." As the last note held none could doubt that the Phantom of the Opera had returned to reclaim his place.
AN: Thank you all for the kind reviews, I really wasn't sure how the last chapter would go over - although to tell you the truth I had not so much meant to write Christine 'with a back bone' as I had meant to make her caring. For seven years she was willing to withstand Raoul's treatment of her, but the moment he lifted his hand to someone she cared about she refused to stand for it. Thank you again and I sincerely hope you like this story enough to finish reading it.
