Sorry the last chapter was so short. To make up for it, this one shall be long. And I think I feel Erik coming on... So, I own none of the characters except Dorotée and Phillipe. Read on!

Regression

The wedding was arranged to take place only days before Christmas, said the letter that Madame Giry received from Meg toward the end of autumn. Madame Giry was surprised by the news that Meg had chosen a suitor so quickly, and that she was enough in love with him to marry so soon. Perhaps, she thought, Meg is trying to make up for love lost with the disappearance of Erik. She stood up, determined not to let Meg choose a husband so quickly without the knowledge that Erik had truly given up on her. So, she renewed her search efforts, though Erik had been gone for over three years.

So it was that she surmised that the mysterious benefactor of the new Opera Populaire could only be the retired Phantom of the Opera. A Monsieur... Marquette. Yes, she had heard Erik use the surname before, when a last name was absolutely necessary for him to get his way. She should have known he would stay around Paris! And to think, he was back at his Opera House after all, and she had never even guessed! She headed off for her old domain now, dead set on facing down the man who had, until now, held the only claim on her daughter's heart.

She came upon him after hours of relentless questioning that led her to the manager's office in the theater. The new Opera House was built, apparently, exactly like the old, but with a few renovations to save time, effort, and money. She walked into the room and found it empty. But if memory serves, there was a lever right here... she pulled a nondescript book in the bookcase, and a panel of the wall swung open to reveal a passageway she had known would be there. She followed it for a few long, silent minutes before coming to a small cavern, Erik's true office. She found him seated before a large desk, papers scattered everywhere, with his head cradled in his hands. His back was turned and he did not hear her enter, so Madame Giry decided to make herself known.

"Ahem," she cleared her throat quietly. Erik whirled around quickly, eyes glowing angrily under the mask, until he recognized the figure in the doorway. His gaze softened into surprise, and curiosity.

"How did you-?" He shook his head. "Madame Giry, you should not be here."

"Erik, are you aware that my daughter is getting married?"

He started, and looked at her, desperate, before he regained his composure. "Why should the affairs of Megan be any concern of mine? She is the one who banished me."

Madame Giry stared at him coldly. "Are you aware, also, that when you disappeared after saving me, she searched for you for weeks?" She saw his features soften into something she could not name, a subtle fear mixed with hope, it seemed.

"And are you aware," she spat, "that for almost three years, until I pushed her back into society, she refused to even look at another man?"

"How could I know all this, Madame?" Erik asked.

"That's correct, how could you know? You were fully aware that she loved you, yet you left without even telling her why, never bothering to speak to her again."

"Madame, you try my patience!" Erik roared, standing up and glaring at her. "You will never understand what it is like to lose the only person you ever cared about, the only thing you lived for! Do you know what utter despair feels like? The night I lost Christine, I was entirely ready to take my own life. I would have, truly- if not for the intervention of your daughter. Seeing her acting with such passion, such spirit made me think that maybe, there was reason to live. She is the only reason I am still alive! When she, too, turned on me, banishing me from her life, I did not know how to carry on. The only thing that kept me going was the thought that I should return her life to her before I died. So I rebuilt the Opera House, in her name. After its completion, I no longer wished to die, but to keep this theater running, as a testimony to my love for her. Do not come in here and accuse me of hurting her! She has hurt me more than you will ever know, but I love her still! Ah, God, why am I doomed to suffer such agony?"

"Erik," Madame Giry said more softly, "you must go to her. She loves you still. I do not know if she will give up the life she has so recently formed for your love, but you have to give her the choice. She deserves a chance, at least. As do you."

She turned and walked out of the cavern, leaving Erik with new and treacherous thoughts. If he went to her, there was the chance that she would forgive him, would fall in love with him all over again. The chance that they could be happy together. Then again, she could deny him, and he could not take such rejection a third time in his life; it would surely kill him as the past two times had not. If he did not go to her, he did not run that risk- but he would also regret not going for the rest of his life. Sighing deeply, he called, "Wait! Madame, if I am to go to her, I need to know where she is."

There was no answer, but a he left the cavern he spotted a paper lying on the ground, with a street name and number printed on it. He waited for the blessed cover of darkness, then went to the address printed. He quietly slipped into an open window and prowled through corridors, looking for he woman who would either become his future or ruin it entirely.

Meg had found it difficult to fall asleep this night, and had lain awake for hours, staring at the ceiling, wondering, as she did every night, if Phillipe was the right man for her. She cared for him, yes, and he made her so truly happy- but was he her true love? Somehow, she doubted it. He did not kindle the same emotions in her as... as Erik did. She sighed and sat up, knowing that now that she had thought of him she would never get to sleep. She slipped on a nightgown and padded, barefoot, down the hallways, intending to stand on the balcony for a while, gathering her thoughts. As she walked down a corridor, a slight movement caught her eye, and she gasped as she turned around to see a form materialize out of the darkness. She drew breath to scream, but an oddly familiar hand reached out and put a finger to her lips. The hand reached down and grasped hers, and he pulled her, unprotesting, down the rest of the hallway and onto the balcony.

"Erik!" Meg gasped as they stepped into the cold night air. "What are you doing? You shouldn't be here! Go, before anyone catches you with me!"

"It is true, then?" Erik asked by way of answer, lifting her left hand into the moonlight, gazing at the diamond that glinted coldly in the pale glow. "You truly are engaged?"

"Yes, Erik, I am engaged," she said softly, pulling her hand away gently. "There was really no other choice. I am well into my marriageable years, and he comes from a good family. I am happy with him, and he loves me."

"Do you love him?" Erik asked severely, watching her eyes intently.

She drew a long breath. "Honestly? No. I don't. I thought I did, for a long time, when we were first engaged and I was so happy. He is a good man, and I respect him, but I gave my heart away long ago. My love just took too long to claim me." She smiled sadly and placed a palm upon his bared cheek. "I thought he would never return to me after I so stupidly denounced him long ago. I gave up waiting."

"And if he wished to claim you now?" Erik replied, eyes flashing.

"Oh, Erik, it's too late," Meg said, looking away. "I am already obligated, there is nothing I can-"

He stopped her by gently tipping her chin toward him. Her eyes shone with unshed tears, and her lips parted, but she only said, "Erik, no, I can't. It wouldn't be right, it's too late for us..." she trailed off miserably.

"Meg," he said, using her name for the first time, "it's never too late for love."

She sighed as he took her mouth in his, slowly, questioningly. She gave in and kissed him back, pressing up against him as the kiss grew deeper, truer, more passionate that either had ever experienced before. Erik moved her back, pinning her against the wall, all the pain and lost love in his life being channeled into his passion now. Meg felt his desperation and returned his love tenfold. Their hands had just began to wander when footsteps echoed down the corridor. Breathless, Meg pushed Erik away.

"Go!" she hissed, shoving him gently away. "You cannot be caught here. I will speak with Phillipe tomorrow... to break the engagement. Meet me at my mother's house at three. We will talk then."

Erik gazed at her with longing, and Meg knew that if she did not force him to leave, now, her resolve would weaken and she would be hopelessly compromised. She waved her hands at him, telling him to leave.

"Adieu, my love," he said softly, stepping forward to kiss her again softly, then turning and quickly disappearing into the shadows.

"Good night, my Phantom," she whispered into he darkness. She stood for a few minutes, taking in all that had just happened, then slipped quietly back into her room to lie awake for the rest of the night, waiting anxiously for the sunrise.