Musette and Erik were saying goodbye for the day with a passionate kiss in her room, when suddenly something bumped into Erik. Or more specifically, someone coming through the secret passage bumped into him.

"Alex?" Musette said while straightening herself up a bit. Erik just glared.

"Sorry, I know, I should have knocked at the door," Alex said quickly and out of breath. "But this is an emergency. I had to get here quickly and unseen. Musette, your father is here."

"My father?" Musette turned pale. She asked the question she already knew the answer to, "What does he want?"

"He wants to make you leave."

"Never," Erik said as he pulled Musette close in his arms.

"That could work," Alex said, obviously thinking of something and talking to himself.

"What could work?" Musette asked. "My father owns the opera house."

"Don't worry, I've got a plan. Leclerke's going to ask you to his office to meet with your father. Just follow my lead. Um… I might need the Phantom to make his presence known."

Musette walked into Leclerke's office and took the empty seat next to her father. Alex stood behind her and next to the door.

"Father," she acknowledged, but for the first time, after saying it out loud, she didn't feel that bond between her and Henry Regal.

"Musette," he answered back. He seemed relieved to see her. Did he think she wouldn't come?

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"I do own this opera house," he replied, the relief replaced with contained anger.

Leclerke cleared his throat. "There's a little more to it than that. Did you want…" He directed the unfinished question to Henry, but Henry nodded for Leclerke to continue. "Your father has expressed his… displeasure at your staying here in the opera house, and he wants you to move out immediately. I have no objections to your presence, but I'm only the manager and have no authority to overrule the wishes of the owner."

"But there is one who does," Alex spoke up at last. "And he will do just that."

"What are you talking about?" Henry asked angrily.

"You gave very specific instructions that we were to follow the Opera Ghost's notes as law, as greater than your own word. The Phantom has given me very explicit instructions that Mademoiselle Regal is to, in no uncertain terms, remain here."

"I may have given him rule over the activities in the opera house," Henry said, "but he does not have any say when it comes to my family."

"But as a part of that family, I do," Musette said. "And I want to stay here. No one has any problem with it, so why shouldn't I?"

"Because your mother and I do have a problem with it!"

"My mother is dead."

"And her last words were to keep you away from here."

"Why? What is so wrong with me being here?"

"Nothing! Everything! Just leave it alone and do as you're told."

Just then the lights flickered sharply on and off and on again.

"What was that?" Henry demanded.

"That would be the Ghost," said Alex.

Disturbed by the phantom activity and the family argument, Leclerke again cleared his throat. "Perhaps you should discuss this further between yourselves. I've had my say, and would prefer to leave it to you."

The door, having been left slightly open, suddenly slammed shut and the lights went out completely. When they came on again, Musette was gone.

"No!" Henry screamed in panic. "Where is she? Where did he take her? He can't have her!"

The two men were silent, one out of fear and the other out of knowledge. Henry looked around then left the room.

When the door had slammed and the lights went out, Musette felt a glove-covered hand go over her mouth and a strong arm pull her. She felt something slide close behind them, and then the gloved hand held hers and led her away. Around a few corners and down some steps, there shone the light from a torch. She knew it was safe to talk then.

"Did you really have to kidnap me, Erik?"

"It made a point."

"Yes, the let's-make-Henry-panic point." She sighed. "But you're right. I may not be able to win this one against him."

Erik stopped walking and looked at her. "So you'll just give in? At the first sign of battle you run from me and back to your other life?"

"No!" She had to quickly reassure him. "I probably won't make him change his mind, so why try? But that doesn't mean I'm obeying him. I more thought that I'd just disappear and live in hiding in the opera until we can be married. Then we introduce you as not the Phantom, but just the teacher I've been taking lessons from, fell in love with, and secretly married. Then we convince him that we'll stay in Paris, and just conveniently avoid the fact that we'll live here. What can he say then?"

"It could work," Erik slowly agreed.

They walked through the passages to her room in a comfortable silence. Musette double checked that her room was empty and that the door was firmly bolted. She pulled a chair in front of it—just in case. Erik smirked at that.

"I could just block the hallway completely," he suggested.

"Sure, talk with Alex about that," she said while she pushed the hair that had fallen out of her face. She walked over to him. "Now where did we leave off when we were so rudely interrupted?"

Henry stood in his flat in front of a group of men.

"I want you all watching the Opera Populaire, inside and out. Find her. The moment you see my daughter, grab her and bring her here. You may need to use force, but please be as gentle as possible. I want her back safe."

All the men left, and all but one went straight to the Populaire. The one went to locate the plans for the opera house in public records.

The next few days were without incident. Musette kept to her room (the door hidden with false walls redirecting the flow of the hall and completely blocking the door), Erik's house, and the secret passages between. This morning started like any other. She got up and went to her vanity to brush her hair before bathing and then going down to see Erik for breakfast and voice lessons. As she ran the brush down her hair, she saw movement in the mirror just out of the corner of her eye. She turned, but only saw a large white cloth shoved into her face. In only a few breaths her vision went black as she lost consciousness.

When she woke, she was still in her nightgown. She was relieved that it was unharmed by her attacker, since it was a gown from her previous life, kept safe and in pristine condition in cedar chests by Erik. It was only a small relief. The bed and the room were modern. She looked around and realised it was the guest room in her father's apartment. She got up and wrapped the surcoat tighter around her. She tested the knob on the door and was surprised to find it unlocked.

"There you are!" Henry said happily when she walked into the main room. He was there with his personal aid and Archie.

"Are you all right?" Archie asked as he put his hands on her shoulders and looked to reassure himself that she was unharmed.

She roughly pushed him away. "I've been kidnapped. I don't think that approaches anywhere near to all right."

"Please, darling," Henry said, trying to sound caring yet firm. "It was for your own good."

"How is it for my own good?"

"You don't belong there," Henry said.

"No, there is exactly where I belong. I'm not staying here."

"No, we're going home to America this afternoon."

"What?" Archie said with shock. "You said we were going to London."

"Don't be a fool; she clearly doesn't care for you anymore."

"But…"

"Mr. Phillips, thank you for letting me know my daughter was here," Henry said, his voice dangerously calm. "But I can see from just this brief time I spent with you why my daughter wouldn't want to marry you. I'm surprised you were together as long as you were. Now, kindly get out."

He stood there with an open mouth, unable to form any coherent sentence.

"Just go, Archie," Musette said. "I'm sorry, but I told you before that it's over."

He turned and slowly started walking out. He hadn't fully turned around before Musette took up arguing with Henry again.

"Why can't I stay here?" she demanded. "Why have you always forbidden me from staying too long in Paris? And why wasn't I ever allowed in your opera house? I don't understand any of this!"

"I made a promise to your mother," he answered dismissively and then turned to his aid. "Are the passports ready and the plane scheduled?"

"Everything is ready for you to leave tonight, sir," the aid replied.

"Leave?" Musette echoed. "I'm not going anywhere without an explanation. For god's sake, you had me kidnapped!"

Henry motioned with his head for the aid to leave. As he closed the door to the outside hall, Musette caught a brief glimpse of two guards and Archie standing there. She turned back to her father. He was leaning over a table, his arms bracing him up.

"Your mother told me that if you ever went into the opera house that you would die."

"What?"

"She was never wrong about these things. Her premonitions, her visions, they all came true."

"I'm not dead," Musette said.

"Not yet."

"Not ever. I can safely, and with every confidence, promise you that I won't die because I moved into the opera house."

"No, you can't do that. I know what Susanne said; she was never wrong. I have to get you away from here."

Musette would have argued that there were so such things as visions and premonitions, but it was too hypocritical for her. But at the same time, she knew it couldn't be true; according to the curse, she couldn't die. "What did she say exactly? What was her exact prophesy?"

"She said that should you ever go into the opera house, our daughter will be no more. Those words have haunted me."

"She was right." The words just slipped out before she could take them back. So instead she continued. "I'm not your daughter anymore."

Henry looked very confused. "I don't…"

"You believed in her visions, so now I'm going to ask you to believe me. I'm not your daughter. I was never your daughter. Look at me! It was no coincidence that you named me Musette. I'm the reincarnation of that same Musette who lived and died in the Opéra Populaire over a century ago. It's so complicated, but the short of it is I came back from the dead and won't die again."

"That's…"

"Impossible? There's more. The opera ghost? I'm in love with him. I've come back for him. I'm not leaving here ever again."

"This is insane."

"You believed your wife could see the future, but not that I'm the immortal reincarnation of a nineteenth century woman? If you want proof, there's a gypsy woman in Montmartre, just down the street from the Café Rouen. Ask her if I'm your daughter."

"Susanne told me that…" His mind was coming apart in confusion, but Musette had to make her point.

"Now that I know who I am, I can't be your daughter anymore. I'm sorry, Henry."

With those words, Henry pushed down his doubts and confusion and let his anger take hold. "You are my daughter, and you will obey me." He grabbed her by an arm and pushed her back into the guest room. This time the door was locked. Musette banged on the door and shouted to be let out, but Henry ignored it. In moments she heard music coming very loudly from the stereo system in the main room.

Musette looked around, already anxious like a trapped animal. She kicked and knocked on the door more. It was irrational to think it would do anything, but she wasn't thinking too rationally. She wanted to throw something, so she opened the closet and threw the spare clothes over the floor. Taking a deep breath to calm down, she looked out the window. It was locked shut, but there was a fire escape accessible from it. The music from the other room was just loud enough.

Henry tried to listen to music to clear his head and drown out the sound from the door, but he couldn't. Something wouldn't let him. He couldn't shake the feeling that he should see the woman Musette mentioned. It wasn't too far to the café; it was actually quite close. It took him only a few minutes to get to the gypsy shop.

Musette decided not to take the Métro. While she was able to put on a long coat over her nightgown from the guest room closet, she didn't have any money with her. She knew Paris well enough to take a longer, harder to follow route back to the Opéra Populaire. She knew that by then Henry may have noticed her absence and sent more men to the opera house to take her again. She took a hidden alley entrance into the building, and then up to the back way to the side gallery attached to the Grand Foyer. She just had to cross around to the other side of the stairs to get to Box Five, but before she could she heard footsteps running up the stairs.

"Musette!" Archie said as he stood between her and Box Five. "I'm not letting you go."

"Leave me alone, Archie," Musette argued, but in her mind she tried to think of some other way to get to Erik without being caught. She backed up and tried to distract him. "I'm sorry, but it's never going to work. I just don't love you anymore."

He rushed forward and grabbed her arm too tight for her to break free. "No! You can't have just stopped loving me."

"Did I ever love you? I'm not sure I could have truly loved you."

"How can you say that? We were together for…"

"For too long," she said before he could. "It was comfortable. But now… I love someone else, Archie. I'm going to marry someone else."

"No!" he shouted. "You can't. We're meant for each other. Who could be better than me?"

"Me."

Archie loosed his hold on Musette and turned. There stood in full cape and blazing eyes behind the half mask—the Phantom of the Opera. Alex was suddenly behind Musette; he gently held her back and out of the line of fire should a lasso strike out at Archie.

"Who…" Archie's voice cracked.

"Surely you should already know who I am."

Archie backed up and nodded. He glanced quickly at Musette and then back at the Phantom. "You can't be the one that…"

"Can't I?" Erik taunted. "This is your last chance to leave here alive. I suggest you go quickly."

"Go, Archie," Musette added. "It's over."

"No!" Archie still refused to believe her. "I want a fair fight. A duel with swords to the death."

"What?" Musette asked in disbelief. "It won't change anything. You won't live, Archie."

"Yes, it will. I've taken lessons. I'm good with a sword, and I want a duel."

Erik gave a slight bow, clearly indicating that he welcomed the duel. Alex had dashed away as soon as Archie mentioned wanting to fight with swords, and he very quickly returned with two blades. The two enemies took their blades and their positions. With the drop of Alex's arm, the fight began.

"Stop!" Musette shouted over the ring of metal crashing together. "This is stupid and won't change anything. I don't want to be with you, Archie, but that doesn't mean I want you dead."

"Don't be so sure that he'll win," Archie shouted back at her.

"Just let them do this," Alex whispered to her while once again wrapping an arm around her to keep her in place.

"But…"

"I don't think he means to kill your ex-fiancé, but he may need to beat him to finally make him leave."

The fight continued and echoed through the whole foyer. At one point, Archie stumbled and was almost finished off by Erik, but at the last second he slipped away and started backing up down the stairs. Even on such precarious ground they continued to strike their blades against each other. Alex let Musette follow at a safe distance to see better. She was halfway down the last stairs while they fought across the once again flat floor.

Their blades locked and as they struggled and pushed free from each other, Erik's mask fell to the floor. Archie stepped back in horror and they both stopped. Erik looked at Musette for a moment, looked for her to show signs of revulsion as well, but she only looked at him with love.

Archie recovered himself when he saw how Musette looked at this monster he was fighting. He rushed forward and with his desperate strokes knocked the sword from Erik's grip. Archie pushed him to the ground and raised his sword.

Seeing the snow-covered graveyard all over again, Musette cried out. This time there was nothing to prevent her from running to Erik's side. She threw herself over him and looked up at Archie's once again stunned and horrified face.

"Enough!"

They all then turned their eyes to Henry Regal as he walked towards the scene. Archie let his sword arm drop down as he backed away. Musette and Erik got up and stood together.

"This is my opera house, and I want you to leave and never return," Henry said to Archie. The younger man hesitated. "Or do I have to call the police?"

With one last look at Musette, now held possessively by Erik's arm, Archie let the sword clatter to the floor and walked out of the opera house.

Henry sighed and looked at the woman who was once his daughter. "So this is who you are." It was unclear if he spoke to Musette or Erik.

"I…" Musette stumbled over something to say, but could think of nothing.

"It's fine," Henry said, a hand raised in defeat. "I spoke with the woman you wanted me to see. I won't interfere with your life anymore. You were never mine to keep."

Musette couldn't take the sadness in his voice. She walked to him and hugged him. "You may not be my true father, Henry, but you're still my dad."

They shared a looked of sad understanding. "You'll keep in touch then?" he asked her.

"Of course. And will you be staying for the wedding?"

"Of course." He sighed again. "I guess I have travel plans to go cancel and change."

"We could have lunch tomorrow, if you want," she offered.

"All right. Until lunch tomorrow." With that, Henry also started to leave, but Alex stopped him.

"Mr. Regal," said Alex. "With your permission, we've chosen a replacement for Madame Stella."

"We?" Henry asked. Alex looked at Erik and then back to Henry. Resigned to letting the Phantom once again have a say in things, Henry asked, "All right, who is it?"

"Mademoiselle Musette Regal," Alex answered.

"What?" Musette couldn't stop the word from slipping out while she stood in shock.

Henry smiled. "I may have to stay in Paris longer than I thought."

"It wouldn't be until next season, so there's some time before her opening night," Alex said. "Shall we discuss it in my office?"

Henry let Alex lead him back to the offices, leaving the couple alone in the foyer.

"Me? The prima donna?"

"Yes, my perfect water nymph, you are going to be the new prima donna," Erik said with laughter in his voice at her surprise.

"You could have mentioned it before," she accused.

"It was Alex's idea, and I agree with him. You're ready." He held her close and she felt her fears fall away.

She looked up at him, taking her time to really see his whole face. "I love you so much, Erik."

Their lips came together and nothing else had to be said.

Next... the epilogue.