12. Aftermath

The next morning, Christine woke up in the bedroom she had inherited after La Carlotta's fall from grace that night of Il Muto. She didn't remember returning to her room the night before, nor did she remember leaving the ballroom. The last thing Christine did remember from last night was what happened during the dance when Raoul had approached her, Erik had saved her, and then presented his opera. What was it called again? Don Juan Triumphant; that was it he'd called it. And she had been cast as Aminta, the female lead, by Erik himself.

Slowly, Christine pushed herself into a sitting position. Immediately she regretted trying to move. A roaring pain raced through her skull. Wincing, she clasped her hands to her head, pressing on her temples, trying to get the headache to cease. She must have cried out, because moments later Madame Giry was pushing her back down.

"Rest, my dear," she whispered as Christine slid back down under Madame Giry's pressure. "It's alright, you're okay."

"Madame Giry," Christine whispered, "what happened? I can't remember anything after Erik disappeared…"

"You had a hard night last night," Madame Giry responded, brushing Christine's hair out of her face. "After Erik disappeared, you were swept up in the crowd that was fleeing for the door. I tried to follow you so I could take you to the dressing room… Erik wanted to speak to you again before the rehearsals started, and he enlisted me to get you here so you could talk without drawing excess attention. Before I could get to you, you were dragged outside in the panic. I tried to grab you, but someone had come up behind you and they pushed you down the stairs. You hit your head pretty badly… Erik and I were worried some of your memories would be lost, but you seem okay."

"Did you see who pushed me?"

"I think it was an accident, my dear. Erik frighting the people and they wanted to get as far from Opera Populaire as possible. In the everyone's haste to get out, it's highly probable that someone pushed past you and you fell. Erik seems to disagree; when I was finally able to get you back here, Erik was waiting. He was furious when he saw you had been injured, and he seemed to think someone had done it on purpose. In fact, he seems to believe the Viscount de Chagny is responsible."

Christine shook her head, wincing as the pain lanced through her head again. "No, the Viscount wouldn't…" she stopped as she remembered the previous night. Raoul had been very upset that she had still refused his horrible attempts at courtship and denied him the answers to his questions. But even if he was mad at her, would he seriously try to hurt her like this?

"I am convinced that it was an accident, my dear," Madame Giry said quickly, seeing Christine's hesitation. "These things can happen when mass panic breaks loose."

"You said Erik wanted to see me?" she asked, changing the subject. Anything to take her mind off Raoul.

Madame Giry nodded. "He stayed with you all night, refusing to leave your side. I had to force him to leave a few hours ago when the officers demanded to be let in..."

"Officers?" her eyes widened in fear. "What were they doing here?"

"After Erik's appearance last night, Messieurs André and Firmin had the police scouring the opera house from top to bottom trying to find him. As far as I know, they had no success in locating his lair. I did notice that the Viscount was helping them search."

"He'd do anything to find Erik's hiding place." Christine shook her head in disgust. While the action still caused her head to hurt, the majority of the pain seemed to have, thankfully, passed. "Are the police still here?"

"I'm afraid so, my dear," Madame Giry frowned, avoiding Christine's eyes. "Erik announced to everyone present that he would be sitting in on rehearsals for Don Juan Triumphant. If he makes good on that promise, which everyone knows he will, the police will remain here until they have him in chains."

The image she had had what felt like years ago returned to her; Erik on the gallows, Raoul smiling triumphantly as he held a screaming Christine from reaching Erik's side...

Christine forced herself into a sitting position. "I need to see him, Madame Giry," she whispered. I need to know he's still safe...

"He can't come up here. If you want to see him, you'll have to go down to him." Madame Giry climbed to her feet. "I'll take you down to him so you won't risk falling and getting hurt even more."

Madame Giry checked to make sure the dressing room door was locked; they didn't need someone barging in on them while the were using the mirror to get to Erik's lair. After, she helped Christine to her feet and led her to the mirror. She slid it open, revealing the passageway behind it. Together, the two traveled through the tunnels that wound deep down beneath the opera house, leading to Erik's lair. It took all of Christine's restraint not to take off running; she knew that if she ran she could slip and hit her head (again), but she really wanted to see Erik again, see that he was still safe from the police...and Raoul.

After what felt like forever, Christine and Madame Giry finally reached Erik's lair. At first, to Christine's horror, she couldn't find him. He wasn't sitting at this writing desk, or looking at any of the mirrors like she expected him to be. Madame Giry didn't seem panicked, so Christine attempted to stay calm. The pair walked further into the lair, and soon, to her relief, Christine heard the sound of a grand piano being played beautifully.

Christine followed the sound to a room she hadn't seen before. This one had the mirrors and sheet music scattered around as she had come to expect to see from Erik, but there was also a beautiful, ebony, grand piano placed in the center of the room. It was there that Erik was sitting. He was performing a new piece he had written, and was so lost in the music he hadn't heard them come in.

Madame Giry squeezed Christine's hand once before whispering, "I'll give you two some space." She turned and left the room.

Christine was alone with Erik for the first time in forever.

She slowly crossed, the room, not wanting to stop Erik from playing the beautiful song. But the need to hear his voice again overpowered her want to listen to him keep playing. She cleared her throat as loudly as possible to tell him that she was there. Erik jumped up from the piano and turned to her. She was shocked to see anger in his eyes, but it soon faded into a large smile.

He was back in his regular black jacket and pants with the white, half-mask covering the right side of his face. Erik closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes, losing herself in the warmth and closeness of Erik's body. She was said a quick prayer of thanks that he was still here.

"I was so worried about you," he whispered. Christine was shocked to hear tears in his voice. "I'm glad you're alright."

"It was only a small head injury," Christine reassured him.

"But head injuries can lead to lost memories… If you had forgotten me…"

Christine laughed. "It would take more than one head injury to make me forget you."

Erik stood with his arms around her for a moment more before pulling away. "Did you come down here alone, Christine?"

"No, Madame Giry is with me. She told me about the police searching the opera house. Did they come close to finding you?"

"Of course they didn't," Erik responded with a smile, leading her from the piano room. "I swear, there are times when you don't give me enough credit. I've been hiding under this opera house for years; it will take a lot more than a few police officers searching for a handful of hours to find me... I want to show you something." He led her to his writing desk where the model stage had been. Christine smiled when she saw the stage was gone. "The statue is gone to. I have the dress hanging up in the cabinet still, but the manikin is gone."

"Thank you, Erik," Christine whispered. "I'm glad you could get rid of those things."

"I would do anything for you, Christine; all you have to do is ask me, and it will be done."

She rested the back of her head on his chest, letting him wrap his arms around her again. "Madame Giry said you wanted to talk to me. Is there something wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to warn you about the opera…"

"The one you wrote?" she said, turning so she could look up at him. "I'm excited to read it."

Erik started to blush, and Christine wondered what the matter was. "I just want to let you know that…this opera…it's not what your used to. Aminta…she's a young, foolish girl who doesn't fully understand what she's about to do, but she knows she wants to…and Don Juan…he's manipulative, trying to get Aminta to be with him for a night…and by be with him I mean…"

Christine's eyes widened as she realized what Erik meant. She turned from him, feeling her face flush. "Oh," she whispered. There was an awkward silence.

"I wanted you to know that if you feel uncomfortable playing Aminta, I'm sure Carlotta wouldn't mind…"

"No," Christine said, twisting out of Erik's grip so she could look him dead in the eye. "I don't want that…foul woman playing the female lead in the opera you wrote. She'd destroy it… But I have to admit… I don't quite know how I'd even being to…portray someone like Aminta; if I'm understanding her character properly based on what your telling me."

Erik took a deep breath before saying, "Read through the opera a few times, then decide. If you still want to play Aminta after you've gone through the script with Piangi, we'll talk about lessons to help you learn how to portray her."

How much you must care for me, if you are more worried about how I feel about playing a character more than how I will play the character... No one has ever asked me whether they want me to play the character they've already cast me as... Christine began to smile at the thought of having real, face-to-face lessons with Erik for the first time ever. She had been taking lessons from him, but she had never actually seen him during them.

"I don't think that's too bad of a plan," she said.

Madame Giry coughed, trying to get Christine's attention. She had almost forgotten that Madame Giry was there. In her happiness of being with Erik again, she had let everything and everyone else slip from her mind. "We need to return," Madame Giry told her. "If we don't hurry, you'll be late for rehearsal…again…"

Slowly, Christine started moving away from Erik. "I'll be watching," he told her with a smile.

"Be careful, Erik," she said, fighting tears. I don't want to leave you again... They could find you while I'm gone... She immediately berated herself for thinking that. "I swear, there are times when you don't give me enough credit" he had said. Apparently, that was more true than Christine dared to admit.

"I am always careful."

She turned and began walking towards Madame Giry when an idea came to her. Quickly, she turned around and raced back towards Erik. She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. Without hesitating, Erik put his arms around her waist and kissed her back. It was so different from the time Raoul had tried to kiss her; that had been hard, cold, almost painful. This was gentle, warm, and passionate.

Reluctantly, Christine pulled out of the kiss. Erik rested his forehead against hers as they caught their breath. "I love you, Erik," she whispered.

"I love you too, Christine," he responded.

Christine bit her lower lip as she moved away from him, more unwilling to leave now then she had been before. She turned and saw Madame Giry watching them with a mix of joy and worry. Christine went back to her side and together, they started heading through the tunnels.

The only words that were spoken were by Madame Giry when they were standing just outside of the dressing room. "My dear, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into."