A/N: Hello, my wonderful readers! As always, thank you so much for all the reviews – they never fail to make my day! Enjoy the chapter!

*This is actually chapter 12, I promise! Sorry about that!*

I awoke to the very dim light that seeped into the room, the distant hum of engines, and the very unfamiliar feeling of someone's arms around me. It was a moment before my mind fully woke and I remembered where I was and how I had come to be there. Shifting slightly so that I was facing the warm body lying next to mine, I blinked my eyes into focus and couldn't help but smile at the first truly happy sight I had seen in what felt like years. Erik lied awake next to me, a small smile forming on his unmasked face as he watched me sleepily smile back at him.

"Good morning," I said softly, pushing my hair back from my face. "What time is it?"

"A little after ten, I think."

"Oh! It's that late? You should have woken me."

"You needed the rest," Erik said. "And besides, it was very calming just watching you sleep next to me." My smile grew as he pressed a kiss to my forehead and climbed out of bed, already mostly dressed. "Madame Giry brought by a couple of dresses for you to wear a little bit ago. I'll go walk around the ship for a while to give you some privacy."

"Thank you, Erik."

Once he was gone, I climbed out of bed and filled the little bathtub enough to get the dust of travelling off. Feeling much cleaner, I pulled on one of the Meg's dresses – a simple blue calico, much closer to my own clothes than any of the things that Raoul had made me wear. I was trying to comb out the tangles in my hair when there was a knock on the door, and I opened it to see Meg standing there.

"Meg, come in," I greeted, stepping to the side to allow her to enter the small room. "Did you and your mother sleep well last night?"

"We did, and Mother said that you were still asleep when she came, so I assume that you slept well, too," Meg said laughingly. "And I'm so glad that dress fits so nicely!"

"Thank you for letting me borrow some of your clothes. I cannot believe that I didn't even think to bring anything of mine!"

"It's not a problem at all," Meg said. Glancing about her, she asked in a quieter voice, "Erik's not here, is he?"

I laughed as I looked at the room around us. "Well, there aren't exactly places to conceal oneself in here, so I would assume that he's not. He stepped out so I could get cleaned up and dressed. Why?"

"Christine, will you tell me what happened?" she asked gently. "If it's none of my business, just tell me, but… it's just a little odd. You show up two days before your wedding, asking where Erik is. We tell you, and the next day Erik shows up looking like he's gone quite mad but refusing to say a word. Next we hear, you're still getting married to Raoul, but then on the night that was supposed to be your wedding night Erik shows up with you and you say that you're coming with us. What happened, Christine?"

I sighed. "That night at the opera house when Erik kidnapped me, Raoul followed to try to come to my rescue. Erik was going to kill him. He told me that I could either stay with him and let Raoul go free, or I could go free and he would kill Raoul. I was terrified and confused and angry, but through it all I still felt pity for Erik, knowing what his life must have been like to make him that way. So I kissed him. I thought that it was just an act of desperation, but… it was more than that. I couldn't admit it, not even to myself, but it was more than that.

"Erik sent Raoul and me away, but I couldn't get that kiss out of my mind; I couldn't get Erik out of my mind. I was so lost and confused, but something kept telling me that if I could just see Erik again everything would be alright. I hoped that if I could just say goodbye to Erik, I would be able to move on."

"So you came to us," Meg said.

I nodded. "I knew that your mother had helped him before, and I knew that if anyone was helping him then it would be the two of you."

"So what happened after we told you where he was?"

"I waited until that night so I could sneak out and go to him without anyone seeing me," I explained. "And when I got there, when I saw him… it was like everything had suddenly fallen into place and I was right where I was supposed to be. That's when everything made sense to me – I love him. That's why that kiss meant more to me than I thought it would. I love Erik, but I had been clinging to this idea of Raoul and how romantic my life with him might be. And when I realized that I love Erik, I saw my relationship with Raoul for what it was – just a hollow dream. My love for Erik, though, was real, and I told him."

"That doesn't explain why he showed up at our house in the middle of the night, then, though," Meg said, her brow furrowing slightly in confusion.

I nodded, trying to think of how to tell her the rest. "Yes, well, there was more that happened," I said uncertainly. "I… I kissed him again, but this time was so different from the first. It was… wonderful and passionate, and we… I think we were both so wrapped up in the moment that… we weren't really thinking and… well…"

I looked up at Meg, whose eyes had grown wide, hoping that she understood. "Oh," she said after a moment.

"And then when I woke up, he was gone," I finished softly, unable to keep the sadness from my voice as I remembered waking up so utterly alone. "I came back to your house, then, because I didn't know where else he would go, but no one answered. I didn't know what else to do, so I decided that I would just go back to the de Changy mansion, pack my things, and tell Raoul that I wasn't going to marry him. I don't know what I would have done from there, but I guess it doesn't matter because Raoul forced me to stay. He was going to force me to marry him."

"Erik did come to our house that night," Meg said. "He looked like he was about to die with grief. He refused to talk to us, except to say that he had to come here because he couldn't stay there anymore. We must have been in the back, still trying to get him to say a coherent sentence when you came looking for him."

"He was trying to do the right thing," I said softly. "He was trying to let me go so I could be happy. And I've been so caught up in feeling bad for myself that I forget that it must have killed him to leave me."

Meg looked like she was about to say something when Erik quietly reentered the room. I smiled warmly at him; after reliving those past few days, it was all I could do not to immediately run into his arms and kiss him. Erik seemed to understand, and I could see gratefulness shining in his eyes.

"I'll see you later, Christine," Meg said, smiling knowingly at me as she stood to leave. "I know that Mother wants to talk to you, too, but I'm sure it can wait – it's a long trip, and she'll have plenty of time."

"Thank you, Meg," I said, though my eyes were still locked on Erik's. "It was nice to finally get to talk to you."

Meg shut the door softly behind her, leaving Erik and me alone. Now I did not restrain myself; I stood quickly and took a few steps to close the space between us. Enclosed in Erik's arms once again, I realized that I finally felt happy. Maybe it would still be a while for everything to be right between us again; maybe it would take time for us to make a normal life together. But we loved each other, and we were together now. And at the moment that was all that mattered.

There will be fluff. I promise you, my dear readers, there will be fluff in the near future. If there's anything that you'd like to see in this story, please don't hesitate to let me know! And, as always, please, please, please, please, please review!