"Look at all this snow! It's so pretty!" Natalie cried in delight. Their little trip to the coffee shop had turned into an all day trek around Paris, dragging Raoul along for the ride. But of course he would never deny Christine anything, which was probably the only reason he was still here listening to them babble.

"The park is always beautiful in the winter," Meg agreed, looking around at the ice covered trees. "It's one of my favorite seasons."

"Remember when we were younger?" Raoul asked. "In the winter we'd play outside in the snow for hours."

Christine smiled. "We had an entire village of igloos and built an army of snow people. Then when it got late, we'd have hot chocolate and Father would tell us one of his stories."

"Sounds like fun," Meg said.

"It was," Christine replied dreamily, lost in memories.

"Know what else sounds like fun?" Natalie asked. She scooped up some snow off the ground and threw it.

Christine and Meg gasped as Raoul wiped the snow off his face. Everyone waited for his reaction. "It. Is. On," he said with a mischievous smile before returning fire.

The two exchanged snowballs for a few seconds until a rouge snowball hit Christine and Meg. "Raoul!" Christine squealed, brushing snow off her dress. The Vicomte dropped the ammo in his hand and rushed forward. As soon as he reached her, Christine tackled him. The next thing anyone knew, all four of them were exchanging snowballs and rolling in the snow, giggling like children.

"How does an Opera Ghost take a vacation?" Erik wondered aloud. For the past several years, he had done little else besides terrorizing the Opera House and teaching Christine to sing. Now because of his own stupidity and the various promises he made to Natalie, he could do neither.

Natalie. Her face bloomed in his mind. When he woke up with her in his bed he had been surprised, yet he wasn't upset. Immediately he forced himself to recant that thought. Christine was the woman he loved. Not Natalie. Natalie was…well he wasn't entirely sure what Natalie was. A friend? A sister figure?

Erik remembered her crying. All he had wanted to do was hold her and comfort her. She had done so much for him, and she accepted him for who he was. No one had ever tried reaching out to him like Natalie had. No one, not even Christine. No. Erik knew he had to stop comparing them. It wasn't fair to them. Not to Natalie, not to Christine.

He sighed in frustration. Erik grabbed some paper and began to draw. He needed to get his mind off of them. Without allowing himself to think, Erik's pen flew across the paper. Hours passed in the blink of an eye. He leaned back, massaging a knot that developed in the back of his neck. Glancing down Erik finally processed what he had drawn. "Thought you weren't going to think about them," he muttered angrily to himself. The sound of footsteps echoed down. Erik crumpled the picture into a ball and stashed it in a drawer as Natalie came into view.

"Hey Erik! How's your holiday going?"

"I have more time than I know what to do with," he lied smoothly. "I suppose I'll just get used to…Natalie, why are you all wet?" Her dress was wet and covered in snow, her cheeks were pink from the cold, and she was shivering slightly. Erik leaped up and grabbed his cloak for her.

"We were playing in the snow outside," Natalie explained as he wrapped her in the warm fabric. "Guess I didn't really think about the whole cold and wet aspect that happens when the snow melts."

"We?"

"Me, Christine, Meg." She paused. "And Raoul." Erik could feel his jaw tighten. "But you should've seen his face when I threw a snowball at him. The high and mighty Vicomte with his face spattered with snow. His expression was priceless." Erik smiled at the thought. The stupid boy was arrogant enough that the very concept of having someone throw snow at him was probably beyond his thinking capacity.

"So you got into a snowball fight with the Vicomte de Chagny?"

Natalie shrugged. "Well it wasn't much of a fight. With three girls against him, Raoul didn't stand much of a chance. But it was fun pelting him with snow."

He sighed. "And you came straight down here didn't you? Without even considering putting on dry clothes."

"Maybe…"

Erik put his arm around her shaking shoulder. "Come, you need to get out of that wet outfit. If you aren't careful, you could get sick."

"I don't get sick."

"Humor me." Natalie was only able to take a few steps before falling against him, her knees quivering. Erik scooped her up and began to carry her. "Told you so. Now let's get you upstairs."

"I don't get sick," she replied stubbornly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled closer.

"We'll see," Erik said with a smile.

Natalie woke when a cool hand touched her forehead. "You have a fever," Erik said simply, caressing her cheek.

She reached up and put her hand on his. "Yeah the doctor told me that. I told him to stuff it. I don't get sick. I have decided that this is all in your heads and I'm perfectly healthy."

"How long have you been in bed?"

"Three days. Doc thinks if I'm not careful, it'll turn into pneumonia. I told him he's crazy. Honestly, I'm hurt that you haven't visited before now," Natalie said with a pout.

"There was always someone in here, Christine, Meg, the doctor. Besides, I've been up here five times. But you were either with someone or sleeping, and I didn't want to wake you."

"Really?"

"Really. This vacation thing is really boring when you're not around to annoy me."

"I missed you too," Natalie said with a smirk. "So no more drinking?"

"God no. I think it may be a while before I even look at alcohol again. But speaking of drinking, I have some medicine for you."

"Is it safe?"

"You insult me. I did learn a few tricks when I was with the gypsies. It will help, but it'll make you drowsy," Erik cautioned, handing her a small bottle.

"That's it? That's about a quarter of what the doctor gave me."

"Well this is much stronger than what the doctor would give you. It's much more effective even though there's less."

Natalie nodded before drinking the medicine in gulp. "God that's nasty," she said with a shudder.

"I never said it would taste good. I said it would help you recover."

Already, Natalie could feel her eyelids getting heavy. "You weren't kidding," she muttered. "I'm so sleepy already." She curled up in a ball and closed her eyes.

"Good night," Erik whispered, smoothing her hair. He heard someone coming down the hall, so he turned and disappeared in the secret passages.