Sniff…Sniff…You guys… ILOVEYOUSOMUCH! Your reviews seriously brought a smile to my lips and a tear to my eye. But it sounded like a lot of you thought it ended with their wedding… Nope! There's still this chapter, two after this and an epilog! Now its time for some personal shoutouts!

KijoKuroi- YOU GOT THE CATS REFERENCE~! That makes me so happy ^.^ I'm so glad that you enjoy my writing that much 3 Especially my work with the lyrics- I listened to the songs so many times I swear I drove people insane, but I had to get it right.

Phantom-of-the-Opera-Phan- that last chapter was for you hon ;) As for a sequel…hmm, maybe. If I'm inspired perhaps I shall. I've been kicking around some ideas, but I'm undecided weather or not they'll be one shots or a chapter story.

CatGirlFireflare- Where were you when I was in a fop killing mood?! Lol while I do love your ideas, I'm afraid the time for killing/ torturing Raoul has passed. But you did inspire me to do a crack fic…hmm… ;D Also Claude was meant to be a creep. I really wanted people to empathize with Erik and hate Claude.

And to the Guest- ASDFGHJKL Thank you so much ^.^ It's nice to know that I've given some form of meaning to your life. There are lots of musical-type fics on here, but I made an effort to incorporate the songs into the dialog where most just put lyrics in random places like this:

" 'And she began to sing

Row Row Row Your Boat

Gently down the stream-

" 'And he soon joined in

Merrily merrily merrily merrily life is but a dream

I loose patience with those very quickly, and I know how lazy it looks. I didn't want to be like that. And there are more chapters! I promise!

Wow, long authors note, but anywhere, I'm sure I've taken up enough of your time ^.^ Enjoy!

Chapter 21- She Always Listened

The sea breeze blew in Esmeralda's face as she stood out on the ship's top deck. From behind she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. "Feeling any better?" Erik murmured, his breath hot against her throat.

"I'm sorry." Esmeralda said. They had spent a little less than a week in Venice Italy, one of the most beautiul places Esmeralda had ever seen- but had to come home because she'd been feeling sick.

"We have pleanty of time to travel." he said. "I just want to be sure you're well."

Back home, Esmeralda opened the door to her parent's former house. They had moved to the country a month before the wedding, and she and Erik had no need to rent out the studio in town. André and Firmin (due to failing operas and lack of admission) asked Erik to go back to his former duties of watching after the Opéra Populaire- they sold it to him relatively cheap. They would stay on as the managers. Esentially, all had gone back to the way it was.

Erik was playing a piece on the grand piano in what was formerly the parlor, but had become his music room. Esmeralda sat by him while he played and waited for him to finish. "What did the physician say?" he asked, holding the final note of the piece for a second before writing something down.

"No beating around the bush?" Esmeralda started. "He says I'm pregnant."

Erik went rigid next to her and the smile she'd had fled her face. "...Erik?"

He stood up and stalked over to the door, burying his face in his hand. He started shaking and Esmeralda walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry." He whispered.

"Why? Erik you did nothing wr-"

"I've cursed you and the child."

"How?"

Erik growled lightly. "What if it looks like me?" he snapped.

Esmeralda looked at him, confused and angry. "Then I'll love it the same way I love you."

"And will your love be enough when the entire world rejects it?"

Esmeralda flinched. "I'd hoped that it would be both our love. But if that's how you feel..."

"It is."

Esmeralda backed away, then stood in the doorway for a moment. "I'm going to stay with my parents for a bit."

"Esmeralda wait!" Erik spun around but she was already running out the door. "Esmeralda! Please!" she got into the carriage and snapped the reins.

Erik groaned and crumpled up the paper. For almost six months he'd been writing these blasted letters, getting little to no response. Esmeralda explained that if he was so against their child before it was born, then she wanted to be safe.

Erik far from hated the baby, in fact he'd laid awake many nights thinking of what it would look like, if it would be a boy or a girl. Would they sing and dance like their mother, or be good at a bit of everything like him? He was just frightened.

He knew what it was like to be scorned because of appearance, but the more he thought of it, the more he stopped caring. Esmeralda was right about their love being enough, and if the child did look like him, then perhaps they would be lucky and find someone like he'd found his wife…

Whom he was missing horribly.

All in that moment Erik picked up his pen and he wrote furiously. He wrote and he wrote, pouring his heart into the words. The inspiration was there; it consumed him entirely.

He began to frantically search for a score that he'd taken when he'd gone back to the opera house for Ayesha and Cesar. Esmeralda had caught him humming it many times, but it had remained unfinished until then. Upon finding it, Erik sat at the piano and tested out a few notes. He practiced once, and then sang the lyrics he'd just written along with his music.

Happy with his work, Erik put the letter in an envelope and sealed it with a red skull. "No one would listen…" he sang softly. "No one but her, heard as the Outcast…hears…"

He went out to the stables and readied Cesar. As he did he sang softly to himself. "Shamed into solitude. Shunned by the multitude. I learned to listen. In my dark my heart heard music."

As Erik rode into the night to Esmeralda's parents new home that was closer to the city, the dark seemed to swallow and suffocate him. To think he once wallowed in it- was once its ally. "I longed to teach the world, rise up and reach the world. No one would listen, I alone could hear the music."

How big was Esmeralda getting? Was their child kicking? Causing a fuss? He wondered if she was getting enough rest if that was the case. Erik decided that if it was that he would sing her a lullaby if she allowed it.

"Then at last a voice in the gloom seemed to cry; 'I hear you! I hear your fears! Your torment and your tears!'

"She saw my loneliness, she cured my emptiness. No one would listen, no one but her, heard as the Outcast hears."

Erik stopped in front of the house, dismounted and climbed the few steps to knock on the door.

"No one would listen, no one but her… heard as the Outcast…hears…"