Disclaimer: I absolutely do NOT own, nor do I gain any monetary subsidies, for this fan fiction story. The characters, setting, names belong to the author that created them (Leroux, Kay), BUT the plot is all mine!

Author's Note: The epilogue is here! I am sad but very happy to have finished this story. I hope you all have loved this story as much as I do, but all good things must end, I suppose. I do not have much else to say I guess…Oh! Thank you for the reviews, readings, adds, and alerts, etc. I am so happy for the feedback. Please review and type a few words to let me know if you liked the ending or not.

"The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief -

But the pain of grief

Is only a shadow

When compared with the pain

Of never risking love."

Hilary Stanton Zurin

"Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"Trying to make someone fall in love with you is about as pointless as trying to control who you fall in love with."

Anonymous

Epilogue- Sane is Relative

"That is an incredibly beautiful story, Christine… However, do you realize where you are right now?" Dr. Serene Willows incredulously asked the former opera singer who sat across from her on a cot.

The light streamed into the small, whitewashed room, illuminating what most would find a very dark, bleak situation. Christine's blonde hair was matted and cruddy from neglect and her face had considerably paled in the weeks she had occupied this small room.

Her blue eyes had dulled from the frequent use of sedatives that the staff had to give her in order for her to calm down. Twice she had almost killed herself, and although most in the facility understood her plight, society was less sympathetic.

"I am home waiting for Erik, of course!" came the simple, yet elated reply. This earned a sigh of frustration from Dr. Willows. Writing down some quick notes, the brown-haired woman stood and sat next to her patient.

"No, Christine, you are not home. In fact, Erik is no longer here. Do you not remember anything that has happened in the last couple of weeks? You are not in Spain with Erik and Madame Giry…No; you are at the Parisian Sanitarium. You were committed a week ago by your friend Meg Giry."

The woman's face showed no emotion to the comment other than a slight facial twitch before she jerked her arms in the straitjacket. Clenching her teeth, Christine viciously snapped, "You lie! Erik merely went out to retrieve some groceries and such. He is such a good husband…you know. We have a music lesson today. I am thrilled! Moreover, Nadir is coming over to dinner tonight! Erik will be thrilled! The sanitarium burned down…You know when Erik kidnapped you…"

Serene shook her head and said nothing in reply. She stood up, skirts swishing around her, as she headed to the door. Turning to the Christine, the young doctor felt sorrow and pity for the former diva, who now was humming a haunting but beautiful melody. Such a shame!

Closing the door behind her, Serene leaned against it, sighing heavily. When she looked up, her eyes met Dr. Belier's and her husband's sullen faces. She gave them a small smile before reading some of her notes.

"Christine Daae, patient 126, is displaying delusions and most likely hallucinations that coincide with the recent traumas experienced mere weeks ago. She remembers events that have happened in the correct chronological order, but not in the manner that they happened. For instance, she believes no one perished in the fire at the Paris Opera House and that Erik Desslar, former Phantom of the Opera is still very much alive…"

Dr. Belier shook his head in disappointment. Both he and Serene had spent weeks using intensive psychotherapy and at points, shock therapy, in high hopes that Mademoiselle Daae would come out of it a whole person. Yet, it seemed all of their efforts had failed. He bid the married couple farewell, returning to his office as he mentally prepared the next step in Christine's therapy.

Though he planned for new exhaustive treatments, he felt deep regret because in his professional opinion, the young girl was broken beyond repair. She could not be rehabilitated. Too much horrific things had occurred to the poor girl in her short lifetime.

Spencer crossed his lithe but muscular arms across his chest as he paused at Christine's door. Serene took her place at his side, grasping his warm hand, as they watched the unstable girl strut across the room in a graceful dance. Shaking his brown-haired head, Spencer turned his intense hazel gaze at his green-eyed lover.

"Do you think she will recover?"

"I don't know…but I feel that the answer is no."

"Can you tell me what actually happened? I heard her tell that story of what she believes is the truth…I cannot imagine Erik kidnapping you or hurting you…I cannot tell you what disturbs me more, the idea that she created this elaborate delusion or how scary it is that her delusion accurately portrayed us…This is insanity!"

Serene smiled sadly and drew her husband into a quick but passionate kiss. Pulling him into one of the secure rooms, they sat down at a table that sat next to the immense window. From their positions, they could look out into the gardens and courtyards. Today was a beautiful day in Paris.

"From what I have gathered in my investigation, through Meg's story, Dr. Belier's notes, etc, this all began the premiere of Erik's ill-fated Don Juan Triumphant, which he forced the theater to rehearse and play out in front of all Paris. Raoul had conferred with Captain Agnew and the other gendarmes to come in order to capture the masked man finally…using Christine as the lure, of course. Raoul wanted to save her from Erik. He did not calculate the fact that perhaps Christine loved the masked man…Maybe he did not want to admit it to himself…She definitely loved both men, according to Meg Giry."

"Such a sad tale!"

"Indeed, my love, it is. Madame Giry and Nadir Khan met and discussed the best way to handle the masked man's predicament…They believed that the best way to handle it was to let it all play out, an immense lapse in judgment, I believe. On any note, when Christine began to sing a duet with Don Juan's character, Raoul realized that it was not Piangi, but Erik that was on stage. Alerting Agnew of this, the Captain signaled his men to take aim…This is when Christine tore off Erik's mask in front of the audience."

Spencer closed his eyes, as he breathed, "No, what a wretched thing to do…Erik must have become enraged…and hurt."

"Oh yes, he was enraged…Nadir later said that Erik had spent time with gypsies and learned magic from them…He turned to the audience and with a flick of a wrist, he threw fiery balls into the crowd. The fireballs ignited the curtains on fire and soon, a fiery mass erupted in the theater. The audience instantly tried to run out of the theater to escape the fire, dozens were trampled to death."

"Dear God! What a horrific site that must have been!"

His wife meekly nodded before continuing, "Yes, Raoul managed to slip by Erik and pull Christine out the exit door with Meg and Madame Giry to safety. Yet, Nadir remained in the inferno to help Erik. The only reason I know the next part of the story is because Nadir wrote in his memoirs of what occurred at the Opera House when no one but he, Erik, and the Captain remained…"

Spencer nodded as Serene pulled out Nadir's letters that he had sent to Dr. Belier two weeks ago. He glanced over the neatly written account of that horrific night as his wife expanded by telling the story in her own words.

"Captain Agnew charged at Erik and fired off shots, two of which hit Erik in the chest…The masked man collapsed as Nadir rushed to his side. Captain Agnew tried to finish off the job, but Nadir shot him in the head. The gendarmes had long abandoned the theater, so everyone assumed Erik killed the Captain. Nadir held Erik in his arms as the deformed man struggled to breathe. Nadir watched the tears fall from his face as Erik spoke with great difficulty… Nadir, my friend, tell Christine I love her…and I only wanted to make her happy…give her the world…Thank you for saving me…Tell her I wish her happiness with the Vicomte…the least I can offer her…and him for drowning his brother in Lake Averne… Nadir wrote that he asked Erik what he could do for him…"

Spencer flipped to the next page of the tattered letters from Nadir's memoir, and held it up to the sunlight that poured into the room. His beautiful, masculine voice echoed as he read aloud that portion of Nadir's written account.

"Erik requested that I hide his body…so that it won't be put on display in Paris or leave him to burn alive…As much as I did not agree with many of Erik's actions, my heart broke for my comrade. I helped him to his feet, he opened a trapdoor — HOW LIKE ERIK—, and we made it to the underground house by the lake…I laid his weak form by the well and gave him a shot of morphine. His breathing was now intensely labored and he was pallid from blood loss… He thanked me before letting out one final breath. I stayed by his side for what seemed like hours thinking, praying to Allah. I even wept for the masked man; my heart broke at his sad existence… All he ever wanted was to be loved by one person in his entire life and he could have held the entire empire in his golden heart…if he had been allowed…"

Spencer pushed the letters aside and sighed. Burying his head in his arms on the table and groaning, her husband glanced up at his wife's teary-eyed face with a grim countenance. He understood her heartache and compassion for the masked man's story.

"I know my love. Madame Giry, Raoul, and Christine took a train to Spain where they could get away from the masked man and the memories in Paris. Unfortunately, the train did derail like in Christine's story. Yet, Madame Giry and Raoul perished in the accident…Christine survived and watched them die in the accident. When she returned to Paris, she stayed at Meg's home with Theo…for the funeral…There she suffered the mental breakdown that led her to attempt suicide…This landed her in the sanitarium…Dr. Belier needed a psychotherapist and sent that letter to me…and we arrived here. Meg stopped visiting Christine…She could not handle the delusional world Christine had created. She still grieves for her mother…Nadir gave me his work before he passed away a few days ago…He had gotten severely ill after Erik's demise…I do not think he ever recovered from the trauma of that night like so many others…"

"I have no words, my angel, for how tragic this situation has turned out. I am glad that you and I have great health. If this next treatment does not work for Christine, what will happen then?"

"You and I will return home. I cannot do anymore to rehabilitate the poor girl…She will remain here and live out her life comfortably or until she regains her sanity…"

"Sanity is relative…If I lost you, the love of my life, in such a horrific fashion as she lost Raoul and Erik, then I do not blame her for creating a much happier illusion of a life. That would be far better than to try and live with the tragedies…"

"I understand and do not wholly disagree with you…but…"

"I know; you want every patient to get better…"

Serene stared wistfully outside and whispered to her beloved husband, "Yes, but sometimes not every patient is able to get better…"

-Meanwhile-

Christine happily stared out to the front of her home, anxiously awaiting her husband's arrival. She was ecstatic that her childhood friend, Raoul, had found a nice young woman to love him the way the young singer should have loved him.

The wedding announcement was in the local papers. Nadir and Madame Giry would be here soon with some food for dinner, and Christine would give them a vocal performance of the song that she and Erik had written together three nights ago.

She smiled broadly, her beautiful face lighting up, as the sound of the door opening infiltrated the silence of the room. Turning around, she exclaimed, "My love, my dear Erik! How I love you and how happy I am you have returned at last!"

Author's Note: I do not think I need to say much more…I hope you have enjoyed this story…Many have added to their alert or favorites list, so I say THANK YOU! I truly love this story and I am glad it is finally completed. I may go back and add an alternate ending if you did not like this ending…It is up to you guys. Let me know!

Sincerely,

RainsPhantom

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