Thank you for all the reviews! I hope I'm not losing you all… Like, you're not getting bored or anything, haha.

"Erik, it's seven in the morning… You're really going to make me get up?" I complained, burying my face in my goose feather pillow.

"Of course, dearest. It is our five-month anniversary, you see, and also February the 14th. So it is a special occasion anyway," Erik said good-humoredly. I groaned.

"Let me celebrate this special occasion by sleeping in a little bit, would you? I'm sleeping for two here." Erik chuckled and hoisted me out of bed, eliciting a shriek from me.

"Now, now, Christine, don't scream; you'll hurt your voice." I pounded at his back, but he wouldn't put me down, not that we were going anywhere. He was just standing in our room at Raoul's mansion, having me slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I finally had to resort to much more… unpleasant means of forcing him to let me go.

Having been hanging upside down for well over three minutes, I spanked him on his bum. I felt him jump and utter an exclamation of surprise before putting me down; it wasn't like me to do such things.

"Thank you," I said, dusting myself off as if nothing had happened. In all honesty, I was surprised by my own forwardness, as well as a tad embarrassed.

"Christine, are you all right?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked sweetly, but I was suddenly assaulted with the previous day's events—Erik's trial was in a mere five days, and I was becoming so nervous I feared I would quiver. "Just let me change and you can show me this surprise." He nodded, watching me carefully. I changed without incident and we went outside.

"It's barely even light outside, Erik, what on earth could we possibly—" I cut myself off at the sight I beheld. I knew that Raoul had a small pond out the back of his house, but he never told me about the swans, or the water lilies! And with the sunrise, it was just breathtaking.

"There's always a reason for everything I do, Christine. You may not see it at the time, but it will show itself eventually… fancy going for a stroll?" I nodded silently, and he tucked my arm into his own and went for a turn about the lake.

"Thank you for doing this for me, Erik, I love you so," I murmured contently, my earlier worries temporarily forgotten in the crisp air of that morning.

"And I you, ange," Erik said, putting an arm around my waist. I stopped suddenly, smiling.

"Oh, Erik, I really love you!" I pecked his cheek and placed his hand on my stomach. I could feel a light twittering sensation within me. "Do you feel that?" I whispered excitedly. Erik suddenly broke out in a wide grin.

"Yes, I feel it. Christine, this is wonderful!" He laughed then, pulling me in for a kiss. I put my arms around his trim waist and we both laughed. "I'm so, so happy that the baby is doing well," he murmured, kissing the top of my head.

"Me too… This means I won't have to stay on bed rest any longer, too, because if the baby is strong enough to be moving around, there's no reason to keep me from doing the same, either… Erik! We still have to think about names!" I said excitedly. He laughed again.

"Calm down, love. There's no need to get overly excited. We still have a good four months left, you know." I groaned playfully.

"Erik, I want to have this all figured out now. Pretty please?"

"My dear, your pleas are pretty anyway; but yes, we can talk about it now," Erik said, humoring me.

We sat down on a bench overlooking the pond and talked for Lord-knows-how-long about names, and homes, and genders, and even schools.

"I'll tutor the baby. It'll get a better education from me than it would at school."

"That's very true… I hope he or she is musically inclined. Oh, I can just imagine it, can't you? It would be wonderful… With the tinkling of piano keys throughout the day, either yours or theirs…"

"I'd like to think I do a little more than tinker, Christine," Erik said with an irritated tone, grumbling slightly. I laughed.

"No, no, dear. You tinker. Your tinkering is just more complex than other people's tinkering, is all." He gave me an angry look then, but I just smiled and tweaked his false nose. "Come now, Erik. You know that I believe in your genius. I'm just having a bit of fun. Lighten up a little."

"Saying that I tinker is like saying that you sing through your nose."

"I do not!"

"I know you don't, but now you know how it feels." I harrumphed loudly. "…What about Angelique?"

"What about whom?" I asked, turning to face him. Erik shook his head and pinched the bridge of his fake nose.

"For the baby. If it's a girl, what do you think of Angelique?"

"Oh… Angelique certainly is pretty," I admitted. "Just so long as no one knew where we got the inspiration for it, but I think I prefer Aria."

"I think I prefer that one as well. And if it's a boy?"

"I like Asher," I said fondly. Erik looked at me, his lip curled incredulously.

"No. Marcus?"

"Definitely not. Patrick?"

"Neither of us are English, Christine. That'll be another no… Caleb?"

"… I once had an uncle with that name, he was a drunk."

There was a simultaneous "no" from both our mouths.

Erik and I spent most of the morning on that bench, talking about names and possibilities for home locations and such. We both avoided the "what ifs" fastidiously. What if Erik was sentenced to prison? What if he was sentenced to hang? What if he were banished? The possibilities were endless, and it wouldn't do either of us good to fret over anything that might or might not be. Every time a thought anywhere along the lines of the trial came up, I pushed it aside hastily, afraid of where my mind might take me.

"I thought I might find you two out here," Raoul said, walking up to us.

"Raoul, good morning," I said warmly.

"Vicomte," Erik said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I'm glad that someone still calls me that, Erik," Raoul said. "Much simpler times they were when I was a Vicomte… But that isn't why I've come here. I need to tell you the evidence that proves your innocence."

"Ah, yes," Erik said, straightening in his seat. "Please do divulge this necessary information to us, if you would, monsieur."

"There wasn't any time. Simple as that. Buquet was found dead a mere thirty seconds or so after I came into Christine's dressing room; and you had been at practice that morning under the guise of M. Petit."

"Ah, yes, M. Petit. He was quite the gentleman. Or I was, whichever you prefer," Erik said, shrugging slightly. Raoul and I both laughed, and I leaned against Erik contently.

The next four days passed in a blur of confusion, anxiety and hopelessness. There had already been an attempt on Erik's life at the manor, despite the jealousy with which his location was guarded. After this attempt, Erik pulled me aside in our bedroom and sat me down on the bed.

"Christine."

"Yes?" I said, dabbing my eyes from witnessing the scene a mere two hours ago. Luckily Raoul had stepped in, knocking the man unconscious before Erik could do anything to seriously injure him, earning disapproval with the supposedly unbiased jurors.

"I need to show you something," he said, raking a hand through his hair.

"Very well," I said quietly, biting my lower lip ever so slightly.

Erik brought out his violin case, and upon seeing my perplexed expression, began to explain. "My violin isn't an ordinary one. I crafted it myself while preparing to escape from Persia, and it served me well."

"Erik, it's a violin, I don't see how it could possibly be of assistance to you in escaping from Persia."

He sat next to me on the bed, holding the violin gingerly. One by one, he took out each of the tuning pegs, and handing one to me, bade me examine it. I took it cautiously and was surprised to find that it was heavier than I expected and, the part which was buried in the wood, looked similar to a dagger.

"Be careful, Christine, because each tuning peg is a small knife, and each is very sharp. It slices open flesh with ease." I examined it for a moment more before handing it back to him.

"Now that all of the pegs are out, if we lift up the scroll, that will reveal a larger, more lethal weapon." I watched in astonishment as Erik smoothly pulled the scroll from the neck of the violin, revealing a much larger, heavier looking knife.

"You cannot take the full sized knife out without taking out the pegs first, else risking harming the violin and making a God-awful noise. However, the pegs come out easily and quickly." He slid the knife and pegs back in. "You try." He handed me the violin in all its deadly glory and watched me as I pulled each of the pegs out in turn before grabbing hold of the scroll and timidly sliding the thin, light weapon out.

"So this is why you didn't want to lose the violin…," I murmured, putting everything back in place as best I could before handing Erik his instrument. He quickly inspected it, making sure everything was intact to his satisfaction, and after tweaking one of the pegs, put the violin back in its case.

"Yes, it seemed more important to me that I be armed and caught than not caught and unarmed." I nodded understanding.

"Erik?"

"Yes, love?" he said, picking my hand up and kissing it reverently.

"Are you nervous about the trial tomorrow?" There was silence on his end for a long time.

"Yes, I am, Christine. My whole life hangs in the balance… But I will tell you this, even if we lose the trial, I won't leave you."

And thus, the mystery of the violin is revealed. Trial is the next chapter, so prep yourselves, haha. Please, please, please review or leave a comment! I love it when you do, and although I may not have any virtual treats to hand out, it makes my day brighter! :) Anyway, keep your eye out for the next chapter, and add this story to your alerts if you don't wanna miss it.