Christine woke sitting upright, positively drenched in sweat and coughing so hard that it hurt. It was still dark, Raoul was still asleep, and it had all been a dream. It had felt so real- she could've sworn she felt his fists, felt the heat of his palms as he choked the life out of her…

She shivered, glancing back at her husband. He was only now beginning to stir. Her coughing was finally breaking through his unconsciousness. "Christine?" he asked, his voice soft and tinted with worry. He sat up next to her, rubbing her back. "Christine, what's the matter? What's happened?"

Christine flinched at his touch. Things had been lovely the past few days in spite of everything, but she could still remember how quickly her husband had gone from kind to horribly cruel. She didn't want to be beaten again. Raoul pulled his hand away, not wanting to frighten her further. "I'll fetch you a glass of water," he said after a moment, and he slipped out of the bed. In the few minutes it took for him to get to the kitchen and back, she managed to stop coughing. When Raoul re-entered the room, he could just barely see her lying in the moonlight, facing away from the door.

"Christine?" he asked, but he received no reply outside of an over-acted snore. Raoul climbed into bed next to her. "I know you're still awake, love. Please drink some water. All that coughing sounded painful."

Christine shook her head, burying her face in her pillow. She knew that if she took the water, he'd want her to tell him what was wrong. She'd have to write it out and he wasn't prepared to lie to him. She also didn't want him to know what she had dreamed. She could still feel his hands on her throat, even though it couldn't have actually happened.

"Please?" Raoul pleaded, and finally she gave in. The water was cool and it felt wonderful on her throat. She handed the empty cup back to her husband, who turned to set it on the windowsill. By the time he turned back to her, she actually was asleep again.

Raoul pressed his lips against her forehead before snuggling down with her.

Josephine was about five minutes from yanking that lasso from Erik's belt and stringing him up with it. From the moment she first woke up that morning he pestered her about leaving for the theater. It wasn't so much that he wanted to go to the theater as he wanted the day to progress, but in any case his enthusiasm was less infectious than it was infuriating. He was positively convinced that he would have his Christine before the end of the day.

While she got ready for the day- taking far longer than she needed, just to watch him squirm- she couldn't help but watch him from the corner of her eye. The way he carried himself, even when he was pacing nervously as he did while she brushed her hair, was so much more confident than anything she'd seen out of him since they'd met in the catacombs.

When she was finally ready to go, she could barely even get the man's name out before he was there at her side with his bag in hand. "You do realize that you're not going to even have a chance at seeing her until this evening, right?" Josephine asked as they walked out of the house.

"You are both welcome back anytime," Marie called as she closed the door behind them. Erik was shocked to hear that from her, after how terribly impolite he'd been with everyone there. Josephine seemed to understand the confusion on his face.

"She's a strange woman. She treats her boarders like her children. Even if you had tried to murder her in her sleep she would probably welcome you back into her home. I wouldn't eat her food after an attempt like that though, probably a good idea to just take up a job and buy your own. She probably wouldn't poison you, but…"

"Good to know," Erik muttered, shooting her a strange look. It was still quite early in the morning when they set off, so the streets were still pretty devoid of life as they made their way to the theater. It wasn't a terribly long walk, but Josephine could see why the viscomte would prefer to take a carriage. It was just a long enough walk to wear a person out but not quite long enough to take a proper break midway.

As they turned down the street that the theater was on, Josephine glanced over at the Phantom. Even though she could only see his mask and a little bit of his chin, she could tell that he was running out of steam. She didn't think he was ever going to have the stamina he used to, but she would've thought he'd have been a bit stronger than this.

"Just a little further," she said, trying to encourage him. He nodded.

"I'm just not used to- it's so bright."

"We'll be there soon and you'll be able to find a nice dark broom cupboard to hide in," Josephine teased. Erik rolled his eyes but he chuckled. She was glad to see him smile again. He'd looked like he was in such pain. How did he expect to exact his revenge if he couldn't even walk a reasonably short distance?

When Raoul woke for the day, Christine wasn't there. Again. He shot up out of bed and tore through the house, fearing that she'd run off again.

But he found her in the dining room, reading a book while she ate some fruit and drank some tea. She looked up when he entered, smiling that sweet smile that had made him fall in love with her so many years ago. He let out a sigh of relief and he crossed the room to hug her, amazed when she hugged him back.