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Christine reached out with her right hand to stroke his left cheek. She brushed his hair away from his eyes and settled down beside him, taking his left hand in her own.

"I will tell you everything, Erik, but you must promise me something first." She paused and pressed a kiss to his knuckles.

He raised an eyebrow in response.

"You must promise that no matter what I tell you, you will remember that I am here, in your arms, with you."

Erik's eyes narrowed, but he gave a nod.

Christine sighed, and sat up. She reached for his shoulders and brought them both to a sitting position.

Erik frowned, shifting away from her. Christine gave a strained smile before gesturing to her ankle.

"I wish to recline more comfortably, mon ange. Will you help me?"

Erik continued to stare uncomprehendingly, but quickly grasped her meaning when Christine's hands went to the ties at the back of her dress.

"Please, fetch one of my nightgowns for me?"

He pressed his lips together tightly, but stood without a word and opened her large armoire.

Christine deftly undid the top strings on her gown as Erik removed a long cotton gown from its hanger.

Without looking toward the bed, he tossed the nightgown in her direction and strode from the room without another word. She watched him close the door, and heard his receding footsteps as she finally slid out of the glamorous dress. It pooled around her ankles, and her corset followed after a few minutes of tugging at the tight strings.

Christine sagged gratefully, allowing her back to arch freely without the restrictive boning digging into her skin. She leaned forward, wincing as her ankle protested. Rolling down her stockings, she sighed in relief when both legs were finally free, and she sat on the bed in nothing but a thin chemise. She removed that after a few moments, and quickly covered herself in the nightgown. The buttons went to her neckline, and she stared at the door as she fastened them.

Was Erik waiting outside it once more, waiting for her to call him? Or was he further away in his room?

After a few minutes of silent contemplation, Christine called out for her absent phantom.

"Erik? Are you there? You may come back in now. If you'd like-"

The door opened before she could finish her statement, and Erik strode in purposefully, bringing a long strip of cloth and a cup with him.

At first Christine intended to ask him why he carried such things, but her question was cut off as she took in his appearance.

Erik was wearing only a cotton nightshirt and long black sleeping pants. She hardly noticed him approaching her as she lost her concentration.

Christine frowned in expectation when he set the cup to the side and knelt before her leg. She bit her lip to stifle anymore more whimpers, and he carefully put his fingers around her bare ankle.

She tensed at the pressure, but released no more than a few pained gasps as Erik carefully wrapped it. She watched him carefully, and a peculiar thought came into her head.

Even in this, one of the most serious situations with him since their rebirth, Christine could not help but marvel at him. It was not for some overwhelming beauty or desire that she stared at him. Her Erik simply looked so very human and… domestic at that moment, tending to her ankle in his sleep attire, that she smiled softly at the novelty.

Erik secured the cloth tightly and held her ankle for a moment longer, seeming to examine his work.

"Thank you," Christine whispered quietly.

Erik did not respond, but slowly lowered his head to place a kiss on the top of her bandaged foot.

He rose again, picking up the tea cup once more, and handed it to her without preamble.

"Drink. It will take away the pain."

Christine sniffed the contents, a cloudy liquid, and winced at the unpleasant smell.

"I did not instruct you to smell it. Simply to consume it."

She huffed in displeasure, but tipped the cup back. After three painful swallows, she emptied the cup.

She grimaced at the bitter taste, handing it back to him with small thanks. He gave a grunt of acknowledgement, setting the tea cup on the bedside table.

When he stood in front of her again, staring at her with that impenetrable gaze, she swallowed nervously.

"Please, rest here on the bed with me."

She pushed herself backwards with her hands, making her way toward the pillows. Erik put his hands under her knees and back, sliding her easily to the headboard. He helped her recline more comfortably against the bed, even taking a pillow to prop under her foot.

She exhaled shakily, and watched him climb back unto the bed, sliding up so their faces were near each other once again.

He trailed his finger tip lightly across her forehead, brushing the curls of her bangs.

"Now tell me," he said softly, but she heard the command in his voice.

IIII

Telling Erik everything turned out to be an extremely complex endeavor. The first complication arose when Christine did not know where to start. And once she had found a point to begin speaking, she had no choice but to break off on tangents to better explain herself.

"I have remembered that other life for weeks, Erik. It is difficult to explain how, and more importantly why."

She paused, closing her eyes as she thought back to the night she had… died.

"I… the last thing I remember of that life was being in your arms, feeling this… terrible chill coming over me."

She shivered just from the memory, and Erik's face twisted in pain. He seemed to reach for her for a moment, and she longed to be enfolded in his arms. However, Erik balked at the last moment, and fisted his hand in the coverlet near her stomach.

"I remember begging you to keep kissing me, even though I couldn't speak anymore."

Her own eyes filled with tears as she remembered the terrible emptiness that had filled her, until only his voice remained.

"As I… faded, I heard you speaking to me, begging me not to leave…"

She was in his arms abruptly, and his lips were hard on her own. She wrapped her arms around his back, holding him tightly.

After a few moments he cupped her cheek and set her away from him, brushing away a stray tear.

"F-forgive me. I-I could not help-"

Christine cut him off with another kiss, catching his lower lip between hers.

"I am glad," she whispered. "I was lost in that memory. I needed you to bring me back. I need you, Erik. Always." Christine choked on a sob, covering her mouth with her hand.

He grimaced, and set her away from him slightly. He stroked a few stray bangs away from her face.

"It would seem that we must both remember where we are now, even as we delve into the past."

She nodded lightly, and put her head back on the pillow.

"After everything else had faded away, I could hear you singing. It was… grey. There was nothing but your voice in that… void. It echoed around me, but then even that started to fade." Christine shuddered again. "And then… there was another voice."

Erik's brow furrowed in confusion, but he said nothing.

Christine gave a tremulous laugh, still unable to fully comprehend what had transpired after she had died.

"My father was waiting there to greet me."

Erik gave a startled gasp, choking on a disbelieving "What?"

Christine gave a horse laugh, covering her eyes as she spoke. Tears leaked past her fingers as she half sobbed, half laughed through her explanation.

"H-he was waiting there, in the emptiness. I could-couldn't see him, but he spoke to me," she gasped, shaking her head at how mad the whole thing sounded. She hadn't thought of that encounter much since her resurrection. One would think that speaking to her father again would bring her joy, and while it had, the entire ordeal still frightened her. "He asked me many questions, about myself, Raoul, you…" Christine trailed off, trying to remember what else they had spoken off. Abruptly, she remembered another detail. "And Father clarified a few details for me," she added a bit crossly, giving him a slight glare.

Erik's brow furrowed in confusion as he contemplated her words. After all the excitement of this endless evening, his mind was not functioning at its usual pace. He needed to rest and recover, they both did. But Erik knew that this conversation was far more necessary to his sanity at the moment than sleep.

"What did he tell you?" Erik asked slowly. A strange feeling of guilt had blossomed in his chest, but he could not quite recall what sin he'd committed to cause it. When Christine paused a few moments before responding, his heart fluttered anxiously.

"Father told me that you and Raoul gambled on whether or not I would sing that night," Christine said, glowering at Erik as she watched her words sink in. She derived a small pleasure at the pallor which overcame his face, and the muscles flexing in his throat. Without giving him time to respond, she continued. "You decided to make a bet about where I would remain after I sang. As if my choice was inconsequential, as if my feelings didn't matter!"

Erik opened his mouth, but Christine gave him no opportunity to speak. "How could you do that again? How could you try to manipulate all of us again?" She whispered fiercely. Though she did not raise her voice, her quiet censure was more powerful than if she'd screamed.

"Christine, please-" Erik tried to speak, but Christine cut him off harshly.

"That was wrong, Erik. It was so very wrong." She shook her head, pressing the left side of her face into the soft pillow. "Why must you always play such games? Is the world some grand board to you, and we are all just pawns upon it?"

Erik closed his eyes and rolled onto his back, running a hand across his face and into his hair. He shook his head, struggling to speak.

"It was the only option I could see at the time," he muttered, and Christine struggled to hear him in the absolute silence of her room. "The thought of… of letting you leave with him again, when he deserved you far less than the previous time, was torturous."

Erik turned his head to face her again, burying his warped cheek in the soft pillow. He reached out slowly, and softly grazed her exposed right cheek with a solitary finger.

"I left you that night because," he shook his head helplessly, exhaling softly, "because you deserved the life he promised you. A life of riches and endless company. A life with a handsome young husband who was whole and healthy and sane." His face contorted into a bitter visage, and Christine frowned. "A life with babes as beautiful as their mother, without fear of sick deformities marring them."

Erik sighed heavily, and glared at the ceiling. He failed to notice that Christine's brow had furrowed, and that her eyes had drifted away from him. She stared blankly ahead, her thoughts churning with broken images.

"Christine, once I'd seen what he'd done, how he treated you, letting you stay in that unhappy existence became impossible." Erik turned to look at her face, but stopped speaking for a moment at her expression. Her gaze was lowered below his face, and her eyes were distant. She seemed to be concentrating hard on something, but he could not determine what.

Christine heard Erik as he spoke, but her thoughts had been torn from his quiet words by a simple phrase.

Babes as beautiful as their mother. A life with babes.

Babes.

Babies.

Children. A life with beautiful children.

Beautiful children with Raoul? A beautiful child with Raoul?

A beautiful child.

A beautiful child with Erik.

Erik's beautiful child… a child...

Softly, Erik continued to speak, and hoped she heard him. "When he accepted my wager, it only confirmed in my mind that he forfeited any right to you, if he was truly willing to gamble your marriage. It… it was never meant to manipulate you. You had promised to sing, I knew, and I justified my actions to myself because…" Erik stopped again, as Christine continued to stare into space.

Perturbed, he cupped her chin between his fingers and tilted her face up. She blinked and looked at him, her eyes focusing on his own. She said nothing, but reached up and took his hand, wrapping their fingers together and tucking both limbs against her neck. Christine stared at him with an unfathomable gaze, and he swallowed once before continuing again.

"I thought, if you truly did not want me, did not want to stay, you would listen to his pleas, and leave the performance. But," he leaned his head toward her subtly, "if you sang, if you disregarded his request, it would mean that your feelings had not changed. That our story was not over."

Christine studied his face, distracted from her previous focus. He looked so sincere that she could almost believe what he said. However, there were important details he was disregarding, or perhaps hoping to glaze over.

"And yet you came backstage to my dressing room, just as he did, and tried to convince me to stay," Christine pointed out quietly. "Both of you gave me sweet words and promises in an attempt to sway me." She frowned, shaking her head sadly. "At the time, I thought Raoul simply could not bear to have me sing for you once more, and that you could not bear to have me leave without doing so. If I'd only known you were simply trying to win a useless bet-"

"It was not for a useless bet!" Erik snapped, anger coloring his features. He rose up over her, taking her shoulders in his hands as he knelt above her. "It was for you! Why can you not see that? That useless bet, my words before your performance, offering you and your drunken boy enough money to keep you cozy and content for years!" Erik broke off, turning away again to send a glare into the rock ceiling. "I wanted you to sing because I am selfish! I could not go another year without hearing your angelic sound! But the actions I took were to benefit you! You and… and…"

Erik trailed off, a glazed look coming over his features. He grip on her shoulders slackened, and his lips parted in confusion.

"It… for you and… and…" Erik stared over Christine's shoulder, his thoughts a tangled web.

My actions were for Christine.

Christine and our future.

A future together.

A life together.

Together with… with…

Christine stared at him as his eyes darted about, never truly seeing. She reached out to cup his perfect cheek, caressing him urgently with her thumb.

He closed his eyes tightly and trembled, letting out a shaky breath as he looked her in the eyes once more.

Christine swallowed apprehensively at the pleading confusion in his gaze.

"Christine, please." Erik reached for her again, and Christine allowed him to put his hands on her again. His long fingers slid from her elbows to her shoulders, finally coming to rest on her neck. His thumbs brushed her cheeks. "It-all these memories… they are pounding in my head like a storm. My thoughts have been uprooted and scattered. I cannot… I cannot remember everything clearly right now. All that is certain to me is that I could not let you go again. I love you, Christine. My Christine!" Erik brought his face near to hers once more, and Christine parted her lips to receive his kiss.

Erik held her for some time, relishing the feel of her in his arms. One hand remained at her neck while the other sank into her rich curls, cradling the back of her head.

Finally, Christine put her hands against his chest, gently pushing him away.

He opened his eyes to see her face, suddenly bracing himself for some sign of rejection.

He wasn't prepared to see the gentle affection in her eyes.

"Oh Erik," Christine sighed, running one hand up through his hair, "you will have to explain yourself at some point, but not tonight, darling."

She leaned up and placed a kiss on his forehead, right where deformity made smooth skin.

"I forgive you, Erik, for what you did on Coney Island."

Erik looked at her, disbelief evident on his face.

"I forgive you, Erik, because I love you."

His lips thinned, and he closed his eyes, breathing heavily.

"Do not misunderstand me, mon ange," Christine said, cupping his cheek to make him look at her again. "My love does not give you license to do as you please," she quietly pointed out. "But it does mean that you may act in error, and I will still be here, waiting for you."

She sealed that vow with a kiss of her own; a soft, chaste kiss that made Erik's heart clench in his chest.

And for all the chaos of the evening, that was enough for both lovers.

Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry it took so long again, and I hope I added enough fluff to keep you happy! Check back for more!