Christine returned to the hotel and started to panic when she couldn't find Gustave. Fortunately, when she heard him whistle out in the hallway, she touched her heart in relief.

He opened the door. "Hello Mother!" He ran and gave her a hug. "Work was fantastic today. I got to see where all the mechanical objects are kept. Squelch told me that I'll soon go on his rotation and then we can spend the days seeing how we make them come to life."

"My, you are a busy one. What about Nathan's and playing piano during rehearsals?"

"I'll do that too, Mother. It's just I like learning new things."

She could see how alike he and Erik were. It made her smile. "I bet you're thirsty. How about some lemonade?"

He sat on the couch and nodded. "Are you having some too?"

"Just water for me. I need to be careful with my throat."

"Are you singing again tomorrow, Mother?"

"Yes, darling. Are you free to see me?" She teased, as she handed him his glass.

"Seeing you perform is always the highlight of my day."

She sat beside him and kissed his forehead. "As seeing you is always the highlight of mine."

"Is Mr. Y coming over before the concert?"

"I think so. Otherwise, I am sure we will see him afterwards." She ran her fingers through his hair. "Gustave, remember when I told you that we may not return to France? What if we really did make a new home here?"

"With Mr. Y?"

"Yes, sweetheart."

"You…. You love him, don't you Mother?"

"I…." Was it that obvious? If a child could see it, did that mean everyone else could too?

Gustave answered for her. "I know you do. You're different with him. You were never like this with Father. You always seemed so anxious whenever he was home, not that he was home much…."

"Gustave, I do love Mr. Y, but I love you too and you are my priority. I need to know how you feel about this. You said once before that you didn't want to go back to France. Is that still true?"

"Would I ever see Father again?"

She paused. For all she knew Raoul was on her way to see her. Damn him for not telling her of his plans. Now she will always be wondering when he will appear. "Gustave, I will never stand between you and Raoul. If you wish to see him…."

"I don't know if I do. I mean, he left us. He hasn't written…. I can't really say I miss him. I wanted so much for him to love me. I thought of all the things that I could show him when he came back. Maybe if he saw I was working now and not just playing, he would be interested in me. But then I realized that what he wants isn't important. Why should it matter to me, when I don't matter to him?"

His words brought agony to her heart. "Sweetheart, Raoul does love you. He just…."

"Doesn't know how to show it? You told me that before. Mother, I think I'm still too young to understand that. Maybe I don't want to." He then tried to smile. "Are you going to keep singing here at Phantasma?"

She was grateful or the change in subject. "Mr. Y has arranged for me to audition for a very important man. If he likes me, I may have a new job and we might be traveling a lot."

"We won't be here at Phantasma? I thought we were going to live here with Mr. Y?"

"Mr. Y is going to be a part of our lives, but we may not live here. There is still a lot to discuss, Gustave and that's why I wanted to know how you felt."

"So, I won't be able to see Mr. Y every day?" He looked worried.

She grabbed him by the shoulders. "No, darling. You can see him whenever you like. In fact, I am sure that Mr. Y will make it his main priority to see you. He's teaching you to ride, isn't he? He can't do that if he's not with you." She touched his nose and giggled.

"Maybe I could stay with him sometimes, if you are traveling for work…. Could I Mother?"

"Maybe but…. But I don't think I could stand to be away from you too long, Gustave."

They hugged again. "Mother? Will you marry Mr. Y?"

She then touched his face. "Gustave, I think we all have a lot to think about but whatever decisions we make, we are going to make them together, alright?"

He nodded. "Yes, Mother."

"Gustave, I want to ask you how you would feel if Mr. Y stopped wearing his mask."

He looked at her for a long time and finished his lemonade. "Does it hurt him, Mother?"

"I don't think his mask hurts him physically, darling."

"I'm not scared anymore. I have been trying to look with my heart and I find that it is causing me to see things so differently."

"How so?"

"Father is handsome, but he was never around and made you cry. Mr. Y. is…Not handsome but he makes you laugh and he is fun to be around. When he plays his music, it's like he understands everything I feel when I play. He is more than just a face. I rather like seeing things this way."

"Oh Gustave! You have made me very, very happy!"

He hugged her again. "I'm glad. You deserve to be happy, most of all."

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Erik knocked at Christine's hotel room. When she opened the door, he hurried inside.

"Angel, are you alright?"

He sat down and shook his head. "I'm not sure how I feel."

"Erik, what happened?"

He laughed as if he was still in shock. "She…. She is…. Or rather was in love with me. Turns out you were right." He shook his head. "She said I never cared enough to see her for who she really was. She said…" He stopped himself from going on.

"What did she say?" She sat beside him and took his hand in hers.

"It doesn't matter." He kissed her hand and tightened his grip. "She is wrong."

She instantly knew it involved her. "What did she say about me?"

Erik took his mask off. "It doesn't matter. She is wrong."

"She blames me for not being here, doesn't she? She claims that you deserve better."

"I don't know what I deserve but I know what I want, and I want someone who makes me want to be better. Not a person that does questionable things simply because it will suit them. Not all ends justify the means. I don't want to be how I was before. You're the reason I changed."

"Erik you were always good. Your heart was pure and whole. I was wrong that night in your lair when I told you otherwise."

He wasn't so sure but nevertheless, he wanted to focus on the future. "I can't go back but I can move forward and everything I have done since I left France has been in the hopes of being worthy for you and now for Gustave."

She kissed him tenderly but soon the need swept over them and it became rather passionate quickly. Before they knew it, they knocked over Gustave's empty glass and the sound caused them both to pull away. Erik wiped his mouth, while Christine giggled.

"We seem to be losing control more and more lately."

She nodded. "I wonder what we should do about that."

He stood up and straighten his hair. "Raoul hasn't come by?"

"No." She wished he hadn't changed the subject so soon. "Did Meg say whether or not he would be coming?"

"No, but I gather they are not together. For all we know he may still be at the roulette wheel."

"I'm through waiting. I'm going to send him a letter and demand that he comes back. I refuse to let him keep all of our lives on hold."

Erik kneeled before her. "We have to think about your audition. That fool will cause a scene. Being divorced is one thing but having a display that creates bad publicity is something Oscar won't tolerate."

"I don't care. This is my life, but I must think of Gustave too. He's had enough of an absentee father."

"Then do it for Gustave. You want to work for Oscar, don't you? This is your chance."

"But what will become of you and Gustave, if Mr. Hammerstein hires me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Erik, I can't take Gustave all around the world with me." Gustave's reaction earlier proved to her that he wouldn't really want to be away from a place he has grown to call home.

"Why not? I'll hire a tutor or better yet, you will hire a tutor. You will be able to afford it." He laughed.

"And you will travel with us?"

"You said you wanted me there." He asked as if needed the assurance.

"I do but what of your life here? But what about Phantasma?"

"I'll work all that out. Don't worry about that. Concentrate on your performance. Your Maestro will handle the rest."

"I don't want to make another mistake, angel. What is this audition for, if it causes me to hurt the people I love?"

"Who's hurting? This is in you. You need to do this, or you will regret it for the rest of your life. You said it yourself, you need to know. So, stop use me or Gustave as an excuse."

"An excuse for what?"

"Your fears."

She sighed. "Erik, everything has been happening so fast. I just want to stop the world and hold this moment before it slips away."

"You said you wanted to prove to yourself you could make it on your own. No one can stop you now."

"I've spent most of my life wanting to make my own choices. I've blamed so many people but, the reality is that I did made every choice. My choice was to let others make the decisions I never said otherwise."

"Time to change all that, angel."

"You really think I deserve it?"

"If you ask me, this is long overdue." He kissed her again.

"Mother…."

Erik jumped up as soon as he heard Gustave's voice but when he realized he was without his mask, he dropped down to the floor and covered his face.

He mumbled "Gustave, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were awake. I thought…."

Erik then felt small hands touch his shoulder. "I'm not afraid, Mr. Y. Please, don't hide your face anymore."