He shook his head. "Christine, I buried the details of my life for so long. I never really cared about self-reflection or forgiveness until you."
"Until you fell in love with me?"
"No, truly it was when I met a scared and shy little girl, praying, begging and wishing for an angel. I couldn't have you wait for something that would never happen, so when I agreed to play the part, I suddenly wondered how I could master the role, without coming to terms with what I was… Am."
"Who you are." She corrected. "A wonderful, beautiful person."
"Horribly flawed and horrific…."
"No!" She pressed her fingers to his lips. "We are all flawed. You have done and continue to make amends. You are remorseful and your heart is pure and whole." She touched it. "I can see it."
He smiled at her. "You deserve so much."
She nodded. "Hence, why I have you." She smiled brightly and kissed his masked cheek.
"Christine, Persia is a part of me that I must share with you. You deserve to know all of it."
"Because you need to see what I will do or because you want to cleanse yourself?"
"I want you to know my life, or lack thereof."
She tried to make him relax. "Persia is very far away. How did you decide on Persia?"
"I had to leave Italy; I was there for much too long."
His voice was full of sorry and regret. Her curiosity was piqued, but he seemed determined to speak of Persia and so the rest could wait.
"You left the Opera House before going to Persia?"
He nodded. "Annie was getting married and she had little time for me. I felt my presence was a hindrance for her and her newfound life. I wrote to her though. She always knew how to reach me in the event she ever needed a…"
"Friend." She smiled and caressed his cheek.
He nodded. "The Shah had heard about my skills. I was a very good architect and I did dabble in what I learned from the gypsies regarding magic and illusions. He commissioned me to build a chamber of mirrors for sport. In that environment, I was regarded as a God myself. I liked the attention and the power and the ability to have such freedom in what I crafted…It was intoxicating."
"What changed?"
"I soon learned that the chamber of mirrors wasn't for sport, per say. It was for enemies of the Shah, enemies that he deemed as such. One night, he lured hundreds of people inside to what was disguised as a party. It was a death sentence. He used my creation to kill them all for defiance. I was soon called the Angel of Death."
"Erik, he used you. He took advantage of your vulnerability. You have to see that."
He nodded. "I should have left that night, but I stayed. I didn't want to know what would become of me if I defied him. He requested more and more torture chambers and I felt powerless to resist him. Until one day."
"What happened?"
"As a reward, he offered up one of his virgins in waiting to me. She came to my chamber and once the door close, she said that I could do whatever I wanted with her, but she begged me to never take off my mask." Erik had tears in his eyes. "Rape was tolerable so long as she didn't have to see this." He pointed to his masked face.
"I became enraged. I ordered the guards to come at once and take her away. I said I liked her not. I cried myself to sleep. I thought it was over but the next day, I learned that she had died. The Shah had killed her, because she did not please me. I contemplated my own death when…."
"Erik, No!"
"It's alright, Christine. I obviously didn't do it. Annie saved me again. Her letter reached me. She pleaded for me to return to France. Her husband had died, and she needed help with her daughter, Megan."
Christine took his hand and walked him to a nearby tree. She had him sit down and she in turn sat beside him. She asked with her eyes for him to remove his mask.
"I don't think that is wise. I know it's dark, but someone could come…"
She kissed him softly. "I don't care what you say or do, so long as you remove this mask every time, we are alone. Your face is what I want to see. I want you to see my eyes whenever I look at your true face. From now on, I want you to see my eyes as your mirror."
Speechless, he complied.
She then kissed and caressed every crevice and uneven spot of skin. She tasted the good and the bad repeatedly. She only stopped when she tasted his tears on her lips.
"You always seem to make me cry." Erik tried to tease.
She looked up at him and that's when Erik noticed her tears too.
"I think yours got mixed in with mine."
She smiled as she wiped his tears away with her thumb. "Angel, I think you and I are going to have to work on making many happy memories together. So soon the happy ones, will outnumber the bad."
"Let's start with right now."
He then kissed her out in the open and for the first time, didn't stop to think about who would see them.
A/N: Maybe our boy is learning?