When Madame Giry entered the room she hoped to see Arlette there. No wonder she felt some kind of relief as she noticed a girl sitting on the edge of the bed. To her surprise, though, the girl turned out to be not Arlette, as she had expected, but Meg.

"Where is she?" asked Madame looking around, as if still hoping Arlette would be hiding somewhere in the room.

"You know it, mother," replied Meg standing up, tears glistening in her eyes. However, there was a rather sad smile upon her lips. "You know it just as well as I do... she's not coming is another place awaiting her."

"Go and find her," demanded her mother sternly, but the blonde shook her head.

"I know you'll be missing her... so will I... but we cannot stop her. She's out of our reach now... don't you see? I just... I just hope she'll be happy."

Madame sat down, just like her daughter previously had, clenching her hand on her chest. Never before had she felt this old. Never before had she been this desperate. She had failed... even though she had been a mother and a teacher for so many years, she had failed that one time, and it hurt so much...

"I hope she won't regret her choice..."

Madame Giry and Meg got a letter from Arlette in which she thanked both of them for all the good she had got from them. Madame burst out in tears, hoping that there was no-one to see her (however, her daughter spotted her all in tears, so she dared not mention it). The letter also contained Arlette's assertion that she was in good health and that never before had she been as happy as she was now.

It was difficult to explain the whole situation to the managers and the director who had already started believing that their new star would perform for the next years, bringing lots of money to the opera house... No wonder they were all disappointed. However, it could not match with the disappointment felt by Arlette's friends amongst the ballet dancers. Still, they all understood there was something more important to the girl than fame. Nevertheless, none of them ever got to know the truth behind Arlette's disappearance.

There was just one promise the two had to make. And soon enough, although it had seemed to be almost impossible, they both kept their word.

Erik and Arlette tied the knot on the 27th of July 1890, exactly on the day of Arlette's 21st birthday, even though they remained unaware of this fact. Their wedding was as humble as it could be; however, to both of them it seemed as lavish as possible as they promised each other eternal love and faithfulness.

Arlette knew she also silently promised Erik to give life to his music. That was something she had been supposed to at the beginning, and until now, she had not abandoned that thought, even though she knew there would be so much more she could give him now.

A year later they welcomed their daughter whom they named Mélodie; nevertheless, they usually called her Ange. From now on, she was their little Angel of Music. One that was to unfurl her wings sooner than they thought...

… but it was all yet to come.

A/N: Here's yet another finished story! I hope you liked this one, as I had lots of fun in writing it. Honestly, I am thinking of writing a sequel to it, with Mélodie as the main character. Let me know what you think of this idea!