Christine awakened to a delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. Her eyes shot up with anticipation and her mouth began to water as her nose picked up on the scent of freshly baked bread, eggs, sausages and a sweet substance she could not identify from smell alone. She smiled as she thought of her Angel cooking in the kitchen, making sure that nothing got away from his precise attention. She laughed softly as she wondered if he was wearing his ridiculous, yet adorable chef hat again. Her curiosity was peaked to the very limit and she could not restrain herself a moment longer from going to find him.

As she threw the covers out of her way and placed her slippers and morning robe on, she passed her reflection in the mirror and instantly stopped to manage her unruly hair. Truth be told, Christine hated her curly hair. It was a chore to keep well maintained, not to mention the time it took away from her. She thought of all the things she could be doing in her spare time: sleeping, practicing or even seeing Erik earlier in the mornings. He rarely slept much, and since Christine could not forgo sleep as easily as he could, she wanted to start her days with him as soon as possible.

She began taking her hairbrush and going through the motions, when she realized that Erik loved her hair. It made her blush when she remembered how often he seemed to bury his face in her curls. She then took one of her strands and twirled it around her finger.

Erik's face has been so close to my hair that I wonder if these unruly curls have seen his whole face? She smirked. "Well, then I guess my curls are safe… for now." She eyed her hair through the mirror as if she were issuing a warning to play nice or pay.

Once she deemed herself presentable, she opened the door to her bedroom and walked a into the music room as a force of habit, but Erik wasn't there. She should have known better for otherwise, there would have been music playing. She then went to the kitchen and although she saw the table beautifully set with plates of the delicious delicacies she had identified from the bedroom, her face fell when she noticed only one setting. Her eyes frantically looked for a note or some other clue that would tell Christine where she could find him.

It isn't like him not to leave a note if he is stepping out. Where would he be off to so early? Then it suddenly dawned on her. Tonight was the ball. He may have gone out to get his attire. The ball. The night when everything would come to the surface. She and Erik would be received as the new leads of the Opera House, and there would be no denying their coming out to everyone as a couple. A real couple that is announced and rarely accompanied without the other. She couldn't contain her happiness. She even kept her smile when she remembered that she promised herself that all would be revealed to him at last.

"No more excuses or half truths. Tonight I will allow him know everything." Her hand went instantly to her scar. "Everything…."

She was about to sit down when she heard his voice coming from the opposite side of the kitchen wall. She still couldn't get over how many doors were secretly placed throughout his home. The room in question was his bedroom. She had been in it several times when she was left alone, but she never entered from the kitchen before. She liked going in to where her Angel slept. She always felt a sense of peace and comfort whenever she entered it. It was a close second to having him hold her.

She also enjoyed marveling at the handmade instruments that he kept carefully dispersed throughout the room, as if any moment he would be caught by a wave of inspiration and needed to have an instrument beside him at all times no matter where he might be standing. She decided to tempt fate and see if she could find the secret door and surprise her love.

Her hands began feeling around the wall in the hopes of finding the precise panel to allow her access. Before she could second guess her decision she felt the panel begin to move inward and the wall turned to open. She smiled with pride at her timing and knew beyond a doubt that Erik would be pleased. However, she decided to keep this little fact to herself for a while.

She entered through the wall and moved effortlessly through the short darkened crawl space where she allowed her Angel's voice to lead her directly to his domain.

"Damn it! Why can't I remember that blasted step?"

Christine was confused at hearing her Angel swear, she leaned into the wall to hear him better.

"Erik, stay focused. One, two three….No! Why is it that…. Oh! I remember now. I forgot the and."

This peculiar dialogue was frustrating Christine. Is someone in there with him? Who is he talking to? She opened the wall carefully and due to Erik's distraction, he did not see her enter the room.

She, on the other hand saw her Angel standing with his arms extending outward, as if he was holding on to the air. She then saw him move across the floor, counting.

"One, two, and three." Erik glided across the floor, and turned in a circle. "Better. Great God, what if I step on her feet?"

Christine couldn't believe her eyes. He was teaching himself to dance. He was learning to dance for her. He wanted to be perfect for their first dance tonight. She looked at him with such love, she almost had tears coming out of her eyes. She then felt horrible. She didn't want him to see her watching his fumbling. She knew he would be upset if he knew she saw him be less than perfect. If only he knew that this chink in his armor made him even more endearing to her. She backed up to the wall and closed it quietly behind her. Next she traveled back to the kitchen and decided to make her presence known to Erik and enter his bedroom properly.

"Angel? Angel, are you here?"

Erik stopped while his arms were in midair. "Christine?"

"Erik, are you in your bedroom? May I come in?"

"Ah…..Yes… Of course. Just allow me to…." He moved the mirror over and smoothed out his vest. "Come in, my dear."

She opened the door and smiled upon seeing him. She made a mental note that he was wearing his black mask and wondered if that was because it didn't encumber as much of his side vision as the others.

"Good Morning!"

He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was first thing in the morning. Christine wasn't one to wear too much make-up, but her face as fresh as the morning, was one of his favorite visions of her.

"Indeed it is."

"I woke to the smell of a magnificent feast and I noticed that my gracious host was nowhere to be found. Please Erik, come and eat breakfast with me."

They both knew the answer to that question. For as long as the mask was on, there could never be a full meal shared between them. Christine made a pout and decided to see how far it would get her. Although Erik smiled, his mind was made up long ago.

"I already had some toast, Angel. I have a very busy morning and all. Please, you eat and enjoy. It may have gotten cold by now."

She nodded but her sadness did not disappear. "Erik?"

"Yes?"

"I would very much enjoy sharing a complete meal with you one day soon. I know why you won't. I respect it, but you should know I want you to."

He took her hand and grasped it with both of his. "You should know that I plan on doing that very, very soon." After tonight, you shall see all of me that you wish to see….. And what you don't want to see, but think you do.

She was caught off guard. "Do you mean that Erik?"

"Yes, I intend to share everything with you."

She leaped into his arms with gusto. "You have no idea how happy you made me." She felt his nose in her hair and she giggled softly as she remembered her thoughts in front of the mirror this morning.

"But first, there is something I need to tell you. It may change a few things between us and I need to be sure you know what you want." He slowly pulled out of their embrace.

"What is it, Angel?"

He opened his mouth, but closed it quickly. He then scratched his head. "Do you call me that whenever you know I need reassurance?"

"Call you what, Angel?" She shook her head. "Angel and Erik are synonyms to me. Would you prefer I stop using one?"

"No!" He was surprised at how high his voice went up. "I mean….I love hearing you call me Angel as much as I love hearing my name on your sweet lips."

"Then I shall continue to use both. She reached for his hand and sat down on the bed. He looked a little leery of her choice, but brushed those thoughts aside. "Now, what is it that you wish to say to me, Angel?" She looked up at him smiling as she lingered the word to him.

His grin faded when he realized he had to speak of his past sins. My face is only part of the horrors. It's time she knows how much I trust her. "I never told you about a part of my past that I am least proud of. It was long before I ever met you, but it still does define me to this day. Partly, because of what I did, but the other part is that it brought me gifts I never imagined I'd be worthy of."

"Do you speak of Persia?" Christine was very calm as she looked him in the eye. Whatever he had to tell her, she knew it would be difficult for him and she didn't want to add to his stress. She stayed still and allowed him to continue.

"How did you know?"

She shrugged."I don't really, but that is a part of your life you seem to shy away from. I know you regret what happened with Nadir's son and from what I can gather about your relationship with Nadir, it appears to have had a bit of starts and stops before you two decided on friendship and not combat."

He slowly sat beside her on the bed. "I had recently left Italy and found myself once again working at fairs with some local gypsies."

"You returned to the gypsies?" She had never imagined him doing that.

"It was a different band altogether and they were in desperate need for my skills."

She tried to look strong, but she did shake a bit at his reply."Skill?"

"Magic."He chuckled.

"Oh!" She saw his visible cheek relax when he heard her laugh. Don't be such a ninny. Just listen to what he has to say before you react. Can't you see he is petrified? How will he trust me with his face if I can't show I can handle this?

"I did pickpocket too, but only when absolutely necessary and when the patrons were completely stupid."

"A bit mischievous, eh?"

"Mostly I did it to practice and make sure I could still do it. A test really."

"Perfection is a curse." She found teasing him enjoyable.

"Quite." He then took a deep breath. "During one of my performances, Nadir appeared. He has been hired by the Shah of Persia to recruit new….employees. I had stolen his wallet earlier and he came back when he realized it was me. Yet, before he could go into the camp kicking and screaming justice, he heard me singing."

"You were just singing for your amusement?"

"No." He began to tense up. "I….. I used my voice to hypnotize the crowd and distract them, while the gypsies sized them up and assessed who they could take advantage of in their games, cards or simply rob. Nadir almost fell victim to it, but he was able to resist. The fact that I could trick him twice in one evening, made me an ideal candidate."

"Angel, it is alright. I do not fault you for this, after all Nadir worked for him too."

"There's more. I considered myself far superior than the Shah. I was arrogant and I was angry. I allowed myself to be seduced by power and considering there was no one who cared about me, I liked the feeling of someone wanting me."

"Where was Antoinette?"

"She had married Jules by then. We had somewhat lost touch. It is the reason I left Paris in the first place."

"So you were alone and had no one. You suddenly were being…. Courted by a powerful man, who you found liked your company."

Erik only looked at Christine, afraid to reply. She continued. "So, how can I fault you for a crime when you finally felt equal with someone?"

"I was commissioned to build torture chambers. I killed thousands of people and not in a merciful way! I enjoyed the creativity and the power and the…."

"Acceptance."

He couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. "Christine, I am not asking you to understand, I do not think you could ever begin to forgive me for the pain I caused. I just wanted you to know what I am. Now that you know, you may need to rethink our whole…. arrangement."

"You mean relationship and no, I don't."

"I….What?" How can she defend me? Still want me?

"You killed your master in self defense. That was not senseless killing. As far as this….Position is concerned, who is to say you were not being manipulated yourself? When you were able to show mercy, you did."

"When?"

"Reza….. Nadir…You wanted to leave, when you realized that was not how you wanted acceptance."

"Christine, don't romance this. I killed! Maybe I didn't sentence them to die, or watch the slaughter, but I made the deaths possible. I was their Death Angel."

"Why did you stop?"

"Why?" He was perplexed by her question.

"Yes if you were so happy being this Angel of Death, why did you stop?"

"After a while the feeling of acceptance felt false and burdening. I was spending time with Reza and realizing how much I missed Antoinette and the things that made me happy, like drawing to create something lasting, as opposed to causing destruction. Then there was the music. I hadn't played music since I was there."

She knew why he had stopped and why he wanted out of that terrible place. "So you realized it was wrong."

"Yes! I…." He looked up and saw her smiling back at him.

She took back his hand and placed it in hers. "When you realized it was wrong, you left. You wanted good. You came back home."

"Antoinette wrote and told me Jules had died and she was pregnant with Megan. The baby was due at anytime….. I left there with a new sense of purpose. I didn't want to kill anymore, I wanted to help raise that life."

"And you did, and you also saved mine. Tell me Angel, have you killed anyone since Persia?" She was expecting him to answer no to prove her point.

Again he was taken aback by her direct, effortless questioning. Maybe even more taken aback by how easily he found himself answering her. "For game, no? For power no?"

She had her reply ready until she heard his answer. She wasn't prepared for what came next.

"I have killed twice. Once by a mugger on the street, while taking Megan with me on an errand and the other time was….."

"When?" She held his gaze.

"After one of our lessons when I was returning to my lair. Do you remember Joseph Buquet?"

"He fell from the rafters….." She looked at him in shock."That was you?"

"He had been making disgusting comments to Antoinette for a long time and somehow he found out about our lessons and I saw him follow you to your dorm. That was the last straw. I appeared before him as a gentleman and made a very persuasive argument for him to leave my family alone."

He…. Followed me? I was only a child…." She could not stop herself from shaking.

"Christine, there is nothing to fear. I threaten him, and I thought the matter was dropped. Until one day I heard him making comments again, and I pounced on him. I only expected us to fight with our hands, but he pulled out a knife. I suspect he may have been drunk, for I could smell the alcohol on his breath. He came at me. As I know every inch of this theatre, he was no match for me. I started to climb up the wall but kicked my legs up to strike his head first, but he lost his balance when he tried to get out of the way."

"You were defending me? You mean he was going to…. Attack me?" Her insides were becoming unglued. All she could see was what Joseph would have done to her had her Angel not been there.

"I don't know, but I couldn't take that chance and after all the warnings, I figured he deserved to be beaten. But I never meant to cause his death."

"You didn't! He fell and you were defending yourself and ….." The realization that she could have been attacked much sooner than Raoul made her face turn white. "Angel….."

Erik was on his knees. "I haven't killed anyone Christine since that night. I would never do anything to make you fear me. Please, say you aren't afraid of me."

"Afraid of you? Erik I run to you, not away from you. My God, you were my guardian in every sense of the word. It wasn't until you were out of my life that….." She couldn't control her sobs. "My Angel… Thank you!" She clung to him as if her life depended on it.

Erik held her just as tightly, and began rocking her, for she was visibly shaken. He assumed it was because of his confession. She isn't afraid of my past. Can I be as greedy to hope she is not afraid of my face?

…...,

"Raoul! Where are you? Phillip was more agitated than usual and after returning home from a long trip, he was in no mood to wait around for his brother.

"Phillip, welcome home!" He gave his bother a hug. "You are looking well. Are you feeling up to accompanying Josephine and I to the ball this evening?"

"Ball? What Ball?" He proceeded to make himself a drink at the bar, and Raoul was right behind him, ready to extend out his own glass for a refill.

"Josephine has requested we attend the Paris Opera House's ball. I sure could use a friendly face." He lied and sipped his drink.

Phillip took the drink out of Raoul's hand and placed it down. "You have no business there, Raoul. I suggest you find another means of entertaining your fiancé ."

"Come now Phillip, I've been as good as gold. Besides Josephine already bought a new dress and mask. Please don't make me have to disappoint her."

The Paris Opera House was the last placed Phillip wanted his brother to be at. However it had been several months since his visit with Madame Giry and he hadn't heard a word about Raoul's former whore. Phillip rationalized that ballet rats couldn't afford a ball such as this.

"Very well, you two have fun. I have some work I must attend to."

Raoul faked his disappointment. "We will try and make merry without you."

"Tell me how are the wedding plans proceeding?"

"Very nicely. Josephine is leaving no detail left to chance."

Phillip looked nonplus as he answered. "Well there is no harm in moving things up a bit. After all, it has been a long enough engagement. Unless…."

"Unless what?"Raoul looked at his brother nervously.

"Unless she has wised up and realized that you are not a suitable match. Just do all you can to move this forward. We need some stability, Raoul. Especially since that twit of a cousin of ours in leaving his succession."

"Ah yes, Justin. Well I tried to warn him and show him the errors of my ways."

"Just leave him to his fate. We need to concentrate on ours, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear." Raoul was about to make a quick getaway when he remembered a letter that had arrived marked urged for Phillip. "Oh, I almost forgot."

"What is it?"

"A letter came for you the other day."

"From who?"

"I'm not sure, it was just marked urgent." He placed the letter into his brother's hand waiting to see if he would share with him any clues of the mystery. When Phillip proceeded to only hold the letter in his hands and not read it out loud, Raoul got the hint. "Well, I'm off then. Good to have you back brother."

Phillip smiled in his reply. He then opened the letter and read the note.

"Dear Phillip,

I trust Spain was as wonderful as ever.

You should know that we have been seeing about town a rather well to do fellow who recently just moved to France. He seems very interested in getting sociable with the right sort of characters. He also seems to have a keen interest finding out all about you and Raoul. I'm not sure if your brother has made some enemies or advocates, but wanted you to be aware.

His name is Nadir Khan.

All my best.

Randolph"

Phillip picked up his drink. "Who is Nadir Khan?"