A/N: So it's finally over. I thank you all that reviewed its chapters and hope you like the ending, without your opinions, I would never have the incentive I needed to go on. Honestly, I don't consider this piece one of my best works (and I can say it, because I wrote many others after finishing this one and will be posting them soon), but I can't deny it improved a lot my writing skills and made me grow as a writer. This was my first phic with more than one chapter and it was really a great experience to write and post it here. Well, to the chapter!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own them... But I do own the will to keep borrowing them from their real and incredibly creative owners.

Chapter VI – Révéler

"This way," his voice reached me before Erik himself arose from the shadows, gesturing for me to follow him. I struggled not to reach out and hold him, knowing the impossibility of that move in such circumstances, and walked obediently under his guidance.

In instants, we were out of the street, in a quiet place surrounded by trees, lit by the melancholy of the stars high above and seeming completely hidden from the rest of the world. The kind of place that only Erik could find in Paris.

I knew it would be hard to make he understand my reasons, even though they were evident to me. And he wouldn't demolish so easily the wall of iciness that consisted on his own self-defense, this I had recognized even before his harsh demand for an answer,

 "So, Christine, what do you still want from me?"

"Erik, I..." I had prepared myself many times for this moment, but when it had finally come, I was momentarily speechless. "Although you made it appear like a dream, I know that it was really you... that morning."

"Very clever," he confirmed and fell silent, waiting for me to go on.

"How?" I gave a questioning look at his impassible face, unable to detain my curiosity at any mechanism used by him during that appearance.

"Hypnotizing you," he explained tiredly, "it's quite simple to someone who worked with it."

The thought that maybe he had carried me to the bed when I fell asleep under the effect of hypnosis made me shiver lightly at the possibility of being in his arms, so close to him once more. But I redirected my thoughts to the present and to his reasons with a start. "But why didn't you make me forget about everything then?"

"I simply thought that you would take it as a bad dream," he said with disdain, "in what else would I appear for you?"

"I just came back to the Opera to search for you. People don't usually seek for their nightmares," I said quietly. "Tonight was my first presentation, did you see it?"

"Yes," he nodded and paused; knowing the next thing he was about to say was a lie. "And I could also see that you don't need my lessons anymore."

"But I missed them," I approached him, locking my eyes onto his. "I missed them very much, Angel."

"And what does the vicomte thinks about your return?" he changed the subject, but didn't avert his gaze.

"I believe he's content," I said, annoyed by the change of subject. "The whole company is doing great."

"I see," he muttered ironically. "A vicomtesse may work, after all." 

"I will never be a vicomtesse. I broke up with Raoul," I replied and continued resolutely, "I care for him, but I don't love him. I never did..." Actually, Erik, I love you. I reflected silently, my initial resolve suddenly abandoning me.          

He looked away as I trailed off and I knew it was my turn to change the subject.

"Erik, why didn't you return to your house?" I asked, revealing my own incursions to his lair and trying to confirm my impressions.

"I did return, Christine. Two days after that fateful night, I returned to my lair to try to repair the damages. As you can imagine, the alarms were broken and I couldn't notice your presence immediately. When I did, you were crying on the corridor..." he said and looked at me again, his eyes betraying his feelings for a brief moment, before a look of forced indifference filled them. Taking a deep breath, he continued to talk,  "I wanted to comfort you, but I did not wish to be seen. So I started to play that song in the violin. When you ran to the music room and then continued your search through the rest of the house, I realized that unlike the others, you hadn't believed that I was dead and insisted on chasing me. Yet, it is time to stop with this hide-and-seek, don't you think? Even now, there's one thing I don't understand and brought you here to make it clear: why all this?"

"Oh, Erik," I said, covering his hands with my own, "it's all my fault. I should have stayed, followed my heart and my real choice..."

"What are you saying, Christine?" I felt his hands colder as he asked that.

"I'm trying to say, my dear Angel," I replied, giving a steady look into his tormented dark eyes, "that I chose you. I want to spend the rest of my life by your side. That's why I searched for you."

"No, that can be," he whispered and withdrew his hands hastily. "It's so obvious, Christine, you can't be bound to a hateable monster like me. Things don't work in that way and-- "

"You are not that, Erik," I said firmly, placing one finger on his lips. "Don't ever say it again. You saved me from my solitude, you gave me your music, you protected me. A monster wouldn't do this."

"I killed people, I brought you to the darkness, I took you from the world you've known," he shook his head desolately. "You should hate me, Christine."

"No, I shouldn't," I continued helplessly, clasping my hands on his chest and looking deeply at him. "Erik, I love you."

His expression showed all too well that he was astounded, but still he laid a cautious hand on my shoulder.

"It's my choice, you asked me to make it," I spoke gently. "Now, will you accept it?"

His hand came to gently stroke the back of my neck and he bent to kiss me without saying a word. When his lips closed over mine, I realized the difference between this kiss and our first kiss. Our first kiss contained all the hopelessness of an impossible love; this one was filled with the realization that this love wasn't really impossible.

"Do I have a choice?" he murmured as we held each other tight. "I love you."

XxxX

It has been six whole months since my walk through the long and winding road. Many things happened during this time. Meg and Lione are engaged; everybody knows they are meant to be. Madame Giry is very happy with it and continues to exercise her endless patience teaching the little rats from the ballet corps. Raoul is traveling around the world and constantly send me letters from different countries.

And I? At the present time, I'm entering in a certain lair, beneath a certain opera house and finding a certain angel playing the piano.

"I'm back," I whisper, holding him, "as you asked me, I bought a new inkpot for you."

"So soon?" he inquires with a smile, interrupting the music. "I told you I wouldn't disappear."

"I know," I laugh at Erik's little joke and kiss him on the cheek, "I wouldn't let you."