Epilogue

Mercedes ran as quickly as she could to the seamstress. She was running late, and there was only an hour before the play! Grabbing the costume, she ran back out the door and to her room. She slipped it on as fast as she could and then sat down in front of her vanity mirror. She meticulously applied her make-up, carefully concealing her stitches. Now she only had thirty minutes left.

Jogging lightly, for it is hard to run full speed when you have a corset on, she wove her way through the crowd of cast members to the stage. She had never been more nervous before than she was now. Her nervousness quickly died away when a strong, familiar arm wrapped around her waist and held her close. She closed her eyes, wishing that she could stay in Erik's embrace for all of eternity.

The play was now going to start, and Mercedes was startled out of her daydreams by the sound of the music. Erik quickly walked over to his position, and then onto the stage. "Passarino, faithful friend, once again recite the plan."

Mercedes fiddled with the gold engagement ring on her finger while waiting for her cue. When it was her time to go on stage, she started singing, "No thoughts within her head but thoughts of joy! No dreams within her heart but dreams of love!" while walking on stage. She sat down, and waited for Erik to sing his part. "You have come here in pursuit of your deepest urge, in pursuit of that wish, which till now has been silent, silent…"

Mercedes risked a look at Erik. He seemed to be battling something. As painful as she knew that performing this was, he needed to exorcize the demons of his past. Those demons didn't appear to be putting up much of a fight, for with every word that he sang, he looked more and more relaxed, more and more relieved.

It was her turn to sing again. "You have brought me to that moment where words run dry, to that moment where speech disappears into silence, silence…"

The play finally ended, and they received a standing ovation from the audience members. Mercedes could see one lone tear trickle out of Erik's eye, only to disappear behind his black mask. They both walked off of the stage hand in hand and made their way to Mercedes' dressing room. Erik led the way through the mirror and down to his home.

When they both got into Erik's music room, Mercedes suddenly spun him around to face her and kissed him passionately. She had her own demons to exorcize tonight. Mercedes proceeded to take off Erik's shirt and mask, and was fumbling with his belt while his normally adroit fingers now clumsily attempted to untie her corset. "I love you," Erik whispered as he held her. They both sunk to the floor in each other's embrace. "I love you too, Erik," Mercedes whispered in response.

Sorry to all my friends coughJavert'sSuicidecough who think Erik is slightly out of character, but this version of Erik suits my plot perfectly so deal with it! Anyways, thanx for reading my story and I hoped that all of you enjoyed it!