Disclaimer: No not mine.

Author's Note: Just as a note, I have used some terms concerning the French legal system and how it works. I have tried to research these things for the 19th century, but there is the very likelihood that I got some things incorrect. I am sorry if I have. You may correct me and I will try to make corrections, if you like.

Wow now that I've scared everyone to death, I thought maybe I ought to post this soon since death and suicide threats are flying around like rabid bunnys.

The Trial

Lily stood hearing Meg's words. She began to shake her head denying what she knew to be true in her heart. She did not speak. She left the opera house, with the other two women staring after her. Lily knew she would have to hurry.

She took a carriage to the Paris court, where all trials were held. As she exited the carriage she was shocked to see Erik in the middle of the court square in stocks. She could see that his mask had been removed. And to her utter horror there were people standing and gawking, and others pelting him with fruit and vegetables. She immediately pushed her way through the crowd and kneeled before him.

"Erik." She cried out seeing that his face was bruised. They had beaten him. "My god, what did they do to you?"

"Lily. Go back to the opera house. Leave me." He said hanging his head not wanting her to see him in such a state.

"No. I won't go back without you." She insisted.

"Lily, they are going to hang me." He said shaking his head.

"Not if I have anything to do with it." She said taking his face into her hands and pulling it up to look into his eyes. "I will not live my life without you."

One of the men watching them called out. "Girl, what are you doing with that monster? Get out of there. You are ruining our sport."

She turned to the man and stood placing herself between Erik and the man. "Any one of you who try to hurt him will have to go through me first." She threatened.

"Lily, no. Just go." Erik whispered behind her.

"I will not move." She called out.

The Gendarmes in the courtyard square had seen Lily approach the prisoner and one of them stepped forward. "Mademoiselle, you really should not be here."

"You are a Gendarme, a member of the French police. It is your duty to make sure this prisoner makes it safely to his trial. Am I correct?" She asked crossing her arms and planting her feet squarely in front of him.

"Well yes, Mademoiselle. But it is normal to hold a prisoner convicted of murder in the stocks, until their execution." He explained.

"Convicted. This man has not even had a trial yet." She said in outrage.

"Well it's only a matter of time." The Gendarme smiled.

"Sir, I believe you are in for a surprise. Now if you do not do your job and remove this man from these stocks, I will contact your supervisor." She threatened.

"But Madem…" He started to object.

"Do you know who I am, Sir?" She interrupted him.

"Yes, you're the opera star, Lily Giroux." He answered immediately.

"Well Sir, I have become quite an influence with some members of French Parliament. Do I have to discuss this with them?" She asked willing to tell any lie necessary to remove Erik from the stocks. She knew what it must have been doing to his pride. He had not suffered that much indignation since he was a child with the gypsies.

"No, no. You don't." He said as his eyes widened. He immediately unlocked the stocks and removed Erik from them, cuffing him in chains instead. She followed them as they took him into the court, as the onlookers continued to pelt them both with fruit and vegetables.

They locked him into a temporary holding cell until the trial was to begin. Lily stayed next to the cell, her eyes daring the men to try to make her leave. "I'm sorry, Erik. My naivety has now cost two people I love dearly way too much."

"Lily, I saw what happened on that balcony. You had no choice." He insisted.

She was standing gripping the iron bars of the cell. He stood on the other side of the cell far away from her. "Then why do you stand across this cell away from me?"

He looked away from her. "Lily, I can't be near you. I am to die today, and knowing that it would be too cruel to touch you now."

"Erik, I will not let you die today. I will see the very fires of hell myself, before I see that." She whispered.

"No, Lily. I want you to go back to the opera house and live your life. I don't want you here today." He insisted.

"You would die in my place today?" She asked.

"Yes." He whispered back to her. "And any other day that I had to. Now go, Lily." The last three words were a shout.

She stood staring at him for a moment wanting so badly to hold him. She knew it might be the last time. But he would not allow it. "No matter what happens today Erik, I want you to know that I will always love you." She said calmly and then turned away from him and leaving the room.

He watched her walk out and felt as if his very soul was being ripped from him. "Lily, I love you." He whispered knowing she could not hear him. Then he turned to the wall leaning his head against it, letting his unshed tears fall. "Oh god, how I love you."

Lily watched from the back of the room as Erik was brought in. She had the hood on her cape over her head, not wanting him to see her. She knew he would find a way to have her removed if he knew she was there. He walked in with his head held high looking straight forward ignoring the jeered comments of the spectators.

He was placed inside the defendant's box, and forced to remain standing as the Magistrate entered the room. The magistrate started the trial without any delays.

"Sir, you are charged with the murder of one Philippe LaChance. Do you have anything to say in your defense?" The Magistrate asked expecting to hear a plea for leniency.

"No." Was Erik's one word reply.

"Well in that case, I would hear from the witness for the prosecution." The magistrate said motioning the woman who had screamed when she saw Erik on the roof.

As Lily guessed the woman had assumed that Erik had been the guilty party when she saw him, but had not mentioned her own presence at the hotel.

"Well if there are no more witnesses I will …" The Magistrate began, but was interrupted.

"There is another witness." Lily spoke from the back of the room. She stepped forward to stand in front of the Magistrate. She could see Erik's mask sitting before the older man on the bench.

"What is this? I was told there was only one witness. Who are you?" The Magistrate said angrily.

Lily pulled her hood down. "Lily Giroux. I'm sorry, Sir. There is another witness to this death." She answered.

"Lily, please don't do this." Erik pleaded. She ignored his plea and continued to face her questioner.

"Who? Did you witness it, Mademoiselle?" The Magistrate's tune changed when he realized who she was. Her fame had grown immensely do to the opera.

"No, your honor." She motioned back to Erik. "He witnessed it." She answered.

"My dear you are making no sense. How could he have been a witness?" The Magistrate asked.

"Because he didn't commit the crime. I did. And he witnessed it." She answered lowering her eyes. Shocked gasps erupted around the room.

"Pardon." The Magistrate said thinking he had misheard her.

"This man did not kill Monsieur LaChance. If anyone is responsible, it is I." She answered again.

"Mademoiselle, I'm afraid I find that hard to believe. The other witness saw him." The Magistrate began to shake his head.

Lily turned to the other witness. "You saw him on the roof, but you did not tell them that you saw a woman on the second floor balcony."

The witness nodded her head. "It didn't strike me as important."

"It is. That woman was I." She turned to the Magistrate again. "Sir, may I explain what happened?"

"By all means." He answered motioning her to a seat beside his bench.

"Thank you." She said. Once she was seated and sworn in she waited for the questions to start.

"Why were you at the hotel?" The lawyer for the prosecution began.

"Monsieur LaChance sent me a message, asking me to meet him there." She answered.

"Did you know him?" Was the next question.

"Yes. I performed opposite of him in Venice five years ago." She answered.

"You say you are responsible for his death. Why would you want him dead?" The prosecutor hoped to discredit her immediately.

It was the question she had hoped never to have to answer again, but to save Erik she would have to. She paused for a moment taking a deep breath. And then looked straight into the man's eyes as she answered. "Five years ago Philippe LaChance raped me, and murdered my father."

You could have heard a pin drop as her statement settled into the minds of all present. No one knew anything about the man in question, so there was not any opposition to her statement. She kept eye contact with her questioner. She did not want him to think she lied. Everyone had heard the tales of her father's death.

"I'm sorry, Mademoiselle." He stuttered. It took a moment to gather his thoughts to ask the next question. He couldn't remember what he wished to ask. He looked to the Magistrate.

The Magistrate turned to Lily. "Let's make this a little less formal, Mademoiselle. Please just explain what happened last night."

Lily nodded and then began. "I went to the hotel to confront Philippe about my father's death. I had no proof that he did it. I wanted him to tell me the truth. Which he eventually did. He gloated over the fact. I had taken a Punjab Lasso with me for my protection. It was tucked into the waist of my skirt under my cape. He discovered it. He mocked me asking me if I could use it to snap his neck. He went so far as to wrap it around his own neck." She paused then remembering the taunting look he had given her and his mocking words.

"And then he attacked me again. I don't know if he wanted to rape me again, or kill me because I knew too much. I tried to escape from him, by going out on the balcony. He followed me and shut the balcony door behind him. I tried to slip inside again, but he caught me and threw me up against the door. I was afraid for my very life so I fought harder than I even imagined I could. I shoved him back and he fell over the balcony. I had not seen that the lasso was still wrapped around his neck and the other end was caught in the doorjamb. It pulled tight strangling him. Shortly after, I heard the other witness screaming, and looked up to see Erik on the roof. He had witnessed it himself." She ended her testimony hoping it was enough to save him.

The Magistrate turned to the other witness. "Madame, would you say that the rope you saw came from the second floor?"

"I'm not sure." The woman answered still staring at Erik.

"Sir. If I may suggest, the body was hanging when she first saw it. And that rope was not long enough to reach the roof. Erik could not have accomplished what she suggests. That is a six story building." The lasso was lying on an evidence table to the side and the Magistrate glanced at it realizing that her words made sense. He nodded and then turned back to Lily.

"Mademoiselle, you realize with your statements here today that you could be tried yourself for this death?" He asked.

"Yes I do." She said looking him in the eyes ready to accept her own fate.

"This man, Erik as you call him would have been hung here without any protest and you would be free as a bird. Why did you come here today?" He asked more out of curiosity than legal need.

"For two reasons sir. The first, because it is the truth. My father always taught me to speak the truth." She started and then looked at Erik. He was staring right at her, and she could see that he knew what her next words would be.

"No Lily." He mouthed to her.

She smiled at him and said in her clearest voice for all to hear. "And secondly, because I love him."

The room broke into chaos then as the crowd exclaimed over her statement. Lily did not notice the chaos. Her eyes were for Erik alone.

"I demand order in this court." The Magistrates strong baritone voice boomed throughout the chamber. It took a few more moments for the noise to subside.

Then Lily turned to the Magistrate. "May I stand, Sir?" She asked. He nodded, and she stood reaching out and taking the mask off the bench. When the Magistrate did not object she walked slowly towards Erik.

When she was but inches from him she began to speak. "You all are shocked at my words. You all wonder how I could love a monster. But I must ask you, what makes this man a monster? Some would say his face does. But if I do this." She paused then to place Erik's mask back on his face and then smoothed his hair back away from his face. "He is but a man in a mask." She then removed the mask again. "He is the same man with or without the mask. He is the man who saved my life once. He is the man who has encouraged me to find my voice again after so many years of silence. He is the man who against my wishes followed me to that hotel last night wanting to protect me, even though he knew the man I went to see was a murderer. He is the man who today would have faced the gallows to save my life." She placed his mask on the banister that stood between them, and took both of his hands in her own. She could see the tears that had started to stream down his face at her words. She reached up and wiped away a single tear from the scared side of his face.

"I do not see a monster before my eyes. I see my savior, my encouragement, my protector, and a man that I would gladly die for, just as he would for me. I see only Erik, the man I love. And if today is to be the last time I am to ever see him, I will not leave without a kiss." She declared and then reached up placing a tender kiss upon his lips, wrapping her hand around his neck. The kiss was not full of passion, but of the deepest yearning that a heart could feel for one it would soon lose. After their lips parted Lily laid her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her wanting to hold her forever.

They did not look to the others in the room. It was as if they were the only two present they were so absorbed in each other.

The Magistrate looked around to the stunned crowd. Not a whisper was heard, and he could see that many a face also held tears for the touching scene that they had witnessed. He cleared his voice knowing he would have to make a judgment. "Never in all my years have I seen two people more willing to give their lives for each other. I'm afraid it shames me. Due to the testimony of Lily Giroux today I am dismissing the charges against this man, Erik. Do you have a last name?"

Lily looked up into Erik's face. He was free. Erik looked to the Magistrate. "No sir. Its just Erik. But what of Lily's fate?"

"I would have to say that it seems to me that this is a clear case of self-defense. No charges will be pressed." The Magistrate said standing and dismissing the court. Erik could see as the man turned that there was a tear in the corner of his eye.

Erik looked down upon Lily's shining face. He could see the tears there. "Tears, my love."

"Tears of joy, my love." She whispered back at him.

"Now will you listen to me and finally go back to the opera house?" He asked smiling at her.

"I will follow you anywhere." She answered.

The End, or I should say The Beginning

Author's Note: I will post the Epilogue sometime tonight or tomorrow night. Until then I am waiting to see what you all thought of my ending. Please tell.