Oh man this is so strange being stuck in one of my story highs; typing almost everyday like I used to in the beginning. But I guess you guys enjoy every minute of it, because you get a new chapter to read. This chapter has a jump in time, the mystery of Andre and Firmin will be solved, and a faithful friend will pass on. So grab tissues, because you will have tears of sorrow and tears of laughter by the end of this.

You know I never made the note that in my story I started Erik out at age 35; because that's the only way this would work out. He looked that age to me when I first saw it, so don't flame me or anything just because I don't portray him as a 50 year old. Trust me he wouldn't have lasted long if he was 50.

Chapter 64: Waiting for You

Three years had passed and Jacqueline was soon to be five, but all ready she excelled on the highest levels and she wasn't even in school yet. She already had a 6th grade reading level and had read a number of her grandfather's large textbooks. No matter where she went in the Opera House she always had a book tucked under her arm.

She also fell in love with stringed instruments. Place any instrument with strings in front of her and she would play the sweetest tunes off the top of her head. Her family eventually had to get her one of her own violins, because she had a tendency to climb into the orchestra pit and play one of those violins until she got caught.

The bond she shared with her grandfather became greater as she expanded her knowledge. It basically was because half of the time he was the only one, who understood what she was talking about. But due to the fact that the Opera House was in full swing again and Erik was rather busy he had promised her during the off season after dinner they would sit down together and look through a book. Then she was free to ask any question that came to mind and he would answer it to the best of his knowledge.

xxxxx

One particular day as Jacqueline sat in her favorite chair, overlooking the lake, with her legs dangled over the armrest and a book on architecture on her lap she noticed her grandfather was in a rather good mood as he went about the room.

She put a bookmark in the book and sat up a bit pushing her blonde hair behind her ear. Erik went past her clutching a frame in his hands. He went over to the organ and hung it on a nail that was bare the rest of the year. Right away she knew the occasion and went back to her book.

"Erik, please take that down! I hate seeing it up," Christine complained as she came into the room.

"But I'm celebrating. You didn't say anything about it the last two years."

"Because I didn't think you would make a national holiday out of it. So Andre and Firmin were in a devastating carriage accident three years ago meaning they never got the Opera House, but that doesn't give you the right to celebrate it."

"Of course it does. I never did like those two idiots."

"Erik!" Christine said smacking him and pointing to Jacqueline, who was now looking up at them.

"It's okay grandma. He says it all the time. I'm pretty much used to it by now."

"See no problem there," Erik said hoping the conversation would stop.

"I don't care. You need to stop cursing in front of her. She may be smart, but she's still a child. You need to respect that."

"I do. But I do enjoy having someone interested in some of the same things I am to talk to. She's a brilliant girl."

Jacqueline smiled before turning her gaze back to the book. Le Noir came into the room and sat by the chair. Meowing for attention Jacqueline finally put the book down. "Why don't you jump up here you silly cat," she said reaching over and picking her up. She rested Le Noir in her lap and scratched the cat behind the ear as she started reading again. Le Noir purred happily as her tail flicked from side to side.

The two of them had always been good companions and just like a book, Le Noir seldom left Jacqueline's side except when she went up to the Opera House. The cat even moved from Lotte's and Pierre's room to sleep curled up at the end of Jacqueline's bed at night warming the little girl's feet.

"You must be getting so tired girl," Jacqueline said as she stroked the cat's back. "You don't seem to be as agile as you used to be and you are usually having trouble jumping onto the bed at night. What's wrong huh?"

Le Noir lifted her head and looked at Jacqueline with her piercing yellow eyes and gave a soft meow. She was at least 13 years old and that's old for a cat. Jacqueline had no idea about that and thought nothing about Le Noir's small problems; though as she petted her, Jacqueline noticed white hairs hidden amongst the black ones giving the cat a gray look.

"Jacqueline time to get cleaned up and go to bed," Lotte called from the other room.

"Okay mama," Jacqueline said closing up her book and waited for Le Noir to jump, but the cat only looked at her. "All right fine," Jacqueline said as she picked the cat up and carried her into the bedroom placing her carefully on the bed.

xxxxx

The next morning when Jacqueline awoke she saw Le Noir curled up on the bed like always, but she wasn't moving. Her tail wasn't twitching and she didn't look like she was breathing either. She crawled to the end of the bed and petted the cat's back, but didn't even get a purr.

She ran from the room and was grateful to see her grandfather sitting at the organ scribbling some notes on the parchment next to him. "Grandpa, hurry something's happened to Le Noir!" she cried running over to him and tugging on the tail of his jacket.

"What's going on here?" he asked turning around to face her. He had been lost in thought and hadn't heard her.

"When I woke up this morning Le Noir was still on my bed and she wasn't moving. I petted her and she still didn't do anything. What happened to her?" Jacqueline explained tears coming to her eyes.

Erik knew exactly what happened. Le Noir must have died in her sleep. Now he knew that Jacqueline loved that cat and this was going to be hard for her to understand. One thing Erik had learned about death was if some random person off the street or someone you have no acquaintance with died you showed little to no mind, but if that person was a loved one or someone you cared about it was hard to not blame yourself for the ordeal.

When he came into the bedroom Jacqueline pointed Le Noir out and Erik felt awful. The cat had no movement what so ever and Jacqueline was on the brink of tears again.

"Grandpa can't you help her?"

"I'm afraid there isn't anything I can do. She died in her sleep it looks like."

"Died? But I thought she would stay with me forever."

"Forever is a long time sweetheart. Nothing lasts forever though we wish it did. Everything that ever lived will one day die just like Le Noir did."

"You mean I'll die?"

"Someday you will, but you still have a whole life ahead of you."

"Will you die?"

Erik straightened himself. He had thought long and hard before about what would happen to his family when he passed on. He wasn't in his prime anymore and he had no idea when his time on earth would be up. "I will someday as well. But I don't know when that day will come."

"Is it soon?"

"No one knows for sure. Only God knows when we will die and I'm sure that he took Le Noir up to heaven, because she was so old. He didn't want her to suffer anymore."

"Will I ever see her again?"

"You want to know what I think." Erik asked her as he sat down on the bed and had her stand in front of him. "I have a feeling that Le Noir will wait for you. Because you took such good care of her she'll be in heaven waiting at the gates for you and when you get there the two of you will go through together."

"Will you wait for me Grandpa?" she asked wiping her eyes.

Erik froze. Did he even deserve to go to heaven after all that he had done? He didn't want to disappoint her, so he told her the truth. "I'll wait for you Jacqueline and for your mother. I won't pass through until the two of you join me and we can pass through together as a family. Your grandmother would wait as well."

Jacqueline fell into his arms and hugged him. "Just don't leave me now."

Erik pushed her back and held her hands tightly. "I won't leave you now. I have a feeling there still a lot I have to do before I go. Most importantly I want to watch you grow up into a brilliant young woman. I wouldn't want all my hard work to just falter would I?"

Jacqueline shook her head. "But what about Le Noir; we just can't leave her there."

"Get dressed and I'll put her in a nice box. Together we'll take her to the cemetery and have a proper burial."

"But it's day. Mother says you seldom go out during the day."

"I'll make an exception. Now hurry up," he said kissing her forehead and taking Le Noir up into his arms.

After he closed the door Jacqueline looked at the spot Le Noir had been lying on just moments ago and rubbed her nose with her arm. The entire time she had spoken with her grandfather she did her best not to show utter sadness. She needed to be strong and prove to him she could be.

When she came out Erik had Le Noir resting inside a box. "Can I see her one last time?" Jacqueline asked coming up next to him.

Erik lifted the lid and she looked inside. Le Noir was placed in a natural curled up position making it look like she was only sleeping. One last time Jacqueline reached her hand into the box; stroking behind the cat's ear half expecting her to purr, but no sound came.

"Come along now into the boat," Erik instructed replacing the lid.

They went down to the water's edge and Erik first placed the box inside then her; helping her to sit comfortably among the pillows. Untying it and grabbing the pole leaning against the wall he climbed in and started to row.

Jacqueline enjoyed the calm feeling she got as they rowed across the lake, even though it was sewage. She was so used to the smell by now and after her near death experience she did well to steer clear of it.

"Grandpa, where are we going?" she finally asked.

"To the cemetery Jacqueline, seeing as Le Noir is considered family it's only fair that she gets buried with the rest of the family."

Jacqueline nodded. But no one else she knew of in the family had died except her great-grandfather, which her grandmother spoke of often. Christine had commented that Jacqueline played just like her father had and it made her so proud. She looked down at the box at her feet and sighed. She wanted Le Noir to just jump out of it alive and well, but there was no chance in that happening.

Finally the boat hit shore and Erik lifted Jacqueline out and settled her upon the shore before grabbing the box and tying up the boat. Together they went up the tunnel and through the mirror. No one was awake or moving outside the dressing room, so they managed to get to the stables without any interruptions.

Erik handed her the box as he saddled up Cesar, who was close to reaching his peak as well. Even though horses lived much longer than cats, Cesar was beginning to show tiring now and again and soon Erik would be sending the horse out by Armand where he could live happily until the end of his days. It didn't feel right to just shoot Cesar after all the two of them had been through. Tying a shovel to the saddle he finally led Cesar into the open aisle of the stable.

Jacqueline stepped back timidly at the sheer size of the horse. The once glossy black coat had lost its shine and the black orbs in the horse's eyes no longer twinkled. Cesar pawed the ground with his hoof and whinnied; causing Jacqueline to gasp.

"What's a matter?" Erik asked her.

"He's so big. I'm afraid I'll get trampled."

"Well then come here and I'll put you out of harm's way." She went to him and he lifted her up into the saddle. "There he can't hurt you up there."

He climbed up behind her and taking the reins sent Cesar out into the courtyard and out into the Paris streets. Jacqueline turned back to look at him to see that he had donned a hood. "What's…" she started.

"Shhh, don't draw attention to it okay? It's a little precaution of mine," he explained.

Jacqueline faced forward again an unsettling feeling in her stomach. She knew her grandfather hid a secret from the world. She had seen it when she was younger and it pained her to see him like that. It wasn't fair for someone, so great to have a face like that. "Sorry," she whispered.

"It's all right. Just remember that in the future."

"Yes, Grandpa, I will."

They moved through the streets and soon came onto a dirt road that headed off into the distance. It wasn't long till they came into the cemetery and Jacqueline looked around wearily at all the graves. The idea of death right now scared her and she clutched the saddle horn tightly.

"Jacqueline, don't tell me you're scared," Erik said as he pulled back the hood.

"Are they all…dead?" she asked taking a hesitated breath.

"I'm afraid so."

"That's awful," she said as he helped her to the ground and led both her and Cesar through the tombstones.

Jacqueline grabbed the end of his cloak, so she wouldn't get lost and followed behind him as she gazed around at the tombstones. As they passed one in particular the name seemed to scream out at her; Raoul de Changy.

Jacqueline couldn't explain why the name seemed to stick out so much; maybe, because the name flew around the Opera House from time to time. Trying to channel her thoughts on something else she turned to admire the flowers people had placed amongst the graves and wondered how it was her grandfather could go around wearing all that black? He was probably sweating from the heat and eager to call it quits, but he continued on with long, powerful strides compared to her dainty, tiny ones.

Suddenly Erik stopped and Jacqueline came close to bumping into him for she was too lost in thought to notice. "We're here."

She crept around him and she saw before them a tomb with the name, Daae, written across the top. "Whose tomb is this?" she asked letting go of the cloak and going up to the bottom step.

"This is the tomb of your great-grandfather, Stephen Daae."

"So this is who grandma kept referring to when I played my violin." She curtsied in front of the tomb. "It's a pleasure to meet you great-grandfather."

Erik set the box down on the ground and untied the shovel. "This is where we'll bury her. Seeing as he is family."

Jacqueline went up to the nextstep of the tomb and gazed up at it as Erik picked a patch of soft dirt and started to dig. The sound of the shovel as it hit the dirt and Erik's grunts as he worked made her think. "Grandpa, can I ask you something?"

"You already did," he teased.

"But!"

"Please continue."

"Who is Raoul De Changy? I saw his tombstone as we entered the cemetery and for some reason the name just seemed to be so familiar, yet haunting."

Erik stopped shoveling and gave a heavy sigh. He had wanted to be the last one to be asked that question, but the look on her face drove him to answer her. "He's a man, who wanted nothing more than to see that none of us lived."

"Why would someone do something like that? What did we do wrong?"

"It's nothing you did. It's what I did," Erik said starting to shovel again.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's not my place to ask those kinds of questions," she said sitting down upon the step. She knew a question was bad when her grandfather would go back to what he was doing or stand completely still.

"I might as well, seeing as I hate leaving you without an answer." He came over and sat down next to her. Just like he had for Lotte he told her what had happened leaving out some minor details here and there, but at least giving her the full extent of the story. When he came to the part of her almost nonexistence, because of Raoul, Jacqueline was in tears.

"He wanted to kill me? But I was innocent. Everything else you told me makes complete sense, but that…that…" she couldn't get out the rest of it out as she buried her head into her knees.

Erik didn't move. He knew this would be hard on her, but she would have to know eventually. She was a part of this one way or another and she had to know. He reached over and patted her back gently letting her know he was there. She looked up at him and smiled.

"What's that for?" he asked returning the gesture.

"For telling me the truth and being here for me when I needed you; besides I wouldn't want anyone else as my grandfather."

All Erik could do was pulling her into his arms and hold her. Here was a 4 year old telling him that she would chose no one over him. Deep down inside he hated Raoul with an even deeper passion for coming so close to taking life from his granddaughter. If the man was alive today he would seek him out and kill him all over again.

Jacqueline lifted her head from his shirt and smiled at him. "We should bury Le Noir and get back home. Mama will be worried about me."

"You're with me and I won't let anyone harm you. Come help me finish the grave."

Together they stood up and taking up the shovel dug out a small grave. They buried Le Noir and each of them said just how great she had been when alive.

"I liked how she would sleep on my toes at night and purr in my ear to wake me up each morning," Jacqueline said as she placed a couple violets she found under a tree on the grave.

"She was a good companion especially when I fell asleep in my chair or at my desk," Erik remarked placing one of his roses amongst the violets. "Are you ready to go home my dear?"

"Only if you go with me," Jacqueline said taking his hand and linking her fingers with his.

"As you wish," Erik said picking up the shovel and leading her back to Cesar. Walking hand in hand they went back to the gate of the cemetery and Erik pulled the hood back over his head.

"Grandpa how can you stand wearing all that black aren't you hot?"

"Jacqueline you have no idea."

Ha, you knew it was coming that Erik would be really uncomfortable wearing all black out on a sunny day. This chapter was sweet and sad all at the same time. Just think 3 days from today and Phantom comes out on DVD. Hurray! I'm getting it as soon as I'm done with work and watching it as soon as I get back to the dorm. That means I need to get popcorn for the occasion.