Chapter 26

"What will it be?" Monsieur D'aubigne asked his daughter, ready to hear her decision. He was surprised that she had decided already, he had only informed her of his decision the previous day. Knowing how fond she was of the opera he thought that it would take her longer, yet still he was anxious to hear what she had to say. It would be a lie to say that he would not be pleased if she chose to leave with him, for his daughter was all he had left of his wife, but he did not want to crush Elle's plans or to prevent her from succeeding as a singer.

"I am moving with you," she replied without a second thought. That resolution was hard for her to come to all by herself, but in the end she saw it as the only way. She wasn't sure if she could stand going back to the way things were between her and the phantom; she wasn't even sure that if she stayed he would still visit her. At least if Elle left she would have her father, and the change could be for the better, as he so believed. In a way her decision was in retaliation against Erik's cold heart, or heart that was cold towards her, but she was not sure if he would see it that way. All she knew was that once those words were spoken there was no going back and she had chosen to take the plunge.

Her father smiled at her response, not even attempting to conceal his happiness towards her decision. He was almost certain that she was going to stay and this was quite a surprise for him. It was what he wanted her to say all along, but he would have never thought of not giving her the choice. She would never forgive him for taking her away from everything she loved, which made sense. It seemed that whenever she finally got comfortable at a place he decided to move them. If his wife hadn't died then he wouldn't have made that decision at all. The man hated having to move Elle around so much and he planned on this being the last time.

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" he questioned her instead of immediately accepting her response. She could just be saying that because she thinks that is what he wants her to say, which would be the wrong reason and he knew that. The truth was D'aubigne did not want his daughter to do anything that she would regret later. Her happiness was what mattered most to him and so it was something that he did not want to stand in the way of. If she was not already aware of the consequences of moving with him he wanted to remind her. "You may never get another chance at the stage again if you come with me Elle. Is this the path that you wish to take?"

"I am sure," Elle answered, having already considered the possibilities. "There is nothing for me here."

D'aubigne nodded, almost not quite believing her. She seemed set on leaving with him, but he could tell that deep inside she wanted to stay. There was nothing he could do, she made her decision and so things were going to go as planned. "We leave the day after tomorrow in early morning. Have your bags ready by then."

"I will, father."

Elle left his office and headed back to her room to begin packing. She found it hard to believe that in only one day she would be leaving the opera house forever, not knowing if she would ever place her feet upon the front steps again. The devastating reality struck her at once when she started cleaning out the drawers of her desk and found two letters from Erik that she had hid there. Despite the fact that Elle felt heartbroken due to her last encounter with him, she still longed to say goodbye. She doubted that he would give her that opportunity.

The next day Elle kept her word and went to find Nadia amongst the chorus girls. She found her in the dormitories with Meg Giry, which happened to be the second place she looked. The two girls went for a walk in the opera house in order to get some privacy. Nadia immediately knew what their conversation was going to be about. Her friend was going to leave. The decision, although reasonable, was saddening. Since both of them had a tacit understanding pertaining to the reason Elle sought her out they remained silent for some time, savoring the moment.

Their walk unexpectedly led them to a place that they had journeyed to together several times before. Atop of the opera house Elle looked out over the city that she was leaving, taking time to soak in the view. She would definitely miss this spot; it was a place of reflection and memories. There was also another spot in the building that she would have to visit that day, but that could wait till later. Now she was with Nadia, awaiting the inevitable departure. It was ironic that a place that they went to together the first time they met was also going to be the last place they go together before Elle leaves. In that light it was most appropriate for their final words.

The sky was a bluish-gray and clouds blocked the sun from shining down. The girls stood next to each other, staring out at the city. Both were attempting to delay the emotional parting, but the mood was already in the air. They lingered atop the roof for some time as they both reflected on the time that they knew each other. To Elle it was as if she were reluctantly closing a chapter in her life. To Nadia this change was a loss, for herself and for the opera house. It was no secret that Elle had talent. Now after revealing her talent for singing she was going to move, therefore practically ending her career before it even started. In Nadia's opinion the directors would not be able to find someone who could take the place of Elle. She turned to face her friend and felt her voice get caught in her throat.

"I am leaving tomorrow morning," Elle spoke softly, aware that Nadia already knew she was moving with her father. Outside everything was surprising quiet and her words, although no more than a whisper, seemed to carry on the wind. "I probably will not get the chance to see you before I leave, so I wanted to talk to you now."

Nadia knew that she was leaving, but she did not think that it would be quite so soon. She was not sure what to say to her friend; goodbyes were never easy. Although she had supported Elle's decision either way, the gravity of the situation did not appear to her until this moment. Instead of dwelling on the things that she could not change, Nadia decided to look on the bright side. "I will write you every week," she said, struggling to give Elle a smile. "And tell you everything that is going on here. That way it will be like you are here, even if you are not."

"I would like that very much," Elle replied. At least she would be able to know how the directors are doing with managing the opera house even though she would be miles away. "Perhaps some time you could come and visit me and my father. You are always welcome in our home."

"The first time I get the chance I will," Nadia responded. She would have to wait until the opera house took some time off before she could take the carriage over to see her, but that was definitely something that she was planning to do. Elle said herself that they were only moving about an hour away; therefore the travel should not be that difficult. "Promise me something Elle; promise me that you will take care of yourself. You deserve to be happy."

"I promise. I will miss you Nadia."

"I will miss you too," she replied, trying not to cry. She knew, deep inside, that she would see her friend again, but at the same time she felt that it would be too long from then. The two young women hugged and then broke apart, getting one last look at each other. "Remember, this is not a goodbye. We will see each other again."

"I know we will." She was certain that she spoke the truth, although she was not sure when that would be.

As the two girls spoke they were unaware that they were not alone. Hidden in the shadows was the illustrious phantom. He had spotted them during their walk and stealthily followed them up there. His student was leaving, she had made her choice. Maybe it is better for us both this way, he thought to himself, but the argument was not very convincing. Erik tried to pretend like he did not care if she stayed or left, yet that was far from the truth. Secretly he wanted her to stay, but refused to even admit that to himself. Elle had been his only real connection with the world and now he was losing her.

He watched as the girls eventually left the rooftop, retreating back through the door from which they came. She was actually going to leave, which he found as a foolish thing to do. If Elle stayed then Erik could make her a star, there was no doubt in his mind that she had the ability, but she was going to move. The only person that he could blame was himself. She said herself that she would stay if he asked her to, but he refused. He could not allow himself to become vulnerable to anyone, not even Elle. But he had not meant to hurt her, which he obviously did. Erik could not help pondering what would happen to the young woman once she left. There was a small chance that he would ever see her again.

With a swish of his cloak Erik was already on his way back down, spiraling down the many staircases noiselessly headed towards his underground lair. He moved like a ghost, silently and hidden in the darkness; an expert in moving around undetected by those in the building. As usual he reached his home without any complications; no one saw him or heard him. Actually the place was quite quiet that day, without many people around. He preferred it that way. After rowing himself across the lake Erik stepped out of the boat and headed straight for his organ, preparing to continue working on his new music. Lately he had immersed himself in his music, using it as a way to let out all of his emotions while at the same time distracting him from thinking about certain things- and certain people.

Meanwhile Elle and Nadia separated downstairs, Nadia returning to the dormitories. Elle left her knowing exactly where she was heading to next, her feet guiding the way. She hadn't been to the chapel for several days, but it felt more like an eternity. When she arrived it was empty, as it commonly was, and dark. Some light came in through the stained glass window, but not much since it was an overcast day. Her eyes gradually adjusted to the dimness of the room as she slowly made her way across the width of the space. She settled at the row of candles and, using a match, lit one candle. In her own way she was saying goodbye to the room, which had become the place she went to when she thought of her mother. Elle almost felt like leaving the opera house was like leaving her mother, but she knew that her mother was always with her, no matter where she was. She kneeled on the cold floor before the candle and prayed for the last time in that small chapel.

Monsieur D'aubigne had spoken with the directors several times in the past few days. They were more then willing to take over for him as he had asked and expressed their regret at him moving out of the city. Both directors agreed that he could come back anytime and that his office would remain untouched in case he should want to return, yet all three men seemed to know that he would not be returning. The change would not be that drastic, the directors had already been handling most of the business for quite some time. The only difference would be that they would literally be on their own and, as they now heard, Elle would be gone as well. That was quite a surprise to them, for Elle had been deeply involved with the opera undertakings. After seeing her first performance they felt that losing her was a misfortune, but they were not too worried about finding talented performers for the next opera.

The day Elle and her father left the opera house the heavens opened up in protest. Outside the weather was cold and rainy, quite opposite to the warmth and dryness that their old home consisted of. Elle was sad to leave the place that had become as much a part of her as she had of it. Despite these mixed emotions, the regret and the remorse, she was able to tear herself away from the building and out into the stormy world. At the carriage she paused, turning to take one last look, capturing a mental picture of the exquisite place. The dismal weather made everything look dark and dreary, but light filled the windows of the opera house, causing it to appear rather welcoming when compared with the rest of Paris.

"Come Elle," her father called to her from instead the carriage. "Get out of the rain; you are going to catch a cold."

Elle turned from the building and was helped into the carriage by the driver. Once she was seated comfortably next to her father he closed the door, heading back around to climb back up on his seat. Without much hesitation he pulled the reins and the horses began to move. At her seat Elle looked out through the window as drops of rain ran down it. She stared out at the opera house as it began to get smaller and smaller. For a moment she thought she saw a shadow of a person on the roof, but a moment later it was gone.

A/N: School is finally over! The past couple weeks have been kind of crazy. Anyway thanks for all of the reviews and sorry about leaving it on that cliffhanger for so long. Please be kind enough to review! Thank you.

Captain Oblivious- mischievous grin

Priestess-Taisho- Yes, I only like cliffhangers when I'm writing them. :-)

Phantom of the Theatre- I guess you're not too happy about her decision then…

OperaGustus- Bwa-ha-ha!

mrmistoffelees- You are not the only one.

Anri- It's ok, thanks for reviewing.

Kate- lol, thanks.

Amanda- I know, I'm evil. In this story Erik is the Gerard Butler phantom because I based it off of the movie version.

Phantom's gurl- hehe, no problem.

Kchan88- Thank you. I know, I wish I had a friend like Nadia.

Triste Spectre- Thank you, I'm glad you think so.

Ethalas Tuath'an- lol, thank you.

Hymn Angelic- Thank you, I'm glad you like it. One question, what is so scary about pretzel sticks?

Karen- Thanks.

CantLiveWithinYou- My last final was yesterday, so now I'm done. Hope you enjoyed the update.

Mialana- I know, no one likes cliffhangers. Anyway, thank you.