Epilogue
Over the next six months, Erik and Nicole spent more and more time at the château, conducting their music lessons there, eating meals together with Monsieur Clary, and wandering around the grounds hand in hand. Her father was pleased that she had finally found an acceptable gentleman, and did not hesitate to give his blessings when Erik asked him for Nicole's hand in marriage.
Their engagement lasted another six months to give adequate time in which to plan a wedding. They decided on a small wedding with just family and a few close friends. The de Chagny's made an appearance at their wedding, and the animosity between Raoul and Erik seemed to have disappeared for good.
The two couples became fast friends, and once Nicole and Erik had married and moved to a small house on the grounds, Erik and Nicole and Raoul and Christine visited as often as was possible, given the long journey to and from Paris.
Over the years, Erik and Nicole had three children, a boy and two girls, none of whom had the facial deformities of their father. They all had the combined musical talent of both parents, and enjoyed the many music sessions when all five would play beautiful music together, many pieces of which were composed by Erik himself. They even took to performing for various families in the area and in Paris.
When Christine died in 1917, the entire family attended the funeral to comfort the grief-stricken Raoul. After Christine's death, however, Raoul suffered a stroke and was left almost entirely wheelchair bound, leaving him unable to continue any more visits to the Clary château.
In 1919, Erik and Nicole were at the Paris cemetery to visit Monsieur Clary's grave when Erik slipped away from Nicole and left a single red rose, tied to it, a black silk ribbon which held a beautiful diamond ring, on the grave stone of Christine de Chagny. It was his way of saying farewell to his first love.
When Raoul stopped by with the music box later that day, he saw the ring and was taken aback for a brief moment as all the years of friendship with the former Phantom disappeared momentarily, restoring the old feeling of rivalry. When the moment passed, Raoul remembered that the rivalry had long since disappeared, and the Phantom had been dead for many years. All that remained was a close friend named Erik and his dear wife, Nicole.
The End