January 15,2005- Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted in a few days, school was keeping me busy!

Phantom Ange- Thank you so much for reviewing my story! I think it's awesome that you worked in a circus and you are now a magician. I loved and still do love those shows. I am glad that I captured the cast and family values correctly. And you're right I do love "other women" stories! And I would greatly appreciate your ideas for the entertainment family! I hope you do keep reading!

Rena1-Thanks for reviewing again! I'll try not to make the romance build too quickly, but don't worry, the phantom won't fall in love too quickly! :-)

Pink Dragon- I am glad that you are happy with my story! I am trying not to fall into the Mary-Sue character. But please tell me if I do!

Sesshomaru's Angel- Thank you so much! I will try to update soon!

Love After Loss: The Phantom of the Opera

The next day, Emily awoke to the aching pain of her muscles. She slowly got out of bed and got prepared for rehearsal. She walked down the halls that were slowly beginning to become familiar to her. She looked up ahead as she heard footsteps coming closer. To her surprise, Christine was seen walking hand in hand with a young man with shoulder length blonde hair and gorgeous eyes. The two lovers were locked in a gaze in which everyone seemed to disappear and only the two of them existed on the planet. Emily cleared her throat politely as the two of them were about to run her over if they did not pay attention to where they were going. They both then snapped back into focus. Christine smiled, "Oh Emily I didn't see you there." Emily cocked an eyebrow as she playfully stated,

"So I've noticed." Christine blushed at her remark. She looked over to the young man w who gave her hand he was holding, a gentle squeeze. Christine looked back at Emily,

"Emily, this is my husband Raoul he too is an owner of the theater. Darling, this is Mademoiselle Emily des les Anges. She is a new member and very talented." Raoul grabbed her hand as she curtsied,

"A pleasure." His lips briefly brushed against her knuckles as she returned the greeting. The three of them stood there talking about the theater and how Emily was doing adjusting to her new home, when the thing she wanted to tell Christine popped into her head,

"Christine, can I have a moment of your time whenever you have an opportunity?"
"What is it Emily, is something wrong?"

"I just wanted to tell you something."

"Emily, you're making me nervous, go on now, tell me!"

Emily eyed Raoul uneasily, but she did not want to offend neither Raoul nor Christine by saying that she did not want him to hear it. She took a rather deep breath,

" I received a letter from the Phantom of the Opera." Christine looked at her sternly,

"When did you get it?"

"Last night; I was getting ready for bed and that's when I saw it there, laying on top of my pillow."

"My he's a quick one, I didn't expect Erik knew where your dressing room was." Emily frowned,

"Yes, Erik, that's his name. To the others who work in this theater, and France as the Phantom of the Opera. He has created quite a legend for himself." Raoul scoffed,

"Yes, quite. Listen to me Emily, it is best that you don't come face to face with him. He's a lunatic." He never left Christine for a-"

"Wait a minute," Emily interrupted as she turned to Christine, "You know The Phantom of...I mean Erik?" Christine nodded,

"Yes, he thought me how to improve my singing when I was young. What I didn't know was that after all these years of teaching me, he had fallen in love with me." There was a brief pause as Christine allowed Emily to process the surplus of information. Raoul continued the story from there,

"When I started to court Christine and finally proposed to her, he finally snapped. He took over the role of Don Juan, kidnapped Christine, and tried to kill me. But we knew before of his plans to take over the role and we used that to lure him into a trap. After this scenario he finally understood that Christine could never love him. He became a recluse but, be wared, he is a murderer..." He put emphasis on the last few words. Christine shook her head sadly,

"The poor man is lonely and has been abused his whole life. He needs to be loved, that's all... but most people cannot see past his mask. Emily," Christine grabbed her hands, "Most of the plays that we perform are written by him, he is pure genius!" Raoul put a hand on her shoulder. She gave him a gratifying smile and slowly went into his arms for a hug. Emily watched the two of them. They seemed so happy together, even after that trying moment in their relationship. For the first time in her life, she smiled revealing a side that she hid for a while after her mother passed away. To everyone's dismay, Carlotta came storming up,

"There you are you two! Come on, you two are late for rehearsal. Let's go!" She went off back towards the theater. Raoul kissed Christine on the lips as a goodbye,

"Dinner tonight then?" Christine smiled as she tweaked his nose,

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Raoul reached for Emily's hand and kissed it once more,

"It was a pleasure meeting you Mademoiselle de les Anges." Emily curtsied,

"Thank you monsieur, I look forward to seeing you again." The three of them parted ways. While on their way to the stage they talked about many things. They shared many laughs in which Emily could not recall laughing so hard in her life. Their conversation turned to the topic of love; Christine turned to look at her,

"Emily, did you ever love someone?" Emily stopped dead in her tracks. She stared Christine down as she debated whether or not she should trust her enough to respond to her question. Christine flinched. She saw that the inquiry about the young woman's love life had greatly disturbed her, "Emily?" She called out softly. The two women's eyes met. Emily smiled awkwardly,

"I...I...I don't want to talk about it. Tell Messieurs Andre and Firmin that I cannot attend rehearsal today, I am not feeling well." She ran off with Christine calling out,

"Emily!"

Emily ran down the halls and into the privacy of her dressing room. She locked the door and sank to the floor crying. The man that she had given her very soul to was a very violent man. She had not noticed it until they were thinking about marrying each other. His tantrums would then take over and erase any sensibility in his mind. He started beating her brutally. She could never forget the time her mother came in and saw her on the floor with a bruised eye after Emily told him she was leaving him for good. Her mother then got in a violent confrontation with her ex and then took Emily away. After that day Emily's mom was so upset that it ultimately got her sick and eventually died. Emily began to cough violently, "Oh no, not again." she said. She began to perspire as her whole body began to shake with the effort. She felt something trickle down one of the corners of her mouth. She stuck her tongue out to taste it.

Please let it be sweat... she prayed. She felt it touch her tongue. Blood. She cried out in frustration,

"What is wrong with me!" She sighed a deep sigh as she wiped away her tears and then the remaining blood on the corner of the mouth . To her surprise she heard sobbing that she could not pinpoint the location from which it came. It broke the heart of whoever could hear it. The person seemed to be in great pain. He or she said something, but she couldn't understand it because it was drowned out by the sobs that came from the person's mouth. Emily walked to the other side her dressing room. As she took each step closer to that side of the room, the sobs got louder and louder. Then she stopped when she finally understood what the person was saying. The soft voice sobbed,

"Christine...Christine..."

Emily looked around that side of the room. She walked over to the wall and put her ear to it. She could hear laughter, but not the crying voice she sought out. When she walked over to the mirror and stood in front of it, she noticed that the cries were louder. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to explain this odd predicament.

How can the crying come from behind the mirror? Nobody lives on the other side of the mirror! She felt the backside of the mirror and found a button.

Unless...

She pressed the button and the mirror opened up like a door revealing a dark pathway. Emily let out a gasp and tumbled back in shock. But curiosity got the better of her as she went down the dark passageway. It was cold and damp as she blindly walked down its halls with one hand on the wall for balance and security. Her heart leaped with joy as she saw light at the end of the tunnel. She ran towards it and then to her surprise she saw a lake with a boat waiting to be used in front of her. She stared in awe. The water in this lake was clear blue. She could see her reflection. She saw that there were many candles illuminating the great cave. She could still hear the crying of the mysterious person echoing off the walls. She got into the boat, grabbed the oar and started rowing. She examined the cave as she went deeper and deeper into the mysterious place inside the theater. When Emily saw what seemed to be another entrance that branched off into another cave and she heard the crying coming from there, she decided to take the route and go inside. There she saw a magnificent sight. There were literally hundreds of candles illuminating the place and it was decorated nicely. To her surprise she saw an enormous and gorgeous organ there. She got off the boat and quietly looked around. She didn't want whoever lived there to know she was snooping around. She heard the crying coming from a room above. She walked up the stairs with her heart beating furiously. Finally, she would meet the mysterious and miserable person who she felt truly sorry for. She looked through the sheer curtains and saw a man in all black sitting on the edge of his bed hunched over with his head in hands crying,

"Christine...Christine..."

The young woman quietly pulled the curtain out of the way as she entered. She quietly went up to him,

"Monsieur...why are you crying?" Emily whispered.

The young man looked up in shock at someone being in his home. Emily noticed that half of his face was covered in a mask. So her new family wasn't lying about the story there was a Phantom of the Opera and here she was face to face with him. A tear trickled down his cheek and Emily wiped it away.

A/N: So what did you think? I know it took me a long time to put this one out so I hope you aren't disappointed with it. Since this is a three day weekend for me, I'll try to post more chapters then. Thanks for your reviews and keep them coming! Remember, I am always open to ideas and if you do send me some I will try to incorporate them! See you next chapter! God bless you all, bye!