January 24, 2005- Okay Chaper7! Wow, I've been writing a lot lately! Thanks for all the reviews, I love you guys!!!!!! So hopefully you'll like this chapter! By the way the song in this chapter does not belong to me! It's Music of the Night from the Show and Movie so, go on and swoon!

Sumi-Chan the Great- Thanks for reviewing, and I'll try to remember to put the translation to French words next chapter!

The Pink Dragon- Yay, I'm glad you like it! I hope that you'll keep reading and I hate James already too!

ThyLaSlain-Yeah, the phantom is sexy, isn't he? I'm glad that you like my character! Thanks for reviewing and keep them coming!

Phantom Ange-Thanks, I'm glad my song didn't suck, it took me a whole afternoon to write it!

Sesshomaru's Angel- Yeah Emily has a lot of explaining to do, so this chapter will kind of help... thanks for your reviews!

Countess Alana- Thanks so much for reading my story and I'm glad you like it so far, I will try to keep the story interesting! So please keep reviewing!

Chapter 7: Falling

Emily sat down on the piano bench and put her hands on her face. How did James find her? tears streamed down her cheeks once more as she sobbed about how her night of perfection was ruined. She then stopped crying abruptly because she suddenly remembered that she wasn't the only one in the room. She looked up at Erik to see him staring at her. Her heartbeat quickened as he came up to where she was sitting and wiped away her tears,

"Now, now ma petite fleur, there is no need for you to be sad. he won't harm you, I won't let him." He grabbed her hand and kissed it, making her smile. Emily then turned around and faced the piano. She moved over and beckoned him to come and sit next to her. He did, but he continued to stare at her. He was seriously debating on whether or not to ask her the question that was burning within the deep dark depths of his soul...or better yet, the fragments of what was left. But, most importantly, want to add any more distress than what she was already feeling. he closed his eyes so he could dwell on this subject a little longer. The sound of random notes being played on the piano brought him back to reality. She began to play a scale on the piano and then she hit a wrong note. In her frustration she began to bang the keys as a sob escaped her mouth. He put his hands on hers, making her stop banging the piano. She was still sobbing loudly as she basically laid her head on the piano's keys,

"Oh Erik, he was a horrible man! He would beat me and do many other horrible things, but I didn't have the power to make him stop...I was too weak..." She looked up and smiled a very sad smile, "Oh how love makes us weak and naive!" He nodded his head sadly understanding his pain,

"Oui, mon amie indeed it does. But how we learn from it!" A knock was heard at the door. Emily slowly got up and walked towards it, praying that it wasn't going to be James. She placed her ear on the door and listened. As if on cue Christine called out,

"Emily, are you in there? I just wanted to talk to you about how great you were tonight." Emily wiped her tears away. She opened the door and she saw Christine's face go from happy to sad after seeing Emily's face streaked with tears, "Emily, why are you crying?"

"Why would you care, you know nothing of pain..." Erik lashed out at her catching Christine totally off guard. Her eyes widened as she saw the shadow of the man who in the past had caused her and her lover so much pain. Erik stood up and walked over to her, "You think you know what it is to feel the pain of love?" He laughed an insane laugh. that made the two women's heartbeat a little quicker. He went over to Christine and put his hands on her shoulders. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "You, poor child...I guess you're right. Feeling something for a person and then not having them return the feelings." Erik then put his hand to his mouth mockingly, "Oh that's right...you have Monsieur de Viconte so, I guess you can call yourself fortunate." The words seemed to cut deeply through Christine's emotions because she began to cry. She took one look at Emily who avoided her gaze. She turned around quickly and left, leaving Emily and Erik together by themselves.

"Why were you so cruel to her?" Emily asked quietly. Erik fixed his cape as he returned to his position next to Emily on the piano bench,

"I had to be realistic with her. Plus, you don't need to be disturbed right now." She eyed him suspiciously. But he only replied to her gaze by caressing her face as he slowly whispered, "Ah my precious flower, you were spoiled by the ignorance one had for reality. I wish that I had that gift."

"W-What do you-?" He cut her off by placing his index finger on her lips,

"Hush now, let's not talk about this anymore. Perhaps if I played something for you..." He waited for her to nod her head and when she did, he began to play the opening chords of his favorite song he wrote. When he got to his cue, he opened his mouth and out came out a voice that Emily could only describe as saintly,

Night-time sharpens,
heightens each sensation
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination
Silently the senses abandon their defenses ...

Softly, deftly,
music shall surround you ...
Feel it, hear it,
closing in around you ...
Open up your mind,
let your fantasies unwind,
in this darkness which
you know you cannot fight -
the darkness of the music of the night ...

Emily felt herself being drawn into his world of music where his looks didn't matter. For the first time, Emily looked at him as he drew himself deeper in the music,

Let your mind start a journey
through a strange new world!
Leave all thoughts
of the world you knew before!
Let your soul take you where you
long to be !
Only then can you belong to me ...

The last phrase of that part of the song caught her off guard. Was he singing that to her?

Floating, falling, sweet intoxication!
Touch me, trust me savor each sensation!
Let the dream begin,
let your darker side give in
to the power of the music that I write -

the power of the music of the night ...

He stopped singing and he began to exhibit his expertise in piano playing as he played a few chords. He looked at her differently than he ever did before. She locked onto his eyes as he finished,

You alone can make my song take flight -
help me make the music of the night . . .

As he finished singing, there was an uncomfortable silence as the two of them never broke the gaze. He caressed her cheek with one of his hands,

"Emily...I-" She tried to put her hand to caress the right side of his face but with a klutzy move she knocked the mask off. As a pure reflex he hid his deformation with his hand. His left eye had a wild look,

"W-Why?" He began to curse her name as tears began to flow down his cheeks. He had been betrayed again. The one person he thought he could finally trust had fooled him and was finally about to learn the monster he really was. Emily stood there for a second and then slowly walked up to him. He stood there with his right hand still on the deformed side his countenance as she slowly faced him. She took his right hand off and finally saw the part of the face that the mask craftily hid. He had many jagged scars and he did not have much of a nose. The right eye's bottom part of it's pupil stood out a little more than normal. She ran her hand down the deformed side. Erik stood there in shock with the tears still streaming down his face. She looked into his eyes without a trace of fear,

"Monsieur, why are you crying?" He began to sob as he whispered,

"Because a friend has found out that I am truly a monster..." She smiled as she kept her hand on the deformed side of the face,

"I do not see a monster...but I see a man," She then put her other hand on the other side of his face and moved them up to his eyes, "With two eyes," She then let her hands travel down to his nose, "A nose," The hands then went down to his lips running over them and finally lingered on them, "And two lips..." She eyed them as she had a strong urge to replace her hands with her own lips. He stood perfectly still as the exploration was going on, but his skin began to ignite with the fire of lust. His image of Christine with tears in her eyes after their little confrontation began to fade as he leaned in and drew Emily into his arms. The door suddenly opened and Monsieur André came in, but he did not see Erik, because the phantom leapt through the mirror and disappeared out of sight. The theater owner then saw the glass shards on the ground,

"My God, are you okay Emily?" She nodded,

"Yes, I got angry and threw something at the mirror. Nothing more." He nodded but still eyed the broken glass,

"Oh, I see. I just came by to tell you that we have a masquerade tomorrow." He saw her face at the thought of being at a ball at such short notice, "Don't worry about your costume, Madame Giry will help you with that." He left her alone with the sweet song ringing in her ears that her dear phantom sang to her.

A/N: So what did you think? I had a hard time writing this chapter...! So, ideas are definitely welcomed. Please review, it's what keeps me going! See you next chapter!