Memories Arisen 2

See the first chapter for the disclaimer.

It had been a month since Erik had gone to them, to Eithlinn and Erika.

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They were broken.

The first thing he'd noticed when he saw them was their eyes, and that horrible emptiness that should never have been there.

Eithlinn had always been so cheerful and pretty, her dark green eyes shining like emeralds in candlelight.

Erika had been a shy little girl, but so sweet, and so trusting, with a look in her eyes like a happy cat.

Erika had her mother's eyes, and her grandfather's dark hair. But now a thick streak of silver went through her ebony hair.

A five-year-old should never look so hopeless.

The sight of them drove all thoughts about Christine from his mind.

When they finally came out of their own silent personal hells and noticed him, Eithlinn ran to him and clung to him like a lifeline and Erika wrapped her little arms around his legs, as high as she could reach.

Erik hugged them back, picking up the tiny child.

He didn't know what to say.

Honestly.

What do you say to two people who've watched their loved ones die slowly and painfully with no way to help them?

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"Am I a bad mother, Erik?" Eithlinn's voice brought him out of his reverie.

"Of course not." He answered automatically. He shaded his eyes against the sunlight.

He still wasn't quite used to living on the surface, but he'd had to get a better house before he went to get Eithlinn and her daughter; they couldn't survive such an isolated life as he was used to. It wasn't a bad house; rather like the one Eithi had lived in with her aunt and uncle. Those were safer memories for her to deal with.

Eithlinn immediately adjusted the blinds on the window for him. "She hasn't spoken in over a month…"

"Which is understandable. She was the first one to see your husband dead." He touched her hand hesitantly. Eithlinn and her family had always been loving, tactile people, but it was he was still unaccustomed to anyone actually wanting to touch him, to show him affection. He still remembered the first time he'd visited Eithi and Jack, when the twins had been born. When Jack had met him, he'd embraced him heartily and thanked him for being such a good friend to his wife for so long. Needless to say, he'd been a little shocked.

Yes, Jack had definitely been good enough for Eithi. "I'm sure she'll recover, in time, Eithi. She just needs that. Time, I mean."

She closed the distance between them so that they were side by side and laid her head on his shoulder. "I just feel like I should have been able to save them, to spare her this. I really feel like an awful mother."

"My mother was an awful mother." He replied. "I told you how she treated me. She sold me to the goddamned freak show for goodness sake." He said bitterly.

"I'm sorry, Erik." She whispered. "I just…can't stop blaming myself." She stopped.

"Try to. It's not solving anything, and I hate hearing you talk like that. And…" He sighed, trailing off.

Her eyes widened. "That's not all that's bothering you." She surmised, "What's wrong, dear?"

Erik shook his head, "Forget about it. You've got enough to deal with."

"No, you've been so good to us, and you're still my best friend and I think it might help you to talk about it. Tell me what happened."

Erik saw a glimmer of that familiar stubborn spark in her eye. As much as it might hurt to relive that night, she might be right, and it would be worth it to distract her from her mourning.

"Christine left." He murmured.

"Oh, Erik!" She hugged him.

"That's not all." He went on to tell her the whole story: Raoul, the murders, the Operas, Don Juan Triumphant, and that last awful night… and how Christine had ripped off his mask. And how he had been about to commit suicide when he'd finally gotten to her letter. He smiled wryly. "Not the first time one of your letters has coaxed me off the edge."

She just held him tightly, knowing that behind the mask, his face was wet with tears.

Erik relaxed in her arms, accepting the comfort she offered. She kissed his cheek, and even though it was only on the mask, as always, it meant a lot.

Eithlinn was familiar, safe, accepting. Hard to believe that the first time he had met her she had been a little girl. Her letters, even then, hadn't given the impression of someone twenty-two years younger than he was. She'd seemed closer to seventeen in writing than seven. Eithlinn was the one person in the world who had never judged him, never ridiculed or betrayed him. Eithlinn was safety. She knew everything, including what was behind the mask, and it only ever served to strengthen their friendship.

"I guess we've both got some issues to work through."

"To say the least."

She shrugged, "Well, nobody ever said life would be easy, and love is notoriously hard to deal with, right? Presumably, we can't go down any further from here."

"You are acquainted with the steaming train wreck that is my life?" He asked cynically.

"I have to believe in better things, Erik. Or else what's the point of going on? Everybody believes in something. Be it a higher power, fate, love, or even… even simply a friend they could always count on."

"What are you saying?"

"I've always believed in you, Erik. Since I was little, you were always there, at least in your letters. Even now you came through for little Erika and I."

"Rather a lot of faith to place in one person. Particularly a murderer."

"Your life hasn't been easy. Forget Christine. If she could give up someone like you then it's her loss, not yours. You could do so much better. Clichéd as it sounds, there are other women out there. Plenty of fish in the sea and all."

"And what about you?" He asked sharply, "Do you plan to find a new husband?"

"Someday." She said softly, looking down, "When I stop thinking Jack's going to come back from work, like always, and when I stop hearing them dying in my nightmares… Does it ever end?"

He sighed. It was unfair to start an argument now. Neither of them was really in any condition to come up with anything good. Besides, she wasn't the one he was mad at right now. The problem is, he wasn't sure who that person was. "No." He admitted, "It never fully ends. It'll always be there, you just learn to live with it."