A.N.: Wow, I am completely sorry! Three months and no update! Please don't hate me...v.v But here it is. The much awaited Chapter 18. Please, please review. I would love it if you guys did. 3

Chapter 18: Celebration

It took Sarine two and a half months to heal well enough to leave the hospital, and yet another two weeks for her to want to go out in public.

"Oh Erik, I feel so ugly..." she sobbed into Erik shoulder the night after their rehearsal dinner.

Erik caressed her hair and kissed her forehead, "My love, you're even more beautiful than you were the first day I met you. That woman was just jealous."

"Jealous enough to burst in on our wedding rehearsal," she sobbed, burying her face deeper. "And openly call me the Phantom's whore? A disgrace on the face of Paris?"

Erik hesitated. The woman had barged into the lobby-turned-reception hall at the opera house and had begun tormenting Sarine. Even though Erik had men escort the girl out, Sarine still ran from the room in tears. She had, of course, ran back down to the lair, where no one but Erik would find her. Her mask lay discareded at the foot of the bed, where she threw it in a fit of anger.

"Sweetie, she was jealous. You're an even more beautiful woman than she. Would I lie to you?"

He reached down and coaxed her face from his shirt. When he was able to make eye contact, he smiled through his pain. It was true that she was even more beautiful to him, even through her marred skin, but it hurt him to know of the torment she suffered every day. While he had been born deformed, she was born beautiful and made ugly by one woman's jealousy. He could look in a mirror and see what was, and what had always been. She, on the other hand, was forced to look in the mirror and see what was, and know that it was not how it had always been. For her sake, he had removed all of the mirrors in the lair so she would not be inclined to look into them. Now it was he who did her hair and makeup.

"You would tell me what you thought would make me happy, wheither it be a lie or not," she said plainly, her eyes staring deep into his, her tears drying. "In this case, the lie is blatant."

Erik shook his head, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so shush. You have no say."

Sarine smiled up at him. He always knew the words to say to make her feel worth it again. She sighed, the events of the evening pushed from her mind as he stroked her hair.

"Can you believe that we will be married tomorrow?" she said, ecstatic. "And in less than a month our baby will be born."

"I still can't believe it. I'll be up at the altar and I still won't believe I'm marrying the most beautiful woman in all of Paris," Erik said, smiling and kissing her forehead.

"Wedding vows are so hard to write..." Sarine said, leaning against him.

Erik smiled down at her, "Oh, mine have been done for weeks. I feared they would have gathered dust. Yours?"

Sarine blushed, nibbling on her bottom lip. She was still unable to think of her vows, and it worried her. It shouldn't be this hard to think of a way to express her feelings for him. Still, how can love be expressed in words?

"They're... good. Great. Dusty," she said, not seeing his grin at her lie.

Erik kissed her head and held her close for a moment. then he patted her leg, "Alright, time for bed."

She giggled and climbed off the bed to walk over to her dresser. She pulled out a cotton nightgown and walked back over to the bed. As he dress slid over her head, Erik couldn't help but turn away. From her shoulder all the way down to her waist, her skin was scarred. The entire left half of her body looked like the right half of his face. He turned back around to look at her. Even with the burns, with her enlarged stomach and otherwise perfect body, he was still completely in adoration of her. 'Oh, if she wasn't pregnant...' he thought to himself.

Once she had the nightgown on, Sarine climbed under the blankets. She reached down and grabbed her mask, placing it on the bedside table then looking up at Erik, who was still dressed.

"Coming to bed?" she asked, peeking over the blankets.

He smiled then bent down to kiss her lightly, "In a little while. There are a few things I have to work on."

Sarine nodded and closed her eyes, falling asleep instantly. Erik watched her for a while as she slept, taking her in. As hurt as he was at the time, Erik was glad now that Christine had left with Raoul. He was also glad that Raoul had taken her out of Paris; they had left that night for London, or so Erik had heard.

Finally, when he was sure she was deep asleep, Erik moved from the bedroom out into the main room. He sat down at the organ and unlocked a drawer, pulling it open. There he had placed a song that he was finisheing for their wedding. Granted he couldn't play it now, but he knew how it sounded by heart. This was their song.

Almost three hours later, Erik sighed and put the finished song back into the drawer. He walked back to the bedroom, kicking off his shoes as he climbed into the bed beside Sarine. Even in sleep, she moved towards him. He smiled and wrapped his arm over her stomach, burying his face in her hair. He kissed her head lightly, then whispered an 'I Love You' into her ear before falling asleep.

-P--

The next morning, Erik woke Sarine up. She groaned and peered at his fully dressed figure through one open eye.

"Don't you ever sleep?" she asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

He smiled down at her, "With you at my side? How could I?"

She smiled, but grew frightened when she heard someone in the lair. Walking out to the central part of the lair, she gasped when she saw Amy and Rose standing near the organ.

"How did you get down here?" she inquired happily, walking out to them.

They gave her a hug then moved her to the kitchen, with Amy supporting her by the arm, "Erik brought us down here. Didn't you know that it's a tradition for the bridesmaids to make breakfast for the bride?"

"No," she replied. "If that's true, then where's Tara and Brittney?"

Tara then ran though the door carrying bags of food. She bolted up to the kitchen and smiled breathlessly, placing the bags on Erik's counter.

"I am so sorry I'm late! I had to look everywhere for the entrance to the lair. Brittney wanted me to tell you that she couldn't make it, because Joshua was sick. She will be at the wedding though."

Sarine lauged then her gaze drifted out to the center of the lair. When she saw Erik leaving, she walked over to him and placed her hand on his arm.

"Where are you going? Won't you stay for breakfast?" she asked, looking up into his eyes. Ever since the accident, she didn't want him far from her.

He smiled down at her and cupped her scarred cheek. "This is for the women only. I have things to do besides," he moved to her ear, whispering, "I'm surprised you forgot your mask, dear."

Sarine gasped and her hands flew to her face as she realized her mask was missing. She ran into the bedroom and put her mask on, making sure it was perfectly in place.

Erik watched in sadness, hating the feeling that it was all his fault. Once the mask was completely in place, Sarine walked back out, with renewed confidence, to Erik and gave him a kiss on the cheek, moving to rejoin her friends. Before she could get far, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him, placing a passionate kiss square on her lips. When the action recieved several catcalls from the girls, Sarine blushed a deep red, pullling back. Watching her as she went back to the girls, Erik smiled, then left through one of the hidden entrances. Sarine gave one glance back at his retreating back then turned to her bridesmaids.

"We're getting married today. There is nothing wrong with kissing him," Sarine said, sighing with a smile.

Amy reached out and gently touched Sarine's mask, "You should know by now that we don't care about your face. We're your friends, and we know what happened. You don't have to hide behind this hideous thing around us. You know that."

Sarine sighed, looking down. "If I can't look at myself in the mirror, why would I want other people to look at me?"

Amy lifted her chin then gently removed the mask, "You don't look much different to me. You still look like the cheerful, stage-shy manager of the opera to me."

Sarine smiled, hugging Amy in thanks. She moved to the cabinets and pulled out the required items to make breakfast. Once it was done, they all sat down and began laughing and joking like normal, the mask sitting in the middle.

-P--

Erik, meanwhile, was up in the auditorium, setting the stage up for the wedding. They'd decided to have it there at the opera house, since it was such a steeple part of their life. The heavy, dark curtains were being covered with white satin ones, and a makeshift altar was being placed in the middle of the large stage. According to his plan, he will have walked down the aisle on the left, and is positioned at the altar. Sarine would then walk down the aisle, climb up the side steps, and meet him in the middle. They would then have a normal wedding. But as she walks down the aisle, Erik arranged that the song he wrote for them would be played. He felt so excited and giddy, because he had planned every aspect of this wedding, making it a special surprise for her. She hadn't even seen her dress yet; he'd made it for her himself and wanted her to be as surprised as he.

Needing something to do once the stage was finished, he sat down with some of the other friends who came to help out and began packing the red rose petals into the lace bags, tying them with ribbon. Normally rice was thrown, but Erik felt that the rose petals would mean more to her.

Looking around the auditorium, he sighed, placing the last bag down. He prayed that it would go off without a hitch, after all this. His favourite aspect of the entire decoration scheme was the ribbons that looped from one box to another. They were black, white, and gray, twining around each other to form a beautiful web. Trying to find something else to do, he was surprised to find that they were all ready. So he went to one of the abandoned dressing rooms and changed into a nicer version of his daily attire. His dress suit, including the cape, were all made of the finest materials, making him really look like a ghost floating around. He smiled into the mirror, smoothing his hair back. He was ready.

-P--

Amy, Rose and Tara ordered Sarine to cover her eyes as they brought out the dress Erik had made. They quickly got her dressed into it, then pulled out a full-length mirror from where Erik had hid them. When it was stable against the wall, they instructed her to open her eyes. She did so and stared at herself. Her mouth hung slightly open as she took in the dress. Erik had made it so that there was a corset effect but didn't apply pressure to the baby. The sleeves were long, with extra fabric at the wrists to make it look like the renaissance dress that she loved. The skirt was like her masquerade one, loose and flowing. It hung to the floor, brushing across her toes. She looked up at the embroidery on the dress. Tiny little masks were embroidered in white all across it, ghosting the pattern. She looked up at her mask, noting the clash. She was in all white, except for the mask. So, in a brazen move, she took it off and placed it off to the side, staring her reflection in the eyes. Amy watched her with a smile, and Sarine could sense them all watching her.

"It is my wedding day. I am going to marry Erik, not someone who is hiding who they are. I will walk down that aisle as he met and loved me: unafraid," she said, picking up her veil and placing it gently on top of her head.

Brittney then walked into the room, dressed already. She stopped short when she saw her sister, and let a tear fall. "Oh Sarine..."

The girls ran to each other and hugged one another, overjoyus. The others joined in their embrace, happy to just be friends.

-P--

As the music started, Sarine hesitated before walking down the aisle. She knew Erik was at the altar waiting for her, but she questioned whether taking the mask off was a good idea. Their friends, her family, and quite a bit of Paris was in there, waiting for her to make an appearance. She began shaking, the feelings of stagefright rushing back to her after all these months. She felt nausious, bracing herself against the wall. She clung to her bouquet, then, when she felt stable, she moved back in front of the doors.

Erik was getting worried when, after several moments of the music playing, Sarine did not appear. Perhaps she had second thoughts, and didn't want to marry him. He almost left the stage when he heard the doors open, then he turned to look at his bride. He could do nothing but stare, dumbfounded at how beautiful she looked in the dress he had made for her. Scruitinizing the dress, he noted that he perhaps should have made the veil a little thinner, so she could see. But as she moved closer down the aisle, he noticed that there was nothing beneith the veil but her. His jaw slowly dropped as she continued down the aisle, then walked up the steps. He could see her scarring through the veil, and he began to shake.

When she reached him, she smiled and took off his mask, handing it to Brittney. She turned back to Erik, cupping his cheek in her hand. "Please, Erik. Marry me as you. As I marry you as me."

He reached out with shaking hands and lifted the veil. He moved to kiss her, but Jonathan, his best man, stopped him. "That's not until later..." he said with a smirk.

Erik managed to restrain himself as the priest began the ceremony. Everything went smoothly, then they reached the vows. Erik went first, eager to tell her how he cared.

"No more talk of darkness, forget these wide-eyed fears. I'm here, nothing can harm you, my words will warm and calm you. Let me be your freedom, let daylight dry your tears. I'm here, with you and beside you, to guard you and to guide you. Anywhere you go let me go too. Love me; that's all I ask of you."

Sarine smiled at him as he placed the thin gold band on her finger. She looked to the priest, who signaled it was her turn. She took a deep breath and recited her vow from memory.

"Black is for death, darkness, sadness, and despair," she said, wrapping her hands around his. "White is life, happiness, light. One cannot survive without the other. Without light, there is no darkness to compare it to. Without death, there is no room for life. Nothing is just black and white, just varying shades of gray. You are the night to my daylight, you are the darkness to my light. I am incomplete without you."

She placed his ring on his finger and smiled. He looked down at her with tears in his eyes, wanting nothing more than to take her in his arms. He nearly pounced on her when the priest announced, "You may kiss the bride."

A.N.: The next chapter will be the reception. I was going to try and squeeze it into this chapter, but I don't think you guys can handle much more than this. And I'm sick, so I don't have enough energy to write the reception. I would love it if you guys would review for me. I miss your reviews...v.v