Thanks so much for all the reviews! You've hit the big 300 mark! Here it is, the next to last chapter of our story. You can put down the pitchforks and the torches now. You didn't really think I would let any harm come to our happy couple did you?

Song Taking Flight

Raoul couldn't hold back his gasp of revulsion as Christine pulled the mask from the Phantom's face. How could she bear to look at him? Oh, God, now she was touching him, running her fingers over his hideous, diseased face. He tried to look away as she leaned up to kiss the Phantom, but he couldn't move. The scene playing out before him held him spellbound.

The Phantom wrapped Christine in his arms, his tall figure seeming to mold itself to her, his scarred visage hidden by her hair. When he finally straightened and took her face in his hands, Raoul could see how gently he touched her, how tenderly he pressed his lips to her forehead. For the first time, he felt a tendril of doubt creep through his heart. Could it be that the monster actually had real feelings for her?

He said something that made Christine look toward Raoul, then back up at the Phantom. She was crying. Raoul saw her lips moving, but he could not hear what she said. She kissed him again, taking his hand.

Raoul was becoming impatient and was about to interrupt when Christine turned and ran toward the edge of the roof, the Phantom slightly behind her. She had leapt up onto the low wall surrounding the roof when he managed to find his voice. "Christine! No!"

Only the Phantom's strong arm wrapping around her waist kept her from flying off the building as he stepped onto the low wall beside her. They both turned to look at Raoul, Christine's expression tearful but defiant. The Phantom simply glared at his rival, daring him to interfere.

Raoul directed his words to Christine. "What are you doing?"

"The inevitable. I would end my life here and now than spend months separated from my Angel awaiting a trial that would only end with the same result." She held her head high, her hand over the Phantom's where it still curved around her middle.

He moved to stand a few feet from where they perched on the roof edge. "But suicide, Christine? That's a mortal sin! You'll spend eternity burning in hell!"

"There is no hell as long as my Angel is beside me," she answered, reaching up behind her to cup the Phantom's deformed cheek. "I would rather die than live without him."

Raoul turned his gaze on the Phantom. "You would let her do this?"

He shrugged elegantly. "I would gladly join her. You cannot know what it's like to live a life of emptiness, a life without even the hope of love, the pain and despair eating at you day after day, until you think you must either die or go mad from the loneliness. Without Christine, my life is not worth living. If you send me to the guillotine, even if you save her by your lies and slander, you condemn us both to burn in hell, I beyond the veil and Christine here on earth."

"Christine?" he asked, his voice breaking.

"He speaks the truth, Raoul. Please, if you wish me to live, if you wish me to be happy, just walk away. Forget you ever saw us. We will leave Paris tonight, never to return." Her tear-filled eyes pleaded with him. "Please, Raoul. This is where I belong, my Angel is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, be it as long as fifty years or as short as the next five minutes. I know you feel some kind of responsibility to me, that you think you must save me from my fate. But this is where I'm supposed to be, Raoul. I know it with every beat of my heart, with every breath I take."

She turned toward the Phantom, her arms going around his waist as she leaned her head against his shoulder. He brought his hand up to clasp the back of her neck underneath her windblown hair. He stared down at Raoul, his gaze filled with contempt. "It's your turn to choose, now, boy. Don't take all night!"

Pushing his hair back with his hand, Raoul stared up at the two of them. Christine had her face buried in the other man's chest, the Phantom's chin resting against the top of her head, his eyes still watching Raoul warily. Finally, the Vicomte came to a decision. "I need a promise from you," he said to the Phantom. "No more murders. If you cannot control yourself, if I ever hear you've killed again, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth."

The Phantom laughed. "I can control my 'murderous' urges, monsieur, evidenced by the fact that you are still breathing. I swear no more killing, unless it is to protect Christine."

Raoul shuddered at the implied threat that the Phantom could kill him any time he pleased. Please, God, let me be doing the right thing.

Christine spoke up then. "And now I need a promise from you, Raoul. Give me your word that you shall let us leave Paris without hindrance, and that you shall never seek our whereabouts, nor set the police after us."

He swallowed past the knot in his chest. "I give my word, Christine." So saying, he sheathed his sword.

The Phantom jumped lightly down from the wall then lifted Christine to stand beside him. Raoul stared at the two of them for a moment then said, "Goodbye, Christine. I wish you a long and happy life."

She graced him with a final smile. "I wish the same for you. Goodbye, Raoul."

He gave a curt nod to the Phantom then Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, turned and walked out of Christine Daaé's life.

When the door to the opera house closed behind the Vicomte, Angel hugged Christine tightly. "Oh, you little minx," he murmured into her hair. "I think I have aged ten years in the past ten minutes. Whatever were you thinking?"

Christine laughed and smiled up at him. "It worked, didn't it? And I was thinking that if we actually had to jump, you would manage to land us on the ledge below."

He peered over the edge of the roof and shuddered. "Though my name is now Angel, I'm afraid I cannot fly."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly, whispering, "When I'm with you, I truly feel as though I have wings. I love you, Angel."

He kissed her back, losing himself in the taste, the feel of her, until the tolling of the church bells caught his attention. Grabbing her hand, he headed for the secret exit from the rooftop. "Come, Christine. I hope Tristan has kept a cab waiting downstairs, otherwise we will miss our train."

He stopped before the door and turned toward her, taking her face in his hands. He looked at her for a long moment, then said quietly, "Thank you, Christine, for choosing me, for loving me. I will do my best to make you proud of me."

She turned her head, kissing the palm of his hand. "I already am, Angel, I already am." He smiled at her then settled his mask into place before following her into the opera house.

He tailed them to the train station. He wasn't quite sure why. Some remnant of the compulsion that had driven him to discover the truth after Christine's many rejections of him, perhaps. Or maybe he just wanted to make sure the creat—the man truly loved her and she him.

And so the Vicomte de Chagny found himself hiding behind a pillar, peering at his former beloved and her husband as they said their good-byes to what he guessed amounted to their family. Madame Giry hugged and kissed them both, as did her daughter, Meg. The physician, Dr. Jarred, shook the Phantom's hand heartily and kissed Christine on the cheek. It was all so—so disgustingly normal.

Part of Raoul wanted to scream, to yell, to point out to the oblivious travelers the monster in their midst. Christine chose that moment to wrap her arms about her husband and pull his cloaked head down for a lingering kiss.

Closing his eyes, Raoul let out a long breath, finally admitting to himself that it was over. Christine did not love him, and now he knew she never had. Her eyes had never lit up in that way for him, nor had she ever kissed him with such abandon.

"Well, well, do my eyes deceive me? The Vicomte de Chagny spying on la bourgeoisie at the train station?" drawled a feminine voice in his ear.

Raoul opened his eyes to find a vaguely familiar-looking woman standing at his elbow, a fan fluttering in front of her face as she eyed Christine's little group critically. "Ah wait, they are no bourgeoisie, but worse, theater people!" She gave a mock gasp and tapped Raoul on the arm with her folded fan. "Isn't that your fiancée, Vicomte?"

"Ex-fiancée," he muttered under his breath, taking in the woman's expensive gown and fur coat. His gaze moved to her face and the blue eyes twinkling at him from underneath the wide black hat perched upon her blonde hair. "Do I know you, Madame?"

She graced him with a smile, and he couldn't help but notice how soft and full her lips looked. "Baroness Sabrina de Montenant." She held out her gloved hand, and Raoul pressed a kiss to the back of her fingers automatically. He remembered her now; she was closer in age to his brother than him and had married the Baron a few years ago then been quickly widowed. She turned her attention back to the happy couple. "Christine Daaé, the opera singer, correct?" At Raoul's nod, she continued, "And I'm guessing that must be her new husband judging by how they cling to one another."

Again, he nodded, suddenly feeling small and pathetic.

She snapped her fan open and leaned toward him behind its cover. "And you the scorned lover spying on them as they ride the rails out of your life forever." He felt his cheeks flush. "How perfectly tawdry! And yet fascinating on a base level. I must admit I like to people watch myself, making up little stories about them."

Together they watched as Christine and the Phantom boarded the train and disappeared as the whistle blew. The train began to move, and Raoul turned to go, only to find the Baroness linking her arm through his. "Come, my boy, I think a few drinks and the company of a woman will do you good. And of course, I must hear the whole story. Starting with the fact that Miss Daaé's husband appeared to be wearing a mask."

Raoul looked down at the small, voluptuous blonde and put his hand over hers where it grasped his arm. "I think I would like a drink." As they walked toward the station exit, he leaned toward her, putting his lips right next to her ear, whispering, "And he wears a mask because my ex-fiancée has married the Phantom of the Opera."

She giggled in response and Raoul felt his heart grow a tiny bit lighter.

The final chapter draws near. It's a bit of a lengthy epilogue, so I hope you'll turn in tomorrow for the conclusion of "Stronger". If you've been entertained and perhaps even moved by this story, please take a moment to review!