Christine was quite happy from the news of Raoul's death...almost as happy as Erik was back in the Opera Populaire days; his blood-thirsty days. He went and visited everyday, as promised, and Christine was recovering extremely quickly.

"Erik! How are you?" The doctor approached Erik in open arms everyday. "Christine has been progressing rapidly. In her past, she has never had this progress!" Erik lit up like a bright Christmas Tree. "Seeing that she will be leaving fairly quickly, I need to know that she will have a safe house to return to."

"I assure you that I am in charge of the Changy estate now and it is prepared for whenever her departure may be." The doctor, Dr. ValJean, immediately returned his smile to his face.

"Wonderful! I'd like to talk about the Viscount's death, if you wouldn't mind." Erik nodded his head and they headed to his office. He shut the door, sat at his desk and his head immediately fell to his hands. "I've needed to talk to someone. Everyone was on his side and...it's just not right. I've been with Christine since the first little bruise." Erik nodded his head in agreement.

They talked for hours and Erik even slipped a few times about being the Opera Ghost, no direct connections but enough for him to notice that ValJean might figure it out. He shook the doctors' hand and thanked him greatly for what he's done with Christine.

He reached Christine's room and found a big smile on her face. She walked as quickly to him as she could, Erik being surprised that she was walking, and hugged him. "You're walking!" She nodded and gave him another big hug.

"I needed a glass of water and I didn't want to bother the poor nurse out in the lobby, she has been here since midnight, and I was going to see if I could and I could! It was the best! you don't have to push me around in that dreaded wheelchair. 'She still has her acting skills,' thought Erik. He smiled and got himself a glass of water.

She went back to her bed and he sat on the chair next to the bed; their usually speaking positions. He sat down and looked at her deep; she wasn't the same girl he fell in love with. Raoul had changed her true being. He felt bad and then she spoke.

"Erik," she began, and then stopped. "I want to...apologize for something I've done." He began to speak." Don't...try to tell me this is your fault. It's not. I should have stayed. I, truly, loved you but...I was scared." She began to cry, which he realized that she did that almost too often. The crying made Erik worry and frightened. "I hate to say that now but what you did, killing people, it scared me, but when I saw you during Spectacular, Spectacular, I remembered that you were a good man and that I still loved you." She tried to smile but still had tear-stained cheeks.

He didn't know what to say. All he did was ponder to himself but, inside he fumed! He truly was a bit angry. He had gotten help to control his anger from Mme. Giry but right then, he remembered what happened that auspicious night will never leave his train of thought and will haunt him until the day he died. He still had feelings about then and was still very sore and the years would never help no matter if Christine went back to him.

Erik looked up at Christine, who had stopped crying and then he spoke. "Christine, no matter what happens now, you can never take back the past." He looked back down at his laced fingers. He heard her bed wrinkle as she proceeded out of it and towards him. He looked up once more and found her knelt in front of him and almost begging him to accept her. "I will always love you but it will always be there."

"Erik, that's not what that's about. I have a confession. Do you remember that night, before Raoul whisked me away and even before he came down; it was when you stopped talking and when we were in front of the mannequin?" How could Erik forget that? "Well, I have a surprise when we get home from then."

xXx

A couple days later, Christine was released on bed-rest for a week more. Erik was the new man of the house, concidering that he would have to stay with her until at least she was ok to move about and fully recovered.

The manson was huge! Each room had it's own theme and...Erik loved it.

"There's a priavte music room that I, myself, added to a separate blue-print so Raoul wouldn't kill me." She took his hand like a child and dragged him to it.

He was anticipating a small room with no-one in it and a small piano but Christine had stocked it with all sorts of instruments: flutes, violins, a harp, a grand piano (how they fit it in, Erik couldn't even figure out), and...a small child?

"Erik," Christine began, "meet Pierre. He's 3."

Pierre pulled at his mothers dress. "Maman, I'm 3 and a half!" She picked him up and carried him over to Erik.

"He 3 and a half...and your son."


Ok, what'd think? I love this chappie! Couldn't thinik of anything else to include that'd be an intresting twist so...REVIEW!