Disclaimer: Don't own PotO… just Adrien and Isabella…
Chapter X – The Protégée
Adrien turned to explain, but Isabella beat him to it. "Adrien was teaching me a song." Erik raised an eyebrow at her. "Really? Which one, pray tell?"
"Think of Me."
"Adrien, how do you know that song?" He regarded Adrien with surprise and suspicion.
"I found it under a bunch of other music." Adrien was trying to figure out if Erik would be angry or just surprised. Isabella jumped to his defense.
"Erik, please don't be angry. Adrien can play so beautifully," she said, her eyes pleading.
He looked at them both, Adrien looking worried on the piano bench, Isabella upset beside him.
He sighed. "Let's hear it, then."
Isabella stood slowly. "Did you want to hear Think of Me or something else?" she asked politely.
"I'd love to hear you try Phantom of the Opera as a duet." ((Slight sarcasm.))
Isabella glanced at Adrien. "Is there a sheet with words I could use?" she asked uncertainly. He started looking through piles, but Erik swept over to the piano and gently retrieved four sheets of music for Adrien and two for Isabella. "Yours has words," he gestured to her. "And Adrien's has words plus the piano music."
Adrien looked over the piece. "Erik, maybe you'd better play it, and we could sing…"
"I suppose… How long have you been playing anyway?"
"Every day when you go out."
Erik raised his eyebrows again, but seated himself at the piano without comment.
The six-bar intro erupted from the instrument with such force that Isabella was taken aback.
In sleep, he sang to me
In dreams, he came
That voice which calls to me
And speaks my name
And do I dream again?
For now I find
The Phantom of the Opera is there
Inside my mind
Adrien's strong tenor seemed to hypnotize her. She listened to his words and shivered slightly.
Sing once again with me,
Our strange duet
My power over you
Grows stronger yet
And though you turn from me
To glance behind,
The Phantom of the Opera is there
Inside your mind
Isabella saw Erik's lips move as Adrien sang. This is his anthem, his masterpiece…
Those who have seen your face
Draw back in fear
I am the mask you wear…
It's me they hear… Adrien's voice interwove seamlessly with hers.
Your spirit and my voice…
In one combined
The Phantom of the Opera is there
Inside my mind
In all your fantasies
You always knew
That man and mystery
Were both in you
And in this labyrinth
Where night is blind
The Phantom of the Opera is there
Inside your mind…
"Sing, mon ange!"
He's there, the Phantom of the Opera…
"Chante…"
"Chante pour moi !"
Erik was slightly interrupted from his piano-playing bliss as he realized that it was indeed not Christine singing. Isabella may have been a mezzo-soprano, but she brought the higher notes of this piece down an octave. Snapping out of his momentary shock, Erik kept playing. Adrien hadn't noticed anything, that was for sure. During the song, he had taken Isabella's hands from behind, and now held her close to him.
"Chante pour moi…" he whispered in her ear. She spun in his arms as the song ended, and Erik looked up from the keys to see them kissing.
Had to put that last part in, otherwise it didn't feel right. Now that I come to it, that's starting to feel slightly cliché-ish.
And I put in the last verse b/c I was mad they didn't put it in the movie. Gotta love filmmakers.
French: (I really hope not too many people need this anymore)
Chante pour moi, mon ange sing for me, my angel