To my readers

I would like to thank you all for correcting my rather dumb spelling mistake of Erik. I really did know how to spell it (look at the earlier chapter), but in my defense it was 3 in the morning and I had just been talking to my friend Eric online. Thank you all soooo much for keeping me honest in my work. I hope you enjoy the next chapter as much as the last.

Cheers,

Destiny

Chapter 5

When Madame Giry opened the door, Erik just looked up and smiled.

"How is she doing Madame?"

Sauntering over to a nearby chair the older woman sat down and grinned at him.

"We had a little trouble with the corset of course but we managed to survive with only one crash."

Erik smiled slightly and with a soft chuckle said, "I have never been dressed in a woman's garments, but it sounds positively dangerous."

Destiny walked out of the room holding a blue ribbon in her hand. The dark sapphire dress that she wore fit perfectly and gave her a certain feminine appeal. She sat down at the looking glass and started to braid her hair. After the two French braids were down to the nape of her neck, she combined them into a larger one; and finally tied the ribbon at the bottom.

Madame Giry and Erik had watched quietly as she stood up and walked across the room. In very broken French Destiny thanked Madame Giry for her kindness and that she would repay her someday. With that Erik stood up and opened the door out into the hallway. He held the door for Destiny and nodded his gratitude toward his friend, then slowly closed the door and escorted Destiny back to his house.

When they were out of the Opera house and back under its stone structure Erik broke the silence with slow easy sentences. Yes, it was going to take a lot of work to teach her but he was willing to do it. He had been a great teacher at music, so there was no reason that he could not be for a language as well. She also knew a little already, but what surprised him was her understanding of verb changes. It was almost like she had studied French before but just forgotten how to use it.

When they stepped through the threshold of his house, Destiny walked over to a rather empty part of the room and twirled around in her dress. Laughing and dizzy she toppled over onto the floor. She lay there and laughed while looking up at the ceiling. Erik was so glad that he might have been the reason for her joy, because it was a feeling that he was not so used to giving many people. Destiny finally got up off the floor and slowly walked towards Erik.

She wanted so much to thank him for his kindness, but she didn't quite know how she could. Yes, she knew a lot about him from the book and other resources of her time; but if she told him where or when she was from, he would think that she was crazy. Not only did she skip time periods but she also skipped worlds. The Phantom of the Opera had been a fictional story back home. Home? Home? She looked around the house of her childhood heartthrob. This had not happened by accident, nothing like this ever could without there being some significant meaning to it all. She thought of her little dumpy apartment back in Denver, all the bad relationships that she had been in, and everything else she had back home. It was true she didn't have a home, all her friends left after graduating. She had a rather gruesome falling out with her parents. She didn't care if she never got back to her home this was her home now.

While Destiny had been thinking, Erik grabbed parchment and a pen from his desk and sat on the couch. He motioned for Destiny to come sit with him and spoke calmly. When she sat down he handed her the parchment and pen. There was a few French sentences written down and she understood that he wanted her to translate them. Her old French classes started to flood back into her memory, the ones she didn't sleep through of course. By the time she had finished Erik had another parchment ready for her. So this was it he thought. She is taking her first, then he looked at her clothes and corrected himself, second step into his world; into their world.