Chapter 6

About a week had past since the first French lesson, and everything was going great. Erik ventured out and bought everything that had been missing in his home since Christine had left. He also picked up a variety of clothes for Destiny as well. When it came time to buy undergarments she came along and picked them out. When he had seen the vast selection of corsets, stockings, and other things he quickly determined she was on her own with that.

While he was teaching her French, she also taught him a lot of English. They were both surprised at how well they caught on to everything. There were certain things that they both did not know how to say, but those will come up later. Other than that, they both could pretty much understand one another and hold an intelligent conversation.

Late that night Destiny could not find anyway to get herself to sleep. There was so much on her mind, yet it sometimes felt like nothing at all. She slowly crept out of bed and down the hallway. She stopped by Erik's door and looked inside. He reluctantly replaced his coffin with a simple bed and added some more furniture, all the while swearing no woman of his world would have given him so much trouble about it.

She looked at the table across the room and noticed his white mask was set neatly on it. His back was turned to her as he slept on his side. She knew of his sensitivity towards his face, but she did not care. She knew what she would see if she looked, therefore she did not need to. She knew the man behind the monster as he once put it, and she was completely content with that.

Turning away she snuck out of the house and to one of the secret passages into the Opera House. Following a long hallway she came to a small room that held an old grand piano. She sat down at the bench and started to play quietly. First she played the thyeme song from Titanic followed by a few pieces she had taught herself. After she was done with about five songs her fingers slowly started playing "Music of the Night". As her fingers gracefully played over the keys she started to hum, and then sing.

"Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation; Darkness stirs and wakes imagination. Silently the senses abandon their defenses."

Destiny was suddenly very aware of the feeling that she was being watched. She slowly turned around expected who she would see. There he was in a long white nightshift and black trousers. His hair was wild and of course his face covered by a white emotionless mask. Somehow she knew that he was not angry with her, not quite pleased either, but not angry. He sat down next to her on the bench and looked at her with warm eyes.

"I did not know that you knew how to play a piano my dear."

"I have been playing ever since I can remember, I love to play and just forget where you are or what you have been doing; to just play." With a smile she looked at him and waited for a response.

"Destiny what you were just playing… Where did you learn that?" He asked quietly. Fear gripped at her throat and gnawed at her stomach. What was she going to say? Oh ya, I am from the future and we have this play about you and it is from that. I DON'T THINK SO…

"I guess I have just always known it." She replied coolly.

"Let me show you something." Erik said standing up and offering his hand to her. He led her back home and into his music room. After searching through countless drawers he finally pulled out a pack of paper. He walked over to where Destiny was sitting and handed it to her. She looked at the paper and held the original score of "Music of the Night". She could hardly believe her eyes. Her heart swelled with the pride of knowing that it was all real and that she was a very real part of it. When she looked up at Erik she noticed tears running down his left cheek and welling up in his right eye.

"Destiny, how did you know this? How?"

"I don't know Erik, maybe its something that didn't come from just your heart."

Just then something snapped in Destiny's mind and she could not stop herself from asking him a question that she had since the first time she saw him.

"Erik, How do you say I love you?"

Hugging Destiny tightly to his body he quietly replied.

"Je t'aime my dear. Je t'aime."