Chapter 25: Safe and Sound
A/N: Sorry for the wait, I had all of my high school graduation activities last week, so I was constantly on the run. But now I've graduated, so yay I'm off to college in the fall! But I'm so excited, because I got tickets to see Phantom on stage on June third for my graduation present! And my seats are in Row B, right behind the orchestra pit! I can't wait! And the guy who plays Raoul is so good looking! But anyway, on with the story!
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Christine's POV
From my perch on the roof I could see that the battle had ended. A great cheer went up from all of my friends; our side had won! Policemen were chsing what was left of the gypsies and handcuffing them. I made my way down the stairs and through the halls that I had so often tread and into the lobby to wait for Raoul to come in. I only had to wait a few minutes however, because the doors to the opera swung open, revealing three wet and weary figures. Phillipe and Lucien were quite beaten up, but Raoul looked the worst; his shirt sleeve was covered from the blood from his shoulder wound, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he had a concussion from colliding with that brick wall. I dashed towards him and took both of his hands in mine, not hugging him for fear of hurting his wounds.
"Raoul!" I exclaimed. "Oh thank goodness you're all okay, I was so worried."
He smiled at me, but I noticed his face paling even more. "I'm all right Christine, don't worry."
"I do worry," I said firmly. "And you need to rest, and get these wounds cleaned."
I led him up the stairs and into an empty ballet dormitory, where Madame and the ballet girls had set up four beds and medicine for Raoul, Lucien, Phillipe, and Erik. It was then that I noticed that Erik hadn't come inside.
"Raoul, what happened to Erik?" I asked as I opened the door and gestured for Raoul to sit down.
"He dissapeared after the battle ended. We defeated Louis together and then the battle ended and I turned to look for Lucien and Phillipe. When I turned back though, there was smoke in the air, and I saw that Erik had killed Louis with his lasso." said Raoul, his voice tired. "I think he just pulled on of his vanishing acts to stay clear of the police."
"You're probably right," I said as I carefully slid off Raoul's white shirt to get to his shoulder wound. I threw it to the ground; it was covered in sweat and blood and needed to be thrown away. I took a cloth, wet it, and began to clean the blood, both dried and fresh, from Raoul's shoulder and head.
"You don't have to do this Christine, I can do it," he said, trying to maintain the facade that he wasn't exhausted.
"I want to Raoul," I said. "Let me take care of you, as you've taken care of me. Its the least I can do after all you did tonight. And besides, I'm not squeamish of blood anymore. I can't be if I'm going to bring child into the world."
He chuckled at this, and the sound brought a smile to my lips. I loved the sound of his laughter. Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Meg and Madame had cleaned up Lucien and Phillipe, and were forcing them to rest. It seemed that they wanted to check on Raoul, but I heard Madame utter, "Christine has it all under control, now rest," quite firmly.
I leaned down and picked up some of the medicine that Madame had put beside the bed and began to dab it on Raoul's shoulder wound, which was very deep, and on the back of this head.
"Ouch!" he said suddenly. "That stings Lotte!"
I raised my eyebrows at him. "You're telling me that you can sustain serious wounds without complaint, but you complain about a little sting? You never fail to amaze me Raoul De Chagny," I teased.
He turned around and gave me a look that was remisniscent of his nine year old self, and it made me laugh. I wrapped his shoulder and put a soft pillow down for his injured head. He tried to protest when I told him to lay down, but I insisted, and he gave up the fight.
"You were brilliant tonight," he said as he lay down. "That roof top scheme was genius. We couldn't have won without it."
"We wanted to help," I said simply. "But we will talk later, you need to rest."
"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked, his sea blue eyes concerned.
"I'm fine, now sleep!" I said in a mock stern voice.
After I saw that he was at least feigning sleep, I walked over to Meg. I recieved a warm hug from my sunny friend, who actually looked downtrodden for once. Her blue- green eyes were tired, and her face was pale.
"Are you all right Meg?" I asked, conerned. "You look pale."
"Oh Christine, I was just terribly worried tonight. I was so afraid that something might happen to the lot of you. And then Lucien came in so beaten up," said Meg in a rush. Sometimes Meg had a hard time admitting that she was upset, always trying to keep a smile on her face, so I knew that she really must be troubled.
"But its all right now Meg, we're all fine, and so are you," I said, trying to comfort her as she had often comforted me.
"I know," she said slowly. "Its just that I came so close to losing you all . And..." I saw her cast a smile over to the sleeping Lucien. "I don't know what I would do without Lucien, I love him so. Isn't it funny that we, as best friends, fell in love with a pair of best friends?"
"I think it was meant to be Meg, I really do," I said, and saw her eyes light up. "And I have a feeling that just maybe, everything is going to be all right now. For all of us."
Meg opened her mouth to reply, but was interuupted by a struggle in the hallway. Two familiar voices floated into the room.
"Erik, you have an injury, and it must be attended to," came the stern voice of Madame Giry. I heard a derisive snort come from Erik.
"Its not that deep," he protested.
"Its deep enough Erik, and reguardless, you need some medicine on any cut, small or large, so as to avoid infection," she said as they came into view, Madame Giry forcing Erik inside.
If anyone else had attempted to do this, I knew that they would not have lived to tell the tale. But he and Madame had a strange relationship, and Erik was eternally grateful to her for liberating him from those gypsies and I was sure that tonight's events had reminded him of his gratitude. He came in and sat down on one of the emty beds. He glanced over at Meg and me and nodded at us, his face unreadable. He did however, shoot Madame Giry an annoyed look as she dabbed the medicine on his arm. I noticed that he too, flinched at the sting.
"How is Raoul, Christine?" asked Madame, undoubtedly trying to make up for the awkward silence that had now overtaken the room. "Lucien and the Comte went out like lights."
"I had to make Raoul go to sleep," I said, looking over at my husband. "He's as stubborn as a mule, and he worries too much about me."
"It has been a rough and terrible night, and I believe we all need rest." she said, as she finished bandaging Erik's arm.
"Are you quite finished Antoinette?" snapped Erik impatiently.
"Yes Erik, but I shall be down tommorow to check on it. And you need to get some sleep too," she said firmly.
"I'm not a child you know," he said, his voice irritated. "In fact I'm far from it! I can take care of myself."
Madame Giry rounded on him and their eyes met, both pairs flashing. "Well you are certainly acting like a child now! Just accept my help, would you Erik? That's what friends do, and you need to learn that!" she said in a tone that left no room for argument, and he said nothing more, but nodded, getting up to go.
I watched him walk across the room, this man who had been the cause of my nightmares for the past year, and who had been ready to reign terror on the opera once again just a few months ago. But now somehow, he seemed a bit changed. Granted he was still himself in most ways, and I didn't know if that would ever change, but he had helped us against this enemy to protect me. Both he and Raoul had put aside all their differences to win against this same foe, and they had done it for me.
"Erik?" I said quietly, and he turned, surprised. "Thankyou for all of your help. I know how hard it must have been for you to have to confront all of those bad memories." I stopped, watching my former teacher, hoping that he knew that I meant what I said.
He looked at me for a moment, his eyes not giving anything away. "Your welcome Christine," he said. "Take care of yourself." His eyes lingered on my face for a moment, and his eyes were squinted, and he looked for a moment as though he was tempted to try and make me go with him, but it passed, his expression becoming neutral again. I saw him cast a quick glance at Raoul's shoulder, and then back to my face. He huffed slightly, and I realized what he was doing; he was letting me go, for good this time. It seemed that after this experience, he knew he couldn't try to take me away again, not after we had all somehow managed to work together and had come out victorious. We had all made our way through the crisis, had helped each other, and Erik, it seemed, didn't want to upset that balance. He was on his way, perhaps to really accepting my love for Raoul. I gave him a smile, and he gave me a strange half smile back, as though knowing that I wished him well, and with that, he left.
That was odd," said Meg, her brows furrowed.
"Erik is odd," said Madame. "But I sense a change in him. But I would have thought he would have been in a more agreeable mood after defeating the gypsies. I saw him glance at Raoul's shoulder wound, what was that about?" she asked.
"When Erik had his back turned, a gyspsy ran at him, attempting to kill him, and Raoul moved in between them. That's what caused his shoulder wound." I said, remembering back to just a few hours ago. "They also fought the leader together, from what Raoul told me, and paralyzed him. But Erik also got him with the lasso."
"What did Raoul say about taking that blow for Erik?" asked Meg, shocked.
"Nothing, but I didn't want to question him tonight. He's been through enough, what with fighting the gypsy leader twice, and everything else. He'll tell me when he's ready to, there is no need to force him to talk about it yet," I said, smiling over at my love.
"I still can't believe they came together like they did. I'm proud of them both, and of Phillipe and Lucien too. It seems that we have some heroes with us. And I'm proud of you girls, for coming up with that roof top scheme, it seems that I raised some brave young women," said Madame. "But now girls, we need to rest to. We shall all stay here tonight."
With that, I walked quietly over to Raoul and gave him a kiss on the forehead. I crawled into the bed next to him and a thought suddenly occured to me. Maybe I didn't have an Angel of Music anymore, but I did have a Guardian Angel here on earth, and his name was Raoul.
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A/N: Okay, so just a little aftermath chapter there. There will be three more chapters to this story; one where they preform Faust, one where the child is born, and an epilogue. But there are surprises in each one, so be looking out for them! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review! Vive le Vicomte!