Let Daylight Dry your Tears

Chapter 26: Sweet Melody

Raoul's POV

A week or so passed and now I sat in box seven at the Opera Populaire's final performance of Faust. It had been an insane week to say the least. The front page of all the Parisian papers, big and small, had covered the battle. The day after the incident Christine and I had been accosted by reporters on our way home, and our picture had been in the paper the following day, along with Phillipe's and Lucien's. Reporters had also invaded the opera house looking for the Giry's and the other ballet girls who had participated in the rooftop attack. These incidents made me curse the invention of the camera. It seemed that each and every newpaper wanted an exclusive on what had really happened that night. I had been hailed by the police chief a few days ago and he had thanked me and everyene else profusely. He had to asked us a few questions to complete his report, and had afterwards pulled me aside for on last question.

"Vicomte," he had said in hushed tones. "I know that I saw that Opera Ghost fellow who caused so much havoc a year ago fighting the other night. Did my eyes decieve me, or was he helping our side?"

"He was," I had said. "His help was irreplaceable."

"There is still a warrant for his arrest you know," he has said uneasily.

"Well, I don't know where he is if that's what you're asking." And it was true; I didn't. "But perhaps you could forget about the warrant, seeing as he helped defeat the gypsies?" I had said, hardly believing the words coming from my mouth.

He had looked at me for a second, then nodded and gave me a small smile. "Anything you say Monsieur le Vicomte."

I was brought back from my reminisces by the start of the final act of Faust. I looked to the stage and smiled; Christine was there, about to sing, and concussion or not, I had been determined to come to this opera. I closed my eyes and let Christine's voice wash over me. It was so beautiful, so pure, so angelic. To me, her voice seemed to represent what her soul was like. But it wasn't just her voice that I loved, it was every single part of her, inside and out. I opened my eyes again and watched her as she sang, adoring the smile that overtook her features as she did so. The sweet melody that came out of her mouth seemed to gain more strength with each note. Christine's singing had the ability of making me forget any troubles I might be having at the time. It had done so when we were children and it did so now. I watched the activity on the stage with a rapt enthusiasm, until I felt something light drop on top of my head. I sighed, irritated that I had been interrupted. But as I lifted the object off of my head, my eyes widened in suprise; it was an envelope.

I frowned as I saw the handwriting on the envelope. There was no doubt who this was from, and considering past experience with these letters I didn't know what to expect from this one. I took the letter out of the envelope, unfolded it, and began to read.

Vicomte,

As painful as it is to admit this, and as much as I can't stand you, I wanted to thank you for taking that blow for me. I am sure that it saved my life, and that means a lot to me. Now we have the comfort of knowing that the wretched gypsies are in jail. Tell Christine that she sang beautifully tonight.

Erik

I simply sat there for a moment, incredibly surprised and not quite knowing what to do. Then it hit me. I turned the yellowish parchment over and pulled my fountain pen from my coat pocket.

Erik,

I also have some thanks to offer to you. Without your knowledge we could have never hoped to defeat those gypsies, and I am very grateful. Neither we nor Paris shall ever have to worry about them again. I am glad that we managed to put aside our differences, at least for a while, to vanquish those fiendish gypsies. I shall tell Christine.

Raoul De Chagny

I put the letter back in the envelope and resealed the wax skull, which truthfully was still quite creepy. I had been surprised to see that he had signed his name, instead of the normal O.G. I put my pen back in my pocket and stood up as the cast took their final bows, and saw Christine blow a kiss in my direction.

"Bravo!" I exclaimed, blowing a kiss back as the applause exploded around me. The curtains closed and I walked out of the box, leaving the letter on the chair. I walked out into the hallway and found that the candle on the wall had been extinguished. I turned around as I heard the swish of a cloak behind me, sounding like it had entered the box. I saw the dark form pick up the letter off of the chair and from what I could tell he looked a bit shocked that I had written back. He opened the envelope and read the letter, then walked out of the box and turned to face me. He stared me down and I stared at him right back. Then he nodded, and I nodded in return, and I could have sworn that I saw a hint of smirkish sort of smile on his face. Then with that, he turned to go, and so did I. As I walked down the hallway and into the brightly lit lobby, I shook my head. That had certainly been a strange encounter. But it, unlike the other encounters that I had experienced with the man, had not left me with feelings of uneasiness or fear. I got the impression that though it would never really be right between us, that we had at least come to a sort of understanding.

I walked through the lobby and towards the dressing rooms, stopping only a few times to chat quickly with a few people. That was the trouble with being a Vicomte; someone always wanted to talk to you. When I finally reached Christine's dressing room, I rapped lightly on the door.

"Come in," I heard her say. I opened the door, and she smiled at me. I tipped my hat at her and offered her the bouquet of roses that I had brought.

"Some roses for the lovely lady?" I said, grinning.

"Why I'm delighted monsieur. May I take your hat?" she asked as she took the roses, laughing at my antics.

"You may," I said as I kissed her hand and took a seat beside her.

"So what did you think of the performance?" she asked.

"It was wonderful as always. I think that was the most applause you've gotten so far," I said. This suddenly reminded me of what Erik had requested. "Erik asked me to tell you that your singing was wonderful tonight."

Her eyes widened. "What? Did you run into him?"

"Actually, he dropped a letter from the rafters, and requested it. I responded to his letter, and caught glimpse of him when he came in the box to get it."

"I take it he must have been watching the opera then. I'm glad that he enjoyed the music," she said. "Speaking of Erik, Raoul may I ask you something?"

I looked at her quizically. "Of course darling, anything."

"What made you take that blow for Erik that night?" she asked quickly, her voice containing a small tremor.

I thought for a moment, trying to put my answer in the right words. "Truthfully, it was a combination of two things. One, he had helped us against the gypsies, and two, well, I thought of you and your face that day in the graveyard when you asked me not to kill him."

I saw her eyes mist over and felt her arms suddenly wrap around me in an embrace."Oh Raoul," I heard her say softly. "You always think of others; that had to have been one of the most selfless acts I've ever seen. And one of the bravest. And you two working together, I still can't believe it. But sometimes I wish you'd think of yourself more."

"I could say the same about you Little Lotte. But we had best get out there, I believe that your public awaits," I said as I helped her up.

"Wait, there's just one more thing," she said, and I noticed a sly grin on her face. With that, she caught me in a kiss, which I fully returned, and at that moment everything was right with the world.

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A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait, I've been out of town, and my eighteenth birthday was yesterday. Also, I got to see Phantom on stage on Saturday. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life, everyone was amazing! I especially loved the All I Ask of You bit! Well, please review, only two chaps left!