A/N: I want to cry. This is my last chapter before the epilogue. Thanks to all who have been devoted to reading this from the beginning! I know some of you have been frustrated with me using songs from different movies, but I can't help it. I am no song writer.

It was a day where people would join together to celebrate the beginning of Damien's and Meg's lives together. The wedding had been the talk of the season and everyone who was anyone had been invited. Though some did not approve of Damien marrying a ballerina, they could not resist Meg's glorious smile. She was smart, pretty, and kind. She seemed to almost be perfect, but no one knew the darker secrets of Meg Giry.

Now, Meg stood there in front of a mirror in the grand church, looking at her pale reflection. She had been a wreck since yesterday when she woke up to find the note and mask. Her heart had been shred into pieces and she felt like she was dead. Erik had written that he loved her with all his heart, but they could never be. It was a painful and long day and when Damien came to see his beautiful bride-to-be, he had not expected to see such a sight. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes were swollen. Her whole face was red and she looked like she had lost the world. Madame Giry came up with the excuse that a dear cousin of Meg's had past away and that was why she was in the state she was.

"Meg." Her mother's reflection appeared. Meg turned around with the same look Madame Giry had seen when she was a child. That same look when her father died. It seemed to ask one of the simplest question yet the hardest to answer, "Why". Madame Giry walked up to her daughter and hugged her, trying to give her comfort.

"Why, Mama?" She began to cry, the tears seemed to be endless. "Why did he do this to me? Why didn't he say goodbye." Her sadness began to grow into anger. She pulled away from her mother. "Why! Why couldn't he face me like a man! Stupid coward!" Meg ran back into her mother's arms sobbing. Madame Giry tried to calm her daughter down, but it was hopeless. Her daughter's heart was broken ironically by the man who once believed no one would ever love him.

"Meg. You need to be strong. There is a man down there who is in love with you. He will give you the world if you ask for it. Don't give up on life, Meg. Erik has never been good at saying goodbyes. It was the only way he could do it without seeing you like this. He loves you Meg, I know it, but he wants you to live a life of freedom. He can't give that to you. He will never be comfortable around people. He will never be able to take you out and take you traveling with out worrying that someone will always be there looking for him. And think about the children you will have in the future. Every time you tell him you are with a child, he'll be scared Meg. He'll be scared of his children looking like him."

"-But I love him, Mama. I don't care what my children will look like. I will love them and him always." Meg interrupted.

"But you're not Erik, Meg. He will be scared and as many times you tell him that you love him and don't care, there will always be doubt. Look at what happen with Christine. He gave all his hope and love to her and had it thrown back at him." More tears streamed down Meg's face. The hard, cold, truth was more than she could bear. "I know these words are cruel, but they are the truth and you must accept them."

Madame Giry left Meg alone to think about the words that were spoken. How could this be happening? She wondered. Now Meg understood what Christine had must gone through. Deciding which man to choose and never knowing if you made the right decision.

Meg wiped away the tears that were mercilessly reminding her of what she was loosing. She knew once she said, "I do", she would belong to Damien for the rest of her days. But her heart and soul would forever belong to Erik. Even if he had left her here to face this obstacle on her own.

She now understood that Erik had not done this to break her heart, but to help her reach the next step in her life. She smiled and then laughed. "Oh Erik, I should have known." Meg walked over to the mirror, hopelessly wishing that Erik would somehow appear behind it. She wiped away the last fallen tears and flattened out the wrinkles on her sparkling, white, wedding dress. She only hoped that they would all think she had been crying tears of joy.

Meg Giry, soon to be Countess Marguerite Michel, started to walk towards the door. She tried not to think about him, but he would always be there haunting her head. Her hand was about to turn the handle when suddenly a gust of wind, blew open the windows. She turned around surprised and hoping it was Erik. There was no one. My mind is playing tricks on my already wrecked nerves. She hurried over to the window, peering out to make sure it was nothing, but the wind. She sighed. "Oh well, this is it."

Come what may

She sang quietly. Meg turned around to run into a very familiar, muscular, chest. She looked up to find a black, mask scorching her soul. "Erik." She could barely manage to say.

"Meg, I-" She kissed him hard on the lips, not wanting to let go. He pulled her against him, wishing that their clothes did not separate them. He wanted to make love to her right there, but knew they couldn't. She pulled away, taking off the mask and kissing him all over his face.

"Oh Erik…" She kissed him again. "I thought I would never see you again." She kissed him again on the lips. "Don't ever do this to me again, please Erik. I beg you." He looked down upon her. Her pleading eyes that held so much love and pain searching his eyes for something he could not offer. He then pulled her into a hug and held her tight. "I saw you, Erik. I saw you. You are my future." She whispered into his neck.

Erik knew he shouldn't have come back, but he had to. He had to see her one last time. He knew Meg would forever belong to him. He knew Meg would be Damien's legally, but not by heart and soul. "I love you, Meg."

She looked up at him, seeing the pain in his eyes. She knew what he was doing. "No!" She tried pushing away from him, but he held onto her. "Don't do this! Don't you dare say goodbye like this." The tears once again poured out like a broken dam. "Anywhere you go Erik, I'll go too. Please." She pleaded desperately.

Come what may

He sung. Meg bowed her head. She had been defeated. No matter how much begging she did, he would not let her come with him. She lowered her eyes, not being able to look at him.

Come what may

She whispered. He took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. "I will love you, till the end of…," he had to take a deep breath before finishing, "time." She kissed him one last time, to remind him that she would be his far longer than forever.

"I love you, Erik, no matter what." She whispered. He nodded. Meg wiped away the tears once again, fixed her hair, smooth out the wrinkles and began to walk towards the door. She turned around and smiled a sad smile. Her hands shaking, Meg reached for the door knob when Madame Giry came bustling in before she could reach it. "Meg, it is time." Meg turned around to find Erik gone.

"Of course, Mama." She said dutifully. Meg walked out the door, not turning around, hating that room more than anything, but Madame Giry stayed behind. "She loves you Erik. More than you will ever know." Madame Giry whispered to no one. Finally the door closed, leaving Erik to cry in the shadows.

The organ began to play the melodious music. People smiled at the beautiful bride. She looked like an angel. They all saw her crying tears of joy, but only Meg knew that they were tears from her heart and soul, weeping for the man who had changed her world forever. Damien smiled proudly of his beloved. He had to hold back the tears, he loved her so much. He would stay faithful to her for as long as he lived, knowing that Meg would always be his only one and that no other woman would replace her. He knew that it was destiny that brought him to this day. And when she looked up and smiled at him, his heart leaped.

Damien said his vows, smiling the entire time. Meg was at the point to say, "I do", when the doors burst open. Everyone turned their heads to see a man in a mask watching them on a black horse, before galloping away. Meg closed her eyes and said, "I do." And it seemed almost like magic the doors closed.

A/N: Not what you expected, huh? I know, I know, I'm mean, but hey it's different from other stories right? Don't forget I still have the epilogue to do.