A/N: I recommend listening to 'Home' by Ryan Sheridan whilst reading this soundtrack. (It's on Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie soundtrack)

Chapter 17: A Nightingale's sorrow

Rain began to dot a sad pattern against the glass of Erik's office windows as he watched Rose go out for her usual morning walk with Caesar by her side... But this time she was too sad and broken to ride upon his back.

Rose passed by the employee's children and offered them a sad smile and a ruffle of the hair before carrying on as Caesar trotted behind her,

"Good Morning, Miss Rose" Doctor Gangle greeted with a concerned smile,

"And to you Doctor Gangle. That hat is blessed to have such a handsome owner like yourself" she praised gently with a weak smile as she passed by and Gangle could only look after her with a sad expression.

Rose watched as ferry's came and went... She considered boarding one now and again but every time the thought crossed her mind; Caesar would lay his head upon her lap and she smiled sadly, brushing his mane in a loving manner... She was pulled from her day dreaming when an all too familiar voice came from her side,

"Rose...?" a woman said stunned causing Rose to look up and sighed to find Christine standing there with a shocked expression and Rose stood, going to leave but Christine quickly caught her hand,

"Wait I... I can't believe that you're here... I thought you were dead..." the singer murmured and hugged Rose tightly but she did not return the gesture,

"Well considering the fact that the last time we saw each other you called me the devil's concubine and had the Parisian authorities kill my only friend. You might as well still think that I'm dead Christine" Rose said with a sarcastic tone, pulling her hand from Christine's grasp as she looked at her firmly,

"I'm sorry... I... I was scared" Christine tried sadly,

"I... It was just so much to take in and then... I thought he had turned you against me" Christine admitted,

"You turned me against yourself, Christine. Not him... I lost him because of you" Rose whispered and a tear fell down her cheek,

"I'm so sorry..." Christine whispered as Raoul came to stand by her side, holding the hand of a little boy,

"Mama! I wanna go on the carousel!" the little boy cheered excitedly,

"In a moment, Gustave..." Christine promised, looking back at Rose with a sad smile,

"I named him after our father" she pointed out gently but Rose was unmoved,

"... Your father" she corrected before turning away, collecting Caesar's reigns and walked away; Christine closed her eyes and allowed a tear to fall but Raoul gave her a comforting hug, brushing her tears away and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek,

"I'll talk to her" he assured and instructed Christine to go and have fun with Gustave on the carousel before heading off after Rose.

Raoul joined Rose after finding her sitting upon the sand that lined Phantasma's beach and he offered her a takeaway cup of hot chocolate,

"Three marshmallows. Just the way you like it" he told her, sitting down before taking a sip of his own,

"Ooooo That is extra chocolaty" Raoul thought aloud,

"They use extra coco beans" Rose mumbled, taking a sip of her own hot chocolate and continued to watch Caesar bumping his nose against a stray beach ball that some visitor must have left behind,

"... Christine and I were really disheartened when we thought the phantom had... Well..." Raoul tried,

"He didn't kill me as you can obviously see... He saved my life. Made me run... Please don't tell me what you and those officers did to him because I really don't want to know" Rose said firmly,

"... I understand... Christine truly regrets everything that she said to you. She thought you had died without her having the chance to repair the broken bridges between you both... Where have you been all this time, Rose?" Raoul asked,

"Everywhere..." she murmured simply,

"You should come back to Paris with myself, Christine and Gustave. We can be a proper family" Raoul suggested, watching as Rose smiled humorlessly,

"I don't have a family. I'm alone in this world just as always have been and just as I always will be" Rose said, placing her take away cup down before standing and whistled for Caesar whom came galloping to her side before she mounted him,

"Just leave me alone, Raoul" Rose instructed firmly before riding off.

Rose dismounted and took Caesar back into the stables, making sure he was comfortable before heading through the door that lead into the concert hall and Rose frowned as her vision blurred for a moment and she coughed; Madame Giry had been coming down the stairs and grew concerned by Rose's nasty sounding cough,

"Rose...?" she asked coming to her side and panicked when seeing the small droplets of blood that Rose had coughed onto the palm of her hand when covering her mouth; Antoinette was quick to steady Rose as she struggled to stay standing,

"NADIR!" Madame Giry yelled in terror as Rose slowly collapsed to the floor whilst the ballet mistress held her in her arms in a motherly embrace.

Raoul had ignited a cigarette and took a long draw as one of his dodgy acquaintances came to stand by his side,

"I was write. I did see her the night that Christine sang" Raoul said, blowing out a cloud of tainted smoke as he remembered seeing a very broken Rose after re-entering the concert hall after going out for a smoke,

"I couldn't fight the idea that the devil Christine said Rose had been infatuated with might still be alive... My thoughts were confirmed when I saw the horse whom was with her today. I shot the phantom whilst he was riding that very horse... No matter. With Rose on her death bed the monster shall surely come to avenge her and I shall finish him off as well" Raoul reasoned calmly, taking another puff of his cigarette,

"But why does poisoning your wife's step sister make you think that it will lure the beast out into the open, sir?" Raoul's acquaintance asked in a confused grumble,

"Because I have a sneaky suspicion that Rose became my wife's understudy and that the phantom of the opera now loves her" Raoul growled with an evil smirk on his face before turning to look up at the concert hall and breathed out another cloud of tainted smoke.

NASTY RAOUL! BAD RAOUL! CAN SOMEONE SLAP RAOUL FOR ME?! REVIEW FOR CHAPTER 18!

Kind Regards,

TheAuthor1996