Evermore

by Child of Dreams

As all fairytales do, this story begins with the simplest of words: "Once upon a time..." But that is where our story, a different type of fairytale, takes a turn. For this is not another tale of fair maidens and foppish princes... No, this is the story of two people drawn together under the most interesting of circumstances, a tale both as old as time and as fresh as a rose...

49. One Love, One Lifetime

Chapter Forty-Nine: One Love, One Lifetime

It had been two weeks since the Enchantress had brought Christine back to life, and Erik had finally deemed the redhead sufficiently recovered.
To celebrate, a ball was being thrown in her honor.
Christine hadn't thought it possible to be so happy.
But she was.
Deliriously, wonderfully, blissfully happy.

Gliding across the ballroom in Erik's arms, the redhead smiled as they passed faces now so familiar to her.
She saw her father, free and healthy, and remembered with a slight pang of guilt, the moment a few days prior when he had practically rushed to her bedside upon learning she was alive again, and collapsed upon her, weeping uncontrollably and making her swear not to risk her life so foolishly again.
Christine had rolled her eyes, but acquiesced to spare him any unnecessary stress.

She giggled slightly, catching sight of André and Fleurette locked in a heated kiss nearby.
Following her line of sight, Erik snorted in amusement.
Firmin, however, didn't seem to be quite as amused, and was clearly heard muttering, "Not again!" as he strode over in a huff.

She saw Elisabeth and two other girls, wedged between their mother and father, the youngest child pretending to be annoyed, but clearly loving the attention.
La Esmeralda was also there, waltzing happily with her maestro.
'This,' the redhead thought to herself as she gazed around the room, 'is my family.'

She lifted her head and her eyes met Erik's startling green orbs.
He smiled down at her and she felt the now familiar warmth of love shoot through her entire body, starting at her toes and traveling to the tips of her ears.
Over the past two weeks, she had found herself loving the Prince more and more with each passing day as she watched him embrace the life that had been denied him for so long.

"Marry me..." he murmured huskily in her ear, and all Christine could do in response was kiss him, the rest of the world fading away until it felt as if it were just the two of them caught up in a tale as old as time, a tale that would undoubtedly be lifelong.
A tale that had begun once upon a time and would end, the redhead knew, happily ever after.

A/N: Please review to unlock Chapter Fifty...