The Perfect Solution
An Alternate Universe – Phantom of the Opera Story
Nyasia A. Maire
© 2007
DISCLAIMER: I do not hold the rights nor did I create any characters found in The Phantom of the Opera or Phantom, nor have I received monetary compensation for writing this story.
While the West is Paling
While the west is paling,
Starshine is begun.
While the dusk is failing
Glimmers up the sun.
So, till darkness cover
Life's retreating gleam,
Lover follows lover,
Dream succeeds to dream.
Stoop to my endeavor,
O my love, and be
Only and for ever
Sun and stars to me.
William Ernest Henley
Chapter Fifty – Epilogue – While the West is Paling
Erik Destler had a prestigious reputation and wealth. He had all a man could ever want. He had everything he had ever dreamed of having, including the two little things he never thought he would.
Love and music.
And every morning he awoke from his dreams to find that the truth of his life far surpassed the mundaneness of his dreams as he gazed upon the face of his beloved wife, Christine.
He lived in a home filled with love and the sounds of music.
He found it was driving him mad … with joy.
And, he decided that this madness was one he would enjoy until his dying day.
♥ ♫ ♥ ♫ ♥
Paris – Late Autumn, 1934
The man and woman sat on the park bench, their postures straight and proud. Although they were quite obviously elderly, they held hands much like newlyweds. They gazed at the statues on their fountain, thinking back to the day a very nervous Erik proposed and a possessed Christine accepted.
"I am very worried, mon amour. There are rumors of another war brewing in Germany. A war to end all wars! Ha! As long as there are men whose only wish is to dominate others, there will be wars."
The old woman sadly shook her head.
"I can only be thankful that you never had to participate in those bits of foolishness. I only wish …."
The man placed his hand over hers and squeezed gently.
"I know, ma chéri, I know, but Henri thought he was doing the right thing when he enlisted. We have been over this many times. God simply wished to call him home. As much as we needed him with us, God needed him more."
"Somehow it still seems so unfair. I bore him within my womb for nine months, went through the pain of his birth, we raised him through the scraped knees and bloody noses, only for him to die just as he becomes a man. It is wrong. He should be here with us, he should have a wife and we should have grandchildren, but since God had to call him home when he was 19, we will never have those things with him. Nor, will we ever have him again. I am sorry, Erik."
The man turned and looked at her confused.
"What? Why are you sorry?"
A tear slid down her cheek.
"I am sorry I did not give you another son. It always seemed like there would be plenty of time and what with the girls always underfoot and Henri toddling along after them, I never felt a lack, but I suppose the time for regrets ran out on that quite some time ago."
Erik turned to face his beloved and took both of her hands in his.
"Ma chéri, hush! I, too, never felt a lack. I have no regrets. It was simply Henri's time. I treasure the time we had with him, I treasure the time I have had with all of you. I feel blessed for having lived this life. We never spoke of it, but when we first married, you knew I had horrible nightmares. Do you remember?"
"Oui. I remember, but they stopped after the girls' birth. Why do you bring this up now?"
The man released one of the hands he held captive, patted his wife's knee and smiled sweetly.
"Oh, I suppose I am just feeling my age. Is it not what old men do? Reminisce about the past and think of the way things might have been. I spent the first 30 years of my life believing that I would always be alone and I dreamt of a life that could have been, but thankfully, was not. I dreamt that I ran away from home before my mother and I reconciled that gypsies trapped me and held me in a cage. I dreamt that they put me on display and called me, "The Devil's Child." I remember the dreams quite plainly. My keeper beat me and treated as if I were less than an animal."
Christine gasped and placed her hand over her heart.
"That sounds like a truly dreadful dream."
The man smiled grimly.
"It was horrible, but the strange thing is that it was not the worst part of the dream."
"How could it get any worse?"
"Well, oh! Ma chéri! You must not take this the wrong way. After all, these dreams occurred forty and more years ago, but the truly horrific part of the dreams had you in them. And, the thing is that I knew of you through Raoul, but had no idea what you looked like. I know now that it was you in those dreams. I dreamt of you before we ever met. You saved me from the gypsies. One moment, I was a child and you led me away from them. The next, I was a grown man who loved you so much I felt I had lost my mind. Only, in my dreams, I wore a mask over the disfigured side of my face. You could not love me, you never chose me. You always left me. I was alone and broken-hearted while you left me, wrapped in the arms of another man."
"Erik! I loved you from the moment I saw you. Why would you have such dreams?"
"I know not, mon amour. I only know that if I had not met you in truth, those dreams would have driven me insane. The night I met you was the night you saved my life. If not for you, I would have given in and allowed the madness to take me. You saved me, ma chéri."
The strange earthen-tone eyes of the woman flashed amber sparks at her husband's words and she shook her head as a gentle smile curled her lips.
"Oh, mon mari, you saved me as well. If not for you, I would be an empty shell of a woman. A puppet whose strings Lilith pulled. We saved one another, mon amour. It is very simple really, destiny meant for us to be together."
The elderly couple leaned forward and touched their foreheads together savoring the nearness of their bodies and the closeness they shared in their hearts.
♥ ♫ ♥ ♫ ♥
"Erik! Christine!"
A long unheard, but never forgotten voice called. The couple turned their heads slowly and gasped as one.
"Angel!" The man rasped.
"Papa!" The woman cried hoarsely.
The young man smiled and nodded his head in greeting at the couple seated before him.
"It is time to go home now."
He held out his hands to the pair.
"Come, I have the most heavenly music for you to sing. Let us go."
They stood and each of them grasped an outstretched hand. The three began to walk away from the bench, but Erik cast a glance over his shoulder and froze in shock.
"Christine! Look!"
The woman turned and took in the sight of an elderly couple slumped together on the bench leaning forehead to forehead with eyes closed.
"Mon Dieu! Are we …."
Christine and Erik looked at one another and smiled.
"Oh, ma chéri! You have never looked more beautiful!" The man stammered in awe.
The woman blushed prettily and replied in a voice equally filled with wonder and admiration.
"Oh, Erik! You truly are the most handsome man I have ever met. Je t'aime."
He smiled softly and ran a finger along her cheek.
"Je t'aime, Christine. Je t'aime pour toujours."¹
They released their Angel of Music's hands and smiled in response to his frown.
With a small bow, Erik offered Christine his arm.
"Ma femme, may I have the honor of escorting you?"
Christine dropped a small, dainty and flirtatious curtsey then threaded her arm through Erik's offered one.
"Oh, mon amour, I would not have it any other way."
Erik inclined his head to the young man who waited patiently for them.
"Shall we, monsieur?"
Christine rested her head on Erik's shoulder. The two began to stroll through the park, holding onto one another's arms tightly. Christine looked up into Erik's eyes and smiled. The man returned his wife's look as his eyes sparkled in sheer delight. The two lovers followed the Angel of Music down the path and on into eternity.
¹ Je t'aime pour toujours. – I love you forever.
Author's Note: I sit writing this final chapter and find myself feeling rather numb. The ending of this story came to me while I wrote Chapter 42. I hoped that another ending would find its way into my fingers, but my muse would not allow it. I shall truly miss the love these two shared as well as Christine's blindness towards Erik's deformity, not to mention the fact that his mother's decision to burn his masks and Christine's love allowed Erik to live a life in the light of love.
I would like to thank all of my reviewers as well as all of the people that placed this story on their "Story Alert" list or their "Favorite Story" list. Here is a list of all of you alphabetically!
Alarda
atraktywna
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caitlin1121
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Dancer of the Opera
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DownOnceMore
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Juju
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Kilt Girl
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Phantom Night Rose
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Timesflies
TruPhan
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Vampire Fortune
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VoiceOfAngles
washizu
wolfy73
xan3
Okay…
I just had to say it in this story somewhere. It's been driving me crazy not being able to write it. ☺ Here is a shameless plug, which I am not certain anyone will see because it's at the bottom of the list of reader names. But, here goes anyway…the first chapter of "The Plastic Rainbow" should be posted tomorrow (Monday, August 20.) Just thought anyone that might be interested would like to know. As with most of my writing, it is completely different from "Christine dans Deux" and "The Perfect Solution." I found a way to tie it into the POTO universe, so it won't be a complete "Alternate Universe" – just a skewed one (I know The-Lonely-Child, I just LOVE skewed universes!)
Hope to see your reviews for "The Plastic Rainbow." It has been an honor and a pleasure writing "The Perfect Solution" for all of you!
Fondest wishes,
--ny