Author's Note: Sorry it took so long. School, marching band and fencing have been keeping me pretty busy...but it's Homecomming tonight...if only I had a date named Erik...(sigh lol) Well...thanks for your patience and enjoy!

The Stolen Burden

I watched through my open window as the sun was beginning to set, casting a lustrous mix of colors across the sky. It soon was hidden by the dark silhouette of trees that lined the edge of the words on our property. Feeling warm and contented by the gorgeous display outside my window, I turned from the window and looked at the clock on my bedroom wall. It was just after nine; late enough for all to have retired to their rooms, but yet early enough for them to still be awake. I decided to wait a little while yet, before doing what it was I planned to do. I practiced a few of my dance steps for the tryouts that would be in a few days. Each move was accurate enough, but since I was lacking enough room to truly practice, I gave up and laid down on my bed. I allowed my thoughts to wander as I watched the ceiling above me, illuminated by the glowing moon.

For as long as I could remember, my father had been the most important person in my life. He taught me countless lessons that I would cherish for all my life; how to love, how to sing, how to show one's true colors, and so much more. I could never truly tell him how much he meant to me. My favorite memory of him is the night he came into my life and back into my mothers…I saw how much he loved her as he looked upon her and the joy that had been absent from my mother's face for all the years of my life returned within the same glorious moment. He was everything to us and I couldn't even begin to imagine life without him.

None the less, there were strange occurrences, that were increasing in frequency of late and I had to know what was going on. It was always strange when there were people visiting us in our home. Father would simply disappear and Raoul would suddenly be the 'stand-in'. When I was young, I was taught that it was normal for father to leave in large crowds and so I hadn't begun wondering why until I overheard arguments between Raoul and my father for the past few years and only recently had I began to actually catch what it was they were saying. They would argue over my mother and over another woman, who I knew to be Helene's deceased mother. I trusted my father, but everything hinted at some great hidden secret that no one, besides mother and Raoul were allowed to know. And that was what I wanted to find out.

If anyone close to me could be harmed by this secret, I had to know and it was that thought that led me to sneak out of my room and snoop around our house, searching for any hint of a grand secret. I quietly opened my bedroom door and crept into the hall. Across the hall from my room, father and mother's bedroom door was slightly ajar, allowing a soft glow of light to illuminate the hall for me. I suddenly heard their voices speaking softly to each other. I lifted the bottom of my nightgown off the floor so I didn't trip and sat down outside of the doorway to listen. The door was just open enough for me to be able to watch them as well.

"I just don't understand it…why would Raoul wish to have a party… he knows the risk that we would be taking…given your…well…"

"My Gabby…" My father sighed deeply his head lagging on his shoulders. "You should probably know that ever since I came back, Raoul has held a grudge against me…" He looked away as if shamed by that thought.

"And this should be new to me?"

He looked stunned, "Well…I thought…that…"

"My dearest," she walked towards him with a sort of menacing look in her eyes. "I hadn't though that my mock ignorance would fool you as well as Raoul…I thought your intelligence was above that" she teased.

My father gave her a roguish look, but then softened with a feeling of defeat, or so it seemed. "You knew?"

"Of course, love…I knew long before now…since that glorious day when you came back into my life…I knew how it would be between you both."

He sighed again. "I had hoped that seeing how happy you were that I was back would settle him." He reached over and wrapped his arm around my mother's waist, pulling her into his open arms.

"I am afraid that it only made his jealousy towards you grow…" she mumbled onto his chest.

"That would explain his temper towards me…" He said as he rested his head on top of hers.

"Erik…it seems that he's getting tired of simply arguing."

"You mean the party?"

"Yes…" She looked up at him, her eyes full of unshed tears.

"Oh, my darling…don't you fret your pretty little head…" he cooed, brushing the tears away with his fingertips.

"What if someone sees you during the party?"

"I suspect they will…If there is to be a party for my daughter, I will be there to claim her as my own."

My mother looked truly terrified. "ERIK! You cannot!"

"My Gabby…you cannot expect Raoul's sad attempt at scaring me away, to actually cause me to hide away from celebrating my daughter's triumph."

My mother seemed distracted for a moment as she smiled, "You seem to have much confidence in her."

My father's defensive stance diminished immensely. "She dances as well as she sings…" I knew what that meant coming from my father's mouth and so did my mother. I had inherited both of their voices and had I wanted to sing in the Opera, I could have gotten the lead without effort and that was putting it modestly. My mother smiled at him. "So you have no doubt that she'll make it?"

"None in the world, my love…"

"And are you alright with her working there?"

"I cannot refuse her the one thing she desires most simply because it collides with my own past…" he said solemnly, turning his back to my mother. I quickly turned myself away from the doorway, afraid that he might see me and know I was listening. I could still hear them.

"Erik…Look at me…" her voice was firm and unyielding. "Do not worry…she is an intelligent young woman and no harm will befall her."

"How can you be so sure?" I looked back into the room to see my mother standing behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder and speaking softly into his ear. I had to listen hard to hear her words.

"Because…her father is too great a man to allow her to be harmed…he is the most magnificent man the world has ever known…" I watched as my father began to cry softly. My mother turned him around in her arms and held him comfortingly, her hand resting on the back of his head which was leaning against her shoulder. I had never seen him like this before and it was nothing short of astonishing to see him in this state. I had always thought him to be the most powerful man in the world, but really he had a weakness…and that was his family.

He choked, "Oh, Gabby…without you, I would be dead…or nothing better than that"

"As would I, love…remember, you saved me as well…"

"Gabrielle…you have given me life in a way that I never thought possible. You have given me two beautiful daughters and a brilliant son….that in itself, means more than you could ever know…"

She smiled at him lightheartedly. "It was not only my doing…"

He smiled back. "But, It was you who remained loyal to me for the entire span of my four year absence…Had I not found that out, I wouldn't have come back to you…thinking you to be happy."

"And I would have remained miserable lonely until my death. Erik! I love you so much and you cannot ever leave me! Promise me you will not leave me!"

"Why would I ever do such a thing?"

"You will be leaving me, if you make an appearance at this party of Raoul's!"

"So we return to that subject." He turned from her and walked towards the bedside table. I held my breath, trying to remain silent as I watched him remove his mask and slide it into the drawer. The only time I had actually seen him take off his mask was the day that I first met him. He once told me that he knew I could handle the 'burden of his face' but he wore it so as not to scare my brother and sister, since they were still too young to understand.

In truth, I hardly remembered his face…I had been young and ignorant then…but what would my reaction be to it now? I quickly and silently vowed that I would love my father no matter what. He turned around slowly as my heart hammered against my chest. I starred unbelievingly at the sight of my own father. It seemed as if I didn't know half of who this man was, which I halfheartedly noted was true.

The skin on the right side of his face was so thin that the veins were clearly visible along the bone, which was also exposed. His eye was sunken in and outlined harshly by bone. His right cheek was higher than the left, creating the illusion of him being half an entirely different person. The right side of his nose was a gaping black cavity; the chin and lips below it were so utterly natural that it was nearly impossible to believe that they existed on the same face. All the features of his left side were so normal and so handsome that it wasn't surprising that he considered it a monstrosity. I quelled my surprised reaction and remained silent. My mother seemed unmoved by his face, and so I assumed that she had seen him without the mask countless times.

"It must be spoken of Erik! If anyone was to see you and recognize you…and I am sorry to remind you, but its not a hard thing to do…" she said, casually motioning towards his face. "They would surely call the police down upon you and I cannot have that again. Last time Raoul helped my free you, but this time, I could bet that his heart wouldn't be in it…causing you to hang before my eyes and our children's! You owe it to them, Erik, if not to me as well!"

"I owe everything I have to you, Gabrielle." He said in a defeated voice.

"Than prove it! Tell me that you will not be present at this party! Do not fall into Raoul's cruel trap!" Tears began to cascade down her cheeks and he quickly took her in his arms and held her firmly.

He kissed her for a moment before replying softly, "I promise…I will remain hidden…"

I decided that I had heard enough for now and my way back to my room and crawled silently into my bed as my thoughts contemplated who my father had once been. As the clock struck midnight, I decided that all the pieces would fall into place soon enough, and I allowed myself to be consumed by sleep.