A/N: Sorry about the delay…As always, I own nothing!

When we got to the lake, I only needed a few seconds to realize that the boat was elsewhere. I looked back at my mother, unsure of what to do. My costume consisted of black trousers and tall boots, but Mama was in her thick long dress. "Well, go on," she urged impatiently. I nodded and waded in, my mother right behind me. The water was up to my middle the entire time we followed the path of candles glowing from along the walls. Finally, we reached his gated entrance, which at the moment happened to be closed. I shivered slightly as we peered through the bars.

Christine was sitting on the floor, sobbing, while the Phantom was standing over her, holding a wedding gown toward her as he sang. "Say you'll share with me one love one lifetime, lead me save me from my solitude…say you'll want me with you now and always…anywhere you go let me go too…Christine, that's all I ask of you…" The tune was clearly familiar, the words similar. And yet, in his voice was a tone of final hope. Her hand was closed around something, but I had a feeling that it could only be the ring he had taken from her to use in his own proposal. She did not speak to him in reply, but rather kept on sobbing to the point where she was shaking. And yet she did not take her eyes off of him. He knelt down then, placing the wedding gown in her lap as he continued his song. "What are you afraid of? Is life with me so grim? You're safe, nothing can harm us, not even the fire above us…"

"Raoul…" she whispered, her eyes growing wider.

"Your Vicomte was a distraction. You will forget about him."

"I can't! I love him!"

"You will learn to love me…" He stood up again and began slowly pacing. "Perhaps one day I will let you see my face again, and by then you will not scream…or wish to betray me…" He turned to face her then, his voice full of accusation. She lowered her head.

"How…did you know?" As she asked this, I began chewing on my lip. I had not thought of this…her finding out that I had betrayed her.

"Never mind how I knew of your plan. The point is, you were going to betray me…after I gave you everything!" Even as his voice rose, I let out a sigh of relief. My secret was safe, and I hoped to someday thank him. But that thought was immediately shoved aside as he continued his rant. "You were going to betray me…for him…for some rich suitor who was not even there for you after your father died. I was your angel…but more importantly I comforted you… I trained your voice. And when I was not giving you lessons, I listened to your thoughts and fears. And you would throw all that away?"

"You deceived me!"

"I hadn't planned on it. Not for forever. Would you have opened up to me if I had shown myself to you right away?" She hesitated, and he nodded. "Yes, that's what I thought. I deceived you in order to protect you." He knelt down next to her again, taking her hand in his. "Christine, everything I ever did was for you. Why can't you just accept that?" She looked away from him then, sobbing and fingering the lace on the wedding gown.

"I see there was one lesson I neglected to teach you, Erik…" Mama's voice beside me caused me to jump, and The Phantom whirled around, rising to his feet.

"Antoinette…Marguerite…was I not clear in my instructions? I told you to go to the lake. Not through it."

"Well we're here now, Erik. You might as well let us in." I watched him sigh and go over to a lever. When he pulled it, the gate in front of us rose out of the water, and as we passed through, water dripped down on us, causing me to shiver. As we approached the dry land that was his lair, I once again found myself looking around at all the artwork, fully taking in the evidence of his obsession. Yes, that was a word more suited to what I was seeing. I could see now that it was not the perfect picture of love I had thought. Perfect love was shared by both parties, not forced upon one another. But how could he have known?

It was a question I had a feeling my mother was about to answer.

The Phantom pointed toward his work area. "You may sit in there if you wish. I shall deal with you momentarily." He then turned back toward Christine.

"No, Erik, you will deal with us now." The tone in Mama's voice was all too familiar, and yet I had never in my wildest dreams imagined her using it here…with him! Even Christine, deep in her own puddle of sorrows, looked up in sheer astonishment. I kept my eyes on the Phantom, wondering what he would do…and then I wondered what he was in for.

"Antoinette…"

"No, Erik…you will listen to me. I have sat back and watched you for twenty years. I have just let you do what you needed to…helped you without saying a word. But I think in doing that, I have made a big mistake, just as you are about to make a big mistake."

"You dare to tell me that loving Christine is a mistake?" The Phantom rose to his feet, glaring at my mother as he stepped closer to her.

"You do not love her, Erik." At that moment, I inwardly willed my mother to please stop talking. The Phantom's face grew redder, and I quickly looked to make sure he was not holding any punjabs.

"Silence." His voice was a whispered growl as he moved even closer, his hands clenched up into fists.

"Erik, you and I both know that your threats do not work on me. Now you will hear me out, and then if you wish I will leave you in peace."

"Oh? And where would you go? The opera house is gone. Like it or not, we are all trapped here. Welcome to solitude."

"There, you see Erik? You see how far you have let this go? You have let your stubbornness and your selfish feelings get in the way of your judgment, and now you have destroyed our home…our careers…"

"My salary money will cover the repairs. In the meantime you are welcome to stay here. Provided you stay out of my way…"

"And what about those that lost their lives tonight, hmm? What can you do for them?"

"What makes you think I would want to do anything for them? The world showed no compassion to me, why should I treat them any different?"

"Because it's the right thing to do."

"Ha! Since when has a murderous monster ever done the right thing?"

"There is always an exception, Erik. You must stop using your past as an excuse!"

"SILENCE! You will be silent, woman! You think I asked for this?" He ripped off his mask and pointed to his scars. "You think I asked to be sold to the gypsies….to be beaten and mocked? You think I asked for this life of solitude? This cold dark prison of my mind? Never!" He threw the black mask down on the floor, stomping it into the stone ground. "I did what I had to do in order to simply survive! And the one time I asked for the tiniest hint of happiness…you dare to take that away? To say that it is wrong?"

"I never said that being happy was wrong, Erik. The way you are going after it is. For goodness sake, open your eyes and look at her! Is that what you want? A future with a wife who cowers in the corner, crying every last tear she has in her because it's the future you forced her into? You did not ask for the past you were given. Don't make Christine live a future that she did not ask for." I watched as the Phantom reluctantly did as he was told, turning to face Christine. She had indeed resumed her position of huddling in the corner, weeping as she fingered the ring and the dress. His eyes that had been full of anger and rage now softened considerably as he contemplated my mother's words of wisdom. The air around us was silent, save for the joined sobs coming from the both of them.

I do not know how long the sobbing might have continued, had the Vicomte not dropped in on us, almost literally, at that moment. A splash from the other side of the gate caused us all to whirl around, and we saw his ash-covered body stumbling to regain his footing. His hair was tousled and partially burnt, his skin a deep red underneath the blackness of soot. He limped his way toward us, coughing up smoke, and he grew weaker with each time he fell into the water.

Christine was the first to spring into action, and she flew to the gate, calling his name. The Phantom reached a hand toward her, but at the last moment he drew it back, deciding not to stop her. She fell to her knees in the water, reaching her hand through the bars toward the Vicomte. "Raoul…I'm here…I'm right here…" He looked up, gasping for breath as his eyes focused on her. Slowly, he managed to crawl his way through the water toward her, and his shaking fingers finally intertwined with hers as he fell once more. Tearfully, Christine turned to the Phantom again. "Please…let him through!"

I turned my attention back to him, and by looking into his eyes I could see the debate going on in his mind. His face showed both anger and softening, but with the anger I could see that stubbornness I and my mother knew all too well. His debate was paralyzing him. As the Vicomte coughed once more, any debate in my mind was quickly dismissed as I made my way to the lever. Before the Phantom could even notice me, let alone stop me, I raised the gate, and the Vicomte collapsed further, Christine's lap the only thing keeping his head above water. She stroked his burnt hair and his ash-covered face, tears still streaming down her face. She turned once again to the Phantom, and I could see something new in her eyes…a strength I had never seen before. "Please…Angel…you must help him…you must do something!" The Phantom stared at her, slowly coming out of his trance, and then he finally let out a sigh of exasperation before going down to meet his nemesis. Hesitating only a second longer, he reached down with one hand and scooped the Vicomte out of the lake before walking him over to the massive bed. He practically flung Raoul onto the mattress before walking back toward us, and Christine immediately took a position at the bedside. The Phantom then grabbed a wooden bowl and filled it with lake water, and after tearing a portion of his shirt off and dipping it into the bowl, he handed both to Christine. "Clean him off. Then take clean water and keep the cloth on his forehead. Madame will help you." He did not wait for her to show that she understood his instructions. Instead, he stormed off into the far shadows of his lair. As my mother made her way over to Christine, she grasped my shoulder and bent down to my level.

"Go after him." She whispered, and I nodded. I would have gone anyway. But before I could say this, she was gone, and so I made my way over to where the Phantom had disappeared. I felt my way along the cavern walls until I heard the faint tinkling of a music box, and then there was his voice, shaky with sobs, singing along to the simple tune.

"Masquerade! Paper faces on parade…Masquerade..hide your face so the world will never find you…" There was a sigh and a sniffle, and then his whispered voice once more. "My music...my only happiness now…." I didn't realize that I had not stopped moving forward until the white of his shirt was before me. He was sitting on the floor, and I slowly lowered myself beside him. "Go away, Marguerite."

"No, Monsieur. I'll not leave you like this."

"Like what? Like the helpless, lonely fool I have always been? I've survived this long. It can only be the same darkness I've always known until death finally decides to pay me a visit."

"Monsieur…"

"I said leave me!" His eyes shown in the distant candle light, the only evidence that he was looking right at me. They glistened with tears he was still shedding, and I knew right then and there what I must do. I moved slowly, as if someone else were controlling my arms as I pulled him close and into a tight hug. His body was tense at first, as if I were hugging a stone. But slowly, his shoulders began to shake, and he relaxed against me as the sobs overtook his stubbornness. I rested my head upon his as my own tears started to flow.

A/N: I apologize in advance for the next delay…unlike the delay with this one, I only have one paragraph written for the next chapter…but keep the feedback coming! It provides me with the motivation to keep writing! Stay tuned! :)