Nothing Less

A/N:How long has it been? o.O Much too long for some of you, my apologies!I didnt want to rush this chapter since I've read some fics on here where they have the OC immediately accept the Phantom after seeing his face which bugs me, I hope this didnt feel too rushed!But here it is! Side note to some of you:

BreeBabeWWETNA: I doubt Joker would want to get paired up to Lucy, I mean who would? :D Oh and as for Kiri's name its pronounced Keeree for her nickname and Keereemee for her full name, the 'e' makes a squeaky sound like in 'leaf' I dont know if I've explained it correctly but I hope it helps!

Musicality: Hmm, I wonder what questions you have in mind? Feel free to ask since you got me curious, what would you want to know about the characters? I look forward to more reviews from you :D

Sakura Neko-Chan 13: Dont worry, Lucy will be thrown into the mix and will have plenty of alone time with our dear Phantom, do not fear!

Elssiana: I know you hate it when I take forever to update, so sorry about the wait! I hope its semi worth it :D

Nuria78: Glad you like it so far, here's the chapter so dont punjab me! o.O And thank you for the review and compliments!

trrmo77: Dont worry, he'll get her to play Christine. We all know the Phantom is a a master at making people "sick" or unable to sing seconds before they have to go on stage ;)

Kudos to those who reviewed the last chappie: Et. al, Musicality, RedDeathLvr, Sakura Neko-Chan 13, trrmo77, 13sapphire13, Xxnikkigirl123xX, Nuria786, and Elssiana

Monica pulled the mask away holding in her breath as the Phantom tensed in front of her. She had thought she would be prepared to deal with all of the emotions that ran though her body when she finally got a look at his face but she had failed miserably to contain them.

She gasped upon seeing what he hid beneath the porcelain mask. A million of emotions flooded through her, her thoughts were running wild, and her mouth hung open in shock.

The Phantom remained frozen in place; his eyes closed shut waiting for the scream or for her to run away. Upon realizing that neither of those had happened he opera ghosts risked opening his eyes to see why she was still there.

Monica remained speechless as she stared at the right side of his face with an unreadable expression. Within however her whole body had gone into overload. She scanned his deformed side without being able to place her feelings towards him.

The harsh bumps and ridges on his skin confused her; she had never seen anything quite like it. She noticed a few scars scattered throughout the whole area which had probably been there for a while, it sickened her to think that another had done it to him. She felt the need to step closer in order to examine his face further but as she did so he stepped back defensively.

His hand flew up to cover the deformity while the other remained clenched at his side. He couldn't understand what had gone through his mind when he allowed her to remove his mask; it was a fatal error that he had promised himself he would never allow to happen again.

Monica sighed shakily trying to comprehend what she was feeling before approaching an already unstable opera ghost. Repulsion was a feeling that seemed to want to emerge but she didn't think herself capable of feeling that way towards him, she sighed deeply trying to see if that had been it.

Upon breathing out she ruled out being disgusted, that was not it.

Pity perhaps?

She stepped forward trying to get a better look at his face which was hung low and shadowed over by the dim lighting in the main theater. He seemed so vulnerable at the moment and it caused her immense pain when she realized that she had caused him to be like this.

Yes, pity was amongst the various feelings that she was feeling but that wasn't enough for her. She wanted to understand herself before she could even begin to think herself capable of understanding the fallen angel before her.

What had the world put him through?

What had he endured at the hands of the cruel masses?

The thought of them beating and jeering him disgusted her, made her want to turn back time in order to save him the misery and suffering.

She moved forward once more, this time a bit slower afraid of startling him. If he was in the same state of mind as her at the moment then the slower approach would benefit them both. The slightest harsh movement or outburst would cause them to lose the little control that they had on themselves at the moment.

She approached his hunched form with a scared look in her eyes waiting for him to move, to say anything, to breathe. He kept his head low, his hand still covering the deformity on the side of his face. She gently rose her own hand and placed it over the one he held over his face as he jumped upon feeling her touch.

His eyes met hers and in that moment she tried to comprehend what he had been through, what he had to endure in order to survive. His pleading eyes held an immense feeling of sorrow that made her want to understand him more.

"Let me see," she whispered to him shakily. He refused for a moment or two longer before allowing her small hand to remove his with a shaky breath.

Monica stared at the skin that had remained hidden from her eyes with wide eyes. She stopped her obvious staring and tried to get him to look at her without success.

She rose her hand to caress the damaged skin out of pure curiosity making sure to let him know her intentions before even attempting such an action. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding upon touching his face.

He jumped once he felt her smooth hand on the side of his monstrous face making her pull her hand back in horror and back away from him with a bowed head.

"I'm sorry," she murmured reeling her body back and scolding herself for being so stupid. Her mind was starting to slow down and her feelings towards the Opera Ghost were starting to clear up.

She didn't feel disgust or fear towards him, that much she was sure of. Somewhere in the back of her head she found herself comparing him to Joker when he had first walked in with the newly acquired scar.

It had taken a while to get used to him walking around with that permanent grin that he now wore with pride but that was where the two men were different. While Joker didn't mind the scar the Phantom did, he was ashamed of the deformity to the point of isolating himself from the world.

"Was the fear of hurting me the reason you backed away, or has the realization of how monstrous I really am sunk in?" he snarled at her as she shrunk back from him knowing he had lost control.

"I merely thought I had hurt you," she squeaked back upon seeing him storm over to her causing her to sink into one of the velvet chairs behind her.

"Are you content now?" he thundered at her as she shook her head while staring at him with a worried expression on her face. She hated it when he lost control of himself, that was the only time in which she actually considered herself in danger while being near him.

"Do you see now why I hide this cursed face?" he asked her not really expecting an answer from the shaking woman before him. He glared down at her as she stared up in fear.

After a few moments he managed to calm himself down as he sat down on a velvet chair a few seats away from her. She observed him as his breathing slowed and his shoulders dropped.

She managed to get herself to stand up and walk over to the Phantom on unstable legs as she stood in front of the fallen angel that had invaded her life.

She tilted her head as she noticed a single tear roll down the side of his face, that alone caused her heart to ache for the man in front of her. She grabbed one of his arms and wrapped it around her waist as she sat on his lap catching the Phantom completely off guard as his head shot up to look at her with a startled expression.

His blue eyes stared at her with a fearful expression as she stared back trying to convince him that she meant no harm. She stared at him with wonder as his eyes never left her own despite the tears that escaped from them.

'Yet in his eyes

All the sadness of the world

Those pleading eyes,

That both threaten and adore…'

She brought up her hand once more as she touched the side of his deformed face to prove to him that she felt no disgust towards him, this time making sure she didn't pull back upon remembering the line from the movie that made her see the true Phantom. What she did next however, the Phantom would never forget.

He felt her draw closer and before he had time to stop her she had already placed a kiss on his repulsive face. She continued to place scattered kisses throughout the entire right side of his face reveling in the taste of the salty tears that were still falling from his eyes.

The Phantom on the other hand wanted to die then and there; he would have died a glorious death. He didn't think this was real, that she was here with him. But the feeling of her lips on his skin was far too real to ignore, he had never felt anything like it.

"Why?" he asked her struggling to breathe normally as she stopped her task and stared at him with a serious expression.

"I love you for who you truly are, nothing more and nothing less," she told him finally admitting it to not only herself but him. He drew back slightly not expecting that answer and nearly forgot to breathe when she placed a feather-light kiss on the tip of his nose before settling down against his chest.

"How can you love a monster such as myself?" he murmured looking down at her as she closed her eyes in exhaustion.

"You're not a monster, merely a fallen angel…too beautiful for humans to lay their eyes upon you, I was merely lucky to see you before any other woman…for who you truly are," she told him yawning throughout the sentence as he continued to stare down at her.

"I would not want any other woman," he murmured back before realizing she had fallen asleep against him. He would have never imagined that a woman would accept him for who he truly was, after all he had failed with Christine even after he had giving her everything. He found himself pushing away the thoughts of the soprano from long ago, instead he found himself staring down at the woman in his lap, wondering how she had made her way into his life.

Had the God who had abandoned him all those years ago finally listened to his prayers and sent her? Or had the Devil sent her to torture him further by tearing her away from him when he least expected it? Either way he had no intentions of letting her go now that she was his, come what may nothing would separate her from him.

He wrapped his muscular arms around her protectively and pulled her closer as she nestled closer to him enjoying the warmth of his body. He stroked her black hair in content upon finding someone who understood him before she shivered and drew closer to him for warmth.

He noted this and cradled her in his arms before rising knowing it only got colder as night drew closer before descending towards the lair. He bumped into Fleur and Kiri on the way giving him orders to take the child down to the lair when she got tired of exploring before he continued on his way.

He laid her down on his bed before she moved away from him and hugged one of his black pillows to her chest. He pulled back and covered her with one of the silk sheets while admiring the woman before him.

He walked out of his room but not before looking back at her one last time fining it surreal that she was still there despite the fact that she had seen his deformed face.

He looked around the lair and walked over to the orang before sitting before it. He grabbed a blank sheet of paper and a pen that he had left on top of the keys before pausing. It had been over a year since he had last composed anything, but with his muse back composing would no longer be a problem.

With that thought in mind he placed his hands over the keys and started to play the organ that he had neglected for over a year.

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