AN: That's it – the second chapter. Hope you'll enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own it. I didn't own it before and I still don't. It belongs to ALW, Gaston Leroux and some others. The song No More Cry belongs to The Corrs.

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A Whole New World

Chapter 2

I wanna feel just like before
Before the rain came in my door
Shook me up turned me around
Made me cry till I would drown

No More Cry, By The Corrs

-

Christine woke to hushed voices speaking. She couldn't understand what they were speaking about.

Suddenly, she felt a cool cloth on her forehead. Opening her eyes, she noticed a woman bending over her.

"You woke up, I see," the woman said brightly. "How are you feeling?"

And then everything came rushing back. The storm, the accident… Raoul.

"What happened?" Christine finally managed get out.

"There was an accident, dear, because –" the woman started to answer her.

"Yes, I know, I mean how did I get here?" Christine interrupted her. It was rude, she knew, but she was too worried and confused to think about politeness.

"Well, Pierre – my husband – went out and he noticed the carriage. When he went to see closer, he saw that you were still alive and brought you here."

"Does that mean that Raoul and the driver are… are dead?" Christine's voice was wavering.

Oh God, please, no…

"I'm afraid so, yes. There were two bodies. Was one of the men your fiancé or husband?" the woman asked, her eyes sad.

"Yes…" Christine choked out.

Everything was twirling and she couldn't see straight. Raoul is dead. Dead. That's all. He's dead. Just a moment ago she had been praying, hoping against all odds that there was a chance he was still alive. And now…

The pain was too much. She couldn't take it. Now, when everything had been going alright at last. They were going to marry and all would've been well. Now it had to happen… The room around her started to turn, the woman with a friendly face was seemingly moving away. She was falling, falling into a dark hole, falling away from the room until she didn't see it any more.

-

Too much light… there was too much light.

Christine was forced to open her eyes.

She would have given everything to at least temporarily forget where she was and why she was there. But she didn't forget. Oh no, she remembered everything, she remembered too well.

Raoul was dead.

Somebody approached her bed and she found herself once again looking into the eyes of the friendly woman she had talked to earlier.

"You are awake, my dear. Are you better now?"

Better? What did better mean? She was broken, she had no reason to live – but physically she did feel better than before.

"I think so…" was Christine's barely audible response.

"That's good, my dear. Now, I don't believe we have been introduced, have we? My name's Anita. As I said, my husband's name is Pierre. And you are - ?"

"Christine. My name is Christine Daaé."

"Alright then. Now, drink this, please," Anita said as she handed Christine a cup of peppermint tea.

"It's nice and calming. Then you should rest a little bit more. Tomorrow we'll call the doctor, to make sure you are all right."

Christine just nodded and didn't say anything else. She couldn't have, even if she would have wanted to. But she didn't want. She had nothing to say.

-

It took her two weeks to recover. And then, so suddenly and unexpectedly for her, she was fine. She understood that there was no way she could stay with Anita and Pierre. They had done enough to her, had helped her very much. She couldn't possibly ask anything else from them. She had to leave.

That was when Christine understood that she had no-one to go to. Raoul's parents were dead and his brother Philippe lived in Italy. Christine knew he didn't think her an appropriate wife for the Vicomte de Chagny and that he had never liked her, so there was no way he would help her.

That would leave only Mme. Giry and Meg, but Christine hadn't seen Meg since the night of Don Juan, and that was more than three years ago. She couldn't possibly go to her now, asking for help! No, she had to manage on her own.

Her only chance was to find herself a job and begin a new life. Not as a singer or anything, of course. She would find herself a job as a maid or something. She was sure she would manage that, because she had done most of the chores when she lived with her father.

Christine was surprised at how easily she welcomed her decision. I suppose I wasn't born to be a Vicomtess, after all…

Anita told her that she didn't know anyone who needed a maid, but she promised to contact her sister, who had a little bakery. Perhaps she would need extra help.

Mme. Joules, Anita's sister, didn't need anybody, but one of her maids was going to London to work for an older lady and if Christine wanted, she could go as well.

Christine said yes quickly, so she wouldn't have time to rethink. And with that, it was settled.

A week later, she was on her way to London with two other girls, Isabella and Louise. She had no idea what lied ahead, but she knew that her old life was now past.

And a new and better one awaited her.

-

Mademoiselle P: Thank you very-very much! You're my first reviewer and for that, I will always love you!

Christine and Raoul had been engaged for three and a half years. That means she left the Opera about three years ago (or even less). The crash was caused by storm; I will probably mention it again in later chapters. Once again, thank you very much and I hope you enjoy this, too!

That's it for today. Hope you liked it and please review. It means a lot to me!

07.04.05 – I updated it again to fix the formatting had erased and also fix some minor details. Enjoy!

08.04.05 – The formatting must stay, or I'll be very angry and I'll probably Punjab someone!