She leaned towards me and gently kissed my cheek, holding my hand all the while. My heart was thudding loudly and I fought the urge to just wrap my arms around her and pull her to me. My mind was running in frantic circles, torn between wanting to believe her and not wanting to be hurt again.

When she pulled back she looked intently into my eyes. I forced myself to remain calm, to not show her how confused, how utterly torn I felt. Her green eyes were wide and vulnerable, but she gave me a gentle smile. Memories rushed at me, memories of seeing her face, hearing her beautiful voice for the first time. I remembered how she had looked as I had tutored her as the Angel of Music. But most of all I remembered her clinging to Raoul on the rooftop, planning her escape from the wretched Phantom. And although she had come back, she had stayed all this time with me, the walls I had built were still firmly intact around my icy heart. I did not trust her, and I knew in that moment that if she truly meant the words that she had said, she would have to prove it.

I pulled away and glared down at her.

"Please, Erik, please believe me," she said softly. "I am not going to leave."

"I would like to be alone," I said sharply and turned away from her before the emotions that threatened to overtake me became obvious. I shut the door firmly between us, ignoring how my heart cried out at the bewildered and shattered look on her lovely face.

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The door shut firmly in my face and I sighed heavily. How would I ever show Erik how I felt about him? It was starting to look impossible.

I walked slowly back into the main chambers and looked around. I had cleaned up as much as I could. There was just too much that had been completely destroyed. I had put pieces of the organ in a pile and cleaned up as much of the destroyed music as I could. That was the worst as I knew how much of Erik's life had gone into the compositions.

Of course I could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of guilt over the destruction of Erik's home. Had I not been such an idiot it would never have happened. But my inability to choose between Erik and Raoul had brought this on.

I thought of Raoul and hoped that he was well. He had loved me, of that I was certain. But there was none of the depth in his love that I had felt from Erik.

Erik. Thinking of him brought a sharp pain in my chest, as if my heart was constricting. I loved him so much! And he did not trust me. Would he ever? I wondered. Would he ever let go of his fears and let me love him? I did not know.

I sank into the throne chair. It would be easy for me to give up. As it was, I had my heart on the line and I had no idea how he felt.

But I was tired of taking the easy way out. I had done it too many times before and I would not do it again. I was not by nature a stubborn person, but I knew that my determination was strong.

I would prove myself to Erik.

I would not give up.

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I did not come back out of my room that day. I figured that in the time she had been here she obviously knew her way around and could easily fend for herself, as I did not trust myself to be near her. My feelings were too close to the surface, threatening to boil over with the least provocation.

When I finally ventured from my room the next day I found Christine sitting in my throne chair, calmly reading a book. I had half expected her to be gone.

When she heard my footsteps she glanced over. Her expression was emotionless but she smiled politely. "Good day," she said.

"Good day," I replied, equally as polite and equally as emotionless.

Christine turned back to her book and I stood staring at her for a second longer before I turned around and stalked over to the organ.

Christine had worked hard to restore my chambers, though there was little she could do, as so many of my belongings had been broken beyond repair.

I glanced down at the pile of organ pieces. It did not seem too badly damaged, at least not bad enough that I could not fix it. I had been without my solace, my music, for far too long. I began methodically piecing the organ back together, trying to keep my mind off of Christine.

But I was acutely aware of her, even as I tried to ignore her. Every sniff, every rustle of her dress when she moved and every time she turned a page in the book only served to feed my agitation.

Soon I was working like a madman, obsessed with restoring the organ. The rest of the room fell away as I focused on the instrument. When it was finally back in one piece I stood back and looked at it. It was not restored completely to its former glory as several of the gold pipes were dented and scratched, and there were now scuffs in the once perfect, glossy wood. But as I sat at the bench and set my fingers down on the keys the sound was as beautiful as ever, resonating through the room.

"You fixed it!" Christine exclaimed.

I looked over. She was standing next to the organ, her eyes wide with amazement.

"It would seem that way," I said dryly.

"Will you sing for me?" she asked suddenly, ignoring my sarcasm.

I looked at her in surprise.

"Please?" she said when I hesitated.

I sighed and turned to the organ. I had not played for what seemed like an eternity and I had not sung since the disastrous night of Don Juan Triumphant.

Unsure as to why I was doing it, I began to play. It was a slow, haunting song, one that I had written not long before the night of Il Muto, before she had decided to run away with Raoul. I began to sing.

"How many times have I

Watched you from the shadows?

So close to you

Yet so very far away

The beauty of your voice

Awakens me, amazes me

You are the light in my darkness

You are my shelter from the storm

You are everything that makes me be

The man I long to be

How can I begin to tell you?

How can I make you see?

You hold my life in your hands

And I live only for you

Your love has the power to save me

From the darkness that I am…"

Abruptly I stopped playing and stood up and faced Christine. Tears glistened on her cheeks as she looked at me. Her expression was not one of rapt fascination, it was not the expression she had always had when I used my voice to control her. She looked completely lucid and her eyes held a thousand different emotions, and I saw clearly the love in her eyes.

"That was beautiful," she said softly. "What is the name of it?"

"It is called Saviour," I said shortly.

"You wrote it?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied. Did she realise that the words were for her? Did she have any idea that everything I did was for her? She truly was my saviour, in so many ways. She had saved me from the darkness and she had saved me from myself. Before Christine I had merely existed, growing colder and lonelier with each passing day. Christine had brought me out of the darkness, given me a reason to live.

Suddenly panicked by the intensity of my emotions I started to walk away.

"Erik!" Christine said, grabbing my arm as I brushed past her.

I whirled around and glared furiously at her.

"Erik, do not leave," she pleaded, tugging at my coat sleeve.

"What is it Christine?" I snarled.

She flinched away from me slightly, then suddenly she stood up straight and released my arm, her eyes narrowed. Her hands clenched into tight fists at her side.

"Erik, do not walk away from me again," she said, her voice shaking slightly.

I clenched my jaw. "What?" I said again.

"Erik…" she said softly. She looked down for a second and then looked up again and stared straight into my eyes. Her green eyes were bright and her expression was fierce, completely unlike her normal meek expression. She took a deep breath.

"Damn it Erik, I love you!" she said harshly.

I stared at her in shock, my eyes widening both at the intensity of her words and at her curse. I had never heard her speak this way before.

"I love you and I am not going to leave you no matter how hard you try to push me away. Do you understand? I love you and I am not going to leave! You can continue to be disagreeable, you can continue being stubborn but I am not going anywhere!" She glared at me and brushed her hair out of her face.

"I came back to you because I love you," she said. "I left Raoul because I do not love him. I was confused before, and I was weak. I admit it. I was afraid to face the truth and I was afraid because my whole life has been spent doing things the easy way. I have never worked for anything, until I met you, until you pushed me to excel.

"The only reason I did not come back sooner is because Raoul drugged my tea He thought he was doing what was best for me. I came back as soon as I can. I have no ulterior motives, I am not going to lead the police to you.

"Now, you can either accept the fact that I love you or not. That is your choice. But until you tell me that you do not love me, I am going to stay here and prove to you that the words I say are true," she said. Then she reached up and pulled my mask off. I was so surprised I did not even protest. "And you do not need to hide behind this mask. Not from me." She threw the mask on the floor. "When I say I love you, I mean I love you. All of you." She met my gaze, her chin held high. There was an air of confidence about her that I had I had rarely seen in her.

I felt myself fighting a grin at her display. I had known there was a fire in Christine Daae, from the first time I saw her, the first time I heard her sing. It was well hidden, but I had known it was there.

I heard the truth in her words and saw the determination in her beautiful face. This was the radiant, confident side of Christine that I had tried so hard to help her discover. She had been like a flower bud and all I had wanted was for her to bloom.

Now, looking down at Christine, standing before me, facing me and my wrath without an ounce of fear, I knew that I believed her. Christine loved me, totally and completely. It was not my power over her, it was not because I was controlling her.

She loved me.

In that instant I felt the walls that surrounded my cold and lonely heart crumble to the ground.

The silence wore on but Christine just held my gaze levelly, refusing to back down, refusing to look away from me.

"Oh, Christine," I whispered finally. "Christine, Christine. I love you so much, so very much…."

She looked at me with a slight expression of disbelief. Then suddenly her face broke into a grin.

"Oh, Erik!" she cried and threw herself into my arms.

I wrapped my arms around her, loving the feeling of her body next to mine, inhaling the sweet scent of her perfume. I buried my face into her soft curls and could smell lavender.

"I am so sorry, Erik. I am so sorry I hurt you, I am sorry I left you. I was so weak, so childish!" Christine said, her voice muffled against my chest.

"Oh, Christine, do not apologize," I said softly. "It is all right now, everything is fine…"

Christine pulled back slightly and looked at me, tears coursing down her cheeks. Then she wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned towards me and our lips met.

I pulled her close to me as we kissed. I ran my fingers through her hair and she clung to me almost desperately. The kiss was slow and soft and when I pulled away from her my heart was racing. Christine gently stroked my deformed cheek, her emerald eyes full of love and acceptance.

"I love you Erik, I love you so much!" she said softly. "I was so afraid, I was so afraid that you were dead. I have never been so afraid…"

I smiled down at her. "When I woke up and you were not there, I knew it was all a dream and that you really had not come back. I could barely believe my eyes when you walked through the door…" I paused. "I am sorry for how I have treated you, Christine."

Christine grinned. "You were…difficult," she said and I laughed.

"Oh, Christine," I said seriously. "I never dreamed that you could love me. I never dared to dream that you would come to me of your own free will. I am sorry for the things I did, but I only did them because I love you."

"I know, Erik. It is in the past, it does not matter," Christine said, shaking her head slightly. "I love you and you love me. That is all that matters."

I smiled down at her again and leaned down and kissed her again This kiss was desperate, almost frantic as every emotion that had made up our relationship poured into that kiss. I felt as if I would die from the sheer intensity of the kiss, from the feeling of her love that surrounded me, enveloped me. I ran my hands along her back and felt her shiver. My body tingled where she touched me and I felt as if I were standing in a fire. When we pulled away I saw that her cheeks were flushed and her eyes glowed with desire.

Still somewhat dazed I looked down at her, scarcely believing that she was there, in my arms, of her own accord. I could scarcely believe that she loved me, wanted me. I grinned and found myself laughing as I pulled her into my arms and swung her in a circle while she giggled.

"Oh, Erik, I love you," she said when I finally set her down again.

"You cannot imagine how much I enjoy hearing those words," I said huskily and kissed her again.

((This is not the end, still more to come! Big hugs and thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I appreciate your reviews!))