Author´s note - The song sung by Erik in this part of my story is "Hymne a l'amour¨ which is sung by Josh Groban, originally by Edith Piaf. I don´t own Josh or the Phantom, though if I did, I would have them sing to me and faint from sheer pleasure! On to the story!
Act V
One word frees us
of all the weight and pain of life.
That word is love.
– Sophocles
October 1880
Anna
Generally, Anna´s life had been an easy one. While lately, she had been as happy as she could have imagined herself being, something strange began to overcome her.
It seemed as the weather began to change towards the colder, her happiness seemed to be overwhelmed by darker feelings. At random times during the day, Anna would lose her concentration and begin trembling uncontrollably. She also did not sleep as well as she had before, often waking up from nightmares in a cold sweat. Around Marie, she kept a relatively normal front and kept smiling as often as she normally did. Trying to determine what was coming over her, on nights when her nightmares kept her awake, Anna found herself worried, anxious, and self-doubting. While Erik sharing his past with her had brought them closer, she confessed to herself that she knew darker deeds had not been revealed to her. Was it morbid curiosity to want to know these things? She still knew not what lay beneath his mask, nor where the countless wounds or scars on Erik´s body and soul had originated.
What type of person was she to want to pry so? Was it fair for her to have such a normal, painless existence when Erik had suffered so? It hardly seemed fair to her, and she found herself unconsciously punishing herself, not eating as much as she normally would at dinner, and wearing her plain wool nightgown rather than the silk one Meg and her mother had given her on a previous occasion.
There was certainly more to life than that which she had experienced. Would hearing every detail of Erik´s previous life help at all, or would she become disgusted with him?
What was so special about her, Anna Richardson? What had caused Erik to be fascinated with her? Was it truly as he had claimed, her intellectual drives, her youthful beauty, or was it simply because of her proximity? Truly, wasn´t there someone more deserving of the passionate affection she had been lavished with?
She was relatively ignorant of love affairs, or what often ran through the mind of her dark, handsome suitor. He shared more than one would expect a man to share, but the depth of his passions and feelings left much below the surface. Anna often felt that she shared too much, and would sometimes hold back from embracing him, as much as she wanted to.
The state of her feelings was not easy for her to understand, and it was growing harder and harder to hide the darkness that was creeping into her mind. A troubled mind affected all areas of one´s life, and Anna could see she needed to resolve her issues in order to be truly happy with Erik as a suitor and with Marie as her student.
Erik
A man figuratively resurrected, Erik moved with more purpose in all areas of his life. His waking hours no longer reflected those of a hermit, but he accomplished much in and around the estate. He even took more ownership of affairs of the estate or the menu for a particular dinner, something that displeased the controlling Madame Demme.
Being a middle-aged man, he felt as though at last he had gained some sort of normal maturity and responsibility for the state of his life. He was proud to reflect back on his progress, and often thought of his relationship with Christine with a sense of shame.
With Christine, he felt that he was seeking someone young to make him feel young, to listen to him, entranced, and obey his orders. It was an incredibly foolish premise for a relationship, his pretense of being the late Gustave Daae.
He contrasted his former foolishness with the great happiness and equality he felt when he was with Anna. Sometimes outspoken, Anna was an independent thinker, unafraid to share her own ideas and to express disagreement with something Erik had said. He sometimes enjoyed the disagreements they could have, as Erik´s passion for music was mirrored in Anna´s passion for her own beliefs.
He was troubled, however, that she often appeared sullen in the last few weeks. The sparkle that he had been so entranced by was seen in her eyes on rare occasions, and she seemed preoccupied by her own thoughts and feelings many times when they spoke together. He hoped that it was not on account of anything he had done, and tried his best to lift her spirits in any way he could.
Was she regretting choosing to love him? He felt pain in the deepest reaches of his soul to think he had caused any of the suffering she seemed to be experiencing.
Marie
The carriage ride to her parents´ graves was lonely without Anna, whom Marie had grown very attached to since she came to teach her.
Uncle Erik was with her, though, and his gloved hand holding her tiny porcelain one gave her some source of comfort. Her other little hand held a tiny bouquet of white roses, to place in front of the tombstone of her parents. It had been her own idea, to add something to the increasingly less green cemetery.
They walked among the statues of saints and angels, weaving their way past crosses of stone and large mausoleums containing. In the shadow of the large monument to Gustave Daae, who Erik had revealed to Marie was her grandfather, lay a plain marble headstone with Christine and Raoul´s names and small photographic portraits.
Having visited on many occasions before with Madame Giry, Marie began the little ritual that always comforted her so when thinking of her parents. Gently, Marie laid down a cloth handkerchief on the dusty ground and lightly knelt upon it, praying for the souls of her dead parents.
Erik
Out of respect for the little girl´s religion, instilled in her by Madame Giry, Erik turned away and looked at the gate to which he had driven Christine so long ago. How the tables had turned, and now he was bringing Christine´s daughter here, to visit her. ¨Christine, would you be proud of me?¨ he thought. The peace he felt in this place seemed to speak to the affirmative answer.
He knew the girl was not his daughter, he felt a fatherly sort of protection over her, something that was very rewarding for him. And now, with Anna, Marie could have a good example of what a well-bred woman could be. It might not be the ideal situation, but it was better than being left to an orphanage.
It was the sound of Marie sniffling brought him out of his reverie. She had stood from her prayers, and large tears were rolling down her still childishly chubby cheeks. A quick exhalation and Erik went to work. He took out his handkerchief and wiped the tears from her cheeks. ¨What´s wrong, princesse?¨
He should have known that the girl would be sad, in spite of the comfort her prayers had promised her. ¨Uncle, why must I be without parents? Why did God choose to take them, before I could ever know them?¨
He could certainly not simply tell her that life was unfair. The girl´s brown eyes so reminded him of his dear Christine that to say any words other than those of comfort would cause him physical pain. When the words finally came to him, Erik was surprised at the optimism the words spoke of. Taking her in his arms, he said to her, "Your future is so bright, my darling girl. Your parents are probably looking down on you at this moment, feeling extremely proud of what you have done and what you have yet to do. Things happen for a reason, though we may never understand that reason."
Living as a ghost or a monster for so much of his life left his relationship with God with much to be desired. But Marie needn´t know that. His purpose was to comfort her, and he had…why did he also feel comforted by his words?
The greatest desire that now drove his heart, as he carried little Marie back to the coach, was to comfort his angel, Anna, who had done so much for him and whose optimism he seemed to have exchanged with his own previous cynicism. Wallowing in pain and despair was no way for her to live, and he must find a way to bring her soul back to the heights where it belonged, and where she had brought him.
Meg
Marie and Erik were not the only ones to notice the change in Anna. Meg noticed that Anna´s general demeanor was no longer happy and smiling, as it had been for quite some time. On one of her regular visits with Rose, Meg noticed that Anna was not as involved in conversation, something that normally raised her spirits.
After the girls had run off to play, Meg took her aside and asked her, ¨Are you well, Anna? You seem very pale and very upset lately.¨ Anna´s tone told Meg exactly what she wanted to hear, although her words assured her she was fine. ¨I´m a mother, Anna, I can tell when something is wrong. And this might not be a health issue, it seems something internal. You're troubled. It's Erik, isn't it?"
The facade finally fell, and Anna´s head dropped into her lap. "How did you know?"
"Well, when Rose and Marie play…Marie is not one that keeps secrets from her friends. She was happy for a while that you were getting along so well with him, but she hates to see you as you are now."
"I should have known. Marie's too innocent yet to be dealing with adult matters like secrets. I don't know why I'm so upset about it, anyway. It isn't like anyone knows me very well around the estate."
Meg put her arm around her friend, "Can I help you, Anna?"
Anna met the kind eyes of her friend and sighed. "Of course, Meg. You and your mother seem so wise. I can't stand keeping this inside any longer…what shall I do with it? I don't know how I should feel. I'm scared…afraid for what our relationship will do to others. Before any of this happened, the servants believed…well, they believed something that was not true. Now…how am I to deal with it? I am in a relationship with him. He seems so different a man than any I have ever known. This fact has both good and bad aspects to it…I feel like I´m both too good for him and not good enough for him. It´s very confusing to feel this way."
Meg had always known how to comfort others. Her mother had taught her to have a gentle manner, to speak softly…it put others at ease. Now, as a wife and mother, she had perfected the art of making peaceful one who was not at all feeling peaceful. What to say? She thought for a moment and began, "First I will tell you something I've noticed about Erik…this is coming from someone who has known him for years. I have never seen such a change in him as has occurred since your coming. For so long he was unwilling to speak to a soul other than Marie, Mother or I. He would stay locked in his room for weeks at a time. Solitude is very dangerous, especially in his case. We feared for the safety of his mind and his body during weeks like that. It did not have a good effect on Marie either."
"Before you came, I talked to him for a long while on several occasions. It seemed to have a good effect on him…purging his soul of the thoughts that had been troubling it.
His soul is a troubled one, and simply to have someone to listen, gives him some peace of mind."
"I don't see much of the man I've known all these years anymore. He has changed so much since you arrived, don't doubt that. I could swear I saw a smile on his face once or twice…and he does not smile for many people. Just Marie…and now you. I felt as if your effect on him is so dramatic…it rivals that which Christine had upon him all those years ago. He is not the same person with you as he was with her. With her, he was so troubled. He feared to be himself around her, pretended to be something which he was not…He longed to have Christine as a plaything of sorts. Someone who would accept anything he said without question. He's changed for the better in realizing that he does not want to have such a relationship…it's what caused a vast amount of the pain he's been feeling. And you've helped him to see what it is to have a true friend. I feel like we've become friends, Anna, but not in the way you and Erik have. It's always quite hard to have a friend of the opposite sex. But it is necessary if there is to be anything more to your relationship. With Jean and I, that was how it was. I knew him from when I was a dancer…and it was through our friendship that he won my heart. I am sure the story is the same for you.
Anna
For some time, Meg´s talk comforted Anna. But it wasn´t enough to return her to normal or to comfort her troubled heart.
People had often said that Anna Richardson was as easy to read as a book. Anna could imagine her parents or acquaintances remarking that it was as if she had suddenly slammed the book closed so that no one could read it. In fact, it was getting harder and harder to read herself.
Recently she had begun to have a confusing recurring dream. She seemed to be in a series of dark tunnels, feeling along the ways blindly, and never finding her way out. In the latest versions of the dream, something had changed. Usually, the dream ended with Anna waking up crying and feeling lost in her own bed.
Yet in the past few days, she had been close to giving up and collapsing against the dark walls, but just as her spirit was about to give up, she felt a hand take hers. This hand led her towards a distant light, and her weary heart was overcome with a feeling of extreme peace. It was after one of these dreams that the desire to visit Notre Dame overcame her, in the very early morning hours. Marius was a kind man, and had become especially fond of Anna, so he acquiesced to her request and though she wore only a thin black shift with a hooded cape in slightly chilly weather, he drove her into the city, across the Seine, and to the Notre Dame. ¨Sometimes being close to God is easier when you´re in His house,¨ Marius commented to her, and patted her hand, encouraging her to take as much time as she needed, he would just be outside. He parked the carriage on the other side of the street and lit his pipe, thoughtfully puffing on it and failing to notice Monsieur Erik ride up on Fantomê and tie the horse´s bridle to the back of the carriage.
Erik
For some reason, Erik had been awake, looking out the window, when he saw a hooded figure in black slide down the walk from the front door to where a carriage waited. His instincts told him what to do, but it wasn´t until he was riding that he realized it.
This scenario was quite familiar to Erik. Hadn't it been a decade before that he had followed Christine to the cemetery? Something told him that while the outward appearances of this night might reflect the other, there was an essential difference. When he came to the cemetery in which Christine's father had been buried, he had not been truthful with her. He used his talent to mislead her, to ensnare her. Then, when Raoul came, the night had turned darker. He had nearly faced death, but for Christine's kindness to him. Animosity and bitterness had swelled in his chest and driven him to more and more unspeakable horrors.
Now, he was following Anna, but his intentions could not be more different from those with Christine. It was obvious that he was worried for her. In the time since they'd shared a kiss, they seemed to have completely switched places. She was the one whom darkness could call a friend, while he found himself much more a friend of the ¨garish light of day,¨ which no longer seemed garish but rather comforting and warm.
Something inside him told him this was what he must do. She should know that she mustn't let the darkness that was plaguing her have control of her life. It was suffocating to give in to it, he knew that. It was hard to regain hope after that, or to dream again when one gave up the idea of dreaming.
Erik entered by a side door, and took a while to find the main sanctuary. Having never visited the Cathedral before, the immensity of the place stilled his quickly beating heart. He would never have been comfortable coming here in the daytime, but the darkness here was calming, peaceful, and the light that did stream through the windows was enough to illuminate the innumerable pews and the distant altar.
It took some time for his eyes to find the cloaked figure in black in a pew nearly in the center of the church, to the left side. She was here, praying, kneeling. He knew that prayer was not something that anyone should interrupt, and by keeping his footsteps as unnoticeable as possible, found a pew of his own to sit down in, and let his eyes leave the sight of Anna.
Solitude had been his curse for most of his life, but here, in this place, he felt more peaceful with it. He cleared his mind, enjoying the quiet, until something unexpected happened. Somewhere inside him, an indescribable ache solidified into a question that he asked himself, "How long must I bear this heavy burden?"
Madame Giry, Marie, and now Anna, seemed to take comfort in their religion. He knew only the small chapel within the opera house, the painted angels, and the candles burning for dead ones... he had read much of religion but hadn´t seen much in it that would ever apply to a murderer or liar like him.
But at present, the cares of the world and the burden that had weighed him down his entire life seemed to melt away, and he felt as if his dark past were being wiped away. It was strange, this feeling, it was superior to the feeling of great hope Christine had given him, and the music of the night seemed not only to be over, but to have been rewritten into a tune of utterly blissful beauty. When he finally took notice of his external surroundings, he noticed that Anna stood before him, a confused look on her face. Her face was hit perfectly by a bit of light from the early morning sun, and he thought to himself that she had never looked so beautiful.
Anna
Having finished her prayers, Anna knew she should leave so that Marius could bring her back to the estate. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw a familiar figure, Erik, face in his hands, sitting a few rows back from her pew.
¨Anna.¨
She couldn´t be angry at him for his concern for her, but still, had to ask, "Why are you here, Erik?"
He stood and gently took her hand, eyes locked with hers. "At first, I simply wanted to follow you, to make you sure you were safe. But I found you came to the safest place of which I know. I have heard of this place…but never seen it for myself. It truly is the most beautiful place I've ever seen."
Anna searched his face and found a look on his face she had never seen, a mix of peace, happiness, and above all, love.
"It is, isn't it?" Her voice softened and she thought her eyes might fill with tears.
¨Even more so with you here, my angel.¨
The place had a deeper meaning to him than she had known. It was at that point that she could no longer hold back all the emotions that were welling up inside her and let them go. He wrapped his arms around her and she cried against his shoulder, and he held her, and said the words that he needed to say. ¨Never doubt that you make me happier than I deserve to be. I know you´re worried, Anna, but with love, how can anything hurt us? You mustn´t let the dark take you over, you must battle it as does a warrior. It can never take this from us, this love we have. Together we are stronger than anything the world can throw at us. There is no fear where there is love.¨
Once her tears had abated, he asked her quietly, "Shall I drive the carriage or would you like to ride with me?" Her nod to the second choice was what he had hoped.
Marius was rather flabbergasted when Miss Richardson emerged from Notre Dame with a companion. With a nod of his head in the old man´s direction, Erik explained what he and Anna had arranged. Marius agreed, feeling trust for this man of whom he had seen so little.
Marius already headed towards the Chagny estate, Erik helped Anna to mount the horse before getting on himself. As they rode, the necessary act of wrapping her arms around his waist became more of an act of ownership and affection. If someone were to see the couple, the woman´s body language would seem to say to the passerby, ¨This man is mine and I love him dearly.¨ Her eyes were closed and she seemed lost in bliss. In the quiet of the morning, Erik´s ear was flooded with exclamations of love and passion from the pair of lips belonging to his angel.
She had obviously been changed from the depression which had possessed her for far too long. They both sensed the change, and Anna´s bliss was apparent on her face when Erik helped her from the horse. The angelic effect was still marvelous to observe.
Erik
It is too late in the morning to try to sleep, but Erik assumed that upon arriving home, that was what Anna would desire. It was Anna who suggested they go to the library where they had first gotten to know one another, and though he knew nothing inappropriate would come to pass, but just the idea of spending more time with his angel excited him. There was plenty of time for the pleasures of the flesh in their future...now was the time for them to enjoy each other intellectually and emotionally. And for Erik, whose experience of the flesh was superficial lust, intellectual and emotional intimacy was equally as satisfying as anything else.
Anna had stopped by her room to grab a hairbrush and when in Erik´s study, she released her golden hair from the confines of its normal bun. Seeing her there in the candlelight with her blonde tresses loose was intoxicating to him, but this action also showed Erik that she trusted him enough to do this very intimate act in front of him. With her attention and eyes still locked on him, Anna absentmindedly brushed her hair.
"Anna, I want to make one thing perfectly clear to you if we are to love one another. I don't want pity. I've lived my life this way for so long…being feared or pitied.
I just want peace. With the world, and most of all, inside myself…tonight, when
I was sitting there…I feel as if a tremendous weight has been lifted from my back.…the things I've done…the words and deeds of my life…horrible, black… You've done something for me. For so long, I doubted God even existed…and if He did, I felt he could not care for me. But now, I am absolutely certain…if such heavenly creatures as Anna Richardson…Marie de Chagny…Christine...if such creatures exist, surely God is loving and forgiveness is possible, even for someone such as I.¨
Anna
The expression on his face in the Cathedral was explained, and Anna let her hesitation towards Erik be thrown aside. Putting down her brush, she came and knelt before Erik and looked up into his beautiful blue eyes. "What I was praying in Notre Dame, Erik, was for peace. For both of us. Ever since you kissed me, I've been so plagued by the worries of this world. I see now that the hand of God holds us all, so tenderly and gently. What have I to fear when this is true? He gave us this love, so surely he means for us to enjoy our lives because of it. I love you, Erik, dark as well as bright." She took his hand and tenderly kissed it, putting it to her face, before taking his face in her hands and giving him a kiss, the intensity and passion of which surprised even Anna herself.
Erik
Once he regained his breath, Erik spoke words he had never heard spoken to himself and which he had certainly never expressed himself. "I love you, Anna. You…your manner…your love for Marie, your attitude towards life. You truly must be an angel sent from God himself.¨ The waterworks began again but Erik saw that these were happy tears.
Anna nodded, "I realized as we drove from the city that I feel the same for you as you do for me. You have utterly and completely captivated me from the moment I saw you. Oh, Erik…I love you. Never in a thousand years, a thousand lifetimes, did I ever expect to be blessed with such a love as you have given me.¨ She embraced him again, but added, "You have a heart in which I feel you could have held the world, had you been given the chance. And I am lucky enough to be loved by that heart."
Though they had not resolved to go to their respective beds, Anna and Erik still were a bit wearied from the adventure of that evening and the emotional content of the past hour. With her permission, he gently carried Anna to the chaise where he had once examined her ankle and since it was a large lounger, sat next to her, stretching his legs out. She laid her loose blonde hair on his chest, and he took her hands in his, kissing each finger before leaving them to rest in her lap, his hands on top of hers.
After a few moments of quiet, Erik asked the question that was on his mind, "Is this real?"
Anna´s eyes opened and she smiled up at him. "I'm as surprised as you are. When I came here, I expected to live my life as a spinster governess. I was quite upset with that, but I was not the sort of person who got on well with 'respectable gentlemen.' Such people are dull to me…I expected to be mistress to some dead poet…never an actual breathing man. And here I am, offering my everything…willing to give all of myself." This statement hinted at the future steps of their relationship, ones she found herself hoping to approach quicker and quicker. But none of that now. "You don't know how much you mean to me."
"I think I have an idea, angel…"
Erik
The comfort of the position they were in caused Anna to drift off, something that made him chuckle quietly. It was a Sunday morning, so the staff would not be in until later, and Marie would go to Mass with the Girys as she always had, which accounted for her absence the night before. Transfixed, Erik watched as her breath made her chest rise and fall, and buried the side of his face not covered in the mask in her soft hair, inhaling it. How long they lounged like this, he did not know, but he was all of a sudden startled by a movement from Anna. Her blue eyes looked up into his, a hint of slumber still present in them, and she smiled. As close as they were now, he opened his arms wide to her, drawing her close. For a moment he took in the sight of her, but then she placed her face close to his and he took the hint and kissed her, gently, quietly, and lovingly. Her fingers touched the side of his face with the mask, unconsciously, as if to bring him closer than was physically possible. In this moment, he felt peace and love envelop his entire being, and thought to himself that this is what must be meant when one was said to be lost in love.
His moment of ecstasy was short-lived as her fingers absently moved against his mask. There was something still that troubled him. And though he knew it was the most inopportune moment to do it, he knew he would never live in peace if he did not do what his heart was telling him at this moment.
¨Anna, dearest," he began.
¨Yes my love?¨ This was a new term for her to use, but he tingled when he heard it.
"I'm going to do something now that may shock you, but I feel it is completely necessary. At this moment, right now. I don't want you to be with me if you aren't able to make some peace with the truth of my existence…of me." Her blue eyes seemed confused.
¨What, what do you mean, Erik?¨
¨My mask.¨
For so long Anna had accepted the mask as a part of him, that this was simply unexpected. She sat back, dropping her hands into her lap and straightening her hair so it was no longer in her eyes.
¨Can you remove it?¨ he asked, and, suddenly nervous, she nodded. Hands trembling, she gently took hold of it and peeled it away from his naked skin.
He had imagined this moment but was not sure how she would react. The first emotion he read on her face was shock. "Oh Erik,¨ she remarked, as she covered her mouth, and then added, "How?"
"I was born this way. My mother was the first to give me a mask...and very few have seen what lies beneath it."
Anna had shed tears at other times during the evening and morning, but as she began to cry this time, Erik´s heart seemed to break. She was disgusted by the way he looked, like everyone else...his heart could shatter at this moment...
Anna
Still crying, Anna noticed the fear and heartbreak that had crept into Erik´s expression and reached out for him, the tears still rolling down her cheeks. ¨No, no, my love, I am crying for you...for you, a baby with no control over this...and what your mother must have done...what she must have said...it breaks my heart.¨
Composing herself and wiping her tears with her hand, she touched the red, deformed side of his face gently, gingerly, "Oh…" With her other hand, she touched his chin, a look of sympathy and love on her face. "How cruel fate can be, my love. That such a mind as yours must always have such a face to accompany it. It has limited you in areas in which you could have excelled, shaped your life in so many cruel ways. What pain it has caused you…how cruel of fate to do this to you…"
Erik´s eyes took in every detail of her…" For so long, I felt that no one could feel anything but hatred for my face." She took his hand, kissing his red cheek.
There was a long silence, but when it was broken Erik heard Anna´s reassuring whisper in his ear, murmuring, "Erik, do you really think that after all we've been through, this would change anything? I knew when I met you that you hid something underneath your mask. Now that I've seen your face…I do not fear it…it was the secret I feared more than the reality of your face." He pulled her close and it was he who buried his face in her shoulder, and though he was not a man given to extreme emotion, her last statement brought happy tears streaming down his cheeks. "These bodies we're given will wear out with time…these faces. It is your soul that will live on…and your soul is what has worked its way into my heart."
Erik
In his life, Erik could say he had truly felt happiness on two occasions. The first was the triumphant feeling ('it's over now, the music of the night') which had begun the night Christine kissed him and willingly offered herself as a sacrifice, willing to make his life bright but darken her own. It was that night that he had shattered his mirrors and begun to believe in the idea of hope. The next occasion was the present moment, embracing a woman who loved him truly and would lose nothing in the exchange, but gain the entire world.
This feeling on this night was so strong that it threatened to split him in two. They sit there, embracing, for a long moment, and when it was over it was Anna who spoke. "May I make one request of you, Erik?"
He looked into the eyes of the woman he loved and answered, "You may ask anything you like." Her request was rather unexpected.
"Sing for me."
He chuckles a little. "I have not sung for a long time. I'm not sure if I still can."
"Try…please. If it's anything like the way you play, or speak, or love, or kiss…I will be happy."
"I will try. For you, I would do anything."
Before they left for his study, Erik went to replace his mask on his face and was stopped. Anna put her hand in between the mask and his face. "No, let's not think of that anymore. I want to be able to see your face…to read your expression. I was left helpless to guess at the tone of your voice all this time. I want to see what you truly look like."
Taking her by the hand, leading her much as she had imagined in her dream, Erik´s eyes never leaving hers. They reached the third floor and as he went to the piano, "What should I sing?"
"Something of your own. I have never heard anything of yours. Madame Giry and
Meg have never ceased to sing your praises, if you'll pardon the pun."
Erik went to rummage in a drawer of the desk and returned to the piano bench with a rather new-looking bit of sheet music, written by his own hand. "Hymne a l'amour."
As he began to sing, Anna thought to herself that though his voice has a bit of hardness to it, the words and notes fell on her ears as if being caressed by velvet.
Le ciel bleu sur nous peut s'effondrer,
Et la terre peut bien s'écrouler,
Peu m'importe si tu m'aimes,
Je me fous du monde entier.
Tant qu' l'amour innondera mes matins,
Tant qu'mon corps frémira sous tes mains,
Peu m'importent les problèmes,
Mon amour, puisque tu m'aimes.
J'irais jusqu'au bout du monde,
J'irais jusqu'au bout du monde,
Si tu me le demandais.
J'irais décrocher la lune,
J'irais voler la fortune,
Si tu me le demandais.
Je renierais ma patrie,
Je renierais mes amis,
Si tu me le demandais.
On peut bien rire de moi,
Je ferais n'importe quoi,
Si tu me le demandais.
Si un jour, la vie t'arrache à moi,
Si tu meurs, que tu sois loin de moi,
Peu m'importe si tu m'aimes,
Car moi je mourrais aussi.
Nous aurons pour nous l'éternité,
Dans le bleu de toute l'immensité,
Dans le ciel, plus de problème,
Mon amour, crois-tu qu'on s'aime?
Dieu réunit ceux qui s'aiment.
Anna, who spoke French as her second language, translated in her head as he sang, and thought to herself how much more beautiful it seemed in French.
The blue sky can tumble down upon us
And the earth can also collapse
It doesn't matter, if you love me
I don't care about the entire world
As long as love floods my mornings
As long as my body trembles beneath your hand
These problems don't matter
My love, since you love me
I would go to the end of the earth
I would go to the end of the earth
I would go take down the moon
I would go steal a fortune
If you asked it of me I would disown my country
I would disown my friends
If you asked it of me
People can have a good laugh at me
I would do anything
If you asked it of me
If one day life tears you from me
If you die that you be far from me
It doesn't matter, if you love me
Because, me, I will die also
We will have eternity for ourselves
In the great blue immensity
In the sky, no more problems
My love, do you believe we love each other
God reunites those who love each other
Once he is done, he smiles up at her. It was too beautiful for applause, so she approached him and commented, "You never cease to amaze me" prior to a tender kiss. A pleased flush came to his face and he replied, "Neither do you."