AN: Thanks so much for the reviews! I'm thinking about trying to revise and publish The Voice and the Violin someday, and I'm fairly sure I don't need to worry about buying rights to the story from anyone, but if you do know of any legal trouble I could run into, please let me know.

CHAPTER 24

Erik had been silently hoping that Emmy wouldn't point out that he could pick the lock to the door, but he was less worried now that Christine was in her place instead. She was too stressed to focus on anything such as that. Besides, where would she go if they did get out?

It was very strange to be in such close quarters with her again, especially having a natural conversation. They had talked before, of course, but it had never been so….not dramatic. Even though the subject they were currently on was a bit worrying.

"So, did you realize that Emmy wasn't me?"

Erik nodded. "Of course."

With a strangely mixed expression of disappointment and relief, Christine stated, "So you are in love with her."

Taken aback, Erik demanded, "What makes you think that?"

"You have kissed her. Twice."

Can it be that….Christine is actually JEALOUS? The world really has turned upside down, hasn't it…? thought Erik, shaking his head slowly.

"The first time, I was intoxicated. VERY intoxicated. I believe I had a duel of forks with Patrick."

"Duel of forks…?" Christine repeated, wanting to laugh but unable to envision the idea clearly enough to do so.

"Yes."

"But there was a second time," she said.

"She 'dared' me to do it. It was a game we were playing, and…well, I asked her if she enjoyed the drunken kiss and she said she wasn't sure, since I hadn't been in my right mind at the time…Then she challenged me to try it again."

"So she's in love with you, then?" Christine assumed. Looking up with a sigh, Erik attempted to explain.

"Here, a kiss doesn't mean love. It still can be very important and alter a relationship, but it doesn't guarantee anything. She might have just been curious."

Frustrated, she pressed on. "But you must feel something for each other."

His mind retreated into silent thought for a minute, contemplating the tangled mess that his feelings had become.

"I can't tell, honestly. It's hard to separate the two of you in my mind, at times. You share the same mesmerizing physical and vocal beauty that I immediately fell in love with. Of course, I can tell differences in your personalities, but it isn't so dramatic that I can't find both to be equally intriguing. As far as a deeper attachment, I don't know if she would cause me to feel something as strong as my love for you if I had never known you. I doubt I will ever find out…." He trailed off sadly, then looked up, more talking to himself by this point. "Love should be selfless and not beg for love back, but I can't ignore that if, hypothetically, I pursued her, I believe there would be a much greater chance of being loved in return. Not only because of this appearance, but in this world, I have no reason to repeat the…mistakes I've made…that she never personally experienced, but which ultimately drove you to hate me."

"I don't hate you," murmured Christine. Erik looked away.

"You don't love me either."

He said this with a slight glimpse of hope that she might prove him wrong. But instead, his statement was confirmed by Christine's silent, sad gaze. Just when he thought he would never have to feel such a pain ever again, Erik's heart was crushed once more.

/

What had started off as a search for the Persian and/or Madame Giry quickly turned into something similar to a conference in her office, with Gerry, Emmy, Nadir, Antoinette, Meg, and even Raoul (whom Nadir was watching very carefully) discussing the whole strange affair.

"How do I know you aren't all mad?" said Chagny, still unable to accept the situation.

"Since when do five people have the same delusion all at once?" Emmy responded annoyedly with a roll of her eyes.

"I don't know, it sounds a lot more possible than this alternate-dimension-body-swap rubbish you people are talking about!"

"Look. We brought you here because we were under the impression that you cared about Miss Daae. If you want her back, then for heaven's sake, help us," Nadir snapped.

Turning his gaze about the room, looking back at all the eyes that were on him, Raoul finally sighed in defeat.

"Fine. I'll believe it. But if you all are playing an elaborate joke on me, I swear…."

"Believe me, no one would go to that much trouble just to make you look like a fool," Antoinette quipped.

He just crossed his arms and waited for it all to be over.

"Well, Christine has most likely told Erik what we all have to do in order to swap bodies. We can only guess who is going to end up being here, however…" said Gerry.

"I think we should wait until we feel them initiating the swap," Emmy commented, examining some of the objects on Madame Giry's desk. She had been picking up and fiddling with almost every object she came across since she had arrived, making it obvious how giddy she was to actually be living in 1871.

"But who knows how long that is going to take," Gerry pointed out. "I don't know for sure, but I can guess that they're probably a lot less comfortable making out with each other than we are."

Emmy frowned. "I disagree—to them the age difference isn't nearly as awkward, and they actually have feelings for eachother."

"They do?!" Raoul blurted out, but immediately sunk back in his seat when everyone was staring at him yet again. Emmy was really starting to pity him.

"Well, if you're wondering how it all ends in the movie and probably would have really ended if not for the swap, you win," she said casually. He was very confused at this point.

"But she chose him to save my life….and you just said she had feelings for him…"

Gerry tried to explain. "Well, we don't actually say that anywhere in the movie, it's just sort of left up to the viewers to interpret that…anyway, the reason she gets to live happily ever after with you and all that is because Erik lets her go."

This left the Vicomte flabbergasted. "Why the hell would that monster just give up like that?"

"Because… he loves her and wants her to be happy," Emmy replied, trying her best not to show her irritation, but somewhat failing. Raoul looked down, thinking very hard and trying to comprehend this.

"So…you're trying to tell me that he actually has feelings. Real feelings like love."

At this, everyone nodded. He just sank back in his seat, feeling defeated yet again.

I'm never going to understand this, am I?

/

"Oh God. Erik—"

"Don't…say…a word…"

"No, don't tell me to be silent. You're going to listen because you completely misunderstood me!"

Christine wasn't sure, but she could guess that normally nothing this assertive would have escaped her lips had she not been around Gerry so long. Her guess was confirmed by Erik's sarcastic look of surprise.

"Oh…this…this should be interesting."

Even with the hope that he had a few moments ago concerning Emmy, that simple, wordless rejection from Christine still forced stinging tears to his eyes. He even expected this outcome, he tried not to think about how he would handle it, but here he was, crying against his will and making an utter fool out of himself. He stood quickly, turning away from her so she wouldn't see any more than she already had.

"My feelings don't have to be one extreme or the other for you to believe them, do they?" she snapped. "Because believe it or not, just because I don't hate you doesn't mean I love you…and just because I love you doesn't mean that it's in the way that you want me to."

Erik couldn't decide whether to be relieved or saddened even further by this. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I do not feel the same way that you feel about me. What you do goes against everything I have ever been taught is right and good, and you have caused so much pain. I think I can understand why you did those things. And I forgive you for it, but I can't forget it. I could never live the rest of my life running from everyone I care about, and I could never marry a murderer. It would be on my conscious forever. But I care for you enough to say that I love you. I want nothing more than for you to be happy. I just…can't give you what you want."

Closing his eyes, Erik tried to calm himself enough to at least slow his breathing but it was in vain. He turned back around and looked down at her.

"If I never killed Buquet…if you never fled to the roof…"

"I don't know, Erik. Maybe. If one thing had changed and if we were different, maybe things would be different. But what's done is done. And you can't turn back time."

At this, he gasped. Turn back time. Yes... If swapping bodies in alternate dimensions was possible, then who knew what else was possible?

But what about Emmy?

He shrugged that thought off. He'd consider that later. For now, he had some swapping to do. Looking over at Christine, less nervous than he thought he would be about what was going to happen, he smiled apologetically.

"Christine, I'm sorry about this, but just trust me," he said quickly before pulling her to her feet and kissing her.

/

"Ow! There it is!" Gerry hissed, being knocked back against the wall by the sensation. Emmy gasped and clutched at her heart as if to keep it from jumping out of her chest.

"Obviously, they want to swap back!" Gerry said. Emmy shook her head and backed up as he started coming closer. Everyone else watched with a mix of amusement and shock (and in Raoul's case, horror).

"No, wait, they'll try again! Gerry, come on, I've only been here for a few hours!"

He didn't even bother explaining. He just grabbed her, tried to pretend it was rehearsal (but ended up thinking of Christine for some reason) and forced the body-swapping kiss. As expected, the twisting, warping sensation flooded his being for what seemed like both a split second and forever, wiping away any coherent thought for the duration of the experience.

Quickly praying that he would be back in his own body, Gerry finally opened his eyes.

It was dark. Except for some glowing boxes. Vending machines. Gasping happily, he staggered back and laughed in triumph.

"I'm back!"

/

Erik was hoping to find himself back in his lair, but instead he found himself surrounded by people. A situation he had NEVER enjoyed, but especially in his own, imperfect body.

Glaring at all of them accusingly, he fixed his eyes on the most hated person there: Chagny.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he hissed, then looked back at everyone else. "What the hell are ANY of you doing here?"

"He's back," said Madame Giry simply. As if anyone didn't realize that.

"And which one are you?" Erik softly asked the girl in front of him.

"Emmy."

"Ah. Good. I wouldn't want to give away the surprise to Christine if she were here instead…"

"What surprise?" demanded Raoul, quietly loading a pistol under the table. Erik just rolled his eyes.

"None of your damn business, that's what."

He turned back to Emmy. "Have they figured out what's causing all of this madness yet?"

"It's spirits!" Madame Giry declared. Erik looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"Spirits…?"

"Yes, we called upon them and heard several male voices, some laughing, some wishing to help us but unable to, some indifferent…but they have caused it. We still don't know the motive," Madame Giry said.

Erik nodded slowly. "Do these spirits know anything about turning back time?"

Nadir snorted. "Well, obviously, you, Gerry, Christine, and Emmy keep traveling over 133 years…."

"No, daroga, that is an entirely different dimension, we never existed in their world," Erik said impatiently. "I mean…do they know anything about turning back time just a few months in THIS world, here and now."

"We don't know, we never asked," said Khan with a shrug.

"We kind of already have enough to worry about as it is," Emmy said. "Why do you want to go back in time here anyway?"

"Personal reasons," Erik said curtly. Raoul stood up.

"You want to go back so you can change something so Christine will love you, don't you?"

Glaring daggers at the boy, Erik snapped back, "If you don't recall, the last I remember of being here, she was choosing me already."

"That's what you would like us to think, isn't it? I've already been informed of what was going to happen, had all this supernatural rubbish never happened. You were going to give her up! She and I could have gone on with our lives!"

How could he know-Emmy….Erik thought, turning his head around and facing her.

"Why did you tell him?!"

"He was confused and upset so Gerry and I explained the whole thing to him. I didn't think it mattered!"

Sighing, Erik said, "Alright…just remove him from my sight and let's call on these 'spirits', shall we?"

AN: Sorry for not leaving everyone with their original partners for too long, Erik and Christine just did what they do best and sped up the drama.