"Vati!" Katja screamed, grabbing the bars of the cage. "Vati hilf mir!" Tears slid down her face as she continued to shout for her father who was long gone. "Ich bin hier! Hilf mir!"

"Katja!" a male voice called back.

The thought he actually heard her filled Katja with hope. "Hilf mir!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Ich bin hier!"

"Katja!" The voice was much closer this time. In a moment he would find her.

She turned to Javert and smiled smugly. "Er kommt jezt!"

Javert grabbed her so they were facing the door of the cage and pressed a blade to her throat. "Speak again and you die," he hissed in her ear. "Understand?" She whimpered and nodded as much as the knife allowed.

Suddenly there was a grunt from Javert and the cold metal was gone from her neck. When she turned around, her eyes widened when she saw him hanging suspended in the middle of the cage, a noose tight around his neck, a man behind him, clearly the killer. His face was obscured by the shadows so Katja couldn't see him.

The man standing behind the dead gypsy stepped closer. Katja fearfully backed up until she was against the bars of the cage. When the light from the moon that leaked in through the open tent flap hit his face, illuminating the stark white mask on his face, she threw herself in his arms. "Erik!" she cried in relief. "Oh thank God it's you!"

He pulled her against him and kissed her passionately. "Are you okay?" he asked when they finally broke apart.

"I am now that you're here," she replied. "Oh Erik, I thought you'd never come."

Brushing a stray hair out of her face, he smiled softly. "Of course I would. I will always come for you, my love."

Katja gently caressed his perfect, unmasked cheek, then placed a gentle kiss on the white porcelain that covered the other. "Ich liebe dich Erik."

Erik scooped her up and carried out of the tent, away from the gypsies and into the night. His black horse awaited them. He helped her on then sat behind her, his arm around her waist in a protective embrace. "I love you too," he whispered into her ear before giving the horse a gentle nudge , spurring them forward into the night.

"Hmmm?"

She opened her eyes, wakened by the rumble of Erik's chest. Katja looked to him. "What?" she asked groggily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"You were saying my name. I was asking what you wanted."

"Oh," she murmured. "Was I? I didn't mean to. I'm sorry if I woke you."

"Did you need something Katja?"

"No," she replied. "I guess I was just talking in my sleep. I'm sorry for disturbing you."

"Don't be sorry."

When she realized how quiet the lair was, Katja turned to Erik. "Is the storm over now?"

He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Yes it is. Go back to sleep. It's not quite morning yet. There's no reason for you to be up this early."

"You too," she said softly. Katja nestled closer, her head resting over his heart, her hand on his chest. Erik began to sing softly and stroked her hair until her eyes drifted shut and she fell back asleep.

Erik listened to Katja's soft breathing as she slept in his arms. Every so often she would whimper or call out for her father or brother. He wondered how hard it really was for her. Whenever he brought up her family, she would insist she could never see them again. But even he, on very rare occasions, wanted to see his family, wondering if it was possible to right the wrongs between them. Katja had obviously been close with hers, it had to be killing her not to see them.

Katja sat up suddenly, screaming for her father. Erik pulled her against his chest, trying to comfort her. "He was so close," she moaned. "He was just outside."

"Who was?" he asked. "Where was he?"

"I could hear him! He was just outside the tent! Javert was talking to him, telling him that I wasn't there! He was so close then he left!"

He shushed her gently. "Who was there Katja?"

"Mein Vater," she cried. "He was there! I could hear him! He was looking for me Erik! He was looking for me, but Javert sent him away. I tried to scream, I tried to tell him I was there but I couldn't. Erik, it was right after Javert took me. If he had only found me…" Erik pressed his lips to her temple, trying to soothe her. "Oh God, if he had found me, it would have never happened."

"Shhh," he cooed. "It's all over. You're safe now. That's all that matters. No one can hurt you here."

"I want to go home," she sobbed. She sounded like a lost child. "Erik, I want to go home."

Cradling her against him, Erik rubbed her back and rocked her gently. As much as he didn't want to lose her, he had promised her that he would let her leave if she ever asked. "If that's what you wish," he replied softly. "I'll make sure it happens."

Eventually her sobs slowed and Katja grew quiet in his arms, her chest rising and falling slowly. Erik placed a kiss on her forehead before laying her back down to let her sleep for a while longer. He wondered what was going to happen now. Katja wanted to return home, not that Erik blamed her. He would accompany her of course, to make sure she safe, but then what? There was no way he could return here without her, there was no way he could return to his life of solitude after she was gone. But he couldn't stay in Germany with her. Katja had a life, a family waiting for her. Erik had nothing there, no house, no connections, he didn't even speak the language. Besides, when she was with them, she wouldn't need him anymore. But the big question was would he be able to let her go?

German Translations

Vati hilf mir!-Papa help me!

Ich bin hier!-I am here!

Er kommt jezt!-He's coming now

Ich liebe dich-I love you