A/N: Oh, and aren't I a cruel mistress? Making you all wait so long. This, I fear shall also be the final chapter for this story. It has been a challenge from beginning to end, but I hope that despite everything, you all have found it within yourselves to enjoy it. Thank you to all who have reviewed, favourited/followed this, and may find it possible to do so after this chapter is written. I shall promise another tale sometime soon (as I doubt I shall stop after even it is finished) and hopefully it will feel better in writing than this one ever did. Thank you all again, and I hope you enjoy!

Christine sat by the edge of the lake, hugging her knees to her chest and sobbing freely. He had finally said it! He loves her! But conflictingly, he also told her how she had died. It had been to save him. All her existence, in both human and angel form she had been saving him repeatedly. Why had God found it within him to be so cruel? Why must she spend her selflessly won eternity in paradise looking after the man who unknowingly cost her mortal life? He did not even want to live!

She felt her breath hitch at this.

He did not want to live…without her. Because he loves her.

She sensed a whole new wave of guilt and pain wash over her as she realised what she had done. She had turned her back on the man who had offered her a life outside of this confining care, and for what? To shun the affections of her long-time companion who needed her so desperately he could not imagine life without her. She felt a wretch for turning away the tearful confession of her charge, friend, and…

She shook her head from this. He would certainly never accept it if she told him. But holding it in any longer seemed far too painful. She did not love Raoul any longer. She wondered, when Erik had existed in the world, how she ever could. The Vicomte was kind, generous, and undoubtedly handsome, but he was unspeakably dull. He was everything he looked like. You knew from the moment you met him that he would never change one iota. He was virtuous as she once was (and potentially still was), so he held none of the darker depth that Erik always had. Erik was temptation begging her to open her eyes to the possibilities of the world. He was the hand in the shadows that would safely guide her, but that always held the allowance for letting go if he so chose. Compared to Erik, Raoul was a mere child of innocent fantasy, and she hoped that he found someone who would forever love the storybook prince.

Gazing back at the house, Christine felt the pull to be by Erik's shadowy side. It felt safe and right to rest in his arms. His attempts at wooing her had done more than set her mind adrift in the sea of his flowingly soft words. He had awoken something within her that would not sleep. She wanted to feel that always. She knew he would never harm her or purposefully endanger her. He would look after her as she had him for so many years and think nothing of it. He would do anything for her, so long as she remained happily by his side.

She saw now the truest depths of his love. Perhaps once she would have turned them aside in preference to the light, but being around Erik had showed her the darker side of the world. She was older now; more mature. She cared not for the lying fantasies of childhood. She wanted to face the horrors of this earth with her Phantom by her side.

Yes, he had lied to her, but he had done so because he loved and needed her so desperately. If he had told her sooner, would she have acted any differently than she had now? Would she have shunned him so callously? This thought echoed within her as she looked down to her empty finger. She had discarded his ring as she had turned away his love. She was a monster for doing that to one who had never loved so truly before. Erik only knew the extremes of emotions, and she had thrown them back in his face with cruel denial. She may have broken him for good. How could she?! She loved him and he loved her! She was horrible for treating him this way in her shock.

Rising slowly from the bank of the lake, she set her shoulders, prepared to face the anguish, fear, and impossible sorrow she knew he was now suffering due to her cold leaving. She felt the cool air touch her lungs one more time before entering his home. She only hoped that their bond could be salvaged now that she had cast him so wickedly aside from her own fear.

'Erik?' She called upon stepping into the empty drawing room. 'Erik, where are you?' She asked of the odd stillness that consumed the air.

She heard just the faintest of noises coming from the Louis-Phillippe room and cautiously went over to the door which stood fractionally ajar. Pushing on it with another call for his name resting upon her lips, she felt her heart skip a beat and her throat choke. Her head swam as she beheld the room.

Erik lay, slumped against the wall opposite the door with his arms stretched limply by his sides. The mirror which stood beside him was almost empty of its glass. Instead, the silvery shards littered the floor. All of this she endured until it came to the almost blinding red that was found about in too great a quantity. It spread across the floor, stained the edges of the glass equally scattered about, and most frighteningly: ran like rivers from his opened wrists.

A strangled cry escaped her as hysterics instantly set in as she rushed to him. Her hands fluttered about him uselessly as he lay unresponsive to her sobbing gasps and frantic eyes.

'Erik!' She screamed as all sense loosed itself from her mind.

His eyes tiredly opened a bit to regard her.

'I had not meant for you to see this.' He said in a wearily droll voice. 'I am sorry if it upsets you.'

Christine looked at him in horror-filled shock a moment before she could find words to reply. 'Of course it upsets me!' she all but screamed at him. 'Erik, why would you do this?' She wept now, looking over his limp form.

'I wanted to set you free. If I am dead, you will no longer have to look after me. I-I love you.' He put the last in for reasons even he could not fully explain.

Whimpering slightly, she took what only now occurred to her to be his mask-less face in her hands, rubbing his cheeks with her thumbs. She shook her head as she tried to find her voice.

'I never once regretted looking after you. I have never wished for anyone else to spend my time with. There is no one on this earth who means so much to me as you do, Erik.' She told him, bringing her forehead to his. She saw the faintest flicker of a smile play sadly at his lips.

'I love you.' She whispered before doing the one thing he had never expected possible. She kissed him.

Even against his blood drained state, his eyes widened in shock as she pressed her perfect lips against his. Her breath teased with his and her mouth tasted sweet. Her fingers wove through his hair, pulling his face further into hers as her kiss deepened. He felt his own hands come up her slender back, toying with the curls of her long hair that hung just about elbow length.

Her lips seemed to slow and then leave his own as her head slid sideways before falling limply to his shoulder. He just managed to catch his breath enough to lose it again looking at her. She lay in his arms, eyes closed and heavy as not a breath stirred her chest.

'Christine?' He called to her, panic quickly rising. 'Christine?!' He shook her a bit, letting his hand come up to support her hanging head.

His fervently scanned her wilted form before his eyes landed on the two slits in her wrists. His heart stopped as he looked at his own to find them healed as though they had never been cut at all.

'No!' He roared, pulling her to him and sobbing instantly into her chest. He felt his tears pool at the dip of her collarbones and trail down her breastbone. He could not think or hardly breathe aside from the wailing tears that somehow escaped him. He had done it. He had ruined her by his vile touch. He had killed the most beautiful creature to ever grace the earth with his own hideousness. Her words before the kiss burned at his ears. How long he had hoped in his dreams to hear them from anyone, and now he had them forever seared in his memory by his angel.

'Christine, please wake up! Please!' He called to her lifeless body still cradled in his shaking arms.

Looking up at the ceiling he sent up his first prayer. He knew if she could have heard him, so must another angel. 'Take me! Please! I do not want to live without her! I cannot…' He looked down at her beautiful face, now slack and gently resting at his shoulder. 'Live without her.'

'You would ignore her sacrifice?' A voice said from somewhere in front of him. Erik looked up to see nothing.

'I cannot and do not wish to continue on if she is not here.' He told the air about him. 'I love her.' He added with a tearful glance back down, wiping away a stray curl from her face.

'And she you, it would seem.' The voice seemed to pause for deliberation.

'Yes, though I do not know how. She claimed that she did love me.' Erik said into the silence.

'I can bring her back, but,' the voice put in quickly at Erik's frantic look. 'You must swear to never try to harm yourself again. And,' it added once more. 'You must promise to let her go to decide what kind of life she will wish to live, for I cannot bring her back as an angel. She will be human.'

Erik felt tears run down his face all over again at this, holding his Christine to him.

'Do you still want her? She will be weaker and a little broken.' The voice told him, its tone suggesting it expected him to reject the deal.

'No,' Erik looked down at her with full admiration. 'She will be what she has always been: my angel. Nothing will change that because nothing ever has. Just as nothing will ever make me love her less.'

'Then I give you the power to revive her, if you choose.' The voice told him as it faded away to nothing.

Erik looked about the room one last time as if searching for the being he knew he would never see. Turning back to his most precious gift from Heaven, he rubbed his thumb lightly over the curve of her cheek.

'Christine,' he called to her as if trying to wake her from a deep sleep. 'Christine, my love, my dear, please wake up. Please come back to me, my darling angel.' He beckoned to her, but she remained still and silent. Leaning in a bit he felt his lips tremble. 'I will love you forever, even if you never forgive me.' He promised before letting his lips touch hers.

He felt a breath rush through her as she gasped, eyes flicking open to reveal his long favourite colour of blue. She blinked a few times before setting her gaze upon his.

'Erik?' She barley needed to ask as he let out a cry and pulled her to him, sobs starting anew.

'Forgive me, my love! Forgive your Erik! He never meant to hurt you ever. He would never…Oh, Christine!'

She nestled her head next to his, her hands once more returning to his hair and savouring their dark silken depths. It somehow felt better now, though she was not sure why. It was as though she was feeling it all for the first time again. His sobs shook through her a bit and his breath was a little louder at her ear. Her legs felt tired, but she coiled them closer to him nonetheless as she felt his protective embrace tighten just a bit.

She let her voice, now somewhat foreign to her own ear sooth him and she mixed hushes with her gentle touch.

'Shhh, Erik. It's all right. I am here. I forgive you, my love. I forgive you as I always will.' She assured when he seemed to be calming down slightly.

'Do you still love me?' He asked, pulling back to look her in the eye.

'Of course I do.' She smiled oh so sweetly as she caressed his cheek, watching him lean into it with a sigh. She paused, her smile faltering as a chill ran up her spine.

'Erik,' she said in a concerned voice. His stomach dropped at her tone and he became frantic once more. 'I feel strange. I feel…cold, but you are warm.' She looked distantly between them for a moment before finding the simple solution to the problem and crashing her body the few centimetres of space left into him. She wrapped her arms about his neck and buried her face into the dip between his neck and shoulders.

'Please hold me. I do not know why I feel so cold.' She begged.

Gasping only slightly at her sudden contact, Erik happily obliged.

'Why do I feel this way? What happened?' She asked, finding his eyes and seeing how tired they were yet still filled with too much emotion to possibly think of rest now.

'Christine, I made a promise to an angel to be good and he brought you back to me.' He explained. 'Only, my dear,' he paused here to gain some kind of wall to hold up when she reacted to his next words. 'They could not bring you back as an angel. You are human, my love.' He looked at her as her eyes widened in shock.

'I'm human?' She asked in disbelief.

Erik nodded, his eyes brimming slightly. He watched her as she tried to soak all of this in. He felt her pull a little away, or perhaps it was him, he could not tell. A weight seemed to take over her eyes as she slowly let them draw up to his.

'You do not have to remain here. You can have your life back with your Vicomte in the sunlight. You need never think of me again.' He said, drawing inwards a bit.

Before he could say a word, she let her tears overcome her, sobbing freely into his chest. He looked at her confusedly as she grasped him desperately as if he would slip away at any moment.

'Christine,' he tried to sooth her, but she was going into hysterics all over again. 'Christine, what is wrong?'

'I'm-not-your-an-gel-anymore!' She said, her words catching between sobs. He was confused as to why this upset her so until he heard her next words. 'You-don't-want-me-e.' She continued, burying her face into him. He felt it knock the wind out of him, leaving him as breathless as she was.

'No, Christine,' he pleaded, holding her streaming face in his trembling hands. 'I love you. I want you to be happy. I am letting you go. That is what love means, letting the person go so that they can be happy, even if it is not with you.' He explained. 'Of course I want you. You are my angel and you always shall be.' He assured, pulling her into his embrace and nestling his cheek in amongst her curls. He felt her sobs take on a happier tone, though they continued for some time. He felt his own tears roll down his uneven face as each wracking sob made her shiver in his protective embrace. It bit him to the core to know he had caused her so much pain. Her first few moments of returned mortality should have been filled with happiness, not uncontrollable sorrow. He felt guilty for that.

'I love you, Erik. I want to stay with you. Please do not make me leave you.' She begged. 'I could not live being apart from you. Not after all this time. Not now that I love you.'

Shifting just a bit, he lifted her up into his arms, standing with minimal difficulty, and walking to the drawing room to sit on the sofa with her curled into him. He sat there, as if in a tearful daze as she continued to cry into him. He savoured each any every sensation she brought out in him, despite how woeful the circumstances.

'Christine,' he whispered softly in her ear once she had begun to calm down. 'I will love you for all eternity, and though I may not understand it, I will never shun your love for me. You are my greatest gift and treasure. I intend to treat you as such.' He told her, pulling back as she met his gaze.

'I want only you, Erik. Forever.' She told him, pulling his head down to rest on hers. She stayed like that a moment, letting her forehead meet his. She felt both of their breathing calm before she looked back up into his amber eyes.

She took a moment of just gazing at him before her mind came up with an interruption. 'Am I still beautiful to you now that I am human?' She asked, looking at him doubtfully.

In answer, he simply pulled her forward into a kiss. Her lips against his felt so perfect he found he could not have breathed if he tried. Her mouth was sweet like honey and her rosy scent threatened to consume any rational thought. He let his hands glide up her sides, one coming to entangle itself in her mess of dark chestnut curls. He felt her own come to rest at the back of his head, her arms rising and dipping as their kiss intensified. Her chest pressed against his as his hand slid down to press the small of her back closer to him.

Breaking for air, they sat there gasping as he rested his head to her neck and breathed in at her collarbone. His breath tickled at her skin, but she did not dare move him. He felt the wonderful vibration of her voice in her throat as she hummed thoughtfully.

'Did you finish your Don Juan Triumphant?' She asked, puzzling him to no end.

'Actually, yes. I put the last note down yesterday morning.' He said, feeling a wash of pride over being able to say this.

'Good,' she said, continuing to confuse him. 'Because now I get to pay you for it.' She said, pulling his face back up to meet hers in the most passionate of kisses yet. His mind swam as she worked what he was sure was magic upon his lips, trailing over his cheeks as he ducked down to nip at her neck, savouring the little hums she emitted at his overtures.

'My beautiful angel.' He sighed between kisses as he worked back up to her lips. He felt her smile as he devoured her in guiltlessly hungry passion.

Where once was emptiness and despair now resided love and passionate devotion.

Love: unselfish, loyal, and benevolent concern for the good of another; the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration