He began to walk towards me. His movements were slow and graceful. I stumbled backward trying to break our eye contact but his eyes were so beautiful and made it impossible. And then he opened his mouth and his beautiful deep voice filled the air. And I tried to fight against its beauty. I fought for Raoul and the future we might be able to have together. And I also fought for myself. I couldn't give in to him again when I would be leaving hours from now.

"You know his love is not enough. You know isn't what you need. You know you're made of finer stuff. I think on that we'll all agree." I froze where I stood. What was he saying? What did he want? "It's time to leave him in the dust." I heard my voice catch. Was he asking me to stay with him? Was he offering a life with him? Were we finally going to be a family? I- I- I didn't know what to say. I gave into the music and. "It's time to be who you should be. It's time to do now as you must and set the music in you free." Suddenly he turned and gestures to the mirror on the wall. "In moments, mere moments, drums will roll. There'll you'll stand just like before." I could feel the old rush I got from singing as it began to rush through my veins. I walked closer towards Erik and the mirror. "The crowd will hush and then in one sweet rush. I will hear you sing once more." Suddenly his arms were around me and he placed an elegant and over the top huge blue diamonded necklace. "And music, our music, will swear and then unwind," He turned me around toward the dressing table and I couldn't but walk towards it and sit down. "…like two strands of melody that must entwine, will fill us, complete us, make us whole." I felt my body fall into the chair. He leaned forward from behind the chair and picked up the earrings I had just taken off. He gently picked up my small hang in his large one, I couldn't help but notice how perfectly it fit in his, and he placed the matching blue diamonded earrings into my hand, closing it around them. "Sing upon forever more. Tonight for me, embrace your destiny, let me hear you sing once more." He began to walk away from me. As his hands slipped off of mine I couldn't help but lean into his direction. Suddenly he was gone. It was almost as if he had never been there. Thinking it had been a dream; I looked down and at the base of my throat still sat the necklace. He was so fascinating in his magical ways.

The stage manager yelled to me and warned me of my remaining five minutes. What was I to do? Who was I to choose?

"They stay every way. What answer can I give? I know I can't refuse and yet I wish I could. Oh god…" Should I follow my heart and stay with the man I would always love? Or should I go after the man I had already betrayed and hurt enough, the man I was married to? How could I cause such an innocent man such pain? Sure he had changed quite a bit, but his change was because of my past actions. I couldn't hurt him again. But could I hurt the man I loved again? Why did it always come down to my choice? Suddenly Raoul's voice filled my head.

"Christine, Christine, don't think that I don't care." Oh god what would my leaving do to him? When I married him, I promised him my love and presence forever. How could I betray him. Maybe it was Raoul I had to stay with…

"But every hope and every prayer rests on you now" Erik's voice whispered in my head like it always had. I had heard his music every day for ten years. I knew the reason why. We were tied together soul to soul. He own part of my soul while our soul owned the other. I had no power over my heart and I knew I did not have any to properly give to Raoul. How could I stay with a man I could never love? Was that right?

And then I decided what I would do next. I turned around and saw my dress hung upon the mirror. It was a beautiful deep rich blue. The tail of it resembled a peacock's. It was extraordinarily extravagant. It was the most elegant gown I had ever seen in my entire life. It fit me perfectly and the entire inside was made of silk. It felt so enticing against my skin. It made me want to crawl under the cover of Erik's bed and never come out again. The walk backstage was nerve wrecking. All of my old insecurities came crawling back in under my skin. I wanted to make Erik proud I wanted him to pull me into his arms and tell me he loved me. But was that the best choice to make.

I shook the thoughts from my head. I wasn't making that decision yet. My best thinking came when I was singing and I was hoping that I would become inspired by the music and that the right choice would just come to me. I needed to sing! As they announced my name i pushed through the curtain and entered the stage. The lights poured onto me and then I could feel the crowd's anticipation. All fears and doubts drained from me and I could feel the joy and rush that the stage gave me.

"Who knows when love begins?" Whose heart would I break tonight?

"Who knows what makes it start?" Could i dare to do such a thing?

"One day it's simply there," I suffered for ten years?

"Alive inside in your heart." Oh Erik…

"It slips into your thoughts," Ten years you were the only thing in my mind.

"It infiltrates your soul," You are my soul…

"It takes you by surprise," How couldn't I have seen it before!?

"Then seizes full control." I just don't know what to do.

"Try to deny it," How could I ever deny my feelings for Erik.

"And try to protest," But maybe I'm making the wrong choice.

"But love won't let you go," I should think of what Gustave would want.

"Once you've been possessed." But what if I go with Raoul? My heart isn't going to heal.

"Love never dies." I'm going to have to live with the regret of choosing Raoul again.

"Love never falters." My love for Erik isn't going anywhere!

"Once it has spoken," It's…

"Love is yours." Ah! I can't do this!

"Love never fades." I could feel eyes from the wings. I turned to my left and found Raoul staring at me with such a defeated face around them. There was something he wasn't telling me and I could see it in his eyes.

"Love never alters." How could I put him through the lies once more?

"Hearts may get broken," He wasn't Gustavé's father and he never would be.

"Love endures..." He was never going to be loved my me.

"Hearts may get broken," Maybe it would be even worse to hold onto him when I didn't love him. He should be able to move on.

"Love endures." I turned to my right as the music flowed through me and saw Erik looking at me with such pride that my broke my heart.

"And soon as you submit," How could he love me so much?

"Surrender flesh and bone," I wasn't as young as I used to be and not as talented.

"That love takes on a life much bigger than your own." I had hurt him so many times before.

"It uses you at whim and drives you to despair." How could they love me so much?

"And forces you to feel more joy than you can bear." Suddenly the words I was singing sank into my core. This song, this beautiful song was written by Erik during that time when we were both lost.

"Love gives you pleasure," He was the one who got me through my father's death.

"And love brings you pain!" We both hurt one another and it made us stronger.

"And yet, when both are gone," And it also made our connection stronger.

"Love will still remain." I needed him.

"Once it has spoken," He needed me.

"Love is yours." We both needed each other for our own survival.

"Love never dies," Suddenly the decision was made.

"Love never alters," The music pulled me in and his love engulfed me once more.

"Hearts may get broken," I could feel the strength in my voice as I realized my future.

"Love endures..." It was Erik. It would always be Erik!

"Hearts may get broken." But how could I explain this to Raoul.

"Love never dies!" I turned towards Raoul. He must have picked up on my choice because I caught the pain on his face as he turned to go.

"Love will continue!" The decision was made and I felt free. Suddenly every stress that Raoul had ever given me released from my shoulders and I was swept away by the music. I hadn't felt such passion from music since- since- since Don Juan Triumphant.

"Love keeps on beating when you're gone!" And like that all of my thoughts bubbled away and I just sang my heart out and I loved every moment of it.

"Love never dies once it is in you!"

"Life may be fleeting,"

"Love lives on..."

"Life may be fleeting,"

Love lives on."

When I finished bowing I turned and ran backstage to my dressing room. I felt so wonderful. The power of the music still pulsed through my veins. I was living on a pure adrenaline. I ran into my dressing room and through the door closed. Erik stood on the other end of the room.

"Ah, Christine, my Christine. What a triumph you gave me tonight. My Christine, all the dark silent years now put right. Ah, Christine." His voice ran through my ears and set every nerve in my body alight.

"The song was beautiful. It sounded beautiful, every note, every word. And it felt beautiful. And I felt beautiful" I walked towards him and his eyes locked on mine. Man, what those eyes did to me.

"Lost in the music once more. Feeling it rise up and soar. Alive once again!" I gave into him and he pulled me close. Our lips touched a bolt of electricity ran through my body sending chills to every limb and raising the hairs on the back on my neck. He had such an effect on me. And right now he had total and utter control over me. His lips were softer soft than I remembered and they made me want more so I pulled him closer. In my haste, I bit his bottom lip and he groaned in pleasure. His hands fell from my shoulders to my waist. I could feel my nails clawing at his jacket hoping to find skin. My lack of Erik was clouding my judgment. It felt like an addict finally using their drug again after ten years. It felt so nice. The thought suddenly crossed my mind that we could wake up in each other's arms every morning for the rest of our lives. I broke from the kiss and put my head on his chest. I was flooded by the fluttering of butterfly wings in my stomach, the warmth of his body, and the beating of his heart. My body knew what it wanted and it would only be moments until it would get it.

Suddenly Erik's body tensed. I looked up to find his glaring down at my dressing table. I followed his gaze to the single piece of paper resting below a single red rose. It wasn't anything special of a rose, no black ribbon, but an average rose with rips in the petals. I knew it was from Raoul. I ran to the note and picked it up gingerly in my fingers. I may not have loved him but I adored him as a close childhood friend. The words were written in haste and sadness. My heart broke as I read the words allowed.

"My dearest wife,

Little Lottie, I beg you, forgive me." I couldn't help butter cry out to him, "Raoul, no!" I continued to read through the tear forming in my eyes. "Little Lottie, ah, what fools we once were, long ago in our youth, in Paris at the opera. Romantic idiot. Those two people are gone. Now I must go. Our choices are made. The opera is done. The last notes have been played." Poor Raoul how could I be so cruel to him. "May your angel of music watch over you now and give you what I wish I gave you somehow.

Yours, in regret

Raoul" Wow. Raoul had grown so much as a man tonight. Gustave would be proud to of had that Raoul as father. Gustave! How could I have forgotten my son! I got so caught up the choice I- "Gustave!" Where was he? What if Raoul had- no he couldn't! NO, he WOULDN'T!

Erik broke from the shock Raoul's words had put him in. "What is it?" I ran to the dressing table and threw down the letter.

"What's wrong?!" Erik ran to my side.

"I told him to wait for Raoul before he asked me to…surely he wouldn't." We both turned and ran for the door.

"That fatuitous Raoul! I will kill that drunken fool, that he dare take this child, a child that isn't his" I didn't have the nerve to try to calm Erik. Instead I just ran after him as he stormed around backstage trying to find Raoul. Suddenly Squelch appeared at his side. Squelch looked scared and he was sweating through his costume.

"Sir, The Viscount de Chagny left here alone. Saw with my own eyes sir. There was no one with him. Was there anyone else here backstage?" He looked worried and my mothering anxieties intensified.

"Madame Giry, she was here with that viscous little sneer and that comment she made. The ungrateful back biting snake. Go now, quickly, bring her round, bring my boy back safe and sound. Then I'll make that vixen pay" Squelch turned and ran away as fast as he could I ran to Erik's side and put a soothing hand on his chest while hiding my tear stained face in his jacket. His body relaxed into me as much as it could. Our boy was still nowhere to be found. Suddenly I heard footsteps and turned to see Dr. Gangle and Squelch dragging Madame Giry back to Erik. She seemed to be angrier than scared, which I didn't understand. I guess people around here were forgetting his dark side.

"What is the meaning of this?! How dare your circus gools…" Erik pulled out of my grip and walked towards Madame Giry. I could see his body shaking with anger.

"What have you done with him?" She looked up at him in shock and worry and then she looked over his shoulder at my crumpled up form.

"The boy! You think I took the boy?! Why would I do such a thing do you think I don't know who he is?!" Of course she would know. Madame Giry had eyes and ears everywhere she knew everything! Suddenly Miss Fleck came running up to Erik. She was terrified and shaking.

"Sir! I just passed Meg's dressing room. It was silent as a tomb. But her mirror was shamed all in pieces on the floor." I ran to her and fell to my knees in front of her questioning her of everything she knew. I heard a quiet voice from behind me. The voice belonged to a distraught Madame Giry.

"God, I left her so distraught. God knows what she must have thought. Foolish child she must be caught." I looked up to Erik shaking his head. He ran off to find more information.

"My boy, Gustave!" Madame Giry came to my side and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"But she won't hurt him. Meg would never hurt him." I couldn't tell if she was trying to convince me or herself. Suddenly Erik was at my side pulling me up off of the ground.

"I know where she's going but we must hurry!" I looked up into his face and found nothing but fear and horror.