A/N: There a good bit of feels in this one, just to warn you all. I hope you enjoy nonetheless.

The next couple of days with Reza weighed heavily on Christine, and Erik knew it. He could see her trying not to cry or straining to remain happy for the child who was rapidly deteriorating before her eyes. When the night came where the boy had trouble eating, Erik knew something would have to be done…for both of them. He was loath to discuss the boy's health with Nadir, given the man was just as tense as everyone else, but Christine was another matter.

'I was thinking I would take Christine out to the site. She needs to get out a bit.' Erik told the Daroga somewhat suddenly after putting Reza to bed. 'You can spend a little alone time with your son.' He put in hopefully.

'I agree, just be aware she can get quite mischievous when left to her own devices for too long.' The man warned, happy, but mostly too tired to argue about it.

Erik grinned at this. 'You forget, Daroga, so can I.'

Nadir gave him a doubtful look, but shrugged. He would find out soon enough.

The next morning, Erik brought the idea to her and once more was delighted by her eager response. She was thrilled to be going to see the monument he had been slaving to make for the past month or so, and having time away from the house would be a nice change.

'I've never been out this way before.' She told him as they rode. She had since turned round in her saddle and laid with her back against Ren's sturdy neck. Her arms were crossed casually and her ankles were doing the same. She was the picture of comfort while amazingly in an unusual position on a moving horse.

'It's not much farther. You should be able to see it soon.' Erik said, squinting into the bothersome sunlight. He could see better than most in the dark, but daytime was a different matter. 'How do you do that, by the way?' He asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.

'What, lay like this? Oh, it's easy so long as you have faith in your mount.' She grinned at him.

'Has she ever thrown you?' He asked, eyeing the pure white horse.

'She tired once, but it didn't work. We get along quite well now.' She reached back to pat the horse's shoulder lovingly. 'You should try it with Cesar. You two seem pretty well acclimated to each other.' She nodded to the raven black equine with enough respect in her tone to make the head gesture seem more like a slight bow.

'I'm not sure he'd like it. I don't bind him with a bridle, he carries me where I need to go.' Erik explained.

'Fair enough.' She smiled, effortlessly returning to a regular sitting position in the saddle. Erik was slightly mesmerised by the fluidity of her movements. She made everything she did look so easy. Giving him one grin as warning, she chirped something to her horse before speeding off.

Erik urged Cesar on, knowing the stallion would be just as stubborn in not letting her win the impromptu race. He shared in some of her laughter as they speed along the hard ground, their horses eagerly puffing from the excitement. Erik somehow remained behind her, but even from there he knew the instant she laid eyes upon the site. Her whole back changed from the thrill of the race to the wonder of what he was creating.

She stood up in the saddle, gasping from the race and from the magnificence before her. Even unfinished, she could tell that this structure would be unlike any other the world had ever known. She remained, lips parted in wonder as they slowed to a stop outside a tent on the edge of the site. It was not until Erik came to offer a hand down that she realised she should dismount.

Stepping onto the ground, she could not take her eyes off of it. Erik noted that she took in every detail and intricacy of the building. He could see her cocking her head to try to envision what it would look like when completed.

'Come, I'll show you the plans.' He said, gesturing her into the tent. He brought her over to a desk towards the middle of the room, pointing out little pieces of the architecture he had so painstakingly designed. She smiled at each one and nodded when he would explain certain elements. He was amazed it interested her at all, but she seemed to soak up every detail, held rapt by his every word.

He was just about to tell her of a particular room he had kept secret even from his workers when the foreman cautiously interrupted. Erik had found himself objecting to the man's intrusion, not wishing to share Christine's company with anyone at present. She, however, introduced herself and put the man at ease with one of her winning smiles. Before he knew what was happening, Erik was knee deep in discussing the intricacies of a particular part of the structure that the foreman was confused on. He answered the man's questions and took the time to explain each and every step that needed to be taken to properly construct that particular section.

When at last they were done, Erik looked up, expecting Christine to be standing by quietly, but found her gone. Instantly he flew into a panic, wondering where the girl could have gotten off to.

Hurrying out of the tent, he searched frantically for her, until he heard her silver-belled laugh coming not from the ground level, but from high above him. He looked up to see her several feet off the ground, perched comfortably on a bit of scaffolding and holding some tools while one of the workers guided her hands.

'Like that?' She asked, seeing the encouraging nod when she moved to carefully round the edge of a bit of stone.

'Christine,' Erik called up to her with still a bit of panic running through him. He had climbed many such pieces of scaffolding and most far taller than where Christine was, but it was not until she was up there that he realised how dangerous and rickety they looked.

Hearing her name, she looked down to see him, wide eyed at her little venture. She waved at him happily as if it were perfectly natural for her to be up there.

'What are you doing up there?' He asked, fear growing to frustration.

'I was just learning how to properly round off this stone. Bahman says I'm quite good at it.' She explained, still acting as if it were nothing.

'Christine,' he put his fingertips to his forehead. 'Please, come down. Carefully.' He added with some urgency.

Her smile faded to a bit of a pout, but she did as he asked. Erik closed his eyes as soon as she was back on the ground and walking over to him. He felt his heartbeat in his head and worried he might be tempted to do something to her that he would regret.

'Erik, are you alright?'

His eyes snapped open when he felt her delicate fingers rest on his arm. He stared at them in wonder for a moment before looking up into her concerned features.

'I'm fine. Just don't…scare me like that. I turned round and you were gone. You could have been hurt.' He told her earnestly.

'I'm sorry.' She was surprised by his worry, but nodded with a soft smile. He relaxed a bit at this.

Taking a deep breath, Erik offered to show her around, keeping a close eye on her as much as possible. It went spectacularly well until he misplaced her once more, only to find her just around a corner, thinking he was still there next to her. He had been stopped by one of the workers, and she was thoroughly confused when she turned round to see him looking exasperated.

Besides this, Erik counted the trip as a success. He saw more smiles in this one day than he had seen from her over their month of acquaintance. She was eager to explore every inch of the construction with a fondness he found himself smiling at. He pitied Giovanni a bit, knowing he must have had the same struggle keeping the then boy under some sort of control.

'You know, I could teach you to design buildings if you wanted.' He told her in a moment of reverent silence. He could not get enough of the sight of her.

'Hmm, I was actually having a good time carving the stones, though I'm not really strong enough to do anything big with it.' She explained hopefully.

'No.' He cut her off sharply.

'What? Why?' She protested mildly, trying to find his eyes as he looked away.

'Because, the stone dust gets into your lungs and eventually kills you.' He told her, remembering far too well his beloved teacher's rasping coughs and blood stained handkerchiefs. Giovanni had deserved better in an apprentice, but Erik supposed they only both learned that lesson too late.

Christine scoffed at this. 'The tuberculosis is doing that already.' She sounded nearly bitter in her brushing off of this horrible side-effect.

Erik looked at her, showing a bit of fear at her passive pronunciation of her own fate.

'It's slowly eating away at my lungs, Erik. I've probably only got a couple weeks of singing left in me.' Her normally light eyes had suddenly darkened at this. She was doing a wonderful job sounding passive-aggressive towards the issue, but her eyes told a different story.

Erik felt more than ever the burden of his promise to save her. He would do anything to keep her voice from dying. This he swore.

Before he knew it, though, it was time to leave. He offered her a hand to mount her horse, but she was already up and waving to a few of the workers who had apparently been kind to her.

'Do you make friends everywhere you go?' He asked, eyeing the men a little sharply.

'I try to.' She told him, still waving. 'It makes the world seem less lonely.' She smiled, now decidedly not looking at him.

'Is it lonely?' He asked out of curiosity as to her answer rather than disbelief.

'Extremely.' She said rather solemnly. Looking back behind her, though she brightened.

'It really is splendid, Erik. Maybe I can make it back to see it again.' She smiled darkly.

'It would be my pleasure.' Erik told her, his whole hopes put into those words.

They arrived back at the house just in time for dinner, Nadir eyeing them both heavily as they came in laughing and standing decidedly closer to each other than they had been when they had left.

'Did she cause any trouble?' The Daroga asked, when he could catch Erik somewhat alone. The way the man widened his eyes and took a heavy breath made Nadir burst out in laughter. 'That bad?' He asked, still shaking with mirth.

'Oh, shut up you old fart. She only wandered off twice.' Erik grumbled with a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

'What, you didn't learn the first time?'

'The second time was my fault.'

'When it comes to Christine, my friend, I would say both times were your fault.' He patted the masked man on the back, laughing.

'Yes, well, she seemed happy. In fact, she complimented my work quite heavily.' Erik could not release his perplexed expression as he looked to the girl who was now happily playing with Reza.

'Of course she was, she likes you. Besides that, she has eyes. Your work truly is unique, Erik.' Nadir told him. He watched as Erik grinned a bit whenever Christine laughed.

'Why does she like me, though? She knows little to nothing about me and yet you talk as if I am one of her closest friends.' Erik frowned in frustration at the puzzle that was Christine Daaé.

'That's because you are. As to the why, I think only she can answer that mystery.'

Erik nodded at this, the wheels in his head visibly turning on a way to solve the enigma. Nadir decided to leave him to it, going off to help get Reza ready for bed.

Time seemed to slip by Erik as he continues to ponder over Christine's attachment to him. It was not until he heard a nightingale whistling in one of the distant trees that he realised how late it was. Rising from the plush chair he had been sitting in for the past few hours, he was about to go off to bed when he saw, silhouetted in the sliver moon's light, the form of Christine sitting on the balcony. She was gazing up at the thick blanket of the sky, besprinkled with shimmering stars, her back against the door frame and arms coiled about her pulled in knees. Like a moth, he was drawn to her light as the moon's gentle radiance reflected off her silky smooth skin.

Taking off his jacket, he went over to rest it on her shoulders. He mildly startled her, though her surprise quickly changed to a soft and gentle smile.

'It's getting cold out.' He told her as she leaned forward to wrap his jacket around her and pull it close. She looked up at him with shining eyes, silently thanking him. He smiled and slid down to sit opposite her. He stretched his long legs out, sighing at the cool marble of the balcony floor. He rested his head back against the door frame and gazed at her as she looked up to the sky.

'It's funny the things that stick with you. I don't remember my mother, but I do remember little bits of songs she used to sing me. I think of them when I look at the moon. Father used to say she was as pale as the moon with eyes that shone like a cobalt sky. He said one day I would be just as beautiful as she was, but he said a great many things. He used to tell me stories of the Angel of Music. This angel would visit singers and musicians and would teach them how to play more wonderfully than anyone on earth. He said I would one day be visited by this angel just as he was, for he truly played more beautifully than anyone I've ever heard.' She looked at Erik at the end of this as if trying to convince him. 'Father said when he died, he would send the Angel of Music to me.' She looked down at this, knowing such fantasies were of little meaning now.

'Where did you grow up?' Erik asked suddenly.

'A little town not far from Uppsala. We stayed there until I was about six, and then we travelled so Father could play.' She explained.

'I'm from Boscherville, it's a ways north-west of Paris.' He told her. She raised her eyebrows at his sudden admission.

'So you are French.' She grinned. 'I thought you were, the language seems so perfect on you.' She nodded at her own victory.

'Do you think Swedish suits you?'

'No, I really hate the language.' She shook her head in growing embarrassment.

'Why?'

'Eftersom jag låter som jag ständigt stryper en gås.'

Erik looked at her, puzzled.

'Because I constantly sound like I'm strangling a goose.' She translated with a laugh. He laughed as well, enjoying the sound of their voices together.

'I don't think it's as bad as that.' He defended. 'Russian sounds like you're in the midst of fighting bears, German sounds angry no matter what you say, and Italian sounds like cheap French.' He told her. She laughed at each of these but mock-winced at his judgement of Italian.

'No love for Italy, then.' She looked at him, surprised he could be such a harsh critic.

Erik darkened. 'No. Not anymore.'

She cocked her head questioningly, but did not pursue the topic. He would tell her when he was ready, she decided.

'I'd have liked to go to Paris. It sounds like a very beautiful place.' She gazed off dreamily.

'I could take you there, if you wanted.' Erik offered in a moment of uncharacteristic boldness.

'What, just run off to Paris at the drop of the hat? You'd leave all this behind just to spend my last month on a whim?' She looked at him sceptically.

'Christine,' he leaned forward, ready to tell her of his inner promise, ready to tell her anything if she were simply to ask. 'I'd-'

'Don't.' She cut him off. She shook her head. 'Don't throw your life away for me.' She stood, walking over to the rail, leaning on it heavily.

Erik watched her, mesmerised as always, but also wondering. 'Christine,' he came to stand behind her, arms reaching out as if to embrace her, but not having the strength of will to actually touch her.

She looked down, just peeking over her shoulder. 'Nadir was right, you shouldn't get attached to me.' Brushing past him, she went back into the house.

It took some time before his knuckles could release the railing enough to return to their admittedly pale pallor instead of the bone white they had become at his tight grip. His breathing finally slowed back to normal from its tight gasps. He berated himself for his own foolishness. He had made a similar mistake before and it had cost him everything he had ever held dear. Everything he had wanted as a child, taken away from him in one act. He found himself now terrified it could happen again. He could lose her so easily. One more glimpse at his darker side and she could easily fly from his grasp. But at the same time, she was fading away. He was going to lose her unless he found a way to save her.

Walking back to his room, he stopped at his door to see his jacket carefully hung on the doorknob with a tiny bit of paper such in the pocket. Picking up the paper, he read the one word and felt something in him break.

Merci.

The day finally came, as Erik had hinted to Nadir some months before, when Reza started failing. They were happily eating dinner when the child found his throat did not wish to swallow anymore. He would cough hard enough to make Christine's bloodstained handkerchief look like she were breathing a little heavily. They all were silent as the child struggled to eat, Nadir paling with every cough his darling son was forced to make, Christine looking like she was a thousand miles away while her smile stayed the same, and Erik closing his eyes tightly at the decision he would assuredly be making.

While Reza was being prepared for bed, Erik took Nadir by the arm, serving as both a support and a firm warning. They did not speak, only exchanging knowing looks. Finally, Nadir collapsed into one of the chairs, Christine looking on from the couch as they silently discussed the inevitable.

'He's my son, Erik.' Nadir said head in his hands. 'He's all I have.'

Christine rose, walked over to the crying man she had seen stand so tall for so long. She knelt down on the floor beside him and soothed his shoulder.

'Nadir, you have-' She stopped, realising how hollow her words were about to be. Yes, he had her, but only for two more months…maybe even less. 'I'm sorry,' was all she could manage in the end.

Erik watched them for a moment, feeling the weight of what he had to do rest heavily upon his shoulders.

'It'll be painless and quick.' He promised, turning to go into the child's room, a bowl of sherbet in his hand. He walked in, seeing Reza still coughing a bit as his body continued to fail him. He spoke soothingly to the child, feeling his sorrows prick his eyes. Looking up, he was surprised to see Christine coming in and sitting on the bed beside the child, much like she had the night of the storm.

'Would you like your sherbet now, Reza?' She asked somehow cheerily.

'Yes, please.' He nodded tiredly, his voice small and distant.

Erik fed him the frozen treat while Christine brushed his hair back with her fingers. She hummed soothingly as the child smiled.

'Do you remember when we first met?' She asked the boy, now fighting back tears.

He nodded. 'I thought you were an angel. You were so pretty. You're still the prettiest woman in the whole world, Christine.' He swore seriously. 'But you were sad because your father had died and you didn't know anyone in Persia.'

'Yes, but you made me smile. You made me so very happy, Reza.' She smiled down at him, though she knew he could not see her face, or anything else.

'Will I be alone?' He asked suddenly. He surprised them both for realising what was happening. They had never spoken of it, but somehow he knew.

'No, Reza, you will never be alone. You will be with your mother again. Maybe you'll even find my parents.' He started to nod softly, eyes drooping closed. 'And I will be there soon.' She kissed his head as he slowly slipped away. She pulled the child into one last embrace, crying but struggling against the sobs she knew would wrack her to the core. Leaning in, she whispered in his ear the traditional prayer.

'Verily we belong to Allah, and to Him shall we return.'

Erik stood, letting his own tears fall as he leaned over and lifted the child into his arms as if he were merely asleep. Christine watched Erik walk to the doorway where Nadir now stood, frozen by a grief which had yet to wash completely over him. Erik handed the child off to him and left without a word.

She watched Nadir hold his son, still in a daze. She realised that she was now intruding and rose to leave as well.

'Christine,' Nadir called after her. 'Tell Erik…' He trailed off, not able to think, let alone speak those words which he knew needed to be said.

'I will.' She nodded, understanding. That was what Nadir always respected about Christine. She understood so much for one so young. She could look deep into your soul and help you where you truly needed it most. In a way, Reza had been right when he had first seen her. Christine was an angel.

Flying out the door, she searched the darkness for a very specific shadow. She knew if he truly wanted to hide from her, there would be no possible way for her to find him, but she hoped against hope that this was not the case. Indeed, she soon found him and raced over to him, turning him around by the black mass she assumed to be his shoulder. He turned, but all she could see of the shadow was his burning white mask in the darkness. She could not make out his eyes or even the white of his shirt, but she knew he was in there. Towering over her in an oddly imposing shade, she looked deeper to find the man beneath. Reaching up, she draped her arms round his neck and pulled him down to rest his chin on her shoulder. She did not speak or make a sound, simply standing there, holding him. She let his silent tears slip through her clothing to touch as gently upon her skin. Ever careful, he let his arms touch delicately at her back.

They stood there for some time, Christine silently holding him, not caressing his hair, or rubbing his back, just holding him as he cried tears for the night to consume. This night would hold many secrets, and this would be one of them. At last he stopped and she released him. She looked up into his eyes, though he knew she could not see them. Smiling ever so gently, she turned, letting his fingers glide across her palms and trail down her own slender fingers as she left him to go back to the house. He watched her go, seeing her walk tall and strong in the face of this debilitating sadness that threatened to absorb every being around the home into its gloom. She was like a light, flickering, but still shining and guiding the lost to salvation and strength. Erik felt his own glimmer of light, small and dying, brighten just a bit from her sheltering it from his darkness. She had held him in the depths of his despair, something no one had ever done before. Thinking on it briefly, she had done many things no one else had ever dared to.

A/N: Thank you emmaaaaaaw for following this story.