Love Never Dies: Secrets Revealed (Melody and Taboo)

[Saiyan Princess]

It was then that Meg's show had ended. "Mother, I felt him! I felt him while I was singing! Was he here?" The blonde held her mother's hands, though Madame Giry shook her head, a frown on her face. "No, my dear one. He wasn't here." Meg was stunned. "But, I felt him." Again, her mother silenced her. "He's still thinking about Christine.""Oh, of course." Meg growled. Meanwhile, the de Chagneys had pulled into port on their cruise. "We're here." Christine wasn't the least bit happy, but Gustav was. He didn't even wait to get off the boat to start playing.

 

[Taboo]

Erik had read in the newspaper that Christine was coming to perform in Oscar Hammerstein's new opera house and he had sent Fleck, Squelch and Gangle to fetch them and bring them to his hotel. Of course, he already had a plan in place to see Christine, and hear her sing, just one last time.


"Gustav, come over here!" Raoul called the young boy back to him as journalists and photographers bombarded the Chagny's with pictures and questions. Of course, they mainly called to Christine and asked about her plans.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Your orders will be carried out at once, sir!" Squelch told him with a broad smile while leading the way out to where the de Chagney family were being mobbed at the pier. "But, Father, I was only playing." The small boy hurried back, smiling at his parents. Christine answered questions about herself, but then things got personal, as in financially personal. "Pardon, but I do not wish to answer such a question." Christine hurried away. "Raoul, I want to get out of here." That's when they were stopped by the circus workers. "Good morning, Madame de Chagney." Fleck smiled. "Good morning. Who are all of you?"

 

[Taboo]

Gangle tipped his tall top hat, an irreproachable grin on his painted face. "Welcome to America, my honored friends. We've been sent by Mr. Hammerstein to take you to the hotel." He said, his accent making the already strange man even more exotic. "Please, take a seat, rest your feet." He held his hand out to Gustav.


"Well, where is Hammerstein?" Raoul demanded, clearly aggravated. "We were assured he'd be here to greet us in person." He snapped, not ready to just climb into this carriage without a horse with a trio of freaks.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Gustav smiled at Gangle in a sort of thank you toward the man as he climbed the steps into the carriage. Squelch smiled at the boy, knowing that soon they would be back home and their master would give them praise for the task that they accomplished. "Honored friends, Mr. Hammerstein's expecting you.""Climb aboard, fledgling lord." His fellows joined him in greeting as Gustav was lifted into the carriage, seeing as he couldn't get in himself. "Gustav!" Christine climbed in after him. Now, she held him tightly, frightened of these people.

 

[Taboo]

"This way, prima donna, we will escort you." Gangle said as he helped Christine into the carriage. Squelch turned to Raoul, "We assure, Mister Hammerstein sent us to transport you." He said, gesturing to the carriage and hoping Raoul wouldn't pressure them for much more information.


"I give up. Take us to Hammerstein." Raoul said impatiently before climbing into to the carriage with Christine and Gustav. He still didn't trust these three, but he didn't want to be stuck in the rain or with the journalists.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Before the carriage started rolling away, Gustav spoke again. "Mysteries and melodies play inside my mind. Fairy tales and fantasies, silently unwind." Christine smiled from her spot next to her ever so loving husband. Still something was a bit off as she laid her head against the cushioned seat.

 

[Taboo]

Raoul took Gustav back into his seat, ready to leave and go to the hotel. "Ask no questions, have no fear. Anything can happen here." Squelch, Gangle and Fleck said in unison before they took the Chagny's to the hotel. After they were done there, they rushed off to tell Mister Y, who already had a plan in place.


"What an dreadful town, what a vulgar place. What an awful mistake to have come here." Raoul said, pacing the hotel room with a drink in his hand. "To be on display in that shameless way, for the crude common lower class scum here. How could he dare to treat us so?"


"Father dear, come play with me. Come and see this toy I've got." Gustav said, skipping in with a new toy.


"What a snub, at most, from our so called 'host'. Did he think sending freaks would be funny? Could the fool had thought that our pride was bought with his filthy American money? What a farce, what an outright slap in the face. It's an utter disgrace." Raoul said as he poured himself another drink, angry with Hammerstein, who he hadn't seen this entire time. "I've got a mind to pack and go, never you mind the debt we owe. Who would believe we've sunk this low?"


"Father please, come play with me-" Gustav said, before being cut off by Raoul.


"Gustav, enough. The answer's no." Raoul said, turning away and shaking his head.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Raoul, please. Don't fight." Christine took his hand, squeezing it. "I'm sure Hammerstein was only busy and couldn't make it to the pier today." She watched Gustav continue to play the piano, just beautifully. "That's a beautiful song, love." The mother watched his hands dance across the keys. Something about that music reminded her of...of him. Of the man that left her alone in bed that night so long ago after she already planned on confessing her love!

 

[Taboo]

"Do you have to play now?" Raoul snapped at Gustav, taking a sip of his drink. "What is it, anyway?" He was clearly still feeling very agitated by the three freaks he thought were sent by Hammerstein.


Gustav continued to play, looking at the music. "I don't know. It was just here on the piano." He said as he played. "I think it's beautiful."


"Well it hurts my head," said Raoul impatiently. He was glad the boy had musical talent like his mother, but he seemed to always be playing at the wrong time for Raoul.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Inside, Christine was screaming for her son to stop reminding her of his father. The way he played was so beautiful. "Raoul, dear. Please, don't fight. I want you to calm down. Please, let's go home. Will that ease your troubled mind?" She caressed his cheek. "Leave this place behind." Now facing her son, she smiled. "Gustav, please, wait until morning to play, my dear." She didn't want Raoul to get angry. Just then, a man came in with an invitation for the man of the house. "Vicomte de Chagney?" He held out the letter. "From Mr. Hammerstein. " He held the letter out. "He requests your presence at the local pub." Christine stood. "Raoul, please, don't go." She held her husband's hand. She felt watched. A familiar someone watching her. Impossible.

 

[Taboo]

Raoul smiled at he suggestion of meeting at a bar, "Hammerstein may lack courtesy, but he does know how to choose a business rendezvous." He put on his overcoat and began towards the door. When he heard Christine, he shot a glance at her. "And why would I do that, Christine?" He retorted before simply leaving without another word.


"Father never plays with me." Gustav said sadly, looking down at his musical toy. "Doesn't he love me?" He asked his mother, looking at her with big eyes.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine was shocked that her son would ask such a thing. "Of course your father loves you. Why would you ask that?" She held her arms out to him. "Love's a curious thing.


It often comes disguised. Look at love the wrong way. It goes un-recognized." She explained what Gustav was doing and what Raoul was doing


"So look with your heart, and not with your eyes." First, her hand laid on his chest, then covered his eyes. "A heart understands. A heart never lies." She pulled him closer to her, laying his head on his chest.


"Believe what it feels, and trust what it shows.Look with your heart. The heart always knows." She stroked his head, then let him up.


"Love is not always beautiful. Not at the start." She pinched his nose playfully. "So open your arms." She took his hands and spread them apart, then made the sweeping motion over his eyes again. "And close your eyes tight. Look with your heart. And when it finds love, your heart will be right." She smiled warmly at her son. "Learn from someone who knows. Make sure you don't forget. Love you misunderstand is love that you'll regret."

 

[Taboo]

Gustav seemed to be thinking on his mother's words, and they began to make sense. "Look with your heart, and not with your eyes. The heart can't be fooled, the hart never lies." He repeated the words, to let them sink in. "Forget what you think, ignore what you hear. Look with your heart, it always sees clear." He smiled at his mother, wondering how she knew so much. "Love is not always beautiful," he pinched the bridge of her nose playfully, "not at the start."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine repeated her actions one last time. "But open your arms. And close your eyes tight. Look with your heart. And when it finds love your heart will be right." She smoothed his hair and led him to bed. "I shall be there in a moment, dear." She waited a long time, still feeling that presence. When she looked at her balcony, she found out why. That man that had left her was standing there. Her breath got heavy. Her heart raced, and she passed out again.

 

[Taboo]

Seeing Christine fall to the ground, Erik rushed towards her. For just a moment, he looked at her in shock and couldn't believe he was actually seeing her. Shaking himself out of the moment, he lifted her from the floor and set her in a chair. He stared at her in stupefaction, still unable to believe his eyes. What if this was only another dream? To put his suspicion to rest, he reached out a hand to touch her.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine took a few moments to wake, and when she did, horror met her eyes. "I should have known that you'd be here. I should have known it all along." She attempted to sit up, though she would be even closer to her angel.


"This whole arrangement bears your stamp. You're in each measure of that song." She was getting angry. She shot up and turned away. "How dare you try and claim me now?. How dare you come invade my life?" She was shaking in fear and anger.

 

[Taboo]

Erik seemed slightly shocked, he understood why she was upset, but he thought maybe she'd be just a little relieved to see he wasn't dead. "Oh Christine, my Christine. In that time when the world thought me dead, my Christine, on that night just before you were wed." He walked up behind her, reminding her of that night once again. "Ah Christine, you came and found where I hid. Don't you deny that you did, that long ago night." He wrapped an arm around her, unable to keep his distance. "Once there was a night beneath a moonless sky. Too dark to see a thing, too dark to even try."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine felt the gentle hold that her former lover was using for her and couldn't help but lie against him and relax for a second, then she forced him off and bent over, away from him. "I stole to your side to tell you I must go. I couldn't see your face but sensed you even so." She looked back at him, but was actually remembering that night. "And I touched you. And I heard those ravishing refrains.The music of your pulse." Finally, she came out of it and watched him for a while.

 

[Taboo]

Erik sat on the piano bench, closing his eyes as the details of the night flooded into his mind. "The singing in your veins." He got up from his seat and went to her, his eyes full of regret. "And I held you, and I felt you. And with every breath and every sigh, I felt no longer shy." He reached a hand out to touch her, but quickly recoiled remembering how she had pulled away when he had tried the first time. "At last our feelings bared, beneath a moonless sky."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine couldn't believe that they both remembered so well. But, oh, how could one forget such a night of wonder! Christine never could. Not in those ten years. "And I held you." She reached out for him, but stopped. "And with every breath and every sigh. I felt no longer scared." She felt him now, his hot breath, no longer scared of his features, his figure. "At last our feelings bared, beneath a moonless sky." She relaxed when he pulled back, but was also disappointed. She reached for her love again. "And blind in the dark, as soul gazed into soul. I looked into your heart and saw you pure and whole." Christine stroked his hair.

 

[Taboo]

Erik leaned into Christine's touch, shaking with excitement as he felt her warmth once again, for the first time in ten years. "Cloaked under the night, with nothing to suppress. A woman and a man, no more and yet no less." He took one of her hands in both of his as he gazed into her eyes. "And I kissed you. And the world around us fell away. We said things in the dark, we never dared to say." He stood quickly lifting Christine to her feet and held her close. "And I caught you, and I took you."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

As her master held her once more, Christine could feel the tears coming. She cursed herself, a married woman, loving another man. "And caressed you. And the world around us fell away." She caressed his cheek for a moment. "We said things in the dark, we never dared to say." She would never confess her love to the world in front of anyone else but him. "And I kissed you. And I begged you." She remembered that quite clearly. "With a need too urgent to deny, as nothing mattered then, except for you and I." She felt the pull. "Again and then again, beneath a moonless sky."

 

[Taboo]

Suddenly, the rest of the memories came, the one that Erik had tried to ignore. He pulled away and walked back towards the piano, not able to look at Christine. "And when it was done, before the sun could rise, ashamed of what I was, afraid to see your eyes," he closed his eyes tightly, feeling the pain once more. "I stood while you slept and whispered a goodbye, and slipped into the dark, beneath a moonless sky." He collapsed onto the piano bench, choking on tears and letting his hands fall into his hands.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine was upset. She began to think that he didn't think about his actions all those years ago. "And I loved you, yes, I loved you." She growled. "I'd have followed anywhere you led. I woke to swear my love, and found you gone instead." She stood over him, close enough for him to grab her if he so desired. "Oh I loved you! How I loved you!" She confessed after all this time that he had things Raoul didn't. "We both knew why. And yet I won't regret from now until I die. The night I can't forget beneath a moonless sky." She started to calm down, now that they were both tired.