Music of the Night: The Phantom of the Opera Returns (Guile & Melody)

[Saiyan Princess]

The man pulled away from Erik, not exactly comfortable with how the Phantom was holding him. "Oh, I see." He relaxed his arms again and allowed himself to be held like this. "So, you wish to know how much I love your twenty-two year old baby?" He laughed at this. "Well, allow me to show you." He was fishing in his pocket for something unseen, but then, he brought it out and got down on one knee. "Catherine Destler," it was difficult to find the right words. "I can't give you what other men can, but what I can give you is a heart full of love and..." he spun his head around to the little baby behind him, who had a hold of his pants leg. Laughing, he finished. "What I can do for you and for William goes far beyond that. I can give you love and I can give William his father back." He kept his tears down to a minimum, praying that shed accept. Catherine, on the other hand, couldn't stop crying. "Yes! Oh, my sweet Andrew, yes! Yes, I'll marry you!" Immediately, she.was scooped up and spun around. At long last, their lips touched each other in a long, long, extremely long passionate kiss.

 

[Guile]

Erik stood and watched, dumbfounded, as Andrew proposed to his little girl. He backed away and let them have their space, but found that no matter how far away he got, Erik felt like he was unable to breathe. Shaking his head, he tried to process what he had just seen. Whatever it was, Erik felt that life had just changed as he knew it. He prayed, and was pretty sure, that it was for the better. Finally able to bring himself to reality, he cleared his throat, guiltily feeling a tad uncomfortable watching Andrew kiss Catherine for so long. However, when they finally broke the kiss, Erik spoke, his voice was a little weak, but he tried to control himself. "Congratulations, to both of you. I'm glad my little girl has found a decent young man to bring into the family that will take care of, and love, her and William." Erik was smiling. Though a part of him was a little saddened, he was glad that Catherine had chosen Andrew. He truly was a good man.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine was in tears too, and she was certain that Erik knew why. She didn't want her little girl, the girl that was so excited every time they would even step into the Opera house. The girl that jammed her finger on the glass of Box Three just to point out the man in his own box, all alone. She was so innocent then. So pure, and now, she was about to marry and leave them forever. "Oh, Mommy!" Catherine exclaimed with a childish air as she nearly tackled Christine. "I'm so happy!" She then let go and watched Erik nervously. She felt awful as she was brought back into her memory. Her very first memory of him. Her father, who was always there for her. She shook her head, trying to let that one vision go. Now within inches of Erik, she started bawling as much as Jonathan did. "Oh, Papa! I'm so sorry!"

 

[Guile]

Noticing Catherine's tears, Erik started to feel his own forming in his eyes as memories of his own started flashing through his mind - ones of the little girl that looked so much like Christine. The same little girl he would always sneak up on from behind so that he wouldn't frighten her away. He desperately tried to blink them away and keep a calm demeanor about him, but he just couldn't fight the emotions back. His baby was going to leave him! Erik went to Catherine and wrapped his arms around her tightly. As he started to feel his tears fall on his cheeks, he stroked his little girl's hair gently, hoping to comfort her. Erik spoke softly, though his voice cracked with the mixture of joy and pain he was feeling. "Oh, my precious little girl, do not apologize. This is your life - you must live it how you choose." He tried to blink his tears away to no avail, and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "If you are happy with this decision, then so am I. I promise." Erik whispered in her ear because he no longer had the ability to speak any louder. The emotions were weakening him temporarily and Erik knew it.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

She also couldn't stop crying as he stroked her hair. She did the only thing that she felt she could do and not totally scare him. She took off his disguise to look at his face. "You remember this, don't you?" She smiled, knowing they were sharing the same visions. "Who knows. Maybe I'll leave and come back in a few years so that you can do it all over again." The truth was that she loved how parts of him were still secret from her and even Christine. She remembered how it felt to have the so called monster sneak up on her to keep her calm. How she would lie to get some private lessons with the Phantom of the Opera. God! How she missed that! Smiling, she held up her little finger and looked at him. "Promise?"

 

[Guile]

When Catherine took his mask off she brought even more memories back into Erik's mind that caused him to sob audibly now. Reaching a shaking hand up, he wrapped his pinky finger around hers and whispered through his tears, "I promise." Unable to bear it any longer, Erik pulled his little girl close to him once again and held her tightly against him. He never wanted to let go, but he knew he would have to very soon. Through his tears, Erik started whispering. "I love you so much, Catherine. You are my first child. I'm sorry that it's so hard for me to let you go. The last thing I wanted to do was cry over your happiness!" He laughed weakly, a smile on his face though he was still fighting tears.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Truthfully, she didn't mind one bit. "It's alright, Papa." She whispered as she felt herself being wrapped in his arms for the last time for a while, at least. "I understand why you aren't letting go." She assured him, sobbing into his shirt and squeezing his arms, trying desperately to get him to hold as tight as he could. "If it makes you feel better, Papa, we can have the wedding here, but live just on the other side of town, you know." She also didn't want to grow up and leave the nest so soon. True, she would just be across town, but she still didn't like the idea of not waking up in the same bed, with the same people. Andrew considered what his fiancee wanted and reluctantly agreed not to take her all the way to Germany. He wanted to hold her as well, but, how could he deny her father that sensation. Christine held both Erik and Catherine as well, singing through her own tears. "Think of me, think of me fondly, when we've said...." she couldn't finish that line at all. "No, this isn't goodbye at all!" She assured her family. Andrew, still keeping his distance, nodded his agreement. "We'll be down here at least three days a week, Monsieur and Madame." He reached his hand for Catherine, who still wouldn't loosen her grip on her family. She wasn't ready to go. Not now. She was still a child.

 

[Guile]

"You have the wedding where you want it, my child. It is not my place to decide where it is held." Erik pulled her to him tighter, allowing Christine to join them. As she started singing Think of Me Erik let out more sobs, despite how much he wished he could stop. At Christine's words, Erik smiled and forced a small laugh. "You're right, my love. This isn't goodbye - this is just farewell." Reluctantly, Erik put his hands on Catherine's shoulders and pulled back slowly, the separation breaking his heart. He held her chin up so that he could look in Catherine's eyes. "Don't worry, my darling." Erik smiled warmly at her. "We will see you again soon. You'll always be welcome here," he assured both her and Andrew. Focusing back on Catherine he whispered, "I don't care how old you are, or who you're married to. You will still always be my little girl." Placing a kiss on her cheek he finished with, "remember that." Clearing his throat and wiping the tears from his face the best that he could, he spoke a little more clearly. "You should go with your fiancé now - spend some time together. Go. Have fun." Erik hugged his daughter once more, not as tight or as long as before, but just as lovingly, before letting her go again.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Catherine also backed up, though she didn't want to in the least. Taking Andrew by the hand, she wiped away what tears still.clung, stubbornly, to her cheeks. "We shall be back very soon." Andrew promised, knowing how much family meant to Catherine. "She'll be safe. I assure you that. And, do not fret." He spoke more to his mother in law more than Erik. "We will live close. She can't possibly leave this place anyway. I would hate to take her from Debienne and Poligny." He smirked as he kissed the top of her head. "Who would be here to replace Carlotta?" With the biggest grin he had ever held, Andrew walked with Catherine to the boat and disappeared around the corner into the flames of the torches, heading out for a romantic night. Christine watched them go, even for a while after they were gone. "Papa! Mama!" Alistair screamed. "I don't want Sissy to go!" Lilly buried her face in Christine's dress. "Me neither!" Her brother agreed.

 

[Guile]

Erik nodded in agreement to everything Andrew said, though he hardly heard him. His mind was filled with memories and his ears were filled with the words that went along with those pictures. His little girl's childhood - what he had seen - passed through his mind and the feelings that came with it almost brought Erik to his knees. Before he knew it, the two were gone, having disappeared around the corner. The only thing that brought Erik from his memories was she shouting of the younger children. "Hush, now you two." Erik went to them, speaking softly, and patted their heads lightly. "It'll be alright. She'll visit so much, I'm sure it will hardly feel like she's gone. It will only hurt for a little while, I promise." He added, speaking more quietly. Erik was remembering how many times he had to sit here, feeling like this, when Christine left him. Or, when both she and Catherine left together. Oh, those days had been agony, and the pain never really stopped. It just eased up a bit. However, Erik had to remind himself that Catherine would be coming back, if only just to visit. She wasn't being taken from them or leaving with the intention to never return.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"That's so true, dear." Christine cut in. "She's still coming back for William anyway." She picked up her grandson and rocked him a little, causing Jonathan to become jealous and start screaming again. Lilly giggled babyishly and held onto his wrist as her father reached his hand over her head. "Shh...shh..." Christine also held Jonathan, then sat Junior on the bed to feed the younger infant. "I hope you're right, Father." Alistair smiled as Erik said this. Hearing Christine sing Jonathan to sleep caused the other three little babies to want to also nap. Had their stomachs not all been growling, they would have. "So, my dear love, whose turn is it to provide the food?" Christine raised her brow as she laid her baby down and adjusted her dress.

 

[Guile]

Erik laughed softly, feeling a little more joyful thanks to Lilly's playfulness. He twisted himself gently out of her grasp, but picked her up in his arms and smiled at her before placing a kiss on her cheek. Supporting her with one arm, he reached down and patted Alistair lightly on the back and kissed the top of his head. "I wouldn't lie to you, now. Would I?" At Christine's words, Erik placed Lilly back on her own two feet and made his way over to Christine, placing his hands on her shoulders and a kiss on her cheek. "Well," he began teasingly, "if I recall correctly...it was I who made the food last." He paused. "However...I would be more than happy to do so again for my lovely wife and children."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine shook her head. "No, I'll do it. I just hope and pray that I'm not late for my lesson tonight." She giggled as she searched for the proper ingredients. "He doesn't like to be kept waiting." She paused in speech to stir for a while. "I've seen him angry. Especially, today." She looked Erik in his eyes. "He went so far as to destroy a beautiful chandelier. Worse yet," she faked sobs. "We don't have anywhere to practice! The stage was destroyed!" Coming back from her rather bipolar personality, she commenced with stirring again. "He got angry and slapped me."

 

[Guile]

Erik held his laughter as he stood by Christine listening to her and watching her make the food. "Well, this fellow sounds like a real gentleman." He played back, his smile showing through. "How does he expect you to practice if you have no stage?" Erik shook his head in fake annoyance. "He puts too much on you, Christine." At the mention of someone slapping her, Erik faked extreme concern. He touched her cheek lightly and tried to keep from laughing. "He slapped you? Why, how dare he strike a woman! I shall have to go have a nice 'talk' with this man. As of right now...I forbid you to see him again. I do not trust him." Erik finally let out a little laugh that he still tried to conceal.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

She smiled at him as he gave her an order as though she were still a child and not a woman in her forties. "Oh, you forbid me to see him again?" She kissed his cheek. "You have no authority over me, my dear Phantom." Christine wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You aren't Gustav Daae and, even if you were him, you would have no control over me. You may have inadvertently pretended to be him for a time," she took deep breaths. "But you aren't my father." She teased him. "I can do whatever I please and see whoever I wish to see."

 

[Guile]

Erik rolled his eyes, still smiling, as Christine wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He let her finish speaking, putting on an air of fake annoyance again. "So, now you are going to deliberately go behind my back and seek out a fellow who slapped you? Well, then, by all means do. But, don't come crying to me when he hurts you again. If you aren't going to do as I say then I'm not going to wait around just so that I can be your way out of a mess that I tried to help you avoid." He teased her, knowing very well she was right and he wouldn't be able to, nor would he ever want to, stop her from doing as she pleased. Erik stole a kiss from her lips. "And your father would agree with me. He would want me to protect his little girl."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"That is exactly what I plan to do, Erik. And, you will not follow me, as you have done in the past." She threatened. "I am going up, alone. Use this as a bonding time for your remaining children." Picking up the skirt of her dress, she waded through the water, threatening to leave. "Who knows when or even if I'll return." She shook the bars, as if, by doing so, they would rise. "Oh, dear. It seems as if I'm being punished for trying to escape from my father again." She teased. "Well, this won't do at all. I have to help clean up the mess that Phantom made."

 

[Guile]

Erik stood by the lever with his arms crossed over his chest, teasing. "Well, I would open the gate for you, Christine, but I'm afraid that I don't really want to." He let out a low laugh. "I suppose I can stop you after all." Wading out through the water after her, Erik had a sly grin on his lips. When he finally reached Christine he lifted her up in his arms, holding tightly to her so that she couldn't be free no matter how hard she struggled. "Those awful managers can clean up the mess - that isn't your job." He placed a kiss on her lips and smiled at her. "Your job," he teased, "is to stay home and take care of the children. You can't just abandon them!" Laughing, Erik still wouldn't let her down.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine flushed red as she felt air rush to her as she was lifted into the man's muscular physique. She had never blushed more in her life. "I find it quite odd that you never really use my name." She smiled at him. "I use your name or any title that you've had placed on you, but I do use your name." As he explained what a woman's job was, she barely listened, which was strange, for she normally clung to each word he uttered. Then, his words hit her. "I should just be your little housewife, is that it!?!" She jammed her elbow into his and let out a shriek as she fell, again, into the water. But, the ones in the hideaway weren't the only beings that heard this, which sounded like a shriek of terror. "Christine!" A voice called, accompanied by large, mansized footfalls. "Christine, I'm coming!"

 

[Guile]

Erik smiled down at her as she spoke, the flush on her cheeks making him rather joyful. "Of course not! I was only -" but by then she had already fallen from his arms into the water. "Christine!" Erik was laughing as he helped her to her feet. "Are you alright?" He asked tenderly running his fingers over her arm, making sure she didn't hurt herself when she fell. Then, he heard another voice calling out to her, running for them. Erik wrapped his arms around Christine protectively, not caring wether he got wet or not, as he heard that familiar voice echo through their home.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine's heart pounded rapidly against her breast. Was it from the wet and cold? Or, perhaps, from the sound of her name bounding off of the walls, uttered by a man that she still loved, even if only a little. "Raoul!" She whispered sharply. "Erik, please. Don't hurt Raoul!" She pleaded, still whispering. "Please!" She felt her little ones cower in fear behind her. "Is Daddy gonna be scary again?" Alistair reached his little hand out for his mother, who took him in her arms. "I don't know for certain, child." She admitted. "But, you will be safe. I assure you that." She rubbed his head as lightly as she could. "Christine!" Raoul came into view. "Oh, praise God!" He leaned his head on the bars. "You're safe." Christine smiled at her lover. "Raoul, you came!" She took a step forward. "You came!"

 

[Guile]

Erik felt his teeth clenching in anger that Raoul would dare come back here. However, his eyes were soft as he looked at Christine. He wanted to promise her that he wouldn't hurt the vicomte, he truly did. But, he couldn't promise that. Of course, he wouldn't hurt Raoul for no reason, but if Erik were given a good reason...well, he didn't like breaking promises. As the vicomte came into view, Erik felt that familiar rush of hatred. Though, he did his best to keep calm and he allowed Christine to step foreword, despite how much it hurt him to see how happy she was to see Raoul again. "Vicomte." Erik greeted Raoul curtly with that one word. "Of course she's safe. Why shouldn't she be?" He did his best to stay civil.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

The vicomte smiled at Christine through the bars of her cage. When she reached through the metal to get to Raoul, he squeezed it lovingly. "I saw the chandelier and thought something awful happened." Bringing her hand to his face, Raoul kissed her hand in an attempt to soothe the poor girl. "No, Raoul. Nothing happened." Her heart was on edge now. He was holding her right hand. Her ring hand. "What's this?!?" He was surprised when he realized it. "Christine, you didn't! Tell me you didn't!" He pleaded.

 

[Guile]

Erik's heart broke as he watched Christine reach for Raoul. He did his best to stay calm, but inside he was dying. You fool...did you think that she had lost all feeling for the vicomte? He tried not to break down, but the way Christine was looking at Raoul, the way she spoke to him, it was killing Erik. "Oh, but she did vicomte." As much as Erik would have loved to gloat about their marriage to Raoul, his words came out weak. He didn't have the energy or the will to try and hurt the man, for he was hurting himself. "She did it willingly, mind you." Erik spoke matter-of-factly. He wanted Raoul to know for a fact that Christine had chosen her angel of music at long last.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"No!" Raoul yanked on Christine's arm, unknowingly harming her. "Christine, tell me he's making up stories!" His pleas were useless. "Tell me that you did not doom yourself and your children to a life of isolation and torture!" His tone was more like a father scolding his daughter for leaving home. "Tell me!" He didn't really need an answer. He saw the wedding ring on his beloved's finger and the smile forming on the Phantom's face, if there was one. "Do you not care for her?!?" He demanded. "You monster! She cannot live like this!" He released Christine's hand. "She cannot have the voice she does and still be down here! I thought you wanted her to be a star! An icon!" He noticed Christine was crying. "She is ill. Do you not care? This water is ice cold, as is Christine Daae!" "No, please! Don't make me choose!" She begged. "I don't want to lose either of you! I love you both!" She eyed her ring. "This jewel is a symbol of my choice, Raoul. I cannot go with you!"