~Erik POV

The next morning I awoke to find the bed next to me empty and music drifting in through the open doorway. Violin, Alyx had to be playing.

I got up out of the bed, leaving the room before putting my mask or shirt on. I recognized the music, it was Lacrymosa, from Mozart's Requiem.

I found Alyx standing by the shore of the lake in the dress I had first brought down for her. I walked up behind her, seeing that she was entranced by the music that, despite the fact that it had already been written, seemed to be pouring from her soul.

As I got closer I could hear her singing softly along with the music.
"Lacrymosa dies illa, qua resurget ex favilla judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce Deus, pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem! Amen!"

I smiled and stood next to her. "I didn't know you played."

She sighed. "Yes, mother wanted me to perform. That's why she named my Uncle my godfather instead of one of my other relations. She wanted me to sing in the Opera, even after it became clear that I would never get a leading role because of my voice." She still hadn't stopped playing. "It's the curse of the alto, you know, we don't get good parts. I can sing soprano because I had training to do so, but it hurts after long periods of time." She stopped playing and put down the violin, handing it to me. "That's why I didn't want to become a chorus girl. It reminded me too much of my mother. I couldn't bear that at the time..." She looked away, "It's the anniversary next week. I'll be gone to clean their graves and mine all day. It's my duty, Uncle used to do it, but then his legs started bothering him and he couldn't go out in the cold anymore. I just thought I'd let you know, since I'll be back among the rest of the world by then." They way she said 'the rest of the world' sounded almost disdainful and more upset and afraid.

"What is it cheri?" I set the violin down on a near-by table and wrapped my arms around her.

"I don't want to leave. I'm so afraid of what might happen. What if Uncle hasn't suggested the managers fire Lachenel? What if...what if he comes back?"

"He?"

She nodded. "The man who killed my parents. He doesn't know that I still live, but if he did..." She trailed off and I saw tears standing in her eyes.

"Who and why cheri, who would want to kill your parents?"

She swallowed. "A colleague of my father's. My father was in politics. This colleague didn't agree with my father's stance on things. So he did the easiest thing possible, he got rid of him. I saw him out the window, but the police didn't have any other evidence of arson, so they couldn't convict him. He's the father of an old friend. One who came to our funeral, the son wept while the father smiled at our tombstones." The tears started sliding down her face.

I wrapped my arms tighter around her. "I will keep you safe cheri. I promise. I could never let anything happen to you. I don't know how I would live without you."

"You managed alright before...even after Christine left. I was surprised you were still with us, surprised to get the rose. I thought you'd left or were dead."

I sighed, "I might as well have been for years. I wandered the tunnels and passages like a ghost, avoiding the workers. I didn't have the heart for music, I ate very little, I slept even less." I smiled at her. "Then I heard your voice through the mirror one day, and it changed. I felt the music again, I could sleep without the pain, without the sadness. You healed me Alyx, before you even knew me."

She stopped crying and looked at me. "You know what? You healed me too really, this is just the depression that always hits this time of year. I used to be like this all the time. I mean really, constantly. I was the same way. I didn't sing much, I stopped playing music, I actually smashed my violin, but it was a cheap child's piece." She sighed. "I love you Erik." She smiled up at me. "Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need something to eat. I'm going to go make some breakfast." She gently pulled away from me and walked into the kitchen.

~Alyx POV

I stood in the kitchen, fixing some eggs for my breakfast. I could still feel tears, but they didn't threaten my balance anymore. It was the normal depression and fear now, nothing more, nothing I hadn't handled for years.

I continued to cook and suddenly felt it hit again. I wept, uncontrollably. I at least had the sense to take the eggs off the fire. I fell to my knees, no, this was worse than past years. Now I was afraid of losing Erik the way I had lost my parents.

He heard me crying and came in, picking me up gently and laying me on the divan near the organ. "Mon ange, what is it? What's wrong?"

I flung my arms around him and pulled him to me. "Don't leave me, I can't lose you, I can't, don't leave me." My words ripped out of me, tearing their way out painfully.

"I won't my angel, my darling, I promise. I can't, I told you."

"Please, don't let anything happen to you. I've already lost the first half of my life, I can't lose you. I held back loving you because I couldn't risk losing you. I'm willing to risk it now, but please, please, please promise me that you'll be careful, that you won't let anything happen to you. Please?"

He pushed me back slightly to dry my tears. "I swear to you, by everything that I hold dear, including you my dearest that I will do everything in my power to keep myself, and you, safe."

I smiled through my tears. "Thank you cher, thank you so much."

"Of course my love, anything for you."