"Please Raoul, wait." Christine said as he was pushing the boat from the coast.

"What is it Christine?" He asked tenderly, looking at her like she was a wounded animal.

"I must return this to him." She idly toyed with the ring on her finger.

"It is a ring, he will not miss it." He retorted, reaching out to touch her face.

Christine pulled away from his touch shaking her head. "No, I must return this to him. If I keep it, I will never be able to let him go."

"Give it to me and I'll make it disappear."

"No Raoul," She gasped, covering the ring. "I must return it to him. Wait here, I'll be back."

"Christine," He grabbed her hand, "We must hurry, before the mob finds their way here."

"Please Raoul," Christine begged, kissing Raoul on the lips. "I'll will be only a moment."

"Any longer and I will come to find you."

Christine nodded, making her way back into the lair, searching for Erik. "Mon ange étrange?" She called as she heard the sound of his music box playing in a distant region of the lair.

"Christine," His voice rasped, thickened by the tears and emotions. "I love you."

She trembled at his words, sliding the ring from her finger. She extended her hand towards him, holding the ring out. How could she leave him like this? She loved him. After everything that had happened, her heart still ached for him and him alone.

"My Angle." Her voice cracked as she sank to her knees before him. Her time with him was growing short, Raoul would come if she did not make this fast. "Mon amour."

"L'amour?"

"Oui." She said softly, wiping a tear from her cheek. "You are the one I love." She pressed her palm against his chest, above his heart – her heart.

"He can give you the life I never can." His words were honest and true. He loved her enough to let her go.

"But he will never have the love that you have from me." She cupped his cheek in her small hand, pressing her lips against his. Raoul's kiss never made her feel like she could take flight and soar away from it all. He returned the kiss, cupping his hand behind her head.

"Go, mon amour." He begged, breaking the kiss with a gasp. The mob sounded closer than before. "Go now, before they find you here."

"I cannot leave you!" Christine grabbed his hand, holding him there.

"There is an abandoned house near Notre Dame, you will find me there." He pulled her to him, kissing her with a fierce passion.

"Christine?" Raoul called.

"Go." Erik urged, giving her a loving smile.

"I will find you." Christine proclaimed, as she ran away to find Raoul.

Erik broke through his mirror, a hidden passage way that lead into the sewers of Paris that would take him to his hide out. He didn't not leave a broken man, he left with a reassurance that his love was not in vain.

"I found him, Raoul." Christine said, finding her fiancée. "Let's go before the mob get's any closer."

"I was worried had taken you."

"He would never force me to go anywhere. My lessons with him were of my own choosing." She corrected as she climbed into the boat with Raoul.

"Whatever you say," He replied sceptically, pushing them from the coast and navigating the boat thru the grotto.

Christine smiled, knowing that she had not seen the last of her strange angel. She may have found his true distortion within, but she knew that if she loved him in return he would change. He was a man who had been abused and unloved for so many years that he acted out in unspeakable ways because he feared losing Christine. If she could get away from Raoul and find him, everything could change.

~o~

Raoul had brought her home with him to the de Changy Manor, not wanting her out of his immediate sight. He had ordered his servants to make their dinner. Christine was too anxious about sneaking from the Manor later that evening to even try to eat. She lied to Raoul, passing off her nervous stomach as fatigue from the day's events. Despite her protests with wanting to go and rest, he requested that she stay until he had finished eating so he could spend more time with her.

She retired to her room as soon as he would permit her. Christine told him that by morning she would feel significantly better and be as ravenous and as a wolf and much more agreeable.

Once the Manor fell silent, she left the comforts of her bed to open the window of her room. It was not as high above the city as she thought that it would be. She could still smell the smoke of the burning Opera Populaire, clinging to Paris' night air. "I am coming mon amour."

Christine examined the balcony, before gracefully swinging one leg and then the other over it. She carefully climbed down the stones, careful not to lose her footing or her grip. Thank all of her years of ballet for producing strong legs.

She stealthily made her way through the gardens of the Manor, listening for any sounds of servants or dogs. Finding none, she was able to slip through the gates unnoticed. She knew where Notre Dame was, but not where it was in relation to the de Changy Manor.

But she would find her love.

A/N: Oh gosh. Is it bad? It started out good but I think it went bad. I don't want Christine to be too Mary-Sueish, but I just wanted to get her away from the de Changy Manor in this chapter and I just sort of skimmed. My worst writing fault and why I'll never be able to write a whole book. :-/ Well, tell me how bad or how good or whatever! I want to know.