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Erik broke the kiss once more, pulling himself from his fantasy only temporarily to lead her to the round bed she has once slept on. Once they reached it he removed his coat and hung it up on an old coatrack that stood next to the silken bed. He was finally glad to be back in his lair, finally able to relax. It was quite late and Erik's eyes were heavy with sleep. He removed his vest as well and hung it up along side his twill overcoat.

The Phantom broke the silence with his gentle voice, "Forgive me. My mind is becoming cloaked with the familiar cloak that is rest. Would you grant me the pleasure of holding you in my arms while we slept?" He turned to face his beloved Christine. As much as he wanted to stay awake and enjoy her presence, the tired burden rested on his shoulders heavily. Erik waited to hear Ms. Daae's sweet voice once more. Slight fear of regection lingered in his mind.

Raouls almost didn't register Meg's words, but what she said gave him hope. "Yes...," He mumbled, lifting his head. "Maybe she can explain."

He stared at the empty room for another minute, silent. With a sigh, he stood up. In a tired voice, he said, "Thank you for all of your assistance, Mademoiselle. I think I should leave now...if Christine can explain she can do so tomorrow. I--I'm going home. Good night."

With a bow, he was out the door. He made his way slowly through the Oepra House, not really paying attention to where he was going.

((I'll be in San Antonio all weekend, so everyone feel free to plug Raoul in if you get a brilliant idea. Just...don't kill him. Please. Restrain yourselves. mrgreen ))

Christine's face flushed slightly at seeing the top of Erik's body, after all it wasnt common in their society to see a man without his shirt on, and she watched him climb into bed. Christine then reached behind her back, and unlaced her corsetted layer of dress, taking it off and leaving the white under dress. She laid her black dress and shoes on a nearby chair, trying to get them out of the way. Her cheeks were still pink, she was being rather forward in her innocent mind, but what did she expect herself to do? Sleep inside her full dress? She didnt think so, it wasnt comfortable at all.

She turned back to him then, her face mostly recovered from being flushed and walked back to him, and climbed into his bed and into his arms. She looked up at him innocently, snuggled close to him, smiled sleepily, laid her head against his chest in complete comfort, completely secure, and in a few moments...she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

((Im pretty sure they had two layers of dresses back then, the actuall dress with the corset and then a dress under that...I could be wrong though, but for the sake of the rp...we'll just go with that.))

Madame Giry was flitting about her room, trying to get it organized, she had been slaking in the department of organization lately, ever since the new managers came and she had to help keep EVERYTHING running. She was still inside her own little world, her own thoughts, her cleaning, when her daughter walked in. At first she didn't hear her, not because her hearing was leaving her, of course not, she was just wrapped inside her own world at the moment, but then the sound of her daughter's voice filtered into her brain and she turned and saw her. She was cleaning from behind her desk area, which is probably why Meg couldn't see her, and when she finally heard her daughter's voice she stood up.

"Yes Meg, I'm here. Whats the problem child? You seem distressed in one way or another."

"Meg, calm down dear." Madame Giry said as she placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders. She had said that whole speech almost in one breath, and looked as though she was going to cry. "What's done is done. The Victome would have found out about Erik whether you told him or not. I'm just worried that he will get himself into trouble now that he knows.....as for Christine.....this is the second time she has disappeared....It is possible that she went willingly, otherwise she would have told Raoul that she was frightened, or didn't to go."

Madame Giry sighed deeply, this whole mess with Christine and The Phantom was becoming rather tiring. She figured now would be a good time to take the vacation she had been wanting for a while, and she told her daughter so.

"Meg....this whole mess is becoming rather tiring for me, I think now is a good time for me to take a long deserved vacation. I'll finish tidying my room, pack my bags and leave the managers a note. As for you...I would ask you to go along, but I'm worried for the Victome...Make sure he doesn't get himself into trouble, will you? As for now, don't worry about me. I'm just tired and need a vacation, you should scoot off to bed now dear, it's really very late. You may be almost grown, but you still need sleep just like all little girls do."

She smiled, kissed her daughter on the forhead, hugged her, and finished cleaning her room. Once that was done, she dug through her closet and picked out a bag. She packed it, put on a hat and left her room. She pulled out of her pocket a note that she had prepared a long time ago, in case an occasion such as this should arise, to leave the managers. She left it pushed under their office door. Now that all was done, she picked up her bags and headed to the main entrance, where she stopped for a moment, and looked at the scene around her. The Opera Populaire was her home, she would miss it, but she would be relaxing away from the worries of it for a while, after all, this wasnt a permanent vacation. Maybe she would go visit a family member who lived a ways a way....and with that last thought, she stepped outside the Opera Populaire, got inside a coach, and headed for her vacation.

((Whoo....I'm gonna miss you guys while I'm away. I'll post once I can get my hands on a computer at my grandmother's house. I leave tomorrow morning at 5:30 to go to camp. Have fun while I'm gone!))

Raoul's mind refused to let him sleep, adn he lay awake thinking about the day's happenings.

Christine had gone off with Erik. Of her own free will.

He was trying to get used to the idea, but his mind refused to release that last strand of hope: that there might be an innocent explaination for her disappearance. Still, it had been very sweet of Meg to offer him that last hope, but they both knew the truth. But how he hated it! He would always love Christine, he knew, and if she came back to him he would forgive her--he could forgive her anything!--but he couldn't put the image of Christine staring at the Phantom as they left his lair, three years ago. Even then, there had been longing and regret on her face, which he had taken to be for her childhood, believing in an Angel of Music.

He knew he would never stop pursuing Christine--who HAD gone with him, not Erik, in the end--unitl she ordered him to stop and swore she did not love him.

His last thought as he fell asleep was that he would visit the Oepra house early the next morning. Even if Christine was still...missing...maybe Madame Giry could help him. Or Meg.

Meg awoke with a start, quickly glancing about, relieved to realize that she was safe in her bed in the opera dorms. What on earth...? she thought. She frowned and blinked in confustion, trying to remember what had awoken her. Then she did remember... that dream! That strange, bewildering, frightening dream!

She had been onstage, dancing, yet the entire house was pitch dark except for her. It almost seemed as if she herself was giving off light. She was dancing with her whole heart and soul, the music moving through her. She heard an entire orchestra. It sounded especially beautiful tonight, so she looked into the pit, puzzled to see what was different tonight. She was shocked, to see no one but her mother, standing tapping her cane in time to the music, but it seemed that Mme. Giry's cane alone was creating the beautiful tones.

Then a man she'd thought to be the Phantom appeared in shadows beside her, and ordered her to stop singing, stop any contact with such a shameful occupation lest his family turn both of them out. Naturally this confused Meg to no end. Then her mother yelled at him "How dare you! You would have never said that!" And the "Phantom" turned sadly to her, pulling off his mask and hood of his cloak, and revealing none other than the Vicomte de Chagny. Meg gasped, and he looked at her in desperation and tried to pull her with him, crying "Christine! Christine! Please, Christine! Say you love him and my life is over!" Meg cried, "No, please Monsieur, please I'm not Christine! I'm not, I'm not!" Then Raoul looked up at her, seeming to recognize her, and collapsed on the floor in bitter, heart-wrenching sobs. She looked down at him in horror and pity, as he looked up at her one last time and whispered "Help me, Mademoiselle Giry", before crumbling into nothing but dust...

Meg remembered nothing else, but as she got out of bed and moved to wash up and begin getting ready for her day, she couldn't help but wonder what it all meant.