Remember me? LOL Just a one shot I couldn't get off my mind and had to get the words on the page. It's the famous roof scene with a little twist. As usual, I own nothing.

She ran up the stairs as if her life depended upon it. She had to break away, even if for only a moment. She had to try and run, even if she knew she couldn't get any further than the roof. When she reached the door, she pushed it open with all her might and then ran to the center. She closed her eyes and then let out a deep breath. She looked over her shoulder and frowned. He wasn't there.

Where is he? I pulled his arm, practically dragging him up here. She frowned again. He must have been stopped by the managers or by the other patrons. Maybe he had to stop and tie his shoe or make certain he had his hat. Why must Raoul care so much about appearances, even when they serve as no significance to the situation?

She couldn't stay there for much longer, they would be asking about her whereabouts. She also didn't want to be left alone…..She frantically looked inside her cloak and costume pocket, hoping to find a discarded pencil and parch paper that had been intended to take stage notes but alas, they both were empty. She cursed under her breath. Feeling crestfallen, she started towards the door. That's when she heard HIS voice call to her.

"Christine….."

She turned around in fright. "Go away! I am not afraid of you anymore!"

This hurt him deeply. That meant she had once been afraid of him. He recalled their last encounter and felt shame. He appeared before her standing tall inside the Apollo statue and lowered his head.

She gasped when she realized he had been hiding so high up in the air. How did you… Never mind. I... I don't want to know."

"I never meant to have you fear me, far from it. After all this time, you should know, I would never harm you."

"You must certainly have harmed me! You kill without a thought. You practically lunged at me the other night and called me all sorts of wickedly vile names. You lied to me and pretended to be my friend, when you most certainly are not."

Erik raised his head. "I know my actions as of late, do not merit your trust but I ask that you think about our past interactions. Surely those can be thought of with good intent." He motioned to the floor and silently asked if he could step down to her.

Christine absentmindedly nodded, too shocked to actual process why a murderer would ask permission for anything.

"Thank you." He then took his cape off with a flick of his wrist and placed it around her shoulders, before she could protest. "You looked cold. The cloaks from backstage are for theatrical roles not for protection from the night air."

She looked at him in shock. "I don't know what to think of you. Who are you?"

"A man but you knew that. Yes, I lied to you but it was only because I didn't want to risk our friendship. I knew that if you knew the truth….. That I was a deformed freak, living below the Opera House….. You would never continue letting me teach you, much less be your friend."

"Then why did you appear before me at all?"

"Because I secretly hoped that if you could love the music, then perhaps in time you could…" He didn't finish his sentence. "I lied about being a celestial being but not about your talent or my desire for you to be a great star. It is what you wanted. You wanted the Angel of Music to come to you and teach you. You didn't want to be alone anymore. I am not an angel but I am a teacher and when I first heard you sing, I thought that it might be you, you who has come to save me."

Christine gazed into his eyes and just like the other night, they seemed to capture all of the sadness in the world. "I have to go back…."

"Will you tell them?"

She looked confused. "Tell who what?"

"Tell your Vicomte that you saw me here?"

"He is not my Vicomte… How do I know you won't come back and hurt me?"

"I regret yelling and calling you those names. They were said in anger and fear. No one could think that of you."

"Fear? You fear me, a nothing ballerina?"

"I fear the woman that is before me, just as much as I fear the angel that was with me the other night. I was embarrassed and ashamed of my appearance. I had not planned on having you see my face in that manner and I was caught by surprise. In my life, being caught by surprise has never been a good thing."

"You thought it was your appearance that frightened me?"

He arched his visible brow. "Wasn't it?"

"I hardly had time to react to it, you were so horrible." She saw him look back down at his feet again. He hardly seems fearsome now. "Do you value appearances?"

"I know how much society does. I suppose I like pretty things….." He looked up at her and couldn't help but smile.

"It's the soul that makes one beautiful. Outward appearances fade. Papa told me that."

"Your beauty will never fade because your soul will forever be beautiful, Christine."

She was too quick to react but the words came out of her mouth without thought. "Your soul is tainted. You committed murder only moments ago and yet here you are talking so sweetly to me. Talking like my angel would if he needed to comfort me." She hated that she missed him being her angel. She realized that loss would be gone forever.

"I did commit murder but it was not a senseless killing. Joseph Buquet was a disgusting, malicious person who hurt many young girls at the Opera House. You had to have heard the stories."

"But that does not make it right for you to take a man's life. You are not God."

"He was going to hurt you!"

"What? That's impossible. I barely ever came into contact with him. Madame Giry would…" She then remembered how he sneered at her after her opening night performance, when she covered Carlotta's part. She then remembered how he seemed to linger behind the curtains when she was playing the page boy. "No! No, how could you possibly have known that?"

"He was staring you down like a dog who had found a juicy piece of meat. I had been watching you since your first performance as La Daae. I saw him with his lustful eyes then. And tonight I heard that maggot brag to his deviants that he had found a new whore to bed. Christine, I would have killed him on the spot but I had to wait until he was alone."

She was now trembling. "That… That still does not give you the right….."

"I waited up in the flies. I thought I could keep watch and then after the performance….. However there was a change of plans."

"What do you mean?"

"He saw me. He saw the Opera Ghost. He came towards me and when he did I could smell the liquor on his breath. I had to act at once. It was either him or…"

"You." She covered her mouth at the realization.

"Please don't shun me. Have you truly forgotten your angel? Albeit you have seen another side to me, I am still some of the angel you wished for. I have missed you so, Christine."

Tears were in her eyes. "I have missed you too."

He wanted to fall at her feet and kiss her skirts but somehow felt that would not be what she would want. She wanted an angel, not a dog at her feet. But when he looked into her eyes, he almost thought, for a split second that she might want more than just an angel.

"I have to go."

He nodded. "Thank you for allowing me to address you again. This is how we should have ended the previous night. Well not discussing Joseph Buquet but the other matters. They needed to be said."

"We have more to say, don't we?" She looked up with hope in her eyes.

Erik was stunned. "I would agree but that of course my dear, is entirely up to you."

She turned towards the door but before making her dissent, she whispered low, "Meet me tomorrow on the roof."

He grasped his chest. "Oh Christine…."

A/N: That's the end