What is this I hear? A song? A voice? Immediately I set off to see where and who sings. Past multiple streets and alleys of Paris, at one crossing I came to a halt while approaching her. Who is this beautiful woman and what a voice to sing? It was like living in a dream that I dreamed all this time. It was without a doubt her. Only now as a full grown beautiful woman but I still recognize her face. Her angelic voice untouched and unchanged that my ears yearned to hear once more. "Non." I whispered in disbelieve and blinked fore I could not believe my eyes. This seems too good to be real.
She stopped singing and a warming smile began to form upon her beautiful lips and slowly reached out a hand to me. Without thinking my arm reached for hers. I blinked surprised as I felt her hand gently holding to my inner-wrist. Her hand felt warm and soft. Slowly it began to wander towards my elbow, my upper arm. I began to feel uneasy and glanced at her face. Her milky eyes were widened as if in shock or surprise, which emotion she felt was hard to tell. She opened her mouth which trembled. "Gar-garçon? Is that you?"
I froze. No one has called me that name but two children and they died. Died in a fire that I wished it never happened. The name branded in my mind that I cherished down to her beautiful long golden hair and angelic voice. "Églantine?" I whispered. I must be dreaming. This is too good to be true. "Non! It-it can't be!" Rapidly I took a step back and looked away in shame of my foolish hopes. If this is a dream it should all vanish now within a blink.
"Garçon, it is me!" She called and I looked to her. She began to shed tears and searched with her hands for me while her glance stared blank in front of her and a contented grin formed upon her lips. "Garçon, do you remember? Our song, that we sung all those years ago?" She whispered.
An overhwelming feeling came over me and my mind recalled the song too well as if it was only yesterday, what I saw and felt on that day. My breath was caught and my body frooze. I could not stop looking at her. No dream can match this, yet it is hard to believe it is real.
She began to hum the song but then soon sung with its words that were meant for us and our love. The song that I built into the music box and was burned in the opera. She began to smile. Her hand found my arm again and searched up to my shoulders and almost to my face. I stepped back. "What's wrong?" She wondered concerned, her warming smile vanished and the silence between her and me felt cold.
I breathed heavily to the mixed emotions within me. "But-but the fire ..." I was at a loss of words to the thought and pictures that rose. Large flames consumed the house that was once our home. People tried to die away the flames with buckets of water while the fire brigade came to aid.
"I-I thought you died!" She began to cry. "And now hearing your voice proves that this is no dream. Although the cause of the fire has made me blind I can still see you, feel you. I recognize your hands. Well, they've grown but still the same as then. I've missed you more than anything!" She soon found my hands and then thew her arms around me.
I did not know what to do. Embrace her? Accept what I'm seeing and hearing or should I push it all away? Suddenly I felt tears well in my eyes and the urge to throw my arms around her and never let go. Before I mentally began to accept, my arms were already around her and tears streamed over and beneath my mask. "Oh Églantine." I whispered.
Fanficiton of Phantom of the Opera - Behind the Mask561Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rn7XDhviQ
