Christine forced herself to take a deep breath. She should technically be happy - her blue dress that had been soaked by the rainstorm was now fine, and she was wearing it at the moment. All she was doing was really walking around aimlessly in the park to release stress. She had forced herself to leave her phone at home, as she didn't want to get involved in anything.

But as she walked along, she heard the faint sound of a voice. Christine strained her ears to listen, steppping towards what she believed to be the source of the noise. It didn't take more than a few moments for her to be completely intrigued by it all. As she listened intently, the voice got louder as if it were getting closer. She recognized the melody and the lyrics with a start, but continued focusing nevertheless.

"Il mondo era vuoto

Le ombre lo riempivan

La luce non pariva mai." It was Il Mondo Era Vuoto! That was Paul's big solo sing in the Light in the Piazza. It was probably one of Christine's favorite songs, and not just because her boyfriend was singing it.

But this most certainly was not Paul's voice singing it now. It was too rich, too full, with too much ringing and a different tone. No, she knew this voice all too well. Her heart sunk into darkness with the wisp of a thought of who she thought it might be.

"Christine, la luce nella piazza,

Christine, mia luce, mio cor!" Clara had been replaced with Christine. The song was being sung for Christine, a song of love, of coming out of the darkness to see the light that was her. She could hear that in their voice. The notes poured with more emotion than she had ever thought possible

"Ora che sono sveglio

All'ombra non vo tornar." Without a doubt, it was the Phantom singing to her. He was the one singing "Christine, my light, my heart." Christine shook her head, but she was unable to move herself from the spot. She just heard the voice getting closer and closer and more beautiful. The thoughts of the English translation she had looked up flew through her head. No, the Phantom was evil. The Angel of Music was no Angel. The Angel of Music wasn't supposed to fall in love with her. She refused to believe that the Phantom was falling in love with her.

And yet, his singing voice told her otherwise. Paul's voice couldn't compare to the Phantom's voice. As lovely as Paul's voice was, it just simply wasn't the same. The Phantom could fill her soul with the music where Paul could only fill her head. No matter what the Phantom sang, it would always bring tears to her eyes. He believed in the music as more than just music so when he sang there was more to it. He believed that Christine was the essence that he was missing so when he sang, even though he sang the words in Italian, the meaning poured out.

"Non sapevo di sentirmi solo

Privo del senso della vita

Era cosi!" In her mind, Christine felt herself needing to escape. A rush of adrenaline came over, a sign that told her that she should run. But the moment she tried to lift her feet, she found she could not. The music was keeping her there, rooted down like a tree. She had to listen to its beauty, it was impossible for her to just run away from it.

This was the curse of the Phantom's music - it was unearthly, beautiful in a way that no other being seemed to be able to produce. If he hadn't taken a dark road, Christine was sure that he would have been a prodigy of music, one of the greatest composers to ever live. He could have done something, anything rather than what he did end up doing.

"Christine!" he sang out, so many layers of emotion within those two syllables that Christine couldn't have named them all if she had tried. There were now tears blossoming in her eyes, and she moved her hand to wipe them away.

Christine!

Christine, mia luce, mio cor!

L'essenza che mi mancava, sei tu

La tua luce m'inonda."

The tears that had started out as a leak of sorts from Christine's eyes now turned into a steady sream. She couldn't place the blame for them on a single source. Maybe she was crying from the sheer beauty of the Phantom's voice. Maybe she was crying because he was singing to her. Either way, she felt like she was the one loosing.

"Ma lei non puo amarmi

Non cosi

*O Christine," he sang, his voice filled with emotion that was far too prevalent to be faked. No, the desperation in his voice was without a doubt genuine. It was only one of many reasons why the Phantom was a superior performer.

"Non amera un ragazzino

Non puo amare un ragazzino

Dio

Christine!"

Christine wished she knew who was in more agony from this song - the Phantom, or herself. She could hear how much desperation was in his voice, but she wished that somehow she'd be able to ignore it all and carry forwards. She was sick of sobbing and being afraid. She wanted to do something, anything...but she couldn't.

"*Dormivo

Io non sapevo d'esser solo

Solo nel buio

Non ero vivo

Non c'era Christine

*Ma ora la tua luce m'inonda."

In her head, Christine found herself trying to match the Italian words to the translation she knew as he sang it, trying to think what words he was emphasizing, what he was really trying to say. But it was all truly in vain - she knew that there was a clear message being broadcasted by the Phantom's song, and nothing else truly mattered.

Maybe she would be better off just ignoring it all, if only that were a possibility.

"Ma lei non puo amarmi

Non cosi

O Christine

Non amera un ragazzino

Non puo amare un ragazzino!"

Christine's lips formed his name - that is, Phantom. Surely he could see everything she was doing, even that little gesture. Salty tears dripped into her mouth, balancing on top of her tongue. She knew he wouldn't stop until the song was over, and that moment could not come soon enough for her. Every time he cried out her name, she found herself feeling weaker and weaker.

"Dio!

Christine!

Christine!

Christine!

Christine, mia luce, mio cor

L'essenza che mi mancava, sei tu

Sei tu..."

He was building himself up to sing once again, to increase the intensity in his voice as much as possible. Whatever it took, he was going to match it and more.

"Christine!

Christine!

Christine, mia luce, mio cor

L'essenza che mi mancava, sei tu

Sei tu..."

Once again, his voice began to crescendo dramatically, all as Christine wept. The end of the song was coming soon, but so was the climax of it all. Whether or not she was going to make it through was a major concern in her mind. Thinking back on it, she would believe it to be silly. But at that moment, it felt dead serious.

"Christine!

Christine!

Christine, mia luce, mio cor

Solo nel buio

Non ero vivo

O Dio, datemi mia Christine

O, padre, la sua luce,

"M'inonda!"

The final two notes shattered the air as if it had been formed out of thin glass rather than oxygen. Every creature became silent to hear the Phantom sing for Christine. She wasn't even sure she was breathing at the moment just so she could hear his voice fully.

But as the world slowly returned back to normal, Christine was surprised to find the way she was reacting to it all.

Christine found her eyes to be completely dry. Her breathing was normal, and her heart pace was steady. She had been trying so hard to avoid breaking down, and for once she had succeeded. But inside, she could feel panic coming into her mind. For the moment, she would be fine, but as soon as she left she would break down.

"I know you're there," she murmured. "I...thank you for the song." That was the only thing she could manage to think of and say. Her lips refused to say anything more.

Almost like she was back within those days where she revered her Angel of Music and only wished to please him, she stood there quietly, waiting to see if she would receive any sort of answer. She had gained control over her body for the moment, at least.

After swallowing to in an attempt to qualm the inner panic that was threatening to burst out, she began to walk away. Part of her still listened carefully to hear any sort of noise that might prove that the Phantom was still there, but there was nothing.

How funny was it that she had gone to the park without her phone to avoid getting into the drama yet again, and she had just managed to get herself into something much worse. Now it was just a matter of Christine getting herself out of there. Her feet wanted to run, to escape from the Phantom as quickly as possible, but she kept them steady.

No, she would have plenty of time to panic as soon as she got home. At least he wouldn't follow her there...she hoped. But Christine always stood by her belief that the Phantom was capable of killing - who was to say that he wasn't capable of following her all the way home.

Christine did her best to push these worries straight out of her mind. She needed to avoid letting her panic getting loose before she arrived back at home. At least she could avoid embarrassment if she were in her own room. Besides, breaking down here would allow the Phantom to see more weakness from her.

The last thing Christine needed was another show of weakness for the Phantom to exploit. Perhaps he had just sung of her being light, but it was clear that he was also willing to threaten her as well. The images of the fire he had sent towards her and Paul in the rain burned in her mind as she made her way back home.

As soon as she arrived, she rushed right up the stairs to her room. She heard Mama Valant calling after her, wondering what exactly was so wrong to make her run all the way up to her room. But she just ignored her, trying to keep herself calm for just a few more moments.

A/N Oh Christine. What have you done? Heh. Anyways...I don't have anything to say here at the moment. Enjoy.