A/N: Well, well, well….I thought I was going to quit this story, yet here I am. I had a wonderful idea and well, I decided to act on it. It is amazing what this has done for me. When I started this, Raoul was a living monster in human form, now he is simply a human male with VERY big problems. Anyway, I will apologize repeatedly for the wait and hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Depressingly, I don't own anything expect the plot and Cassandra, whom I happen to like. Well, enjoy and REVIEW!

Chapter 7: Mistakes

Cassandra Rouge leaned against the strong oak headboard of her feather-mattress bed in her amazingly comfortable cabin that was located in the elegant ship the WaveRacer. Her satiny blond curls cascaded onto her shoulders and down her back now that they had been loosed from the silky lavender ribbon that Raoul had given her. He had bought her an entire new wardrobe when he had found out she had only one outfit that was decent enough to wear. She was wearing a deep purple gown that had a more modern cut of just above her well-shaped ankles, flaunting them.

Her brown leather bag sat at the foot of her bed, bulging with all of her new clothes. She stood and ran a brush through her blond tresses to rid herself of any tangles and then locked her door and slipped out of her gown, taking a moment to fold it carefully before opening her bag and pulling out her cotton nightgown and then stuffing it into the bag. She closed it and pulled the soft material of her nightgown on. She unlocked her door and blew her candle out before sliding into bed. She was lying there, staring at the ceiling when a knock came at the door.

Cassandra rolled her eyes in the complete darkness and called out in an irritated tone, "Who is it?"

"It's Raoul. Are you decent, Sandra?" Cassandra bristled inwardly at the mention of his pet nickname for her and yelled, "What do you want?"

"I just want to talk. Can I come in?" Raoul said from the hall.

Cassandra sighed deeply and said, "Fine, but not for long."

Raoul opened the door and then seeing that she had no candle lit, brought in his own candle into the darkened room. His light brown hair had been pulled tightly into a ponytail and was tied with a black silk ribbon; his shirt was a loose white and was mostly covered by a fashionable ebony wool coat with shiny brass buttons. His pants were a matching black and his light blue eyes danced merrily. Cassandra only hoped she didn't look too horrible with the covers pulled up to her chin. He closed the door and pulled a chair next to her bed and sat on it and stared at her intently.

Silence continued and Cassandra raised her eyebrows into a practiced arch before saying incredulously, "Cat got your tongue, Monsieur de Chagney?"

He looked briefly startled, as though he had been deep in thought, "No, I had quite a speech, but now I can't remember a word. Anyway, I came to ask you about your abilities so I can help Andre and Firman pick out parts for you."

Cassandra immediately struck what she had dubbed the 'deep thinking' pose, "Hhmmm…acting, singing and I can to dancing if required and I'm an expert at putting make-up on." She smirked, remembering some of her fun 'make-up' memories.

Raoul stared at her, then stood abruptly. He picked up his candle which he had placed on her dresser and went to the door, "Well, I have to talk with the rest of our new cast. Thank you for your time and goodnight, Sandra." With that he stepped out into the hall and shut her door. He learned against the door mumbling to himself, "Oh, Christine, I have made such a horrible mistake, will you ever forgive me?"

xXxXx

Erik woke and looked down to find Christine's face peaceful with sleep. His shirt was crusty from her now-dried tears. Her chestnut, curly hair was mussed from his continual stroking it to calm her and to somehow subdue the tears.

He carefully got to his knees in the cushioned velvet fabric and slid her beautiful body off of him and completely onto the bed. He crawled to the edge of the bed and got out and changed out of his dirty clothes into clean ones to make himself look somewhat dignified.

As he was buttoning up his shirt and pulling on his jacket, a giggled sounded from behind him. He turned to see Christine staring at him, her smile obvious behind her had and her beautiful eyes glowing with blatant affection.

"Trying to retain dignity, are we?" She asked teasingly.

He snorted, "I'm trying to save what little you have left me!"

Her face fell, as though with some sad memory, and her eyes got a far away look, " Do you know when Raoul will be back?"

If Erik's heart had fallen at her expression a moment before, it fell even father at this question, "Why?"

"I need to tell Raoul about us, Erik. If he loves me the way he claims to, he has a right to know and will understand; if he doesn't love me, then he has much to answer for. Don't worry, love, my heart is yours, and yours alone." Her answer soothed the still-healing wounds of his heart even more.

"I'm sorry, mon ange, but the Vicomte is still a touchy subject for me," He replied truthfully.

Love rose again into Christine's eyes, "I'm sorry." Her heartbroken whisper drove him to walk urgently back to the bed and take her amazingly gorgeous face into his roughly calloused hands and kiss her with all the passion he felt for her.

"Erik…" she tried to speak and was too breathless so she just pulled him into the bed, with his help of course, and kissed him again, more fiercely and passionately this time, at least on her part.

They were both about to strip off their clothes when they kissed yet again when someone made the presence know behind them. Erik sighed inwardly and Christine pulled away and they both looked at the entrance to the Masquerade room. It was Meg.

"Ahem," Meg said uncomfortably. "Forgive me for…interrupting, but, Christine, there are some men upstairs who want to see you. I think it's about Raoul. Please hurry."

Christine looked puzzled for a moment, then shook her head and said, "Tell them I will be there as soon as I am properly dressed to greet them. If they ask how long, about ten minutes will do. Where will they be waiting?"

Meg nodded at each suggestion, then answered, "Backstage, I don't know exactly where."

"Okay," Christine agreed, then turned to Erik. "I best get going, I'll see you again after this." Her eyes sparkled. "Now, show me what dresses you have down here."

Erik smirked and led her to a closet he had full of dresses that just happened to be her size. Her eyes widened at the rather large selection and said, "Oh, how could I ever choose?"

He rolled his eyes and stated the obvious, "Choose a blue one, you'll look absolutely ravishing." Christine nodded in agreement and picked out a simple, yet elegant sky blue dress. She gave Erik a goodbye kiss then ran out of the room and into the lake to catch up with Meg.

xXxXx

After brushing her hair so it looked rather nice and looked wonderful with her borrowed dress and she looked presentable, Christine walked backstage to see three men dress in black suits and sleek top hats. They all turned when they heard her enter.

"How may I help you?" Christine asked kindly.

The middle man, the tallest one, took off his hat and said, "We would like to suggest a career opportunity, Miss Daae."

"Yes," the man on the left added. "The King of England has heard of your wondrous singing voice and talent and has asked you to come and be a part of his new opera." The man on the right nodded in agreement.

Christine smiled sweetly, "I hadn't realized that I had been so publicized. However, I would like to thank His Majesty for the offer, but I would like to stay here for now."

The men looked at each other as if in silent agreement, "I'm sorry, mademoiselle. You have no choice."

Christine looked wildly confused at that statement, but then the tall man pulled out a handkerchief and tied it around her mouth while the others bound her hands and feet. Then they stuffed her into a large traveling bag, her world went completely black.

"Stay quiet and it will be much better for you," Someone said.

xXxXx

About an hour had passed since Christine had left to meet the men, and Erik was getting worried. What could have happened? He was wading through the lake when Meg appeared and plowed straight into him.

"Oh…sorry! Erik! Christine, have you seen her?" Meg asked earnestly and worriedly.

"Of course not! I thought she was with you and those gentlemen!" Erik huffed angrily.

Meg's eyes grew round, "Erik…she's gone! Christine's gone!"