An aged gentleman hobbled into the graveyard, a young girl about the age of 8 or 9 was on his heels, giggling.

"Hold on Granpa!" she cried, reaching out for the trailing end of his cloak.

"Mary Anne! Calm yourself, child!" The older man hissed, his voice low but powerful. The child immediately fell silent, looking up at her grandfather with solemn eyes. She followed the man with the powerful voice deeper into the cemetery.

"What are we doing here, Granpa?" The young girl whispered.

"To visit an old friend of mine, dear child." The man's name was Erik Destler. The young girl wasn't even of his blood. The man had found her when she was a young infant, just barely alive on his doorstep. He nourished the young girl back to health and taught her to sing. Since the man was old enough to be her grandfather, he just took the title. No one would accept his deformity to love him, when the soul was so capable of love. The duo wondered around the graveyard, the man stopped in his tracks. There in front of the grave belonging to the woman Erik loved, was her mourning husband, Raoul De Chagney. The man started to back away when the other man hobbled to face him.

"Phantom." He muttered. Erik froze.

"What is it Granpa?" The young girl asked, peering around her guardian. She inhaled deeply, her eyes wide.

"You loved her too, you can come forth, Phantom." The man wove his hand to draw the couple forth. Erik grasped his pupil's small hand in his and gently pulled her forth. He saw his music box sitting on the gravestone, he looked down, pulling the humble red rose he had brought with him. He pulled the diamond encrusted ring from his pocket and slid it over the stem and allowed it to rest in the center of the lose bow. He kneeled and placed the rose on the opposing corner of the monkey, and stood. The young girl clung to him as he stood. Erik placed his hand on the back of her head in a parental way. Raoul eyed the young child then looked up at her guardian. The taller, darker man had a glint in his eye that said:

"I let you take one, you will not have this one." Raoul looked down at the grave.

"She asked for you on her death bed." Raoul told the other gentleman. Erik stiffened.

"I wish I could have been there for her." He muttered. The young child and himself were the only two that heard him. She looked at her teacher, an adorably sympathetic look in her emerald green eyes. Erik returned her gaze, smiling and pet her hair lovingly.

"We need be off, we're almost late for our lesson." Erik told his once enemy. Raoul nodded and watched the girl and the ex-Phantom of the Opera leave the graveyard.