Inside My Mind: The Phantom of the Opera as told by Miss Christine Daae

Chapter 24: An Act of True Love can thaw a Frozen Heart

I realize now that there is only one thing I can do at this point. Standing up, and with every ounce of strength I have left in me, I sing to the Phantom. "Pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known?" I walk over to him as I continue my song. "God give me courage to show you, you are not alone!"

I put my hand on his right shoulder, turn him around and, taking his face in my hands, kiss him on the lips. After a few seconds, I pull my face away and hug him. Then, I look up at his reaction before kissing him for a second time. I feel his hands touching mine, and then without warning, he pushes me away. He is looking down, but the sadness on his face is eminent. He is breathing heavily.

Without muttering a word, he walks away from me and towards the organ. Taking a candle from the base of the stairs, he walks towards Raoul. As he approaches him, he turns and looks at me. I swallow hard. Without hesitation, the Phantom reaches up and burns the end of the lasso with the candle, setting Raoul free. I run over to Raoul and, taking the rope off his neck, embrace him.

All of a sudden, we hear the mob chanting "Track down this murderer, he must be found!" Taking Raoul's arm, the Phantom tells him to "take her, forget me, forget all of this. Leave me alone, forget all you've seen. Go now, don't let them find you!" The mob continues "Revenge for Piangi, revenge for Buquet". The Phantom continues his instructions. "Take the boat, swear to me never to tell of the secret you know of the Angel in HELL! GO!" Without even hesitating, Raoul takes my hand and we run towards the boat. We hear the Phantom scream "GO NOW AND LEAVE ME!"

*AUTHOR'S NOTE* The next part is from memory, because we don't know what happens before Christine goes back to return the ring. Here is my interpretation.

As we get into the boat, I reach down with my left hand to give Raoul the pole. That's when I notice the Phantom's ring is still on my finger. "Raoul, wait here. I have to go do something before we can leave" I say. He looks at me and says "Do what you have to do, I love you." I get out of the boat and walk back to the lair.

I can see the Phantom kneeling on the ground in front of the music box that I had hear playing that first night. He is mimicking the monkey playing the cymbals and singing "Masquerade, paper faces on parade. Masquerade, hide your face so the world will never find you." As he says 'hide your face so the world will never find you', he covers the monkey's face. I can't help but notice the sound of crying in his voice. I slowly remove the ring from my finger and approach him. He hears my footsteps and turns around. The look on his face suddenly changes to happiness and he stands up and approaches me. Before he can get close enough, I hold out the ring to him.

He takes the ring in his hand and as I turn to leave, he grabs my right arm. I turn to face him and he is down on his knees. With all of the sadness in the world, he utters the four words that will ring in my mind for the rest of my life. "Christine, I love you." I kneel down in front of him, and taking his hands in mine, kiss them. I stand up and walk back towards the boat and as I am leaving, I can hear him call to me again. "I love you!" I get back to the boat and Raoul asks me "Are you ok?" I nod and sit at the bow of the boat.

We start paddling across the lake and I look up at Raoul. I start singing our love duet again. "Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime." Raoul joins in "Say the word and I will follow you." I continue "Share each day with me each night, each morning." As we round the corner, I can hear the Phantom singing "You alone, can make my song take flight. It's over now, the music of the night!" Tears fill my eyes as the boat sails off into the future.