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Destiny Takes Time	By : GueritaSalome Category: M through R > The Phantom of the Opera > Het Views: 19824 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom of the Opera, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter 35 – Discovering the Past

“It’s not possible,” Erik continued, as he gathered the woman’s limp body so that he was completely carrying her.

“Here, come with me,” Magdalena said, also clearly shaken and surprised at what had happened. “We need to lay her down.”

There were more than a few strange glances as they walked past the people in the camp. It was not every day that they saw one of their members in the arms of a masked man. However, no one stopped them to ask what happened. When they reached the tent, though, they were not alone. A young man and an older one were inside talking when they came in.

“What on earth happened?” asked the young man, jumping to his feet. “What is wrong with Mother and who are these gadjé?”

“She will be fine. She fainted, that’s all,” Magdalena tried to reassure him. “Christine, Erik, this is my brother Myrko and my father Lazlo.”

They both shot a suspicious look at Erik as he went to place the woman on her bed.

“What made her pass out? Did this man do something to her?” Myrko continued.

“No, nothing,” Christine answered him in a small voice.

Erik had already laid the woman on the bed, quite gently, Christine noticed, and was staying near her. Even as her husband came over to sit next to her on her other side, Erik had started to stroke her hand and was speaking in a language that Christine didn’t understand. Myrko still seemed disturbed.

“Who are you, and how is it that you speak our language?” Myrko demanded, now talking directly to Erik.

“As your sister indicated to you, my name is Erik, and I speak your language because I once lived with gypsies,” he answered as calmly as he could, not taking his gaze away from the woman’s face.

“Erik,” asked the older man, “how long ago were you among gypsies?” His question was simple and not irritated.

“It has been a long time – over twenty years ago.”

“I see…” Lazlo trailed off. “Magdalena, would you make some tea, please? Perhaps our guests would care to stay for a little while. And Myrko, go and call your grandmother.”

Everyone looked at him in a confused manner.

“Father …what?” Myrko’s head snapped up.

“It is all right. Now go and tell your grandmother what has happened, so she can bring something to wake your mother,” he said calmly.

Magdalena and her brother both left the tent to do as they’d been asked, Magdalena practically dragging Myrko by the hand. Christine felt a bit more at ease now that she saw the man was not accusing Erik of anything. Instead, he took his wife’s other hand and smiled softly. He had an air of authority about him and a strong build, but long, thick eyelashes framed his kind eyes, giving them a soft, gentle look.

“You know her, don’t you?” Lazlo asked.

Erik nodded. How could he forget? She was almost exactly as he remembered her – beautiful as ever. Were it not for the few streaks of gray in her raven black hair, and some tiny creases around the corners of her eyes and lips, it was as though she had not aged at all.

“Jovanka…yes, I know her,” Erik answered. “You look familiar to me as well.”

“You were a child when you were with us, but we saw each other,” Lazlo said. “I do remember you. You were under her care then.”

“Yes…” Erik answered, “She took care of me.”

“When she comes around, she will be very happy to see you again. Thanks to you, she is alive.”

So Lazlo must have known what happened to Jovanka’s first husband, but he was not concerned with it.

“I often wondered what became of her after I was gone,” Erik began. “Now I see that she has been happy.”

That is what he had wanted for her – that she could find someone else who would love and take care of her the way she deserved. Obviously, this man had done that. Those tiny wrinkles that she had were from smiling often over the years.

When Myrko arrived with his grandmother, she came over to Jovanka and waved a small bottle under her nose. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

“What happened?” she asked. “I was with Magdalena and then…” her voice suddenly fell silent as she got a good look at who was beside her.

Tears filled her eyes, and she cupped a hand to her mouth. Everyone else simply watched silently as she sat up and threw her arms around Erik’s neck.

“Oh God, Erik, I thought I’d never see you again!”

His eyes were moist now as well, as he hugged her back.

“You recognized me,” he said, his voice a little shaky as he tried to control the rush of emotion he was feeling.

“Of course I did!” she said as she went from embracing him to cupping his face with both hands in an admiring manner. “You grew up handsome, exactly like I knew you would,” she said, beaming with pride.

He smiled timidly as she began to run her fingers over his face, both the masked and unmasked sides.

“I’m so glad that you are all right. I thought about you a lot after I left,” he continued.

“I thought about you, too. Oh, take this dreadful thing off,” she said, reaching to gently pry the mask from his face.

Much to everyone’s surprise, he did not make a move to stop her. It was as though he were a child once again. He had never felt insecure around Jovanka when she had taken care of him, always knowing that she accepted him as he was. Once the mask was off, the tent was in total silence for a few seconds. No one dared make a sound as they watched the warm scene unfolding before them.

“Tell me, Erik, do you have a good life now?”

He nodded, and motioned for Christine to come over to them with Elaine.

“This is my soon to be wife, Christine, along with my daughter, Elaine. You met them earlier before I scared you into a fainting spell.”

“Oh, you didn’t scare me! Tell me, is he always this difficult?” Jovanka asked, turning to Christine.

“No, not always,” she replied. Erik blushed and looked down slightly as both women shared a good-natured laugh.

Just then they were joined by another young man, rugged but handsome. His deeply tanned skin was accented by eyes of such a striking light brown that they almost appeared to be the color of honey. The length of his hair nearly covered his earrings.

“Fardy, come here,” Jovanka said. “There is someone I want you to meet.”

He obeyed and came nearer to them, puzzlement on his otherwise peaceful face.

“This is Erik. You weren’t old enough to remember him, but he used to play with you when you were a baby.”

Fardy raised his eyebrows as he looked at the disfigured man in front of him, and Christine almost expected him to react with irritation like Myrko had done just a short while before, but instead he simply extended his hand.

“So you are the man who saved my mother’s life?” he asked.

“Yes, he is,” Jovanka answered.

“Does he know…about what happened to his…father?” Erik asked.

“I do. My grandmother and my mother told me about it. Anyway, Lazlo is the only father I have ever known. It is better that way.”

Fardy truly seemed to harbor no bitterness in his voice or expression. What a good job his mother had done with him.

For a while they all just talked, and Erik was surprised to find out that Lazlo had been in love with Jovanka since they were very young.

“I couldn’t believe it when I found out that Branko had asked for her hand first,” Lazlo said. “I had intended to marry her. We’d been close since childhood.”

“Branko’s father was a good man. He and my husband had been friends,” Yolanda, Jovanka’s mother, explained. “We thought that he would be a good husband.”

Clearly, they had no idea that the match would make their daughter miserable. Lazlo had suffered in silence and chosen not to marry after that, although he was never far from Jovanka as her friend.

“I’d had no idea that Lazlo had such feelings for me until after Branko’s death. After a proper mourning period had passed, he told me how he felt. When he asked me to marry him, I didn’t hesitate to say yes,” Jovanka said with a smile at her husband.

Christine glanced at Erik sweetly.

“I had left you so worried that I might have caused you unhappiness, even though I’d have feared for your life had Branko lived. I’m relieved to know that you had such a wonderful family afterward,” Erik said.

“We’re grateful to you,” Magdalena told him. “Had you not come along and changed the course of Mother’s life, Myrko and I would not be here.”

Erik pondered this as he looked at the children Jovanka had with her second husband. If he had done nothing, they indeed would not have been alive. Had that happened, the lovely young woman who had led Christine back to him would not have been there to give her advice. What if Christine had never come back? It was all quite ironic, too much so. Erik pushed the thought from his mind.

After a bit more talking, Fardy spoke. “We should have a celebration, involve the whole tribe.”

“I agree,” Lazlo said, getting up from his place on the bed.

“But what about your patriarch?” Erik asked, “Won’t he object?”

At this, Magdalena giggled. “Erik, Papa is the patriarch!”
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Destiny Takes Time