The Choices of Raoul de Chagny: Ch.6

Or arguably chapter 5b...

This has been unconscionably delayed due to the arrival of a fifth Raoul-plot into my life (requiring significant research if it is to be tackled at all), and to beginning the writing of the third last week -- which, given my concurrent French translation exercise http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9617539/1/Please-Pretend and the uploading of the final part of Water-horse, meant that I had at one point four stories on the go simultaneously, of which the one that was safely recorded in manuscript but required significant labour to transfer to the computer lost out over those which were either floating in the æther or else already present on disc. So... here, finally, is the remaining half of what was scheduled to be the end chapter† of "The Choices of Raoul de Chagny", in which the angst-to-fluff plot is firmly concluded in favour of the latter, and our characters have plans that don't involve Coney Island!

(† But then Gustave picked up a piece of old newspaper blowing across a dusty street, and I did want to know what happened next... so the story still has a lengthy sequel-cum-epilogue to come ;-D)

An interesting factoid is that this chapter title was originally scheduled to be used for Chapter 4, and has thus been displaced twice already as additional action intervened...

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( Chapter 6: Back Here Beside You )