Erik has always had a good sense of direction, something that's only been improved by living in Phantasma. It's his own creation, and despite the ever changing exhibits he always knows exactly where he is.

It reminds him of the opera house, the only other place he felt this safe in, where he knew the place by heart because he had a hand in making it. It's the same thing here, only the stone walls are replaced by canvas and the candles with strings of electric lights.

Gustave appears to have inherited his sense of direction. He very quickly figures out all the regular pathways around Phantasma, and then the not so regular ones. He's constantly sneaking around and finding the quickest path to the Ferris Wheel, the shortcut to the top of the water slides, the fastest way back home so he can stay out as late as possible.

It becomes a game for them, playing hide and seek or racing each other through the park. Erik shares his own secret passages with Gustave, and in turn learns about new holes under fences he's too tall to spot and really needs to fix. Yet even if his son had no new insights Erik would gladly spend his time chasing after him through the park, his smile and laughter all the reward he needs.

They're playing hide and seek one night when Erik can't find Gustave. He checks in the usual places, and then in the not so usual, and although he knows Gustave can find his way around this place as well as he can that doesn't stop his heart from going a little faster with every spot Gustave isn't in.

He begins to search the more unusual places of the park. The places he knows Gustave has rarely been. Each place is a little more dangerous than the last, and he's both relieved and more worried when Gustave isn't there. Not the dancer's rooms, nor the stables, nor the power sheds, nor the bar.

He's resorted to bribery now, calling out promises to get Gustave a puppy, or allow him to learn drums, or to ride in the locomotive first thing tomorrow, anything as long as he stops hiding. Despite his constant mantra of he's fine, he has to be okay, he's not lost he can't help the way his mind turns to the last time he lost Gustave in Phantasma.

And then he stops and realizes that he knows where Gustave is.

The dock has been destroyed now. It wasn't safe anymore, and nobody misses it. There's still a single pole with a lantern at the beach, a signal flare for those who won't return. Gustave is sitting there, back to the pole, staring out at the endless sea.

"It's been three years," Gustave says, and Erik sits down next to him. He's never been the best with dates, but this is the first year he's forgotten the date altogether.

"I don't miss her as much anymore," Gustave says, and Erik gives him a nod.

"That's good."

"No it's not!" Gustave says. "because then she'll be gone!"

Gustave is crying. Erik doesn't know for how long but he notices it now, tear tracks glistening in the light of the single lantern. "If we don't remember then maybe we didn't love her," he says. "And she's my mom! I miss her! I can't forget her"

Erik slowly, carefully, puts his arm around Gustave's shoulders. He's always amazed whenever the boy doesn't flinch. Gustave's been shrugging off embraces recently, especially when they're in public, but right now he leans against his shoulder and buries his face in Erik's shirt.

"I miss her too," Erik says, his own voice breaking. "So much." Ten years wasted because he was a coward, and he had her back for only a moment before losing her forever.

"She told me once," he says, "that the people we love aren't truly gone unless we stop loving them. Even if our mind might forget our hearts won't." His mind is cast back to her weeping, crying over a father who left too large a space in her heart too soon. He remembers his own grief that he spends so much time trying to ignore, and a tear falls down his cheek.

"I'll remember her always," Gustave says, and Erik nods.

"That's good," he says. "but she wouldn't want us to be sad forever. She wants us to be happy, and live."

"What if I can't be happy right now?" Gustave asks, and Erik pulls him a little closer so he can rest his chin on Gustave's head, wrapping his son fully in his embrace.

"That's okay too," he says. "We can grieve together, okay? I'm here, and we can take some time to be sad."

Another night their game will end with laughter and late night popcorn. Another night Erik will take his son across Phantasma and watch him glow with joy and excitement. But tonight they sit together and remember, and love with breaking hearts, and heal a little bit more.