So, here is my 2nd fic. I know what you are all thinking, "OMG she's not finishing the first!" and I am here to put your fears to rest. I simply just want to start another story and I promise this will not interfere with Love's Music. This story is going to be different, but its still going to involve our favorite masked Phantom and our daring Soprano. And now I proudly present my new story, Memories! Okay, so I normally wouldn't do this, but this story is rated M so for those people who don't like M, I'm sorry. I will warn before I do anything. Enjoy! ^.^

Memories

"Will I ever get to see you again?" little 4 year old Christine asked her only best friend, even though he was 10 years older than her. She raised her teary, innocent, brown eyes so that she could meet his soft gold ones. Her friend never told her his name, but she nicknamed him Masque because of the beautiful and mysterious white porcelain mask he always wore over the right side of his face.

"You shall see me very soon, Ange de L'algue." he smiled her favorite smile. A sad grin crossed the pure features of the child. He hated to see her so sad and he knew that her sadness was only going to escalate: her father was slowly dying. He had looked at the poor man; his sickness was going to be slow and painful.

"Masque, what are you thinking about?" the little Daae's girls voice broke his concentration. Her little hand rested on his unmasked cheek. He smiled at the simple gesture of the child, but it faded as it traveled to the right.

"Nothing, Ange, but do not touch this," he pointed towards the mask, "beneath this mask is a monster."

"Monster? I'm not afraid."

"Right now you aren't, but if you do see, you shall be very frightened."

"I promise I won't! Masque, you're my only friend. Please!" she jumped up and down; her brown curls bouncing. He sighed, there was no way around this and he eventually knew it was going to come to this.

"Do you truly want to see?" his hand hesitated. Tears filled his eyes. He shouldn't be doing this, but it was for little Christine and she would forget in a few years anyways.

"Yes." she whispered. He pulled away the porcelain and awaited the shriek of terror that was to come out of the poor child's mouth, but that scream never came. Christine's eyes grew big at the mangled sight. She reached her trembling hand and rubbed up and down the deformed cheek.

"Are you afraid?" he asked, horrified to find out her answer.

"No."

"Really?" tears fell from his eyes. Most of the children who asked him to remove his mask usually ran away. This girl definitely was strange...

"Why are you crying?" Christine asked worriedly. Had she done something wrong? Did she hurt his feelings by touching his bad cheek?

"Because I'm happy. You're the only person who has ever looked at me, besides my mother."

"Wow. Masque, can we still be best friends? Even when we're as old as Papa?" her innocence gleamed on her face or were those tears?

"Didn't I tell you already? Of course we can be best friends. I'll miss you, Ange." he pulled Christine into a tight hug until he heard Giovanni call for him,

"My boy, it is time to leave!"

"Coming sir! I have to leave now. Tell your father thank you for letting us stay with you and I promise I'll come back next summer. Don't cry." a strong smile spread over his features. Christine was going to miss him so much! She would not have anyone to play with besides that annoying Raoul boy, but that didn't matter!

"Au revior, Ange." Masque said sadly, replaced his mask, and walked back to his master.

"Goodbye min Musikängel" she whispered as she watched the boat sail off into the distance. The only thing she had to remember him by was a beautiful red rose with a black silk ribbon tied around it. Then the strangest thing happened: she heard the lullaby Masque had always sung for her,

You seem distressed,

but, my child,

your fears shall be put to rest.

Don't cry anymore,

for I am here,

to wrap my arms around your delicate heart.

So, now I sing you this lullaby,

so that when the time comes to say good-bye,

You shall know I will not be far,

but very, very near.

Christine turned around and saw her father, smiling at his angel.

"Papa!" she cried and buried her curly head in his face. Her father felt the hot tears of his daughter on his neck and worried.

"My Little Lotte, what is the matter?"

"Masque, he left. He promised to come back. Papa, he was my best friend."

"What about Raoul? I thought you two got along well?"

"We do, but there was something special about Masque that I'll never forget." Christine whispered tiredly. Papa looked at the sun setting over Sweden. He wished that he could have tried harder to convince Giovanni to let his apprentice stay, but he would not hear of it.

"Darling, its time to go inside. You look sleepy." he cooed in her ears. His pretty Little Lotte simple nodded her head as sleep took the girl into the safe, peaceful realm of dreams.

Papa chuckled and kissed her chestnut curls, just like the ones her mother had.

The boy looked over the bow of the ship to see his only friend get smaller and smaller.

"Erik, you know you could've stayed there. Monsieur Daae was offering you a position as his violin apprentice." Giovanni said and startled the him.

"I know, but Sir, I wish to stay with you. I feel comfortable with masonry, but I will miss the little girl though."

"I saw she took your mask off, was that of your own free will?"

"Yes, Sir. She asked to see my face and she did not run or scream. She made me feel so...." Erik was at a loss for words. There were so many emotions running through him that it was hard to figure them all out.

"Happiness?"

"Exactly!"

"Why do you think you'll miss her?" Giovanni asked. The young boy had never really been this open to him since they met. This was a rare opportunity and he wasn't going to miss it.

"She played with me, I composed music that she loved so much, I loved how she would laugh when I would make her things, how she spoke of the Angel of Music."

"Are you really going to go back and visit her?"

"Of course I am! I promised her and Erik Destler never breaks a promise." he said, slightly offended. Giovanni laughed at this. He had never seen Erik joke like this before. The boy was truly changing and he was sure the little Daae child was helping a lot more than what Erik realized.

Erik turned away from his master to stare at the distant shore, but his acute eyesight spotted Monsieur Daae and Christine, him holding her as her curls spread wildly across her sleeping face. He felt a strange, new emotion well up inside him. He couldn't yet identify it, but to Giovanni, Monsieur Daae, and the annoying child Raoul, they could all see that what Erik was feeling, was pure, untainted love.

Let me know how you guys like this! Do you guys think this should be a one shot or a story because it could work either way. So send me some feedback and I'll go with the majority and like I said earlier, this DOESN'T mean that I'm going to quit my other story. I just maybe a little slow on updates, but nothing to seriously freak out over. God Bless! REVIEW!!!

OH! I put one Swedish phrase in there because not everyone knows that Christine is Swedish so I put in Good-bye my Music Angel. Erik also says in French, Angel of the Sea since Christine lives by the ocean, or the sea, in this fic. REVIEW! Thank you!

Au revior!

^.^