I was entranced.
No other word could begin to capture what I felt upon hearing an exquisite voice within the ballet dormitory that night. An untrained voice, to be sure, but one that could be remarkable, should care be given it. No, not merely remarkable. Such a commonplace word had nothing to do with the sound emanating from the small frame before me, separated by a thin pane of reflecting glass. The crystal clear tone, perfect pitch and astonishing range…such talent was wasted in her position as a mere chorus girl. She deserved to be a diva! And I had the ability to transform that rough, unshaped voice into something to rival the song of the angels themselves.
But dare I? Such a being as myself surely had no right to teach such perfection. I looked out at the small girl before me, a gifted child. Gifted, yes, but also broken in a way I could sympathize with. Little escaped me in the grand palace I called home; I had heard her tragic story. To be orphaned at such a young age!
It was clear she still grieved for her father, a musician from what I had gathered. Talented on the violin, if memory served me. I had never grieved for my mother, so I could not fully grasp her pain, and yet…and yet her obvious loneliness called to me strongly. She needed someone to protect her, to comfort her as a father would.
Not that I could lay any claim to such knowledge. Certainly I had no idea of what a father should be like! Still, something I thought long dead stirred within me as I gazed upon her sad little figure. Compassion, perhaps? The desire to spare another even a fragment of what I had endured? I could not say. In the end, I did nothing that day, nor for several days hence; I merely watched her, learning her little habits.
It wasn't until I spoke with Madame Giry later that week that things began to change.
A/N: Wearied by the countless romantic fictions out there, I am endeavoring to write something completely different. There will be traces of all versions here, as each has something to contribute to the story well loved by millions.