Author's Note: this is my first Phantom fic, and it was written out on paper prior to upload, so the first updates should be fast. But since I go back to school in a week, I can't guarantee that. but what the hey, you're here for the fic not me! this phic is dedicated to BlueBeauty, who is the established Queen of this section with her lovely Phantom's Mask, and The Rose and the Mask, I hope this can live up to her standard. I know it's short, but bear with me please....

A/N addendum: (this is the Beta of chapter one, I messed with the format, and added some more informative and stylish writing. Hopefully a change for the better)

"Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said goodbye,..........."

Lessons, (for lack of a better name(yes I need input))

chapter one:

The lair under the opera, ten years have passed since the disastrous gala opening of "Don

Juan Triumphant"

My, how much time had passed since Erik last saw Christine, years, a decade? Time was

irrelevant in his lair of darkness. How many hours had he spent re-playing his actions, cursing

himself, his fearful visage, and his lost beloved's lover? Raoul had had everything Erik ever

desired, and the only thing Erik had to comfort himself with was his now-defunct "Don Juan"

A masterpiece he had written to be sung on the day he carried away his bride, the prelude to his

greatest triumph of all...

Don Juan, Erik was not, but his seductive voice had made a dream nearly come true, save

for that damnable fop Raoul de Changy! Erik saw in Raoul a brainless youth whose looks had

taken his Christine from him. To Erik, all the injustice and prejudice of the world were

caricatured in Raoul, the good-looking, yet mentally sub-standard boy who could have had any

woman he wanted, but chose to save Christine from a life with Erik, le monstre.

When Erik read a Parisian paper, he made certain to burn any part

of the clippings which mentioned Raoul, but slowly he cut and saved all mention

of Christine, now le Vicomtess. After so long, his love for her still smoldered in his pale chest.

He yearned to be around her, to see her, hear her sing, he wanted that more than anything, he

was content to see her in a non-amorous nature, if that was what it took. He followed her in a

Gatsby-esque manner of newspaper clipping, he watched in newsprint her every motion. The

huge extravagant wedding, their home at the Changy estate, and finally, the hardest blow of all,

the birth of Aurora, the daughter that should have been his. She looked so much like her mother,

with golden-brown tresses and bright, inquisitive blue eyes, eyes that charmed adult and child

alike. However, she had Raoul's detestable aristocratic flair. She was not the free spirit her

mother had been, but rather a caged bird, having always enjoyed the doting of her maids and

parents.

As she approached the age of ten, Erik wondered at the child's naïveté as he watched her. She

had the makings of her mother's vocal talent, if only she had been his, she would have been the

best, the Prima Donna of all Prima Donnas, to be "La Aurora" and had monuments in her honor.

He hated to see her talent lie untapped, as her mother's had. For many years, in fact, since that

fop had stolen her heart, his angel had ceased to sing. Erik had nearly killed himself in his misery,

he had let her go, allowed her to leave with him, and he despaired in hearing the swish of the

boat on the water, he had twisted the ring on his finger, the ring she returned, and sighed as

he heard their voices across the lake. All his teachings, his soul of musical talent, had been

wasted on her; it had preyed on his mind ever since, even upon that very evening, an evening

that ended an extraordinary day. A day that would have otherwise been calm, quiet, and

uneventful, the day when a fateful note was published in the advertisements of Le Époque, the

most prominent and respected paper of all Paris. An advertisement that conveyed a fateful

providence to the despairing Opera Ghost with a simple sentence:

'Le Vicomte et Mme. de Changy cherche le professeur vocal pour leur fille, Mlle. Aurora de Changy. L'enquête pour la position être faite à leur propriété sur le douzième de mai 1892.'

'The Vicomte and Madame de Changy seek a vocal tutor for their daughter, mademoiselle Aurora de Changy, inquiry for the position to be made at their estate on the twelfth of May 1892.'

More A/N: Liked it? Hated it? tell me, I love reviews, of any kind, and hope to have a hundred some day! If anything is unclear, or I made an error, tell me please.. i can't correct what I don't notice..especially the French, I admit it! I used a translation program! anyway please tell me if I should continue!

your lovely authoress,

Nomi, (and her Erik-Muse)