A/N: hi sup. this is my first fanfic, so don't go hating, alright. reviews are highly appreciated. thanks for taking the time to read it! (:
Fear choked Christine as she struggled for air, her lungs screeching, and her arms and legs flailing underwater. She was drowning. She was going to die. For a moment, Christine honestly considered allowing herself to succumb – if this was how it was going to end, then so be it.
Things never seemed to go as planned when it came to Miss Christine Daaé though, and she shouldn't have been surprised when a hand broke the surface of the water and gently tugged her six year old body from the water. Her eyes opened slowly, and she began to hack, gasping for oxygen. Her savior gently lifted her up so she was able to remove the salty water from her lungs.
"Are you alright?"
Christine shrieked, turning to look at the boy who hovered over her, "Oh, you saved me, Raoul!" She sat up and threw her skinny arms around his neck, practically dragging him to the ground. He laughed and gently peeled himself from her arms, shaking his head.
"I, uh, didn't save you," He looked slightly embarrassed, "When I got here, there was another boy standing over you. He ran away when I came over, though."
This fact didn't bother her as much as it should have; she was just thankful to be alive. Christine let out another string of coughs, trying to expel the last of the water. "So are you alright, Christine? You fell a long way. I was running to the beach so I could try to help you, but I couldn't find you. What if you had died?"
For a moment, the little girl considered what would have really happened had she died. After a moment of such unpleasant thoughts, she broke into a smile, "But I didn't."
Raoul laughed, thankfulness and joy written across his face, "I'm going to go get your father, alright?"
She realized, after Raoul had scurried away of course, that warning her father probably wasn't going to be the best idea. He was very worrisome about her well-being and the realization that she might have drown probably wasn't going to go down well.
There was a jumble of commotion, and Christine turned to see her father running down the steps of their beach house, "Christine!" The man fell to his knees and grabbed her into his arms, "Oh my Christine, I'm so sorry that I didn't notice earlier. I was so busy with my music, and oh Christine," He fell silent, clinging to his daughter like a life vest, "Are you alright?" He smoothed his hand over her dark, limp, wet hair anxiously.
"Yes, Daddy, I'm fine, just tired. Can you take me home?" She slumped against her father as he picked her up, cuddled into his arms.
"Goodbye, Christine." Raoul stood alone at the spot she had just left, watching as Christine left him standing there. In his hands was her bright red scarf that he had recovered after running into the water to look for her.
"Daddy, can you tell me a story?" Christine called from her bed, her dark brown eyes fixed on him as he played his violin.
He stopped, turning, and gently slid his violin into his case, "Only one, and then you have to sleep, alright my angel?"
"Yes, Daddy." The little girl giggled and cuddled down further under the covers, her eyes following him as he came to her bedside. He sat on a rocking chair next to the bed, tapping his chin slightly as he debated what story to tell her.
"What would you like to hear, my angel?"
"A fairytale!" Christine loved stories of goblins and monsters and heroic knights that swept the princess off her feet and saved the day.
The man settled down closer to get, rocking himself slowly on the chair, his eyes drifting shut as he searched for a story. "Once upon a time," he began, eyes still closed, "There was a beautiful princess, and her name was Chrissy. She had long, beautiful, curly brown hair and huge, innocent eyes that captured the hearts of everyone who looked into them. But there was one bad thing about Chrissy – she was very adventurous! Of course, that was okay sometimes, but it got her into a lot of trouble, too."
He went on for over an hour, weaving a tale of a beautiful princess and how she was pushed into the ocean by a group of trolls who were jealous of her beauty, and a young prince jumped into the water and saved her. By the end of it, Christine's eyelids were drooping dangerously low, though she kept mumbling and asking for another one. Her father chuckled softly and blew out the candle that sat next to her, engulfing them in darkness, "Sleep now, Angel."
Christine slept and dreamed of the ocean.