Full Summary : Christine Daaé vaguely remembered the boy that had worked in the stables. The boy that had been in love with her. But she'd been too innocent at the time, too judgemental. She'd wanted nothing to do with him. Why would she have? As a princess, she'd had much better prospects. That had been years ago. Now she regretted treating him the way she did. Especially since he passed away. Her world is turned upside down when she's kidnapped by pirates and the Captain looks painfully familiar.

Christine couldn't sleep. Her dreams were still haunted by those burning eyes and that masked face. Those eyes had belonged to the man who worked in her father's stables. She'd been eighteen when she met him - but still painfully childish.

Childish in the way she believed that she could do better. That she could find a better man that loved her just as much. Even if the intensity of his love had frightened her, she'd secretly wanted it at the same time. But her belief had stopped her from accepting it from him in particular.

She'd still bought into what she'd been taught back then. About everything. Even the most superficial things such as appearances.

Someone like him would've ruined her reputation. She'd been callous in the way she reminded both him and herself of that whenever the subject was broached.

But then the unthinkable had happened. There had been an attack. An attack that her Erik hadn't survived. Because he had been hers, no matter how horribly she'd treated him. She deserved to be tortured by his memory - even three years after the fact.

She shook herself out of her thoughts, rolling out of bed. She might as well just give up. She wasn't going to be able to drift off again. Even if she could it would be absolutely pointless.

She didn't bother with getting dressed. She simply wrapped herself in a cloak and slid her feet into her boots. She bent down long enough to lace them up before sneaking out of the palace. Some alone time and fresh air would do her some good.

Maybe. Hopefully. She knew her father wouldn't be happy. Neither would Meg or Antoinette. But right now she didn't care. She didn't intend for them to find out about this anyway.

The cold, midnight air made her shiver and she automatically pulled the cloak around herself more tightly. She chose a direction and set off, barely paying attention to her surroundings.

Christine didn't even allow herself to think. She'd already done enough of that for tonight. Sometimes it was better to just zone out and let whatever happened, happen.

She didn't realize that her feet were carrying her towards the beach. Not until her heels sank into the sand. She blinked slowly to herself, raising her head to gaze at the waves. She allowed the soothing lapping of the water to numb her and relax her.

There was an unfamiliar ship near the dock, but she didn't acknowledge that. People were always coming in and out. It'd probably be gone by morning. It wasn't her problem anyway.

It wouldn't be her problem until she was queen. Which would be never as she had no intentions of marrying. No matter what her papa thought.

She began walking again, forcing herself to ignore her surroundings. She almost considered sneaking onto the ship and hiding out. She'd be a stowaway but as long as she was careful - perhaps she could escape.

Unfortunately Christine didn't have the guts to do it. It was too risky. With her luck, she would've been found right away. Who knew what would be done to her in that case. Best case scenario - she would be used as hostage or as leverage. She didn't even wish to consider what the worst would be.

Christine jumped and screamed when thick, dirty fingers clenched around her shoulder. Another hand was quickly slammed over her mouth. She shivered as the person behind her leaned closer.

"Be good, little lass. This is your fault. You were caught scurryin' around where you shouldn't be. I think the cap'n would like to know about this." A heavily accented voice sneered into her ear.

Her eyes widened when she realized that the ship was only a few feet away. She should've been paying more attention. She should've headed home the moment she noticed the ship. She should've never come out in the first place. But it was too late for should haves.

Christine struggled with all her might - but it was pointless. This man was much, much stronger than her. He essentially carried her back to the ship.

She cursed the actions that had lead her to this fate.

Captain Erik LaRue sat in his quarters, forehead propped up against his hand. He was staring blankly down at the parchment on his desk.

He wasn't in the best mood. He wanted to be anywhere but here. But of course, his crew wanted to explore the port. They wanted to know what it was like.

The port was new to them - but that wasn't the case for him. He'd lived here. He'd worked here. He'd fallen in love and nearly died here. The previous crew would've known all about that. Which is why he'd fired them.

He'd wanted to forget all about this place and that little princess. Well...she was probably the queen at this point. Married to that 'better man' that she was always going on about.

Christine Daaé had probably partied the day she learned of his supposed death. Hell, she probably made it a national holiday. The woman was probably just petty enough to do something as cruel as that.

His only crime had been loving her and she'd made him suffer for it. Erik didn't want to admit it but he still loved her. Well, he loved his memory of her if nothing else.

Those big blue eyes were deceptively innocent and sometimes almost kind. Those chestnut curls cascaded perfectly, bouncing when she walked. Her voice was that of a songbird. Truly, whoever had married her was a lucky son of a bitch.

A harsh knock at his door snapped him out of his thoughts and he groaned. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or irritated that someone had returned already.

"Enter." Erik demanded, not looking up once. Not even after he heard the cabin door swing open.

"Cap'n! I found us a pretty lil mouse sneaking about." Joseph informed proudly.

His brows furrowed for a moment and he peered up. His heart stopped when their eyes met. He'd recognize them anywhere. Either fate was cruel or it had a sick sense of humor. He couldn't quite decide yet.

"Leave us." Erik ordered simply. He didn't feel like playing along with Buquet right now.

Not that he ever had before. But he wasn't even going to make an attempt tonight. For one reason and one reason only.

Christine Daaé had been brought back into his life in the most unexpected way.