(A/N- This chapter is really a filler, because I needed another chapter. It has no significance in the rest of the chapter, except the end is important (sort of). So you have to read it. Maybe a tender moment at the end, who knows? I hope you like it…)

Christmas with the Ones You Love

"Christine, wait up!" I spun around to see who had called my name. I saw Raoul walking quickly towards me, pushing ballet girls and chorus members out of his way. He must have really been in a hurry, or he wouldn't have been so pushy. Or maybe that's who he was now. Sometimes, people just change, and not always for the better.

I still hadn't worked up the courage to tell Raoul that I didn't want to marry him. Every time I tried, I remembered our childhood together, I remembered our innocent friendship, I remembered father… No! I needed to stop those types of thoughts, or else I would end up in an unhappy marriage with ten babies crying for me! I didn't want that, not now!

"…and I was wondering if you wanted an escort to the Masquerade this year." Huh? He must have been talking to me, because he was staring at me hopefully, waiting for my answer.

"Uh, yeah, sure," oh, that was smooth! Quick, better think of something better to say! "I mean, I would be thrilled to be accompanied to the Masquerade by you, Raoul."

"I shall see you anon, Little Lotte." Why did he insist on using my nickname? Because I neglected to correct him, that's why. Note to self: tell Raoul to stop calling me Little Lotte!

I spun around and headed to my room, which was where I had been going originally. It took me probably twice as long to get there, since everyone was rushing wildly about, trying to get the last things done before Christmas. I never really understood why everyone loved Christmas. True, when I had been younger, Christmas had been my absolute favorite day of the year. But I no longer went to Christmas parties, or sat around the hearth roasting chestnuts. I always spent Christmas alone in the opera house with no one to celebrate with.

When I finally got to my room, I was surprised to see that another person was already in the room, waiting for me. I quickly locked the door and turned to the person who was sitting on my bed, idly reading one of the books that I read. I blanched when I saw the title of the book. It was one of my romance novels, and it had some, uh, explicit chapters. Erik seemed to be reading one of those chapters, for there was a furious blush on his cheek. If it hadn't been my book that he was reading, I would have found the situation rather funny.

"Hello, Erik," I said as calmly as I could. That isn't an easy task when someone is reading a practically pornographic book that you own. He looked up from the book, and in the depths of his golden eyes, I could see amusement and embarrassment. I swore I was going to burn that book the first chance that I got.

"Hello, Christine," he replied as he stood up to greet me. He was such a gentleman. We stood in awkward silence for a few moments, and I could see him shifting uneasily from foot to foot. He obviously wanted to ask me something.

"Erik, what is it? You look like you're about to explode." I said. I probably shouldn't have been so blunt, but there was absolutely no other way I was going to get any info out of him in any other way.

After a moments hesitation, he said rather nervously, "Well, I was wondering if, um, you wanted to spend your Christmas vacation with me?" He averted his eyes, as if waiting for me to say no. After about a second, he looked back at me, his beautiful amber eyes pleading. Who could resist that face, er, look? I know I couldn't!

"Of course, I would love to spend Christmas with you!" I exclaimed, spontaneously jumping on him and almost smothering him with a hug. He stiffened like a board under my touch, so I reluctantly backed off. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, it's just that, well, this will be the first Christmas I have actually celebrated in a while," I apologized.

"Well, shall we go?" he asked

"Now?"

"Well, you don't have any more rehearsals for the rest of the week, and it is, after all, Christmas Eve." he stated, afraid that I was going to change my mind.

"Sorry, I didn't realize that it was Christmas Eve. Of course, lets go! I can't wait!" I exclaimed. I was rather excited. I'm sure you can understand.

Erik walked over to the mirror and opened it, holding it open like any gentleman would hold a door for a lady. I couldn't suppress one delighted giggle, one that he definitely heard. Once we were both through the mirror, he closed it firmly behind us. He carefully led me through the long, dark tunnel. Although I was seriously afraid of the dark, I knew that Erik was right beside me. In fact, I was leaning rather heavily on him.

We got to the gondola and boarded. This time I tried not to trip. When we neared his house, Erik made a rather unusual request. "Close your eyes, please." I obeyed, wondering why he wanted me to close my eyes. I found out why I wasn't allowed to see when the gondola reached the shore of Erik's house. He, very gently, said, "you can open your eyes now."

I opened my eyes and let out a gasp of surprise. The darkness of Erik's home was illuminated by hundreds of candles. In the soft glow of the candlelight, I could see Christmas decorations hanging on the wall, sitting on tabletops, everywhere! There were boughs of holly, a bright green even in winter, hanging on some of the walls. Little cherubs sat on Erik's pipe organ. A fire crackled merrily in a fireplace. I didn't even know Erik had a fireplace! And in the middle of the beautiful decorations stood a tall evergreen tree. The only decoration on the tree was an angel at the very top. On closer inspection, I realized that the angel was carved to resemble me!

"Oh, my gosh, Erik! It's wonderful! I can't believe you did all this!" It dawned on me that Erik had done this all for me. This man was amazing! The wreaths, the cherubs, the tree, everything was for me! The lengths that he would go to just to make me feel happy. A warm, content feeling spread throughout my entire body. I was so shocked that someone would do this just for me!

Erik served a light, but incredibly delicious dinner of some exotic fish that I had never heard of. Whatever it was, it was amazing and fresh, and it tasted great. That's all I cared about. My goodness, Erik could even cook well!

After dinner we went to the study to read and relax. Erik was seated on a large, comfortable sofa, engrossed in a book about ancient Greece. I pretended to be reading a book by Victor Hugo but in reality I was using the time to study Erik. His golden eyes fervently perused the book, practically devouring it in one look. His eyes were so beautiful. They were the only part of him that betrayed his emotions. While he often pretended to be indifferent, his eyes would show his true anger, sorrow, or even, on occasions, joy.

His dark hair was straight and carefully combed. Not a single hair was out of place. I wondered what it would be like to run my fingers though his soft, black hair… No, different thoughts!

His mouth was perfect! His lips were a little large, but they looked soft and warm and utterly kissable… Ahhh! Could I never escape these thoughts?

While I was absently staring at Erik, he looked up. Both of our eyes met and held. For a few blissful seconds, I was oblivious to everything but his eyes. They seemed to hold more knowledge, more intelligence, more emotion, than I thought possible. Suddenly, I came crashing back down to Earth, and looked away shyly. My cheeks were probably a brighter shade of red than the holly berries on the wreaths!

I really did end up reading the book after that incident! Well, sort of. My mind was drifting… I was getting rather sleepy, and one look at the clock told me why. Holy cow, it was nearing midnight! I almost never stayed up this late!

I bid Erik good-night and walked into the room that I had stayed in during my last visit. Due to the circumstances of my last visit, I hadn't really observed what my room truly looked like. The furniture was intricately carved in the Oriental style out of expensive and exotic woods, and the artist who created the furniture paid an amazing amount of attention to the details. There were Chinese dragons and phoenixes, elegant people and flowers. There was a screen in the corner of the room, one of those screens that you change behind. I think it was more for decoration, for why would I need a screen if my room was private? It was also carved intricately, and since it had similar designs to the furniture, I was fairly sure that the same craftsman had created the screen as well. The walls of the room were painted a muted shade of red, soft and easy on the eyes. In the middle of the luxurious room was a large bed carved in the shape of a swan. It should have looked out of place, but surprisingly it fit in with the rest of the room perfectly. Covering the bed were soft, luxurious sheets of linen and silk in various shades of red. I was afraid that if I lay on them, they would wrinkle!

I slipped off my shoes with a sigh of relief. My bare feet sank deep into the thick Oriental rugs covering the room from wall to wall. I gave an involuntary shudder of delight. This room was probably nicer than any that you would find in a palace! I loved it! I quickly slipped out of my dress and stood in only my undergarments. Surely there were nightclothes somewhere in this room. I needed to look no further than two feet to my left, for, sure enough, there was a large walk-in closet filled with exquisite dresses, as well as a few simpler nightgowns. I couldn't even begin to imagine all of the trouble that Erik had been through to acquire everything I needed.

Once I was dressed in a light nightgown, I slid in between the soft covers and settled into the fluffy feathery goodness of the bed with a sigh. I fell asleep looking at a single crimson rose in a crystal vase on the dresser.

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I woke up the next day to the sound of music (as per usual). Once I was dressed in a simple, yet elegant blue dress, I walked out of my room and into the cluttered, and nicely decorated, I might add, music room. Erik stood in the middle of the room, his back towards me, playing the violin like a madman. A very talented madman. This time when I entered the room, he noticed me almost immediately and stopped playing. When he turned around to look at me, his jaw almost dropped to the floor. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

He quickly shut his mouth and said, "Nothing. You just look…nice." I liked having that affect on people. It was amusing. To change the subject, he asked me. "Are you hungry?" I nodded vigorously, not realizing until now how famished I was. He led me to the doorway, and then stopped abruptly and said formally, "After you, Mademoiselle."

"Why, thank you Erik." I responded, trying my best to step through the door gracefully and without incident. Being me, I was surprised that I didn't trip and fall through the door.

We ate a light breakfast of fresh fruits (yes, in the dead of winter. How did he do it?) and toast with jam. He offered to make tea, but when it came out it was an odd, strong type of tea that I didn't care for much. He noticed immediately and apologized, "I'm sorry, not everyone likes Russian tea. Would you like me to make you an English tea?" I declined the offer, not wanting to disturb Erik's meal. He was almost too accommodating, and I didn't want to be a burden.

I don't know how I got the idea, but it just suddenly popped into my head. "Why don't we go sing carols in the music room?" I asked, hoping he would say yes. I had missed out in that part of my life for the past few years, and I didn't want to miss out again.

He seemed excited, but his attitude declined rapidly in the space of two seconds. I asked him what was wrong, and he admitted quietly, "I don't know any carols."

I almost laughed, but decided not to. I didn't want to embarrass him. "I'll teach you." I offered.

"You don't have to," he said, only a hint of hope showing in his voice.

"Of course I do. After all, you taught me, now it's my turn to be your teacher." I said jokingly.

So as soon as breakfast was over, we both cleared the plates and went into music room. "Okay, this one is called 'Deck the Halls,'" I said enthusiastically. So, basically we spent a good part of the day singing Christmas carols. I don't think that I had ever laughed so much in my life! We were having so much fun that we didn't even notice that we missed dinner (A/N- dinner then is lunch today!) So, needless to say, we were both famished by the time supper came along. Walking out of the music room, Erik refused to walk out right behind me again. He was avoiding me like the plague by that door!

I guess that Erik had put a goose into the oven before I even woke up, because for our Christmas dinner we had slowly roasted goose and various vegetables. It was absolutely succulent! My mouth was watering before I even took a bite, and by the time we had finished the torte dessert, I felt that I might have needed to loosen my corset.

After dinner, Erik went into his room to "get something." I took the time to go back into the music room and see what was so special about that door. I had my suspicions, of course. My suspicion was confirmed when I saw a little mistletoe hanging above the door. Hmm, I had an evil plan! Ha-ha, I was going to get Erik good!

Erik came back out of his room carrying a small wrapped present. "Erik, oh my gosh, you really didn't need to get me anything else!" I exclaimed. He had already done so much for me, and I didn't even get him a gift in return.

"It doesn't matter. I would like you to have it anyways." Of course, I wasn't going to say no to a gift. Go ahead, call me greedy, but I will never turn down a gift! I tore off the paper and opened the box. I gasped in shock when I saw a beautiful necklace. The chain was gold, and probably cost more than anything that I owned by itself. The pendant on it, however, was amazing. It was a crystal rose, and there was crimson dye in the glass. It was carved down to the most minute detail, and was probably more perfect than anything I had ever seen. I suddenly knew the perfect gift to give Erik.

Taking Erik by the hand, I led him to the doorway. My heart was beating a million miles a minute, and I could feel Erik's pulse quicken. When we reached the doorway, Erik tried to ask me what I was doing, but was quickly silenced when I placed a kiss on his lips. Oh, my God! I felt like I had died and gone to heaven! I lost myself completely in his warm, soft lips. Amazing!

Erik tried to pull away out of shyness and inexperience, but I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him back to me. After the initial shock wore off of him, his lips melted into mine as he kissed me back, and I reached a whole other level of bliss. I slowly reached up to remove his mask, but he stiffened like a board.

"Erik, it is okay." I said, trying to sound reassuring. After all, that damned mask was getting in the way of my make-out session! Once I had the mask removed I gently caressed his "disfigured" cheek. Honestly, it wasn't too bad.

"How can you stand to look at me, let alone touch me?" he asked pitifully. Poor guy, what it must feel like to believe you are hideous.

"Your face is not bad. I know you don't believe me when I say that, but it's true. My theory is that, when God created you," he snorted at my mention of God, "he realized too late that he had created the perfect man. Since he couldn't bear to take away from your personality, he gave you one flaw. That single flaw, should I even call it a flaw, is on your cheek. You are otherwise perfect." I lay a hand meaningfully over his heart and said, "Your soul is perfect." I then proceeded to crush my lips against his passionately.

I don't know how long we kissed each other, but eventually we came apart. As much as I would have liked it, we couldn't kiss each other forever.

I retired to my room soon afterward, still reeling from the kiss. I fell asleep with a smile on my lips.

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The next day Erik and I decided to just relax. We roasted chestnuts over the fireplace in his home, and suddenly I got an idea. "Erik, could you take me to my dressing room really quickly? I need to get something." He took me up, and when we got back to Erik's home I threw the romance novel into the fire. Those chestnuts tasted especially good.