Chapter 8 The Past Revisited

PrimaBallerina1: just do it! She's not gonna bite.

RC4Prez: I know, I know. But I'm still nervous. I mean, I really like her and I don't want to doanything to hurt our friendship. :-/

PrimaBallerina1: she digs you, Raoul, so get over yourself and ask her out already!

RC4Prez: Really?

PrimaBallerina1: duh! She all but told me the other day. Besides, it's just one date!

RC4Prez: lol, ok, you win. I'll go down there and ask her now.

PrimaBallerina1: I always win ;-) Good luck, ttyl

RC4Prez: thanx, bye

Raoul logged off of his computer and sighed. He had never felt this apprehensive about asking a girl on a date ever before. Maybe it was because he already seemed to have a connection with Christine, like they had met before somewhere. He was about to get up from his desk when one of his old photo albums caught his eye. It was odd because he had brought it and others with him to school every year, but never took the time to look through them. He pulled the dark blue volume off of the shelf and dusted it off. Turning his desk lamp so he could see better, Raoul opened up the album and childhood memories came rushing back. There was his very first picture taken. There was a picture a few pages later with him standing in diapers with a bowl of pudding on his head. The brown mess was dripping down his face and chest, and he could see his mother standing in the background not looking very amused. His first Christmas, his first bike, his first time in the swimming pool; all of the pictures were there. Flipping through and lost in thought, he spotted a picture taken at one for his family's big corporate summer picnics which his father hosted on their estate every July. These were always boring because there were never people his own age to hang out with, Raoul recollected, except for that one year. He was nine years old that year and his father hired a live band for the entertainment. The lead singer of the band and her husband, one of the back up musicians, brought their little girl along. She was a few years younger than Raoul, but since they were the only children there, they hit it off right away.

"Hi, I'm Ray," he told the girl, extending his hand Raoul couldn't pronounce his name when he was younger so he just called himself Ray.

"Chrissy, but my daddy calls me Lotte," she said shyly, trying to hide her face with her dark brown ringlets, and timidly shook his hand.

"Come on, Lotte, I'll show you around." Raoul spent the afternoon showing the little brown-haired girl around the estate; where the best place to hide was, which tree was the best to climb, where he saw his first fawn while walking in the woods with his nanny. After the meal, Raoul's mother gave the kids each a kite to play with. Gleefully, they ran out into the large field away from the festivities, and raced to see who could get their kite flying first. Raoul got his airborne and looked over to see Lotte's progress. The poor girl had managed to tangle the string around legs and when she tried to run, she tripped face first into the grass. Raoul saw her crystal blue eyes start to tear and helped her up. She brushed herself off and looked dismayed at the grass stains that ran down the front of her pale blue dress. He handed her his kite which was floating in the air, and launched hers. They then switched back and proceeded to see whose would go higher. Raoul's sailed to the full length of his string. Not to be outdone in this contest, Lotte let her bright yellow kite go higher and higher. "Careful, Lotte. You'll be running out of string soon so don't let it fly away." She just nodded and continued to let more and more sting out. Suddenly, a strong breeze picked up and sucked the string out of her hands. "OH, NO!" She cried in horror as her kite sailed away. Raoul managed to pull his safely to the ground and watched as the girl tried in vain to chase the sting across the field. He ran after her and found her standing in the woods crying. He asked her what was wrong and she merely sniffed and pointed up. There, in the top of one of the tallest trees on the property, was Lotte's kite. He looked at her sweet, tear-stained face and knew what he had to do. He gave Lotte's shoulders a squeeze and started climbing the tree. He was quite a skilled climber, but had never gone that high before. The wind picked up again and swayed the treetops as Raoul clung on and climbed upward. Realizing that the string was too tangled in the branches to be salvaged, he climbed higher up to where the kite was wedged and took out his small pocket knife to sever the string. Loosening the kite was easy once the string was cut, but Raoul failed to plan how exactly he was going to get back down while holding onto it. The branches were too thick to merely drop it to the ground, so he slowly began to make his way down, one-handed. When one arm got tired, he switched the kite to the other hand and continued downward. He was about fifteen feet up yet when he stepped on a dead limb. It cracked under his weight and because he was only holding on with one hand, he dropped out of the tree with a thud.

Lotte screamed and ran over to him. She careful supported him in a sitting position and waited for him to catch his breath. "Ray, are you ok?" she asked. He looked up at the worried face and gave a small smile, "I got your kite back." He looked down at the yellow object still in his hand, and to his dismay, it had gotten broken in the fall. "But I think I broke it." She removed the kite from his hands and hugged him from behind. "I don't care about that as long as you are safe. That was very brave...my hero!" With the adrenaline from the incident wearing off, Raoul quickly realized that he was not alright. His left wrist was beginning to swell and sharp pains started to radiate up his arm. He winced and with Lotte's help, stood up, supporting his left wrist with his other hand. It was at the moment they reached the tent that they were escorted over to get a group picture taken. This was the picture that Raoul, thirteen years later, was staring at in his dorm room.

His wrist was indeed broken and after a trip to the hospital for a cast, he came home to find Lotte waiting for him on the couch in the living room. She had refused to leave until she knew Raoul would really be ok. For the next two years, the Chagney family hired Mr. and Mrs. Daaé for their parties and Lotte always came along. During the second year, it rained so much that the party had to be moved inside. Lotte and Raoul escaped to the attic where they read stories to each other by candlelight with the sound of rain lightly drumming on the roof. She gave him a tender innocent kiss good-bye saying that she loved him and promised to see him again the next year. That was the last time he ever saw his Little Lotte. The picnics continued, but the Daaé family never came back. Raoul asked his parents the reason several times but they just gave vague answers or brushed off the question entirely.

Daaé? Chrissy? Raoul thought to himself. Could Christine be his long-lost Little Lotte? It certainly looked like her in the photograph, and the similarities between the two were too close and numerous to be a mere coincidence. This definitely put everything in a new light. Raoul grabbed the picture from the album, grabbed his keys, and left the room on a mission.

An hour later, he lightly knocked on Christine's door, hoping she was there. She opened it up expecting to see Erik, but instead she saw her handsome friend Raoul standing with one hand behind his back and grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"May I come in, Little Lotte?" he asked. Christine nodded and let him in. After a second, she closed the door and froze.

"Wait! What did you just call me!"

Raoul grinned harder and brought his hand out from behind his back revealing a folded yellow kite. Christine stared at it with disbelief. "Little Lotte, I brought you a kite, and it's not broken!" he said beaming.

"Oh my God! Ray? Little Ray who fell out of that tree?"

"One in the same."

Christine took the kite from his hands and placed it on the bed. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "I can't believe it! I thought I'd never see you again. I missed you so much!" She felt a stray tear of happiness run down her cheek. Raoul reached up and brushed it away with his hand and pushed a stray piece of hair off of her face.

"Me too," he whispered in her ear. "Do you remember the last picnic we were together?"

"Yes," she replied with a smile. "We had our picnic in the attic...

"...reading to each other..."

"...those dark stories from Northern Europe..."

"...by candlelight with sounds of the storm above us."

"It was so romantic," Christine sighed. "We were just children then, but I knew I loved you from the moment you risked you life to rescue my kite from the enormous tree."

"You called me a hero."

"Yes, you always were and always will be my hero," she said before bringing her face close to his. He leaned down and they gently kissed. When she pulled back, Raoul saw her eyes sparkling as she smiled up at him.

"Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?" Christine reached up and quickly kissed him again. I'll take that as a yes, Raoul thought and embraced her, smiling.

Erik stood inside his closet gazing at Christine as she laid across her bed, deeply engrossed in a novel. It was hard playing double-duty—pushing her to her limits and being strict as her singing coach, but also wanting to spend every moment with her in his arms as her boyfriend or better yet, husband. What Erik wanted most in life wasn't necessarily to be completely accepted by the public (which was far from possible) or even to be rewarded for his talents. No, what he wanted most in the world was to be loved for who he was by a wonderful wife with whom he could share his music, his love, and his life. From the moment he first saw her outside his window, he knew the Christine was that special woman; her innocence and fragileness made her the perfect person.

There was a knock at the door and Erik struggled to see who was there without being seen himself. He heard a familiar voice and suddenly saw Christine smile and launch herself into the arms of some guy. Erik fumed when he recognized the boy as Raoul Chagney. The boy seemed perfect in every way, but Erik knew better. Behind the goodie-goodie, all-American boy façade there must be some dark terrible secrets. He was human afterall, and Erik was bound to find out what those secrets were and use them to his advantage. It took all of his willpower to keep from launching himself through the glass and wrapping his hands around the boy's neck as Raoul and Christine moved in for a romantic kiss. It's so easy for him, thought Erik. He doesn't have this awful face as a formidable obstacle. He could have any girl that he wanted, but no. He has to go and take Christine away from me. Well, enjoy her company now, Changey. She won't want to be anywhere near you when I get through with you!