Christine stood staring at the small cottage before her. It was perfect, as if it had been plucked from her childhood dreams. Erik called to her from within and she walked, still in a daydream, into the house.
"Christine, is everything alright? You shouldn't stand out there for long, you could catch your death."
"Erik, this is wonderful. This house is really ours?"
Erik smiled and settled a hand at the small of her back. "Yes. I purchased it some time ago. When I could only dream of having a bride." He guided her around the cottage. "It is small, but I think will suit our needs. Room for our music… and children, should you want them."
Christine rested her head against his chest. "It's perfect."
"For you, Christine," Erik handed her a letter. "From the b- from the young Vicomte."
Christine took it from her husband and carefully opened it. Raoul had been gone on the Polar Expedition for nearly a year and it seemed there was no end in sight. Letters from him were few and far between but Christine cherished their correspondence. Erik had not commented on their communication but she knew it made him wary. Still, he did not interfere and for that she was grateful.
Madame Gustaveson,
My congratulations on your marriage. It pleases me to know that you continue to find happiness where you are. Our expedition is still hoping to make contact with any survivors of the Artois, though our hopes are dwindling. It is a barren wasteland on the frozen land and I am fearful that there are no survivors to be found. I cannot imagine how the crew could last in such frigid conditions. But, we carry on. We will be nearing the last known coordinates of the Artois soon. I am not sure how long we will spend in the area or how much more north we may go if we find no evidence of the ship or crew. Unfortunately, this may be our last correspondence until our return trip. Our letters will not be able to reach the post once we leave our last port. I will continue to write, however, and you will know when we are on our return, as you no doubt will receive a bundle of letters.
Christine, I must thank you for allowing me to continue to write to you. My brother does not write as beautifully as you and it truly does warm my heart to know of your happiness. I only regret that I could not be the source of it.
Raoul
Christine set the letter aside and stood from the sofa, crossing to the window overlooking the back of their cottage. Erik joined her. "How is the young Vicomte?"
"He seems alright. Not as in high spirits as he once was. The expedition does not sound like it will be a successful one. I do worry for him." She sighed but put Raoul out of her mind for the time being, knowing Erik was only being polite.
"I am eager for spring. I want to plant a few things before it becomes too difficult to do so," she said, resting her hand over her stomach.
Erik drew her close and covered her hand with his own. "I think the cold will break soon. If it doesn't, I will be more than happy to assist you in your garden."
Turning her face to him she found him already gazing at her. She tilted her face, silently asking for a kiss. His lips curved into a smile before he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
A/N: This started as a rewrite of one of my really old pieces (Masquerade) but it became something entirely different. I'm pretty happy with it, especially considering it's been a couple of years since I wrote for this fandom.
I used a mix of Leroux/ALW Erik, Christine, and Raoul. I'm constantly changing my canon image of Erik. I typically stick with Leroux but sometimes I like the aesthetic of Erik have one side of his face beautiful and the other disfigured.
As we know, Erik does not have a surname. When I was very new to the fandom I used to use Destler but have since stopped that. I created a new one for this fic, Gustaveson. I tried to work the background of this name into the story but it was a clunky scene so I got rid of it. But from my research, surnames (as we think of them) were not very common in Sweden until the 1800s. Surnames in Sweden typically represent geographic/topographical location, occupation, or lineage. So I took Christine's father's name (Gustave - canon ALW) and added the common suffix of -son. I think Erik would have known about the way Swedish surnames came about and would have chosen this name for them as an homage to Christine's heritage.
come find me on tumblr perrosguirec