Yay! This is perfect! I like this Christine, she's nobody's passive little doll, she knows her own mind! This is how it should have gone down! Excellent work, loved it!

Just love this little story. Good writing.

Where in the world did Erik learn to kiss like that? Nice little story. :-)

Omgg this was so good.

Omg wow I love this so much!

This is my first read in a really long time (of fan fiction in general) and it was lovely and sweet. Thank you for writing it!

This is the Christine I've always wanted.

This was very well written. Thank you for sharing it.

Wow. This was a beautiful, well written story with a much stronger Christine to the one we are used to. This was not a child; this was a fully grown adult who has just realised that she doesn't have to be at the beck and call of others or do what "society" expects of her. I loved her thought processes and her determination to be equal with Erik.

I loved this version of Christine! The gear metaphor, the way she handled everything, the description of cliched butterflies vs free fall. It was all so well done. *wanders off to read more of your phics*

I love how well you write Christine- how she can think for herself and demands that others see her as herself. Beautiful

Short and sweet. I can easily envision these two traveling everywhere together.

I don't even know what to say - how perfect this story is. Back in my younger days, I vividly remember viewing Erik as some kind of beautifully flawed, dangerously romantic anti-hero (someone who could be "fixed" if someone just "loved him enough"; ooh, I can't even begin to recount how problematic that thinking was in my real life relationships), and now several years later as I've gotten a bit older and wiser, although my innate fascination (both erotic and otherwise) with the character remains, I tend to veer quite in the opposite direction - that under most circumstances the character is so dangerous, so possessive, chaotic, unstable and (sometimes borderline, sometimes more overtly) abusive that in many cases I just want Christine to run in the opposite direction (or at least, like in my one story, leave their ultimate fate as a couple ambiguous). While I really do ultimately enjoy happy Phantom endings involving Erik, they don't always particularly resonate with me, exactly (if that makes sense).
But what you've captured here - a highly independent, confident Christine, who is sure of herself, who can more than hold her own with Erik and enters willingly into a consensual relationship/partnership with him, finding a soaring freedom in it instead of a stifling captivity - is nothing less than pure magic. It's crazy, it's wonderful, I don't know how you've done it. Magic! I love her exploration and discovery with the kisses, the curiosity and quick decisiveness, the ultimate control over her own destiny. I love how she presses Erik about his behavior and feelings toward her, and makes no concessions as to how she will be treated from here on out. It's delightful and empowering. It's how I wish all women were brought up to be, both past and present. It usually leaves a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach when I read stories in which Christine or another character completely forsakes family and friends to be with Erik (unless it's very well explained), but here you've made it entirely plausible and even preferable - Christine weighs what matters to her most of all, what makes her most entirely herself, and it is music. And Erik is the logical conclusion to that line of thinking for her.
In short, this was absolutely brilliant; I loved it!

Wow, if any other Phantom story would end like yours I would wear my current smile all day! Obviously your verbiage and eloquent writing is flawless and I truly appreciate the lack of mind numbing filler, a lot happened in this short story and it was all very enjoyable to read. More please

I like your more decisive Christine, and how she interprets her father's comments. Not sue that Erik would have been so quick to kiss or so knew what he was doing, but I'm glad he did. Having her pick up the photo and scarf at the end was good symbolism, showing her accepting the past and starting anew. Love the line about him eyeing her in "sudden primeval hunger."

Good one-shot, hope to see more from you!