I sit here with tears in my eyes at that ending. What a brilliantly written piece this is. Your characterizations are perfect, the emotion palpable, the tale flows smoothly. I liked all the differing points of view and the piece changing from past to present. The analogy with the cuckoo bird was perfectly done, and I loved their one night together.

Just superb; glad I ran across this story!

I cried.

Excellent. Simply excellent. Despite your description of Erik in this story being Gerik, I pictured him as described by Kay and Leroux. It just didn't fit the youthfulness of Gerik, such an awful and untimely demise. Although it makes it more believable that Christine and Erik had sex.

I think my favorite part is in the epilogue, particularly when Nadir gives her a vial of the same potion Erik gave Reza to end his suffering. It makes the story of Christine and Erik seem more complete - the Daroga brought closure.

Again, excellent story. I'm off to read some of your other stories now!

That was so sad, but beautiful. I loved the end.

"If I made you cry" Are you kidding? I'm sobbing!

Thank you so much for this beautiful piece. It's amazing, really. One of the few times I literally had to stop reading to go find tissues.

BRAVA!

Wonderful! Made me cry even before I read the last chapter!

Oh my lord! I think I'm gonna cry or something! Great job, it was brilliant. I loved it. Truly, one of the best I've read.

That was beautiful... it made me cry... *sniffs* Heh, I'm going to shortcircuit my keyboard, at this rate.

Wow. That story made me cry so hard when Erik died. Very well written. Slow and sad.

-Geneieve

I hope that you still check up on reviews for this story because I would really like you to know that is one oif the most beautiful stories I've ever read. I've been reading fanfiction stories for quite some time now (since I watched the 2004 movie a couple of months ago and became a fan of all things Phantom of the Opera) but yours is probably one of the best I've read so far (along with Echoes from the Past). I rarely feel compelled to writing reviews (not because I don't care to, it's just I usually feel I'm not good enough to do so), but I had to say something about your story.

I really like how you took things from different versions of the classical story of the Phantom of the Opera and added your own elements to them. As a result, I think that somehow you've managed to expand on the original story but making it your own. I'm no expert in neither literature nor the English language (it's not my first tongue) but I think your writing is accesible while at the same time it's elegant and sober.

Although, I enjoy stories with happy endings (that's probably why I've started reading fanfiction, I guess), the ones that seem most memorable are those with "tragic endings" (as your Erik says). In this case, it would be a very bittersweet ending. And I love it all the same. At least, Erik gets to know and experience that he's truly loved by Christine (even though it's for a brief moment) and somehow he lives on in Christine's memories and in their child. (I'd like others to know of or remember Erik and his relationship with Christine; besides Raoul and Nadir. Does Charles ever get to know about his real father? If I remember correctly, in Susan Kay's Phantom it is not implied. What about in your take of the story?)

Finally, I should say the your story made me cry ... a lot. I usually don't cry over any kind of stories (well, that's not entirely true; but it's not usual), but there's something about the Phantom of the Opera that gets to me. And your story did just that. I'm kind of a little embarassed to acknowledge that I was trying to hold back the tears since chapter 2, but I totally came undone in the last chapters.

That's all. I hope I made any sense with this review and somehow my words gets through (since it's 3:30 AM in the Southern Hemisphere, I'm not good at writing reviews and I speak Spanish).

So, Congratulations! Your story is truly beautiful (I'm sorry if I used the word "beautiful" so many times, but no other seems to apply). Now, I'll definitely be reading your other stories.

Greetings from Argentina.

Paola

I read this story a while ago before submitting and I thought it was beautiful! I love you're writing style. It's so sad and so beautiful at the same time and your storytelling is no different! Keep up the good work, lass! I hope to see a lot of your work soon!

Beautiful story. Very well written, I almost teared up at the end. (Dont usually do that) Thank you, Im off to read your other fics. Cheers! Cathy

*pauses hesitantly over keyboard*

My god, you have a gift, my friend. I almost cried. (which, for your information, is as good as it gets, and you deserved it) This was just beautiful, wrenching. I'm sorry, I know this reveiw is late, but it's still worth it, I think.

Can't wait to move on to your newer phics.

I just read this fic. Very well written. I can feel their pain, it just hurts so much. I can't describe how I can feel all this about characters from a movie.

This was such an absolutely beautiful story. Your writing was wonderful and the emotion so true and heartfelt. Wonderful job. I look forward to your next work.