"Fascinating, absolutely, fascinating." The Phantom watched the girl in front of him with wide blue eyes. He walked a small circle around her.

The girl swallowed hard. "No one's ever said that about me before."

"People are so quick to judge and dismiss anything... or anyone... that is different. But you... you are a divine creature of light and darkness. A mythical goddess." The Phantom continued to be compelled by her appearance.

The girl quietly scoffed. "Goddesses don't look like cows." She kept her arms crossed.

The Phantom came to an abrupt stop behind her, and turned her around, large white bony hands on her shoulders. "Who said that about you?"

Her brown eyes were wide. "Um, my parents. Strangers."

"Any friends?"

She broke eye contact. "N-no. None that I can remember. Or, perhaps Juliet. But no, I have never made much friends." Her French was broken.

The Phantom noticed this detail in her speech pattern. "Your accent. You are Spanish?"

She shook her head. "Greek."

"Greece... I've never been. I've heard it's a lovely place."

"Maybe we can go together, one day." She looked down at his shiny black shoes nervously, her patchy cheeks flushing a pale shade of pink.

"Yes, perhaps."

The girl was born with a skin condition called vitiligo. She had milk chocolate African American skin and splotches of pale ivory all over her body. All her life, she had been called cow, giraffe, and monkey (due to her race). But, this man, this strange man... thought she was beautiful.

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Hey guys! Thank you for reading this. This may be the start of some soft fluff stories centering Erik (The Phantom) and my OC, Aria. I just really wanted Erik to have somebody to love, that maybe can understand him a bit better than Christine!

Also please don't hate on me; this is my first fanfic about Phantom!