Disclaimer: I own nothing (except Désirée)
A/N: This is a fluffy companion one-shot to my story Dreams and Dreams Destroyed. Now I have all but officially abandoned Dreams and Dreams Destroyed for a time - until I can rewrite it without plot holes, that is - so if you haven't read it, I suggest you don't (it's a good story, if I do say so myself, but it'll be better once I can actually end it). I'll try to give all the background you need to understand this one-shot right here.
Désirée is my OC from D and DD. She's Nini Legs-in-the-Air's mother - and she calls Nini 'Nadine' because that's Nini's birth name. This means that Nadine in this story is Nini Legs-in-the-Air (the black-haired prostitute that danced in El Tango de Roxanne). Oh, and she's the Sparkling Diamond - the original Sparkling Diamond, actually. (and she's not a courtesan, but that's not really important to this one-shot)
This one-shot takes place 5 -7 years before the events of the movie. Nadine is not yet a prostitute, just a dancer. Satine has only recently arrived at the Moulin Rouge and is working as a common prostitute and can-can dancer - not Sparkling Diamond, obviously, since that's Désirée at this point. Satine and Nadine are best friends. (Nadine is also Satine's dance teacher, but that's not really important to this one-shot)
Désirée will think about another daughter, a 'lost' daughter, named Therésa - this is Nadine's twin. She is 'lost' because shortly after she and Nadine were born, their father came back to the Moulin Rouge and took her. That sounds terrible, but it's not, so I'll clarify - first by saying he didn't kidnap her. He thought that it would be in both Therésa and Désirée's best interest if he raised their child, because Désirée was poor and living in a brothel and so on. Désirée didn't want to give up her children and she was worried that if she refused to give up Therésa, he'd find and take Nadine as well (he didn't know there were twins, just that she'd been pregnant).
So, she gave him Therésa and ever since felt terrible about it (the story is set when Nadine is about sixteen or seventeen, by the way - I'm not sure, because the time-frame was one of the major problems I had with Dreams and Dreams Destroyed).
Sorry that the explanation had to be so long. Normally, if I wrote a companion piece, I'd just tell you to go read the story it was a companion to first, but as mentioned above, D and DD is nearly abandoned.
I wrote this one-shot very quickly, and it was more because I had the desire to write something about Christmas than that I actually had an idea for it. I thought it turned out rather well, considering these things.
Désirée whirled around the nearly empty dancehall, watched only by the other Can-can dancers and the other various workers at the Moulin Rouge. She smiled to herself as Harold Zidler's worried face flashed through her field of vision. "No one is coming, Harry. I suggest you accept that." She told him, still dancing.
"Why not?" He asked, sounding even more anxious than he looked. "Why aren't they coming, dearest?"
"Because it's Christmas, of course." She answered, gracefully spinning to a halt in front of him. "Men have no use for our services on Christmas. Accept it." He sighed heavily. Perhaps thinking about all the profits lost due to this unwanted holiday. "Harold this happens every year. Why haven't you figured it out yet?"
Harold only sighed once more. "Oh, all right." He said reluctantly. "I suppose we can take the night off then."
Before he was even finished speaking, the girls burst into cheers. Désirée only smiled again and shook her head, slightly confused at their sudden excitement. Not that they didn't deserve the night off on Christmas – but as she'd told Harold, this happened every Christmas. And every Christmas, Harold realized that there was no way that anyone would come, whatever he did, and relented.
One girl Désirée could see was not as excited - Désirée's own daughter, Nadine. Nadine, of course, was a dancer only and didn't join the other girls in their nightly excursions, but she did love being on the dance floor.
"Don't look so upset, Nadine," The newest dancer – the beautiful, fifteen-year-old, Satine Poisson – was grinning along with the rest of the girls, but trying to cheer up Désirée's daughter as well. "I'm sure it will be open again tomorrow night."
"It will." Nadine answered with a sigh. "It always is."
"And until then," Désirée put in, walking up to them. "We can celebrate Christmas ourselves. Or we could," She added, sighing also, "If you had put your shoe by the fireplace last night, like you were supposed to. How will Père Noël be able to give you anything?"
"Mother!" Nadine protested. "You know I'm too old for that!"
"No matter." Désirée smiled. "You have no job right now, this makes you a child again. Go, go!" Reluctantly, Nadine allowed herself to be shooed away. Satine watched her leave, slightly wistfully. Désirée paused, then told her, "You go too."
The girl's eyes widened. "What?"
"Go put your shoe by our fireplace, with Nadine's." Satine began to protest, but Désirée held up a hand. "No, I will not argue. You're younger than she is – and tonight, you will my daughter too. Go."
Smiling, Satine nodded and ran after her friend.
Désirée waited for them to return, slightly worried about the break with tradition – traditionally, of course, the shoes were supposed to be leave the night before Christmas, rather than the night of. Then 'Père Noël' would leave something in them over night. She wondered, too, at her sudden longing to include Satine. She and Nadine had been friends nearly since the day Satine had arrived at the Moulin, but Désirée hadn't paid much attention to her until tonight. Perhaps the holiday – meant to be spent with family – was reminding her of her other daughter, the one she had lost …
Satine and Nadine reappeared. Nadine seemed more into the spirit now that Satine had joined her. "Now," Désirée told them. "You'll have to wait a few minutes for Père Noël to come. You'll have to excuse me as well." She added and Nadine rolled her eyes, knowing full well – as she always had – who Père Noël really was.
When Désirée arrived in the room she shared with Nadine and saw the two shoes by the fireplace, she could almost believe that they belonged to both of her beautiful daughters. That perhaps Satine's presence tonight could at least partially fill the hole left by Therésa. Was it wrong, to use a young prostitute as a substitute for her own child? Désirée wondered as she placed a coin in each of the shoes.
No, she decided. First, because Satine wasn't just a prostitute; she was Nadine's best friend, and that had to count for something. Also, because it was Christmas, and surely even a prostitute – especially one so young – deserved to receive something on Christmas. If she could give something back by lessening the ache in Désirée's heart for a short time, then all the better.
Nadine and Satine arrived minutes later and acted surprised to find the money, as they knew they should. Satine was more excited than Nadine, and her thanks more heartfelt. It was not, she knew, that Nadine was actually ungrateful – Satine was simply more in need of the money. Another reason Désirée decided she was not guilty about including her.
The rest of the evening flew by quickly. From what Désirée could remember the next morning, they had sung Christmas carols, told stories and – in Nadine's case – performed a very silly version of Désirée's Diamants song that she made up on the spot. They stayed up most of the night, much later than they would've had the Moulin been open. But that night was special.
For that night, Désirée felt like she had a whole family. For that night, everything was perfect.
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