A/N: What is this?
It's a crossover one-shot!
In the honour of April, the month of crossovers, I present to you the very first GwtW/Original Sin crossover fic !!
This was totally inspired by Corrin and her (ramblings about) love for (the one and only) Antonio Banderas, which led me to watching the movie Original Sin again (twice), me pimping the DVD out to (all) of my friends, and thinking, "hey, what if Luis met Rhett after the events in Original Sin and in the GwtW movie? Would he manage to convince Rhett that love conquers all? That it is possible for Rhett to forgive Scarlett for her mistakes? And that happy ends do actually exist?"
For those who have never seen Original Sin, you should probably watch the movie first but in case you can't be bothered, here's a quick recap of the facts: Luis and Julia met through what we could call the 19th C version of online dating, he pretended he was poor to not entice gold-diggers, and she (portrayed by Angelina Jolie) pretended she was ugly, so he wouldn't be in to her just for her looks, they get married, turns out she was a con artist and runs away with her accomplice and all of his money, he's love sick, he runs after her, she ends up killing her accomplice, she's about to be executed for murder but a priest helps her escape and her and Luis sail off to Morocco and supposedly live happily ever after by cheating at poker.
For those who have never seen/read GwtW, you should at least watch the movie but here's a quick recap: Rhett loves Scarlett, who thinks she loves Ashley, who sort of lusts after her but is in love and married to Melanie. After being widowed twice, Scarlett agrees to marry Rhett, for his money, and he pretends he just wants her for her body. Many tragedies and many deaths later, Scarlett discovers she doesn't love Ashley and that she has loved Rhett all along, but he's had enough and so he leaves her, slamming the door on his way out because he 'frankly doesn't give a damn' about her anymore.
So anyway, let's get on with the story (or the A/N will be longer than the fic itself), but remember, this isn't a love story, it's a story about love …
Marrakesh, Morocco, July 1885
He had arrived barely an hour ago and he was already covered in sand from head to toe. His crisp white suit had turned to a yellowy shade of cream, and his skin was oily from his sweat. He wiped his forehead clean with the back of his hand and sighed.
He had spent the last five years in Paris, he wasn't used to this kind of heat anymore. Ironically, his mouth felt as dry as the Sahara itself, and he longed for a cool glass of water as he made his way through the various teapots and other trinkets displayed at the bazaar.
"Business or pleasure, my friend?" a voiced asked from behind him.
He turned around and came face to face with a tall tanned man, "I beg your pardon?"
"What brings you to Marrakesh? Business or pleasure?" he repeated.
"Business," he said casually.
"Well then, how would you like for me to introduce a little bit of pleasure in your day of labour?" the stranger smiled.
Rhett gave the stranger a puzzled look.
"How good are you at poker?" he asked with a glint in his eyes.
*****
"So how is it that you are asking strangers to play poker with you?" Rhett asked as he shuffled the cards his new acquaintance had just handed him.
"I'm too good, the locals are sick and tired of losing all their money to the likes of a foreigner, they flatly refuse to play against me any more, so I have to fish for my next victim on the street of the bazaar," he sighed pouring wine from a pitcher into two glasses. "So what brings you to Morocco Mr Butler? You said business, what kind of business exactly?"
"Importing some goods and exporting others," he replied.
"Ah, I see, commerce, it must be a very profitable business," the stranger commented.
"It is indeed. And what is your line of work, Mr …?"
"Vargas, Luis Vargas. As a matter of fact, I used to be in commerce myself, I exported coffee out of Cuba," he answered.
"Why did you leave that line of trade? Last I heard, coffee was still a pretty lucrative good," Rhett stated.
"Yes, well sometimes circumstances lead one away from the life one was born into. And when such things happen, either you fight against them and fail or you make peace with them and be happy," Luis replied.
"You Latin men are always speaking in riddles and puzzles," Rhett laughed. "So do you live permanently in Morocco?"
"For the time being," Luis nodded, gesturing Rhett to deal out the cards.
"What do you trade now since you have given up coffee?"
"Absolutely nothing," Luis said.
"You must have sold off a rather wealthy business to be able to afford to live like this," Rhett said while he glanced around the room, letting his eyes linger over the rich tapestries and carpets, the luxurious ornaments and the mosaics.
"Not really no," he sighed. "Actually, when I arrived here I had nothing. Not even a single dirham to my name," he smirked.
"Well …" Rhett began.
"Poker, my friend, poker," he simply said.
"Are you telling me that you survive and are able to maintain a life in all this extravagance thanks to your poker earnings?" Rhett scoffed.
"Indeed my friend, poker … and love, you must never neglect the importance of love in a man's success," he added.
"I don't believe in love," Rhett uttered under his breath, but loudly enough for his companion to hear him.
"What is that? You don't believe in love? How can someone not believe in love?" he asked as he put two cards from his hand down onto the table and picked another two up.
"Trust me, if you only knew what I have been through with women, you would understand," Rhett replied as he picked up three other cards and lay three of his own down on the table.
"Believe me, my friend, if I still believe in love so should everyone else," he smiled.
They played there game in silence for a while, until time came for the final stakes, "What did she do to you that was so terrible, that you lost all faith in the power of love, my friend?" Luis ventured.
"Why do you assume that a woman is at the origin for my disdain for love," Rhett said defensively.
"You are wearing a wedding ring that means that at some point you believed in such a sentiment," Luis pointed out.
"It could have been an arranged marriage," Rhett countered.
"You, my friend, in an arranged marriage? I have not known you very long, yet I still know how preposterous a proposition that would be, and also you speak like a scorned man."
Rhett Butler eyed the man facing him up and down, raking his mind to find a way to turn the tables in this conversation and take the control over it. "What makes you so knowledgeable on the matters of love and scorned men?"
"Because, my friends, if you allow me to be absolutely honest with you, as far as men betrayed by love go, I am most definitely their King."
"Really? Did she marry you for your money and spend your entire married life lusting after another woman's husband?" Rhett asked.
"Not exactly. She did marry me for my money, she then stole all of it and ran away with her accomplice lover. Cigar?" Luis said flatly as he pulled out a cigar holder, handed one to Rhett before taking another out for himself and lighting it.
Rhett stared at him blankly for a minute before asking, "And you still believe in love?"
"Worse than that, I still believe in my love for her," he sighed as he let the cigar smoke escape from his mouth.
Rhett looked at him stunned.
"I gave up everything I had for her," Luis continued. "And no, I have no regrets, if I had to do it all over again, I would do it all exactly the same way."
"I do not think I could be as forgiving as you are," Rhett said.
"Nonsense!" Luis exclaimed. "When you love someone, you can always find it in your heart to forgive them."
"I do not love her anymore," Rhett said.
"When was the last time you saw her?"
"Over ten years ago now, I suppose," Rhett sighed.
"If you do not love her anymore, then why are you still wearing your wedding ring? Why are you still grieving the loss of your relationship after more than a decade?" Luis asked, but he did not leave Rhett any time to answer. "Because, my friend, you still love her. She is under your skin, and in your blood, you will never be over her. She is your fate. If you do not go back to her, you will regret it for the rest of your life."
"But what if she has moved on? What if she does not want to see me anymore? As you pointed out, I have been gone for over ten years."
"That's a risk you will have to take my friend, or else you will regret it until the day you die. Royal flush," he said lining down an Ace, a King, a Queen and a Jack of Hearts on the table in front of Rhett.
The End