Charlie Chaplin is a creative genius. I, unfortunately, am not affiliated with him, his family or his works. This story follows his movie "Limelight", which came out in the 1950's. If you haven't seen that movie, it is recommended you either read about the movie or see it before reading this story.

There are some spoilers in this story for the aforementioned film and vice versa.

Mr. Chaplin is a real person; Calvero, Terry and Neville are his creations. I, shamelessly, recommend watching any of his films, whether they be shorts or his full lengths. They are incredible feats, especially seeing as how some of his earliest are 95 years old!

Also, I tried to make this story sound like one of the re-dubbing Mr. Chaplin himself did for a number of his longer films, which were done in the 40's and onward.

Creating Illusions

/GG/

He was dead and there was nothing anyone could do about that anymore. Calvero had passed on while watching her dance on the stage at his very own benefit. Now Terry was alone; or at least she thought she was. Neville was still there, always at her side, but she wanted Calvero, the one she could no longer have.

As she had watched the man she loved put into the ground in the cemetery, the realization had hit her. The man with whom she was enamored, who had saved her from herself, was gone. Who would save her now that Calvero was gone?

Neville had put his arm around her, pulling her close as she cried. She didn't reach over and hold him, she couldn't. She still loved Calvero and that wasn't about to change.

The doctor told Neville she had Nightingale Syndrome. Then he, who was in love with her, explained to her how she had ended up falling in love with the man who had nursed her back to health all those months ago. It wasn't real, Nightingale Syndrome, it was just a figment of the imagination.

Imagination – that was the key.

/GG/

Terry walked out of the auditorium on her way back to the flat she had shared with Calvero when he was alive. She was starting to get more of a spring into her step and she hadn't completely turned Neville down when he asked her for permission to date her. She just smiled and didn't outright say no. Of course she didn't say yes, but she figured that was a step in the right direction.

There was a flower girl sitting on the corner of the street, handing out flowers to passersby, which Terry always bought one. She would keep it next to the only picture ever taken of the two of them together, while they were in costume for the ballet. He a clown, she the lead.

She bought a red colored carnation and continued on her way, stepping on the toes of her feet like she was dancing on stage. For some reason, maybe Neville, she was in a particularly good mood and felt like dancing home instead of walking.

Alsop's boarding house was just around the corner and she was almost home. She smiled at people as she walked by, speaking briefly to those she knew, then went back into her little happy place.

"You're looking particularly happy today my dear." She heard an all too familiar voice to her side.

She had just entered into the house; the voice made her turn and almost faint.

"Calvero?"

Standing by the door next to her was the man whom she had buried less than three months and a fortnight ago.

"Would it be anyone else?" Calvero smiled and reached out a hand toward her.

She, tentatively, reached over and squeezed the hand. When she felt flesh and bone, she started to cry and wrapped him into a tight embrace.

"Oh Calvero!" She sobbed. "I thought you had left me."

Calvero reached over and rubbed the back of her hair, pulling her face toward his and whispering.

"Shush Terry. It's alright. I'm here." He cooed in her ear. "I'm not going to leave you, I promise."

Terry held on, intent on not letting go. She thought she had lost him once, she wasn't about to lose him again.

"Marry me Calvero, marry me now." She whispered. "I don't want to wait any longer."

"You mean to tell me, in all this time, you haven't moved on and decided to marry that young Neville."

Terry pulled away from Calvero and looked into his deep blue eyes. A smile slowly spread on her tear streaked face as she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"I could never have pulled myself away from you and you know it."

"I know, but I had to say something."

Terry pulled Calvero away from the door jam and up the stairs to their shared set of rooms. It had been almost a year since Calvero had left her because he thought he was holding her back, but the walls still showed the outlines of the many posters he had had on the walls.

"I see you haven't cleaned up this place."

Terry shoved him playfully. "I was away on tour, what do you expect."

She walked toward the pantry and pulled out a plate of kippers. She smiled as she held them in front of Calvero, waving them around.

"I always keep them handy."

"I can see that." Calvero sat down and put his feet under the table.

"Tomorrow." Terry said, putting them into a pan and frying them over the stove.

"Tomorrow what?"

"Tomorrow we get married and stop all this nonsense."

Calvero's eyes narrowed but Terry didn't change her expression.

"That's a little soon, don't you think. I've only just come back." He reached for a glass of water.

Terry left the fish on the burner and walked over to the table.

"Don't you think I've waited long enough? It's going to be hard enough, being a room apart tonight after being away from each other for so long." She knelt down and put her head on his lap. "Please Calvero, don't make me wait any longer to call you my husband."

She heard him take a deep breath. Deep in her heart she knew he would say yes, even if it meant having a sixth wife added to his list.

"Okay." She heard him say softly.

Terry pulled away and went to get the food. Calvero had come back from the dead, her wishes had been answered.

/GG/

When Terry awoke the next morning, she shot up in bed and ran to the other room. She wanted to make sure Calvero hadn't left in the night; something he was prone to do. Her heart fell when she saw the sofa didn't even look slept on.

She had left him there well after dawn; the two of them had talked for hours about the act he wanted to put together with her. Finally, he wasn't able to keep his eyes open and he fell asleep. Terry ended up putting a blanket on his sleeping form.

The blanket was now folded on the back of the sofa, right where she had nabbed it from when she had covered him. Terry sat down on the sofa and buried her face in the pillow, trying to get his scent.

She could just make out a lingering smell, probably his cologne. This made her eyes water as she curled up and hugged the pillow.

"Terry?" She heard softly from the door.

The girl looked up and listened.

"Terry? Darling are you in there? It's Neville?"

Terry sat up and looked at the door. What would Neville say when she told him Calvero hadn't died like was stated, but was alive and she was going to marry him later in the day? For a moment she thought Neville would be happy for her, then she decided not to tell him for fear of being sent to the asylum.

Calvero was alive and if she had to marry him to prove it, then she would.

"Sorry Neville, just a minute." She called. She wanted to at least look presentable for him, even though she knew his heart would be broken later that day.

Thereza, or Terry as her friends called her, walked over to a mirror and cleaned her face off. Then realized she was still in her nightgown. That wouldn't do, especially when answering the door. She silently chastised herself for running after Calvero in her nightclothes before the two of them were properly wed.

"Give me a moment to dress!" She shouted.

Terry ran to her chest of drawers and pulled out a simple outfit. One that was easy to wear and she knew that Calvero liked. It took her just a few minutes, then she answered the door.

"I'm sorry." She smiled, opening the door for her friend to enter.

"Don't be." The man smiled down at her.

She did have to admit, he was still beautiful.

"I wanted to invite you to lunch this afternoon. I'm meeting with some friends and would love if you would join us."

Terry's heart fell again, not because she couldn't go, but because she didn't want to keep information from Neville. He had been such a good companion when Calvero was gone.

"I'm so sorry, but I have other plans."

Silently Terry prayed Calvero wouldn't come back from wherever he had gone when the young composer was there.

"Oh." There was a definite fall in Neville's facial features as Terry ducked her eyes. "Well maybe next time."

Terry smiled and looked up at the man. "Of course." Calvero would want to come too. Neville could write music for their act.

There was a moment of silence, uncomfortable silence. Terry wanted to shoo him away, but being a lady she didn't.

"I should really be going." She blurted out, hoping this would get Neville to leave.

Sure, he was just being polite, but she wanted to find Calvero before he ran off again.

"I should be going too." Neville said, though he sounded unconvincing to her.

Terry watched as he left before shutting the door and running for her shoes. She didn't get far when the door was rapped on again.

"Coming." She said.

She didn't have a chance to finish putting her shoes on when Calvero burst into the room like a ball of energy.

"I've just come from the minister and he said he would be here at quarter of two." Calvero said, smiling.

"You went to find the minister?" She asked, happily.

"I thought it would make you happy." He stated simply, placing his hand out for hers and resting it on his heart.

"You have no idea!" Terry threw herself at him and gave him the kiss she had imagined giving him on the day they were wed all those months ago.

"Not until after the wedding." Calvero said when she finally came up for breath.

Terry ducked her head in slight embarrassment, but didn't let go of her choke hold on the man's neck.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "No…I'm not sorry. I should have been able to do that months ago, before all this nonsense occurred." She said gesturing toward the walls. "Before you decided to run off."

Calvero lowered his eyes for a moment. "I am sorry about that my dear, but at the time it seemed the right thing to do."

"It doesn't matter anymore." Terry said merrily. "Today we get married and we spend the rest of our lives together."

"I am years your senior, the odds are I will go before you reach that golden age." Calvero said, walking her over toward the sofa and pulling her down next to him.

"Please don't start that again." Terry said, looking away, tears glistening in her eyes.

"My dear, we can't deny the fact, so we must discuss it. I am forty-two years older than you and as much as it happens in the world, I don't believe all those young girls started out loving the men they were with, that came with time. We may not have that time."

"I already love you, so it doesn't matter." Terry said, putting a hand to his cheek and lowering her head to his shoulder. "I fell in love with you almost the moment we met and I will love you till the day time stands still."

Calvero chuckled. "That's a long time."

"Good. I want it to be."

Terry stood up and gracefully walked over toward the burning kippers she had forgotten about on the stove. She used a fork to pick one of the charred pieces of fish up and hold it in front of her face, before turning toward a cackling Calvero.

"Perhaps we should go out to breakfast instead."

/GG/

Breakfast surprised Terry, since no one seemed to recognize Calvero. Or more importantly to the fact, that her fiancée wasn't dead as was presumed. She and Calvero walked into a restaurant and ordered without so much as a glance from any other diners. She didn't care. That meant she could have him all to herself.

They talked about everything that didn't get said the night before, from where to honeymoon to if they wanted kids or not.

Calvero didn't want to bring children into the world that he was sure wouldn't get to have a father growing up. Terry wanted two, a boy and a girl, to pass on the name. After much persuasion, Calvero had agreed that he would give her two children, so she could have him with her, even after he was gone. For good, that was.

Terry then wanted to take Calvero to the auditorium. She had thought better of not showing him off. This time Calvero had won and they stayed away from public places, instead walking along the river and through the park.

She couldn't wait till they had their two children, so she and her love could push them in their prams along the cobblestone walkways and into the flower patches. That day they were teaming with butterflies, making the moment almost magical.

It made her feel as if she were walking through the clouds into heaven with the one person she believed would keep her safe from herself. No one else existed when she was with Calvero and no one would exist in the future.

A clock brought her out of her daze as she realized they both needed to be back at the flat for the wedding.

"I never want this to end." She said, leaning her head against his shoulder as the two started back toward home.

"For the life of me I can't understand why you picked an old man." He muttered into her ear.

"Because this old man was nice to me, even when he thought I was a brothel girl who ended up in a family way."

"That seems like a lifetime ago."

"It was, and will get further away as we continue on."

Terry pulled away and grabbed his hand with hers. Walking hand-in-hand, although a lot would consider it juvenile, was more intimate than even the sweetest kiss. It was something you could do without being thought a tramp or a tart. Plus the feel of his hand reassured her that he wasn't going anyway.

/GG/

For some reason when she entered the room with Calvero, it didn't seem so lonely. Sure Neville had walked her into her building plenty of times, but it wasn't the same when you were in love with the person you were walking home with.

She wasn't sure she could call what she felt for Neville was love, more like a secret crush she had when she was young. That crush hadn't gone away completely mind you, just moved itself over so she could concentrate on her love of Calvero.

It wasn't two seconds after the door was shut that the knock came. It was the justice. He was there to join the two into one! Something she had been waiting for, not altogether patiently either.

The justice smiled. "Are you two the lucky couple?" He asked.

Calvero spoke for both of them. "We are."

Terry took his hand in hers, beaming like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.

"And is there someone around to witness the union?"

"Oh, we forgot." Terry spoke in a slightly depressed tone.

Calvero brought her hand to his. "Not to worry my dear." He said with his charming smile.

The man walked over to the door, opened it and called out. "Mrs. Alsop, could you come up here for a few minutes. I think there's something wrong with the gas in our rooms."

There was silence for a moment, then the shriek of Mr. Alsop's voice cut through the air.

"Calvero, is that you? I thought it was in the papers you had died?"

"No, Mrs. Alsop That was jus a rumor. Terry and I do need you though."

"So it's not the gas then?"

Terry could hear her ascending the stairs.

"No Mrs. Alsop, but you do seem to move faster when something is wrong then when something is right."

Mrs. Alsop could be heard muttering in the hallway as she walked toward the room.

"What's so right about pretending to be dead and leaving me in a lurch. Of all the incompetence." She stood in the doorway in a threatening manner. "Upon my word Calvero, if this is some sort of game, I'll have you both thrown out into the streets."

She then looked at the justice. "What's he doing here?"

"He's to marry us." Terry said.

"Marry you. A man of his age cavorting with a girl your age? I should have had you both thrown out when I caught him over you in the beginning."

The justice raised his eye brows and looked at the two.

"You didn't wait until you were properly wed?" He asked.

"No, no." Terry said, shaking her head. "Calvero saved me from a gas leak. Mrs. Alsop got the wrong impression."

The justice looked at Mrs. Alsop. "Is that true. These two didn't conjugate before today."

"I don't know what they did in here, it wasn't any of my business. Marry them off quick though. I've got things to do. Though they did cohabitate for a time. I had to tell everyone they were already married. Better to get it true and proper now then never if you ask me."

Terry just about had heart failure listening to Alsop going on like a chatterbox. The justice just nodded though and began the questioning.

She walked over to Calvero and put her hand back in his, ready to become his wife, as it should have been in the beginning.

/GG/

"This is the first time I've seen her actually make it to the wedding. Usually she comes out of it before they even reach the rooms."

Neville looked into the room his beloved Terry was occupying. The place she had been after she had gone into a state about poor Calvero dying.

"Doctor, is she ever going to come out of it?"

"That I don't know young man. I've seen her do some strange psychological things to herself, but this is the worst I've seen in my time as a doctor."

Terry was standing in the center of the room, hand clasping at air and repeating the words the justice in her mind was telling her.

Unfortunately the mind is something that can't always be controlled and when you fall in love with someone you can't let go, your mind could very well find a way around all of your hurt and suffering. Creating illusions that only exist to you and no one else.

Neville had known Terry was rather susceptible to creating conditions and it saddened him to see her in such a state. Of course if she never came out of it, then she would at least be happy, in her mind.

Calvero was dead and there was nothing anyone could do about it.