Author's Note: A year ago today, I had an idea for a Moulin Rouge AU. I wrote in my notebook, "What if Nini hadn't been such a meanie and didn't make the sitar player/writer remark to the Duke?" Out of that one sentence, Stealing Time was created.

This story has always felt to me to be epic, simply because it's taken so long to write and because I've written scenes that will occur towards the end that have affected me so emotionally I had to stop writing. I love writing it, and even if no one else is reading it, at least I'm enjoying the ride.

I sent this to some friends a while ago, and they enjoyed and now I'm putting it here as a thank you to everyone who's ever read ST, or taken the time to review, to the muse who sent me this story and my beta. It takes place within the ST universe, before Christian leaves for Paris. It hasn't really got anything to do with the plot of ST – it's just a little back story I guess, that might be referred to in coming chapters.

If you haven't read Stealing Time, then all you need to know is that Emily and Joan are Christian's sisters (younger and older respectively), Algernon is his father, and Victoria is his mother. Of course, it'll make even more sense if you read Stealing Time… *plugplugplugplug*

It's fluffy, it's a little pointless – it's a cookie. Have fun reading! :)

(BTW, in this story, Christian is around 14 or 15, and Emily is 7 or 8. Just so you know.)

~ * ~

Bedtime Stories

~ A Story from Stealing Time ~

"Christian?"

Christian looked up from his book and smiled at the small girl standing in his doorway. "Yes, Em?"

"Will you read me a story? Mamma said that you would."

Dog-earing his page, Christian got up and took his sister's outstretched hand, smiling down at her. "That depends on what you're reading," he said, as she led him into her own little powder blue room. "Is it still that book Joan was reading you?"

"No-o!" cried Emily, wrinkling her noise in distaste. "That wasn't very interesting.," she added ruefully.

Christian laughed softly. "Now Emily," he said in a mock-stern voice, "that book was highly educational."

"It was highly dull," said Emily pulling a face. Christian tried to look disapproving, but failed: it had been a very dull book, even by Joan's standards. Wriggling free from his hand, she ran to her bookshelf, pulling out a rather thick royal blue book, and thrusting it into Christian's hands.

"Quest Three," read Christian, looking at the book, "Azrak's Legacy – oh! Is this the third part?"

Emily nodded proudly. "Mamma found it in a bookshop yesterday – isn't it exciting?"  She ran her hands over the bookshelf, mostly filled with thin little volumes, the type most little girls read. But then, at the end of the row, were two other relatively thick volumes: one sandy coloured and the other a paler blue to the one Christian held in his hands. Emily gave Christian a satisfied smile, which he returned.

Christian and Emily didn't really look like siblings: even at Emily's young age, Christian could see that once she had lost her puppy fat, she would be as svelte as their mother. Whereas Christian had a depressing feeling that, like most of the Evans's men, he would start to… thicken somewhat around the middle once he reached his thirties if he wasn't too careful.

Physical differences aside, the two siblings were very close. It was Christian who had proudly announcing to his astonished parents that Emily's first word was "pig" after Christian had spent three hours pointing at a picture of said animal; it was he who started to teach her how to read and, it was he who had bought an old looking book with a light yellow cover in a book shop. He'd seen it, flicked through it and decided to get it for both himself and Emily. After he'd read it, he'd thought that it might have been a little too complex for Emily's taste: it was about a prince from Arabia going on a journey, a quest to find his grandfather, and meeting with wise men, bandits who stole his horse and a mysterious ghost army. Christian had loved it, but wasn't sure how Emily would feel about it – after all, most of the books she read seemed to concern themselves with tea parties and manners, not sword fights and magic. He'd started reading it to her anyway, deciding that he might as well get a little entertainment as well.

However, after he'd finished the first chapter, Christian knew that he had somewhat underestimated Emily's interest in sword fights and magic. She had been sitting bolt upright, her eyes as round as her mouth: she looked, not bored, but shocked and vaguely disorientated, as though she'd been lost in another world and was slowly coming back down to earth.

And after that, Christian got no peace: she demanded that he keep reading to her every night till she fell asleep or his voice had become hoarse, whichever came first. At mealtimes she badgered Christian with questions: "do you think Prince Ali will get Reeh back?" "Do you think Ali will find Cassim?" "What colour are Ali's eyes?"

"I don't know Em," said Christian wearily one breakfast time. "Probably brown."

Emily bit her lip thoughtfully. "What shade of brown?"

At that point, Algernon had dropped his fork onto his plate and started to say something; Emily took that as a sign to scamper from the table and back up to her room, anxious for that night's instalment.

Algernon looked after his daughter and then turned to Christian. "She's obsessed with that book. What have you started?" to which Christian could only shrug.

"I've tried to get her to read it herself… but she likes being read to."

"Humph," said Algernon, ending the conversation by picking up his newspaper and reading it.

Despite all these headaches, Christian was pleased that his sister enjoyed the book so much: there was something wonderful about the way Emily would scrunch her blankets up in her hands as Christian read, the way she sat up straight, not wanting to miss a single word. So he went back to the bookshop, with the vague idea of seeing if the author had written any more. To his delight, he found that there was a sequel and the shop assistant told him that there was another book of shorter stories about Prince Ali, and a third part to the series was in the pipeline. Both of the new books had illustrations, which he knew would delight Emily, and hopefully stop her incessant questioning as to what colour Ali's eyes were.

Christian had bought both the sequel and the short stories, meaning to hide them in his room until Christmas, as a gift for Emily. She must have somehow got wind of his plan though, because he found Emily, a few weeks before Christmas, perched on his bed, reading "Quest Two: The Voice of Freedom". She looked up as he entered the room, eyes wide.

"Ali's in love," she said in an awed voice, dissolving the small amount of disapproval Christian felt at her sneaking into his room. "But he doesn't know it yet."

"Who's he in love with?" he asked, sitting down next to her.

"With Azul. She has blue eyes," she added meaningfully.

"Does she now?" Christian took the book carefully out of her hands and read it to her until she fell asleep, curled up in his lap.

After that, Christian found that with schoolwork and a few other activities forced upon him by his father, he had very little time to read to Emily: his mother took over that little role. It always gave him a small pang in his heart as he walked past Emily's room at night and heard his mother's soft voice reading to her daughter. Sometimes he peeped around the door and watched Emily listen: she was so intensely involved with the book that she seemed to live every moment with the characters. When Ali and Azul admitted their feelings to each other, she stared down at her covers, smiling softly to herself; when war was declared between Ali's kingdom and another, she gasped and covered her mouth, and when Ali actually left to fight, she had tears in her eyes. And then Christian would trudge back to his room, throw himself on his bed and wondered why real life wasn't like the stories he read.

So it was with much suppressed joy that he took the latest instalment of the "Quest Trilogy" as they had dubbed it, from Emily and sat down besides her bed.

"I haven't read this one yet," he said flicking through the pages. "What's happened so far?"

"Oh, lots!" cried Emily, eagerly. "It's Ali's parents wedding anniversary, and so they were preparing for a big party, but then Azul got kidnapped by this evil sorcerer, Aswad, who wants to use her to keep his evil magical city alive, and Ali was really upset by her disappearing, but then his parents gave him an Oracle, and he asked it where Azul was, and-"

"I think I'll catch up later," said Christian hastily, head spinning slightly from her explanation. He quickly skimmed through a page. "So… Ali's on another journey?"

"Yes. But this time, he has to find his fiancée, not his grandfather."

Christian was about to ask when Ali and Azul had got engaged, but decided against it: he'd read up on that later as well.

"Alright," he said finally, "so Ali and his horse-"

"Reeh," said Emily promptly.

"Yes, Reeh, they've just entered a canyon, yes?"

Emily nodded. "And Reeh was getting nervous, but Mamma stopped reading there." Emily scowled. "She said I needed sleep," she continued, sounding outraged at the very idea of sleep being more important then the story.

Christian grinned. "Right then…They've left the canyon… they're hearing the noise… Here we go." He leaned forward, so the book was practically resting against the pillow. He sneaked a look at Emily's expectant face and smiling a little, he started reading.

"Reeh walked only a few steps when the same noise came to them. Reeh stopped again in alarm trying to locate the source of the noise with his ears and eyes. This time Ali grabbed the handle of his sword getting ready for a fight.
"But before any of them could react a loud roar resounded in the desert echoing in the canyon. The only thing Ali could see was a enormous shadow falling on them. Before he could realise what was going on Reeh was on the run already. Ali grabbed the reins to keep himself steady on Reeh's back and looked over his shoulder. He was wondering what was that.
"What he saw was a big lion chasing them. A big, beautiful lion. A lion of the colours of the fire."

Emily squealed and covered her eyes. Christian blinked at her. "I'm sure they'll be alright Em-"

"Just read!" she squeaked, staring at the book cover as though it were that, and not Christian reading to her. Blinking, Christian followed her order.

" "Oh Allah!" Ali whispered in surprise.
"But the lion was much faster than Reeh was. It didn't take long for the lion to catch up with the horse and close Reeh's way. The horse stopped short and neighed wildly rearing up in his back legs. Ali had to grab Reeh's neck to keep himself from falling.
"Ali was totally taken by surprise, and the next thing he saw was that big lion jumping on him. His eyes widened with surprise and terror and he tried to avoid the attack of the lion, but it was so sudden and unexpected that Ali fell off Reeh to the ground hitting it hard.
"It took a couple of seconds to Ali to recover himself from that fall but when he did he saw the lion walking slowly around him, almost teasing him, just waiting for the right time to attack him. It was a beautiful, magnificent animal, but Ali didn't had the chance to admire it. His heart was racing and as much as he was trying to react he just couldn't."

Christian paused and looked at Emily again, struck by a sudden idea. She had been staring at the cover, but after a moment she looked up at Christian.

"Why have you stopped?" she frowned.

"He froze under the lion's gaze," read Christian in a low voice. This time he let the silence stretch out, Emily giving him a look that clearly said that she thought he'd gone mad.

"Christian?" she asked uncertainly.

"Suddenly the lion jumped on him, determined to kill him right there!"  cried Christian, pouncing forward, one hand tickling Emily, the other still clutching the book. Emily shrieked and laughed, slapping at his hand ineffectually. "Ali just covered his face with his arm," continued Christian, paying no heed to his sister's yelps, "but at the same moment he saw Reeh to get between the lion and himself. His royal horse was protecting him."

Emily (who had always been quick on the uptake), started head butting Christian's arm and neighing loudly.

"Neigh! I will save you Ali!" she whinnied, her voice so deep and comical that Christian started to laugh as he read.

" "Reeh! NO!" Ali screamed realising the lion could easily kill his horse.
"At that moment Ali felt a strange kind of energy flooding his whole body. With an incredible fast movement he went to his feet and almost jumped on the lion just in time to prevent him from attacking Reeh. Ali put his arms around the lion's neck and tighten his grip.  The lion –"

Christian found that he could not continue: Emily, who despite her loud neighs, had apparently been playing very close attention to the story, because she had wrapped her arms around Christian's neck, and with surprising strength, tightened her own grip. Christian choked and laughed at the same time and for a moment found that he really could not breathe.

"The young man – Ow – and the lion fought for several minutes until-" Christian laughed as Emily made little growling noises as she gripped him "-until Ali couldn't keep his grip anymore." Christian paused for breath. "His arms were not responding to him anymore and with a movement of this head the lion sent Ali to the ground."

With a snarl, Christian tossed his head and Emily let go, giggling madly. Christian rubbed his neck and stuck his tongue out at her, making her giggle even more.

"Ali was gasping for air, his eyes on the lion" he continued, aware of his own gasping for air between his laughs, "not wanting to be taken by surprise. The lion walked around him, obviously trying to catch his own breath. Ali grabbed the handle of his sword and as soon as he saw the lion charging against him he pulled out his sword in front of him and with a steady hit of his sword he rejected the lion's attack."

Christian stopped, having to deflect an attack from Emily, who had taken it upon herself to be the lion. Using the book as a sword, he lightly tapped her hands as she dived for him, trying to read at the same time.

"But the beast was-" Tap. "-really mad by-" Tap. "Uh… then. He roared loudly-"

Emily let out a roar of her own and dived at Christian again, correctly interpreting the lion's next course of action. After a short, but furious attack from the lion, Christian managed to use the book for its intended purpose and started reading the next paragraph.

"Suddenly the lion took Ali by surprise hitting the blade of his sword with his paw," cried Christian, and Emily slapped the book, hard, with her own hand. "Ali lost his sword and was defenceless before the lion-"

"You haven't lost your sword," said Emily solemnly.

"No, but I need it to read the rest of the story."

Emily thought for a moment. "Okay," she said eventually, "but I want to be Ali this time."

Christian nodded in agreement, deciding that he'd fended off enough lions for today.

"The creature roared again and charged against Ali." Christian dived forward, snarling as Emily pinched her cheeks together in an effort not to laugh and be Ali. "The prince reacted really fast," he continued, "taking his dagger out of his belt with a fast movement and wounding the lion's face with it – aah! Cold!" he cried, as Emily put her hands on Christian's cheeks to deflect his attack. He leant back in his chair as far as he could to avoid her hands and continued reading.

"It took the lion by surprise and Ali threw himself to the floor trying to reach his sword. As soon as he grabbed his sword he could see the big lion jumping on him in rage."

"I need a sword!" cried Emily in alarm.

"Use Rabbit," said Christian, picking up the raggedy cloth bundle that had once resembled a rabbit (before Joan, Christian and Emily had got hold of it), and handing it to her.

"He's a bit… floppy," said Emily, regarding the toy critically.

"Well, since we don't have any swords around here, you'll have to settle for that. Or a knitting needle," he added as Emily discarded Rabbit and picked up a knitting needle that her mother had left on the bedside table. Christian eyed the needle and hoped that Ali didn't kill the lion by stabbing it in the eye.

"I'm ready," said Emily, gripping the needle tightly. Christian felt a little taken aback at the glint in her eye but decided to dismiss it: it wasn't as if she could do much damage with it… he hoped.
"Ali's eyes widened with fear and surprise. He just put his sword in front of him as the lion was about to fall on him and Ali could feel how the blade of the sword sunk in the lion's chest."
Resigned to his fate, the 'lion' dived towards 'Ali', and taking hold of the needle, stuck it under his arm. With a terrible moan, the 'lion' rolled over onto the bed and made a few feeble death throes with his paws. 'Ali' cheered at her triumphant victory.

"What is going on here?"

Christian sat up and looked over at the door and saw his father and mother silhouetted in the doorway. He couldn't see his father's expression but from the tone of his voice, he wasn't amused.

"We were… reading," said Christian, removing the needle from under his arm. Algernon's eyes travelled from Christian's dishevelled hair, to the various soft toys that had fallen off the bed, the chair that had inadvertently been kicked over and Emily who was trying to hide her giggles by burying her head in the sheets.

"We're not going to be able to get her to sleep now!" he hissed at Christian.

"Of course you will-" began Christian, but he was interrupted.

"Christian? What happens next?" squeaked Emily, coming out from the sheets and bouncing up and down on the bed a little. Algernon glared at Christian who did his best to look ashamed.

"Now, now, darling," crooned Victoria, hurrying past her son and husband to her excited daughter. "It's time for bed-"

"But-"

"No buts," said Victoria firmly. "Into bed with you now, come on."

Christian went over to say goodnight, and as he kissed Emily on the cheek, he whispered in her ear, "I'll read the rest to you soon, hmm?" Emily beamed at him, and Christian straightened, careful not to look directly at his father.

He tried to make a break for his own room, but his father caught up with him in the hallway. Christian clasped his hands in front of him and bowed his head as his father told him that he was an "irresponsible, devil-may-care dreamer," and that if he wasn't careful, he'd turn out just like his "idiot uncle." Privately, Christian thought that it wouldn't be such a bad thing to turn out like Uncle Algernon, the bohemian of the family, but he didn't dare say this to Algernon. Eventually, with a resigned wave of his hand, Algernon let Christian go to bed, after asking him to never read like that to Emily ever again. Christian crossed his fingers and said yes.

As he lay in bed that night, Christian found himself unable to sleep. All he could think about was Ali and Azul. They loved each other so much… Ali had fought a war for her. Azul had stopped the war for him. An odd sort of ache filled Christian's heart, and when he finally fell asleep, he dreamt of a woman with fiery red hair, whom he didn't recognise, didn't know but he was fighting a lion for her, and she fought one for him. He couldn't see her face and kept asking her to turn around, to which she just laughed and occasionally let out a little yelp of her own as the lion attacked. He had just reached out to touch her shoulder when he was brought back to consciousness very suddenly. He blinked in the darkness.

"Christian?" came a whisper to his left. "Are you awake?"

"Em?" he whispered, and sat up. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see that Emily was standing by his bed, clutching the book in her arms.

"When's 'soon'?" she asked.

"What?"

"Is 'soon' now?" she continued, her voice hopeful.

"Emily," said Christian firmly, "do you know what time it is?"

"One-thirty," she replied, holding out the book to him. "Is 'soon' now?" she repeated.

Christian stared at her incredulously. "Emily, I need… I need sleep!"

"I know! So do I!" she whispered earnestly. "But I can't sleep not knowing what happens!"

Christian regarded her for a moment. "How about this," he said at last. "You go back to bed now – yes, now-" he added sternly as she opened her mouth furiously, "and I'll read it to you tomorrow, before breakfast."

There was a short silence. "Do you promise?"

"Yes."

"Hold up your hands."

"I promise," said Christian, holding up his hands, torn between exasperation and amusement.

Looking a little crestfallen, Emily nodded. Christian smiled sympathetically and took her chin in his hand. "Look at it this way," he said softly, "now you can go and dream about how brave Ali was." Emily smiled, gave Christian a hurried kiss on the cheek and disappeared into the shadows. Christian listened as her light footsteps faded and her door click softly shut. Shaking his head, Christian fell back onto his pillows and tried to remember what he'd been dreaming about.

 
* * * * *

Disclaimer: The story Christian reads to Emily is not my own creation: Ali, Azul and the whole Quest Trilogy belong to a very dear friend of mine, Evi. She's created these fabulous stories and characters, which you can read about here:

The extracts that Christian reads are direct quotes from Quest 3:Azrak's Legacy and are used with permission from the author. I can't tell you how odd it feels to write fan fiction and actually have permission to use the characters…

Christian, of course, belongs to Baz, and I don't own him. Damn.