Christian spun around to see his body guard Warner, grinning strangely at him and still gripping his shoulder. "Warner, what are you doing here, it's -"

The large man cut him off. "Yes, I know, it's late, it's dark, but you can take care of yourself, right? Ha. I've been working in the wrong job for far too long. You see, you never made it interesting."

Christian sighed and rubbed his head. Warner had gone off on his rants like this before. He didn't have time for it now. "This is really not a good time, I've got to -"

Again he was silenced. Warner squeezed his shoulder so hard it almost hurt, and leaned in to whisper a message to Christian. "It all ends today. You don't have all the power anymore. I believe if you check your safe, you will see what I mean. And by the way, I quit," he said sarcastically, laughing and running quickly down the street, leaving Christian standing there dumbfounded. What on Earth could he have meant? He had probably had just a little too much absinthe again, which for Warner was a common occurrence, but Christian rushed to his rented apartment just to be sure.

Upon arriving, he found the room a mess. Indeed, absinthe was strewn all over the floor, and broken glass lay around in various places. Not expecting it to get any worse however, he went to check his safe. Christian gasped as he found it open, and the contents all missing. He had only kept a small amount of his families' fortune, but it was still significant enough to matter. And he doubted his father would share with him anymore.

Christian stumbled backwards a few steps, a fell onto the sofa. What would he tell his father? It was from him, not his arrogant title of "duke" that most of his money came from.

But that wasn't what was really bothering him. Now he couldn't save Satine. His hopes of a better future, his dreams of taking her away from the underworld had just been shattered. Money was everything in Paris, and now he doubted they could leave. He felt tears start to form in his eyes and fell into a restless sleep, filled with haunting images of Satine, just out of his reach. He could not save her…

---------------

On the street below, two heavily clad figures conversed in the darkness. "You got it?" asked the shorter of the two.

"Yes. I already took the half you promised me," said the other, in a deep voice.

"Good. It seems my brilliant plan will work after all. Now, all I have to do is wait for opening night, when I kidnap the girl and dispense of the only one who might be able to stop us."

The taller one laughed. "That shouldn't be hard. He's not the type to put up a fight. He hates violence."

--------------

The next morning, Christian found himself awakened suddenly, still clutching an absinthe bottle in his hand. The light from his window was blinding. He noticed another presence in the room, and sitting up with a start, smiled sleepily at Satine. She was dressed all in black, and her eyes looked red. Christian immediately worried.

"What's wrong?" he asked cautiously, afraid of the answer.

She was not as cautious however. She seemed very sure of herself, as if she had this carefully planned out. "I'm staying with the writer."

Christian felt his stomach lurch. "…What?" he asked slowly, feeling like he was somewhere else.

"After you left me last night, Edmond came to me. He promised me everything. Everything I've ever dreamed of. A life without money, a life without diamonds -"

"A life without love?" Christian asked contemptuously. So, it had all been a lie.

Satine moved away from him, and he saw her eyes looked almost panicked. "You knew who I was, I don't expect you to understand. You knew that our love could never be real, you only bought me for -"

"I didn't buy you," he said angrily, keeping his voice low.

"I'm sorry, I…" Satine quickly turned around, and tilted her head up, hiding something from Christian. But he didn't hear her gasps and coughs, because at that moment he lost it.

"This can't be real, this isn't the truth. TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG, TELL ME THE TRUTH! TELL ME THE TRUTH!" He yelled repeatedly at her, turning her around and shaking her. Tears were streaming down her face and she was still coughing heavily.

She looked into his eyes, steadying herself. This was the moment that this whole relationship came down to. And it all rested on her. Looking into his eyes, she found what she had to do extremely difficult, as she saw the ache and pain she had put there. "The truth is, I am the Hindi courtesan, and I…can't do this. I'm so sorry Christian!"

*I've just ruined all of it* she thought to herself. "I didn't mean anything I just said, I promise! I love you so much, and I've been so afraid. Edmond said if I didn't break off my relationship with you, he would kill you. I know he can do it, he's a powerful man…he's hired Warner and oh, they took all your money. And Zidler found out about our escape plan, he came to see me last night. He made me feel awful about leaving and told me I would destroy the Rouge, and how could I do that to him and everyone I love…and he also told me…other things." She couldn't bring herself to finish the last part of that, what Zidler had mainly come to tell her, because she found that she couldn't hurt Christian anymore.

Christian, however, still hadn't moved. "Do you love me?" he asked coldly.

She nodded, crying into his shoulder. "Come what may," she whispered.

"Edmond wrote that song," Christian sneered. "Maybe you should run away with him now. After all, he's got all the money, that's what you want isn't it?"

Satine hugged him, running a hand through his hair. She had done this to him. He was no longer a naïve, love-sick poet. Now he had seen how cruel love could be. She had to help him. "No Christian. I've never wanted that. Those men who only cared about money never had any heart left to care about me. You were different. You saw me for who I really am, and helped me more than you can ever know. For that, I will always love you. You've got to believe me."

She felt Christian begin to shake, and he too started to cry. Pulling her close, he kissed her neck and sang softly in her ear, "Never knew, I could feel like this, like I've never seen the sky before…want to vanish inside your kiss. Everyday I love you more and more. Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings, telling me to give you everything. Seasons may change, winter to spring, but I love you until the end of time…"

They just stood still for a few moments, almost as if they would never let go of each other. Christian was the first to break the silence. "I love you too Satine. I'm sorry if I ever made you think otherwise. But…now…I can't save you. We can't run away. They've got the money…I'm so sorry." He buried his face in her shoulder.

She silenced his cries. "Shh…don't worry. We can still get away. I think I've got enough for two train tickets out of here, but the trains are all booked for the next few days. We can leave at the end of this week though," she smiled at him.

He nodded and raised his face up to hers. Satine continued, with fear in her eyes, "Christian, please don't be in the theatre tomorrow night. Edmond said he'd kill you, and I know he will. Just please stay away. For both of us."

He nodded. It would be hard to miss her first performance as an actress, but he could do it for her. Not for himself, but for Satine. "I will," he whispered.

He caressed her face gently, kissing her passionately once more, before pushing her out the door. "You're going to be late for dress rehearsal!" he said with a smile. This had happened once not too long ago, on one of their first meetings.

Satine laughed, grinning playfully at him. "I might," she said as she stepped out the door. "But you've got bigger problems. You've just got to do something about that bed hair, Christian."

Christian felt his hair, embarrassed, as she left. He was determined to stay happy and keep Satine happy for as long as he could. But the terrible feeling that was growing inside him not go away. The feeling that something devastating would soon happen to both of them.



A/N: And on that note, so ends chapter 7. Tada! I like this one, hehehe. Please do review. And I think I should warn everyone, I like writing tragedies, so this may have to end that way, sorry. But I've still got a few more chapters to go, so we'll see.