AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This fic is dedicated to Floppy, my partner in crime, and to Melissa, who was a fan of our fics. About a month and a half ago, she and another friend of ours were in a car accident. A drunk driver hit them on their way home from another friend's house. Melissa died, and Dora is being released from the hospital tomorrow. Please pray for them.

Also, this fic was inspired by Dani, who mentioned that in the movie Moulin Rouge, Zidler resembled our band director. Thus, "The Greatest Thing" was born. I don't know how college band works, but too bad. Enjoy the fic.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Moulin Rouge.

The Greatest Thing

By the Furby

Chapter 2: My Gift is My Song

Christian followed his new roommates to the bandhall. He could hear the myriad strains of practicing band members. Suddenly he stopped dead.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"Her? That's Satine, the colorguard captain," replied Travis, nodding at the redhead leading the guard through some stretches.

"She's beautiful," he whispered.

"And single at the moment. You want me to introduce you?" Christian nodded dumbly at Travis' suggestion.

"We should take him to Zidler first," said Sammy quietly. Sammy did everything quietly, with the exception of music.

"Oh yeah." They walked into the directors' office, where a guy holding drumsticks was also waiting. Zidler, a large, florid-looking man, glowered at them.

"Why has Audrey quit, and is this 'Christian' as good as Travis made him out to be?" he demanded.

"This is Christian, and we think he could be the best clarinet player-and section leader-that this band has ever had," replied Travis, looking serious for once.

"That's Duke," Sammy whispered to Christian. "He's also new and he's in percussion." Duke glared snootily at Christian.

"Well, let's hear it boy!" demanded Zidler.

Christian took a deep breath and began to play.

Meanwhile, outside of the directors' office, Satine was talking to Mona, another guard member. "His name's Duke. He's in percussion," Mona was saying. "And his father's a Broadway producer."

"Really." Satine took a sip from her water bottle thoughtfully. More than anything, Satine wanted to be an actress on Broadway. She had grown up watching musicals like "Oklahoma!" and "My Fair Lady" with her grandmother, and she had taken dance and singing lessons throughout childhood. This could be her big break.

Back inside the office, Zidler was clapping Christian on the back. "Excellent! Our first marching rehearsal starts in ten minutes! I'll go tell the clarinet section the good news!" He hurried out.

"Ouch!" Christian whirled around at Travis' shout. In his excitement, he had accidentally broken one of Duke's drumsticks, which had been dropped.

"You little shit!" snarled Duke in a nasally, weasel-like voice. He shoved both drumsticks at Travis. "You're paying for those!" He stalked out of the office.

"But I only broke one!" yelled Travis. "Here, hold these," he told Christian, handing the drumsticks to him before running after Duke.

"I'm gonna go get some water," he told Sammy and Doc, who were looking through the office. "Watch my clarinet."

Satine and Mona saw an unfamiliar, tall-ish guy with light brown hair walk out of the office. "That must be him," said Mona, pointing to the drumsticks in his hand. "Go get 'im, tiger."

Satine followed the guy outside to the water fountain. "Hi there."

Christian nearly spat out his water. "Hi," he sputtered.

Marie, the colorguard director, was passing by. "Good, you've met," she said. "You two have a dance duet at the very beginning of the show." She smiled. "Now get out on the field," she called back, walking away.

Satine smiled. "See you outside," she said, winking.

Christian ran back into the office and grabbed his clarinet from Sammy, who was walking out the door. "I'm in love," he said to no one in particular.

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