~ * ~ E S C A P I N G * T H E * U N D E R W O R L D ~ * ~

by Karadarlin and She's a Star

~ * ~ E L E V E N : J U S T * T O * L O V E ~ * ~

by She's a Star

~*~

They left again the next morning after tears were shed and Victoria had flung her arms around Satine at least five times. As their carriage slowly let Claremont fade into the distance, Satine could still see Christian's youngest sister waving vigorously.

"She's a darling," said Satine softly, more to fill the empty silence than anything else.

Christian nodded in agreement, and Satine felt a lump begin to form in her throat. Why was he being so subdued?

"Christian, sweetie, you can talk to me," she said softly. "I know this must be so hard for you, I-"

"I hate him, Satine," he said, voice low but filled with passion.

"Your father?" she asked, surprised.

"How could he?" Christian continued, more to himself than her. "How dare he be so awful to you when he-"

"Christian, don't," Satine said weakly. "Everyone does things they regret. And...well, it turned out all right, didn't it?"

"How could he have been so awful to you?"

"Christian, I'm fine, it's fine!" Satine said quickly, desperate to convince him. "I don't mind. It's all right now."

His blue eyes, so hardened only moments before, stared at her with the desolate hopelessness of a sad child.

"I just want you to be happy," he whispered earnestly.

Satine felt tears well up in her own eyes, and she stroked his cheek lovingly. "As long as I'm with you, you don't have to worry."

With a sigh, she snuggled, contented, into his arms and said softly, "We're leaving here behind us...we're going home, and this time we can do whatever we want to. No Duke, no show...just us."

Satine could hear the smile in her husband's voice as he repeated her words.

"Just us."

~*~

Satine sighed happily as they entered their garret, dropping their few suitcases onto the floor. Christian immediately wrapped his arms around her and began to kiss her passionately. When he pulled away, Satine grinned at him.

"Down, boy," she commanded playfully, swatting at his arm.

"I try," he began in an exaggerated French accent, "But I cannot reezeest thees raveeshing beauty!"

"Well, then, by all means, continue, Monsieur," Satine said with a wink. She kissed him softly, memories dancing throughout her mind. Kissing him had changed her world...had given her hope and allowed her to truly begin to live. She'd been so ready to just give up and allow whatever dark force had been taking over her body to succeed.

And then she'd kissed him.

She'd been so jaded, positive she'd seen everything this bleak world had to offer. But then....oh, she'd been so wrong.

"I love you so much," she whispered softly after they pulled apart. Sighing, she rested her head on his shoulder. "You saved me."

"So did you," Christian responded. "I-"

The door swung open, interrupting him and revealing Harold, clad in his ringmaster's outfit. Satine sighed inwardly, wondering why he always barged in during the most inconvenient moments.

"Chickpea, Christian, you're back!" he boomed with a merry smile. "Now, Satine, do you have your costumes for the club here?"

"Yes..." Satine said, confused.

"Put one on, quick, Strawberry," Harold commanded.

"Why??"

"The word slipped that you were back in town, and every man in the entire club is chanting your name."

"Harold, no-o-o!" Satine exclaimed. "No, no, no, no, no! That's over, that's in the past-"

"Just one song?" Harold begged. "Come on, Kitten, just do 'Diamonds' once! That's all I'm asking for!"

"Harry-"

"Aw, Satine, where's your sense of adventure?" Christian interrupted, grinning at her and squeezing her shoulders.

"What?!" Satine asked in shock. Surely Christian wouldn't want her to go back to the club again!

"Just do the 'Sparkling Diamond' act one more evening," he prodded teasingly. "It's awfully selfish of me to keep you all to myself."

Satine gave him an exasperated look, which he responded to with an even wider smile.

"Fine!" she finally sighed. "But JUST one song. And I'm only doing this because you're forcing me to."

~*~

"Sa-tine! Sa-tine! Sa-tine!"

The cheers echoed throughout the crowded dance hall, and as soon as she stepped inside applause and delighted shouts erupted throughout the room. She could practically feel the lustful energy pressing down onto her, and it made her feel almost faint. Not euphoric, the way it used to.

She'd used to live for this.

It was amazing, how one person could change so much.

Smiling, she raised up her arms, jutting out a hip and striking an exaggerated pose. The room immediately fell silent, waiting...waiting. Every single pair of eyes were on her, yearning to hear her voice fill the room.

She opened her lips, ready to sing the opening notes of Sparkling Diamonds, but found that she couldn't.

Just couldn't.

She didn't want to lie anymore...she couldn't go saying that diamonds were a girl's best friend when really, they were nothing. They didn't give you happiness.

Or love.

With a small smile, she eyed Christian, who had just taken a seat next to the Argentinean in one of the booths. He grinned in return, and Satine immediately felt her body fill with the light, fluffy happiness of love. Taking a few steps forward, she began to sing.

"Never knew I could feel like this...like I've never seen the sky before."

A few men began whispering curiously, staring at her as though she were an escapee from a mental asylum. Was this really the Sparkling Diamond, voice so full of emotion, expression so pure?

"Want to vanish inside your kiss," she continued, a hint of a smile playing around her painted red lips. "Every day I love you more and more."

Watching her intently, Christian stood up and took a few steps. Lost in one another's eyes, they continued together, "Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing? Telling me to give you everything..."

"Seasons may change," Christian sang, taking her hand in his own.

"Winter to spring," Satine added, smiling at him and caressing his cheek with soft fingers.

Their voices joined once more. "But I love you until the end of time."

Everyone in the room still watched them, eyes once so lustful and hungry now soft and full of emotion. If Satine'd had her attention focused on Nini, she would have seen her actually raise the corner of her mouth in her first genuine smile in years. She would have seen the tears welling up in Arabia's eyes, or heard one of the men whisper to another that he'd best be getting back to his wife, choosing love over desire.

But all she saw was Christian.

"Come what may

Come what may

I will love you

Until my dying day!"

And, feeling completeness in each other's arms, the lovers sang out their once secret song to the world.

~*~

"Where did that come from, exactly?" Christian asked later that evening as they stepped out of the Moulin and into the crisp night air.

Satine slipped her arm through her husband's and replied. "I was just...I don't know, sick of feeling like we had to hide this. I wanted to tell the whole world."

Christian grinned devilishly, and before Satine could demand that he tell her what plan was formulating in his mind, he shouted, at the top of his lungs, "I LOVE SATINE UNTIL THE END OF TIME!"

His voice rang throughout the streets, and a few men standing ten or so feet away from them jumped in surprise.

"Chris-TIAN!" Satine chided teasingly between shocked giggles.

"What?" he asked innocently, beaming at her.

She grinned back, ready to say something along the lines of 'It's practically midnight' or 'people are trying to sleep!', but instead just replied coyly, "Is that the best you can do?"

Screaming so loud it made her head spin, Satine proclaimed to the night, "I LOVE CHRISTIAN UNTIL THE END OF TIME!"

Christian laughed appreciatively and enveloped her in his arms, then said, "Yes, I have to admit, that was pretty impressive."

"Thank you," she smiled, pecking him on the lips. When she pulled away, she studied him for a moment...her penniless poet. He gave her a boyish smile, his dark hair falling adorably into bright eyes.

At that moment, she felt so wealthy. Diamonds were nothing. Without them, her life was so much more blissful...she'd escaped the underworld. Yes, they'd ended up just where they'd begun...but now it was heaven, rather than hell.

"Sing to me," she pleaded softly, resting her head on his shoulder.

He took a deep breath, and Satine felt his chest rise and fall against hers. Finally, he began to sing softly.

"My gift is my song...and this one's for you."

Smiling, she closed her eyes and let her mind drift back to the night they'd first met.

The night that had changed her life.

The night that had saved her.

"And you can tell everybody," he continued, "That this is your song...it may be quite simple but now that it's done..."

"I hope you don't mind," Satine joined him, "I hope you don't mind that I put down in words how wonderful life is, now you're in the world."

Christian lifted her from the ground and spun her around the street, and Satine let out a shriek of delight. Her laughter mixed with Christian's voice, filling the formerly silent night as they danced across the deserted alley.

Soon, their feet were lifted from the ground, and they danced amongst the stars once more, the moon beaming down at them.

~*~

Sun.

So bright.

Too bright.

Satine groaned in annoyance, her blue eyes fluttering open to reveal Christian sitting at his typewriter. He let out a moan of frustration, then ripped a piece of paper from his typewriter, crumpled it into a ball, and hurled it at the floor.

"Having trouble?" she asked, sitting up and wrapping a white sheet around her bare shoulders.

"I can't do it," he responded angrily.

"Do what?" Satine asked, climbing out of bed and covering her slender body with a cream-colored robe.

"Tell our story," Christian exclaimed. "I just can't do it! I've been trying to start it for the last hour, but I don't know where to begin!"

"At the beginning, silly," Satine said teasingly, walking over to him and perching on the arm of his chair. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek.

"But that's just it," Christian said. "What's the beginning? Where do I start?"

"Well, what's most important?"

"You," Christian said promptly.

"More general than that," Satine laughed.

Christian thought for about half a second before replying, "Love."

"Exactly," she said, leaning her head on his own.

Christian put a new piece of paper into his typewriter, then asked, "What would I do without my muse?"

"Beg on the streets," she responded with a giggle.

"Most likely," he grinned, then fell silent.

After a moment of quiet, his brow wrinkled in concentration, Christian began to type, the words appearing rapidly across the page.

'The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.'

And so the poet and his diamond relived their story once more...a story about a time, a story about a place, a story about the people.

But, above all things, a story about love.