Satine smiled again. "See, I told you that you knew," she teased softly.

Alyse could only stare. Her mind was screaming that this was impossible, but she knew that it was happening--she could feel the woman sitting with her, she was speaking to her…it was no dream. This was Satine. "But how…you're dead!" she blurted out, then cringed at her choice of words.

Satine laughed. "Yes, I am," she replied, her blue eyes twinkling.

"Then how are you here? How is this…"

"I'm a ghost, Alyse," she explained, lifting her arm and gesturing with it. Alyse could see straight through it to the walls behind them, as if the arm were merely a curtain over a window.

"But…" Alyse couldn't understand a bit of this. "Why are you here with me? Shouldn't you…if you're going to reach out to anyone, shouldn't it be Christian?"

Satine sighed. "Oh, I do plan on speaking to him soon," she said. "But he has…something he needs to do before I can go to him. And seeing as how I've been watching over you for years, I thought it was time we met."

"Watching over me…" Alyse shook her head. "I haven't passed out again, have I? Is this a dream?"

"No, it's not a dream."

Alyse was silent a moment, letting it all sink into her head. She was sitting with the ghost of the woman who had been the love of Christian's life--the woman who was the whole reason Christian couldn't love her. She thought that she should hate Satine…but she couldn't. It certainly wasn't her fault that Christian was locking up his heart and throwing away the key.

"You can't give up on him, Alyse, you just can't," Satine said, and Alyse looked at her, startled. The ghost smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to read your mind, I just can see everything you're thinking. It's a part of being…what I am now."

"I understand," Alyse nodded, and then couldn't think of anything else to say.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, then Satine said, "You don't believe that he loves you."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement, and Alyse nodded. "He doesn't love me," she replied around the lump in her throat.

Satine sighed once again. "You have to understand, Alyse. It's not been easy for him since I died. When he came to Paris, he was so full of life, and innocence, and belief in his ideals…then he met me, and we fell in love. It should have been perfect…" She shook her head. "But it wasn't meant to be. It wasn't meant to last, anyways. My fate had been decided long before Christian came into my life. But he's never understood that. To him, my death disproved everything that he'd ever believed in his life, everything he'd ever held dear. For a long while, love was just a painful memory for him."

"I know that," Alyse said softly. "I've known it all along, and still I let myself fall in love with him."

"You had no more control over that than I had over my death," Satine said, and once again Alyse looked at her in surprise.

"What are you talking about?"

The ghost smiled, and she reached out to squeeze Alyse's hand. "From the first time I saw you, reading our story and crying your heart out, I knew that you would be the one to heal Christian. It's taken a while to get you here, but now that you are, I'm not allowing you to let him go without a fight."

Alyse sat, stunned into silence yet again. Suddenly, with a few words from a ghost, her life made sense. She'd known since she was a little girl that she wanted away from her home, away from London, as soon as she had the chance. She'd never known where she wanted to go, but once she'd read Christian's book, it had all clicked for her. She'd always felt a bit as though she'd had a guiding hand in her life from that point on--someone to look out for her, to see that her parents gave her what she needed to hone her talents--something like a…"Guardian angel," she whispered, looking at Satine.

She nodded. "I suppose you could say that. I knew you had to find your way here, to the Rouge, to Christian, and if it required a little nudge every now and again…just say I watched over you." Satine smiled gently. "Somebody had to be a mother to you, after all."

Tears sprang to Alyse's eyes, and she leaned her head against the ghost's shoulder. It was true--she felt more love and comfort from this woman, a stranger to her, than she ever had from her own mother. The fact that Satine had watched over her for years, taking care of her, waiting for the right time to show herself, was a balm to her wounded soul. Still…"I'm sorry that you've wasted your time," she said, sitting back up, unable to meet the Satine's eyes. "But there's no chance for Christian and I. He's made it perfectly clear that he wants nothing to do with me."

Satine shook her head fiercely. "You cannot believe him! He wouldn't be pushing you away so desperately if he didn't truly love you. You must believe me, I know these things. I know his heart, and his heart loves you."

"No," Alyse denied. "He loves you. He always will."

"There's always room for more than one love, Alyse," Satine chided. "You've been trying to tell him this all along. Why don't you believe it anymore?"

"Because it hurts too much to try anymore," she whispered. "I can't keep…I can't keep holding onto a dream that will never happen."

"So you're going to leave Paris," Satine said, "give up everything you've ever wanted, just because you think he doesn't love you back?"

"It would be better than seeing him every day," Alyse murmured.

Satine took her hand again. "Look at me," she commanded, and Alyse glanced up. "You must believe me when I say he loves you. I know he does. And I know he'll come around. You cannot leave."

"I'm not leaving until the show is over," Alyse pointed out, but Satine shook her head.

"Don't even talk of it! It won't come to that, I promise. You just need to be patient."

Alyse stared at her. "I want to believe you…" she said.

Satine cupped Alyse's chin with cool fingers. "Then believe it. You can believe me," she said. "I'm a ghost, I know these things."

Alyse smiled weakly, and Satine pulled her close again. "Come now, you need some rest," she said softly, and Alyse willingly settled back into her embrace. She felt like a child being cuddled by someone who loved her--a wonderful feeling for her. Satine sang softly in her ear, and Alyse felt herself drifting off to sleep.

When she awoke, Satine was gone, having left nothing but a trace of perfume on the air.

***

Christian read the book in one sitting. He only got up once, to light candles when it grew dark. When he was finished, he closed his eyes and hung his head forward. It had been so long since he'd allowed himself to relive all of the emotions he'd felt during his brief time with Satine--the love, the pure joy, the vicious jealousy, the numbing pain. It was why he'd never read the book before--he hadn't known if he could handle it. Now he waited for the ache to set in, the tears to come.

"You disappoint me, Christian," a voice said.

He gave a low chuckle, not looking up. "I don't believe you're the only one," he said bitterly.

He heard a sigh. "You promised me that you would go on, but look at yourself. Still living in the past."

He glanced up sharply, looking around for whomever was speaking to him. It was dark despite the candles, and it took him a moment to locate where the voice was coming from. He blinked when he saw a flood of light across the room. Something about the shape of it was so familiar…it looked like a person, but no person could possibly glow like this…The figure moved towards him, and as it drew closer, he could make out features. The blue eyes…the soft, pale skin…the brilliant red hair…

He scrambled up from his chair, clasping the book to his chest, and backed away from the figure. "No, no, this can't be real, this can't be happening…"

"Christian," Satine said, amusement evident in her tone, "for years you pine for me, and then when I'm here you run away?"

"I…" He couldn't even think. It was her, it was really Satine. He stepped forward, raising a trembling hand and brushing his fingers across her cheek. He gasped as his fingers seemingly touched something solid…yet he could see them go straight through her.

"I'm only a ghost, Christian," she said gently, reaching up to touch his hand.

He felt the familiar softness of her skin on his. "But you feel so real," he breathed, moving closer to her.

Satine shook her head. "I can't stay long, Christian, and I've come here for a reason."

He stared at her. "What? What is it?"

She looked into his eyes for a long moment before she spoke. "You have to let go of the past, Christian."

He was confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm dead, Christian. I have been for a long while now. I'm tired of being your excuse for not living your life, like you promised that you would."

"Satine…I don't understand…"

"There's a woman that loves you, Christian, a good woman. A woman who is still alive, one that could make you so happy, if only you would let her," Satine said, her voice almost pleading.

"Alyse?" Christian whispered, shaking his head. "You've come here to talk to me about Alyse?"

"Yes," Satine replied steadily. "She loves you, Christian, and you love her. You two are destined to be together--it's been that way for years. Not even you can fight destiny."

He was shaking his head before she had finished. "No, that's not true," he said, grabbing Satine's other hand urgently. "That's not true, we were supposed to be together forever…"

"Supposed to be, Christian," she emphasized. "Life doesn't always work out the way we plan. Things change. Your future isn't with me now…it hasn't been for quite some time. When will you accept that?"

Christian was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe Satine was speaking this way to him. "Why are you…don't you love me?" He knew he sounded pitiful, but he couldn't help it. How could she tell him to be with someone else?

"Christian, you don't understand," she continued. "You need to move on. You've been living with the past for so long that I'm afraid you're going to forget how to live completely." She stopped and bit her lip. "Christian, there's something else."

"What is it?" he asked, reaching up to touch her hair. Oh, to just touch it…

But she moved away from him, nothing but a soft whisper of air. "I can't go anywhere until you let me go," she whispered, turning to look at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm caught between worlds, Christian," she cried, throwing up her arms. "I'm a ghost because I can't cross over until you let me go. You've been holding on for seven years. Please, if you love me, let me go!"

He stared at her, aghast. "Let you go? If I love you, how can I possibly let you go?"

Her voice softened at the bewilderment in his tone. "Because you love Alyse now."

Christian shook his head against the words, even as his heart cried for him to listen. "That's not true, Satine, I love you."

"Yes," she replied, smiling at him softly. "And I love you. But isn't there room in your heart for both of us?"

He stood still and gazed at her. She was so beautiful…everything he'd dreamt of at night for years, standing right in front of him. Yet even as he watched her, he realized he hadn't dreamt of her in quite a while. He didn't know how or when it had happened, but the nightmares had stopped, the sadness had lifted. He couldn't explain it…

"It's because of Alyse," Satine answered for him, and he jumped. She moved forward until she was standing directly in front of him. "She's going to leave Paris, you know."

His eyes snapped up to her face. "What?"

She nodded. "As soon as the play is finished, she's going to leave."

Christian felt panic bubble up in his throat. "She can't do that! It's always been her dream to be here, to be an actress, to be at the Rouge--"

Satine shrugged her slight shoulders. "She's dreamt of love even longer. It's too hard for her to see you everyday and believe that you don't love her, when that's all she's ever really wanted in her life…just to be loved." She paused to make sure that she had his attention. "You hate to see people hurting, Christian, yet look what you're doing to her. You have the power to change all of this, yet you cling to your old pains because you think it's safer that way. Why do you want to do this to her? To make her feel the way you do?"

Christian shook his head. "Toulouse said the same thing," he muttered.

Satine laughed. "Where do you think he heard it from?"

His eyes widened. "You speak to Toulouse?"

"He sees me instead of the Green Fairy," Satine giggled, and Christian couldn't help but laugh with her. Then she took his hands once more. "Please listen to me, Christian," she implored. "You've got to go on. You've got so much to give. Share yourself with Alyse. Give her your love." She paused, then met his eyes. "Let me go."

The tears came now. "Oh, Satine, please don't ask me…I don't know if I can…"

"You're a strong man, Christian, with a good heart." She pressed a hand to his chest. "She won't hurt you. For me, Christian, please."

He raised his hands to her shoulders and leaned forward, brushing his lips over hers. She gave a little sob and wrapped her frail arms around him, oh so briefly, and then pulled away. The light that had been surrounding her had begun to fade, and he tried to hold onto her hand. "Satine, wait…"

"I can't, Christian, I have to go," she said, sounding as if her voice was coming from far away. "You have to let me this time, you have to help me leave. And you have to help Alyse. Please, Christian…."

She was disappearing quickly, and he felt her hand slipping away even as he attempted desperately to hold on. "I love you," he called.

"I love you," he heard her say, and then, so softly that he wasn't sure he heard right, "Remember, Christian--the greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return…"

The light that had been Satine's ghost flickered out, and Christian stumbled backwards until he found the chair he'd been sitting in earlier. He collapsed onto it and held his head in his hands, eyes closed against the sudden bleakness of the room. The conversation spun around and around in his mind. He wouldn't have believed it if not for the fact that he could still feel her skin, the coolness of it against his, the wispy fragility of her figure as she'd moved about the room. Oh, she'd been real. But what to do with what she'd said?

It took a while for his mind to settle, but once it did, he could only think of one thing. He had Satine's blessing. She wanted him to go on, to find love again. Needed him to, in fact. You two are destined to be together, she'd said. Destined to be with Alyse…Christian opened his eyes as bit by bit, all the pieces of his life seemed to come together. Fate had torn Satine from him, but perhaps it was making up for that by giving him a second chance at love. A second chance, with Alyse…all he had to do was take it.

Christian suddenly jumped up, not noticing the book that fell from his lap and onto the floor. The only thought in his mind was to find Alyse, to talk to her. He ran down the stairs of the elephant and across the street. He only hoped he wasn't too late…