Disclaimer - I, do not own the rights to the "Sparkling Diamond[s]" of a movie, "Moulin Rouge" (If I did I would be a genius going by the name of Baz Luhrmann). I am simply one of the "Children of the Revolution" (Although one of "Elephant [Melody]" proportions) that writes fanfiction "Because We Can". "Come What May", but please do not sue me or I will be a "Sad Hindi Diamond". May this be "Your Song" and may you say "Some Day I'll Fly Away"! (I do not own the songs used in this story or in the titles of the chapters either.)
*A Bohemian Storm Is Brewing*
Truth * Beauty * Freedom * Love
~Casidy
§=Þ
~*~
"Quoi Qu'il Arrive"
~ Part XXXVI: On This Night of a Thousand Stars ~
By Casidy
~*~
For days, Satine's health did nothing but improve. Her eyes were bright with hope and her coughing spells were slowly dispersing. Her attack in the kitchen had been her last severe episode. Her illness had seemingly dissipated.
Satine lay in bed watching the early morning light streaming through the bedroom window. She sighed contently and snuggled closer to Christian. Smiling, she stifled a giggle, suddenly realizing that she was going to wake up next to Christian for years to come. She was going to be alright.
With Satine's sudden recovery she was finally able to leave the bedroom without Christian watching over her like a mother hen. Satine curiously ambled around the villa house, leaving him to his inspiration that had suddenly returned with her health.
It had not taken long for Satine to find something to occupy herself with. Down the hall from the bedroom was an enormous library with white wood bookshelves, reaching up to the vaulted ceiling. Leaning against the massive walls of books were ladders, necessary to reach the top shelves.
Walking toward a random shelf Satine skimmed the spines until she found something that interested her. Moving across the room she curled up in a comfortable chair by a large window and began to read.
~*~
Christian's fingers had not stopped flowing over the black keys of his typewriter for hours. He had pages stacked beside him and more strewn about the floor. Once the words had started to flow again he could not have stopped them if he had wanted.
Finally, after hours of constant movement, his fingers had given out. They were painfully numb from exhaustion. Deciding that he had written enough for one day Christian left in search of his wife.
It was far from difficult to locate Satine. Christian could hear her voice as soon as he had opened the bedroom door. Walking down the hall he came closer and closer to her beautiful voice. He stopped when he reached the doorway to the library and leaned against the doorframe. Inside, Satine was strolling around the massive room with a book open in her hands, mumbling to herself. The noise he had heard was her reciting lines from the play in front of her.
"Please don't say anything. I'm leaving tomorrow for Paris, and I'll be away a long time. I don't expect you to think of me while I'm gone, you haven't thought of me while I was here. I just wanted to say, I think I know you better than anyone else. I mean, whatever they think, or say, I knew the truth. That you're a wonderful person, kind and generous and- and for what it's worth, know that someone very far away is thinking of you. So if there's anything I could ever do-"
"Could you bring me back one of those little Eiffel tower paperweights?" Christian asked walking into the room.
"Oh god!" Satine said, partly out of surprise and partly because it was her next line. "Christian, you startled me." She said walking closer to him.
"Sorry, just thought it would be more fun if you had someone to say your lines with." He said putting his arms around her waist.
Stepping closer to Christian, Satine let the book collapse against her chest, "And how is it that out of the hundreds of books in here you know the lines to the one passage I was reading?"
"I think I should be asking how, out of the hundreds of books in here you are reading the one passage I know the lines to."
"We are perfect for each other." Satine answered simply.
Pulling Satine against him he whispered, "I agree."
His lips closed upon hers and both sighed with contentment. Satine's entire body relaxed the moment her lips connected with Christian's. His sweet tongue gently parted her lips and suddenly she breathed in softly as some part of her clouded mind realized that Christian's lips were the softest things to ever touch her.
When the two slowly pulled apart Christian began to absently twist one of Satine's curls around his finger. "I have a special dinner panned for us this evening." Christian informed her.
"Oh really?" she asked excitedly "What's the occasion?"
"I thought our being married for one month called for a celebration."
Satine stared at Christian disbelieving, "Have we been married a whole month? It doesn't even seem possible!"
Christian let go of the hair he had been twisting, "One month today."
~*~
Christian had planned the perfect evening. That night he and Satine would not only celebrate their one-month wedding anniversary but also the many more to come.
A warm air brushed across Christian's face and he closed his eyes and smiled lightly. Every thing was perfect. A small table for two had been set up in the yard and candles were scattered about, giving the bright grass and stanch white tables cloth a hazy glow. Dinner was already set out and the only thing missing from the romantic scene was his Sparkling Diamond. He took out his treasured pocket watch and checked the time.
Hearing a soft rustle behind him Christian turned around to face Satine, just walking outside. She came to a slow stop and took everything in, "It's so beautiful Christian!"
He smiled shyly, but thankful for her approval. "Are you hungry?" he asked pulling her chair out for her.
"Famished."
~*~
"Mother designed the villa herself." Christian explained after the plates had been cleared. "She and father came here on their honeymoon. Just after coming back to London she told father she was pregnant. He promised her anything she wanted and she asked for a summer home here. From what I've heard, she labored over the blueprints for months, wanting it finished as quickly as possible. She didn't want to be worried by it after the baby was born. Well, a few months into the project she realized that there was so much to be done there was no possible way she could finish the entire project in time. My mother, never one to give up on something she wanted threw herself into the project, working on it day and night. The stress was too much, one day she was at the races and just collapsed and lost the baby.
"After that, father wanted nothing to do with the place. Mother refused to give it up, I think she blamed herself for putting too much pressure on herself and refused to let her work be for nothing. Father's never been here but mother came every summer until she died.
"I noticed the villa was brighter and more open than the brownstone in London. Really, the whole place reminds me of Emmy's classroom. I remember she told me once it was your mother's office.
"I never have understood how mother and father loved each other. I guess, maybe it's because he's so stubborn and she would do anything to make everyone around her happy. The whole place back in London was decorated for father but the office was where mother spent all of her time anyway. I think I spent more time in that one room, growing up, that in every other room combined." Christian had a sudden thought, "Satine darling, you know so much about my childhood but I know almost nothing of yours."
Satine slumped back in her chair slightly, "There's really nothing to know."
"I want to know everything about you. Just start with the first thing you can think of."
"I never had a mother," she blurted suddenly. Looking down at the tablecloth she tried to plan out her next words, "She left when I was three. I don't know what became of her. She and Papa were never married so she very well might have run off with someone or maybe she just didn't want me. I don't remember her, and Papa never talked about her so I'm not exactly sure what kind of person she was. Papa was wonderful though. He treated me like a princess- He would call me his Ruby Princess, because our hair was the same color. I guess I admired him the way you admired your mother." Satine spoke in a distant, melancholy tone as she looked back on a time she had hidden from herself for many years.
"But…Sometimes something would just happen to him. He had a temper and sometimes, after too much Absinthe or I did something to upset him, he-he would…" Satine stopped suddenly tears coming to her eyes in a rush.
Christian stood from his seat and quickly moved over to kneel in front of her. He took her hands in his gently rubbing his fingers across her palms. "What happened, Satine? How did you end up at the Moulin Rouge?"
"Well, our money was gone and he hadn't worked for almost year. And remember that night in Paris at the bar, when you asked me why I didn't drink Absinthe?" Christian nodded slowly, remembering their first "date" on that starry night during the summer of love.
It was difficult to continue, but once she had started she realized how badly she had wanted to tell Christian everything. There he was, holding her hand willing to let her stop whenever she wanted, but suddenly she didn't. She wanted him to know everything, "One night he brought home several tall bottles of Absinthe and he…just…drowned his sorrows." Her tears fell from her eyes and splashed, one at a time, on the fabric of her elegantly tailored dress.
"I had no where to go," she said sadly. "I lived in the streets for awhile and I was miserable and lonely. Then, one rainy night, while I was trying to seek shelter in a nearby bar, I met Toulouse. He took me in and got me an audition with Harold, and I guess I just sort of worked my way up."
For the first time Christian was thankful for the Moulin Rouge. It had given Satine a home and a place to feel safe when no one else in the world was there for her. Most of all he was thankful for Toulouse. His best friend had saved her. If it wasn't for Toulouse he and Satine may never have met. He gave an involuntary shudder and pressed her hands to his cheek, nuzzling them lightly.
Christian empowered her in a way she could not live without. She looked into his deep passionate eyes and continued, "The first time was terrible. I had no idea what I was supposed to do but he was so drunk he wouldn't have notices if I'd sang through the whole thing. Marie taught me not to feel anything. It was just a job, she'd say. You can do anything you want in the underworld, you just can't love."
"But you did." Christian said, gently bring her back to the present, back to him.
"And it was the greatest thing I ever learned." She joked with a giggle. After a moment she changed the subject, "Christian…I'm better now." Satine hinted.
Christian smiled widely, "I know. It's wonderful."
Satine wanted to roll her eyes. Either Christian was denser than she thought, or she wasn't being blunt enough. Leaving her chair she kneeled in the grass in front of Christian. Methodically, she gently pulled Christian's bow tie loose.
Christian's eyes grew wide and she stood up quickly, "Satine, I really don't think it's safe. You know what the doctor said and I don't want you getting sick again. Why don't we go up stairs and I'll read you what I wrote this afternoon?"
Satine suddenly couldn't take it anymore,
Don't talk of stars burning above,
If you're in love, show me!
She followed Christian into the house trying to catch his attention with her voice.
Tell me no dreams filled with desire.
If you're on fire, show me!
When we are together,
In the middle of the night!
Don't talk of spring!
Just hold me tight!
Christian was practically running upstairs in an attempt to avoid his desire.
Anyone who's ever been in love will tell you that!
This is no time for a chat!
When he was in the bedroom, there was nowhere to hide, he had to face Satine and she was ready to seduce. Walking to him she ran her hands under his coat and began to unbutton his vest.
Haven't your lips longed for my touch?
Don't say how much,
Show me! Show me!
His defenses were crumbling as she removed his coat and vest.
Don't talk of love lasting through time.
Make me no undying vow.
His shirt was quickly discarded and he had given up all hope, taking Satine in his arms.
Show me now!
The couple kissed softly and Satine smiled, knowing there was no turning back.
When their kiss broke Christian began to serenaded his diamond,
Your body is a wonderland.
Your body is a wonder I'll use my hands.
Your body is a wonderland.
Christian had undressed Satine in record time and the two stumbled across the room and fell on the bed as Christian sang,
I'll never let your head hit the bed without my hand behind it.
He should have been stronger, he realized, but how could he resist her love?
If you want love,
We'll make it.
Swim in a deep sea,
Of blankets.
Her illness had seemed like an eternity to Christian. It had been torture having to watch her go through such pain when there was nothing he could do to stop it. It had seemed like an eternity since he had felt her skin beneath his hands.
Your body is a wonderland.
Your body is a wonder I'll use my hands.
Take all your big plans,
And break 'em.
This is bound to be awhile.
He kissed her deeply and then pulled back so he could look at her face closely
I know you're mine, all mine, all mine,
But you look so good it hurts sometimes.
Your body is a wonderland.
~*~
Satine's monologue is from the 1995 remake of the movie "Sabrina."
"Show Me Now" is from the movie/musical "My Fair Lady."
"Your Body Is A Wonderland" is performed by John Mayer.