A.N. Thanks for the good reviews!
Satine woke up at about eight that night. She looked beside her and saw that Christian was still asleep. Not wanting to wake him, she slowly got out of bed and put on her pink robe. She stood and walked to the other side of the room and went outside onto the small balcony.
As Satine looked up at the just-darkened sky, she thought about what Christian had told her earlier. She had no doubt that what he said had been the truth. After all, why would Christian make something like that up? But why hadn't she remembered that? Forgetting some lines or some song lyrics, that was one thing. But forgetting such a defining part of one's life was much worse. Between her memory and her consumption, Satine felt as if her body was betraying her. "This is so frustrating!" she thought to herself. "I can't remember anything about my own life and at the same time I'm fighting a critical illness. I can't get any treatment for my memory because I can't go out, and..." Suddenly, a pain filled Satine's chest and she began to violently cough, a reminder that she should not have been outside at night.
Satine knew that she should have turned around and went back inside. The cold air was doing her fragile lungs no good whatsoever. But instead she turned her attention back to the sky. She thought back to when she was in Montmartre, desperately searching for some memory from before her fall. Softly, she began to sing to herself.
"One day I'll fly away". She wasn't sure exactly how she knew the song. It just came into her head. Just then another coughing attack hit her, and she decided that she should go back inside. She entered the bedroom and found the warm indoor air to be more of a relief than she thought it would be. She sat down on the bed, and noticed Christian was just waking up.
"Good morning, um" Christian was still accustomed to saying "good morning" upon waking up, even though it was a quarter past eight in the evening. Satine laughed. "I guess this is a little odd, isn't it?" she said as Christian reached up and touched her face. He immediately noticed that her face was cold.
"Satine, have you been outside?" Satine simply nodded in response to Christian's question. "You know that you shouldn't be outside when it's this cold out." Christian said.
Satine tried to defend herself. "But it was such a nice night and I didn't want to wake you up" she said. She leaned back against Christian and the two of them stayed on the bed for a long time, just enjoying each other's company. Despite her sickness and her memory loss, and despite Christian's chronic worrying, the two of them were happy.
As Christian and Satine were enjoying their moment of happiness, Harold was taking a walk outside of his hotel. Like Satine, he enjoyed being outside at night. Harold watched the people rushing past him, in a hurry to get home to their families. Suddenly, he made eye contact with another man. Although the contact was brief, it was enough to change Harold's walk into a sprint as he rushed back into his hotel.
Harold spent the rest of the night in worry. He needed to warn them. Had it not been so late he would have rushed over there at that very moment, although the man would most likely have followed him. But instead he waited until the next morning. When he arrived, only Christian and Satine were home. Molly had taken Blaire to a friend's house for a playdate and Kyle had left for work an hour earlier. Christian answered the door, still a little groggy from being woken up earlier than usual.
"Harold, what are you doing here so early? Where are Marie and Toulouse?" Christian asked as he suppressed a yawn.
"They're back at the hotel. Where is Satine?" Harold seemed frantic, and Christian informed him that Satine was still asleep. "That's good. This would only make things worse for her." After Harold said that, Christian was also starting to get a little frantic.
"What will make things worse? What is going on?
Harold took in a deep breath, which to Christian was a sure sign of bad news. "Last night I left the hotel to take a walk, and as I looked across the street, I saw the Duke. He's in London, Christian and I think he's looking for Satine.
Christian's world collapsed. The Duke couldn't be there. They were supposed to be free of him. That was the entire point to them leaving. He thanked Harold for letting him know, and started up the stairs to give Satine the worst news he could give her.
Five minutes later Satine sat in Christian's arms again. She had taken the news about the Duke, at first, more calmly than Christian had expected. Christian had then remembered that Satine had very little memory of who the Duke was, and had no reason to be afraid.
"Why is it so bad that he's in London?" she had asked.
Christian had explained to her that the Duke wanted to find her, and then Satine realized partially on her own that the Duke might want to hurt her. Although she had no understanding of why he would want to hurt her, this realization scared her nonetheless. In an attempt to calm both herself and Christian down, Satine began to sing softly.
Kiss me too fiercely, hold me too tightI need help believing you're with me tonight
My wildest dreams could not foresee
Lying beside you with you wanting me
And just for this moment as long as you're mine
I've lost all resistance and crossed some borderline
And if it turns out
It's over too fastI'll make every last moment last
As long as you're mine
Christian listened to her song, seeing how it calmed her. He wasn't sure where she had learned it, and he guessed that she wasn't sure either. He then added a song of his own, of their own.
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 sing
Telling me to give you everything
Seasons may change, winter to spring
But I love you until the end of time.
Satine softly continued the song.
Come what may
Come what may
I will love you until my dying day
She turned her head and looked at Christian. "Everything will be fine, right?" she asked.
Christian nodded and answered "Yes. Everything will be fine." although he wasn't sure if he believed this himself.
Outside, someone stood by the bushes looking up at the one lit window. He knew this was the correct house.
A.N. The first song used in this chapter is "As Long As You're Mine" from the musical Wicked. The second is Come What May.