"Killing Me Softly"
by Jedi Adia

Disclaimers: The song "Killing Me Softly" belongs to the Fugees. Moulin Rouge belongs to Baz Luhrmann. I'm only borrowing them. I'll give them back! I promise!

Summary: Satine's thoughts the day of Spectacular Spectacular

Satine sat in the Red Room, staring out the window. It was the day of the Spectacular Spectacular performance and all she could think of was Christian. She loved him, not the Duke! She loved his voice, his eyes...the way he touched or kissed her. It was all she thought of. Thoughts of him made it seem as though her death would never come. She moved out onto the balcony. She didn't want to lose him, but she feared she already had. And it was killing her. As she felt she had killed him when she told him she couldn't love him.

Strumming dub plates with our fingers,
Eliminate sounds with our song,
Killing a sound boy with this sound,
Killing a sound boy with this sound,
Taking sound boys' lives with this dub,
Killing him softly with this sound.

Satine was thinking back before she realized it was happening. The night he sang his first song to her, as she wanted to sing to him now. And then she remembered when he came to her in the elephant. He was hanging off the roof and she feared desperately that he would fall off to the ground below. Because she loved him and they both knew it. They both knew he wasn't just another one-night stand for her. Their love was the dangerous kind, because she couldn't love - she wasn't allowed to, because of what she was. But they didn't care. They loved each other, as Christian would often say. And their love was all that mattered.

Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.

"Never knew I could feel like this. Like I've never seen the sky before..." Their secret song rang through her ears, their message to each other. They would love each other until their dying day, come what may. Harold's words came back to her then, and she felt that her love for Christian would surely be short-lived.

I heard he sang a good song,
I heard he had a style,
And so I came to see him and listen for awhile.

She kept thinking back to their meeting here, the poetry reading that she had taken all wrong, until his voice reached her with a song she could call her own. That was when she truly fell in love. He swept her away, and she thought about that now. She had been wrong to turn him away in favor of the Duke. Sighing, she figured it was too late now. He was probably already gone.

And there he was this young bwoy,
Stranger to my eyes,
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.

"I love you, Christian, come what may...you're no stranger to my eyes," Satine whispered. A small breeze had picked up outside and she prayed that her words would be carried to him, wherever he was.

Unbeknownst to her, Christian was still in his flat across the street. He looked sadly at the Moulin Rouge, knowing she was there, preparing for her life with the Duke. He wanted so badly to stop her...he wanted to be with her. And that was when he made his decision. He would go back tonight for the performance. The Duke wanted him dead, but that was his choice to make. To him, Satine was worth dying for.

Satine jumped when she realized how late it had gotten. She needed to get ready for the show. The show had to go on, even if she was mourning for Christian's love. She went to dress and left for the stage area. This, she knew, would be her last show. But the Moulin Rouge would go on...

She met Harold and the Duke near the stage. She was in costume and ready to go on.

"The show's all yours, my dear," the Duke told her. She glanced at him, offering nothing. She had so much she wanted to give, but she wanted to give it all to Christian, not to the man who stood before her now.

I felt all flushed with fever,
Embarrassed by the crowd,
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud.

The show began, and despite Satine's wandering thoughts, it was a great beginning. She mesmerized the crowd, like she was meant to, as the Hindu courtesan. She despised the show, however, as it brought back her love for Christian and also how she had hurt him. She momentarily wished that he would walk through that door that she faced now. It was her last wish. Her last wish that came true, as he strode through the back door, never taking his eyes off of her. He sang their song...oblivious at first, of the Duke coming after him.

"Come back to me, and forgive everything!" Satine sang out and he came to her. The Duke neared them both, gun in hand. He had a mission, the objective to see Christian dead. While the audience looked on, sure this was all part of the show. Satine began to cough, caught in the strong grip of the consumption that would never let her go. She collapsed to the floor, and Christian's anguished cry showed the audience how much he loved her. He gripped her tightly in his arms, as if by holding her, she couldn't be taken away from him. His tears drizzled onto her face, mingling with the blood that was seemingly expelled with each dying breath. He didn't want her to go. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. That would never happen now, as she told him to move on...he had so much left to give. His life didn't stop with hers, although it did, in his eyes. He only cried harder as she took her last breath, and her vibrant eyes became lifeless. He clung to her body, and it took many people to pry them apart. Toulouse and the Argentinian pulled Christian away and took him home, while Chocolat and Harold took Satine away, to prepare her for her final resting place.

I prayed that he would finish,
But he just kept right on strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.

One Year Later

Christian sat in the dark, staring at the words on his typewriter. He had finished writing their story. It was something he felt he needed to do, as if it would keep her alive in his heart. And as he sat there, their story on paper all around him, Satine's spirit stood near his window, watching him. "Come what may..." she whispered, and another song came back to her, one that had been with her during their brief affair, and she sang the last verse...

Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.

"I used to love you until my dying day, Christian...but that day has come and gone," Satine whispered, "and now, I will love you until the end of time."