A/N: So, this is actually my first legit Les Miserables oneshot. I would like to point out that this is musical verse, and I'm pretty sure I hint at it several times. Gavroche and Eponine don't really interact during the musical, which in the musical context makes sense. But they're related in the bookverse! So, I thought, well, they're dead, we can't see what's happening with them, let them figure out they're related.

Also, this answers the musical old question I'm sure every fan has: When Jean Valjean is dying, why does Eponine show up and sing during the finale?

This was written for the June '09 The Domain Writing Challenge.

Prompt: Marriage

Words: 1,785

Images/ideas used: Flowers, Halo, White, Eyes, death of a loved one, and friendship.

Characters: Eponine (134/1709 fics) and Gavroche (5/1709 fics). These numbers are based on the Les Miserables fandom in which this fic is posted.

Disclaimer: I don't own Les Mis or the characters. They belong to Victor Hugo. I finally started reading the book! I got it today. I bought the unabridged version, and my head kinda hurts reading it. I also don't own the title Life Goes On. Life Goes On is a song performed by Elisa.

Life Goes On

Gavroche peered through the clouds, down at the wedding below. It was a curious thing, weddings. Flowers adorned the church, and Cosette was beaming. He thought she looked like she had a halo of light encircling her head, just like the one he had. As he continued to watch the guests come in, and gush about the wedding, he recognized the Thenardiers, greeting the new groom. Well, it wasn't really greeting; more of a spiteful exchange between the two parties.

"When I look at you, I remember Eponine. She was more than you deserved, who gave her birth, but now she is with God and happier, I hope, than here on earth!" Marius nearly growled at them, visibly starting neither Thenardier. As Gavroche leaned over the cloud, to get a better look, he saw that neither Thenardier looks upset at the mention of their daughter's name. It hadn't been that long since him and Eponine, among others, had been killed at the barricade. Where was Eponine, now that he thought about it? Could she even bear to watch Marius be wed to Cosette, when Eponine herself had loved him so fiercely? Gavroche heard a gasp from nearby, and he looked over at Eponine (that answered his question), hand hovering over her heart, and her mouth opened in a little 'o' of shock.

"Oh, Marius," she whispered, her voice wavering. She brushed a tear away from her eye. In the light of her halo, it looked like a drop of golden rain. She closed her eyes for a moment, and Gavroche saw the pained etched in her face. "I never would've deserved someone like you," she said quietly, and Gavroche saw a fond look pass through her eyes. She was reaching for something he couldn't see. He wondered if she could see it. "I hope you're happy with her. And always will be happy with her at your side." Bitterly, Eponine added, glaring at her parents as she spoke, "Happier than they are."

Gavroche let out a little gasp of surprise. He had never heard her sound that bitter. Then again, he had not interacted with her that long. Eponine's head whipped to where he was sitting, and he froze. At first she looked furious with something. Was it him? "I'm sorry, Eponine," he said quickly, as she held her furious look. "I can leave, if you want."

She shook her head, and she seemed to deflate with a sad sigh. Eponine beckoned him to her side. He sat unsurely on a cloud close to her, not wanting to be too close. "You're their son, you know," she muttered after a moment of silence. He stared at her, confusedly, and she pointed at the Thenardiers. "You're their son," she repeated, looking at him. They had the same colored eyes.

He furrowed his brow in confusion. He had . . . a sister? A family? Surely, he would've known about it? Surely, he would've remembered? "What?" he repeated, and was utterly dumbfounded by the revelation. Living on the streets, Gavroche had heard shocking things, but this surely topped them all.

"You were young, when they told you to leave home and never come back. Maybe no older than six, maybe seven," she explained, plunging into the words without preamble, trying to not to show how insecure she felt. Explaining things to children was a whole other territory that she had not yet entered. For a moment, she bitterly reflected on how she would never be able to be a better mother than her own was. Shaking her head, she looked at Gavroche, who still looked lost and confused. "You were better off. Really," she added, reaching out to lightly touch his shoulder. His face remained impassive, and she retracted her hand quickly, moving up from her cloud to sit beside him.

"They aren't sorry for what they did?" Gavroche asked quietly, watching his mother and father (and how very strange it was to refer to them as such) dancing around, basking in the wrongful wealth that they gained from the barricades. He was trying not to be angry, and having Eponine beside him was deflating his anger, if only slightly. He was used to the injustices of the world; it had never occurred to him that he would ever be offended by such injustices. He felt disgusted, to be associated with the two dancing 'beggars at the feast'.

Eponine shook her head, resting her hand on Gavroche's shoulder. They both jumped slightly at the contact that neither of them was quite accustomed to. He liked it though, the feeling of closeness to his kin. He smiled slowly at her, and she beamed back at him, her confidence coming back, slowly but surely.

They looked back down at the wedding that proceeded below them. "Will they turn out like our parents?" Gavroche asked.

"I hope not," Eponine said after a lengthy pause, having eyes solely for Marius. Gavroche watched Cosette. The bouquet in Cosette's hands, which she was holding rather close to her face, accented her eyes, and the look in her eyes was one of pure joy. Cosette only had eyes for Marius, and he had eyes for her. Eponine was used to watching on the outside. "He loves her too much. And she loves him too much," she muttered, her fingers on her lips. She had hoped that once, just once, Marius would look up and think of her. He had said her name, and hoped for her happiness, which was really more than she could ask for, in Gavroche's opinion. But he dare not upset his sister.

He had once called her a, "A tough kid, hard to scare", and wondered if that still held true to the afterlife. He didn't risk it. More importantly, he didn't want to risk it, and the thought of being close a family started to grow on him.

Eponine absentmindedly ruffled her brother's hair. It was so strange, providing comfort and attention that she had never received from family before. She knew, deep down, that Gavroche was a tough kid, who could take care of himself and didn't need her coddling. But she needed it, and was pretty sure that he was starting to like it.

She looked down on Marius and Cosette, and she realized for the third time ever (she couldn't say life anymore) that it would never have been her, walking down the aisle with Marius. She probably would've never been married at all, and still no one would've mourned for her death. "I lived a very lonely life," she murmured. "No friends . . . no friends at all. Not like her, I suppose."

Gavroche looked at Eponine, his sister, for any signs of regret or disdain for Cosette. "Are you sad?" he asked her quietly. She tilted her head, a sign for him to elaborate. "About dying? About leaving him behind? About giving to him on to Cosette?"

She sighed, bringing her knees to her chest, her hands resting on her kneecaps. Was she sad? She was no more than a flower that had burst into bloom when she met Marius, quickly wilted once she realized he was in love with Cosette, and died at the barricades. She had gone to the barricades, fully anticipating death. The only flaw in her plan was that Marius lived, and she silently rebuked herself for the millionth time. Gavroche cleared his throat, and she jumped. "What?" she asked distantly.

"You didn't answer my question," he said shyly, his hazel eyes glowing in the light of his halo. She, he realized, seemed to be extremely withdrawn, and he rested a hand on her shoulder, to offer her some form of comfort. She gratefully squeezed it and pondered the answer to his question a moment more.

"I'm not sad," Eponine answered, once she was satisfied with the words she had come up with. "I went to the barricades, fully expecting death, and knowing that he loved Cosette more than he loved me. Do I wish that were me, marrying him instead of Cosette? I always will. But I know it can't be me, and I can only value the friendship he gave me during life. So, as he continues to be for me, I will be happy for him."

"You speak truth beyond your years, Eponine Thenardier," someone behind them said thoughtfully. Eponine and Gavroche jumped to see a woman with a shining gold halo, a white gown, and golden hair looking back at them. It distracted them from Cosette and Marius, who both were hurrying out of the church, and for what reason, neither of them had quite caught. "Perhaps you should accompany me," the woman said quietly, beckoning Eponine, who exchanged a glance with Gavroche.

"I speak truth beyond my years, because I am beyond my years," Eponine responded cheekily. "I'm dead, aren't I?" Gavroche smirked. "Where would I be 'accompanying' you, anyway?"

The woman let out a soft, melodious laugh. But it was a soft, fleeting laugh that disappeared from her features as soon as it came. "Jean Valjean is dying," she said, her voice hauntingly quiet. "I am going to escort him here."

"I didn't know him," Eponine answered curiously. "What would be the point of me coming with you, if I barely knew the man?"

"You would get your chance to say good-bye," the woman answered softly. "And apologize to Cosette." Eponine turned scarlet and stared fixatedly at her knees. Gavroche nearly laughed, but then caught one look at his sister's expression and thought better of it. "You never will be happy here, until you let go of what's down there," the woman prompted.

Eponine stood up. "All right, I'm coming with you," she said slowly. "But because of what you told me. I just don't want to be the dead flower in Marius's garden, if you'll pardon the pun." The woman laughed, and patted Eponine's shoulder as they began to head toward Jean Valjean's deathbed.

Gavroche, watching his sister go, decided he had never been prouder to be a Thenardier. Granted, he had only known he was a Thenardier for less than an hour, but he still was never prouder.

Review? Please? I really hope you liked it, and if you didn't, tell me why! I would love to improve and write more for this fandom.