A/N: I think that Romeo and Juliet deserved a happy ending… please do not bash me for this… I do love Shakespeare, and I am in no way trying to ruin one of his masterpieces.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
It starts right after Romeo drinks the poison…
Friar Laurence entered the Capulet crypt. "It is about time for the young Juliet to wake up…" He stepped back, having noticed the bloody body of Paris.
"What has just happened down here?" The friar shook his head, startled. "Lord, save us! And save the soul of Paris, who is lying there dead!" he stepped further, noticing the body of Romeo beside Juliet.
"Fate jokes with us brutally! This cannot be happening!" The friar kneeled down to see the cup of poison in Romeo's hands. "Oh… for the sake of the young lovers, I cannot allow this to happen! It's my entire fault!" he wrested the cup out of Romeo's already cold hands. "This poison… they boy isn't dead yet, I see a hope, Lord, be kind with these children, don't let this beautiful story end this way," he whispered, crossing himself.
Just at this very moment he saw Juliet opening her eyes. "I'll be right back, young lady, do not panic, we'll save your husband!" with these words he rose and run out of the crypt.
Juliet was left alone.
"Why did the friar say so? Where's my Romeo?" she took a deep breath. "It's so dark in here, I'm so afraid! All the corpses down here, all the darkness!"
She wanted to stand up, but sat down instead. The next thing she did was turn her head to the side where her lover was lying. "Romeo! What has happened to you, my love, my life, Romeo!" she started weeping uncontrollably, repeating her lover's name like a prayer. Juliet touched his face, kissed his lips, her small fingers trembling. "Will I never feel your kisses on my face again, will you never call me your wife again!"
"No, no, you cannot be dead, my Romeo! You cannot leave me alone… the life without you in this world would be miserable! There is no life for me without you! Why did the friar leave me alone? If he will not be back soon, if he will not return here, I will kill myself! Yes, this dagger! It will save me from my torment; it will unite me and you!" Juliet turned to take the dagger, and then saw the dead Paris.
"Paris… he is dead, dead along with Tybalt, along with Romeo's friend and all the others! He is killed! Juliet's eyes reflected all the pain of the world, panic in her voice. "Who killed you? Romeo, did you do that? For what reason? Did he try to murder you, to take you away from me?"
She grabbed his hand desperately, hoping to feel any sign of life still running through his veins. "Where's the justice of this world? I have no reason to stay here…" the young girl carefully touched blade of the dagger, her hands quaking. She was in such a shock and fear that she couldn't even lift it.
That very moment she remembered the words of the friar. "…we'll save your husband…"
"Did I really hear him say so… or was that a progeny of my deranged imagination?.. Is there a chance that you are still alive, my Romeo! I would give everything to have you by my side again, breathing, speaking, and holding me! Or did the friar lie to me? Maybe he just wanted to calm me down and run away himself? No, I cannot think like that, I cannot…"
Only a few minutes passed, but for Juliet it seemed like an eternity. Eternity of a living nightmare.
The thoughts in Juliet's head were tearing her apart… The horror around her and all the feelings within her caused the throb in her temples to become unbearable, and she fell onto the stone floor, unconscious, Romeo's hand still in hers.
That was how friar Laurence found them. Panic rushed through him, and he didn't realise that he started praying, blessing God for hearing his appeals, when he saw that Juliet was still alive. Now there was only one thing left to do.
As the friar attempted to make Romeo drink the potion that he quickly made from various herbs, he could not chase the fear away, fear that it would not work and Romeo would not survive; he couldn't help but think about Juliet, how was this girl's life going to last, if…
"Now all we can do is wait." The friar looked at Juliet, trying to guess what horror the girl had to go through.
Juliet stirred. Opening her eyes, she saw friar Laurence looking at her. "Holy Father… where is Romeo?"
"He will be fine, I'm sure," Laurence smiled to Juliet, who got up slowly and shook her head in terror. "I want to get out of here… Please, I don't want to stay here a moment longer!"
"I understand what you feel, my dear Juliet, and as soon as your Romeo wakes up, I will hide you… And when the last ray of light dies in the sky, you two will leave for Mantua…for a happy life you two deserve."
Juliet nodded silently and turned at her husband, who appeared to be sleeping. "What have you done to him?"
"I gave him a potion, which is meant to revive all of his senses. If I was three minutes late, we wouldn't be able to save him…"
"God bless you…" Juliet kneeled down before him.
"No, do not thank me, thank God, young lady." Friar Laurence stopped and motioned for Juliet to keep silent. "I hear steps and voices… I think they're coming here!"
"Who…" Juliet leaned towards Romeo, touching his face softly. "Soon… soon this nightmare will be over! Wake up, I don't want to hear this silence from you any longer!"
"What's happening down here! Who's here, who dared to open the door of this place!" it was the voice of Juliet's father. She turned to him and saw him backing up, together with Lady Capulet, whose face was whiter than snow.
"Juliet…" her mother quavered, coming closer to her. "You're alive!"
"Mother…" Juliet smiled happily and hugged her. It really felt wonderful to see her close people again.
"Who is going to explain all of this to me!" Capulet exclaimed, fixing his look on friar Laurence and noticing the body of Paris in the puddle of blood. "Whoever killed him deserves to die! Juliet, why, aren't you dead? What kind of charms are here?"
"Hush, no fuss in this place," friar said, hopelessly trying to think of a way to explain everything to the Capulets.
Juliet pulled herself away from the embrace of her mother and run back to Romeo, who was starting to rally.
"Romeo, Romeo…" she whispered softly, forgetting everything around her.
"What is he doing here! In our place! Should this son of a bitch not be in Mantua! Although I would prefer having him dead!" Capulet was frantic.
The noise in the crypt was attracting people inside, thankfully Friar John only let the ones he thought was necessary to the crypt… and that was Montague, the Prince and the nurse.
"My son!" Romeo's father noticed him lying on the floor as soon as he entered the place. He tried to get nearer, but was brutally stopped by the father of Juliet.
"No fuss, no fuss…" friar Laurence tried his best to calm the families down. "I will explain everything!" But nobody was listening to him.
"Juliet! What are you doing with this monster!" her father shouted furiously, gripping her white hand violently.
"Forgive me, father…" she spoke quietly, not turning her eyes away from Romeo, who has just opened his eyes.
"Juliet…" he breathed, so that only she could hear him, not believing his own eyes. "Are we in Heaven?"
"No..." she laughed quietly. "You're alive, my Romeo, I can't believe it!" Following the perturbation in his eyes, she added: "I'm alive; my death was a farce, a lie!"
Montague managed to weave his way through his enemies, but didn't find the strength to say anything, watching how gently and with care the daughter of his biggest enemy was helping his son to stand.
"Girl, why are you doing this?"
Friar Laurence joined the conversation. "You should be happy, sir, that at least someone cares about your son and is not willing to kill him for being in this place! If only you knew…"
"Yes, father, if only you knew…" Romeo added, stealing a glance to Juliet.
"I am waiting for an explanation." That voice caused everybody to hush. The Prince pointed at the body of Paris, and then his glance stopped on Romeo.
"Why are you not listening to my orders? You should be in Mantua! I will not tolerate this!"
Romeo did not look at the Prince, his eyes focused on Juliet instead, who seemed to be much more frightened than he was…
"I'm waiting! And the death of the young Paris, is that also your fault? Do you have an excuse for this!"
"Yes. He offended me and provoked me…" Romeo started, surprised how calm and firm his voice was.
"Don't believe in him! Don't!" It was the voice of Juliet's mother. "He must die, this liar!"
"I don't see why I should lie to you, sir."
"He's the son of a devil, he's a murderer, don't you see!"
The prince ignored the last remark of Lady Capulet. "What will you say to this, young Romeo? You have murdered two persons in a few days… why should we pardon you?"
"Because I beg you to pardon him…" Juliet kneeled down before the Prince, who recoiled in surprise.
Capulet was boiling with rage. "What are you talking about? You… you whore, you're not a daughter to me anymore!"
"I assert – he's not guilty! Romeo, tell them!" There was such trust was visible in her voice, that old Montague insensibly smiled at that young lady, who, possibly by mistake, was born in the family of his biggest enemies.
"I cannot prove it to you, but all I ask is to believe in me, believe in her!" Romeo kneeled down beside Juliet.
"Well… That's a really nice gesture from you two. But I need more reasons, why should I let Romeo live?" The Prince overlooked everybody in the crypt, only to see that everyone was as much surprised as he was.
"Because… because," Juliet's voice started to quiver, "because I would die without him." Her eyes followed the visage of Friar Laurence now. He shrugged and motioned for her to go on, his eyes looking up.
Everybody stared at her with true amazement. "Daughter, child, what are you talking about?" The woman was sure her only child has gone mad. And that was something she was not going to allow. Lady Capulet run to her, but was stopped by the Prince. "You don't even know him!" Juliet's mother was in a blaze of anger.
"For the sake for my young wife, I ask you to pardon me! If you wish, we can go away from this dark and wicked place and never come back, just let us stay together!"
"Wife!" Old Montague stood in astonishment. "Since when do you have a wife? Who is she!"
"What kind of family are they," old Capulet spat. "They don't even know whether their brat is married!"
"Me." Juliet stood up slowly. "He is my husband! And all we want is to live happily! Away from this asylum!" she allowed Romeo to wipe the tears away from her face and embraced him wildly. Romeo wrapped his arms around her, ignoring everybody around them, except for the Prince. "Our lives belong on your mercy, sir."
The Prince heaved a sigh, slowly realizing the gravity of the situation.
"So… you two are married? For how long? Friar, have you anything to do with this?"
"Yes. I united them before God on Saturday." Friar Laurence spoke decisively, telling the whole story quickly and with no doubt in his voice.
Lady Capulet grabbed a wall. "Oh…my…Lord…" Her husband gazed at their daughter, disbelieving. "That'll be the day!" he squeezed.
The families had to end the feud. Finally they had someone to get swizzled with.
The Prince indemnified Romeo –
…and the two lived happily ever after.