A/N- OHHH NOOOOO! My ficcy dear is almost over with. I give it one more
chapter after this, and then maybe my original plot. *sniffles*
Elyse3- Here's a little Cosette/Marius. Doesn't last too long, though.
La Pamplemousse- I had nothing better to do, thus the sudden burst of updatingness.
tattered sparrow- Glad to hear it. I know that feeling...
Disclaimer- Do you honestly think I could possibly be Hugo? Didn't think so. I've tried to be, however, by inventing Bobette. I even stole a few lines from him (Hugo) in this chappie.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Cosette awoke in her own room. Marius was seated at her bedside, asleep in his chair. She coughed and he opened his eyes. "Cosette," he whispered taking her icy hand in his warm one, "the doctor has been here. He says he thinks that you have pneumonia, but he doesn't know for sure. He'll be back in a little while."
Cosette, thrilled to be home again, heard him as though from a distance. The whole thing must have been an awful dream. She coughed again, painfully. Now, if she could just get Marius to allow her papa to visit again everything would be alright.
There was a knock at the door. "We wish to pay out apologies to the Baroness Pontmercy," announced a voice from the hallway.
"Come in," Marius answered.
The door opened to reveal Bobette, Montparnasse, Azelma, the two boys, and few other bandits. Montparnasse sighed. "Hawk told us about your loss, and, although none of us wanted to-"
Bobette elbowed him in the stomach.
"Mph! I mean, so we came to apologize for what we put the Lark through immediately after her foster father's de- Mph! We came to apologize." He turned to Bobette. "Happy?"
Bobette shook her head and stepped forward, into the room. "Cosette, I'm so sorry! I thought you had the perfect life and I just wanted to see what it was like for a while. I didn't think you'd end up with the Patron- Minette or I wouldn't have done it in the first place. And I'm really sorry about you getting sick and I'm sorry about Monsieur Valjean and our mother and- oh, everything!"
Cosette sat up a little straighter. "/Our/ mother?"
"Yes, our mother. Fantine la Blonde, you remember? She was a friend of Monsieur Valjean's."
"We- we had the same mother?"
"Of course! I'm your sister, remember me? Fantine left us both at the Thénardier tavern and they got sick of us and kicked me out!"
Cosette suddenly remembered the horrible red-haired woman holding the tavern door tightly closed against the pitiful wails of a child freezing, barefoot in the snow. "Bobette? You're Bobette?"
"Yes! But they've taken to calling me the Hawk because Thénardier called you the Lark."
"I thought... I thought she killed you!"
"Who? The Thénardiess? No, I was raised by gypsies until the gang found me," Bobette explained.
Someone in the back of the crowd of murderers cleared his throat. "May I... ah... see the patient?"
The crowd parted and a pale doctor made his way into the room. He began his examination of Cosette and the robbers began to thin out as they left one by one. Bobette and Montparnasse were last, walking out slowly, hand in hand.
By the time the entire Patron-Minette had cleared out of the hallway the doctor was finished. He took Marius into the hall and closed the door.
When the baron returned he was blinking back tears.
"Marius, what's wrong?"
"It's... ah... nothing, really."
Marius was a terrible liar.
Cosette grabbed his hand. "What's the matter? Tell me!"
Marius put his other hand over Cosette's and held it tightly. "The doctor... your pneumonia..."
"Yes?"
"He says it's incurable," Marius finally whispered.
/\/\/\
The wind rustled Marius's hair. He leaned against the tombstone, wondering what he could have possibly done to deserve this. Ever since the day that doctor had diagnosed Cosette's pneumonia as incurable Marius had prayed for a miracle.
He had wanted to be angry with the robbers, but they, obviously prompted by Cosette's sister, had been extremely apologetic and kind. He found that he could not blame them.
And after the Patron-Minette there was no one to blame.
Marius had stopped seeing other people. He was afraid to make friends – it seemed that whenever he got close to someone they just... died. Again he prayed for a miracle.
He walked down by the river Seine to Pont-Neuf and leaned with his elbows on the parapet, his chin resting on his hands. What did he have to live for? Marius had no friends... no family... nothing. In the end it came to nothing. Marius Pontmercy had nothing to live for.
Marius slowly climbed onto the railing of the bridge. Before him he saw two straight paths – to go back into the world, make new friends and perhaps watch them die; or to remain closed up in his house until old age bring him to Cosette.
He watched the water swirling beneath him. But why wait for old age to see Cosette again? Why not just-
Marius threw himself into the river Seine.
/\/\/\
Cosette stood before him. "Marius, that was awful of you! You had a purpose in life too. You didn't give yourself long enough to live out your life!"
Behind her Marius could make out another form – an old man with a saber cut across his face. "Son," said the man, "you have been given two choices. You can go back to the Paris you just left as a ghost, or you may be sent somewhere else in a different time. When you have fulfilled your purpose in life you may join us."
As he said "us" Marius saw behind him the forms of many others. A thin woman with long golden curls leaned on the shoulder of an elderly man with white hair. A fair young man stood tall and proud, and behind him stood another man, watching the first with reverence. A sprightly little boy sat on the ground next to a dark-eyed girl who gazed mournfully at Marius... He could see many other figures behind his father and his wife.
Marius thought of the choice that he had to make and came upon his decision almost immediately.
Elyse3- Here's a little Cosette/Marius. Doesn't last too long, though.
La Pamplemousse- I had nothing better to do, thus the sudden burst of updatingness.
tattered sparrow- Glad to hear it. I know that feeling...
Disclaimer- Do you honestly think I could possibly be Hugo? Didn't think so. I've tried to be, however, by inventing Bobette. I even stole a few lines from him (Hugo) in this chappie.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Cosette awoke in her own room. Marius was seated at her bedside, asleep in his chair. She coughed and he opened his eyes. "Cosette," he whispered taking her icy hand in his warm one, "the doctor has been here. He says he thinks that you have pneumonia, but he doesn't know for sure. He'll be back in a little while."
Cosette, thrilled to be home again, heard him as though from a distance. The whole thing must have been an awful dream. She coughed again, painfully. Now, if she could just get Marius to allow her papa to visit again everything would be alright.
There was a knock at the door. "We wish to pay out apologies to the Baroness Pontmercy," announced a voice from the hallway.
"Come in," Marius answered.
The door opened to reveal Bobette, Montparnasse, Azelma, the two boys, and few other bandits. Montparnasse sighed. "Hawk told us about your loss, and, although none of us wanted to-"
Bobette elbowed him in the stomach.
"Mph! I mean, so we came to apologize for what we put the Lark through immediately after her foster father's de- Mph! We came to apologize." He turned to Bobette. "Happy?"
Bobette shook her head and stepped forward, into the room. "Cosette, I'm so sorry! I thought you had the perfect life and I just wanted to see what it was like for a while. I didn't think you'd end up with the Patron- Minette or I wouldn't have done it in the first place. And I'm really sorry about you getting sick and I'm sorry about Monsieur Valjean and our mother and- oh, everything!"
Cosette sat up a little straighter. "/Our/ mother?"
"Yes, our mother. Fantine la Blonde, you remember? She was a friend of Monsieur Valjean's."
"We- we had the same mother?"
"Of course! I'm your sister, remember me? Fantine left us both at the Thénardier tavern and they got sick of us and kicked me out!"
Cosette suddenly remembered the horrible red-haired woman holding the tavern door tightly closed against the pitiful wails of a child freezing, barefoot in the snow. "Bobette? You're Bobette?"
"Yes! But they've taken to calling me the Hawk because Thénardier called you the Lark."
"I thought... I thought she killed you!"
"Who? The Thénardiess? No, I was raised by gypsies until the gang found me," Bobette explained.
Someone in the back of the crowd of murderers cleared his throat. "May I... ah... see the patient?"
The crowd parted and a pale doctor made his way into the room. He began his examination of Cosette and the robbers began to thin out as they left one by one. Bobette and Montparnasse were last, walking out slowly, hand in hand.
By the time the entire Patron-Minette had cleared out of the hallway the doctor was finished. He took Marius into the hall and closed the door.
When the baron returned he was blinking back tears.
"Marius, what's wrong?"
"It's... ah... nothing, really."
Marius was a terrible liar.
Cosette grabbed his hand. "What's the matter? Tell me!"
Marius put his other hand over Cosette's and held it tightly. "The doctor... your pneumonia..."
"Yes?"
"He says it's incurable," Marius finally whispered.
/\/\/\
The wind rustled Marius's hair. He leaned against the tombstone, wondering what he could have possibly done to deserve this. Ever since the day that doctor had diagnosed Cosette's pneumonia as incurable Marius had prayed for a miracle.
He had wanted to be angry with the robbers, but they, obviously prompted by Cosette's sister, had been extremely apologetic and kind. He found that he could not blame them.
And after the Patron-Minette there was no one to blame.
Marius had stopped seeing other people. He was afraid to make friends – it seemed that whenever he got close to someone they just... died. Again he prayed for a miracle.
He walked down by the river Seine to Pont-Neuf and leaned with his elbows on the parapet, his chin resting on his hands. What did he have to live for? Marius had no friends... no family... nothing. In the end it came to nothing. Marius Pontmercy had nothing to live for.
Marius slowly climbed onto the railing of the bridge. Before him he saw two straight paths – to go back into the world, make new friends and perhaps watch them die; or to remain closed up in his house until old age bring him to Cosette.
He watched the water swirling beneath him. But why wait for old age to see Cosette again? Why not just-
Marius threw himself into the river Seine.
/\/\/\
Cosette stood before him. "Marius, that was awful of you! You had a purpose in life too. You didn't give yourself long enough to live out your life!"
Behind her Marius could make out another form – an old man with a saber cut across his face. "Son," said the man, "you have been given two choices. You can go back to the Paris you just left as a ghost, or you may be sent somewhere else in a different time. When you have fulfilled your purpose in life you may join us."
As he said "us" Marius saw behind him the forms of many others. A thin woman with long golden curls leaned on the shoulder of an elderly man with white hair. A fair young man stood tall and proud, and behind him stood another man, watching the first with reverence. A sprightly little boy sat on the ground next to a dark-eyed girl who gazed mournfully at Marius... He could see many other figures behind his father and his wife.
Marius thought of the choice that he had to make and came upon his decision almost immediately.