(a/n): This was written while bored in English class with my good friend Seaoknarnar who gave me the idea with her club, "We Cry For Carton" Spoilers!
Summary: Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Carton and the Seamstress had lived?
Disclaimer: TOTC was written by Charles Dickens…not by me (thank god…I don't want to have bunches of school children mad at me for living) …Book verse…
And now…on with the story…
"Will You Let Me Hold Your Hand"The seamstress blinked and a lone tear slipped down her face. " If I may ride with you, Citizen Evremond, will you let me hold your hand? I am not afraid but I am little and weak, and it will give me more courage." She grasped onto him and gasped as the looming face of the guillotine appeared before them, growing larger at the prospect of fresh blood.
"Do not be afraid. We shall face her together, and we shall prevail." Carton pressed her hand gently and smiled. Another tear escaped from her eyes and he gently wiped it away. "Don't cry my dear seamstress. I promise, everything will be alright. The golden gates will open for us and we shall live." His hand cupped her face, "We shall live!"
The first in the line of the condemned stepped out of the tumbril and mounted the platform that was the throne of the Queen of Death. The condemned was a man, who, seeing the magnificence and merciless radiance of La Guillotine, fell to his knees and begged for mercy. He was pulled to her bench and La Guillotine's noble blade fell, cleanly and effortlessly fulfilling her duty without remorse. Soon, she was moving at such a rate that the tears and sobs of the poor souls fell onto deaf ears, long made so by the cries of victims and the clang of the blade.
Soon, the little seamstress, known as Marie-Anne, known only to La Guillotine as number 22, was called up to meet the Queen and her destiny. "You comfort me so much! I am so ignorant. Am I to kiss you now? Is the moment come?" She turned her innocent and frightened face to Carton.
Carton's hand brushed her face again. "Yes." He bent down and gently allowed his lips to brush hers. "Farewell, my little alouette. Au revoir." He pulled her close and she gasped as the agents of the Queen came to pull her away.
"Farewell stranger, man of my heart. Merci." She kissed his cheek and followed the agents, only to find that they were leading her down the steps and out of the crowd. She was released and turned away from the throne.
"Marie-Anne!" She turned only to be grasped in a hug. "They have had mercy. We may live yet!" Carton's smiling face appeared only for a split second before her face vanished into his chest again in another embrace.
"But I do not understand. I have been taught not to ask when something is too good to be true but I cannot help it! Why is La Guillotine sparing us?"
Carton laughed. "Only a great fool would accept things without questions. My guess is that Tellson's wants us and has paid for our release with the promise of good business for the Revolution. The New France will be financed by Tellson's! We should most likely leave for England at once." He stopped short. "You will be coming with me, will you not?"
Marie-Anne smiled and nodded. "I have nowhere to go, no one to go to that would save me from La Guillotine again, and no strong stranger to hold my hand and kiss me and tell me that this fate is not as terrible as it seems. I would be honored to be the traveling companion of the strong stranger to whom I owe my life."
Carton smiled and knew, for once in his life, that all was not in vain, that he could love and be loved, that all was not unrequited fantasies that would lead him to tempt fate time after time.
He offered the tiny seamstress his arm, she took it and together they walked towards a bright future for the two of them, a couple of run-aways against the world, dealing with the future together, a couple.