Two chapters in two days! Yay! Anyway, I leave Wednesday for the FCS Football Championship in Chattanooga, TN, and I'll be back Sunday-ish, so no updates till then.

Shortly after Feuilly left, Muchietta arrived to keep Eponine company. Eponine could finally sit up for longer periods of time, and was on the couch with her leg propped up on a chair. The girls embraced, and Muchietta sat next to her friend.

"Look what I've brought!" Muchietta said cheerfully, producing the wedding dress pattern she had promised Eponine.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" Eponine said, "But I don't know if I could sew that. It's so complicated."

"I can do it," Muschietta said, "I don't mind helping." Her voice started to crack a little. Eponine looked up at her curiously.

"What's wrong?"

"I…" Muschietta bit her lip and sat down, "Oh, Eponine, I'm so jealous of you! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Tears formed in her eyes, and she buried her face in her hands. Eponine reached over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I loved Joly, Eponine. I truly did," Muchietta said, the tears trickling down her cheeks, "And it's only now that I realize how cruel I was to him. I…I was trying to be coy and playful. Oh, it must have hurt him terribly!" she dissolved into tears.

"Shhh," Eponine hushed her friend gently, putting her arms around her, "I'm sure he knew that you loved him."

"I treated him like a toy," Muchietta sniffed, "and now he's gone!"

Eponine handed her a handerchief to wipe her eyes.

"I'm sure he knew how you felt about him," she said gently, "and he loved you ever so much."

"My poor, sweet Joly!" Muchietta sobbed. Eponine was at a loss for words now. She had never seen anyone so effected by death before, nor felt such strong emotion herself. Her grandmother had died, when she had been very small. Her mother had just been angry that she hadn't inherited anything.

Eponine could only hold her friend and pat her on the back while Muchietta cried. But after awhile the tears subsided, and Muchietta recovered a bit.

"Why don't I go and make us some tea?" she asked.

"That would be wonderful," Eponine replied with a smile, "but I feel like I should be making it for you."

Muchietta smiled and went into the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with the tea. The ladies passed the afternoon more cheerfully, and Muchietta was feeling much better when she left for the night.

Feuilly came home, embracing Eponine and kissing her, one hand carefully hiding the bulge in his pocket.

"Hello, chère. How was your day?"

"It was fine," she said, "Muchietta is quite upset by Joly's death."

"I know," Feuilly said, sitting down next to her and kissing her cheek. He couldn't get enough of her since the night at the barricades, terrified that he would lose her. A strange noise came from his pocket, and Eponine jumped, looking at him curiously.

"What was that?"

"What? I didn't hear anything," he said quickly. Eponine frowned, but leaned in for a kiss. As their lips met, she reached down into the pocket. Her fingers touched something soft and warm. Something soft and warm that was…licking her?

She squealed and pulled her hand out of the pocket. Feuilly threw his head back and laughed.

"What is that?" Eponine asked, her eyes wide, staring at his coat, which was now moving. Feuilly smiled and put a hand into his pocket, pulling out a tiny white kitten that was now mewing pathetically. He put it into her hands.

"I thought you'd like her," he said, smiling and kissing her on the forehead, "Someone offered me her in exchange for a painting. I couldn't say no. She needed a home."

The kitten climbed up onto Eponine's shoulder, curled up in her neck, and fell asleep. Eponine smiled and moved it into her lap.

"She is very sweet, isn't she?" Eponine asked, running her fingers through the kitten's fur. Feuilly nodded and put his arm around her.

"We're a little family now," he said, kissing her temple.

"She looks more like you," Eponine teased.

"She has your eyes," Feuilly replied.

"I'll call her Vitorie," Eponine decided.

Life settled back into a sort of routing after that. Muchietta brought several yards of white fabric to Eponine, saying that it was a wedding gift, and the pair began sewing on the dress, making wedding plans. Eponine also took up her job again, and moved back into her tiny apartment above the book shop.

Azelma, through her "connections", had managed to find her sister, and came by a few times a week. She was constantly gushing about how happy she was with Montparnasse, how well things were going. Eponine smiled through gritted teeth and said nothing, telling herself that as long as he treated Azelma well, she would keep her peace.

But Azelma's visits began to become fewer and fewer, and she was skittish, trying to hide bruises that she couldn't explain. Still, Eponine held her tongue, knowing that there was nothing she could say. Until Azelma came running in early one morning, crying and pounding on the door.

It was a Saturday, and Eponine had the day off. She was still asleep, and the pounding frightened her. Finding Feuilly's pistol, still loaded from the battle at the barricades, she crept down the stairs and opened the door a crack.

"'Ponine! Let me in, quick!"

"'Zelma! What's wrong?"

Azelma burst into the room, out of breath, with a bleeding lip and a swollen eye, tears streaming down her cheeks. Eponine ushered her to the couch and went to the kitchen as fast as she could, fetching a damn rag and putting the teakettle on.

As tenderly as a mother, she wiped her sister's tears away, along with the blood on her lip. Azelma was silent and sullen. The settle whistled, and Eponine fetched it, putting extra sugar in her sister's cup. Azelma's lips barely moved as she whispered her thanks. Eponine wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and set the cat in her lap. Azelma would speak when she was ready, she knew from long experience.

A long silence passed, and Eponine embroidered some trim on her dress.

"'E asked me to marry 'im!" Azelma finally blurted out, the confession bringing a fresh round of tears with it. Eponine pressed her hand sympathetically,

"What did you say?"

"No, of course. 'E's been 'itting me a lot lately, an' I told 'im that I wouldn't take it anymore, that I was leavin'. An' 'e said that I was jus' like you, 'Ponine. I took it as a compliment!"

"Oh, 'Zelma," Eponine said, hugging her sister, "you can stay here with me as long as you need to."

"I'm afraid 'e'll follow me here," Azelma said.

"That's what I've got the pistol for," Eponine replied grimly. Azelma's eyes widened and her mouth fell open.

"'Ponine, you wouldn't!"

"Wouldn't I?" Eponine asked. Azelma closed her mouth. Someone banged on the door of the shop below, and they looked at each other.

I am so sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger. Seriously. I didn't mean to do it!

Will put new chapter up ASAP after my return from TN!