Lamarque was a withered man, in the kind of state where nobody would really mind if he died because it just had to be better than whatever this horrible illness was. He couldn't see more than five feet in front of him, he coughed continually with few breaks, and his skin had taken on the appearance of paper. I was in the room when he died and I wasn't a whit surprised. He'd earned rest. I stood before Gavroche did, eager to get back to the cafe; this was big news after all. He was lingering for some reason, staring at Lamarque's face as if trying to count the lines around the lifeless eyes. "Gavroche." I muttered, shaking his shoulder, "We need to tell the boys, come on."

He didn't move. "This man was one of the good ones. Just give me a sec, would ya?"

I blinked in surprise, but waited at the door. When he rose, slowly, it was with a kind of reverence and I knew he'd just lived in one of those moments that makes you more grown up whether you like it or not. "Gav, you can just go home if you want, I can tell them myself."

He shook his head. "I haven't got a home." his voice cracked when he said it. "But he...he spent his life trying to change that. I'll tell 'em. And then I'll ask to fight with 'em."

My heart plummeted into my stomach. "I wish you wouldn't." I couldn't outright forbid him, of course I couldn't. I was HIS employee at the end of the day, after all.

"I know. But...what else can I do?"

He was right and I knew it. "Fine." I sighed, "But I'm fighting with you."

"Kat, please, don't do that for me. At least pretend to do it for something else, I can't...I can't think about you getting...hurt because of me."

My chest seemed to swell from the inside. "Then I'll fight for...for Enjolras, alright?"

He laughed a little. "Yeah, I thought you might fancy him."

He was teasing of course. So how did I explain the flutters in the bottom of my stomach? "Oh, shut it." I gave him a push, forcing a smile.

His eyes widened in surprise, a grin spreading over his face. "Ha! You really do, don't you?" he knew what my silence meant and sobered at once. "Oh, Kat, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said a thing, it's your business. But...I mean, do you?"

I thought back. Back to Enjolras drawing me to him despite all my protestations and ideas. Back to the smile that flashed over that angelic face when I listened to him. Enjolras in my dreams, laughing. Enjolras in my nightmares, bleeding. "I care about him a great deal." I forced out at last, "That much I know. Anything beyond that is murky."

The streets were peaceful when we left; it was twilight, the time after shopkeepers closed down and before the poor, lesser beings had their way in the dark. The cafe, on the other hand, was in utter chaos. The boys were excited, all of them, shouting across tables and leaping from chair to chair. It took Gavroche three tries before his high-pitched cry of "LISTEN, EVERYBODY!" was loud enough to penetrate the noise. They quieted, waiting. He came right out with it. "General Lamarque is dead."

Utter silence. Enjolras glanced at me, asking with an eyebrow raise if the news was true. I nodded curtly.

"Lamarque is dead." he repeated. You could practically see the gears in his head whirring. "Lamarque...his death is the hour of fate..." he was muttering to himself, pacing. "The people's man...Lamarque!" he smacked the table in front of him, startling Grantaire. "His death is the sign we await!" we all looked at him, puzzled. "On his funeral day they will honor his name in a cry that will reach every ear. Katarine, Gavroche, you knew what he meant, how people will respond to his death! Their anger will spread, and from the death of Lamarque we will kindle our flame! They will see what must be done, that their day of salvation is near!" the fire behind his eyes was raging, fueled by the shouts of the men around him.

They spent the night singing, drinking, talking, and planning, until one by one they either leave or pass out. "Katarine?"

I looked up from the history book that Combeferre had leant me. Enjolras was sitting next to me. "Hello there."

"I think we're the only ones still here and awake." he said with a small chuckle. I glanced around and realized he was right. Joly was slumped in a corner and Grantaire was face-down on a table nearby, but otherwise the place had cleared out.

"Well look at that." I muttered without looking up. "Poor Grantaire."

"Indeed. What are you working on?"

"Oh, Combeferre suggested I learn a bit about the...the idea of what we're doing."

He scooted closer, and my heart did the same stupid flutter. "Well, you're looking in the right place. Could I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Could you look at me first?" I forced my eyes upward to meet his. "Gavroche told me about you before you came here. He said you were like Grantaire, you don't believe in much."

"And?"

"And here you are, reading a textbook about something you don't believe in when you could be getting some sleep. I have to wonder why."

I sighed and shut the book. "Why don't you just ask Grantaire if we're so similar?"

He looked shocked for a moment, then half-grinned. "Grantaire!" he called. The man started awake. "Why're you fighting with us?"

His face twisted into confusion. "Why does it matter?"

"We're curious, just humor us."

"I...I don't want to say." he said stubbornly.

Enjolras laughed quietly. "See what I mean? He's impossible. I was hoping you'd tell me."

Those damn eyes were boring into me. "I guess because it's the right thing to do. Because some people are worth fighting for."

"People?"

"I meant things." I said hurriedly, "Some things."

"And hypothetically, if you had meant people?" he was teasing me.

"Gavroche is worth it." I said too quickly.

"Indeed he is." he said with a thoughtful smile.

I still don't know what made me do it. Maybe it was the glass of wine Prouvaire had talked me into drinking. Perhaps it was the closeness of him, or the fact that it was the first real conversation we'd had. Maybe I'd been thinking too much about what Gavroche had said earlier about fancying him. No matter the cause, I said something along the lines of "So are you", and before I knew it my mouth was pressed on his.

He kissed back for the briefest of seconds before he pulled away almost violently, eyes wide. "I-I'm so sorry." I stuttered, tucking the book under my arm. "I'll just...go home."

As it was, I ran back to Gavroche's camp as quickly as I could without looking back. If i had I would've noticed the flash of anger on Grantaire's face before he turned to Enjolras with forlorn eyes.