As promised, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Les Mis, or the characters

12

"He killed her!" Eponine sobbed again. Marius went over to her. Eponine was kneeling beside her sister's dead body. "She... she was just trying to help me. She c-came and s-saw what he was doing to m-me and she... she stood in his way. She was protecting me. It was supposed to be the other way around! I was supposed to protect her! She... she was my little sister..."

Marius knelt down next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"She's dead! It's my fault... I was the one who was supposed to die..." She whispered.

"It's not your fault," Marius whispered. Eponine shook her head.

"It is my fault. She... died for me... It's all my fault."

"You didn't kill her." Marius said. Eponine looked at him and then back at her dead sister. She remembered that day long ago when she and her sister had been swinging on that chain. Her sister had been sitting in her lap. The rosy blonde had been so happy swinging with her older sister. Azelma had only been 18 months at the time. Eponine had been almost 3. That had been the day that Cosette had joined them. The three had played together, digging holes in the dirt, watching a worm wriggle about. Eponine sobbed again.

"I can't believe she'd dead!" She whispered, her voice breaking. Marius held her close.

...

After they had gotten the coroner to come and take Azelma's body away, Marius brought Eponine back home. He tended to her wounds. The two then started to plan a funeral for Azelma.

During the days leading up to the funeral, Eponine didn't talk much. Both of her siblings were dead. First Gavroche, then Azelma. Eponine knew she had two other brothers, but she didn't know where they were. She didn't even know their names!

Not many people attended the funeral. It was a quiet service. Following the funeral was the burial. Eponine said a silent goodbye to her sister. Eponine didn't know why Azelma had died for her.

But the reason was simple: Eponine would have done it for her. When Valjean had taken Cosette away, M. Thenardier had turned his aggressive behaviour towards his own daughters. But Eponine had never let him hurt Azelma. Eponine had always shielded her sister from each blow. She had never thought much about it. She had always felt a need to protect her little sister. And now, Azelma had returned the favour. She had shielded Eponine from that fatal blow. She had protected the sister that had always protected her. And now she was dead.

Marius brought Eponine back home after the funeral. He held her close as she cried. He understood how she felt. All of Marius' friends were dead. Except for Eponine, of course. They had all died at the barricade. Marius knew it was something he'd never get over, it was something he would have to learn to live with. Marius hadn't let himself cry. At the time, he had needed to be strong for Eponine. But now, he could feel the tears filling his eyes. It came down on him hard. All of his friends had died, but he had lived. Why? Because Valjean had saved him. Otherwise he would have died alongside his friends. Valjean too was now dead, though, for different reasons. He had died peacefully with Cosette at his side.

...

Later, when Eponine had cried herself to sleep, Marius went down to the cafe in the Rue Saint-Hyacinthe where Les Amis de l'ABC used to meet. He looked around. The place was so...empty, so quiet now. Marius let the tears fall from his eyes. He'd been holdingit all in for too long.

"There's a grief that can't be spoken..." he whispered softly. "There's a pain... goes on and on..." he looked at all of the unoccupied chairs. "Empty chairs and empty tables... now my friends are dead and gone." he imagined them discussing their plans and he could almost hear their voices. "We left to change the world. We dreamed of equality. And here they sang about tomorrow and tomorrow... never came." he looked at the corner table. "From the table in he corner, they could see a world reborn. And they rose with voices ringing..." in his mind he could hear them so clearly. "I still hear those burning words that they had sung, they became their last communion!" he thought of the barricade, filled only with the dead. "On the lonely barricade... at dawn." Tears were pouring from his eyes. "Oh my friends, my friends forgive me... that I live and you are gone. There's a grief that can't be spoken... there's a pain goes on and on..." he looked out the window and he imagined them there. They cast shadows upon the floor. "And I see your shadows pass! I cry and our joys are lost! Empty chairs at empty tables... you will never see again. Oh! My friends, I want to believe you did not die in vain. Empty chairs at empty tables, I am no longer sure of anything."

As the sun started to rise, Marius headed home. Eponine was awake and trying to read one of Marius' gigantic law books. Marius went inside and saw her. He smiled slightly. She looked at him.

"Good book?" he asked her jokingly.

"I can't tell," Eponine admitted. Marius smiled again. Eponine got up and put the book away.

"Shall we discuss wedding details?" Marius asked. Eponine nodded.

...

Cosette and Lucien had just gotten married. Both were immensely happy. Both had decided that they wanted to move away from France. They planned to move to England and start a life there. Both wanted to put the past behind them.

...

Not too long after Cosette and Lucien had gotten married, Eponine and Marius did the same. Though, they had no intentions of leaving France. Paris would always be their home. Despite all of the sad events that had recently transpired, the two were very happy.

Eponine soon became pregnant.

Alrighty, next chapter will be the epilogue. It should be up soon.