Chapter Nine
The First Death

As the sun rose slowly over the misty horizon, Valjean woke as well.

He woke to the sight of his daughter sleeping silently in Marius' arms, with Gavroche lying between them both, his chest rising and falling slowly. Eponine laid her arm across Gavroche's back protectively, sleeping almost sadly, away from Enjolras, who was still alone in the room where he had been operated on.

Jean quickly looked away, still shaken from the thought of losing any of these children in the upcoming battle.

Eponine was the first to wake of the children, having had a nightmare and, after making sure everybody was alright and the coast was clear, went to see how Enjolras was doing.

What did he want to ask of her the previous night? Why had she ignored him…?

After all, it was Enjolras who did everything in his power to keep her from fighting, only to take a bullet to the shoulder that should have killed her instead of injuring him. If only she had thought this way the previous night…

His wound was still visible, covered with dry blood and the thin black thread that Valjean had used to bind his skin. Sweat covered his brow and his tired eyes were red and swollen, reasons unknown to Eponine.

He breathed quickly, as if he was in a panic, although it was no surprise since he had been awake most the night fearing for the sake of the barricade and les amis.

"Who – Who's there?" He stuttered as he sat up, panting.

Eponine almost screamed and backed up against the wall, sharing an awkward glance with him after finally realizing that there was no danger. What had come over him?

"What's on Earth is the matter with you?" She sighed, placing her hand on his forehead to check his temperature.

"Eponine," he sighed, resting his head against her shoulder, "is everyone alright?"

"Yes, yes. Don't worry so much, you're making youself ill..." She stroked his cheek and looked him in the eye worriedly, "You went to sleep later than me, you know. What were you thinking about?"

"I," he took a deep breath, "I'm terrified that something bad is going to happen. I mean, I already know it is..."

"Why on Earth would you say that?" Eponine knew exactly what he was talking about though.

Ever since he had been injured and Cosette had arrived so spontaneously, he had taken that as a sign for bad luck.

If somebody as gentle and innocent as Cosette could be stuck in the barricade, a place of rebellion and freedom, a place on the brink of war – what did he know anymore? When Marius didn't even have the satisfaction of knowing that he would still have Cosette after the battle, whether or not hewas still alive, then what satisfaction did Enjolras have of knowing he would still have Eponine? His injury had made him realize that they weren't made of stone. They were humans, capable of emotions and love and hate…

However, he was also very stubborn. How could he ever let his Patria fall apart as he lay on a table, falling in love and daydreaming of better days? How could he get to a better time if he did nothing to get there while he could?

"Never mind what I say." Enjolras smiled nonchalantly, "Is everyone awake?"

"I don't know, I came to check on you first." Eponine looked back and realized Gavroche was already up with Cosette and Marius telling the others to wake.

Cosette had decided to make herself useful in any way she could, but being at the barricade had only allowed her to realize one thing - she had nothing. Sure, she had a loving father and Marius to care for her after he was gone but, nothing else. She knew how hard her mother worked to keep her alive - what had she done to repay her?

Finally, she moved towards Valjean, smiling at him and kissing his forehead after she realized that he had been awake for a while now.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked .

"Very well." He laughed heartily, "Did you?"

Cosette nodded, "Gavroche really warmed up to me last night."

"The little boy?"

"Yes." She looked back at him fondly, "I'm so happy to know that I can make a little boy smile while I'm here – it makes me feel like I'm doing something right. Like I'm useful."

"Anything that makes you happy is worth doing Cosette." He stroked her face, "I wish I had told you that earlier."

"Thank you, Papa." She embraced him once more before moving to wake everybody else.

Marius turned suddenly and made his way to Enjolras, a look of worry and triumph on his face.

"Marius, I need you to tell the others that we've run out of ammo." He declared quickly as he slowly straightened his posture and stood on his feet, hanging onto Eponine for support. "Everything is wet from the rain."

"Enjolras," he sighed, looking him in the eye, "we're the last barricade left."

"What?"

"We're the only ones left." He shook his head in awe, "I'll get some ammo off of the corpses out front."

"I'll get it!" Gavroche answered from afar, running closer to the barricade excitedly.

Marius looked away suddenly, "Gavroche?"

"Gavroche!" Eponine yelled worriedly, moving towards him as he whistled merrily and climbed over the battered chairs and tables, his feet slipping off some piano keys as he worked his way to the top.

"Get down, it's not safe!" Courfeyrac added, marching after him frantically.

Cosette was drawn to the scene when Courfeyrac and Eponine began to yell for him to get down to a point where they were shaking, Marius holding them both back. Too much panic would cause too much attention, an attack was already brewing and there was no need to shorten the time before the guards would arrive.

"Gavroche, I swear if you don't come down I will kill you myself!" Eponine whispered through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, yeah – I've already got –" He stopped when a gunshot sounded, freezing him in his tracks. Cosette had then realized that there was an opening on the side of the barricade, leading her straight to Gavroche.

"Oi! Come back already?" Gavroche snickered at the source of the bullets, grabbing more ammo and crawling into sight.

Eponine began to climb the barricade too, making Enjolras limp over to the scene as well, .

"GAVROCHE!" She screamed as another gunshot sounded, barely missing his head and hitting a table's leg beside it.

"Betta' not risk your luck boys!" He called out, "We may be the only ones left, but just watch how hard we'll bi-" Another gunshot sounded – this time, it had hit somebody.

"COSETTE!" Gavroche screamed, cradling her limp body as it fell to the floor.

Eponine could feel herself falling apart again, Marius as well, as they scrambled over the barricade to see what had become of Cosette.

"I didn't mean to!" Gavroche cried, tears streaming down his dirty cheeks.

Cosette just smiled strangely, staring into Marius' eyes as his filled with bitter tears as well. Heshould have died – not Cosette.

"Where's the – the –" Eponine mumbled, searching for the right words to say.

Cosette raised her hand to reveal a rather large red stain on her pastel dress, slowly expanding. Marius carried her into an alleyway behind the café quickly, as the guards approached Musain.

"Why on Earth would you do that Cosette?" Marius yelled, mesmerized by the wound as the blood spilled out, "WHY?"

"Don't fret, Monsieur Marius…" Cosette smiled, "I'm alright now. I promise."

"No, no, no you can't just –" Gavroche held back his tongue when Eponine shot him a look. She did not shed any tears, afraid that it would only upset the ailing Cosette.

"I just wanted to make everybody happy." She gasped.

"We are, Cosette. You've always made us happy. You were an angel." Eponine sighed, stifling her tears.

"You are an angel." Marius added, kissing her tenderly.

"When I die," she began, "tell my father that, it was the only way I would ever be truly happy. Tell him," she stopped to take a few quick breaths, "that I'll see him in heaven, and that he was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. That I love him."

Eponine nodded quickly, "I promise."

"Marius, Eponine, Gavroche" she looked at them all kindly, grabbing Eponine and Gavroche's hands as Marius cradled her, "thank you for changing me in the best way possible. I wish you all the best. Tell everybody, that no matter what, they have a place with me in heaven…"

And with those words, the light faded from Cosette's tired eyes and she died.

Marius screamed and Eponine threw herself over the body, shaking and trembling from crying.

Gavroche ran to the barricade quickly, masking his tears, to warn the others.

Before he could say anything, the guards had approached, warning that they did not have any chance, and that if they were wise, they would back out now before losing any more young lives.

"No!" Gavroche yelled. "We can't back out! We WON'T back out!" He shot a quick glance over to Cosette, wiping away the tears that kept rolling down his face.

"Gavroche is right," Enjolras exclaimed, followed by the nods of les amis.

"Then bring out the canons." The guard replied calmly afterwards, sending everybody searching frantically for their weapons and getting ready to fire. At Enjolras' signal – the fight would begin.

Cosette and Fantine now looked down at the unfolding battle with heartbreaking sadness, aware that they two, at least, had found peace.

Authors Note: Don't hate meee :S I had to put some 'miserableness' in it...