Author's Note: Well, here it is the final chapter. Hope you enjoy it! :)

Before the Barricades Arise

Chapter 17

2 months later…

Marius and I are back in Paris after having travelled to Reims when we ran from the revolution. We followed the underground sewage systems and Reims is where we ended up. We've been living on the streets in sheltered areas and I've been getting money the way I always have; pickpocketing and doing odd jobs for people. It feels a lot like how things were at home before the student revolution happened.

We walk hand in hand down the empty streets of Paris. I'm guessing it's about an hour or so before dawn and the city is still asleep. We walk by the inn that was my old house and decide to go inside and poke around.

There is no sign of my parents, or anyone for that matter.

"How are you 'Ponine?" Marius asks.

"It's weird being back here. I grew up here, lived here my whole life, and now there's nothing." I whisper.

"I would imagine so." Marius says.

I head upstairs to where the bedrooms are. Marius follows close behind me. I bypass my room because I know there's nothing in it with pleasant memories. I do however go into Gavroche's room. I stop in the middle of the room and look around for a minute before I break down crying all over again. There is a small red flag hanging on the wall, a hat that he would sometimes wear and his sous collection pouch were on the dresser, and his blankets are all balled up on the bed since I know he never makes the bed in the morning. I grab a blanket off his bed and burry my face in it and just sob.

"It's okay, it's okay." Marius tries to comfort me and pulls me in a tight embrace.

"No, it's not. I have no family anymore. No one." I cry.

"You have me. You will always have me." Marius says.

"I know. I know." I tell him and kiss him gently. "You know, I never thought I'd say this but I wish I knew where my parents were." I sob.

Marius takes Gavroche's blanket from me and wipes my tears away.

"Perhaps we should go 'Ponine."

He takes my hand and leads me downstairs and out of the inn.

Back outside, we carry on walking down the street. Under the streetlamps, we can see that the cobblestones are stained with blood. We follow the trail of blood until we are outside Le Café Musain. This is where it all started.

As we approach, we find that it too is deserted. The furniture that was the barricade was mostly cleaned up except for the odd bits and pieces here and there. Inside, there are still guns, swords, and knives lined up along the wall and there are more on the floor. Joly's medical beds and supplies were as he left them. There was also still gunpowder everywhere. It looked exactly the same as the night we left it.

Marius sat at a table in the corner where you could get a view of the entire café. Tears were silently streaming down his face. I went over and pulled up a chair beside him and took his hand in mine in my lap.

"Here they talked of revolution. Here it was they lit the flame. Here they dreamed about tomorrow, but tomorrow never came." He said quietly.

I don't know how to respond to that and I've never been good at the whole comforting thing.

"Oh my friends please forgive me that I live and you are gone. There's a grief that can't be spoken, there's a pain that goes on and on." Says Marius.

I don't know if he's talking to me, or just to himself.

"Marius, they didn't die in vain. They fought very well and for a good cause."

"What difference does it make? They will never get to see the new world they fought for."

"But future generations will know what they did. They will never be forgotten." I tell him.

"I should've stayed. I should be dead with them right now. But no, I'm here, all alone, because I was too afraid of losing you. I lost sight of the bigger picture."

"Marius, don't beat yourself up. You did what you had to do. Like you said, we have each other and we will get through this together." I say. I put my hand on his cheek and kiss him softly.

"What do we do now 'Ponine? Where do we go? Where do we stay?"

"I'd suggest we could stay at the inn but I don't think I could handle that." I confess.

"I have an idea, let's stay at my grandfather's house. He's probably not there anymore since he took off before the revolution began. There's no truly horrific memories for me there, and you've never been."

"Yes, I have. Remember when I was out on the street one night years ago, hiding from my parents and you saw me and you let me stay with you for a few days?"

"Ah yes, I'd forgotten about that but now that you mention it, I do remember."

"So there's no bad memories for you there, there's a good memory for me there, so I think that we should go to your grandpa's house and stay there." I tell Marius.

"Who knows, maybe over time we can make it our own place." He says.

"I think that would be a wonderful idea." I say.

Marius pulls me into a hug and starts kissing me all over my face: my lips, my nose, my neck, my eyes. I kiss him back just as passionately.

"I'm never letting you go." He whispers.

"We'll be together forever and ever." I reply.

"C'mon." he says, taking my hand. "Let's go."

Together, we leave the café and walk towards Marius' grandfather's house into the early morning sunrise.

I guess this is what you could call a happy ending (at least sort of happy) because after all, even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.

The End

Well, did you like the story? Yes? No? Kind of? Review and let me know.

I just want to give a quick shout out and thanks to all of you who have been patient with this story (and it's lack of updates at times) and stuck with it til the end. I really hope you guys enjoyed it.

I'm going to be writing a Doctor Who fic next featuring Eleven and River Song so check out my profile over the coming days/weeks for that story.

Thanks guys! :)