*Note: I wrote this in about ten minutes. Don't expect much of anything.

A small carriage pulled up to a small house, and came to a halt. The driver hopped off, and opened he door for the new owners. An older man stepped out first, followed by what looked like a maid. Who in turn, helped a young girl out. The girl was possibly 16 or so, her hair was flowing with her clean fashionable dress of the time.

This girl, as we are assuming was Cosette. The man was Valjean, and the maid was Toissant. They had just moved into this house, after they moved from Rue Plumet. But they weren't staying for long, soon they would be moving to England.

Cosette was smiling and chatting with Toissant and Valjean. The sun was shinning and the birds were singing. But, Valjean and the other Parisians had a strange feeling about them. Something was in the air. Cosette could sense that something was wrong, but she knew that she could never find out the information, from Valjean. He would step around the answer like he normally would, with such a question.
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Cosette was settled in her room, nosing through a possible book to read. When she heard a few birds singing outside her window. The rays from the sun were bursting into the room, like curtains themselves. The birds' nest was small and neatly made with hair, twigs, and what looked to be some silk. There was a father bird and a mother bird. Cosette could tell by the colors. Papa had taught her a long time ago, and she remembered well. That female birds were dull colors to hide themselves from predators, and the male birds were brightly colored to attract the females. She smiled at the two little birds, they were singing their little tune. The male bird reminded her of Marius. He seemed quiet yet brave and intelligent. The little female bird reminded her of herself. Cosette wasn't sure but she could almost see a smile on their little beaks.

The bustle of the city amazed Cosette. She watched the men and women walk down the street emersed in their own little world. But two people struck her curiosity. One was a man about the age of 20, he was tall and handsome. And the other was a boy, maybe the age of 12 or so. But, instead of walking past each other, they stopped across from her window. She could just barely make out their conversation. It goes, as follows.

"Hey!" the boy laughed, "have you found Marius Pontmercy yet?"

"Yeah, some girl found him over at Rue Plumet." said the man.

"Oh, so is he gonna fight?"

"Looks like it. But he looks as if the life was sucked out of him." Said the man.

Cosette didn't hear the rest. Her mind had filled up with terrible thoughts. Could this be her Marius? It had to be he was the only one that could be at Rue Plumet. But why did he go to the barricades? Why would he want to die like that? She knew the answer. Marius had said to her, if he lost her, he would die. And here she was going off to England! She said to herself, "I have to get him. I can't go to England with out him..."

Cosette ran out of her room and down the steps. She could see Toissant cleaning, and preparing dinner. Her father was no where in site, he must be in the study. She took a sigh of relief. But then, she ran outside and onto the street, this was an unknown place to her. The street was full of people she did not know. And there, up ahead of her were the boy and the man. She ran after them, she didn't want to loose them. They had to know where Marius was. She could smell smoke, and gun powder. Men were yelling giving directions and speeches. Her dress was ripped and soaked in the dirt of the street. She also lost her slippers in a puddle of waste. But she didn't care, she only wanted to get Marius out of the barricade. For all she knew, he could be dead already.

On the way to the house, she had heard people talking about the barricades, and the uprising of the people. And the death of many Parisians.

Cosette turned a corner, and standing in front of her was the massive barricade. She had never seen one in her life, it seemed to hang on a thread. Students were running around her, shots where fired. She walked in awe, now knowing what she has gotten herself into. She looked at all the unfamiliar faces, most were of young men in their 20's, and there was that boy. A street urchin of sorts. The men seemed to move in slow motion. One man, was standing tall, but you could see that his heart was not proud to be there. His heart wanted to be someplace else. It was Marius he was there! He was alive, she smiled, and tried to yell for him, but a sinking feeling sucked her away from him. There, pointing at Marius was a musket, the barrel pointed right at him. Cosette placed her hand over the musket, pointing it away from Marius. The man holding the musket fired. The bullet went right through her hand, traveling through her chest and out the back. The pain surged through her delicate body, she tried to scream but it couldn't come out. She strained to breathe, her mouth gaping open, she staggered back, and fell on the ground. She could see Marius, walking away from her. He did not notice the fatal shot that was fired. She tried once more to call for his attention, but only blood came from her mouth.
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The ground was cold and wet. There were distant cries of men fighting. And the stench of war was in the air. It seemed to Cosette that she had been lying there for hours. Everything in her body ached. She thought about Marius, and her father. She wished her father were there, someone to be there to take her away from this place. But the sound of footsteps on the street interrupted her thoughts. She looked around her surroundings squinting her eyes to see in the dark. She saw a man standing in the alleyway with his head hung low. “Monsieur” she called to him. But he did not hear her. Cosette gathered up her strength and started to crawl over to him, calling him again. The man turned his head. And Cosette could tell by the way the light shown on his face, that it was Marius. She called out to him again. This time, he must have heard her.

Marius saw her ahead of him. His beloved Cosette, lying there in a pool of murky blood. He ran over to her. And took her in his arms. Her once thick beautiful hair was now matted and dull. He could see her wounds clearly through her torn dress. One person watching Marius would have seen his heart ripped and torn to shreds. He brushed the hair out of her now pale face. Those pretty locks that he had kissed were now gone. He wiped the blood from her lips with his thumb gently. Marius was speechless, what could he say? Seeing Cosette in this state was a nightmare. He had never imagined anything like this happening. Stroking her cheek he asked her, “Cosette, what’re you doing here?”

She simply replied, “I came to take you home...”
Marius’ eye’s filled up with tears. It was his fault she came here. If he had just stayed home, she wouldn’t be here. He should have never gone to the barricades.

“How did this happen to you? Tell me Cosette, please...”

“There was a gun,” she said, “it was pointing at you, but it shot me.” Cosette replied. Tears were now streaming down his cheeks. He was simply whispering “Cosette” repeatedly.

Cosette was now near death; she was gasping for air and coughing up blood. But the pain was gone. She could feel the warmth of Marius’ body surrounding her. And the night’s sky was at peace, and so was her heart. Cosette smiled up at Marius and said, “Je t’aime...” Marius grasped her hand, kissing it gently. Replying, “Je t’aime, Cosette.” Cosette had closed her eye’s, and she whispered “...Marius”. She died.

Marius sobbed bitterly. The pain of loosing his beloved stabbed through his heart like a steak knife. How could this happen to him? When all seemed to be wrong, another thing went wrong! All he wanted was Cosette to be alive and happy. And now she was dead. How could he have done this to her? This was his fault. The person he loved most, his Cosette died. She saved his live. She didn’t have to. And Monsieur Fauchelevent what about him?....He could hear Cosette's sweet voice penetrating his skull. It was...

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Suddenly Marius opened his eyes. His body was covered with an icy sweat. And there was Cosette, beside him. She carried a frightened look on her face.

“Marius! Are you all right, you must have had a bad dream!” Cosette cried. Marius didn’t answer, he just embraced her, holding her tightly in his arms. Cosette ran her fingers through his thick curly hair, trying her best to comfort him.

“Oh Cosette, it was just a dream...only a dream....” Marius muttered.