Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables.

Marius, much recovered and fully pardoned, was standing around and sulking.

"I am so glad to have my dear Cosette here with me and pleased her father inexplicably changed his mind about moving away so I suppose that my life is still worth living but I really hate that all of my friends are dead," he complained. "And our revolution didn't even work. This whole thing has been really stupid. And I wonder who saved me anyway."

"You shouldn't worry about things like that," Cosette advised, coming into the room. "I mean, you'll probably never find out. If they wanted you to know then they would have told you, right?"

"I'm actually pretty sure that it was your father, Cosette," Marius told, taking her hand in his automatically.

Cosette blinked at him, surprised. "My father? Really? What makes you think that?"

"Well, you told me yourself that he doesn't care at all for politics," Marius reminded her.

"That is true," she agreed.

"And yet he was still at the barricade and we were the only two people to survive that particular barricade. Either he survived on his own and some other random mysterious person happened to save the man his daughter loved instead of anybody more invested in the revolution or, well, your father totally saved me," Marius explained.

Cosette nodded. "That does make sense when you put it like that. But I do wonder why he wouldn't say anything about having rescued you."

"Well, you know your father better than I do, Cosette," Marius replied. "Is he the type to take credit for his accomplishments."

"No," Cosette said immediately. "Just…no."

"And since your father saved me and hasn't moved away, I think I can assume that he has come to terms with our relationship and we can get married!" Marius said happily.

"What about your grandfather?" Cosette asked him. "You mentioned him not being happy about it, I think."

Marius shrugged. "Threaten to die from your wounds a few times and you'd be surprised how amenable the people who love you are to your whims."

"Oh Marius!" Cosette said blissfully, embracing him. "We're going to be together forever! Think of how wonderful it shall all be!"

"I know, I know!" Marius cried. "And it's really giving me something to live for when pretty much every friend I have is dead. Even Grantaire and who even knows how that happened since he slept through the entire revolution up until at least when I got shot and lost consciousness."

"It was rather silly that we fell in love before we even knew each other's name, though," Cosette remarked.

"We didn't need to know. Our love is just that strong," Marius insisted.

Cosette beamed at him. "Oh, I'm so happy!"

Valjean walked into the room then but the lovers were too caught up in their own happiness to notice him. "I guess this is really happening. I suppose I have no one to blame but myself since I singlehandedly and heroically saved Marius from the barricade. What I was thinking, I'll never know. But I just want Cosette to be happy and, strangely, this is happiness for her. Huh. He does have dimples."

Marius looked up then. "Oh, thank you so much for letting me marry your daughter after all!" He paused. "I can marry your daughter, can't I?"

Valjean sighed. "Yes, yes you may."

"Success!" Marius cheered. "You're going to live with us, you know, and we're all going to be almost obscenely happy."

"That does sound nice," Valjean said wistfully. "And I would love to, really. It's a shame that I have a somewhat self-destructive bent and must throw a wrench in that plan."

"What?" Cosette asked, alarmed.

"Never mind," Valjean told her. He took her in his arms and embraced her before kissing her on the cheek. "I will miss you, my darling child."

"But father, I'm only getting married, not leaving. And you're even moving in with us!" Cosette exclaimed. "I love both you and Marius so much that it would kill me to have to choose between you and the only way I can possibly be happy is if the three of us are happy together."

"Never forget how much I love you. Goodbye," Valjean said sadly.

"I feel like we're having two different conversations," Cosette said, frowning.

"Would you mind letting me speak to your intended alone?" Valjean requested.

"It's alright, Cosette," Marius assured her. "This is probably the point where my future father-in-law threatens me with bodily harm if I even think of hurting you. I can help him brainstorm appropriate punishments for if I ever take leave of my senses and do something so abominable."

"Well, if you're sure…" Cosette said doubtfully. Casting one last look at her father, she left the room.

Valjean didn't take his eyes off of the door she had disappeared through until Marius started speaking.

"So I was thinking that we should get this down in writing and maybe get it notarized because if I ever become such a vile fiend that would hurt my darling Cosette then I might not be counted upon to accept my punishment with grace and dignity," Marius began.

"Believe me, Marius, if I thought you hurting Cosette was even vaguely within the realms of possibility we'd be halfway to the Americas by now," Valjean said seriously.

Marius smiled at this show of faith. "Then what did you wish to discuss when Cosette was not around?"

"I have to go away forever and I need you to lie about why," Valjean said bluntly.

Marius' smile faltered. "Could…you repeat that?"

Patiently, Valjean repeated what he just said.

"Yeah, that's what I thought you said. But I feel like I missed something," Marius told him.

Valjean sighed. "It's like this. I never told Cosette this and I don't want her to know because it would just make her unhappy."

"And you don't think that going away forever would make her unhappy?" Marius demanded.

"It would make her less unhappy than knowing the truth," Valjean insisted.

"I call bull on that right now," Marius argued.

Valjean glared at him. "Will you just listen to the story?"

Marius crossed his arms. "Fine. But I'm not changing my mind. Going away forever and lying to Cosette are two very stupid things to do."

"Forty years ago, I was a poor tree-pruner in Faverolles," Valjean began. "I lived with my widowed older sister and her seven small children. I was their only provider and I was out of work one winter. We were all starving and one of the children was close to death. I…stole a loaf of bread. Nineteen years later, I was released from Toulon on parole and-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Marius interrupted. "Are you saying you did nineteen years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread?"

"There…might have been a few escape attempts," Valjean admitted. "But yes, pretty much. My first four days of parole went fairly poorly. The minute people found out I was a convict I was cheated and thrown out of every place possible. There was a kind bishop who took me in but I was ungrateful and stole from him. I was caught and brought back and he did not turn me in and gave me more silver. I decided the only rational thing to do at this point was to attempt to be a saint. I don't know how successful I've been but I've certainly tried."

"Oh, you are extremely successful," Marius assured him. "Almost disturbingly so and that's even before I found out that you're a saint now despite your…inauspicious beginning."

"See, now you're starting to judge me for what happened!" Valjean cried out, strangely triumphant.

Marius blinked and quickly tried to backtrack. "No, that's not it at all. I just think it's much more remarkable that you've managed to be a saint than if, say, someone like me managed to be a saint since nothing really bad has ever happened to me. And why are you even telling me any of this anyway if you think I'm going to judge you? Am I supposed to?"

"It's perfectly natural," Valjean assured him. "I judge myself all the time."

"You might have stolen a single loaf of bread but I committed treason over at the barricade," Marius pointed out. "I think that's a little more serious and yet you don't see me trying to ruin my life over it."

"You were pardoned," Valjean said indifferently. "And I was there, too, and pardoned for that so I still have one more offence over you."

"Is that what this is about?" Marius demanded. "You want a pardon? I'll get my grandfather to take care of that today."

"That's a kind thought but I don't really want a pardon," Valjean told him. "And most people think I'm dead anyway."

"Then I am not understanding any of this," Marius admitted.

" I tell you this now because, should the truth ever be discovered, Cosette will be disgraced and I shan't be able to live with myself."

Marius stared at him. "And yet you don't want a pardon."

"I do not," Valjean confirmed.

"After forty years, twenty on the run, what are the odds that the truth will ever come out?" Marius demanded. "I mean, really?"

"Well, significantly less now that Javert went and killed himself," Valjean admitted.

Marius' eyes widened. "Javert? Does this mean that you're that Jean Valjean guy he kept talking about?"

Shame-faced, Valjean nodded. "I am indeed. Now you can see why I must go."

"I don't see anything of the sort!" Marius protested. "I make it a point to never care about anything that happened before I was born and this is all ancient history. Besides, I don't want to be that guy."

"What guy?" Valjean asked blankly.

"You know," Marius said, gesturing vaguely. "That guy, the one who unjustly persecutes a saint and ends up disparaged and hated for it."

"You won't be," Valjean assured him.

"I'm not so sure," Marius replied. "And what will Cosette say? She won't care any more than I do, I assure you, and she's not going to believe any nonsense about you just going away forever and never saying goodbye."

"But I did say goodbye a few minutes ago," Valjean pointed out.

"Well, I suppose you did," Marius conceded. "But you didn't make it clear that you were leaving and that's kind of a dick move and she'll just be so upset."

"It's really better this way," Valjean declared solemnly.

"For who?" Marius demanded. "People who hate us and want us to be miserable?"

"I really wish you would be more sensible about this," Valjean said, sighing. "But it doesn't matter. I trust that you'd rather tell her that I went on a long trip instead of me just walking out of her life forever for whatever reason. And since I'm leaving right now and not telling you where I'm going, you have no choice about that."

"But…I just…what?" Marius cried out. "This is so stupid!"

Cosette came back into the room then, distracting him. "What's going on, Marius? You sound upset. And where's my father?"

Valjean had disappeared from the room. Marius immediately ran to the door and looked around outside but he couldn't see the older man anywhere.

He went back inside and faced the still-waiting Cosette.

"Well, about that…" he said slowly. "Your father has suddenly and unexpectedly gone on away on a very long trip."

Cosette just stared at him. "Right before my wedding?"

Marius winced. "I, um…yes?"

"This is the best day of my life!" Marius said jubilantly.

"This is certainly a good day," Cosette agreed. "It would be better if my father were here, though. Are you sure you don't know where he is?"

"I have people looking but he's just too good," Marius told her. "He's probably left Paris and perhaps even France behind completely."

"The Baron and Baroness de Thénard wish to pay their respects to the bride and groom!" someone declared.

Cosette glanced over at the couple in question and paled. "This is not happening. They are not here. If you'll need me, I'll be avoiding them over there."

She quickly left the area leaving Marius alone with the Thénardiers.

"You are nowhere clean enough to be a baron and baroness," Marius said disdainfully. "And your clothes have holes in them."

"It is our birth or marriage that gives us our title and not our wealth," Madame Thénardier said easily.

"By the way, we want money," Thénardier told him.

"I have heard all about your attempts to rob Cosette and her father and how you want more money for her father having saved her from you," Marius said frostily. "Well she's an adult now and my wife and I'd like to see you prove any of what you claim so I'm not paying you a sou."

"That's fine, we're not here about that," Thénardier assured him.

"And we are not the Thénardiers anyway," Madame Thénardier lied.

"You're Éponine's parents and she deserved far better," Marius said coldly. "She probably is happier up in heaven than down here with scum like you."

"So judgmental!" Thénardier moaned. "And we lost our daughter! And our son, for that matter."

Marius sighed heavily. "Just get on with it then get the hell out of my wedding."

"Your bride's father is a murderer," Thénardier declared boldly.

"Thief, actually, and that was forty years ago," Marius corrected automatically. "Or do you mean with Javert? Because he claimed that Javert killed himself and the newspaper agreed. Since he was sent out to kill Javert – after volunteering – I'm really not sure how that came to be but he left a note behind. It didn't seem very good as far as a suicide note went but it was there."

"I'm talking about that corpse I saw him drag through the sewers on the night of that revolution of yours," Thénardier countered. "See this ring? The dead man was wearing it. And why would that man have a dead body unless he killed him? Really. It's just logical."

Marius' eyes widened. "That's my ring!" He snatched it back from Thénardier.

Madame Thénardier frowned. "That's odd. Why would a murdered man have your ring? Well, surely we deserve something for getting it back for you!"

"That man wasn't murdered, he was me. And my father-in-law hadn't killed me but was saving me," Marius explained. "I knew it! I just knew it! Oh, this whole thing is so stupid!"

"I'm sure it is," Thénardier agreed. "Can we have some money?"

"That depends," Marius said, by now thoroughly sick of Éponine's terrible parents. "If I give you money will you get the hell out of my country and never come back?"

Thénardier shrugged. "I don't see why not. I'm sure my darling Azelma would like the American slave trade very much."

Disgusted, Marius threw some money at him and began to stalk over to Cosette. He stopped and backtracked. "One more thing. I've actually been looking for my father-in-law for awhile now. Do you know where he is?"

Madame Thénardier nodded. "Of course we do. He's at that convent that he and Cosette stayed at for years on end after sneaking into Paris."

"How do you even know that?" Marius demanded.

Madame Thénardier shrugged. "We hear things."

Marius headed back over to Cosette, slapping his forehead in embarrassment. "The convent he lived for years! Why didn't I think of that?"

"Are they gone?" Cosette asked hopefully.

"I got them to leave the country," Marius said distractedly.

Cosette breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God! You don't want to know the mess they made of my early childhood before my father rescued me. And speaking of…"

"They actually were able to help me find where your father is," Marius informed her.

Cosette beamed and grabbed his arm. "Take me there now!"

"I will," Marius promised. "Just as soon as you promise me that you won't judge me for not having realized where he would be sooner."

Valjean, looking significantly more old and frail since he had last seen Cosette, was kneeling in the chapel and praying. "I figure I'm going to die soon and I'd really just rather get on with it since I'm never going to see Cosette again. I wish that she could somehow be here with me while I die and be terribly distraught over my passing. Not that I would ever want my dear Cosette to be unhappy, of course, but if she really loves me then she will be and I don't want to be alone when I go. But oh, that's impossible now. It's not like I know exactly where she is or anything. Who wants to ruin a wedding with a death? She'll find out soon enough, though hopefully not soon enough that her wedding anniversary will forever be tainted by the knowledge of my passing."

Suddenly, he heard Fantine's voice saying, "You are truly a good man, having raised my child better than I've ever heard of anyone raising a child ever. God will forgive you for everything, I'm sure, though there's really not much to forgive since you decided to be a saint twenty years ago."

Valjean frowned. "Normally I would say that hearing dead people is not a good sign. But maybe I'm not crazy and just close to death. Or even if I am hallucinating, it might just be a part of death. I think I'm a little old to just randomly go crazy. I should probably respond to that, I think. Thank you, Fantine. Raising Cosette was the best thing that ever happened to me and just because most of my life was very miserable doesn't take away from how wonderful raising Cosette was."

Cosette ran into the chapel then, Marius following close behind her.

"Father! There you are! We've been looking for you for weeks! You missed my wedding! What happened?" she demanded, falling to her knees beside him and hugging him tightly.

"There is an answer to that question but I'm dying so I don't feel that it's my responsibility to provide it," Valjean declared. "Ask your husband."

"Oh, thanks a lot," Marius snapped. "And you said I shouldn't tell her!"

"Wait, you've been keeping secrets from me?" Cosette asked, stunned and hurt.

"Um...well..." Marius said awkwardly. "I feel like I should take this opportunity to remind you that if our marriage is never ever consummated ever then it's not legal."

"Sorting out this conundrum is something you can do after I die," Valjean said unsympathetically. "Cosette, does you being here mean you forgive me?"

"Forgive you for what?" Cosette didn't understand. "Just up and leaving? I'm very upset about that but since you not being there was why I was upset, it doesn't make any sense to respond by refusing to see you. I love you."

"Thank God I've lived to see this day," Valjean said, content. "Do you forgive me, Marius?"

"After the way you're just leaving me to deal with all of this when it wasn't even my fault?" Marius demanded.

Valjean and Cosette were looking expectantly at him.

Marius sighed. "Fine, whatever, I forgive you for that. And I have nothing else I even need to forgive you for since it's all ancient history and even if it weren't you saved me at the barricade! Like I said, you're a damn saint! That…sounded a little weird but it's true!"

"I was already resigned to die but now that you're here this is just about the most perfect death that I could ever imagine," Valjean said happily.

"I'm glad you're happy, father, but I think maybe you should consider not dying," Cosette said hopefully. "I don't want to lose you! I love you and these last few weeks have been utterly wasted since you weren't here."

"Right here," Marius said, shaking his head. "Oh well, I suppose I know what she meant."

"I'll try but I think it's a little late," Valjean told her. "I'm already hearing the voice of your dead mother. And speaking of, while I was waiting to die I wrote you a letter explaining everything."

"Does this mean I don't have to do it?" Marius asked, stunned.

"Well, you might have to fill in any details that I didn't think to mention in my massive missive but might have told you in the five minute conversation we had about it," Valjean replied.

Cosette was saying something else but Valjean couldn't hear her because Fantine started speaking again, welcoming him into heaven. Strangely enough, Éponine was there, too. There were other dead people that he would have liked to see more than a girl he met twice but he supposed that he'd see them soon enough.

It was silent in the chapel after Valjean had passed for quite some time. Cosette seemed almost in a trance and since it was her father who died, Marius figured that it was up to her to decide how long they were going to sit on the cold ground of the chapel.

Finally, she turned to him. "I hope you realize that I am never going to be able to celebrate our wedding anniversary now."

Marius nodded, of course that made sense. "How about our half-anniversary?"

Cosette stared at him. "Our what?"

"What?" he asked defensively. "It works for birthdays!"

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