Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I don't own Les Mis – not the musical, book, or film (but I've seen it three times) so don't sue me! In case you don't know, I do this thing where I do a series of 1000-word ficlets that I call Baby Grands. The "grand" part refers to the thousand words and the "baby" part is because the word "ficlet" brings to mind the image of baby fan fictions. This here comes from the LiveJournal 10prompts table.

1 – Castle

Heaven…

Enjolras looked down over a shining cloud at the streets of Paris. Beside him stood a young woman with shining brown waves for hair – he remembered her from life. The two of them looked down upon a man they had both loved in life, one as a brother and one as a mate of the heart. Marius had developed quite a life for himself. It made Enjolras happy, even above the joys of Heaven, to see his comrade living in peace, honor, dignity, and love. At his side, Eponine wore a smile as well. In Heaven, it no longer hurt to see the one she adored living deeply in love with someone else. Here, she could revel in Marius's life with Cosette, at seeing more love in the world.

The two friends watched the lone survivor of the Paris barricade as he played a round of ball with a pack of children in the street. Most of the boys looked as though they could be Gavroche's age, the lot of them playing on the same street the little rebel had led his urchins along. A cockeyed grin followed Enjolras and Eponine – Gavroche knew things, always had. Up here, where everybody's honest, these two had a bit o' feeling going, they did! He had always looked up to the both of them. Enjolras had always put faith in him as the little messenger, and Eponine had always been good for a stolen cake. The little boy continued grinning at their backs, knowing they'd be as stubborn here as they were in life. Of course, he would be right! The little boy looked at the shining angel standing beside him, wagging its tail.

"How long d'you reckon they're gonna keep this up?" he asked the shaggy gray dog.

Furry, floppy ears perked up and the angel looked up at Gavroche.

"Considering we have eternity," he started, plopping down his hindquarters to scratch his shoulder. "We should start taking bets on centuries."

A Golden Retriever, a Pointer, a Beagle, and three Dachshunds trotted by, singing – howling – in holy chorus. Gavroche smiled at his shaggy gray angel and trotted off after them. He rather liked Heaven. Enjolras broke his observant gaze for only a moment to watch the boy and the pack of angel dogs run away in glee. Sensing his change of direction, Eponine followed his gaze and smiled before returning to watch Marius blow a catch spectacularly. She, Eponine, smiled even wider as she watched Cosette, safely on the sidewalk, laughing at her husband. The boys in the street laughed and started a lovely game of keep-away with their ball, causing Marius to chase them. He caught one of the little ones round the waist and proceeded to administer a round of "noogies." The ball went flying – this time, a little girl caught it, shrieking in delight and taking off at a run. Enjolras smiled at the angelic black-and-white cat that hopped up onto the rim of the cloud at his elbow.

"Enjolras, look!" Eponine exclaimed in gladness of her own, setting one hand on his and pointing over the cloud with the other.

The blonde man followed his companion's pointing hand, feeling his cheeks turn red as they had only a few times in life at the touch of the other on his. He quickly saw what she pointed at – the little girl had handed off the ball to Cosette, who looked utterly befuddled. A smile split her pale face and she knocked her bonnet cockeyed as she attempted to run from the pack of small boys. Enjolras grinned as well as Marius encouraged his wife, teaching the rules of "keep-away" by example. The ball disappeared from Cosette's fingers and she swatted her husband with a folding fan as he dashed by. Truly, Enjolras thought, if any of the boys had deserved to survive the barricade, it was Marius. Finally, the game went too far when the ball ran afoul of a woman at a bread cart, who became upset and started to shout. Marius and Cosette hurried over to set things straight.

"I don't believe it – not for a second," commented Grantaire, who had appeared beside the tuxedo cat. "Is he really calling that an apology? And she's buying it? That old biddy's had that same bug up her skirts since we were kids! Betcha she even recognizes him!"

Yes, the confrontation did seem to take Cosette's special touch of peace to settle out. Enjolras playfully shoved his best friend in Heaven and tried to lean forward to hide his and Eponine's hands. This did not go unnoticed – not in the realm of eternal truth – but Grantaire only grinned. He had seen this coming since long before the events of the barricade in the rain. Eponine had seen the exchange as well, feeling her face grow warm from something other than a sunbeam. Yes, she had felt something like this before – he had certainly been kind to her in life. Perhaps she had been blind in her own unrequited feeling to something that could have happened? The two of them made eye contact only briefly before simultaneously turning the color of Enjolras's jacket. She broke eye contact first, staring down at the bread woman apparently chewing Marius a new one.

"You know…" said the tuxedo cat, begging an ear scratch off the revolutionary youth's free hand. "Love is holy in Heaven as it is on Earth. Let that sink in for a century or two."

Enjolras gave Eponine a sidelong glance before tilting his head at the angel at his elbow.

"Just one question," he asked the small furry cherub, who cocked both ears and twitched his long tail. Enjolras watched Grantaire scratch the ears of a gigantic red hound. "Why are there dogs everywhere?"

A wheezy laugh escaped the cat, who licked a paw and swiped his whiskers with it.

"Give it about a hundred years," he said in a tone of amused dismissiveness. "They'll explain everything then."