Finalement
(Finally)

Eponine adjusted her bonnet briskly before slipping on her shoes and straightening out her emerald dress. It had felt like an eternity since she had been justified to wear something nice, or to dress up to go out. In fact, there was no better occasion than a wedding to do exactly that.

"You look lovely."

Eponine spun to find Enjolras learning against the doorpost, "Oh! Give him to me."

The man nodded and handed little Henri to Eponine, smiling gingerly when his son gurgled and nestled his head into her chest.

She chuckled, "I can't believe he's already attending his first wedding…"

"Well, Joly wouldn't really settle without him there. I just hope he doesn't cry…" The man furrowed his eyebrows.

The waif lifted his chin and shook her head, "Henri will behave perfectly. It's you I'm worried about."

He raised an eyebrow then smiled reassuringly, "I'll be waiting for you in the cab, alright?"

"Alright." She smiled, stroking her son's raven hair and admiring his blue eyes.

Five months had passed since she had become a mother and she remembered every day as if it were the last, feeling as though every day lingered in front of her a little longer than it should have.

The only thing she actually didn't remember all too well was actually giving birth. The only remnant of the day that passed her mind was that it was February 18th, they were all at Courfeyrac's house, her stomach churned, water spilled and Enjolras was beside her the whole time.

The pain and the process were a blur to her, especially after she first laid eyes upon her child. She thought he was the ugliest thing she'd ever seen, and now, he was the most beautiful.

Day by day he grew to look more like his father, with milky skin and blue eyes, yet somehow, Eponine saw herself in him too, with his dark hair and smile.

"Okay Henri, let's go." She tucked him closer to herself and headed out the door, taking a deep breath and taking in the new day.

...

Enjolras sat patiently in the cabriolet, the driver smoking his pipe and the horses shaking their heads, hungry for the road.

Carefully handing her son to his father, Eponine took a seat next to them, twiddling her thumbs as the vehicle began to move slowly, staring down at her feet.

"Nervous?"

She grinned, "No. Well, maybe," she sighed and shook her head, "It's not important."

"It looks important."

She scowled, "You really want to know?"

He waited.

"Joly's getting married. Married." She huffed, "Things are going to change. Julie might have a child and maybe they'll move, maybe the practice will grow or maybe it will close… It all just seems – too quick."

The corner of his mouth turned up slightly, "You can't really believe that, can you?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Whether you like it or not, things will change. Just like they have for us."

And things did change for them, more than Eponine could even begin to explain.

The waif and her husband could speak to one another as if they'd known each other for an eternity after the birth of their son. They felt warmth envelop their senses and they wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world when they were in each other's company because no one else would understand them like one another.

But with so much comfort, things really did begin to change as they understood that no matter how much they loved one another, they did not, and could never, love one another.

Enjolras was passionate and hardworking; Eponine was headstrong and sensitive. Enjolras was devoted and careful; Eponine was careless and hopeful. They did not, and could not compute with one another, and it took exactly one regretful night, one battle, millions of tears, illness, love, heart ache, betrayal, and one year and one month for them to realize exactly that.

Even though they were responsible for another human being, and were doing a perfectly good job at raising him, they still needed to sort one thing out and they'd both been putting it behind them for as long as they'd known each other.

"Do you remember our wedding?" Eponine joked, trying to shake her thoughts loose, "You nearly killed me."

"Well, if I hadn't lost my memory trying to save you and Henri then you would've already been dead." He smirked and played with the wedding ring on his finger, "I see him sometimes, you know."

"Who?"

"The me you loved. He comes out sometimes and I don't how or why..."

She chuckled, "I didn't just love that version of you – I loved this one too, though I don't say it much."

He seemed taken aback, like the air had escaped his lungs suddenly, "But not really."

Her eyes widened and fell suddenly, "What?"

"You say you love me, but I know you don't. Not like that anyways."

"Enjolras…?"

"You don't love me."

She sighed and shook her head in disbelief, "Don't be a child."

Enjolras swallowed, adjusting Henri in his lap, "We've, um, needed to talk for a while now, haven't we?"

She paused, drew a breath, then nodded and he continued.

"Eponine, how long will it be before you meet someone else and fall in love with them and they love you back with every ounce of themselves too?"

"That won't happe-"

"But it will." He interrupted, rubbing his temples, "Eponine you've never seen your worth but I see it. I see it every day when you care for Henri and Azelma, when you speak with Grantaire in his drunken stupors and joke with Courfeyrac about staying away from your sister. I see it every day, but you never do."

She turned beet red, "Then why don't you love me? And before you say you do, I mean why don't you love me, with every ounce of yourself?"

"Because you are Eponine Thenardier and I am Etienne Enjolras." His voice became firm and Eponine's heart sank, "I don't love you because I don't want to love anyone. We are two different people and I want to keep it that way, except for Henri. I want us to raise him into the best man he can be. Together."

Eponine absorbed his words like a sponge soaking up acid; they burned on their way in but settled in her heart and sat and sat until she had accepted the fact that no matter what she did, he would not love her and she would never, ever love him.

Before she could say another thing, Enjolras had planted his lips upon hers and pulled her closer to him, his warm breath upon her skin and her salty tears running down her cheeks.

When they finally pulled apart, they had arrived at the chapel and Enjolras had tears in his eyes.

"I thought one last time might be nice." He scoffed, taking his son in his arms and exiting the cab, leaving Eponine with a soul full of sorrow and happiness all at once.

She gathered her strength and left the vehicle, dizzy with confusion, staring up at the sky for some sign of hope.

"Eponine!" A voice suddenly called, catching her off guard.

She turned slowly to find Marius, wearing the same suit he had worn to her wedding approaching her with a grin that stretched ear to ear, his wife tagging along quickly behind him, a little girl with blonde hair and dark brown eyes clutching her mother's neck gingerly the thing that stuck out the most.

Eponine's jaw fell open before his arms wrapped around her with all his strength and spun her around, "Oh, my dear friend, I've missed you!"

She held in her laughter for fear his wife would say something but swallowed her cautiousness and chortled, kissing him on the cheek and landing herself back on the ground.

Cosette smiled in the background and Eponine waved at her, earning a small curtsy in response.

Since the birth of Henri, they had only visited three times, once with only Marius and no explanation as to why his wife could not attend. It was clear the marriage was a strange one, and that somehow, jealousy still lingered in Cosette's heart, but they were apparently parents now, and for the time being, all seemed well.

"I can't believe I'm at another wedding, so soon after yours too!"

Eponine's jaw continued to hang open, "You…she…you're parents now?"

He nodded and chuckled, grabbing the girl from Cosette, "Her name's Juliette. I thought it was poetic."

Eponine's mind flashed back to when Enjolras and her were deciding what to name Henri before he was born. She could've sworn Juliette was one of the choices…

"H-how? When!? Why didn't we know!"

"It's only been a month! She's only a month old – I swear we would've written to you!"

"Marius you're a dad!" She exclaimed, running to Cosette suddenly, "And you're a mom! Oh congratulations!"

He grinned and nodded, "How's your boy?"

"Fantastic, as usual. He's so giggly and happy all the time it's a wonder we're his parents." She still eyed Juliette, remarking at how much she resembled her mother and father both.

He nodded, "How's Enjolras? I haven't seen him yet… did you come together?"

Her head snapped up, "Um, yes, yes of course. He's got Henri actually, they should be inside." Before Marius could change the subject Cosette had stepped forward, grabbing a hold of Eponine's hand.

"Are you feeling alright?"

She raised an inky eyebrow, "…Yes, I'm quite fine thank you. Why?"

"You look ill Eponine." Cosette shook her head, "Like you've been crying."

She furrowed her eyebrows, "No. No! Heavens no, I haven't been crying. Actually, Henri's been keeping me up lately. You know the feeling." She lied.

"Juliette cries twice every two hours. I haven't slept!" She giggled then went back to cradling her daughter.

"When was she born?"

"June seventh." She kissed Juliette and yawned, "A few days before our anniversary."

She looked uninterested; Eponine bid a quick happy anniversary, stroked her friend's daughter's cheek and ran back up the hill and closer to the church, scanning the foreground for her family… or whatever it was now.

Something that resembled dread sat in the pit of her stomach, but it was so overpowered by relief that it nearly didn't matter. She felt as if she had signed off her marriage to happiness and a weightless freedom surrounded her. She could love whomever she loved now – if she ever loved again.

All she had felt for the man had dissipated with their last kiss and, despite it tearing her apart a little; she knew that she could step away from the wedding with a sense of independence at last.

The bells of the church rang and a hand found her arm, dragging her inside urgently as the doors were drawn to a close. She spun to find Enjolras and her son, grabbing him from Enjolras and smiling, hoping that her husband felt the same sense of relief she did.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Ready." She flashed him a grin and took a seat, facing the altar.

Eponine Thenardier and Etienne Enjolras sat in chapel, hearts full of anticipation for their friends, but mostly for their futures. They had endured every possible obstacle and outcome their bustling minds could have conjured, and never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that they would have been living a life where skies so bleak and dark had cracked open to pour in light and love and warmth and change them for the better.

Eponine Thenardier and Etienne Enjolras had endured every possible obstacle and outcome their bustling mind could have conjured, and in the process, they had realized that they did not love one another and never could.

Except one of them, had lied.

...

A/N: Well... that is officially the end of book one! There will be a sequel and I hope some of you (hopefully all of you!) will go read that one too! I've been wanting to write a sequel to one of my stories for the longest time and I knew it I wanted to do Moonless Skies as soon as I began to plan the last chapter :)

So yes, this is been a crazy ride. I've been on fanfiction for a little more than a year and the support and love I get from you guys is absolutely amazing for me. I cannot thank you enough, from the bottom of my heart, your reviews, follows, favorites and some of the fan mail I get on tumblr literally makes me grin for days and I love it. Thank you especially to judybear236 who had been editing my stories since the beginning and continues to support and help me with every chapter :)

Please reveiw and let me know what you thought, what you want for the sequel and anything else!

Thanks for everythingxx - Magakee