Thank you to everyone who read last chapter and a special thank you to those who reviewed. I really was not expecting such a great reaction. This is the final instalment so please let me know what you think, if you were happy with the ending or not, I really love reading your feedback.

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It is the loud groan, followed by the bursting of metal that indicates that a problem has arisen on the Titanic. Water flows into one of the bottom compartments and it is quickly filling up causing the evacuation of the workers as they run out of the compartment and seel it shut, they smile to each other and wipe the sweat of their brow. "Early night boys?" This ship was unsinkable; there was nothing to worry about. But a loud shout alerts them to the fact that the second compartment is taking on water. A voice further down the ship tells them that the third is too, and the fourth.

It's okay though, the ship can still float with four of its sixteen compartments full of water, after all, this was 1912, the terms unsinkable and invincible were not casually thrown around these days as they had previously.

A man runs past them, obviously a boiler worker but one from further down the boat, whom they had never worked with before "You! You should not be here!"

The man stops and turns speaking in a think Irish accent "And neither should you, the fifth compartment is taking on water. You boys should get out of here and quick, I think we're going down."

Their boss races through the maze of corridors that comprise the Titanic, looking for Andrew's office. This was his ship, surely he could save it.

It is not the bump or the loud groan that wakes Eponine. Up on A deck they barely feel it and definitely do not hear anything other than the faint sound of the orchestra which plays until the last revellers have stopped dancing. No, Eponine had not been sleeping to begin with. How could she? Her mind was on fire, an absolute buzz. She felt ashamed and embarrassed. She had allowed herself to get swept up in Cosette's wild imagination; she had allowed herself to be deceived by a cruel, cold man. She should have know that he did not have any interest in her, why would he? The boy reeked of bourgeois elitism, everything she was trying to escape by moving to America, a boy like him would never fall for her unless in one of Cosette's dreams.

She rises slowly, careful not to wake Cosette who is sound asleep just a few metres away. The lights from the deck shine into their room and assist her as she dresses. She has no idea where she is going but this room whilst incredibly spacious is making her feel claustrophobic and she needs to escape. She needs air.

On deck the air is like ice, it penetrates though her thick coat, her dress and straight to her soul. It clings to her bones and wraps itself around them. It is a different cold on the ocean, a harsher cold. As she breathes she sees the white breath fall from her lips, the result of hot and cold as they collide. She remembers back when she was living at the inn with her family. In winter when business was quiet they would escape; her, Azelma and Gavroche and they would sit by the river for hours late at night and pretend that they were the wealthy bourgeois in their saloons smoking cigars. They would try to form smoke circles but never quite managed to and they would talk in the most sophisticated French they knew. She was sure if they were not looking, people would mistake the children to have been of bourgeois stock. They were all very good actors after all. And in the summer, when the pub became busy again full of tourists and seamen who wanted to stay out until dawn she would remember those nights by the river. They would calm her and the thought of them provided an escape from the inn and everyone who was in it.

She feels guilty as she strolls the deck. She had so much time to spend with them on the ship but had wasted it all on Enjolras. She had learnt her lesson though; she would allow herself to get swept up with beautiful bourgeois men again.

As she walks the deck she hears a number of voices coming from the platform above her. Some are loud and some are hushed but they all speak with urgency. Their sentences are short and sharp and she can hear the stress, the confusion and the fear in their voices. Against her better judgement she climbs the stairs. The platform is full of men. Some are officers whilst others are regular bourgeois men, some of whom she had been dining with tonight. They barely even notice her as she stands there confused on the platform which surprises her. She is the lone woman there yet she is completely invisible.

In the distance she spots him, Enjolras in deep discussion with the captain. His eyebrows were furrowed and his cheeks were pink, she guessed from the cold. She decides to leave, weary of another fight with the damn man, she had really had enough of him tonight, and she was not going to provide him with another opportunity to tear her apart.

"Eponine" she turns, quickly walking towards the stairs in a vain attempt to pretend that she hasn't heard him. And she's almost there until she feels a painful tug on her right wrist "Madame Thenardier."

"Do you mind" she hisses pulling her wrist back from his painful grasp "What do you want?"

His eyes dart around the deck, wide with shame as he notes the people beginning to stare "I need to talk to you" once again he had grabbed onto her arm and in trying to lead her to a quieter part of the deck.

"Why" she pulls back "so you can humiliate me again, so you can level false accusations at me?"

"Can you keep your voice down. There is no need to bring this up now."

"Why not? Why when I want to respond all of a sudden you do not want to listen."

"There are more pressing issues right now" that makes her laugh "I need you to listen to what I am about to tell you. You must remain calm and you must do exactly as I say, please." He is staring at her with piercing blue eyes, so wide, so intense that she cannot stand to look back at them "The ship is sinking" he almost whispers.

All she can do is stare back "what?"

"It has struck an iceberg and it is sinking. We only have a few hours if we are lucky" his eyes are desperate and she can see that he is telling her the truth "Please listen to me, lifeboats are being lowered but they are only allowing women and children to board them. I need you to go and get Cosette, raise as little alarm as possible and we will try to get you onto one of the first boats out."

"And what about Monsieur Fauchelevent and Marius?"

He stares at the ground "There is not enough life boats for all the men, once we have evacuated all the women and children, then a few very lucky men will be able to escape."

"How do you know?"

"Because my father and I lobbied for less life boats, we need at least 48 and there is less than half that. There was no need to scare the passengers, after all the ship was unsinkable."

She nods, too paralysed with fear to reply and rushes back to her room to wake Cosette. But Cosette was not her only priority she needed to get Gavroche and Azelma onto a life boat before panic set in throughout the ship; she knew she needed to be quick.

But waking up Cosette was a slow process; the girl complained as Eponine nudged her and took what felt like an eternity to change. She was repeatedly pestering Eponine with questions and asking when her father would be asked on deck. Eponine could not tell the girl the truth so she just said that they would call men up when all the women had been taken into life boats first. She could imagine Cosette's reaction if she were to discover that she was to be permanently separated from her father; Eponine would not be able to get her out of their cabin.

She cannot help but feel guilty when lying to Cosette, she denies the father and daughter their final goodbye, she ushers Cosette out of the room without waking Monsieur Fauchelevent. She feels terrible but comforts herself with the fact that Cosette's father would do anything to have his daughter survive, even sacrifice his own life.

By the time they arrive up on deck word of the ship's sinking had obviously spread throughout first class as men women and children were pouring onto the deck. With Cosette's arm tucked under hers she begins to run through the crowd, darting between other confused passengers, her eyes searching for Enjolras. When the deck is this full it becomes so much more confusing, its distinctive features mesh into one and Eponine is sure she is running in circles and she is beginning to panic.

"Eponine" she feels his hand grip her arm and instinctively pulls it free again "I told you to come quickly, they've started lowering boats."

"I tried" she snaps.

"I was coming to look for you two" he pulls the girls over to the rails of the ship, pushing in front of the lines of people patiently waiting.

"Are these the girls you were waiting for?" the officer asks Enjolras nods and begins to help Cosette into the life boat.

"Wait" the girl shrieks "Where is Marius?"

A number of people shout at her, claiming they do not have time for her to say goodbye to her beloved but she is beginning to cry as she realises their fate. A few seconds later, Enjolras appears with Marius by his side.

Marius leans over the edge of the ship and reaches out to Cosette, he cups her face in his hands and kisses her slowly "What is happening?" she asks when he pulls away.

Marius smiles and blinks away the tears in his eyes "Nothing my dear, nothing" he leans his forehead against hers "I'll see you in the morning for breakfast" he leaves, called away to assist another boat.

Eponine realises that everyone is staring at her, waiting for her to board but she is still yet to see Gavroche or Azelma, for all she knows they might not know about the ship's sinking yet. She was leaving France to give all of them a new start. All of them. She cannot abandon them.

"Well, what are you waiting for, go" Enjolras nods at the boat.

"No"

"Eponine, we do not have time for your dramatics" he grabs her roughly and tries to push her into a boat.

"Get off me" she shouts, pulling away.

"What are you trying to achieve here you stupid girl! Just get onto the damn boat, why are you making this so difficult! I am giving you the chance to get off this boat, why throw it back in my face?"

"Because I still have something to prove to you" and with that she vanishes into the crowd. She is every bit the street rat and has no issue darting between the hundreds of bodies which fill the deck. She bounces of them and uses them to push herself further towards the stairs back into the sinking ship.

He stands there for a few seconds in a stunned silence "Shit" sometimes he speaks without thinking but then again, no one could have ever predicted this. He just prays that his words will not bring about the girl's death "Someone else gets on, lower the boats" and with that he leaves his post to chase after her.

Part of him has no idea why he cares; he has no idea why he is chasing after the silly girl. He catches up with her quickly, whilst she might be fleet footed his strides were larger, people tended to move aside for him. He thinks part of it may be guilt but the truth is that if she were not a Thenardier he may have actually liked her. What started off as an attempt to obtain more information about the girl had grown into something a little more for Enjolras. He was reluctant to admit it but the truth was that he actually began to enjoy spending time with her. No matter what her past was, she did not deserve to die like this, not when she had the opportunity to escape.

"Please Eponine, just stop" he has been jogging alongside her down the starboard side of the ship.

"What?"

"Please just get onto a boat, please I beg of-"

She sighs "I can't"

He puts his hand on her lower back and tries to guide her towards the nearest life boat "yes you can, take the chance now-"

"Enjolras!" he is cut off by an officer calling his name "You can sail can't you?" The man was a friend of his father and Enjolras had attended school with his son.

"Of course Sir."

"Great, we need someone to steer this life boat for us."

He notices that his hand is still resting on Eponine's back, he looks down at the girl, her eyes are wide with fear but she smiles softly and encouragingly at him "Go."

By the time he looks from the officer back to her she is gone again, running down the deck and he lets out an exasperated sigh. What could she possibly be doing, he hoped she was not going to retrieve something from her room, something trivial like that, he was not sure if she knew that her actions were endangering both of their lives.

He knows he should get onto the life boat, he knows he should save himself, get off this sinking ship but something stops him "I am sorry Sir" and he runs after the girl.

Somehow, with the adrenaline pulsing through her veins she remembers the maze which leads to steerage, but when she arrives there she is greeted by hundreds if not thousands of people shouting at her. Though that is not the most disturbing part. The gates allowing their exit from steerage have fused shut. These people had been left to die like animals, locked in their coffins, their fate decided for them by this damn class system. Whilst most of the women and children from first and second class were safely on lifeboats steerage had been locked away and forgotten about.

"Azelma, Gavroche!" Eponine desperately tries to pry the gates apart with her bare hands, but it barely shakes the gate "Enjolras, please"

And the two of them, with the help of steerage try to tear the gates open, he may be strong but he knows it is fruitless. The gates have been chained and bolted down so that the strength of all of steerage could not break them down, let alone just him and the girl. But she does not give up. She continues to beat her hands against the gate and scream for her siblings. Her eyes are full of tears which just increases the difficulty as she tries to make them out in the crowd. Her voice gets lost as it seems the whole of steerage is at that gate, begging to be set free. Enjolras has never felt so hopeless, so useless, he tries with all his strength but the gate will not budge.

And then he hears the screams of people further down the ship, crying out that water has begun to enter the cabins and corridors and the people's cries become more desperate that they do not even sound human any more. He feels sick, these people are dying and he cannot do anything to help. The screams just keep getting louder and more desperate and he is finding it impossible to ignore them.

"Come on Eponine" he pulls the delirious girl away from the gates which she is still trying to tear open, her hands are red and little cuts are beginning to form "You don't want to see this, you don't want to see them-" he is unable to finish his sentence. She does not want to see them die.

She sobs uncontrollably as he leads her back up the stairs and he sincerely tries to comfort her but it seems fruitless until all of a sudden she just stops, as if she no longer had any tears left in her. He notes how strange it is the way she straightens and regains her composure as they walk back on deck.

A deck is almost empty now and she prays it is because most people were able to escape alive but she knows it isn't true. She can hear the shouts and cries of those diving into the water and she considers if it is really worth jumping. A few people brush past her, causing her to stumble and she notices that from that moment onwards Enjolras laces his finger through hers. It is the first time he has touched her and he hasn't inflicted pain, and it's nice.

Everything feels completely still, completely serene, there are shouts and screams but she can no longer hear them. She stares out at the ocean; the fearsome force which they had all underestimated was now proving itself to them. It was as if declaring the ship of be invincible had been interpreted as a challenge by Mother Nature which was now emerging as victor. They were no match for its force, no matter how much humanity tried to convince itself that it had mastered the sea Mother Nature had ruled supreme again. She watches, he light of the ship illuminating bodies and furniture in the water. In the distance she could see lifeboats rowing away but she does not regret not getting on one. Something about standing here and the world around her fell apart was incredibly soothing though she is not quite sure why.

Enjolras tugs her arm, pulling her away from her thoughts "Do you want to check around the other side, see if there are any more boats?"

She doesn't reply and he pulls her along as they walk "Enjolras, you still here?" Bahorel appears in front of the pair "Gee, I thought you had gotten onto a life boat."

Enjolras shakes his head "no such luck unfortunately, do you know if there are any collapsible around the other side."

It is strange to see but as Bahorel shakes his head he smiles "All gone, we just sent the last one off, some women and children from steerage rushed up on deck at the last minute so we sent them off instead." He pats Enjolras on the shoulder and once again gives him a wiry smile, "It's all over."

She hopes that Gavroche and Azelma escaped on the last boat though she knows it is highly unlikely. The three walk around into the first class sitting room. It is almost empty, except for a few men who are laughing, drinking and playing cards. They stare at her as she walks in, wondering how this woman was still on the ship. They were sure they had evacuated all the first class women.

In the back corner, Combeferre is sitting on the lounge, a glass of brandy in hand. He smiles at the group as they approach "It seems fitting doesn't it?" he looks specifically at the men "We grow up together, we work together."

"And now we die together" Enjolras finishes, feeling a chill down his spine as he admits for the first time that soon, they will all be dead. That is the worst part, not knowing when. It could be in two minutes or two hours, he does not want to wait anymore, he just wants it all to be over. He feels ready to die, he has accepted his fate.

Bahorel hands him and Eponine a glass of brandy each and she notices how the drink only fills the right half of the glass when he pours it. She had not noticed how heavily the ship was listing. Surely they did not have much longer left. "Where is Marius?" she asks noting that he is the only one in the group absent.

"Swimming out to Cosette" Combeferre replies emptying his glass and passing it back to Bahorel for a refill.

"He will never make it" Enjolras knows that the water is at freezing level and that most will be dead within twenty minutes of hitting the water.

Combeferre looks up grimly "He knows."

And the group falls into silence.

Enjolras never got to change the world.

Combeferre was never able to open his own medical practice.

Bahorel never became a property mogul.

And Eponine never got to live out her life free from France.

This isn't how Eponine wanted to die, not that she had put much thought into it. She was twenty years old, she was starting a new life but God would not allow her to do so. It was as if no matter how much she tried to start a fresh it was going to be impossible for her, now, waiting for her death she prays that in her next life things will be easier. She deserves that.

And now, as the ship is sinking she is sitting next to a man who less than six hours ago was telling her she was worthless. And she's holding his hand, his knuckles and white from holding on so tight but at least he was not hurting her this time. She rests her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes and waits.

Minutes pass and people run through the sitting room shouting at them to try to escape but no one moves. They sit there like statues, as if they have already died.

She feels Enjolras tense and opens her eyes when she hears screams from out on the deck. The lights flicker a few times before going out completely, plunging the whole ship into an eyrie darkness. And then things go quiet, as if those who still had a little hope left in them had too given up and all she can hear is the sound of the first class back that had been playing all night. For the first time that night, there in the darkness she allows herself to cry about dying. She wanted to be strong in her final moments but not even that could fall in her favour.

He feels her body trembling against his and leans down searching for her face. She has no idea how to comfort her; no idea how to stop her tears so he rests his forehead against hers.

"I'm so sorry" she sobs.

"You have no reason to apologise" the ship lurches and groans loudly.

"I- you could have left b-but you didn't. I-I'm sorry I killed you".

He feels the warmth of his tears building up in his eyes and he leans down pecking her on her forehead and wrapping his arms around her body "No Eponine, I'm sorry I killed you."

The ship groans loudly once more and the hull rises out of the water. It sits upright in the water for a few seconds and from the lifeboats the scene resembles a work of art. It is truly incredibly but then disappears into the icy depths taking all on board with it.

The End

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