The movement in his arms yanked him back to the present just enough for him to notice the gradual pulling away of the body next to him, and a little bit of worry and concern returned to him. Eponine.

He made an attempt to move but he could barely feel his limbs. Some strands of Eponine's hair were still caught in his hands, and he ghosted two fingers against them with absent-mindedness as he wondered: Perhaps someone had found her, after all? Maybe they were giving her the antidote she needed?

He forced his eyes open even with the heaviness of his eyelids, to see whether Eponine had indeed been rescued, but when his vision focused he instead saw Cosette lying next to him, so close, her hair spread across the grass in a tangle of dark locks and white petals. The tinkle of her laughter blocked out the sound of Eponine's scream, and when a tremor wracked his body she reached out to him and caressed his cheek against the palm of her smooth, ungloved hand, and suddenly he no longer felt any pain.

He smiled at her, faintly, and as his vision clouded over he raised his eyes to a spot just above her shoulder and saw the moon and the stars in all their immaculate brightness watching over them. And for a very brief moment, he felt at peace.

Her loving, blue eyes was the last thing he saw before his eyes fluttered shut and the darkness enveloped him.