[Her eyes meet his, tilting her chin up softly as he pushes her hair back, and for a moment, a ghost of a smile appears on her lips.
There's silence, until he urges her to go on, and she nods.]
There as so much going on, when he arrived. The French Guard, they were storming the barricade, it had started to rain, and then, I saw it. He had pushed Reynaud out of the way, but didn't see another gun aimed towards him. I did.
You see, I hoped to die before him, m'sieur. I knew I could not live without him. We were all going to die there, on that barricade. I could only pray I would go first.
And so I did. I placed my hand, [she starts to absentmindedly rub the palm of her right hand] over the barrel of the gun. My hand was on fire, my arm, and I felt it travel through me. I felt the cold sting of rain on my bare flesh where it had ripped a hole in my shirt. And as it did, I fell, down to the mud and the dirt.
It was fitting, I knew. To die there. Where I had always belonged.
Then I saw him. The fighting had died down, in the rain, and I called his name, crawling to him. He recognized me, would you believe it, m'sieur! [She smiles again, her expression far-off as she swears she can feel Marius' arms around her. Her eyes have been watering, and as she speaks, she does not notice when the tears begin to fall.]
I told him I was there. To die. And that I wished all of us would, and that I was the reason he was there. Then... Looking up into his eyes, I knew I could not take him. I gave him the letter, soaked in my blood. So that he could find his Cosette, if he survived. But I knew there was no hope...
I asked him to kiss me, you know. On my forehead. He did- both then, and before he left here. It was the most kindness someone had shown me my entire life.
action;
There's silence, until he urges her to go on, and she nods.]
There as so much going on, when he arrived. The French Guard, they were storming the barricade, it had started to rain, and then, I saw it. He had pushed Reynaud out of the way, but didn't see another gun aimed towards him. I did.
You see, I hoped to die before him, m'sieur. I knew I could not live without him. We were all going to die there, on that barricade. I could only pray I would go first.
And so I did. I placed my hand, [she starts to absentmindedly rub the palm of her right hand] over the barrel of the gun. My hand was on fire, my arm, and I felt it travel through me. I felt the cold sting of rain on my bare flesh where it had ripped a hole in my shirt. And as it did, I fell, down to the mud and the dirt.
It was fitting, I knew. To die there. Where I had always belonged.
Then I saw him. The fighting had died down, in the rain, and I called his name, crawling to him. He recognized me, would you believe it, m'sieur! [She smiles again, her expression far-off as she swears she can feel Marius' arms around her. Her eyes have been watering, and as she speaks, she does not notice when the tears begin to fall.]
I told him I was there. To die. And that I wished all of us would, and that I was the reason he was there. Then... Looking up into his eyes, I knew I could not take him. I gave him the letter, soaked in my blood. So that he could find his Cosette, if he survived. But I knew there was no hope...
I asked him to kiss me, you know. On my forehead. He did- both then, and before he left here. It was the most kindness someone had shown me my entire life.