LES DÉSCENDANTS

~Le Monde Entre Les Mondes~

A/N: This scene takes place in what is assumed to be right after Avenir is knocked unconscious after the "thing" happened in Paris in the last book...we still don't know quite what happened.  The title translates to "The World Between The Worlds."  I also tried to put some reminders about plot points in "Avenir" for those that haven't read or who need a memory jog.  I had to look back too :D

~Vive La France~

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"Hey, Av."

"Av? That's a new one. What happened to 'sister?' Am I dreaming?"

"Perhaps. Do you want to be?"

"No. I've missed you."

Silence.

"Uh, brother?"

"Yes?" replied Jehan.

"Is this heaven?"

"Do you want it to be?"

"No, I – what kind of question is that?" I thought for a minute, then spoke: "If it were, rather – I mean, if this was actually...I'd want Enjolras to be here, too."

"And...?"

"He went back. To the past...he tried to bring me along...But at the last moment, I...I...didn't make it."

"What happened, Av?"

"Would you quit calling me AV?" I smirked.

"Would that nickname sound different to you coming out of Enjolras's mouth?" he said, smirking back, all-knowing.

The thought of Enjolras calling me Av was such a strange and bizarre phenomenon. It was like if I called him Enj or Enji. One simply didn't do such things, or even think about it.

Just change the subject... "Brother, I don't know what happened in Paris, I felt myself falling...falling away from Enjolras..."

Jehan's eyes were a piercing blue. "Did you fall, or did you let go?"

I froze. I thought of all the people I had wished to save...an entire city about to be wiped out by an ominous projectile...

I couldn't have just left them...

My heart was pounding, like it was on fire...I stared right back at my brother. "I...I'm sure Enjolras would understand my decision."

"They're calling it 'The Flash.'"

"It?"

"The atom bomb, the obliterator...whatever it was."

"How do you know about what happened, Jehan? You died before any of..." I couldn't continue.

Jehan looked at me a long, long time, pensive. It was only then that I noticed a shimmering, golden light about him. "You're just like Lamarque...a spirit," I commented sadly. "I was able to see Lamarque, too...one last time, or, rather, he came to visit me. Enjolras and I had fought, because he felt that he couldn't remain close to me, for he felt it would hurt too much if anything happened to him...or to me," I said, really thinking it through for the first time myself. Everything had been a whirlwind.

"Lamarque said you can't bring back the dead," I continued sadly.

"What if he was wrong?"

A harsh voice pierced through the darkness surrounding us and I whirled around to find myself face-to-face with Grantaire, also surrounded by a golden light.