The tender darkness fell over the stage as applause echoed through the theater, the set changing with a barely discernible bump of the revolve. 'Taya allowed herself one last twitch of the bedsheets before lying still on her side, only opening her eyes to Fantine's world as the lights came up for the one scene that always brought her close to tears. The music coiled around her, emphatic and gentle, welcoming the audience to a dying woman's bedside as she dreamed of her daughter, so very far away.
"Cosette, it's turned so cold
Cosette, it's past your bedtime
You've played the day away
And soon it will be night ..."
A hopeful smile lit up her face as she pushed herself to sit, so in the moment that her shaking was not feigned, though her voice stayed strong to let the touching melody carry Fantine's hopes far out to the ears of those listening. Of every song she knew from this musical, this was the one that struck the deepest chord with Mataya, even more so now that she had her own little urchin to care for.
"Come to me, Cosette, the light is fading
Don't you see the evening star appearing"
Come to me, and rest against my shoulder
How fast the minutes fly away and every minute colder ..."
She couldn't help thinking of Juno as she sang, wondering all over again just what it was that had delivered the quiet little girl to the care of the Shanachie in the first. Wondering what it was that she either could not, or would not, remember. It was hard to make friends with Juno, who was so quiet around everyone but Max. For years, all 'Taya had wanted was to be a mommy, and now she had the opportunity, the dream seemed further away than ever.
"Hurry near, another day is dying
Don't you hear, the winter wind is crying"
There's a darkness which comes without a warning
But I will sing you lullabies and wake you in the morning ..."
The familiarly gruff cadence of Max's voice entered her consciousness as his Valjean moved into the light, drawing the rapt attention of their audience as he knelt beside her bed, capturing her outstretched hand in his. She never ceased to be amazed at Max's ability to wholly inhabit a character. In that moment, it wasn't her fiance kneeling beside her; it was Jean Valjean, the man who had failed to save her from the injustices of his own workforce.
"Oh, Fantine, our time is running out
But Fantine, I swear this on my life ..."
Rolling onto her back, 'Taya's Fantine gripped the hand of her savior in a white-knuckled grasp, holding him to a promise not yet spoken with the last desperate strength of a soul about to fly its mortal shell. "Look, M'sieur, where all the children play ..." His hand, so large and capable, cupped her cheek as he smiled with sorrowful understanding, following the lyrical line to its inevitable conclusion. "Be at peace, be at peace evermore ..."
"My Cosette ..."
Our Juno ...
"Shall live in my protection ..."
"Take her now ..."
"Your child will want for nothing ..."
A sob touched her voice as Fantine fell back against the pillows, her body twisted with pain and heartbreak at this untimely goodbye. "Good M'sieur, you come from God in Heaven ..."
Max's Valjean rose to sit at her side on the bed, smoothing the shorn ends of her hair from her face, visibly shaken by his failure to protect a woman forgotten and betrayed by the world much as he had been. His promise was given, then and there, and Mataya knew that it touched Max as deeply as it touched her. "And none shall ever harm Cosette as long as I am living."
For them, Cosette was Juno; they were Valjean and his hopes for the child he took under his protection, the little girl he grew to love as his own; Fantine, the mother and father that must have been given no choice but to give up their Juno to the unfeeling world.
Settled back against the pillows, Mataya's Fantine groped for her Valjean's hand, close to death but willing to greet it with a brave heart, knowing her daughter would be safe. "Take my hand, the night grows ever colder ..."
"Then I will keep you warm ..." His arm wrapped about her, presenting to the audience an image of what might have been, had Valjean found her sooner.
"Take my child, I give her to your keeping ..." Her cheek touched his shoulder, taking the offered protection, the comfort in her last moments on their earth, feeling just a little of what he had promised for the child she was leaving behind.
His hand stroked against her hair once more as he gently lowered her back to the bed, drawing the blankets over her almost still form. "Take shelter from the storm ..."
With the last surge of her strength, Fantine reached out to catch pathetically at Valjean's hand, pleading with eyes and voice for just a few more moments. "For God's sake, please stay till I am sleeping ..."
From the corner of her eye, 'Taya saw a familiar small face watching from the wings as Max dropped to his knees beside her, holding her hand against his cheek. Juno's eyes were wide, filled with tears, caught up in the powerful emotion of the scene as she watched the pair who had taken her in do what they did best.
The beatific smile that touched Mataya's face had nothing to do with the scene, and everything to do with the little girl transfixed in the darkness of the wings, as the last moments of Fantine's life bled away into silence.
"And tell Cosette I love her
And I'll see her when I wake ..."
Soon, one day very soon, Juno would know how loved she was, even if it killed 'Taya to prove it.