* "I didn't MEAN to kill her..."

----Jean Valjean, the esteemed mayor, rushes to Arras, knowing only that the trial for the other Valjean is sometime in the evening. Despite all odds, he arrives.
----He stands in the front of the room, just behind the judge, with all the other government officials. He has been so stressed this past twenty-four hours, his hair has turned from grey to white, matching his complexion of terror. He hasn't eaten or slept since leaving his town, which might have contributed to his reasoning. He had planned, since leaving home, to give himself away and announce his identity as Jean Valjean. But I wonder if he might not have gone through with that plan had he been fully functioning. Anyway, he betrays himself, causes a tremendous ruckus, and tells the judge where to find him before returning home.
----The crazy thing was, all during this first trip, things kept going wrong. The cart wheel broke, the horse was exhausted, the repairman couldn't fix the wagon before morning. And every time, Valjean thinks, "It's okay now. I don't have to go to Arras, this was just a test to see if I actually would. I tried, so I passed the test, and this is just a sign that it's all over." But then something happens to fix it, and Valjean pretends to be happy. He's racing the horse towards his torture.
----Back at home, Fantine thinks Valjean has gone to fetch Cosette. When Valjean visits her, she is thrilled that her daughter is here, but Valjean hasn't given either of them a thought since before he departed. Now she's hours away from death and demanding to see her daughter when....
----Javert walks in. Oh, the irony.
----He's intent on arresting Valjean, who, now that he's outed, knew it was only a matter of time. But Jean doesn't want this drama in front of someone so fragile as Fantine. But Javert barges in anyway, yelling horrible things at Jean, only Fantine thinks he's come to arrest her, since she doesn't know the mayor is an ex-convict. She's so terrified by this that she suddenly starts twitching and convulsing and writhing, paper white, on the hospital bed...
----And she dies believing her beloved long-lost daughter is waiting in the next room.
----Jean is furious that Javert killed her (although in the inspector's defense, she had only hours to go, anyway) and insists on saying a prayer over her before he leaves, threatening the reluctant inspector with a metal bar to get his way. He kneels by the virtually empty bed, kisses the pure in heart criminal woman's waxy hand, and then stands up, ready to accompany Javert back to the place he wanted most to leave.
----Emotion overload. A smile comes through the tears like a sun through rain, projecting a beautiful rainbow.