Author's Note: Hi! This is my first fanfiction, so don't judge too harshly, haha. This is mostly based on the musical, but there may be a few things from the book, but I'm not sure yet. Please read and review!

Eponine looked over the Seine, crying softly to herself, watching as the waves crashed back and forth against the bridge. She stared into the water, wondering what went wrong in her life that made her end up here. She saw flashes of her life before her eyes, dark and twisted memories mocking her and her hopes.

You see, Eponine used to be a dreamer. She used to believe things would get better, that her prince would come and take her away from the nightmare that she had been forced to live in. But she soon discovered that reality is cruel, that knights don't exist (at least for people like her). Yet she still held onto the hope that everything would get better. And it seemed to. Marius had begun to notice her and listen and he began to see her differently...or so she thought. She never had the chance to understand how he felt towards her because he was stolen. He was stolen with one glance by Cosette, the personification of perfection. It was sadly amusing that the girl Eponine had loathed as a child grew into everything Eponine wished to be- including Marius' object of affection. It turns out, for Eponine at least, that dreaming was worthless, for the dreamer is the only one who gets hurt.

She had hoped that Marius still had some degree of affection for her, but she was again dissapointed. He no longer wanted anything to do with Eponine, except for the occasional errand of passing letters between Cosette and himself.

And it wasn't as though she could go home. Though, her father had a different definition of theword errand. He had given Eponine an ultimatum. She was either to become a whore and be welcome in the Thenardier home (and of course giving him half her pay) or to live on her own in the streets. She refused to sell herself and give her father the satisfaction of her suffering, so she had chosen the latter. When she had done this, though, she still had the hope of Marius.

Now, she had no hope of Marius' love, nor the loving home she wished for. She was alone with nothing. And that's how she ended up where she was now- contimplating death as the water crashed mercilessly.

Eponine gathered her courage, closed her eyes, and jumped into the icy, unforgiving river.