Disclaimer – I own nothing of Les Miserables. It belongs to the wonderful Victor Hugo and the people who wrote the musical. I own the plot. 'Nuff said.
Italics are song lyrics and flashbacks.
A/N: In the book and watching the 10th anniversary of Les Miserables, I noticed (or might have skipped it in the book) that they never explain how Fantine came to leave Cosette with the Thenardiers. In my story, Fantine is Anne Hathaway and Cosette is Isabelle Allen, later Amanda Seyfried. Also Monsieur Madeline is Hugh Jackman. Javert is not in this story.
Summary: AU: The back story of how Fantine came to leave Cosette with the Thenardiers. Fantine is a lowly girl of twenty-two. Cosette is two-years-old. Fantine cannot support the two of them, so she leaves Cosette in the care of the Thenardiers while she finds work. She leaves a kindly gentleman named Monsieur Madeline in charge of caring for Cosette. Based on the upcoming movie.
Genre: Family/None
Rating: T
Fantine soothed her daughter as they went into a tavern for the night. Cosette started her crying and Fantine knew that they needed something to eat.
"You can't bring children in here." The man behind the bar told Fantine.
"I don't care. We don't have anywhere else to go." Fantine told the man behind the bar. At that moment, Cosette started her wailing. "Cosette, shush. It's all right."
"There's an inn not too far from here, if you want to leave her there." The man behind the bar told Fantine.
"No, I cannot leave her with strangers." Fantine replied, picking up Cosette and held her against her hip.
The barman looked over the bar at Cosette.
"The innkeepers have a daughter her age. I'm sure the two of them will get on." The barman told Fantine. Fantine stroked her daughter's blond hair and gazed into her bright blue eyes.
"My darling, what do you think?" Fantine asked her daughter.
"No." Cosette said firmly.
"I don't have a choice. I must leave you."
"Why?"
"I cannot support the both of us, so I need to work."
Cosette cried as Fantine took her to the inn. Fantine knew deep down she was doing the right thing. Also, she knew that she would see her daughter again.
Fantine found work in a fabric making factory. She was a dyer and worked ten hours a week. She struggled to make friends, but eventually made friends with a woman named Felicity. Felicity was born in England, but moved to France when she was four.
"Fantine! You have a letter!" the foreman barked a month later. Fantine wiped her hands on a rag and took the letter from him. She felt her stomach sink to the floor – Cosette was ill and the Thenardiers needed ten francs for the medicine. Felicity looked over Fantine's shoulder and frowned. She had recently lost her son due to an illness and hoped that Fantine's daughter didn't go to heaven.
Fantine made twenty francs a week, so she would send ten francs to the Thenardiers and keep ten francs for herself.
A week later, she got another letter from the Thenardiers. It said that Cosette was ill again and this time, they needed twenty francs. The doctor had Cosette on a more expensive medicine. Sighing, Fantine sent all her earnings to the Thenardiers.
Fantine suspected something was going on with the Thenardiers. One night after she finished work, she walked to the inn where Cosette now lived.
She must've blacked out or something because she woke up in the hospital. She looked up and saw Monsieur Madeline, the mayor of the town, looking down on her.
"Monsieur. How did I end up here?" Fantine wanted to know.
"You fainted because of starvation." He told her, removing his top hat.
"I have to see my child. I know something is wrong with her."
"I will go for you. Right now, you need your rest." Madeline told her, gently kissing her hand. Fantine smiled and closed her eyes.
Fantine was now well enough to go back to work. The foreman glared at Fantine as she entered the factory and went to her station. Felicity smiled at her then went to work.
"Fantine, you have another letter!" the foreman shouted towards the middle of the afternoon. Fantine wiped the sweat off her brow and wiped her hands on her dress before taking the envelope from the foreman.
Dominique, a woman that was not very nice, took the letter from Fantine and read it.
"Give that letter back to me!" Fantine demanded, jumping for the letter. It was out of her reach by about seven inches.
"Make me!" Dominique challenged.
"Leave her alone – you're the one with a husband at home and sleeping around." Felicity interjected. Dominique slapped Felicity across the face.
That's when all hell broke loose. The foreman took the letter from Dominique and read it – Cosette needed a doctor and the Thenardier's needed more money.
"Get out." The foreman told Fantine, his voice strangely calm. Fantine looked to Felicity, tears in her eyes. Who knew when she would see her only friend again.
A couple weeks later, Fantine was in the hospital again. Monsieur Madeline had gone to fetch Cosette, but there was a terrible snowstorm, so he stayed behind until it calmed down.
Fantine knew she was dying and she needed someone to see that her daughter was well and tended to.
"I give her to your keeping. For god's sake, please stay til I am sleeping. And tell Cosette I love her and I'll see her when I wake." Fantine sung to Monsieur Madeline. She took her last precious breath and passed on. Monsieur Madeline bowed his head, kissed Fantine's hand and exited the hospital.
Monsieur Madeline found the inn where Cosette was living and heard a voice beyond the walls of the inn. Curious, he made his way to where the voice was coming from.
Standing before him was a little girl, sobbing and singing as she filled a bucket with water. Monsieur Madeline smiled and walked up to her, producing a ragdoll from his jacket pocket.
The little girl tensed her shoulders and looked at him with bright blue eyes that stood out in the darkness.
"Mademoiselle." Monsieur Madeline said, removing his top hat and bowed at the little girl. She smiled, her mouth forming a wide 'O' as Madeline handed the doll to Cosette. "My name is Monsieur Madeline. Your mother is in heaven with the angels, but she told me to watch over you for the rest of your days."
"I don't have to live with them anymore?" Cosette asked, her voice as timid as a mouse.
"No, my dear one." Madeline told Cosette, picking up the child and the pail of water.
"COSETTE! WHERE ARE YOU?" a harsh voice came from inside the inn.
"That's Madame. She's horrible to me, Monsieur." Cosette whispered in Madeline's ear. He gently set the child down as they entered the inn.
After a moment with the Thenardiers, Monsieur Madeline and Cosette exited the inn, holding hands and singing.
Eight years later
A much older Cosette and her papa, Monsieur Madeline were in a small café, having tea. Cosette set her teacup down and looked into Monsieur Madeline's eyes.
"Cosette, my child, what is it?" Madeline inquired.
"I've been pondering something."
"What?"
"How come you never talk about my mother?"
Madeline sighed and put his teacup down. He reached across the table and took one of Cosette's hands in his. He then explained how her mother had been dying and asked him to take care of her daughter.
"What was she like?" Cosette asked once Madeline was finished.
"She was an amazing woman, strong, compassionate." Madeline answered.
The two of them left the café and headed to their house.
The rest, they say, is history.