Paris seemed brighter, cleaner than the last memory Eponine had. Her last memory consisted of a gun, being thrown back and Marius Pontmercy holding her until she found herself alone in the middle of the street. The barricade was no longer there, just clean streets as they probably were when they were first made. What could only be assumed as the sun made everything look more beautiful, colourful. 'Am I dead?' she thought. She had no clue. When she took the bullet, she assumed that Marius would join her in the afterlife soon enough. It was the only reason she had joined the doomed revolution, knowing that they would both die and Cosette would live on in England. Marius would never come though, unbeknownst to Eponine . One by one, Les Amis de l'ABC would take their positions on the cobbles. She didn't understand, if this was supposed to be the afterlife - why was she with men who only saw her as Marius's shadow? Eponine had believed that once you were gone, you would ascend to heaven or descend to hell. This looked like neither place that had been described to her.
"I don't understand, where is Marius?" Eponine was glad to know that her voice still worked wherever she went. No one answered though, they were all too shocked as she had been. Then she saw a familiar face, one that made her feel such sorrow and joy at the same time. "Gavroche!" she cried, both in voice and with tears. She wished she had made him stay away, he had been far too young to die. Then again, they all had been far too young to die. Everyone knew it was coming days before, unlike Eponine who simply made a choice that changed her future out of love. Her brother did not speak, he simply let her smother him in an embrace. If he had known heaven would have been like this, he would have stayed away from the barricade. It was just the same place he had fallen asleep, just with some minute changes in colouring. Eventually Eponine would let her brother go, let him come to terms and to peace with where they were. Whilst Eponine had done neither, she still wanted to find the man she loved and she began searching the properties on the street. Doors were left unlocked, she knew her parents would have a field day stealing here. Finally she came across two people, both on the floor. She recognised them, the leader and his faithful follower. They too had the same astonishment everyone else had, but the leader was far quicker to react to the surroundings.
"Mademoiselle, how did you get here?" the leader asked, as Eponine looked around for any other young woman because he certainly couldn't mean her but the question took her by surprise. He didn't ask how he got here. He asked how she got here. "I am no mademoiselle, but I don't know. One minute I was in his arms and the next I was out on the shiny cobbles." She felt compelled to tell him the truth, Enjolras felt like someone you couldn't lie to. Even before this bright new Paris came about, he was a serious man and who seemed like he'd been made for authority. He also knew how to work a room with passion though. That Eponine could remember as clear as day. "I guess that means we failed." he replied, somberly. He felt like he had failed his friends, failed those he was trying to fight for. Eponine didn't see it as a failure, not really. This could be a Paris he could make his mark on. Even if there only was a group of them. But the noises from outside started to sound like the Paris she once knew. Maybe it was their interpretation of heaven to do as they will, she knew it wasn't her's though. "Forgive me, monsieur, but there is a Paris outside and it might be able to use your 'structure'. Can you hear it?"
Enjolras looked at the girl, wondering if she had gone mad. First of all, for dying at the barricade and second, hearing noises that were not there. It took a while, but he looked to Grantaire and back to the girl and then he started to hear the noise too. He hadn't had much of a chance to listen and look at his new surroundings but upon dashing out of the Cafe Musain. He already understood where he was now, slightly. Death by firing squad, it had been clear as day when he woke up in a different place, yet still remarkably similar to the one he had died in. The others had died at the front line and had yet to realise. The same went for the girl, the shadow in front of him. Though she seemed oddly more accepting of death than one should. "I hear it, but may I ask why you seem so accepting of your situation, mademoiselle?" He was naturally curious, anyone would be curious. Had she too accepted death before it came?
Eponine was quite frankly annoyed by the use of mademoiselle, she had never been called one whilst she was living and she didn't intend to start accepting it in the afterlife. "Monsieur, call me Eponine. I'm accepting because I had a bit more time. I was the first to move on, you all came here after me." she said, attempting to sound polite. Next time she knew she wouldn't be so polite if the leader continued to insist on calling her a lady. It was nothing personal, she just wasn't used to it. "Can I ask you why you are so quick to accept your fate, monsieur?" she added, holding back the residual sarcasm she so desperately wanted to us. It wasn't his fault, he wasn't to know her situation. For someone who claimed 'in tune' with the common people, he surely didn't know that much about them. After all, he was now dead and the Paris of before would go back to normal. They were not ready for revolution, she had wanted to tell them that but they were school boys, they knew best apparently.
The girl had spirit, he could admit that to himself. Her answers made him want to chuckle but he had decided against it, for fear she might be offended. He knew when to be polite, he hadn't been born without manners. "Firing squad. There's no coming back from a firing squad. Unless you have God on your side." Or maybe he had been on Enjolras's side. He wasn't sure, he certainly didn't seem to be burning in the eternal fiery pits of Hell. "Apparently I did not, Eponine." he added, emphasis on her name. He could listen too. He hadn't noticed that Grantaire had decided to leave, probably to explore or to find their friends. He was intrigued by the shadow, Eponine. But his next thoughts were to what would happen next. This was the after life, eternal in all it's glory. They would be forever here, never to leave. Would they all be able to co-exist in harmony now? Could his ideals be reflected on this pseudo-Paris like she had mentioned. She had called it structure, he liked to think of it as a brilliant philosophy.
She had thought about leaving the leader to his peace and figuring out this bright new world that would now be called home for herself. Certainly if Enjolras decided 'and he probably would' she thought, to take charge as a leader, she could look forward to equality. Still, she had hoped that Marius would be here on the other side and she was still wondering if anyone had actually seen him. She could ask Enjolras, she would ask him. She just hoped he would have an answer for her, one that she liked. "Monsieur, have you seen Monsieur Marius? I mean, did you see him... before..." she trailed off, she couldn't think of a better word to say 'before you died'. It seemed so horrible to be so blunt. Eponine was naturally afraid of the answer, afraid that he would say that he saw him run off to find Cosette or saw someone tend to his wound.
What could he say? The shadow, they called her. They all knew there was unrequited love there, but he would be the one to break it to her that he probably managed to survive. He had a better way to avoid answering directly "I didn't see him before death came for me but I haven't been outside, where all my friends are, maybe he's with us now?" He normally wouldn't feel so uneasy about lying, but he was sure the majority was the truth. He hadn't seen Marius and he hadn't been outside. The girl had found him, not vice versa. He wasn't looking forward to minding his friends and a heartbroken girl at the same time. Eternity seemed a cruel and unusual punishment right about now.
Author's Note: First and foremost, I do not claim that I own the copyright to Les Miserables. Never have, never will. Second, I have never written fan fiction so this my first time. Should I choose to continue, this will be Eponine/Enjolras because jeeeeesus, that ship is something I could sail with and Samantha Barks and Aaron Tveit would make beautiful children, that is all I'm saying (but I don't hate Marius or Cosette either!). My only point of reference has been what I've read fanfiction wise, what I saw in the movie. I will eventually read the book so it should help shape it if I continue. I won't say this is complete because I'm still unsure what I want to do. I also write like an RPer, if you haven't noticed. I'll try to separate out the speech next time! This was long, I'm so sorry! I hope it wasn't utter rubbish! Not gonna lie, this is strange territory for me and I'm sure some of this is possibly out of character.