In the Rain

by RYCBAR24601

A telling of how the Thenardier siblings were saved in their deaths on the barricade by looking at where their lives would have lead them if they had lived longer. Kind of bleak, kind of uplifting. Very Les Mis. (also in Books under Water)

Things are lost in water, but in water things too begin. It was because of rain that Napoleon fell and the fate of Europe was changed on a soggy field. Napoleon lost his Empire but Europe gained its future and France gained its fate. An Empire lead to a king lead to unrest lead to another king and more unrest and throughout all this time it rained.

It rained on the night of June 5th as well, settling the fate of yet more lives. It is important to remember however that is was more than just students that died that night. It was soldiers following orders, unaware of what they were fighting for; or against. It was the poor that stumbled upon the students and followed them like a moth to a flame; entranced by their revolutionary zeal and a promise of a new life. So it was for the Thenardier siblings who spent their lives fighting to live and died fighting for a future they did not understand.

The rain started to fall when a bullet pierced the chest of the eldest who had gone to the barricades that day hoping to die along the side of the student who had brought light into her life. The rain mixed with her blood as it flowed onto the pavement and washed away the pain of the past and the pain to come.

The rain that carried her off also carried off any hope the students had of changing the world. The rain that mixed with the blood of the fallen also mixed with the gunpowder, making it as useful as the dirt on their shoes. But stubbornness and passion is a trait often found in revolutionaries, and was especially found in the youngest of the people there. The younger Thenardier held onto some shred of hope as he made his way past the veil of safety provided by the broken furniture and upturned carts and into the field of dead bodies and the dry powder they hid. This boy of the streets who could take on any challenge, and found his home in a plaster elephant was struck down by a few small balls of iron.

And so the Thenardier siblings left this world in blood and pain; but in a fight for something greater than themselves, and in this they were saved from their own future. It would have been less than ten years before the world would have found its own way to put Eponine and Gavroche into the ground.

Eponine would go first; only two years after the failed start of a new France. Beaten too far by one of the men her father sold her too she would not recover before the winter set in. And with the winter came a cough and shivers that racked her body like none Eponine had ever experienced. And in this state Eponine would find a challenge that she could not meet. The combination of a broken body and disease proved a challenge that even the girl who had called herself the daughter of a wolf could not face. Her body would be disposed of by her father, who showed her no more respect in death that he did when she was alive, as she was thrown onto the streets to be dealt with by some other authority. No tears were shed for her but her brother did wonder from time to time were she had gone. He missed seeing her face of the streets and the seldom gift of a quick smile. And he felt a pang at this absence but continued on like he always had.

And in the next six years Gavroche would grow into man on the streets, confident in his skills and knowledge. But one night his confidence would get the best of him as he broke into what he believed to be the empty unwatched home for a wealthy man and instead fell into a trap. And from this trap the whirlwind that was Gavroche would find himself in prison. But a boy, for Gavroche was still really a boy, who has spent his life on the streets and been the king of his own destiny, no matter how bleak, cannot flourish under the chain, like no living thing with a soul can. But Gavroche especially would feel this weight more than others around him. And from this great force he would be compelled and drawn to escape. And since he was classified as a dangerous person, nothing was held back in the attempt to cease his flight, even if it meant ceasing his life.

And so on the rainy night of June 5th amongst all that was lost; the Thenardier children gained some dignity and through this they were saved.