Their Beginnings

Disclaimer: Les Misérables and all its characters belong to Victor Hugo. I'm just writing this for fun.

Author's Note: This story is about the forming of the Friends of the ABC. Mostly about how each member joined the group, or how they met the other members. May be considered more as a series of oneshots as they're not necessarily going to be in chronilogical order. Not intended to be slash.


Chapter 1: Their First Meeting

Their first meeting took place in Enjolras' spacious, plain looking apartment. The place was open and full of light, and it occurred to Combeferre that secret meetings of this sort seemed out of place here.

At that first of many meetings, there was only four present. That small group of like-minded students hardly seemed significant, yet their passion, their fire, and their ideas almost made history.

It goes without saying that Enjolras was one of those four. It was he who had first spoken the idea of forming this secret society-a society that wished to deliver the abaissés, to make all men free, to change the world.

~Flashback~

"We should do something about it."

Combeferre looked at Enjolras in confusion. The statement had come quite out of nowhere while they had been sharing a meal in Combeferre's apartment, and he did not know what his friend meant by it.

"Do something about what?" He asked, when he received no more information.

"About the abaissés, about the Republic. We see these ideals in our dreams each night, yet we do nothing to attain them. Shall we sit back and wait for someone else to give it to us? Shall we wait until the hour when we can steal the fruits of someone else's labour, like a thief lying in wait? We should do something. We should fight for it."

For a brief moment, Combeferre thought about laughing. After all, laughing is what you would do if someone suddenly declared their wish to learn to fly and Enjolras' proclamation seemed almost as impossible. But Combeferre didn't laugh. As always when Enjolras spoke of the Republic his eyes lit up, his voice turned fiery, and his whole being seemed to become greater than the sun. He looked more serious than he ever had before, and Combeferre no longer felt like laughing. Still, one had to be reasonable.

"What precisely should we do? How do you plan for us to make France a Republic by ourselves?" His words were not mocking or despondent. He asked as if awaiting instruction, orders of what he should do.

"Not by ourselves. There are others who think as we do, others who will think as we do once they understand. They will join us. We must come together. Together we will fight for the France we dream of. Will you join us?"

Combeferre could only nod, and that was the moment when an idea became reality.

~End Flashback~

Combeferre was the first to show. He was born in the same town as Enjolras, and though the two had never been close as youths, when they both came to Paris they had been comforted by the sight of a familiar face. The two had quickly become close friends. Combeferre had not had much of any political leanings before coming to Paris. He believed that who was in power was less important that what that man did with such power. Enjolras changed that. During the two friends' long debates, Enjolras had often spoken of the Republic. It was a place were progress occurred, a place were men were equal, a place were men were free. Enjolras' arguments were logical, and rather than scoffing at such dreams as he might have if anyone else had spoken them, Combeferre came to believe in such a place.

The third man in their group was called Favreau. Favreau was studying law, which is how he had met Enjolras. Favreau had been reading Rousseau before a lecture. This had caught Enjolras' attention, led to a long discussion about politics, and started an almost instantaneous friendship.

The last of this small group was Jehan. Combeferre had not met Jehan before, and though he would never say so, he was not impressed by the man. Combeferre would not consider himself to be particularly bold, still the boy before him seemed absolutely timid. Yet he had come to the meeting, so perhaps he was more courageous than at first he seemed.

It could not be denied that these boys were naive. At this first meeting they spoke much about the changes they would bring to the world, but little about how they would achieve those changes. Aside from that, they were few. In the beginning, they had not known that there were others like them. That there were other groups that shared in their dream.

Their particular group was small, but it would grow. That was the first assignment that they gave themselves-to find others who might join them. This was not a simple task. Overthrowing the king (which was what they planned to do, even if they rarely admitted so) was treason and could get them killed.

They agreed on the need for caution. So they decided that before they could tell anyone about the more dangerous ideas of their society, they would need approval from at least two other members. That did not prevent them tirelessly searching for new members. Sometimes these would be friends, people who they knew believed in the Republic or who they thought might someday believe in the Republic. Sometimes they were strangers who were brought to their group by chance or by the beliefs they shared with the group. What was important was that they came when they were called to fight for their beliefs.

This first meeting was small, but it was the beginning of something much bigger.

Author's Note: Please review and let me know what you think. Coming next: Joly's story.