After the Storm

And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall,
And remembered our own land,
What we lived for.

~.~

1. Vive la République!

The first time he saw her was not in the Café Musain, but wandering around the streets of Paris. He was on his way to one of his lectures at the Sorbonne, she was trying to find her way through a part of the city she didn't know, out of her usual area – the slums of Saint Michel.

'Pardon, m'sieur,' she said to him softly. 'Do you know the way to the rue de la Fontaine?'

At first, Enjolras did not answer. He was struck by the fact that, despite her muddy, dirty expression, her deep brown eyes and her moonlike smile made her look stunningly beautiful. He blinked once or twice before the girl coughed lightly, feeling slightly observed by those beautiful green orbs.

'Uh – yes – ' he stuttered then. Enjolras had never been one to stutter: he always knew exactly what he wanted to say, but with this girl it was absolutely impossible for him to think straight for a second. 'Yes, of course. Just walk for about five more minutes down the street, then turn to the left when you reach Madame Poulain's boulangerie and you'll be there.'

The girl offered him a smile and nodded. 'Thank you, m'sieur.' And with that, she sneaked back into the crowd walking down the street, blending with the passing people and not looking back.

Enjolras shook his head gently. How had he lost his mind only a second ago, he did not know. He sighed and resumed his way to the Sorbonne, wondering what might have possibly taken hold of him.

~.~

2. Café Musain

Enjolras could not believe his eyes when he saw the girl he had met in the street that day walking into the Café with one of his good friends, Marius Pontmercy.

'Hope you don't mind I brought her along,' said Marius. 'She said she wanted to come. Éponine,' he called the girl over. Enjolras couldn't help but narrow his eyes at how Marius treated the girl like a little pup he always had around him, figuratively speaking. ''Ponine, come and say hello to Enjolras.'

The girl meekly made her way to where Enjolras stood and, when she was about to bow at him, he took her hand and kissed it lightly, his lips brushing against her dark skin and sending shivers down Éponine's spine.

'It is nice to meet you, mademoiselle Éponine,' he said, bowing lightly. 'I hope you arrived at rue de la Fontaine well this morning?'

At first Éponine looked at him with a puzzled expression set upon her face. However, a second later she gave him a shy smile, remembering their encounter only a few hours before.

'Yes I did, m'sieur,' she said. 'Thank you very much.'

Enjolras gave her a small nod as the girl and Marius made their way back to the table, where they sat with Courfeyrac and a bubbly-looking Gavroche. Before the meeting started, Enjolras called Combeferre over.

'Who's that girl, Combeferre?' he asked, tilting his head towards Éponine.

'Oh, that girl,' said Combeferre, shrugging. 'Well, I don't know. She's been following Marius around lately.'

Enjolras felt how his heart sunk a little after that, but decided not to say anything.

~.~

3. Brightness

Enjolras and Éponine had not really talked to each other after they were introduced by Marius on that February afternoon. She usually came to the meetings with Pontmercy, and was always around him. It was plain to see that she was in love with him. Everyone in the Café knew that already – even the bartender. Of course, Marius, being as thick as he was for love issues, hadn't noticed a thing. He was a very bright student and a devoted friend, but he could be a little dim at times, particularly when it came down to feelings and emotions.

It pained Enjolras to see how Marius ignored Éponine's loving words and kept on going with his everyday life.

~.~

4. The father

Enjolras didn't talk to Éponine much, but his feelings grew stronger with every day that went by. And so the day he saw Thérnardier hitting his eldest in the middle of the street he didn't hesitate to run up to them and push the devious man away from Éponine. Then, before he could even get an outraged glance from Thérnardier, he pulled Éponine's hand and both of them dashed down the street.

'Why did you do that?' asked Éponine breathlessly as they both came into a halt when they arrived to the riverbank. She tried not to stare into his green eyes – those eyes she intently followed in every meeting of the Amis de l'ABC. Those eyes that danced in front of her, the eyes that made her soar up into the sky and made her feel completely and utterly free. Something, she noted, that Marius's were never able to make her feel.

'You were in trouble and I did not hesitate to help you,' said Enjolras defensively, taken aback by the girl's still quivering tone. 'I won't let any of that scum touch you.'

'That scum was my father, Enjolras.' she whispered hurriedly.

Enjolras stopped on his tracks. 'Oh.' They both kept on walking in a rather awkward silence. Finally, he let out a soft sigh. 'I'm sorry. But he still hurt you, you know.'

'I know that,' she said softly. 'He does that a lot, actually.'

'Why do you let him do that?' questioned Enjolras, worry visible all over his face.

'I'm used to the black eyes and the aching backs,' she said. 'Besides, it's not like anyone cares if my father beats me every night or not.'

'I care,' he blurted out before he could think it twice. He immediately felt how a blush crept up his cheeks as Éponine smiled shyly at him.

'Thank you, Enjolras,' she said truthfully. Then she rubbed his arm with his hand, the soft touch of her skin sending shivers down Enjolras's spine and making him smile too. 'Really.'

From that day, Éponine and Enjolras were a lot closer.

~.~

5. Patria

He had always told himself that Patria was his one and only mistress, that his heart belonged solely to the cause, unlike most of his friends', who had their own mistresses and love issues. And yet his heart would skip a beat whenever he saw her entering the café. He smiled a lot more when she was around, and unintentionally became softer in his speeches – although he was still determined, relentless and brilliant. He liked to think of her as the embodiment of Patria, the personification of something he was bound to fall in love with. To others it would have sounded definitely odd, but to him it made a lot of sense.

Enjolras felt proud to think that Éponine Thérnardier was his sweetest flaw.

~.~

6. The Tuileries

A few days after Enjolras saved Éponine from her father's beating, they both met at the Tuileries for a walk. It was a beautiful morning, with a never-ceasing chatter between them, jokes and shy smiles every now and then. Éponine had started feeling like Enjolras wasn't just the handsome, slightly cocky Republican she had thought him to be, and found that his jokes and his green eyes made her feel even better than when Marius was around.

Enjolras, on the other hand, felt like he was falling a little deeper into the glorious pit named love with every second he spent by her side. Neither of them knew it yet, but they were slowly falling into something new for both of them, something greater than life or death.

Éponine hardly felt anything later that day when Marius saw Cosette for the first time.

~.~

7. Red & Black

That very afternoon, Lamarque's death was announced at the Café Musain. The Amis were all roaming around the room, excitedly plotting the uprising. Grantaire, already tipsy, was yelling obscenities with his partner in drinking, Feuilly. Combeferre and Courfeyrac were mumbling something about Les Halles, whilst Marius quietly sat in a corner, sharing stories about his beloved with Joly.

Enjolras couldn't stand still, walking around the room and feeling how excitement filled his lungs. He would stay up for as long as he needed, and most importantly he would do his best at lifting his men's spirits – something he exceeded at. However, he felt something tickling the bottom of his stomach when he realized that, unlike most of the days, Éponine wouldn't be there to celebrate the news with him. He had asked Marius, who had told him that he had not seen Éponine since he had sent her with a letter to his newfound love, Cosette Facheulevent.

That was when Enjolras was bitterly reminded of Éponine's love towards Marius, feeling how his heart sunk as he realized that he loved a woman whose heart belonged to someone else.

~.~

8. One Day More

In twenty four hours' time, the flame of revolution would rekindle in the streets of Paris. Most students had already left the café, ecstatically thinking about the day to come, their careless minds sleeping the fact that the might as well die within a few hours. Grantaire and Enjolras were still sitting inside the café, the former snoring loudly with his unconscious head resting on top of the table with his glass of wine guarding over his trembling hand.

The latter studied a map of the city of Paris, particularly the area surrounding Les Halles and circling the crucial points of the operation such as the places where the barricades were ought to be formed and the place where they would disrupt Lamarque's funeral procession. He wanted to make sure that their plan was completely flawless, and yet he couldn't help but find loopholes in every single step of their plan.

He heard how the door cracked open and saw how a tiny, female figure made her way into the room out of the corner of his eye. She patted Grantaire friendly on the head as she walked past him. Then, she stood in front of Enjolras, her brown eyes searching for his green ones, which hastily tried to gaze away.

'You can't go,' she finally said, letting out a worried sigh.

Enjolras's eyebrows rose as he glanced at the girl. 'Where can't I go, Éponine?'

'You can't do this,' she insisted, a pleading tone to his voice. He thought he could see tears brimming her brown eyes. 'You will get yourselves killed.'

Enjolras snorted, doing his best to ignore the girl's horrified expression. 'If it's Marius you're worrying about, I'm sure you would be able to catch up with him – he left only a quarter of an hour ago.'

Éponine shook her head gently as she placed her hands on Enjolras's shoulders and slowly leaned forward until their noses almost touched and their eye level was the same.

'It's not all about Marius, you know.' she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. 'Not at all.'

She softly leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. It lasted for only two or three seconds, for Éponine quickly pulled away and scurrying out of the room before Enjolras could even blink.

~.~

9. Nighttime

He left all of his books sprawled on the table, his map crunched and forgotten in the corner. He dashed downstairs and out of the Café Musain, only to find himself standing in the middle of an empty alleyway. Where on Earth had she gone?

''Ponine!' he exclaimed, feeling how his heart pace quickened. 'ÉPONINE!'

Enjolras searched every corner of the street for her and after a few minutes, with a defeated look on his face, he shuffled back to the Café Musain, feeling how his heart dropped at the thought of how he might never see Éponine again. Now all he wanted to do was to kiss those perfect lips of hers, to feel her close to him and to be able to gaze at her beautiful, moonlike smile for hours.

His heart started beating wildly when he saw a dark shadow dashing out of a dark corner, tears running down her cheeks.

'I'm here,' Éponine whispered.

Enjolras turned around to find her sniffling quietly at him. As he saw the tears streaming down her face, he couldn't help but think she truly was the most beautiful woman in Paris.

'Éponine,' he whispered gently. 'What was that?'

The girl shook her head quietly. 'I – I don't know. It's just you – and how you've changed me ever since we met – '

If you were to know how much you have changed me, Éponine, thought Enjolras sadly.

'I just don't want to lose you.' she choked. 'Please don't do it.' After that, Enjolras pulled her into an embrace and let her cry onto the crook of his neck. After a couple of quiet minutes of Éponine sniffling and Enjolras's mind reeling, the student gently pulled away from the embrace and searched Éponine's eyes with his own.

'Do I really mean that much to you, 'Ponine?' he whispered, not daring to raise his voice.

Éponine took a breath and nodded quietly. 'More than Marius ever did.'

Enjolras felt how his heart pace quickened as he meekly leaned forward to press his lips against Éponine's. He had not kissed many girls in his life – he hadn't been interested in all those giggly bourgeoises he had gotten acquainted with over his adolescence. Kissing was an art that Enjolras was yet to master, though he did fine to Éponine's eyes. He felt her lips against his, how the corners of her mouth curled up in a smile as the kiss deepened. He hardly managed to keep his lips straight as he thought that at last he had found the missing piece in the puzzle of his life.

For once, it all fully made sense to Enjolras.

~.~

10. The cap

Despite what had happened between them the previous night – which they had spent together wandering around Paris, as both of them loved the city in the night – Enjolras still wanted to go on with his idea of the revolution and the barricade. Éponine had spent most of the night trying to talk him out of it, but she finally understood that she would have to share her beloved with his second mistress, Patria.

'Stay home,' he had told her. 'I will try to find you after we have succeeded.'

But Éponine would not listen, either. She wouldn't let go of Enjolras – God knew what would happen at the barricade, where the students were building their own graves.

She took one of her father's caps and sneaked out of the house. If Enjolras was to die, she would die with him.

~.~

11. Rifle

He felt the cold handle of his rifle in his hand and immediately thought of how he might never make it back home. Up until the previous day, he had thought he had nothing to lose, but then Éponine showed up and everything changed. He felt guilty, for he should be one hundred and ten percent with the cause, but at the same time he couldn't help but glumly reminisce the previous night with Éponine around the gloomy streets of Paris.

'Enjolras,' said Combeferre quietly. 'Is everything all right?'

Enjolras quietly nodded. 'It's just Éponine – I'm worried about her.'

Combeferre nodded knowingly. Out of all the Amis he would have never thought that Enjolras, his great marble-carved friend, would be the one to fall in love with a woman instead of fully devoting himself to their cause. Despite this, he still gave Enjolras a reassuring smile and said, 'I'm sure she will be fine.'

Enjolras nodded quietly. 'I'm going to go find Joly.' As Enjolras turned around to go find their medical student, he found himself face-to-face with a boy a couple of inches shorter than him and with a pair of brown eyes he thought he would never see again.

'Éponine!' he muttered. 'What – why – ?'

'My place is here,' said Éponine firmly, taking Enjolras's hand. 'I fight with you.'

After a few hesitant seconds, in which Enjolras was a complete loss for words – it was funny how it was her who always made him question who wanted to say – but then he kissed her hand and placed his free hand on her cheek. Something like a smile appeared on his face.

She wouldn't leave his side, as he wouldn't leave hers. That was where they belonged.

~.~

12. Stars

Everyone at the barricade was asleep except for Courfeyrac and Enjolras, the former watching over the barricade and the latter not being able to fall asleep. He stared up at the ceiling, feeling Éponine's thin, small body curled up next to him, his arm enveloping her shoulders carefully.

What would happen the following day? Only God could tell. Were they all to fall, was Éponine to die? He knew that he wouldn't be able to cope with losing her.

A soft voice stirred all of his thoughts and worry away from his mind.

''Jolras? You awake?'

'M-hmm,' he said quietly. He looked at Éponine, and saw she had a terrified expression on her face. He rubbed her cheek with his thumb, which was such a gentle, sweet gesture that he almost felt surprised a second later. 'What's wrong?'

'I can't sleep,' she whispered.

'You were asleep only a second ago,' objected Enjolras.

'No, I wasn't,' sighed Éponine. 'I pretended to be asleep. I've always been good at that.'

Enjolras nodded quietly. He didn't know what to say at times like those, which felt rather ironical given Enjolras's natural gift for words, both written and spoken. He finally mused, 'I can't sleep, either.'

'Do you think we will make it past tomorrow?'

Enjolras sighed. He saw that Éponine's eyes were brimmed with tears that she hastily tried to wipe off with the back of her hand. He pulled out his handkerchief – which was now a bit dirty from all the fighting of that day – and cleaned the tears away from her eyes. 'I wish I could tell you that we are all going to make it, but I cannot.' He then pressed a kiss to her forehead and studied her brown eyes worriedly for a second. 'We'd better get some sleep now.'

The girl nodded and then closed her eyes. He felt how Éponine wrapped her arms around his chest and rested her head on the crook of his neck, letting out a long yawn. After staring at her for a few minutes, he decided that she had finally fallen asleep, so he decided that he should get some sleep too. He closed his eyes and rested his cheek on top of Éponine's sleeping head.

'Good night, 'Ponine.'

~.~

13. A Little Fall Of Rain

'ÉPONINE!'

Enjolras's cry pierced the air as the rest of the students fell completely silent. A body lay at the bottom of the barricade, a dark red puddle forming under the trembling body. Enjolras immediately dropped his rifle and pushed his way towards Éponine's bleeding body, his mind trying to focus on the fact that the person that was dearest to him in the world had just been shot. He felt how his heart raced as he tried to hold her up.

''Ponine!' he whispered. He felt hot tears brimming his eyes as he rubbed her cheek with his thumb, not unlike he had done the previous night. ''Ponine, don't worry. Everything will be fine.'

Éponine smiled faintly at him and gently pointed at the bleeding wound in her stomach. 'Oh, don't you fret, Enjolras. A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now.'

'JOLY!' yelled Enjolras, who found it harder and harder to hold back the tears with every second that went by. 'JOLY, WHERE IN THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU?'

Éponine raised her hand and slowly placed it on Enjolras's cheek. 'Don't bother, Enjolras. Just stay here with me.'

'We can still save you – ' whispered Enjolras as the first tears started sliding down his cheeks, his eyes stinging and his breath quickening. 'You can't leave me.'

Éponine used the little life remaining inside her to lean forward and give Enjolras one last, gentle kiss on the cheek.

'I love you, Enjolras,' she whispered. Then a saintlike smile spread across her face. 'Liberté, égalité – ' Éponine gasped and rested onto Enjolras's trembling arms, her body now numb and lifeless.

' – et fraternité,' whispered Enjolras as he closed her eyes. Tears flowed down his cheeks uncontrollably and he was now shaking violently. He had lost her. He had lost her forever.

And so Éponine Thérnardier was Éponine no more.

~.~

14. Broken

Courfeyrac carried Éponine's dead corpse inside the café, resting the girl's body on top of a table. He squeezed Enjolras's shoulder and then went back outside, deciding that Enjolras needed some time to himself and his thoughts.

It was then when Enjolras finally broke down. He rested his head on the table next to Éponine's dead body, trembling uncontrollably and with tears running down his cheeks freely. He had his forehead smeared with blood, and his hands were drenched in it too. He couldn't look up for a few minutes – out of all the things in his life Éponine had been the first he considered as completely real, and now she was gone. Really and utterly gone. He tried to cling onto the memories of the previous days, but all he could see was her last dying breaths, her tired lips whispering words of love to him until the very end.

'Goodbye, 'Ponine,' he choked, kissing her pale forehead before breaking down into sobs again.

He didn't know it yet, but after Éponine's death, Enjolras was Enjolras no more.

~.~

15. Freedom

It did not matter to him anymore when he found himself standing in front of eight gendarmes, clutching his red flag as he realized those would be the last seconds of his life. he stared daringly at the policemen as he thought of all the fallen – all of his friends, little Gavroche, and of course Éponine. In a matter of seconds, he would join them all on a great journey to discover the reason of being of every religion, taking a step into a new, unknown world.

'The blood of the martyrs will water the meadows of France.'

The bullets almost didn't hurt as he fell backwards, pulling the flag with him. Almost.

At last, Enjolras was free.

I wrote this between yesterday and today in class, out of sheer boredom. I hope it's all right! Sorry for the bland-ish relationship, but really you can't do much in a 3,000 word-long story.

Review?

Written by Juno on the 15-16th of January, 2013.