Family
Eponine Thénardier ran down the street as fast as she could. Rain was pouring down, drenching her clothes and exposed skin. There were tears streaming down her face, mixing with the warm summer rain… Eponine darted around the corner, into a deserted alley-way. She stopped running and leaned against the wet, stone wall of the building next to her. Feeling drained both emotionally and physically, she sank down to the cold, wet concrete, curling up into a little ball. She pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in them, sobs wracking through her entire body. She sat there sobbing and listening to the rain, cursing her parents to high Heaven for being so cruel and so heartless. They didn't love her, and she didn't love them. But even so, deep down inside of her, she longed for paternal love. And especially for the rare kind of love that only a mother could give… Eponine sat there for several minutes until, suddenly, she heard someone running towards her… She looked up, startled, and saw a figure in a long, black cloak running towards her… Eponine jumped up, prepared to run, but the figure threw back the hood of their cloak… Eponine relaxed as she looked at the familiar face of Madame Antoinette Giry, her best friend, Erik Destler's, surrogate mother, and her other best friend, Meg's, biological mother. Madame Giry was tall for a woman with long, honey-colored hair that she wore in a long braid down her back, and gentle brown eyes. She was wearing a long, long-sleeved, black dress, tall, black boots, and the cloak. "Madame Giry!" Eponine said. She was happy to see her. Madame Giry liked her and thought of her as a daughter, and Eponine felt at home at the Opera House, where Madame Giry, Erik, and Meg lived, and where Eponine spent a fair amount of her time. "Eponine!" Madame Giry said, unfastening her cloak and wrapping it around the wet, shivering girl. "What are you doing here? You'll catch pneumonia!" Eponine smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks Madame Giry! And I couldn't stay at home… I couldn't be with my parents…" Tears welled up in Eponine's eyes, and Madame Giry hugged her tightly. She knew that Eponine's parents mistreated her, and she felt sorry for Eponine. She was a very sweet girl, and pretty too. She was tall and thin with short brown hair and large brown eyes. She always wore a short-sleeved, white shirt, a medium, tan skirt, brown, flat-soled shoes, a brown belt, and a brown cap. When the two pulled away, Madame Giry wrapped her arm around Eponine and said, "Come on! You can come home with me and dry off and change into dry clothes!" Eponine nodded, and they walked through the front doors. The two walked across the huge foyer, and then down a long, dark hallway to Madame Giry's office. Madame Giry opened the door and the two entered. Erik and Meg, who had been drinking tea by the fire, turned and rose when Eponine and Madame Giry entered. Erik was tall, thin, and muscular, with pale skin, long legs, and long, slender fingers. He had had short, brown hair and brown eyes, and he was wearing a long-sleeved, black shirt, black slacks, and tall, black boots. A white, half-face mask was covering the right side of his face. Meg was tall, slender, and graceful, with long, honey-colored hair that she kept pulled back into a pony-tail with a white, silk ribbon, and gentle brown eyes. She was wearing a long, sleeve-less, white dress, and she was barefoot. "Eponine what happened to you?" Erik asked, taking in her wet, bedraggled appearance. "I sort of ran away from home and sat out in the rain. Antoinette found me and brought me here." Erik nodded, and Meg stepped forward. She walked over to Eponine, gently took her hand, and said, "Let's get you cleaned up! I have some dry clothes that you can change into, and you can use a towel to dry your hair. And we'll hang up your clothes so they can dry." Eponine nodded and handed the cloak back to Madame Giry. Then Meg, still holding her hand, led her down the hallway to her room. Meg was a ballerina, and usually the ballerinas didn't get their own rooms, but because her mother instructed the ballerinas, Meg got her own bedroom and bathroom. Meg went to her dresser and got out a plain, long-sleeved, white shirt and a long, black skirt, and then led Eponine into the bathroom. She got Eponine a towel while she changed clothes, and then hung Eponine's clothes up in her shower to dry while Eponine dried her hair with the towel. Once her hair was dry, Meg put the towel in her laundry hamper, and the two went back to Madame Giry's office. Erik handed Eponine a fresh cup of tea when she and Meg entered, and then all four of them sat down on the floor in front of the fireplace, quietly sipping their tea. After a few minutes Eponine said, "Thank you guys! For everything!" "Don't mention it dear!" Madame Giry said, leaning over and gently kissing Eponine on the forehead. Eponine smiled, and Meg hugged her while Erik took her hand and gently squeezed it. Eponine felt warm and safe and happy and loved here. With Madame Giry and Meg and Erik. They were her real family… And Eponine realized, sitting there in the firelight, that family wasn't necessarily who you were related to by blood, it was who showed you love, and who you loved and felt close to too.