And I am back!
I was floored by the positive feedback I got on my previous one-shot. Seriously, if you reviewed or favorited or followed it, you earned my undying love. So, since people liked my last one, I decided to make a smallish series of one-shots that are just scenes like this. Moments from the movie/musical from someone else's POV. So, this time we've got Eponine's death from the POV of Gavroche. Warning, this contains a ton of headcanon from me, because I just love the idea that they were fabulous friends and had a great brother/sister relationship and all that.
So, in case you want to read all of the stories that I do, I'll tell you now that my first one-shot is called Fight to the End, and it is Courfeyrac's view on Gavroche's death.
Once again, italics are flashbacks.
Once again, let me know what you think, and feel free to request scenes from specific POVs, because I've really only got one more idea (which I shall not tell you yet).
Disclaimer: Guess who does NOT own Les Mis? This girl!
Gavroche lost sight of Eponine as soon as the battle began, even with his best efforts to keep his sister in his sights. The sky was rent with shouts and gunshots, screams of pain and desperate cries. He had never experienced a battle before, and was caught entirely unaware. Though he had expected that some of his friends would be hurt—even killed, though he didn't want to think of it—he hadn't prepared himself for that reality. And now it was here. Grasping his musket firmly, he searched the crowd, the mass of bodies, trying to find a way to help.
Suddenly, he saw her.
She carried a gun, but didn't use it. She supplied the students with ammunition, staying out of the fighting herself. She was as close to Marius as she could get, as usual. Watching him with a protective gaze—of course. Without warning, Gavroche felt a flash of anger. Why didn't Marius see how much his sister cared?
Satisfied that his sister was all right, Gavroche darted into a space between two bodies and into the fray, not sure quite what he was looking for. He'd know when he found it. He just knew he didn't want to hide near the foot of the barricade anymore.
He wanted to help.
But before he could go any farther, he heard a gunshot, much closer to him than any of the others had been. Looking around wildly, he saw a soldier at the top of the barricade, whose gun had been pointed at Gavroche. A soldier who was now…falling? A wound had opened on his chest, and the gun dropped from his hands as he fell out of sight.
"Gavroche!" Eponine threw her gun to the ground and threw her arms around him tightly. Eyes wide with shock, Gavroche returned the embrace. What had just happened? Had Eponine just saved his life?
"E-Eponine?" he asked, still trying to make sense of the situation. "Eponine, what—"
"You need to be careful!" she admonished. "Please, Gavroche, just stay back!"
"You're helping!" Gavroche said stubbornly, pulling away from his sister.
"And you have helped too!" Eponine pointed out. "You told everyone about Javert being a spy!"
"I want to fight!"
"And I want you to stay safe!" Eponine retorted. They stood, staring at each other, both unwilling to back down. Finally, though, Eponine relented, understanding, perhaps, just how important this was to him. "Just…be careful, Gavroche. Please. I love you."
"I love you too, 'Ponine," Gavroche said sincerely. "But they're my friends, too. I have to help them!" Guilt welled up within him at his sister's worried expression. But he had to help. He couldn't just stand on the sidelines, waiting for the battle to be over. She had to understand.
Eponine smiled slightly and nodded. "Okay, Gavroche. Of course you want to help." Another gunshot from where Eponine had been standing drew her attention, and she glanced back at Gavroche, but he could tell her mind was no longer on him. Not fully. "I have to get back. They need me over there." They didn't. Gavroche and Eponine both knew she wasn't needed there. But she wanted to be, so neither of them corrected her. She squeezed his shoulder. "Be brave, little brother," she said softly.
"I'm always brave!" Gavroche replied indignantly. So that was a lie. It was a lie he told as often as he could, in hopes that one day it might be true.
"I know," Eponine reassured him. "I just wish I could be as brave as you have always been." Without giving her brother a chance to reply, she was gone. She was off, back to her love, who relied on her more than he realized.
But Marius wasn't shooting anymore. Without Gavroche noticing, the army had gotten closer and closer, until only Marius, it seemed, kept them from entering the barricade.
"Stay back or I blow the barricade!"
From his place at the foot of the barricade, a few yards away from Marius, Gavroche's eyes widened once more. Did he mean it? Giving their lives was what they had prepared for—what they all expected. But did Marius really have the courage to do what he threatened? Glancing around, Gavroche's friends looked just as stunned and terrified as Gavroche felt. Enjolras took a few steps forward, but froze just like the rest of them. Waiting.
Marius lowered the torch slightly.
Gavroche saw a gun swing around and point at Marius. He thought to shout, to warm him, but nothing came out. But he didn't need to say anything, as it turned out. As he watched, unable to move, a shadow leaped up and grabbed the barrel, pulling it away from Marius just before it went off.
The torch nearly touched the powder, and Gavroche figured their fate was sealed.
"Retreat!"
Gavroche breathed a sigh of relief and felt a strong hand drop onto his shoulder. He grinned up at Courfeyrac, elation filling him, and the student gave him a weary smile in return. Slowly, Gavroche's smile faded. "Courfeyrac, you aren't hurt, are you?" he asked, suddenly frightened.
"No, Gavroche," Courfeyrac assured him. "We're all just tired. You must be, too, if you helped as much as I'm sure you have."
"I didn't do anything," Gavroche protested, a cold weight settling on his heart. He hadn't done anything to help his friends. "I didn't help any of you."
Before Courfeyrac could respond, Marius's voice interrupted them. "Eponine?" he asked, concerned. "What have you done?"
Eponine? Gavroche's heart dropped, his panic returning. Dreading what he would find, Gavroche slowly turned, stumbling and causing Courfeyrac to have to steady him.
Eponine sat at the base of the barricade a few yards away, talking to Marius in a low voice, handing him a small, folded piece of paper. But…was that blood staining the paper?
Black spots interfered with Gavroche's vision, and only Courfeyrac's hand on his shoulder, suddenly tightened, kept him from collapsing. Marius drew back Eponine's coat carefully. Blood. So much blood. She had been the shadow. The bullet had been stopped using her body as a shield. Gavroche stared, unwilling to believe what was happening. Finally, the ringing in his ears that he had not noticed until it diminished died down enough to hear her words. He wasn't the only one listening, he realized distantly. All had fallen silent as they realized what was happening.
"Don't you fret, Monsieur Marius," Eponine said softly. "I don't feel any pain. A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now." She laughed, a little deliriously, and the sound drove a stake into Gavroche's heart. How long had it been since he had heard his sister really laugh? Not this wounded, too-quiet laugh. Not her bitter, mocking laugh, used whenever anyone suggested she leave home. A real, genuine laugh. The kind Courfeyrac used so often, that was so open and free.
He couldn't remember the last time she had really been happy.
And now she was dying.
"You're here…that's all I need to know."
Hadn't Gavroche always been there? But as he thought about it, he realized that he hadn't. He had left home, left her. Even he had abandoned her, though they still spent time together, though they still loved each other so much.
"And you will keep me safe…"
But they hadn't. Gavroche felt tears well up in his eyes. They hadn't kept her safe. She had kept them safe instead.
"Stay safe," she whispered, holding him close, arms tight around him. "Please stay safe. For me."
Marius spoke, his words about how she would live if he could make it so, but Gavroche had stopped listening. Eponine's eyes met his, and the world stopped. Her large eyes, full of pain that defied her earlier words, were glazed over, and he could see the light leaving. 'Be brave,' she mouthed, trying for a smile.
And then the light was gone.
"Are you ever coming home?" Eponine asked, a pleading note entering her voice. "Are you sure you're going to stay out here, on your own?"
"That's not my home, Eponine," Gavroche said cheerfully. "I'll make my own home. Come with me, 'Ponine! It'll be great! We don't need Papa!"
"You don't," she told him sadly. "I can't follow you just yet, little brother. You'll have to wait for me a while. You're going where I can't follow. Not yet."
But she was going where he couldn't follow now. This time it was she who was abandoning him. Who was leaving him behind.
He didn't realize he was crying until Courfeyrac knelt next to him, turning Gavroche to face him. "Gavroche?" he asked, his tone so gentle and concerned it was nearly Gavroche's undoing. "Are you all right?"
Gavroche gritted his teeth, trying to stop crying, but it was no use. "That was my sister," he whispered, and as dismay and understanding flooded Courfeyrac's face, he pulled Gavroche into an embrace.
"Gavroche!" Eponine raced toward him, a blur of brown hair. Laughing with delight, he sprinted to her, meeting her halfway. The two crashed into each other, hugging each other tight as they chattered on and on, trying to convey all that had happened since they had seen each other last in about five seconds.
His tears were soaking Courfeyrac's shirt, but thankfully the student didn't seem to mind.
"Did Papa do this to you?" Gavroche asked, outraged, staring at his sister's bruises.
"Don't worry about it Gavroche," Eponine said, though her eyes were full of unshed tears that he knew she wouldn't be able to blink back. "It's not the first time, and it won't be the last. You know that as well as I."
"Eponine." Tears now streaked her face, and she let her head fall on his shoulder, shaking with the force of her sobs. "Eponine, it's okay to cry, right? It's okay to hurt. You told me that it's okay to me to cry, so it's okay for you, too."
Finally, his tears ceased. Only four words were left in his mind, the last words of advice from his sister, four words he would always carry with him, carried by the voice of his own personal angel.
"Be brave, little brother."