25/3/14

So this is little one-shot that sprung to my mind when I saw Les Miserables live for the first time on Friday. It was only an amateur young person's theatre group version but it was amazing and all the cast could genuinely have been on the West End. I know most of them as well :)! Anyway, when I was watching it something stood out. When they are spending the night on the barricade, everyone falls asleep but Valjean … Enjolras wouldn't leave the barricade defenceless like that. So in the production, Enjolras was awake and would be able to clearly hear all of Bring Him Home, so this was spawned at 11pm that night. I hope you enjoy.

Confessions of a Revolutionary

"Bring him home," Valjean sighed, ending his prayer to the spirit that had changed his life so much since that day many years ago.

"Which of my men do you pray for?" A calm voice whispered, twisting its way through the sleeping bodies from the barricade. Valjean had thought he was alone; he had not thought that the revolutionary leader would be awake watching over his soldiers.

"Marius Pontmercy," Valjean replied with an equal composure as Enjolras leapt down from the barricade with the grace and figure of a feline. Valjean had been watching this man; barely more than a child but yet leading a revolution with such a mighty passion.

"And what is your business with him, volunteer?" Enjolras enquired as he prowled closer like a she-cat protecting her kittens.

"He is in love with my daughter, and she has fallen for him," Valjean confessed, he trusted this man somehow even though he was about half his own age. Enjolras stood face to face with Valjean, their eyes level which was an impressive feat for someone to equal his height.

"So your daughter is the angel of love we have been hearing so much about over the past few days?" Enjolras sighed with a small smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. "And I assume you are here to get Marius to come home to your darling daughter," he asked, turning away as his head dropped slightly.

"I wish too and I hope none of you will try to stop me from rescuing him," Valjean replied, his voice strong and booming as the boy wove amongst his people, checking on them.

"I will not stop you," Enjolras whispered, taking a deep breath before continuing. "In fact I encourage you with a full heart. Marius is too young to throw his life away on this country if he has someone that will miss him outside the barricade," he murmured, peeling off his coat and laying it under one of his lieutenant's heads. "You must think me a monster, Monsieur. To be able to lead these boys to what will probably be their deaths when the sun rises," he spoke up, his head turning to face Valjean full on. It was in that eerie glow that Valjean noticed the pain this caused the boy of only twenty something years. He was haunted but yet that fire burnt on.

"I do not think you to be a monster, I do believe this to be a fool's errand but you sir are not a monster in your heart," Valjean confessed, stepping away from Marius' prone form for the first time that night.

"What you do not realise, what no one realises is that these men laying here are my friends. They are all I have left in the world and in the morning there blood will probably stain the floor. Behind each face is a story, is a life that I will throw away carelessly. Do you still believe I am not a monster? There are days when even I doubt that fact," Enjolras screamed, hands trembling as they flew through the air and his calm demeanour cracking for all to see. "These loyal men have been my life for ever and I cannot save them from this thing of my own creation. But yet I stand here, looking over them and feel proud. I am proud that the men who taught me everything I know about the cause are the ones that stand up for people that are not like them. If anyone deserves to go out like heroes it is them. Not I. Them. So you see Monsieur, I am a monster but when they surround me I am hope and with them the fires of hell can be the flames of desire. They are the angels of the revolution not I the figurehead," he vented, screams dying down into pained whispers as he took turns checking over all his men.

"You are hope for them. And from what I have seen and heard, they are here of their own choice Monsieur and would not leave for the world. That is because you give them the fury and fire that drives their desire. You are more key than you believe, things may not go the way you expect boy. And if they do go well, I look forward to you and your advisors leading this country," Valjean soothed the shaking revolutionary; yet he found the words he was speaking came from his heart. He had said that he would be proud to have a son like Marius. But he would be proud to have a son like Enjolras too. His words seemed to sooth Enjolras as the facade returned and fixed in place.

"Make sure Marius is happy Monsieur. I care about him as much as the rest of them even though he is our latest member. He has dreamed of love all his life and deserves to live through it," Enjolras nodded, with a small smile; Valjean felt as if he had just received Enjolras' blessing for this love to occur. His blessing meant a lot in the grand scheme of things and Valjean found himself holding the blonde child's shoulder tightly as a silent thanks. "We shall pretend this talk never occurred," Enjolras nodded pulling away as the sun began to rise. I need to wake my friends, thank you for saving him Monsieur," Enjolras nodded before striding calmly away, like nothing had happened at all. Valjean smiled softly to himself as he watched, before returning his attention to the gun on the floor. There was work to be done.