A Little Bit of Sunshine

Chapter 1

The streets of Paris felt different to Eponine as she traveled towards her destination. They were extremely melancholy, and the eighteen year old could only guess as to why. She never really knew what it was about the city, but she could always feel it, like it was some kind of living thing. And she supposed that it was. To her, the city hardly ever slept, and if it did, it was never long. The streets weren't always happy, but they were always full of movement and some form of excitement.

Today, this was so false that Eponine could hardly believe how often it was true. She could feel the hopelessness and sadness coming off in waves. That worried her so much that she ran from her one of her normal haunts, a street not very far from the Elephant of the Bastille, all of the way to the area of the barricade that Marius and his friends had set up.

Within seconds of seeing the thing, her heart shattered. When they had said the streets would run with blood, they weren't kidding. Eponine could hardly stomach it, and she was from the streets. Things like this were basically her element. 'Thank, God, the bodies aren't out here,' she thought, examining the bits of broken barricade. She could see why the streets were so sad today; their hopes were dashed, and bits of it were still collecting right here. Hopes, dreams, and ambitions were shattered right at Eponine's feet. A single tear left her right eye, but she continued on. She was a big girl. She could do this. A mantra repeated inside of her head giving her some kind of false strength.

Inside of the tavern, things were worse. There were bullet holes in the ceiling, and stairs were broken off. Tables and chairs were overturned with broken bits crowding the floor. One place was free of debris, but there were worse things there. A line of broken, bullet - ridden bodies laid upon the floor. A sob escaped Eponine while she looked down the row. So many dead, and all she could do was cry helplessly. The row followed as such: Gavroche, an unknown young boy, Feuilly, Prouvaire, another unknown, Joly, Bahorel, Combferre, Lesgles, two more unknown men, Courfeyrac, three more unknown men, Grantaire, Enjolras, and Marius.

Eponine could hardly breathe when she saw both Gavroche and Marius lying there at the very ends. They were her world, and she was not prepared for this. She knew there would be death at these barricades, only a complete fool would believe anything else. But she'd just thought that the two of them would make it out alive. They would come back to her; she had felt it in her bones.

Yet, here they all were. Another sob burst from her mouth while more followed. Suddenly, she had crumbled like a house made out of cards. Tears leaked quickly from her eyes while loud, woeful sounds filled the air. It was the only noise inside the whole place, and Eponine could not take such a thing. The place was to be filled, always. Having no reason not to, she crawled to Marius' body, hoping for some sign of life - a sign of carrying on. There was nothing. All she saw was the unwelcome amount of blood staining the front of him. Two bullet holes were implanted inside of his chest, a chest that she would never lie her head upon again. As she felt another sob well up inside of her, she saw something odd from the body that lie to the right of her companion.

The fearless leader, Enjolras, was still breathing, that much was certain. Eponine could see the small movements of his chest as he slowly gasped for air. She felt her eyes widen as she made sure that her brain wasn't playing tricks upon her. It did that sometimes when she'd had a little too hard of a beating or not enough to drink on the unbearable warm days of the Parisian summers. The girl pulled slightly on his body, moving it out of the line and closer to her.

"Please don't be dead. Not tonight. Please, be alive," she whispered while she put her head directly above his chest. She could feel his slight breaths stirring her hair and could see the small rise and fall of his chest. With that, she looked quickly to see if there was anyone else who could be saved, but there was no-one. A few more tears were shed as Eponine's eyes fell upon Gavroche, but there was nothing she could do. She knew it.

Moments later, she was leaving the tavern with a young man's body being toted by her side. She didn't look like she was capable of practically carrying a man's body down a street, but she was strong enough to get them to an alleyway. Fortunately, there was a discarded soldier's vest from the earlier fight which she put onto Enjolras. She also found a man upon the street who promised to help her in exchange for a sou. The waif agreed instantly. It seemed that he needed no help, so Eponine led the way to a place that she knew was safe.

The man who lived there owed her a favor and was also a physician. He was also smart enough to be discreet. Eponine still had dangerous ties from the streets. They reached the home upon the Rue Monge where she thanked the man and handed over a sou. The girl just barely made it to the right front door before she collapsed upon the front steps - Enjolras following. His dead weight had done nothing to help her, and the owner of the house found them that way less than an hour later.

Enjolras was not aware of anything that was occurring around him. He had been shot, that he was sure of, but he was quite confused of how he was still alive. More than three bullets had pierced him, yet his heart refused to stop beating. He could feel it as the soldiers moved his body from what he'd thought to be its 'final' resting place. The man heard the joyous shouts as the fight was done. A small tear escaped his eye, but no-one ever saw. It had felt like an eternity before he heard anything else - shuffling footsteps, a sob, and then someone falling to the ground. More sobs followed while the person - a girl, he thought - moved closer. Enjolras could not open his eyes to see what was transpiring, but he could feel the emotional upheaval from his place on the floor.

"Why was it you, Marius?" The voice whispered quietly. Sobbing again, and the man was becoming a tad bit aggravated. Why wouldn't the girl leave him to die in peace? He was feeling more pain now and heard a gasp from the woman. Suddenly, someone was pulling him along the floor. Something fell upon his chest, and he tried to still his breathing. It did not work.

Enjolras knew that the person was aware of his continuously beating heart. That person was now pulling him up and supporting his weight against them while trying to walk outside of the cabin. He sighed mentally and questioned once more why he was still feeling everything even though he was not capable of opening his eyes at all.

Minutes passed, or what he thought could be minutes. It was so hard to tell while he was in this state. His vest was removed and replaced with another. Then, he was not aware of anything else but pain. Enjolras was asleep until he felt himself fall upon a soft form. Nothing around him moved until after that, and he thought that he was finally dead or being left to die. There, it was just him, his thoughts, and whatever was beneath him. Not knowing what or whom that thing was slightly frightened him, but there were bigger things to worry with - bigger fish to fry. An endless amount of time passed until a masculine noise of disapproval came from somewhere near him. "You never do learn, do you, Eponine?" The voice asked while Enjolras felt someone pick his body up easily. An innumerable amount of thoughts raced through his mind while he was being carried before being set upon a hard surface, possibly a table. The pain was becoming less noticeable, as though it had been there for so long that it had come to be a constant. He supposed that it had. Then, Enjolras felt the sting of anesthetic and knew no more.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this in any way and earn nothing but satisfaction by writing this. These characters and the events here are mostly not mine, but as a side note, I may add a few other characters since most from this world are dead.

I've decided to rewrite my 2 chapter that I've had posted because I feel like they were really only skimming the surface of what I've got planned for this. They really weren't up to par with what I expect from myself. I hope to have the next chapter rewritten by tomorrow, but it is doubtful of that happening. Just for an FYI, I have a habit of writing an extreme amount for about a week and then going into a bit of a lull that lasts for roughly 2 weeks. It just happens, and I really don't like when it does. ((Those do happen to be my initials down there.))

-AEW xx