A/N: Thank you to all the people who have follwed this story; I am really touched as I did not expect it to get much attention! This is a fairly short chapter; there will be more Enjolras coming after this chapter, once you read it you'll see why it needed to go by itself! Enjoy!
The bare soles of her feet pounded against the cold, damp streets, but she powered on, her breath sharp and stinging as she drew air into her lungs.
A sense of panic filled her being as she heard the rumble of cannons edging through the Paris streets. She was still so far away and yet something nagged at her core; something bad was happening, or was about to happen and it was up to her to prevent it. As though nothing in her life had ever mattered as much as this, she pushed herself forward, careering through the empty streets, wary of the curious eyes that watched her from the safety of the buildings, wondering why a young boy was heading toward the danger and not away from it. She couldn't let herself get distracted by the odd voices that called out, offering her a safe haven to wait out this revolution, instead she tuned them out, listening only to the heaving breaths that escaped her mouth and the pounding of the blood as it rushed through her heart and her head.
She heard the first deafening blast of a cannon as she rounded the street less than a minute away from where the barricade stood. The sense of urgency grew within her and she picked up her pace in a way she didn't know she could. The sound of gunfire echoed around the buildings as she drew closer and when that gunfire became indistinguishable from one another, she knew the artillery was fighting back with more than just cannons. She took a side turn down a narrow alleyway between two tall buildings that she knew would lead her to the side of the barricade. She could taste the copper of blood at the back of her throat but it didn't slow her pace. She felt sharpness puncture her skin as she stepped onto the splintered edge of a fractured chair leg. She felt the hot, sticky ooze of blood escaping her foot but paid no attention to the pain that followed; she did not have time for that now.
The sound of more cannon fire shook the very ground beneath her feet, and as she got to the edge of the building, she slowed her steps to look out before running right into the line of gun fire. All of the men stood behind the barricade, several of them were holding guns, a chain of men stood behind them ready to take the spent weapon and replace it with one they had prepped with more gunpowder. It took her a few desperate moments of scanning to lock eyes on Marius. There he was, right at the front of the barricade, like she knew he would be. He had a bravery second only to Enjolras, though where Enjolras had a martyr complex about him, Marius wanted more than death for his cause. She watched as someone handed Marius a weapon but he declined to take it; he was too considerate of the lives of others, after all, it was life that he was fighting for. It didn't matter that those men were going to take their lives, Marius was not going to retaliate in that way; and it was that realisation that made her love him just that little bit more. She saw Marius stand to move away from the front line, if he was not willing to fire a gun at his enemies there were plenty of willing men to take his place. As he stood Éponine found her eyes drawn to the gap in the barricade. The gap that from the inside had appeared miniscule, but standing here, removed from the situation, she could see it was the ideal target. She saw the artillery officer lining up his aim and that was when everything began to move in slow motion. She became aware of her body hurtling forwards once again, she became aware of the look of utter shock and horror on his face when the sound of the gun fired toward that hole, but she also became aware of the small boy scampering across the top of the barricade as if this were all just a fun game. In that moment she had a choice to make. She could only save one. Her heart swelled as her head took over and made the decision for her. She reached out and grabbed the small boy by the jacket, heaving his body down from the barricade to crash to the ground behind their safety barrier. A plume of dust spattered around them as she and Gavroche lay in the filth coated street, the sound of that bullet shot at him speeding through the air overhead. And then, just milliseconds later came that secondary crash. The next plume of dust as another body hit the ground; it was Marius who had fallen.
Her first instinct was to check on Gavroche, but she could tell from the coughing that he was fine. She pulled herself upright, ignoring the pain that shot through her, and scurried over to Marius. Already a dark and sticky crimson liquid was running from his shirt into the dusty street below. Most of the men seemed not to notice as they continued their attack, but two of them lifted Marius, deaf to the groans and huffs that escaped his lips at their movement. With one man taking his arms and the other his legs, they manoeuvred him to the doorway that Éponine had slept in just hours earlier, before they hurried back to the action.
Éponine hurried over to the doorway, protected from the line of fire, she felt tears begin to well inside of her, but she pushed them away; if he saw she was upset, he would believe that this was something he could not recover from. She traced the trail of blood that led the way to his new position and threw herself down beside him, on her knees.
"Marius! Marius!" she gasped, pushing his hair away from his forehead, feeling a cold sweat that had already formed against his skin. She could see the injury instantly. A huge hole had been blown in his side, blood was seeping out of him at an alarming rate, the smell of copper lingered in the air, and as much as she hated to admit it, she knew his time left amounted to nothing more than minutes.
"'ponine!" he smiled, and in that look, everything she had ever wanted from him came true. He looked at her with happiness, genuine happiness and delight; he cared that she was there and that was all she had needed from him to make her life finally feel worth something. "Did you find her?" he asked, his voice strained, broken. And that was the comment that detached her very soul from her heart; the knowledge that even in his dying moments, to have his friend close by was not the comfort he wanted, what he cared about was the other girl he had her chasing down.
"I found her." She sighed, finding it hard to halt the tears that formed in her eyes.
"What did she say?" He asked, his voice barely more than a whisper, but a very evident tinge of hope laced to it.
Éponine pondered her response for a moment; technically speaking, she had not spoken to Cosette, she could tell him so and leave him wondering what it was he meant to her, she could leave him feeling the way she did every single day, she could make him understand, if only for the briefest moment what it was to want something as badly as she did, and know that it was never going to happen. But she was not that person. She loved him whether he loved her back or not, and that meant she would do whatever it took to ensure that however long he had left on this Earth was filled with only happiness.
"She said she loved you too." She confessed, her heart literally aching at the words. She saw the relief in his eyes, the flash of tooth as he smiled and she knew she had done the right thing for him; that was what love was about in the end, making sure the other person felt like they were the most important, despite the effect that had on your own feelings. She heard the footsteps approaching behind her; she'd have known them anywhere, it was Gavroche. He stopped behind her and watched on as she leant over Marius and took his bloodied hand in hers. "She said she'd wait for you, forever if she had to." Éponine lied.
"You have to find her; you have to tell her what became of me." He struggled to speak. "I cannot let her live her life thinking I did not care enough to find her." He heaved in a breath that bubbled with the blood beginning to wind its way into his throat. "Promise me 'ponine."
"I promise." She confessed, a tear sliding down her cheek and splashing on to the tri-coloured floret that fastened to his blazer.
"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner." She sighed, brushing her fingers against his cheek.
"You got here in time." He sputtered with a smile, blood starting to trickle down the side of his mouth. "Loyal 'ponine, always waiting in the shadows, you are a good friend, I want you to know that I…" his eyes bulged as he choked on his own blood. She frantically tried to turn him over to clear his airway but it was to no avail. His body fell limp and his grip of her hand dropped away; he was gone, all of his suffering ended as the light in his eyes slowly died out.
"No, Marius, no!" she shook his body with vigour. "Marius?! Marius!" she spat, hearing the sound of gun fire behind her like an army salute. "Marius, please, please, don't go, I need you!" she wept, letting the tears flow freely down her face. "I love you Marius, I've always loved you… I am here for you… I was the one who stayed…" her voice was now broken, her words seeping out between sobs. "I would have given you anything, everything… if only you could have seen me…" there was so much she felt like she needed him to know now, so much she wanted him to hear despite knowing it was now futile. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you…" she confessed, leaning over onto his body and letting his clothes absorb the tears and the pain that fell from her face. She became aware of a deep primal scream that escaped her body, and while the sound of gun and cannon fire drowned her out, she would not have cared if the others had heard her.
That was when she felt the tiny hand on her shoulder; his tiny hand trying to comfort her.
"I'm sorry you 'ad to choose." He whispered, emotion in his voice, alerting her to the silent tears that were gracing his own cheeks.
She turned around and held out her arms, feeling Gavroche's little body crumple against hers as the two of them sobbed into each other.