[A/N]: Aw…. this is the last of this Enjonine three- shot. I hoped you really enjoyed reading this ffic even if it was too short. Don't worry. There might be more to come. :D

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize was never mine to keep. It's my duty to the law to say that I own nothing and earn nothing for this. 'Tis just for my pleasure, so no revolutions against me must be orchestrated. All your love for the characters and story goes to Victor Hugo.

+ Chapter Three +

A Flame That Never Dies

When the clock struck five fifteen, Enjolras awoke and found in his arms a sleeping Éponine. Relishing the feeling of her in his arms, he didn't wake her up yet. He just sniffed her hair, wondering how she always smelled so fresh and alive.

But he also remembered that they have classes at nine o' clock, so even if he just wanted to embrace and never let her go, he had to wake her up.

"'Ponine, g'morning. Wake up now, m'amo—m'amie," he said, stopping himself consciously when he almost called her amour. Thinking of it, he faintly remembered that he called her that last night. Enjolras hoped that she didn't hear that. Not that he minded, but she wasn't... officially his 'm'amour'.

When she didn't awake, Enjolras contemplated if he'd tickle her or not. Shrugging mentally, he launched his wicked plan and started teasing her in the ears, where she was irked the most. Soon enough, Éponine shuddered and giggled uncontrollably.

"Ah, ha, ha, 'Jolras! Ha, ha, ha! Sta—hp!" she tried to wrestle away from him, but too bad she was locked in his arms to do so.

"All right, all right! Ha, ha, ha!" Éponine felt teased when he started nibbling on her neck. "Ah, I'm awake! Now, sta—hahahap!"

When he stopped, Éponine seized her chance and started attacking him on the side of his waist.

"Revenge!" Éponine blurted, snickering when he protested. Then she also tickled him on his neck the same way he did earlier. It granted her more laughs –and if she was right, moans. Ooh, she found his sensitive spot! Jackpot!

She nibbled him there the longest and was surprised when he choked out weakly, "Oh, 'Ponine."

Éponine stopped and looked at him in awe. She saw him in tears of laughter for the first time, how his blue eyes seemed to shine even more, now that he looked... exuberant, and how his teeth flashed pearly whites when he smiled gaily.

When her stare lingered, she cracked a joke, "Who knew the marble man's weakest spot was his neck?"

Enjolras smiled, sat straight, and hugged her. "Only you," he whispered. "So... don't tell anyone, please?"

She released herself a little from the hug to look at him and smiled. "Well, if you say so. I'm just surprised I only knew now," Éponine replied. Then she gazed at the clock on her phone. It was only 5:20!

"Hey, it's just five twenty!" She protested. "Why did you wake me up so freaking early?"

Enjolras chuckled. Innocently, he said, "Maybe... because I wanted to show you something?"

Éponine pouted and yawned on her hand a bit. "Couldn't it wait until, like, eight? Before we go to uni?" she asked sleepily.

"Non," he answered, slowly disentangling himself from her ad standing up. "You need to see it before that."

Éponine looked at him curiously. What is that thing? She took his offered hand and stood up to follow him wherever that thing is he's waiting to show her.

He led her to the terrace of his apartment, but before they went outside, he told Éponine to close her eyes.

"Why?" she asked.

He gave her a small smile and said, "I don't want to ruin the surprise for you." Enjolras turned around her and covered her eyes with one hand and opened the door on the other. "Step through. Yeah, that's right. Another one, two, and stop. Hold the rail. No, don't tickle my hand, 'Ponine. You're not allowed to open your eyes yet."

"When it's gonna be, 'Jolras? Come on, you know I don't like the dark much like I used to before," Éponine said, uneasy and quite impatient to see what this 'surprise' of his was.

Enjolras stood nearer and whispered to her, "Just wait. It won't be long now."

He reminded himself that he was risking everything he's buried for the past ten years that they've known each other, but he was willing to do it just for this little moment they'll share. Enjolras knew he wasn't acting much like himself lately because of her. He was still a stranger to these new feelings since the past few months, but he knew that she was and is worth it.

He watched as their surroundings turned a hue lighter and the sun slowly rising out from between the buildings and near the Eiffel Tower. Five, he started counting. Four... Three... Two... One.

Enjolras took his hands from her eyes and let her see the view as the sun rose and almost touched the tip of the tower. He stood beside her to see what her expression was like and was happy to see it. Her brown eyes shone with light and he noticed the dimples appearing as her smile widened. Suddenly, he remembered when it dawned on him that he—despite his protestations, confusion, conflictions, complications and God-knows-what-other-words-that-could-possibly-end -in-(-tion)—loved her. Éponine Thérnardier. Or Jondrette. It didn't matter much. Just this feeling he's been feeling for her.

"T-this is amazing, 'Jolras," she said, beaming at him. "It's... beautiful."

"And… so are you, m'Ponine," Enjolras found himself saying. Realizing it, he looked at her and found her smiling appreciatively.

"Merci," she shyly said. Then biting her bottom lip before chuckling and quickly saying, "Y'know, I'm discovering this new 'side' of you, but I find myself… liking it. I'd ask, in my mind, 'Who are you, and what did you do to my Enjolras?', but then I'd see that pensive look and secret familiar smile, and boom, I'd know it's you. And here I am again, blurting nonsense, all just because of this beautiful surprise you made me see, but just so you know, I think I'm a little in love with—"

But even before she finished, Enjolras finally closed the distance between them and kissed her lips chastely. He was going to go back and say something, but Éponine grabbed him and let her lips continue what she was supposed to say on his lips, so she cut him effectively as he did. Everything they both wanted to say to each other, they said it in the kiss.

When they felt their lungs laboring from the intensity of it, they parted a bit and breathed.

"I... really... thought you... were going to say his name... again," Enjolras panted.

Éponine raised a brow and said back, "What about him? I think... I was blind when it came to you, but last night, I realized something stirring in the pit of my stomach and hit me in the head when you told me you liked me in your arms and called me 'm'amour'. And then there was that 'almost kiss' and 'holding hands'."

"M'amour," he said, smiling, finally feeling his strength come back as he hugged her tenderly yet fiercely. "It's because you're worth it. You're a wonderful person."

Éponine kissed the curve of his collarbone and smiled when his breath hitched up in his throat.

"I'm really happy you became my best friend first before I realized I've been loved by you," she said. "You're the most loving man I've ever met. I'm very lucky."

"I'm the one who's supposed to be making speeches right now, but you took all the words from my lips," Enjolras said back, kissing her hair tenderly. "I'm lucky, too, because in my arms lay the woman who'd fight for whom she loves fiercely. Even… when you loved him, I understood perfectly why you did. It stung, but then I decided to just wait for you. Subtly, I began, just like with my advocacies. Even if I knew next to nothing about 'loving', I figured that I'd rather let you see, decide, and come to the conclusion that I have been waiting on you for half the decade we've known each other. And it's worth the wait. Just like this surprise I let you see."

Éponine felt tears come down from her eyes when he said everything. She held back, looked at him, grabbed his gentle face, and kissed him softly.

"What's with all this sunrise surprise, though?" she asked a few moments, massaging his jaws a little and smiling at it when she saw Enjolras relax as he closed his eyes.

Without opening them, he answered, "You were always afraid of the darkness. Even if you said you liked it before, it reminded you of your past and parents. Yes, it was cold and dark, but you were unafraid." Then he opened his eyes. "So I showed you that light, God's light, to take it away... So I can rescue you from that black void of nothingness and bring you to life again. I did succeed, I think."

Éponine hugged him. "Ah, yes, you did. 'Jolras, you're... just like Robespierre, you know? Always caring for people and their rights... Fighting for it and stuff. But you... you truly know what it is—love, that is."

Enjolras beamed at her. "So, you finally admitted it! Maximillien Robespierre is the greatest French Revolutionary!" he exclaimed, bringing her up. She laughed and hit him playfully on the shoulder and said, "All right, all right! I do think he is. Sort of."

Éponine hugged him and he put her down on the ground.

"It's already almost six, maybe we can rest for awhile," Enjolras said after their hug. They sat on a chair and continued watching the sun as it arose fully to the sky. He watched Éponine fight her sleep, but in the end, her head found repose on his shoulder.

A heart full of love…. A heart full of you, he sang in his head, smiling, thinking of how wonderful his 'Ponine truly was.

+ Le Fin +

[A/N]: The end already? Maybe. Or not. But I hoped you enjoyed the short ride with me here, m'amie. :D Thank you for staying with me. I thank you truly. For all the reviews. And the faves. I feel like crying. *snaps out of it* Oh, all right, I just want to hug you people! :D