The light was too bright. Eponine blinked a few times, before everything seemed to slowly come into focus. She didn't know what was happening around her. She could hear birds, and footsteps and whispered conversations. The room she was in was unfamiliar to her, although the bed felt soft, despite all the pain in her stomach. She lifted her hand to her stomach slowly and felt the bandages that had been wrapped around her tightly. Despite the pain, she lifted herself up slowly, wincing, so that she could glance around the room and attempt to work out where she was. She didn't mind the pain so much, it was bad, but there would be worse, she was sure of it.

Looking around, she was surprised to see a blonde head of hair resting on the bed. She could see that Enjolras had started on the chair, but had clearly fallen forward as he slept, and was now laid in quite an uncomfortable position. She knew then that she must have been brought here by the students. Slowly, her memory came back to her. She remembered how she had been shot at the barricade, how she had laid in Marius' arms certain this was her time to die, how when she closed her eyes she could feel movement and hear a broken voice around her. She remembered wanting to comfort the owner of the voice, though she couldn't make put what he had said and why he was so upset, but she remembered wanting to make it better for him. Just so that voice would never feel pain.

The door creaked up and a young woman peered around it before turning to shout into the hallway that Eponine was awake. The other woman didn't speak, but went over to open the curtains and let light into the room. Eponine winced a little, her eyes not ready to adjust to light outside yet.

"Eponine" She turned her head to see Joly walking into the room. "How do you feel?"

"Everythin' seems to hurt. Where am I?"

"I'd be surprised if you didn't hurt. You were shot at the barricade. After I stabilized you a little, I sent you here to Musichetta's house." He gestured to the woman now stood in the corner watching them. "You've been out of it all week."

"Days? I can't 'ave been 'ere days! I 'ave to get back out there to work, an' my father ain't gonna be happy with me if I've been away that long!" She started to pull herself up a little but the pain became too much for her.

"Shh. 'Ponine, no one has seen your parents since the barricade, the boys have been looking for him since they recovered, but we have no word."

Suddenly, something dawned on her. "The barricade. How many?"

"Enjolras, Grantaire, Courfeyrac and I are the only ones here. We received word yesterday that Marius is with Cosette."

"My brother?" She knew the answer already, but she still had to hear the words.

Joly looked down, tears filling his eyes. "I'm sorry Eponine, but your brother didn't survive. He was trying to get us more ammunition."

She held her head up, not wanting to show how the news had affected her. She would not break, she would not be weak. Marius was where he belonged with Cosette, her parents could not be found, she hadn't seen her sister in years, and now her brother was no longer with her. An overwhelming sense of being completely alone in the world hit her, as she contemplated where she would go once she were well enough to leave the house. She had always known deep down that she didn't have much love in this life, but in the past, she had been able to pretend that, despite it all, her parents loved her and would always be there. It seemed that as the days went by she became increasingly aware of how small she was in this world, and how few people there were to protect her, especially as they all got taken away.

Enjolras stirred a little, and her eyes flicked over to him. Joly smiled at this automatic reaction, and hoped, for both of his friends that this would work out. Enjolras had insisted on being taken to her after he woke and had refused to leave her side ever since this. Sometimes, in her sleep, the girl would stir and seem restless, but one touch of his hand had been sending her back to sleep, and who was Joly to take away that little piece of happiness they had. The students were now wanted men, and would have to leave Paris. Of course Enjolras had protested more than most, but he thought that if Eponine would come with them, she could make him see that it was best for the revolution that they regroup away from the city.

Enjolras opened his eyes, and lifted his head slowly, feeling the stiffness he had gained from sleeping constantly in a chair next to her bed. He first saw his friend and Muischetta stood in the room, but then slowly, he noticed that Eponine was sat up and awake, and very much alive.

"You should have woken me." He glared at Joly, before turning softer eyes onto Eponine. He looked over her before speaking softly. "Good morning Patria. You gave us quite the scare. How are you feeling?"

She smiled a little, not wanting to worry anyone more than she already had done. "I'm fine 'Jolras. Little bit of pain ain't gonna slow me down, is it?"

He smiled at her a little, and then looked over to his friend, almost for clarification that she would be fine. Joly smiled back at him, and did a quick check over of her vitals before nodding back over to Enjolras. He stood and made his way over to Muischetta, who had been watching the exchanges in interest, and led her out of the room, to give Eponine and Enjolras some privacy.

They sat in silence for a while. Eponine tried hard to process everything that had happened to her but after some time it became far too much and the tears started slipping down her eyes before she could stop them. She had lost love, a family, her dignity and the last bit of security that she had left in the world, why not lose respect for herself as well?

Noticing her tears, Enjolras moved to sit with her, and placed his arm around her, unsure of what he should be doing. Despite how much he truly cared for the girl, he had never had to provide comfort for another before, and he was unsure of how to best go about it. He was taken by surprise when she moved closer into his arms, and leant her head against his chest. It had hurt her to move, but the comfort that came from being with another person for a few moments was enough to keep here there despite the pain. She needed this. She needed to not feel so alone, and he was there, letting her be close to him despite everything he knew about her. He knew the truth and wasn't pushing her away, that was enough to make the poor girl, who had lost so much, feel like something was being gained by her being there with him.

After time, her sobs slowly subsided into whimpers, and then sniffs. She pulled away from him, wincing once more and looked away.

"M'sorry. I didn't mean to. Sorry."

Enjolras sighed, the loss of contact with her making him want to wrap her up in his arms again and keep her there, away from all the hurt in the world. "Don't worry about it. You've been told a lot in a short amount of time, anyone would feel over-whelmed by it all."

"I'm not sure what I remember 'Jolras, and I ain't even sure out of it what I want to remember. Five of you, out of everyone, five left living..."

The young man closed his eyes and tilted his head back slightly letting himself feel the remorse. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "Your brother, Ponine. I'm sorry. All of them, it was my fault. I should have known, I shouldn't have lead them into it. I'm so sorry."

Eponine looked at him, and this time she truly saw sorrow in him. She thought about what he had done, and how much he must have sacrificed for this to have failed. Marius had once mentioned that Enjolras had been disowned when his family found out that he was leading a revolution, but he had walked out of there head held high. Maybe, she thought, he was just as alone as she was.

"They fought because they believed in the cause. They all knew what they were doing 'Jolras, all of them did. No one went into this expecting everyone to survive. They died fighting for their country, for something the believed in and nobody blames you."

"What do I do now Patria? I can't let them die in vain."

"You regroup. You go somewhere safe and gain support. You travel. You spread the word and make sure that this time you have support. And eventually, you fight again, in their name."

She took his hand in hers and leant her head on his shoulder. Both of them shut their eyes, and spent their time in silence both mourning their friends and contemplated their futures. What remained unspoken between them was the knowledge that neither of them wanted their paths to separate them.

Authors Note: I promised this sooner and I'm so sorry! I had to finish off a couple of assignments and then life got in the way! I'm sorry!