This one's not too late, right? Anyway, here ya go! Read and review! :D And I just realized…I'm starting to get down to the last of the boys! Oh no! But…I may have a surprise in store! Stay tuned!
Tactics
Éponine + Feuilly
"Feuilly was a fan-maker, orphaned of both father and mother, who laboriously earned three francs a day and whose mind was obsessed with a single thought, to liberate the world. His other preoccupation was to educate himself…everything he knew he had learned in solitude. He had a warm heart, an immense capacity for affection. Being an oprhan he adopted mankind as his parents…he hated to think that there should ba any man without a country…Above all, the first partition of Poland in 1772 roused him to fury…he never wearied of talking about that infamous event, a noble and gallantrace subdued by treachery…the penniless workman had constituted himself the guardian of Justice, and Justice had rewarded him with a touch of greatness."
—Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
"Feuilly, please, we need to be worrying about France. This is now, not some Polish struggle from decades ago. Channel your energy into fighting today's battle, not yesterday's," Enjolras said with forced patience, rubbing his temples. The young, curly-haired Pole's face fell, but only for a second.
"But don't you see? We can use the past to shape the future. If only I lived in Poland…" Feuilly countered.
"You don't! You live here!" Enjolras snapped, slamming his fist on the table. Feuilly started; Enjolras let out a tense breath. "I'm going home. See you at tomorrow's meeting," he said, stacking his books haphazardly on top of one another and hastily scooping up his papers in a very disheveled fashion before pushing past Feuilly and out into the stairwell to the lower level of Café Musain. On his way he brushed past Éponine, who was looking for Marius.
"What's gotten into him?" she asked Feuilly, rubbing her shoulder where Enjolras had bumped into her with her usual smile laced with sadness.
"Sometimes I think all of this leadership business just overwhelms him. Leading an inexperienced group of schoolboys can't be the easiest task."
"Well, I'm sure he'll manage. What keeps you here so late?"
"I had an idea that we could use some of the tactics used during the Polish overtaking, and maybe conquer the government the same way."
"I take it he wouldn't have it," Éponine laughed.
"Not even for a second. And what about you? What brings you here?" Feuilly questioned, shrugging on his jacket. Éponine sighed.
"You wouldn't happen to have seen Marius, would you?"
"Not since this afternoon. Why?"
Éponine sighed. "My father managed to pickpocket Marius again at the rally today. Took his pocketwatch. Honestly, I don't know how that tosser doesn't ever notice. Anyway, I got it back and wanted to return it to Marius, but I can't find him anywhere."
"You might check with Courfeyrac, sometimes Marius rooms with him when meetings end late."
"I'll do that." Éponine watched as Feuilly, still frustrated by Enjolras's dismissal earlier, let out a sigh and pulled out a handkerchief, the corner of which was embroidered with a tiny Polish flag and the words "Mazurek Dąbrowskiego" encircling it. He dabbed at his forehead with it before replacing it in the pocket of his coat. Éponine walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. After a moment, Feuilly spoke.
"It wouldn't kill Enjolras to take a suggestion every now and then, you know. What I had in mind was perfectly plausible."
"And what did you have in mind? Enlighten me, Monsieur," she said with a smile. Feuilly lit up; someone finally wanted to listen! He explained the partition of Poland and reduction of its size and population with such fervor that Éponine couldn't help but become riled up about it as well. "I've studied exactly how the Russians and their allies overtook her. I think we could use them as a guide; you see, Enjolras wants to bring the fighting to our front doors, to have the home advantage. He wants to wait until the army confronts us, instead of going on the offensive, but what if we graduated from public protests and rallies and launched a real attack?" Éponine was silent for a moment.
"I see your point," she said slowly. Feuilly sat back in his chair, proud of himself. Éponine continued , "but you just said yourself that you're only a group of students. Half of you are just learning how to handle a gun. Confronting a trained army out of the blue would be suicide!"
"It's suicide regardless of who takes the first shot," Feuilly countered. Éponine's words died before they left her mouth; he was right. "I want a liberated France more than anything, and I am willing to give my life to that cause. But I want to give it in an honorable way. I'd rather be shot cornering the enemy than be the one surrounded."
"That's very admirable, Feuilly, and perhaps you're right," she said quickly, as Feuilly had opened his mouth in protest at her doubtful expression. "but Enjolras knows what he's doing. Not to slight you at all, but there's a reason he's the leader, and that's because he knows how and when to fight."
Feuilly sat with a stony expression, clearly unhappy with what he was hearing. Nevertheless, he nodded. "I know. It's just—" he paused—"my life isn't his to risk."
"That's true," Éponine agreed. "You could always back away." Feuilly looked outraged.
"Back away?! Betray my brothers, and disgrace myself? That's out of the question."
Éponine smiled; he'd reacted just as she hoped he would. "Well, then that tells you what to do right there."
Feuilly nodded contemplatively, feeling better. He rose from his chair. "I best be getting home." Éponine rose to her feet as well. "Thank you for listening to me."
"Anytime, Monsieur. I should be on my way as well. By now, our dear friend Marius will have noticed his jacket is a bit lighter," she said, dangling the stolen pocketwatch from its chain before slinging it around her neck for safekeeping. The pair exited the café in good spirits, both having reached some form of compromise in their discussion, and parted ways at the end of the square, each departing on their own path to the same fate.
Sorry if that last line was a little morbid…! Let me know what you thought of this installment! And just so you know, I only have a couple boys left to write for!
I was thinking about a Marius chapter, but since he's technically not one of Les Amis, I'm not sure…I guess it depends what you guys think! Do you want a Marius chapter? Let me know, and if enough people say yes then I'll write one!
Review review review! :D
