**Eponine**
I wandered for a very long time, losing track of time in my aimless walking. I wasn't certain where I was going-did it even matter? Eventually, I found myself in the middle of the courtyard by the University. I'd been there only hours--maybe? How long had it been?-- before, when I had taken Marius to the Rue Plumet.
Stupid, stupid boy. Why did he have to ask me to worry about his troubles, too? Didn't he realize I had my own?
I looked up suddenly, getting a feeling that I wasn't alone. There was a boy coming near, running right past me as if he hardly noticed me at all. Just like Marius.
"Gavroche, where are you going?"
The boy stopped. "Why do you care, 'Ponine?" he asked.
"I want to know." I replied.
"Why, /dear/ sister. Is that concern I hear in your voice?" Gavroche said with a positively devilish grin.
"Shut up and tell me!" I snapped. I watched as Gavroche calmly put his arms behind his back and closed his mouth, making a humming noise and apparently finding it very humorous indeed. I snatched the hat off of his head and held it high out of his reach. He jumped for it but couldn't reach.
"I'm going to join the students, tomorrow we're building our barricade." He said finally. "There, are you happy? Give me my hat back."
I stared at my brother. "What barricade?"
"Haven't you heard?" Gavroche asked, using my distraction to steal his hat back. "General Lamarque is dead. Tomorrow, after his funeral, the students will be leading an uprising!"
"The students?" I echoed. The death of Lamarque meant nothing to me, I knew nothing of him. He was no one important. It was the mention of the students that had caught my attention.
Gavroche rolled his eyes. "Didn't you hear what I said?" he laughed. "Yes, the students from the University. Enjolras and the others will be building their barricade tomorrow."
I nodded my head slowly, an idea slipping to mind. Gavroche turned and started running off again. "Wait!" I called. The scraggly boy turned back. "Where is this barricade at?"
"Rue de Villette." Gavroche replied, knitting his eyebrows together in confusion. "Why?"
I smirked. "So that I know where to collect your dead body." I said. Gavroche waved a hand at me and took off.
**Les Amis d'ABC**
Marius came out of the tavern carrying two chairs, one in each arm, and stopped by Enjolras, who was intent on reading a map of Paris. Marius looked over at a man who was standing by the growing barricade, helping Joly break the legs off of a table. He was an older man, with sideburns and graying hair that was tied back. He had never seen him before.
"Who is that?" he asked Enjolras.
The rebel leader glanced up. "Just a volunteer." He said offhandedly. "Came in just a while ago."
Marius nodded slowly and went to the barricade, throwing the chairs up on the growing stack.
The whole place was alive with activity and excitement. None of them seemed to realize that it was Death himself on the other side of that barricade.
Enjolras called all of his friends to attention. They all stopped their fervent work and turned back to him.
"The time is nearly here, my friends." He announced. "As we stand here on these stones building our barricade to freedom, remember that you are not alone. Don't be afraid!" he paused, looking as though he was racking his brain for something he had forgotten. "Oh! I will need a report on the strength of our foe."
The gray-haired stranger who had been working with Joly took a step forward. "I can find out for you, I know the ways of the Garde Nationale. In the days of my youth, I served my time and fought their wars." He said.
"Good." Enjolras said, clapping the stranger's shoulder. "Go and come back when you have found out what you can. Quickly, and carefully my brother."
Marius watched the stranger go, frowning to himself and shaking his head slowly. Something about that old man didn't look right.
Jean Prouvaire and Lesgles resumed their work, stacking chairs and tables. Prouvaire stood high up on the growing stack as Lesgles passed him a broken chair.
"Now the people will fight!" Prouvaire said almost happily.
"So what if they do?" Grumbled Grantaire as he passed, hauling a wagon wheel with his wine bottle stuck into the crook of his arm. "As long as there are dogs to bark, there will always be fleas to bite them."
Prouvaire and Lesgles looked at each other, making no sense of what Grantaire had said.
"They're going to do what they think is right." Lesgles said, more to Prouvaire than Grantaire.
Marius was heading back to the tavern to get more chairs when he saw someone climb through the barricade who did not belong there.
**Eponine**
I crouched in the shadows of the street adjacent to Rue de Villette, a long overcoat hanging around my thin shoulders and my dirty brown hair tucked into a cap that I had tucked low over my eyes. The sun was going down. I watched anxiously as the students, Marius included, started their fervent work on the misshapen hunk of metal and wood that was the barricade Gavroche had told me about. Behind it, nearly obstructed from view, was the tavern that the students were obviously using as a headquarters.
Seeing my perfect opportunity, I made a dash for the barricade. Their leader, wearing a coat of red and gold-that must be Enjolras, I supposed, from what Gavroche had said-had just gone back to his work after speaking briefly with the students. I made an attempt to hide myself in the crowd, but Marius spotted me anyway. I found that I was unable to tear away my gaze. He walked toward me with a reproving glare.
"Why, 'little boy', what's this I see? He asked mockingly while pulling the cap off of my head, letting all of the dark hair spill out over my shoulders. "God, Eponine! The things that you do."
I held my ground, feeling my cheeks redden. "I'm not stupid. I know that this is hardly a place for me. Even still I'd much rather be with you."
"Come now, Eponine. Get out of here before all the trouble starts. Get out while you can, you could get shot!" said Marius.
I could not help but laugh nervously. "I've got you all worried now, haven't I? That proves you like me quite a lot." I said with a smile.
Marius sighed and shook his head hopelessly. Then a look of hope came over his face. "I know of a way you can help me. Oh, you are the answer to my prayer!" he reached into a pocket and pulled out an envelope. "Please, could you take this letter to Cosette?"
I felt my smile fall, feeling as though I had just been shot point- blank with a carbine. I blinked and grabbed the letter from his hand, then turned and started walking away without a further word.
It was not until I was far from the barricades that I stopped and turned. "Little you know," I growled. "Little you care!" Taking a deep breath, I figured I might lose my voice at all the screaming I was doing. Not that it mattered anyway. No one had heard my desperate cry. It seemed that everyone was preparing for the fight that was to come and had locked themselves in their homes, safe and warm. I was the only one who dared walk the streets alone. Fighting back the tears of anguish welling in my eyes, I looked at the envelope in my hand. I was simply marked, 'Cosette, 55 Rue Plumet'. /What a lovesick pupp/y, I thought bitterly. He didn't even know her surname. How quaint.
I continued walking to Rue Plumet. When I got to number fifty-five, I rattled loudly on the gate. And waited.
From out of the darkness appeared an ageing man, whom I recognized as the one I'd seen in the streets the other day, the one my father had tried to rob. This was the man who had come to my father's inn in Montfermeil all those years ago and had paid fifteen hundred francs to take away Cosette. Quite a sum, but not quite worth the subject, I mused silently.
"I have a letter to deliver, Monsieur. It's addressed to your daughter, Cosette." I said. The man continued to stare at me with those sad, ageless eyes, eyes that had seen everything and yet asked nothing of anyone. "It's from a boy at the barricades, sir." I continued slowly. "The one in the Rue de Villette."
"Give that letter to me, my boy." He said, holding out his wrinkled hand through the bars to take the letter. I did not give it.
"He said to give it to Cosette." I said darkly. /Why am I doing this? Why do I care so much for his petty, lovesick troubles?/
"You have my word, son, that Cosette shall know what the letter contains." The man said. I handed of the letter between the bars and watched as he started to dig through his coat pockets. "Tell the young man..." he paused briefly, glancing up at the sky the way old people do when they are trying to do too many things at once. "That she will read it tomorrow. Here is for your trouble." He held out a hand and dropped a coin into my palm. A gold Napoleon, I realized with a shock. Perhaps Montpanasse was right, perhaps the old man did have a fortune put away..."Go carefully now and stay out of sight. There's plenty of danger out there in the streets."
I nodded and started away. The old man turned from the gate and disappeared into the darkness. Walking aimlessly, I slipped the coin into my pocket and pulled the hat off of my head. I felt tears spring to my eye and I sat down on the curbside dejectedly.
"Marius, I hate you." I muttered, knowing fully that he was too far away to hear. I didn't care. I wanted to hear the words for myself, if anything. "Do you hear it? You're blind!" My fingers closed around a stone from the gutter and I hurled it away, watching until it faded away into the darkness of the street. I felt so helpless, just sitting there all alone. "Why can't you see me?"
I stopped and put my head down, pulling in a ragged breath. I hugged my knees and sat there for a long time, sobbing unabashedly for a long time.
I looked up in the direction of the barricade. The sun was nearly set now, the streets getting dark.
For a few minutes longer, I sat there and waited until a thought came to mind. /I'll make him see me.....I'll be with him even if he doesn't notice. I'll make him see me even if it kills me!/
=========
A/N: To my reviewer! Hehe, sorry I took out the palaver line. It seemed too.songish? Maybe, to me. At least later on there's whole songs in there...But I looked up the word for you, and it means: 1. a long parley (there's some Jack Sparrow for ya) between persons of different cultures or levels of sophistication. 2. conference, discussion. 3. idle talk. 4. misleading or beguiling speech. Interesting huh? And I'm glad you liked the Marius line, I wanted to make him appear as vulnerable as possible, guess it worked!
I wandered for a very long time, losing track of time in my aimless walking. I wasn't certain where I was going-did it even matter? Eventually, I found myself in the middle of the courtyard by the University. I'd been there only hours--maybe? How long had it been?-- before, when I had taken Marius to the Rue Plumet.
Stupid, stupid boy. Why did he have to ask me to worry about his troubles, too? Didn't he realize I had my own?
I looked up suddenly, getting a feeling that I wasn't alone. There was a boy coming near, running right past me as if he hardly noticed me at all. Just like Marius.
"Gavroche, where are you going?"
The boy stopped. "Why do you care, 'Ponine?" he asked.
"I want to know." I replied.
"Why, /dear/ sister. Is that concern I hear in your voice?" Gavroche said with a positively devilish grin.
"Shut up and tell me!" I snapped. I watched as Gavroche calmly put his arms behind his back and closed his mouth, making a humming noise and apparently finding it very humorous indeed. I snatched the hat off of his head and held it high out of his reach. He jumped for it but couldn't reach.
"I'm going to join the students, tomorrow we're building our barricade." He said finally. "There, are you happy? Give me my hat back."
I stared at my brother. "What barricade?"
"Haven't you heard?" Gavroche asked, using my distraction to steal his hat back. "General Lamarque is dead. Tomorrow, after his funeral, the students will be leading an uprising!"
"The students?" I echoed. The death of Lamarque meant nothing to me, I knew nothing of him. He was no one important. It was the mention of the students that had caught my attention.
Gavroche rolled his eyes. "Didn't you hear what I said?" he laughed. "Yes, the students from the University. Enjolras and the others will be building their barricade tomorrow."
I nodded my head slowly, an idea slipping to mind. Gavroche turned and started running off again. "Wait!" I called. The scraggly boy turned back. "Where is this barricade at?"
"Rue de Villette." Gavroche replied, knitting his eyebrows together in confusion. "Why?"
I smirked. "So that I know where to collect your dead body." I said. Gavroche waved a hand at me and took off.
**Les Amis d'ABC**
Marius came out of the tavern carrying two chairs, one in each arm, and stopped by Enjolras, who was intent on reading a map of Paris. Marius looked over at a man who was standing by the growing barricade, helping Joly break the legs off of a table. He was an older man, with sideburns and graying hair that was tied back. He had never seen him before.
"Who is that?" he asked Enjolras.
The rebel leader glanced up. "Just a volunteer." He said offhandedly. "Came in just a while ago."
Marius nodded slowly and went to the barricade, throwing the chairs up on the growing stack.
The whole place was alive with activity and excitement. None of them seemed to realize that it was Death himself on the other side of that barricade.
Enjolras called all of his friends to attention. They all stopped their fervent work and turned back to him.
"The time is nearly here, my friends." He announced. "As we stand here on these stones building our barricade to freedom, remember that you are not alone. Don't be afraid!" he paused, looking as though he was racking his brain for something he had forgotten. "Oh! I will need a report on the strength of our foe."
The gray-haired stranger who had been working with Joly took a step forward. "I can find out for you, I know the ways of the Garde Nationale. In the days of my youth, I served my time and fought their wars." He said.
"Good." Enjolras said, clapping the stranger's shoulder. "Go and come back when you have found out what you can. Quickly, and carefully my brother."
Marius watched the stranger go, frowning to himself and shaking his head slowly. Something about that old man didn't look right.
Jean Prouvaire and Lesgles resumed their work, stacking chairs and tables. Prouvaire stood high up on the growing stack as Lesgles passed him a broken chair.
"Now the people will fight!" Prouvaire said almost happily.
"So what if they do?" Grumbled Grantaire as he passed, hauling a wagon wheel with his wine bottle stuck into the crook of his arm. "As long as there are dogs to bark, there will always be fleas to bite them."
Prouvaire and Lesgles looked at each other, making no sense of what Grantaire had said.
"They're going to do what they think is right." Lesgles said, more to Prouvaire than Grantaire.
Marius was heading back to the tavern to get more chairs when he saw someone climb through the barricade who did not belong there.
**Eponine**
I crouched in the shadows of the street adjacent to Rue de Villette, a long overcoat hanging around my thin shoulders and my dirty brown hair tucked into a cap that I had tucked low over my eyes. The sun was going down. I watched anxiously as the students, Marius included, started their fervent work on the misshapen hunk of metal and wood that was the barricade Gavroche had told me about. Behind it, nearly obstructed from view, was the tavern that the students were obviously using as a headquarters.
Seeing my perfect opportunity, I made a dash for the barricade. Their leader, wearing a coat of red and gold-that must be Enjolras, I supposed, from what Gavroche had said-had just gone back to his work after speaking briefly with the students. I made an attempt to hide myself in the crowd, but Marius spotted me anyway. I found that I was unable to tear away my gaze. He walked toward me with a reproving glare.
"Why, 'little boy', what's this I see? He asked mockingly while pulling the cap off of my head, letting all of the dark hair spill out over my shoulders. "God, Eponine! The things that you do."
I held my ground, feeling my cheeks redden. "I'm not stupid. I know that this is hardly a place for me. Even still I'd much rather be with you."
"Come now, Eponine. Get out of here before all the trouble starts. Get out while you can, you could get shot!" said Marius.
I could not help but laugh nervously. "I've got you all worried now, haven't I? That proves you like me quite a lot." I said with a smile.
Marius sighed and shook his head hopelessly. Then a look of hope came over his face. "I know of a way you can help me. Oh, you are the answer to my prayer!" he reached into a pocket and pulled out an envelope. "Please, could you take this letter to Cosette?"
I felt my smile fall, feeling as though I had just been shot point- blank with a carbine. I blinked and grabbed the letter from his hand, then turned and started walking away without a further word.
It was not until I was far from the barricades that I stopped and turned. "Little you know," I growled. "Little you care!" Taking a deep breath, I figured I might lose my voice at all the screaming I was doing. Not that it mattered anyway. No one had heard my desperate cry. It seemed that everyone was preparing for the fight that was to come and had locked themselves in their homes, safe and warm. I was the only one who dared walk the streets alone. Fighting back the tears of anguish welling in my eyes, I looked at the envelope in my hand. I was simply marked, 'Cosette, 55 Rue Plumet'. /What a lovesick pupp/y, I thought bitterly. He didn't even know her surname. How quaint.
I continued walking to Rue Plumet. When I got to number fifty-five, I rattled loudly on the gate. And waited.
From out of the darkness appeared an ageing man, whom I recognized as the one I'd seen in the streets the other day, the one my father had tried to rob. This was the man who had come to my father's inn in Montfermeil all those years ago and had paid fifteen hundred francs to take away Cosette. Quite a sum, but not quite worth the subject, I mused silently.
"I have a letter to deliver, Monsieur. It's addressed to your daughter, Cosette." I said. The man continued to stare at me with those sad, ageless eyes, eyes that had seen everything and yet asked nothing of anyone. "It's from a boy at the barricades, sir." I continued slowly. "The one in the Rue de Villette."
"Give that letter to me, my boy." He said, holding out his wrinkled hand through the bars to take the letter. I did not give it.
"He said to give it to Cosette." I said darkly. /Why am I doing this? Why do I care so much for his petty, lovesick troubles?/
"You have my word, son, that Cosette shall know what the letter contains." The man said. I handed of the letter between the bars and watched as he started to dig through his coat pockets. "Tell the young man..." he paused briefly, glancing up at the sky the way old people do when they are trying to do too many things at once. "That she will read it tomorrow. Here is for your trouble." He held out a hand and dropped a coin into my palm. A gold Napoleon, I realized with a shock. Perhaps Montpanasse was right, perhaps the old man did have a fortune put away..."Go carefully now and stay out of sight. There's plenty of danger out there in the streets."
I nodded and started away. The old man turned from the gate and disappeared into the darkness. Walking aimlessly, I slipped the coin into my pocket and pulled the hat off of my head. I felt tears spring to my eye and I sat down on the curbside dejectedly.
"Marius, I hate you." I muttered, knowing fully that he was too far away to hear. I didn't care. I wanted to hear the words for myself, if anything. "Do you hear it? You're blind!" My fingers closed around a stone from the gutter and I hurled it away, watching until it faded away into the darkness of the street. I felt so helpless, just sitting there all alone. "Why can't you see me?"
I stopped and put my head down, pulling in a ragged breath. I hugged my knees and sat there for a long time, sobbing unabashedly for a long time.
I looked up in the direction of the barricade. The sun was nearly set now, the streets getting dark.
For a few minutes longer, I sat there and waited until a thought came to mind. /I'll make him see me.....I'll be with him even if he doesn't notice. I'll make him see me even if it kills me!/
=========
A/N: To my reviewer! Hehe, sorry I took out the palaver line. It seemed too.songish? Maybe, to me. At least later on there's whole songs in there...But I looked up the word for you, and it means: 1. a long parley (there's some Jack Sparrow for ya) between persons of different cultures or levels of sophistication. 2. conference, discussion. 3. idle talk. 4. misleading or beguiling speech. Interesting huh? And I'm glad you liked the Marius line, I wanted to make him appear as vulnerable as possible, guess it worked!