I only own Marcy and Francis

When everyone was rested and full Marceline sat the girl down and began questioning her.

"A'right, lassie. How 'bout you tell us what happened?" She said kindly, holding the girl along with Cosette on a porch swing in the green room.

"Well you came and got me and now I'm here." She said, not looking her in the eye.

"Now yeh kneh tha' ain't wha' I meant. Come on, lass. Yeh can tell us." She insisted comfortingly. She looked unsurely to Cosette, who nodded her encouragement. Eponine burried her forehead into the crook of her neck.

"After Cosette left, papa didn't have anyone to do the work, so he made mama and me do it. But he had a lot of mead and he said we weren't doing it good enough. He said mama was stealing from him and he started hitting her. Then when I told him to stop, he said I sided with her and he hit me, too. I got scared he was gonna hurt Gavroche, too so I went to his room and got him and snuck out while papa was in a fight."

Marceline was in tears. She And Cosette hugged her tightly, wiping the girls' tears away.

"Now," she forced out past the lump in her throat, "now no more tears, dearie. You've no reason to cry anymore. You're safe. You are safe and you are loved." Eponine nodded into her shoulder, tiny arms around her neck. Marceline held both girls close to her, rocking them quietly and humming.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,. Time-and-space skip sponsored by Madame Malkins dress Shoppe .,.,.,.,.,.,,,.,.,.,.,.

"I'm sorry, 'Ponine. I wouldn't have left if I'd known that would happen." She insisted, petting the soft fur of a mint-green winged rabbit plush. The girls sat cross-legged on Cosette's sky-blue bed spread playing with the assorted toys Marceline had on hand.

"Don't say that, 'Settie. I'm glad you got away when you did." She said comfortingly. "I can see how bad you must've wanted to go now that I did all your chores." The girls giggled, Eponine placing a pink horned kitten on the pillow in front of her and tying a chocolate brown ribbon around it's neck.

The girls were overjoyed when they were reunited. Eponine had quickly been washed and fitted with a simple purple gown. This was all Marcy could get done before Cosette had stolen her away. Eponine looked over her handiwork with the ribbon before crawling over to Cosette and hugging her tightly.

"I missed you, 'Settie." Cosette paused before returning the hug and smiling.

"Missed you too, 'Ponine."

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,., POV change sponsored by Harold Saxon. Vote Saxon ,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Marceline and Fantine listened happily outside the door. Marceline had been hard pressed to convince the blonde that her daughter was friends with the child of the people who had abused her. Needless to say, Fantine was now thoroughly convinced. The women backed away from the door and smiled at each other.

"Wha' did Ah tell yeh, Fantine. The girls're already like sisters."

"I know. I was just needlessly worried." She admitted.

"Yeh go' tha right. Now come on, they're gonna hear us. Ahm gonna see if Ah can't help Nelly on th' kitchen b'fore Francis gets 'ere." She stated. Fantine giggled at the officer's name. "Wha'?"

"You're smitten." The brunette flicked some hair behind her.

"Ahm no' th' only one." The shorter of the two snapped to attention and blushed brightly.

"What on earth are you insinuating?!"

"Only that yeh've go' a wee crush on m' brother." She chuckled. Fantine shook her head furiously as they entered the kitchen. Nelly, who was standing behind the counter, giggled at the comment and continued chopping vegetables for a stew.

"I could never! He's-"

"He's wha? Older? A convict? On th' run from th' law?" Marceline arched a brow. "Wha' exactly is th' problem?" Fantine looked down, not meeting her eyes.

"He's too good a man for me." Marceline scoffed. "What?" Marceline rolled up her loose sleeves and began cutting up some venison.

"Everything yeh did yeh did fer yer daughter. What he did he did for his family as well. Ye'r both good people." Fantine joined in, cutting dough into noodles.

"He donates to charities, he gives all he can to the poor, he-"

"Did all tha' to make up fer stealin', even though he dun' need teh. An' there's no doubt in my mind tha' yeh'd doo th' saem thing if yeh'd had th' money." She scooped up the noodles and venison and threw them into a huge boiling pot. "Look, yeh juss helped th' less fortunate."

"What?"

"Wha'? Yeh think that's all fer us?" She shook her head and pulled out another slab of meat. "Nelly an' Phoebe take mos' of et 'round to th' orphanage." Phoebe came out of hiding then to stir the broth. Fantine smiled.

"You do a lot for the impoverished, don't you?"

"It was Jean's idea. Ah juss put it in motion."

"How did you come to live with him anyway?"

"Now tha'," she smirked, "is a long story." She said, washing her hands. "And I have an outin' the get ready fer." As she swept out of the room, Fantine rolled her eyes and returned to cutting noodles for the stew, a small sense of pride welling in her.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,., timeskip sponsored by Speedy's sandwich bar and cafe ,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

Francis arrived at the house at five on the dot, and when Jean opened the door, he looked absolutely petrified.

"So You're the one who's stolen my sister's heart away, hm?" The blonde tried to keep composure, but the slightly taller man was far more menacing to his mind than he should have been.

"Ah, I believe so..." he said unsurely. Jean chuckled and held out a hand. "Ultime Fauchelevent. Marceline's brother." Francis took the hand, shaking it firmly. Monseur Fauchelevent seemed oddly familiar to him. He shrugged it off and entered the house behind him. Fauchelevent offered him a chair and he sat. The dark-haired man did the same, picking up a book and reading comfortably.

Francis sat tensely as he waited for Marceline to descend the staircase. It was a solid ten minutes before she finally came down, wearing a simple tan frock and green skirt, a brown leather corset defining her figure. Her shoulders and the better part of her arms were exposed, so it was a bit revealing (not that he minded) but it was all together lovely and fit her quite well.

"Sorry Ah took so long. Couldn't find a thing to wear." She explained, striding confidently towards him. He smiled serenely and kissed the back of her hand.

"You look lovely." Against her will, a blush stained her face.

"Yeh dun look so bad yerself, boyo." She winked, poking his shoulder. He chuckled and took her hand.

"Ready to go?"

"Through sun or storm."

SORRY! Sorry. My inconsistency is killing me. Any who, enjoy.

I've gotten some positive feedback on the Javert story, so I'll post a link here when I get it posted.

Also, bonus cool points and a sneak peek of chapters to come for anyone who can tell me all the timeskip references.