Hello my lovelies! Some of you followed after reading the Epilogue! That was lovely but this will be the very last update you'll be getting. This story is now fully concluded, but the next Enjonine adventure is now underway! Here is a little teaser just for you loyal readers. It is called "Sparks May Fly" and is Modern AU.
Summary: Enjolras leads Les Amis, a club at a highly respected university in Paris, which fights for better equality in France. Eponine, a college dropout, leads her siblings in a fight for survival on the crime-ridden streets of the Parisian slums. They meet by chance, through mutual friends. Sparks might fly, but with the brilliance of flames comes the danger of being burned.
Eponine sat down at the small park which sat opposite the University of Sorbonne. She thought back to the days when she had been so excited to attend, when she had been thrilled by the monetary aid the school had given her to go. She thought back to the days when she could have made something of herself. That dream, she realized as she looked down at her torn jeans and faded shirt, was long gone. She heard the bell in the large bell tower ring, signaling that it was two o clock and as the students poured out of the buildings, laughing and smiling and chattering excitedly she sighed as she stood up and began walking in the direction of Gavroche's elementary school to pick him up. She got there a minute before the bell and waved at her 11 year old brother as he ran out of his classroom towards her. He was in his sixth year of primary school, but much more mature than most other kids in his class.
"Hey Ponine," he gave her a nod because hugs had become uncool as he grew older. His sister rolled her eyes and slung her arm around his shoulders lightly.
"How was your day Gavroche?" she asked him as they walked toward the library as they did every day. Azelma, her 16 year old sister would meet them there and stay to do homework with Gavroche until Eponine got her half hour break at her second job. Eponine would walk back to get them during her short break and walk them safely to their small one bedroom apartment before leaving for her second shift at her second job. She never let them walk alone without her watching them because while she had officially gotten custody of her younger siblings, she knew that a piece of a paper meant nothing to her father or the members of his gang, La Patron Minette. The day that Eponine turned 18 she had gone to the courthouse to gain custody of Azelma and Gavroche. She had won the case by default considering her parents never bothered to show up for any of the hearings. Still, she knew that they were not safe even if she had moved them into a slightly better neighborhood than the slums her father resided in. So she insisted on walking them everywhere even when it took time from her jobs. She had tried at first to work two small jobs and attend classes, but the bills became too much and she couldn't afford to pay for school and food without a third job. When it became clear that her education would have to be put off indefinitely she dropped out of the University of Sorbonne (where she had been studying journalism and literature) and got a third job.
"School is school Pony," Gavroche stuck his tongue out at her, but she gave him a fierce glare.
"Don't you dare call me that," she threatened him dangerously. He blew his tongue out at her once again, which caused her to tickle him mercilessly for an entire minute until he surrendered.
"You're a tyrant," he wailed dramatically.
"Oh hush now you little booger," she laughed, pulling him into a one armed hug before seeing Azelma and waving at her. "Behave for Azelma. I'll see you at 5:30, okay?" He nodded before running to meet his other sister. Eponine glanced quickly at her pay-as-you-go cell phone and cursed under her breath. She had five minutes to get to her job which usually took her ten minutes to walk to. It was her favorite job and she only had it because her good friend Marius knew the owner of the café and had talked him into giving Eponine a job as a barista.
Eponine, whose birthday was in early September, had been seventeen when she had started University. Marius Pontmercy lived next door to her, though she never understood why he chose to live in a poor neighborhood when he clearly had the money to live somewhere much nicer and closer to campus. When she had first met him, he was the first person in her life to actually be kind to her. For the first year of their friendship she had been hopelessly in love with him. She did everything for him, including hook him up with a classmate of hers, Cosette Fauchelevent. Though it had broken her heart, she had done it for both of them. She loved Marius and knew that Cosette was someone that would make him unbelievable happy. Cosette…well she felt she had owed Cosette for mistreating her when they were children. Cosette had very few memories from her childhood when she had been a foster child in the Thenardier home, but Eponine remembered the torture she had put the young girl through clearly and felt that setting her up with Marius would redeem her. In time, Eponine had come to realize that her feelings for Marius had never been genuine and she grew to be genuinely happy for he and Cosette, who seemed to be made for each other. Plus when she had gained custody of her siblings three years prior she realized she didn't have room in her life for anything except work and caring for Gavroche and Azelma.