A/N: A lot of this chapter is based off the books, and a few of the lines are quoted from there as well (disclaimer on those lines!)

Chapter Thirteen: Shadows

The first day of February was just as freezing. Éponine was pick-pocketing whilst Azelma handed out begging letters. Éponine was so lost in thought, until she felt something sharp on her hand as it felt around someones pocket. She flinched and yelped, alerting the man she was pick-pocketing instantly. He turned, and although she dodged away, he grabbed her dark, matted hair. "Police!" He yelled.

Azelma was horrified when she turned and saw her sister had been caught. Javert was heading towards her! But Eponine had control. She thrust her bony elbow back, into a place that must've really hurt the man because he cried out. Azelma didn't need telling. Both girls ran as if the devil himself were on their heels.

They didn't falter, hearing heavier footsteps behind them. They veered into a ginnel, except it turned out to be a dead end.

"Here." Eponine slipped into a gap, where a fence panel was loose, dragging Azelma with her. "How did you know that was loose like that?" Azelma wondered aloud. The panel looked like a normal one, after Eponine put it into place. "I know my way around." Eponine shrugged. That was her usual reply, although she said it slightly mockingly, as she took it from the other people of the street who said when she passed 'That's Eponine, she knows her way around'.

"As do I! I know how to walk round to the park on that side." The gruff voice of Javert sounded from the other side of the fence.

Azelma and Eponine ran again, out of the park, through many streets and ginnels. Until the heavy footsteps faded as Javert grew tired. Until they came out on a street near where they were staying.

"That cop near enough had me!" Eponine said breathlessly. "I didn't half run for it!" Panted Azelma.

That was when Eponine bumped into someone. She looked up, startled to be looking into a pair of bright hazel eyes, and a freckled face.

Marius.

"I-I beg your pardon, monsieur." Eponine stammered slightly. She then dropped her gaze and stepped away, running to catch up with Azelma.

Without noticing, Azelma had dropped the letters.

Marius bent to pick the bundle up, turning to see the two girls running. The smaller one wore a thin, ragged item which once would've been called a dress. The taller one, the one who had bumped into him, arousing him from his thoughts of 'Monsieur Leblanc's daughter', seemed familiar somehow, wearing only a chemise and a skirt. His mind pondered on her, feeling a memory stir but not quite being able to grasp it.

As he walked on, he saw a child's coffin. It made him think of the two girls.
What could they have been doing that the police almost caught them doing? What crimes were they committing at such a young age?

He tried to block out the distracting shadows from his mind as he returned to the Gorbeau Tenement.

How sad my life has become. I'm always running into young girls. Some seem angelic, now they are creatures of the shadows.