A/N: So this story is almost over because everyone dies… JUST KIDDING! But the end is drawing near so get you sad pants on DO NOT BE SAD FOR LONG MES AMIS FOR I COME BEARING GIFTS! When My Week with Eponine is over I have already planned out a modern day au to post. I think I'm going to call it The Swan Song…
Colin and his friend's return to Paris was the only gleam of happiness Eponine received until the day of General Lemarque's funeral. Marius and Cosette had blissfully returned as well, but they kept mostly to themselves. The impending moment was finally here and death's greedy hand was looming over the rebels' heads like a storm cloud. The morning of the procession, Enjolras and Eponine woke early after not much sleep so they could prepare for the battle.
"Eponine, I want you to borrow some of my clothes. It will be easier for you to move around dressed as a man, and I also do not want you to soil your pretty dresses with dirt, sweat, and inevitably, blood," Enjolras said as he pulled on his red coat with the red, white, and blue rosette pinned onto the lapel. Eponine agreed with him and snatched up a crisp white shirt, black pants, black cravat, and a deep crimson vest. In silence she slipped on the garments, counting down the minutes to her death.
"Lighten up, mon amour. No matter what the results of today are, I will always find you in the end," Enjolras said as he embraced his fiancé. He wondered if they would live long enough to get married. He ran his strong hands through Eponine's dark locks and memorized every last detail about her so if she were to die, he could still remember her to the full extent.
"I am ready to fight with you," Eponine said firmly.
"We will win the revolution, thanks to you. If you had never connected me to the heart of the slums we would never have gained so much support, and Les Amis and I all would have perished. Yes, I can see it now: scattered bits of furniture veneered in the blood of once angry men who now lie in heaven are all that remain of the barricades that killed so many. My cause has been forgotten, the people label it as a delusional student's idea to change the world and file the occasion away forever. You and I never got to truly meet and we died alone and bitter. Death does not suit or pallid faces and damaged bodies. The world had been a cold place to me that had no light or love it in, and leaving it wasn't sad to me at all. But Eponine, you decided to change the game, and now I will not die," Enjolras said with a gentle and tender passion behind his eyes that made Eponine crumble.
Eponine and Enjolras were the only two at breakfast that morning, Colin and Marielle had not yet gotten up. Never in her life had Eponine felt like crying so much, she trained her eyes on her oatmeal so Enjolras wouldn't see the tears that welled in her orbs.
Contributing to the silence, Enjolras scanned his notes repeatedly, determined to find a tiny flaw somewhere. It is funny how hard it is to think of something to say when your time is coming to a close, even if you have a million things to be said. Eponine opened and closed her mouth several times realizing that anything she said at this point would only be unnecessary. Time was slipping through their fingers, but Eponine wouldn't speak unless she had something important to say.
Colin, who had a serious case of bedhead, strolled into the eating room with his clothes thrown messily on and his eyes just as heavy as his heart. He had truly transformed from a boy to a man in such short time. Marielle trailed behind him wearing a simple dress with her hair braided into a messy plait down her back. Her eyes were just as empty as Colin's. Neither had anything to say as they quietly prepared their food and sat down. The silence in the room was so thick that one could slice it with a sharp knife.
"I cannot recall a time where I have ever been more nervous," Enjolras admitted at last, killing the silence. "Yet, I am anxious and charged at the same time. This revolution is all I have known for so long, and it is happening today. Years of planning will be taken off the table and pitched into reality; this is really happening."
Eponine had never seen Enjolras more unkempt and raw than he was now standing before her with his bloodshot eyes, messy hair, and his attire thrown on half hazard. The only thing she wanted to do was reach out and comfort him.
"This is it," Eponine echoed with her mind drowning in thought. The storm was here and it was getting ready to let all its rage and fury loose.
"Today is a blessing and a curse. It hasn't happened yet and there is no way of telling what will happen other than actually living through it. We can seize the day and make it what we want it to be, there is still time," Colin said strongly. Enjolras raised his lost eyes to his friend and smiled, suddenly looking confident in himself.
"Colin is absolutely correct. Now, who is ready to start a revolution with me?" Enjolras asked.
Line Break
When they were standing together as they waited for the funeral to commence, the endless supporters looked a like a sea of people with hope and light of a new world gleaming in their eyes. Something terrible but wonderful would start when the first word of the song left Enjolras' lips, and the moment will live on when a thousand other lips join Enjolras and belt out the melody of the song in unison.
Eponine noticed her young sibling dart in and out of the crowd collecting small treasures to pass the time. Enjolras was quietly talking to a group of people from Provence, and Colin was flagging down some last minute supporters. Others, like Grantaire, were casually standing around taking periodic swigs from a bottle of wine. The heat of June and the smell of sweat was so prominent that it filled Eponine's nostrils, and the acrid smell forced her to breathe through her mouth. She used to welcome smells like this, but it seemed a stranger to her now.
The sun spilled over the treetops bestowing shadows to every person who walked underneath it. The purest blue that one could imagine could never even begin to describe the beauty of the skies on this day, yet they seemed sinister as though they were mocking the trembling revolutionists.
"Is this going to be starting soon?" asked a voice behind Eponine. She turned around sharply and grinned as she saw her brother standing there.
"I don't know, Gavroche. Enjolras knows more about this than I," she shrugged. Gavroche nodded and began to squeeze through the jungle of legs as he made his way to Enjolras. It wasn't much of an exchange, but it felt nice to talk to her brother after hardly seeing him. Eponine felt a surge of pride when she saw him sporting the red, white, and blue rosette that she, Enjolras, and all the other brave supporters had pinned to their chests.
Everyone had been gathered in the town square for hours that felt like days, and anxiety was a tidal wave over the crowd. Eponine wanted this time of waiting to end, yet she never wanted the black carriage that bore General Lemarque's body to arrive. She waited patiently with baited breath until the first drumbeat was audible in a steady rhythm. The drums could be heard several minutes before the carriage finally rolled around. Enjolras gripped onto Eponine's hand for courage; both of their palms were slick with sweat. Enjolras held his ground as he waited to give the signal.
In the blink of an eye, the carriage was close enough and Enjolras began to sing.
"Do you hear the people sing?" he began, and everyone else joined in. Chaos hadn't started yet, but the loud song was enough to start uneasy glances between the guards transferring the body. The song began to pick up, but nobody was singing louder than Eponine. Enjolras and several others broke out of the crowd and climbed onto the carriage. Marius, who decided that he would join his brothers for the fight, waved a flag around on the ground. However it was Enjolras and Eponine took stood atop the carriage as the brandished their own red flags. Enjolras looked at Eponine and beamed, the fear was replaced by sheer adrenaline and he felt as though he could conquer the world. Seeing Enjolras so excited, Eponine couldn't help but get wrapped up in the spirit as adrenaline took over her as well.
"THERE IS A LIFE ABOUT TO START WHEN TOMORROW COMES!" everyone finished, their voices replaced with an unsettling silence. Everyone looked around expectantly, unsure what they should do next. Suddenly, an enemy guard drew his long gun at pointed it at anyone who he could find. His hands shaking, the stupid man fired the damned thing and the bullet pierced straight through an old, innocent woman.
The scene played out like a river; it had been calm at first but it quickly picked up speed and splayed water in every direction. People moved with energy they never imagined they possessed as they ran to their designated destination. Everything was madness, but Enjolras' voice could still be heard loud and clear over the bedlam:
"To the barricades!"
A/N: Okay I really didn't like writing this chapter for some reason, but I cannot wait to write about the barricades! AHHH THE TIME IS HERE! So bear with me until the next chapter! Unfortunately, my exams are also here (well almost here), and I am sorry if I don't update that much. Next chapter will have more E/E and Marielle/Colin. When I first wrote Colin I didn't think much of him and I wasn't going to bring him back, but as I began to characterize him I decided that he should get his happy ending like Enjolras.