Change of Heart

By,

a charming young girl
who is capable of being terrible

Previously, on Change of Heart

She opens her mouth to start, her eyes nowhere but at the pair of blue ones staring at hers.

Cosette, now I remember,
Cosette, how can it be?

Thenardiérs lie. But now, the words that leave her mouth are the truth. What she knows will happen, what she desperately does not want to happen, what they need to know, what lies ahead.

"We talk about you, you know." she begins, "The barricade boys at the Musain, plotting to overthrow the king; throwing their precious lives away. And why throw your lives away for us, les miserablés? You have everything we could possibly dream of, everything we want and wish we could have. So what do you really know about les abaissé? Have you ever felt like us before? You fight for freedom, we fight for bread. You ponder on philosophical teachings, we wonder how easy it would be to take one step while standing above le Seine. You're throwing your lives away, we're already dead.

"The true children of your precious Patria are cowards, m'sieur. I believe in your cause, m'sieur, I just don't see how it's supposed to work." There is silence. "Are you satisfied with my answer, monsieur Enjolras?" She regrets it, answering her question. She regrets being the cause of the depressing aura the scene is now emitting. She steps down, twiddling with her fingers, hoping she could've prevented all of them from early graves.

Finally, somebody speaks. She turns her head to see a street urchin just like her, the familiar dirty brown cap covering her brother's face. "Ponine's always been a depressing one. Don't listen to her." he adds, "Then again, I know majority of her speech is a bit true, and I agree with a few bits of it, but again, don't mind her! You're going to win!"

Grantaire smirks, "Better listen to your Daphne, Apollo. Seems like she knows what she's talking about."

Enjolras turns to face him, and glares at R. "My name is not Apollo, and hers is not Daphne." he says, "You've always been a drunk, and a cynic. The people will rise and they will come when we call. They will fight for the freedom of our country, the people who will not be slaves anymore." he turns back to face Éponine, his gorgeous blue eyes (You shouldn't be thinking about his eyes, Ponine! Focus!) staring straight into her brown ones. "When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes."

This sends some of the café into cheers, and she smiles politely, looking around to find Grantaire, who's raising a glass to her and not to his Apollo. He smirks at her and she smiles back, thinking this will most probably be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. She still looks around, seeing another pair of blue eyes much like Grantaire and Enjolras', except this pair is darker. It's more of grey, and after zooming out from the beautiful orbs she sees a face.

She looks back at her, and Éponine feels like she's going to faint. Cosette keeps her eyes on her, while going out the door, motioning for her to follow her outside with her gloved hands. The one with the messy blonde hair tries to stop hair, asking her what's wrong but she brushes it off with an angelic smile. In the corner of her eye, Éponine can notice Enjolras approaching her after being surrounded by a group of friends.

She looks back at him for a second, then runs out the door after the girl from all those years ago.

We were children together...

Courfeyrac is laughing. "Finally! You get the courage to approach a girl, and she runs away." he says, as Enjolras glares at him. "And just when I was winning the bet too... Which means Grantaire's going to win." Enjolras is looking at him with an annoyed expression, and Jehan feels pity for their leader, though love is and forever will be the most wonderful thing on Earth. Mademoiselle Euphrasie left to go outside, quickly joined by Mademoiselle Éponine. Perhaps they knew each other? He would ask the gamine later, that's for sure.

Although Jehan knows how much pain Enjolras must be going through, suffering the infuriation which are their friends, he feels worse for Marius. Jehan was never one to really, really get absorbed into the cause. Courfeyrac told him about the amis, and Jehan took an opportunity to spend more time with him. So, while everyone is speaking arguing over Éponine's words, Marius is just fixated on her.

Jean Prouvaire is a romantic, he knows love when he sees it.

"Marius?" Jehan asks, from his little table near the side. Marius stands up, obviously taking a chance to stop hearing about the love life of the marble statue, and sits down across him. "Mademoiselle Éponine, she is the girl you are in love with, non?" Marius nearly chokes on his drink. "I thought so."

"Hush, will you? Jehan, you can tell no one." he says, his eyes panicked.

"Of course I won't." he replies, "I shan't tell anyone until you tell her. That is," he says, shooting a look in the direction of Enjolras, "If you tell her. Will you, Marius? As far as I know, she and Enjolras are in love as well. They just don't know it yet." Jehan really is conflicted, choosing between Team Enjolras and Team Marius. Éponine will be happy with both, but the three don't seem like Joly, Musichetta and Bahorel in the slightest. "When are you planning on telling her? On their wedding day, m'sieur? But will you destroy her possibly chance of happiness?"

Marius looks at him, exasperated. "Jean Prouvaire," he begins, "You confuse me."

Jehan smirks. "So I've been told."

Marius sighs. "'Ponine can be as happy with me, if not more, than she would be with Enjolras." he says, whispering matter-of-factly. "We've known each other for years, Jehan. People can't just fall in love at a glance." Marius looks at him quizzically, challenging him to think of something to say in reply. Yet Jehan only smiles and speaks, the true romantic that he is.

"Few people say that they have fallen in love just because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only." Jehan replies with a wistful gaze, "Tell me, Marius, what made you realize you were in love with her then?"

He hesitates. "Her smile." he replies, "I saw her, and she smiled at me, and I just had that feeling that I just want her to be happy forever so that her smile will never go away." At this Jehan has to smile as well, because those words are just too sweet and he suddenly knows that if Marius had told her this sooner, they would probably be married by now.

"She's smiling now." Jehan replies, "Because of Enjolras. Don't you want her to be happy, Marius, even though you are not the cause of her happiness?"

Marius hesitates again before he whispers his answer.

...Look what's become of me...

"Éponine–"

"Cosette–"

"What are you doing here?" Spoken at the same time, it was such a sight to see. Two girls, bourgeois and gamine talking with each other outside of a dainty little café. Nobody would expect it, then again, nobody is around. Éponine speaks first. "I come here all the time."

Cosette hesitates. "I snuck out of my home."

'Ponine scoffs. "Flying around Paris, aloutte?"

The beautiful girl rolls her eyes. "Just tell me, there was another girl at the inn." Cosette says, "Your younger sister. What was her name? I came across her the other night, and she refused to tell me. I remembered her saying something about Éponine and about somebody named Montparnasse. I've been so curious for the longest time because she helped me get home, just for a few francs–"

"Azelma." Éponine scowls, "Her name is Azelma. And just so you know, miss Cendrillion, a few francs would mean the world to somebody who only gets a few sous when they're lucky. You know nothing of what life has become for me!" Of course Éponine is mad, Cosette thinks, the tables have turned. And Cosette knows deep down in her heart that she did nothing to deserve it. Her parents though, maybe. "Not everyone gets taken away by their savior when they're only five years old!" There is a silence, then... "Anymore questions, Cosette?"

The blonde beauty bites her lip before asking her next question, the one she's been wondering far much longer than just a couple of nights. The one that will finally settle everything once and for all, and she will finally be able to know all the answers. "Do you know anything about my mother?" Éponine is confused, she thinks for a moment before answering.

"My parents used to pretend you were sick," she says, looking apologetic. "So that your mother would send us money for the inn. Your mother, according to my mother, eventually ran out of francs after she was sacked. Father mentioned something about her having to sell her teeth, and her hair. I don't know much of the other details. You could ask my parents, though, but I don't recommend it."

Cosette stands there, still desperate to know all the answers. "How much would they ask for in return?" she asks, her voice shaky. "I want to know!"

"A lot." Éponine admits, "But if you really want to know, then they'll have the answers."

She nods. "Meet me here in a few days time, maybe the day after tomorrow. Take me to them, please." Cosette looks desperate. Growing up, she was always curious as to why she only had a father while the other little girls in the convent had a complete family. All she got whenever she asked papa about her mama was the simple reply of, "She's an angel.". She holds out her hand to Éponine.

A deal is struck.

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AN: I'm horrid at updating. Thank you for all your reviews, favorites and follows!

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-a charming young girl
who is capable of being terrible