And The Sun Will Rise (ExR Fanfic)

Chapter 3

Song for this chapter:
Against the Current-Brighter

In the following weeks, with the protest drawing steadily closer, things grew pretty frantic as the Amis scrambled to finish the final preparations. Enjolras was actually glad about that, as it allowed him to push aside the chaotic emotions that had haunted him ever since that night at the Musain. While he was planning, at least he knew what he was doing, something that could not be said about his private life right now. And then, at last, the big day was upon them. The group gathered in front of the café on a cold, clear January afternoon, all of them armed with banners and placards and wrapped up like they were about to go on a polar expedition. Except for Enjolras, who was wearing a deep red artificial leather jacket he'd found in a thrift store a while back. It was nowhere near warm enough, but it did make him feel like a badass, which more than made up for freezing. Once everyone had arrived, he did a quick headcount and found Jehan was missing.

"Has anyone heard from Prouvaire?" he asked.
"Me" Combeferre said, looking slightly awkward. "He really wanted to come, but he got a migraine this morning."
Why don't you just say he's too much of a wimp to show up? Enjolras thought to himself, but he swallowed the words down and turned to the others.
"Well, at least everyone else is here. Now, are we ready to go and bring Paris the most impressive climate change protest it has ever seen?"
His friends responded with cheers, except for Marius, who sheepishly sidled closer to Enjolras.
"Enj, there's something I need to tell you-"

Before he could say anything else, though, he was cut short by the sound of running footsteps approaching and moments later, Gavroche turned the corner, panting.
"Wait for me! I'm coming with you!"
"No way. Have you forgotten what your sister said?" Courf asked, staring the younger boy down.
"Oh, she always worries about everything. I'll be fine. What could possibly happen to me?"
"You never know. And I, for one, do not want to make 'Ponine angry" Courf insisted.
Changing tack, Gavroche turned to Enjolras and looked up at him pleadingly.
"You'll let me come, Enj, won't you?"
Enjolras hesitated for a moment. He knew Courf was right, but secretly, he was on Gavroche's side. The boy reminded him so much of his younger self: passionate and brave, with a head full of big dreams. And because of that, Enjolras decided to take him along.
"Alright, you can come. But stick close to us and don't do anything reckless, do you hear me?"
Gavroche nodded earnestly.
"Okay then, everyone, let's go."

And off the little procession went, covering the short distance to the nearby Place Saint-André des Arts. Originally, they'd wanted to hold the protest right there in the Place Saint-Michel, but Éponine had demanded they steer well clear of the café so Gavroche wouldn't be tempted to come with them (which clearly hadn't worked out). Also, the new location could hold a lot more participants, which turned out to be necessary. When the Amis arrived, the entire square was already full of people, most of them holding similar posters to the ones they had made. It looked like half their university was here and then some.
"This is a lot more people than I'd thought we were going to get" Combeferre said from where he was walking next to Enjolras.
"I know. But I'm really glad to see such a large turnout."
"Well, I'm glad you're the one giving the speech and not me. I wouldn't be able to get a single word out in front of a crowd this big."

If he was being absolutely honest, Enjolras was a bit nervous himself, but he would never have admitted it. Still, as the Amis pushed their way through the crowd, he really felt the weight of everyone's expectations on his shoulders. He knew he couldn't mess this up. Too much depended on it. Spontaneously, he climbed onto the base of a lamppost, so people would be able to see him better, but at first, no one seemed to care much. It took a piercing whistle from Courf to make the people fall silent and as they did, all eyes turned to Enjolras.

"First of all, thank you, everyone, for coming. I appreciate the fact that you're dedicated enough to stand out here and freeze your noses off" he began. Small ripples of amusement passed through the crowd, and he relaxed slightly. So far, this was going alright.
"I know that on a cold day like today, it seems impossible to think there is such a thing as global warming" he went on. "But the problem is real and it's urgent. Most of you will probably still remember the terrible heat we had last summer."
Murmurs of agreement followed here and there.
"Well, if we let things go on as they are, if we continue treating our Earth carelessly, like its resources are endless, that summer will not be a one-off. It will become a regularity. I know some of you are thinking right now 'So what? It's just a bit of heat.' But that's exactly the point. It's so much more than that. We are talking droughts, crop failures, mass climate migration, the collapse of ecosystems. I won't go into too much detail here because I'm sure you've probably heard all this a million times before and you're starting to get sick of people lecturing you about your lifestyle. I promise that I'm not here today to preach at you or to force you all to become vegan and stop flying or whatever. Though if you want to do that, kudos to you."
"Vegans for the win!" a young woman shouted from somewhere near the back and Enjolras waited for the ensuing laughter to subside before he launched into his closing statement.
"What I am here to do is to urge you to think about what each and every one of you can do to help. You've made a good start by being here today, but don't let it end there. Keep protesting, keep being loud and aware so that we can make others loud and aware, too. Even if it may not seem like it sometimes, you are needed. No one can change the world on their own, but if we all start changing in our small ways, however and whenever we can, the world will inevitably change, too. And that's all I ask of you."