For Once We're At Peace

Chapter 3

Waking up that morning, Esperanza would be lying if she said she felt as if someone was watching her. She had made sure all the doors in her home was locked after her mother had gone to bed, claiming that she just wanted to be sure. She supposed it was a habit she had picked up after Alexander's death when the locks were invented in the early 1800s, around 1805. It made her feel safer, namely because she didn't want her children to get hurt by anyone like they had before.

Shaking the feeling of being watched, the brunette got changed into some leggings and a grey sweater, along with a pair of memory foam sketchers. After putting her hair into a messy bun and doing her teeth, he headed out to Richard Rogers to meet up with the rest of the Hamilcast. All the while, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following and watching her. Was it Aspen? She thought. No, Aspen would make her presence known. I'm probably just paranoid.

In no time at all, she made it to the theatre where Daveed was also just turning up. "Esper! Hey!" he greeted, grinning as the sixteen-year-old ran up to him, side hugging him. "How are you?"

"I'm good," replied the brunette as they headed in, Chris greeting the two of them when they had entered as he had only just entered ten minutes before them. "How are you two?"

"I'm as good as I can be," Chris replied, ruffling up Esperanza's hair much to the girl's chagrin. "Anyway, we've got a big rehearsal today, don't we?" Daveed and Esperanza nodded, following the tall man to where everyone was gathered on the stage.

"There's the lady of the hour!" Lin exclaimed, a massive grin splitting his face in two as a blush crept over the girl's face. A squeal was heard in the midst of the crowd and suddenly someone barrelled into her.

"Esperanza!" exclaimed Sasha, hugging the girl tightly as she chuckled.

"Sasha, hey!" she greeted, a smile on her face as the older girl pulled away. "How are you?"

"I should be asking you that!" Laughed Sasha. "But I'm doing well. How are you readjusting to everything?"

Esper sighed with a smile. "I'm... getting there. It's weird getting into these types of clothes instead of not wearing a corset all day." Sasha chuckled, wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulders, and guiding her to where the others were. "What's the plan for today, Linny?"

"We're going through the biggest songs in the play today," explained Lin, "For example, My Shot and Helpless, as well as Satisfied and Burn. If we get time for it, we might practice Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story. But that's only if we get time." Nodding everyone turned to Andy, waiting for the choreography.

"Alright," he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "We'll start with the ensemble since they have a lot of steps in My Shot." The ensemble nodded as the main cast got off the stage, sitting in the seats. They watched as the ensemble rehearsed My Shot, changing a couple steps here and there. "Good! Really good, now I want you guys to come and join the ensemble." The main cast nodded and moved onto the stage, getting into place, and rehearsing the number. After My Shot, Andy decided he wanted to rehearse Helpless, since Esperanza hadn't rehearsed it before.

After rehearsing Helpless they decided to take a break. Esper was laying on the stage with Renee, Jasmine, and Phillipa, looking up at the ceiling as they talked. "So, what was it like to be in the 1700s?" Renee asked, sitting up slightly.

"Well, it was different," she replied. "You really feared for your life when you fell ill since there were no remedies or medicine back then. But you'd also make a lot of lifelong friends, like Laurens, Mulligan, Lafayette, Burr, and Alexi."

"Would you class Jefferson and Madison as your friends?" asked Phillipa.

"Of course I do," she replied as Lin came over, sitting next to Esperanza and wrapping his arms around her, head resting on her shoulder. "Lin? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said, voice muffled by the girl's jumper. "I want to tell everyone something that I really want to do tomorrow since we have the day off from rehearsals and all that."

"Okay," Esperanza nodded, relaxing into Lin's embrace as fatigue hit her. Lin noticed, shifting so that his legs were either side of his nephew and her head was on his chest.

"Rest, Ranza," he whispered, kissing the top of her head as the girl slowly fell asleep. After the girl had fallen asleep, he turned to the three girls. "I want to go to where Alexander was buried. Maybe we'll get closer to the people if we do that. I mean, Angelica and Eliza are buried there, as is Philip Hamilton and Hercules Mulligan."

"Good idea, but we'll need to keep an eye on Esper's emotional state when we do go," Jasmine pointed out. The others nodded as Lin pulled Esperanza closer, feeling a weird sense of content as he held her sleeping form against his chest. He didn't know why he felt so content, but he wasn't going to deny that it felt nice. After talking to the three ladies for a while, tiredness started to set in as he slowly dozed off, Esperanza curled up with him as they slept. Pippa awed, snapping a picture, and posting it to Twitter with the caption 'After a day full of rehearsals, we all need some rest. @Lin_Manuel @EsperanzaWashidoz'.

The three then got Chris and Daveed to pick the two sleeping figures up, Chris carrying Lin and Daveed carrying Esper, and took them to Lin and Jon's dressing room before setting them down on the couch there. Jasmine gently placed a blanket on top of the duo before they all left the two to sleep.