AVENIR

Chapter 3: Rewrite Your Own Ending

A/N: Shoutout to @fanfics-and-fandoms and @New-Identity for their continuous, amazing support!  I feel loved and you inspire me to keep writing!  This one's for you!  May the fandom never die.   <3

Get ready for some cuteness :)  You've been warned :)

~Vive La France!~

I began to open the book to show to Enjolras. It was time.

"You see, this book means a lot to me – and it's going to sound very hard to believe, but you asked how I know your name, and –" I stopped. The pages were all still there, in the book, but they were completely blank. "What...?" I flipped through, trying to find something...anything. Not a single page had been written. "No...hang on a second...Enjolras, can I ask you two important questions? The first is your age and the second is what year is it right now?"

Enjolras made sure he paused before he answered. I could tell he was still trying to figure out whether he could trust me or not. "I'm nine years old, and the year is 1815...but what does that have to do with the book?"

"Enjolras, that's exactly why!" I gasped in realization. "This book...it hasn't been written yet. But this book is the only evidence I have –" what to say next? The only evidence to show that he existed? I had much more than a few pages in a book to prove that now. And who was to say that his fate was so grim anymore? Victor Hugo published Les Misérables in 1862, and so now in 1815, he would only be thirteen years old. There was no way any page of the book had even been thought up of yet, never mind the fact that it couldn't possibly have been written. It made so much more sense. Enjolras had no fate at the present moment, which meant there was still time. I could save him.

He interrupted my thoughts. "Avenir. May I see this for a minute, please?" Enjolras asked, reaching for the book. The moment his hands made contact with the pages, his eyes slammed shut. "Wait a minute," he murmured. Eyes still closed, his fingers fluttered to the pages, and flipped to the very last page. He opened his eyes, and looked down. A ghost of a smile flashed across his face. "Look here..."

I moved to sit down right next to him, and there I saw it: a message written in a handwriting I didn't recognize, which read:     

Enjolras looked up at me, all kidding aside. His icy blue eyes pierced my soul. "Avenir...what does this all mean? Why are you here?"

"I come from the future," I repeated honestly. "And I know you in the future...rather, I have heard of you. Everyone knows your name in the future, Enjolras."

He appeared to be in shock. "And the country...?" he whispered back, for he selflessly wished to know the status of his beloved Patria.

"Enjolras, it's true...all I have known is a world of hate, and of anger. All I have known is our leaders fighting. I had all but given up hope. But then I thought of you, Enjolras, and who you became. You are fictional where I come from; no one believes you to be real. But you inspired me enough that I was seemingly led to you. I found an ancient, sacred place yet untouched by the tyrants in our world. Your spirit was there, Enjolras. I felt your presence. That is what you will mean to the people. Have you foreseen this?"

The little Apollo spoke my name. "Avenir, yes, I have foreseen this. No one here understands; no one is seeing what I am seeing. I have seen a man rise up in our government who kicks dirt onto little girls' faces, and sends boys into hard labor to afford food for their families. I am rich; I cannot do a single thing, and it pains me so. I want all people to have all of the same rights that I do. I want little boys and girls all across France to have a mother and a father who look proudly unto their youth and say, 'Mon Dieu! How my children have grown!' I want every child to have fresh food each night, and a warm bed to sleep in. I want their parents to have money, and I want them to earn that money doing something that they love. I want so many things that might never happen! I want...liberty, and peace, and joy! I want to be happy! I cannot be happy when the people are so miserable!" I watched as a single tear formed in the corner of his eye. He saw me watching, and it was gone faster than you could say barricade.

The young warrior had given his first monologue out of many. I reached over to give him a hug, but one glare was enough to turn me away. I knew whatever I said next would mean something to the boy. "Enjolras, you have to keep going. You have to keep trying, and never give up. And I will be with you-"

I was about to say "in spirit," but he cut me off... "You will?" And he looked up at me with those eyes, those eyes...

Deep in thought, I touched the halves of the artifact again, which was still lying at Enjolras's feet.

I placed them in my hands, and showed them once again to Enjolras. "This is what brought me here. Remember, I found your letter in the sacred place where you were venerated."

"What does venerated mean?" asked Enjolras innocently. I kept forgetting he was but six years old! I moved even closer to him.

"It means you were remembered. You have to do what you think is right. Here, hold out your hand." He gazed up at me sharply, then complied. I placed the top half of the E in his hand. "Keep this with you, always, Enjolras." I held up my half, the bottom half of the E. "If we ever get separated, this will always connect us. Then, when I come to help you in the future, this is how you will know it is me. I will join you, and we will be together to fight injustice through peace. Which brings me to my next point. Enjolras, you must always work through peace..." For I was thinking of what my brother had once told me, and I began repeating the words he had told me on that one night long, long ago: "Never kill. Always fight for peace," I recited from memory. "For if ever you kill another, someday, you will be killed as well. On this Earth and beyond, we are all brothers and sisters, all connected. Nothing benefits from killing another. Only harm will come to those who harm." My brother's exact words. "However, if you do not fight to initiate violence and your blood is still shed..."

"...Then others will rise to take my place until France is free."

Well, he was halfway there!

"Yes, yes Enjolras. You will be brilliant. You are brilliant. The people will love you. And you will help make the entire world a happy place full of love and joy."

Enjolras smiled. Small and subtle, but a smile nonetheless. He rubbed his half of the E. It instantly lost its bronze tinge, and now, it sparkled and shined like gold. His smile widened. "Thank you. Thank you for giving me hope again." I reached my arms around him. He let me pull his small but fierce body in close to hug him. And then he turned and hugged me back. It was a hug of friendship, and of understanding. I was a person who understood his struggle, and he in return did not doubt where I came from. He was the first person to believe that I came from the future, and he was a child. "What do we do now, Avenir?" he said, looking up innocently but still not letting go of me.

I grinned. "Ever heard of a certain General Lamarque? Ever heard him speak?"

He grinned a very un-Enjolras-like grin. "You don't mean...?"

"Yup. We're going to Paris."