Kids of Bohemia

A/N: This story has been in my head for a long time. It's based on the movie-verse, and there's a chapter about each of them. The last chapter is about when they meet. The chapters are in no particular order. All the kids are 5.

Chapter 1: Angel: Dress – Up

Angelo Dumott – Schunard had always been…well…different. He was only five years old, and already, everyone had noticed. The things he liked to do were different than what all the other boys in Mrs. Watson's kindergarten class liked to do. While the other boys enjoyed playing sports, Angelo liked to play with dolls. While the other boys liked to play cops and robbers, Angelo tried on dresses and pretended he was a princess. Normally, he didn't notice he wasn't like other boys. Most people were used to it. But sometimes, it made his daddy really angry.

Mr. Schunard spent most of his time at work. When he was home, he often had a very short temper. He would often yell at his wife and daughter, but most often, he would yell at Angelo. He ignored the fact that Angelo was small, frightened, and only five years old. Angelo didn't fit his idea of a normal son, and he made sure everyone knew it. It was during one of his dad's rare good moods that Angelo made a mistake.

Angelo was very excited. He had a wonderful day today in kindergarten. Normally, he would tell his mom or his sister Lucille all about it. Today, he couldn't do that because both of them weren't home. His dad seemed happy enough, so Angelo decided that it might be okay to tell him. He knew that his dad wanted a "normal" son. However, Angelo often didn't realize the things he did that weren't considered normal.

"Hey daddy…" Angelo said softly. He looked down at his feet as he spoke. Mr. Schunard looked up from the paper he was reading. "Today, at school was so fun. I was playing with Billy and Joe today at recess. They're the most coolest boys ever! They're much nicerer than the other boys. Then since they both gots nicknames, they maded one for me too. Now they call me Angel."

Angelo stopped talking. He couldn't help but let the excitement creep into his voice. Two boys in his class actually wanted to play with him! They liked him enough to give him his very own nickname. The name Angel seemed to just work for him. His father was eerily silent for a moment. That was just the calm before the storm.

" That's a girls' name", his father remarked. His tone was very cold. Angelo couldn't look his father in the eye. He could only look at his feet. He hated when his father talked to him like that. It was sort of scary. "No son of mine is going to be called by a girl name. You're enough of a freak already! You hear me?!?" Mr. Schunard was yelling loudly now.

Angelo knew there was only one acceptable answer to this question. "Yes sir", Angelo answered, his voice shaking slightly. His father mumbled something inaudible gruffly, and returned to his newspaper. However, Angelo could tell that his father still wasn't happy. He ran up the stairs and into the bedroom. Just in case, he closed the door.

His mother and his 13 year old sister Lucille came home shortly after. Angelo felt much happier and much safer now that they were there. They ate a quick delicious dinner, and then Angelo got some wonderful news. His mommy and daddy were going to go out on a date after dinner. As usual, he would be babysat by his older sister Lucille. He loved staying with Lucille. When she was in charge, he got to do things he didn't normally get to do.

His sister didn't actually pay attention to him. She didn't really like babysitting. That's why Angelo got to do whatever he wanted. She spent most of the time on the phone or watching TV, just like other girls her age. When he was absolutely sure his sister was occupied, he snuck into his parents' room. Normally, the rule was that he wasn't aloud in his parents' room. Today, things were different.

Quietly, he tiptoed inside the room, and softly closed the door. He was very afraid of getting caught. That's why it took him so long to walk in. He was listening to hear if Lucille had noticed him. It took him a while to find something interesting in the room. Finally, he found what he wanted. He saw his mother's makeup box. He had always wanted to play with it, but it was high up on a dresser. This was his treasure, one thing he always dreamed of getting his hands on. Only when his parents were out did he risk touching it.

Carefully, he took the lipstick, eyeliner, blush and mascara out of the beautiful box. Then, very slowly, and with precision only practice could bring, he applied the make-up. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the lipstick in a straight line, nor could he put on the mascara correctly. It didn't matter that to someone else the makeup might look a little weird. In Angelo's mind, it was perfect. For once, he felt beautiful.

Angelo did a little twirl around while looking in the mirror. He had a lot of fun putting on makeup. It was fun to pretend things like this. Still, he felt that something was missing from his look. For a few minutes, he went in his mother's closet and riffled through her clothes. There were so many beautiful things to chose from. They were all really big of course, but that didn't matter. Finally, he chose a bright pink tank top, and a black skirt.

He paused, but when he heard no sound, he put on the clothes. The clothes were enourmous on him, but somehow, they felt right. They were much better than the clothes he normally wore. He especially liked the colour of the shirt. Pink was such a pretty colour. He didn't understand why his daddy always said that boys weren't aloud to wear pink. He hated boy things and girl things. They were all wrong and stupid in his opinion.

Angelo had just decided that Angel was a much prettier name. Maybe one day it would stop being a nickname, and he could use it forever. He studied himself in the mirror for a long time. He looked really pretty. Even the mean people would have to admit that. These clothes were the kind he wished to wear every day, although he would never tell that to his father. Angel just seemed to like more of the things that were for girls. It wasn't his fault, and he couldn't help it.

It was while wearing his mother's clothing and makeup that the young boy now called Angel first appreciated how truly different he was. Sometimes, it wasn't very fun being different. The cruelty of other people had already taught him that. That's why it was special on the rare occasions when he got to dress up like this. It felt much more normal to him than anything had every felt. The things that the other boys did are what felt weird.

For him, wearing makeup and girls clothes felt normal. It made him feel happy. He wished he could feel like this all the time. No one, especially his daddy, would ever understand. When he tried to be like everyone else, it felt like he was lying. His normal clothes felt like playing dress-up. In that moment, five year old Angel had decided that when eh grew up, he would be himself.

Angel was letting his imagination run away with him. That's what his kindergarten teacher told him he did all the time. Sometime, imagining was better than real life. He was imagining what it would be like if her were a girl. He knew it was impossible, but it was fun imagining. It would be fun, and he wouldn't be different anymore.

Girls tended to like to do the same kinds of things that he did. At recess, only girls liked to play with him. His favourite toys were things that girls liked to play with, like Lucille's old Barbie's. It wouldn't actually be that hard to be a girl. When he grew up, he could just dress up like this all the time. That way he would always be happy. Things would always feel right.

Dressing up in mommy's clothes and wearing her makeup did one other thing. It made him feel normal. He never felt normal before. Everything in his world suddenly made sense. A lot of days ago, he wasn't sure how many, his teacher talked about this thing called careers. He didn't remember a lot of things, but he did remember when she talked about that weird word. She explained that it was just jobs that grown up people. At that time, Angel couldn't of one he'd like to do. Now he had the perfect idea.

"When I'm growned up, I'm going to help people like me", he said to his reflection in the mirror. He was determined to do it. He didn't want people to feel abnormal like he did. It seemed silly that he was the only one who was different. He always learned in kindergarten that everyone was different. "I'm going to understand that they could be themselves", he continued. For, although Angel was young, he understood that he had to be himself. This idea made him happy because it didn't seem to be so hard. Everyone should be able to be the way they were.

This idea made Angel feel a lot less like a weirdo, which is what his daddy sometimes called him when he thought Angel couldn't hear. Angel's makeup wasn't near perfect, and his clothes didn't fit, but he didn't really care. This game of dress up was more real than anything else had ever been. No matter what anyone else would think, at that moment, he felt like an angel.

I'll update in about a week if I get a lot of reviews. The next chapter focuses on Maureen. Please read and review!