Brief author's note: There is limited involvement with the HBOND characters, aside from Clopin. I'm a huge Clopin Trouillefu fan, so he's really one of the only characters mentioned aside from a few brief encounters with other ones. I also want to put it out there that there is LIMITED romantic involvement of Clopin and my OC's. I didn't want to disappoint anyone who expected a ff with a heavy romance involved.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original lyrics, lines or characters in Disney's "Hunchback of Notre Dame" or Victor Hugo's novel of the same name, and I do not claim them as my creative property. I do, however, own the creative rights to the characters I made up (Anna Maria, Antonio, Georgio, Bull, Genevieve and minor characters of mine) so please do not steal them.

Chapter 1

Soul of the City

Anna Maria opened her eyes to the blinding sun greeting her after an uncomfortable nights' sleep. As bad as the headaches felt waking up this way, she was used to it by now. The sour after taste of wine scorched her tongue and acid burned in her belly. The sudden need of something to eat gnawed at her, but the need to vomit troubled her more. She went to pull herself up, and almost stumbled off of Genevieve's back. She heard her brothers laughing as she squinted forward.

"Rough night, Princess?" Antonio, her oldest brother, laughed. Technically, Antonio was her only blood brother in their group of four. He pulled the reins of Genevieve, their white horse, with his long, tan, muscular arms. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and dark goatee. "Remember the next time you wake up, horses move."

"Well I wouldn't have almost fallen if I wasn't placed on a horse in the first place," she said rubbing her eyes and her stomach.

"You probably would have awoken in time," said Bull, through crooked teeth "if you didn't drink yourself to sleep last night. All of our wine…gone." He scoffed. He took his hat off of his bald head and, also, wiped the sweat from it. He reached into the pocket of his bagging trousers and threw half a baguette her way. She caught it, and bit into it eagerly.

"I didn't know we were on a schedule," She said smartly.

"The plan was to get to Paris by night fall…tonight's night fall," Antonio said angrily "but I wouldn't expect your drunken ass to remember that."

"I scored you double what you expected last night, didn't I?" she teased. "I'm entitled to a celebration."

"A celebration like yours is worth quadruple." Bull laughed, tucking his tunic back over his large belly. "Who'd you screw to get that much, anyway?"

"You know that's not how I earn my share," she teased dusting crumbs off of her dress, "even if it IS how you earn yours." Antonio laughed loudly as he tugged Genevieve's rope further. "How much farther, anyway?"

"If we keep on at the pace we are going we could be in Paris by evening." Georgio said examining a large map. "But we are expecting to have to stop, of course so you can puke and handle whatever else you'll need to handle today, Princess." He said adjusting the black gloves he wore on his stubby hands.

"Stop treating me like a child, I do my fair share of work around here." she said fluffing her hair out.

"Except for walking," Antonio scoffed.

"I'm the lady," she said playfully crossing her arms. "And if you were all gentlemen you'd be happy to take me to Paris without walking." She felt a kick in her back and she fell off the horse and onto the ground.

"We're FAR from gentlemen!" Bull laughed as they all took a minute to chuckle at her surprise. Antonio offered his sister a hand.

"Figured I'd help you beat the hangover," he giggled. Anna Maria slapped him on his face and got back on the horse. As cute as her brother's tricks were years ago, she was going on 22 years old and ready to be away from their little band of miscreants. She knew, however, she wouldn't last a week without their help and muscle…at least not until they arrived in Paris. According to rumors, the death of their recent minister and man in charge left laws in the city slack for the past few weeks. Freedom and equality among peasants and all walks of life was spreading for the time being, and a place like that could mean something big for a girl like her.

The thoughts of wanting to leave her brothers always racked her with guilt, but the sting of being laughed at after she was kicked off of the horse was getting in the way of her conscience. She also knew deep down inside how much her brother cared about her, and all the things he'd done to keep her safe. He loved her too much, in fact, and was very hell bent on them sticking together. With their past, it was only fair he felt this way, too. Anna Maria positioned herself comfortably on the horse's back.

"Genevieve," she sighed "the only one around here who really gets me."

"Because she's a woman, too." Laughed Antonio, and the other two echoed his laughter.

As the sun set, Georgio's estimation was correct. Not only had they arrived to Paris by afternoon, but they could hear the famous bells of the cathedral of Notre Dame ringing for the evening mass. The city was just as Anna Maria had expected it to be; full of beggars, peasants, street performers and taverns. The religious figures scattered about gave her an uneasy feeling, but who was she that they'd concern themselves with her? She had finally come to find the city she'd long awaited to see.

"What a dump," Antonio said peering through the crowded streets. "But it's almost a guarantee no one here will recognize us."

"No one here looks on the…wiser side," Bull said as three tan, dirty men were kicked by their behinds out of a bustling tavern.

"We should blend right in," Anna Maria smiled. "Where to go from here, though?" she asked.

"Beats me," Antonio shrugged as Anna Maria jumped off Genevieve. "There's gotta be somewhere we can afford."

"After what I got us last night," Anna Maria said pulling an apple sneakily off of a closing market cart, "we could dine with kings." She slid the apple into the black shawl tied around her waist.

To the group's dismay, a lot of the small inns were full. It turned out to be the day before "one of the biggest festivals of the year," as so many inn keepers told them, and they were "crazy to think there'd be space left at this hour." Eventually, they found a small, shithole barn house with a small family inn next to it. For a fair price, they could be boxed in together next to the horse stables. The room did, however, overlook a promising view of the city's lake of sewage.

"Real nice idea coming here this time of the year," Antonio pushed his sister into the room. She stumbled toward the bed and kicked him.

"How was I supposed to know?" she dusted herself off. "Besides, the bigger the festival, the bigger the change that falls out of the pockets of the unprepared and unaware." She took a pillow up from the bed and made herself comfortable.

"And what makes you think you're getting the bed?" Antonio smirked, jumping onto the bed and bouncing her off the other side.

"I got us the money to travel here, AND the money to stay here. That's what!"

"Yea you got us a smelly room next to pooping animals and the city's sewer," Bull picked her up easily and set her on the floor. He threw a pillow and blanket over top of her.

"You're lucky we don't make you sleep outside." Antonio yawned settling himself into bed.

Anna Maria looked outside the window by her spot on the floor. She could see, past the sewage lake, brightly colored tents and ribbons lining the square of the town in the moonlight. Right past them was the famously large Cathedral of Notre Dame. The bells pealed through the night. The knells of the chiming bells glistened against the starry sky.

She looked up at the moon, the same moon that looked over them every night they traveled from city to city. It was the same moon she'd see the day they decided to leave Paris. Something pinched her heart differently, though, tonight. As she lay back and placed her head against her pillow and stroked the dark hair on her own head, she wondered if this familiar sight of the moon would possibly stay with her for a longer time in this promising city.