A/N: Once again, another short-ish chapter. But everything is somewhat resolved in this one, so it's ok, right?

Almost forgot! A loud shout out to sheep1215 and whiteflower122 for their reviews! It's always a pleasure.

Anyways, I put the Archdeacon into this chapter, and I'm not sure if I got his character right either. I wanted him to be an ally for Thomas, but I'm not sure if I did it quite right. Oh well, leave a review and let me know how I did! :)

Chapter Four

One month later

"Tommy?" whispered Lucie. "Are you awake?" The children were at home, in their beds, and were supposed to be asleep. However, Lucie was having trouble. She was really worried about Quasi, even though it had been over a month since she last saw him. Unknown to her was that Thomas was thinking the same thing. He felt incredibly guilty about the whole matter, and was still angry, mostly at himself, for not standing up for Quasimodo against the Judge.

"No," he whispered back. "What's the matter?"

"When can we visit Quasi again?" she asked. Thomas smiled to himself, then frowned. What if they got caught?

"I don't know, my petit oiseau," he said.

"Can we go tomorrow?"

Thomas lay there in silence, looking up at the slanted roof in the attic room that he and Lucie shared. He didn't want to get caught by Frollo again, but he felt terribly guilty about leaving Quasi alone without him knowing what had happened to them. Who knows what Frollo told him about why they had left? For all he knew, he might have said that they had wanted to leave.

"No," he said. "I mean, you shouldn't go. What if Frollo catches us again?"

"But Quasi probably misses us!" protested Lucie, sitting up in bed.

"Shh!" Thomas glanced at the trapdoor, but there was no sound coming from below. "Look, Lucie, I-I think I should go alone and talk to Quasi, alright? Then you and Maman and Papa won't get in trouble, only I will." Lucie seemed satisfied with that answer; Thomas could hear her settling back into her bed sheets.

"And if you don't get caught, then can I go with you?"

Thomas smiled in the dark. "Of course my petit oiseau."

At least, he hoped so.

!i!i!

Thomas felt terrified just walking into Notre Dame, although he was too proud to ever admit it. He half expected Frollo to jump out from some random corner and lock him away, and was glad he didn't bring his petit oiseau with him.

"He is not here, child," spoke a kindly voice from behind him. Thomas whirled around and found himself face to face with the archdeacon, whom he had never really spoken to but knew was well-known for his kindness.

"Excuse me, sir?" asked Thomas.

"Judge Frollo," answered the archdeacon. "He had important business to attend to today, and was not able to come."

"H-how did you…?" stammered Thomas. The archdeacon smiled.

"I've seen you and your sister come to the church to visit the bell tower," he answered simply, careful in his choice of words. "Although not as much recently; am I correct in assuming that Frollo discovered you?"

"Yes sir," murmured Thomas. The archdeacon frowned.

"I thought as much," he murmured. Then he smiled at Thomas again. "You may go up to the bell tower, I'm sure that your friend has been missing you."

Thomas grinned as he scampered off towards the stairs. "Thank you, sir!"

!i!i!

Quasimodo sat at his table, lost in thought. His chores finished, he had nothing that he really wanted to do save work on his carvings, and he hadn't felt like doing that for some time now. Not since Thomas and Lucie had left.

When Frollo had told him that Thomas and Lucie were only visiting him to make fun of him, he didn't believe it. 'Thomas and Lucie are my friends!' he protested, the first time he had done so since he was very little. 'They would never-'

'They are children of the outside world,' Frollo explained coldly. 'All they know is hate and fear and mockery; they are evil children and will never understand you. And you thought they were your friends? I am your only friend Quasimodo, never forget that.'

In the end, Quasi had given in. 'Yes master.'

Quasimodo had never felt more alone. Thomas and Lucie never came back, even though Lucie had promised that they would always come back. He supposed he should have expected it. No one in their right mind would want to be friends with him, deformed as he was. Perhaps they were only there to make fun of him-

"Quasi?" a voice called. "Are you up there?"

Quasimodo looked up from his worktable. "Thomas?" he asked. "Is that you?"

Thomas heard Quasi's voice from up on his loft and quickly clamored up to see his friend. He was once again struck with Quasi's frightful appearance after not seeing it for nearly a month, but he was able to quickly stifle the initial shock.

"Yeah, it's me," said Thomas, slightly panting from his long climb up to the bell tower.

"W-what are you doing here?"

Thomas took a deep breath. "I-I came to apologize. For not coming sooner. I was…scared."

Quasimodo looked at Thomas suspiciously. "Scared of what?"

"Frollo," replied Thomas. "He threatened to lock me and Lucie in the Palace of Justice if we ever came here again! That's why she's not here." Thomas sighed. "I didn't want her to get in trouble if…if I got caught."

Quasimodo was silent, thinking about this new development. Had Frollo lied to him about the children? No, Frollo would never lie to him, he had never lied before. Perhaps he had just misjudged the children, and that's why he had told him all those things.

"Will you forgive us, Quasi?" asked Thomas, breaking Quasi's train of thought. "Lucie really misses you, if that makes you feel any better. You're all she can talk about, and it confuses my Maman to no end."

"Why?" asked Quasimodo.

"Oh," said Thomas. "Well, er, she doesn't know we come to visit you. We didn't want to get you in trouble, or anything." He shrugged. "Guess that's out the window now, with us being caught and all." Thomas was suddenly struck with a frightening thought. "Quasi, Frollo didn't hurt you or anything because of us, did he?"

Quasimodo quickly shook his head. "Oh no! He was angry of course, but he would never actually hurt me."

Thomas looked relieved. "Good." He held out his hand, just like that first day when the two boys had met. "So, do you accept my apology? I promise that I'll try to never leave you alone like that again."

Quasi looked at the boys' out-stretched hand. He wasn't sure if he trusted Thomas to actually keep that promise, but he knew in his heart that the apology was sincere. So he took his hand, and they shook on it, both of them hoping to never have to do this type of thing again.