Hello again! I decided to finally get this fic up and running- I won't say much, I hope you enjoy it. Please R&R, it lets me know you want me to continue it. :o)

Disclaimer: I don't own HoND or any of its characters, places, etc.

One more note: As most fics do, I'm disregarding whatever happened in the second movie (I don't like/watch most Disney sequels), and I'm coming from a movie point of view...so please don't shoot me if Clopin is really an only child.

Chapter 1

"Bonjour, monsieurs and mademoiselles!" A playful light danced in the eyes of Clopin Trouillefou as they surveyed his newest batch of customers. "And what tale should I spin for you this fine evening? One of….romance?" A small peasant offered a tiny flower to his swooning lady. The sophisticated audience voiced their dissent, except for a few of its more starry-eyed female members. "Well then, one of comedy?" A jester holding a board hit a poor dunce over the head; the children laughed. "Or maybe of adventure and daring deeds by brave Frenchmen?" An armor-clad knight rode across the vast expanse of space on his white steed. One voice piped at the back of the small crowd. "The hunchback! The hunchback story!" The rest of the children took up the call, and Clopin laughed good-naturedly. "All right, all right, my friends! The heroic story of Quasimodo it is!" With that, he quickly pulled out the right props and puppets and jumped into his last show of the day.

Before long, one child was pulled away by a sharp-faced woman, who sent a dirty look Clopin's way before marching the whining youth across the square. He saw the glare but ignored it, moving onto the next character's line exuberantly even as he sighed in himself. Though their precious city was saved by gypsies, they still think we're trying to corrupt their children. He glanced at the bell tower fleetingly as he ducked down to change puppets, his thoughts resting for a moment on the man ringing those bells.

It had only been a few weeks since the whole affair involving Quasimodo, with his rather showy rescue of Esmerelda that involved raining debris down on Frollo's soldiers and dousing the city square with molten metal. Clopin had to say he had been impressed, and felt more than a little guilty about nearly hanging the hunchback. However, he hated to have to include the capture of the Court of Miracles in the list of things that had happened those two eventful days. He had never been more embarrassed than by losing his own court, even for a mere 24 hours, to that sneering, pompous, now thankfully quite dead minister of justice.

For a time following the incident, gypsies were treated slightly better by the common Parisians. Even if that only meant not whispering, "Gypsies are devils/demons/evil" to their children every time they passed. Unfortunately, their good graces didn't last long. A single occurrence, even one as gigantic as that, couldn't redeem the gypsies from lifetimes of persecution, and life for his people had returned to its normal reviled state. As demonstrated by the sharp self-appointed queen now dragging her reluctant prince from the butcher shop to the vegetable cart. It was also still very dangerous to be a gypsy; soldiers were tired of "playing nice" at the request of the Church (which was now semi-in charge until a new minister of justice was found) and had resumed finding something worthy of arrest with what every gypsy was doing. The children of Paris, however, seemed to thrive on what their parents tried to forget, and constantly demanded from Clopin the story of the hunchback, which he had turned into a puppet show soon after the Court of Miracles was reinstated.

Quasimodo had achieved a high status in both the minds of the Parisians and the subjects of the Court. Clopin had especially appreciated the rescue of Esmerelda, considering she was his best dancer and brought in quite a profit at festival time…not to mention the fact that they were on considerably friendly terms and he liked her well enough. Clopin's little sister Elena had been thrilled; the two young women were both wonderful dancers and great friends. Of course, Esmerelda had to make the cheerful announcement that she was going off to marry the ex-captain, but she was at least gracious enough to help with moving back into the court. She had brought Pheobus with her, which had led to an amusing day for Clopin.

He was standing "supervising" the erection of his friend Rumen's tent when he noticed Pheobus watching him.

"Well," said Pheobus expectantly after a few minutes of being blatantly ignored. "Isn't there something you want to say?"

"You should move unless you want to get hit with a tent peg," said Clopin matter-of-factly as he caught a rope thrown to him. Pheobus raised his eyebrows after backing up a few steps. "That's not quite the answer I had in mind. I was actually looking for an apology."

"For what?"

"For what!" said Pheobus incredulously. "You would have hanged me if Esmerelda hadn't shown up when she did."

Clopin toyed with the rope in his hands as he waited for the tent to be in the right position for him to fasten his end. "Yes, I probably would have. And why not?" He flashed a grin at the glaring ex-soldier. "If you aren't a gypsy, entering the legendary Court of Miracles is usually a death wish." He lazily swung the rope, now fashioned into a skillfully tied noose, in a small circle. "Surely our dearly departed minister informed you of that possibility at some point before your…change of loyalties." He barely held back a laugh as he caught Pheobus' eyes darting constantly to the rope.

He suddenly tossed the rope towards the man, who ducked instinctively. Esmerelda caught it from where she was now standing next to her fiancé. "Thanks, Clopin. Your sister wants you to help her with something, I suggest you head that way." She bent over to fasten the rope, throwing the gypsy king a warning look in the process. He responded with a slight shrug and a wink as he moved off. It was quite satisfying to hear Esmerelda's badly concealed chuckle, followed by Pheobus' incensed murmur of, "How can you find that maniac funny!"

Her fond reply reached Clopin before he was out of earshot. "Because he is. Now help me tie this down before it falls over."

I'm going to miss her. He smiled sadly and popped back up, to the delight of his audience. They laughed and crowded closer to the cart.

Out of the corner of his eye, Clopin caught movement accompanied by a glint of silver in the shadows of a nearby building. He discerned a tiny figure in that split second, and shifted his position slightly so that he could pass his gaze over the spot again. When he did, he saw a small girl clutching the post of the building, gazing intently at him with wide eyes. She was unmistakably a gypsy child wearing a simple blouse and a skirt with a dark patterned scarf tied over the front. Her long black hair framed a rather thin face full of youthful curiosity. She's very young, too young to be walking around this city alone, thought Clopin. He was forced to turn his full attention back to his audience again, and when he could look towards the building again a moment later, she had disappeared.

Hm. She's a quick one. If I see her with her parents tonight, I'll have to tell them to keep a closer watch on her.

His show was soon over, and the children skipped away happily as Clopin stored his puppets in a wooden box under the cart ledge. He stood back up, taking off the magenta mask he wore and rubbing his eyes. I'm always glad to remove this nuisance, he thought irritably. Suddenly, his hat was pulled swiftly off of his head.

He whirled around with a particularly colorful remark ready to throw at the thief, and came face to face with a grinning young gypsy beauty.

"Now, now, Clopin, no need to look so angry with me." He rolled his eyes as the girl placed his hat delicately on her head. " This looks better on me than you, anyway." She struck a pose and winked at him, her bright blue eyes glimmering in the dying sunlight.

Clopin kept a straight face as he held out his hand. "Hand it over, Elena."

She pouted and gave it back to him, and he turned it over a few times in his hands before returning it to its proper place. He had been through a lot with this hat; he didn't like parting with it.

Elena smiled and leaned against the ledge, casting a glance at the small pile of gold coins her brother was now counting. "Made a good amount today, I see."

Clopin grinned and flipped a coin high into the air. Elena caught it with a laugh as Clopin rested his elbows on the ledge. "Of course, my dear. The children of this city are generous patrons of our noble people. And how did the new dance go over with the kind Parisian masses?"

She reached down to her belt and shook a small but well-stuffed pouch; it jingled in a promising manner. "Apparently quite well, then," he said. She nodded, pushing a few strands of ebony hair from her face as she put the coin back on the pile. He ducked down, grabbed the small bag he carried with him to and from his cart, then vaulted over the ledge. He landed lightly next to his sister before turning around and sweeping the coins into the bag. "Your acrobatics remind me," she said thoughtfully. "Rumen came by today. He said to have you find him once we get back- he has something he wants to tell you."

"Ah, will do. If he stays on the ground long enough to tell me."

"You should talk, as you spend half of your own time leaping about," she said with a smile. Clopin secretly reveled in it; I'm lucky to have such a beautiful sister, he thought fondly. She sighed and glanced around. "Let's get out of here, the soldiers are making the rounds earlier than usual today."

He mock-bowed and offered her his arm. "Shall we, mademoiselle?"

"With pleasure," she said, taking it, and they set off down the rapidly emptying street.