Feeling Heart to Heart
Mokuba was dressed for bed, but he wasn't ready to go to sleep. He went to the roof and sat down as he looked at the night sky. He had never seen so many stars in the night sky. He thought being out here would relax him, but his thoughts were still troubled by today's events.
Quasimodo came and placed a blanket over the boy's shoulders. "Here, it's pretty cold out here." And he sat down next to him.
Mokuba smiled and pulled the blanket, covering him. "You're very kind," he said softly. It was almost hard to believe that someone so kind and gentle could have been raised by someone so cruel and cross. Then again, maybe it wasn't hard to believe at all. Mokuba remembered the stories Emily told him and Rebecca about her father Robert. He was cruel to her, yet she remained compassionate and understanding. How did she do it? Her answer was that she didn't like the demeanor and decided to be the opposite of what her father was. That was how she taught herself that being kind and gentle was the right way to express oneself to others.
"Are you still upset about earlier?" Quasimodo asked the boy.
"A little," he admitted.
The hunchback twiddled with his fingers, nervous about bringing up the question he wanted to ask. But he cleared his throat. "Mokuba, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."
He gave him his attention and asked, "What is it?"
"Are you an orphan?"
Mokuba was surprised he would wonder about that. "Yeah," he answered. "How'd you guess?"
"Because you mentioned having a brother, but you haven't mentioned having any parents."
That made sense. "Yeah, you're right. They passed away when I was a little kid. So it's always just been me and my brother. We had a stepfather for a while, but only for a brief moment. Not too long after he took us in, he was no longer around. So really, it has just been me and my brother."
"So then you two are really all each other has," Quasimodo said. "I can see why he worries about you so much. And I know you worry about him because you've looked up to him all your life and you love and need him."
Mokuba nodded. "I'm glad you understand." He looks out in the distance. "I always thought he was the only one I could ever depend on because he always looked out for me and protected me. I guess that's what fueled my love and loyalty to him, always wanting to help him any way that I could. I wanted to be someone who could help him instead of just depend on him all the time." He faces his friend and tells him, "Don't get me wrong, I've opened up to others and made friends over time. But I'll never stop being loyal to Seto."
Ah, so that was his brother's name. "How old is your brother, Mokuba?"
"He's grown up," he answers. "About your age, I'd say."
This meant that he had a lot of responsibilities and that things were probably hard for the elder brother as well. "I'm sure your brother must have his own hardships too," the hunchback commented.
Mokuba sighed and nodded.
"But that's why you try to be there for him and help him when he needs it, right?" Quasimodo asked.
"That's right," Mokuba answered. "But I guess with the things between us now, I kind of need to get away from him for a while. And when I'm ready, I'll talk to him." He looks at his friend and scoots over a little closer and smiles. "Thanks for listening and for understanding, Quasi. It helps."
Quasimodo smiled back. "You know, Moki, you're a very understanding person yourself. You knew about my problems and you knew how I was really feeling about them because you were going through the same thing."
Mokuba blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks. I try to be. When I hear someone talk about their problems or if I have an idea of what they're going through, I feel I can relate to them. I guess that's part of my element."
"Your element?" Quasimodo asked in confusion.
Mokuba realized that he had been thinking out loud. "Uh, yeah. I'm talking about being empathetic."
"I don't understand."
Mokuba tried to explain as best as he could. "Well, Quasi, an element is like a virtue. It's your personal quality that sets you apart from everyone else and your strength that you can share with others because you express it better than anyone else does. For example, an element would be something like wisdom or courage or kindness."
Now it was starting to make sense to the hunchback. "Oh, now I see."
"For me, my element is empathy," Mokuba explained. "My brother's is wisdom."
"What about Rebecca?" Quasimodo asked. "What's her element?"
That was when she came and invited herself to join the conversation. "I haven't discovered my element yet." Then she thought out loud. "Maybe that's my personal reason for being on this adventure; to find out what my element is."
Mokuba smiled and told her, "Well, you're a lot of things, Becky. You're honest, clever, cute, perky, smart, spunky, really, your element could be anything."
Quasimodo agreed. His friends were really something special. "What about you, Moki? What do you think your purpose is here? I mean, I know you told me it was to get away from the stress you were facing at home with your brother, but is there something else?"
That was when Mokuba knew he had to tell him. He was also glad Rebecca was here too because he wanted her to hear this. "Actually, there is," he began. "After my fight with Seto, I made a wish as I looked out my window. I thought to myself how I wished I had a friend who understood what I was going through." He faces Quasimodo directly and tells him, "And now that I've met you, Quasi, I think my wish came true. We learned of each other's problems and knew that we were feeling the same feelings; the complex feelings of our loyalties to our guardians and how we were feeling trapped."
The hunchback smiled broadly. "It's funny you should say that, Mokuba, because the night before you and Becca came to the tower, I made the same wish. I wished for a friend who would understand me and knew what I was going through. And now that you two are here and after all we've shared about each other, I also think my wish was granted."
Rebecca gave a small laugh. "That must be why Moki and I were brought to this world. Because of the wish you guys made. It was so we could learn about each other and become friends with each other."
Her friends agreed, but also wondered if there was more to it than that. Well, whatever the reason, the three friends were glad that they all met and became friends. And they all really did understand one another.
Then Quasimodo began singing. Follow me home if you dare to
I wouldn't know where to lead you
Should I take chances when no one took chances on me?
So I watch from the dark
Waiting for my life to start
With no beauty in my memory
Mokuba and Rebecca listened, fascinated by the beautiful sound of his voice.
All that I wanted was to be wanted
Too different to wander Parisian streets alone and haunted
Born into nothing, at least you have something
Something to cling to
Visions of beautiful worlds I'll never get let into
And the memories were lost long ago
But at least you have wonderful friends
Mokuba took his turn and sang, And so maybe my home isn't what I had known
What I thought it would be
But I feel so free and alive with you here by my side
And I know that this life isn't safe
But it's wild and it's free
Rebecca knew he was talking about the dangers of being here, but she knew he felt free and happy here because she did too. That's when she began singing as well.
All that we wanted was to be wanted
And we'll never wander these Parisian streets alone and haunted
Born into nothing. With you, we have something
Something to cling to
We never knew we'd love this world you've let us into
And the memories were lost long ago
But now we have such wonderful friends
Together, they all sang, The memories were lost long ago
But now we've become such wonderful friends
And they all began embracing each other. Mokuba released his grip and asked, "Quasi, did anyone ever tell you that you have an amazing voice?"
"What?" he asked.
Rebecca agreed. "You may not realize it, but you sing like an angel."
"Oh, come off it."
"We're serious," Mokuba told him. "You have a magnificent singing voice."
"Anyone who could listen to you sing would tell you so," said the blonde. "I also bet girls would fall in love with you for your voice."
Quasimodo gave a soft chuckle. "I wouldn't say that."
Rebecca continued to tease him. "Listen to him, he's so modest," he told her boyfriend, and they began laughing.
