This Side of Paradise

Mokuba and Rebecca watched from the south tower as they saw the minister making his leave and treading back into the cathedral. Afterwards, Mokuba began looking down from the balcony, making sure Frollo really would be leaving this time. A few minutes passed until he finally saw the minister leave the cathedral and step into his carriage. After what happened, Mokuba knew that he and his girlfriend couldn't be too careful. Yes, the children listened to the conversation between the two and they were not happy with what they were hearing. Rebecca was tempted to go back and give Frollo a piece of her mind, but thought twice. Even Mokuba felt the urge to stand up to the minister, but still felt like a coward.

Seeing her boyfriend look so worried and afraid, Rebecca knew she had to help him. She was just as worried and afraid as he was, but she felt that everyone needed to forget their worries for a while. Finally, she said, "Moki, let's get out of here."

"What?" he asked, facing her.

"Let's do what we planned and go to the Secret Garden. That'll get that jerk off our minds."

Mokuba knew his girlfriend was trying to help. He managed to smile a little. "You're right. Going back and seeing our friends again just might help out. But what about Quasimodo?"

"I'm still coming along with you two," he said, coming out of the tower.

Their smiles brightened up. "Really?" Mokuba asked. "After what just happened, you still want to come?"

He did. "You two were right. I can't live in fear of the unknown forever. I want to take this chance. And I guess I need to get away for a little bit like you did, Moki."

The raven-haired lad smiled even more. "Okay, but first," then he ran back to the tower and came back with a hooded cloak. "Here, you can use this to disguise yourself. That's what Guilmon does whenever I take him out in public with me."

"Good idea," the hunchback said, taking the cloak and putting it on. He pulled the hood down to conceal his features. Then he went to the edge of the balcony.

Rebecca's eyes widened. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you thinking of climbing down?"

He turned around and told her, "It'll be a lot faster this way. Come on."

Mokuba patted his girlfriend's back. "You go on, Rebecca, and I'll take the stairs and meet you at the entrance."

"Okay," she said nervously.

Quasimodo placed a comforting hand over her shoulder. "Don't worry, Becca. I won't let you fall." And he carefully picked her up and placed her on his shoulders. "Now hold on."

She firmly grabbed his shoulders to keep a tight grip. As Quasimodo climbed down the cathedral, Rebecca squealed and laughed like she was having the piggyback ride of her life. "Whee!" she cheered, "I'm flying!" They made it to the bottom and Quasimodo carefully set her down. "That was fun!" Rebecca cheered, still laughing. "Can we do it again?"

Quasimodo admired Rebecca's excitement, but he had to tell her, "Not now, but another time. We still have to wait for Moki."

As if on cue, the raven-haired boy came out from the main entrance. "Hey, guys. How'd it go?"

"It was awesome," Rebecca said, catching her breath. "You gotta try it."

"Maybe later," he replied. "Come on, let's go to the Secret Garden." And he and Rebecca began leading the way with Quasimodo following them.

They stopped in front of an alley with a shadow cast over the other side. Mokuba walked into the darkness and Rebecca took Quasimodo's hand and they followed. They walked into the darkness for a while until they started coming into the light.

Quasimodo pulled his hood back to get a better view of his surroundings. It truly was a sight to behold. There were so many trees and the lot of them bore flowers and fruits, there were shrubs filled with nuts and berries, there were waterfalls, ponds, hot springs, meadows, and fields of flowers. "This place is… amazing," he said, awestruck. "It's everything you described it would be."

Rebecca took his hand again. "Come on! Everyone's waiting to see you!" And she led him to the shrubs nearby.

Suddenly, they all emerged and cheered, "Surprise!"

The hunchback jumped back in surprise, but laughed with merriment.

"We're so glad that you came," said Rin.

"How did it feel taking your first step outside?" Leon asked.

In all honesty, it was a great feeling for the hunchback. He always dreamed of having at least one day of freedom and being in the sun and now he was living it.

Guilmon remembered. He reached into his backpack and pulled out some bread. "Here you go, Quasi. This is for you. It's my favorite treat: Guilmon bread."

He took the bread and laughed as he looked at it. "I don't know if I should eat it or save it." He still accepted the gift. "Thank you, Guilmon. That's nice of you." The red dragon laughed and purred.

Rini pulled out a small knapsack. "And I baked these cookies for you. I hope you like chocolate chip."

"Thank you, Rini," he said, taking the knapsack.

"And I brought my tea set with me from home so we could all have tea and milk," Leon added.

Rin, Kohaku, and Shippo presented some fruit that they picked. They brought apples, peaches, oranges, melon, tomatoes, and grapes. "We brought plenty, so enjoy," said Kohaku.

"Thanks, everyone." Quasimodo was about to take a bite from an apple, but he stopped himself. "Oh, but you all need to eat too."

"Oh, we're not really hungry," said Rin. "Besides, we brought all of this for you."

The hunchback sat down. "I'll wait until you're all ready then."

Guilmon sat beside him and began eating a tomato along with some more of the bread he brought with him. Shippo joined in and began eating a few grapes. Soon the rest of the children sat down and began eating. They say food is better when you share it and this picnic was a good example.

When everyone finished eating, Mokuba stood up and asked, "Hey, are you guys ready to have some fun?" All of his friends cheered. "All right. Then let's show Quasimodo how great this place is and how fun we can all be!" he declared. Everyone cheered once more and Mokuba began singing.

There's a place I know

It's always jumping

I'm thinking we should go and leave our worries

You've got a friend in me

And I'll tell you something

This time could be extraordinary

When shadows fall, you're feeling small

It's feels like walls are closing in

Don't be afraid, the dark will fade

Just take my hand and look again

This side of paradise is where I want to be

This side of paradise for you and me

This side of paradise, what you get is what you see

And I'd never thought I'd see a place that's like

This side of paradise

And everyone began vocalizing. Rebecca took her turn and sang, We're gonna take a ride

We're gonna catch that train

When you're at my side, the world's wide open

As we pass on by

We all look the same

The clouds are high, the world is open

Forget about the pain and doubt

Your happiness is overdue

I've been dreaming of stars above

Dancing through the stars with you, take me to

This side of paradise is where I want to be

This side of paradise for you and me

This side of paradise, what you get is what you see

And I'd never thought I'd see a place that's like

This side of paradise

When everyone finished singing, they started showing Quasimodo around the Pure Valley. They showed him all the different kinds of fields of flowers. Rin picked a few flowers and made them into a crown and placed it on the hunchback's head. They both laughed, then got down to smell the flowers. Guilmon joined them, but stopped sniffing as he felt Shippo clinging to his muzzle.

Suddenly, Rini jumped and climbed on Quasimodo's shoulders, causing him to fall over. Rini let go and they both began rolling on the ground, laughing.

Kohaku showed Quasimodo the fields where vegetables and medicinal herbs grew. He also showed him which trees bore which fruits. Then they both started climbing the trees and began racing as they were jumping across the limbs. Kohaku was amazed with the hunchback's acrobatic skills and Quasimodo was just as amazed with the boy's own skills and agility. When they reached the end of the line, Kohaku grabbed a vine and swung from it and landed in the pond nearby. Quasimodo grabbed another vine, but used it to carefully land on the ground. He didn't know how to swim, so he stayed at the edge.

Kohaku moved over to the shallows, where the water was still below his knees. Leon, Mokuba and Rebecca were there too, cupping the water with their hands and drinking from them. A mischievous smile crossed the hunchback's face. He jumped into the shallow end of the pond, scooped up some water with his hand, and splashed the lovers.

Mokuba and Leon jumped in as well. Before joining in on the fun, Rebecca lowered her head and filled her mouth with water. Quasimodo and Mokuba and Leon kept splashing around playfully, laughing. Rebecca finally went in, but slipped. As Quasimodo approached her, Rebecca spat out the water in his face. The hunchback laughed and shook his head. The he lifted Rebecca and helped her slide across the water.

They left the water and headed to one of the nearby meadows. There Guilmon and Quasimodo began to playfully wrestle with each other and make faces at each other. Shippo also demonstrated his fox magic to the hunchback. He was amazed with his magic abilities such as his Smashing Top technique and his whining mushrooms. He was a little scared at Shippo's Fox Fire at first, but found it astonishing that the fox demon could do something like that. Quasimodo also laughed at Shippo's shape shifting abilities and commented on his artistic talents as he looked at his sketches.

After hours of fun, Quasimodo joined Mokuba and Rebecca at the top of one of the nearby cliffs to enjoy the scenery. "I've never done that before."

"Never done what?" Mokuba asked.

"Played with other children," the hunchback said. "I've always imagined what it would be like, but I've always been so afraid to even try because I've always been so ashamed of my appearance. Now I'm actually doing it for the first time." He sighed and said, "I guess I've really missed out on a lot."

Mokuba sighed as well. "But's that's all in the past, right? Because now you've got lots of friends who like you and want to play with you."

"And I can't tell you how grateful I am to all of you for that," Quasimodo said sincerely. Tears of happiness began to fill his eyes. "I've never been so happy in my whole life. Meeting you and all of your friends, you coming to the bell tower and telling me about yourselves and what you were going through, I wouldn't trade any of it."

"Me neither," said Mokuba.

"Me neither," said Rebecca. She faces Quasimodo and asks him, "You've been alone for so long, haven't you?"

"Yeah," he answered.

She moves closer to him and asks, "Were you ever lonely?"

"All the time," the hunchback admitted. He dries his eyes and says, "But I don't feel that way anymore now that I have friends like you and the others."

Rebecca smiles and brags, "We told you they'd like you."

Quasimodo sighs again. "I can't believe how blind I've been to all the wonderful things I never thought I'd see, let alone have. Could Frollo really have been wrong about the things he told me?"

"Of course he was," Mokuba answered. "He's been wrong about everything. You're not the monster he wants you to believe you are. Some people can be cruel, but that all just depends on who you know. Look at what's been going on, Quasi. You have true friends who accept you and like you just the way you are."

"Moki's right," Rebecca said in agreement. "Frollo may think your appearance is a curse, but you being the way you are is actually a blessing in disguise. Your good nature and kind heart proves that what's on the inside is more important than what's on the outside."

"And I think I'm starting to see it now," said Quasimodo. "That gives me even more hope that maybe I do have a chance at being accepted in my world; even at finding love."

Mokuba was silent for a moment, then he smiled and said, "But you already have. You have friends who love you. But I understand, you're referring to finding that one special person. Still, I think in a way, Heaven's light has shone on you, my friend."

As Quasimodo listened to Mokuba's words, he thought that he was right. He thought of how he and Rebecca went out of their way for him and wanted to be people he could trust. It proved that the two lovers really did care about the hunchback. "It's like a miracle," he was finally saying, "one I never thought would happen in such a way."

The thought came to Rebecca. "That's it, Quasi. That could be your element."

"What do you mean, Becky?" he asked.

"Miracles," she answered. "The thing that sets you apart from others, your personal strength that you can share because you demonstrate it so well. Your element could be miracles."

Mokuba agreed. "A lot of miracles have happened in your life and some of them are miracles you created even for us. Us meeting and becoming friends with you, I'd say that qualifies as a miracle."

"And coming with us and seeing the beauty of this place and sharing what you had to offer with all of our friends," Rebecca added, "that's a miracle too."

"But I know none of it would have been possible if you two hadn't come into my life," said the hunchback. "But I think that miracle came from you guys more than me."

The two lovers were silent for a moment, then Rebecca suggested, "We should probably get you home."

"Already?" Quasimodo asked, though he knew she was right. They climbed down the cliff and headed to Celestic Falls.

Leon approached the group. "Hey, guys. Are you all heading back to Paris?" Seeing them nod, he asks, "Is it all right if I come along? I'd really like to get to know you a little more, Quasi."

"Of course," he answered. He looked at the others and asked, "What about the rest of you?"

"We're going to go home to our worlds," said Shippo. "But we hope we get to see you again."

Rini agreed. "Moki and Becky were right about you. You are fun to be around."

"I hope you'll come back sometime," said Rin. "I had a lot of fun with you today."

"I had fun with all of you too," the hunchback returned. "Thank you all for the most fun I've ever had in my whole life. And I hope that maybe you'll come back to the bell tower too."

All of the friends nod and say their goodbyes and return home to their worlds. "The door behind this waterfall will take you back to your world," Mokuba explained to Quasimodo. "It'll even take you back to the bell tower." He headed behind the falls and walked towards the door. He opened it and they all passed through, finding themselves back in the bell tower of Notre Dame.

The hunchback was amazed. "Wow, we really are back."

"And not even a minute has passed since we left," said Rebecca. "Although it took us two minutes to get from here to the Secret Garden, but it's still the exact same time it was when we left."

Quasimodo saw that she was right as he looked out the window. It was like he never left at all.

"So," Rebecca was asking, "how'd you enjoy your first day of freedom?"

He couldn't even begin to describe it. "It was everything you guys promised and more. I saw a beautiful world and met wonderful people and made friends who actually accepted me." He turned around and faced his friends. "Thank you, Mokuba and Rebecca. Thank you for everything."

"You too," Mokuba returned. "Thank you for becoming our friend and for making us a part of your life."

Rebecca nodded. "You truly are an extraordinary person, Quasimodo." And they all began embracing each other. Leon smiled as he watched the scene. He had to admit, Mokuba and Rebecca were incredibly lucky to be friends with Quasimodo. At first, he was jealous, but not so much anymore now that he was friends with the hunchback too.