You, darkness, that I come from
I love you more than all the fires
that fence in the world,
for the fire makes a circle of light for everyone
and then no one outside learns of you.

But the darkness pulls in everything-
shapes and fires, animals and myself,
how easily it gathers them! -
powers and people-

and then, it is possible a great presence is moving near me.

I have faith in nights.

(Rainer Maria Rilke)

Frollo was once again contemplating the fireplace, sunken in his armchair in front of it. The soft crackling of the burning trunks helped him soothe his racing mind, though it did nothing for his heavy heart.

He had experienced so many emotions in one single day, he wasn't used to processing that much. First, the despair of letting Esmeralda go without any guarantees. Then, the unexpected excitation when she had kissed him and made her intentions clear, followed by the hope and determination that Quasimodo's words had insufflated him. And then, the deep unsettling concern about the King's emissary, and the sickening bitterness of watching him interact with Esmeralda during dinner. It was just too much.

He couldn't understand what game Esmeralda was playing. And he was starting to feel like maybe that's all it was for her. A game. Trying to prove that she, a mere gypsy, could subdue the mighty judge of Paris. Maybe Quasimodo was wrong. Maybe he was the only one with real feelings, and she was just playing a seduction game. He didn't want to believe that, but again, hadn't she just been with Phoebus not so long ago? What were the chances that she had fallen in love twice, with two completely different men, in such short time? What if she was now moving on to the next, taking up a new challenge, this time seducing a member of the court?

These dark, relentless thoughts flooded his mind and he started to feel dangerously similar to how he had felt after the Tupsy Turvy. Only this time, all that consuming paranoia wasn't turning into burning rage, but instead, a dense fog that plunged him into the darkest pit of sorrow.

If it turned out Esmeralda didn't want him, he knew that would destroy him forever. All he had done, all his efforts, coming back from the dead… it would all have been for nothing. And if he also lost his position as Minister of Justice at the hands of that conspiring emissary, then he would have absolutely nothing left. He felt so tired and weak, with no will to fight. Maybe he wasn't suitable to be a judge anymore, or a man anymore. Maybe he was just utterly worthless after all.

An imperceptible knock at his door brought him back to the present. He didn't know how long it had been; it could have been five minutes or two hours. The fire always had that effect on him, plunging him into some kind of timeless trance.

But when Esmeralda opened the door, she was still wearing her dinner attire, so it couldn't have been long.

- Can I come in? - she asked in a whisper.

- As you wish. - Frollo responded, looking back at the fireplace, though he could see her by the corner of his eye, coming closer and grabbing another chair to place it in front of the fireplace, at a safe distance from his.

- I couldn't go to bed. - she began to explain softly. - I kept hearing footsteps down the hall and thinking it was Gaspard coming to my room.

- Would that be a problem? - Frollo asked bitterly.

- Excuse me? - she replied shocked.

- I'm just saying… you didn't seem too distressed in his proximity before.

Esmeralda leaned forward in her chair, trying to catch his eye, but Frollo was set on not looking away from the flames.

- Are you serious right now? - she asked, furious. - Frollo! - she called, when she saw he wasn't reacting. Finally, the man turned his gaze at her. It was a dark, menacing one, but she could see past it, deeper into the underlying insecurity and hurt the man was feeling. She took a deep breath to calm herself, and lowered her tone. - Couldn't you tell I was faking it?

- Why would you feel the need to do so? - Frollo inquired accusingly.

- I was trying to protect you! - she snapped. Frollo frowned, not following. Esmeralda sighed exasperated. - Didn't you notice that he hasn't asked a single compromising question during the whole evening? He barely even noticed you there! The first day of his stay here is over and he has nothing on you! I was just trying to distract the man, for God's sake. - she explained, as if it was obvious.

Frollo looked down, embarrassed but still doubtful. Part of him knew that her words were true, and he had seen with his own eyes the underlying tension in Esmeralda's fake smiles during dinner… at least, during the first part of it. But once the wine came into play, her tension had dissipated and he would have sworn she was actually enjoying herself.

- You should be thanking me. - Esmeralda pointed out, annoyed. - It hasn't been easy for me to play along with his clingy ways.

- Hasn't it though? He's an attractive and powerful man.

- I'm glad you fancy him that much- she said acidly. - But I told you this afternoon that I didn't like him from the start. Though what would I know? - she asked, her tone darkening. - I'm just a stupid woman who can't decide for herself and definitely doesn't belong here, right?

- I never said that. - Frollo pointed out coldly.

- Oh, but you did! You made sure he knew I was just a temporarily guest at your palace. - she replied. - And you took the decision for me about tomorrow as if my opinion didn't count at all!

- I was the one trying to protect you – Frollo snapped. He was livid with rage as he got up from his armchair and walked towards her with a pointing finger.- I didn't want him setting you as his goal! That would put you in a very dangerous position!

Esmeralda snorted loudly, getting up from her chair as well and facing the judge, though she hated the fact that the man's height situated him over her.

- So you were doing me a favor, is it so? - she laughed bitterly – You weren't just belittling me so he wouldn't find me interesting, and you could have me all to yourself?

Frollo turned his back at her, panting offended as he took a few steps away. But Esmeralda promptly followed him.

- Admit it! Admit you didn't just do it for me! Admit you were jealous! - she demanded.

Frollo turned around violently, and she crashed into him.

- Very well… - Frollo said in a deadly low tone, staring deeply into her glowing eyes - I'll admit that, if you admit that you weren't just trying to protect me. You were enjoying flirting with him.

Esmeralda froze. They stared at each other in silence, only the sound of the crackling fire filling the dense, wordless space between them. Frollo took her silence as an admission of guilt, and with a bitter, victorious smug grin, he turned around and sat back into his armchair.

She wasn't moving at all. Her eyes were fixated on the wall, her back turned at him. As the seconds went by, Frollo started fearing that he had gone too far. But he couldn't go back now. And maybe he shouldn't. Maybe this proved he was right, and that's why she couldn't answer. If that was true, then it was all over.

- You're right. - Esmeralda turned around slowly, her gaze lost in the empty darkness of the room.

Frollo inhaled deeply. So this was it. He had been right. She had moved on to her next conquest. He felt as if a knife had been sunken into his gut, and he opened his mouth to end things once and for all. But Esmeralda spoke again before he could say anything.

- You're right. - she repeated, and her eyes searched for his for an instant, before looking down again. - I enjoyed it. Wait. - she said, lifting her palm as she saw Frollo's fist tightening and his lips opening to respond. - I didn't enjoy it because of him. I could never see him like that. Never. - she remarked. - And honestly… I don't think I will ever see anyone else like that. - she confessed, blushing.

Frollo was dying to know if he was included in that affirmation, or if she meant anyone else but him. But there was no way he was going to ask her that. So he just loosened his hands and listened carefully.

- I was enjoying the attention. I always have. - she declared with a sigh. - I've never told anyone this. Hell, I don't think I even knew it myself up until right now, when you said it. - she ran her fingers through her hair, lost in her thoughts as she sat back in the chair. - But it is true. And… I think I know why I'm like that.

- Why? - Frollo couldn't help but ask.

She looked up at him with a sad smile on her face, glad that at least he was willing to listen again.

- You know I was abandoned as a baby. - Frollo nodded, and she kept going. - As a child, I always wondered why. I felt like there ought to be something wrong with me, something my parents had noticed and that had lead them to leaving me wrapped in nothing but a blanket at the street. - she said, bitterly.

- It wasn't…

- I know. - she interrupted him. - I know. But that's what it felt like. I kept wondering over and over again what was it, trying to make some sense out of the painful emptiness they had left in my heart. And don't get me wrong… Clopin found me that same night and he took me to his family, who became my own. I'm not saying I understand the pain of being an orphan.- she clarified, with a meaningful look. - But that emptiness was always there. Eventually I grew out of it, or so I thought, but now I realize it never went away. It just hid its face better.

She was absently playing with her golden bracelets as she spoke, making a soft clinking sound to go with her words.

- I have always strived to get everyone's attention, to feel seen and important. But from a certain point, it became more than that. I realized the effect I had on men, and it made me feel powerful. Whenever any of them would notice me, I would think that maybe they were seeing something in me that I had missed, and they could help me solve the mystery of my parent's abandonment. But… time and again, they would blindly fall in love with me and made me realize… - she paused, with a strangled voice. She hid her face in her palms, shivering. - Oh, God. It made me realize that they were just seeing the surface. They weren't seeing my true self, for if they had...then they wouldn't love me. I ended up considering every one of them stupid, a shallow fool, and moving on to the next.

These words were very hard to digest for Frollo, as she was just confirming his worst fears. However, a soft voice inside his mind told him that the fact that she was sharing this with him had to mean something else, even if he didn't know what it was.

- And then I saw you. - she said, lifting her face from her palms, and looking right at him. Frollo was holding his breath, desperately awaiting her next words. - That day at the festival… I was dancing and I saw all the men's usual dumbfounded expressions… but then I saw you sitting there, and your face was completely the opposite.

Frollo moved restless in his armchair, recalling that moment clearly.

- You were noticing me, alright. But you looked as if… as if you hated me. I think in that moment something in me realized maybe you had the answer I had spent my whole life looking for. Maybe you were seeing what was wrong with me, and that's why you despised me so much. I felt I had to reach you. And when I did, when I looked into your eyes, I… you were the most complex, not shallow and stupid, human being I had ever seen. And that scared the hell out of me.

- Curious choice of words. - he mumbled sarcastically, and to his surprise, she chuckled.

- Right – she nodded, recalling the firey events that followed.

There was a moment of silence, and Frollo felt a burning question stuck in his throat. He was terrified of the answer, but Esmeralda was opening her heart to him in full honesty. She deserved the same treatment.

- What about Phoebus? - he finally asked, regretting it immediately.

Esmeralda looked shocked that he was bringing that up, but when she answered, her tone was also relieved to be given the chance to clarify it:

- Phoebus was kind to me. I admired his bravery… at least, until he saved his own skin and left us all behind. But even before that happened… I knew we wouldn't go far. It's just like I told you… he only saw the good parts in me. He wasn't able to see the truth. He wouldn't have known what is wrong with me.

- There's nothing wrong with you. - Frollo stated without second thought.

- Oh, but there is. - Esmeralda said grimly. - And I think you know it too. Can I ask you something?

Frollo nodded cautiously.

- That day, at the festival… When I looked into your eyes. I felt as if I was seeing your soul. Did you feel that too?

- I did. - Frollo admitted hoarsely.

- And what did you see?

He paused for an instant to think. The moment had been so brief, yet so intense, that it was really hard for him to find the right words to describe it. When he recalled it, there weren't any rational explanations coming to his mind… rather, there were feelings. Images.

- Fire. - he answered at last. - Dark fire.

She nodded seriously and slowly got up from the chair. She walked towards the fireplace, with her back turned against him. Without looking at him, she whispered.

- I couldn't have described it better.

Frollo watched her silhouette against the flames, the brightness of which, made her appear as a black figure in contrast.

The light came through the long cloth of her red skirt giving her a burning aura around her body. He felt as if he was witnessing a supernatural apparition, a fire goddess, terribly beautiful and lethal. She turned around, her eyes were glaring.

- Everyone can see the light in me. But no one before had ever been able to see that I have a dark side too. All my life I've had this… anger, inside of me. Anger for being abandoned, for being tossed away like trash, like I deserved nothing better. I thought it was wrong to feel that way, that it made me ungrateful towards my new family. I tried to channel that anger into determination to do what's right and to prevent others from suffering the way I was suffering. But it didn't go away. It hasn't. - she confessed, removing her golden bracelets and letting them fall to the floor with a loud noise.

Frollo looked at her silently, fearful to say anything that could interrupt her.

- I am so angry, Claude. - she said with a trembling voice. The intimate sound of his name on her lips made him shiver in pleasure. - I am angry at my parents, for leaving me in the middle of the street like that, without a single explanation. - as she said those words, she also removed her ruby necklace and tossed it to the ground with the bracelets. - I am angry at Clopin's family… I know this makes me a terrible person, but I'm so mad at them for not filling the void I was feeling, for not being able to understand what I was going through and help me get over it. - she furiously took off her golden rings and threw them far away.

Frollo had never seen her losing her temper like that. Even when she had been mad at him, even when she had slapped him, she had kept some sort of restraint. But now she seemed to be on a trance, talking to herself more than she was talking to him. And she kept going.

- I am angry at everyone I've ever met for being so simple, so plain, making me feel like I was the only one able to see the truth… Making me feel so utterly alone. - she raised her hand, and grabbing her hair pins, she let her curls fall free. The pins followed the jewels to the ground.

- I am angry at you.- she lowered her tone, but kept her eyes locked into her own hands, without giving him a single glance.- For showing me that I wasn't the only one, and then openly displaying your hatred for the people I love, making it impossible for me to defend you without betraying them! - she accused, and with a loud gasp, she began to reach for the back lace on her dress, that kept it on place. She pulled from it and the stunning red dress loosened. She took out her arms from the sleeves, and with a strong shaking movement, the dress rolled down to the floor, leaving her with only the light white tunic beneath it.

Frollo swallowed, paralyzed, as the flames made it become pretty much transparent, allowing him to perceive every curve on her body. She stepped out of the fallen dress, and with her healthy foot, she kicked it away.

- And I'm angry at myself. For feeling like this. For being this person. Because this is who I am. It's not something that will go away, that I can fix or leave behind. I am angry because I couldn't be satisfied with the good, kind people around me. I always felt I needed more, and I got mad at them for not wanting more either. They were just happy with their simple, banal lives, and as much as I tried, I was just bored. And I envied them so much it only made me angrier. I am angry at myself for not being contempt when I have more than many other people dream of having. I had a family that loved me, a roof over my head, even if it was the catacombs roof. But even so, I never felt at home anywhere. I never felt I belonged. I am angry for feeling like that and at the same time, I am angry that I never allowed myself to feel like that. I'm just so sick of it! - she yelled, and she quickly pulled the tunic over her head and threw it to the flames, watching it instantly catch fire and beginning to turn to ash.

The avid fire created all sorts of reflections on her now naked caramel skin. She was breathing loudly, her chest going up and down with each exhalation. If she had looked like a fire goddess before, now she looked like a flame itself, trembling and irradiating heat.

Frollo felt like his chest was about to explode. To be truthful, he felt his entire body was about to explode. And then she turned around and looked at him for the first time since she had started ranting. And though his eyes were dying to contemplate every inch of her exposed skin, somehow the magnetic pull of her emerald gaze kept them locked in hers.

- Now you know. - she whispered, almost inaudibly. - This is who I truly am. The me that no one knows. The dark, complete truth. - she paused and then, taking a small step towards the judge, she asked. - Will you take me?

He was shocked. He couldn't process anything. His mouth was dry and his skin was crawling with goosebumps. He feared that the slightest move could wake him up to see it had all been a dream. But the roaring sound of his heartbeat on his ears seemed very real. He tried to breathe, and slowly but firmly, he got up from the armchair.

He stared at her. She was holding herself, looking so vulnerable, but at the same time the intensity of her gaze made her appear like the most powerful being on earth. He wanted her so much, he felt like his whole body was on fire.

He took a step forward, so he would be even closer. And then, he took off his black velvet cape.

Esmeralda felt her heart racing. Was he doing what she thought he was doing? Though her whole body was craving his proximity, something deep inside her shrunk in pain. But his next move caught her by surprise.

He took his cape and placed it over her shoulders, covering her naked exposed body.

- Of course I will take you. - he whispered into her ear, as he adjusted the cape. He then leaned back to be able to look her in the eye. Her eyes were flooding. - And, if you wish… You will always have a home here, with me. You will always belong.

Esmeralda bursted out crying. She broke down, but his arms were there to catch her. He pulled her closer against his wide chest, and embraced her tightly. He sunk his face in her thick hair, inhaling her intoxicating smell, almost at the verge of tears himself. He had thought that kissing her was the best he could ever aspire to, but this was better. He felt like his soul was merging with hers. There were no more barriers, the weapons had all been laid down. They were finally on the same side. It felt like the two of them now existed apart from the rest of the world.

Her weeping was leaving her exhausted. He could feel her body shaking, fighting to stand. So, in a swift delicate but decided move, he passed his arm behind her knees and lifted her in his arms. She gasped, surprised at his strength, as she clung to his neck. Her crying stopped, though her breathing was still irregular.

He walked towards the bed and carefully placed her among the blankets, with her head on the pillow. She moved aside to give him space to lay down with her.

He removed his robes, leaving only the under layer on, and he laid on his side, looking at her.

- You can sleep here if you want. - he whispered, adjusting a black curl behind her ear.

Esmeralda looked at the man's features against the darkness of the room, with the pale moonlight of the window behind. His gray eyes were like a deep ocean of liquid silver, shimmering in the night. On them, she saw everything Frollo was feeling. She felt so moved by his actions and words. For a moment there, she had feared he was going to kiss her and take possession of her naked body. And though she desired that, if he had done it in that moment, her heart would have been broken. For it wasn't her naked body that she was trying to reveal to him, but her naked soul. But when he covered her body and reassured her, she knew he understood, and she surrendered to him. Now she was free.

She crawled to him and pressed her face to his chest. Frollo embraced her again, and none of them said anything, for there was nothing left to say. They both fell into a dreamless sleep that lasted until the sunrise.

And though nothing else happened between them that night, it was the night that both knew, with absolute certainty at last, that they were made for each other.