Esmeralda turned slowly towards Frollo. He was sitting in a small stone bench carved from the wall, hiding his face in his palms. She felt a huge lump in her throat. She was feeling so many things at once that she was unable to decide what to say. So she didn't say anything, and instead, she walked to him and sat by his side. She carefully placed her hand on his shoulder, and though he flinched slightly, he didn't move away.
Claude Frollo had never planned for his death. He had planned for every possible aspect of both his daily life and his long-term future. He had even been careful enough to consider each one of his actions planning for the right afterlife, aiming for the Heaven that the church promised him if he managed to stay away from sin.
However, for some unknown reason, whenever he had attempted to picture his own death, there was this black void, as if someone had blindfolded him to prevent him from finding out his final circumstances. He just had a subtle but powerful feeling that his death wouldn't be conventional. He knew he wouldn't die of old age, fading away in his bed from some common illness.
And now the moment had come, and he had finally unveiled his imminent final, he had to admit he wasn't surprised. His relationship with fire had been intense and meaningful his entire life. It just made sense that it would accompany him in death too. He had also executed many people at the pyre… he had come so close to burning the woman standing right beside him! So fire being the one to carry him to the afterlife was only poetic justice. And Claude Frollo had always appreciated justice.
He would have been able to settle for this end of his story, as terrifying as it was, if the circumstances were different. But the gentle touch on his shoulder was the most painful reminder that they weren't.
He finally uncovered his face and looked at the emerald eyes that waited anxiously for his reaction.
- I'm so sorry… - he began, with a strangled voice.
- Don't. - Esmeralda interrupted him. - Don't say it. I know what you're going to say, and I don't wanna hear it. I don't want to hear how you're sorry that you saved me. Or worse, that you met me.
- But I am! - Frollo protested, getting up and pacing back and forth. - If it weren't for my weakness, none of this would have happened! You would still have your family, your freedom, your life! My selfishness caused all of this!
- So what then? - she replied furiously, also getting up. - You would rather if none of this had happened? That you had never met me? That we had never…
- No. - he said, his voice cracking with anguish.
- I could say the same thing, you know? - she said then, crossing her arms. - I was the one who started this, that day at the festival. If it weren't for me, you would still have Quasimodo, and your job, and your life!
- None of that was your fault!
- Neither was it yours!
They stared at each other in silence and then suddenly Esmeralda bursted out laughing. Frollo's eyes widened in disbelief, as he wondered if she was losing her mind.
- Are you aware – she said, still laughing. - that this is an inverse fight? We're fighting to take the blame from the other! Isn't that ridiculous? - she kept laughing, though her sound became higher and hysterical. - We're going to die in a few hours and we're fighting about why we shouldn't fight!
- You're right. - Frollo said slowly, getting closer to her. - Let's not fight anymore. - he begged, holding her shoulders.
She hugged him tightly, and again, she allowed her tears to flow freely. His firm body was the only thing that felt real in that moment. Everything else was like a nightmare, but the fact that she was able to hug him after such a long time forced to be apart, was a dream come true. They stood like that for a long while, though it was hard to keep track of time in the darkness and silence of their prison.
Eventually, she took a step back and sat down again, inviting him to sit by her side.
- Claude, I'm not sorry. - she murmured after a while. - Maybe I should be, I don't know. But the truth is I am not. I rather die tomorrow that never have met you.
- I know. Me too. - he confessed, embarrassed.
- You changed me. Or maybe you unchanged me, and you brought me back to who I always was. But either way… I wouldn't trade it for any amount of years without you. I always wanted to see the world, I thought that would make me feel alive. But this few months, with you… I found out what life's supposed to feel like. What being alive means. I could have traveled the entire world and felt lost my entire life, if it weren't for you. An early end seems like a reasonable price to pay for that. - she explained, and though there was a deep sadness in her tone, there was also a deep serenity.
Frollo listened to her words with all his senses. He felt the undeniable truth in them, and miraculously, this lifted the heavy weight of guilt in his chest. If she meant that, then he hadn't ruined her life. He had, indeed, saved it.
Life had made sure to throw all his plans to the garbage in a matter of weeks. Everything he thought he knew about himself or how things would turn out for him had changed or disappeared entirely.
So maybe he needed to reconsider his concept of a happy ending as well. Maybe it wasn't about the amount of years they would get to share, or the places they would get to see together. Maybe it was as simple as realizing that, in a crazy, cruel world, they had found each other. And saved each other. And loved each other until their final breath, dying together.
- Oh God.- he muttered suddenly, his jaw dropping slightly.
- What is it? - she asked, anxiously.
- I just realized something. - he said, excited.
Esmeralda looked at him expectant.
- Remember our conversation? Down here in my dungeon room? - he clarified, watching her puzzled expression.
- About…?
- Alchemy. - he said, in a triumphant tone.
- About our souls being two parts of the same essence? - she recalled, curious.
- Yes. That one. Remember what I told you? That the alchemists are said to have found the force that moves and creates the world, that's in the core essence of everything that exists… and that they were able to use that force to transform reality?
- I do… -she said, though she had to make an effort to make sense of the abstract concepts he had explained to her that day.
- I've spent my entire life trying to figure it out. I didn't want to leave this world without doing so. And now, just now, hours before my death, I finally did. - he announced proudly.
- So? - she asked eagerly, for his enthusiasm was contagious.
- Do you remember the two creations of the alchemist?
- Yes. They were able to turn coal into gold.
- Exactly. That's one. They were able to transform the darkest, simplest, matter into the brightest, purest one.
- Aha… - she nodded, without following.
- When we found each other… we were both in our darkest, simplest form. But look at where we got. Tonight I decided to follow an inner, invisible call coming from my heart instead of listening to logic. And before, I would have never committed a crime like I did today, losing all control, breaking all the rules, and risking my immortal soul… but I did it for you. I did it because I love you and I couldn't stand the thought of you getting hurt.
- I see. - Esmeralda said, finally catching up to him. She knew he wasn't proud of his crime, but he was referring to the deeper meaning behind it. The changes in himself that had led to it. - It was the same for me. I didn't have a chance to tell you this… don't you wonder why I was willing to marry Lefebvre? - she asked, with a sad smile.
- Of course I do! - Frollo exclaimed, though he felt a tiny sting of fear in his gut, wondering if he would like the answer.
- Remember when we were at the King's palace and you reunited privately with the King? When Lefebvre interrupted our dance?
- I do. - Frollo said grimly. That was a moment he couldn't possibly forget. That conversation had changed the course of his entire life.
- Well… when we were alone, Gaspard told me he knew about us. - she revealed.
- What? What do you mean "about us"? How? - Frollo inquired, shocked.
- Magdalene told him, apparently. - Esmeralda explained sadly.
- I can't believe it… That ungrateful woman! - Frollo cursed, furious.
- It doesn't matter now, does it? - she replied, in a conciliatory tone.
- I guess not… I just can't understand why she would do such a thing.
- Lefebvre had his ways of making people talk. - Esmeralda pointed out with a shrug.
- But if he knew… why didn't he tell the King? - Frollo inquired, perplexed.
- He didn't need to. He had already managed to convince the King to destitute you and name him Minister, which is what he was after. So he found a more useful purpose for that information.
- You. - Frollo understood immediately. - He threatened you.
- Not exactly. I didn't have much to lose if word got out that I was with you. But…
- But I did. - he realized.
- Yes. - she confirmed, lowering her head. - He told me that he would blow the whistle on you if I didn't do what he said.
- That conniving weasel. - Frollo muttered between his gritted teeth. - If he wasn't dead already I would kill him again.
- That's what I meant earlier, he had it coming. - she pointed out with a weak smile.
- I'm so sorry… God, I can't imagine what you must have gone through.
- That's what I was trying to say. - she explained patiently. - You said I changed you. Well… here I was, giving up my freedom and willing to marry a man I despised, forsaking any personal wishes of mine for the sake of protecting you.
- You shouldn't have done that. - Frollo protested.
- Shut up and listen, will you! - she scolded him, losing her patience. - That was wrong, I know it was! And murdering someone is also wrong. But it's not the actions that I'm looking at right now! - she took a deep breath, and lowered her tone. - We both faced our biggest fears… our darkness… for love.
Frollo realized what she was saying. She had arrived at the same conclusion as him.
- We went from coal to gold. - he whispered, and she nodded with bright eyes.- It was soul alchemy. We figured it out.
- Exactly. - she smiled.
And in that moment, everything else outside that cell disappeared. The external world, Lefebvre, the soldiers, the gypsies, Paris, the King, the past and their short future.
All was gone.
They were only two gold souls, madly and irrevocably in love with each other.
Esmeralda sat on his lap and he held her between his arms as she kissed him passionately.
It no longer mattered that they were going to be dead tomorrow, for they were alive right now. If these were their final hours inhabiting a human body, of flesh and blood, they would make sure they were enough for a lifetime.
Esmeralda opened her eyes in complete darkness. It took her a second to remember where she was, and then it all came flooding back.
- No!- she yelled, her hand desperately looking for Frollo's body. Fortunately, she felt his chest right beside her. - Claude, wake up! We fell asleep!
She heard the judge grunting, though she was unable to see his face. The torch had consumed long ago, and the cell was completely black. She felt an increasing terror.
- We fell asleep! How long has it been? - she asked anxiously.
- I don't know. - Frollo said, getting up from the floor where they had laid exhausted to rest for a minute, God knows how long ago.
He felt calm. His body was relaxed, all the tension had been released. His mind was also still. There was nothing left to think about. And strangely enough, his heart was also at peace. Of course he was grieving for the loss of his future with her… But at the same time, he knew that would have been inevitable either way. It would have never been enough, no matter how many years they might have had together.
But in the darkness, he could hear her accelerated breathing, and he realized she was starting to freak out. He couldn't blame her. He hadn't want to consider the physical pain they would be facing, but he knew she wasn't so good at detaching from her body as he, who had trained himself for years to ignore his body's urges.
- Come here. - he called her gently, and he scooped her into his arms again.
- Claude… - she said, her voice trembling.
- I know. - he comforted her, stroking her hair.
Esmeralda tried to focus on the feeling of his beating heart under his skin, but it only made her aware of how few heartbeats it had left. It wasn't fair. She loved him too much… he should have lived forever.
- Claude! - she said, suddenly moving as if she was able to look at him. The minuscule amount of light that came under the door from the torches in the dungeon hallway, reflected in his granite eyes just enough that she could know where they were. - What about the second thing? - she asked, excited.
- The second thing from the alchemists? - Frollo asked, delighted with her curiosity. - Well, I have a little story for you about that.
He heard more than saw, her body readjusting to adopt a comfortable but attentive position.
- The night we were at Notre Dame alone… - he began, his baritone voice adopting a story-telling tone that made Esmeralda's heart relax almost instantly. - You told me you knew that I had chosen to come back to life, instead of dying… when I was sick. That you had felt it… right?
- Yes. - she whispered, and her hand reached for his in the dark.
- Well… I never told you what happened there exactly. I indeed was given a choice. I was in some sort of middle realm. I met… someone, there. I'm honestly not sure who it was. But they said that God wasn't who I thought… what I thought, even. They said when I was close to love, I would know. And then they offered me the choice to come back, or to go … beyond.
There was a long silence after his words. Frollo could hear Esmeralda's slow, deep breathing. Even though he couldn't physically see her face, he knew exactly what she looked like. Mesmerized and thoughtful.
- The answer has been right under my nose the whole time. - he said, after a while. - As with the coal and the gold… the elixir for eternal life wasn't simply a literal thing. The love that has brought us together… this common essence we share… that will survive our deaths. Our souls will continue to exist, eternally.
- You mean in Heaven? - she said, wanting so badly to believe his words. She knew in her very bones that there was some truth in what he was saying. But still, there was something about the whole heaven and hell thing that felt off.
- Maybe… - Frollo pondered. - Or maybe not. Maybe we were also wrong about that. Maybe God isn't what we think, and the afterlife isn't either. I'm not sure anymore. But I'm sure of this. We found each other here, and we'll find each other there, wherever that is.
- There was a wit...a woman. - Esmeralda corrected herself quickly, not wanting to ruin the moment. - At the Court of Miracles. She claimed she had a connection with the spiritual realm. I don't know if it was true, but… she used to say that our souls travel from life to life.
- Reincarnation? - the judge inquired. He had read about it in ancient books, mainly from the far east, but he had never really considered it.
- Yes, I think so. She said we forget about it when we're born, but something inside can tell us when we meet someone we've met before… in another life.
- Hmm… - Frollo hummed, pondering. - If that's true… maybe we'll be granted a second chance someday.
- Someday… when the world's older. When we are wiser. - she said, trying to imagine such a world.
- I will find you there. - Frollo promised, reaching for her face. - I will always find you. - he whispered over her lips, and then he kissed them.
Esmeralda focused on every single movement of his lips, the texture of his skin and his hair in her hands... the firm, intense grip of his hands in her waist. His smell, like the first day of rain after a long drought, like ancient alchemy books, like the comforting warmth from a fireplace on a winter's night. Like the sweet perfume of incense ascending in a column of moonlight in Notre Dame in the silence of the night. Like the enchanting music he had played on the harpsichord that stormy night. A million sensations coming back to her, demanding to be remembered one last time, before her body turned to ash.
Then, there was a sound. The distant creak of the dungeon's door. Frollo felt Esmeralda's hand clenching.
- Esmeralda, listen. - he whispered quickly. - Do you remember what I said about fire, when we talked about alchemy?
- No… - she said, anxiously. - Yes! Yes. "Even fire can't destroy the purest of things" - she quoted, with a trembling voice.
- That's right. It will be fast. It will be just flesh. Fire won't destroy us. We'll leave this world, together, alright?
- Alright. - she said, and she hugged him with all her strength.
The sound of the key in the lock of the cell sent a shiver down Frollo's spine. The sudden light from the bright torch the soldier was carrying allowed him to take a last long look at her sorrowful but determined eyes, filled with tears.
- I love you.- she whispered, and he nodded, unable to articulate anything else.
- I'm sorry… - the soldier said, his heart grieving for them. - But it is time.