Disclaimer: I own Lavender only. Don't own the song or people.

I was listening to that song over and over again because the voices are just so…hushed and calming. So I thought, wow that sounds like I could slip that in the story without any big commotion…I hope.

Congrats to my friend Kitty who had a boy named Salem! I'm an auntie!

Rolling over, I felt the rough cold texture of cement blocks underneath me. Stifling a gasp, I twisted back on the pallet of blankets. The top piece of my night outfit was thin and felt like a cob web when facing cold conditions. What time was it? Oh right, noon. Yawning, I stretched and smirked at the sound of several joints popping. That always freaked Clopin out so where…

The events that took place yesterday became fresh in my mind, a frown on my lips. I stepped out of bed and looked around, seeing the King still snoring. Subconsciously, my hand rested on my cheek for a moment. Suddenly I remembered my meeting with the Judge!

Silently putting on my black dress with a purple top, I glanced at the sleeves and hoped they looked okay. One sleeve was black while the other…well I had cut off the other sleeve because it looked prettier. Glancing in the dust covered mirror, I placed my hair over the shoulder that was bare. Temptation told me to tie the skirt up a bit so my right leg was visible, or at least up to my knee. Shaking my head, I left it the way it was and quietly snuck out.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. This was the Judge, the man I was supposed to marry by my father's word that I was meeting! It had been years since we've spoken…people can change a lot. Was he nicer? His eyes had said no.

But wait! I stopped in my tracks, frozen with fear as if I was stuck in an icy blizzard. What if the meeting was a trap? After all, he knew I was one of the things he hated…what if he captured me and tortured me, hoping I would spill where the Court of Miracles were?

Shaking my head, I thought to myself, "That's a risk I'll have to take. I need to find out about the truth, about father and mother." As I traveled slowly through the gloomy market, I placed my hands behind my head and stared at the sky. The clouds held rain, a new fresh wave of them coming towards us with darker outlining.

I figured I had about an hour on my hands…what to do? As always when I had nothing to occupy my mind, I started thinking of the past.

"Lavender, what do you think you're doing?" A voice snapped at me. I looked up to see a woman wearing nothing but emerald green, her dark blue eyes sparkling with amusement while she brushed her hair.

"Just writing a letter to Father, Mom!" I replied with a smile and looked back at my paper.

Mother leaned over my shoulder and pointed at a bunch of squiggly lines, "What's that say?" I was six years old at the time and knew the alphabets…just couldn't write them.

Looking at her as if she were blind, I answered, "It say's 'Dear Dad I hope you come back soon, love Lavender and Mom!' " Mother smiled at that and hugged me before trying to find her earrings.

"Lav, go get dressed, you're coming with me on the streets." She knew that always cheered me up.

It was two months after my eighth birthday when Father was being sent to different cities to help with crime. Although I knew he wanted me to go with him, to see the land, Mother insisted that we both stay in Paris. They never spoke why in front of me but one morning I got up early and heard them argue in hushed tones.

"Why don't you want to leave?" My father whispered loudly, anger clearly in his voice.

My mother, like always, was the calm one, "Because if something were to happen to us or to you, God Forbid, then I would get the King to raise Lavender." That shut dad up real fast. Who was the King?

Later on when I asked Mother a silly question, "If I'm raised by the King, will I be a princess?!" My mother just stared at me with teary ocean blue eyes. She knelt down and hugged me, not letting go for what seemed like hours.

Finally at long last I was ten years old! It was my birthday when my father dragged me to church. I always loved to gape and gawk at the pretty stain glass but to pray on my birthday, at the current time, was torture. But Father didn't take me to pray like he had told Mother. In fact, we met Claude Frollo there. He had told me after the event that I would have to lie to mom and say we only prayed.

Frollo was roughly twenty or twenty two but he looked older. Father had walked over to him with a huge smile which was false. Lately I had noticed their meetings grew tenser and tenser. "Claude! I dropped by to talk about the death sentence and brought Lavender with me."

This wasn't the first time we met. In fact, over the past year, I had been able to speak and spend time with the priest for hours on end. I smiled at him and waved like any child would. The truth was no matter how many times I had met this man, I was always too nervous to speak. Claude's dark eyes drew away from my father and looked at me. A small smile replaced his frown as he spoke, "Hello to you too, Lavender. Why are you all dressed up?" He was using a light tone, making it obvious that he knew why.

I tugged at the sleeves of my new dress. My mother had bought a simple black dress and sewed purple flowers and stars on the hems, sleeves, and waist. She even placed a violet gem as the top button. I looked like a true lady, as my father said. But with my wild hair refusing to stay in a bun, it lay gracefully on my shoulders which made mom say I looked like a true gypsy.

Smiling, I looked up at him and responded, "Because it's my tenth birthday!" With a glare from my father, I added, "Sir."

Frollo gave me a warm smile before speaking, "Close your eyes." As I did as I was told, I noticed that his hands were behind his back. Why would he be at a soldier statue? When I had permission to open them, I saw a small stuffed teddy bear with stitches on its chest that read "Happy Birthday Lav".

Although I knew very well it was not very lady like to stare with my mouth open, I did it anyway. Claude seemed to find it amusing. Slowly taking the present out of his hands, thinking it would break, I looked at him. As if knowing I would thank him at that precise moment, he started smugly, "You're very welcome for it, Lavender. It…"

I was not going to let him get away with thinking I was predictable. To surprise him, I hugged him tightly with the bear in my arms. I was tall enough to where I met his elbows so my head rested on his stomach. It was clear that I had shocked not only Father and the Judge himself, but everyone else in the church. Smirking out of pride that I surprised them, I muttered, "Thank you very much, Claude. It's absolutely adorable and I promise to care for it forever." All he could do was smile and rest a hand on my shoulder.

It was a few months after my tenth birthday. I tried to join some kids playing a game on the streets but they laughed and made fun of me because of my eyes and lips. I ran home and cried, feeling like an outcast to all. My mother walked in and sat next to me on my bed. She had seen the whole thing from a distance away. Wrapping her arms around me, she sang with the rarely used voice of hers:

Baby mine, don't you cry

Baby mine, dry your eyes

My mother forced me to look up at her without shame, wiping away the tears that slid down my face.

Rest your head close to my heart

Never to part, baby of mine

She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly, my head resting on her chest while she rested her chin on my head.

Little one when you play

Don't you mind what they say

She gestured towards the window as we heard the faint laughs of children.

Let those eyes sparkle and shine

Never a tear, baby of mine

I smiled as she ruffled my hair, her blue eyes sparkling with pride.

If they knew sweet little you

They'd end up loving you too

With a clap of her hands, midnight blue powder took shape of people hugging me.

All those same people who scold you

What they'd give just for

The right to hold you

The powder turned pink as it showed my father, mother, and me together.

From your head to your toes

You're so sweet, goodness knows

But you're so precious to me

Cute as can be, baby of mine

So many memories on the streets of Paris…some good, some bad. I smiled to myself as I closed me eyes, head tilted back as if waiting for the rain. True, I missed my mother and father but I felt like they were watching me. When I reached the church, I felt a little guilt-ridden that I hardly went anymore. Glancing around to see people stop working, I guessed it was five or six by now. Where was Frollo?

Ironically I felt a hand grab my shoulder. My bet was a soldier so I turned, stumbling back on the steps as if to run backwards into the church and fell on my bottom. "Stationary!" I yelped when I hit the ground.

My violet eyes met the iciness of Frollo's. "What in the world are you doing, child?" He frowned, helping me up. Feeling rather stupid for such an exclaim, I shrugged.

"Thought you were a soldier." I muttered as he led me inside the church.

At this, he chuckled, "Didn't mean you Sanctuary instead of Stationary? Even if it had been a soldier, why did you react like that?" I took that moment to stare at him as he glanced around the old building. He looked the same except for a few things. He was quite handsome though. It still shocked and amazed me at how he looked over these years.

Raising my eyebrows in mock surprise, I replied, "Because I am a Gypsy and you told your soldier to arrest them?" He looked as though this news was unheard of. Either he forgot about how we met or he just wasn't comfortable thinking of what I was.

It was quiet as we walked through the church, both of us lost in memory lane. I finally was about to open my mouth to question him when my stomach beat me to it. Frollo chuckled again and motioned me to follow him upstairs. I had heard of Quasimodo and tried to spy him without being too obvious. Although the priest had his back to me, he spoke with a lazy wave of the hand, "He's not here right now. He's in a different tower. Come, let's eat and talk."

I sat across from him and looked to my left. A loud gasp escaped my lips as I watched the sun sink behind Paris's building. It was beautiful, truly a breath taking sight. Apparently Claude had seen this image many times before for he just smirked and poured us wine. I suddenly wondered, "What if the wine is poisoned?"

I hesitated, sipping it carefully. "Claude, I want to know what you mean exactly when you say I was promised to you." Once again I could see a shiver travel down his spine as I whispered his name. For such a Gypsy at such a young age, I sure had an effect on him.

He drank some wine and looked over the city once more. "Beautiful, isn't it? Such a big city full of crime…" Although he didn't say the word, I knew he spoke of my people. "Hundreds of kids running around in danger without realizing it…hard working people ready to get mugged without noticing it. Such a dangerous cruel place it is. Your father wanted to protect this place. When he was a child, he told me, he moved here and felt the urge to protect his family. After he grew older and enlisted as a soldier, he tried his best to be promoted. He wanted to be captain so he could protect not only his family, but the whole town."

By this time I was leaning forward, hypnotized by his story. "He came to me about ten or eleven years ago. As many others, he had heard how the old captain had died in battle. For days on end he begged me, bargained, and even threatened me. His wish was simple; to become captain. I told him no each time. Finally one day he brought a little girl with him into my office. She wore a black hood that hid her face and looked only to be five years old. At first I thought he was trying to use sympathy but then he told me that he could imagine how difficult it would be for me to get a wife, what with my job and coldness.

"He made a deal with me. If he was to be captain, I would be betrothed to that girl and marry her when she was fifteen. At first I thought she was nothing more than an ordinary child but…she took off her hood and stared up at me with big beautiful purple eyes. Her lips were a light violet and she laughed. Most children thought I was scary because of my appearance but this child…" He wore a smirk as he twirled the wine in the glass around, "This child was different. Immediately I knew that others feared her as well because of that gorgeous color she was cursed with. She came up to me and tried to curtsy…heh…she gave up with a pout and hugged me instead. So I said yes. We agreed I would start meeting, talking, to her at the age of eight or nine."

My face was as red as the apple in front of me. Looking down, I faintly remembered such an encounter. "So…Father promised my hand to you when I was fifteen to get a job he wanted…Did my mother know this?" I asked him.

He stopped in mid drink, staring at me with a new spark in his eyes. "Your mother…" There was a hint of anger and loathing, "…No, I don't believe she did. But that's not the point, dear Lavender. I'll get right down to it; how would you like to live with me? We don't have to wed just yet but stay with me, away from those gypsies?"

Rage consumed me, my blood boiling. I stood up and glared, "Do you really hate them enough to act as if they're scum?! Not all are thieves and rapists Claude! But since you think that, since you think so low of my gypsy family, which means you think of me like it too! I refuse to sit there and listen to this bullshit about me and the people who took me in!" With that, I started walking to the staircase but felt something grab my wrist. Turning, I saw Frollo angry as well, his eyes which stared directly into mine shined with madness.

Suddenly my rage melted away. "You may have changed but your eyes haven't…still cold to everything but me…" I whispered softly, blushing as I realized he had heard it. Frollo smiled and caressed my cheek in a gently manner.

Leaning forward, he murmured, "You're the only one that has such an effect on me…Meet me here again in tomorrow Lavender! Think about my offer." Unable to speak correctly, I nodded and walked downstairs. It hadn't been a trap at all. I suppose he really did care for me…should I take his offer? I could always talk to Esmeralda on the streets and it's not like anyone else really wanted to be nice to me. And Clopin…

"Oh shit!" I cursed loudly as I broke into a full sprint to the graveyard. I forgot about Clopin! Surely he was awake and looking for me by now! If he found out I was meeting an enemy of his, he'd be…

As I walked through the colorful tents and buildings, I frowned to realize it was oddly silent. Our tent, the King's and mine, was so quiet that I thought it was empty. Sighing in relief, I figured if I could change and make up a story, I wouldn't get in trouble.

Apparently today just wasn't my day for when I stepped in, I saw Clopin sitting on a trunk with his puppet. His back was facing me while he talked to his look-alike. His musical deep voice was filled with such sorrow and worry. It made my soul shudder to hear weakness in his words. Ever since I was forced to live with them, he was the one always saving me from nightmares and soldiers on the street.

"I don't know what to do with her anymore. Of course she's becoming a teenager and becoming rebellious but still! Maybe I over reacted yesterday at the Feast of Fools." Clopin spoke softly as the cloth on his hand flung its arms wildly.

In a high pitched voice, it said, "Over reacted?! Nonsense, you did no such thing! You simply got outraged to see Lavender in the arms of a Gypsy killer and saw red! Instead of calmly questioning her about it, you slapped her! That's not over reacting!" It made a movement of its head as if to roll its eyes.

Clopin glared at the little man and rubbed his head with his free hand, "Alright alright I get it! Don't be so sarcastic! I just can't figure out why I did what I did."

The puppet cried out, "Because you looove her!" Clopin suddenly choked and stuttered on his own words.

"I've known her mother, was told to protect her if something happened, and I've done such a thing for years! That…that is…the idea…that is…!" He blushed and went silent.

The puppet tilted its head ever so slightly, giving me the creepy feeling that it was watching me, "That is true, non?" Clopin threw his torn purple hat on its head as if he expected it to muffle the uncomfortable truth. I stared in amazement and slowly walked backwards out of the tent.

Did he love me? No, he was my protector, my savior, my captor! Anyway, who would have me? Well…besides Frollo I mean. He was the King of Gypsies and I was but half and an oddly colored freak. His "subjects" wouldn't like the idea of me and him together. Just the other day they protested that I should leave my sanctuary with him!

"Lavender!" I heard a familiar voice give away my position. Cringing in the spot I stood at, I glanced around and gave a forced smile that said "I'm gonna strangle you" to my green eyed friend. Esmeralda ran up to me as Clopin stuck his head out. "I've been looking for you for hours! Where have you been?"

Hesitating for one a second, I managed to speak half the truth, "I was walking around the market and visited the church, for guidance of course."

Although Esmeralda was oblivious to the moment's hesitation, I could see by Clopin's face that he was suspicious now. She grabbed my wrist and practically dragged me outside to dance. Every time we would practice a new dance, we'd stay in or near the graveyard…which always crept me out.

Closing my eyes, she started playing the tambourine and we slowly danced to the beat. As if it hit her, she stopped and asked, "Why are you dressed up like that?"

Nearly tripping over myself, I grinned and tried to look as sheepish as possible, "Well I sort of…tripped and fell into the water so I changed. Don't tell Clopin or he'll lecture me about skipping carelessly." She shrugged and continued to dance. A violent shiver passed through me as I glanced around.

Seeing nothing behind me, I turned and was prepared to dance my heart out when I crashed into a body. Looking up to see Clopin wearing a skull mask, I yelped and glared. "Curse you, stop frightening me!"

He smirked and looked at Esmeralda, bowing slightly, "Mind if I steal away our Lavender?" As we walked through the graves, I felt guilty for listening in on his conversation with….well, himself.

"Clopin I…" I started while stopping. He grabbed my chin and forced me to look into his gentle eyes. Even with the scary mask on, he made me feel a warm sense of safety.

He held onto my chin with his gloved hand, speaking sincerely, "I want to apologize for yesterday. I don't know what came over me and…"

I was never too good at accepting apologizes. Of course I'd forgive and forget but I hated that mushy moment where you're suppose to say "it's okay". So instead I threw myself into his arms and hugged him tightly, not bothering to move. For a moment he was surprised but wrapped his arms around me as well.

Over all the seasons that had passed, I had grown till I was almost to his chin.

My mind went back to the argument my parents had about leaving or staying so many years ago. Suddenly, resting my head on his shoulder, I muttered, "Tell me about my mother. When I was young, she said to my father that I was to be raised by a King if something happened…what did she mean?"

He was taken back and didn't bother hiding his body language to show it. "Ah my little one…" It started to snow lightly. "One day she came to me with a bundle of blankets in her arms. It had been two years since I had seen her and of course with natural curiosity, I questioned why she was here. She told me she needed a life long favor, a debt if you will.

"If anything happens to me or my husband, promise me, swear to me that you will protect this child with your life! Swear it Clopin!" Your mother exclaimed as she thrusted the blanket in my arms. I was about to suggest asking someone else when I looked down and saw sleepy purple eyes look back at me. I told her that I'd take care of you if you found yourself alone in the world…That was the last I ever saw of her."

I felt a lump in my throat, tears building up in my eyes. So my mother sensed something was going to happen in my childhood…and came to this man. I felt so silly suddenly to remember I asked my mother if I was gonna be a princess. "Why didn't you recognize me when we met those years ago?" I asked while looking up at him.

His gaze was soft like the piles of snow that fell around us. "Because, Lavender, I didn't see your eyes until you were safe in my tent." Regret danced on his face. I could tell he was ashamed and embarrassed. Leaning forward, I closed my eyes and captured his lips in a kiss. Although it was brief, the flames of passion burned.

Resting my head on his chest, feeling his chin on the top of my black hair, I kept my eyes half way closed. The wind whispered a lullaby as I felt something wet hit my hair and hands which lay next to my head. It was his tears, I realized. Biting my lip in an attempt to stop from crying, I whispered, "I forgive you…"

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop from feeling my own tears fall.

So cute, non? Next chapter I'll be introducing a new character who joins the Court of Miracles…Plus Lavender goes to meet the Judge again! XD Some romance heats up between them, nothing M though.

I wanna thank 2AddersFanged for pointing out my mistake XD Apparently Frollo can't be priest and judge at the same time.