How did I end up crawling through sewers? Oh right, the girl in front of me was blackmailing me…Joy. I had heard tales about people coming in here and rarely coming out…it frightened me a great deal. What if we were caught? Would Frollo torture us? Let us go? Force me to stay with him?

But what if we do find her sister? Perhaps they'd live with us in the Court of Miracles. No, Clopin wouldn't allow it. They weren't gypsies they were outsiders…then again so was I. This was too confusing.

"Okay, I don't see any guards so hurry up!" Kara stated, making me snap out of my thoughts. As we silently scuffled into the dungeons, I felt a knot in my stomach. Like you know something's gonna happen and you just can't name what until it's too late.

"It's colder down here…" I muttered softly as we grabbed torches. As soon as we walked through a doorway, a loud boom echoed. We jumped nearly a foot in the air and sighed in relief to realize it was only thunder. It was oddly silent in the halls of death, except for the occasional drip of water…or was that blood?

As we passed a few jail cells, two or three skeletons appeared to be crawling towards us. Those poor souls died trying to escape…And it scared me more to think that the man I was to wed was responsible for all this!

Kara looked around and frowned, obviously disturbed, "It's the middle of the night…There should be cries or screams or something!" From above, we hear the soft muffled pitter patter of rain, probably the most calming thing yet.

Looking at the brown haired girl, I noticed how her worry and stress had taken its toll. In this dim light I could see faint worry lines, her frown tight with suppressed tears, and her eyes searched the shadows desperately. There was redder than brown in those big eyes of hers…Strange…

Suddenly I heard a faint voice sing, "Here I stand alone
With this weight upon my heart
And it will not go away
In my head I keep on looking back
Right back to the start
Wondering what it was that made you change"

Such an angelic voice…Who was singing it?

"

It was Kara. She was quietly singing, moving the lit torch to each cell in hope her sister would be there. What was she doing? Just as I was about to mutter that her singing, although pretty, could get us caught, there was another voice far away.

It was faint but there was definitely a response. "Many roads to take
Some to joy
Some to heart-ache
Anyone can lose their way
And if I said that we could turn it back
Right back to the start
Would you take the chance and make the change"

The voice, from what I could tell, was light and angelic but a little darker and weaker. Before I could ask, Kara confirmed my unasked question by whispering, "Snow…"

Apparently it would seem they were playing Marco Polo. Although it risked and rose out chances of being found, I had to admit it was smart. Both voices sang, "Do you think how it would have been sometimes
Do you pray that I'd never left your side"

Jogging towards the voice, we could see a pale hand grabbing the bars. Kara dropped her torch and sprinted to her sister. If she had any intention of feeing the girl, we needed to unlock the lock quietly. Looking around for keys, I stopped and listened to their conversation.

"Snow…are you okay?" Kara whispered softly, holding her sister's hand.

This young girl, Snow, replied in a weak tone, "Yes elder sister…Just tired…so tired…" That didn't sound good. Giving up on my search for keys, I walked next to her and shined the light on the child. A gasp escaped my lips to see a horrible sight.

Her name reflected her appearance; her waist long hair was white, her eyes dark red and puffy from crying, her skin could easily be confused with the snow outside. There were whip marks, bruises, slashes from swords that looked recent all over her. Blood and dirt caked her skin. She wore shreds of clothes from her hours and hours of torture. Dark blood was the only color that could be seen against her light white skin.

"Oh God…Snow, what have they done?" Kara muttered in a horrified way. Suddenly the doors slammed open and, since it took us a few minutes to reach here, I figured we had less than that.

Snow looked up and smiled, "Elder sister…Mom says she loves you…" The grip on Kara's hand loosened as her sleepy smile froze on her face. Grabbing the girl's arm, I pulled her up and forced her to run.

"Kara, come on we can't get caught or we'll suffer worse than her!" I whispered as I dragged her along.

As soon as we found an exit, a harsh voice yelled from behind, "Hey you two, stop!" Psh, as if we'd obey…I turned to yell something back when an arrow came straight at Kara.

She was in shock from the death she witnessed, there was no way in hell she could dodge the arrow. Biting my lip, I jumped in front and gasped as it pierced my ribs. Breaking it in half, I held the wound to stop it bleeding while dragging the older girl outside.

The rain drenched us immediately. With my black hair clinging to my neck, I ran into an alley to hide, Kara sliding down the wall and staring at the blood on her hand. For some odd reason, it hadn't washed away yet. Footsteps from three fat soldiers running past us could have been easily mistaken for thunder. I leaned against the wall, breathing in raggedly while debating if I should remove the arrow completely.

After a few minutes, I stepped out of the shadows and looked around, expecting soldiers to be near. The rain was so heavy and thick that it was nearly impossible to see a foot in front of you! Sadly, because of said reason, I failed to notice Frollo. He stood before me and grabbed my arm, pulling me close to him. Releasing a strangled cry of pain, I tried to get my arm free but he held on tighter.

"What do you think you're doing here, Lavender?" He growled. His hat blocked the rain from his face, making waterfalls from the sides of him. Resting one hand on the arrow, I glared at him.

"I…" Actually I had no lie to say. Somehow I managed to improvise, "I wanted to see you. The dungeons…well I thought you'd be there and…I needed to ask you about the…promise my father made."

Oblivious to my wound, he whispered in my ear, his voice carried by the wind, "Ah yes, you've decided if you want to wed? Or did you choose to stay with me?"

Hesitating, I replied in a hush tone, trying to make sure Kara didn't hear more than needed, "…Yes, I want to move in with you…in three weeks."

He grabbed my chin and stared into my eyes, hypnotizing me. His lips found their way onto mine, a sweet gentle kiss. Muttering that he would call off the guards, he turned and left.

Kara stood up and stumbled to me, eyes flamed with fury, "That bastard killed Snow! I swear I'll kill him…" I didn't hear the rest for everything faded in and out. Next thing I knew, I fell to the ground and saw darkness close around me.

Hot water dripped on my face, making me twitch in annoyance. Opening my eyes, I saw the multiple colored tent above me…and Clopin leaning over me. Sitting up with a jolt, I winced and placed my hand on my ribs. There was nothing but bandages wrapped around my body. Glancing down, I saw it basically looked like a shirt but there were a few red stains underneath my right breast where the arrow had pierced.

"Clopin…how did I get here? Where's Kara? Oh God, who undressed me?!" My face went pink as I grabbed the covers, placing them up to my chin. He chuckled and gave me a cup of cold water.

"Calm down or you'll hurt yourself more. Kara brought you here, she's asleep in her tent, and I did." He stated calmly while looking at me. I spat out the water and stared at him in unbelief.

"You? You wrapped me up in this? You, the one who turned dark red and stuttered when you noticed I needed new clothes?" I raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying his story.

Clopin looked injured, "Lavender, come now, when it comes to your health I gladly set aside my worries! I didn't look…for a long time…" He muttered, dodging the now empty cup.

Smiling, I rested on the pillow and sighed heavily, the image of Snow in my mind. "Kara told me where you two went. She said she begged you to go to the Palace of Justice with her." Clopin said matter-of-factly.

My body stiffened and went rigid. Looking at him, I could see the disappointment in his eyes. "Clopin…Her sister…I'm sorry."

The man frowned and brushed a lock of raven hair from my face, "Why? The fact that you went with her to protect her and try to save her sister doesn't make me angry…it's that you didn't tell me." I suddenly remembered telling the Judge about the three week notice…crap.

Resting on my elbow, I grabbed his hand and felt a pang of guilt, "I'm really sorry…I just…I didn't think you would let me go if I had told you." He pulled away and stood up, kicking the cup that had almost hit him.

"I would have joined you! And because of your stupidity, you're injured!" His anger subsided as fast as it had shown. Sitting next to me, he kissed my forehead and sighed, "Just…get some sleep Lavender…Forget about it."

As he lay next to me, I stared at his face. I loved him…

I loved Frollo…

I had told Claude I'd live with him in three weeks…

Could I escape after a few days of living there?

Or would I stay?

What would I tell Clopin?

Why had Father broke his word?

Kara promised to kill Frollo...did she mean it?

What was Kara's past?

And why…why did this pain hurt so much? Not the wound, the emotional pain…I wanted to live with Clopin forever and yet…I wanted to live with Frollo as well.

So many questions raced though my mind. Feeling tears build and slowly fall, I snuggled close to the man next to me, draped his arm around me, and slept. For once, even if it was fake, I felt safe in his embrace…safe from the world, safe from love…safe from my thoughts.

Next chapter we'll learn about Kara's past. Lavender will tell Clopin the truth about her meetings with Frollo and things will get ugly. Review please!

PS. I don't own the song. And if I don't update before Friday, I wont update till Monday or Tuesday since HP7 book is coming out.