Hello! Welcome back to my story!

Kindness

He had never really experienced it, having been locked away all of his life, but he understood what it was. He understood it enough to know that he wanted it. Many people wouldn't think of kindness as something they particularly wanted because they experienced it everyday and took it for granted. But when you live your life in the dark, away from everybody, soon you realize just how badly people need it. As much as he wanted it, though, he never thought it would come to him on its own. But, like change, it ended up presenting itself in front of him.

Quasimodo had been awake for some time now. It was well past morning, and the sun was at its peak at the top of the sky, shining it's beams on the cathedral. Even the townspeople were already out and about, going about their business. Quasimodo had been listening to the regular hum and bustle that came from the streets below to pass the time. Ever since he had woken up, he had been waiting for the girl to show some sign of movement. The hunchback had been more than a little surprised when she slept right through the thunderous noise of the morning bells.

Now, as he continued to await the girl's awakening, Quasimodo stood by the window, partly listening to the excited chatter of his three gargoyle friends. They, too, were anxiously waiting for the girl to stir. To occupy themselves, they were arguing over what they thought her name was. They had all been suggesting different names for the past hour.

"Hmm...what about Natalie? It is a very lovely name, after all,"Victor stated, feeling that the girl would have a beautiful name that rolled off of the tongue.

"Natalie? Please! I tell you, her name is Jasmine! That's the only name suitable for a runaway princess!"

"You're stupid, Hugo!"Laverne exclaimed, yet again smacking him upside the head,"Besides, we all know that her name is Laverne."

Victor raised an eyebrow at that one and Quasimodo smiled. Hugo muttered something sarcastic under his breath, earning yet another punishing blow from Laverne. The three of them were so wrapped up in the argument that they wouldn't have seen the girl move had it not been for Quasimodo. He gasped, drawing the attention of the gargoyles.

"She's waking up!"he cried.

All four of them froze, watching the girl intently. Then, suddenly, the three gargoyles fled behind a wide, wooden structure so as not to be discovered. Nobody was more panicked than Quasimodo, though. He nervously twiddled his fingers as he fretted over what he should do. He stood in the middle of the room, seemingly deciding to stand and face her when she woke up. However, at the last second, he bolted for the wooden beam as well.

When the gargoyles saw what he was doing, they cried out in disapproval. They tried to get him to go back to the girl, but Quasimodo stubbornly refused. It was like he was terrified of what the girl's reaction would be. Finally, because they were getting nowhere with their persuasion, Hugo, Victor, and Laverne pushed Quasimodo out into the middle of the room and into the girl's line of sight just as she woke up.

Quasimodo froze, trying hard to hide the terror from his face. He felt helpless. What if she screams? She'll think I'm hideous! She'll think I'm a monster! What if she hates me? I can't do this! The frightened hunchback glanced around desperately, looking for any place to conceal himself, but found nothing. With a heavy sigh, he looked in the direction of the girl, resigning himself to whatever was in store for him.

Slowly, the girl sat up, propping herself on her elbow. Her eyes were open, but they were still full of sleep, and it seemed as if she didn't notice her surroundings yet. Sleepily, she rubbed one of her eyes. Now that she was awake, Quasimodo could see that they were startling, emerald green orbs. He was a bit surprised by this and caught himself looking at them more than he should.

The girl stretched where she sat groggily, trying to wake up her sore limbs. Her hair was incredibly messy from where it had been laying on the pillow and she brushed a stray strand of her brown hair out of her face, only to have it fall back again. She seemed to give up and blinked tiredly, finally looking around her. That was when she caught her first glimpse of Quasimodo.

The girl jumped, a cry of surprise escaping her. There's someone here!

Quasimodo winced at the sound, retreating behind his work table. Oh no! I scared her! The hunchback didn't move. He didn't speak. He was afraid he would do only the wrong thing so, he just stood there, waiting for what would come next.

...

...

Slowly, the girl picked herself up off of the floor. Quasimodo peeked out at her cautiously, making sure to keep his face out of view. He swallowed nervously when the girl started towards him.

"Oh. Um, please don't be mad. I-I'm very sorry."

Quasimodo poked his head out at the sound of her voice. It was calm, but penitent, as if she had been caught doing something wrong. What is she apologizing for? Shyly, Quasimodo stepped out from behind the table, chancing a glance at her.

When she saw him coming towards her, she nimbly extracted herself from the blankets she had wrapped around her. She held them out to him, flushing slightly because of the frustration one gets when they feel as if they are doing everything wrong and not doing a thing right.

"I'm sorry. These are yours, aren't they?" She trudged on with a red face, determined to explain herself. Quasimodo carefully accepted the blankets from her and folded them absentmindedly as she talked. She had the quiet sort of voice that sounds soft and calm no matter how angry or frantic the person may be. Now, despite the gentle sound of her voice, she looked so flustered that Quasimodo felt the urge to smile. He turned his head so he could hide it from her, worrying that a smile coming from him might somehow insult her.

"I didn't mean to steal your bed,"the girl continued sincerely, feeling the need to explain herself,"I just...well, I was in the cathedral, and it was getting late, and I didn't see anyone up here so I thought it would be as good a place to sleep as any. I didn't keep you from sleeping, did I?"

It took Quasimodo a few moments to even realize that she was directly asking him a question. He was still trying to figure out why she seemed to be seeking forgiveness from him. All his life, he had felt that he was the one who needed to be forgiven. It was he who needed the world to forgive him for being what he was. Quasimodo tried to sort out his thoughts, trying to grasp the situation. Can't she see what I am? Isn't she...horrified? How could she not see it? Hmm..maybe...maybe she's blind!

To test this theory, Quasimodo set the blankets down on the table beside him and raised his hand in the air, waving his hand in front of him. The girl stopped trying to apologize abruptly and cocked her head to the side, looking slightly surprised. With a puzzled expression on her face, she waved back. She was confused, but she went along with it, taking it all in stride. The hunchback's action seemed so curious to her that it lightened the mood slightly. She decided the boy wasn't upset with her for taking over his room.

...

"Oh,"the girl started up abruptly, acting as if she suddenly remembered something,"Hello. My name is Sophia."

Before the hunchback could come up with a reply, a sudden thought caused him to glance up in the direction of the ceiling.

"Little Sophia," Quasimodo marvelled suddenly, a slow smile spreading across his face. He looked pleasantly surprised.

"Hmm?"Sophia asked, looking politely curious.

"Oh, um, the bells,"he explained quickly, pointing up into the rafters,"See the little one over there?"

"Yes."

"That's Little Sophia,"Quasimodo stated, looking at the bell as he spoke. Sophia thought she could hear the hidden smile in his voice. He seemed to really like the fact that she shared a name with one of the bells. She was pleased as well, having heard the bells all of her life. It was a pleasant surprise for her, in truth. It comforted her to know that she was somehow tied together with the cathedral, even if it was only through her name.

Sophia opened her mouth to say something more to the hunchback when suddenly, she sneezed violently. She rubbed her nose and wrinkled it, trying to figure out what made her sneeze so suddenly. It was dusty up there, but she figured she was probably getting a cold from being out in the rain the night before.

Before she could do anything more, though, Quasimodo was in front of her, feeling as if he had to do something.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry! I forgot that your clothes were wet! You must be freezing up here!"

Sophia opened her mouth to say something, but stopped, a look of surprise on her face. She was caught off guard by his concern.

"Hmm? I...That's alright,"she said quickly. She rushed to find something to say to hide the shock she felt, but before she could think of anything more, Quasimodo pulled the newly folded blanket off of the table and handed it to her. Sophia took it with a bewildered expression. Then, after a short pause, she wrapped the blanket around her, smiling at the hunchback as a thank you. And as he turned towards the door and gestured for her to follow with an encouraging smile on his face, Sophia could only think one thing. He is kind.

"Follow me,"he called back to her,"You can sit by the fire until you're dry."

Sophia smiled to herself. It was a bit of a sad smile, but not because she was feeling that way now. That slightly pained smile was a habit that had developed over her seventeen years. That was why she instantly liked the way she could hear Quasimodo's smile even in the way he talked. She could hear it now, and it made her smile a bit less sad.

The fact that he was so warm encouraged her, but though she hadn't acted like it, she too had noted that Quasimodo was, indeed, 'ugly'. However, it was more of a passing thought than an accusation. Sophia had a very different way of viewing people from the outside world. Where one person would look at people walking in the streets and think 'ugly', 'stuck up', and 'scary', she looked at all of them and thought 'person'. When she saw Quasimodo, she saw a person and not ugliness. Of course, she realized that he was deformed, but now, the word that stuck in her head when she saw him was this one:

Kindness

Disclaimer!

Hugo: Guess what, everyone? It's that time again! Yes, that's right, the DISCLAIMER!

Laverne: Just get on with it, Hugo.

Hugo: Okay, okay, jeez. So, anyways, the bottom line is that FredGeorgeWazlib does NOT own us! However, she CAN make us do whatever she wants and bend our free will. You could say she's in charge of our very souls...though I don't think Laverne even had one to begin with...

Laverne: Hugo!

Victor: Oh dear! FredGeorgeWazlib, DO come here before this fight escalates into a full blown war!

Hugo: Not a chance, Victor. She's still over there sulking!

FredGeorgeWazlib: I have a right to sulk! This chapter didn't come out at ALL how I planned. It bugs me!

Hugo: Oh, c'mon. It's not THAT bad...for a first grader. :D

FredGeorgeWazlib: Hugo, in a second, Laverne isn't going to be the only one who hits you!

Hugo: Point taken. See you around, folks!

Anyways, this chapter does actually bug me, but I'll get over it. This is the only one I didn't really have thoroughly planned. I'm not so good with the first meetings. I didn't want to say I didn't like how it turned out at the beginning because than my readers might get it into their heads that it's going to be bad right away. But, now that you know...DON'T READ IT AGAIN! Ha! Just kidding.