" I just wanna be myself " (A Hunchback Of Notre Dame fanstory)

Chapter 9

" Wait.... Run that by me again. You're what?! " Fleur-De-Lys exclaimed, nearly spitting her coffee out of her mouth as she spoke.

Esmeralda took another sip of her drink as she looked Fleur-De-Lys dead in the eyes, as if what she had just said wasn't surprising or shocking " We're gonna be moving halfway across the world. Do i gotta repeat myself again? " She placed her mug down on her coffee table that sat in front of the couch.

Bernadette, Fleur-De-Lys, and Clopin were all extremely shocked to hear this. They didn't expect Esmeralda to ever move away, let alone out of the country completely. They didn't know as to what made her come to this conclusion. So many questions, yet how many answers exactly?

" What... " Bernadette began " What made you come to this choice? Do you find America fascinating or interesting? Are you interested in the history of America? " She folded her hands and placed them in her lap.

Esmeralda shook her head as she took another drink of her coffee " Oh god no! " She exclaimed as she looked over at her friend " For all i care, America is a shit country. But me and Quasi both came to the conclusion that we can't really go anywhere without Madellaine and her creepy ass family following us and stalking us. "

Fleur raised an eyebrow in confusion " Have you tried going to the police about it? " She asked.

Esmeralda shook her head in response " We've tried " She spoke " But they literally told us that they couldn't do anything about it unless they attack us first " She crossed her arms and furrowed her eyebrows " They told us that unless Madellaine or Phœbus or Zephyr attack us first or assault us first, the police can't do anything about it "

Clopin let out an aggravated groan as he slammed the palm of his hand onto his face. He leaned back in the chair he was sitting in " ça schlingue! " He exclaimed " You mean to tell us that the branleur down at the local station aren't gonna do anything unless that Salope and her family attacks you first?! " Esmeralda simply nodded in response, understanding her older brother's frustrations.

Bernadette let out a sigh as she rubbed her temples " Do your children know yet? " She asked.

Esmeralda shrugged " Honestly, they might. We haven't told them that we're moving yet, but i got a feeling that they might know " She took another sip of her coffee " They might be wondering as to why Maman and Papa have been organizing so much stuff lately and why there appears to be cardboard boxes in the halls. " Her lips curled into a small smile as she looked towards the hallway " But they do play with the cardboard boxes, so i'm not mad at them if they don't understand. They're still so young, after all "

Clopin looked over at the hallway as well, that's when he noticed Jade and Felix carrying an empty cardboard box above their heads " C'mon Felix! " Jade exclaimed, nudging her sibling ahead of her " I'll keep poking you if you don't keep moving! " Her tone was extremely sarcastic and playful. Felix simply sighed as he kept walking in front of his sibling.

Jade then noticed Bernadette and practically made a beeline towards her, making the older woman nearly drop her drink. But thankfully, she didn't. She placed her tea on the coffee table in front of her, picked up Jade, and placed her in her lap. Bernadette smiled softly as she ruffled Jade's hair " Jade! " She exclaimed " Ma coccinelles, You know you have to be careful around me, You know my eyesight isn't as good as it used to be " Her tone was a mixture of serious yet calm.

Jade frowned slightly " Je suis désolé " She spoke " I just got excited! I missed you! " Jade then embraced Bernadette, feeling a bit guilty for nearly making her spill her drink. Bernadette embraced Jade back " It's okay, Ma coccinelles. Don't feel bad. You didn't know, it was an honest mistake " She responded as she took a sip of her tea.

Clopin then looked around for a minute " Where are your other siblings at, la nièce? " He asked as he looked over at Jade, who was very focused on Bernadette's necklace, which was ' The Star Of David '. Jade looked up at Bernadette " What's this star? " She asked as she grabbed at the necklace and held it up " We haven't seen this star in school yet! Is it special? I haven't seen it in the sky either! It must be rare! " The child's curiousness caused the adults to giggle.

" It's The Star Of David! " Bernadette responded as she carefully took the necklace off her neck and held it up in front of Jade " It's a religious symbol. It means I'm Jewish! " Jade was absolutely transfixed on the necklace " You'll probably learn about other religions when you're older and in another school "

Esmeralda smiled softly as she ushered Felix to to get his siblings, which he did. Her smile then formed to a small frown " I don't think they'll be learning about other religions at school. Remember what they did to Muslim women? " The other adults nodded, But Jade was obviously extremely confused " What did they do? " She asked. Curiosity killed the cat.

Esmeralda looked at her other adult friends, they didn't know how they were gonna explain what exactly was going on in their country to an 8 year old child. They were all somewhat uncomfortable, but they figured that Jade should know, besides, they didn't want Jade to be told that it was a good thing on what their country was doing to other people who simply followed a different religion.

" Well " Fleur began " Muslim women can't wear their headscarves or face veils without paying a lot of money " Jade was obviously very confused " Pay money..? But that's how you buy things! They have to buy the things they wear! " The child exclaimed, clearly not understanding what Fleur had meant. " No, no " The older woman corrected " If Muslim women are wearing their headscarves or their face veils, they have to pay the cops a lot of money. "

The sentence bounced around in Jade's head, who was trying to register it and trying to make sense of it to the best of her 8 year old abilities. Then, finally, it clicked in her brain as she blinked in surprise " But... but They're just clothes! " She exclaimed as she crossed her arms, clearly mad " You can't make someone pay for wearing clothes?! " Esmeralda let out a sigh of relief.

" Bonjour! " Charlotte exclaimed as she walked into the living room, carrying Edgar on her back. She smiled as she walked over to her uncle and gave him a high-five. Then Micheal and Felix walked out, they were bickering with each other over video games and who was better and who was worse.

" Yellow! " Edgar exclaimed as he pointed to Fleur-De-Lys's bright blonde hair that was tied in a braid " Yellow hair! Pretty! " He smiled widely and clapped excitedly. He climbed off of his siblings back and waddled over to Fleur, who happily picked him up and placed him in her lap, she gently poked his nose " You're looking more and more like your Papa! " Fleur said with a smile. Esmeralda nodded in agreement.

" Papa busy! " Edgar exclaimed as he pointed to the hallway " He painting! He painting pretty toys! " Of course, all the children assumed the wooded figures were toys. Hell, they all had their own little wooded figures of themselves that Quasimodo had carved and painted just for them. Now, Quasimodo had told the children that the wooden figures were very special to them and they all promised to not ruin them. And they kept to that promise! Though a little bit of paint had chipped off of two of them, but it wouldn't take much paint to fix it. 

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Esmeralda waved bye to her guest. The only ones staying behind were Clopin and Fleur, as they were helping them pack up their stuff for when they were gonna move. They weren't really packing much, just getting everything prepared for when it was actually time to pack their stuff and move.

" So " Clopin spoke " When are you all planning on moving? Is it gonna be soon or are you all waiting until there's an opportunity? " He looked over at his sister, who was looking through a bunch of movies that she had from when she was younger.

Esmeralda sighed quietly " Whenever we get the opportunity. We don't know when it'll happen though, but we might have to try and claim asylum. " She began to place the various movies into a cardboard box with the word ' Old Movies ' Written on the side in permanent black marker.

" Can you even do that? " Fleur asked, cocking an eyebrow in confusion " There isn't any war attacking us, at least none that i'm aware of anyways. " She then walked  over to Esmeralda and sat next to her " Though, from what I've heard, i think you can claim asylum if someone is threatening your family. But i'm not so sure if it's true or not. "

Esmeralda nodded " When me and Quasimodo were looking for options, it did say that you can claim asylum if someone is threatening you and your family. So we may apply and try to claim asylum " She placed the box filled with movies on the table and taped it closed.

" Speaking of Quasimodo... " Clopin spoke up " How's he doing? Is his hearing still bad? Is it getting any worse or is it still the same? " Esmeralda blinked as she thought about the question her brother had just asked " Well, His hearing is still about... say 60/60 in both his ears. He can't hear much if someone in a different room calls out to him if he isn't wearing his hearing aids " She responded.

" Speak of the devil " Fleur remarked in a sarcastic tone as she gestured to the hallway. Clopin and Esmeralda looked and giggled as Quasimodo himself walked into the living room. He had his hearing aids in but they were off. He probably turned them off just so he could focus on making new wooden figures to sell.

' What? ' Quasimodo signed as he looked at his spouse, a confused expression on his face, clearly not understanding what they were giggling at. Esmeralda threw a pillow at Clopin, but it didn't knock him over, he caught it instead. ' We were just talking about you ' Esmeralda signed back ' We just thought it was funny how when we talk about you, you always show up '

Fleur waved to Quasimodo, who waved back. " How long did it take for you all to learn sign language? " She asked, clearly intrigued on how to learn sign language herself. Esmeralda scratched her head for a second " I say about... around 3 years? It took us a long while, but it was worth it in the end. The children are a little messy when it comes to sign language, especially American sign language, but they know how to sign basic words and basic phrases, just not long words or anything like that. "

Quasimodo sat next to his spouse and embraced her in a hug. He then noticed the box filled with old movies ' Old? ' He signed as he eyed the box ' These came out in the 70's, they aren't that old! They're only... wait... over 30 years?! ' Esmeralda giggled at her spouse now realizing how old these movies really were. ' Yes, they are that old ' Esmeralda signed back.

" How do ya think the kids will handle living somewhere else? They've lived in France their entire existence, so lord knows how they'll react to living in a new country " Clopin spoke as he threw the pillow he was holding into an empty chair.

" You know, i'm not so sure " Esmeralda responded " I just hope that they won't be bullied or harassed by children when they go to school there. " She looked towards the hallway that lead to all the children's bedrooms. She wondered what they were all thinking about and what they were doing exactly.

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Meanwhile, in Jade's room. The children were all playing with their various dolls, superhero figures, and various toy vehicles.

" You think Maman and Papa will let us buy some candy? " Felix asked as he placed of of the dolls in a toy bed and placed a blanket over said doll " We have like... 2 euros! That's a lot of candy we could buy! " His siblings shrugged, what did they know about money? They were only 8 after all! Well, three of them were 8, the youngest was 4.

Edgar picked up a random barbie doll that was just strewn about on the floor, looked at it for a minute, then placed it on a remote controlled ambulance before he kicked said ambulance into a random toy cop car that wasn't too far from him. His siblings just shrugged, they all did similar stuff like that.

" Why don't we ask them? " Charlotte asked " We can just ask them! " Her siblings seemed to clearly disagree with her, as they all shook their heads. Charlotte frowned and crossed her arms as she looked at all her siblings " Why not? I'm sure they will let us get candy! " she exclaimed as she looked over at Micheal, hoping for him to agree. Unfortunately, he didn't.

" We haven't eaten dinner yet! " Felix exclaimed " We can't have candy yet! We gotta eat dinner! Or else we'll.... uhm... what does l'oncle Clopin say? " Jade shrugged at her sibling, clearly not understanding.

" What? He told us that we would turn into bugs! " Micheal exclaimed.

His siblings then went silent before they all began laughing. Well, All of them, Except for Edgar. To Edgar, the laughter was loud, too loud. He covered his ears as he practically bolted out of Jade's bedroom. Sadly, because of his leg, he didn't make it too far down the hallway until he ended up tripping and falling face first onto the hardwood floor, making a thudding sound as he collided with the floor. Edgar ended up crying loudly. The loud laughter and him landing hard on the floor made him overstimulated and he was not having it.

Esmeralda perked up as she heard her child crying. She ran towards the hallway, where she saw Edgar laying on the floor, hands over his ears, tears falling down his face. She covered her mouth in shock as she ran towards her child " Edgar! Mon étoile! What happened? Is everything okay? " she asked. Edgar wasn't making a lot of sense when he spoke, the only thing that Esmeralda could make out was " Loud! Loud! Loud! " through her child's sobbing. She carefully scooped her child into her arms, and made her way to the living room, where the other 3 adults seemed shocked and worried.

' Is he okay? ' Quasimodo signed as his spouse sat next to him, Edgar shaking like a leaf in her lap, his hands still clasped over his ears as he muttered out " Loud. Loud. Loud. " Over and over again. ' I think it's a sensory overload ' Esmeralda signed back ' I think his siblings got too loud, and he got upset ' She gently ran her fingers through her child's hair.

Quasimodo carefully took his child and placed him in his lap. He held Edgar close to him, kind of like a hug. He gently patted his child's back, trying his best to calm him down. Edgar slightly turned himself and buried his face into his parent's shirt, crying softly, his hands still covering his ears.

' You gonna take him to his room? ' Esmeralda signed ' His room is always a familiar place, It'll help him calm down ' Quasimodo nodded as he got up and made his way to Edgar's bedroom.

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As soon as he closed the door, Quasimodo sat on Edgar's floor, with Edgar himself still in his lap. That's when Edgar peeked his eyes open and noticed he was in his bedroom now. He looked up at his parents before he looked back at the floor. He then slowly removed his hands from his ears, his body shuddering like a leaf.

' You okay? ' Quasimodo signed, to which, Edgar signed back ' Head hurts. I Feel sick ' as he buried his face back into his parent's shirt, shuddering and whimpering. Quasimodo gently embraced his child in a hug ' you're gonna be okay ' He signed.

After a good 30 minutes, Edgar was fully calmed, although his body was trembling a little, but it wasn't noticeable or anything. He then looked up at his parent before he gently headbutted his parent's cheek.

Quasimodo smiled softly as he gently headbutted his child back. He then turned his hearing aids back on " You feel better, Mon rayon de soleil? " He asked. Edgar smiled softly and nodded as he embraced his parent in a hug. " You feel like eating some dinner tonight? Or is your tummy hurting and making you sick? " Quasimodo asked as he placed Edgar in a beanbag chair that sat in front of Edgar's small TV. Edgar looked up at his parent and signed ' Dinner ' a couple times, Quasimodo smiled as he gently kissed Edgar on the forehead and agreed to go make him some dinner.

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" Psst! Jade! Jade! " Felix whispered out to his sibling. It was very late at night, around 3:23 A.M. Felix knew he wasn't supposed to be awake this late at night, But something was making him feel uneasy, as if something bad was gonna happen to him, his siblings, or his parents.

Jade slowly stirred around in her bed, trying to fall back asleep after her older sibling had woken her up, to no avail. " What?! " She quietly exclaimed as she threw her blanket off her body, making it land on the floor " It's late! Go back to bed! " She gestured over to her small alarm clock that sat on her small pink side table.

" But... Maman and Papa are still awake! " Felix exclaimed quietly as he gestured towards the hallway out of the open door. Jade groaned as she crossed her arms and looked over at her sibling, her eyes squinting " They're grown ups! They can be awake if they want to! Go back to sleep! " She grabbed her blanket and covered herself with it as she practically buried her face into her pillow, squeezing her eyes closed.

Felix ignored his sibling. He quietly sneaked away from his bed and made his way to the hallway. As he walked down the hall and made his way to the living room, he could hear the sound of his parent's talking, although he had no idea what they were talking about. He got closer and closer until he was just hiding around the corner, the living room was no more then a few steps away. This time, he could hear much clearer on what his parent's were talking about.

" You think the kids are gonna be okay with it? Doing this is a very big decision. Moving halfway across the world is a big change " Esmeralda asked, placing an empty cardboard box on the dining room table and beginning to fill it with various clothes that were all folded up.

Quasimodo nodded " They probably won't like it at first. Hell, I actually despise the USA, But what other choice do we have? We gotta move, this country is turning to absolute hell! " He walked over to his spouse and placed a hand on her shoulder " With everything going on here, it'd be a bit better to move " 

Felix covered his mouth in shock as he overheard his parents. ' Moving?! Why do we have to move?! Did something happen?! ' He though to himself as he quietly yet quickly made his way back to his bedroom and hopped into his bed. He grabbed his blanket and covered himself with it, he didn't know if he'd be able to fall back asleep again after hearing what his parents were talking about.