A/N: This story randomly came to mind one day, as there is a severe lack of Quasimodo stories on this site. It's almost an AU, as it takes place many years before the film, and a little after. I decided not to include the gargoyles in this story, as I found them a little bit annoying during the movie, and I just didn't want to attempt to write for them. As a result, no gargoyles, sorry! Oh, and the title means "Little Bird" which will make sense much later, I promise! So, enjoy the story, and please give me as many critiques as you can, I'm trying to improve my writing : )

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Petit Oiseau

Chapter One

Thomas knew that Lucie's health was fragile. He knew that the dark grey clouds hanging over the city spelled rain. Yet, he decided to take his sister to play in the square anyway. They played tag, the usual sort of game that a twelve year old and a six year old could play together easily. Weaving in and out of the various people in the square, the siblings tried to tag each other, occasionally having to stop to let Lucie catch her breath before continuing their game.

Lucie was small for her age, with thin, straight brown hair and a pale complexion. She was born prematurely, Thomas once heard someone say. She wasn't technically meant to live. Yet she did, and was full of life and as active as a normal six year old girl, even if she had to stop to rest from time to time.

Thomas doted on her. Completely wrapped around her little finger, she could get him to do almost anything for her. He didn't mind; he was just happy to have a little sister after waiting so long. He usually kept an eye on her when their Maman was shopping in the market, or when their Papa was working on his shoes in his shop. The siblings played together in the square when the weather was nice and at home when it wasn't.

Today was no exception. Thomas and Lucie, despite the threat of rain, went outside to the square at the base of Notre Dame to play their usual game of tag. But Lucie seemed tired earlier than usual, so Thomas was about to take her home, when it began to rain. Then pour.

Thomas glanced over at Lucie in concern and saw, to his dismay that she was already shivering. Knowing that they wouldn't get home before they were both soaked to the skin, and knowing how dangerous that was for Lucie, he decided to take her into Notre Dame, where at least she'd be warm and dry.

"Come on petit oiseau," he said, taking his sister's hand. "Let's get you inside."

Thomas led his sister quickly up the steps of Notre Dame and into the cathedral, shutting the door behind them. They were greeted with the still quiet of the great cathedral, with only the murmured prayers and patter of rain to disturb it.

Lucie wiggled nervously. "Tommy," she whispered. "Are we supposed to be in here?"

Thomas nodded solemnly. "Yes, just until the rain stops," he whispered back. "But while we're in here, we'll need to be very quiet."

The children found a corner to sit in and sat there for a while, listening to the rain. But six year olds are hard to keep still, and Lucie started fidgeting and wanting desperately to do something.

"Tommy," she whispered. Her brother looked at her questioningly.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Can we play a game?" begged Lucie. "A real quiet one, so we won't bother anybody?"

Thomas smiled. "What did you have in mind?"

Lucie grinned from ear to ear and stood up. "Hide and go seek! You're it!" And without further ado, she ran to go find a hiding place.

"No-Lucie!" Thomas whispered fiercely, but it was no use. In mere moments, she had rounded a corner and was out of sight.

Thomas sighed through his nose at his sister's childish nature and went to go fetch her before she caused trouble.

!i!i!

Lucie scampered through the cathedral, trying to make as little noise as possible while still finding a decent hiding place. After searching for any hidden corners that would be practical for her hiding place, and finding none, she finally sat down in frustration. It was only then that she spied a wooden door, left slightly ajar, with stairs going upwards. She smiled to herself. Tommy will never find me there! She thought.

She climbed up and up the winding staircase, not noticing that she had left her cloak abandoned on the stairs.

!i!i!

Quasimodo looked over his new figure he had just finished painting. It was a tiny little miniature of him, and he already hated it. Of course, he was proud of himself for making it at all, but he didn't like how strange it looked. The little carving looked like a mistake, but he guessed it was only fitting, since that's what he was too. This is why he was kept up in a tower, like his master was constantly reminding him.

He had just turned thirteen, and his master was willing enough to let him try carving. He had seen someone doing it down in the square once, and he had always longed to try it for himself. His master wouldn't allow it at first; the knife was too big for him, and there really was no point at all, he would say. But Quasimodo begged nearly every day, and eventually his master had given in and had given him the knife and several small blocks of wood. It took nearly three days and every ounce of Quasimodo's concentration before this, his first, carving was finished and painted. And now here it was.

Suddenly, he heard a noise that sounded like footsteps coming up the stairs towards the bell tower. Quasimodo panicked, but tried to force himself to stay calm. He hadn't done anything wrong, Frollo couldn't possibly be angry, yet. He just had to wait for his master to come in and give him his dinner.

Then he heard the sneeze. And it definitely didn't come from Frollo. It was too little, and too cute.

"Hello?" said a little girl's voice. "Is anybody there?"

Quasimodo froze. There was someone in the tower. Quickly, he ran for cover, leaving his carving on the table. Just in time too; just as Quasimodo hid himself behind a post, a little girl cautiously made her way up the stairs to his loft. Her eyes widened as she saw the table with the little carving on it, and she promptly made her way over to it. Picking it up, she looked it over, an expression of interest on her little face.

Quasimodo watched the little girl inspect his carving with mixed emotions of fear and curiosity. He had never seen another child up close before. Subconsciously, he drew closer, but froze when the floor beneath him creaked.

The little girl turned around, still holding the carving. "Hello?" she asked. Quasimodo breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that she still couldn't see him. "Is anyone there?"

"Y-yes," said Quasimodo. "But you shouldn't be up here."

"Why?" asked the little girl, looking all over for the mysterious voice. "Where are you?"

Quasimodo was bemused. No one had ever asked why before. Yet, no one had actually been up here before, except for Frollo. "B-because," he said. "No one's supposed to come up here."

"You're up here," the little girl pointed out. "Why can't other people be too?"

"I-I live here," said Quasimodo. "O-other people don't."

"What's your name?" asked the little girl. Once again, Quasimodo was confused at the sudden question. "My name is Lucie Marie Lamont, but you can call me Lucie."

"Q-Quasimodo," whispered Quasimodo, afraid of what this strange child would think of his hideous name.

Lucie frowned, and Quasimodo's heart sunk. But she simply said, "That's a really long name. Do you have a shorter one?"

"N-no," said Quasimodo. "I'm just Quasimodo."

"Alright, Quasitoto," said Lucie, unable to properly pronounce his name. "Where are you hiding?" She smiled and began looking under things to see if she could spot him.

Quasimodo drew deeper into the shadows of the bell tower. He didn't want to frighten the sweet little girl, but she was very persistent.

Finally, after trying to find the mysterious person, and not succeeding, Lucie sat down and scrunched up her face. She knew that if she threatened to cry, then Thomas would do whatever she wanted. Maybe it would work on the mysterious person too.

Sure enough, once Quasimodo realized that Lucie was about to cry, he immediately began a silent debate with himself. Should he go out and keep the child from crying, or should he still continue to hide?

Fortunately, he was spared the choice has he heard another voice calling, "Lucie?"

!i!i!

Thomas was panicking, all thoughts of the game forgotten. Lucie had run out of sight so quickly that he had little to no preparation. If anything happens to her I'll never forgive myself! He thought desperately.

He searched the cathedral frantically for several minutes before he spotted her cloak lying on a secluded staircase hidden behind a door. He breathed a sigh of relief; knowing his sister she had probably been curious about where the steps went and had simply gone up them. Thomas peered up the dark staircase, curious himself. He started to ascend them, wondering what sort of trouble Lucie could have gotten herself into in such a short amount of time.

As he got to the top, he began calling Lucie's name, hoping beyond hope that she was there. "Lucie?" he called again and again. It was only when he reached the inside of the bell tower that he got a response.

"Tommy!" cried a small voice from up above. Thomas looked up and saw his sister looking at him from above on a loft type thing, clutching something in her hands. He ran to her.

"Lucie, don't you ever, ever run away from me like that again!" scolded Thomas, overjoyed to see that his sister wasn't hurt or crying.

"Tommy, there's someone up here too!" exclaimed Lucie excitedly. "His name is Quasitoto, and he lives up here!"

Thomas looked at his sister in amusement. "Really now? And what does your friend look like?"

Lucie frowned. "I don't know, he won't come out!" She turned around and began shouting into the bell tower. "Quasitoto! Quasitoto! Please come out! This is my brother and he's awfully nice! Quasitoto!"

Thomas peered into the shadows of the tower, but all he could make out were shapes of statues and beams. Suddenly, he saw movement and instinctively dove after it. "Gotcha!" He had grabbed a hold of someone and started trying to pull them into the light. The "someone" he had grabbed was fighting, but not too hard; reflecting on the incident, Thomas was certain that the stranger was holding back on him, as if he was trying not to hurt him, but he was never completely certain.

As soon as Thomas had gotten the "someone" into the light, the "someone" cowered on the ground, covering his face with his hands. Thomas could see that it was a boy, not much older than himself, with bright red hair and a hump on his back. His face was obscured by his humongous hands, but he could tell that he was disfigured. He reeled back in shock, but Lucie drew closer.

"Quasitoto?" she asked. When the boy didn't move, she moved even closer, so that she was standing directly in front of him. "Hello?" She waved her small hands in front of the boy's face.

"Lucie!" whispered Thomas, suddenly worried for his sister's safety once more. "Come here!"

"It's alright Tommy!" shouted Lucie. "Quasitoto's nice!"

The boy suddenly looked up, shocked, giving Lucie and Thomas a full view of his face. He was very strangely put together, with his nose turned upwards and a strange bulge over his left eye. He really was a fright to look at up close. But Lucie seemed unfazed by all of that. She held out the small carving towards the boy.

"Is this you?" she asked bluntly. "It looks like you."

The boy slowly nodded, taking the carving from the little girl. "Y-yes," he whispered. "I m-made it, myself."

Lucie smiled at the boy, making him look at her in wonder, before going and grabbing Thomas' hand and leading him forward. "This is Tommy, my big brother. He's nice too."

The two boys looked at each other apprehensively. Thomas wasn't sure what to do; should he take his sister and run, or stay and be nice to the strange disfigured boy?

He decided to be nice, for his sister's sake.

And because he was frightfully curious, even if he wouldn't admit it.

Thomas reached out his hand towards the boy. The boy cringed, but took it, and Thomas helped him get to his feet. The boy stood awkwardly because of his hump, yet he and Thomas could still see eye to eye, if the boy would ever look at him. Thomas smiled at him, trying to break the ice.

"Hello," he said, holding out his hand again. "My name is Thomas Lamont. This is my sister, Lucie, whom you've already met. And your name is..?"

The boy stared at Thomas' outstretched hand, confused. Lucie smiled, and took his hand, bringing it to Thomas'. "You shake it silly," she giggled. "That way you can know each other better."

The boy grasped Thomas' hand cautiously, and Thomas shook it up and down. "See?" he said. "It's not so bad. Now, your name is..?"

"Quasimodo," said the boy, looking delighted and scared to be shaking someone's hand. Thomas wondered briefly if he had never done so before.

"Quasimodo, huh?" said Thomas, glancing at his sister. "You sure it's not Quasitoto?"

Quasimodo looked confused, and briefly glanced up at Thomas before ducking again. "No, I'm pretty sure-"

Thomas chuckled. "I'm only teasing ya." He nudged his sister. "She has a bad habit of mispronouncing things, and I usually have to correct her every time."

Lucie giggled, suddenly shy. Thomas shuffled his feet. "So, do you live up here?"

Quasimodo nodded. "O-oh, yes, I do. I've lived up here my w-whole life."

"Do you ever go outside?" asked Lucie, suddenly not shy anymore. Quasimodo looked at her strangely before looking away again.

"N-no, never."

Thomas gaped at the strange boy. He isn't much older than I am, and he's never ever gone outside? Thought Thomas disbelievingly. I'd go mad.

There was a long pause. Thomas began shuffling his feet again, and Quasimodo turned the little carving over and over in his hands. Lucie just stared at the two of them, until she finally had enough and grabbed Quasimodo's hand.

"Quasitoto?" she asked. Quasimodo looked bemused and a little frightened, but he answered anyway.

"Y-yes?"

"Will you take me to see the bells someday?" she asked, smiling up at him. Quasimodo nodded, too bewildered to speak.

Thomas suddenly noticed that it wasn't raining anymore, as he couldn't hear the patter on the roof. "Oh, Lucie, we need to get home. The rain stopped, and Maman is probably worried sick about us."

Lucie frowned, but Thomas cut her off with a glare that said, No 'buts' young lady. Lucie let go of Quasimodo's hand, and gave him a fleeting hug. "Goodbye, Quasitoto," she said. Thomas smiled at his sister, then put her cloak on. After it was secured around her shoulders, and she was sent in the direction of the stairs, Thomas turned to Quasimodo.

"It was nice to meet you," he said cordially. "Even if it only was for a few minutes."

Quasimodo nodded, his heart sinking again. They're not coming back, are they? But then Thomas surprised him by saying,

"We'll try and come back tomorrow, but no guarantees," said Thomas, smiling. "It all depends on my Maman and whether she'll let us go the square or not." Thomas held out his hand again.

Quasimodo nodded and took Thomas' small hand in his own large one. "I-I look forward to it."

Thomas smiled again, and turned towards the stairs where his sister was waiting. "Goodbye Quasimodo!"

!i!i!

They soon disappeared down the steps and out into the cathedral below. Quasimodo hurried to the ledge and looked out, trying to get a glimpse of the children leaving the cathedral. He saw them, and he thought he saw Lucie glance up towards the tower, but he couldn't be sure. As soon as they were out of sight, he turned and went back inside. Placing his little carving on the table, he took out another piece of wood and began carving, unable to keep the smile that was slowly spreading across his face.

!i!i!

As soon as the children got downstairs, Thomas pulled Lucie aside. "Lucie, we can't tell anybody about Quasimodo, alright?"

Lucie cocked her head. "Why not?"

"Because," began Thomas. "He's different. What if someone wanted to hurt him because of that? And it'd be our fault. We have to protect him, meaning that we can't tell Maman or Papa about him, alright?"

"I promise," nodded Lucie solemnly.

Thomas eyed her skeptically. "Cross your heart?"

Lucie nodded once more, and Thomas chuckled, tousling her hair. "That's my petit oiseau."

The children left the cathedral, their cloaks pulled tight around them to keep out the chilly breeze. Lucie glanced up at the bell tower but didn't see anyone, so both the children continued home to their worried Maman and a warm supper.