1 month ago, 10 notes
k9gm3: Clopin/Esmeralda

Clopin first saw Esmeralda when she was twelve; half-starved and feeding what little scraps of food she did manage to find to a sickly goat she insisted on carting around in the crook of her elbow like her very own child. Although it may be hard to believe now, she had not always been good at dancing, awkwardly thrusting her hips and arms on Paris street corners to try and earn some money when Clopin swooped in to tuck her under his wing. He was sixteen but already well-versed in the way of gypsy life, of magic tricks, of living a lifestyle so frequently frowned upon.

He brought Esmeralda to the Court, where she learned and practiced and grew, maturing before his eyes. Although she lived with all of the gypsies, she belonged to him in dance. He slaved through hours with her, teaching her how to swing her body just so, how to feel music, how to spin and leap and twirl. Initially, it was just so she had a purpose, a way to bring in money for the Court, but it became a friendship. Esmeralda told him of her travels in exchange for his own and for the first time in his life he didn’t feel like a thief or a nobody, because he was someone to her.

She blossomed with talent and wisdom and beauty; despite her unfortunate circumstances, she was always so kind. It was why he wasn’t surprised when she treated the hunchback so well. He had already been well aware of the sheer size of her heart and the unconditional  compassion she harbored. Even after returning home from a day of dance, sweaty and tired with cracked and bleeding feet, having earned more than one degrading comment from city guards, she still smiled, still hugged, still laughed. It was this endless optimism that made her so alluring.

When she fell in love with the Captain, it only made her more jubilant. She was bursting with sunshine and song and all things sweet. Clopin had never believed in soulmates until he saw her with Phoebus and understood there would be no one else for her.

So Clopin kept himself at a distance and watched her give birth to a son. He watched her fall in love all over again every time she looked at the Captain. And he knew that he would only really have her in dance, could only love her with music, and he decided that that was enough.


#clopin #esmeralda #the hunchback of notre dame


  1. rainbowballz posted this