How are toons born? Most aren't born in the traditional way, where a mother and a father-well, you know. Unless of course, you don't, in which case keep believing what they told you about the storks, kiddo. Anyways, where were we? Ah, yes, the birth of toons. By design, most toons come about because some artist thought of and created them. While it is possible for toons to reproduce naturally, it can only happen when their artist or the artist who has taken responsibility for them so deigns to allow it to happen to expand a story cast or add in a plot twist. But for the most part, a toon comes into existence when an artist finally puts down their pen-or, with more modern cartoons, computer mouse or stylus-and says to themselves, "There. This is a completed character." And then, by whatever sort of magic or deus-ex-machina that brings the toon to life (no one has fully figured out how this phenomena began and most would rather not question it), the toon appears in the real world, ready to serve their purpose. Of course, their purpose might only to be to serve as a character in one film or short, in which case it might seem like, after they fulfilled their original purpose, their lives would become meaningless. But no. Toons who do not become stars usually go on to live full and happy lives either in the human world around them or in the many toon communities around the world. But that's a story for another time. Our story today begins with the "birth" of a very special character named Tadashi Hamada and how he went on to redefine exactly what it meant to be a toon.

Tadashi was born on January 20, 2013, at 5:45 in the afternoon. When, where, and how exactly a toon finally came into existence was a bit of a random process-sometimes they showed up in the middle of the most unexpected and sometimes most inconvenient situations. But this was the Disney animation studios, and after all those years and the countless characters they had churned out, aside from a few more mischievous characters who wanted to make a more memorable entrance, there was a special room set aside in a secluded area of the animation building (although not too far from the artists' work areas) that the studios had set aside for their characters to "appear" in. When the room had first been thought of, they hadn't even known if it would work, but apparently whatever forces were responsible for the bringing about of characters had appreciated their efforts to make the process more organized and manageable and, for quite some time now, the majority of the toons arrived in this room on the cot that had been helpfully provided for them.

It was on this cot that Tadashi awoke for the first time. It's hard for a human to understand exactly what it's like for a toon when they first open their eyes and take their first breaths in the real world. Human babies come into the world with no memories or knowledge of the world around them except basic survival instincts and knowing what the past nine months in their mother's womb were like. Toons, however, have a rather different experience-unless, of course, their character was drawn as a baby, in which case there actually isn't a terrible amount of difference. For those who are drawn any older, they come into being with the general worldly knowledge and common sense that their character would have at the age they were designed to be. Beyond that, while they instinctively know that they have no actual memories as of yet, those who are designed to play a specific role come into being with the same memories that their character would have. This sometimes results in a bit of dysphoria to begin with, trying to compensate between their "experiences" in their story world and the "real" world that they have just arrived in. Some characters have an extremely hard time coming to terms with this (a good example, although staged, was Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story thinking that he was an actual space ranger instead of a toy), and some never fully came to terms with it, living in denial. Most, though, whether out of necessity or by design, manage to make their peace with it relatively soon after their "births" and are able to move on to fulfilling their intended purpose. Such was the case for Tadashi.

When Tadashi's eyes flicker open, he finds himself lying down on something that was soft and flat-assumedly a bed, although as he was just gaining consciousness for the first time, he was a little groggy and not quite sure of his senses. Something told him, though, to take it slow as he sits up to take in his surroundings, and he listens to that instinct (a good thing, too, as many toons who sat up too quickly for the first time in this room were forced to spend their first few minutes of existence experiencing major vertigo.) Moving carefully, he pulls himself into a partially upright position on what turned out to indeed be a bed, much like ones that were used in doctors' offices, before slowly rotating his body until his legs were hanging over the side of the cot. He dazedly takes in his surroundings as the fog in his brain gradually begins to drift away, and he realizes that the rest of the room, with its soft gray walls and nondescript cabinets, also looked much like a doctor's office. For a full minute he wonders if he'd been sick and Aunt Cass had taken to the hospital. But then the fog fully clears and the truth comes to him. He was a toon-a character designed by an artist he only vaguely remembered, or perhaps a team of artists-and this must be his "awakening". It was a bit of an odd feeling, and one that might have frightened him more if his toon instincts hadn't quickly kicked in to remind him that this was his purpose and there really was nothing to be afraid of. Beyond that, he knew that he wasn't alone-or, at least, wouldn't be for long if he was. His friends and family would appear as well as soon as their artists were finished with them (which explained why his exact memories of the "other" world were slightly blurry at the moment, given it hadn't been completed yet) and so it was only a matter of time before he was "reunited" with them (although in truth they wouldn't have officially met before, but that was a matter that would be shortly rectified.)

Tadashi was just beginning to examine his own body, carefully testing out his arms and legs and making sure that everything was in working order, when suddenly there's a soft tapping on the door. Not sure who exactly it was (there was a small glass window in the door, but either his unexpected visitor was standing to the side of it or was too short to be seen through it) but only able to assume it would be someone friendly given he couldn't think of any potential enemies he might have (even the villain in his story didn't hold an actual grudge against him in particular-in fact, they seemed to be fairly close prior to the fire that was supposed to bring about his character's "death"-thank goodness that was only a part of the script, not something that was actually going to happen to him!), he calls out, "Come in!" His voice came out slightly hoarse-sounding, as if he hadn't used it in a while (although the truth was that he'd just never had a chance to use it before), but apparently whoever was on the other side of the door found the words distinguishable as the door handle immediately turn and only moments later the door opens a crack.

The teenage boy in front of him was both familiar and a stranger to him at the same time. Familiar in that he knew the shaggy, raven haired boy who shared his own soft brown, almond-shaped eyes from his character memories. He was a stranger, though, in that they had never actually met before on this side of reality-wow, that was a brain trip waiting to happen.

"Hiro?" Tadashi says uncertainly, wanting to make sure that he wasn't mistaking the boy for someone he wasn' grin that immediately crossed the teen's face was enough to confirm that he had identified him correctly.

"Tadashi!" Hiro says, eagerly crossing the room to him and, without even asking permission, pulling himself up onto the cot to sit next to the other man. Not that Tadashi minded-even though this was technically their first time meeting, the instant he looked into those almost puppy-esque eyes and saw that adorable gap-toothed smile, he could almost feel it like a hook in his chest that he was already completely and utterly wrapped around his brother's little finger and that he would do literally anything for him. It was odd to know that he had become so automatically devoted to a boy he'd technically just met. But Hiro wasn't acting like they were strangers at all-he was apparently counting his character memories as being as good as real ones, and, if that's how his little brother wanted it, then so would Tadashi.

"It took you long enough to get here!" Hiro says with a slight smile, bouncing lightly up and down on the bed and startling the other man out of his thoughts. "I swear, those artists were taking forever to finish, it was almost physically painful watching them make sure that every tiny hair was exactly in place-like, c'mon, have they never heard of a hair brush, would it really matter if one strand was slightly sticking up when it could be so easily fixed?" He lets out an over-dramatic sigh, flopping across Tadashi's lap with an arm across his forehead like he'd fainted, earning him an involuntary chuckle from the older man.

"Then of course I had to wait once they were finally done for you to actually show up! I mean, sheesh, did you stop for coffee on the way or something?" Hiro continues, apparently enjoying his brother's reaction to his antics and so deciding to continue with them. "I've been waiting out there for forever for you to finally appear!"

"Forever?" Tadashi asks, quirking an amused eyebrow.

"Well, all right, fine, a few hours," Hiro admits. "But it felt like forever, at least!"

"You couldn't think of anything to do to keep yourself entertained with that big brain of yours?" Tadashi asks, lovingly ruffling the teens hair-the words felt somehow both strange and familiar in his mouth, as if even though they'd never actually passed his lips before they were something he'd become accustomed to saying after years of use.

"Well, I could have," Hiro answers, finally sitting back up. "But I was trying to watch through the window so I'd know the minute you got here! Of course, you would choose the moment I finally took a break from watching to grab a cup of cocoa to show up-shame on you!" He lightly whacks his older brother's arm.

"My apologies, I swear it wasn't intentional," Tadashi laughs, smiling down at his younger sibling and, unable to resist the impulse, pulls him into a warm bear hug.

Hiro didn't seem to mind the contact, contentedly nuzzling into his chest with a happy sigh that practically melted the older man's heart before saying in a conspiratorial whisper, "Technically I'm not supposed to be in here. I was supposed to go get the toon doctor when I saw you show up so that he could check you over, and then I'd be allowed to come in and meet you. But…"

"But of course you didn't listen to instructions and decided to take matters into your own hands," Tadashi answers, knowing that he probably should be scolding his younger sibling but finding the sentiment that his brother couldn't wait even a second longer than was necessary to meet him too adorable to feel any actual disapproval.

"Exactly!" Hiro agrees, grinning up at him.

"Knucklehead," Tadashi says fondly, smiling back down at him. "Tell you what-I won't tell on you as long as you go do what you're actually supposed to do, okay?"

"But nii-chan!" Hiro's expression instantly morphs into that of a kicked puppy. "I want to stay here with you! Don't you want to spend time with your otouto?"

"Of course I do!" Tadashi cries, instantly feeling intense guilt at having potentially hurt his brother's feelings and pulling the boy closer. "I just don't want you to get into trouble on my account!"

"Like I care about trouble!" Hiro says breezily, instantly back to his old cheery self, if looking a bit smug.

Damn this kid is good, Tadashi thinks wryly to himself.

"All right," he finally agrees. "Just don't expect me to cover for you when the doctor does finally get here!"

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Hiro answers with a grin.

Tadashi should have known better than to trust the manipulative (although undeniably adorable) little troublemaker that his brother was turning out to be. When the doctor finally arrived to find Hiro already inside the room instead of having come to get him the minute that he'd seen his brother arrive, Tadashi found himself lying about having been rather disoriented when he'd woken up in the room and starting to cry out for his family, leaving Hiro to feel that he had no other choice but to hurry in to comfort his older sibling. Wow-he'd been "alive" barely fifteen minutes and he was already lying to keep his brother out of trouble. This did not set a very optimistic precedent for hoping that he was going to be a responsible nii-chan who made sure that his otouto actually learned that there were consequences to his actions. It made him feel slightly better when it was later explained to him that that was just a part of his character's design, although he still felt responsible for his own actions.

After the doctor had looked him over and declared him healthy and complete (it was extremely rare, but sometimes an artist would accidentally leave a gap or unfinished part on a character which resulted in some understandable problems when they transferred over to the real world), Tadashi was taken to meet his director and the creative team who had been responsible for creating him. All of them were extremely kind and friendly, and, with Hiro by his side,Tadashi was beginning to feel more and more comfortable with settling into his new existence. After all of the initial introductions were taken care of, the siblings were taken to the cafeteria where, it was explained to Tadashi, they were going to be eating all of their meals for the time being (Hiro informed him that the food wasn't quite as good as Aunt Cass', but still pretty good.) Dinner was a bit of an awkward affair as everyone seemed interested in the newly arrived toon and it felt like half the commissary was staring at him. Still, fortunately sensing the newcomer's discomfort and remembering their own arrivals not too long ago, the stars of the studio's currently upcoming movie, Frozen, invited the boys to sit with them Apparently Hiro and one of the two princesses from the film, Anna, had already become close friends, as they started chatting away a mile a minute the instant the younger boy sat down. As far as Tadashi could tell, the two were partners in mischief, something he was going to have to keep an eye on. For his part, he ended of finding he had a lot in common with the older sister, Elsa.

"Crazy first day?" she asks, flashing him a sympathetic smile as she pats the seat next to her, signaling for him to join her.

"Yeah, you could say that," Tadashi admits, smiling gratefully back as he takes the indicated chair.

"It's always a little bit disconcerting to begin with, but it does get better," Elsa says reassuringly. "But don't worry, you'll get used to it pretty soon. And it definitely gets better as you go along."

"Really?" Tadashi asks, grateful to hear that from a toon who had been around for longer than his own younger sibling had been (not that he didn't trust his brother, but the teen wasn't much more experienced than he was.)

"Definitely," Elsa agrees with a firm nod, blowing onto her soup to cool it. "It takes a little bit to get oriented, but especially once the rest of your cast shows up and they finish writing your script, it begins to feel a lot more like home here."

"So… Do we stay here at the studios indefinitely?" Tadashi asks, uncertain as to how all of this was going to work.

"Not indefinitely, no," Elsa reassures him. "They give you apartments to live in on-site while your movie is being produced, and maybe for a little while after as well for promotionals-or, at least that's what I was told. After that, usually you're allowed to move wherever you want, provided that the studio can still get ahold of you in case they need you for more promotional stuff or for a sequel or something like that. A lot of times they'll have the characters do a short stint in the parks and cruise line so that their fans can meet them before replacing the toons with human actors-they won't hold us to it indefinitely unless we want to be there. Thank goodness for all of Toon civil rights movements that happened in the early 2000's, right?"

"Wow..." Tadashi says softly, partly relieved that he wasn't stuck with this indefinitely, partly nervous at the idea of being out there in the real world without really know what to do with himself.

"Mm," Elsa agrees. Noticing his apparent anxiety, she adds, "Don't worry-the studio would never just 'drop' a character, no matter how major or minor. For those who want to go on to pursue a more 'normal' life, the studios help them find housing and employment, and they do a good job of keeping tabs to make sure that everything's still going smoothly for them."

"Really?" Tadashi asks, feeling some of his anxiety ebb away.

"Definitely," Elsa says, giving him another one of her warm smiles. Tadashi smiles back, feeling like maybe he'd just maybe made his first real friend outside of his movie cast, only for the moment to be interrupted by very loud and slightly obnoxious laughter coming from the end of the table where Hiro and Anna were apparently cracking up over something one of them had said-it appeared that Anna might have even snorted soup up her nose.

"Siblings," Tadashi and Elsa sigh at the same time, looking at each other in surprise before finding themselves laughing as well. After that, the elder Hamada found the slight tightness that had been in his chest since he'd woken up that afternoon loosening. Maybe there were still a lot of unknowns, but, no matter what, at least he knew that everything was going to turn out okay and that he wasn't alone in this.

"Night Dashi," Hiro whispers later that night from his bed that was across the room from Tadashi's-for the time being, at least, the brother's were sharing a room, something that Tadashi didn't mind in the slightest given it was comforting knowing that his sibling was close enough that he could reach across the gap between their beds and have the physical reassurance that his little brother was there and that he wasn't alone.

"Good night, Hiro," Tadashi whispers back, smiling warmly over at his younger sibling before allowing himself to drift off into a peaceful sleep.