In the following days, word started to spread around Metro City about a beautiful bird that would fly through the sky, and if you were especially lucky, you would be able to hear its song. Rumors started to spread that seeing the bird meant good luck and hearing its song meant that fortune was headed your way. It seemed the mystery surrounding the blue bird with the red markings only made people that much more awestruck by it.

From what most of Metro City could tell, it had appeared out of nowhere.

Of course, this wasn't true. Phenias had come from Tenma's hands and every night he would fly back to Tenma's apartment, where he would nest in his very own charging station, which was mounted on the wall in Tenma's private workshop.

"You could fly way further," Astro reminded the bird one late evening it had come home. "You don't need to get back to this power station specifically."

"But I want to come back here!" Phenias returned. "Is that a big problem?"

"No, not at all," Tenma smirked, amused.

"Are you sure?" Phenias pressed. "I… I did awful things to you, creator. I don't deserve this."

"Well, Phenias," Tenma said, "you're not the only one who needed a second chance at some point. Isn't that right, Astro?" he asked, patting Astro on the head.

" I see what you mean, father," Astro smiled.

Phenias continued his routine of flying out early each morning and coming back home late in the evening, though suddenly one day he was not alone. An old and worn out robot stood in front of Tenma's door.

Confused, Tenma looked at the old maid robot.

"Creator," Phenias spoke from where he sat on the maid robot's shoulder. "This is Tabitha. You probably don't remember her, but she was in the robot village."

"Phenias, isn't Tabitha supposed to be in police custody?" he asked. "I can't hide her here. If they find her here with me, I'll be in serious trouble. Do you realize that?"

"But, creator," Phenias tried. "Tabitha used to be a maid at a big house, and all she wants is to be a maid again, to help humans. You can fix her, can't you? You can make her new again, even make her look different!"

"Well…. I erh," Tenma hesitated, stepping backwards.

"Sir," the robot maid then spoke quietly. "I… I was once part of a family, a human family. When I was with them, I was needed. I loved it there; that's how I want to live. I don't want to live running from place to place, always trying to hide. I want to be of use. You're my only hope. Please, sir!"

For a moment, Tenma stared at her, then sighed deeply. "Fine," he said. "Come in, quickly." He gently put a hand on Tabitha's back and guided her inside. "Okay, let's sit down for a bit." He showed her to the living room and they sat down. "What exactly is it you would want from me?"

"Sir?" Tabitha looked up.

Tenma exhaled deeply as he folded his hands. "I can indeed repair you, I can modify you as well, and if you wish to be at peace, it'll probably be for the better if I change your appearance. However, I want to make absolutely sure that your future body will be a body you yourself are pleased with." He leaned forwards. "So, Tabitha, tell me about yourself," he prompted. "Tell me what it is you like to do, and what you wish to do in the future."

Astounded, Tabitha looked up at Tenma. "Yes, sir," she said. "Well, to be honest I… I've always wanted to be able to plant flowers."

For three hours, Tenma listened to Tabitha. He asked questions, wrote down her answers, and listened intensely. By then it was night and Tenma went to bed. However the following morning he gently put Tabitha down on his work table. "I'm going to turn you off now," Tenma informed her in a gentle voice. "It'll be like you are a sleep, and when you wake up, your body will have been modified and changed."

The robot smiled up at him. "Thank you," she said.

Tenma found the correct switch and turned off the bot.

Astro was very surprised when he arrived at Tenma's apartment that afternoon to see the workshop he had made for him actually being used!

Curiously, Astro looked at the robot lying on the worktable, opened up exposing all the wires and its like inside. "What are you doing, father?" he asked.

"Right now, basic repairs," Tenma replied. "Afterwards, a few upgrades and modifications."

"You're fixing her!" Astro realised. "That's great. Where did she come from?"

Tenma rolled his eyes. "Phenias brought her to my front door," he informed. "She asked to be fixed up so she could find a new family to work for. This had better not become a habbit of his!"

It did become a habit. Suddenly, he would regularly send robots to Tenma's doorstep, each one asking to be either repaired or modified, with nowhere else to go.

Soon Tenma even had a waiting list, with several robots camping out in his living room waiting for their turn. But at the same time, Tenma couldn't just speed up the process; he needed to talk to each and every one of them to determine how he would carry out any repairs, and he refused to do a crappy repair of modification.

Though the sight of all the broken robots camping in his living room made Tenma groan. "This… can't work out for much longer," he concluded.

Astounded, Astro stood beside him. "You could send some of them to the Ministry of Science," he suggested.

"Well, the Ministry of Science may be able to repair a few, but eventually they'll have to start charging fees," Tenma informed Astro. "And there doesn't seem to be any end to them. No, if this is going to continue, I need a bigger workspace."

"You mean… like an official bigger workshop?" Astro asked.

"Probably, yes," Tenma sighed. "I am not badly off, I have decent fortune in the bank, but even I have my limits. I wouldn't be able to keep such a non-profit workshop going."

"Don't you have a lot of people who owe you favors?"

Tenma paused. "Hu,." he remarked. "That is true. I wonder..."

It was incredible what could happen if you just reached out. It seemed like no time at all before Tenma was standing in his very own private workshop downtown; the rooms had even been graciously donated to him by one of the many people who felt like they owed him.

Soon, the workshop itself was buzzing with life; robot life that was. Robots who had been broken and thrown out, came to him for help.

In the back of the workshop there were charging stations and rest areas for the robots who were waiting their turn. In the front there were all the parts you could dream of donated from the Ministry of Science once Ochanomizu had realized what Tenma was up to.

Eventually Reno came down and started to work there as well. He more than anyone loved the place; he loved to help and fix the older robot models, and eagerly listened to Tenma's advice upon robotic engineering.

Other young robotics engineers would soon join well: to be able to work under the great Dr Tenma was beyond a marvelous opportunity! The only requirement was that they worked for free. The entire thing was non-profit and everyone there were volunteers.

There never seemed to be quiet at the workshop. There was always something to do and time just flew by. The biggest change, though, seemed to be in Tenma himself. He seemed happy, and he was actually smiling and laughing. Sure, sometimes he would retreat when he'd had enough human interaction, but he would come back eventually and a whole new side of him seemed to emerge.

It was pretty rare for the workshop to be quiet. This evening, though, was one of the rare occasions. Tenma was sitting by his work desk, developing a new design for one of the robots who needed modifications. Suddenly, his hand brushed against a picture frame and Tenma looked up to see the photo of Tobio. Sighing deeply, he picked up the photo and looked at it, smiling a little sadly.

"He would have loved all of this," a small voice sounded and Tenma turned his head to see a certain small robot coming towards him. "I know that for a fact, because I love it."

Tenma smiled, amused, as he put the photo away. "What brings you here so late, Astro?" he asked.

"I just wanted to see you," Astro said. "You're almost never at the apartment anymore; you're just as busy as Ochanomizu always is!"

"I'm sorry," he said, then offered Astro a hand and pulled him up onto his lap. "It will soon be spring, so the zoo will be opening again. We should go one of these days."

"Absolutely!" Astro grinned. Then he sighed contently as he leaned against Tenma. "I knew you could do it, father," he said. "I'm so proud of you. I love you."

Tenma smiled as he wrapped his arms around Astro. "I love you too, Astro."

Something surprising had happened. Tenma had agreed to be part of a press conference; had actually agreed to stand in front of cameras and journalists. And no one had pointed a gun at his head! At least, that Astro knew of.

"We are indeed very surprised," a journalist next to Tenma said, "that you would agree."

"Well, I actually have something to say. That is why," Tenma replied.

"Well then, Dr Tenma," the journalist said, "say what you wish to say. The world is listening."

Tenma glanced down then stepped towards the microphone. "Some years ago," he started, "my colleague and successor, Professor Ochanomizu, coined the term 'the robot heart'. At that time, I thought it was a rather silly concept. To assume robots have hearts is to assume they have feelings. And if they have feelings, they must indeed be alive. The thought, to me, was ludicrous," he said. "However, as it happens, robots do have feelings. They have hearts. They are alive. It is humans who create robots, which makes robots the children of humans. They are our children, yet, it is us, the parents, who have been neglectful." He paused. "Robots turn to us to learn and develop, and when we deny them that right, we are denying them the right to grow and have a life. We humans, we put the robots into this world, it is our responsibility to see that robots are treated well and will have lives worth living. If we do not, robots will indeed rebel and we will have been the architects of our own doom. This is my warning to humanity: we the humans are the parents, and the robots are our children. However, one day all children grow up and they'll either rebel or support their elders. It all depends on how we treat them first. If we do well, if we just listen to them, there'll be nothing to fear. Robots, as Professor Ochanomizu always loves to point out, just want to be our friends and they will be our friends if we just let them be. More than friends even; they can be family too. It is my sincere wish that my message will reach at least some of you and that you will turn to your friends and family members, and listen to them before it is to late. I know it is a scary thought, to realize that robots are alive; the ramifications of that are enormous, but it is still true. We made them, they are here now, alive, and we cannot just throw them away and pretend they were never there. Your only choice if you wish to move forwards is to acknowledge them as they are. Humanity's children." He bowed his head. "That is all I had to say." He turned away.

For a moment there was dead quiet. All the journalists were silent as they processed this, and then a big roar sounded as multiple yells and screams came at the same time, calling out Tenma's name, asking a pleferal of questions. Tenma didn't respond. He had said his piece. He walked directly over to his waiting family:

Astro, Ochanomizu, Uran, Reno, and even Phenias.

Astro ran to him and jumped up, allowing Tenma to pick him up.

"That was amazing, father!" Astro cheered.

"Uncle Tenma!" Uran exclaimed, grabbing his leg in a hug.

Ochanomizu smiled. "You sure have changed a lot, Tenma."

"Have I?" Tenma asked. "Ah, I suppose it doesn't matter."

"I sure am happy!" Astro smiled.

"I am proud to have been created by you," Phenias said from where he sat on top of Reno's head.

Reno almost went cross-eyed trying to look up and catch a glimpse of the bird. Then, finally, he shook his head. "It sure was something."

"Well then, let's get out of here," Ochanomizu said. "I trust you all know where we are headed."

"To the zoo!" Uran cheered throwing both arms in the air.

"Exactly!" Reno grinned and Tenma smiled, amused.

Of course, this wasn't the end of Tenma's life, or many of the obstacles that would still faze him, but one thing wouldn't change. For the first time in such a long time, he was at peace. He was happy. And he knew no matter what happened, he had done good things too. Good things that benefitted his many children out there.

In fact, in a way, Tenma ended up considering himself a pretty lucky man, to be loved by so many.

The end.

This entire story has been beta read by MugetsuFoxPipe. You should totally go say thanks and read her Astro boy stories as well, without her help this story would not have been so easy for you to read due to English not being my native languet.

Also you should totally leave a review for this story ;)