Author's Notes: Hello everyone! If my outline of the story turns out to be accurate, we have reached the halfway point of the story. Yay! And it only took three years :P Yeah... Anyway, I do want to try to update more. And not just this story, my other fanfics have kind of been abandoned (even more than this one). So I need to try to write more, if nothing else than because I need the practice.

"Now, should the eyes be blue or green?" Geppetto muttered under his breath, turning the doll's face back and forth in one hand and tapping a paint brush on the table with the other.

Figaro meowed, pawing at the brown paint.

"Oh? So you think the eyes should be brown?" Geppetto asked.

Figaro nodded, and as Geppetto dipped the brush in the paint, little voices called out.

"Mr. Geppetto! Mr. Geppetto!" the little forms of Jiminy and Melissa were hopping across the shop, trying to reach him as he began painting the doll's eyes. They jumped up to the counter and tried to get his attention, but now Geppetto was deeply engrossed with his work and was humming to himself.

"Mr. Geppetto, you have to come with us! Pinocchio is-" Melissa stopped as she and Jiminy heard a growl behind them.

Instantly Jiminy jumped onto Figaro's tiny little nose and started scolding him, "Not now Figaro! Pinocchio's in trouble and we have no time for your antics!"

Figaro froze as Jiminy wagged a finger in front of him, and after a moment shrank back with his ears folded back.

Melissa jumped onto the doll's head, "Geppetto!"

"Oh! Hello Melissa, having a good day?" Geppetto smiled down at the cricket absentmindedly, then frowned, "Wait, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you and Jiminy be with Pinocchio?"

"Pinocchio's in trouble!" Jiminy jumped onto the doll's head as well.

"He's been arrested!" Melissa said.

That made Geppetto jump to his feet, "He's what?! I thought you were suppose to keep him out of trouble?"

"It's not his fault this time," Jiminy explained, "He was framed by this little street urchin."

"She said he pushed her and robbed her, but we were there, he did nothing of the sort!" Melissa insisted.

Geppetto dropped the doll, sending the crickets to the counter, pacing a little, "Oh my little Pinocchio. I have to go! I have to do something!"

Jiminy picked himself up, "He's probably in jail by now."

"Okay, then I'll go now," Geppetto started heading for the door, then turned back to the crickets, "Does Antonio and his famly know?"

"No, they sent him into town when this happened," Melissa said.

"Okay, you guys go tell them," Geppetto said, "Aside for you two, they are the last people who saw him. They might be able to help."

"Um... how? They didn't see it," Melissa questioned, but Gepetto was already out the door.

Jiminy looked at Melissa, "Come on, let's go find them!"

Melissa sighed as they got back to the floor, "Okay, although I still don't see how they're going to help."

"Annabella, are you okay?" Cornelia asked, stumbling to keep her balance with all the logs both in her arms and strapped to her back.

"Yes, I was the one that sent Pinocchio away, father was right to be mad at me," Annabella said.

"No, I mean... With what Pinocchio said..." Cornelia trailed off.

Annabella shifted her own logs, then looked at Cornelia, "Do you need me to carry some of those?"

Cornelia made a face at the change of subject and the unusual suggestion, "I'm fine, I can do it! Anyway, do you think Pinocchio's still at the station?"

At that moment Cornelia felt something land on her head, and heard a voice say, "Girls, there's trouble! Lots of it!"

"Jiminy?" Cornelia responded to the voice, then felt another small being land on her head, "Melissa?"

"What are you two doing here?" Annabella asked, "Where's Pinocchio?"

"He was arrested!" Melissa said.

"What?!" Cornelia's eyes widened at the news.

"That kid, arrested? What could he have possibly done?" Annabella picked up the two crickets and held them in one of her hands.

"That's the thing, he didn't do anything!" Jiminy explained, "He was on his way to the station, and he was stopped by this kitten. She was begging for money, then suddenly she threw herself to the ground, saying Pinocchio tried to rob her."

"Of course he wasn't, but when he checked his pockets, the money was there!" Melissa continued, "She must have slipped the money in there at some point."

"Did anything else happen?" Cornelia asked, "Was anyone else there?"

Jiminy thought about it, "Well, there was that rapscallion Eugene."

"Yeah, he was the one who also said he saw Pinocchio steal!" Melissa agreed.

"Of course he did," Annabella rolled her eyes.

"We should find him!" Cornelia suggested, "He probably just said it to get back for yesterday."

"That's not a bad idea," Jiminy nodded.

"Wait, Cornelia, we still have all this wood to deliver," Annabella stated, "If we don't deliver on time, we might not get money for dinner."

"But if Pinocchio is arrested, it could ruin our family's reputation, since we've hired him," Cornelia countered.

Melissa felt the urge to point out that he hadn't really worked for them yet and this was only his first day, but held her tongue as she saw that the idea gave Annabella pause.

After a moment, Annabella sighed and asked, "You said this happened at the square?"

"Yes," Melissa said.

"Alright, let's go," Annabella shifted the two crickets to her shoulder and started walking to the square.

Geppetto burst into the jail, "Pinocchio?!"

"Father!" Pinocchio called out from behind bars.

"Ah, Mr. Tiraboschi, we were just about to come get you," Alidoro said, "This boy says he's your son."

"Yes, yes he is," Geppetto was barely paying the policedog any heed as he rushed to the cell that Pinocchio was in. The two hugged as best they could through the bars.

"Father, I didn't do anything, honest I didn't!" Pinocchio insisted, tears welling up again.

"I know son, I know," Geppetto said, then turned to the policedog, "He's a good boy, he would never do this."

"We understand Mr. Tiraboschi," Alidoro said, "But we have a witness saying they saw him do it, plus he had the money in his pocket. We can't just ignore this."

"But... but I didn't," Pinocchio fell to his knees, the tears now rolling down his cheeks.

Geppetto turned his attention back to the boy, "Oh my little boy..."

"I don't understand," Pinocchio looked up at his father as he tried to wipe the tears away, "I didn't do it, why am I being punished for something I didn't do?

Geppetto was silent for a moment, trying to find the right words to explain. He took a breath before he started, "Sometimes bad things happen to good people, even when it isn't fair or deserved."

Pinocchio just looked confused, "But... then what's the point of being good, if bad things happen to you either way?"

"Oh no no no," Geppetto quickly backpedalled, trying to think of what to say now, "Being good is its own reward! You can hold your head high with the conviction that you were not a bad person."

Pinocchio just stared at his father with an unsure gaze.

At that moment Ambrose walked in, looking frazzled, "Ugh..."

"No luck Uncle Ambrose?" Alidoro asked.

"No, they managed to get away, can't find hide or hair of em," Ambrose was growling in frustration.

"Don't worry Uncle, we'll find them," Alidoro said with a half smile.

Ambrose barely paid attention to his encouragement, "I swear, when I get my hands on those criminals, I'll wring their neck and-"

"Uncle, please watch what you say next," Alidoro said, "There's a child present."

Ambrose finally took notice of the other people in the room, "Oh. This the pickpocket you caught?"

"Alleged pickpocket," Alidoro corrected.

"So this is your kid, Geppetto?" Ambrose asked, "Well, sorry this is how I meet him."

"That makes two of us," Geppetto muttered.

"Don't take it too hard," Ambrose said, "Most kids go through a deliquent phase. You should see all the things Romeo has gotten into..." He seemed to trail off at that, his eyes looking distant for an instant before he shook his head, "Anyway, you're a good man, I'm sure you can set him right."

Geppetto suddenly turned to him, "The difference between Pinocchio and Lampwick is that he never did anything bad."

Pinocchio looked down at that as Ambrose bristled a little, "Now look here Geppetto, I know more than anyone that any father's first instinct is to deny that his son is doing anything wrong, but ignoring the problem doesn't fix anything! If you aren't careful, your kid could end up back here."

"Now see here-" Geppetto started.

"Wait, father!" Pinocchio interupted him.

"Quiet son, I'm defending you," Geppetto waved a dismissive hand at Pinocchio's words.

"But father, you said something about Lampwick!" Pinocchio insisted, remembering why he came back into town.

"Yes, and what of it?" Ambrose asked.

"I know where he is!" Pinocchio said.

All at once, Ambrose and Alidoro's attentions were drawn to the boy.

"Okay, this is where it happened," Melissa said as they entered the square.

"So what exactly happened?" Cornelia asked as Annabella looked around.

"Pinocchio was trying to find a police officer to talk with," Jiminy explained, "And this kitten stepped into his path, asking for money. When Pinocchio tried to walk past her, she just fell to the ground, claiming he robbed her. This nearby policedog had him empty his pockets, and the money was there! Then the kitten asked Eugene to tell what he saw, and Eugene said he did it!"

"Sounds suspicious to me," Annabella muttered.

"Do you think Eugene and that kitten were working together?" Cornelia asked, "I know Eugene's a jerk, but sending someone innocent to jail?"

"I wouldn't put anything past that bourgeois brat," Annabella spat, "Probably thinks a knock on his high-and-mighty head is worth jail time."

"Well, it was technically assault," Melissa muttered, but her comment was ignored.

"Where would we find him?" Jiminy asked.

"I don't know where he goes after school," Cornelia said, glancing around, "He's probably at home, or-"

"Look!" Melissa pointed. Down one of the streets leading out of the square, the small group saw Eugene crossing.

"There's the brat," Annabella scowled.

"Let's go, while we can still catch up!" Jiminy said.

The two girls started to run towards him as fast as they could with the bundles of wood. They stopped abruptly when they spotted a small anthropomorphic kitten waiting in the alley. Annabella grabbed Cornelia and pulled her aside so they weren't as conspicuous.

"Is that the kitten?" Cornelia asked.

"That's her, alright," Jiminy confirmed.

"I've seen her before," Annabella said, "She and her mother are beggars." She glanced at the cast on the kitten's leg, "She always seems to have some part of her injured."

They stopped talking as they got closer. They heard Eugene speak up, "Why am I back here? You got your money, he's in jail, what more is there to do?"

"All I know is my mother wants to talk to you," Nora said.

"Why exactly should I talk to you all again?" Eugene crossed his arms, "I got what I wanted."

Nora glanced down the alley, "You've seen my mother's gun? It's not just for show." She left it at that as she turned and hobbled down the alley.

Eugene visibly paled, and after a moment for the implication to sink in, he began to follow her. Not far behind were the girls and the crickets.

"Looks like you were right," Cornelia whispered.

Annabella merely nodded as they continued to trail them.

Eugene glanced at Nora's leg as she hobbled, "... Doesn't that hurt?"

"Hm?" Nora followed his glance, "Oh, no!" She knocked on the cast with a smile, "Can't very well hurt when it's not really broken."

Eugene just stared at her, "You guys really are a bunch of crooks."

Nora didn't really react to that, just smiled at him, "Technically you're one too now. You're just as culpable for this as the rest of us."

Eugene looked away, not appreciating her bluntness, and instead said coldly, "You sure have a big vocabulary for some street urchin."

Nora glanced sideways, "That's my father's doing. He wants me to be educated, even if I can't go to school. He says that a good education-" Her words trailed off, then quickly whispered, "We're getting close."

Eugene stiffened at that. They were approaching a turn. As the two turned, the following group hid behind the corner as they tried to surreptitiously peek around it.

Immediately Jiminy and Melissa noticed two familiar faces.

"Hey, it's that crook, Honest John!" Jiminy whispered to Melissa.

"Wasn't he arrested?" Melissa asked, "What, is the prison made of cardboard?"

Honest John and Gideon were standing on either side of Gattina. They both were looking over their shoulders, as if they expected the police to show up and drag them away. Gattina, on the other hand, was fully focused on the two arriving children. In one hand she held a large bag, a loaf of bread peeking out from the top.

Nora was looking down, and she was now mumbling as she spoke, "I brought him, Mother."

"I see that," Gattina said, grabbing a bun from the bag and tossing it at Nora's face, "Here, you've earned your dinner for tonight."

Nora started as the small bun hit her and hurried to catch it before it hit the ground. She clutched it to her chest as she smiled, "Th-Thank you."

Eugene watched the exchange, a feeling he was unable to name rising inside him. But instead of acting on that feeling, he looked at the bag, "Have you spent all the money already?"

"Of course not," Gattina said, slapping away Gideon's hand as he tried to reach inside the bag, "Just enough that you can't easily take back the money if it's absence is noticed."

Eugene blinked a little, his eyes widening, "Why... You said it wouldn't be noticed."

"Of course I did, how else were we suppose to get the money from you?" Honest John said.

Eugene continued to stare, "I... I'm going to get in trouble! Give me back the money!"

Gattina just laughed, "Really, kid? Even if I felt like giving it back, a fourth of it missing is going to still be missing."

"A-A fourth?" Eugene sputtered, then balled his fists, "Then I'll tell my father!"

The three adult anthros just smirked and glanced at each other, and as Honest John and Gideon walked towards Eugene Gattina spoke, "Quite the lip for a seven year old. Even so, I assumed you were smarter than that. You'd really get in trouble if you did that. You think your father would stop being angry at you just because you turned us in? You'd still be punished, maybe even disowned."

"I... No, he wouldn't..." Eugene said.

"Of course he would, and you know it," Gattina said, her eyes piercing his, "You should feel grateful we're so trusting of you, given what you've just said. We have... various methods of keeping you silent, if we feel."

Eugene saw her hand rest on her pistol. He also noticed that Honest John and Gideon, who had moved behind him, had ropes. He started shaking.

Gattina then cleared her throat, "Now, you must be wondering why we had you come here."

Eugene didn't speak. He was looking at her as meekly as Nora was.

"Well, seeing as we're so nice as to let you go back home, I think you owe us a little something," Gattina said, "You get a monthly allowance, don't you? I think that's more than fair compensation for keeping you out of trouble? We'll even help you come up with an excuse for your missing money."

Eugene still said nothing. He was shaking like a leaf.

"Gee, he's in quite the tough spot," Jiminy commented.

"Yeah," Melissa agreed, "We should get him out of there. Then we can convince him to tell the truth."

Honest John's ears twitched. He glanced behind him, then whispered, "Did you hear that?"

Gideon tilted his head, digging a finger in his ear, then putting a hand to the side of his ear.

Honest John nudged Nora, "Watch the kid." At Nora's nod, both he and Gideon turned and headed for the corner.

As soon as she saw them approach, Cornelia tossed both her bundles of wood at the two villains. In the confusion, Annabella grabbed the dumbstruck Eugene and turned quickly to retreat.

"Nora! Get them!" Gattina ordered.

Nora tried to follow, but almost immediately tripped due to the cast.

"Ugh, I have to do everything around here," Gattina growled in disgust, whipping out the pistol and giving chase.

The girls were almost down the first alley when Gattina turned the corner and leveled her gun as she continued to chase them.

"Woah! Girls, look out!" Jiminy warned.

Like her sister, Annabella didn't need to think as she tossed one bundle of wood behind her. Gattina dodge it, but needed to relevel the pistol just as the girls exited the alley.

Gattina growled at the fleeing figures, her finger itching for the trigger. But now that they were in the street, there was no way to descretely stop them.

The others had finally gotten back up and ran down to Gattina.

"What happened? Where did they-" Honest John was interupted by a gun being shoved into his snout.

"What do you think happened?!" Gattina was bristling with anger. She looked behind her, "It won't take long for them to snitch to the police. We need to act fast."

Eugene had finally broken out of his stupor a few minutes later and was fighting to get out of Annabella's grip, "Let go of me, peasants! You can't just carry me like this, you'll get me as filthy as you! Put me-"

Annabella finally stopped and held him up at eye level, "We just lost our wood trying to get both you and ourselves out of there. So if I were you, I'd be a little more thankful that we just lost our means of earning a living to save you!"

Eugene just stared wide eyed at her, and was back to trembling a little.

"Annabella, calm down," Melissa said, "We got out of there, so now we can prove Pinocchio's innocence."

Annabella sighed and put Eugene down, "Alright fine. Let's go to the police."

Eugene panicked again, and started to make a run for it.

Annabella grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, "And where do you think you're going?"

"I'm not going to the police, you can't make me!" Eugene still struggled to get out of her grip.

"Hey now, you're the one who helped Pinocchio get arrested," Melissa said.

"He deserved it for what he did!" Eugene insisted.

"Now listen, maybe he did deserve something for hitting you," Jiminy tried to reason, "But framing him for theft doesn't solve anything! You've just caused a bigger mess, and you need to fix it."

"No no no! I'm not going! I'm not going to be disowned and end up like you!" Eugene was now thrashing in Annabella's grip.

Annabella pulled Eugene closer and put him in a headlock, "You're really getting on my nerves..." She scooped him up and started walking towards the police.

As Eugene continued to try to escape, Jiminy furrowed his brow, "What a fuss."

"Yeah, it doesn't look like he's going to be too cooperative," Melissa said.

"If nothing else, Annabella and I can give a report on what we saw," Cornelia said, then gave the crickets on her shoulder a smile, "Either way, we'll get Pinocchio out, and-" Cornelia's sentence was brought to a halt as she ran into Annabella.

"What wrong, why did we-" Jiminy was also silenced as he looked ahead at the police station.

"Oh no..." Annabella moaned as they saw Gattina and Nora talking to the police.

"How in the world did they get ahead of us?!" Melissa asked, slapping a hand to her forehead as the two girls hurried towards the police.

"What's going on?" Cornelia asked as they approached.

Alidoro glanced at Cornelia and gave her a small smile, "Ah, hello Cornelia. Well, you'll be happy to know that Pinocchio will be released." He looked at the small kitten, "Nora has confessed to framing him."

"She what?" Jiminy and Melissa said in unison.

Gattina shook her head, her hands on Nora's shoulders, "I was so disappointed when I found out. Yes we're beggars, but that's no excuse to resort to such trickery."

Ambrose looked at Eugene, "She's also told us of your part in this. We've already contacted your parents.

Eugene paled, and was suddenly limp in Annabella's grip.

"Wait a minute! This isn't right!" Cornelia pointed at Gattina, "She knew about this all along! She was getting paid for it, and just now she tried to blackmail Eugene into paying more!"

Gattina put a hand to her heart, "Oh my word!" She turned to Alidoro, her eyes hidden beneath the pince-nez, "Officer, I think these children are confused. I was with both Nora and Eugene earlier, but that was when I found out about the deception."

"No, that isn't it!" Cornelia insisted, "She was threatening him with a gun! Check her, I'm sure she still had it!"

Alidoro turned to Gattina, looking almost apologetic as he said, "I'm sorry, but for the sake of confirmation, may I check to see if you have a gun."

"Certainly," Gattina said immediately, removing her shawl as she continued with a smile, "That is a very funny accusation, though. Imagine, a blind person wielding a gun."

Alidoro did a brief search, then turned to Cornelia, "There's no gun."

"But... But..." Cornelia was wracking her brain for another excuse, then turned to Eugene, her face red with frustration, "Tell them the truth!"

Eugene jumped a little, but remained silent as he glanced between Cornelia and Nora.

Nora looked at him, her eyes wet as she said, "It's okay. I'm the one who framed Pinocchio. It was wrong, and I should be punished."

Eugene looked at Nora for a good while, his gaze fixed on her pitiful, apologetic, yet strong gaze. It took a jossle from Annabella to snap him out, and he looked at Alidoro and said, "Nora did frame Pinocchio, she's the only one involved."

As a small chorus of "What?!" came from the two human girls, Gattina nodded, "See, even the boy admits it."

"But... this doesn't make sense!" Melissa insisted, "Surely someone saw Gattina buy the food! Can't you ask them about it?!"

There was no response.

Melissa glanced at everyone, anger filling her, "Hey, stop ignoring this! There are so many holes in this story, how can you accept it as... as..."

White.

Light.

Blinding all around.

There's so much noise, but I don't know what's going on.

People talking.

I can't understand.

Just shut up. I can't concentrate...

"Melissa, are you okay?" Jiminy asked, holding the dizzy and faint Melissa.

"I... I think so..." Melissa rubbed her head, "I'm just... dizzy. And I'm not sure what happened."

"Probably just overexcited," Jiminy was wiping the sweat from her face with a cloth, "You were pretty mad just now."

Melissa blinked, trying to recall what had happened. She did remember getting angry, but the rest was a blur. The more she tried to think of it, the more her head ached.

"Eugene!" the two crickets' attention was shifted to two adults approaching. The high-class attire and Eugene's expression upon seeing them made it pretty clear who they were. The man had well-groomed brown hair, a matching short beard, and gentle brown eyes. The woman looked almost exactly like Clarissa, except her blonde hair was long and swept up in an elaborate style. Behind them came an anthropomorphic poodle dressed as a butler.

The woman grabbed Eugene's arms and ripped him from Annabella's grasp. After giving Annabella a dirty look she looked at Eugene, "Eugene, what's going on?! Why did the police call us?!"

"Calm down Melody," the man beside her said, then turned to the police, "What is the matter, officers?"

"It seems your son and this young kitten conspired together to frame another young boy for a crime he didn't commit," Ambrose said, "Have you been missing any money?"

"... Yes, as a matter of fact," Eugene's father said, then chuckled a little, "That certainly explains it."

"This isn't a laughing matter, Gustavo!" Melody snapped, her grip on Eugene tightening to the point of making him wince, "Our son has been associating with a beggar and a criminal, and what's worse, a cre-"

"Melody!" Gustavo interupted, "I know this is serious. That was a good chunk of the gold." He looked at Nora, "Do you have any of the money left?"

Nora looked at the ground, "No. I used it all to buy food for my family."

Melody wrinkled her nose, "Spending that much on food. How wasteful."

Gustavo stroked his short beard thoughtfully, then looked at the police, "Well, if it's alright with you, perhaps I can take care of the punishment. She can work off the money I lost from this unfortunate incident. I can put my son through a similar punishment."

"What?!" Melody and Eugene exclaimed. Melody stood up and looked at Gustavo, "You can't be serious."

"Eugene participated in this, he should get equal punishment," Gustavo looked at the poodle, "Medoro, surely you can find some tasks to keep these two busy."

"I can, Master," Medoro bowed a little.

Melissa noticed Gattina and Jiminy flinch a little, and looked at Jiminy questioningly. He just continued to watch the exchange.

"Hmm... well, since they are children," Alidoro said.

"But we'll be checking in to make sure they're working," Ambrose said.

"Of course," Gustavo agreed, "She can stay with the servants."

"Oh thank you sir," Gattina smiled in his direction, "I promise she'll work hard." She pushed Nora towards them, the little kitten stumbling with her cast.

"I will take you at your word," Gustavo nodded, glancing at Nora. Melody also glanced at her, though her eyes were filled with much more distain. Gustavo nodded at the police, "Well, we should be going home. Good day, officers."

Medoro gestured to the children, "Come young master. We'll get you and your little friend ready."

As they passed, Melissa and Jiminy heard Melody mutter in an acidic tone, "As if we don't have enough creatures in our house."

Again Melissa saw Jiminy flinch, and she spoke up, "Jiminy, are you okay?"

"Oh yes, I just... don't much care for that slur," Jiminy fiddled with his umbrella.

Melissa blinked, confusion filling her at this new bit of information.

From one end of the street came an anthropomorphic dark gray male cat. His brown eyes were wide as he saw Nora walking away with the rich family.

"Gattina!" he called out, making Gattina stiffen as he approached, "What's going on?! Where are they taking Nora?"

Gattina turned, speaking through clenched teeth, "Basilio my dear, Nora was caught framing someone for a robbery. She's going to go work for the Guttuso family." As Basilio opened his mouth, Gattina continued slowly and precisely, "There's nothing to be done."

Basilio looked at his wife, then at Nora. She had turned at his voice, and she just gave him a smile through the tears welling up in her eyes.

As Basilio stared at her, Alidoro approached him, "If it's any consolation, I have talked to her before. Every time I talked to her before she seemed like a sweet girl. I'm sure this was just a one-time thing."

Basilio looked at Alidoro, but before he could say anything Gattina grabbed his arm and spoke for him, "Thank you, I'm sure you're right. Basilio, please take me home. This whole thing has upset me too much." She started pulling on his arm until he moved on his own.

From the other side came Antonio and Clarissa. As they started to pass Gustavo and Melody, Clarissa waved at them, "Hello Melody."

Melody stared at Clarissa, a sort of cold fire in her eyes. She just gave a curt nod and walked by, "Mrs. Fausti."

As Clarissa stared after her former sister, Antonio looked at his children sternly, "There you two are. None of our customers have gotten their wood. What have you been doing?"

"Pinocchio was arrested," Annabella said, "but it was all a misunderstanding. We can go back and get the wood to deliver."

Cornelia looked at her sister, "But, what about the big cat? And those other two, they-"

"Cornelia, Pinocchio's being let out," Annabella said, looking at her with a bit of weariness, "There's nothing else we can do. Let's go."

Cornelia furrowed her brow at her, but as they started walking away she let Jiminy and Melissa down before following her family.

Pinocchio immediately ran into his room once they got home.

"Pinocchio!" Geppetto called out, then sighed as the door slammed, "Perhaps I gave him his own room too soon."

"We'll talk to him Mr. Geppetto, don't worry," Jiminy assured him.

As the two headed for the room, Melissa glanced at Jiminy, "He's been silent ever since he got released."

"I know, usually he's such a talkative boy," Jiminy agreed, and once they reached the door started slipping beneath the bottom crack.

When he and Melissa reached the other side, they saw Pinocchio sitting on his bed, staring down at his feet silently.

"Oh, poor boy," Jiminy muttered, then he and Melissa jumped on the bed, "It's alright Pinoke, you got out. Everything turned out alright in the end."

"But why was I there in the first place?" Pinocchio asked, his eyes welling up a little, "I've been trying to be brave, truthful, and unselfish, just like the Blue Fairy said, but I still got in trouble when I didn't do anything wrong. I thought I was going to be okay, but, b-b-but-" He started to get choked up at this point.

Melissa leapt onto his knee, "Oh Pinocchio, there's something you have to understand. Sometimes bad things happen, regardless of what you do. Sometimes the world isn't fair. But that's not why you do good things."

Pinocchio sniffed, "It... It isn't?"

"No son, you do good things because they're good," Jiminy said, hopping onto the other knee, "Being truly, genuinely good means doing the right thing even when you don't expect any reward for it, or even when there's a chance you could be punished by someone. And life isn't necessarily going to be carefree just because you're good, but from my experience, it's a whole lot more fulfilling to live life doing the right thing."

Pinocchio wiped away his budding tears, then smiled at the two, "Gee, thanks guys. Father was trying to tell me something like that today, but I don't think I got it until now."

"Well, anytime you need to talk, we're here for you," Melissa said.

"Now, why don't you go wash up?" Jiminy suggested as the two crickets jumped onto the bed, "Your father will probably be making dinner soon."

"Okay!" Pinocchio got off the bed and rushed out the door.

Melissa turned to Jiminy with a smile, "Cheesy, but it got the job done."

"Oh hush," Jiminy smiled back, "Speaking of dinner, we should get ours started."

"Okay," Melissa headed for the door as she spoke, "Before that though, I wanted to ask you something."

"Alright, what is it?" Jiminy inquired.

"Back at the station, you reacted to this one word," Melissa said, not wanting to repeat it if her assumption was correct. She could tell by the look on his face that he understood what she meant, and continued, "Is there... some kind of stigma on animals in this world?"

Jiminy coughed, "Well, technically speaking, the stigma is on anthropomorphized animals, or anthros. And yes, there are."

Melissa found it weird to hear such a word come out of his mouth, but brushed the feeling off, "Is it like racism or something? What about Geppetto and his friends, they treated us pretty well."

"Well of course not everyone is so... judgemental," Jiminy said, "I... I take it there aren't any stigmas on anthros in your world?"

"There aren't any in mine," Melissa said, "Just regular animals. They only exist in like, cartoons and stuff."

"Huh. Now that's fascinating," Jiminy rubbed his chin, "There are legends about how anthros didn't always exist in this world, then one day many humans were transformed into half-human, half-animal creatures."

"And no one knows why?" Melissa asked.

"Nope," Jiminy said with a shrug, "Course it is just a legend. More than likely we've been around all along."

Melissa thought about something, "Are there different levels of stigma? Like different animals-type anthros get different treatment?"

"More often than not, yes," Jiminy nodded, "The bigger ones can be part of human society and get jobs, most of the time either menial, labor, or servitude jobs. They still face difficulties and many prefer living in anthro-only communities, or even entire cities. The smaller the anthro, the more likely they are to come from an anthro community or city."

Melissa couldn't help but ask, "Did you come from one of those?"

Jiminy paused a moment, then nodded, "Yes. It was an all bug and insect community in Kittery Point, Maine. It's a nice little place by the coast."

"Sounds quaint," Melissa smiled.

"Yes... sure was..." Jiminy was looking away now.

Sensing the awkwardness, Melissa noted that they were at the base of the counter where their home was, "Well, here we are. So, what do you want for dinner?"

Knock knock knock

The ten-year-old Melissa walked up to the door, "Who is it?"

"Mr. Miyamoto," the voice on the other side said.

"How do I know it's really you?" Melissa asked.

"Please Melissa, you know me, I've been your social worker since you were a baby," Mr. Miyamoto said.

"Mom said not to answer the door when she isn't here," Melissa said, "Come back later."

"You're alone?"

"I'm fine!" Melissa insisted, "I didn't open the door, did I? I'm not a baby anymore, I can stay alone without killing myself."

"What if you fall and can't get up?" Mr. Miyamoto asked.

"I have a phone," Melissa patted her pocket with the disposable cell phone.

After a moment, Mr. Miyamoto sighed, "Alright, I'll come back at seven. Please tell your mother to be ready."

Melissa put her ear to the door, listening to his footsteps as he walked away. When she heard the slam of a car door, moved around beer cans as she walked to the living room and over to her half-passed-out drunk mother, "He's gone."

"Oh thank God," Melanie groaned, barely moving a hand, "That sushi-eating, yoga-doing, Allah-worshiping chink gets on my nerves."

"Mom, you shouldn't say those things about Mr. Miyamoto, he's nice," Melissa said, grabbing a garbage bag and tossing the miriad of beer cans inside, "Besides, only one of those even makes sense."

"Don't get smart with me," Melanie waved a hand in Melissa's direction.

Melissa looked at her mother, "So Mom, I heard that people who have pets are more happy and less likely to be depressed."

"Redundant," Melanie said.

"So I was thinking, maybe we could get a pet? Like a cat or a fish, they hardly need any attention-"

"Are you serious? You cost enough yourself, and I'm in debt. No way we're adding another expense."

"But I-"

"I. Said. No."

Melissa glanced down at the cans, then sighed and continued cleaning, "You should sleep Mom. He said he'd be back at seven."

Melanie barely acknowledged her. She was already half-conscious.