Longest and most important, the ending. Hope you enjoyed! I don't own anything, once again.

All three Warners tensed as the doorknob wiggled a bit. It stopped, and there was an unlocking sound. Yakko had never been so nervous in his life. He could feel sweat on the back of his neck. He could tell both of his siblings were holding their breath just like he was. The door seemed to creak open as slow as a snail in molasses. Once finally fully opened, a woman stood in the doorway, looking curiously over their heads. She looked a bit like Dot, but she was taller, had thicker lashes and her hair was a bit less puffy, more silky smooth. Her eyes glanced down at the three before widening as wide as they could go. Wider than Dot's when she turned the cute up to the max. Her mouth dropped open, and she stood there, frozen, hand on the door.

Yakko finally took in a breath that broke the silence. He almost laughed. Figures, he'd be the one to speak first! But he tried, and couldn't. His mouth wouldn't open up. For the first time in a long time, Yakko didn't want to say a word. His eyes wandered to Dot, who looked conflicted about speaking as well. She shot a glance at him, and he egged her on with his eyes. She shook her head the slightest bit. Yakko sighed.

"Erm." He finally forced out. "Hello. Sorry to… ehhh… bother you?" He sounded tired and confused. Great first impression, doofus! "We were just in the neighborhood, looking through the graveyard and such… we had a few questions…" He glanced over at the gates in the distance. His mother followed his gaze and her expression turned to one of understanding. She closed her eyes, smiling a bit. Yakko could see her processing the information the same way he did.

"Yes…I understand." She muttered. "Come… come in."

The sibs stepped through the door once she had made room. She shut the door behind them and showed them one finger, as to mean, 'wait.' She stepped in the next room.

"Will? There are three kids here, they have some things to ask us…"
"What? Why would we help the kids in this town? They're all little construction paper brats."

"No, no. These kids are from… not here. I'm not sure where they're from, to be honest. Trust me on this, William. These kids are worth seeing."

Yakko felt a tug on his sleeve. It was Wakko.

"Are they really our parents, Yakko?" He asked, looking worried. Yakko returned the look.

"I dunno, Wak. Sure seems that way…"

"Yeah." Dot mused. "Did you see her face?"

"Oh c'mon! You looked exactly the same." Wakko retorted. Dot scowled.

"Well, Wakko Warner, you looked like an anteater again. Like you always do."

"Shut up, both of you. They're listening." Yakko whispered, waving his hand in front of his siblings. The two adults had gone quiet. Yakko couldn't see them, but he knew. If he was really like them, he knew. The three fell silent and stared at the doorway with massive amounts of anticipation. Dot leaned over and stood on one foot. Footsteps were heard. The Warner's parents appeared in the hall. The man was the splitting image of Yakko and Wakko, except his whiskers were a bit overgrown and the fur on his fask mask created a small beard on his neck. He wore a red polo and brown khakis, making him look more like Yakko than ever, even if Yakko was wearing a green jacket. The man, or William, stopped and stared the Warners down with a confused look. He seemed a bit less shocked, he stood his ground firmly.

Yakko pressed his fingers into the palms of his hands. Were they going to say something? He absolutely hated the silence. It felt like this was taking hours. Yakko gulped down all the things he wanted to say. He strained not to open his mouth. He heard William chuckle.

"Oh my god, they are them." He laughed. "The big one's trying so hard not to say a word, the middle one looks confused as heck, and I don't even know about the third one but she's a girl and she's giving me that look." Lucy smiled and nodded, tears brimming over her eyes.

"Mhhm." She managed to say. Yakko's heart broke and the seal on his lips opened.
"Oh thank my creator you started talking, I was gonna go nuts." Dot glared at him.

"Yakko!" She hissed. "How rude can you be?"

"I'm sorry, princess. I'm not very good at keeping quiet." Yakko snarled back. He heard his father laughing again.

"This is too great!" He said, wiping a tear from his eye. "My kids, all here, not aged too much, and bickering! I love it!"

"Why are you so young?" Their mother asked curiously. "You should be in your 80's by now."

"I could ask you the same…" Yakko mumbled. "But yeah, you kinda forgot to tell us we were toons and all that? We figured it out at the ages you see us now. 1929." Lucy scratched the back of her head.

"We didn't think it was important to say when you were so little. We figured we could age and be a bit more… normal." She said softly. Her voice had a somewhat raspy quality to it, like it was rarely used. Yakko almost smiled, thinking about how his brother was exactly the same. Speaking of Wakko…

William was staring Wakko down. Wakko was staring right back, unblinking, determined, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth.

"So, does he talk yet?" William asked.
"Yes I do!" Wakko replied. "I just don't like to."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Quite an accent you've got there, boy-o." Said William, slapping Wakko on the back. Wakko didn't seem shaken, he just grinned up at his dad. Dot hadn't said a word yet. Yakko slide past his brother over to her.

"You okay?" he whispered in her ear. She sighed and gave him a bittersweet look.

"Just kinda relishing the moment, sorry." She whispered back. Lucy's hands came down to rest on her daughter's shoulders.

"I'm sorry, dear. Did you have to endure your brothers? I understand." tears began to stream down Dot's face. She gulped and nodded quickly, wiping the tears away hastily. Yakko bit his lip, trying not to do the same. He watched his mother hug Dot, and tell her she was there. She grasped Wakko's shoulders, laughing lifting up his hat to kiss his forehead. Yakko watched with hands in his pockets and his father's hand on his shoulder. Yakko glanced up at his dad, who grinned back at him, the lopsided one that he saw in the mirror when he practiced pick-up lines. Suddenly, arms were wrapping around his neck, and his head was buried in his mother's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, dear." she whispered. "I don't know what made you leave, but whatever it was, I'm so sorry." Yakko froze. He saw his siblings watching. He couldn't break down, no way. "Dear," his mother muttered. "You can cry. It's alright. No need to be the big brother anymore." Yakko couldn't do it. He had no tears to shed. He was happy, not sad. None of this was making sense to him anymore, his parents were standing in front of him, his siblings suddenly beside him. His parents lived in South Park… he wondered why. He wondered how they had stopped aging. He wondered a lot of things like… where he was. He was… wait.

Where was he?

His eyes were open, but he couldn't see anything.

Yakko blinked a few times, trying to register something in his field of view, anything. He had a few hunches already about what was going on. One: He was blind. But then he would still hear his parents and feel his siblings beside him. He couldn't be deaf too. No way. Two: He was dreaming. When had he fallen asleep, though? He couldn't remember. And the fact that the thought came to mind made him know he couldn't be dreaming. Dreams weren't that logical. So, Three: He was awake, and it was night time. Yakko strained his ears, but heard nothing but silence. If he was in Colorado there would be crickets. He felt around, and sure enough, he was laying down in a bed. He reached over instinctively to turn on his bedside lamp. Surprisingly, it was there. He flicked it on, and sat up. He was in his room in the water tower.
The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. They had never gone to Colorado. He had dreamed the whole thing. He stared down at the floor in complete silence for a few moments. It seemed impossibly cheesy for his brain to do something like that to him. Of course, it was a thing on his mind, so he was bound to dream a little about it, but for the entire encounter to happen? It was… so so cliché! He mentally hit himself. But… he felt a bit upset that the dream hadn't been real. It woulda been nice for it to have happened. He wanted to meet them so badly he couldn't help but feel that way.

After collecting himself for a few moments, he threw off the covers and walked to the kitchen. He squinted at his suddenly appearing watch. 2:12am. He bent over and pulled the refrigerator door open, pulling out the Lactaid and grabbing a glass from the cabinet.

"Can't sleep either?" came a female voice from the table. Dot sat in a pink nightgown with her legs curled under her, her tail swishing back and forth slowly behind her. She held a glass of cranberry juice in her hands. Yakko sighed.

"Yeah. Weird dreams." He confessed. She nodded a bit and gestured to the chair beside her.

"I can't believe that we're gonna go see them tomorrow. Today, I mean." She glanced at the clock. "I've always wanted to know what they were like."

"You can't really tell that by gravestones, sis." he replied, gulping down his milk. She gave him a look.

"I know that. I'm just thinking out loud. Am I not allowed to do that? Are you the only one?" She leaned her head to one side.

"No. You're not allowed to stray from your designated character traits in one bit. Not even an inch." He stuck his tongue out at her. Dot giggled, and gulped down the rest of her juice. Her expression suddenly went serious, and she trailed her finger along the rim of her glass.

"Uuuh, hey," She muttered. "If you could… do you think we could do the story, like right now? I don't think I'm gonna be able to fall asleep otherwise." Dot cleared her throat and gave Yakko a hopeful glance. His expression softened.

"Of course," he replied, softly. "C'mon."

—

Yakko stood at the door of the tower, feeling like he was in a rerun. This morning was no different from the one in his dream, save the fact that he woke up in his sister's bed with her snuggled up next to him.

Dot was standing by the railing of the tower just like before. He said the exact same thing as last time, and she agreed and nodded. They traveled in the same fashion, using a plot hole. This time Yakko threw coats on them before Dot could complain. No kids this time. Still a lot of snow. No flat houses in the distance. They were right in the town, whatever town it was. Yakko doubted this was where they had lived. The orphanage wasn't in Colorado. There was no way the three of had left the state by walking in one year. they didn't go that far.

The graveyard was smaller than before. There wasn't even an office. The three trekked down each row, until the graves were found. Yakko held his breath. There were death dates this time. Still no last name.

Lucy: 1886-1925. Age 39.

William: 1883-1925. Age 42.

Yakko sucked in a lot of cold air. So… his dream lied to him. That… that was okay. He knew this was true. He always knew it.

"Ey, you lookin' at them ol' toons graves?" came a voice from behind them. The Warners turned in unison. An old tiger toon stood there, his fur graying. "I knews 'em. Died of a rare toon disease. Ain't nobody got the cure to it stills." His mouth curled up a bit at the corners. "Yous them three young ones I once saw, right? Sorry 'bout that. 'Ey, if it's any 'elp your mamma told me if I ever saws ya' I should tell ya' somethin'."
The siblings looked at one another in confusion. "What was it?" Dot asked.

"Ahh, what's it now?" he rubbed his chin. "Yeah, that's right. I'll never be forgettin' them words. She told me to tells ya' 'good luck' and 'stay safe' and all that junk, and that she never wanted to send you away, but she was afraids you'd catch 'er sickness. She told me you'd rans away? Shame."

Yakko nodded quickly. "Yeah, I… we did. Thank you." The Tiger tipped his hat and strolled away. Yakko stared after him as his siblings bent over the graves again.

"I can't believe it," Dot whispered sadly. "Sick, how could they have gotten sick?" She wiped a tear out of her eye. "Yakko? Are you okay?"

Yakko stared at the snow. He felt Wakko shake his arm, but he didn't respond. He was too busy being enveloped by lost memories of his sick parents. His mother's pale face and his father's violent coughing fits. Yakko shivered, and suddenly felt warm tears rolling down his face.

"Yakko?!" Wakko called out. He shook his brother's arm more violently. "Maybe he's frozen," he muttered to Dot.

"No he's not, stupid!" Dot marched in front of her oldest brother. "Yakko Warner, you snap out of it right now and- huh?" Yakko had looked up at Dot, his expression one of complete horror.
"I remember now," he droned. "They were sick. So sick. And I thought they were just faking it." His tears came more forcefully now. "How stupid am I? Huh? HOW STUPID COULD I BE?!" He turned to the graves and fell to his knees. "GODDAMMIT!" He pounded the snow with a fist. The letters on the stones blurred in his vision. He buried his face in his hands. His siblings stood and watched, neither knowing what to do.

"Come back…" he muttered. "Please.. come back. It's all my fault. It's all my fault." He fell over in the snow, quietly weeping. His sibling's hands were wrapping around him now, creating a bundle of Warners on the ground in front of the graves. They huddled as close together as possible, as if the less space between them would bring their parents back to them. They all sniffled, and gripped one another tightly. Yakko waited and waited for that feeling of 'Where am I?' to come back so he could have another do-over. This was a nightmare this time. It had to be. And of course, since he thought about the possibility, he knew it couldn't be. It was real, oh so real. And he hated it.

He absolutely despised it.