Dreams of Stars (A Once Upon a Time/Jiminy Cricket fanfic)

Dreams of Stars Part 21

In any case, the breakfast was delicious. Pongo begged, and Jiminy snuck him little bits of scrambled egg. Kaelin wasn't so sure about this practice, but she didn't feel she had a right to scold him, since Pongo was his dog. It was 6:45 by the time they finished. Jiminy stood up quickly. "We should get into town as soon as possible," he said, "There's so much to do—people looking for loved ones, people who need counseling, people whose property was likely damaged by what happened last night."

"And we need to find Geppetto," Kaelin added.

"Quite right. Now, I'm going to go get the car." With that, Jiminy hurried off. Not sure what else to do, Kaelin did the dishes. There weren't many, and she had them all washed by the time Jiminy returned, carrying the bundle Kaelin had taken from her apartment. "I'll put the blanket in the guest room," Jiminy said, "But do you want your clothes and toothbrush now?"

"Oh—uh...yes, I'll...I'll take them," Kaelin stammered, receiving the clothes, toothbrush, and toothpaste. She was too awkward even to say aloud that she was going to go change, but she went to change. She returned a few minutes later in a beige top and a long, brown plaid skirt. Jiminy was printing out a few forms and attaching them to a clipboard.

"Counseling sign-up sheets," he explained, lifting the clipboard slightly, "I want to offer counseling to anyone who needs it—at no charge, of course." He looked embarrassed as if he thought he hadn't even needed to specify that. "Well, let's go," he said.

~~~

In town, in the park outside the school, Red was already on top of things. She and the seven dwarves were setting up canvases, tables, and bulletin boards and helping those injured in the wraith attack to get to a doctor. Jiminy and Kaelin immediately jumped to help them.

As they worked, Red explained what had happened last night. Rumpelstiltskin had summoned the Wraith to take Regina's soul, out of some kind of revenge. Emma, Snow, and David had managed to fight it off for a while. Then, early that morning, they had forced the Wraith into a portal, back to the Enchanted Forest. Whether that meant it had gone into nothingness, or to a barren wasteland, or to the Enchanted Forest as it had been, no one knew. But Emma and Snow had been pulled into the portal with the Wraith, so whatever had happened to it, had happened to them. This came as a horrible shock to everyone. What would they do without kind Queen Snow? And wasn't Emma the only one who had given them hope of returning home?

Kaelin had a happy reunion with Ella and finally got to meet Ella's baby, Alexandra. When she saw Sister Astrid and recognized her as Nova, the two best friends went crazy, jumping up and down in excitement and hugging each other. For a while, Kaelin and Nova carried cots into the school for the people whose homes had been damaged in the Wraith attack. Sometime during the morning, the seven dwarves seemed to unanimously decide to go do something. They stomped away down the road.

When the park started to fill up with people, Jiminy finally caught sight of Geppetto. "Look," he whispered to Kaelin, "He's here!" They hurried up to him and found him pinning hand-drawn posters of the child Pinocchio to the bulletin boards—though Pinocchio would no doubt be an adult by now.

"Geppetto!" Jiminy exclaimed.

The old man turned around. His thin, pale face was lined now, and he had a short, snow-white beard, but his eyes were as deep and dark as ever. His cheeks were tearstained. His brow furrowed slightly. "Archie..." he began, not quite recognizing him. Then he saw Kaelin. "Oh! My sister!" he cried warmly, his face breaking into a grin. He clasped her in his arms, still clutching the papers in one hand, then held her shoulders. "It's not fair! You have not grown old, like me!"

He turned abruptly to Jiminy. "Then you must be—" Recognition dawned in his eyes, but his smile was gone now. There was a hint of pain in his face. "Forgive me, my dear friend—I...I haven't seen you like this since..."

"Oh." Jiminy lowered his head quickly, no longer able to meet his friend's eyes. "I see," he said gruffly. Seeing him as a human again must have brought back old and painful memories for Geppetto.

"No..." Geppetto shook his head, his lips trembling, "No, don't..." He tried to blink back tears, but they rolled down his lined cheeks anyway. "My dear friend," he repeated shakily. Dropping even the posters of Pinocchio, he suddenly embraced Jiminy. "Don't feel guilt for me anymore," he urged, "Your debt to me is fulfilled now! I was wrong to tell you it never could be. How is it that you've always been with me? Even in another world, even with no memory of the past, you still remained by my side. You're my family, Jiminy! You're my brother!" And he wept all the more.

"Geppetto..." Jiminy whispered in astonishment.

Kaelin watched them with unspeakable joy. Never before had Geppetto shown this level of forgiveness to Jiminy. Never had he accepted him as family. Kaelin felt that all her life up to now had been worth living, just to see this moment.

But the pictures of Pinocchio were blowing away. Tearing her eyes away from the reunion of her two most precious people, Kaelin scampered about, trying to catch the posters. She managed to grab most of them, but then suddenly stopped, feeling that someone was watching her. She looked up, and her blood ran cold.

Rumpelstiltskin stood nearby, leaning on his cane, looking at her. Was that anger she saw in his eyes? Shakily, she straightened up. Though she wanted to run, she approached him. "S-sir...?" was all she could get out.

"You left the toilet half-cleaned yesterday," he said softly, "Left the cleaning supplies out. As a result, my...guest had to finish the job for you. She's not a maid. You are."

Kaelin trembled with guilt under his criticism. Though she found it hard to imagine Rumpelstiltskin having a guest, she felt awful for the trouble she had caused her. "I'm sorry, sir. I'll go right away—"

"Oh, it's too late for that," Rumpelstiltskin interrupted. Then he paused, seeming to think better of it. "All right. Go clean. Whether I'll be needing it or not, it was your end of the bargain."

"Y-yes sir." Kaelin was also a little curious at his implication that he may not be needing it. "I suppose because you..." she faltered, "...You've found out that you're..."

"Oh, I've always known, dearie," Rumpelstiltskin replied with a slight, sardonic smile, "I wrote the curse." Though he still spoke with all the cold calmness of Mr. Gold, there was now a hint of Rumpelstiltskin's madness in his voice. "Now, go clean." He turned and walked away.

Kaelin ran back to Jiminy and Geppetto, just to give Geppetto the posters and explain where she was going. Then she hurried off to do her job.