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

Dreams of Stars Part 37

As Kaelin began to overcome barriers of shame, she found that she was even able to talk to Jiminy about her resentment toward King George over Gus's murder. Jiminy listened closely, and admitted he had some of the same feelings, though he hadn't been quite as close to Gus. They could work through that resentment together, but the goal had to be forgiveness.

The time Kaelin spent talking with Jiminy was not, however, simply like her seeing a psychologist. There was give and take in these discussions. At times, Jiminy would be the one talking for hours, and Kaelin would listen. It turned out that he had a lot to get off his chest too, including his doubts about whether he was really qualified to practice psychology.

Yet Jiminy's deepest nagging anxiety was the fear that perhaps—somehow—Geppetto still held a grudge against him. Geppetto had showed him such affection now, hadn't he? He had called Jiminy his brother and had been devastated at his funeral. He had even given Jiminy permission to marry Kaelin. He had said a lot of things that sounded like forgiveness, but still he had never said those words—"I forgive you." Jiminy still ached to hear those three, specific words from the boy who had given him his umbrella. As long as he didn't hear them, there was still doubt. In the Enchanted Forest, he had thought he was forgiven, but then the grudge had unexpectedly appeared again: Help, eh? Like you helped my parents? Jiminy repeated those words aloud. They still hurt him.

Slowly resurfacing from that raw and painful discussion of Jiminy's deepest worries, Kaelin and Jiminy began to talk about Pinocchio. He was still missing, and Geppetto still could hardly think of anything else. All he had found was the little, red cap. Where could Geppetto's son be?

Just then, there was a pair of running footsteps down the hall and a furious rapping on the door. Rather alarmed, Jiminy jumped up and hurried to open it. He swung the door open, then froze, his mouth open with astonishment. Curious, Kaelin tried to see what had surprised him so. Geppetto was there in the doorway, but Jiminy wasn't looking at Geppetto. He was looking down. Kaelin got up and walked toward them. She froze too.

There beside Geppetto was an adorable little boy with round cheeks and freckles, a little, button nose, and wavy, brown hair. He had a huge grin on his face, and his dark brown eyes glistened with excitement. He turned to look up at Geppetto. "Father," he began breathlessly, "Is this little Auntie Kaelin and Jiminy Cricket?"

"That's right, my boy," Geppetto replied, crouching down and putting an arm around his shoulder.

A smile spread across Jiminy's face, and he laughed in amazement. "Pinocchio?" he gasped.

"Yes," Geppetto replied, blinking back joyful tears, "It's Pinocchio!"

"Ohhh-ho-ho, come here!" Jiminy exclaimed, also getting down to the boy's level. He held out his arms. Pinocchio ran into them, and Jiminy hugged him tightly. Then Kaelin hugged him too.

"But...how?" Jiminy asked as they all stood up, Geppetto lifting Pinocchio in his arms.

"That...is a long story," Geppetto replied, "I think we should sit down."

And so they all sat around on the couches while Geppetto told the events of the day—How Snow had met Pinocchio in the woods. How he was an adult, but he had been turned back into wood because he had not been able to resist the temptations of this new world. Then Geppetto described their search for him, and how he had sacrificed his life to warn them of some threat, and how at last the Blue Fairy had used this selfless, honest bravery to turn him into a real boy again. A real boy for sure—he was tiny again! It was their chance to start over. Pinocchio listened to all this with some curiosity. He could remember a little of his life before he had been turned into a boy again, but most of it was foggy, like a dream.