Going Back to Move Forward Chapter Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Delving Deeper

ToonTown, 1962

The counter binged, announcing the carrot chips she bought.

Rhoda thanked the cashier. She had taken a walk in the early morning to clear her head. Unfortunately, after her and Jesse's latest conversation, she still have no idea what to do next. She tugged open the bag of chi-

"Aah!" she yelped when something bumped her, scattering the contents on the floor.

A kid beaver and two kid raccoons zoomed by, yelling. Rhoda watched as they knocked down displays and pushed past people.

She looked around. Where are their parents? Jack could be rowdy, but at least she was there to ground him.

"Hey stop that!" the cashier yelled behind her counter.

Thinking fast, Rhoda whipped out a balloon and blew it into a long cylinder.

"Hey kids!" she called out, waving the bright red rubber. "Guess what animal I'm going to make!"

The three zipped towards her immediately. With a clown's flourish and a lot of squeaking later…

"A poodle!" the beaver girl exclaimed.

Rhoda gave it to her. Then with another rubber, she blew it and twisted it about.

She smiled as she looked at their curious faces. It sort of reminded her of Jack and Rose when they were still little.

A balloon sword and a balloon flower later, a bulky beaver appeared behind them.

"Roderick, Bell, Lee, it's time to go."

Rhoda looked up to see a huge beaver with a round tummy. This must be the father, seeing as one of the kids have his buck tooth and nut-brown fur. Probably drawn as a lumberjack?

The beaver blinked his tired eyes, recognizing her.

"Rhoda Rabbit. Thank you for entertaining my kids," he said, his meaty hand engulfing hers as he shook it. "Loved your cartoons."

She mentally frowned as the kids crowded in the candy section. She saw this guy standing in line and he just lets his kids get rowdy in the store?

"You should keep a better eye on them," she replied.

Rhoda's face changed when he smiled like he's grounding his palm over broken glass.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "They don't know how to deal with their mother just leaving them." The burly beaver shrugged. He glanced at the fruit stand by his side, blinking rapidly. "I don't know either."

She stared. Then faced the kids.

"Who wants to go to Chubby Cheddar!" she whooped, raising her own hands.

They clamored in delight, raising all of their hands… and tails.

She whispered back at their bewildered dad. "Don't worry, my treat."

XOXOXO

France, 1951

"Excuse me!"

She zoomed, 4-year-old Rose on her back and Jack in her arms. Her boy's eyes were swirling, nauseous, drool trailing out of his mouth.

Little Rose had the tendency to chew things: chair legs, table edges and books. Typical anthropomorph kit behaviour. What she didn't expect was little Jack also had the chewing itch.

He ended up working through the woolen blanket. The problem was, he didn't spit it out like a regular kit, he swallows them. By the time Rhoda found him, he was curled up with the worst tummyache that practically made him immobile. Just when she thought she had baby-proofed the room.

Rhoda stopped, panting. There! The toon humanoid hospital. She took another step forward.

Then stopped.

She looked at Jack's rabbit ears. The toon anthropomorph clinic caught her eye. She stepped forward to it too.

Then stopped.

Rhoda looked at the humanoid hospital. Then to the anthropomorph clinic. Then at Jack.

Which one? Which one?

There was suddenly a hurling sound. Rhoda stepped back just in time to avoid Jack's vomit of white runny paint and… wool yarn.

With a burp and a contented sigh, 4-year old Jack fell asleep in her arms.

After awhile, the toon doctor in the humanoid hospital told her Jack would be alright.

XOXOXO

ToonTown, 1962

Chubby Cheddar was a hit restaurant where pizza and playground resides under the same roof.

Roderick the raccoon, as Rhoda had observed, was about seven. Bell the beaver and Lee the raccoon were about close in age, about 3-5 years old.

She looked back to see them bouncing around in an inflatable castle.

"My name's Edgar by the way. Edgar Wood," the burly beaver said. He mopped his face with his hand. "Thank you for the food. But I don't mean to be pitiful."

"It's okay, rabbits mate for life too."

He stared at her, becoming still. Then he deflated with a sigh, his head drooping.

"I was warned you know, when I married their mother. They told me to stick to my own kind." He began to put the knives and forks properly in the empty plates. "Years ago, I would never bet she'd ran out on us. But she did."

It was like a fork sinking into her heart. "I'm sorry," she replied, trying not to feel queasy.

But he waved away her apology, wiping away the crumbs on the table. "We tried looking for her around ToonTown. Can't find her. Tried asking her friends, they don't want to talk."

Now that the kids were preoccupied, his eyes shimmered, looking like a toon who lost everything.

"I just want her back," he whispered.

Rhoda offered him napkins as his shoulders shook. Slowly, he turned his chair so that he won't face the inflatable castle.

Half an hour later, she watched them disappear inside their house from the cab window. Waving goodbye, she signalled the driver to take her home.

XOXOXO

France, 1955

In class, Jack and Rose hang out with different social circles. Jack hangs out with the rough-and-tumble toons. Rose however, prefer the company of girls who didn't defy human physics all the time.

But several times a day, they would stopped listening to whoever's talking at that moment and search for the pair of eyes that are looking for them too. When their glances reached across the room and connect at that split second, they'd break eye contact as though it never happened.

It's just their way of checking up with each other.

XOXOXO

ToonTown, 1962

Being the oldest, Roderick Wood noticed a lot of things that his siblings didn't.

Their dad stopped working in his job. Their dad always says he have already eaten. The gray under their dad's eyes. Staring at mom's photo for hours. Sometimes mutterings.

When mommy had been in the house, there had been yelling as he and his siblings would rush outside, waiting for the storm to reside. Pleadings. Beggings.

He never thought what would be worse than the shouting was the silence. The silence when she left.

His dad was the strongest man he knew. He could lift redwood like its nothing. But just the memory of his shaky voice pleading creates a dark pit in his stomach.

Then the rabbit lady came.

A day after they met her, he woke up to find her in the kitchen, flipping pancakes. Bright morning light filtered through the window. There were three daisies in a vase on the table which weren't there before.

Their dad fumbled around the kitchen, helping her. The most active Roderick had seen him for days. The rabbit lady filled the air with chatter as a tune played in the radio.

"Eat," she said, pushing a plate to him. "I cooked enough to feed an army."

It was their first time to taste boysenberry sauce and Roderick had to tug it out of Lee's hands or else he'll drink it straight.

After that, she ushered all of them outside the house with a grocery list in hand.

She marched inside the grocery store, hands on her back before facing them with a turn of her heel. Patriotic music suddenly in the air.

"Sergeant Roderick, Commander Bell," she barked, a gleam in her eye.

Both he and his beaver sister snapped in attention. "Yes, ma'am!"

"We'd be needing some grub to feed our troop," she declared with a hard-boiled tone of a general. "Your mission," she ripped a third of the list, "is to forage these supplies and go back to the base," she pointed at their dad. "Can we count on you?"

"Yes, ma'am!" They cried with a salute.

She was magic, Roderick thought. It's been awhile since he saw his sister smile.

By the time they were almost done, there was suddenly a crash, the familiar tremors like their dad just tripped and fell.

They found their dad getting up with hurried apologies. Bell gave a cry of dismay when she saw Mrs. Rabbit. Their dad have more bulk than a heavyweight boxer.

From the impact shaped like him, Edgar peeled Mrs. Rabbit from the cracked ground. He frantically shook her, asking if she's alright.

"That's right, Edgar," she croaked, stars dancing around her head, still paper thin. "You got to get back on your feet."

XOXOXO

France, 1954

Rose and Jack stood in front of the mirror as she taught them her funny-face-making skills. Seven-year-old Jack tried pulling his cheeks as wide as his arms' length. Much to his disappointment, he could only stretch them an inch or so.

Maman however, put her thumb on her mouth and blew on it, making her head expand like a balloon.

"C'mon, Rose. Try it," she urged.

His sister hesitatingly blew on her thumb. Her head expanded slightly before she stopped immediately.

Jack cocked his head. "Why'd you stop?"

"I don't like how it makes me look," Rose simply said.

XOXOXO

Mina's Manor, 1962

"Bunny ears!" Lee gurgled, riding on top of Jack's shoulders.

"Noooo!" Jack cried dramatically from the rug, reaching out for salvation, "Help me, Rose! I'm being overpowered!" Behind him, Bell the beaver was trying to wrestle his leg.

In the background, Rose lead Roderick through three-note melodies.

Mina itched to smoke, feeling an oncoming headache. Jack and Rose had invited Jesse and Leroy for dinner the same time Rhoda invited her new friend and his kids.

She regarded the beaver, a muscled fatso. Whatever intimidation he inspires, was lost with the rather defeated droop of his shoulders.

Somehow, Mina wasn't surprised. Rhoda had picked up another stray.

"So… Edgar. You work in the wood mill?"

The beaver startled. "I'm actually a psychologist. I have my own office."

"Really?" her brow rose, "but you look so..."

He chuckled as though he got that all the time. "My pa and ma were drawn that way."

"So how did you meet Rhoda?"

All eyes swept to Jesse. But he was watching their kids play in the living room down the hallway.

Edgar tried not to shuffle, wondering if he was imagining the tension.

"She helped me with my kids one time." How he ended up talking to celebrities, he'd never know. But just to clear things up in case of jealousy...

"See, my wife left us..." a stab of pain but he continued. "And Rhoda well, it's pretty embarrassing but she's helping me take one step at a time." He smiled at her, remembering the kids helping her cook a big stew out of the groceries they bought. Plenty of leftovers, she had said. It was like she knew his drawn-out exhaustion from the recent events.

Mr. Krupnik blinked. "Rhoda is helping you deal with abandonment?"

Edgar couldn't understand why the discomfort rose up a few notches. "Yes."

"Aren't you a psychologist?" Mina asked frankly.

He shrugged, unashamed. "I still have a lot to learn about my situation. Rhoda here seems to know just what to do." He turned turned to her. "Do you know someone whose spouse left them too?"

Edgar startled when Leroy suddenly declared loudly, waving all attention to him. "Oh my! Edgar, do you still want more of this jello?" he asked, showing the bowl.

"Oh no, I'm alread-"

But Mr. Krupnik simply sipped from his glass. "At least your wife didn't ran off with your kids."

Edgar could feel Rhoda wilt, confusing him. He didn't saw the way Leroy's eyes widened. But he did saw the flare of Baby Mina's nostrils.

"Out!" she ordered, pointing at the door.

But Edgar stood up abruptly. "It's okay. My kids and I were just leaving," he said, deciding he had enough awkwardness for one night.

Rhoda lead them outside to the gates. He watched her chatter chirpily with the kids. It was really none of his business. But...

He waited for his kids to get in the car before speaking to her again.

"Are you okay?"

She smiled. "Of course! Why won't I be?"

"Rhoda," he scratched the back of his head. "We have a telly at home and subscription to newspapers. I'm not stupid."

She gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Edgar. I'd rather be private for now."

"I understand."

XOXOXO

ToonTown, 1946

Sometimes, Rhoda noticed, Jesse's icy words have the tendency to burn.

XOXOXO

Mina's Manor, 1962

Mina muttered to herself, fixing her lounge robe. What she saw sitting sheepishly in the living room made her scowl even further.

"What're ya still doin' here?"

Leroy backed away from the glare. "Rhoda asked if she could talk to Jesse alone."

Her baby-blue eyes widened. Cursing, she pushed past Leroy to stand on the couch, swiping away the curtains.

There. From afar, she could see 2 figures of contrasting height differences.

In the dark of the night, Rhoda and Jesse stood near the gates.

"What was that for, Jesse?"

He didn't answer.

Weariness replaced her frown. "Do you still want to continue this?" she asked, waving her hand between the two of them. "Because from what I can see, it seems like you don't."

"I just can't forget those 15 years," he finally spoke.

"I'm not asking you to forget." She pointed back to the house. "But what you're doing? You're just punishing me. Not trying to continue our relationship."

He folded his arms. Was he?

"If you're still hurting, then say it on my face," she said further. "Instead of treating me like that."

With that, the gates clanged close between them.

XOXOXO

France, 1951

Four-year-old Jack was afraid of heights. How he got to the top of the tree was anyone's guess.

"He got this from your side of the family," Mina blamed at Rhoda, looking up from underneath the tree.

Rose cupped her hands. "Jaaaaack! Can you hear me?"

But Jack was practically the size of a doll by how high the branch he was hugging.

Rhoda grabbed a lamp post. Her arm stretched as she walked to another lamp post. Both arms stretched between the two posts, she walked backward, adding tension in her arms. She leaned back, lowering her upper body.

"Rhoda, be careful. You might knock him off," Mina warned.

Her feet lift off the ground. The snapback propelled her in an upward arc like a slingshot.

The tree shook when she grabbed one of the branches. "It's okay, Jack. Maman's here," she breathed, lifting herself to perch on a branch.

But Jack still hugged his branch. "Maman, I need to pee."

Down below, Mina startled when it began to rain. She lifted her hand, looking up.

The leaves of the tree blew upward with the sonic waves coming out of her mouth.

"Jaaaaaaack! That's disgusting!"

XOXOXO

ToonTown, 1962

"Maman, where did you get all these pinewood again?" Jack adjusted the crate in his hands.

"I saw a sale yesterday," Maman said, leading the way in a suburban street. "I remember when Rose have a huge chewing itch at age 3-"

Jack grinned as Rose blushed.

"-and Lee is the same." Maman suddenly stopped on the sidewalk, looking afar. Then she ran toward a house.

Jack and Rose caught up to see Mr. Wood carrying suitcases into a car.

"Edgar, what are you doing?" Rhoda asked.

The beaver didn't look at her in the eye. He hurriedly stacked the suitcases in the back of the car. "She called, Rhoda. She called and she won't take me back."

Rhoda looked around. Roderick, Bell and Lee in the backseat were strapped in, looking bewildered.

"Where are you all going?" She followed him. "You're not going to-"

He climbed inside the driver's seat, finally looking at her. "You understood, don't you? That's why you disappeared 15 years ago?"

Her heart pounded at the desperation in his eyes. "No..." she rushed to his car window, hand scrabbling for the door handle. Locked. "Edgar, please! Get out of the car, you're not thinking straight!"

But he stepped on the gas pedal. The kids screamed when Rhoda zipped to the front and got hit by the bumper, disappearing under.

Jack dropped the crate of pinewood. "Maman!" Rose cried as the car zoomed off.

The smoke cleared with their mother not in sight.

Green eyes met blue. They bolted pell-mell with rabbit speed. Jack cursed as passersby cut their path. Rose jumped on his shoulders, yelling, "To the roofs!"

He was never so happy to hear those words.

Roderick looked nervously on the rear view mirror, trying to check on their dad whose eyes were intense.

"Dad..."

A yellow-gloved hand suddenly thumped on the hood! They all screamed.

Then Mrs. Rabbit appeared, clambering up.

"Kids! Don't try this at home!" she yelled at them. Then she suddenly slipped under the hood.

There was suddenly a big bang. The car halted to a stop on the side of the road. Edgar cursed. Bellle and Roderick tried to comfort Lee when he began to cry. The hood of the car went up, smoke rising as a stunned Rhoda fell out, her singed fur smoldering.

Edgar got out of the car, slamming the door with unnecessary force.

A toon with a camera hurried to the scene. He adjusted the camera-

Before Jack and Rose fell on top of him. They left his pancake-flat body and rushed to the backseat to comfort the kids.

Rhoda stood up, stars spinning around her head. She shook off her singed fur, becoming white again.

"If she won't take me back, she can't take them either!" he yelled at the one rabbit that should've understood, his eyes wild. Jack stepped forward...

Then Mr. Wood sobbed, suddenly clutching his head. He squatted to the ground, reminding Jack of a tormented child. But Maman caught him and led him to rest on the driver's seat.

Rose turned away the kids. Jack looked back. When asked what did they do this summer, chasing a runaway car, squashing a pap and watching Maman comfort a burly beaver weren't what he was expecting.

XOXOXO

ToonTown, 1963

"Hello? Rhoda?"

Said rabbit wedged the phone between her head and shoulder. Her hands busied with the pot she's scraping. She glanced out of her trailer window, finding nothing amissed.

"Yes, Edgar?"

She could hear his sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, you answered. A friend of mine got court-ordered."

Her ears formed into a question mark. "Okay?"

"She's an anthropomorph swan ordered to take anger management."

"Mm-hmm," Rhoda answered absentmindedly. Her eyes briefly looked at her photo of her 16-year-old twins. "That never worked for Mina."

"But her issue isn't anger," Edgar explained. "Swans are known to mate for life too."

Rhoda paused. Her beaver friend continued. "I'm going to need your help here."

She chuckled, embarrassed. "You're the psychologist, Edgar."

"She needs someone who have been there. Besides me."

Her shoulders drooped. "Ed, I don't want the media getting on my case about my marriage again," she replied, remembering the interview where she had to explain about Antoine. Her public image was the silly rabbit, the studios had pointed out. Viewers couldn't buy that if there had been speculations of her cheating.

"Then I need to do what you did for me. Help me build it."

XOXOXO

ToonTown, 1962

Edgar rubbed his temple, clutching a glass of water. "Rabbit nature, huh?"

"It's actually an observation recorded and passed down," Rhoda explained. "If it could happen to rabbits, could it happen to beaver anthropomorphs too?"

"How would I know? No study have been made about it yet." He set down his glass, resting his head on his hands. "I don't know what came over me. I was fine. Then I answered the phone." His beaver tail slapped the ground at each word. "I. Just. Have. To. Get. Her. Back. Even though she's been getting harsher and harsher."

From afar, they could hear the TV in the living room where Jack and Rose were distracting the kids from the past events.

"It felt like there was a riot inside my head," he said, his face etched with anxious lines. He held his drink closer. "Am I going mad?" he asked in a small voice.

"You don't have to."

The sun was going down by the time Jack, Rose and Maman said goodbye. They had spent the whole day taking pictures of his raccoon wife out of his sight. Maman had advised to get a lawyer to negotiate child custody. If his wife's voice had affected him so much, maybe he should communicate with her through their lawyers. Mr. Wood also opted for written communication.

Removal of stimulus, Mr. Wood had commented his eyes widening with understanding as he rubbed his chin.

Rose looked down thoughtfully. No wonder Maman never wanted to talk about Pa before. Or even had a picture of him. Or lived in the same town as him.

If you found yourself feeling the same thing again. Call me, Maman had said, giving him their phone number.

Jack rubbed his head as they rode in a cab. "My head hurts from all that scientific stuff Mr. Wood was spouting."

"Rationalization," Rose explained. "It's a defense mechanism."

"Not you too," he replied.

The cab halted in front of Mina's manor. Rose and Jack looked at each other when Maman silently got out. She hadn't said a word the whole time.

"Maman? Are you okay?"

They stopped when Maman also stopped walking.

"Rose, Jack… what Edgar almost did to his kids, I did to you."

They looked at each other again worriedly.

"I'm sorry," Maman sighed.

Rose stepped forward. "Ma, we know that." It was nice. Nice for a parent to admit when they're wrong. But Rose never really understood herself why she couldn't hate her mother for it. She should, she cherished her father. But...

"What happened to Mr. Wood, happened to you," she continued. "And you saved him."

… her hate was only reserved for people who spite.

"More or less," Jack finished.

Rose reached to hug their mother. "We're fine, Maman."

XOXOXO

ToonTown, 1964

Edgar looked at the swan and rabbit before him. "People, I invite you here today for a very important meeting." He plopped down Buggy's book on genealogy that he had borrowed through Rhoda.

"Your book-"

"Buggy's book," Rhod corrected.

"-was certainly helpful. It led me to track down and interview others like us with broken relationships." He paused. He either found them in prison. Or crazy. Or dead. "It wasn't pretty." He clasped his hands together, remembering the studies he have submitted.

"Why we're here again?" the swan asked, her wings folded to herself.

"There are many other intrinsically monogamous anthropomorphs out there who might not be receiving the help we received, Silka," Edgar replied. "Support, legal counselling, even suicide prevention. I proposed," he paused, "we make a hotline."

Both rabbit and swan stared at him.

"I don't want to deal with people right now-"

"Edgar, I can't wait on phones-"

He held up his hands. "Hear me out. Silka," he pointed at her, "didn't you worked for management before? I'm going to need your help building an effective system."

She regarded him. "If you're hiring me, I'll need a proper contract," she replied.

He turned to the rabbit. "Rhoda, my friend. I need you to be the spokesperson."

"Edgar, no one's going to see me as a single parent that moved on, I'm still married."

His eyes were lit with a vision. "But you always know what's the right thing to say to this people. You know how they feel in their situation." He clapped her on the shoulders. "You did to me."

The beaver gave her a levelled look. There were other connections he would need to contact. But this hotline he was planning needed to be founded by toons who have been there.

"I want to help them the way you saved me."

XOXOXO

Acme Studios, 1962

His secretary took away the financial reports, closing the door at her departure.

Jesse swivelled his chair to face the window.

His eyes would look at the door at the slightest sounds outside. Work hours were almost over, the time she would come and visit.

He stood up to stretch his legs, passing by the window. He froze and did a double take.

Amidst the haulers and toons below the open space, he could see her laugh as Disney bluebirds perch on her outstretched arms, head, and even her ears that she had stiffened for them. Looks like one of the board directors have borrowed from Disney again.

He frowned, seeing Ash the Disney Prince. It wasn't that the cinder prince was bad. It's just that every person Rhoda meets, she connects to them in a personal level. Even after they would part ways, that connections always picks up where they left. It was a while before he understood that.

The birds began to warble. He could see Rhoda brightened and pressed her bunny ear to her lips, blowing it like a leaf whistle. Ash sang, blending words to their melody.

All activity around them stopped. The crowds began to gather as the birds swooped with accompanying chirps in a feel-good Disney movie kind of way.

At the last high note of the woodland birds, the crowd cheered, clapping. Rhoda, Ash and his birds bowed in unison. From his office, he could see the happy glow in Rhoda's face.

For some reason, it irked him.

The birds lift Rhoda's hands with their feet as though urging her to come with them. He frowned when Ash jerked a thumb to the exit, his mouth moving. But she shook her head, waving goodbye. Finally, she turned to walk into the building's entrance.

Jesse walked back to his seat.

The door opened and Jesse looked up.

"Hey," Leroy said with a smile.

Right. Rhoda was too busy helping her beaver friend these days.

Jesse nodded at him. "Did you find anything?"

His friend shook his head. "None, the fox guy just left Mr. Hornose's agency."

Leroy fumbled with his hands. Jesse didn't need to know the cuckold jokes Mr. Hornose have been repeating to his henchmen at Jesse's expense. Although whenever someone mentioned Rhoda's name, Mr. Hornose had the habit of touching his horn, as though protecting it.

He watched his friend nod with lack of interest. Leroy frowned. Before Jesse went to Kansas, he had asked him to go undercover and find out everything he could about Antoine. But right now...

"About last night, Jesse…"

"I was wrong to do that," he replied curtly.

"Then why did you-"

"I said I was wrong."

Leroy leaned back from his tone. "Oh… I'll be going now," he said, pushing back his seat. He tried not to shake his head. The emotional armor that Jesse was wearing was even pushing him away too-

"Leroy," he heard Jesse sighed.

Leroy paused, feeling hope.

"I don't know how to forgive her."

Leroy looked back. There was weariness where the hardness of Jesse's eyes had been. He caught Jesse briefly looking down, his shoulders falling. Leroy smiled inside. He returned to his seat. Finally…

"I understand why she did it, what made her do it." Jesse leaned on the backrest of his office chair. "I know she's sorry about it and she's trying hard to make it up for it," he said. "But..."

His late night thoughts came back to him. Can't forgive her. Won't forgive her. No, he wanted to but-

"I don't know how to get over it," he eventually said.

Leroy looked down thoughtfully. He was happy Jesse was being proactive about this. "Have you asked yourself why you you're having a hard time forgiving her?"

"Because she left me and didn't tell me we have kids until 15 years later?" he said, stating the obvious.

Leroy shook her head. Time can heal wounds. But if Jesse was willing, time would have a less bigger job. "No, you already know she's trying to make up for it." He stood up, facing him. Jesse, he could see now, was trying. He just needed a bit more help.

"Have you asked why you can't?"

XOXOXO

France, 1960

Antoine gripped and stretched his newly drawn hand. He looked up to see Rhoda ushering her kids out of his flat.

"Rhoda..."

She turned. "Oui?"

He had many names in his many jobs. In his mind, he simply calls himself "Fox." But after France, he kept calling himself "Antoine", the only name spoken like, like ...what's the word? A friend? A connection?

But as she stood there, waiting for what he have to say, that's when Antoine realized three fundamental truths at the exact same time.

One, he was a fox in a world whose job is to be unknown. No ties and living with the need to be sly. His profession was dangerous. Rhoda have a family, he mentally laughed. That didn't mean he wanted her any less.

Number two, Rhoda was a single parent. When asked about the father of her kids, he saw her answer. Her hands started fidgeting, she looked askance. Nice going Antoine, he told himself. You fell for someone who's still in love with someone else. Rhoda's right, why her?

He reached out with his new hand, feeling a bit of her in it.

Number three-

"Hey! Mettez une chemise! (Hey! Put on a shirt!)"

Them. Jack and Rose.

It would never work. Even if pigs flew and she said yes to that one time he asked her out.

So Antoine merely smiled, knowing he couldn't drag them deeper into his life.

"Merci...et au revoir."

XOXOXO

Rome, 1962

A white fox with blue eyes stood before the Trevi Fountain. Legend said if you throw a coin in it, the god of the sea would grant you safe journey back by ship. Two coins for love and three coins for marriage.

But how many coins to forget a rabbit?

His fox ears twitched at footsteps. A man in a black suit approached him. "E 'il momento di incontrare il boss. (It's time to meet the boss.)"

He smirked. "Splendida. Sono Roger. (Splendid. I'm Roger.)"

XOXOXO

ToonTown, 1963

"Edgar, Edgar, Edgar..." Silka's voice was sweet but edged. She steepled her feather-fingers together. "When you asked us to try your team building exercises, I was expecting… maybe baseball."

Rhoda looked at the obstacle course ahead of them. Logs were pushed down strategically in an open field of mud for them to go through.

"I don't mind getting dirty," she said.

The swan spread her porcelain wings. "I do."

"Wait!" Edgar protested. "It's supposed to be team building. We all need to get there together," he spread his hands, "If you've got a plan, I'm open ears."

"Quit," Silka said immediately.

Edgar looked at her. After the fiance fiasco, Silka had been going from underneath-aggressive to uninterested in life in general. "Aren't you the overachiever?" he asked, remembering their childhood days and high school days and pretty much the whole time they knew each other.

A few minutes later...

"I'm going to rip off your tail, slap you several times with it-"

"Whoo-hoo! Super Silka!" Rhoda whooped, her arms around the swan's shoulders, her ears blowing in the wind.

"-and throw your tailless body across the field," Silka calmly said under gritted teeth at Edgar, her wings straining with effort. She was supposed to be porcelain perfect. Not a common mule.

Edgar looked down nervously at the hundred feet of space between them and the ground. He gripped her ankles tighter. "Less talking, more flying, please!"

But Silka glared at the goal ahead. "'Let's try out my team building exercise', he said. 'It'll be fun,' he said," she grunted, weighed down by Edgar's lumberjack body.

"Silka, you may not know but there are obstacles in the sky level," Edgar called out.

She looked down at him hanging by her ankles, "What kind of obstacles-"

PHOOSH!

A rocket flew past! Silka careened to the side, her wing snapping close.

They fell.

"Aaaaaaauuuugghh!"

"Flap, Silka!" the beaver yelled.

"Flying isn't just about flapping your wings," she sweetly said with eyes that could kill. "Especially when you're all hugging me."

Rhoda tipped them over so that she would cushion the fall.

CRASH!

Unfortunately, it ended up with Edgar on top.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked, finding himself sitting safely on the ground. "Guys?"

A white, sharp feather suddenly pointed at his face from underneath him.

Edgar wheezed towards the finish line. He laboriously dragged his expansive flat tail where Silka and Rhoda leisurely sat upon.

Rhoda grinned at her. "By the time I would 'tail' this story, I hope it wouldn't be-"

"Don't say it," she smirked, her wings folded in front of her.

"Such a drag," the rabbit said, putting on sunglasses, only to poke herself in the eye.

Silka grinned at the TV star. It was actually a pleasant surprise that Rhoda Rabbit was as silly as she was on TV.

Edgar looked over his shoulder, glad to know that Silka was finally enjoying herself.

XOXOXO

Mina's Manor, 1962

Rhoda collapsed on her bed, already wearing her pajamas.

Looking for a lawyer had given Edgar a sense of purpose. His interest was piqued by the idea of warring monogamous nature and toon wackiness. Although she suspected it distracted his mind with rationalizing.

She had introduced him to her lawyer, Alexandra Laurens. She was thankful her lawyer wasn't one of those who charged higher if their client was a toon.

"Kids, we're back!" she yelled, coming inside the manor.

Jack and Rose appeared with Edgar's kids in tow.

"Maman!" Lee laughed, lifting his arms at her. Bell and Roderick followed, saying the same thing.

"They heard what we always call you," Rose explained. "We told them it's 'mom' in French but..."

"The name's stuck," Jack finished, looking at her embarrassed face.

She smiled goofily at their sweetness. The day after that, Mina made her rest.

"Where are you going?"

Rhoda froze, feeling caught.

"After that move he pulled, you're not going to see him, are ya?"

She turned to face her friend. "Mina, he's just hurting. I still need to be there for him."

Mina scowled. "If he cared at all, he would've done the same for ya." She put her chubby hands on her hips. "You just helped a guy from breaking down. When are ya going to give time for yo'self?"

Mina didn't understand. Helping Edgar and seeing the happy faces of Roderick, Bell and Lee were making her feel better. The problem was…

She still didn't know what to do with Jesse.

She wasn't able to visit him this week. When they did meet, it was a disaster. Does he still want to continue this?

A part of her didn't want to know the answer.

TAP!

TAP!

TAP!

She froze. She had already turned off the lights. Her head turned to the window.

A shadow filtered through the wafting curtains. Antoine? No, the distorting shadow didn't have fox ears.

Slowly, she pulled a mallet out of her hammerspace.

TAP!

TAP!

TAP!

Her heart leapt at her throat. Her window was open. Yet...

TAP!

TAP!

TAP!

Wiping away the curtains, she swung the mallet with all her might-

Ssssscccccrrrreeeecchh!

The mallet screeched into a brake, inches from Jesse's face.

"Jesse?" she asked in shock.

"Can I come in?"

She numbly nodded, hurrying to turn on the light.

"What're you doing here? You could've just knock at the front door."

He shrugged. "The gates won't let me in out of Mina's orders." He pocketed an Acme Grappling Gun. "So I went around it." Dusting his pants, he continued. "The welcome mat on the front door even had my name as an exception." It wasn't exactly his name. It was Mina's nickname for him. He never knew 'ice prince with a popsicle stick up in his ass' could fit in a mat and still be readable -in the dark. "I have the feeling I'm not wanted."

She put on her bathrobe even though she wasn't indecent. It wasn't even cold. But the added layer felt reassuring. Her hands clutched the folds of the collar closer, glancing at the clock. "You could've just called," she said at the trouble he went through.

"It can't wait."

Rhoda sat on the bed, unsure what to do. She gestured him to sit on the bedroom chair. There was a pulse of silence after he complied.

"I don't know how to forgive you."

She didn't speak, letting him go on.

"You were right. I was punishing you. You were trying to build back and my actions hadn't been… constructive."

He remembered how relaxed and happy she looked by making Edgar and his kids happy.

It had irked him.

"A part of me didn't want you to be happy. Because I'm not."

His elbows rested on his knees. It must've been confusing for her. He knew he had been switching back from love to hate to love to hate. Driving to Kansas to check on her. Ignoring her heartfelt words after. Sleeping with her in the rocking chair. Being distant the next. A series of trial and error, not knowing how to forgive her.

"I've been asking myself why I can't forgive you. It's actually a lot of things."

"Before you continue, Jesse," she stood up, "There's something else I want to lay out."

She faced him, staring at his emerald eyes, feeling the desire to touch him.

"I'm sorry for taking away Jack and Rose from you." The quiet desperation in Edgar's eyes flashed inside her mind. Their situations were different yet the same. "I'm not asking you to forget your anger." Her hand tentatively reached for his that were clasped together. She rested her forehead over their linked hands. It scared her, losing him again. Yet...

She looked up. "Building back maybe the right thing to do. But I just want you to be honest to yourself about this."

Her fur prickled at her own words. Her fear stirred but she let go, stepping back. Her chest rose with an inhale, preparing herself for the reasons he couldn't forgive her.

"I'm scared. I'm scared you're going to disappear again," Jesse simply said. A side of him didn't want to believe her words. His anger was like an armor, covering him. But it also masked his fear as well. What if it would happen again? "After realizing what you did, I'm not really sure anymore if it's the smart thing to do," he admitted.

He kept quiet after. Another shameful part was he didn't think she really deserved it from him. But had he been a better person too?

Her mouth hung in confusion. She had been waiting for the list of her sins. Rhoda waited for him to continue.

But he only looked worn out.

She reached up for her shoulders. "May I?" she asked in a small voice.

He nodded and she wrapped her arms around him into a hug.

"I miss you," she quietly said, her voice shaky in his ear.

Jesse said nothing. Only wrapping his arms around her, pulling her short frame into his lap.

She held him closer, feeling her heart burst, it hurt. "I'm not going to leave again, Jesse. I promise."

XOXOXO

ToonTown, 1963

Silka Swann was a different case from her friend, Edgar Wood.

She thought she had it all. A career. Great income. A handsome peacock fiance that she loved more than anything in the world. Her parents weren't comfortable with it. But she simply brushed it off of them being old-fashioned. Together, they were a power couple.

When she found out about that asshole cheating on her, she confronted him. By thrashing his office as he sat terrified behind his table.

Needless to say, she was dragged by the security and punished by court.

She had ripped every photo of him in the house. His every belonging received no mercy. She wrecked his car in the dark of the night and spread his affair to their every friend. What she had seen as him being a jealous type was nothing more than accusing her of straying because she was smart and beautiful and charismatic. When all this time...

Let him burn in hell.

People called her bitter. She wasn't.

It was the screaming urge to get back with him. To beg. To do things she wouldn't normally do just to make him come back. She finally knew what he really was and her own mind was betraying her.

Scaring her.

She simply was channeling it somewhere else.

XOXOXO

Mina's Manor, 1962

To say that Rose was surprised finding Pa in the kitchen the next morning was an understatement. She glanced at Jack who simply shrugged.

He looked at their parents who were eating breakfast with them. From what he could tell, Pa even helped her cook it. He closed his eyes. For some reason, it felt really peaceful.

Mina was glaring suspiciously at Jesse. Then looking at Rhoda. Then back at him. Wasn't he being a bitter bitch because he was still mad at her?

"What're you doing here so early, Pa?"

He sipped his coffee. "Just visiting."

Mina snorted. "What time exactly?"

"I asked your father if he wanted to come to France with us," Rhoda said. "We still need to get your stuff before school starts." Not to mention the papers needed to enroll them.

"Then moved it in the new flat?" Jack asked.

"And get the sheets and kitchen stuff for my future trailer," Maman added. "Everything else would be given away and sold. So pick wisely." She saw Jack beamed. "Jack, that doesn't mean you can get rid of your tuxedo."

Jack made a disgusting sound at the back of his throat. "I hate formal wear."

"Formal wears are glamorous," Rose defended.

Aunt Mina blew the steam from her coffee. "You could borrow my old trailer if you want," she volunteered to their mother.

Maman gasped, her eyes sparkling like a sea of stars, "Really? Thank you, Mina!" her arms swept outward for a hug-

But Aunt Mina suddenly shoved Jack in front of her and Rhoda squeezed him like a python instead.

An unearthly strangled gurgle later, a deflated Jack rubbed his ribs, catching his sister's eye.

They became silent. It would probably be their last days in France.

What would one do if they found out they'd be spending their last days in a place before moving away forever?