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

Dreams of Stars Part 31

On the evening after Snow and Emma were returned safely home, David held a party for them at Granny's with all their closest friends. These included the seven dwarves, Red, and Granny. Emma's son Henry was there too, of course. Since Jiminy and Geppetto had once been an advisors in Queen Snow's court, they attended as well, and Kaelin went because they were there. She knew Snow as her queen and as a teacher from her school, and she knew Emma as the sheriff, but she didn't feel like she was friends with them in the same way Jiminy was.

At first, then, Kaelin feared she would be out of place in the small celebration. However, Jiminy's presence made her feel more comfortable around everyone. Before long, she felt relaxed enough to argue with Geppetto that she should be allowed a beer like everyone else. Even if she was underage in Storybrooke terms, she was objectively half a year older than he was. In the end, she won him and Jiminy over with her logic, but Geppetto still persuaded her to have only half as much as the others because she was small, and they weren't yet sure how much alcohol she could hold. Thus, when a toast was called for Snow and Emma, Kaelin did not have to suffer the embarrassment of raising a glass of Dr. Pepper instead of beer.

To everyone's shock, Regina showed up as they were clinking their glasses. However, she wasn't there to make trouble. She had brought a lasagna and wanted to attend the party. Kaelin smiled to herself when she saw this, remembering the night that Jiminy had come home, happy and excited because Regina had wanted to talk to him. She really was starting to change, wasn't she?

Despite Regina's gesture of good will and the lasagna (which was eaten up before any other dish), no one wanted to associate with her. She was left sitting in an empty booth: present, but not really there. Kaelin noticed her sitting there sadly, and she wished and wished to go talk to her. But what would she say? She had never really met Regina before. What would they talk about? What held Kaelin back was not hatred. It may have partially been fear, but it was mostly her usual social awkwardness. She didn't know how to walk up to someone and talk to them.

Before Kaelin could build up the courage to talk to Regina, the former queen abruptly stood up and went out the door. Emma noticed and followed her. For a while, they were both outside. Then Emma came back in, but Regina went away.

~~~

Jiminy woke up bright and early the next morning. Hearing him clattering around in the kitchen, Kaelin woke too, got dressed, and went out to meet him. He was making scrambled eggs. "Thank you!" she said in surprise.

Jiminy turned around with a smile. "Good morning, Kaelin," he replied. There was something a bit different about him today. He seemed a little more cheerful than usual, but a little more nervous as well. Though he always had nervous mannerisms, they seemed to be occurring more frequently at the moment.

Facing the stove again, he transferred the scrambled eggs into a stone, patterned serving dish. "I was thinking I might take Pongo on a walk right after breakfast," he began, speaking quickly and concentrating on the eggs, "But you could stay here. Then, after I come back, we can leave Pongo in the house and go on a walk together—just you and me." He picked up the dish and met her eyes. "What do you think?"

"That sounds lovely," Kaelin replied.

"It's a plan, then." Jiminy set down the bowl of eggs on the little table by the window, which was already set. They had a pleasant breakfast together. Jiminy was more talkative than usual as well. As they ate, Kaelin sat and enjoyed his mannerisms. Frequently, he smiled, making those random creases appear in his cheeks. He lifted his chin and lowered his chin. He sighed, scoffed, and let out short, breathy laughs. Sometimes he paused, staring off at some point in the distance or at the floor as he collected his thoughts, deliberating on the best way to say what he wanted to say. Kaelin had come to love all these mannerisms. By the end of the meal, she realized with embarrassment that she had been concentrating so much on him, she had barely heard a word he said. She hoped he hadn't said anything too important.