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

Dreams of Stars Part 37

In the days that followed their escape from the ship, Kaelin recovered from her injuries. She did not have to stay in the hospital long, because she was not seriously hurt. However, while she was still there, Belle was admitted. On the evening of the same day that Hook had forced the information out of Jiminy and Kaelin, he had injured Belle. She was all right, but he had pushed her across the town border in the process. She couldn't remember who she was. Kaelin visited her, gently reestablishing a friendship with her, but it was hard. Still, surely there's a way to restore her memories, Kaelin thought hopefully. Surely they would before long. It was hard for anything to discourage Kaelin these days, not with the upcoming wedding.

In fact, wedding preparations occupied most of Kaelin's thoughts now. Whatever else was happening in Storybrooke, it didn't seem nearly as important as the fact that Jiminy was alive, and Jiminy was going to marry her. Kaelin was buzzing with an excitement and anticipation bordering on terror.

Of course, the wedding expenses were a problem. Jiminy was still trying to reestablish a savings fund, so he was short on money at the moment. However, Kaelin didn't feel she needed a fancy wedding. What were the essentials for a wedding? Nice clothes, a cake, an officiator, friends, and golden rings. That seemed like enough. Granny was going to make a cake at no cost because of her friendship with Jiminy. An officiator and friends for the wedding party had been chosen.

As for Kaelin's dress, she and Nova set out to make that themselves. Kaelin had finally decided to go ahead and drop out of school, though it was her last year, so she had time. Her cleaning work was still present, even when Rumpelstiltskin flew to Manhattan to look for his son, but without school taking up time, she was able to finish it in the first few days of the week.

The dress was going to be simple, of course. Despite the diligent instruction Gus-Gus had given her, Kaelin's abilities were still rather small. She decided to make it like the one they had made for Cinderella, only all white. As for the veil, they would have to buy that somewhere. Kaelin had no idea how to make something like that.

The two clumsiest girls in Storybrooke trying to sew a wedding dress together was a sight to behold. Kaelin kept wishing that Gus was there to lend them his expertise. In fact, if Gus had been there, they would have turned the task entirely over to him. He would have loved the chance to make something truly excellent.

In the end, they had to seek help from some more experienced sewers in the convent, who pulled out most of their stitches and practically had them start over. However, the dress turned out nicely after all that. The wedding rings were the only major expense.

~~~

In the rest of her free time before the wedding, Kaelin spent hours upon hours talking with Jiminy in his office. They talked about things they had never talked about before. In the hold of that ship, when she had seen Jiminy still alive, something had changed in Kaelin. She felt like she had reconnected with her old, hopeful self. "Why?" she began to ask as they talked. Why had she felt it was her fault when her mother died? It wasn't—she had done everything she could. Why did she abuse herself over her mistakes and feel so ashamed of even the smallest ones? Wasn't it because that attitude had been trained into her while she was growing up? It was holding her back, but it could be changed.

From that moment when she had decided to pray for Belle, Kaelin began to realize other things too. Namely, that it was okay for her to be imperfect. It was okay for her to be unable to do certain things and to make mistakes. It would even be okay if she was below average—though Kaelin had at last begun to question the notion that she was. It wasn't a sin to be clumsy or socially awkward or incapable: it was okay, because she didn't have to depend on herself for everything. It was okay to depend on others and on that great Goodness which was the source of conscience.