A Heart of Gold

[theprawncracker]

WHAT?! Lisa! You... You... Friday after nine!! UGH! Well there goes my day! (Okay, so not really, my day was great, I'd tell you about it if you were online...)

 

[TogetherAgain]

(I know, Prawnie, I know! I'll try to sneak on later- or just persuade them to let me on. I'm not here!)

 

[The Count]

......... You know, I could be wrong, but I don't remember cutting off your privileges on the computer young kittens. Mayhaps yur mother set some limits that you had to clean ou your PM inbox before posting story. Will have to talk it over with her, but I see no reason why you shouldn't post more of this urrfect story.

As for you young Prawn... Get to posting more Trip, or you'll be the one who'll take a nasty little tri to the hospital.

 

[TogetherAgain]

Warning. Warning.

Teddy Bear Alert.

I repeat.

Teddy Bear Alert.

...But first, be ready to laugh a little.

 

[theprawncracker]

*puts on laughing face* *but has Gonzo and Fozzie plushies waiting in the wings* *didn't realize he had wings* *flies away*

 

[TogetherAgain]

Chapter Forty-Two

It was just past lunchtime when the phone rang the next day. Scooter snatched it up. "Backstage, Muppet Theater! ...Oh, hi Boss!"

From her dressing room door, Miss Piggy immediately shifted her efforts from shooing Hilda to getting to the phone. She bolted to the stairs.

"WOMAN! WOMAN!" Animal chased a red-haired delivery girl from Bags, Bottles, and Wax Fruit, Intl. into the backstage area.

Scooter glanced over his shoulder at Miss Piggy and quickly said something into the phone that Miss Piggy couldn't hear over the screams of the delivery girl who was now cornered on the stairs directly in Miss Piggy's path.

"WOMAN! WOMAN!"

"HI-YA!"

Animal plopped to the floor with a thud. "Ow."

The delivery girl was still shaking as she looked at Miss Piggy. "Th- Thanks..."

"Sure thing, Boss!" Scooter was saying into the phone. "See you tomorrow!" He hung up to face a growling Miss Piggy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

"Tomorrow?" Robin looked up at his uncle, perplexed.

Kermit chuckled and grinned at him as he hung up the pay phone. "We'll let them think that," he said.

Robin thought for a moment before his face lit up. "Oh!"

Kermit chuckled and took his nephew by the hand as they strolled down the sunny street.

"But we are gonna be back tonight, right Uncle Kermit?" Robin happily hopped.

"Right," Kermit said, "But not until late, Robin."

"How late?"

"Well, it depends on how long this takes, but it'll probably be way past your bed time," Kermit said. "If I tell you a story, will you sleep on the way?"

"I guess," Robin shrugged. "Can I help you pick?"

Kermit grinned at him. "We'll see how much help I need. How about that?" he said.

"Okay!" Robin said excitedly.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

Fozzie and Rowlf were not surprised to hear a familiar soft knock on their door that night. "It's open!" they both called out.

The door slid open and her head slipped in. "May I co-"

"Yes," Rowlf said. "Of course."

She closed the door behind her and the three of them immediately congregated in the middle of the room.

"He's told me things," she said quietly, "Besides what he did- things that I don't know if he's told you and don't know if he wants you to know." She took a deep breath, almost said something, stopped, and looked down. "And I don't know if I should tell them to you," she whispered. "But... But you should know..."

Fozzie took a deep breath and sighed heavily.

"Piggy?" Rowlf whispered, none of them quite looking at each other. "You can't carry him alone."

"I know," she whimpered quietly. She was silent for a long moment. She took a deep breath and looked at her gloved hands. "You know... You know how he always gives to fundraisers? And he even ran one?" she whispered.

Fozzie looked up. "Of course," he said quietly.

She bit her lip, twisted her fingers, and looked at her toes. "He... He feels like it isn't enough," she said cautiously. Then she bitterly added, "Like he owes them something."

Rowlf could feel that he was not sinking physically, but some part of him was falling away from the close proximity of the bear and pig. Fozzie's jaw lowered. "...Them?"

"Them." She looked up. "Not anyone here, or our military, or even himself, but them. At least... at least, that he's mentioned." She was quiet. "I think it... I think it's because of what he did... He just..."

Fozzie wrung his hat in his hands. "He... He feels guilty..." The bear gulped.

"He can't get away from it!" Her voice was cracking, and her lower lip was trembling. "He can't. He just... I was there, I was with him, Fozzie, we shared a room, and I... I saw him wake up..." She was shaking. "It- It's the first thing he thinks of, it- it consumes him, he just... He doesn't even know... I... He wouldn't even..."

And then the tears came, and she fell into Fozzie's arms.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

The front door of the house opened quietly to an almost eerily dark first floor. He carried the young frog up the stairs and settled him in his bed. The young frog didn't even wake up. He smiled, stepped out into the hallway, and looked around. It was awfully late, and no one was in the hall. He set his suitcase down in his own bedroom and came back into the hall.

He looked to the left. Her bedroom door was open, so she couldn't have been in there. Maybe she was in the bathroom. He turned to the right. After all, she wasn't the only one this would be a surprise to. He walked to the door that was always open, even when it was physically closed.

This was Rowlf and Fozzie's room. He lightly knocked on the door, and then opened it, slowly and gently.

For the briefest fraction of a second something flared inside of him and faded just as quickly because he knew better than to even think of thinking that, of all things.

Fozzie was awkwardly holding his arms out to support Miss Piggy, clearly uncomfortable with comforting her in any real physical manner, and somewhat baffled as to her behavior and just how to react, with touches of pain and concern in his face. When he chanced to see Kermit and meet his eyes, his face flushed with an uncomfortable relief and a look that begged the frog for help. The poor bear had no idea what to do.

But Kermit knew what to do.

He came into the room and wrapped his arms around Miss Piggy, sliding one arm between her and Fozzie, and pulled her from Fozzie's embrace into his own. His cheek pressed against hers.

She froze, feeling the change that her eyes were too tear-filled to see. Her hands quickly identified their new resting place- the small shoulders, the cool skin, the collar... "Oh," she whispered.

He held her close until she sank against him, and he gently rubbed her back in small circles. With his cheek still against hers, he looked gratefully at Rowlf and Fozzie, even as one of her tears traced his face. "Hi-ho," he whispered.

"Hi Kermit," Rowlf said quietly. "You came home early."

"Well. You know me," Kermit said absently. "Can't stay away for long."

"Welcome home," Fozzie said.

"Thanks." Kermit continued to rub Miss Piggy's back. "Here," he said, "Let's sit down." He guided Miss Piggy to his usual spot, by the window and the low dresser, with no idea that it was her usual spot, too.

Rowlf and Fozzie glanced at each other. They switched spots depending on who was in the room... What to do now? Rowlf went to the beanbag chair and Fozzie went to the doggie bed.

For a long moment, the room was quiet. Kermit sat on the dresser with Miss Piggy, and her head stayed buried in his shoulder, with her arms around his neck. He kept an arm around her and looked at the room. He liked this room.

"I guess you probably wondered why we went to Memphis," Kermit said quietly.

"Yeah," Fozzie said uneasily. "You... didn't really say."

Kermit nodded. "Bob and I had to talk to Craig," he said quietly. "Y'see-" He looked down at his flippers. He felt a glove squeeze him lightly. He took a deep breath. "Bob's going back," he said.

Fozzie stared at him. "Why?"

Kermit sighed and looked up. "Because you get to feeling useless here," he said. "You feel like you can't do anything to help the folks over there, and like whenever you try to say something, the protestors drown you out, and all you can think is that you haven't finished your job over there." He took a deep breath. "Bob's going to get away from that. He's gonna stop sitting around feeling useless and start doing again."

Fozzie looked down. "Oh," he said.

Rowlf took a deep breath. "You feel like that, too?" he asked. "Like you can't do anything?"

Kermit hesitated and sighed. "Yeah," he said quietly. "But- But I'm trying something different," he said. "I was thinking- I mean- If we did a big patriotic number, in the show..."

"That could help?" Fozzie said hopefully.

"I think so," Kermit nodded.

Miss Piggy lifted her head. "When will we do it?" she asked.

He looked at her, caught slightly off guard. He gulped in a breath. "Um- Well uh- We'll probably do the number, um, for the last show," he said.

"What song?" Rowlf asked.

Kermit gulped and tore his eyes from Miss Piggy to Rowlf. "Um- I was thinking, um... God Bless the U.S.A."

Rowlf nodded. "That's a good one."

"A- And I wanna get everyone in on it," Kermit said quickly. "I figure the bigger we make it, the better. And maybe- well-" He stopped for a brief second. "I just hope it'll work," he said quietly. "That it'll help."

"Kermit?" Fozzie said.

They all looked at him.

"I think it will," the bear said simply.

Kermit smiled. "Thanks," he said quietly. They didn't say anything for a moment, and then Kermit looked at a clock. "It's pretty late..."

"Mm-hm." Miss Piggy settled her head back onto his shoulder.

"Uh-oh. Piggy's fallin' asleep," Rowlf said.

Kermit smiled. "We should all be in bed," he said. He slid off the dresser, pulling Miss Piggy with him. "Night, guys."

"Night, Kermit! Night, Piggy!"

"Night!"

Kermit glanced at them before he left the room, his eyes telling them something. Then the door closed.

Rowlf turned to Fozzie. "Ever feel like a marriage counselor for those two?"

Fozzie shook his head. "You do the marriage counseling. I just help with everything else."

"Yeah, maybe," Rowlf said. "Can we trade places? I've got a feeling the frog will be back before we fall asleep."

"Oh, yeah, sure," Fozzie said.

And they did.

"Now then," Rowlf said. "What do we do until he gets back?"

Fozzie smiled. "Hey Rowlf? Have you heard the one about the pirate that kept falling down?"

"No-"

"They called him- Black-and-Blue Beard! Ahh! Wocka wocka!"

 

[theprawncracker]

...Balck-and-Blue Beard... Well, if that doesn't set the tune...

Wow... Lisa... So incredibly powerful and moving. "You can't carry him alone..." Wow. Distinctly awesome. A home run/touch down/ hole-in-one/three-pointer of a chapter Lisa. Great job.

More please.

 

[The Count]

And I call this chapter awsomecomesomeness! So much here that simply pulls at the heartstrings, especiallythe scene in Rowlf and Fozzie's room with Kermit andPiggy. He's going to go back there some day... Oh, sorry for the little song refrain, that's Ryan's line. So, this was truly great... And I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for more. So come o... Post more please!

 

[TogetherAgain]

So... Bonus Muffin to anyone who can tell me from where I got Fozzie's joke at the end of the chapter.

Also... Beth mentioned something about foreshadowing, and... That's all I have to say.

 

[The Count]

... Uh, where's te chapter Lisa? UnlessI got ziffled and I need to look above. *Looks above, unsure of what I'll find.