Lost and Found
By Cybra
A/N: I got inspired for this fic by losing a pair of earrings that my dad gave me. He's currently in Washington, D.C., after being recalled to active duty. (He'll be home by this Christmas; knock on wood.) Set during the filming of The Three Musketeers (which actually was pretty good except for making Donald an uber-wuss).
Dedication: To Walt Disney. Thank you for giving us such wonderful characters and leaving a legacy of magic.
Disclaimer: Mickey, Donald, and Goofy along with the movie they starred in—The Three Musketeers—belong to Walt Disney…er…the Walt Disney Company.
"Excellent shooting, boys. Nice job."
Mickey wrung the Musketeers uniform dry as Goofy saluted the director and Donald grumbled. The near-drowning scene was the closest thing to a real death scene that he had performed so far, and it had taken five takes to get it just the way the man wanted. Secretly, the mouse was glad it was over. Toons may have possessed immortality,1 but watching the water rush over his head had given him a frightening sense of mortality.
Idly reaching up to his neck, Mickey's hand froze. His eyes widened as he hunted under the neck of his costume.
"Oh no," he moaned.
"What's wrong, Mick?" Goofy asked.
Rather than answering his old friend, the mouse dropped to his knees, hunting on the floor around him. It had to be there somewhere! He did not care if the chain was broken—he had gone through fifteen already—but the loss of the trinket itself would be devastating.
"Mickey! We need you, Donald, and Goofy in position for the next scene in ten minutes!" the assistant director called.
"In a minute!" Donald called back instead of the frantic mouse. "C'mon, Mickey! We gotta go!"
The mouse shook his head. "I gotta find it."
When had the chain broken off? Going back and retracing his steps would do no good. With the movement of all of that water, it could be anywhere.
Mickey started to hyperventilate at that thought, dashing to the drain that emptied the chamber. He skidded to a stop and dropped on all fours, peering down inside the dark space beneath the drain's grill. "I can't see anything down there!"
Goofy and Donald knelt down beside him, looking into the abyss as well.
"Didja lose somethin'?" the tallest of the three asked.
The smallest of the three began to ramble. "Walt—He gave—Chain broke or somethin'—I can't—"
The dog-like toon and the duck exchanged looks before Donald said, "It was on a chain, right?"
Nodding, Mickey gave a weak smile of gratitude, tail swishing slowly back and forth.
The three stood and slowly paced the room. A few humans even joined the search for the lost object that the mouse refused to leave behind.
Mickey's black eyes scanned the ground until a glint of metal caught their attention. The mouse knelt down and picked it up, cupping the object close with a squeak of happiness.
The other hunters rushed over.
"So, what is it?" Donald demanded, crossing his arms and tapping a webbed foot.
Sheepishly, Mickey revealed a broken necklace chain and a small, slightly tarnished key. For most of his seventy-five years, it had hung around his neck.
Everyone stared, clearly not impressed.
"Well, uh, one of us will hang on to it for you until shooting's over. I mean, if you want," one of the crewmembers offered awkwardly.
"No thanks. I'll keep it in my pocket." Mickey grinned. "Thanks for the help, everybody. I guess we better get going, fellas."
Sliding the key and chain into his pocket and walking towards the set for the next scene, the mouse's mind drifted back to when he was three. He had been so young, so innocent then.
He had given Walt a pretty stone that he had found in the studio lot. In return, Walt had given him the little key. Even now, he could hear that conversation…
"What's the key for, Walt?"
"It's a special key, Mickey. Just like this stone's special. They're connected."
"Really?"
"That's right. I'll always carry my stone. And as long as you have your key, we'll always be connected."
1 In Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, it is said that the only way to kill a toon is by using turpentine, acetone, and benzene, more commonly known as "dip." I always used that as a basis for the whole "toons as real people beside humans" thing. Therefore, toons are, technically, immortal.