The night had just risen over Los Angeles, and thus the day had ended. And for a certain koala, sheep, iguana, gorilla, mouse, elephant, porcupine and pair of pigs, what a day it had been! This group of nine animals had first met together after auditions for a talent competition that had been put together to save the Moon Theatre from being closed down. It was a rocky road, though, as the six contestants had been misled after the prize was printed as $100,000, rather than $1000, and after the theatre was accidentally destroyed, it looked like the show was off, and the theatre was gone.

But together, they put on an amazing showcase that not only won over the public, but convinced the legendary Nana Noodleman to purchase and rebuild the theatre, and earlier that day, the aforementioned koala, Buster Moon, had the privilege to re-open his new theatre after two months of construction. The cast put on a group performance to break it in, and the audience was, once again, engaged in a full standing ovation. So, how did they go to celebrate?

Apparently, the answer to that was a barbecue.

Buster invited the cast over to the home of Eddie, the sheep, where they would set up a campfire for the evening, cook some meat and have a good time. There was a bottle of wine, thanks to Mike the mouse, but it seemingly stuck with the mouse for the whole day. It was now near the end of the evening, and the sun was starting to set. The orange sky was beautiful, but the air was a bit cold, so they all gathered around the fire.

"Honestly, Mike, are you going to drink that whole thing?" Rosita, the female pig, asked.

"Ah, c'mon, don't be a -HIC- spoilsp-sport," he drunkenly replied. His insobriety was obvious by his untucked shirt, his skew hat and his shaky posture. "This is a cele-celebration, right? HIC!"

"Erm, Mike, how do you plan to get home?" Eddie asked. "I know you came in your car, but we cannot let you drive!"

"Oh, p-please! I'm plenty so-sober." The gorilla, Johnny, shook his head at him.

"I'd give 'im a lift, but I don't bloody know where 'e lives!" he stated, scratching the back of his head. "Maybe 'is girlfriend can pick 'im up."

"Well, we still have some time before the sun sets, so I'd like to say something!" Buster announced. They all turned to him as he stood up. He cleared his throat, adjusted his bow tie and began his speech. "Today has been a special day for the Moon Theatre, as it has been reborn, bigger and better than it was before! And I could not thank you all more! Had I been told when I started the competition, that you six would save my theatre, I might have laughed. I didn't honestly believe it would work at the time- it was a last-ditch effort to save what my father worked so hard to give me, so I was prepared to do anything to save it. But, in all honesty, this has been better than I ever could have expected, and I am so glad you have signed on with the theatre, because after what you have managed to do, I honestly think of you as my new family."

"Aww!" Meena, the elephant, cooed. "That's so sweet of you, Buster!"

"I'm being totally serious here. And, of course, Eddie and Miss Crawly," he looked first to his sheep friend, and then to his elderly iguana assistant, "you've both stuck by me for many years, and I appreciate it all. I am prepared to help you and hope that you stay with me for as long as you can… however long that is." They laughed at his little joke, while Miss Crawly just waved it off.

"Yeah, you guys have done amazing!" Eddie remarked. "When Buster told me his plan, I doubted he had any sanity left, but after those auditions, and watching you guys transform over that short amount of time, I slowly began to believe it would work. And it did."

"Well, it's not just you who should be saying thanks," Rosita said, adjusting her blouse, "you gave us an opportunity to do something we love, and it changed our lives for the better!" The five other contestants all cheered in agreement. "You helped me to find passion in my life- something that was missing for, maybe, five years now. My husband finally notices me, and we've been on the first date we've had since we got married!" She smirked at the male pig in the gold tracksuit. "Just remind me to never let Gunter babysit. You're a great dancer, but you're awful with kids."

Once again, they were all doubled over in laughter. "Ja, I made woopsie!" he admitted. "But, it was a lot of fun, and I will do a better job next time. Maybe if you go on a day date, it would work better."

"Yeah, that way, he has to wear something other than his skin-tight dance suit," Ash, the porcupine, spoke up. "You showed more than just your moves in that thing, unfortunately." Again, the laughs came out. "Y'know, after I got into the competition, but Lance didn't, I honestly expected to hate you guys. I thought that the two-timing bastard was a musical God, and that you guys just were tone-deaf to his style. But after what happened, you guys were there for me, and I realised what I was getting rid of now he's gone, and what I now have with you guys." They all gave an 'aww' at that. "The bastard called me earlier, actually."

"Please say you didn't answer it," Rosita said, her face showing her concern.

"Sorry, but I did." She then smirked. "Just to tell him where he could stick it." They all gave a cheer to this. "I'm not giving him another chance- besides, I've got a new jerk in my life. His name's Mike."

"Hey!" The drunken mouse shouted. "That's a bit m-much. I may have been a bit stuck up, but I'm not that b-bad! Hang on, gimme a second!" He walked over to the table and got a cup of water, then splashed his face in it, before discarding it and walking back. "There we go. Look, I'll be fair- I was self-involved, but hey. I've spent most of my time workin' on the street to earn my dough. I finally get a chance to earn big bucks, of course I'm gonna go for it, and I wasn't gonna stop until it was over. And yeah, I was gonna leave when I heard there was no dough to be won, but I had to prove that I had talent, for my pride. So, yeah, I'll stick around, I guess."

"Oh, please, Mike!" Rosita sighed. "You need us, you LIKE us." She cleared her throat. "My friends," she mimicked his voice, and the others joined in, "I'll say it clear. I'll state my case, of which, I'm certain."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up! At least I could pull that off from the start. No offence, but Meena, you took your time."

"Mike!" Rosita snapped.

"No, no, it's fine," Meena stopped the mother of twenty-five from giving the mouse a piece of his mind. "He is right. Had it not been for this, I never would have found the confidence to sing in front of people. My grandfather is my biggest fan, and I spent most of my time during this competition- even though I was only part of it later on- thinking about not letting him down. But my family were so proud of me that night. I'm so glad that I did this, and I really feel like all of you are my family now too."

Everyone cheered at this, except for Johnny. When Meena had said the word 'family', he had dropped his head. He was staring at his feet, twiddling his thumbs, before he stood up and walked away from the group. They had called for him to come back, but he sat down on the fence, staring out at the landscape.

"Is he okay?" Meena asked. "Was it something I said?"

"No, Meena. This was not your fault," Buster assured you. "I think it's about his father."

"Eh, leave him. He can be the getaway driver when they bust out again!" Mike's latest remark was not well-received, so Miss Crawly whacked him, straight into the pool.

"Jerk," Ash remarked, before looking over to Johnny. She thought for a moment, before stating, "I'm gonna go talk to him." She quickly made her way over to the gorilla, sitting next to him. "You doing okay, big guy?" He just let out a sigh in response. "C'mon, you can talk to me. You all listened to me when I was at a low point, so it's only fair."

He took a moment to collect himself, before he finally spoke. "I've just been thinking about dad. I should'a just told 'im I didn't wanna be the bloody driver! 'E woulda gone free, and I wouldn't 'ave almost lost my dad! Or, if I'da stayed put, then we'd be-"

"Johnny, stop." She put her hands on top of his, even though they only covered part of two fingers. "You can't keep thinking about what happened, it's not good. He came to see you after your performance, right?" He nodded. "Was he proud of you?"

He gave a light chuckle. "I think for the first time that didn't involve the gang!"

"See!" she smiled. "And when he gets out of prison, he'll be able to re-open the garage you told me you worked at, and things will be better." He started to chuckle a bit louder. "What's so funny?"

"I'm just surprised." He turned and smiled at her. "We've all known each other for maybe two months, yet you're probably the closest thing I've ever 'ad to a friend."

"Are you serious?" He nodded, and her cheeks slightly flushed, but the sun- what was still up of it- was on her, so it was hidden. "Well, what are friends for, huh?" She then started to shiver. "I forgot it was getting cold," she rubbed her arms, which were unprotected by the short sleeves of her rocker t-shirt, "having been sat by the fire so long."

"Here!" He took off his leather jacket, leaving him in his plain t-shirt, and put it over Ash. She had to hold it to keep it on, and he couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry, I forgot about the size difference!"

"How do you forget something like that?!" she replied through laughs. "I'm the size of your head!" They couldn't help but laugh for quite a bit at that, but he still saw her shiver.

"Here, then," he said again, then put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. She tensed at first, but slowly relaxed. "That better, Ash?" She nodded. "Okay."

Over at the fire, Meena looked over as she heard Johnny and Ash laughing, and smiled.

"She managed to cheer him up!" she cheered, but not loud enough for the gorilla and porcupine to hear. The others looked over and smiled. "I'm glad she went over to do that!" She saw Johnny give Ash his jacket. "He's given her his jacket! Oh, how kind of him!"

"It's sweet," Rosita remarked. "I haven't seen that since I met Norman."

"Maybe she likes him," Miss Crawly spoke up. While she was the oldest and possibly craziest of them, they had to admit she might be right.

"I'll have to add a no sex backstage rule," Buster remarked, before Rosita lightly slapped his shoulder.

"They're teens, but they aren't that kind of teenager," she scolded him.

"Age means nothing," Mike fired back, whilst drying himself with a napkin. "I was their age at my first time!"

"Yes, but that's you, Mike."

"Whatever." He looked back over just as Johnny wrapped his arm around Ash. "He's moving in! I wish I had a camera!" He looked at Rosita and saw her pull a camera out of her purse. Mike laughed. "Oh, that is perfect!"

"You forget I'm a mother of twenty-five," she explained, before taking the picture. Looking at the photo, she smiled, before putting the camera away. "Okay, we've had some fun, so let's leave them."

Johnny and Ash sat there for, maybe, twenty minutes.

"How are you not cold?" she asked him, brushing his arm.

"Gorillas have thick skin and a lot of fur," he explained, "so, yeah, I don't tend to get cold."

"You sure do," she replied without thinking, then got up as she realised what she said. "Erm, I'm gonna head back. You coming?"

He smiled and shook his head, before saying, "yeah."

They headed back over, and the others smiled as they both sat back down.

"Now that you're both back," Buster spoke, "before we all head home- or, in my case. My drawer- how about one last song for the night?"

They all agreed and chose a song, not without bickering, before singing around the campfire into the night.

THE END