No Strings Attached- Wishing Stars

"When you wish upon a star

Makes no difference who you are

Anything your heart desires

Will come to you"

Twilight had just set in on the small village. Yellows and oranges were being soaked into the scene like soup retreating inside a loaf of bread; weighing down the eyes of the people, conveniently in time for the night, and a small shaded figure was running down the emptying streets with a hatchet in hand. Tap tap tap. And a curse. Tap tap tap. And another curse. His footsteps were light, nimble and quick; but the frowning lips bitterly muttering profanity were very unbecoming of the young Italian, or at least that's what Antonio thought as he idly watched the younger boy racing up towards him. He chuckled to himself, realizing how the other's face ripened into a deep tomato red. Whether this flush was the result of admiration or rage; the Spaniard didn't know, but he sincerely hoped for it to be the former of the two. Unfortunately the cause was discovered to be the later as the winded Lovino threatened in between his heaving breaths, "Put down my pant pant… block of cherry, you pant pant… Spaintard!"

Antonio cocked his head to the side curiously and eased the ever present smile on his tanned face into a quizzical expression. He remained standing in silence as the boy exaggeratedly ran against his stretched violet shadow which beat him in reaching the entrance of the lumberyard. Lovino hunched over and greedily gulped several bountiful mouthfuls of hazy, warm air. After getting back up and sloppily composing himself; he simply pointed with his free hand, which was clammy with sweat and trembling lightly, at the piece of wood. Lazy emerald eyes dopily followed the pointing finger to the large wooden log cradled in his arms, and a surprised look spread across his face, unaware as to how such an object found its way into his possession. Then his brow creased, and after several moments of blatant thinking he triumphantly blinked as he reached a conclusion. During the time Antonio took to thoroughly think about the issue Lovino drew his free hand to his side, clenching it into a fist as his face managed in sizzling into a darker shade of red.

"Sí, I remember now, this log is for a leg of the table I'm making. Isn't it pretty? I found it stuck under some rocks by here, strange place for a log though." Antonio relayed in a happy tone despite the irritation his news sparked in Lovino, who was mentally kicking himself for bragging about the beautiful log to the town's oblivious carpenter apprentice. He had found it while out woodcutting with Antonio, fate had a cruel way of always finding opportunities to force him to spend time with the Spaniard, and decided to hide it until his father needed it. Tonight was such a night; usually the puppeteer would sneak out to go indulge himself on food, drink and women, but this evening Romulus Vargas was abnormally motivated to actually work. After the older boy finished the explanation with one of his signature clueless smiles the Italian defensively raised his hatchet and angrily shouted, "What the fuck, tomato bastard? That's my log! You've got no business in carving it up. Give it back, or I'll get the mafia on your ass!"

"Aw Lovi~! You don't need to use such language. If you wanted the log so badly, all you had to do was ask. But now it's going to cost you."

"Don't call me Lovi, it's Lovino, shithead! And you can't sell me something that's already mine, besides I don't have any money because of my lazyass dad."

"Calm down Lovi, I don't want money. Just a kiss"

"Fuck no, pedophile!"

"Wha-? But I'm only fifteen, and you're twelve so what's the big deal?"

"Shut up, it's still fucked up!"

"Then a hug"

He distastefully eyed Antonio, obviously suspicious of him, and reluctantly released an exhausted sigh after accessing the situation. Lovino knew the Spaniard well enough to know when to surrender to his bottomless density, and he lowered his hatchet, loosening his grip on it until the tool slipped out of his hand. A clang dully rang which was followed by a thud as the small axe fell onto the ground, its head first and then the handle. The young Italian tightly shut his amber eyes and cringed in preparation of what he expected to come. Lovino had been hugged by Antonio before, many times in fact, and could recite the entire procedure. Since this wasn't one of his ambush hugs, there was no need for Lovino to struggle or hit him while streaming a colorful array of curses. No. First there would be an instant of claustrophobia; when the free air around him would disappear, leaving only that foreign form against his own which proceeded to trap him with long arms wrapping around whatever was left. Next; a shiver resulting from the drastic difference in temperature would roll up his entire body, starting from the very tips of his toes and ending on the last strand of his hair. Antonio was always warmer than him; and as he remembered that fact, Lovino grimaced at the thought of additional heat to his already sweltering body. Then there would be a long moment where nothing happened, and he was forced to listen to the other's steady breathing. Finally; when Antonio would relax his hold, the Italian always quickly jerked himself away and ran as fast as he could.

But something was wrong; this time those steps weren't being executed at all, and when Lovino hesitantly cracked an eye open he found Antonio stubbornly stationed across, with the log sitting behind him on the ground, waiting for Lovino to hug him. He staggered back, appalled by the suggestion of him initiating the embrace, but his sight fell onto the prized block of cherry wood and mind wondered to the excitement of his normally lethargic father. And again another curse pushed its way through his gritted teeth, making a biting whisper. He slowly stepped forward and unsurely lifted his arms; then, after scanning the surrounding area for any bystanders, he enclosed them around the Spaniard. Lovino awkwardly pulled Antonio into the hug, and he noted that there wasn't an overwhelming heat as he had anticipated but an adaptive temperature to combat any fluctuations his presented. The loss of space and the chill from his previous experiences were still a part of the hug, but this time Lovino felt an undeniable urge to provide the steadfast breathing. He meticulously took in and expelled air, conscious of every action he performed, and it was only after a few long minutes of carrying out the repetitive task did Lovino realize that he had the power to end the hug. He hastily retracted his arms and backed away; sending Antonio into whiplash at the sudden movement, but the Spaniard still managed a smile in his dizzy state. However the grin was unable to endure a headbutt to the gut from a royally pissed off Italian. With a hand over his aching stomach; he watched the boy snatch the large log and run off, all the while wincing, but the only thing Antonio could think of as he listened to the Italian's cursing fade in the distance was.

'Lovi's hugs are really nice, he should give them more often.'

The small creature sat patiently on the hanging sign of the puppeteer's workshop, which gently rocked on the wind's sighs. It was early into the night; with only a couple stars having opened their small eyes on the world below, and the insects still tuning up before beginning their evening concert. They were considerably late tonight. Speaking of tardiness; the Italian boy that lived in the shop hadn't come home yet, and this panged him with a hint of concern even though he thought it shouldn't have. The truth was that he'd been using the father and son: taking advantage of their home's warmth and stealing any spare scraps of food, because he was a cricket. A cricket named Kiku. And Kiku was a very strange cricket. He stood despite the wind; which tousled his short hair that was darker than the blackest of raven feathers and the thin, springy antennas sitting abruptly on top of his head. Besides those and his incredibly small size, there was nothing else that suggested he was anything else but human. The cricket had a face; a pale face with nondescript brown eyes, and he wore a long beige coat that covered whatever was underneath its torn form. He even identified himself as Japanese! But there was no time to contemplate about such things as Kiku bent down, about to leap from the top of the sign to start searching for the boy, a set of footsteps echoed from further down the dark street. He was relieved to soon see the small Italian enter the ring of flickering light given off by a candle in the window; Kiku swiftly ran into a tiny nook, right above where the sign was mounted, and navigated his way through the cramped, winding tunnel that eventually came out on the top of a shelf filled with clocks.

"I'm hom-" Lovino began to announce as he carefully stepped into the shop, trying to balance his hatchet on top of the log he was carrying, and after the cheerful chime from the bell above the door he was knocked over by an enthusiastic hug from his father.

"Oh Lovi~! I was so worried, you're really late. You shouldn't make me worry like that!" The unusually handsome man cried while smothering the boy in his arms with affection, disregarding the dangerous objects his son was previously holding haphazardly falling onto the floor around them.

"It's Lovino! Lovino! You're the one who named me, I should expect at least for you to get it right… And get the fuck off of me, stupid! You're killing me" He struggled to choke out from in between the generous amount of kisses applied to his cheeks and the great weight pushing on his chest. Romulus then unwillingly freed him and dejectedly crawled away; after his short spell of despair the man picked up the wood he'd sent his son to fetch, starring at it in awe while Lovino stood and grabbed his little axe. He carefully returned the hatchet to its usual spot on the large workbench, smirking to himself on a job well done as his father continued adoring the log. The rough bark had been freshly hacked off, leaving a clean greenish tone that quickly diminished as the rings shrunk. With the tough skin gone the scent of forest flora seeped from its pores, mixing amid the abundant odors of various woods in the workshop air. The log was a bulky piece of wood that required anyone wishing to hold it to use both hands; yet a strange beauty surrounded the simple object, a sense that this was something truly special. Romulus Vargas somehow knew this instinctually; and his face grew serious with purpose as he turned to Lovino and breathed in an overwhelmed voice that immediately gained a confident morale, "Sí… Sí! This is it; this is going to be my masterpiece, the greatest work I've ever done. Lovi! Come help your Papà."

Lovino would have corrected Romulus about his name on any other occasion; but he guessed tonight was the only exception, since the man showed a great intent of actually working which earned a genuine smile from him as he nodded and retrieved their plain work aprons. Though they did not know it, there was an audience in their presence that watched them work with great interest. Since arriving at the shop; Kiku had never seen any woodwork done by Romulus, (He's seen the man do many other things, most of he'd rather not talk about.) but his waiting was well worth it for the chance to witness the man work at his trade. The father and son duo complimented one another quite nicely. Lovino was a vigilant pupil who took excruciating measures in order to gain new skills while mastering the old ones, sometimes his endeavors consisted of him using equipment he was unfamiliar with resulting in small cuts and bruises. Like the cut on the front of his hand he'd just received from the hasty use of a saw. Surprisingly Romulus turned out to be extremely devoted to the task at hand; his attention was constantly invested into what he was currently doing, going so far as to ignore everything else around him. However Lovino was perfectly content with this, he would just come in after his father and clean up any shavings and such that were neglected. Besides he preferred to learn through trial and error, which was fine by Romulus since he didn't offer to hold his hand through the process.

Busy sounds occupied the vicinity: saws tearing into the meat of the wood, hammers banging and tender sweeps scooping debris or smoothing the wood. In the midst of all the working noises neither Lovino nor Romulus spoke, except for the rare instances where one requested a tool from the other. Even when he injured himself, Lovino bit back any foul words that were exclaimed in his mind but produced only a low hiss. For a moment though Kiku could have sworn that a women's laughter fluttered above all of the commotion, her jovial giggling that echoed from every corner of the room went unnoticed by the two working. This phenomenon disturbed the insect and forced him into a terrible series of nervous shaking as his normally emotionless eyes, which were now trembling with anxiousness, darted from side to side. Despite the number of times he scanned and rescanned the room his survey yielded the same result every time, nothing. Then the laughter shifted from a cheerful laugh to one amused by Kiku's futile searching that began on a loud hearty note but eventually lost its vigor, until the voice faded away all together. Even after its departure he remained on edge for the rest of the night, his antennas twitching at every shuffle he caught from the corner of his peripheral vision.

A lot of time elapsed or at least it felt that way to him, before Kiku was calm enough to sit still and resume watching his hosts. Since his distraction by the mysterious women's interruption most of the marionette was miraculously completed. Its body was formed and limbs attached, making the puppet stand an inch or so shy of Lovino. In fact the resemblance it bore to the boy was uncanny and deemed downright creepy by the small Italian's disapproving frown. The puppet had a full head of auburn faux hair, cut similarly in the style of Lovino's but with its curl coming from the left side. Its eyes were the same color as his but somehow seemed brighter with the permanent smile etched onto its face. It even wore an old set of clothes once belonging to Lovino, which the Italian never touched though because he thought they'd prompt others to ridicule him. However he had to admit that the blue and white sailor outfit's innocent charm complimented the naïve nature the puppet presented, but besides that the thing seriously freaked him out! While Romulus steadily executed the final details he was painting on his creation; (He never allowed his son to assist him since he had no artistic talent.) Lovino angrily scoffed at him while sourly starring the marionette down, "This is your 'masterpiece'? It's just a damn copy and a fucking creepy one at that."

"Lovi! Watch that mouth of yours! Especially in front of Feliciano, he's young and very impressionable. Isn't that right, my little Feli~!" Romulus reprimanded sternly but lost any authority he may had built up as he snuggled his face against the puppet's mop of hair. Lovino simply looked on the sight with disbelief and to some extent shame as he asked.

"What the fuck is a Feli- whatever the hell you called it?"

"Lovi! What did I say about your language? …Anyway it's Feliciano. And he's not an it, he's your brother. Now come and say 'Hello' to your fratello" After trying his hand again at lecturing, he corrected his son in a condescending tone that suggested the facts he was teaching him were commonly known. Once his brief lesson was over; Romulus seemed to recover his upbeat attitude from the shock of Lovino's ignorance and began chasing him around, holding the marionette by its crossed handle. Of course Lovino gave only the natural response and ran about the workshop, dodging any contact with the wooden puppet.

"S-shit! Have you lost your fucking mind? Ah! Get that thing away from me!"

"Wha-what's wrong? I only did what you asked me to do."

"Oh yeah, and when did I ask you to make a creepy-ass puppet?"

"Not a puppet; a brother, remember? A really long time ago you'd always ask for a brother. Sorry it took so long, but this is all I can do. So… here" By then their chase had ended with the two standing on opposite ends of the workbench. And when Romulus finished speaking his voice could barely be heard, it had taken on such a quiet and solemn tone. Then he walked over to Lovino and lowered the marionette's handle; causing it to become limp, and he picked the puppet up, letting its legs and arms dangle in his cradling grip. He hesitated before offering his precious Feli to Lovino, who unsurely took it in his own arms and all of a sudden was flooded by distant memories of how he'd pester his father for a little brother and his imaginings of the playmate he dreamed of. Lovino then felt the urge to cry swell up in him; but he was successful in suppressing the reflex, denying its true source and convincing himself his eyes were just aggravated from the dust in the air. Romulus on the other hand could discern through his son's facade and had no problem bawling his eyes out on Lovino's shoulder as he nearly strangled him in another crushing embrace. Lovino then lost any desire he had to cry as it was washed away by a wave of rage, and he loudly scolded while wiggling in an attempt to liberate himself, "Stop your damn crying, bastard; it's pathetic! And you're ruining the puppet, not to mention my shirt."

"Ah! I'm so sorry Feli, here let Papà dry you off." Romulus ceased his sobbing and released Lovino as if he had some deadly disease, nearly throwing him across the room. But when he held out his hand; expecting Feliciano to be handed over only to be shocked as Lovino denied him the puppet, turning away when he presented his opened hands on the premise that the man would most likely bring more harm than good to it. Romulus practically fell into a depression; his heart shattered by betrayal at Lovino's impudence. But before the boy could defend his case there was a multitude of clicks clanking simultaneously and then a silent pause that signaled for every clock in the shop to go off. Every conceivable bell, chime, whistle and ring sounded off the ninth hour. Forgetting about this daily occurrence, Kiku unfortunately found himself in the midst of the chaos. Deafened by his close proximity to all of those alarming clocks he fell over and was unable to appreciate the mechanisms adorned on the clocks perform their programmed actions. This mismatched orchestra continued to loudly play its blaring and nonsensical song for an entire minute, but once the last note was obnoxiously tooted another series of clicking came. And the animatronics retired to their original, stationary positions. Then in the reacquired silence of the workshop, the cricket was able to hear properly again and staggered about as he stood up. Having failed to remember his sadness because of the clockwork spectacle; Romulus put a finger to the chin of his questioning face and asked, "Wonder what time it is?"

"Shit, you really are going senile… It's nine o' clock dumbass."

"Really? How can that be? I've never finished any project that quickly, and I'm yawn… already sleepy? Hm… oh well, okay Lovi! It's time for bed, and you too Feli~!" The man soon lost interest in the questions he asked; leaving them unanswered and instead happily seizing the marionette, ushering it to the bed he and Lovino shared. Romulus was promptly foiled by his son, who recaptured the stolen item and proceeded to yell at his dimwitted father.

"What kind of idiot are you? You can't bring a puppet into bed, it'll break! The puppet stays on the workbench, got it?"

"Aw Lovi"

The highly prized marionette was eventually placed on the table; and with that another frivolous dispute was ended, but Kiku couldn't help a small admiring smile from spreading on his face. Despite the father's absentmindedness and carefree nature and the dirtier than a street gutter language the son spewed; the dysfunctional family always was on good terms by the time they went to bed, and he found that endearing. The sparse candles scattered throughout the room were blown out, leaving the moon starring in the open window above their bed as the only light illuminating the room. Before dragging themselves off to their tempting bed; the weary two discarded the aprons slung over their necks, tossing them to the floor and shedding their clothing for appropriate nightwear which for them consisted of a long nightshirt each that went down to their knees. The bed creaked as Lovino crawled on; burrowing his way deep into a thick quilt, and it caught Romulus as he fell, face flat onto the blanketed surface. Kiku simply slipped out of his shoes, placed them neatly at the end of his matchbox bed and settled into the pile of tattered cloth pieces stuffed into the small box. Romulus then rolled off of his front and sleepily looked out of the unlocked window with glazed eyes in time to witness a shooting star. Seeing the white speck fly over the dark veil excited the man enough to cheerfully shout while bouncing childishly, "Look Lovi, look! It's a shooting star, hurry up and make a wish."

"No"

"But Lovi it's a shooting star. A shooting star! Who knows the next time this'll happen? It may never happen, c'mon Lovi you have to!" Romulus shouted in disbelief, poking and nagging Lovino to submit into joining him in the immature activity.

"Ugh... then I wish for you to stop calling me Lovi!" The irritated boy mumbled in a grouching mutter as he harshly pushed the blanket and his father off of him.

"That's just mean Lovi, and besides now that you've said it aloud it won't come true. But don't worry, you can try again. Now hurry up before it goes away" The man complained gloomily before regaining his optimistic zeal as he waved for his son to come up to the window with him. Lovino grudgingly trudged over to him and imitated the kneeling position Romulus had taken after he'd been throw. Then when he looked out of the window a splash of cool air hit him in the face; which would normally annoy him but didn't faze him whatsoever this time, since he was preoccupied with the star's brilliance. Distracted by its elegant tail following the glowing beckon itself, Lovino almost forgot to make a wish but was reminded by Romulus's fidgeting as he mentally debated what to ask for. After a hushed snicker the boy took his father's lead and folded his hands while making eye contact with the slowly moving star.

'Let's see, a wish… a wish… Shit. I don't know what to wish for. Damn it! It's going away. Oh shit! I wish… I wish-'

'I wish for Feliciano to become a real boy!'

...

"Phew! Made a wish just in time" Lovino quietly sighed as the star disappeared into the envelope of darkness.

"See, aren't you glad I got you out of bed? Alright now it's really time for sleep. Buona Notte!" After bidding good night Romulus slipped in the messy nest of blankets and laid his head on a pillow, which immediately sent him into a pleasant sleep. Lovino scowled at his father's comment but lost this intimidating look as a yawn crept out of his mouth, forcing him to retreat into his premade cocoon. Kiku rolled away from the scene with a skeptical look drawn out on his face at the thought of wishing stars, especially grown men believing in wishing stars. He didn't think that the idea wasn't nice; just impractical, and after affirming the thought with a polite nod Kiku let his eyes slowly droop close, savoring that momentary peace before unconsciousness. But the cricket was soon reminded of the other ritual the workshop performed, and that was the unbelievably infuriating tick tocks of the clocks. Each one beating at its own pace; filling the quiet pause of the other, until every second they counted contained a clonk. The noises pounded severely on his already throbbing head; their musical taps stepped on the sensitive parts of his inner ear and rang, echoing the previous verse. This was too much. On the nights before he would pardon their disruption, but he wasn't going to stand for it tonight. And despite the absurdity of the act; Kiku heaved in a deep breath of air and shouted authoritatively, "Quiet!"

After the abrupt and uncharacteristic yell from the normally reserved creature curiously enough the clocks obeyed his command and froze, jarringly cutting their clanking. Kiku was shocked himself as his order was so diligently followed. Then his heavy head fell like lead onto the makeshift pillow, and an inching smile hovered on his face for a brief moment of silence before wilting into an irked frown from the entrance of a pale blue light that softly glowed. But when the cricket launched himself out of the matchbox to investigate this abnormal brightness, he tactfully retreated behind a nearby candlestick for the brilliant light morphed, condensing into the silhouette of a woman, and dimming until the girl was only clothed in the light emitted by the small frying pan she held. Kiku shakily poked his head out from behind his hiding place to observe the intruder as she waltz over to the sleeping Romulus and happily informed the unconscious man in a hushed voice, "Romulus Vargas; you aren't the most hard-working human I've ever seen, but whatever you do make brings much happiness to others. And tonight I think you deserve some yourself, so I-"

"Stop right there!" An angry voice that bore an accent hailing from England interjected, halting the woman's speech.

A/N: So there you have it, I've taken TheWonderBunny's Disney Mania Challenge! Now I know that this is a really long chapter, and the protagonist hasn't even appeared. That's because I couldn't resist including Antonio, and the only reason he's here is because while I was doing research, I found out that in the original Pinocchio story a carpenter named Antonio finds the log that is to become Pinocchio. What a coincidence, right? And as for Rome's human name; from what I know (Which isn't much at all) he doesn't have an official one, so I guessed that one of his founders' names would do. Also sorry for not being super faithful to Disney's version, but I hope my attempt is interesting enough. By the way, Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Peace~! -MagnifiedSun