My first Animaniacs FanFiction! I was working on one of my other FanFictions a few months ago, but I've been so busy these past few months, and this idea hit me on the head not too long ago, so, I wanted to write it today! I hope you enjoy!

Wakko's stomach grumbling woke him up. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the shabby water tower, Wakko rubbed his eyes and got off his uncomfortable straw-made bed. He threw on his blue, dirty turtle neck and put on his red cap. As he was wrapping around his sad-looking scarf, he looked over at the other bed ten feet away from him. His older brother was still asleep, and he deserved it.

It was Yakko's turn to go out yesterday to find work. There was nothing, as usual. When he returned, he looked exhausted and had no food, which meant another night that the three of them would sleep with empty tummies. Yakko had a rule that stealing food is only for emergencies; Wakko usually disagreed with this principle, and he paid dearly for it.

Dot's coughing from the other room woke Yakko up. He got off his bed and the two brothers looked at each other.

"Morning, Wakko."

"Mornin'."

Yakko left the room and went to aid his sister. Wakko followed him soon after and saw his brother on his sister's bed, rubbing her back as her wheezing calmed down.

"Are you feeling okay?" Yakko asked Dot.

She nodded and laid her head on her brother's chest. Dot was soon fast asleep.

"Do you need my help today?" Wakko asked. "I could always go out a little later."

"Nah. I'm okay, Wakko," Yakko said with a sad smile. "The best business usually is in the morning. I could go out again today. Do you want me to?"

"No," Wakko said quickly. "You need to rest."

An uncomfortable silence filled the air, but was soon broken from a sneeze by Dot. The three of them shared a laugh, which was precious. Ever since the economy went down and Dot got sick, they usually don't laugh at much anymore.

Wakko left the water tower, and trudged his feet in the bitter cold snow. He pulled his scarf closer to his neck as the wind howled in his ears. When Wakko made it to town, there were few in the streets. The only large gathering was a line leading up to Baron Von Plotz's place. It must be tax day.

Wakko cursed under his breath. This definitely meant no money for food. Although trying would be likely in vain, he wasn't looking forward to the second day in a row with his stomach not being satisfied.

He went around and knocked on every door of every shop in town. Nothing. No opportunities whatsoever. Wakko wasn't surprised, but he was disappointed. As he was walking around, observing the deserted-ness of this melancholic town, something on the ground caught his eye. He leaned down and brushed off the snow that covered the object. It was a golden button.

It was hope. Wakko smiled, thinking maybe he could sell it for some money. A ha'penny sounded fantastic.

A shabby couple began walking down the street. Excited, Wakko held up his treasure, hoping they would buy it.

"Good morning, sir and madam! Are either of you interested in buying this button? I'm only asking for a ha'penny!"

The woman scoffed at him. "A ha'penny is extremely expensive for a measly button like that." The couple then walked away.

As the sun began going into the western part of the sky, a few more people came walking around. He attempted to vend to them as well. The more that people said no, the more discouraged Wakko became. Once again, the streets were deserted and he was losing his confidence. The sun was starting to set when a guard came around. Wakko sighed. It was worth a try.

"Good evening, sir! Would you like this fancy button?"

The guard looked at Wakko, then at the button, then back to Wakko.

"Boy, where did you get that?" he asked sternly.

Wakko shrunk back a little. "I found it on the ground, but-"

"A likely story," the guard said sarcastically. "That button belongs to Baron Von Plotz, and let me be the first to tell you that he does not like things taken from him. Now, I will repeat my question again. Where did you get that button?"

A idea rang in Wakko's head. "Just tell him again where you found it. It's the truth," the thought said. Although, another thought popped into his head.

Run.

Wakko went with the latter idea.

He started to sprint down the streets, hearing the guard behind him shout 'stop!' With the button clenched in his hand, he started to run toward the old orphanage. There were lots of small hiding places that Wakko could hide in, but he hoped the perfect one was still there.

Wakko slid past the wood barring up the main door. The orphanage was just as he remembered it, except more dusty and there were a few bats. There was a staircase off to the left leading to the rooms and he saw the grand piano he used to play to entertain the other kids. He was tempted to play it again, but that was not possible at this time.

As Wakko carefully stepped onto a floorboard, it broke underneath his left foot. He winced in pain as he felt new splinters form.

He began to doubt that coming here was a good idea.

Wakko turned his head fearfully toward the door as he heard the guard coming closer. Grunting, he got his foot out of the floor and ran up the staircase toward his old room. When Wakko got there, he exhaled a sigh of relief when he found the bed was still there. He moved the bed slightly to reveal a hidden door behind the wall.

During the wars between Warnerstock and Ticktockia, many of the citizens were in danger. Especially people who were defenseless, such as children. Therefore, these doors were built so the children were able to hide. All they had to do was move the bed, push open the door, get inside, move the bed back and push the door closed. Although, Wakko mostly used it whenever he would play hide-and-seek with the other kids.

Wakko moved the bed and opened the door, then closed it behind him, and ignored the guard bicker to him from the ground floor. As Wakko heard the guard come up the steps, it hit him and his stomach dropped.

He forgot to move the bed back. His hiding place was now obvious.

As the guard came closer, he started to panic. Wakko closed his eyes and hoped that he would go away. Finally, he heard the guard in his room. With every step closer that he made to the hiding place, Wakko's heart pumped faster.

Then, the guard tried to push open the door.

Wakko was freaking out, and pushed against the door, smashing the guard's fingers in the process of it closing. He heard screams coming from the other side as he kept pushing against the door. Wakko began to perspire and his feet were digging into the floor as he tried to keep the guard out. Unfortunately, Wakko didn't notice the floorboards beneath him cracking.

After a few moments, Wakko was running out of energy to keep the threat out. The door opened violently, and the floorboard beneath Wakko gave a *CRACK* before giving out on him. Wakko screamed while falling and yelped when his right arm landed the wrong way.

The guard came sprinting down the stairs while Wakko was grabbing his arm, trying to soothe the pain. The guard stood him up by his injured arm, and Wakko hissed with pain through his teeth. He hoped it wasn't too obvious that he was hurting. The last thing Wakko wanted to do was show the guard that he was weak.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With his foot hurting with splinters and his arm hurting by possibly being broken, Wakko walked toward Baron Von Plotz's place alongside with the furious guard. He would return the button to him and then possibly die.

Wakko didn't pay much attention to how enormous the place was. He only gawked at the table of food Baron Von Plotz was sitting at. He had never seen so much in his life. Wakko had only dreamed of having such a feast.

The guard pushed Wakko toward Plotz, but Wakko was being ignored by him. Apparently, food was more important than a person.

"Sir. This child stole your button. I caught him and he will return it to you right now." Wakko was angry at the way the guard was talking about him.

Baron Von Plotz said nothing while he ate. He only held out his hand to retrieve the button. Wakko noticed that the buttons on his sleeve matched the one he apparently "stole". He looked down at the button. His one last hope. His one last chance to have him and his siblings survive. Wakko watched with sad eyes as he handed over the object and saw the Baron place the button in his pocket.

There was nothing left.

"William," Plotz said to the guard, "your shift is over."

"Thank you, sir," the guard said and he walked away.

"And boy," Plotz said to Wakko, "you may go now. Goodbye."

"Wait!" Wakko said, staring at the piles and piles of nourishment. "Is there any chance that I might have some of this food?"

The Baron looked like he was actually pondering his answer. He smiled at Wakko and said, "No."

"Oh," Wakko dejectedly said as he noticed Plotz was no longer paying attention to him. Seizing his chance, Wakko grabbed a loaf of bread, shoved it down his shirt, and sprinted toward the exit while the Baron had no idea what Wakko had just done.

Although the sun had set a while ago, he knew the way around Acme Falls town like the back of his hand. Wakko couldn't wait to share this delicious meal with his siblings. He exhaled a sigh of relief as he made it to the water tower. Coming home was always his favorite part of the day. Especially today.

As he walked inside, he knew exactly where both of his siblings were. In Dot's room. Yakko was telling the story. Wakko smiled. He always loved coming home to this. Whenever Yakko went out, Wakko would try to tell the story, but it never had the same charm as when his brother told it.

"And mom and dad would laugh and laugh and laugh, and they'd tickle ya," Yakko said, ticking his sister as she erupted with laughter. He stopped his tickle attack by saying, "and you'd laugh too."

Coughing and laughing, Dot was satisfied. She loved hearing that story.

"And you'd fall asleep with a great big smile in your heart," Yakko finished.

"I like that story, Yakko," Dot said while laying down.

Yakko smiled, got off his sister's bed and rubbed the fur on her head. Wakko smiled, not wanting to ruin this tender moment, but he was hungry, and his siblings were likely too.

"I hate to break this up, but I have a surprise," Wakko said.

Dot immediately sat up, excited. "What is it? What is it?" she asked before going into a coughing fit. Yakko rubbed her back and Wakko came closer and presented the loaf of bread from behind his back.

Dot squealed with glee and Wakko broke off a piece for her. The three of them sat down on her bed and enjoyed the feast. The bread was gone rather quickly, and Dot fell asleep with a happy tummy. The two brothers then proceeded to walk to their room.

"Wak, I'm proud of you," Yakko said. "How did you do it today?" Wakko's heart sank, but he figured he should probably tell the truth.

"Well, you're not going to be too happy, but-"

Yakko sighed in the middle of his sentence. "You stole, didn't you?"

Wakko became upset. "It wasn't my fault! I found a gold button on the street and a guard chased me because of it! I ran to the orphanage and-"

"You ran to the orphanage?!" Yakko shouted, but then quieted his tone, not wanting to wake Dot. "Do you realize how dangerous that is? You could have gotten hurt!" Yakko whispered angrily.

"I did," Wakko whispered, showing is brother his foot and arm.

Immediately, Yakko went into parent mode and started to tend to Wakko's injuries. The two of them sat on Yakko's bed as he worked on pulling the splinters out of Wakko's foot. "Then what happened?" he asked.

"Well, I stepped on the wrong floorboard, got splinters, and while the guard was chasing me, I hid in the secret door in my old room, and then the floor fell beneath me. That's how I hurt my arm."

"But how did you get the food?"

"Apparently, the button belonged to Baron Von Plotz. The guard took me to his place to return the button, and then I took the bread from there. I'm sorry, Yakko. I shouldn't have stolen, especially from him. But I was hungry, and I figured that you and Dot were hungry and-"

"Wak," Yakko interrupted. "It's okay. I don't approve of the majority of your decisions today, but..." he stopped talking and looked toward Dot's room. "She was very happy today with your present and she really needs happy times. As do the both of us." he explained with a smile.

Wakko grinned and embraced his older brother. The two of them broke the hug when Wakko winced at the pain in his arm. For the rest of that night, Yakko was comforting his brother and the two of them discussed happy memories from the times in the orphanage.