August protested as Emma practically dragged him across the street.
"Emma, Jiminy isn't exactly what you make him up to be, all he ever said was..."
He mimicked Archie's voice.
"As long as you are selfless, brave and true, as long as you are selfless, brave and true... . And he said that over and over and over and never, ever did he help in any way!"
Emma's tone didn't change. "Maybe if you'd actually tried the first lesson, he would've given you the second one!"
August only grunted, annoyed. Emma took him directly into Archie's office and pushed him into the seat. Archie had a surprised expression.
"August! Emma! What can I do for you?" he said. "Nothing for me, but August has a story to tell." With that, Emma left the room and Archie sat down, looking curious.
August sat down as well and stared at the ground.
He then confessed: "The last thing you told me before father put me in the wardrobe was to be brave, truthful and unselfish. And then I was there and Emma was there and... the temptation was, was unimaginable. Do you have any idea what that feels like, temptation? I spent the last 28 years in a whirlwind in Thailand and..." August lowered his voice. "The only reason I actually showed up in Storybrooke when I did was because my leg was wooden. I came here to save myself. And now... it's catching up to me again. The temptation. I can't stop being who I am, I can't stop being... Pinocchio."


Archie looked at August compassionately for a moment.
"Do you want to hear a story?" he asked. "Well, I am a writer." replied August.
"Do you remember that old couple you used to call the Fox and the Cat?"
August grinned. "Yeah, vaguely. What about them? Don't tell me they're in Storybrooke."
Archie's face went pale. "God save us from that. No, actually... did you ever wonder why I was a cricket in the first place? You see, when I was young, I wasn't that different from you. I made mistakes, a lot of them. I became a cricket to make up for them."
"You're telling me I have to become a cricket?"
"No, I'm telling you that the Fox and the Cat were my parents."


August raised his eyebrows. "You're kidding."
"Wish I was. I think you have a pretty good idea what it was like to grow up with people like them. Always lying, always tricking, always stealing things when people weren't looking. And one day when I was an adult like you, I went to Rumplestiltskin for a solution, for a way to escape my destiny because I couldn't do it myself. He gave me a potion and told me to use it on my parents, but they tricked me again and instead I took away your grandparents. Ever wonder why Geppetto was obsessed with wooden puppets?"
August's face grew grim. "You turned them into... well, like me?"
"Yeah, I did. And that's when she came."
Archie brightened a little bit.
"The Blue Fairy. She told me that the only way I could make up for my mistakes was to help the people that I hurt. She turned me into a cricket so I could leave my parents and be my own conscience. And that's when I and Geppetto became friends, in a way. And then, one day... I found a living puppet in the house, running around with a red hat on his head. August, the morale of the story is that you can defy your own destiny. No matter how many mistakes you make, you will only lose if you give up."
"But how do I defy my own destiny? How do I make up for what happened, for what is happening?" asked August.
"August, you and Emma, you have this... this special connection, right? Use that for both of your benefits. She's your conscience now, not me and you have to be hers, that's how it works."
Archie smiled.
"And always remember: as long as you are brave, truthful and unselfish, you will not fail.


August stood up, his legs made of flesh and blood. He was ready to defy destiny.