Once-ler woke up to sounds in the kitchen.

He opened his pale blue eyes and blinked the sleep away.

Slowly he looked toward the kitchen and saw Gran making breakfast. Once-ler felt stiff and wanted to move, but the slightest movement, made his injury scream in agony. So he decided not to try again. For awhile at least. Gran must have heard his movements because she turned around, with a coffee cup in her hand, and smiled at him.

"Good morning," she said quietly. "How are you feeling?"

"I still hurt," Once-ler replied. "But I don't feel too bad."

Gran nodded her head.

"I'm trying not to be too loud," she whispered, then gestured behind Once-ler. "Aislinn just now went to sleep about ten minutes ago."

Once-ler frowned and looked up, moving his head slowly, and feeling Aislinn's hand tangled in his hair. Aislinn had dark circles under her eyes and her mouth was turned into a slight frown.

"She was up all night?" he asked, looking back at Gran.

Gran nodded.

"I was up around six this morning," Gran said, sipping some coffee she had made earlier. "I'm an early riser. I saw Aislinn was still awake, so I didn't get out of bed. Finally around 6:30, I saw her eyes close, then I got up and made coffee and started making breakfast."

"You know she's not fully asleep right?" came a voice from the living room.

Once-ler and Gran turned to look and see Melody standing in the doorway from the kitchen/bedroom to the living room. Melody walked in the kitchen and hopped up on the counter, sitting next to where Gran was leaning on the counter.

"What do you mean dear?" Gran asked, slightly confused.

"I mean she's not fully asleep," Melody said. "It's a habit her and I have. We both never had that much need for deep sleep. We have that sleep where your eyes are closed but you can hear and sense everything around you still. We have Dad to thank for that."

"What do you mean?" Once-ler said, slowly trying to sit up.

Melody glanced at him.

"Dad was a mean drunk," she said. "I'm sure you've heard how he beat us."

"I've heard and saw," Once-ler frowned, still slowly making his way into a sitting position.

"Oh that's right," Melody said. "I forgot Aislinn came here right after we left. Dad beat her up pretty good before we left."

Once-ler finally made it into a sitting position and then slowly turned to where his legs was hanging off the bed and touching the floor. He became angry at the memory. He still remembered how Aislinn looked, bloody and bruised.

"Anyway," Melody continued. "When Dad started drinking and beating us, Aislinn came up with the idea for us to sleep in shifts. One would sleep for 2 hours and the other would stay awake and make sure that Dad never tried to get in our locked and barricaded room, which we shared at the time. We would do that till we had to get up and get ready for school. Well I would always stay awake first then I would wake Aislinn up and she would stay awake. Problem was that Aislinn never would wake me up again. She would stay awake the rest of the night and wake me up in time to get ready for school."

"What?" Gran said softly. "I never knew you girls had it that way at home. I would have gotten you out sooner."

Melody simply shrugged.

"You couldn't have done anything Gran," she said. "Dad wouldn't have given us up and the court system would have taken forever for a custody hearing. Us leaving on our own was the best plan."

"The story doesn't explain why Aislinn isn't fully asleep now," Once-ler said quietly.

Melody looked at him, and smiled sadly.

"Yes it does," she said. "Aislinn has never slept a whole night since she was 12. It's habit for her to only sleep 2 or maybe 4 hours at night. She's always awake even if she looks asleep."

"But she's been sleeping all night since I've known her," Once-ler said frowning, remembering the nights in the Lurkum where he would watch her sleep for hours.

"I've had years of practice faking sleep," came a voice beside Once-ler.

Gran and Once-ler looked at Aislinn shocked she was awake. Melody smiled again sadly at her sister, as she watched Aislinn stretch and pop her neck.

"I usually can't sleep more than 4 hours at night," Aislinn said, moving to sit beside Once-ler and linking her arm with his. "But strangely enough, I can sleep for 6 hours when I'm laying next to you."

Gran grinned and Melody and Once-ler's faces turned red.

"Huh?!" Melody squeaked.

Aislinn grinned along with Gran.

"It is true that I'm use to functioning on 2 or 4 hours of sleep," she said. "But that was because I was always on watch, always on guard, ready to strike or protect when I needed to. But when I'm around Once-ler I don't feel that need to do all that. So I actually sleep. But last night, I had a lot on my mind and I guess my instincts to protect and guard came back and my body acted like it use to."

Once-ler felt bad. He had a feeling that her instincts came back because he was hurt.

Aislinn seemed to read his mind.

"Don't," she simply said, glaring slightly at him.

Once-ler didn't say anything.

Gran could feel then tension in the air.

"Melody," she said, putting her coffee cup down. "Help me take this food out to the animals. They keep wanting more."

Melody took the hint and walked outside with Gran and closed the door.

There was silence in the tent, till Aislinn sighed and unlinked her arm from Once-ler. She got up and walked into the kitchen and saw that Gran had made eggs, bacon and some toast. Aislinn smiled. A healthy breakfast. Not the pancakes and marshmallows that Aislinn usually fixed in the mornings. She fixed a plate of food and grabbed a fork from the drawer by the sink and brought it to Once-ler, who was looking at the floor.

Aislinn put the plate in his face, causing him to jump slightly and hiss a little in pain.

Aislinn frowned and went to apologize but Once-ler shook his head at her.

"Don't," he said, repeating what she had just said to him earlier.

Aislinn sat on the bed beside him and handed him the plate of food.

"You need to eat," she said quietly.

"And you need to sleep," Once-ler answered, ignoring the food and looking at the floor again.

"Oh please tell me you aren't shutting down again?" Aislinn said, her brows scrunching together. "There is no need for that! I'm not going to beg you to eat again like last time. This isn't a good enough reason to shut down."

Once-ler glanced at her and frowned at her.

"You pretty much punished yourself by not sleeping last night!" he said loudly. "All because you're stupid 'instinct' kicked in to 'protect' and 'guard'? Who were you protecting and guarding? Gran and Melody? The animals? Pipsqueak and the Lorax? Me? Who asked you to take on this role, huh?"

Aislinn was taken aback by Once-ler's words.

"I know you were watching and making sure my family didn't come back," Once-ler said a little more softly. "I know you had a lot on your mind. But don't jeopardize your health because of stuff like that. It does no one any good if you aren't healthy enough to help the people you are protecting."

Aislinn was silent. She knew Once-ler was right. She knew that. Aislinn smiled sadly at Once-ler.

"Then you know how I felt back at the Lurkum watching you starve yourself," she said.

Once-ler's eyes slightly widened. Yea, he guessed now he did know how she felt. Trying to get him to eat and him refusing and staring out the boarded up window all day. Now he knew exactly how she felt.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

"It's fine," Aislinn said. "It's all in the past. Or future? Or the bad future? Ugh! I don't know!"

Once-ler chuckled at Aislinn. She smiled too, and once again handed Once-ler the plate of food.

"Now eat," she said. "Then maybe you can lay back down and rest, while I lay here too and try and sleep. I can tell I've gotten use to sleeping longer hours. I'm actually exhausted."

Once-ler smiled, then glanced and saw blood going down Aislinn's arm.

"I'll eat after you get Gran to look at that," he said, frowning.

Aislinn was about to protest, when Once-ler silenced her with a kiss on her lips.

Aislinn's eyes widened at the sudden sign of affection, but welcomed it happily.

"You promised me last night you would get her to look at it," Once-ler said, pulling away from Aislinn's lips and resting his forehead on hers.

"I remember," Aislinn said. "I'll get her to look at it. But you need to eat while she's looking it over. You need your strength and rest and you'll be good as new in a week of two."

"A week or two?" Once-ler repeated.

He didn't like the sound of that. Aislinn smiled sweetly.

"Oh you'll be fine!" she said, standing up and walking to the door to the tent. "You'll just be bored out of your mind and won't be able to do anything till Gran says you can. And she won't say anything till I think you're ready."

Once-ler's mouth fell open.

"That's not fair!" he said, as he watched Aislinn open and walk out the door.

"Once," Aislinn said, looking over her shoulder at him. "Who ever said life was fair?"

And with that she laughed and walked over to Gran and Melody.

Gran and Melody came in and Once-ler heard Gran tell Aislinn that her wound was a little deep but didn't need stitches. Gran cleaned and bandaged Aislinn's right arm and told her to be careful with it for a couple of days.

Everyone ate some breakfast, then the Lorax and Pipsqueak wanted to give the 'grand tour' of the valley to Gran and Melody. Gran took that as an invitation to leave Once-ler and Aislinn alone and let them rest.

So while Gran and Melody was getting the grand tour, Once-ler and Aislinn cuddled up to each other and fell asleep.

About five days after Once-ler had been shot, his strength was coming back. He was able to sit up and move around the tent and outside. He still couldn't lift things and his wound still gave off what he called, 'aftershocks' of pain, every now and then. Once-ler had also done what he told his family he would do; stop making Thneeds. Well he actually stopped taking orders for them, but did finish the orders that he did have.

Aislinn's arm was nearly healed. She was able to not wear the bandage all the time, which she was happy for.

Gran and Melody had grown to love the valley so much that they talked about moving in the tent permanently. This got Once-ler to thinking about building two houses right where the tent was now. But then he realized that he would need the land around it to even get permission to build there. That gave him an idea. If he could buy all the land in the valley, he could actually protect it better from people like his Mother.

This prompted a trip to town.

Gran, Melody, Once-ler and Aislinn all walked the 20 minute trip to the road and got in Gran's car and took the two hour drive to town. There they managed to find a realtor that knew something about the land in the valley.

The realtor explained that no one had owned that land for decades and was willing to just give the land to Once-ler so the realtor could get rid of it. Once-ler was happy that he was getting all 500 acres of the valley. Then he could rub it in Lorax's face! Aislinn wasn't too happy with that particular idea.

After the papers were signed and Once-ler was given the paperwork, the group headed to an ice cream place. While they were eating, Once-ler pitched his idea about building two houses where the tent was. Gran and Melody was excited but it took some talking and promising to not cut a lot of trees down, to convince Aislinn.

Suddenly a bald man walked up to the groups table and said he had overheard their discussion on the houses and that he was a builder and would be glad to help. Once-ler described each house that he thought about building. Gran and Melody's house would be a vinyl siding, one-story house with 3 bedrooms and 2 and a half bathrooms, and a front porch for Gran. Once-ler and Aislinn's house would be an all brick, one-story house with 4 bedrooms and 3 and a half bathrooms and a wrap around porch, something Aislinn had always wanted. The builder actually had some plans on him, and everyone looked over and they picked the houses they loved the most. Once-ler asked the builders if they could start the next day and have it done in a couple of months. At first the builder was shocked, but then smiled and said if Once-ler had the money then he had the time. Once-ler asked the builder to write down how much each house would cost and give him the estimate. The builder did some quick math and wrote the prices down on a piece of paper and handed it to Once-ler. Once-ler made sure that the girls didn't see how much it cost. Once-ler nodded his head in agreement, thinking the price was just a little bit high, but he knew that he had asked a lot of the builder in such a short amount of time.

Once-ler told the builder where to come to the next day and then the group left for home again. Gran had decided to sell her house so she had the money and furniture to decorate the new house Once-ler was building for them.

The next day the builder arrived with the crew and construction began.

Once-ler stayed in the valley while construction on the houses (which were about 300 feet apart from each other and Gran's house sat slightly behind Once-ler and Aislinn's house, farthest from the river), and made sure that only trees that needed to be cut were cut. Of course the Lorax wasn't too happy about all the new people in the valley, but he realized that Once-ler wouldn't let anything happen to the valley. And the Lorax still wasn't happy with the fact that Once-ler could rub it in his face that Once-ler owned the valley now.

Aislinn, Melody, and Gran spent most of their time in town. They were picking out furniture and paint colors and deciding what pictures should be hung up or just put on the table tops somewhere. This was actually the first time that Aislinn was acting real girly around Once-ler, which surprised him.

Aislinn and Once-ler had agreed that the valley needed some sort of protection around the edge, so they got another builder to come in and start building a six and a half foot tall wooden fence around the edge of the valley.

Soon the houses were completed, the driveways were poured and dried and everything was moved in. On that day Once-ler took down his tent. He almost cried because the time there and the memories it had.

Once-ler and Aislinn's house had a country feel to it. They had rustic furniture and antiques that gave the brick house an old country home feel. And warm, welcoming colors were painted throughout the house.

Gran and Melody's house, on the other hand, and a modern feel to it. Modern furniture and modern everything else, even down to the bright and dark paint colors. Most, if not all, of the furniture came from Gran's old house but even those had a modern feel to it, which fit in perfectly with the house.

It only took a couple of days to put everything in each house where the girls wanted it. Once-ler was smart and stayed out of their way while they decorated the houses. Soon after though, everything was settled in and everyone was loving their new way of life.

Aislinn was really loving having a house for just her and Once-ler. She didn't mind having Gran and Melody living with them but she did feel like she had no privacy when they were around.

It had been a week since they had all moved in the new houses, and Aislinn was still getting use to the king sized bed her and Once-ler had. Of course they both slept in the middle right next to each other, but the bed still had plenty more space and Pipsqueak took advantage of that. The Lorax had his own room in their house that he slept in, but Pipsqueak refused to sleep hardly anywhere else except in Once-ler and Aislinn's bed. They didn't mind though.

Aislinn had woken up that morning a little earlier than usual. She quietly got out of bed, trying not to wake Once-ler up, and went and took a shower. After that she let her hair down to air dry, got dressed and went into the kitchen and started cooking breakfast. She noticed that Pipsqueak wasn't around that morning, so Aislinn guessed he was out with the Lorax. The Lorax was like Gran, he rose with the sun, and he was usually out walking around the valley by the time Once-ler and Aislinn ever woke up.

Aislinn continued making breakfast which wasn't pancakes this morning. She was cooking sausage, cheese eggs and biscuits. She was slowly remembering how to cook better for her and Once-ler since Gran was around. Aislinn had to it admit, she had gotten use to the pancakes and marshmallows for breakfast.

Aislinn was humming to herself and looked around her kitchen from taking out something for supper on the kitchen island, to the open area of the house that had the living room, a bar, a breakfast nook, and a dining room all in it. Then she looked out the window at the front of the house and was happy to see some of the Swami-Swan's sitting on the railing of the wrap around porch. Aislinn was glad that Once-ler had let them have the house facing the river. It was nice to look outside and see the water and the view. She actually felt like her and Once-ler were a married couple. A blush crept over her face at that thought. She had been having those thoughts a lot over the past few months. Actually it all started when Once-ler said he was building them a house.

Gran and Melody usually kept to themselves in the morning and at night when everyone went inside their houses. Gran and Melody would wait till Once-ler or Aislinn one came outside in the morning then they would come over and stay during the day. And at night they all might eat supper together at one or the other's house and when everyone went in for the night, no one bothered the other. They still acted close, like when they lived together, but it was nice to have a separate place for them to go to at the end of the day.

Aislinn took the biscuits out of the oven and placed them into a bread basket. She then took up the sausage and cheese eggs and placed them on the small table in the nook, along with plates and forks. That's usually where she and Once-ler ate since it was a small table that fit just the two of them perfectly.

Aislinn stood next to the table with her back to her and Once-ler's bedroom and glanced at the clock. She saw it was about 8:15. She was surprised that the smell of food didn't wake Once-ler up, but then again, it takes a lot to wake him up.

Arms wrapped around her waist, making her tense, but Aislinn relaxed when she felt a chin resting on her right shoulder.

"That smells great," Once-ler said, his voice deep from just waking up.

Aislinn secretly loved to hear his voice as soon as he woke up. She leaned back against him.

"I got up early and I thought I would make a nice breakfast this morning," Aislinn said, smiling a little as she felt Once-ler grip her waist tighter. "How long have you been up?"

Once-ler chuckled a little. Aislinn frowned slightly in response.

"Since you got out of bed," he said. "I'm so use to you next to me when I sleep that when you get up, I automatically wake up. And I've been standing in the doorway from our room watching you cook and hum and stare off into space."

Aislinn rolled her eyes and wiggled out of Once-ler's grip, causing the pale blue eyed man to frown slightly.

"Have a seat," she said, walking over the refrigerator. "What do you want to drink? Milk, orange juice, or apple juice?"

"Milk please," Once-ler answered, as he sat down in a chair.

He started putting food on his plate and watched Aislinn as she reached to get a glass in the cabinet, which caused the shirt on her pajamas to expose her lower back to Once-ler. Once-ler felt he's face heat up and he quickly looked toward the food.

Aislinn got the glasses and poured her some apple juice and Once-ler some milk. She came back over to the nook and put the milk down in front of Once-ler and taking her seat next to him.

"Thanks," Once-ler said, still having the blush on his face.

Aislinn saw that Once-ler's face was red and got a little concerned.

"Are you alright?" she asked, as she slowly fixed her plate.

"I'm fine," Once-ler answered quickly, and started eating.

"Your face is red," Aislinn said, finishing fixing her plate. "You don't have a fever do you?"

Once-ler felt his face get hotter and he shook his head and continued eating.

It finally clicked in Aislinn's head that he was blushing! But she couldn't figure out why. She shrugged and started eating her breakfast

After breakfast, which was around 9, Aislinn and Once-ler went outside to greet a new sunny, beautiful day. The news had said that a storm was coming in that evening and they wanted to enjoy the day before having to stay inside the house.

Everyone did their own thing that day. Aislinn and Melody played with the animals, Gran cleaned her house, and Once-ler went to check on the progress of the fence.

The fence around the valley was nearly done. It only had about 1/8 of a mile left before being complete, and Once-ler was making sure that nothing went wrong. He wanted to protect the valley, even though he didn't like the fence, he knew that that was the only way he could keep people from abusing the valley.

Around noon Once-ler had come back from checking on the fence and found Gran reading a book on her porch, Melody swimming in the river with the animals, and Aislinn taking a nap in their hammock in front of their house.

Once-ler waved at Gran and Melody, who both waved back, then walked over to Aislinn. The hammock and been tied between the fluffiest Truffula trees around their house, which caused the hammock to always be in the shade, no matter the time of day.

When Once-ler got to Aislinn, he simply leaned on the tree that her feet were facing, and watched her sleep, smiling to himself. Her head was turned slightly to her right and her hair was laid out around her head like a halo, and some of her bangs had been blown across her face by the wind. She was laying on her back with her left arm draped across her stomach and her right arm laid out beside her. Once-ler quietly walked to the side of the hammock and gently climbed in. This was when he was glad he bought a hammock that was made for two people instead of one. The moment he settled in, Aislinn moved to her side and wrapped her arms around Once-ler's waist and laid her head on his chest.

"I thought you were asleep," Once-ler whispered, wrapping his left arm around Aislinn's shoulders and having his right arm become a pillow for his head.

"I was," Aislinn whispered back, sleep still in her voice. "I heard you walk up."

"I was being quite though," Once-ler said.

"You forget that I have super hearing when I sleep," Aislinn sighed contently, snuggling up to Once-ler. "It comes with living in a hell hole."

Once-ler chuckled a little.

"I'll try to be more quite next time," he said, tipping his fedora, which he had never stopped wearing, over his eyes.

"I'll still hear you," Aislinn said, tangling her legs with Once-ler's.

"We'll see," Once-ler chuckled.

They both were asleep soon.

"Guys! GUYS!"

Aislinn shot up in the hammock when she heard shouting. She saw the Lorax running toward them.

"Lorax?" Melody said, coming out of her house, followed closely by Gran. "What's wrong?"

"I can't find Pipsqueak anywhere!" the Lorax replied, franticly. "I saw him this morning with the other Barbaloot's and they've come back and Pipsqueak's not with them!"

Aislinn felt the color drain from her face. She looked down at Once-ler, who was still sleeping next to her.

"Once!" she hissed. "Get up!"

Once-ler blinked his eyes open slowly and pale blue met gold. When Once-ler saw the seriousness on Aislinn's face he frowned.

"What's wrong?" he said, sitting up and leaning back on his elbows.

"Pipsqueak's missing," Aislinn said.

Once-ler was up and out of the hammock in an instant.

"Where was he last?" he asked, walking over to the Lorax.

The Lorax shook his head.

"I'm not sure," he replied sadly.

Once-ler frowned. He looked at Melody and Gran, who had just walked up, and then glanced at Aislinn who was getting out of the hammock.

"We'll split up and look for him," Once-ler said. "Each one of us will get a group of animals and spread out. Take a whistle for Sun-Ray. If you find Pipsqueak, blow the whistle and we can follow Sun-Ray to you."

They heard a low rumble in the distance. They all looked and saw dark, ominous clouds coming toward them very slowly.

"We need to hurry before the storm comes," Melody said. "Pip doesn't like storms!"

Everyone took animals and a whistle and then ran in different directions.

Gran went toward the road.

Melody went toward the river to follow it.

The Lorax went with Once-ler toward the west side of the valley that bordered the
mountains.

And Aislinn went toward the dense forest near where the fence was being finished.

Aislinn prayed they found Pipsqueak.

Author's Note:

I don't own The Lorax or the Once-ler or his crazy family

I do OWN Aislinn, Melody, and Grann

I freaking love Pipsqueak. He is adorable. And nothing bad will happen to him because I love him so