Johnny
The moment the bear cuts the cord holding Nancy, Johnny feels the urge to run forward, to do something, but in the same moment, he realizes it's too late for that.
So Johnny stays where he is.
He hears Mike scream, and he still wants to do something, but he has no idea what.
The bear laughs.
"So, Mike, how does it feel?" he asks.
"You monster!" Mike cries out, and the bear laughs a little louder.
"Your girlfriend is gone," the bear says, and suddenly his face turns serious. "And you are next!"
The bears set into motion, and Johnny shifts closer to Mike.
Because that's something he can do - trying to defend Mike.
Yes, these are three bulky bears, but Johnny knows how to fight. He might be the only one around here, but he'll try.
And there's still Meena around. She probably doesn't know anything when it comes to fighting, but she's strong. And Ash has her quills. Rosita, Gunter, Mr. Moon, and Mike himself can't do much how Johnny sees it, but they still can do something.
They probably still won't stand a chance, though, but Johnny refuses to give up.
"You really wanna risk a fight?" he asks, hoping his voice sounds as confident as he wants it to. "We outnumber you!"
The bears laugh a little at that, but Johnny just goes on, "You are three bears, and we are one gorilla, one elephant, two pigs, one porcupine, one koala, and one mouse!"
Okay, he really hopes the bears don't get how ridiculous that sounds, especially the mouse-part.
"Add a snow leopard to that!" a voice behind Johnny suddenly calls out, a familiar voice.
"And one more mouse!" another voice calls out that sounds familiar, too.
Johnny looks over his shoulder, and there they are.
Cia's holding onto the roof edge, and there on her shoulder sits Nancy.
Johnny looks back to the bears who've stopped, surprise clearly written over their faces, but then the grim looks on their faces are back, and they're about to start moving again when the sound of police sirens sounds up from the street, and the bears stop again.
"We said no police!" the bear with the hat says.
"Hey, it wasn't us who sent dollar bills raining down the street!" Ash calls out. "Of course this will alarm the cops!"
The bear growls.
"This isn't over yet, Mike!" he says.
"Oh, but it is!" Mike replies, and Johnny can practically hear the smirk in Mike's voice. "Because we have this all on tape, don't we, Meena?"
"Y-yeah," Meena says, and from the corner of his eye Johnny sees her grab her phone with her trunk. "W-we do!"
"So?" the bear says.
"So you either get lost now and hope that you never cross our paths again," Mike goes on, "or we'll get you nailed for attempted murder!"
The bears growl again, and Johnny can see that they want to attack them, but instead, they turn around and run for the stairs.
"Wow," Mr. Moon laughs. "I didn't know bears could run that fast."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a cliché," Johnny replies, and there's a silent chuckle as a reply from behind him.
Johnny turns around just in time to see how Nancy hops down from Cia's shoulder and runs right into Mike's arms.
"See, sweetheart?" Mike says. "That's why I told you to be careful!"
"I know, I know," Nancy replies before Mike pulls her into a kiss.
With a smile Johnny turns his attention back to Cia, and the smile disappears from his face almost immediately.
He doesn't like how tightly she's holding onto the roof edge.
He walks over to her.
"Cia, you can come all the way up now," he says.
"A-actually, I can't," the snow leopard replies, squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm-I'm frozen in fear."
Johnny bites down his lip and moves closer.
"Look at me. Don't look down, look at me," he says, and when Cia does, he smiles down at her. "Good. Now give me your hand." - Cia does that, too. - "Good. I'm going to pull you up now."
Cia nods, and he pulls her up.
"There you g…" He can't finish the sentence because as soon as Cia has ground under her feet again, she wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly. It makes it hard for him to breathe, but when he feels how Cia shivers he couldn't care less. He hugs her back, gently rubbing her back.
"I-I didn't know what else to do," Cia says. "There was no one else around to do it! I saw what they were doing to her, so I climbed all the way up and cut her free from that cord! I-I climbed all the way up!" She's shivering more now. "I climbed! I… I…"
"It's fine," Johnny says, his voice a little pressed because she's still hugging him so tightly.
"Hey, you two can go back to being lovey-dovey in a few moments," Mike suddenly says. "But I need to tell you something,"
Lovey-dovey? Johnny doesn't really know what Mike means.
But Cia lets go of him and turns to face Mike.
"Thanks," the mouse says to her. "For saving my girlfriend. And thanks to the rest of you for sticking with me. I…I..." Mike breaks off before he shrugs it off. "Ah, go back to hugging now!"
Johnny frowns at that.
"Actually, don't!" Mr. Moon calls out. "Or have you all forgotten that we have a concert coming up?"
Cia still seems a bit unsteady on her feet, so Johnny places a hand on her back when they go down the stairs.
"Hey, you really got that on tape?" he hears Ash ask Meena.
"No!" the elephant replies. "And I thought they'd see right through my act!"
"I told you, sweetheart," Mike cuts in. "Love the new confidence!"
They reach the garage finding Eddie doing some sort of stand-up comedy, ending a story on why he only visits his Nana on Wednesdays now, concluding in a nervous laugh coming from him. No one else laughs, though.
Mr. Moon quickly climbs the stage to welcome the guests while Johnny and the rest go backstage to get ready for their performance.
Because this concert was Johnny's idea they decided he should go first, so he rolls out the piano on the stage.
When he sits down, about to start his song, his eyes fall on Ash looking at him from backstage. She gives him a thumbs-up, and then his eyes fall on Cia, standing next to her, and an idea forms in his head.
Yes, he's supposed to sing a cover-song, but suddenly, this doesn't feel right anymore. Another song suits this situation so much better.
Please don't hate me for this, Cia! he thinks before he speaks up.
"You're about to hear my very first original song," he says. "I had some help from my very good friend Ash who's already a pro when it comes to songwriting. The lyrics were written by another friend of mine, and I hope she likes what I did."
He takes a deep breath, some doubts coming up to his mind, but it's too late for that now.
So he starts singing the song he turned Cia's poem into. It's a risk, he knows that. She could probably sue him for that, right? But he doesn't care. Not now.
Cia has done something amazing today and he wants to thank her for that in his own way.
He doesn't risk another look backstage, he just sings.
And when the song is finished, the crowd cheers. It makes him smile, but then he sees movement coming from backstage, and when he turns towards it, he sets eyes on Cia stepping out on the stage.
Her expression is hard to read, so Johnny gets up from his piano stool and takes a few steps into her direction. But then he stops. He still can't read Cia's expression, so he isn't sure if she likes the song or if he should rather run for his life. Somehow, he's leaning towards the second option.
But before he can do that, Cia has caught up with him, and then, in a quick movement, she hugs him again.
"Thank you!" she says.
He can hear the crowd applaud as he returns the hug, and when they slowly let go again, they look at each other.
Johnny really can't say who bridges the space between them, if it's him or Cia or the both of them, but suddenly their lips touch, just for a moment, and when they pull apart again, Cia looks a bit surprised, but so does he. He smiles at her, and she returns the smile.
Again, he can't tell if it's him that bridges the distance or her or them together, but they lean in for another kiss, and Cia wraps her arms around his neck again. He replies by pulling her even closer.
He doesn't know how long this kiss lasts. It feels too long and too short at the same time, but suddenly Mr. Moon addresses them.
"Okay, you love birds," he laughs, and they pull apart again, "get off the stage!"
Cia takes his hand and they rush backstage, followed by the awwwwwws and the applause of the crowd.
They pass Ash on her way to her performance who gives them another thumbs-up and a wink.
Ash performs her song about the girl who's a sweetheart unless you tell her so, and Johnny can't help, but tell Cia who inspired the song.
"Wow, I'm a muse, and I didn't even know!" she says with a little laugh.
"You didn't even know you could climb a building, yet you did exactly that today," Johnny says, giving her hand a little squeeze.
It's supposed to be reassuring, he wants to tell what an amazing thing she accomplished today, but he doesn't miss the small shiver going through her body.
"Yeah," she says with a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I did that!"
And then she wavers a bit, and Johnny reaches out just in time to catch her before she topples over.
"Seriously, you two?" Johnny hears Mike's annoyed voice. "Get a room!"
