"Apologise...?!" Johnny was flabbergasted by Rosita's suggestion. "Why do I have to be the one who has to apologise?!"

"Because you picked on a kid with special needs, Johnny..." Ash said with a dry chuckle as she picked up two of Rosita's piglets and carried them over to the rest of the litter, who were preparing to leave by the front door. "And not just any kid, either. Florence Fletcher's kid."

"I wasn't picking on her, though!" Johnny groaned. "I was angry! It's not like I were making fun of her or something!"

"It was still really mean, Johnny..." Meena almost whispered, looking away for a moment as a few nastier memories came back to her. "You kinda sounded like... well, y'know... like Mike."

Johnny's eyes widened a little for just a moment, but he quickly shook his head and went back on defence. "Well it's still not my fault Becky didn't -!"

"Okay okay okay, let's not point fingers..." Rosita was trying her best to speak while she gathered her children in the lobby. "What you said was uncalled for, Johnny, and you hurt her feelings. Special needs or no. And the last thing we need is the two of you at each other's throats when Ms. Fletcher comes to inspect the rehearsal tomorrow."

"Mommy, I can't my find my Silly Beans anywhere." Zoey suddenly interrupted, prompting Rosita to playfully roll her eyes as she picked her daughter up. "I think I might have put 'em down somewhere upstairs..."

"Y'sure you didn't finish them, sweetie?"

"Well no, I... I don't think so, Mommy..." The little piglet pursed her lips as she thought for a moment, before shrugging in acceptance as Rosita lowered her back down onto the floor with her siblings. "I guess I'll just get some more tomorrow."

"Fletcher's gonna crush Uncle Buster like a grape if Audrey tells on ya, Johnny!" Porsha seemed slightly panicked as she brought the conversation back to the issue at hand. "I mean, she mighta been hyperbullying or... or whatever that word is, but... but remember how things went down with my Dad...?"

"Porsha's got a point there, Johnny..." Ash winced a little, despite her lighthearted tone. "You think Audrey overreacted, just imagine what her Mom's gonna be like..."

"Oh, so I just have to say sorry and make sure she doesn't go crying to Mummy about it! Wonderful!" Johnny slumped down in a seat, huffing and puffing. He straightened up a bit when Rosita approached him, the mother pig stifling a playful chuckle as she held his hand.

"More importantly, sweetheart, it's just the right thing to do..." Rosita cupped his chin, a motherly smile on her face. "Everyone has their own problems, and they don't deserve to be judged for them. That's not what we stand for, Johnny. It's not what you stand for."

Johnny hesitated, then nodded with a soft sigh. "Yeah, I... I know, Rosita, you're right..."

"And who knows? You look at things from a different angle, you might find something that wasn't there before.." Rosita smiled and gently patted Johnny's hand, before going back over to her litter and leading them out the door. "You and Audrey don't have to get along, Johnny, but sooner or later one of you needs to step up and be the bigger gorilla."

"Right... yeah, okay..." Johnny stood back up, creasing down his shirt as he looked over to Ash and Porsha. "I suppose it should be me, then."

Becky was waiting by the doorway of the rehearsal room, holding a hand to her face. She pulled a slight grimace as Johnny and Ash approached, her glare intimidating the gorilla despite her much smaller size.

"Is she in there...?" He winced a little when Becky didn't answer, before the porcupine finally nodded. "Look, I... I just want to talk to her."

Becky looked over to Ash, who nodded with a small smile, and hesitated for another moment or two before she exhaled. "Okay... I'll give you five minutes."

Johnny slowly pushed the door open with a faint creak and quietly made his way into the room, leaving it slightly ajar so Becky and Ash could listen in while he approached Audrey.

The younger gorilla was sat huddled in the corner, her jacket draped over her head like a protective blanket while her eyes were glued to her phone. Johnny recognised the song playing - partially because he'd been stuck rehearsing it non-stop for the last week - and as he came closer he could see the infamous video playing on it. Audrey had replayed the shot of her mother's accident at least a dozen times since Johnny entered the room, only breaking out of the cycle as she looked up and saw him standing there.

"What do you want...?" She asked with a scowl, still sniffling a bit as she tucked her knees tighter into her chest.

Johnny sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, I'm sorry for what I said. I just -"

"Are you sorry for what you said, or sorry I heard you saying it?" Audrey cut him off. "Because there is a difference."

"Well... both, I suppose. Mainly the first one, though." Johnny came a little closer. "I didn't have any right to say it, I know that, and I didn't mean -"

"Oh, for the love of... don't do that! Alright, just please, please don't do that! If you didn't mean it, you wouldn't have said it!" Audrey groaned as she pulled herself to her feet, throwing down her jacket and slumping down on the bench in front of the piano. "Alright, I know I'm a burden, I know I was born weird! You don't have to keep acting like I need special treatment just because of who my Mum is! It's so bloody patronising, and I'm sick of it!"

Johnny was taken off-guard by this outburst, but they both stayed silent for a few seconds before Audrey spoke again. "And do you really think I don't know...?"

"Don't know what...?" Johnny asked.

"Y'know, that..." Audrey looked down to the floor, letting out a quiet sigh. "That no one likes me."

"Oh come on, mate, that's not true." Johnny said. "For one thing, Becky absolutely loves you, and you should have heard what she -"

"Becky's my carer." Audrey cut him off again. "She's nice because my Mum pays her to be. You said so yourself."

"Well if she didn't care, she wouldn't be a carer, would she...?" Johnny hesitated, then finally sat down beside her on the bench, still giving her some distance. "Point is, Audrey, just because you and me haven't been getting along doesn't mean that anyone here hates you. Honestly, most of my mates don't have a hateful bone in their body, and if you tried hanging out with us, then I bet you'd fit right in!"

"Well yeah, I... I've wanted to..." Audrey sighed. "But none of you ever asked, and... and I thought if I asked then I'd just make a prat of myself, because... cause that's just what I always do..."

This made Johnny think back to Nooshy's suggestion the day before, and his heart sank a little when he remembered how he'd brushed it off without a second thought.

"Look, mate, I... I've really messed this up. And not just for what happened in there..." He said. "Y'know, all this time I... I just thought you were this mean, moody little rich girl who didn't want anything to do with us, but... but I suppose in the end, I were just making you feel left out. I was wrong to do it, though, and... and I really am sorry, Audrey."

Audrey shrugged, letting a small smile slip across her face. "Yeah, well... I'm sorry I keep messing up the song. And insulting your piano. And acting like a -"

"No no, it... it's alright, mate." Johnny chuckled. "You're not messing anything up, really. I mean, you were brilliant singing at the Wharf yesterday, I just... I just don't think your Mum's kind of music really fits you, that's all."

Audrey went slightly red in the face as she bit her bottom lip, drumming her fingers on the bench. "Can I, um... can I tell you a secret, Johnny?"

"Um... yeah, I suppose so..." Johnny raised an eyebrow as Audrey shuffled closer to him. "What kind of secret?"

"I, um... well, y'know, it just... I..." Audrey hesitated for another moment or two, before shutting her eyes as she finally blurted it out. "I don't like my Mum's music!"

"Oh..." Johnny smirked, pleasantly surprised. "Y'know, when you said it like that, I thought it'd be something a lot worse. No one has the same music taste, mate, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Well yeah, but she's my Mum! I'm not saying they're bad songs or anything, they're just... well most of those songs are older than she is!" Audrey whined playfully, now speaking in a much more laidback tone. "I don't listen to vintage, I... I listen to Dua Lipa, Shawn Mendes, Lady Gaga, y'know, songs from this century!"

Johnny stifled a chuckle, resisting the urge to laugh out loud, but he softened a little as he looked to the song sheet that was placed between them on the bench. "And now Mike's making you sing a song you don't even like..."

"Yeah... she were singing it when she fell too..." Audrey sniffling a bit as she thought back to the video. "I can't mess up her song and let her down, but if I say I don't want to do it, it'll break her heart."

"Right..." Johnny nodded slowly.

"My Mum, she... she's just amazing, and I absolutely love her, and all I want is to do right by her." Audrey sounded more stern. "Y'know, it... it's what she needs, it's what she deserves, but I... but I don't know how to do it."

Neither said anything for the better part of a minute, before Johnny let out a nostalgic sigh. "Y'know, I had an issue like that with my Dad a few years back. When I first started working for Mr. Moon."

"Was your Dad a singer too?"

"Oh no, definitely not." Johnny chuckled, though he took on a slightly sadder tone. "Yeah, my Mum were the musician of the family, even taught me my first bit of piano. But she um... yeah, she died when I was a kid, so..."

"Oh..." Audrey winced, biting her bottom lip. "Sorry."

"Eh, it's alright... anyway, my Dad, he um... he wanted me to join the... well, the family business, you could call it. And when I told him I wanted to be a singer instead, he didn't take it that well to start with."

Audrey nodded. "That must have hurt."

"Yeah, it did." Johnny looked down to the floor, feeling a small smile tugging across his lips. "But he changed his mind when he actually heard me singing. Hmm... he were so proud of me he broke out prison just to -"

"Prison?!" Audrey's voice went high-pitched and her eyes bulged to their widest point.

"Well yeah, that's another story." Johnny cringed a little in embarrassment, before taking on an encouraging tone again. "But the point is, Audrey, you are a good singer. And I think your Mum'll recognise that, no matter what song you do for her tomorrow."

Audrey beamed warmly at this, but the young gorilla still wasn't certain as she looked back to the sheet. "I think Michael already gave her this, though."

"He did?"

Johnny gently took the sheet from Audrey and stood up as he studied it, spotting the entry written in big bold letters about halfway down the list: Audrey and Johnny - If I Can't Have You.

"Right... be a bit awkward then, wouldn't it?" He tried to sound casual, but it clearly wasn't doing much to help Audrey as she put her face in her hands and hunched over in defeat.

Johnny then sat at the piano, propping the sheet up behind the keys while he gently drummed his fingers on the side. He began humming along to the tune he was tapping, and felt a small smile tugging at his lips as an idea formed in his head.

"Yeah..." He chuckled quietly as Rosita's earlier advice came back to him. "A different angle."

Audrey's ears suddenly pricked up at the sound of a simple, upbeat tune playing on the piano. She turned to see Johnny playing it, bopping his head along with a goofy grin on his face.

"Wait, that... I know that song. But... but that's not -"

"Well all you need's the title, innit...?" Johnny kept his playful smirk as he continued the tune, taking a moment before he started singing along.

I'm in Toronto
And I got this view

But I might as well
Be in a hotel room, yeah

It doesn't matter
Cause I'm so consumed

Spending all my nights
Reading texts from you

"Go for it!" He called encouragingly, prompting Audrey to come closer. She lightly tapped the side of the piano with her fingers and bopped her head along while Johnny played, still hesitating for a moment or two before she finally started singing.

You know
That I hate to admit it

But everything means nothing
If I can't have you

The next morning came by much faster than Johnny or Audrey had anticipated, and they soon found themselves on the main stage, performing their new duet in front of the entire cast and crew.

Florence was sat on the front row between Buster and Mike, her blank and neutral expression contrasting with the koala's enthusiasm and the mouse's utter horror. Audrey tried not to make eye contact with her mother while she sang, though her much stronger harmony with Johnny helped cover up her uncertainty as they belted out the final chorus together.

I can't write one song
That's not about you

Can't think
Without thinking about you

Is it too late
To tell you that

Everything means nothing
If I can't have you

There was a good five seconds of silence after they'd finished singing and the music stopped - though it certainly felt a lot longer for them both - only for a sudden resounding round of cheers and applause finally broke out from the enthusiastic audience.

"Ha ha, yes! Great job, you two, great job!" Buster jumped out of his seat and climbed up onto the stage, the rest of the troupe following suit as they all heaped their praise and congratulations on the two gorillas.

"Now that's more like it, eh mate?!" Nooshy affectionally punched Johnny on the shoulder, right before Rosita took his hand tight.

"Helps to see things from another angle, doesn't it, sweetie!" The mother pig said proudly, before looking over to the other young gorilla. "Oh, and you too, Audrey, you were great!"

"Great...?! Honey, you were incredible!" Becky wrapped her arms tight around Audrey's lower midsection, only just being high enough to reach that point, though Audrey barely had a moment to return the affection to her carer before Tim ran over from his mixing desk and jumped into her arms with his own embrace.

"Yeah, you were brilliant, love." Caleb said with a warm grin as he patted her on the back, though his face straightened a bit when he looked back over to the front row. The others were too busy gushing and celebrating to notice what the caracal was staring at, but Audrey herself quickly noticed when she glanced in the same direction.

"Audrey Hepburn Fletcher."

Florence's voice took all the air out of the room as the older gorilla rose from her seat, propping herself up with her cane. Most of the group, aside from Johnny and Becky, took a few steps back as she focused on her daughter, who seemed to freeze on the spot with her eyes bulging wide.

"Hmm... I must say, darling, that um... that wasn't quite the song I was expecting when I saw this list here..." Florence held up the sheet to illustrate her point. This prompted a small but rather smug grin to form on Mike's face as he straightened up in his seat, clearly intending to enjoy the scene that was about to unfold.

"Well yeah, um... thing is, M-Mum, I... I um..." Audrey quickly clambered down off the stage, wringing her hands together as she approached. "Look, I know I didn't do your song, Mum, but I really - ooh!"

A collective sigh of both surprise and relief fell across the others present when Florence suddenly threw her arms around Audrey and lifted her off the ground in a tight hug. Despite leaving her cane by her seat, Florence seemed surprisingly well-balanced on her own two feet, and her loving, affectionate behaviour here was a far cry from the deadpan, reserved gorilla the Moon Troupe had first perceived her to be.

"Oh my talented little angel, I'm so proud of you!" Florence still kept a tight grip on Audrey as she put her back down, holding back loving tears of joy as she clumsily planted several kisses on her daughter's deep scarlet cheeks. "I was so worried you were going to panic, or get upset, or overwhelmed or something, but you pulled it off better than I ever thought you could! You special little superstar, you!"

"Wait, so..." Audrey gently pried herself out of her mother's grip, still seeming slightly unsure even with the affection she'd just received. "So you're not, like, upset about me not singing your song?"

"My song? Good heavens, no!" Florence laughed warmly as she ruffled the top of her daughter's head. "Oh darling, we're not trying to turn you into another me! You're singing to your strengths and doing your own thing, and that's exactly what I wanted from you, Audrey!"

"Yeah, and it was just terrific!" Buster jumped down off the stage and took Audrey's hand. "You sing like that at the festival, you're gonna blow that audience away, kiddo!"

"You really think so, Mr. Moon...?" Audrey beamed excitedly as Buster nodded, before pulling a big wide smile when she looked over to the stage and spotted Johnny talking to Ash and Nooshy.

"So you think it's a good idea? Cause she said so herself, and I think it - whoa!" Johnny was taken off-guard when Audrey suddenly tackled him without warning, the younger gorilla squealing with girlish excitement as her embrace nearly crushed the air out of him.

"Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you! Oh... sorry!" She quickly released him from her suffocating embrace, though it didn't do much to quell her grateful excitement as she continued waffling on. "But yeah, Johnny, this were amazing! I mean the song, your piano, the harmony, it... and my Mum said she were proud of me, can you believe that?!"

"Yeah I can, mate, you were great..." Johnny chuckled as he patted her on the shoulder, looking to Ash and Nooshy for another moment as they both nodded. "Anyways, Audrey, we were just about to go get a bit of lunch. Porsha's gonna be helping Meena get ready, so um... well, I was wondering if you and Tim wanted to come?"

Audrey went slightly wide-eyed, covering her mouth to muffle her gasp. "What, you mean, like... like to hang out with you, like... like socialising and stuff?"

"Sure!" Ash laughed, before looking back to Johnny. "Yeah, we thought you could do with a celebration after that great run-through!"

"Well, um..." Audrey glanced over to Becky, who nodded encouragingly, before turning back to Ash as her giddiness all came gushing out. "Yeah, yes, I... I'd love to! Just uh... just give me a minute, I left my jacket in the other room! Hey Tim, get your hoodie, we're going out with this lot!"

"Wait, what?!" Tim himself went wide-eyed, though Audrey had already taken off to the rehearsal room without any further explanation.

"Right, now where did I...? Ah-ha, there you are!"

Audrey shuffled her way into the rehearsal room, quickly grabbing her jacket off the floor where she'd thrown it earlier. A small flash of white on the bench suddenly grabbed her attention, and she glanced over to see the familiar little mouse that was sat sulking there.

"Oh hello, Michael, didn't see you there." She said in a friendly tone, though he didn't respond for a couple seconds. "That was fantastic, wasn't it?! Honestly can't believe Johnny thought of -!"

"Ya really think you're so clever, huh, kid...?" Mike snapped bluntly, his harsh scowl making Audrey tense a little as he looked to her.

"Clever...? But.. w-what do you -?"

"No no, don't you play dumb with me, I knew what you were doing!" Mike threw his tiny fedora down as he pointed right at her. "I gave ya one song to sing, and ya couldn't even do that right, could ya?! Instead, you and that... that riff-raff thug went behind my back! I told Fletcher ya were gonna sing her song, and ya didn't! How do ya think that makes me look, huh...?!"

"Behind your...?" Audrey bit her bottom lip. "B-but... but she liked it..."

"Oh, she did?! Aw, ain't that just peachy! Yeah, good for you, Fletcher Jr, good for you!" Mike clapped in an exaggerated, condescending manner, before picking his hat back up. "Sing whatever crappy little pop songs you want, Princess, but if you embarrass me in front of your Mom like that again, you're gonna pay for it!"

Without another word, Mike put his hat back on and jumped down off the bench, still huffing and puffing to himself while he headed out the other door. Audrey remained frozen there for another few seconds, taking a moment to regain her happier mood before she left the room to join her new friends.