On the Wings of an Angel Chapter 12: Terence's Story, a disney fanfic

ON THE WINGS OF AN ANGEL

Believe it or not, here is yet another update for you lovely readers. I'm as amazed as you are, yet I confess it's really nice to write something that does not take up a whole year. And it feels marvelous to include Rhiella in the mix; bear in mind, though, that this is in no way related to my original story; the real story goes a bit differently. This is what you might call an "alternate universe". Even so, this was most gratifying to write. I gave myself some very pleasant chills.

Now I can't decide which chapter is my most favorite: chapter 7, chapter 10, or this one. Read on, friends!

Characters (with exceptions) © Disney

Story © unicorn-skydancer08

Chapter 12: Terence's Story

Realizing Rhiella was referring to Pinocchio, Terence said softly and gently, "Rhiella, you don't understand. Pinocchio is not my son…not in the way you think."

She knitted her elegant brows at him. "What are you talking about?"

Terence closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and let it out very slowly before he answered. "I need to tell you a story. It's a rather long one."

The girl gave out a short, humorless laugh. "Well, I'm certainly not going anywhere in a hurry," she said, "even if I wanted to, with the weather as murderous as it is. So, now is as good a time as any for such a story."

"Bear in mind that this is not a particularly happy story," said Terence solemnly, "nor one that I am particularly eager to tell."

"I'm all ears."

Hoping Pinocchio would forgive him for sharing this intimate secret with someone else, Terence began, "Just a few months ago, when I was fairly new to this country myself, my path led me to Pinocchio…only he wasn't a boy at that time."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Rhiella incredulously. "If he wasn't a boy, what else could he have possibly been?"

"When I first met him, he was in the form of a wooden puppet. You know, one of those fancy marionette things, only without the strings."

At this, Rhiella rolled her eyes at the ceiling and scoffed, "Oh, come on, Terence! The last thing I need right now is a fairy tale."

"It's no fairy tale, Rhiella," Terence said mildly. "It's the truth."

"But Pinocchio as a puppet? One that could talk and move about freely?" Rhiella shook her head in disbelief. "I've never heard of such a preposterous thing in my life!"

"As absurd as it sounds, it's true. I swear it on my life, Rhiella. You can even ask Pinocchio himself."

Waving her hand slightly, Rhiella said, "Anyway, get to the point. You said you met up with Pinocchio."

"It was on a wild and stormy night, very much like tonight. I found Pinocchio in an alley—cold, wet, frightened, hungry, and totally alone. I did not know who he was, where he came from, or what happened to him, but my whole heart went out to him. Though he was a puppet, I sensed a true heart in him. Though we were strangers to each other, I couldn't bring myself to leave him there. So I picked him up and took him with me to an inn to get dry, and get something to eat…"

For the next hour or so, Terence relayed the whole story to Rhiella, sparing none of the details.

He told her of how Pinocchio's real father had passed away, and how Pinocchio had had nowhere else to go and no one else to turn to. He told of Fabrizio and the circus, of the kidnapping, and what he went through to rescue the boy. He choked up when he reached the part of Fabrizio's death and Pinocchio's temporary death; almost without realizing it, tears welled up in Rhiella's eyes as well and her own throat tightened painfully.

"If Pinocchio died that night," she cut in, "how is it that he's alive today?"

Now Terence told her of the Blue Fairy—admitting he didn't know any more about her than Rhiella did—and how she'd had mercy on Pinocchio and restored him to life, making him a real boy in the process. "Whether this Fairy is true or not," he said, "I cannot say. All I truly know is that Pinocchio's revival was nothing less of a miracle. It was at the same time the best and the worst night of my entire life."

When he was finally done, Rhiella sat motionless for a long time, at a loss of what to say or what to think.

A part of her wanted, needed to believe it was a lie. Yet she knew by the look on Terence's face and the tears that trembled in his eyes that he spoke the truth.

"So now Pinocchio lives with me," Terence said softly, breaking the uncanny silence, "as my adopted son. Sometimes he is like my son, other times he's more like my brother. Above all, he is my best friend. I cannot say what it is about him that makes him stand out from other children, yet he has become very dear to my heart, and I could not love him more than if he and I shared the same blood."

"So, that's the way it is," Rhiella whispered. "Another woman has not replaced me in your affections, then." Warm relief flooded her, while at the same time a sharp pang of guilt and shame stabbed her heart.

Now Terence placed his hand tenderly on her cheek, and she let him do so this time. Half-consciously, her hand rose to cover his. Gazing directly into her emerald eyes, the firelight reflecting off his own tears, Terence told her solemnly, "You're the only woman for me, Rhiella. You're a priceless treasure that nothing, absolutely nothing can replace. Losing you was like losing a piece of my own heart, a piece of my very being. I thought about you every day since the day we parted…and I would have traded everything to get you back. I never would have believed such pain could exist; only my pain at Pinocchio's death could have compared."

The tears overflowed and spilled down Rhiella's cheeks in a steady flood. "Oh, Terence," was all she could say before her emotions got the better of her.

She didn't hesitate to fling herself into Terence's arms, which readily engulfed her in a bone-crushing hug. She felt him lift her onto his lap, cradle her to his breast as if to shield her from the rest of the world. She did not resist.

Terence made no effort to retain his own tears as he held onto his love for dear life; they slid all the way to his jawline and landed in Rhiella's hair, but she neither noticed nor cared.

The boy kissed the crown of the girl's head a number of times, until she finally pulled his face down to hers so they could kiss properly on the lips. They kissed long and deep, heedless of the tears that were leaking in. They kissed until they were both gasping for breath; even after the kissing had stopped, they kept their foreheads pressed together, Terence's silvery white hair mingling with Rhiella's rich brown hair.

"I love you, Rhiella," was all Terence could say between sobs. "I love you so much."

Rhiella smiled, despite the tears that continued to flow.

"What you did for Pinocchio," she whispered at length, lifting her own hand to stroke her beloved's tear-drenched face, "was the most generous, the most beautiful, the very noblest thing I ever heard in all my life."