A/N: Welcome back guys... hehe... yeah. I had some family coming over, so it all got a bit hectic. But, here it is! This is a special 4th-of-July-themed chapter. I know that most of you are from the US, I wanted to give something back! This one is particularly long since I'm afraid the next chap will be quite short. It has a different 'feel' to it, so let me know what you think.

As always, thanks for all your feedback and support this past week; specially to my guest reviewers since I can't thank them properly for their kind words, and I'm not a fan of replying to comments in A/N's. Nevertheless, thanks a lot for your kind words. Also, there are some intentional 'mistakes' in TB's dialogue since he's still a very young kid. Well, happy reading guys and have a good week.

Chapter 17: Fireworks

"Okay Don, I think we'll try it one more time." said my brother, looking down at my painful body that was tossed on the floor. "It's very late."

Groaning, I grabbed Ferny's hook and let him pull me back on two feet, looking around the dark Main Hall as I held on to his shoulder. "I'm… I'm not sure I can do it."

"Brandon, you were the one that wanted to try this in the first place." reminded Sarah, stepping in front of me.

"Besides," added Sean, limping to my left and grabbing my shoulder, "I'm sure you can do it."

Five days had passed since I woke up in the new place. For the past three, I'd been trying to walk without a cane again after the Toys went to sleep. But so far, all I managed to get was another dent in my knee.

"Alright," I sighed, "one more time." Fer let go of my hand and my brother released my shoulder at the same time. I tried to lean my off-balanced body to the left, but I was too late. With another loud metallic bang I fell on my armless side.

"You okay?" asked a worried Sarah, taking a big stride and looking down at me with compassion.

"Dammit…" I groaned as I turned on my back. "That… hurt." Once again Ferny pulled me back up while my brother picked up the cane and passed it to me. Sighing, I grabbed it reluctantly and started to silently walk back to Party Room 3.

"Y'know," started Ferny after a few moments, "I miss the barbecues."

"Your dad made amazing chicken wings." said Sean nostalgically.

"I knew you remembered those." snickered Sarah, "Brandon and you always ate them up before Ferny or me could grab one."

"That's not true!" I chuckled, stopping in front of the door of the third Party Room.

"It is." Ferny and Sarah grumbled at the same time, looking at us with acted seriousness.

"Alright, maybe we ate a bit more than we should." I followed Sean as he opened the door and stepped in the Party Room. "Anyways, goodnight guys."

"Goodnight!" The tattered yellow and red figures turned around and walked back to Party Room 4. In our room, Jack was sleeping peacefully in his corner, a finished puzzle in an open box beside him. I got lost in thoughts as I remembered the last couple of days. Since we found those boxes the invisible bubble that he had around him was beginning to shrink and crack again. I'd often sit by his side, watching him happily puzzle away the hours while I tried to gather up the courage to ask him a single question:

Can you forgive me?

"Don?"

"Huh?" I shook my head and turned around to see that my brother was already laying on top of his blanket, a power cable plugged into the port on his back.

"I said have a good night," he repeated patiently, "and happy fourth of July."

"Thanks brother," I yawned, feeling the tiredness of the day catch up with me, "you too."

I knelt down, put the cane on the floor, laid myself on top the dirty tablecloth and fell asleep almost immediately.

"Mr. Bonnie!" hissed the anxious voice of TB as I felt something tug my arm, "Mr. Bonnie, please wake up!"

"Hmm… w-what?" I yawned, raising my head to see the little blue figure that looked down at me with terrified eyes.

"Sorry Mr. Bonnie, I-I just didn't know who to wake up." he whimpered in a high-pitched, panicked voice.

"Alright TB," I said as slowly and soothingly as possible, feeling slightly alarmed myself, "calm down and tell me what happened."

"The sky…"

"Uh-huh?"

"It's… it's…"

"Uh-huh?"

"THE SKY IS ON FIRE!"

"Uh-huh." I sat up and unplugged the power cord from my back, surprised that nor Sean nor Jack woke up with TB's entry and alarmed cry. "Say that again?"

"I woke up l-like ten minutes ago," stammered my counterpart nervously, "a-and couldn't fall back asleep, so I l-left the room and started walking alone for a bit, a-and…"

"You shouldn't do that." I interrupted.

"I know, I'm really, really sorry. But when I l-looked out the window, I s-saw all these big expolsions in the sky!"

"Explosions?"

TB gave me a quick little nod. "Please, hurry up!"

Confused and worried, I grabbed my cane and stood up as fast as I could in my half slumber while TB rubbed his elbow anxiously, waiting till I was standing up before rushing out of the room. Following him to the door, I turned around to see that my brother and Jack were still sleeping peacefully like a couple of hibernating bears.

The distant noises got louder as we stepped into the Game Area, the dull tiled floor reflecting a rainbow of light while we both neared the large window hidden behind some dinner tables. Surprisingly, the distant bangs sounded familiar, almost like…

"Fireworks." I gasped, stepping in front of the window and staring into the fantastic display of light and colors that dressed the sky.

"Do we wake up the others Mr. Bonnie?" asked a panicked TB, "What if it's dangerous?"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't worry, they're harmless!"

"They are?" asked my confused counterpart, ears rising up in surprise.

"Yeah, they can't do anything from here. You just look at them and enjoy." I turned around and did exactly that, staring dreamily at the brilliant sky. At first, TB flinched back with each explosion, turning away his head in fright. But after a couple of minutes he started to see the fireworks with more awe than fear.

"Aren't they pretty?" An engrossed TB answered with a silent nod.

"What are they?" he asked, letting out a little 'ooh' as a big golden star lit up the black sky.

"They're fireworks. Outside the pizzeria there are men shooting them up at the sky where they explode and make these beautiful lights. They do that to celebrate something that happened a long time ago."

"Woah… so the world outside is that big?"

"It's huge! It's bigger and more beautiful than anything you can imagine." TB looked at me with confused and doubtful eyes. "It has rivers, deserts, plains, jungles, snow…"

"Mr. Bonnie, what's a snow?" I sighed and looked down at him with pity; he really didn't remember anything.

Humming, I thought about what I could tell him before clearing my throat. "You do know what rain is, right?" He nodded rapidly. "Well…"

And so, I briefly told him about the world outside; the winter snow and the summer sun; the lush jungles and dead deserts; the mountains so high they reach the clouds and the seas so deep they seem bottomless. TB's eyes seemed to grow wider and glow brighter with each sentence that I told. After I was done, he just stared out the window at the colorful night.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"That's so cool!" he beamed, completely excited. "How do you know all that?"

"Well, when I was little Mom and Dad always used to talk to me about that sort of thing when we went out on walks with my…" My voice cut out when I realized what I just said.

"I thought only humans had moms and dads." My counterpart looked at me attentively, waiting for an answer. "We're just robots, right?"

"Well…" I mumbled nervously; every bit of me was dying to tell him the truth he deserved to know. "Umm…"

"Right Mr. Bonnie?" repeated TB as he locked his gaze on me, his own voice suddenly sounding nervous to find out the answer.

"R-right." I stammered, "I meant the man and woman who built me and Freddy."

"Ah." Once again he turned around and looked at the fireworks. "Are they nice people?"

"They're the best." I said proudly, "They always made us feel better when we were sad. If I had a bad day, Mom would sit by side before I went to sleep. She told me that even angels get sad sometimes, and when they cry, it rains. But there's always a rainbow after a rainy day, so we should never lose hope no matter how dark the sky is. And I…" letting out a long sigh, I lowered my broken head. "I… really miss them."

"What happened to them?"

I stayed quiet for a moment, fighting the sudden need to cry. "They… left." I said flatly, staring at the window. "They left to a place that's really far away, first Dad, then Mom. I'm a bit sad because I can't be with them after s-spending so much time t-together… we loved p-playing games with Foxy and Ch… Chica and… I j-just wish I c-could've s-said goodbye to them. Hug t-them one m-more time like I used t-to."

"Mr. Bonnie," whispered my counterpart softly, looking curiously at me. "are you crying?"

"N-no." I huffed, looking up at the twinkling little stars above the fireworks. "Wherever they are… t-they're together now, waiting f-for me and my friends."

"But then there's no need to cry, right?" chirped TB, "I'm sure they'll be very happy to see you!"

"Y-yeah… you're right." I looked down at the shiny blue figure that reflected all kinds of colors from the fireworks. "Thanks."

He nodded with pride. "I just wish I knew who my mom and dad are and where they are."

"I know they're out there, waiting for you."

"You think so?" he asked with disbelieve, "You really think they'd want to see me?"

"Off course!" I laughed, "Why don't you think so?"

"Well," TB started to rub his elbow awkwardly, "I don't really have any friends."

"What are you talking about? You have Junior and Mini!"

"Yeah…" he sighed, "it's just that… I don't know…"

"You're afraid they don't like you, right?" He looked up at me with surprise.

"How did you know?"

"Well…" I hummed, translating my story to something he could relate to. "When I was still a new animatronic like you, I thought that no one but Mom and Dad and Freddy would like me. I met a lot of new people, but I was too afraid to actually try to be friends with them. I thought that no one would like to be my friend because I was too different from them, so I never even tried."

"That's a sad story." interrupted TB with a low voice.

"Ah, but it gets better, because then I met Foxy and Chica! Turns out, they too were scared of making new friends. I realized that they were a bit like me, so I pushed my fear aside for a moment and talked to them, and now we're best friends! Sometimes we have to take the first step, you see?"

TB nodded. "Thanks Mr. Bonnie, I'll try."

"And don't say you don't have any friends." I added, "It makes me feel bad."

He looked at me, baffled. "You mean… you really want to be my friend?"

"Well, yeah." I shrugged, "What did you thi-"

"THANK YOU!" squealed my counterpart in delight, "Thank you so much!"

"Umm, you're welcome?" I was more surprised when I saw TB open up the frontal panel of his chest hastily. "Wait, what are you…"

"Here!" he pulled out the rose that was taped on the inside of his chest, holding it in front of me with a shaky hand.

"TB, you really don't have to give me anything. I know how much that rose means to you."

"That's why I want you to have it." he insisted, "It's a gift for you. Take it."

"What if we share it?" I countered, "Friends don't just give or take, they share. So, I'll keep it for one day, then you'll keep it for another, then you'll give it back to me for a day and so on. Sounds good?"

"Umm… okay!" he skipped by my side and put the rose's stem in a little hole in my torso. Somehow, that fake flowered filled up part of the gaping hole that Mom's death left behind in my chest. Somehow, I didn't feel so empty and cold anymore. I looked down at the crumpled petals that seemed to sprout from my body.

"Thanks buddy," I sighed, "thank you very much."

The fireworks became louder, reaching a peak as he nodded happily, right before we heard some heavy footsteps coming our way. I turned around to see the glowing blue eyes of my brother in the dark room.

"Thank goodness…" he wheezed, speeding up his limping, "Bon, you gave me a good scare."

"Umm, sorry." I mumbled awkwardly, my ears drooping down in shame.

"TB, you should be sleeping." nagged Sean, "It's really late and… are those fireworks?!"

My brother limped as fast as he could to our side, letting out a little gasp as the show's finale lit up the night with more colors than I thought possible. Then, the last huge fireworks rose up, dressing the black sky with one last dash of sparkly gold before it all went quiet and dark again.

"That was great." whispered Sean in awe, "But you both need to go to bed."

"Alright." TB and I muttered at the same time, following my brother back through the dark building. I wished my counterpart a good night, and with a warm feeling in my chest, quickly fell asleep in my own room.

Another day had passed, and once again, Party Room 3 was almost completely silent after the Toys' bedtime. My brother lazily turned a page of his magazine, while Jack completed his third puzzle with me sitting beside him as his audience.

"And t-this one g-goes… here." he said cheerily, filling up the last empty space before putting back the lid and laying the box neatly on top of the other two.

"Nice job!" I tried giving him a pat on the shoulder, only for him to flinch away when I brought down my hand. "Sorry, I… I forgot."

"It's o-okay." he stammered, right as Ferny quietly opened the door.

"Brandon, Sean, they're asleep." he hissed, peeking his head into the room "Wanna try again tonight?"

I nodded, grabbed my cane and stood up. "Good night Jack." I called out, turning around to see him when I reached the doorframe.

"Good n-night…" he yawned, pulling up his blanket and nuzzling his head on top of his arm.

"So, where's Sarah?" I asked as Ferny, my brother and I reached the Main Hall.

"She didn't want to come tonight." answered Fer, "She was really tired, sorry."

"Oh…" I lowered my head in disappointment. "That's okay, I get it." What I didn't get was that we kept walking down the Main Hall to the Game Area unlike every other night. "Guys, where are we going?" I received a guilty giggle from my left and my right side as we entered the large room. Squinting, I saw a bunch of little colored lights at the other side of the area. Then, the huge lamps on the ceiling turned on.

"SURPRISE!" Sarah, TB, Junior, Mini, Mangle, Balloons and Marionette shouted at the same time.

"W… what… umm…" I stammered, clutching my cane's handle as hard as I could to avoid stumbling down in shock.

"Bon," my brother cleared his throat calmly, "maybe what you need is a tiny speck of encouragement from the new guys." He pointed at the back of the room. "Chica's idea."

Sarah waved energetically at me, swaying the bundles of wires through the air. "Good luck!" she shouted.

I shook my head and chuckled. "You're all crazy."

"You're doing great Bon," soothed my brother, tightening his grip on my shoulder, "just take your time."

Looking at the hopeful eyes of Sarah and the Toys on the other side of the Game Area, then at Sean and Ferny holding my left shoulder and right arm besides me, I took another shaky step without my cane; only to almost fall when the uneven weight on my right side dragged me down.

"Easy lad," hushed Ferny, pushing my body back to the left until I was balanced again, "there ye go."

"Don't forget to lean to your left!" shouted Sarah. I nodded and took another step, doing as I was told.

"Okay, I think I got it." I whispered with confidence. Sean and Ferny slowly let go of me as I leaned my wobbly body to the left, shuffling my feet slightly to find my balance until I was standing on my own. Then, I took a little step… and another… and another.

With each step, I saw how everyone's eyes brightened up with all kinds of emotions: relief, worry, fear, but above all, happiness. It was then that I heard my brother slowly clapping by my side as I started to walk faster, followed by Ferny who stomped on the floor. And just like that, the large room filled up with a symphony of metallic clapping, clanging and banging as everyone with both hands clapped while everyone who couldn't clap stomped.

"Guys, please…" I mumbled with slight embarrassment, but it only stirred up the flame. Sarah and TB stood up, followed by Junior, Mini, and Balloons; Mangle waved at me with something that looked a bit like an arm while Marionette did his version of a thumbs up. Chuckling, I shook my head and looked at all the figures, new and old, that cheered at me like I had broken a world record.

I felt a heavy arm wrap itself around my neck and shoulder, pulling me backwards into a warm embrace. "Mission accomplished Don," whispered my brother, his voice barely audible through all the noise as he shook my shoulder playfully, "I told you you could do it."

I let go of all resistance, letting him pull me in closer. Then; quietly, unexpectedly, truthfully; it slipped out.

"I love you brother." My ears rose and body tensed up when I realized what I said. "Erm, I m-mean… you, y'know…"

Sean shut up my embarrassed stutter when a tighter hug. "I love you too private," he whispered quietly, "don't you ever forget that."

"Not while I exist brother," I promised, "not while I exist."