A/N: YAY! Another update! This one was a little hard for me because fluff is... fluffy. It doesn't serve much purpose towards the story, but I tried to do that anyway!
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{For Maximum Enjoyment of this Chapter's Entertainment, Please Queue Up 'He's A Pirate' from Pirates of the Caribbean and Press Play When Mike Says, "I see..."}
It was tense for the next three days, trying to adjust with the four new animatronics. Freddy and Fred stayed at opposite ends of the pizzeria, Chi and Chica stayed passive aggressive in the kitchen, Bonnie and Bon Bon refused to talk to anyone, and Foxy and Mangle struggled to live together in the closest thing the Fun Palace had to Pirate's Cove. Marionette and Balloon Boy were the only ones who kept their focus on the three boys. They tried to make sure they were happy and entertained, but the four new animatronics had dug up a lot of emotional issues.
Jeremy had completely given up on finding someone he could trust beyond Mike and Fritz.
There were times Mike just burst into tears and found places to hide while everyone panicked. (You'd think he'd run out of places, but he was a master of hide and seek.)
And Fritz... Poor Fritz. The six year old didn't let anyone touch him except Jeremy and Mike. He stayed very quiet and ate a lot less than normal. It was nerve-wracking.
On the fourth day, Marion woke everyone up with a furious screech.
"It's enough!" He bellowed through the Fun Palace. He moved around the pizzeria and dragged everyone to the main dining hall. "We get it! You feel bad! But your actions are hurting our boys and that! That I won't stand for! Freddy and Fred! You go sit in one of the party rooms and figure yourselves out! If you haven't talked everything through by the time I come in, so help me, I'll-!" He cut himself off.
"Chica and Chi!" He continued. "You both stay as far away from the kitchen as you can and talk about your feelings! For pizza's sake, the passive aggression is stifling! Bonnie and Bon Bon, get your guitars and plan a musical number! Pick a song you both like and practice it together!" He paced around for a moment.
"What'll ya' have us do, ya overgrown sock?" Foxy grumbled. His ears twitched in mild irritation, not wanting to talk about his feelings or anything of the nature.
"You... You and Mangle play with the boys!" Marion perked up. He spun around on them with a brilliant smile.
"Wha-! I haven't tak'n care of a child in years!" The old fox's jaw dropped.
"Then this is the perfect opportunity! Just remember, Jeremy has a habit of getting too aggressive-"
"Hey!"
"-and Mikey will need to take more breaks than usual to finish recovering, and Fritz gets dizzy very easily so watch out! Have fun!"
The Puppet disappeared in a sudden swoop, taking Balloon Boy with him.
Foxy and Mangle stared at each other for a long moment until they were interrupted by a quiet voice.
"D-Do you not want to play with us?" Mike asked. His hands fidgeted with his fingers and ear lobes. His eyes were welling up, and Foxy was suddenly terrified of Marion's wrath.
"No, no, nawta'tall!" The pirate fumbled. "I mean- Well, wha' ah meant was-"
"Foxy and I-I just d-d-don't know what to play," Mangle reassured, subtly flicking the old fox on the back of the head.
"Why don't we play pirates?" Jeremy snorted and shifted his weight on to one foot. His arms crossed defensively.
"Of course!" Foxy cheered. "Now! Which one ah ya mateys is gonna be ma first mate?"
"I elect Fritz," Mike sniffled. He would love to be the first mate himself, but Fritz had yet to speak or really act like himself.
"Mangle can be the navigator, I'll be just another member of the crew, and Mike can..." Jeremy trailed off. He considered the frail boy for a moment. "Mike can be the lookout."
"Aye, aye!" Mike tried to get everyone in the spirit. He started to run towards Mangle's corner, but he stumbled and would have fallen if Foxy hadn't caught him.
"Whoa, ma little lookout! Can't have ya fall before ya even get in tha crow's nest!" The captain laughed. He lifted the boy up on to his shoulders. "Wha can ya see, ma boy?"
"I see..." Mike awkwardly held his hands in the shape of a telescope. "I see... A beautiful island!" He pointed to one of the dining tables. "There's lots of treasure and... ENENMY PIRATES!"
"Crew! Hoist the main sail, ya scruffy dogs!" Foxy pointed at Jeremy. The blonde snorted.
"I'm pretty sure it's scurvy dogs."
"Ah think dogs are pretty scruffy," the red animatronic grinned. Jeremy scoffed, but smirked and began to imitate pulling ropes and setting up the sail.
"Navigator! Find tha most excitin' route ta booty!"
Mangle glared at him lightly, feeling the term was slightly inappropriate, but she unfurled an imaginary map and began to gesture and plan.
"First mate!" Foxy turned on Fritz. He held out one of the plastic swords they had found in storage from the old restaurant. The redhead eyed the fake weapon warily. "I need ya to man the wheel!"
"C'mon, Fritz!" Mike cheered excitedly, face flushed from all the commotion. He hadn't been up and about like this in a long time.
"Come on, little man," Jeremy nudged him with a wink. Even the blonde seemed happier. This was one of the first times he had been included in a game like this.
Fritz reached out and accepted the sword. When Foxy didn't bite off his head, his face split into a brilliant smile and he shouted, "Aye, Aye, Captain!" He scampered to the front of the 'ship.'
Mangle watched over him with a motherly smile, and Jeremy with a fond, protective look.
"Whoa! Hard to starboard!" Mangle directed, still gesturing at the map. Foxy tilted as Fritz turned the imaginary wheel pretty hard, and everyone on the "ship" began to weave around the tables.
Jeremy actually fell to the ground when the ship "crashed" into the "island".
"Navigator! Where be tha booty?!" Foxy called as he helped push the tables together so they could have a bigger island. He was helping the boys off the ship when Mangle marked one of the tablecloths with a red crayon.
There was now a winding trail from the ship, around the island, to a big red 'X'. Jeremy suppressed a laugh at the sheer cliche of it, but the younger boys were eager and excited.
Until they noticed something.
"We need enemy pirates," Fritz whispered, tugging at Foxy's pant leg.
"Aye, we do, matey," the animatronic rubbed his chin. "And I know jus' where ta find 'em!" He picked up the plastic swords and began to hand them out. "Come, me mateys! Today we claim this land for ourselves!"
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Mike cheered. The fox could have winked at him, but it was hard to tell with the eyepatch.
"Today we take tha booty!"
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Fritz joined in.
"Today, we are PIRATES!"
"AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN!" Everyone shouted.
"CHARGE!" Captain Foxy bellowed and led his fantastic crew through the pizzeria to the murmuring bears. "Thar be enemy pirates, me first mate! Attack!"
The animatronics stayed behind, snickering, as all three boys leapt on the bears. Freddy cried out in shock as his top hat was knocked into his eyes. Fred jumped about a foot in the air, his bow tie spinning in surprised circles.
"Rawr!" Fritz cried and lightly whacked the bears with his sword. "We- hehehe- got you! Give us- hehe- your booties!"
The bears finally realized what was going on and gave each other a playful challenging look. At the same time, they stood up, held up their paws like a classic playful dad-monster, and began to chase the boys around the room. Fred scooped up Fritz, spinning him around like an airplane. Freddy picked up Mike, ticking his sides until he screamed.
"What's going on in here?!" Chica demanded as she and Chi burst into the room. Jeremy ran past them, laughing wildly and trying to get to safety.
Mike fell to the floor and giggled like a madman. Fritz collapsed beside him, also laughing, but made sure to check if he was breathing okay.
"We're playin' with tha littl' ones," Foxy grinned. "We're pirates."
"Of course," Chica chuckled and rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Chi. Let's make them snac- I mean, treasure." The younger bird watched the scene for a moment with surprise and fondness. She followed her older sister shortly after.
"What are you dragging us in here for, brat?" Bon Bon demanded as Jeremy pulled the rabbits into the room.
"We need battle music," the blonde smirked. "Unless you want to be enemy pirates...?"
"No!" The cool animatronics cried in synch.
"Here, I have some instrumental music from one of those pirate adventure movies," Bonnie offered, pulling out some folded pieces of papers.
"Where'd you get those? We only have the music for our shows and old songs from previous locations," Bon Bon leaned over his shoulder in interest.
"Before He changed our programming, there was a night guard that printed stuff for us off the Internet. Chica got new recipes, Freddy got some new jokes, and I got some sheet music. These are the only ones I have left," the purple animatronic stroked the papers sadly.
"It's only half the song?" Bon Bon raised a stenciled eyebrow.
"Yeah, most of the sheets got lost when we were deactivated. Managed to slip these behind my chest piece."
The animatronics shared a moment of silence for the lost music.
"Alright, well, do you want to play chords or lead?" The blue bunny questioned, scanning the music and programming it into his memory files.
"I've played lead so many times..." Bonnie snorted.
"Glad you could work that out!" Jeremy clapped his hands. Both animatronics jumped, having forgotten he was there. "Looks like Fritz and Mike are ready to go again, so hop to it!"
"We cannot let ourselves be defeated, mateys!" Foxy cried. "We've got ta get tha' booty!"
"Quickly! T-T-To the buried t-treasure!" Mangle chirped and led the group back to the main room. Fred gaped at the mess they had made in their first few minutes of play, and Freddy snickered quietly into his paw.
"CHARGE AGAIN!" Captain Foxy cried. The rabbits began to play He's A Pirate, just as Chica and Chi returned to place a plate of cookies on the red 'X'. Fred and Freddy were ready for the boys this time.
Soon, everyone was running around the room, dodging each other and jumping across chairs and tables. The animatronics stayed on the ground, simply for the fact that it would hurt their joints and servos to jump around so much. But the boys took full advantage of that fact.
Mike had to sit after fifteen minutes, but he happily sat in Chica's lap and cheered everyone else on. Bon Bon and Bonnie grinned at each other, so happy to play music with and for someone else. Fred and Freddy relished the thought of entertaining some little ones again. Chica and Chi laughed at the happy atmosphere of the pizzeria and were satisfied that everyone was acting like a family again.
Marionette leaned against the entrance to the main hall and watched everyone enjoy themselves. Balloon Boy chirped a curious 'Hello?' and the Puppet smiled down at him.
"Everyone's happy again. But we can't keep any more secrets or our boys will never be happy again.
"We have to tell them about Springtrap."
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The three boys wandered for a while. They had to leave the city again since the police were still looking for Fritz. The next city had a big empty warehouse, another bustling business district, and a surprisingly warm river.
Life was easy and comfortable for them.
Fritz was a little light in their lives after all the hardships they'd been through. He loved to play, and sing, and dance. He drew pictures with anything he could get his hands on. He asked them to tell him stories before bedtime, and bathing in the river was one of the highlights of their day.
They were finally happy.
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A/N: How many of you actually played the music? I was writing this on the bus, and listening to the music as I wrote made it a billion times better.
Also, who thinks Fritz is adorable? (Me!)
QUESTION OF THE UPDATE: If you were a frog, what color would you be? I would be a very dark shade of purple- poisonous, but not colored brightly enough to warn people off.