Not dead! Sorry for the long wait. It seems I just can't get myself to write unless I'm hyperfixated on something. I wanna, but when I open the document I just...stare and close it. I don't know why!
Luckily with the release of the second season, the hyperfixation came back enough to finally finish this chapter which was supposed to be finished last December...

(Also I hope I actually did my research right this time and that Aspen was nice and snowy in 1975.)

Quick warning! There's gonna be a lot of characters introduced in this one. And because I don't really know how to describe them in the chapter itself without it becoming messy and clunky, I've decided to put descriptions of the characters in the end notes. Sorry if that seems lazy, but I honestly couldn't think of anything better.
Recommended you read their description to (hopefully) get a better idea of them.
Not interested in that? That's fine too.

"Release the princess, you fiend!"

"I think not, knight of justice!"

The princess was being held up in the tower by the fearless wolf guard. Though admittedly, the princess wasn't exactly frightened either. Nonetheless, the wolf held the princess prisoner while the young knight and his faithful companion tried to rescue her.

The wolf laughed. "Or should I say…young prince?"

The knight shrugged. "Yeah sure, you could call me that."

"What?" the wolf asked confused.

"You can call me the prince." the knight told the fiendish wolf. "It's not like I ever kept it a secret or anything."

"Oh, uhhh…" the wolf scraped his throat. "Well then, prince Yakko! Take one step closer and you will have to deal with my panther!"

The prince's companion tilted his head in confusion. "Don't you mean partner?"

"Nope." a new voice called out, stepping out from behind the tower. "He means panther."

The wolf laughed menacingly. "What are you going to do now, little prince. Will you choose to fight my panther, or will you leave your princess and return to the kingdom a failure?"

"Hmmm… Tough question. Tough question." The knightly prince pretended to think over his options. "Though, I believe my dearest brother has the perfect answer."

The wolf looked intrigued. "Oh! And what might that be?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" The prince asked, pointing at something behind the wolf.

Confused, the wolf turned around. There the prince's companion and brother stood by the princess. The ropes that held her captive were in his hands and both were waving happily. It wasn't long before the wolf noticed the princess wielding a weapon.

"Oh-oh…"

"Oh-oh, indeed." the princess smiled, raising the weapon above her head. "Nice knowing you, wolfie."

*Ringring*

"Kids, pause." the panther called.

"We will not rest, panther!" the princess called.

"Kids! Back to the real world now!"

Everything around them began melting all of a sudden. The fantasy world they'd created melted away to reveal a living-room. The Warner siblings put down whatever they were holding as the real world returned to them. The panther, or Kassie rather, went to the kitchen to get the phone.

Meanwhile Andy stayed back with the kids. "Nice job, kiddos." he complimented them, rubbing their heads individually. "You're getting way better at getting your heads out back to the real world."

"Really?" Dot asked as she stepped off the window seat. Wakko jumped off after her, jump-rope still in hand.

Andy nodded, feeling quite proud of his pups. "Kassie and I have been keeping track of how long it takes you guys from the beginning." He grabbed a notepad from one of the table drawers, writing something down on it. "The first time it took nearly 7 minutes. This time it didn't even take a minute." The dog gave the younger toons a smile. "You can be proud of that progress."

While Andy and the kids stayed in the living room, Kassie had picked up the phone in the kitchen. Ben, one of her old colleagues, was on the other end. Well, she says colleague, but the man is practically her brother. The entire cast is practically family.

But right now she wished they weren't such a tight knit family…

"So yeah, ol' Frank was wondering when you were coming." Ben said. "We got confirmation on everyone except you and Andy."

Kassie sighed, running a hand over her face. "I'll be honest, I'm not sure we'll be there for New Years."

"Huh?" Ben's voice sounded confused. "But it's an annual celebration. We get together every year. How come you can't come this year?" Kassie could almost hear the moment his confused face turned into a smirk. "Spill the beans, what's the big secret?"

"You mean to tell me that gossip queen Vicky didn't already spill the beans?" Though she meant it as a joke, she was genuinely confused. Vicky was one of the worst at keeping secrets. Sure, the children weren't exactly secrets, but still. "Ben, Andy and I have just taken kids under our care and-"

"You're parents?!"

Kassie pulled the phone away from her as Ben screamed. "Sort of?" she answered, putting the phone back to her ear. "We don't wanna make the decision for them, but that's besides the point. The thing is, we don't know if we can come now that we have the kids."

"Hmm… Tell you what. You go discuss with Andy, okay? I'll tell Frank that something came up and that you need time to sort it out and either me or someone else will call back later. Sound good?"

"Yeah… Yeah okay." the cat sighed.

"Rachel and Daniel will be there, if that helps. But yeah, you go discuss and we'll talk later."

Saying their goodbye's, Kassie hung up. The annual New Year's get together… It had completely slipped her mind. She was sure Andy wanted to go, and to be honest so did she, but they had to keep the kids in mind too. Sure Danny and Rae would be there, two kids in the same age range as the Warners, but their creator would be there too.

Ever since the kids started living with them, they've barely had contact with people, with humans. The last humans they had contact with weren't exactly too friendly with them. And sure, she knew her creator wouldn't do anything like that, he and his family were the epitome of friendly, but she had no idea what the children thought of humans after their experiences.

"Andy?"

The siblings yawned as they were loaded in the back of the van. For whatever reason Kassie and Andy decided to wake them up at way-too-early o'clock. Yesterday they were told to pack some clothes and games that they wanted to bring. Bring where? They didn't tell.

Or did they? It was too early to think.

While the kids were dozing off in the car, Andy and Kassie thanked their luck that they had a van. Years ago Kassie had scoffed at Andy for buying a big car like that when it was just the two of them. Andy's excuse had been that he needed the space to transport his instruments. That he wasn't made to carry such big things in his hammerspace. Sure it was true, but it didn't mean Kassie had to be happy with the purchase at the time. Now she was happy that he'd bought it.

After loading their suitcases in the back the duo stepped into the car themselves, Kassie behind the wheel and Andy in the passenger seat. As Kassie started the car, she looked behind her at the obviously drowsy kids.

"If you're tired you can take a nap in the car. That's what the blankets are for."

Blankets? Oh, she meant those colorful blurs? Yakko grabbed at the blurry things. Yup, those were blankets. Warm and soft and fluffy blankets… Good to burrito in. The eldest handed his sibs their blankets before he wrapped himself in his.

The last thing the three heard as they dozed off in their soft blankets was a click followed by something tightening around their chest and waist.

Next thing they knew they woke up to pitter pattering on the car windows. Still drowsy, but more awake than before, they opened their eyes to find out what the noise was.

When they found the source to be a heavy snowfall, the sibs were immediately awake. Sure there had been snow in North Hollywood, but that had been a rare snowfall. It hadn't been a lot either, enough to hold small snowball fight, but not nearly enough to make a proper snowman like the TV-shows showed.

"Nice to see you kids awake." Their ears perked up when Kassie spoke. "You've been asleep for hours."

Yakko yawned. "Hey, you're the one waking us up at 6am without telling us why."

The cat's eyes widened. "Oh crap, did we forget to tell you? I thought we did." she chuckled sheepishly. "Looks like my brain was just as fast asleep as you three were. …Not literally."

"So, where are we going?" Wakko asked, unwrapping himself from his blanket burrito.

"Well, you remember Vicky, right?" Kassie asked.

"Crazy fox lady who slams doors and is over-excited to meet someone one moment and then super apologetic the next?" Yakko asked, raising his eyebrow. "Never heard of her."

Best friend of said 'crazy fox lady' snorted. "She's not the only cast member Andy and I worked with. And I say cast, but we're more like a family." She let out a small sigh, smiling at the thought of seeing her siblings again. "The lot of us always have a get-together at the end of the year at our creator's home, so that's where we're going."

Did…Did she say 'creator's home'? They were seriously gonna meet, not only their parental figures' siblings, but also the person who created them? Okay, cool, no pressure. A little head's up would've been nice. Yakko looked at his siblings on each side of him. Wakko seemed to be just fine, happily staring out the window at the big piles of snow. His sister sib seemed perfectly fine as well, running her emergency brush through her wild and messy hair.

Okay, it was just him feeling this anxiety. No problem.

The drive took forever. At least that's what it felt like to three hyperactive children. After the first pit-stop, they didn't actually want to get back in the car. Who would? With all this snow around that you could play in for hours, why would you want to get back in a crammed car?

But alas, they had to keep moving. This time Andy was driving, giving Kassie some time to catch up on her missed sleep.

They didn't even stop for a snack break, they just had to do with what they brought on the trip. Wakko was the only one complaining on that front though.

At some point after the second pit-stop, the siblings had fallen asleep again. Road-trips weren't nearly as fun as TV showed it to be.

Next time they woke up again it was to Kassie speaking. "-ids. …Kids, wake up. We're here."

Groggily they opened their eyes. The snow had stopped falling sometime after they'd fallen asleep, but it was pitch black outside. Well, aside from the large estate they were parked in front of. A familiar figure was standing by the door, waving excitedly at the passengers in the car. Kassie waved back at her best friend as she exited the car.

Vicky made her way over to the car, followed by another figure. A bear.

While the adults talked outside the car, the Warner siblings yawned, still trying to wake up a little. The door on Dot's side opened, courtesy of Vicky. "Hey kids. Kassie asked me to take you inside for some late dinner." she held out her hand to them. "Come on. Let's get some food in you, and after that you can meet the others."

They didn't argue about that. Food sounded great right about now. While Vicky and the kids went inside, Kassie, Andy and the bear grabbed everything from the car.

The inside of the estate was nice and warm and very homely. The place was decorated with Christmas decorations, paintings and photos. The siblings saw a couple of toons wandering around on their way to the kitchen, like a bunny, a swan and a younger fox, but ultimately food won out over their usual curiosity.

Dinner was just a light soup with some bread-sticks, which Wakko practically inhaled. As soon as they finished and put their bowls in the sink, Vicky pulled them into another room. And back was the over-excited fox Yakko got to know.

She took them to the living room where seemingly everyone had already gathered. "Everyone!" Vicky called their attention. "Meet Kassie's kits!"

The Warners, unfamiliar with that term, just waved at the large group. At first it had seemed fun to meet their parental figures' family, but seeing the group of 8 in front of them it suddenly became a little more intimidating. Oddly enough, all of them were toons with no human creator in sight.

The family consisted of a white bunny, the bear from before, a buck, a kangaroo, an ostrich, a swan and two children, a raven and the fox they saw earlier.

The ostrich was the first one to respond. "They have kids? Since when?"

The kangaroo hit the male on the back of his head. "Grayson, don't be so rude." she scolded. She stood up from her seat and hopped over to the children. "Hello, it's nice to meet you. My name is Helena, but you can call me Lena if you'd like."

Yakko swallowed a lump as he shook Helena's hand. "Uuh… Nice to meet you too. I'm Yakko." When his sibs remained silent, he bumped them softly with his elbow.

"Oh! Uh, I'm Wakko." the middle child waved.

"And I'm Dot." the youngest sibling introduced herself.

Vicky stepped away from the children and went to the couch behind the bunny. "This lovely lady here is Anna." she gave her a quick hug before moving on to the bear. "And this is Luke, you've met him outside I believe."

Luke nodded. "Ah, yes. Hello again."

Moving on to the buck. "And this is Benny." Vicky said.

The buck scoffed. "It's not Benny, Vick. It's always been Bennett or Ben, never Benny." He then turned to the children. "I heard about you on the phone yesterday. It's nice to finally meet you."

"And then there's our only married couple; Grayson and Korina." Vicky gestured to the ostrich and his swan wife. "And their daughter; Rachel."

A raven held up her wing. "Yo, call me Rae."

"And last but not least my darling little nephew, Danny." The older fox hugged the younger boy from behind, planting kisses on his cheek.

The boy didn't seem too happy with it, struggling away from her grasp. "Eww! Auntie, stop! Not in front of everyone!"

A familiar chuckle came from up the stairs in the living room. "Don't deny it Danny. She'll only kiss you more." Andy and Kassie came walking down the stairs, former having spoken.

"Uncle Andy, don't encourage her!" Danny shrieked.

Letting out a few giggles, Kassie went to her kittens. "I see you've met everyone already then?"

"Ah, yeah. Vicky was…very helpful with that." Yakko told Kassie, like Vicky hadn't just rushed them out of one room to another and did a speed introduction for everyone. His tone betrayed him though, as Kassie then shot a knowing look at her best friend.

The rest of the evening was spend relatively peacefully. The kids became quick friends, though rivalries were created while they were playing board games. At some point during the evening the creator and his family came back from visiting a friend and the Warners were introduced to Franklin, or Frank as he preferred to go by, and Eleanor, as well as their kids Rodney, Isabelle and Phoebe.

Kassie's fears about how er kittens may react to humans were proven unnecessary. The children took to the family's creator almost immediately and visa versa. Eleanor immediately took her role as grandmother and doted over the kids like she had when Daniel and Rachel were first brought into the family. And their chubby creator was instantly ready with embarrassing stories about everyone.

Yeah. They'd get along great.

When bedtime arrived Andy, Korina and Vicky herded their kids upstairs to their rooms. When she was sure they were out of earshot, Helena turned to Kassie. "So, how are they?" she asked.

Kassie sighed lightly. "Well, I won't say they're okay. They're certainly not without their scars, but they will be okay."

"I see." Helena mussed. "Well, it's not like we haven't been there." she said.

The cat frowned at her younger sister's scarred tail and back. "Something like that will never happen again… Not if we can help it."

The following day everyone was woken up by Rodney, Isabelle and Vicky for some outside winter fun, as they called it. Apparently that meant going to an ice-rink for some good old fashioned ice-skating fun. Frank and Eleanor went about renting the ice-skates with Ben and Helena and pretty soon were back with toon-specific ice skates.

Andy and Kassie helped the Warners with theirs ice-skates - by which I mean they comically stretched them to fit over the Warners' bigger than usual feet - and steadied them as they wobbled over to the rink. Now it was time to teach the kids to ice-skate. It was a little hard for two parents to teach three kids, so Anna stepped in to help Dot while the others all scattered around the rink. Dot was a surprisingly fast learner, meanwhile her brothers… Well, Wakko was hugging Andy pretty tightly and Yakko had yet to let go of the walls of the rink.

"Come now, sweetie. I promise I won't let you fall." Kassie tried to coax the older Warner from the wall.

Andy had a similar struggle. "Wakko, as much as I love you hugging me, you're gonna have to let go a little if I'm gonna teach you."

Yakko just waved off Kassie. "No, no. I'm fine. I can teach myself from here." he told her, continuing to shakily pull himself along the walls.

Kassie put her hands on her hips, unimpressed expression on her face. "I know you can teach yourself, but if there's someone with more experience, wouldn't it be easier to ask and accept help?" She held out her hand to the younger toon. "Come on, sweetheart. We can stay close to the walls if you want."

After a moment of hesitation, Yakko accepted her hand and let go of the wall. Immediately he started flailing as his balance failed him, but Kassie was quick to catch him.

The boy looked up in surprise at the woman. "See? I didn't let you fall, now did I?" she smiled. "Now, hold my hands, use your tail for balance and glide with your feet instead of taking steps."

From where Andy stood, still a kid clutched around him, he saw Kassie had managed to lure Yakko from the wall. This gave him an idea. "Hey, see that Wakko?" Wakko followed the dog's finger to where his older sibling was. "What do you say we try skating like they're doing? It's bound to be safe if your brother is doing it."

"O-okay." Wakko finally released his tight grip and moved his hands to Andy's.

Dot meanwhile, while doing surprisingly good with Anna teaching her, was feeling uncomfortable much like her brothers. Sure Anna was fine, nothing wrong with the bunny, but she didn't feel as comfortable around her as she did yesterday. When she caught sight of her brothers with Andy and Kassie, she made her excuse and skated over there.

Problem was… she hadn't skated without holding someone yet. So when she let go of Anna to go to her brothers and parent figures, she ended up losing her balance and falling face-first on the ice. Or would be face-first if she hadn't caught herself with her hands.

Andy saw it happen first and told Wakko to hold onto his tail, which Wakko promptly did, while Andy glided over to his daughter. He stopped in front of her, feeling Wakko bump into him from behind, and helped the girl to her feet.

"You alright there, Dot?" Andy asked as he helped her brushing snow off her clothes.

The young toon nodded. "I'm fine. Ice skating is harder than it looks."

Andy chuckled softly. "Not really. You just have to spread your feet a little and glide on the ice. See?" He pointed at his family skating about. "You can do that before the day's over."

In the meantime, Kassie was just letting Yakko get used to ice skating hands free. "You're doing great, sweetie." she cheered for him… Right before he lost his footing and kissed the ice.

The cat glided over to him, helping him up on his feet. "I'm not so sure Warners were made for the ice." The boy tried making light of his umpteenth fall.

"Of course not. You were made for cartoons." Kassie joked right along with him.

Yakko gave her a dry look, which almost immediately turned into a grin. "Good one."

The duo laughed a little at their own joke, though the mother-figure put up her serious face pretty quickly after. "In all seriousness, though. Nobody is made for the ice." she giggled. "You should have seen Andy's friend Tyler's first try. He kept shaking so badly not even the chair the staff gave him helped."

Yakko didn't really understand why they used a chair or what for, but the image of a grown man shaking while clinging to one was amusing.

"Hey Kassie!"

Andy's voice rang out from behind the cat, so she turned and what she saw made her wish for Andy's camera. There Andy was, skating with Dot clinging around his waist and Wakko holding onto his tail. They were supposed to teach the kids to skate on their own, but she had to admit that this was rather adorable.

By the time their ice skating session was over the Warners did learn how to skate. They even tried copying some of the other guests jumping moves to various degrees of success and failure. At least they had fun. When it was time to leave the ice skating grounds, the group split up. Frank, Eleanor and Isabelle, along with Anna, Ben, Luke, Lena and Kori took their cars and went grocery shopping. Meanwhile the parent toons and their kids, as well as Rodney and Phoebe, went home for some more winter fun.

The moment the cars pulled into the driveway, Danny and Rae jumped out of the vehicles and to the garage, which they pulled open. The Warner siblings watched as the duo came out with sleds.

Rae caught them staring with confused looks on their faces. "What?" she asked, hiding a chuckle. "You look like you've never seen sleds before."

Danny laughed. "Don't be silly, of course they have." He stopped laughing, turning to the siblings. "You have right?"

"Of course we have!" Dot said, putting her hands on her hip.

"Good!" Danny smiled. "In that case, wanna join us? We're gonna sled down the hill right behind the house."

The Warners just barely agreed before the young fox ran back inside to grab more sleds, dragging the siblings with him.

Vicky ruffled the young raven's head feathers. "We'll see if we can join you later too, okay? Just like last year."

Rae nodded. "You too, dad?"

"I'll see if my legs can handle it this time." Grayson said. In truth, his legs were aching since before they stepped off the ice. And thanks to old scarring it wasn't likely to stop aching any time soon.

Rachel seemed to understand this. "Okay." She grabbed her sled, and the one Danny left behind when he dragged the Warner siblings inside, and followed the other young toons to the hill.

The second the adults made it inside, Grayson was pushed onto the couch, Rodney running to get his meds. The ostrich let out a sigh. While he wanted to badly to be out there and have fun with his daughter, his leg injury always kept him from doing so. He'd missed the sledding race the kids did for three years in a row now, all because his legs couldn't hold his weight for more than a few hours.

Outside, Danny noticed Rae's disappointed expression. He could take a guess that it had to do with her dad. Uncle Gray's had bad legs for as long as he knew him, which was 11 years compared to Rae's 6 years. When asked he always said it was permanent leg damage from his time at the old studio. Regardless, he knew his uncle was suffering from his injuries right now and would miss sledding again.

… Or maybe not…

"Hey, Warners." the little, red fox whispered, ushering the trio closer. "Can you help me with something?"

When the other adults came back from shopping a little later, the kids came down from the hill demanding their annual sledding race. Luckily for the kids it didn't take long before all the groceries were put away, so the sledding race could begin.

"Dad, are you coming?" Rachel asked, seeing her dad still in his chair.

Before Grayson could decline, since the medicine still hadn't kicked in, he felt three sets of hands picking him up out of his chair and sitting him down onto a sled outside.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're about to take off on the S.S. Sled. We request you keep your wings and legs on the vehicle at all times. Our sledding dog is newly trained so hold on tight and apologies for the bumpy ride." Yakko instructed, moving the ostrich's limbs around on the sled the way he described they should be.

He then whistled to the 'sledding dog' which Grayson learned was actually Wakko, who promptly took off up the hill. There was a piece of rope in his mouth with which he pulled the sled with him, Grayson included. The young toon didn't seem bothered by it at all, much to Gray's surprise and soon he was at the top of the hill with all the others watching in equal surprise.

Even Danny, the one who asked the siblings for help, was surprised. "That's… one way I guess…" he said. "Not exactly what I had in mind, but… Whatever floats your boat."

Andy was the first one to snap out of it and chuckled. "Well, it looks like Racin' Grayson's finally back in the race." He went to his pups to give them a pat on their heads. "Good job getting him here." The siblings beamed at their father-figure's praise.

Now, despite the name 'sledding race' it wasn't an actual race. The family sled down the hill, all competitively trying to out-do each other in speed and style. Danny even decided to use his sled as a snowboard, to little success. Luke and Ben took turns hauling Grayson back on the hill and Rachel couldn't be happier that her dad could finally sled with them again.

Eventually it was time for dinner, after which Andy, Ben and, to everyone's surprise, Gray decided it would be a great idea dare each other to jump into a snowbank without clothes. The moment they walked inside they were immediately scolded by their partners, and Anna, while Frank and Eleanor swaddled them in warm blankets.

Helena knelt down next to the children. "Do me a favor, don't be like your father." Her comment was aimed at Rachel, but the other children agreed if only to escape a scolding like the guys were getting.

The following day was largely the same. Rodney, Isabelle and Phoebe went out to buy something they'd forgotten the previous day and the kids and parents were outside having a full-out snowball fight, forts included. Everyone did their own thing that day.

It was not a very interesting day. Though something Andy told the Warners before bed did catch their attention.

"Better get a good night sleep. You'll want to be well rested for tomorrow."

Why? What was tomorrow?

Their answer came the next day in the form of explosions. Suffice to say, it was quite a wake-up call. Investigating from their window didn't help much either. The explosions kept happening, along with sharp whistling noises and popping sounds.

From the window of one of the other rooms, the Warner siblings found Rae and Danny making snowmen without a care, as if the explosions weren't happening.

The duo saw the trio staring and waved happily, gesturing for them to open the window.

Once they did, Danny was the first to talk. "Hey guys! Wanna help built some more snowmen?"

"Yeah! We're gonna need a lot more if we wanna have some fun blowing them up." Rae added.

Blow up? Not that they were against that, but why exactly? Still they agreed. They came downstairs to breakfast made by Kassie.

"Good morning." the cat greeted them. "Looking forward to tonight?"

Wakko nodded eagerly while Dot gushed. "Oh yeah! Tonight. We love tonight. We simply can't wait!"

"Quick question, though." Yakko interrupted. "Uhhh…. What is tonight?"

Kassie winced. Another reminder how little of the world these kids had experienced. Swallowing her anger at he-who-will-not-be-named-today, she turned to her kittens with a smile. "Tonight is New Years. We celebrate the passing of another year and the coming of a new one." she explained. "I'm sure you've heard the explosions by now?" The trio nodded. "That's firework. You'll hear more of it during the day, but midnight is when it really starts. I don't wanna ruin the surprise, though. You kids will have to wait."

"So let me get this straight. We're gonna celebrate a new year by exploding stuff?" Yakko said skeptically. "Sounds fun."

"Not exactly." Kassie said. "You'll see tonight. But for now, go have fun with Danny and Rae."

That day was spend building a couple more snowmen. The explosions kept happening, which unnerved Yakko, Wakko and Dot a little, especially since they couldn't see where they happened. After their sixth snowmen was finished the children went inside to watch whatever cheesy New Years movie and shows were on TV. As the day was drawing to a close, the Warners were surprised that they hadn't been send to bed yet. Then again, Kassie did say the real fun happened at midnight.

At some point everyone was called to the living room to watch the ball drop. When the countdown began everyone joined in. The Warner siblings looked from the family to each other. Were they supposed to do something too? The real world was still new to them. The countdown ended in cheers and shouts of 'Happy New Years!' all around.

The family gave each other hugs as they went around the room, while the couples; Grayson and Korina, Kassandra and Andrew and Franklin and Eleanor, kissed their significant other. There was even a sneaky nose-to-nose between Annalise and Bennet. The Warners watched around the room, confused as to what they were supposed to do. The answer came in the form of Anna, who gave each of them a hug and a "Happy New Years, little ones." before hopping off to her creators. Were they supposed to do that as well?

Before they could try, though, they were pulled along to the front door by Danny and Rae. "Come on, come on, come on! It's time for the fireworks!" the fox cheered.

The moment they stepped outside they were greeted by colorful flower-y explosions of light in the sky. Ah… found the source of the loud noises they'd been hearing all day. Two familiar paws embraced the siblings from behind as they watched the other kids. Kassie nuzzled her kittens cheeks, wishing them a happy new years.

Still unsure of how new years was celebrated, the Warner siblings stuck to observing for now. They watched as the adults came outside with arms full of rocket shaped things; big, small, thick and thin. Korina and Helena came out with different things, which they handed to Danny and Rae. Cylinders, rectangles and a few boxes full of sticks were dropped on the snowy ground.

"Yakko, Wakko, Dot! Come help us cover this snowman!" Rachel called out to the siblings. Not knowing what else to do, they went over, covering their snowman head to torso to belly in oddly shaped sticks.

While they did this, the adults lit up a couple of fireworks already and stepped back a distance. The kids, noticing this, paused to watch the firework fly into the sky and explode. Oh, the Warners thought, so that's how it worked. Andy, Vicky and Luke stuck fireworks in their own snowmen's heads and set them off. The first didn't do much to the snowmen, but they kept going until they were completely destroyed.

Meanwhile Rachel, Daniel, Yakko, Wakko and Dot finished up with their snowman. They each got a match to light their sparklers, as Danny said they were called, and when finished they stepped back to admire their sparkly snowman. While that petered out the younger toons were setting off fountains and ground spinners left and right, and the adults were well on their way to destroy the remaining snowmen.

Finally when all the kid's fireworks was all used up, the parents decided it was time for bed. There wasn't much firework left either, so everyone would be going inside soon anyway. Kassie decided to tuck in the kids this time, giving Andy a few more minutes to light the last few fireworks. After tucking in Dot, who was clutching her pink, bunny plushy she got on Christmas, she moved on to Wakko. The cat picked up the brown teddy bear he'd dropped on the floor, also a Christmas present, tucking it and his covers under his chin.

She gave him a goodnight kiss on his forehead, like she did all his siblings, whispering a "Goodnight, kittens." that was not meant to be heard. As she moved away from the bed, Wakko decided this moment to show he was only half-asleep. He blinked up at the startled cat, then closed his eyes, burrowing further into his covers. "G'nigh mom…"

Kassie barely refrained herself from slamming the door behind her. Mom… He called her mom. Tears of joy sprang in her eyes. Ever since the… the old studio she'd given up on ever being called that. And she thought being referred to as 'parents' in Yakko's letter to Santa was great. It did not compare to hearing the title straight from her kid's mouth. It made her heart feel full.

That's where Andy found her a few minutes later. Crying tears of joy, sitting against the wall opposite to the bedroom of their kids.

The next morning the Warner siblings walked into the kitchen where Kassie, Anna and Vicky were preparing breakfast. Upon seeing them, Vicky and Anna quickly left the kitchen, leaving the Warners alone with Kassie. Not that they minded, but it was a little strange. Their parental figures' family had taken every opportunity to get to know the new additions these past few days, so for them to leave now was odd.

The thought didn't stay for long though, as Kassie placed their breakfast on the table. "Good morning, Yakko." She kissed the boy's brow. "Good morning, Wakko." She kissed his brow as well. "And good morning, Dot." Instead of a kiss, she nuzzled Dot's cheek.

"Hey! No fair! How come she gets nuzzles?" Wakko asked, pointing his spoon as his little sister.

Kass chuckled, but gave in and nuzzled Wakko's cheek as well, even nuzzling Yakko for good measure. Even during breakfast, the siblings couldn't help but notice the strange situation. No one but Kassie stayed in the kitchen for longer than necessary, just to grab something and leave immediately after. And Kassie kept side-eyeing them while washing the dishes.

Finally Yakko decided to drop the question. "Is something wrong?" he asked Kassie, who'd been eyeing them again. "Something on my face? Bad case of bed-head?"

"No, no. Not at all." Kassie reassured him. "Just something on my mind." When she noticed the younger two had also stopped eating and were now paying full attention to her, she sighed. She'd wanted to wait until after breakfast, but she supposed this worked too. "It's about last night, when I put you to bed. Wakko?" She turned to the younger boy. "Do you… remember what you said to me?"

Wakko had to think about that. He remembered feeling his teddy pushed under his chin, and he remembered the feeling of his covers being tucked closer. And then… Oh! …Oooohh…

"I said goodnight mom…" He realized.

Kassie nodded with a smile. "Yes… Yes you did."

Yakko looked from his little brother to Kassie and back and forth again, while Dot shoved a spoon-full of cereal in her mouth. "Well…" Yakko drawled. "Aren't you? Our mom, I mean."

Just when she thought she couldn't shed any more tears after last night, Kass was proven wrong. She pulled her eldest, her eldest, close to nuzzle once more. "Oh sweetpea. I'd love to be." The younger two took this moment to jump into her arms for a group hug. "You three have been my kittens since day one. I just never wanted to call myself your mom unless you were okay with it."

"Of course we're okay with it!" Dot cried out. Wakko nodded at his sister's comment.

Yakko nodded as well. "Just one teensy tiny little thing?" Kass's head perked up from where it lay on Wakko's head. "I-uuhhhhh… don't think we're really kittens?" he said, pulling at his ears as an example. "Not really cat-like, you know?"

"Your appearance doesn't matter, Yakko. You're still my kitten. All of you." Kassie told him. "I mean, you purr enough like one."

"…touché."

"You know… That does bring up an interesting question." Andy said, walking into the kitchen from around the corner where he may or may not have been eavesdropping on the entire thing. "What kind of animal are you exactly?"

Kassie sighed at her boyfriend. "Way to ruin a moment, hun." she said, letting go of the kids so she could stand up.

Andy gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but in all fairness I thought we were waiting until after breakfast. Together."

"Accidental change of plans."

They were interrupted by one of their kids cleaning their throat. Yakko stepped forward. "To answer your question… We don't know."

"You don't know?" Every animal-like toon was given at least an idea of the kinds of animals they were based off. It helped when it came to said animal's instincts, something that would automatically be instilled in them.

Wakko rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah… We apparently drove our creator insane." he said. "At least, that's what the studio told us."

"So we never learned what he based us on." Dot finished the explanation.

That made the older duo think. They couldn't get a grasp of what they were based on either. Their tails were somewhat feline, if it wasn't for the permanent zigzag it was shaped in. Their faces were almost similar to certain dog species, but then their ears were more reminiscent of bunnies. Still it was only vaguely similar to those animals.

The instinct to purr did suggest they were at least slightly based on cats. Those kinds of things can't be faked.

"I know exactly what you are." The sudden voice of Frank called from the kitchen doorway. By the look in his eyes Kassie and Andy may have been taking too long in the kitchen.

The Warners perked up. "You do?" Maybe this man had been working at their studio? Or, or maybe he was a friend of their creator!

Frank nodded. "Yes I do. You…" The Warners leaned closer. "Are your own sort of unique." And they deflated. No offense, it was nice to hear, but they'd hoped he actually knew. Frank nodded to himself, seemingly pleased. "Ah, yes. You are unique, and you're terrific and really quite specific."

Andy picked up what his creator was putting down and smirked to himself. "And there's no one quite the same as the creatures you became." He added in a half-singing tone.

Kassie shook her head in disbelieve. "You two really can't go one week without any sort of songwriting, can you?" She knelt down in front of her kittens, still unable to believe she can officially call them that now. "They are right though. You are all that and at least one thing more." She pulled them all closer in a second group hug. "You are mine."

"Hey! How about me?" Andy squawked.

Yakko grinned mischievously. "Marry mom and we'll see."

Descriptions:

Franklin 'Frank' Zedett - The creator of all the toons, except Danny, Rachel and Korina. 64 years old. Chubby, Caucasian, gray hair balding on top, thick rimmed glasses, brown eyes, thin gray mustache.

Eleanor Zedett - Stay-at-home-mom (before retirement). 62 years old. Latina woman, light tanned skin, slim figure, short curly dark brown hair more often than not held in a bun, green eyes.

Rodney Zedett - Studying and practicing law. 34 years old. Lightly tanned skin, dark brown, almost black hair that's cut just below the ears, brown eyes.

Isabelle Zedett - Aspiring writer. 31 years old. Lightly tanned skin, wavy long dark brown hair, thin rimmed glasses, green eyes.

Phoebe Zedett - Currently unemployed. 25 years old. Pale-ish skin, freckles, black curly hair cut at shoulder length, brown eyes.

Victoria 'Vicky' Lynne - Anthro-fox. Give or take 30 years old. Brown-orange fur, light beige pattern on her belly, underside of her jaw and two beige circles above her eyes, also her hands and feet. Green eyes. Short, wavy, dark brown hair ending just below her chin.

Daniel 'Danny' Lynne - Anthro-fox. Give or take 12 years old. Light brown fur with beige belly, hands and feet. Two white circles above he eyes, a partially white snout and white tipped tail. Green eyes. A small tuft of dark brown hair.

Annalise 'Anna' Lops - Anthro-bunny. Give or take 30 years old. Almost completely white, except for some spots of light brown on her thigh, both feet and ear. One floppy ear. Blue eyes. Medium length, wavy blonde hair.

Bennett 'Ben' Dhelle - Anthro-buck. Give or take 34 years old. Brown fur, white around the snout, chest and tail. Thin, dark antlers, one broken. Scarring on the left eye, where the broken antler is. Right eye is green, left is a dulled and lighter shade. Small tuft of brown hair.

Lucas 'Luke' Berge - Anthro-bear. Give or take 37 years old. Dark brown fur. Lighter brown snout and around the neck. Chipped right ear. Blue eyes. Tuft of Dark brown hair.

Helena 'Lena' Delpond - Anthro-kangaroo. Give or take 35 years old. Orangey-brown fur with a beige-white underside and legs. Badly scarred tail. Short-cut black hair. Hazel eyes.

Grayson 'Gray' Verne - Anthro-ostrich. Give or take 34 years old. Black feathers, white feathered tail and wing-tips. Pale skin where there's no feathers. Bald. Green eyes.

Korina 'Kori' Donze - Anthro-swan. Give or take 32 years old. White feathers, black around the eyes. Long, straight, white hair. Blue eyes.

Rachel 'Rae' Verne - Anthro-raven. Give or take 15 years old. Black feathers, dark grey around the neck and chest. Medium length, black hair that's almost always in a ponytail. Brown eyes.

All the characters Frank created were brought to life in 1940, making them 35 chorologically. Korina was brought to life in 1932. Daniel in 1964. And Rachel in 1956, adopted in 1969.
Not exactly important info, just some fun facts. (I've been thinking way too much into this!)

Also, another fun fact. I haven't looked at my Christmas chapter of this story since last year. Yet somehow, when I wrote the last part of this chapter... I got Dot's plushy right... I literally just thought 'What would be the type of plushy Dot would sleep with?' and I thought about pink and just blindly grabbed an animal and viola! I got the plushy Dot asked for in her letter... How?!