Chapter 1 A Bittersweet Beginning

Once upon a time, in a lovely Italian village, there lived a beautiful young woman named Arabella Rosato, and she was one of the most famous singers in all of Italy. Ever since she was a young woman, Arabella would sing to herself on the streets and would get people's attention in order to make money off the streets. After she made enough money and people began to recognize her beautiful voice, Arabella became one of the most beloved singers in all of Italy. Everyone loved her golden voice, which people would call the voice of an angel. But the one man who loved her the most was a young shoe carver named Carlo Costa, who was just as poor as the well known woodcarver, Geppetto, who was also Carlo's older brother.

Carlo did everything he could do to get Arabella's attention, but everytime he tried to raise money or go to one of her concerts, things would go wrong, and Carlo tried to make his living off of carving shoes and selling them to people in need. But he was still broke no matter how much money he received.

Every morning, whenever Carlo was making shoes in his shop, he would open the window to let in Arabella's beautiful voice, which always put him in a great mood. Because he knew where she lived, Carlo would go to Arabella's house late at night and stand by the window to hear her beautiful voice in the darkest hour. Carlo had told his brother Geppetto about how much he loved Arabella and wanted to be with her, which is why Geppetto tried to help as well.

Geppetto made Carlo a guitar out of wood and he used it to play songs in order to get Arabella's attention. One day, when Arabella was singing to herself in her home, she looked out her window to see Carlo playing a song while using his guitar, causing Arabella to smile and sigh of romance. After this event, Carlo was starting to become closer with Arabella and eventually, the two started to become good friends and would visit each other on the weekends to get together. However, Arabella never really felt a love connection between her and Carlo and made him more desperate for her to fall in love with him.

One night, Carlo saw the wishing star shining brightly in the sky and knew it was time he made the wish he's been waiting for to come true. He wished for him and Arabella to get together and for her to fall in love with him. After he made his wish, the Blue Fairy came down and told him that she could help him get closer to Arabella, but it was up to him to fulfill his wish by telling her that he loved her. So, Carlo did what the Blue Fairy told him to do and got an engagement ring to propose to her on her 1 year anniversary of fame.

While Arabella was getting ready for her big concert that day, she started to think about Carlo all of a sudden and how much she truly loved him. But while she was thinking about him, little did she know Carlo was about ready to come running to her door and tell her the same thing. As Carlo was walking out of his shop, he saw a blue light start to wander off into the direction ahead and he followed it to see if he could catch it. As Carlo followed the blue light, he saw it go to Arabella's house and then vanished as Carlo made it to his destination. Carlo was scared to tell Arabella the truth about how he felt, since he saw just a poor shoe carver and didn't know how she would feel. But he remembered what the Blue Fairy told him, and if he wanted to fulfill his wish, he had to tell Arabella how he felt.

As Carlo knocked on her front door, Arabella opened it and saw Carlo standing in front of her while on one knee, proposing to her and asking her to be his wife. Arabella immediately said yes, and the two shared their first kiss as well as getting married two months later.

After their marriage, Arabella and Carlo started to live a happy life together while combining both of their talents. The two built a large house together and helped earn lots of money since Arabella was a singer and Carlo made money off of selling shoes. Carlo also introduced Arabella to Geppetto and the two became close after Arabella started to help Geppetto make clocks. Arabella was willing to help anybody in need and she was the one who gave Geppetto many creative ideas for clocks, which also caused him to have faster sellings and more customers. She also helped him to create things other than clocks, such as toys and music boxes, which always entertained the children of the village.

Arabella and Carlo were the happiest couple in all of Italy and nothing could ruin how perfect everything was for them.

Until tragedy strikes.

A couple months after their marriage, Arabella became slightly ill and started coughing a lot when in the middle of talking or singing. She always told Carlo she was alright, but he could tell she never was and was worried about her health. But it wasn't all the time Arabella was coughing and having trouble breathing, because on some days, she was completely fine and she especially was the day she told Carlo they were having a baby!

The couple had wanted children for a long time and now that Arabella was having a child, it felt like a miracle since she had been going through an unknown illness.

A few months later, Arabella finally had a baby and it was a baby girl, just what she always wanted. The two decided to name her Marietta and knew that someday, she would become a star just like her mother.

A couple of years had later passed and Marietta was starting to grow a bit while Carlo and Arabella remained the same happy couple, despite Arabella's illness. About two years after Marietta was born, Arabella was starting to become very ill and soon, she started to feel ill and would collapse due to having a hard time breathing. After falling down a couple of stairs, Carlo knew it was finally time to get Arabella into the doctor and when she was finally checked in, doctors told her that she had pneumonia and would not survive.

Carlo was heartbroken to learn that he would lose his dear wife, the one thing he loved most other than his daughter Marietta, and couldn't believe that he would have to be the only parent to raise her as well. Arabella spent a couple months in the hospital in pain and before she died, she held Carlo's hand while he held Marietta, who was still only a toddler, but could tell something was wrong with her mother and that she would never see her again after this day.

While Arabella lied in bed while holding Carlo's hand, she made sure to tell him some of her final words before she passed away.

"Oh, Carlo, my dear sweet Carlo," Arabella said as she tried to stay awake. "You must learn to live without me as I have met my end,"

"But how will I live without you?" Carlo asked. "You are my only love and you always will be," He shed a few tears, with one of them falling onto Arabella's bedsheet.

"You will learn to live without me, as I will always be with you no matter what, and you'll have little Marietta with you to keep you company." Arabella said, making Carlo smile.

"I love you Arabella and I'll never forget you." He said as Arabella smiled back. "And I'll always love you, Carlo, my dear sweet love." She said as she let go of his hand.

Marietta then started to laugh and giggle in the most inappropriate moment ever, but she was still a toddler to be exact, and Arabella tried to stay awake so she could see her daughter for one last time. "Carlo, please bring Marietta to me one last time." Arabella begged as Carlo picked up his daughter and handed her in his wife's dying arms. She then put Marietta on top of her bed and gave a weak smile as she watched her little girl look at her in confusion.

"Oh, my little Marietta. Do I wish I could live longer to see you grow up?" Arabella said as Marietta sat on top of her. She began to cough a bit as Marietta backed away a bit, but Carlo made sure to keep her close to his wife since he knew she was about ready to die.

"Oh, Marietta, you will grow up to become a wonderful, brave, and unselfish person who will be just as famous as your mother," Arabella said as she began to cough a bit. "You will become a beautiful and talented singer just like your mother, and even if I'll never be right next to you, just know that I'll always be watching over you, my little rising star," Marietta gave her an innocent smile. "And just so it feels like I'm right beside you, here is my necklace, for you to wear, Marietta," Arabella took off her golden necklace and put it around Marietta's neck.

Marietta smiled as she looked at the necklace around her neck, and both Arabella and Carlo smiled as well, knowing Marietta was going to be just fine if she never forgot about her mother.

"Now, Carlo, she's yours." Arabella handed her girl back to Carlo, who couldn't stop crying while watching his dying wife. Marietta was very confused as she was handed back into Carlo's arms and started to get upset as her mother began to die.

"Take care of…Marietta!...For me…please, Carlo, please my…dear love! Marietta will be a rising star just like her mother and I will always…love you and Marietta, I'll always watch over both of you, now it's time I go my love…goodbye." Arabella said with her final words. She then passed away in front of Carlo's face and he began to cry along with Marietta, who both knew they would never see her again. It was now up to Carlo to take care of Marietta and for her to show both him and her late mother that she will become a rising star.