(Author's Note: The last chapter! Looking back on this story, I think that it's the best story I've ever written. But that what I think every time I write a story; I must get better every time. And I've really had a lot of fun writing it. I don't think that I've ever written something this deep. (Yes, I do write really stupid stuff. Just read my Blue's Clues story, Blue's Revenge!) I might write a sequel, I might not, it all depends on if I feel like it and if you beg me to. Alright, I'll stop.)

The doctors thought Yakko would die; Yakko thought he would live. Thankfully, Yakko turned out to be right. Both he and Dot made full, quick recoveries and were soon released from the hospital.

Victor only hung around long enough to make sure that the siblings were okay.

"You could stay here," offered Yakko. "You're basically like our father. You could live with us in our water tower."

"I'd like to," admitted Victor. "But I've got work to do." He turned and looked at Dot, still in her wheelchair, but looking as feisty as ever.

"It's all your fault," she accused, "that I'm so aggressive."

"Well, sometimes that might be a bad thing, but it can also be a good thing," said Victor. He stooped down to hug Dot, and she found herself hugging him back with her one good arm. "I'll miss you."

"You just watch Animaniacs to see how we're doing," said Dot.

"Well then, I'll see you soon," said Victor with a smile.

"Yeah," said Dot, smiling.

Victor then turned to Wakko. "So you didn't end up an only child after all!" said Victor.

"Nope!" said Wakko. "I'm glad of that too; my life would've been really boring."

"Wakko, with you, nothing is boring. I'll see you in your show."

"Yeah, you write, okay?" Wakko smiled at him gratefully. "Come on, Dot," he said, taking his baby sister's hand. "Let's give Victor some time alone with Yakko."

"Race ya back to the water tower!" challenged Dot.

"Yeah right, with you in your wheelch—HEY! Wait up!" Dot, in her power wheelchair, had already zoomed off. Wakko sprinted to catch up with her.

Laughing, Victor and Yakko finally faced each other.

"So what ever happened to Steve?" asked Yakko.

"I don't know," admitted Victor. "I haven't seen him since Clarence fired us, and that was seven going on eight years ago. That would make you eleven, right?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but you did a wonderful job of raising your siblings."

"Thanks." Yakko smiled weakly—this is what happens every time to meet a new father figure, he thought to himself. "You make sure you come and visit us, okay?"

"Right. I'll see you soon, Yakko."

"If you want it to sound professional, you could just add a last name."

"What? McCall?"

"No way. It's Warner."

"Hmmm, Yakko Warner. I like that better than Worthless Chatterbox McCall."

"Me too," said Yakko, ginning.

"See you soon, Yakko Warner."

"Bye!" said Yakko. Victor got into his car and left, and just like that, he was gone.

…………

"Yakko! Could you take zese paper to ze main office, please?"

"No problem. I would be delighted to be your servant. Just as long as you tip me," said Yakko, as Scratchy handed him a stack of papers. Yakko turned around to his siblings. "You can just go up to the tower without me. I'll be there in a little bit."

"I challenge you to a rematch, oh wheelchair-bound one," said Wakko, rolling his eyes.

"The chances of you winning are just the same as last time!" laughed Dot, zooming off again. Wakko scrambled after her.

Yakko took his papers down to the main office, and who was sitting at the desk but Hello Nurse. Yakko stopped dead in his tracks. Lord, she was beautiful.

Oh wait. His cue!

"Helloooooooo Nurse!" cried Yakko, apparently startling her.

"Oh! Helloooooooooooo Yakko!" she said in return.

"Hey, HN, do you know where I'm supposed to put these?"

Hello Nurse took the pictures at Yakko, not smiling at him or even looking at him. "Oh, these were the papers I was expecting. Thank you."

It sounds like she's trying to avoid confronting me, thought Yakko. Then he knew.

"I'm sorry about what I did to you," he said hurriedly. "I should never have kissed you, I mean, I know that you don't love me back, and I obviously wasn't thinking about your own—"

"Yakko, can you ever be quiet?" She didn't say it playfully, like she often did. It sounded harsh this time.

Yakko looked at the ground meekly. Finally he whispered, "Sorry."

Hello Nurse shuffled some papers for a bit. Suddenly she set, almost slammed, them down. "No, I'm sorry, Yakko. I shouldn't yell at you like that. How could you know what I've been through?"

Yakko pulled up a chair and sat next to her. "What have you been through?" he asked.

"A lot. I… I've never told anyone." She laughed suddenly. "But compared to what you've been through, my life is just a walk in the park!"

"Oh yeah? Try me," said Yakko, grinning roguishly.

Hello Nurse sighed. "When I was about your age, I fell in love with this wonderful man named Tom. Now, even back then I was considered a sex object. I was when I was a preeschooler. All of my male classmates had huge crushes on me! Why? Because I was sexy. But I got to know Tom, and he liked me for who I was. Pretty soon he was in love with me… for my mind! We were a couple for three years, four months, and twenty-one days… not that I was counting."

Yakko laughed. "Sure."

"Anyway, at that day, Tom moved away. He told me, though, that he would always love me and we'd always be together. A couple months after he left I was feeling lonesome, so I decided to go visit him, since my family was visiting his town. And by some huge coincidence, the first sight of him that I had had in three months was him making out with some other girl. I left, and never saw him again."

Hello Nurse was waiting for Yakko to say something like, "Don't you think that was a little harsh?" but instead he said, "Well, out of sight, out of mind, as they say. It's the sad truth."

Hello Nurse continued. "Well, I got through school somehow, amid all these fake relationships. Relationships with people who loved me just for what I looked like and once the next pretty girl came around I was history. That, of course, was after I had fallen in love with them. I wanted to be a nurse, and I got teased a lot because of that because my last name is Nurse. But I am intelligent, although some people don't seem to realize it. So I graduated from high school when I was sixteen."

"You're kidding!" cried Yakko.

"No, I'm not," said Hello Nurse. "I got out of college and medical school very quickly."

"So how old are you?"

"I'm twenty-two."

"No way! I'm only half your age! I thought that you were at least thirty!" Yakko smiled. "That means courting you isn't quite as scandalous as I had originally thought."

"But by the time I got into medical school, I had dated and fell in love with countless men, and they all used me. They didn't rape me or anything, but they just used me to get more popular and all that stuff. So when I started medical school, I decided that I would never date men again, or even be interested in them. It would never work out between us anyway, Yakko. I mean, you're eleven years younger than me!"

"That didn't stop me," said Yakko with a shrug, "but I see what you mean. You'd be a cradle robber." He sighed. "It's kinda too late now."

"For what?"

"For me not to be interested in you. I mean, maybe I'll eventually fall out of love with you, but…"

Hello Nurse sighed and looked out of the window. It was about 9:30 and since it was September, the sky was already dark. "You know a lot about many things, Yakko, but what do you know about romance?"

"Nothing at all," said Yakko. "I mean, when I was nine I said that I'd never fall in love. That was after Wakko and Dot informed me that some girl we were just talking with me had a crush on me. I guess it was just puppy love, but I didn't want to get involved."

Hello Nurse sighed. "I wish I were brave like you."

"Brave?" snorted Yakko. "You won't think I'm brave when I tell you this. There was this prolonged period when I was eight when I could find no food for us. Finally, one day, I saw some other kid making sandwiches and he had one extra piece, so I asked if I could have it. He said yes, and gave it to me. Now this was only one piece of bread, and Wakko and Dot were starving, so I only divided it in half, so they would have more food than if I would have divided it into thirds. So I found them and gave them their food. And they were about to start eating it when Wakko asked, 'Where's yours, Yakko?' And I said, 'I already had some. I ate it on the way here.' And Wakko said, 'No you didn't, don't lie.' Then Dot came up to me and gave me her whole half piece of bread and said that she wasn't going to let me leave until I ate it."

"I think that you were very brave in that situation!" cried Hello Nurse.

"I was scared stiff! Not only for myself, but also for Wakko and Dot. They needed it more than I did. I could have gone on longer…"

"Yakko, you can be brave and scared at the same time. And you did a very good job of—"

"Raising my siblings, I know. That's what everyone tells me."

"Really, Yakko. You hear about kids being abused, neglected, and abandoned, and all that happened to you and your siblings. They grow up moody, depressed, violent, they use drugs… but Wakko and Dot are very good humored, charming, happy, and well mannered. And so are you."

Yakko looked up into her large, warm blue eyes that looked rather distant tonight. Lord, he could get lost in those eyes, any time, anywhere.

Stop it, stop it! She's not interested in you, remember?

"I'd better go," he said hastily, standing up and heading towards the door. But before he was about to leave, he turned around and gave Hello Nurse a tender smile. "I love you for your mind," he said simply.

Hello Nurse stood with her mouth open for a while, then found the courage to speak.

"Yakko?"

He spun around. "Yes?"

Hello Nurse was taken aback by those dark eyes filled with love and emotion that he couldn't possibly hide. He was only eleven, but he was very handsome. When he got older, he would be someone every girl would swoon over…

She quickly gathered herself and said, "If you're not busy tomorrow… would you like to have a picnic? You know, over at that park a couple of blocks south from here."

Yakko looked at her, puzzled. What game is she playing? he thought.

"My dear, you know I would be honored," said Yakko, giving her an elegant bow. "Tomorrow at noon, I'll bring the food, you bring the blanket." Giving her one last smile, he turned and left.

…………

"What's taking Yakko so long?" said Dot angrily, fiddling with Yakko's paddle ball.

"I don't know," said Wakko, who was lounging on the couch. "But whatever it is, he'd better have a good reason."

Dot launched into a near perfect imitation of Yakko. "'You can just go up to the tower without me. I'll be there in a little bit.' Hah! What a joke!"

"How can you remember his exact words?"

"I just can."

"He's probably making out with Hello Nurse or something."

"Yeah," Dot giggled. She made her voice very high-pitched. "Oh, Yakko, kiss me, you fool!"

Wakko laughed and grabbed a throw pillow from the couch. He then leaned down with it and brought it very close to his face. "Why of course, my darling Hannah! Let my lips fall upon yours! Your love is not unrequited!" He then kissed the pillow. Dot shrieked with laughter.

"Jeez, Wakko, you never told me that you had a thing for pillows."

"Aauuggh!" cried Wakko, hearing Yakko's voice. He quickly threw the pillow behind him. "Hello, Yakko!" He winced when he heard the pillow break something.

Dot glared up at Yakko. "Where were you?"

"I was delivering the papers."

"Yeah, and a couple of kisses!"

Yakko sighed. "You guys just don't understand, do you? You don't understand why Hannah is the way she is."

"Oooohhhhhh…" said Wakko. "I think I understand now. She's kinda had bad experiences with men, hasn't she?"

"Yeah, she's been in like twenty relationships and not one of them has worked out. Only one of those guys really loved her, but when he moved his love for her just died."

Dot frowned. "That's kinda sad."

"Yeah, and what also is going to be sad is what I'm gonna do to you two if you don't get in bed THIS INSTANT!" said Yakko.

"Yes, Dad," both Wakko and Dot said in unison. Yakko burst out with laughter.

"I'll go to bed now, on one condition," said Dot primly.

Yakko put his hands on his hips. "And what would that be?" he asked.

Dot giggled. "That you read me a bedtime story."

"Ooh, I wanna hear it too!" cried Wakko.

Yakko faked a tired sigh. "Very well, very well." He pulled a book out of the shelf and sat down on the edge of the couch, with Wakko on one side and Dot in her wheelchair on the other. He put his arms around them and gave them quick hugs before opening up the book.

"Once upon a time…"