Rebirth

Chapter 6:

"You can't eat soup all your life, young man." Tap warned.

"Watch me." Lance snapped.

"That big mouth of yours is what gets you in trouble."

Lance stopped on his tracks stared at the old penguin and Tap smiled. "Now go and buy a sandwich instead. There's a vendor five minutes from here."

The job wasn't so bad, if he said so himself. He started out the next morning right away with a salary with one dollar above the minimum required by the state which for the time, was more than enough and has been working for the rest of the week with Saturday and Sundays free. It was quiet unlike anything he did. And it was welcoming. His job consisted of running a few errands, cleaning and dusting the shop because Tap couldn't do it alone anymore, greet clients, stuff like that. At first he thought that because it was just a simple antiques shop, it would have a low amount of clients so he would have the time to be lazy. Boy, he was wrong. It seemed that every five minutes, after a client left, another took its place. It never exceeded the number of five clients per hour, but for an antique shop, it was quite decent.

And he learned a few things about history too!

…not… that he liked it or anything. Kind of.

"So, you said you are singer?" Tap said as she tried to fix an old watch.

"The very best." Lance smirked at her and shot her an arrogant look behind the sunglasses as he carried a few boxes to the other side of the store.

Tap nodded. "If you're as good as you say, then how come I never heard about you?" She smirked.

Lance stared in shock. Tap chuckled. "I may be old, but that doesn't mean I don't listen to newer artists." She shot him a knowing look. "Maybe your strength doesn't lay on your voice. Maybe it lays somewhere else."

Lance about to protest when he stopped himself. 'You've learned a big lesson, Lance. Get used to it.' He thought to himself.

Tap smiled. "Think about it, will you?"

Lance could do nothing else but to nod. Later he put some thought into her words. He took out his phone and saw a few videos of him singing and playing the electric guitar back on the day. He winced when he heard himself sing.

"What's that horrible noise?" Tap called from upstairs. "Lance, my boy, put that racket down, please and thank you. It sounds like a pig dying!" Of course, the old penguin didn't know that was him.

"Yeah, sorry Tap." He put down his phone and groaned. He still was an expert guitarist, but he did sound like dying pig. "Maybe I need to find something else I'm good at…" He rested his cheek against his hand as he waited for more customers.

And so that's how Lance got a new job and slowly started to build a new life. But even though he had found financial relief, his personal life was a disaster.

"Why don't you go to college?" Tap mentioned one day. "Make something useful out of yourself. You're young and have the energy to do so."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Have you seen the prices for tuition nowadays? Years ago it would have been easier."

Tap glared. "What are you insinuating? Back in my time, the young struggled like you!"

Lance gulped. "Nothing, ma'am." He had to keep his anger under control.

"There's also community college. It's cheaper if that's what you're worried about." She gave him a motherly smile and walked away to get some tools.

Lance really wished that the old penguin shut her mouth up. But he couldn't help but to think about everything she said and how it always made sense.

Those weeks turned into a month.

Lance walked around the streets to get to the antiques store one morning when he spotted an announcement for the grand finale of the singing competition that Arnold had gotten himself into. He hadn't talked to Arnold in a month or knew anything about him since that day he saw him on the restaurant. He took the announcement paper in his hand and stuffed it in his pocket. Maybe he could buy tickets and go see his friend, to show him how much he actually appreciated him. But that meant he would be running the risk of seeing Ash. And… he just wasn't ready to see her. He would have to think about it.

When he finally arrived at the store, He couldn't help but smile when he saw the old penguin trying to move around a Greek statue. Lance shook his head. "Let me do it, Tap."

Tap panted. "Lance, about time." She glared at the statue. "This old thing won't move. It was shipped just this morning but the mail man wouldn't help me move it around."

Tap wouldn't have noticed, but Lance knew how much he was changing. And he welcomed the change. A few months ago, he wouldn't have helped Tap move a simple statue. In fact, he might have even vandalized it a bit. But after everything that had happened, he figured it was time to grow up and behave like an adult.

"A little to the left please." Tap said. Lance pushed the heavy statue to that very direction. "Perfect! Thank you, Lance."

"You're welcome, I guess."

He found himself enjoying the quiet life. And enjoying reading books. He still wrinkled his nose at the sight of a source of knowledge, but when he had gotten his hands on 'The Secret Garden', he just couldn't stop. Sure, it was a children's book, but a young girl had traded the book for a bunch of exotic coins from other countries. That and that for the next two hours after that he had too much free time on the shop so he ended up finishing the book by the end of the day.

Some days, he couldn't help but to think about his life.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Tap would ask.

Lance feared that if he told her his story, it would make her think less of him. "It's nothing." He would answer.

Then one day, in mid-February, few days before the competition, one particular client entered the room.

"Welcome to Tip and Tap's Antiques. May I help—" He stopped mid-sentence when he saw him.

The koala.

Lance internally groaned. 'Be nice, Lance... the guy has done nothing wrong to you…'

Buster Moon smiled. "Good afternoon. I was wondering if you could help me with something."

Lance nodded. "Um… sure. What do you need?"

The koala took out an old metal bucket that said 'Moon's Car Wash'. "How much is for a full polish?"

Lance arched an eyebrow. "Five dollars." He knew the koala was an odd guy, but a bucket? He really didn't want to know why a bucket. He went off to get the tools. "It will be done in a bit, sir." Lance wondered if the koala remembered him. He went to the table and set the polishing tools on it while Buster looked around the store. The koala said nothing while Lance polished the weird bucket.

"Here you go sir." The porcupine handed the bucket.

Buster smiled as he took the bucket. "Thank you. How much was it again?"

"Five bucks."

The koala handed him a five dollar bill. "Thank you, Lance."

"You're wel—" Of course the koala would remember him. He sighed. "So you do remember the jerk that cheated on Ash." He admitted. He regretted everything he did.

"Yup." Buster said.

"So you just came here to polish the weird bucket or just to torment me and give me a sermon? Go ahead." He rested his cheek on his hand. "I'm listening. Kind of deserved it."

"Actually." Buster said with a smile, but Lance could tell that he was just being polite. Stupid koala. "I come over here every once in a while to see Tap. But I wasn't expecting you to be working here of all places."

Lance rolled his eyes being his sunglasses. "Yeah… coincidences. She's not here right now. She went to check on some supplier for some weird antique."

"Oh." Buster lowered his ears. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?"

Lance stared and then dropped his own ears. He sighed. "I got what I deserved. That's all."

Buster gave him a sympathetic smile. "Well, you what's the best thing of hitting rock bottom?" Lance looked up, waiting for an answer. "There's only one way to go, and that's up." He smiled. "And please, when you see Tap, give this to her." He placed a small box, one like the ones they use for gift cards, and placed it on the counter. "I better be off, got work to do. I'll see you around then, Lance." And he left the store.

Lance just stared at the doorway. He honestly thought the koala would walk off as soon as he saw who the porcupine was, but he didn't. Maybe… he could still make it up to those he hurt the most.

It wasn't long before Tap arrived with a box on her flippers. "Lance, my boy, help me here."

Lance went and took the heavy box from the penguin. Tap sighed in relief. "Thank you. Put it over the book section, I'll handle it later." She walked to the counter and saw the box. Seeing her name on it and recognizing the handwriting, she took it and opened it up. She smiled when she saw the contents. "Lance?"

"Yes, Tap?" He said as he set the box on the floor.

"How do you feel about watching a singing competition next week?"

There you go, guys. Sorry about not updating sooner, got caught up in something. The story is soon coming to an end, but I'm working in a few other fics. Review!