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In the midst of preparing for the revolution, Little Sally looked around. She saw people talking, making signs, and buzzing with anticipation for what was to come. However, something in the corner caught her eye. She saw Bobby, sitting on the sides sadly, staring off into space. She looked down at her paint covered hands, and her bear, who was also covered in paint. He was helping.
"What do you think, Little Sally?"
"Huh?"
Little Sally was snapped out of her thoughts by Soupy Sue, who she was working together with on another sign.
"Should our sign say 'Can you hear the pee-ple sing?' or 'Can you hear the people pee?' I feel like using both would be too much, so I need help deciding one or the other."
"Uhmmm..." Little Sally pondered for a moment. "I think the second one enforces our point better." She decided, picking up the bear.
"I'll be right back." She said. Sue nodded and Sally ran over to Bobby.
"Bobby?" Sally asked quietly, however, it still seemed to startle him, as he jumped when she spoke. He smiled at her a little.
"Oh! Sally, do you need anything?" he asked.
"Are you okay? You seem really sad."
Bobby's smile fell as soon as she asked. He slumped over, hugging his knees slightly.
"No... I'm thinking about my Pa..."
"Oh..." Little Sally said, sitting next to him. She placed a tiny hand on his shoulder.
"It's not your fault, Bobby. There was nothing you could've done. The UGC are the ones doing all this." She said softly, yet with determination.
"I know, but... it all happened so fast. And now, I'm never going to see him again... no one who has a loved one sent to Urinetown ever does."
Little Sally leaned on him slightly. "It'll be okay, Bobby. If I can survive without a papa, so can you."
"But, Sally, you didn't know yours like I did mine!" He protested at her, slightly raising his voice. Sally shrunk a little and blinked at him with wide eyes.
"No, no, I'm sorry... I-I didn't mean it that way..." Bobby apologized after realizing the implications of what he just said.
"It's just, well, he was my Pa... and I loved him. Even if he wasn't perfect, he was one of the few things I had." He said, looking off into the distance.
"Maybe if I somehow opened my eyes earlier, and done this sooner, he'd still be here. Y'know... I wonder if he'd be proud of me right now, even though I was too late to save him..." Sally could hear a crack in Bobby's voice as his eyes began to well up.
Little Sally paused and looked at Bobby. She'd never seen him so... distraught over something like this before. She'd seen him cry before, yes, Bobby was one of the kinds of people who wore his heart on his sleeve, but he was always quick to get up after a kind word or two. In this type of situation thought, she wasn't sure that's be enough...
She thought about Joseph "Old Man" Strong. She'd never known him personally, but from what she'd seen, he was an odd, eccentric man, yet people seemed to mostly like him. Whenever "Old Ma" Strong came around, he was always with her. She remembered his trip to Urinetown like it was yesterday... which it was. His final words to Bobby were "tell your mother I love her."
With that, and how distraught Bobby seemed to be over losing him, he seemed like a good husband and father. She could understand why his trip to Urinetown would bring Bobby such sadness.
"I'm sorry, Bobby..." Sally whispered, hugging his arm. Bobby sniffled, and tears began to drip down his face.
"Bobby?"
Bobby and Sally looked up to see Sue and Josephine standing there. Sally also looked to see Becky, Harry, Tom, Billy, and Robby looking over from where they were painting their signs, listening in.
"Bobby, what's the matter?" Josephine asked.
"He's thinking about his Pa." Sally said before Bobby could.
"Ohh... Oh, Bobby..." Josephine said with a great amount of sadness. She sat next to her son and tried to wipe away his tears.
"I miss him too... it's not your fault, sweetheart." Bobby seemed to crumble even more at his mother's gentle words. Josephine wrapped her arms around him. Bobby clung to her in return, weeping quietly into her shoulder.
"I know... I know..." She whispered, rubbing his back as a tear ran down her cheek.
After a few moments, Bobby let go slowly and looked up at his mother.
"Here, Bobby." Sue said, taking a handkerchief out of her apron pocket and offering it to him.
"Thank you." He said, wiping his eyes and nose with it. Sue Sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You'll be okay, Bobby. We're here for you." She reassured him.
"Yeah! We'll be your family!" Little Sally said, gesturing to everyone. Everyone nodded and gave some word of affirmation.
"Really?" Bobby asked.
"Of course," Sue said, "We're all on this together after all."
"And if you really want..." Sally said, putting her bear on her head like a hat and holding one of her pigtails in front of her face like a mustache, "I'll be your new Pa!" She declared before doing her best old man impression.
"Heya, Sonny-Boy! It's me, your ol' Pa! I'm real proud of ya, son! Ho, ho, hoo!"
Sue sucked in a breath. She knew that little Sally meant well and was only trying to cheer Bobby up, but she worried that she might've come off as insensitive.
However, before she could say anything, Bobby suddenly burst out laughing.
Sue let out a sigh of relief as she looked down to see Sally with a huge, proud grin on her face.
Bobby's uproarious laughter was quickly cut off as he felt a pair of little arms wrap around his waist.
"We're all proud of you, Bobby." Little Sally said, muffled into his shirt.
Bobby immediately felt the lump in his throat return before hugging Sally back.
"Thank you..." He choked into her shoulder.
All of a sudden, Bobby felt two more pairs of arms wrap around him. And then...
"Get in here!"
"There we go..."
"Here now..."
"Coming in HOT!"
"Hey! Save some room for me!"
"Me too!!"
Bobby peeked up to see that not only had Josephine and Sue joined in, Harry, Becky, Tom, Robby, and Billy had as well.
"What's this??" Bobby asked, eyes wide.
"She's right, Bobby." Josephine said. "We're all very proud of you. And I know that... he would be too."
Bobby broke. He let out a sob. The poor boy's heart was filled to bursting with love for all these people, this family who'd always been there to support each other during these hard times.
"Thank you! Thank you!!" He wept as his arms scrambled, trying to hug everyone at once.
Everyone stayed like that for a while. One big, happy pile of love. Their signs could wait for now. All they needed in that moment was each other.
Bobby felt like he could do anything. He was going to be okay. His family was right there with him.