Finally, the last chapter of this story. That took about a month and a half longer than I had expected, so I learned that I'm a slow loser. XD Anyways! I want to thank everyone for reading this whole thing. My awesome reviewers of this story are ripitupgenki, Butterflygirl1234, archsage328, Dark Fox Tailz, and Mandy. Thanks again for your wonderful reviews and messages! Without you guys' feedback, I wouldn't have made it this far! I got a review from "unknown", and even though I don't know who you are I really appreciate your feedback as well! Also thank you Dark Fox Tailz for all of your hilarious suggestions and archsage328 for your Pixie idea! ^_^ This chapter will have some comedy mainly provided by Dark Fox Tailz, but this chapter will kind of be on the more serious side as well (I had to add some Genki/Holly moments, of course!).

This is set sometime between Grey Wolf's defeat and Naga's defeat.

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Monster Rancher or the characters. I'm just a huge fan. Tecmo owns everything. I just own the plot.

For Granted

Chapter 8. What Comes Around…

A small town surrounded by the peaceful closure of forest was active and flourishing. People walked along side Dinos who were pulling carts of wheat while other villagers carried large buckets of water from the central well. Children ran through the town as they played with their monsters and the relaxing sound of the church bells rang through the air. The peaceful atmosphere was quickly disrupted, however, when the band of tired rebels destroyed the moment. The villagers watched the group of strangers march through their town with curiosity and fear.

"Look! Do you think they're Baddies?"

"I don't see any crests, but you never know!"

Genki sweated as he watched the townsfolk observe them like lab animals. They were tired, dirty, and probably looked like savages to these people. "Well, this is uncomfortable…"

Tiger growled before he ran in front of the villagers before snarling at the innocent people. "You listen here, humans. We need a doctor, now!"

"Tiger! Don't be like that or they'll really think we're Moo's men!" Suezo scowled as they watched the villagers pathetically cowering in front of the wolf monster.

"Yeah, chi! Holly needs help!"

"We don't want… to scare anyone… Our friend is… very sick… and we need… help." Golem explained gently to the frightened people as Tiger frowned from being over looked.

"A d-doctor? We h-have one! Just don't hurt us!" One man stuttered and put his hands over his head as the rebels sweated.

"Next time, Tiger, I'll do the talking." Hare huffed.

"Ah, shut up, bunny!"

The hospital was a small brick building that was at the edge of the town. Although it was a small facility, it was far better then what the rebels could offer Holly for treatment. When the rebels first arrived at the hospital, Holly was immediately placed on a stretcher and wheeled away to one of the few rooms. Suezo had insisted he go in with her, but he had been denied his request. The rest of the group, except for Golem who was too large to fit in the building, was now left to wait in a quaint waiting room. Genki sighed as he found himself looking up at the ceiling from boredom before he looked over to see Mocchi sleeping next to him. He never really went to hospitals, but he did go for yearly checkups and he always hated the smell. There was something about it that made his skin crawl.

"I wonder how much longer…?" Genki asked to no one in particular.

"Considering her state, she'll probably have to spend a day or two here to monitor her condition. We'll have to check in to one of the local inns." Hare stated as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Several hours past as the rebels stayed loyally in the waiting room before one of the doctors emerged from Holly's room. All at once everyone ran up to the man as they bombarded him with questions about the ill girl. The doctor sweated as he caught Tiger glaring at him, so he quickly responded to the rebels.

"Well, um, she should be okay after some good nights of rest. We gave her some medication that she'll have to stay on for a few weeks, but she should be fine."

"Can we see her?" Genki asked quickly as he looked up hopefully at the man.

"Well, I don't know since she's sleeping and-" The doctor was cut off by an extremely cold glare from Tiger as he revealed his fangs and made a motion like he was biting into someone's neck. "-I think it'll be just fine!" The doctor sweated as he finished.

"Great! Let's go!" Genki exclaimed as him and Suezo were the first to bolt into Holly's room. The room was small, but cozy and in the middle was a single hospital bed. Inside the bed was their sick companion who was starting to regain some of the color in her face. Her breathing was low as the blankets on top of her rose and fell in rhythm with her. Genki cringed as he noticed several I.V's connected to each of Holly's arms and he felt himself shudder slightly from the sight.

"...she's looking a little better." Hare whispered as Genki nodded in agreement.

"Holly's okay, chi?" Mocchi asked with concern as Genki smiled and patted his head. He didn't know a lot about illnesses or wounds, but he did know Holly was in good hands.

"Yeah, Mocchi. Holly's gonna be just fine." The young boy whispered back as Mocchi smiled in relief. Genki walked up to Holly's bedside as he brushed away a few stray hairs from the ill girl's face before taking her hand in his own. 'I really hope she's okay…'

Tiger sat down near the end of the bed as he felt a great flow of relief go through him. He would never tell the rebels, but he had truly been scared for Holly's life. What if Pixie hadn't come to help them out? 'Because I didn't look North, I could have gotten Holly killed.' The wolf monster thought bitterly.

"Tiger, you look like a pound puppy! What's eating you?" Hare asked with a sly grin as Tiger blushed from embarrassment.

"Shut up, rabbit! We're in a hospital for Phoenix's sake!" Tiger snarled, but this only made Hare grin further.

"Aww! Tee hee! I didn't think you cared about sick people, Tiger! That's so sweet!"

"Be quiet, you gas bag!"

"Gas bag? Are you referring to my wonderful Gas attack?" Hare asked with a grin.

"Wonderful? WONDERFUL? That has to be the worst attack I've ever seen in my life! "

"Like your Blizzard attack is any better!"

"It is! Your Gas attack move is even more useless than Suezo's Teleport attack!" Tiger snarled.

"…Hey!" Suezo huffed as he was mentioned and dragged into the fight.

"You guys! We're in a hospital and you're gonna wake up Holly!" Genki said in a pleading tone as he watched Tiger and Hare glaring at each other before looking down at Holly. From the loud voices, Holly flinched in her sleep and Genki was worried she may move too much and disturb the I.V's in each of her arms. How they got into the subject of Hare's Gas attack and Tiger's Blizzard attack was beyond him, but now the subjects wouldn't just drop.

"Hmph. If my Gas attack is so useless, why did you lose to it?"

"Shut up! You tricked me, that's why! You're nothing but a crook!"

"You guys! Holly's sleeping, chi!" Mocchi, following Genki's suit, said pleadingly.

Golem, who was outside, could hear the argument even through the closed window. The large rock monster only shook his head as he let out a sigh. He knew something this simple wouldn't go smoothly for the group. He slowly peered through the window to see Tiger and Hare glaring at each other and he felt himself sweat. 'Those two… never change…'

Suezo jumped between the two monsters as he glared at both of them. "Stop it! Holly's resting and I won't have you two chowder heads waking her up!" Although he spoke loud enough, both Hare and Tiger ignored the eyeball monster, who was currently the only obstacle blocking them from strangling each other.

"Well then, Tiger, if you think my attack is so weak, why not try it firsthand again?"

"And why don't you try one of my Blizzard attacks on for size?"

Before anyone could react, Hare and Tiger let out their Gas/Blizzard attacks aimed toward each other, though it went straight into Suezo first. The eyeball monster gagged and trembled as the horrific smell and the ice cold air filled all of his senses. Before he could move away, the eyeball monster slumped to the floor in a dazed heap from the attack. The smell and chill filled the entire room as the rebels scurried around while yelling, gagging, and freezing.

"SOMEONE OPEN THE WINDOW!"

Genki was the first one to find the window, and he quickly pushed it up to let out the Gas and Blizzard attacks. Golem, who had been near the window, reeled back in disgust and horror as the smell and icy air leaked out of the hospital room. He was glad he was too big to fit in the hospital now.

"HARE, YOU'RE GONNA PAY!"

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO ASKED FOR IT!"

Tiger and Hare began to throw punches and attacks at each other while Genki and Mocchi tried to fan out the remaining Gas and Blizzard attacks from the room. Suezo, who was still dazed on the hospital floor, only lay there twitching slightly. Everyone stopped in their tracks, though, when a loud cough was heard.

"…Holly?"

Holly looked like she was going to vomit at any moment from the smell and she shivered violently from the cold air as she gagged slightly and let out another strained cough. The ill girl tried her best to lift her arms to cover her face from the horrid smell, but her weak state of body and the strain from the I.V's made it impossible. Genki ran to the brunette's side first as he used the end of his shirt to cover her face as gently as possible. The girl looked up at him with feverish, but thankful eyes as Genki found himself staring down at the wielder of the Magic Stone. He never knew how much he'd truly miss seeing Holly's eyes until she had fallen this sick. It took several more minutes of fanning out the two attacks before the air was clean enough to breathe regularly. With a relieved sigh, Genki carefully removed the cloth from Holly's face as she looked around with a confused look on her face.

"…Holly? Are you okay?" Genki asked softly, though he was cut off from more arguing.

"Yeah! Way to go, Hare! You could have suffocated Holly!" Tiger barked as Hare glowered.

"Well, you could have made Holly even sicker with your Blizzard attack!"

"It's your fault for insulting my attack! This wouldn't have happened had you kept your mouth shut!" Tiger and Hare yelled at the same time.

"ENOUGH, YOU GUYS!" Genki shouted, and the rebels quickly fell into an awkward silence. Holly looked up at Genki as a tired smile fell on her face and she gently cleared her throat.

"…Genki…" Holly whispered hoarsely, and the young boy immediately bolted to her side, followed by a still dazed Suezo who hopped over to the sick girl's other side.

"Holly! Thank the Phoenix you're awake!" Suezo said with a relieved grin as he nuzzled her side gently with his head. Holly smiled as she patted his head lightly and let out a small giggle.

"…you seem glad to see me." Holly said with a tired smile as she watched all of the rebels perk up.

"You have no idea, Holly." Tiger grumbled as Hare stuck his tongue out at him. "Really, you have no idea."

"…what happened to your eye?" Holly asked with a frown as she looked at Tiger and Hare. Tiger's left eye was slightly swollen with a purple colored bruise around it, as was Hare's right eye from their fight in the sleeping bag.

"Uh, we had a run in with some Baddies, but it's all good!" Hare piped up as Tiger nodded in agreement, though Holly looked at them skeptically. She had a feeling that was a lie, but she would leave it at that for now.

"How are you feeling?" Genki asked the ill girl with concern as he slowly held her hand in his own again, only this time Holly responded back by blushing and smiling weakly before giving his hand a soft squeeze.

"I feel okay… just a little tired and my arms hurt." The young girl replied as she physically cringed when her eyes fell on the I.V's in each of her arms. "…where are we?"

"Truthfully, we don't really know. We didn't stop and ask what town we came into. We were too busy trying to find a doctor." Hare replied with a smile, relieved to see Holly awake. "…and speaking of this town, we need to head off and rent some rooms at the inn before it gets any later."

"Good point. We don't want to end up sleeping on the streets." Tiger huffed. "And we need to find a place for Golem to stay as well. Let's get moving."

"We'll see you in the morning, chi!" Mocchi chirped as Holly gave the baby monster a tired smile in response.

"Keep these guys out of trouble for me, will you?" The ill brunette replied jokingly as the other rebels sweated slightly.

"I will, chi!"

"Get some rest okay? And make sure to drink a lot of fluids and to eat something." Suezo stated protectively. "And if any doctors give you trouble, you just let me know and we'll set things straight."

Holly giggled as she stroked Suezo's head lovingly with the hand Genki wasn't holding. "I promise, Suezo. You'll be the first to know." She replied with a tired, yet thankful smile.

The rebels slowly began to leave the hospital room one by one before only Genki remained. He was still in the same spot he was in when he first arrived in Holly's hospital room, and his hand was still laced with her's. The young boy looked at Holly with puzzlement, and it was a look Holly returned.

"…is something wrong?" The sick girl asked with concern as Genki looked down at the floor before his gaze fell back onto her.

"…why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"What do you mean?"

Fear ripped into Holly's mind as she felt herself subconsciously tighten her grip on Genki's hand. Had they found out her secret? Did they know about her relation to Moo? The young girl felt a lump rise in her throat as she tried to break her gaze with Genki, but she couldn't find it in herself to turn away.

"Why didn't you tell us you weren't feeling good?" Genki asked, and Holly felt relief go through her entire body as she released the tension in her grip. The subject of Moo would be for another day, but she was relieved it wasn't coming up now.

"…I'm sorry." Holly apologized with a frown as her tired gaze fell onto the hospital sheets that covered her body.

"Huh? Sorry for what?"

"…for slowing everyone down again. First it was the Black Worm poison and then it was when I hurt my ankle. I keep holding the group back." The ill brunette said as her sad gaze fell onto Genki's shocked face.

"Don't be sorry for stuff like that! Heck, you're the one that keeps us on track!" Genki exclaimed as he nodded his head. "Is that why you didn't tell us you weren't feeling good? Because you didn't want to slow us down?"

Holly numbly nodded her head in response while Genki smiled softly. As always, Holly had been thinking about the good of the group and not her own well being. It was something that just came naturally to her.

"Don't worry, Holly. You never slow this group down." The young boy said with a grin. "Don't hide it when you're sick next time, okay? I don't want to lose you."

Holly flushed three shades of red at Genki's last comment, and the boy suddenly realized what he had said as he quickly rose from his seat, causing the two to lose their moment of holding hands. "I…I s-should get going. I'll see y-you tomorrow! Bye!" Genki stuttered as he quickly fled from the room before Holly could react, leaving the ill girl alone to weakly whisper her response to herself.

"…sweet dreams."

"Hey! I wanted the bed near the window!"

"I was here first, so get lost!"

The inn was small, but it served its purpose of housing the tired rebels for the time being. Golem couldn't fit, however, and so they had rented out one of the local farmer's barns. Although a little humiliated, Golem didn't complain when he waved his friends a good-bye for the night while the rebels had headed back to the inn. They would be in the inn for a little while because of Holly's illness, so now came the part of who got to sleep where. Normally Holly would be the one to come up with the sleeping arrangements, but without her guidance it was a first come first serve scenario. That didn't mean everyone agreed with it, though.

"You always get the bed near the window!"

"I do not!"

Genki sighed as he watched Tiger and Hare arguing once again. It felt like they hadn't had a peaceful moment since Holly fell ill, and it was starting to get worse. The young boy merely sat in silence on one of the beds as he numbly held onto his trademark orange baseball cap. Guilt had formed inside of him when he ran out on Holly like he had, and suddenly his mind couldn't stop thinking about the past day without Holly there to take care of the group and how difficult it had been. Had Pixie not shown up, they would probably still be fumbling around the woods like idiots.

"…do you remember when Holly would make us tea every time it was raining out so we could warm up when we woke up?"

Genki's out of the blue question caused everyone in the room to suddenly come to a halt as they turned their attention to the young boy. He seemed to be in deep thought as he kept his eyes glued to the hat in his hands. The other rebels gave each other confused glances as they watched Genki clear his throat and look up at the monsters.

"…or how anytime we were sad or feeling down, she'd make an elaborate stew and would let whoever was feeling under the weather try the stew first?" Genki said with a sad smile on his face.

"Man, she makes the best stews." Suezo said with a grin as he leaned up against the headboard of his bed. "I always like it when she has breakfast ready when we wake up. She always gets up early just for us, even when she's tired."

"She's always the peace maker, too. Without her around, we seem to fight each other a lot more." Genki noted, though his comment was more so directed at Hare and Tiger, both of which seemed to take the hint as they mumbled a few incoherent words.

"What about her always cleaning the dishes? For us, what a mess that turned out to be!" Hare said with a laugh as the other rebels sweated, but they quickly began to laugh along with the rabbit monster.

"Yeah! That was really awful, huh?" The only human in the room replied with a grin on his face. "How Holly does all that cleaning on her own is beyond me."

"What about the Magic Stone, chi!"

"Huh? What do you mean, Mocchi?" Genki asked the young monster as Mocchi curled up on the young boy's lap. The sweet cake-like monster looked up at Genki with a smile on his face as he let out a small yawn before cuddling into Genki's chest.

"Without Holly, chi, we never meet!"

The room went silence as they looked around at one another. The baby monster may have been young and oblivious to what the world had in store for them, but he did have an insight to the more simple things that most people didn't see or realize.

"Mocchi's right. Without Holly's power over the Magic Stone, it would be about one in a billion that we ever would have met, and that's just us who come from this world." Hare stated with a nod of his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. "How else would we have been able to meet up with Genki, who's from another world?"

"…you're right. I never looked at it like that." Genki said as he looked around at his companions. It couldn't be just coincidence that he had been able to come to the world of the monsters. Had Holly not obtained the disk on that faithful day, though, would he have still been able to go? The group fell into another moment of silence as they awkwardly sat there; just thinking about everything that had happened in the past day.

"…ya know…" Genki spoke up again as the rebels turned their attention to the young boy. "Holly does all this stuff for us and we never really thank her for it. I don't even remember the last time I thanked her for dinner…"

Tiger frowned as he watched the group become more solemn. What Genki said was true, and it was slightly painful to hear it for themselves. He didn't remember ever thanking the girl for cooking dinner or doing anything of the sort, and he knew he wasn't the only one. Without a word, Tiger got off of the bed near the window and jumped up onto the one in the far corner of the room. The other rebels stared at the wolf monster with surprise that he had given up the bed to Hare, but Tiger merely shrugged before laying down.

"Get some sleep, everyone. We'll visit Holly in the morning." Tiger stated gruffly as he slowly closed his eyes and the other rebels followed his lead without a word. '…someday we'll find a way to thank her for all that she's done and apologize for taking her…

…for granted.'

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Genki pounded annoyingly on the doors of the tiny hospital for several minutes before one of the doctors finally came to their service. At seeing the group of rebels, the man sweated and attempted to close the door, but Genki quickly put his foot in the door before that could happen. With a small 'whoop' of success, the young boy signaled for his comrades that they could enter.

"'Morning, doc!" Genki said as he pushed the door open and entered the building with the other rebels (except for Golem was seated outside of Holly's window). "How's Holly doing?"

"Kid, you and your monsters have to leave! You could have killed our patients here after your little stunt yesterday!" The doctor shouted, causing the rebels to exchange glances. "I should call the local authorities and-"

Before the man could finish his threat, Tiger stepped in front of the man and growled with intimidation. "Listen here, doctor. You either let us see our friend, or you'll find your kitten torn into several different pieces scattered in your front lawn in the morning. Understand?"

"Tiger! Do you want us to be thrown in jail?" Suezo huffed as they watched the doctor cowering.

"Okay! Okay! You can see your friend! Just don't hurt Pumpkin!" The doctor said pleadingly while the rebels just stood there sweating slightly.

"…Pumpkin?" Genki questioned to himself as he held back a laugh.

"…Tiger, you're awful."

"Shut up, Hare!"

The rebels quickly left the room with the doctor because of the awkwardness and they finally made it to Holly's room. With a deep breath, Genki slowly opened the door and entered the room quietly. Inside was the same as last time; clean, small, and lonely. This time, however, Holly was awake. The girl was doing her best to reach out for a glass of water that was placed on a nearby table, but she couldn't seem to reach it. Genki frowned and took it on himself to get the glass for Holly and to end her struggle.

"…Genki? What are you doing here so early…?" Holly asked in confusion.

"Ah, well, we wanted to come see how you were doing." Genki replied with a grin as he handed the ill girl the cup of water and she quickly thanked him before taking a sip of the liquid.

"Before I forget, when we're back on the road again, Hare volunteered to do all the cooking for a week and Tiger agreed to get all the fire wood for you." Suezo said with a smug grin as the two monsters glared at the eyeball monster for bringing up Pixie's punishment.

"…really? That's very sweet of you two." Holly said with a tired smile.

"Oh, ha ha… Don't mention it…" Hare laughed weakly and resisted the urge to pound Suezo's face in right there and then.

"Yeah… anything to help…" Tiger grumbled.

"You know, I had a very strange dream a day or so ago." Holly said with a puzzled look on her face as she blushed from embarrassment. "I dreamt that Pixie showed up and took care of me. Weird, right?"

Genki laughed nervously and patted the ill girl on the arm. "That was a weird dream! I mean, when would Pixie ever come and take care of any of us?" The boy said with a nervous laugh before Hare suddenly pushed him out of the way.

"Hey, Holly? Do you remember any other dreams that you had?" The rabbit monster asked slyly while Holly blushed a few shades of red.

"N-no…"

"Really? Because you called out a certain boy's name at one point, and you looked very happy…" Hare said with a wink as Holly covered her face from embarrassment.

"That's enough, Hare!" Suezo scowled as he roughly pushed the rabbit monster away from Holly. "Anyways… how are you feeling?" The eyeball monster asked with concern.

"I feel okay, thank you." The ill brunette replied with a smile, though the blush on her face was still present. "I'm just happy you guys came to visit me."

"Of course we'd visit you, Holly! We couldn't leave you in this stuffy place by yourself." Genki stated with a hint of disgust. He really didn't like hospitals. 'I don't know Holly can even sleep in here.'

"Holly better now, chi?" Mocchi asked as he crawled up onto the girl's bed gently.

"I feel much better thanks to you guys." Holly said with a tired smile as she patted the young monster's head lovingly. "And hopefully we'll be back on the road soon."

Suddenly, a sneeze broke through the room and startled everyone before they turned to see who it came from. Hare was rubbing his nose slightly before he let out another sneeze.

"…uh, Hare…?"

"Uh, it must be allergies." The rabbit monster said with a frown. Before he could say anything further, a loud cough was also heard from within the room. Everyone turned their attention to Tiger, who let out a cough followed by a sneeze.

"…Tiger, you okay…?"

"I feel fine!" Tiger snapped, but he quickly let out another loud cough and Hare followed his suit. The other rebels stared at the two for a moment before the eyes fell onto Holly.

"Um, Holly…?"

"That's how my sickness started…" Holly trailed of as she watched the two monsters with concern. "How could they have gotten what I have, though? They need to have some kind of close contact to me for it to spread…" The other rebels sweated as they watched their two companions coughing and sneezing before Suezo started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Tiger snarled as Hare nodded his head in agreement.

"Boy, did you two get your just desserts! You wouldn't be sick right now had you two left Holly alone while she was sick!" The eyeball monster said with a malicious laugh. "All that fighting over who slept with her adds up to this! Hahahaha!"

"SHUT UP, SUEZO!"

"NO, YOU SHUT UP, HARE!"

"…slept with me…?" Holly asked quietly as her face got a little pale before she covered her face in embarrassment. What had she missed while she was sick?

"Plus, you and Tiger destroyed Holly's sleeping bag! Oooohh! I said it!"

"SHUT YOUR TRAP!"

"What happened to my sleeping bag…?"

Genki watched Tiger and Hare beginning to feel the full affect of the illness while Mocchi called for the mentally scarred doctor to help the duo out. Suezo showed Holly the remains of her destroyed sleeping bag (she didn't look very pleased) while Golem watched the entire scene with a look of both embarrassment and interest. The young boy found himself smacking his forehead with the palm of his hand as both Tiger and Hare were hoisted onto stretchers and taken away. Genki slowly took a seat near Holly's bedside before he put on a wryly grin.

"Well, here we go again…!"

End

I. FINALLY. FINSIHED! Holy Phoenix! Why'd this take so long? XP This story was just a little fun thing I wanted to write because my other stories seem to be sort of depressing. XD This chapter was WAY longer then I thought it would be. I was thinking about a 1,000 or so words would do the trick, but that didn't happen (it's over 6,000 words XD). Dark Fox Tailz wanted the Gas/Blizzard attack scene and he also helped edit that part. Thanks everyone for reading this whole crazy thing! There was more I wanted to do with this, but I'll save my ideas for other stories. References! In the Japanese version of "Hare's Trick", Tiger loses to Hare because of his Gas attack, not because he got punched. I don't know why they edited that part out. It wasn't bad or anything. I've already mentioned the Black Work poison reference, but in the episode "Undine's Lake" Holly has a hurt ankle. She even complains that she's slowing the group down, but Genki says she isn't (so cute!). As for Holly's kind habits, in the episode "After the Rain", it's raining out so Holly makes everyone tea and in the episode "Suezo's Secret Weapon" Genki is feeling down because he can't get Suezo a special attack. Holly talks with him about the journey, and after she gets through to him she gives him the spoon with stew in it for him to try. A very adorable scene. ^_^ THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL OF YOUR REVIEWS AND FEEDBACK! I LOVE YOU GUYS!

RockyRoadSmith: Signing off! :3