Hey all, DLW here with an exciting new story for the holiday ('m a few days late though). So if you're celebrating Independence Day in some fashion (Have celebrated), you'll definitely enjoy this short story of sorts. As a general warning, this will get a bit... crazy near the end. Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Alpha and Omega. Except for the O/C's.

Stars in the Sky on the 4th of July!

An A&O 4th of July special!

:Event Pyrizon:

It was a calm and pleasant afternoon in Jasper Park. Just like every normal day, the resident wolves of the parks United pack went about their lives of keeping the peace and maintaining their way of life.

Unlike every other day, however, this day was very special to a few who knew of its significance. For this day was a day recognized for freedom.

Two wolves in particular knew nothing of the weight that this day carried, for they were content with what they had planned for the afternoon. But neither could fathom how that would change as the day drew on.

"Looks like it's just me and you Lilly." Garth said with a smile, carefully checking the area and pacing towards a large rock ahead.

Both he and Lilly were walking side by side heading closer to their favorite spot on the howling rock. Though to many it was just any other place to sit and enjoy the occasion, Garth held this spot of a higher value as it was where he had first howled with Lilly after they became mates.

Lilly, walking and humming idly to herself, grew bright eyed at the spectacle. She had wanted to spend more time with her mate ever since the packs had come together, but hadn't had the chance to because of their separate schedules.

As they neared the spot, Garth walked a little faster to ensure that their space wouldn't be taken by any passerby's. At this point he couldn't afford to have anyone take away the only free time he had to spend with Lilly.

"You said you wanted to stargaze, right?" Garth called back toward Lilly, having finally arrived and taking his seat.

"Of course." Lilly said gleefully.

All she could do was smile as she watched on. With her mate acknowledging what she had wanted, she couldn't help but walk a little faster.

The view before her was a grand sight indeed. Bathed in the afternoon sun, their nestled spot would be the perfect place for waiting for the stars to appear in the sky. After all, it's what Lilly wanted to do ever since Garth had a night off from Alpha duty.

As Lilly reached him and sat by his side, she made a mental note to be thankful for the series of events that led to her being able to have even a day to enjoy her simple freedoms. Despite that series of events being both recent, and unfathomably odd, she was thankful that everything turned out okay.*

While Lilly thought deeper about how everything turned out alright, she unknowingly rested her head against Garth's shoulder. It was one of the things she loved about having him as a mate, that he was always there for her.

Garth, seeing Lilly lost in her thoughts, could only return the gesture. It was something that he had come to enjoy about Lilly, that she was always by his side.

Though they knew it would be several hours until even the faintest hint of a star appeared, they would enjoy the time they had now with each other, and there's not a thing that either of them would change about that.

There would be nothing to interrupt their casual evening of watching the stars, there was-

"Sir!" They heard a familiar voice call towards them from down the path they had just come from, so much for their evening.

Startled a little and jumping at the sudden intrusion of their time alone, Lilly and Garth turned to face where the voice came from.

Standing tall and eyeing both from the zenith of the path with a tired expression was a deep tan colored male wolf. From his appearance, he seemed to have been awake for several days straight.

Lilly, being the first to seem to notice his state, stood up and began to approach him. She was worried about her friend and personal beta.

"Are you alright Vincent?" She asked cautiously, she didn't know what to make of his somber tone.

Hearing his superior, Vincent blinked a few times as if to adjust his eyes and shake off any signs of exhaustion. It didn't work well as his he felt his eyes becoming heavy.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Vincent yawned tiredly and looked over his shoulder "But we have a problem."

As soon as Garth heard the word 'problem' and seeing Vincent here, he put two and two together and sighed.

"Oh what now?" Garth said, taking a paw and placing it on his muzzle in frustration.

Whether he did so from being interrupted from his time with Lilly, or because he knew the weight of the word 'problem' in association to this wolf in particular, even he didn't know.

"Lilly, Red Guy!" Came yet another voice from near the last one, the cheerful and jubilant voice that Garth dreaded and then he knew his time was gone.

"It's Garth, Garth!" Garth shouted, removing his paw from his muzzle and now curling it in a futile attempt to choke the life out of whatever air he could hold.

"Garth?" Lilly shot her eyes over to him, worried that he may cause more harm than good in the situation as he could only guess as to what was to come next.

"Sorry," Garth replied, taking a deep breath to calm himself as he looked at Vincent with astonishment "It's just that I keep telling him my name and he only usually gets a few letters right."

"I know," Lilly acknowledged with a smile "He called you Bartholomew last time."

Just as Lilly was finished calming Garth down, the originator of the voice came happily strolling into view. A white coated and bright eyed wolf padded past Vincent and stood next to Lilly.

"Lilly, can I have a cookie?" The wolf asked, blissfully unaware of Garth's anger and Vincent's insomnia.

The wolf patiently awaited his answer by fervently wagging his tail and anxiously clicking his claws against the hard ground.

"I don't have anymore," Lilly shook her head lightly and weakly smiled "Sorry Tourie."

Upon hearing this, Tourie's demeanor suddenly dropped as he went from the most cheerful wolf of all time, to the last of their dying race and being fed nothing more than a mix of air and dried dirt for the rest of his life.

Garth, however, felt a little better seeing that Tourie didn't get what he wanted this time. But he still didn't know why the brothers were here this time.

"What is it this time?" Garth asked with a sigh, mentally going over anything that he may have missed in the course of his one free day. There was literally nothing that he could think of as to why he was so rudely interrupted.

Barely able to keep his eyes open, and quickly losing the battle against staying awake, Vincent weakly looked up and winced when a greater portion of sunlight hit his eyes sharply.

Seeing no need to be fully awake, he shielded his eyes with his forepaw.

"Well, your father requested you to see him after his..." Vincent said, then turned around to address the situation further with his eyes falling on his brother "...Little run in with his back problem."

Garth mentally slapped himself when he heard this. He had completely forgotten about that one little detail, one that nearly cost the packs greatly.

Feeling his anger rise, Garth slowly traced his eyes from Vincent to Tourie who was now busying himself by chasing his tail around in a circle.

Seeing his brother in such a state, Vincent didn't know what to do but scold him for his actions.

"Tourie, I hope you're happy with what you did to Tony." He said with a yawn, he knew he wouldn't win this sleep battle for long.

As Tourie heard his name called, he momentarily stopped chasing his tail to see what the others were talking about. He soon remembered the other name that was called as the trio of wolves stared at him with looks of bewilderment and curiosity.

Thinking back to what it was, Tourie's face lit with a bright smile.

"I helped Mr. Tony get better." Tourie shouted, now facing a more suitable target in which to chase, but the first thing he saw was the tip of Lilly's ear.

"You sure did." Garth said sarcastically, he still couldn't understand Tourie's logic when it came to 'helping' someone get better.

"What does he need?" Garth added, watching the small scene of one giggling Lilly being chased by a crazed Tourie in a circle around the much less enthusiastic Vincent.

Had he not been used to the scene, and was more worried about Lilly's safety, he would have put a stop to the maddened wolf's antics long ago.

"He wants to see you as he's almost out of recovery." Vincent replied half heartedly, he was tired, what could you expect.

Garth sighed in frustration, it was his only time off for the next few days, possibly weeks even to just relax and enjoy his days on the Earth.

"Well go on Garth." Lilly said, narrowly avoiding a hopeful snap from Tourie as she rounded Vincent for the umpteenth time.

Garth couldn't help but laugh at times when events such as this when Lilly was enjoying herself as well. Though she is still his mate, he had known her to be a cheerful and playful Omega.

"Are you sure you're okay with him?" Garth asked, still unsure if she was okay with his sudden absence on their planned night out.

As Garth spoke, Lilly suddenly came to a halt, but not before ensuring that she wasn't being chased any longer by raising her paw in a 'stop' motion at Tourie. And much to Garth's surprise, like a child being told when 'playtime' is over, Tourie immediately froze.

Having caught his attention, and not wanting to keep Garth waiting any longer, Lilly continued to speak.

"Don't worry, I watch him all the time when mom's not around," Lilly replied, tilting her snout towards the now frozen wolf in question, "Besides, your dad needs you right now, especially after what happened."

With a sense of urgency for his father, and his want to return to his mate and their stargazing, Garth stood and walked toward Vincent.

"We'll be back." He said somberly. Had nobody known of Garth and his family, they could believe that Vincent and he looked about the same, very tired brothers.

Finally seeing progress with his leader, Vincent turned to walk with him. He wanted this fiasco over and done with, he could barely see past his eyelids now.

"Tourie, behave while we're gone." Vincent said with as much authority as he could muster given his current condition. Though he knew subconsciously that his words carried no weight, he needed to tell himself that he at least tried.

"Okie dokie," Tourie smiled and waved at them "Bye Vincie, bye Ollie."

Though his voice carried to the two wolves walking away, he heard only one of them respond.

"For the last time, it's Garth, GARTH!" One of the two shouted.

Unaware of anything that was truly said to him, Tourie instead thought of what to do for fun now.

Now with the other two out of sight and apparently out of mind, or lack thereof, Tourie sought the only form of entertainment he could think of.

"Cheza, I'm bored." Tourie whined, happily and anxiously awaiting a response.**

But none came soon enough for the white, whimsical and witless wolf, for he was too bored to be bothered by no answer.

"Cheza?" Tourie asked once more, turning around to see his friend weakly gaze across the horizon for whatever reason.

Though he had little sense to begin with, he couldn't help but question the mind of the somber set Lilly. He wasn't heartless, just crazy.

"What's wrong?" Tourie asked with a cheerful smile and all the carelessness in the world as he walked closer to one of the few that could bear to have him around.

Lilly heard his voice, but paid little attention. Her mind and heart were set on being with Garth the whole time, she could barely stand to think of anything else.

"Well, I was supposed to be star-gazing with Garth." She said verbatim of what her heart told her.

She didn't know whether or not Tourie understood what she was saying, but it was better than not saying anything and having her hopes fade away.

Curious as to what he was being told, Tourie looked up to the vast empty-blue hued sky, and sure enough, not a single star twinkled.

"What happened to the sparkles in the sky?" Tourie asked innocently, as if he had never heard of such a thing as a star in his life.

Lilly didn't know what to think as she looked up, but soon caught on to what was being asked of her.

"They haven't come out yet because it's too early," She said quietly, thinking further and further about why she was even out here to begin with "And to think we've planned this time off for days."

With something resembling a pout, and letting her bangs fall carelessly over he eye again, Lilly turned away. She couldn't bear the sight of seeing the stars without Garth, and now she didn't know if a single one would show.

In fact, she was sure that they wouldn't appear now, she had only guessed that they may show at all. She only had hope that there would be one night of this week that they would shine their light upon the valley, but it may not be so tonight.

Now further into her despair of placing her faith on a whim, Lilly's ears fell as did her heart. She really wanted to see the stars, if she could only-

"I'll help you get the stars back." Tourie shouted exuberantly, and began to walk off leaving Lilly in a stupor from the shock of his tone and general confusion as to how he would do such a thing.

To say that such an idea is ridiculous would be a vast understatement. Let's just be completely honest readers, you know this guy's insane already, if you had any doubts, well, I dare you to read more.

Despite hearing the voice of Tourie ringing in her ears, and being disoriented by the sudden turn of events, Lilly shook herself to hear his idea clearly.

She remembered that he said that he would help get the stars back, but it didn't make sense.

Realizing what he said, Lilly turned to find him and hopefully talk any sense in his sporadic mind.

"Uh, Tourie, how do you expect to-" Lilly questioned as she turned around to find him.

By the time she had turned around, Tourie was out of sight. Well, ground sight at least.

As Lilly scanned the area to see where her friend may have gone, her eye caught the odd form of a white figure climbing a rather tall evergreen tree.

Amazed once more at how quick this wolf was to any idea, Lilly could only watch as he sat dangerously upon a high hanging branch that loomed over the pathway to the howling rock.

"There's one, all I gotta do is reach it." Tourie explained, perched at the base of a branch and using his free paw to reach out to the sky in any attempt to grab at the would-be stars.

Lilly didn't know what to think, let alone what to say. It was amusing to say the least, but it was also dangerous for any untrained wolf to simply climb to dangerous heights.

"Tourie?" Lilly called out to him in concern for his safety, and walked closer to the tree.

But the wolf headed her no mind, he kept reaching for something that simply wasn't there.

"Okay, now all I need to do is get a few." Tourie said, more so to himself as Lilly was now simply out of sight and out of mind.

Further and further he inched away from anything relatively safe and teetered on the edge of falling to an uncertain fate, but those stars would be his that's for sure.

"Tourie?" Lilly spoke up a little more, now fearing that it may be too late and that the only stars that would be seen are those falling from the heavens into the lowly earth.

But then the unexpected happened, the maddened wolf stopped and looked towards his concerned friend.

"Huh?" Tourie asked, lightly swaying on the last little bit of a branch that served as life support.

Lilly saw this as the only time that she could use to speak some sense into him, possibly the only sense he had in his life. So she pointed at the sky.

"That's the sun." She said vehemently. She didn't have time, or the energy, to explain what the sun was at all. But she couldn't let Tourie fall.

Now it was Tourie's turn to have a look of bewilderment and astonishment, despite his dangerous sitting position.

He looked high into the sky and beheld the sun, that bright glowing orb held in the sky that he couldn't explain in any way he tried.

"It's not a star?" He asked, blinking once or twice, but still focusing on the brilliant sphere.

The moment he said this, Lilly remembered that the sun was in fact a star itself. This being said, she couldn't help but nervously smile as there was at least one star out that she could see.

While Lilly thought more about this, a certain white wolf was shallow in thought as well.

Tourie knew that the stars were always there as far as he could vaguely remember, but as to where they were now, he hadn't the faintest clue.

"They must be hiding." He concluded, still dangerously balancing at the edge of the branch. And then and there, he knew exactly what he needed to do.

"Starries, where are you!" He shouted as loudly as he could while raising his paw over his brow to further the range of his gaze across the valley.

To him, it was a great idea. The stars were just hiding, and he would be the one to find them for his friend no matter what.

Lilly snapped back to reality after having her moment of self realization at her mistake. But now was not the time for her to stop and think, she had to act quickly to save a life.

"Tourie, I don't know it's okay to-"

"You can't hide forever!" Tourie yelled once more, cutting off Lilly's life saving pep talk. He didn't have time to waste, the stars would appear at any moment now, he could almost see-

"Aren't you afraid of heights?" Lilly asked innocently, barely able to contain her fear of what may happen with a single slip up.

Now, two things happened all at once.

The first of which were that the two white wolves of Jasper's United pack were now on an even plane of understanding, they both understood the danger associated with being far off the ground.

The second thing that happened was-

"AAAAAA!"

Well, that was a given.

Tourie had just realized where he was and what kind of mess he had gotten himself into (possibly) and only now did he find it best to resort to the basics of survival instinct, staying relatively alive.

Well, in his case, those instincts were subverted into simply clinging for dear life onto the branch, and screaming at the top of his lungs just to be herd.

As the cry for help ensued, Lilly thought of what to do. She wouldn't let their friendship end this way, no matter how senselessly crazy he was.

Lilly walked to the base of the tree and looked up, she had to console the helpless wolf. And with a flustered sigh, she began.

"Tourie, just calm down, we'll-"

"NO! I don't wanna fall, I don't wanna I don't wanna!" He yelled, shaking the branch further to emphasize the exact opposite of what he had said.

Regardless of his gesture, Lilly had to console him.

"You won't-"

"NOOOOOO!" Tourie yelled at the top of his lungs and swayed from side to side while still retaining his iron grip on the tree branch.

Had he not been so busy voicing his opinion of what he didn't want to do, he would have heard the loud snap of the of the branch he so protested upon.

In an instant his howl in defiance of falling resembled the Doppler effect as he plummeted to the ground with none other than Lilly to watch this tragic scene.

The horrible moment came and went in seemingly an instant, and the scream of terror was silenced and replaced with a gasp for air.

For at the bottom of the tree, now stunned by the sudden crash of her friend onto her unaware form, was none other than Lilly. Tourie had thankfully, and accidentally landed on her.

It was a moment before Lilly could once more feel her limbs in any direction, and another moment still before she felt Tourie finally roll or step away.

Feeling both pained, and lighter than she could remember, Lilly slowly rose to her paws. There were very few times in her life where she ever had the joy of rescuing someone by having them land on her, and she was sure that this would be it for a while.

"Are you okay?" She heard Tourie's voice call towards her in concern.

Thought she was light headed and still feeling the wind knocked out of her, she didn't want anyone to worry about her.

"I'm fine," Lilly said with a weak smile, now standing on all fours and seeing if she had any serious bruises, she really didn't like those at all "I don't think anything's broken."

She turned to further talk to Tourie and tell him that she was not only okay, but thankful that he was alright as well.

As she turned to speak, she caught sight of a very heart breaking scene, something that she would have never hoped to see in her life.

"Branchy!" The white wolf said in a tone far more concerned than he appeared to let on.

Just before him lay the simple pine branch that once held him high in the canopy of the tree. It had snapped in two and was now motionless before its assailant.

"It won't move." Tourie stated, poking the stick with his paw, and ensuring that his theory was correct. His new found branch friend was gone.

Lilly looked on, blinking in amazement at what had just happened before her very eyes. A branch had broken, and a wolf was mourning over it.

But be it out of respect, or maybe even general longing for sanity, Lilly remained silent, she needed a moment to rest her weary mind.

As a moment passed, she heard light and uneven footsteps padding away from her.

"Don't worry Lilly." Tourie called out, and walked away with determination clear on his muzzle.

"Worry about what?" Lilly asked, breaking away from her silence and completely confused as she generally was concerning this one wolf.

He walked down the path with a bright and calming smile "We'll avenge branchy, and those stars back somehow."

I told you, he's crazy...

* This will be explained sooner or later, or sooner or later.

**To the first person who gets this reference...

Anywho, a few things to announce.

I'll have the next parts out soon, there should be five in total.

For those of you who love a great story, check out this one by Gordon Pasha, A Confluence of Hearts , just type it in after the .net in fanfiction (s/9185100/1/A-Confluence-of-Hearts)

"A&O A Second Look" Is out, check it out on my profile or here along with "Alpha and Omega: The Series". Type it in after the .net in fanfiction (/topic/118805/74395964/1/Things-missed-in-A-O).

Also, for anyone interested, there's an A&O Fanfic recommendation page on tvtropes.

If you liked this story and have time please post a review. If you want to keep up with the story fav or follow. Questions, comments, concerns, feel free to pass me a P.M... More to come soon. Till Next Time DLW.