3Bats Chaser Two Season Two Round Thirteen (Prompts: 7. (quote) "Life is life, fight for it." –Mother Teresa, 8. (word) happily, 11. (word) blissfully)
Pairing: Sirius Black X Crookshanks
If You Dare Challenge: 513. A Fools' Hope
One Million Words Competition: 967 words
Just Me
The first time I saw him was when Hermione Granger, my kind and loving owner, was in Year Three.
I didn't used to believe in love at first sight. But when I saw him, that thought was banished from my head—I fell in love.
He was a beautiful black dog, so strong, so loving, and someone who'd been through so much pain already.
He was scarred, I could tell. Yet he was so strong, and so brave. His scars made him even more handsome, and because of his past pains, it gave me an urge to help them. It wasn't pity, no, it wasn't. He would hate it if it was pity. But he knew that it was a sort of sympathy, for I too had gone through much pain and sadness, and was scarred. He was like me.
The other animals told me not to love him, of course.
He was one of the Humanagi—an animal that turned into a human. Humans, on the most part, were not to be trusted. But I trusted my kind owner, and him. From what I could tell, humans weren't that bad, other than the jail keeper that had kept me in the terrible jail they called a cage, as well as the countless humans who had turned down the offer to take me free.
Was that what I was worth? Nothing?
He told me it wasn't. And yes, I was so in love.
I didn't wish for a happily ever after, of course. I just wanted to be around him. He made me happy. He was funny, charming, and kind.
But I was blissfully unaware of the consequences. It was a fool's hope.
He realized that I'd fallen in love with him. He didn't like it. He didn't want to hurt my feelings. So later, he started avoiding me.
He would stay human for longer periods of time.
Sometimes months would pass when I didn't see him. Maybe that was because I was at my kind owner's giant castle, and he didn't visit often.
I didn't know, but I felt lonely.
He was a fabulous, amazing, black dog and I… I was just me.
Even in the prison, where animals like me were kept behind bars and sold, no one wanted me. Not until my kind owner came along.
She picked me right away and boy, were the prison guards glad to finally get rid of me.
He disappeared one day, and I felt my heart tearing apart. My love, my unrequited love… he was gone. The other animals told me he was dead.
I could sense it, of course. Animals like us had a stronger connection with the spirit world than humans do. I felt his presence disappearing from this world.
I was sad. I was so, so, sad. All I did was mope for days and days.
My owner knew something was wrong. She's a smart one, my owner. She can tell. She figured that it was because of him. She knew I had been close with him, that I had helped him try to kill the rat Humanagi who he told me was evil.
She connected the dots.
I wouldn't eat, and at first, she thought it was because I was sick. Then, she realized that I was starving myself because I didn't want to live without him.
Then she whispered to me on one of my worst days: "Life is life, fight for it."
I realized that that was what he would have told me, too.
So I tried my best to live life. To fight for it. I helped her out, for she was the one that had saved me, that had first shown me kindness.
I met another one of the Humanagi one day. She, unlike him, was a cat. Just like me. She was quite old in age, as I could tell, and in her Humanagi form, she would teach my owner and the other students about something that included changing the shapes of things.
I told her about him, and she nodded understandingly.
Who knew there were so many nice humans and Humanagi in the world? My animal friends sure didn't.
I came to trust them over time. I would confide to the nice cat about my worries and how much I missed him. About how I had starved myself because I didn't want to live without him.
She nodded. She understood. She was old, but being old gave her wisdom that she passed down to me.
I would cuddle with my owner, and she would stroke me, telling me about all her worries, about how her best friend Ron was being an arsehole and she wasn't sure if she like him or not and her feelings were very confusing. About how her other best friend, Harry, wasn't helping her at all, instead, helping Ron.
To that, I would hiss, for who dared to insult and hurt my owner?
I didn't like Ron anyway, the first time you saw him.
Later they would end up together, but I would never trust him, not once.
And then the time came when I felt my bones creaking, and I grew even lazier than most cats were.
I knew it was coming. Death.
I fought it desperately, for I clung on to the words that my owner had said, and that I imagined him saying.
"Life is life, fight for it."
But when it finally came, I went without struggle.
I knew he would be on the other side, waiting for me.
And maybe, just maybe… it was a fool's hope… but… maybe he'd like me. Maybe he'd like me because I was just me.
I hugged onto that hope as it finally took me.
And I was at peace.