Finally...
That orange, sick excuse of a beast was gone, and so was the evil magic that had ensnared them both. The blue mongoose considered himself lucky that the magic didn't corrupt his mind like it had done on the beast he had just defeated. After all, he made up his mind from the beginning that he was going to use the magic to protect his friends until the darkness was lifted from him and this world.

He also knew that he used this same, vile magic to protect Pepper...
especially Pepper...
especially just now.

In speaking of the gray, white-stripped skunk, he had to make sure that she was alright. The last time he checked (before going completely mad into battle), he had left his cloak with her to stop whatever bleeding she was suffering under - not to mention this cold that was now falling from the sky in the form of soft, white flakes. Now that he thought about it, panic surged through him at the thought of not being able to save Pepper because of wounds he couldn't stop. What was worse, he was worried that he had been in the heat of the battle far too long, and not even the cloak he left her with would be enough to save her from possible frostbite that might have formed on her wounds.

Darting his head around, Sunil realized that Pepper had not moved from the spot he had laid her down at. It was quite irrelevant now, but he had to put her somewhere (outside of the line of fire) so he could cross the line of his morals to kill the orange beast. He was still shaking from the realization what he had just done, but his mind came back to him, and it was telling him to get Pepper and himself out of this lovely wonderland of white.

As pretty as it was, it wasn't safe - at least right now. If it wasn't the cold, it was the wet that surrounded them, obvious that the water was contaminated with the filth of the city, which was never good for wounds - fresh or old.

Going as fast as his four, cold paws could take him, he dashed over to Pepper with the strong attempt to not slide on the snow. Lucky for him, he didn't.

Golden eyes darted all over the body of the gray skunk, finally recovering from the dread of his first kill. However, a shaking came over him at a possible thought - that maybe all of his fighting was for nothing except saving his own life. Fear and sadness struck him twice-fold at the thought that maybe Pepper was dead.

"Pepper?..."

Nothing.
The lack of response brought a new wailing out of him, like a dagger coated with salt stabbing his heart that could never come out. He couldn't stand after that, so collapsing to his knees was the only support he had enough energy to do. Sunil didn't care much for the light sting that was coming from his right leg - the pain in his heart was too much.

From what he could see, and still didn't want to believe, there was an obvious explanation to what might be death before his eyes, plausible because the body didn't meet its proper demand of blood to the heart. There were a few marks on her face and two on her right arm. What stood out the most to him was identical claw marks in groups of three not only on Pepper's back, but also on her lovely tail, both stained from the blood that was supposed to be inside of her body.

Bending down more with some panic, he put on paw under her head and another on her shoulder, the paw on her shoulder having a slight grip. Such a grip was enough for Sunil to shake her without letting go.

"Pepper! Pepper!"

He was begging to get some reaction out of her! Joke! Laugh! Opening of the eyes, at least! Anything that was enough to tell the blue mongoose that his beloved skunk was still alive!
Over and over again, he shook her, pulling her close to him, begging her to show some sign of life. This was attempted until Sunil could no longer feel his nerves because of the cold, and the realization that he was starting to get mad - and that was rare despite the fact that this would be the third time today.

"Please, Pepper! I know I am normally not the one to joke, but I am serious when I say this is not amusing! I'm begging you to open your eyes!"

What broke his heart more (if there were and pieces left to break) was the fact of why he got mad the first time: it was Pepper trying to warn him about the magic that they had found together with the cougar in that ancient ruin of the Aztecs. There was a reason why they were trying to lock the dark magic away, but he had unlocked it for selfish motives. Lucky for him, he didn't die from the magic...
but... damn...
he felt like he died...
because he lost Pepper...
because he didn't defeat the bastard in time...
because-

Wait, what the hell was he thinking? How was moping around going to bring Pepper back? On the contrary, it was only going to support whatever life she might have left to slip away! Think Sunil, think!

Bending down on all fours to put her down gracefully, he let his ear that wasn't bitten by the cougar rest on Pepper's heart. He was begging in his heart, praying for a heartbeat...
A heartbeat that was there. It was a soft, shallow one, but nonetheless the sign of fighting to come back to life.

Bringing his head back up, a look of determination began to form - the kind of looking he would normally give when it was him against a cobra. He couldn't see her chest rising and falling, but hearing her breath was more than enough for him right now.

"Pepper, I ask of you to hold on a while longer, okay? I'm going to bring you back."

Worried that he had spent too much time moping around, Sunil immediately began to work: lifting up Pepper's head again before taking a hard swallow. He was hoping that if he were to ever touch the lips of a female with his own, it would be in the form of a kiss. It looks like that the one he wanted to kiss receiving such a kiss would have to be for another time.

Bending down once again, her lips open to receive breath, his muzzle came close to her's and offered his breath in the trained method of CPR. He wanted to give everything, but he was careful - this was the first time he ever had to do such a thing with a real creature before. He never even imagined of doing something like this to Pepper.

Hope came back to him every time her chest raised a bit more, and prayed in silence for every chest compression. He knew that she was going to wake up to the cold, but he wasn't sure how long she could hold out with such shallow breathing. The stupid idea of using magic to solve this problem came to his mind various times. However, because the magic was evil, Sunil was worried of ever using it again unless it was deemed necessary to do so.

Finally, much to his relief, it happened - a cough coming from Pepper the minute he had finished his seventh mouth-to-mouth. A dry, strong, but long wheeze came from her throat after her coughing fit, but what was starting to worry him was the fact that she wasn't stopping.

"Pepper! Please, just relax: I'm here."

He was about to cry the moment he heard words leave Pepper's muzzle for the first time since the fight.

"Sunil?..."

"Yes, Pepper, I am here."

Typical Pepper trying to laugh this one off, but an immediate flinch and hiss silenced the attempt.

"Do not try to move," Sunil instructed, "Everything will be alright if you try to relax."

He said that to not worry her, but that was pretty dumb since she was obviously aware of his wounds too.

"But...," Pepper winced out, reaching out to the blue mongoose, "What about-"

She moved too much, and her body screamed at her in intense pain as punishment. Pepper would have fallen backwards, but Sunil's paws were more than ready to catch and hold the young skunk. He wanted to snap at her, but reason and his mending heart told him not to. Sunil concluded that Pepper wasn't totally aware of the surroundings and the current situation, regardless if she remembered or not.

"Pepper," Sunil said a tone that was both soft and firm, "I beg of you to not strain yourself: you've been through too much today and have been badly injured."

"And you're not?" Pepper countered, not moving except the welcoming breaths she was now taking in.

"I will be fine," Sunil said, not even sure if he could believe his own words since he hadn't bothered to look much at them anyway, "I am more worried about you right now much more than myself."

"If you're fine, then I should be alright too," Pepper said, "After all, you did protect me."

He wanted to tell her right then and there that he almost lost her, but he didn't want to start a fight. What he also didn't get was the idea of her thinking she was fine. Sunil wasn't even sure how long Pepper was out here trying to run away from the cougar he had just killed. The truth was that Pepper was in a more critical state than he was - at least he didn't pass out and loose as much blood as she did. The more he thought about it, the more it made him realize that he had to be the one to bring Pepper back.

"Perhaps this is rude of me to say so, but the truth is you are anything but alright, Pepper," Sunil reasoned, "and I don't ever want to see you die, even if I can't do anything about it."

"Sunil, I was part of this too," Pepper said, wincing once again when Sunil rested her against a nearby wall so he could beat the cold out of the cloak he left her on before, "I went with you to go on that expedition to find out more about that silly Aztec magic. It's my fault too that we're wrapped up in this situation because I supported you."

"But none of this would have happened if..." Sunil couldn't say the next words, despite it was the truth.

Pepper didn't let him though: she placed one of her paws on his mouth, but gently though. Thus, confused golden eyes met sympathetic rose ones.

"You want to be a good magician," Pepper said with serious gentleness, "I don't blame you for going through the trouble you did to find out how to get better - you didn't know."

"But you did," Sunil said, pure of shame as he held the paw that was once over his mouth, "And you tried to warn me, but I didn't listen because I thought you doubted me. I... I should've listened to you! I-"

Once again, the young, gray skunk shut up her blue mongoose friend again, but this time it was a kiss - a sweet, gentle kiss on the nose belonging to Sunil. Pepper had her eye's closed, so she didn't see his blush accumulate on his cheeks until the small kiss ended.

She didn't want to argue, and neither did he.

"I'm cold," she said gently, "Let's go home."

"Let me carry you," Sunil insisted, "I can keep us both warm if we-"

"Sunil," Pepper said a little sternly, "I'm fine, really I am."

"I refuse to take that chance again, Pepper," Sunil countered, "I nearly lost you, and I will not lose you again."

Now it was Pepper's turn to blush.

"Trust me, Sunil, I feel better," Pepper tried to coax her friend by getting up, "I just lost my breath for a minute, that's all."

Lost breath? In Sunil's book, it was complete unconsciousness, and he wasn't going to take that risk again.

However, despite his protest, the moment he was able to put his cloak back on, he had to dive in to catch Pepper. Getting up was a bad idea for her, and she realized just how serious it was until she flinched from the pain that went through her. Much to her dismay, the amount of pain that was actually there was more than enough to send her off her paws.

Good thing Sunil was here to catch her.

"Pepper! Pepper, are you alright? Open your eyes! I'm here now, Pepper!"

A surge of worry because of possible insanity went through him as he heard Pepper chuckle, as if sad. There were very few times Sunil ever heard her laugh become that form of low, and every time it worried him.

He didn't care if a few tears were leaving his eyes right now: Sunil just wanted Pepper to be alright.

"Pepper?"

"Heh... sorry Sunil."

"It is alright, I just need to get you back to Littlest Pet Shop and-"

"No, not that - you know how stubborn I am... but I am apologizing about a few things I said before."

"What do you mean?"

He wanted her to keep talking - at least then he would know she was still alive as he picked her up bridal style. Sunil refused to stray off his idea of wrapping both of them up in the now snow-covered cloak: at least then they would have a fighting chance at staying warm.

"Sunil...
I'm sorry about everything..."

Now that she was in his arms, he could look at her better now as she poured her heart out to him - this time, he was going to listen without being under the influence of his rare anger.

"...I was being a really big jerk... when I insulted you..."

After so long, she still felt bad about that? When she was better, he would have to talk to her about that - even he got over that a long time ago. He even remembered her apologizing for the whole "so boring, sheep count you" insult-joke. Why would she still hold onto that he wasn't so sure about.

"I just... I'm sorry about everything...when I teased you, or got mad because of my smell..."

They both knew that the ways of the skunk smell could be very smelly - sometimes really pleasant, sometimes... well... not so much.

"I'm also sorry that I didn't realize sooner just how much of a great mongoose you are..."

Sunil blushed, holding back his words, knowing they would come out slurred because he wasn't really sure what to say.

"I know that you were great before, like during that time with Shahrukh... but only do I see now that you're the best in the world, even if you are a bit shy."

The blue mongoose was so warm, he began to feel it go into his chest, like it was mending the remaining broken fragments of his heart from what had happened earlier today. He wanted to show his gratitude to her, and there was only one way he felt like he could.

Without another word, Sunil leaned his muzzle into the white of Pepper's hair and placed a kiss where her forehead was. So what if he was blushing? For the first time today, he felt like something finally made sense, and he was open arms to what he believed as truth, embracing and holding the source of what he believed that truth came from.

For right now, Sunil had no intention of letting go, even if the pretty skunk was blushing and snuggling under his chin to win more warmth from under the cloak in the arms of the blue mongoose as he began his expedition back to the shop. He was mentally preparing himself for the fussing he and Pepper were going to get once they reach Littlest Pet Shop.

"I'm here now, Pepper," Sunil said gently, "And this time, I'm not letting go."

The End

Comments from the Author:

I would like to thank you very much for reading this short piece. Yes, it does appear as a chapter piece, but I assure you that this is the only piece of the story. If I were to make this a full-blown fiction, I would need a lot of support.

Yes, for those who are curious: I am Moonspirit10 from DeviantART.

I do not use this site often, so this is the first time in a long time that I've submitted anything. I did submit a short piece sometime back, but I never finished it. I attempted to submit another fiction (Yu-Gi-Oh! Sovereign Crisis), but I've been changing the story so many times that I've made up my mind to discontinue it here. Don't worry: I haven't abandoned it.

To see the picture I had sketched that made this fiction possible, visit me on DeviantART go to the following link: art/I-m-Here-Now-Pepper-426886115

Now I don't want any trolling or Vinnil (Vinnie x Sunil) fans.

I did this piece out of inspiration of a Sepper piece, and thus makes this a Sepper fiction. If you are unhappy that there is another Sepper fan out there, then please leave me be. The last thing I would want to do is argue with a fellow fan of Littlest Pet Shop because of shipping disagreements.

With that being said, thank you for reading I'm Here, and have a wonderful rest of the day.

God's grace and love be with us all.