Temporary Home, an All Dogs Go to Heaven fanfic.
Disclaimer: I do not own All Dogs Go to Heaven. This is not a song fic exactly although it is loosely inspired by each verse of the song. Also my first All Dogs go to Heaven story.
Author's note: everything after the first movie is ignored in this one shot. I was inspired by remembering a good friend of mine who passed away a few months after he graduated high school; while it did happen 5 years ago and I still miss him, I do think that I will see him again one day in the afterlife
Anne Marie had witnessed many changes in her long life; today, in 2015 at the age of 92, she was now in a hospice, bedridden from stage 4 cancer, and surrounded by her 4 children, her 6 grandchildren, and her husband who had all come to say goodbye. Once long ago however, she had been a young orphan girl living during the Great Depression and being used by Carface for her unique ability to converse with animals. Back then, she had black hair and looked skinny enough to look more like a doll than a person but since she had been starving it hadn't been much of a surprise. She remembered everything about the dogs she had met and what they had put her through; it had been hard to believe that 2 of them, Charlie and Itchy, had both learned to be good.
She and Itchy had not stayed in what had been thought to be her permanent home long; they had had to leave after it turned out that the couple who had adopted Anne Marie originally were involved in several crimes. The second home she had gone to, which she would stay in until she was an adult, had been much better even though the then young girl knew that change happened and eventually, at some point, would have to move if not physically then at least going through the flow with the changes bound to happen.
Itchy had died when Anne Marie was 15; he had died protecting her from being run over by a drunk driver, causing her to not get quite as badly injured as she otherwise would have been, according to the doctors who had treated her.
Anne Marie thought of him in the present day; Itchy had been a good dog and was now with Charlie. At least, that's what she assumed; maybe they would be waiting for her.
During her college years, Anne Marie had eventually given up on getting a degree due to the stress of it but had been just fine with being a stay at home mom. She had married her husband around 1956 or so; she couldn't remember any more which exact year it was but they had been happy together, raising their children and had been through some rough times, including losing their home and having had to temporarily go to a homeless shelter.
"Mother, will we be okay?" Her oldest son had asked her one day during that time period. "We won't be here forever, right?"
"No; we will have a new place to live soon. It's just another step on the journey of life." She had replied.
Indeed that was true; they had found a new home, a new job for her husband and a good school for the children. Everything after that was flashing before her eyes; her own children growing up, telling her grandchildren stories and finding out that one of her granddaughters could also speak to animals; Anne Marie had heard both her and a stray cat talking one day while both were visiting her. So many other things had happened; she had had health problems in her later years and those had culminated into chemotherapy for cancer until it was decided to stop the treatment when it wasn't working.
All of her grandchildren were now teenagers but that did not stop them from crying as they said goodbye. They knew that they would see her again one day but that thought was still far from their minds.
"I love all of you; I have no regrets." Anne Marie said softly as she breathed her last, leaving the mortal world behind…
Itchy had been waiting for years to see Anne Marie again; he was happy with Charlie sure and had brought comfort to the puppies who died too soon and assuring them that everything would be all right as his main duty. Much to his surprise, he saw somebody that sort of looked familiar but couldn't be sure until she looked over and called out "Itchy! Where's Charlie?"
"Anne Marie…" Itchy bounded over to her; Charlie had soon found out what was going on as word spread fast and soon he too was near the human who had taught him to care about something other than himself.
"I missed you both." She said, petting both dogs.
Neither Itchy nor Charlie needed to say that they did too, even though they knew they would see her again. Now that day had come, Heaven would be a lot better, or at least that's what Itchy thought. No longer would they have to deal with anything like what they had done during their lives on Earth and Anne Marie would no longer have to suffer as she had during different points of her life. Earth had been their temporary home and all of them now knew that…