Okay, this is just a one-shot since I've been so busy with classes and this actually helped relieve some stress. ^_^ I've had the idea for this fanfiction for months now, and I'm just happy to finally have it written. Don't worry; I'm still trucking away at Delusions of the Heart! I just always wanted to see more of Holly and Suezo's interactions after Naga's defeat and what was going through their minds.

This is set during the night of the battle with Naga, after he was defeated.

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.

Mercy

The night sky was thick and littered with stars while the moon shone brightly like a lighthouse giving sea bound boats guidance and comfort from its glowing warmth. Although the sight was wondrous, though, the atmosphere seemed to be filled with an eerie and undesirable feeling of emptiness. A night like this night should have been filled with cheering and celebration, but only the crackling of a small fire made any attempt to break the forlorn silence of a small camp site in the midst of the forest that surrounded the once glorious castle of Naga; the last of the feared Big Bad Four. The four ruthless monsters that had once struck fear and horror in the heart of both humans and monsters alike had finally been defeated and, besides the first member, had been killed.

While Pixie had turned her life around for the better and had aided the searchers of the legendary Phoenix, the other three members of the Big Bad Four had not been so cooperative. Gali, an extremely intelligent monster whose castle was located in a dry desert, was the one member of the Big Bad Four who didn't seem to have a change of heart in the end. The youngest member of the rebels had finished the purebred Gali off with a new found attack and had ended his reign of tyranny for good. The third member of the Big Bad Four had been a wolf monster who was the brother of one of the rebels. Gray Wolf had been a monster that had been forced into the Baddies service and in the end he was defeated by his own brother. Unlike Gali, though, he passed on with a good heart that had never really been truly turned evil; only masked and manipulated. The last member of the Big Bad Four had met his end this night, though, and was most likely the most powerful of the group. Naga, a purple serpent-like monster, was a ruthless beast who had terrorized and slaughtered villages throughout his whole time in service to the evil Moo. Hated by most, no one should have hated him more than two sole survivors of his earliest attack. This proved to be false, however, and Naga dropped to his death from his castle, but not before seeing the young girl who should have wanted to slice his throat open instead try to save him. He died with only her on his mind.

Now the rebels, along with Pixie and her companion Big Blue, sat in silence around a warm fire while they ate quietly and kept to themselves. It had been such a relieving moment when they watched Naga release his hold and allow himself to plummet to his doom, but the moment of victory vanished when the rebels watched the wielder of the Magic Stone shake her head sadly while lovingly stroking her monster's head while he cried in her arms. For Suezo, it really was relieving. All those horrific memories of the night their village had been burnt to the ground replayed in his head and finally justice had caught up with the culprit. The feeling was mixed, though, when he realized his partner didn't share the same feelings. Confusion was one of many emotions that were running through his head as he watched Holly eat her stew slowly and with sad eyes. She was slouched over slightly from fatigue while her breathing was low and solemn. He knew he wasn't the only one who didn't understand the young girl's feelings, though they wrote it off as shock. It still didn't explain why she had tried to save Naga, though, and it was eating away at the eyeball monster. Suezo knew had Holly not tried to rescue Naga that Mocchi and Genki wouldn't have stepped forward to save him, too. Why would she want to save the monster that killed her friends and family?

"Well… I'm going to bed." Hare broke the awkward silence as he stood up and stretched slightly before moving away from the fire. Everyone was exhausted from the earlier battle and the rabbit monster had received several brutal blows from the Arrow Heads that had ambushed them at the castle. All that he wanted now was to sleep and rejuvenate a little.

"Yes… we need… rest…" Golem stated and leaned up against a tree for support while Tiger nodded his head in agreement while he lay down silently. Maybe things would be less awkward tomorrow after Naga's defeat sunk in.

"Yeah, I'm wiped." Genki smiled with a tired grin while he looked down at a sleeping Mocchi in his arms. The young monster had taken quite a beating from Naga and it had left Mocchi completely drained of energy for once. The young boy stood up and brushed his shorts off with his free hand while he began to head off to his sleeping bag, but not before turning around to look at the worn looking girl sitting by the fire. "…Holly? You goin' to sleep?"

Holly slowly raised her head to look up at Genki with sad and tired eyes as she smiled softly and shook her head. "… I'm going to stay up for a little while longer."

"You sure? I mean, you look really tired." Genki said with worry as he frowned slightly and walked over to her side before placing his hand on her shoulder. "Today was a long day and we all need some sleep."

"Thank you, Genki, but I'll be fine. I won't be up too much longer, I promise." Holly replied with a smile as she placed her hand over his and gave it a small squeeze for reassurance. With reluctance, Genki slowly nodded his head in understanding before he left the girl's side and settled himself in his sleeping bag along with an already conked out Mocchi.

"We need to head out early tomorrow morning, so don't be up too late." Pixie stated to the human girl, although in translation she was also concerned about the wielder of the Magic Stone. When she first looked up to see Holly being cornered by Naga on the bridge at the castle, she hadn't felt so much fear for another person in a very long time. With Genki, she knew he was a fighter and could handle it. With Holly, though, it was a whole other story.

"I won't, Pixie." Holly replied with a nod as she watched the ex-Baddie mutter something before leaning up against Big Blue and closing her eyes. Watching the two made Holly smile to herself, especially when she could see the Golem subreed blush slightly before drifting into a slumber.

Suddenly, the young girl's attention was shifted when she saw movement from the corner of her eye. Holly quickly turned around, though she let out a relieved sigh when she saw it was only Suezo now sitting across from her. The eyeball monster seemed to stare at her with mixed feelings, though none of them Holly could seem to pinpoint. The young brunette girl shifted uncomfortably under Suezo's never wavering gaze, and finally she couldn't take the awkwardness anymore.

"Suezo, is something wrong?"

"…you could say that."

The response the eyeball monster gave Holly made her blink several times in confusion as she watched Suezo with curiosity. His meaning was lost to her and it made her feel a little self conscious as she picked up a lone stick before poking the fire with it so she wouldn't have to stare at him. As his words echoed in her head, the wielder of the Magic Stone realized her friend's meaning, though she really didn't want to talk about it.

"…you should get some rest, Suezo. You got really beaten up today."

"You're changing the subject on purpose, Holly."

"I'm being serious."

"So am I."

Holly huffed in frustration as she prodded the crackling fire, causing the burning wood to pop and hiss as the fresh air gave life to new sparks. Suezo watched the girl with a frown on his face and he knew the battle from that night was still a fresh wound for the girl. Part of him wished he hadn't given in to Holly's plea to accompany the rebels in Naga's defeat, but another part of him knew it was something that had to be done. Had Holly not been there, she may never have gotten closure. Her reaction to the whole thing was still bothering Suezo, though, and he just had to talk to her.

"Holly… why are you upset? We finally beat the last of the Big Bad Four and we defeated the guy who destroyed our village. You should be happy!" Suezo scowled as he watched Holly stir up the fire, causing the sparks to fly up like a swarm of bees. "You were never that sad about beating the other Big Bad Four members, so why did defeating the one guy who you should have wanted to strangle get you so down?"

Holly sighed while she tossed the smothering stick into the fire before she turned to face her monster, and she looked like a lost child who had nowhere to go. "I'm relieved that Naga's gone so he won't be able to cause any more harm. With the last of the Big Bad Four gone, Moo's hold on many of the villages has been weakened and even destroyed. I'm happy for that."

"But you're not completely happy."

"It's hard to explain."

"Try me."

The young brunette smile sadly as she let out a small giggle before she rested her chin on her hand. It was truly hard to explain what she felt, but she would try her best to inform her closest friend of her feelings. "It's just… I don't feel Naga was evil deep down."

"WHAT? HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?"

"Shhhh! Suezo! Everyone's sleeping!"

"Oh yeah, sorry. But honestly! Holly, you can't be serious!"

"…I am."

An awkward silence fell upon the two friends while Suezo tried to take in what Holly had said. Since the day their village had been burnt to the ground, Suezo had always planned to hunt Naga down and get revenge for his losses. So many innocent lives had been taken of both friends and family, but the eyeball monster's head spun at hearing what Holly had thought. They were her friends and family too, if not more so, yet she was defending the beast that took their lives?

"I don't understand, Holly. Why would you say that?"

"I know Naga did horrific things in his life, but it wasn't entirely his fault."

"How so?"

Naga's words from earlier rang in Holly's head about Moo being the one to order the attack on her village, and the nauseous feeling she got when she thought of her father returned for a brief moment before subduing. She still couldn't tell Suezo about her relation to Moo, but she hoped to in time. "Well… look at Gray Wolf. He was forced into becoming a Baddie by Moo. He didn't have a choice in the matter and I know that when the Phoenix is revived that he'll be brought back as a good monster. We don't know how Naga was drafted into the Baddie army and it may not have been by choice."

Suezo thought about Holly's words before he nodded his head. She may have had a valid point, but there were plenty of other reasons as to why he was a truly evil monster. The eyeball monster found himself scowling before letting out a huff. He still didn't understand her.

"Okay, but Naga went around slaughtering villages!"

"Well, who's to say the other Big Bad Four members didn't do that same thing? Look." Holly replied quietly while she pointed to a sleeping Pixie who was resting against Big Blue. "We don't know much about her past, but I'm sure monsters couldn't become part of the Big Bad Four without killing some people along the way first. Yet here she is; a part of our team who's trying to bring peace. We don't know much of anything about the pasts of the Big Bad Four, so how can we truly judge them? It's a possibility that Naga wanted to join Moo, but what if it was because humans mistreated him in the past? Pixie hated humans because of their thirst for power which led them to slavery. Maybe something happened to Naga in the past that caused him to hate humans as well."

"Still, Holly. Why did you try to save him? He didn't deserve your mercy."

Holly frowned before she looked down at the ground and let out a soft sigh. "I couldn't just let him die like that… I just couldn't…"

"But he deserved it! Damn it, Holly! He killed everyone we knew!" Suezo snarled as images from the aftermath of Naga's attack flashed through his mind. "And here you are defending him! Not only defending him, but you tried to SAVE HIM!"

"Suezo… if Naga was truly evil, he could have killed me back at his castle. When I extended my hand to him, he could have easily taken me down with him and yanked me over the edge. He could have used his tail to slash at me or he could have lunged forward to bite my neck open. He had the perfect chance, but instead he let himself go."

"…I guess…"

"When I looked down at Naga when he was first thrown over the edge, I saw fear in his eyes for the first time. All those years of hating him and the feeling of revenge amounted to that moment, but when I saw him helplessly dangling from the edge I realized how wrong it was."

"Wrong…?"

"Yes, wrong. All those moments in my life where I felt anger and hatred toward him are moments where I could have been enjoying myself and appreciating the people around me. I don't want to live the rest of my life looking back and hating Naga, and so my hatred for him died tonight. I'm letting myself move on."

Suezo looked over at his companion before a small smile formed on his face. Even with the worst of people, she still found the good deep within them. Sometimes he wished he was a little bit more like her in ways. Almost like the fire that was now small and beginning to diminish, Suezo felt his feelings for Naga begin to lesson slightly, though it would take him awhile to fully heal. Holly watched her friend as she stood up and strode over to his side before taking a seat next to him.

"Holly… when the Phoenix revives the Lost Disks, what'll happen if we run into Naga? I don't think I could handle that without fighting him, even if he is a Goodie."

"Don't worry, Suezo. We'll take that challenge on together."

"I still hate him, though…"

"I know, but I also know you're a strong monster who'll be able to look past that. We both just need time."

"I hope you're right, Holly."

Holly smiled at her monster before taking him in her arms before hugging him tightly while Suezo closed his eye and leaned lovingly against her. The duo watched the fire smother into a glowing heap of ash before they allowed fatigue to rule them and the two friends both headed off to sleep. Just like every night, Suezo curled up close to the young brunette, thought this night he slept a little closer to her than usual. The monster who had slaughtered their village was gone, but the emotional scars he left still remained and still haunted the two sole survivors of his first attack. Just like the night of Naga's first attack, it was a task Suezo and Holly would have to face together, though only time and the support of each other could defeat the memory of evil Naga in their hearts this time. Once the evil Naga is defeated; there could be a chance for a good Naga to exist in their hearts instead. Maybe things would be different between the two survivors when they would have the chance to face Naga again. Just maybe, the serpent monster would once again be given mercy.

Sorry for the randomness. I love Naga to pieces and I was very disappointed when I first saw the episode "The World Monster Cup: Naga Returns". I loved how he was good, but I felt there should have been a lot more Holly and Naga interaction. We got some good interaction with Suezo and him coming to terms with Naga, but it was like Holly was forgotten. Did the creators forget it was her village that Naga destroyed, too? Anyways, thanks for reading! This was just a small banter story about Holly and Suezo going on the path of recovery and acceptance about the whole Naga subject.

RockyRoadSmith: Signing off! :3