Animaniacs/ Buttons and Mindy is owned by Warner Brothers. I own nothing.

I was looking around the Animaniacs section the other day, wondering if all the stories in this section were only about the Warners. As it turns out, there are only two Buttons and Mindy stories, and neither one of them is a chapter story. So, call me a pioneer. I might throw the Warner's in at some point, but for now, they don't really have a place. I picture this story having seven or eight chapters, if it gets good reviews. I hope you enjoy this first chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

It was a Sunday afternoon in the middle of May. Mindy, now aged nine and a half, had some flowers in her hand and walked over to the veterinary clinic. Today was Sunday; after all, it was the day to go see her friend.

As she walked over, she knew what was going to happen. The vet was going to tell her that it would be best just to put down her dog, rather than praying for him to heal. Mindy had never believed a word of it. She was going to see her friend until he regained his health, and eventually grew into the same dog he had once been.

"Hello, Mindy." said the receptionist with little emotion. She didn't even look up from the computer.

"Hi, I'm here to check on-"

"Buttons, yes, have a seat; I'll let the vet know you're here."

Mindy walked over to her usual seat underneath the clock and right next to the bookcase. She liked to read. However, no book in the world could pass time fast enough. She was always anxious to see Buttons on Sunday afternoons. Mindy would have stayed over all summer, if she was allowed.

"Alright, Mindy, come on in." the vet rolled his eyes. It was clear that nobody on the staff liked having Mindy around once a week, but she was here to see Buttons, not the vets and the nurses and the receptionists.

"Hi Buttons." she said softly upon seeing her dog. His face seemed to light up as she walked in. "You'll be better in no time, at this rate. Why, you can lift your head up this week, maybe this time next week you could be standing up, walking even."

"Don't get your hopes up, Mindy." said the vet, bluntly. "If he doesn't get better soon, he's not getting better at all."

"Well, don't talk that way about him when he's right here." Mindy said angrily, covering Buttons ears.

"He's deaf. He couldn't hear anyway." the vet mumbled as he closed the door behind him as he walked out. Mindy sighed.

"Don't you listen to him, Butt. You'll get better, you've gotta survive, you just gotta! You're going to be my maid of honor when I get married." Buttons barley opened his eyes. He didn't have much strength left in him, but he always tried to perk up around Mindy.

"I brought you these." She said as she put the flowers in the large pile of dead weeds on the counter besides him. She had brought violets every week ever since Buttons had come to the clinic, dandelions since he had his heart attack, and roses ever since he had his seizure. The pile grew every week. In the full year since Buttons had been here, she had never missed one flower.

For hours, Mindy talked about her school, her future wedding, and anything else that she felt that Buttons needed to know. Buttons, although he couldn't hear much, smiled and slowly nodded as Mindy talked. He was always happy when Mindy had shown up to the clinic unharmed and happy.

"You know, Butt, I just know you are going to get better." Mindy petted Buttons, she was well into her fifth hour talking. "You can follow me to school again, and chase all the cats. You can run through the sunflower patch at the park, I know you love running, and you can have all the dog treats you want. We don't have to tell Lady." Buttons gave a small laugh that slowly turned into a cough.

"Alright, Mindy, you have to go now, Buttons needs his sleep." the receptionist barged in. Mindy slowly nodded as she turned to her old friend. He looked sad. He wanted to follow her home; she could see it in his eyes. He wanted to run through the sunflower patch and chase all the cats.

"Don't be sad, Butt, I'll come again next week." Mindy had always had those hopeful blue eyes. "It's not goodbye forever. If you need me, just call, I'll be here before you know it." she wiped a tear away from Buttons' eye as she followed the receptionist out. Buttons waved his paw slowly, but quickly collapsed from exhaustion.

"And make sure he's getting all the food he needs." Mindy advised the receptionist. "Take extra special care of him. He's a very good dog, the best in the world. He's a champion."

"Yes, yes, don't worry, Buttons will be just fine here." the receptionist pushed Mindy out the door and locked it behind her.

"I don't like those people." Mindy mumbled to herself as she walked along the dark sidewalk, only lit by a few overhead street lights. "I bet they are real mean to Ol' Butt when I'm not around. I bet they don't feed him the kind of food he likes, or brush him with the right comb, or give him a bath every month like I used to do."

The air was cold, and there was still a half a mile to walk to the house. If there was one thing Mindy hated more than the people at the clinic, it was walking home alone at Nine O'clock at night.

"Mindy, hey, Mindy!" somebody yelled. Mindy turned around, hoping it was the receptionist coming to tell her something about Buttons. It was just her friend Lukas, calling out from his bedroom window.

"Lukas, don't do that!" Mindy yelled back as she walked up to the window.

"Sorry, anyway, I'm sorry about your Butt." said Lukas. "Your dog, I mean. I'm real sorry about your dog."

"Oh, yeah, Buttons is a real good dog. The best mutt in the world." Mindy said.

"You know, my dog is going to have puppies in a week or two. When their born, you can have one." Lukas automatically knew he had said something wrong just by looking at Mindy's facial expressions.

"Sorry, I don't think Buttons would appreciate it much if I took a puppy. It would be like I was giving up faith in him."

"But really, Mindy, what are the odds that Butt-"

"He's going to live through it, Lukas." Mindy interrupted. There was an awkward pause for a minute.

"Say, my mom could drive you home, if you want." said Lukas, sympathetically. A ride home was always his way of apologizing.

"No thanks, I can walk." Mindy started to walk away from the window. She hated the way that car smelled. Lukas's family was smokers. Every time she inhaled, it felt like she had ate twenty cigarette butts.

"At least let me ride you home. You could sit onthe handlebars of my bike." Lukas called out.

"Yeah, Ok." Mindy reluctantly agreed. She figured an uncomfortable ride on the handlebars of a bike would at least get her home faster. And it was easier to breathe fresh air than it was to breathe in a smoker's car.

The thing about riding on handlebars was that it was pretty hard to balance; especially when the person pedaling decides to try and pop a wheelie every five feet.

"Would you cut that out!" said Mindy. She was thankful she had worn her overalls that day as opposed to the dress she had planned to wear.

"I'm trying to break a world record!" Lukas panted. He was pedaling the bike as hard as he could. As far back as Mindy could remember, Lukas had always wanted to break a world record. He had previously tried to have the world's biggest at-home snake collection, but that turned into a complete neighborhood fiasco.

Lukas stopped the bike by Mindy's house just when she didn't think she could take anymore. She jumped off the handlebars just as the bike came to a complete stop.

"You aren't any fun, you know that?" said Lukas. He raced off before Mindy could reply.

"Boys. I'll never understand them." Mindy said to herself as she walked to the front door. Lady and Mr. Man weren't home yet from their neighborhood meeting. It wasn't a shock, they were never home. Mindy saw them maybe twice a week at the most, and that was only on a not-busy week. As she sat down on the sofa, she stared at a picture on the wall. It was of her and Buttons. It had been taken when she was a toddler. She couldn't believe how healthy Buttons was, or how young she used to be. She didn't remember much from her toddlerhood, but of the faded memories she did have, she couldn't remember her parents at all. She remembered Buttons, and always getting into trouble, and Buttons never getting a treat when he deserved it.

"Buttons is more than just a dog." Mindy said, grabbing the picture off the wall and looking at it more closely. "He's my best friend. He's the best friend I'll ever have."