Today (July 17th) is my birthday, but instead I actually have a gift for you guys! It's a crappy one-shot, but I just want to thank all my amazing reviewers and readers for holding in there and staying dedicated to my stories during my long absence because of my college summer course. You guys have no idea what it means to me. Again, you guys are fantastic and I really appreciate all of your support! This came to me after I had a really weird Monster Rancher related dream.

This takes place a few days after Gali's defeat.

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.

Uncertain Horizon

A peaceful silence filled the field of flowers as bumblebees and butterflies flew to each flower, almost in rhythm with one another. The sun beat down heavily on the surrounding plants, but it wasn't too harsh. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue and was littered with soft looking clouds that seemed to dance in the air. The very air was relaxing and peaceful. This is how things were here every day, except when a bunch of Baddie-fighting rebels stomped through.

"Man, does that fresh air feel good or what?" Genki exclaimed as he stretched out his arms and let out an energetic 'whoop'.

"Sure does! I was starting to think we'd never see plants again!" Suezo said with a grin as he sat down to rest his 'leg'.

"Yeah. Thanks to Gali, I don't think I ever want to see sand again." Hare huffed as he took a seat next to Suezo. "We need to plan out things better next time. Had Mocchi not gotten underneath that metal dish, we probably wouldn't be here right now."

"Pfft! Let's talk about that later! Enjoy the freedom! Enjoy not marching through the desert!" Genki said with a grin as Mocchi nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah, chi! Enjoy!"

"We need to stay on guard, though. Being in an open field is just asking Baddies to attack us." Tiger stated with a frown. "We're sitting ducks out here."

"With Mocchi's new Mocchi Cannon attack, there's nothing we can't beat now!" Genki bragged as Mocchi blushed in embarrassment from being in the spotlight. "Besides, we need a break."

"Yes… we walked through… the desert for… three days… We need rest." Golem agreed with Genki, and the young boy beamed at his friend for agreeing with him.

"You're only agreeing with Genki because you like the flowers here." Suezo scoffed as Golem blushed. "Right, Holly?"

Suezo turned to his companion only to see she wasn't next to him. Panic rushed through the eyeball monster's mind until he spotted the girl a small distance away. She seemed to be absorbed at looking at the scenery, but Suezo cut off her train of thoughts with a shout.

"Hey, Holly!" The eyeball monster shouted as he hopped to her side. "Don't scare me like that! I thought you got left behind in the desert or something!"

"Oh! Sorry, Suezo. I didn't mean to worry you." Holly apologized with a frown.

"Ah, don't worry about it. Just warn me when you're going to go off, okay?"

"Okay, I will."

"Geez, Suezo! Let the girl have some space! She's old enough to walk eight feet away from the group without you getting frantic." Hare said with a nod of his head.

"I wasn't getting frantic! I'm just being cautious!" Suezo quickly retorted with a frown.

"You're being over-protective, that's what."

"Am not! I'm just looking out for her safety!"

"Is that a pun? You know, the "looking" part since you're an eyeball monster?"

"Ah, shut up!"

"I'm just saying! Looking out for her and protecting her are two different things, Suezo."

A low chuckle broke through the air as both Hare and Suezo turned to see Tiger smirking at them. He looked at Suezo with amusement as he began to circle the eyeball monster as if he was cornering his prey. Hare had brought up the subject of Suezo's usefulness again, and this seemed to be a big topic lately. After seeing how he couldn't use his Teleport attack, the majority of the rebels had once again lost their respect for the eyeball monster.

"And what if Holly was in danger? What would you do about it?" The wolf monster asked with a smug look.

"I would protect her, of course! That goes without saying!" Suezo shouted, though it didn't have its desired effect.

"Really? How? You can't even use your special attack. What would happen if Holly was surrounded by Black Dinos? Do you really think you could take all of them on? Or do you think that Teleport move of yours would actually work? What's your importance to this group?"

Suezo went to throw out a comeback, but suddenly his mind went blank. Both Tiger and Hare made valid points, and he suddenly found himself lost for words. He had heard this all before when the rebels had to make a raft to go downstream and where he had actually learned his Teleport technique, but this was different. Back on the riverbank he was being mocked because he didn't have a special attack and because he wasn't much of a fighter. Now, though, what was in question was if he could protect Holly, and that changed everything. What really was his use? What was his importance?

"That's enough."

Holly's voice stopped any incoming insults as both Tiger and Hare backed down from the situation. From the tone of her voice, they knew they struck a soft spot in the girl. Without a glance, the duo went to rejoin with the other rebels who had moved away from the argument since they didn't want to get involved themselves.

"Suezo… come take a walk with me." Holly said in a gentle and calm voice, and Suezo found himself slowly nodding as if in a trance. The duo slowly began to walk through the wondrous field of flowers, but Suezo's mind was elsewhere.

'Tiger's right. I'm completely useless! Why can't I be strong like the others?' The eyeball monster thought to himself as he looked miserably down at the ground. 'Why can't I learn a real attack move?'

"Suezo…"

Holly's soft and gentle voice broke Suezo out of his concentration as he turned to face the brunette. He could see a sad look in her eyes, and he knew she was upset at seeing him so down. Before he knew it, the duo couldn't even see the other rebels anymore. It was just him and Holly.

"Suezo, have a seat."

Without questioning her, Suezo followed Holly's request before the brunette also joined him. He glanced at her to see her take in a deep breath before letting it out slowly as she turned to face him. Suezo watched her with curiosity as she stared into his eye with concentration, as if she was searching for an answer to the unknown.

"Do you remember why we're on this quest?" The wielder of the Magic Stone asked, and Suezo couldn't help but look at her quizzically. This conversation sounded a lot like the one he had with her on the riverbank, only Holly seemed more solemn now.

"Of course! To find the Phoenix and beat Moo!" Suezo exclaimed.

"… I know you're having doubts about yourself, Suezo, and that the others aren't helping. You aren't the only one who had doubts about themselves, though." Holly said with a sad smile as she picked a small yellow flower.

"I don't know where you're going with this…" Suezo said slowly and in a confused tone of voice.

"You doubt your abilities to fight and where you stand in the group." Holly stated with a sad glance as she picked a blade of grass before flicking it back onto the ground. "It's because you don't think you'll be able to protect me."

Suezo couldn't find it in himself to look over at the brunette as he slowly nodded his head. She had hit the nail on the head, as always. Even when they were young, Holly could always see through Suezo's emotional walls even though he couldn't see through her's.

"It's just… I worked so hard to get a special attack and I can't even use it! Tiger's right; I don't do anything for this group." The eyeball monster said with a frown as he felt himself sigh.

"You don't need to be a fighter to be in the group, Suezo."

"Yes I do! Other then scouting from the sky, I don't do anything for this group! I want to learn a real attack so I can beat Moo!"

"…do you remember when I asked you why we're on this quest?" Holly asked, and Suezo nodded his head. "Sometimes I feel like this group would be better off without me."

Suezo felt his entire body go ridged as he heard Holly's confession, and he quickly turned to face the solemn looking girl. Her eyes shown with sadness as she gave him a weak smile as she watched him gawking at her.

"What? Why would you think that?"

Holly let out a soft sigh as she averted her eyes down to the ground as she spoke softly. "I've always felt that I slow everyone down. What use am I to the group? All I am is a compass and a cook." She stated solemnly as she pulled out her prized dagger and traced around the gems with her fingers. "I have a weapon and yet I still don't fight. I watch you guys do battle every day, but I'm not out there on the battle field with you. You said how you're worried you can't protect me, but what about the other way around? What if you're in danger and I can't help you?"

Suezo watched as Holly's eyes shone with unshed tears as she blinked them back and looked over to her companion. "That's not true, Holly! You're the most important member of this group to me! You hold everyone together!" The eyeball monster replied.

"When we first fought Pixie, we were captured and became slaves because of me." The young brunette stated with a frown. "Had it been Tiger surrounded by the Clays, he would have jumped in the air and shot a Thunder attack at them. With me, though, all I could do was stand there helplessly and you guys gave up because of me. How do you think that made me feel? Everyday I look back to that and I think about what would have happened had she not made us slaves. I think about the alternatives of how she could have turned you into Baddies right there on the spot or what if she had turned you guys into Lost Disks? You guys always put me before yourselves, and although I appreciate it I also hate it. I hate the fact that I'm this group's weakness."

"Holly! There was nothing anyone could have done the Clays! I bet even Tiger would have been stumped. You're not a weakness to us at all!"

Holly smiled as she scooted a little closer to Suezo before leaning up against his side. "Thanks, Suezo. That means a lot to me. I'm not as important as you think, though. When it all comes down to it, I know that if I was in danger you would put me before yourself and it scares me to think that I may be the cause of your..." Holly trailed off as she looked up at the sky with a frown on her face. She didn't need to finish her sentence for Suezo to know the missing word was "death".

"That's not gonna happen, Holly! I would never leave you. And you're extremely important in this group. Without you, we wouldn't be able to locate the Phoenix. Unlike you, I'm just an inconvenience." The eyeball monster said sadly as he turned his attention back down to the ground.

"Suezo, that's not true. Why should what the others think mean anything to you? Shouldn't what I think matter, too?" Holly asked with a pleading tone, and Suezo couldn't ignore it.

"I… I guess…"

"…just so you know, Suezo, you're not an inconvenience to me. To me, you're the most important person in my life and you're my best friend. You're the only one who's been through everything with me and who's supported me without question, even when I was wrong. When I think back through everything that's happened in my life, unlocking you was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I just thought you should know that." Holly said in almost a whisper as she got up to leave to give Suezo some space, but a large tongue grabbed her arm before she could do so. Suezo looked up at her with surprise and confusion in his eye, but he quickly motioned for Holly to sit back down, in which she did.

"…you don't really mean that, do you?" The eyeball monster asked quietly.

"Of course I do, Suezo." Holly smiled as she leaned back on Suezo again. "I wouldn't trade meeting you for the world."

Suezo felt himself smile as he looked down at the girl leaning on him. For the first time in a long time, he felt relaxed and content, both physically and emotionally. With a grin, Suezo playfully pulled the red ribbon out of Holly's hair as the girl gasped in surprise as her ponytail came undone. With that, the eyeball monster began to hop away while waving the ribbon around like a flag.

"Come on, Holly! You're as slow as Golem!"

"Hey! Golem can be fast at times!" Holly shouted with a grin as she took off after her companion in a dash as she felt relief go through her for seeing Suezo in a good mood. The brunette almost face faulted as she saw Suezo give her a gesture that would translate to smacking his butt and she felt herself let out a laugh, but she quickly gasped as she saw Suezo trip and fall to the ground.

"Suezo!" Holly shouted as she ran to his side. "Are you hurt?"

Suezo was still and unresponsive which caused fear to rise in the young girl until he quickly shot up and let out a loud yell, causing Holly to jump back in fright. "Hahahaha! Man, did I get you bad!"

Holly sighed with relief that he was okay before she lightly smacked her companion on the back of the head with her fist. "Don't scare me like that!" She scowled as she took her ribbon back and tied her hair into a ponytail. Suezo let out a tired sigh from all of his hopping around, and he quickly found himself brought into a tight hug by Holly. It had been a long time since they had a chance to enjoy each others' company like this, and both of them felt rather reluctant to go back.

"I can't wait until Moo is gone. Then we can have more days like this." Suezo said with a grin.

"Yeah… me too…" Holly replied softy, still a little torn about the Moo situation.

"We should probably get back to the others, huh?"

"They'll be worried if we don't."

Holly smiled as she kissed Suezo on the forehead before giving him a pat on the back. The two walked in silence back to the rest of the group, although they didn't need words to speak. They only needed the company of each other, and the knowledge of how much they meant to one another. Suezo would make his Teleport technique work someday, but for now he'd be happy just being the group's look out. As long as he got to travel by Holly's side, he didn't care anymore.

Just a cute/comfort story. One of my favorite parts of the show was the Holly/Suezo interaction and I really wished there were more parts focused on them. I just love these two. A lot of people don't like Suezo, but to me he's one of the best characters. He puts up with so much crap, he's hilarious, and he's over-protective. Reference time! In the episode "The Mocchi Cannon", Gali leads the rebels into a room that has a table of food out, but it's really a trap. When Gali fires an attack that saps away the rebel's strength, Mochhi is the only one who isn't hit by it because the food he was eating had a metal lid over it and he had thrown the lid over his head. After alot of running around, Mocchi beats Gali after learning his Mocchi Cannon attack. The 'not wanting to see sand again' line from Hare is because Gali's fortress was in a desert. In the episode "The Ruin's Secrets", when the monsters face Pixie for the first time, the rebels (except Genki and Mocchi since they were shot over a cliff) surrender to Pixie and become her slaves after Clays surround Holly and threaten to shoot her. In the episode "Suezo's Secret Weapon", the rebels (except Holly, who's trying to defend him) ask the quesion of Suezo's usefullness. This starts his training to get a special attack. Holly talks to Suezo about being a part of the team before the group is attacked and go off a waterfall. At seeing his friends in danger, Suezo uses Teleport to save the day. The only problem is that he can't seem to get it to work again. Anyways, sorry for the random story and plot. This just came to me. I've been in a wierd drama/comfort/friendship mood lately. XD

RockyRoadSmith: Signing off! :3