Jack sat on the edge of a small pond in the middle of a forest. His eyes were closed, and in his hand was a small photo of himself, Nate, Daniel, Redneck, and John standing in front of a shooting range. It was a picture they'd taken after their first mission together.

He knew he was being a jerk to Takakura, but he really couldn't help it. Why did the man think that he'd want the same thing as his dead asshole of a father? And to be completely honest, he felt a little hurt. His father wanted a family on the farm? What? Was the family he already had not good enough for him?

He shook his head and got back to his feet. Dwelling on those thoughts would only lead him deeper into his depression. He got his point across to Takakura, now it was time to get back to work. He strode down the path, pausing for a few seconds every time he came upon one of the giant blue flowers that gave off a faint glow at night. He always wondered how those things worked.

He was just about to leave the woods when he heard a faint whimpering from a bush at his feet. He stopped in his tracks, intrigued by the sound, he bent down and swept aside some branches. He found a Black Labrador puppy lying on its side hidden in the bush. The tiny animal looked up, staring into Jack's chocolate brown eyes. It was clearly terrified. It tried to get up to run away, but it's front right paw was bloody, and broken.

"Max?" Jack whispered in disbelief. It couldn't be possible. And it wasn't. Max had green eyes, this puppy had brown eyes, much like his own. "Hey," He softly whispered to the injured dog. It looked back at him and… well, they don't call it "Puppy dog eyes" for no reason. In that moment, Jack knew that he wouldn't be getting back to work for a while.

He whispered soft encouragements to the scared pup for about ten minutes, just letting it know he wasn't going to hurt it. Eventualy, the pup got the idea and stopped trying to get away from him. Which chances were, it would have just injured itself further. He snapped off one of the bush's thicker branches, pulled out his old combat knife from his boot, and cut off the parts he didn't need. Then he sliced off parts of his shirt's sleeves before putting away his knife. He used these things to make a makeshift splint for the broken leg.

"You okay?" He asked the pup softly as the animal tried to use its leg again. Thanks to the splint, it was limping, but at least it looked to be okay. "How'd you get here?" All he got in response was a wagging tail, but then again, what was he expecting? He whistled to the dog, and motioned for it to follow him as he headed back down the trail into town. The puppy limped along after him.

Jack and his new friend's first stop was the farm. It was the closest place to the woods and Takakura might even know who this dog's owner might be if it had one. His fellow farmer was still working the fields when Jack caught sight of him.

"Oi! Takakura!" He called out. The older man looked up from his work. His eyes instantly went for the puppy following Jack.

"What's with the dog?" Takakura asked.

"I found him, her, whatever the thing is, up in the woods with a broken leg. Does anybody you know happen to be missing a puppy?" Takakura shook his head.

"Nope. Nobody in the valley owns a dog. Maybe in mineral town, I'll leave some posters and ask around next time I'm there."

"Okay, next question, is there a vet or something nearby? I'd like this little thing's leg checked out as soon as possible."

"Nah, we don't have a vet. But there is… oh, speak of the devil, Doctor Hardy!" Takakura waved and ran after somebody behind Jack. The new farmer turned around to see his mentor talking to the strangest doctor he had ever seen. For one thing, he wasn't wearing pants. He was walking around in just a doctor's coat and his boxers. He also couldn't tell if this guy had just come back from a comic convention where he had cosplayed a terminator because he appeared to have a robotic left eye.

This was the village doctor? Jack couldn't believe what he was seeing. But before he could even think to protest, Takakura was leading the odd doctor up the short path that led to the farm.

"And there is the dog." Takakura said to Dr. Hardy. The doctor's good eye landed squarely on the pup. Jack heard it whimper as the doc came closer. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't comfort it. He was a little unnerved as well.

"Oh, a broken leg?" The doc observed. "Doesn't look too difficult." He got close enough to examine the injury, much to the dismay of the frightened puppy. Jack backed up and motioned Takakura to come over.

"I thought you said the valley didn't have a vet?" He asked the older farmer.

"We don't, but Dr. Hardy has some experience treating animals as well as humans."

"You sure he's even a doctor? I mean, just look at him. One of my mom's old boyfriends dressed up like that for Halloween once."

"He's Ramona's personal doctor, so I'm sure he's good at what he does."

"Or he's a really good actor."

"I don't think so. He's always been a little odd, but I've seen him at work. The man is an actual doctor." Jack cast the doctor one more nervous glance.

"I think I'm gonna stay here, make sure he doesn't do anything to the pup."

"No you're not. You left me here for hours to keep our crops alive on my own. I think you owe me some work."

"But-"

"I'll drag you to the field if I have to." Jack hung his head in defeat.

"Fine, but only because I was being a jerk earlier, if something happens to the dog I'm kicking your ass." Takakura chuckled.

"Deal."

"I'm holding you to that."

"Good, come with me, let's get to work." Jack and Takakura set out for the fields, but Jack took one last look at the puppy being handled by the doctor. He had no idea why, but that dog felt so familiar to him. Like he'd been around all of the thing's life. Then, the pup made one quick glance in the direction of Jack, and the farmer's jaw dropped. He had no idea how, but the shade from the bush must have made the dog's eyes look different. Because right now, the dog was looking straight into his eyes with deep green eyes. The puppy looked away right as the doctor grabbed some tools out of his first aid kit. But Jack just stood where he was, unable to turn away from complete shock.

Then he felt Takakura's hand on his shoulder.

"Jack? You doing okay?" He asked. "You're not about to have a flashback right now are you?" Jack summoned the will to shake his head.

"No… I'm just designing the little guy's doghouse in my head."

"We don't know if he has an owner or not." Takakura reminded him. Jack just smiled to himself.

"He does now." The farmer turned around and went to work. The concerned gaze of his mentor watching over him. They worked together for two hours before Dr. Hardy came over and told them the good news.

"I'm no professional, but I think he's going to make a full recovery." The doctor told the two farmers. At his feet was the puppy, his tail wagging away a mile a minute.

"Well that's good." Said Takakura.

"Hey, I got a quick question for you." Jack said. "How old would you say he is?"

"Well, this is just a guess, but I'd say he's somewhere around five to seven months old."

"I thought so." Said Jack. The smile still plastered on his face.

"Jack?" Takakura said. "You are starting to creep me out."

"Oh, really? Sorry." He chuckled a little. "Hey, here's an idea. As an apology for ditching you earlier I'll finish up here if you get some dog food for the little guy?"

"Um, okay, sure." The older farmer set off to put away his tools, leaving Jack with the doctor.

"So doc, what do I owe you for helping the dog?"

"Nothing. I'm not legally certified to accept payment for treating animals." Was the answer.

"Good man." Jack said. "I knew a doctor before I came here. He taught me a few tricks to figure out if I was dealing with an actual doc or not. Grats, you passed."

"Um, thanks?" Hardy replid, sounding a little offended. "You could have just asked to see my credentials."

"I've seen too many forgeries in my time to really trust papers these days."

"You'll find no forgeries in this valley, I live in mineral town and even I know that." The doc picked up his kit. "Well, I'd better get going to Romana's before she takes this detour out of my check. Good luck, Jack wasn't it?"

"Jack Mitchelson. Good to meet you doc."

"Good to meet you too, Jack." The doc turned around and walked away, leaving Jack alone to finish the work.

Hours passed by before Takakura returned with the dog food and by that time, Jack had finished the work on the fields. But, much to Jack's annoyance, he didn't come back alone.

"He's soooooo cuuuuuuuute!" A squealing Muffy cried when she laid eyes on the puppy. The blonde rushed at the injured animal, who's only reply was a wagging tail and a few excited barks.

"Why is she here? You know I can't stand her don't you" Jack asked Takakura as Muffy played with the little dog. Takakura shrugged.

"She saw the dog food and followed me home like a lost puppy."

"That's the worst pun I've ever heard."

"I know, but yeah, she saw the bag of food and figured out you must have a new dog or something."

"Oh, great." He sighed.

"Hey!" The blonde called over from where she and the dog were. "You named him yet?" Jack smiled. Though he found the girl annoying, the smile on her face right now reminded him of a scene from his past. One of the few happy ones.

Nate, Redneck, Dan, and Jack stood shoulder to shoulder in salute. In front of them was Commander Norwood. Their new Superior Officer. He was a hard looking man with a large scar traveling across his nose. His head was completely shaven, and there was a look of cold determination in his eyes.

All around them, there was the usual hustle and bustle of an army base. Soldiers catching rays from the desert sun, playing sports, or running around doing errands for their superiors.

"At ease, gentlemen." Commander Norton said to the four soldiers. As one, the squad dropped their salute. "Welcome to firebase Sierra. You won't find it on any map because it doesn't exist." He looked to a woman standing next to him. "Lieutenant, show them around a bit." And with that he walked off. The woman he spoke to stepped up in front of them.

"I am 2nd lieutenant Isabelle franchez. I'm head of logistics here. I'm the person who determines what you eat and what your supplies are out in the field, so don't piss me off." Instantly, the entire squad looked at Redneck.

"What?"

"Speak to her and I'll shoot you." Said Jack. "I don't want to be eating pig slop for six months because you hit on her or something."

"Hey, I'm not that-"

"And then I'll shoot you too." Dan joined in.

"I know exactly where to hit you to make your heart stop." Nate said flatly.

"Really guys?" Said a dejected Redneck. The lieutenant laughed.

"Well, now I know which of you to avoid. Follow me, I'll take you to your barracks." The four troops grabbed their bags that they had dropped on the floor to salute the commander and followed Isabelle into a large rectangular building. The inside the barracks was lined with bunkbeds. Each bunk had a name listed on it. But the four troopers were distracted by something they hadn't seen for two weeks and thought they'd never see again. A black Labrador lay on the ground, it's green eyes had lit up when the four men entered and it's tail was wagging like crazy.

"Max!" They all shouted and ran over to the dog, who leapt to his fee to greet the four men that had been his family for months.

"What are you doing here, boy?" Jack asked. "I thought we left you back at firebase Peonix."

"You did." Isabelle spoke up. "Pets are shown to boost morale and help provide emotional support to soldiers who lost their comrades. So, here at Sierra, we bring in any pets that our soldiers have adopted before coming here, so long as they want to."

"Oh hell yeah we want to keep Max around. Don't we guys?" Said Redneck, who was giving Max a belly rub.

"But nobody ever asked us if we wanted to bring him here." Said Nate.

"Seargent, Johnathan Norwood gave his permission the day before he died." Suddenly, all was silent except the panting of the dog.

"So… Max is John's last gift to us." Dan said. A great big smile came over his face. "Best gift ever sarge!" He yelled, hugging his happy dog.

Jack couldn't help but smile at the scene playing out in front of him.

"Yeah, I got a name for him." He walked up to Muffy and the puppy, whose tounge was half hanging out of his mouth. "Don't I, Max?"

A/N: So here's chapter 4. I'm actually quite surprised how popular this story is turning out to be. I thought it wasn't going to do very well because it really isn't thought out all that much. Anyway, I do have some good news for you guys who are enjoying this story. I finally reached the point in my main story where I have been wanting to be for months and I'm taking a break to brainstorm the next arc, but in the meantime, all of my writing time will be devoted to Jack, so expect a lot more updates for the next few months.

See ya later!

I don't own harvest moon!