Welcome back folks, time for a bit of backstory involving Fiver and Hazel! Hope you're excited!

FTF chapter 13: Hazels story

*16 years ago…* 9

year-old Hazel frantically paced around the floor of the Sandleford Family Clinic, itching for news about his new sibling. There was no hospital in Sandleford, so this was the best care his mother could get. Most new rabbits in Sandleford were born here.

Hazel heard a scream come from somewhere, and prayed to Frith that it wasn't his mother. The adults waiting in the room all gave Hazel funny looks, presumably because he was a child unaccompanied by a parent, but he barely noticed. Fear for his mother and new brother or sister were all he could feel. It had been a difficult pregnancy for his mother – according to the doctor she had been originally expecting a litter of five, but something had gone wrong and her body had ended up reabsorbing four of the kittens, leaving just one still inside. And today, long before her due date she had gone into premature labor while fixing the family dinner.

It was lucky Father had been home – quick as a blur he had bundled her and Hazel into the family car and driven them like a maniac to the clinic, cursing both the timing and the fact that he still hadn't bought all the baby things they needed. They were both in a delivery room somewhere now, leaving Hazel to wait outside by himself, and that had been almost three hours ago.

"Hazel Shawnson?"

Hazel snapped to attention: there was a plump grey bunny nurse standing by the reception desk looking at him. He ran over to her: "Is it here? Is my mom okay? Is my brother or sister okay?" Hazel was so nervous he could barely form sentences.

"They're fine, both your mother and the baby are fine," the nurse reassured him. "But I'm afraid your new brother is going to need some extra care before he can go home. He was… very early. He must have been eager to get started!"

Hazel's eyes widened. "B-brother…?" he stammered.

The nurse beamed at him, clearly pleased at being the one to deliver this news. "Yes, you have a little brother. Would you like to meet him?" Hazel nodded, his mouth hanging open, and slowly he followed the nurse out of the room and down the hall. She led him into a little white room, where he saw his parents: his mother was sitting upright in the bed, her yellow fur and pink hospital gown flushed with sweat and her violet eyes looking tired but very happy. Hazel's father, whom he greatly resembled in both fur and eye color, was kneeling at his wife's side looking at the wrapped bundle she was holding, his own eyes looking joyful but his fingers giving a familiar twitch indicating that he wanted a smoking stick.

Hazel's mother giggled when she saw Hazel just standing in the doorway, unsure of how close he should come. "Don't be shy, Hazel, come and say hello!" With a little nudge from the nurse Hazel slowly walked over and looked at the new baby, and in spite of the pictures of newborn kittens he had seen before he had to stifle a gasp. The infant was wrapped in a blue blanket with a cap covering the top of his head and ears, but the face visible between the blanket line and the cap was completely furless. Not one single hair, just pink skin with the only visible features being a nose, a mouth, slits for eyes and a few short whiskers.

His father chuckled at seeing Hazel's reaction. "Don't worry son, you looked like that when you were born too. He'll start growing his coat in a week. Bet he'll look just like you and me."

Hazel looked at the baby's shut eyelids, "How long until he opens his eyes? I want to see what color his eyes are."

"Oh, that will be at least ten days, Sweetie. At birth kittens are nearly blind," said his mother. She raised the bundle to offer to Hazel, "Would you like to hold him?" H

azel's reply was a gulp and a nod, and slowly he reached his paws out, and then withdrew them.

"Don't worry, he's not made out of glass," Hazel's mother smiled. "You're not going to hurt him." Hazel hesitated once more, and then finally took the bundle in his arms.

"Put your left paw under the head," the nurse instructed.

Hazel did so. "And hold him against your chest." Hazel obeyed.

"Perfect," said the nurse.

Hazel was stunned as he felt the warmth and slow breathing of the infant against his chest; he had never held a baby rabbit before. His new brother was so tiny, hardly bigger than their father's two fists put together. Hazel barely even felt any weight in his paws, just the softness of the blanket and little movements inside.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge rush of affection for the baby in his arms welled up inside Hazel, so strong that his knees almost gave out from under him. Instinctively he leaned down and gently rested his chin against the infant's chest, inhaling his scent and listening to his breathing. Hazel had heard of older siblings feeling jealous toward their baby brothers or sisters, but he felt none of that. All he could feel was love for this baby, and desire to help care for him. He wondered if this was what his parents had felt like when they had first seen him.

After a minute of this the nurse gently put her paw Hazel's shoulder, stirring him out of his reverie. "I'm sorry, but I have to take him now."

Hazel instinctively clutched the bundle tighter against his chest. "Wh-why? He looks fine!"

"I'm sorry, but he really does need to stay in the NICU for a while," the nurse answered. "I promise you it is for his own good, this treatment will help him grow a little more and become stronger!"

She looked into his eyes encouragingly, "You want your brother to be strong, don't you?"

Hazel reluctantly nodded, still not wanting to let his brother go.

"Oh, just give him one more minute!" Mrs. Shawnson requested.

The nurse consented. "Very well, in the meantime there are some things I must explain. Mr. and Mrs. Shawnson, rest assured, your son will have the best care we can possibly give here, and will be ready to go home in a few days. He will have to undergo the following treatments…"

While the nurse was rattling off the list of things they were going to do to his brother Hazel again gazed lovingly at the hairless little face, wondering what he might look like in just a couple of weeks when his fur came in.

Then suddenly the baby's face contorted, as if he were struggling to do something, and Hazel prayed his new brother wasn't passing hraka in his arms. But what happened instead was something that made Hazel let out a gasp: Slowly the infant's eyes opened, and looked straight into Hazel's own. They were a shade of violet identical to their mother's, and there was something in them that Hazel could have sworn was recognition. Hazel was so shocked all he could do was stare back into his brother's curious eyes, unable to even think of alerting anybody to this phenomenon.

The baby's face then clenched again, as if the effort of keeping his eyes open was just too much and he re-shut them, now looking just as he had a minute ago. Hazel was stunned. His brother was just born and already he could open his eyes, and Hazel realized he was now the very first thing his brother had ever seen.

"Hazel?" Snapped out of his reverie once again Hazel looked over and saw his parents and the nurse all looking at him.

"Hazel, it's time," said the nurse. Very unwillingly Hazel handed her the bundle with his brother in it, and she deposited him into a glass bassinet with wheels on it. Hazel stared into the bassinet, watching his brother and wishing he could have held him longer. Suddenly his brother whimpered and squirmed where he lay, trying to move his tiny body in Hazel's direction, and Hazel's instinctive response was to reach out his thumb and forefinger and use it to hold his brother's minute paw. The infant gave a little squeeze, and Hazel felt that rush of affection from before come back in full swing.

"You're going to be okay, little brother," he whispered to the baby, "You're going to be okay." Then the nurse wheeled the baby out of the room, and Hazel was left holding his finger in mid-air right where it had been. Next to him, both of his parents were beaming proudly.

"Well done, son, well done," Mr. Shawnson said with a proud pat on his son's shoulder. He pulled a long cigar out of his breast pocket, "I'm going outside to enjoy this." And he left the delivery room. Hazel looked over at his mother, and watched her scoot over a little and pat the bed beside her.

Realizing what she meant Hazel sat down on top of the blanket next to her. She stroked his ears and the back of his head and kissed him. "You are going to be such a wonderful big brother," she said.

"Mother…" Hazel whispered, "He looked at me. He opened his eyes and he looked at me." There was a huge feeling of pride and elation in Hazel's chest like he had never felt before. He felt as if he had just been awarded some great honor by being the first thing his brother had ever seen.

"Oh, Darling, you must have imagined it," his mother responded.

Hazel shook his head. "I didn't. He has violet eyes, Mother – just like yours."

"Really…?" his mother looked stunned. "That's – that's very unusual. And you saw it? Darling, I think the two of you are going to have a very special bond."

Hazel nodded in agreement. He didn't think there are was going to be a special bond between him and his brother, he knew it already.

"Have you picked his name yet?"

His mother suddenly looked a little sad, but also thoughtful. "My grandfather, your great-grandfather, was also the only survivor of a litter of five. So we've decided to name your brother after him: they called him Fiver."

"Fiver…" Hazel repeated. "Fiver Shawnson, I like it."

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"I've had over 300 children and I've never seen that! He could really open his eyes as soon as he was born?" Bonnie asked.

Hazel nodded. "Yes, although that was the only time I saw it happen. He came home a week later, and then it was another week before I saw him open his eyes again. But from then on, we were inseparable."

Bonnie had been right, him talking about Fiver did take his mind off the pain as she continued pressing against his leg, so he kept going: "I would go to school and do my homework, and the rest of my time I spent helping with the baby. I was good at it, I liked it, and he liked me. Whenever Fiver cried and Mother couldn't stop it, she would hand him to me and he would calm right down. Sometimes I would even set up a sleeping bag in his room and sleep next to his crib, and he'd sleep through the whole night. Mother said we would have a special bond, and Frith was she right."

Then his expression saddened. "But then Mother started getting sick. I remember she could barely eat, and would often throw up when she did, and she started getting tired all the time. Father said she might be pregnant again but… it was cancer. She died a year later, Fiver had just turned two."

00000 The lock clicked, the front door opened, and in entered three rabbit bucks, all with similar orange and brown fur. The first one was forty-five, followed by an eleven year-old leading his two year-old brother by the paw. All three were dressed in black, for they had just come from a funeral: Mrs. Shawnson's funeral.

The complications that had caused Mrs. Shawnson to reabsorb most of Fiver's litter turned out to be the early stages of ovarian cancer, which had metastasized too far for her to be treated by the time of her diagnosis almost a year earlier. Mr. Shawnson had been the picture of misery ever since his wife died. Despite having dressed for a funeral his fur was unkempt, his eyes were red and baggy, and there was a stink of whiskey on him and a cigarette hanging from his mouth that he wasn't even bothering to conceal from his sons. Behind him Fiver let out a suppressed little cough at the smoke in his wake.

"Father?" Hazel piped up. Mr. Shawnson turned to face Hazel with his bleary eyes. "What?" Was all he could say. Hazel shuffled on his feet, unsure of what to say himself. "Could – could you please put that out? The smoke's not good for Fiver."

Reluctantly Mr. Shawnson pulled out his cigarette pack and stubbed out his smoking sticking on it, dropping ashes on the floor in the process. He sadly regarded his two boys, all he had left, whom he had no clue how to take care of; childrearing had always been his wife's job.

"Father… what do we do now?" Hazel asked, desperate for some words of assurance. Hazel watched his father's face clench, trying to think of what to say, and then without a word he retreated. Hazel made a gesture to call after him, but then he heard an all-too-familiar door slam and click – their father had locked himself in his den. All at once Hazel's arm fell, his ears lowered and his heart sank at his father's inability to comfort.

"Hathel…?" Hazel looked down and saw Fiver timidly tugging on his pant leg.

"What is it, Fiver?" he asked more harshly than he meant to.

Fiver recoiled as if Hazel had struck him, clutching his paws over his stomach, "I'm hungwy."

Hazel gasped. He realized that none of the family had eaten since breakfast, and it was past 4 now; Fiver must have been hungry for hours. And then Hazel realized he was hungry too. And now that his attention was actually focused on his brother he sniffed the air around him, and realized that Fiver needed changing. And that he hadn't even had a nap all day. In the ten days since Mrs. Shawnson had died their father had been in lots of meetings with the family lawyer and the town undertaker, and spent the rest of his time locked in his den with no interaction at all with his sons, leaving Hazel to take care of Fiver around the clock.

Hazel was no stranger to it, having willingly taken on the job of helping out his mother and occasionally babysitting ever since Fiver was born, but since Mother had died Hazel had been functioning on autopilot, his emotions an enormous mix of grief and numbness at the loss, and it was all he could do to keep up with the bare minimum of Fiver's needs.

Suddenly filled with remorse Hazel knelt down and hugged his brother tightly, letting a few tears escape his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Fiver. Let's get you cleaned up and then we'll have a little silflay, okay?"

Fiver nodded wordlessly, and Hazel took Fiver by the paw and led him up the stairs to the nursery. He changed Fiver's diaper and clothes, and then got himself into some more comfortable clothing as well. And then setting his jaw he led Fiver back downstairs to the kitchen. It had been almost two weeks since anyone had gone grocery shopping and the fridge was virtually empty, but there still had to be some canned or frozen foods around. Rummaging through the cupboards and freezer Hazel found enough for a meal: canned asparagus, a couple of microwavable Carrots-For-One packs and a half-full bag of frozen blueberries. He set Fiver in his high chair and poured the blueberries into a bowl in front of him, trying to make himself sound as chipper as possible.

"Here you go little brother – blueberries! You like blueberries, don't you?" Fiver nodded eagerly. Hazel heated up one of the Carrots-For-One packs and put it on a plate for himself with some of the asparagus. Then he looked over at the other frozen pack, and decided to try to get the other member of the household to join them. He got up and left the kitchen, down the hall to the door of Father's den. He knocked: "Father?"

No answer.

"Father, we're having a silflay, can you join us?"

Still no answer, but Hazel heard the sound of glass hitting a table inside. Father was probably drinking himself to sleep.

His ears drooping Hazel went back to the table, where he noticed that Fiver hadn't started eating, but simply watched him anxiously. Hazel gave a sigh and sat down to eat, munching half-heartedly on the mushy asparagus and tasteless reheated carrots. It was hardly flayrah, but he had to eat something.

After a few bites he noticed: Fiver wasn't eating, but still watching him with the same worried expression.

"Fiver, what are you waiting for? Eat up."

Fiver shook his head.

"What's the matter? Aren't you hungry?" Hazel asked concernedly. Then to his surprise, Fiver pushed the bowl of berries towards him.

"You eat," said Fiver.

Hazel was startled. He loved blueberries too, but they were his brother's. "N-no thanks," he tried to refuse.

"Eat!" Fiver insisted.

Taken aback by his two year-old brother's gesture Hazel nodded, and then he picked up a berry and popped it in his mouth. His ears perked up as he tasted the cold, sweet tartness and he eagerly popped another in his mouth and chewed loudly as he pleased with his mouth open.

With a giggle Fiver mimicked him, stuffing a pawful of berries in his mouth and smacking loudly with his own jaw hanging open, bits of berry falling out onto the tray on his highchair. Feeling himself start to smile for real Hazel grabbed another berry, flicked it up in the air, and deftly caught it in his mouth. Fiver let out a squeal of delight and tried to do the same, but ended up throwing the berry across the room. Hazel laughed for the first time in days at that.

After a few minutes of eating blueberries in all sorts of creative ways the bowl was empty, but both brothers felt much better. Hazel wiped the berry juice off his brother's paws and mouth and while he put the dishes in the sink Fiver let out a big yawn.

"Feeling sleepy, little brother?" Hazel asked.

"Tho thweepy," Fiver whispered, his eyelids drooping.

Hazel looked at the clock: quarter to six. "Might as well just put you down for the night," he said, lifting Fiver off his seat.

"Thweep… wif you?" Fiver asked.

Hazel saw no reason to say no – in spite of the early hour he felt exhausted himself, and he didn't want to be alone tonight either. But then he sniffed Fiver and found one possible reason to refuse: "Alright, but first you're getting a bath, okay? You're all embly."

"Em-bwy?" Fiver asked.

"Stinky!" Hazel translated, comically waving his paw in front of his nose. "'Tinky!" Fiver laughed at the word. Hoisting his brother in his arms Hazel carried the toddler upstairs to the bathroom, giving Fiver little bounces on his shoulder to make him laugh.

00000 After the bath was over Hazel dried Fiver off and dressed them both for bed, and soon the two brothers were snuggled together in Hazel's bed. Hazel breathed in Fiver's fresh scent, savoring the comfort of having his brother with him, and then Fiver suddenly started trembling.

"Hathel?" Fiver sniffled. Hazel looked down, and saw tears in Fiver's eyes.

"What's the matter?" he asked, gently wiping Fiver's eyes with his thumbs.

"I mith Mommy," Fiver whimpered, burrowing his face in Hazel's chest.

Hazel sniffled himself and hugged his brother tightly, sharing the same feeling. "I know; I miss her too."

"We be okay?" Fiver asked, sounding scared. Hazel sighed. He wished he had an answer, but he didn't. Their family was a mess, and things felt so bleak without their mother. But he was still here, Fiver was still here, and Father might be too once he had time to recover. Hazel didn't know what to do, but he had to keep going. He had to be strong for Father, and for Fiver, who desperately needed him. Gently he stroked Fiver's ears, his little brother who gave him strength and made him smile when he needed it most.

"We will be," Hazel finally managed. "We will be."

Back To Present

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There were tears in Hazel's eyes as he finished recounting the story, and only partly from the pain of Bonnie's paws pressed against his wound. The doe looked sympathetic.

"I'm sorry," Bonnie said, "That must have been so hard for you to go through, especially when you were still a kit yourself. Did you really have no other family that could help you?"

Hazel shook his head. "No… my parents' relatives all died when an outbreak of white blindness hit Sandleford."

"I know about that, Blackberry told me," Bonnie responded, not wanting to make Hazel recount the story of the plague that almost destroyed his hometown. Then she lifted up her gauze press to check Hazel's wound: "Good news: your bleeding's stopped. Now I can clean this before I stitch you up."

She dabbed a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide, "Sorry, this will sting some more," and Hazel winced as Bonnie began wiping dried blood and debris from the hole in his leg.

"We were all we had," Hazel continued, breathing through the pain, "Me, Fiver, and Father. And after what had happened to Father, I think losing our mother broke him. He'd hole up in his den, drinking and smoking and only come out to eat. He would look after Fiver when I was at school, but when I came home I had to do everything: clean the house, order groceries, take care of Fiver and find time to do my homework. I nearly broke down…"

Flashback

00000000 Hazel sat on his bed, clutching at his face with his paws in frustration. He couldn't do this anymore – that history presentation had been due today, and like so many assignments before it he hadn't been able to finish it on time. It wasn't his fault – the day before, on top of his usual chores Fiver had complained of a tummy ache and ended up keeping them both up half the night, causing Hazel to fall asleep in class. But old Mr. Bunnerd wasn't willing to listen – he had actually accused Hazel of laziness and ordered him to do both the presentation and an extra assignment as punishment.

The young buck snarled, bitter at the unfairness of the situation, and grabbed a pillow and yelled into it, keeping his voice as muffled as possible and resisting the urge to tear the pillow into pieces. If he didn't have to take care of Fiver around the clock after school (his brother was currently having a nap) then he could finish all his homework easily, and maybe actually go out and hang out with friends or something. He was twelve, he was a kit, no kit was supposed to have to do so much! Why couldn't Father take a night off to look after Fiver, just one lousy night, so his other son could actually catch up on his homework? If only Mother were still here… Hazel slumped and sighed. He missed his mother, so much. And his father clearly still hurt too, even though it had been four months since she died. Hazel tried to have sympathy, but he couldn't remember the last time his father had even said more than two sentences to him that didn't involve Fiver, chores or groceries, as if Hazel wasn't his son, just some hired help. He felt no support from Father, or his teacher, or anyone.

Hazel looked over to the closet – there was a monogramed suitcase in there that had belonged to his late grandfather; they had the same initials so the case had become Hazel's. And maybe, now… for the first time ever he could use it. Just pack it up and leave this isolated little town forever, go somewhere that he could be a kit and let someone else take care of him for a change. For just one, fleeting second, he actually considered it.

"Hathel?" a quiet voice whispered.

Hazel jumped and spun around. Standing in the doorway wringing his paws was Fiver, wearing a red T-shirt and his training pants, and a miserable expression on his little face.

"Fiver, what's wrong?" Hazel asked, softening his voice and stepping towards the teary-eyed toddler, "Does your tummy hurt again?"

"Hathel, don' go!" cried little Fiver, and before Hazel could react Fiver launched himself at his big brother, sobbing into his shirt. "Don' want you to go! Pleath don' go!"

Hazel gasped. How did – he wasn't actually planning on leaving, but how did Fiver know…?

"Fiver, it's okay!" He hugged his little brother, rubbing his back soothingly, "It's okay, I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying right here with you."

Fiver looked up at him, his large violet eyes pleading. "*Sniff*, Pwomise?"

Hazel nodded, a smile finding its way onto his face. "Promise."

Looking reassured Fiver hugged his big brother with all the might his tiny body could muster.

"I luv you, Hathel."

Hazel felt himself melt on the inside, and all his feelings of anger and frustration from before began to fade away.

"I love you too," he whispered.

Back to present

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"That was the first sign I ever saw that he might be psychic," Hazel stated, "Several more times for the next two years I was on the verge of running away, and Fiver would just know, and he'd come along and hug me until I felt better. It was uncanny."

Looking fascinated now, Bonnie finished dabbing at Hazel's leg and picked up a small white box labelled MIXED MEDICAL SUTURES. From it she removed stainless steel medical scissors, tweezers, forceps and a couple of packets.

"Was that when his visions started?" she asked as she opened the packets and pulled out a curved surgical needle from one and suture threads from the other.

"Not like he had the other night," Hazel answered, "There were other signs, like sometimes he'd tell me to get the door just before someone knocked, or he'd tell me to answer the phone and five seconds later it would ring. But his first true vision happened three years later…"

Flashback

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*Hazel Shawnson, please report to the office. Hazel Shawnson to the office."* Sitting in 9th grade English class, Hazel's ears shot up as he heard his name called over the loudspeakers, and out of the corner of his eye he saw some of his classmates stare in his direction. Slowly he stood up, gathered his things and stepped out of the classroom. As he walked through the halls he wondered what he could possibly have done to be called to the office, and being unable to come up with anything his thoughts turned to Fiver.

It had been a few weeks since his little brother had started kindergarten and Hazel had picked him up every day since, and according to both Fiver and his teacher, Miss Wardle, Fiver was not fitting in well. He was very shy around other children and few were willing to play with him; most of Fiver's time was spent reading books or sitting in the corner daydreaming.

Hazel reached the office and nervously stepped in. "Mrs. Plum?" he said to the receptionist, "I'm Hazel Shawnson."

The plump, stern-looking angora doe at the desk looked up from her desk and regarded him with a concerned look on her face, "The elementary school called, your brother had some kind of funny spell and fainted in class."

Hazel gasped. "Wha – when? Where is he? Is he okay?"

"He's alright, he's in the nurse's office. Your father's been called and he's on his way, but Fiver's been asking for you" Mrs Plum quickly replied.

Without waiting for more details Hazel turned tail and dashed out of the office and out the front door. There were two schools in Sandleford, in adjacent lots. One hosted students from 7th grade to graduation, where Hazel was, and the other was for students from kindergarten to 6th grade, where Fiver was. Hazel raced across the yard of his school, crossed the gate in the chain-link fence that separated his from Fiver's, and ran to the kindergarten wing.

"EEK!" two little does shrieked as the tall orange teenager burst through the doors in front of them.

"Sorry girls, sorry!" Hazel called back as he ran to the reception office nearby and burst in. "Hello, where's the nurse's office!?" he hurriedly asked the 20-something maple doe working reception.

"D-Down the hall on your left, are you Hazel Shawnson?" the doe asked.

"That's right!" Hazel quickly answered before he left the room, raced to the door marked NURSE and opened it. Sitting on a brown vinyl table in the middle of the tiny room was Fiver, his face in his paws, crying.

"Fiver?" Hazel whispered. His little brother looked up, and his face lit with relief.

"Oh, Hazel!" He sobbed, looking distraught. Hazel ran over, dropping his backpack on the way, and grabbed Fiver in a tight embrace, so relieved to see that he wasn't hurt, just shaken for some reason. Fiver cried into his shoulder and Hazel instinctively stroked his back and ears as he often did when Fiver had nightmares.

"Fiver, what happened?" Hazel asked softly, "Are you hurt? The doe at the desk told me you fainted."

"Miss Wardle!" Fiver choked, "She's going to have an accident in her hrududu! Another hrududu is going to hit hers!"

Hazel blinked in confusion, and he sat his brother back to look straight into his eyes, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Fiver sniffled, "Well, I… I was sitting at my desk, we were working on the alphabet, and then I felt funny. My head felt funny, and then I was in a… dream."

"And what happened in your dream?" Hazel asked.

" I saw Miss Wardle, we were in her hrududu, she was driving, and then suddenly there was a loud crash and glass was everywhere. I looked at her, and she had blood on her, and her arm was all bent back! It was horrible! I screamed, and then I woke up in class with Miss Wardle shaking me awake! Everyone was staring at me…" Fiver buried his face in his paws again, "And… sh-she said I said something, some kind of poem, how did it go…"

Fiver screwed his eyes shut, "Um… the - the teacher is fine today, she won't expect danger on her way. But disaster will come to her, from another driver gone astray!"

Hazel gasped, staring at his brother's face, and Fiver cried in distress: "H-Hazel, it wasn't a dream! It was real! I don't know how, but I know it's going to happen! Please believe me!"

Hazel was stunned, confused, but then he remembered something: 3 years ago, when he was going through a rough time he had actually considered the possibility of leaving Sandleford, and then Fiver had come into his room and begged him not to go, even though Hazel hadn't said anything about it to him. And there were other times, too, when Fiver seemed to know things before they happened. This was like nothing Hazel had ever seen Fiver do before, but his heart told him to take his brother's words seriously.

"I believe you, Fiver," Hazel finally said.

Back to present

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"After that I told Miss Wardle what Fiver had told me, but she didn't believe me. She suggested it could be epilepsy or something worse, and recommended he see the town therapist," Hazel stated, "But the next day, she came in with a cast on her arm and stitches on her face. Her hrududu had been hit, just like Fiver predicted."

Noticing the confused look on Bonnie's face he added, "Hrududu means car, some rabbits in our town called it that."

"You sure had some odd words there," Bonnie said. She held up the curved and threaded needle by tweezers in her paw: "The disinfectant may have stung, but I'm afraid this is really going to hurt. Are you ready?"

Hazel gulped, nodded, and braced himself. "Do it."

Without another word Bonnie dug the needle into the edge of the wound, looped it under, and pulled out the other side.

"MMMF!" Hazel stifled a cry as Bonnie began stitching him up.

"Go on, keep talking!" Bonnie ordered as she started tying the thread in a special knot to make her first stitch, "What happened next? What happened to Fiver after that vision?"

"*Errgh,*" Hazel moaned, "It - it sure made him a target for bullies…"

Flashback

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Hazel anxiously patrolled around his side of the fence that separated his and Fiver's schools. It was lunch hour now for both schools, and while most of his fellow students were inside eating he was here watching the yard of Fiver's school. All the kits from kindergarten to 6th grade were outside playing, enjoying the fall weather, and Hazel felt like a creep watching them. But he felt that he had to – twice now he had picked Fiver up from kindergarten to find him with marks on his face. The first time with a cut on his lip, and the second with bruises in his ear, as if somebody had forcibly grabbed it. And when he had tried to ask Fiver about it his brother had clammed up and then said they were accidents, which Hazel did not buy for a minute. Someone was bullying his little brother and Fiver was too scared to say whom, so here Hazel was, watching and hoping to catch somebody in the act.

If only he could find Fiver- There he was! Standing behind a tree about thirty yards away, his distinctive orange and brown head sticking out. Hazel squinted to look at Fiver's face: he looked scared, and was clearly hiding from something, or someone. Hazel wanted to call out to Fiver but he had to wait, in case a bully or possibly a group of them came into view so he'd catch them. Two tense minutes later Hazel saw two bucks, around 4th or 5th grade age, skulking with their paws in their pockets around the area Fiver was in. He saw one spot Fiver, gesture with his shoulders at his friend, and they started over, splitting in two directions.

"Hey, Shawnson!" one called. Fiver spotted him and tried to run, but was then blocked by the other bully and retreated, until they had him cornered at the chain-link fence that guarded their side of the playground. Hazel gripped the links on his side and listened hard, and over the din of children screaming and playing his rabbit ears managed to pick up what the other kits were saying to Fiver:

"Whatsamatter? Didn't you predict we were coming?" one of the bullies sneered. He shoved Fiver against the fence, "C'mon, make a prediction for me! What's the answers on today's math test?"

"I don't know! Please, leave me alone!" Fiver cried at both of them, but both bullies just sneered at him.

"Aww, I bet you were just faking that scene in Miss Wardle's class! He's not only a freak, he's a fake freak!" said the bully to his friend.

"It was real! I said she'd be in an accident, and she was!" Fiver protested desperately. He looked so scared, and thirty yards away Hazel was starting to see red as he watched the scene, his paws bending the wire in the fence he was gripping.

"You know they got nuthouses for freaks like you!" jeered the other bully, "Let's hope they got runt-sized straitjackets. That's what you belong in! A straitjacket!"

"Can you predict what I'm about to do now?" the first bully whispered in Fiver's face. And before Fiver could answer, the bully punched him in the nose.

"HEY!" Hazel shouted, and instead of running for the gate he jumped onto the 5-foot chain-link fence, climbed over and hit the ground running, scared kits jumping out of his way as he raced to his brother's aid. Standing over Fiver who was clutching his bleeding nose the bullies turned, saw the tall orange teenager pelting toward them and started to run, but before they could get far Hazel was upon them like an avenging angel. He grabbed both bullies by the scruffs of the neck and yanked them both backwards, making them hit the ground with a thud.

"How DARE you!" Hazel yelled at the sprawled bucks, "Picking on a little kit who did nothing to you! Fiver, are you alright?"

"Y-yeth, Hathel," Fiver replied through a bloody nose, stunned by both Hazel's sudden appearance and the fury on his brother's face; Fiver had never Hazel so angry, and the effect was frightening even for him.

"Good. Now, I want you two to apologize to him," Hazel growled at the two bucks on the ground.

"Eat hraka, Carrot-Head!" one of the bullies yelled. Around them other kits from the playground were starting to gather around, watching the scene. Hazel was unfazed.

"I said APOLOGIZE!" Hazel snarled, and before the bucks could try to run again Hazel reached down and seized them both by one ear each, gripping the sensitive appendages with his claws. Both bucks yelped in pain and quickly and obediently got up, unable to twist out of Hazel's grip.

"Apologize!" Hazel ordered.

"S-s-sorry, Fiver," both bullies stammered.

"That's better," Hazel huffed, "Let's go see what your principal says about what you did!" And then still grasping both bucks by the ear he started marching them in the direction of the faculty building, the other kids nearby watching with a mixture of fear and awe at Hazel's actions. Hazel looked back, and saw Fiver still sitting against the fence holding his nose.

"Come on, Fiver!" Hazel called back. Fiver quickly jumped up and followed his brother, trying not to look at the other kits watching him as he ran after Hazel and the bullies.

Back to present

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"Good of you to teach those kits a lesson!" praised Bonnie.

Hazel felt a swell of pride at her words as he remembered the story. "Thanks. I wish you'd been the principal then – for leaving campus and fighting I got a week's detention. But it was okay – when father explained that I was the only one who could pick up Fiver from school, they allowed him permission to come over after kindergarten was over and wait in the detention room with me. We spent the time doing our schoolwork so it didn't really make a difference."

Bonnie was starting to feel in awe of the young buck who had done so much for his brother. "You couldn't be there all the time; did they ever go after Fiver again?" she asked as she prepared another stitch.

"After that incident, I started having lunch with him every day to keep an eye on him," Hazel answered, "There was a picnic table near the gate that we would sit at, or in bad weather they'd let us eat on a couch in the office. They gave me special permission to visit once I explained things. Those boys still went after Fiver, but he was smart enough to stay near a teacher in between classes, and they never dared try anything when I was around. Once they graduated and came to my school, I kept wary of them, but they never gave me trouble."

"That sounds rather lonely, just you two together all the time," said Bonnie. "Did you not make any other friends? Or Fiver? Forgive me if that's too personal."

"No, that's alright," Hazel answered, "I had some friends at school, but I was usually too busy to hang out with them after classes were over. And Fiver… he's very shy, and people just didn't understand how special he is. I was his best friend, and he was mine; it was enough."

Bonnie took a moment, just a moment, to actually reach over and stroke the top of Hazel's head. "You are such a wonderful brother; Fiver's so lucky to have you."

Hazel blushed under his fur, his ears going hot. "Th-thank you, that's very kind of you to say."

"Don't be so modest, it's only the truth," Bonnie replied. She examined her stitch handiwork a bit and then continued. "Now this might get too personal again, but what about your father? Did he ever get over his depression over losing your mother? Surely he'd have some quality time with you boys still."

Hazel frowned. "Those times were few and far between, Mrs. Bonnie. Once in a while he would lighten up and take us out for a walk or a movie or something, but most of the time all he did was smoke, drink and look at family photos. It was as if a part of him died with our mother. He didn't even live for very long after..." The buck sighed sadly, looking down and not pleased at what he'd reveal next.

Back to present

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A clear summer's day on the last day of school excited young Fiver and his big brother Hazel. Their father had announced his intention that day to take them on a long road trip over the summer, and the brothers were excited to start getting ready and finally spend some quality time with their father as they stood in the front ready for pickup.

"I can't wait to have fun with father Hazel!" Fiver exclaimed excitingly jumping a little.

"Oh ho, calm down Fiver," chuckled Hazel patting his head. "Father needs to be here first." His answer came in the form of a blue Volkswagen pulling into the front and out stepped an elderly-looking orange buck that resembled an older Hazel. It was Robert Shawnson, their father looking a bit groggy.

"Hi *cough* children," Robert coughed waving to his kids. He came over and hugged them both.

"*MMF!*" he winced as Fiver hugged around his midsection, making his younger son jump back.

"Oh father, you really should lay off the funny juice," Hazel advised him. "Can't be good for your health." Hazel used that term around Fiver so he didn't know what liquids such as beer were yet for his own safety.

"Sure Hazel, I'm thinking about that starting this summer," Robert wheezed. He kept coughing a bit. "You know, I think I'll take a bit of a walk and then come back okay?" The brothers nodded and Robert started walking away but he hadn't gotten more than 13 steps before he suddenly gave one last great hack, clutched at his chest and collapsed.

"Father?" Hazel cried running over with his brother. "Father, oh father wake up!" He shook the body but Mr. Shawnson didn't move.

Back to present

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"…And he died right there, right in front of us," Hazel finished. There was sadness in his voice, but he was long past shedding tears over his father.

Bonnie, however, looked distraught. "Oh, you poor boys!" She gave Hazel a quick hug around the shoulders, making him feel like blushing again.

"It's okay, Mrs. Bonnie. We're okay," Hazel said, "Father wasn't around much before, so it actually didn't make too much difference. And since I was 18 and I'd finished high school, I was actually able to become Fiver's legal guardian. It was a hard few months, between doing that and settling Father's estate and finding a job, but we survived."

Then he realized that he hadn't felt any stabbing pains in his leg for some time. "Are you almost finished back there?" he asked.

"Actually, I finished your leg five minutes ago," Bonnie declared proudly, "Now I just got to bandage you back up, and we're done."

Hazel was astonished; both at the speed of Bonnie's work and how well talking about his past had actually worked in taking his mind off his leg.

As he watched Bonnie open a cabinet and pull out a sterile pad and a roll of bandages, he decided to tell one more story: "Actually, once those first two months were over, our lives began to improve significantly," he said.

000000000 Fiver shivered nervously as he and Hazel approached the large, old-fashioned brick building. It had now been two months since their father died, and after a few home visits and interviews with their social worker, Mrs. Rabbison, Hazel had successfully completed the process of becoming Fiver's legal guardian. Things had finally seemed to be going well until Hazel had gotten a call stating that Mrs. Rabbison had suddenly taken ill and needed to go on medical leave, and they were to meet with a new social worker at the Home.

"You really don't have to be scared, little brother," Hazel took Fiver's paw reassuringly, "They're not going to take you away from me; if they were they would have done it already."

"B-but this is the "Home for the Unfortunate"!" Fiver cried, "Why would they bring us here unless they want me to come live here? Hazel, I don't want to live without you!"

"I swear that's not going to happen!" Hazel turned and knelt in front of his brother, looking firmly into his eyes. "I swear, I'll never let that happen. If they try and force you to come live here, so help me I'll sell the house and move in too!" He hugged Fiver, "I really do think this new social worker just wants to meet us, and if we want to make a good impression we'd better not be late, come on." And he led Fiver by the paw into the building.

Once inside they walked up to a reception desk where there sat a light brown doe roughly Hazel's age. "Hello, Hazel and Fiver Shawnson, we have an 11 o'clock appointment,"

Hazel greeted her. "Oh yes, your social worker is ready for you, first door on your left!" the doe pointed down a hall.

"Great, thanks," Hazel replied, trying to sound as normal as possible. In truth he had some trepidation of his own, but for Fiver's sake he was determined to hide it. He led Fiver to the aforementioned door and slowly knocked.

"Come in!" called a voice from the other side. Hazel opened at the door, and he and Fiver laid eyes on their new social worker: he was a grey buck roughly the same age as their father had been, with a fur goatee and dark patches around his eyes. He had a somewhat rough voice, and looked weary but still kind. His office itself was sparse, with minimal furniture and no pictures or personal decorations.

Hazel and Fiver each took a seat at his desk, Fiver still shaking a little. "Um, are you new here, sir?" Hazel impulsively asked.

The buck looked a little surprised at being asked a question first: "Yes; I completed my training as a social worker a few weeks ago, and then I moved back here. I grew up in this town."

"You - you were in the army," Fiver suddenly mumbled, his body starting to tremble worse. The grey rabbit cocked his left eyebrow in confusion, since was no paraphernalia in the office that indicated that. "Err, yes. How did you know that?"

"Fiver's… kind of psychic," Hazel explained, "He's good at just knowing things."

"I did see something about that in Mrs. Rabbison's file on you two," said the buck, pulling a brown file folder out of his desk and opening it, "She's written that you, Fiver, have a history of strange fainting spells, after which you claim something bad is about to happen. Tell me Fiver, have you had any more of those spells lately since-"

"I DON'T WANT TO GO!" Fiver suddenly burst out, "I want to keep living with Hazel! Please don't take me away!"

Hazel instinctively jumped over and held his brother, trying to comfort him, and then he noticed that the social worker looked every bit as shocked at Fiver's outburst as he did.

"Please, calm down, Fiver," the grey buck pleaded. "I have no intention of separating you two, and based on Mrs. Rabbison's report there is no reason to whatsoever."

Fiver's ears perked up at those words, and under his paws Hazel suddenly felt tension ease off from his brother's shoulders.

"…You don't?" Fiver asked hopefully.

The grey buck shook his head, "I see those psychic abilities of yours are very selective," he said half-jokingly. He glanced at the report some more, "Going over the rest of your file it's very positive. Hazel, she says right here that you have demonstrated an exceptional level of inner strength and responsibility, and have been doing well to build and maintain a stable home environment in your father's absence. And she also wrote here that, and I'm quoting her, 'Fiver is apprehensive, but seems to be adjusting well. His anxiety seems to stem more from fear of losing his brother than trauma from losing his father'."

Hazel looked at Fiver and then back at the social worker again, "Well, our father's… death didn't really change much, sir. I've already been Fiver's main caregiver since he was 2, because Father had to work all the time." He sat back in his chair, "I'm working now at Sandleford Hardware. Every weekday morning I take Fiver to school, and then I go to work. I use my lunch break to pick him up from school, and he waits for me and does his homework in the store's break room until I finish, and then we go home together. I make dinner, we clean up, I help Fiver finish his homework, and then we watch a movie or play a game or read together, and then we go to bed."

"Very good," praised the grey rabbit, "Based on her home visit Mrs. Rabbison seems to think that your current living arrangement is the best thing for both of you, and I agree with her. But believe me, the state would never separate you two unless there was absolutely no other choice. I have only been assigned to check in on you once in a while and ensure you are doing well." He leaned forward, regarding them both warmly, "Now, what say we wipe the slate clean, and start over? Does that sound alright?"

"That sounds good to us, sir," said Hazel, unable to keep the relief out of his voice. He extended his paw, "I'm Hazel Shawnson, and this is my brother Fiver."

The grey buck reached out his paw and shook Hazel's.

"It's very nice to meet you both. My name is Holly, Holly Sanders."

00000000000

"And from then on, Holly became our friend," said Hazel, "He did more than check in on us once in a while – he also taught me basic things like how to pay bills and file income taxes, and he would volunteer to look after Fiver whenever I couldn't, and later that year he invited us for Thanksgiving dinner at the Home for the Unfortunate. There he introduced us to Blackberry, and Dandelion and Hawkbit and Pipkin's parents, and a year later Bigwig as well, once he got out of the army. We lost our father, but through Holly we gained new friends, and I'm so glad they survived the swirling wind with us."

By now Bonnie had finished bandaging Hazel's leg and was just watching the buck's face, fascinated. "He does sound like a most wonderful buck."

"Oh, he is. He didn't have to do any of that, but that's the kind of person he is," Hazel explained. "And I guess he didn't have much on his plate anyway – by the time he took over the Home for the Unfortunate nearly everyone who grew up there had been either adopted or aged out of the system; when the swirling wind hit Pipkin was the only kit living there."

"Well, I'm glad he survived, along with all the rest of you," said Bonnie fondly. She patted Hazel's shoulder, "Now, you're all better, but as a precaution I want you to go lie down in the ward for a while, you've had a hard day. Stu and I will find something light for you to do, but as for your family-" her ear suddenly perked up, listening to the sounds of rabbits breathing at the door, "I do hope this incident won't affect their productivity, for we really do need the help, especially now."

She distinctly heard stifled whispers and footsteps tiptoeing away and softly smiled. Hazel, too groggy to pay attention, slowly heaved himself up, and with Bonnie's help got into a sitting position. She hadn't given him any drugs, but with all his hard work earlier in the day combined with his second blood loss in a week, he felt exhausted.

"Thank you, Mrs. Bonnie," he whispered. To his surprise, Bonnie hugged him. "It was nothing; I'm glad I got this chance to get to know you better. You truly are a fine buck, Hazel, and I'm glad you and your family are working for us now."

Then with surprising strength she heaved Hazel up and held his arm over her shoulders, and helped him limp out of the room. The ward was now empty, but Bonnie could distinctly smell recent scents from the others of the Sandleford group as she helped Hazel over to a bed and laid him down on his stomach.

"Mrs. Bonnie?" Hazel mumbled as his head sank into the pillow.

"Yes?" the doe asked. Hazel's paw gestured a little at his current half-dressed state:

"Can someone loan me a pair of trousers?"

000000000

Hours later Hazel left the hospital wing, wearing overalls and walking on crutches this time. Two Hopps rabbits helped him get up the stairs to the guest house, and as he got closer to the door a delicious smell from the guest house greeted Hazel's nose. He recognized the smell, but it couldn't be… He thanked the Hopps rabbits, limped the last couple stairs on his own, and opened the door:

"Welcome home, Hazel!" Bluebell suddenly greeted him, and he and Buckthorn then each reached around Hazel.

"Umm, thank you…?" Hazel muttered as the two lifted him by their shoulders and helped him limp over to the kitchen area, where the whole group was gathered around and Blackberry was stirring something in a big pot that made Hazel's mouth water.

"Is that…?"

"Butternut squash soup, Fiver said you liked it," Blackberry said.

"And focaccia bread too!" Holly added, showing Hazel the loaf he was cutting on the counter.

"Oh, uh thanks," Hazel said. He was soon settled into the end chair on the left side of the kitchen table by Buckthorn and Bluebell, and then Acorn rushed in and pushed a cushion under the foot of his bad leg.

"How are you feeling, Love?" Hana the mouse hopped on the table in front of Hazel before he could question Acorn.

"Um, fine, Mrs. Bonnie is brilliant with stitches," He answered. "And she said no one's fired – when I explained why I kept it a secret she understood."

He looked around and saw Strawberry standing nearby: "Strawberry, please forgive me," he pleaded to the orange buck, "I was stupid and I nearly got you fired, I'm so sorry."

"Oh, there's nothing to forgive at all, Hazel," Strawberry assured him pleasantly, "You were just trying to look after us, like always."

A question mark appeared over Hazel's head, and then he heard running from upstairs, and turned to see Dandelion and Pipkin coming down towards him.

"Glad to see you're better dear chap," Dandelion smiled. "I got the sauna warming up and ready for you."

"And I brought your slippers, Mr. Hazel!" Pipkin proclaimed, holding them up for emphasis.

"Err, thanks," Hazel muttered as Pipkin knelt down to put them on him. He hardly needed the slippers at all since it was summer, but he appreciated the gesture. And the others, as Blackberry plopped down a tray with a steaming bowl of soup, a plate of warm bread and lots of butter in front of him.

As he thanked Blackberry and started to eat, he couldn't help but notice that the others didn't seem to be in a rush to get their own food, but simply stood around, watching him with fond looks on their faces.

"Alright, what's going on here?" Hazel asked.

"Oh, nothing mate," said Bigwig with a smile, "You're hurt, and we just wanted to do something nice for you. After all, you've already done so much for others."

Hazel wasn't quite sure what he was referring to, but then shrugged and got back to his meal while the others started ladling their own soup.

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After eating 3 bowls of the butternut squash soup (having missed lunch that day) Hazel went upstairs, aided this time by Bigwig and Pimpernel, and limped over to his room, only to find his things missing and the bunk bed set up just as it had been before he moved in.

"Hey, what's going on? Where are my things?" he asked.

"In your room, of course," Bigwig answered.

Hazel felt lost. "What are you talking about? This is my room."

"No no, your room's over there," Bigwig pointed down the hall.

Hazel frowned in confusion and hobbled over to where Bigwig was pointing, and his jaw dropped: it was the room with the spare double bed, and all his things were either laid out or packed away just as he had left them in the other room.

"What – seriously, what's going on here?" Hazel asked again.

"We all took a vote, and it was unanimous: you deserved the big bed," Bigwig answered simply.

"Your t-towel's right there," Pimpernel said, and the two bucks left before Hazel could ask any more questions.

Still confused Hazel undressed, wrapped the towel and around his waist and headed for the bathroom. He passed through the shower room, to find the sauna fully warmed up and a bottle of water sitting out for him. Silently thanking whoever had left the water for him Hazel got in the sauna and laid down, relaxing with his bad leg directly facing the heater.

00000000000

Hazel left the bathroom an hour later, thoroughly warmed up and now finally clean from a shower, to find Fiver waiting in his room for him.

"Oh, hello Fiver, did the rest of your day go well?" Hazel asked, trying to sound casual. And then without a rod Fiver got up from the bed, strode over hugged him tightly.

"Thank you," he whispered, nuzzling Hazel's chest with his head.

Hazel was taken aback. "For – for what?"

"For being my big brother," Fiver croaked. He looked up at Hazel, "You've done so much for me… now I want to do something for you."

Hazel cocked his head, "And what might that be?"

Fiver patted the bed, "Lie down." "I'm sorry, what?" "Lie down, please. On your stomach."

Hazel quietly obeyed, laying down on the soft bed with a towel still covering him and to his surprise, Fiver reached down and began massaging his back.

"I remember you used to do this for me, when I was really little," Fiver said as he rubbed the knots between Hazel's shoulder blades, "Whenever I was sad, or scared, you always made me feel better. And now I want to make you feel better."

"Mmm…" Hazel felt himself sink deeper into the mattress, "Don't remember… teaching you this. You're very good."

"I'm just doing what you did," Fiver smiled at Hazel as he started working on his shoulders. For several minutes he worked on his brother, rubbing his back, legs and neck, until Hazel's whole body felt like limp spaghetti, his hurt leg barely troubling him anymore.

He didn't know what time it was, he has lost all track of that, but either way he felt ready to go to sleep. And Fiver must have sensed that, for he slowly lifted his paws up, patted Hazel's head and gave him a little kiss.

"Goodnight, Hazel," he whispered.

"Goodnight… little brother," Hazel whispered back. And with that Fiver turned off the light and closed the door, leaving Hazel to sleep.

Whoa, seems Hazel in the past did so much for the family and Fiver is in good paws from an early age. Holly has history with the brothers too!

Next time is a look into some of Holly's history moreso into his life from back then before meeting Fiver and Hazel, there is a special gift for Hana and Bigwig gets a bit personal himself!

Starting with this chapter is going to be a song of the day. Chapter song here is Hey Brother by Avicii