A/N: This is the chapter where I attempt to break your hearts with Espeon's past. To be honest, it very nearly broke mine just writing it. That's your one and only warning.

Chapter Twenty

Live for Today, Because Tomorrow May Never Come.

Nozawa sighed again as he took a seat on his desk. He cast a glance towards the door behind him one more time before biting his lip and turning forward again. The young man took a moment to gather his thoughts, to see how he should put this.

"Professor," Hermione began quietly. "Do you want to use a pensieve?"

"...Perhaps another time," Nozawa replied quietly. "I haven't told very many people about what happened. Harry... have you noticed how Espeon always seems to take a motherly tone with you?"

The others glanced at their friend, whom blinked and nodded, looking confused.

"This should help to clear that up," Nozawa began. "So, when I first met Espeon, she was still just an Eevee..."

"Mommy!" Cried a happy, young girl whom ran forward as she embraced her mother, a Glaceon with an amazingly beautiful coat. "Daddy!"

The father, a Flareon with an impressively smooth coat of fur, chuckled as his mate was knocked onto her backside by his daughter's tackle-hug. Glaceon rolled her eyes before quickly dominating her daughter and pinning her to the ground. In an instant, the little girl was squirming and attempting to escape the grip. After a while, she gave up, especially as her father came over and began to clean her fur. The double-team cleaning was normal for this couple, as they'd done it to their children many times.

"Aww, daaaad," She whined, in between the licks. After a while, she was released, and noticing her completely fixed fur, sighed. "I spent an hour messing that up!"

"Well now you can spend two hours ruining it," Glaceon grinned. "Tommorow, of course. Go get your siblings and we'll have supper."

"Okay, mom," Eevee said, grinning as she ran off to where her brothers had last been. Soon enough, she returned, and several berries were ready to be eaten. "Yay!"

After giving thanks, the family quickly ate their share of food. Glaceon and Flareon helped keep their young children happy with some fun, before making everyone go to bed. Eevee was curled up close to her mother quite happily, her siblings by her father; her eyes snapped open when two unfamiliar hands wrapped around her middle.

"Heh, got one!" Sneered an unfamiliar, frightening voice. "Let's go, the report called for one Eevee, and we've got one. Better yet, a little bitch!"

"Alright, score!" Hissed another one.

"No... mom! DAD!" Eevee cried, hoping to be heard. Her parents and siblings woke instantly, but they only caught sight of the young Pokémon being taken out of the meadow. Glaceon followed immediantly, Flareon going into overprotective mode for the other two children. By the time the poor mother caught up, with the scent, the two men were gone, and with them... her daughter. Her one and only daughter.

"That... that was Espeon...?" Ginny gasped slightly.

"In her early ages," Nozawa nodded. He smiled slightly. "First time we met her."

"Mommy... daddy..." A small Pokémon in the back of a truck, chained to the floor to prevent escape as the vehicle went over many bumps and stuff. "Aren't you coming...?"

Meanwhile, things weren't so bad for others.

"Kyashii!" Nozawa exclaimed, laughing as he watched her prank Rikku and end up being soaked by his Water Gun. "You earned that, brat!"

"Lux luxio!" Kyashii said, looking at her trainer innocently, shaking her head as she did so.

After the team finished their lunch, Nozawa returned everyone except for her, her fur finally dry. As they were walking alongside the road, they spotted a truck coming up to them, going quite fast. It was as it passed, the back covered by a cloth, that Kyashii froze, eyes going wide. She immediantly turned and ran after it, fur crackling with electricity already. Aromi had no idea what why, but he had long since learned to trust his team; she wouldn't be doing this to be rude. There had to have been a good reason. He watched as she carefully zapped the engine block with her immense control of her element, stopping the vehicle quickly. Upon catching up, she leapt into the back of the truck and tore away the cover, revealing so many cages that Nozawa frowned heavily, gritting his teeth as the two guys in the front appeared.

"Whatdya think you're doing, runt!" The driver yelled.

"Shut up, punk," Aromi growled, letting out Pidgeot. "Sara, these jerks thought it would be fun to poach some Pokémon... Whirlwind them away, will you?"

The bird Pokémon took only a glance at the loaded truck. Then, understanding Kyashii's anger, she launched into the air and fired her most powerful Gust attack.

"Wing Attack to knock 'em out!"

Pidgeot's powerful wings glowed white for a moment, before shots fired forth in the form of said attack, knocking both men out for good.

"Good work," Nozawa complimented her. "Now, town is just down the road about five minutes by flight. I need you to go there, get Officer Jenny, and bring her back here."

Pidgeot nodded as Nozawa tied up the men, before going to the back, where he found that the cages were thankfully empty. Most of them, anyway. There was one with a small little brown and cream-colored Pokémon.

"An Eevee?" Nozawa said, Kyashii nodded absently. She had been trying to calm the poor child.

"Ahh! A human!" Eevee cried, scooting as far back from the trainer as possible.

"No, no, no," Kyashii said gently. "He's my trainer. Don't worry, I trust him."

"But... he's..."

"I promise," Nozawa said, slowly reaching his hand out. "I swear that I'd rather hurt myself instead of you. I promise."

Eevee, eyes full of fear, looked at him from top to bottom.

"Besides, I have the key to your cage and that chain," He said. "If I wasn't here to help you, I wouldn't be offering to unlock them."

The little normal-type couldn't help but see the point in that statement. She allowed him – barely – to set her free. However, just as she took a step outside of the cage, she collapsed. They'd been travelling for two days and nights, with few breaks for the humans... but neither food nor water for the Pokémon. At that moment, the police showed up. The last thing Eevee remembered was being taken care of by the Luxio she was quickly growing to like, as said Pokémon's trainer explained everything.

"So you rescued her? That's why she trusts you so much?" Fred asked, he and his brother in their no-joking mood in light of the story.

"That's right," Aromi nodded. "It kinda got better for her for a while afterwards."

"Look! She's waking up!" Exclaimed a voice quietly, as the little creature's eyes started to flutter open.

"W...Where...?" She said tiredly, her voice croaking slightly from lack of use over the past day or so.

"Easy, easy, girl," Said the trainer's familiar voice from before. "You've been unconscious for a couple of days."

"You're in what's called a Pokémon Center," Kyashii explained, having rarely left the younger girl's side, preferring to be there for her if she woke up. "Humans bring Pokémon here for them to be taken care of. Don't worry, you're alright."

Eevee looked at Kyashii, whom was by her side, first. Then she took a look around before trying to sit up, but fell back down to lack of strength. In a moment, the trainer from before was there.

"Take it easy," He said gently, sitting down to be in sight, a gentle look in his eyes and in his smile. "I promised you, didn't I? That I'd get you taken care of?"

Eevee had to work to think back, but then she was able to get a small smile on her countenance. She nodded slightly. After all, the trainer had, indeed, promised to help her – and indeed, he had done so.

"Thanks," She whispered quietly.

"No problem. Just relax for another day, alright? Then we'll go out and find your parents."

Eevee blinked at this. She hadn't said anything about parents, and from what she could tell, humans couldn't understand her. Nozawa rolled his eyes.

"Please," he said, grinning. "You're far too young to have been found by luck by those poachers. You must've been stolen from your family. We'll find them with you. I promise."

She couldn't help the smile that appeared as a result of this statement. He'd kept his other promise; surely he'd keep this one as well. Eevee closed her eyes, and went back to sleep for several hours, neither Kyashii, Nozawa, nor anyone else on his team going far from her. After she was finally released, it quickly became apparent how much the trainer cared about Pokémon.

"What is this stuff?" Eevee asked Kyashii, frowning at the bowl of food in front of her. Kyashii grinned, her meal already gone. They'd been eating off of berries at first, to get the little normal-type back into the eating habit, slowly and gently.

"It's food," Kyashii said. Several days had passed as they'd travelled, and the Luxio had quickly become something along the lines of Eevee's second mother, in place of the one she'd been stolen from only a few short days ago. "Try it before you judge it, okay?"

"Well... alright..."

Before Eevee knew it, she had eaten every last bite. Kyashii giggled at this, making the young Pokémon blush heavily. The next day, the Eevee was soon found to be leading the way, praying that her family was still there.

"Were they?" Harry asked, hoping that they had been.

"I'm getting there," Nozawa said, rolling his eyes at the boy's interruption. Said boy blushed as the professor continued.

"Ah!" Eevee exclaimed, as they came upon a meadow near the one she'd been kidnapped from. There, laying nearby... "Mom! Dad!"

The Flareon and Glaceon looked up, as did the two male Eevee nearby. They all gained a great, big grin as their family member had arrived. In an instant, she was being smothered by hugs and kisses and promises to never let something like that happen again. Of course, Flareon made them all step back, especially his daughter, when he spotted Nozawa. Hackles raised and growling as he prepared a Flamethrower, he was giving this human ten seconds to leave.

"Dad, wait!" Eevee exclaimed, coming forward, making her father feel confused – but he didn't stop charging his attack, ready to do so at a moment's notice. "Wait, Dad, stop. Please."

"Sweetheart, isn't he the one that took you from us?" Glaceon asked, also very cautious and very ready to attack.

Aromi smiled, and ever so slowly, sat down. Then, just as slowly, he removed the Pokéballs from his belt, his bag, and every item in his pockets, and put them aside, out of reach. Kyashii lay down beside him, at his instruction.

"See?" He said gently. "We mean no harm. Besides, if we were the ones who'd taken your daughter, do you really think we'd have gone through the trouble to bring her back?"

Glaceon and Flareon exchanged looks at this. The human had a good point. They looked to their daughter for confirmation.

"He's right, Dad," She explained, nodding gently. "I trust him. He helped me when I was hurt by those other humans. He and the Luxio, Kyashii, helped bring me back to you."

Flareon looked his daughter in the eyes; there, he would see if she was telling the truth. After several moments, he nodded and relaxed his body ever so slightly. He gave the human a warning growl.

"Father," Eevee said again. "Would you allow them to stay the night? Please? It is almost time for bed."

The parents of the family looked at each other, then the sky, the human, then at each other again. Glaceon smiled slightly.

"If you trust him enough for that, then he is allowed to stay for only this one night," She said.

Kyashii turned to her trainer, and relayed this. After a moment, Aromi nodded and thanked them for their hospitality, grateful the team had already had their dinner. Soon enough, the entire meadow was asleep, the trainer sleeping on top of his bag with Kyashii nearby. Eevee had curled up next to her in the end, her family close by.

"Is that all that happened? Everything was fine then, right?" Neville asked, sincerely hoping for that to be the end. Nozawa shook his head slowly, sadly.

"No," He said. "It got far worse."

Kyashii slowly opened her eyes, blinking as to why the weight of Eevee leaning against her was suddenly gone. Looking about, adrenaline shot through her Luxio body. The little girl was gone.

"No!" She cried, waking the entire camp. Aromi was the first to realize what was wrong.

"Dammit, no!" He growled. "Someone got her again! Kyashii, can you get her scent?"

The Luxio had already done so, and after grabbing the Pokéballs holding the rest of his team, both he and Kyashii dashed off in the right direction. Flareon convinced his mate and sons to hide in the human's little sleeping bag, before following the human. When they caught up, they found the little Eevee having been, well...

"You son of a bitch!" Nozawa hissed harshly, his face not unlike what Bellatrix had seen.

Eevee had been kidnapped, and in the few minutes between realizing that and finding her, been raped by an Arbok. The snake Pokémon gave a dark smirk as he began to slither away, feeling satisfied enough to leave.

"I don't think so, jackass!" Nozawa exclaimed. "Kyashii, help Flareon take care of his daughter. Pidgeot, Aerial Ace!"

Within moments of being released, the bird Pokémon launched the attack on the poison-type, whom hissed from the pain. Pidgeot was immediantly attacked by Poison Sting, but thankfully left unpoisoned. Only a couple more blows were traded before the snake was left unconscious.

"That should teach you to not do something like that again," Aromi hissed. Ignoring the creature at last, he returned his attention to the young Eevee, whom was crying and very clearly hurt. "Damn, she's poisoned."

Nozawa bit his lip slightly as he thought of what to do next.

"You're kidding," Hermione gasped slightly. "She... she was... after all that... she was..."

Nozawa nodded sadly, murmuring quietly that things only went downhill from there.

After having successfully saved Eevee from the poison, thanks to a Pecha Berry in his bag, Aromi was able to convince the family to come with him to where he'd been heading anyway – Sandgem Town. There, they would be able to seek shelter at Professor Rowan's lab, Kyashii and Pidgeot helping to convince them. They would also see if the professor could do a check-up on their hurt daughter. Upon arrival at the lab, the first thing that happened was a check-up for the Eevee.

"Are you sure all these... things... will help?" Flareon asked Kyashii skeptically.

"I have full trust in their ability," The Luxio said, nodding.

A full hour had passed, the group of them waiting impatiently. Then, Rowan, having called Nurse Joy to come over for help, announced something shocking.

"She is preparing for a child," He announced as slowly and gently as possible.

Flareon and Glaceon stared. That was just... no, not their little girl...

The girls listening in weren't ashamed to let a few tears slip through their eyes. Even the boys were having a tough time holding back. Nozawa knew very well that it was just going to get worse before it got better.

Several days passed, Aromi staying with the family for an entire time. Eevee had quickly adjusted, and within that time, things changed for her. It was on the day she was expected to give the egg that something very bad happened.

"Nngh!" She grunted, falling over in pain immediantly. Blackness was creeping over her vision, her parents and siblings and the trainer they had learned to really like and trust appearing as she blacked out. Aromi bit his lip.

"We need to get her to the Pokémon Center," He said, before gently picking her up. "Rowan's equipment isn't enough. Kyashii, go to the professor, alert him of where we're going. Flareon, Glaceon, follow me."

There were nods all around as they sprang into action. The young man, at the moment fifteen, raced out of the yard, with all five of Eevee's family right behind her. Within minutes, Rowan and Kyashii caught up as they entered the Center. The line of trainers were insignificant, as Aromi almost rudely pushed past them all to reach the counter.

"Young man, you must wait just like everyone else!" Nurse Joy scolded, before spotting the Eevee in his arms.

"It can't wait!" Aromi said. "This is an emergency, Nurse Joy."

The nurse took only one look at the Eevee before nodding, agreeing about the urgency of the situation. A stretcher was called in, the line of trainers were told they would have to wait, before the nurse and Chansey vanished for immediate surgery. A cesarean birth was the only thing that would help right now.

"A... what's that?" Ron asked, confused. "We studied surgery in Muggle Studies, but..."

"A cesarean means that the baby is birthed by surgery," Nozawa explained carefully. "They use surgery to bring the baby out safely, rather than through the usual means."

At first, the other trainers were quite peeved at being cut in line, before Aromi snapped at their snide and rude comments.

"Shut the hell up!" He hissed, silencing them all. "That Eevee isn't even on my team! She's gone through some damn tough times recently, and she certainly doesn't need this kind of crap from any of you!"

He turned on his heel and stormed over to where he could watch the surgery. Kyashii stayed only long enough to explain to the Pokémon that were out the basics of the situation, whom then passed on the news to their trainers. As a result, the ones that were previously grumbling quickly forgave Aromi, and instead began to give their prayers and hopes that things would turn out alright.

"Well? Did they turn out alright?" Ginny asked, almost begging. There was a silence in the classroom before Nozawa shook his head.

"No," He said. "It didn't."

Eevee slowly but surely was regaining consciousness, and finally, she was able to see her family, the trainer, Kyashii, and the rest of his team inside the largest room at the Center.

"Mom... Dad..." She said slowly, smiling happily as they hugged her. Then she looked around. "Where's the egg?"

Silence reigned for a while, before Nozawa came forward, and looked her in the eye. Tears were brimming there.

"No..." Eevee gasped, tears quickly forming. "It... no..."

"I'm sorry..." Aromi said softly, gently bringing her in for a tight hug.

"The egg... never survived...?" Harry gasped out.

"No, it didn't," He said gently. Even now he was fighting to not cry. "Not only did the egg not make it and she had to go through surgery to find out... it very nearly left her barren."

"Barren?" Ron asked, again confused. "What's that mean?"

"It means, Ron," Aromi answered quietly. "That not only would that egg not have been her first... it would have been her last."

Silence reigned for a while, before Aromi continued his story.

There was a full day of silence, to honor the memory of a child who never got the chance to see the world. The egg may not have been a planned one, nor had Eevee really wanted it to have been conceived... but she had been more than willing to raise it with the help of her family and newly trusted friends. Nurse Joy had her stay in the room for a week. At the end of it, Nozawa, even though he was just as sad as the others, had pushed it aside – and replaced it with a smile. When he came in to Eevee's room grinning, she finally snapped.

"Why..." She began, growling, her family watching with interest, unsure of how else to react. "Why are you SMILING? You JERK! It's not something to be HAPPY about! Dammit, the least you could do is be SAD for a while longer!"

Eevee continued to rant for a full three minutes, before she finally collapsed in a heap, crying heavy tears and weeping for all she had. There was a minute of silence.

"You're right, I should still be sad," Aromi said gently, slowly, catching her attention long enough to make her look him in the eyes. "And I am."

"Then why are you still smiling?" She demanded. Having been around her long enough, he was able to understand her well enough to answer her questions and demands.

"Because I remembered something when a dear family member of mine passed several years ago," He began to explain, making sure to get down on eye-level with the crying Eevee. "He told me this before he went on: 'The best thing we can do for the dead, is to do their share of living with a smile'. Perhaps you should do the same."

With that, he walked out of the room, aiming to go for a walk on his own to straighten out his thoughts some more. When he returned, Eevee looked up at him... and smiled, even if it was small.

"You're right, Aromi..." She said softly. "He wouldn't want me to mope forever... the best way to remember him is to smile. And I'll keep on smiling as long as I can."

Aromi smiled in return, gently hugging her, because she clearly needed it. The next day, she was released from the room, and after talking with her family, she had come to a decision. Eevee turned to Nozawa, whom looked confused.

"I want to be on your team," She said shortly, smiling. "Take me with you."

Aromi stared for a minute. After getting confirmation from her of her decision – he asked if she was sure about it so much she finally snapped and demanded he get on with it. Smiling slightly, he held out the Pokéball, and she went right in without a fight. After it was confirmed, he turned to the family of Pokémon.

"Don't worry, I'll send her back every now and then so she can visit," He promised them. They nodded, fully entrusting him with their daughter's health and well-being.

The next day, Nozawa's team set out, the empty slot having been filled by Eevee. Within a month, she had evolved into an Espeon, and was quickly growing stronger... and more importantly, in honor of her child's memory, happier.

There was an oppressive silence for several moments, before it was broken by the professor standing and quietly opening the door. Inside, on the bed, Espeon was still softly crying into Kyashii's fur. Without pause, the man went over to the poor creature, picke dher up, and held her close. Several minutes passed, the students, nor any of the Pokémon, daring to move. After a while, silence reigned, the crying having finally ceased.

"She's cried herself to sleep," Nozawa said softly. He looked to his students. "You may as well head back to your dorms. It's getting late."

The students nodded somewhat numbly, still a bit overwhelmed by the story they'd just heard. As they left the room, they promised to not tell anyone. Aromi hadn't made them swear such a thing, they had simply decided it would be the right thing to do. Even the twins refused to say anything about it. The story had explained to Harry why Espeon had sometimes been so motherly to him – he was a child who'd lost his parents, she was a parent who'd lost her child, so she almost instinctively treated him as her own – and honestly, it only made him sad. It brought to light for him that he wasn't the only one in the universe that had gone through extremely difficult times...

Credits: No song to give credit to. Quote is a slightly modified version of one spoken by B.J. Hunnicut during one M*A*S*H episode.

A/N: I sincerely hope that this chapter has at least softened your heart. Please review.