Author's Notes: This is the alternate ending to the previous oneshot. Mostly written because my sister asked me to and because I needed to write something that had a lighter note to it. Well, I guess this isn't exactly lighter, but something with a happy ending, a story-book ending if you like to call it that. This starts off when Kevin's fighting the Vulpimancer.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 or the quote at the beginning.

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"Love cures people, both the ones who give and the ones who receive it."

~Dr. Karl Menninger

2. Love

Kevin's eyes narrowed as he watched the prowling Vulpimancer. A few minutes ago, it had landed on the roof of his beloved car and left a considerable dent. Obviously, Kevin was not happy. He was already in a bad mood; this alien had chosen the wrong day to mess with him. Yet, something kept him from instantly turning the creature into a bloody mess.

This wasn't the fact that the collar aroused any curiosity in the boy; he was beyond caring who sent dangerous beasts after him. No, the fresh memories of Gwen's words still lay heavily in his mind. They kept him from making the first punch, from lunging at the snarling Vulpimancer. Why had she said that? He would've loved to call her at the moment and tell her that there were aliens in town. Too bad he couldn't.

"Looks like I'm fighting you solo." Kevin informed the beast and was answered with another growl. "Fine by me." Kevin had quickly absorbed the green metal of his car.

The fight ensued. The Vulpimancer was a prime predator; adapted to kill prey both smaller and larger than it. Its claws were a force to be reckoned with and with the giant canine teeth, things were bad enough. Of course, you always had to calculate in the fact that it had an olfactory sense that could detect anybody with a precision that others lacked. And this particular Vulpimancer was in the age range where it was at its most powerful. Definitely not something most would ever want to face.

Kevin wasn't most, obviously. But he had sustained injuries that day that went beyond the regular bruises and cuts he got from fighting. Even a broken arm would've been far better than a broken heart. It was seriously depriving him of the simple will needed to fight well and the memory kept coming to mind as he tried to keep his attention based on the beast in front of him. Despite that, Kevin continued to swing his fists at the Vulpimancer as it lunged at him.

Luck seemed to be with Kevin that day as one of his fists connected with the beast's jaw. A crack was heard and a small smirk played across Kevin's face for a few moments before being replaced by the frown that he had worn for most of this day. Kevin had broken the creature's jaw, causing the Vulpimancer to take a step backwards out of pure confusion.

It was the hunter, not he. This Vulpimancer couldn't recall the last time it had felt pain from anything, let alone what it was supposed to be hunting. Snarling, the Vulpimancer spat a wad of blood on to the ground. In the middle of that pool of blood was a tooth that Kevin had dislodged. An injury like this one wasn't about to discourage the creature from its hunt and before Kevin could take advantage of its shock, it had leapt at the boy with a thunderous roar.

"You better get your mangy paws off—" Kevin was interrupted as his back collided with the ground. If it hadn't been for the armor around him, he would surely have cracked a rib from such an impact. As things go, the only thing that broke was the armor.

The Vulpimancer roared in Kevin's face and Kevin wrinkled his nose at the odor of its breath. Let's just say, it wasn't a pleasant smell and it reminded Kevin of a mixture of rotten meat and sewage. That was the closest comparison that could be drawn. The alien appeared almost smug as it towered over Kevin and raised a clawed paw up.

Part of Kevin's mind screamed at him to move, to absorb the concrete that he had landed on, to do anything, but sit there. The other part just continued its monophonic chant;

I hate you. I hate you. Who cares if you die? No one loves you, no one can.

Those last words were those of his mother's. They were now at the fore-front of his mind, right beside Gwen's words. Once again, his mind protested for him to move. Kevin ignored that part, his eyes solely fixated on the paw as it traveled towards him. Everything seemed to be in slow-motion. Kevin was dimly aware that he should be having flashbacks of his life, wasn't that how it always worked. However, his mind was simply spewing up its chant as if that had been the only thing that had ever been in his mind.

"Move!" A high voice brought him out of his quiet reverie before death's harbinger, in this case the paw of a Vulpimancer, could pierce his chest.

Kevin had barely started absorbing the concrete below him when something, he hadn't been paying enough attention to see what that something had been, smacked the Vulpimancer. The Vulpimancer raised its head, paw mid-motion, and growled at the intruder. Kevin took his chance of the creature's distraction to once against punch the beast in its jaw just as the voice shouted,

"Get away from him!"

Now that he wasn't at death's darling doorstep, Kevin realized that the voice was familiar. A feeling of sickness swept over him. Why? That was what he wanted to know. Why did she stop the Vulpimancer?

Unfortunately, the alien was not down and she had begun to fight it. Kevin would have to save his questions for later. Or he could run. The prospect was a nice one, but the truth was that he didn't want to. A part of him, a part of him that his mother hadn't entirely destroyed with her hateful speech, still held a childish hope that she would undo those words and everything would be joyful again. Like that ever happened in real life.

She had probably only come here after hearing of alien activity. How, Kevin didn't have the answer to that. Kevin snapped out of his thoughts as he watched the Vulpimancer rake its claws across her forearm.

Anger crossed his face. She might hate him, but he still loved her no matter how much it hurt. And he didn't want her to get killed by that overgrown, flea-bitten mutt. Kevin ran at the Vulpimancer and grabbed it by its tail. He swung the beast away from the girl, his muscles protesting. It appeared as if his body wasn't entirely fine from the earlier fall. Oh well, he could deal with that.

The Vulpimancer landed on its feet, growling at its two opponents. Before it could jump at either of them again, a blast of pink manna hit the collar around its neck. The device broke, leaving a very confused Vulpimancer. It seemed to peer closely at the two though that was a ridiculous thought. A Vulpimancer couldn't peer even when it did look as if it was staring right at you because it lacked eyes. Then it loped off, deciding that there were easier pickings elsewhere.

Kevin didn't look at Gwen as he finally allowed the concrete covering to leave him. He felt defenseless without it, but it wasn't as if armor of any kind could protect his heart. "Thanks," muttered Kevin before turning to walk towards his waiting car. The dent looked really bad from here.

"Wait, Kevin." Gwen called softly. One of her hands flew up to his shoulder and he froze at the warm touch. She could feel him stiffen under her hand, but she didn't remove it. She was too afraid that he would run if she took away her hand. Run and hide.

Kevin wasn't sure how to deal with this. He wanted to run. It was the easiest option. It meant not having to deal with all this. The option was attractive as it was the only thing he could do to shield himself from more harm from her. But he couldn't. Her warm touch, one that he craved desperately, kept him firmly rooted to the ground. Not even the chant in his mind, I hate you. I hate you. Who cares if you die? No one loves you, no one can, could bring him to lift his feet.

"Gwen, before you say anything, let me tell you this." Kevin's voice was strained as he spoke. He didn't want to break down in front of her, but it was rough to keep a tough face when there was so much sorrow in him. "If it's going to be another thing like…" Not finding himself to be able to say it, he substituted, "Like earlier, than drop it. Leave now." He finished, proud that he had managed to keep his voice from cracking.

"It is about earlier, but not like that." Gwen spoke quickly, afraid that any second he would flee. She couldn't handle anymore exertion after the run from her house to find him and the fight. "Kevin, I want to say that I didn't mean what I said. I'm sorry." Her voice trembled as she spoke and tears had quickly gathered. Kevin said nothing, his mind suspicious, his heart jumping despite those suspicions.

"Kevin, I really mean it. I don't hate you." Gwen paused and a strangled laugh escaped her. "In fact, I hate myself for saying that."

What Kevin wanted to say was that she shouldn't hate herself for her words. What he said instead was, "Then why did you say it?" His tone was one of great suspicion.

"I don't know…" Gwen cried out before adding, "I guess I was just… angry." It was a poor word choice that hardly described what she had been feeling then. But even then, that feeling hadn't been hatred. "I know how it sounds… I just needed a way to let loose that anger. You say crazy things when you're mad."

That was so true. Kevin sighed. He wanted to show her how glad he was that her words weren't true, but his pride kept him from showing that gratitude. Rather than open himself up, there was the other option of yelling at her to make her pay for her actions. But Kevin couldn't bring himself to do that. Knowing that the silence was starting to drive at her, Kevin finally settled on what he believed would be the best path. Story-time.

"I know you didn't mean it." Kevin started, his eyes staring at the ground. "It's just that my first thoughts were that you were serious… The last time someone told me that they hated me, I questioned it and it ended up blowing up in my face." Kevin hesitated. Despite the years that had passed, the memories still hurt.

"If you don't want to talk about it, don't. But if you do, I'm ready to listen." The gentle tone of her voice convinced him that he needed to tell her this. She would understand and maybe it would even make him feel better. It was worth the shot.

"It's a long story, so let's go and sit in the car." They walked into the car. Kevin launched into the tale with these words, "I came home from school, but all the lights were off."

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Silence permeated the car as Kevin finally finished the story. His eyes were staring at the steering wheel in front of him, waiting for Gwen's reaction. He didn't want pity, that was the last thing he would ever have wanted. He didn't need the pity. Finally Gwen spoke up.

"Kevin… I shouldn't have said it." Her voice was loud after the silence. "And I'm-"

"Don't say you're sorry for it. It isn't your fault." Kevin interrupted. "Apologizing for something you have no control over is useless. You didn't even know me back then."

The two lapsed back into silence. Warmth on his shoulder prompted Kevin to glance over into Gwen's emerald eyes. They stayed like that for a while; Kevin marveling at the heat that stirred in his heart at this simple touch and Gwen savoring the chance to try and comfort the boy.

"Kevin, I promise I'll never do it again." Gwen spoke softly. "I don't hate you at all. I…" Her voice trailed off. This felt like the right moment to say it, but was it really? Kevin needed to hear it, to be reassured that she could never hate him. With that thought, Gwen shoved the doubts away and continued, "I love you."

The proclamation brought another period of silence to the car as Kevin digested the words. They were three simple words. Three words that could change lives. But unlike the dreadful words his mother had uttered, these words brought with them a better life, a life of comfort and love. He knew that she was sincere when she said it; the love in her eyes was evident even to the most unversed in the ways of love. However he wasn't sure if he was ready for the complete immersion

Kevin smirked, "I knew you couldn't resist me." Gwen playfully smacked his arm and began to lean back into her own chair. However, before she had completely retracted from him, Kevin grabbed her arm and leaned in close. "And I love you too."

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A/N: Isn't that a much happier ending than the previous? I hope you're pleased. I was trying to go for something heartwarming. Truth be told, this was harder to write than the other one. I also think I did a better job writing the other one, but that's just my opinion. You can tell me yours by clicking that button down below. The one that says review on it. Very simple, isn't it? See you,

Twilight Phantom Dragon