Author's Notes: Before I start, thank you for the reviews. I haven't had any inspiring ideas to write for a while, but this one hit me last night. Since I don't want to spoil the story, I'll place the inspiration at the end. This chapter is dedicated to Mini, the fire-bellied toad and all the other beloved pets that have died throughout our lives (whether they are dogs, birds, or hamsters).

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10, never will. I also don't own the quote at the beginning.

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"Grief is so painfully real, regardless of its origin. The love of, and attachment to, an animal friend can equal that of human relationships. Likewise, the loss of an animal can be just as devastating."

~Rev. Joel L. Morgan

5. Seeking Solace

Tears cascaded down Ben's cheeks as he sat heavily on his bed. The normally cheery 12 year-old was down in the dumps. In his hands, he clutched a worn photo of a younger Ben and a German Shepherd. They were both so happy there, sitting and laughing (well in Ben's case, the dog merely was panting after a good run). Why couldn't things be like that now?

More tears threatened to spill down as he stared at the panting dog. Everything had started as a regular day, but it had quickly turned disastrous. A tear fell from his cheek, staining the photo.

A knock on the door caused the distraught boy to gasp. Quickly he wiped away the tears with one hand while stuffing the photo underneath his pillow with the other. There was no way that he could show anyone the grief that ate at him.

"Who is it?" He called, his voice croaking a bit.

"It's Gwen."

Ben's eyes narrowed slightly. While his relationship with his cousin had improved a lot ever since the fateful road trip, he did not want her to see him crying. She would say something insulting towards him and it would ignite an argument between the pair. Right now, fighting was the last thing Ben wanted to do. All he wanted to do was curl up and cry himself asleep.

"Go away." He shouted at the door, hoping that she would listen to him for once. As to be expected, she ignored his request.

"I'm not leaving, Ben."

The knob of his door turned and mentally Ben chided himself on having forgotten to lock it. The door opened, revealing Gwen. Her eyes shone with concern as she took in Ben's puffy, red eyes and his wrinkled clothing.

"I told you to leave." Ben turned away, crossing his arms in a grumpy fashion.

Gwen's eyes narrowed before she remembered that she was here to help, not to pick a fight with him. She walked up to Ben and sat down by his side. Ben responded by edging further from her.

"Ben, I came here to tell you I'm sorry that he died."

"You don't need to be sorry." Ben shook his head. He looked down at his hands, still refusing to turn to his cousin. "It wasn't your fault." His voice sounded awfully numb.

Recognizing the tone of his voice, Gwen retorted, "It's not your fault either."

Ben turned to face her, emerald eyes burning furiously. "Yes it is!" He shouted angrily. Catching the sadness in Gwen's face, his anger deflated quickly.

"Explain." It was a command, simple and to the point.

"I let him off his leash and he ran out into the street. A car h-h-hit him." Ben stuttered as a sob escaped his chest. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. "If I hadn't let him off his leash, he wouldn't have run out into the street. He wouldn't be dead. It's my fault, all my fault." More sobs escaped his throat. Ben had ceased caring about the ridicule that could be pushed on to him by Gwen if she saw him cry. All he could do was cry for his lost dog.

"Stop blaming yourself. It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was!"

"You can't control where he runs, so it's not your fault that he happened to run into the street at the same time a car was going past."

"Yes it was!"

"It wasn't your fault!"

"Yes it was!"

"Not your fault!"

"Yes it was!"

"No it wasn't!"

"Yes it was!"

Slap! Ben's cheek throbbed from where Gwen had slapped him. He stared in wonder at her. A small smirk lit up Gwen's face.

"That's better. Now listen quietly." He nodded his head, one hand massaging the reddened skin of his cheek. "It isn't your fault. You didn't know that he would run into the street and you didn't know that a car would smash into him. Sure, you shouldn't have let him off the leash in the first place, but what's done is done."

"But if I hadn't done it, then he would still be alive." Ben stared mournfully down at the ground. More tears slipped from his eyes to hit the ground. "Why?" The sob escaped his throat, causing him to begin weeping once more.

Gwen sighed. She couldn't leave Ben sobbing like this. On impulse, she leaned over and pulled the boy into a hug. He stiffened at her touch, tears momentarily frozen, before leaning into her to cry everything out on her shoulder. They sat like that for a few moments before Ben pulled away, eyes to the ground.

Gwen sighed in exasperation. It appeared as if he was still blaming himself about it. She took a deep breath to hold herself back from yelling at the boy before speaking. "Ben, look at me." Her voice was surprisingly calm compared to her earlier rage. Ben glanced over at her with a forlorn expression.

"Everything dies eventually. We can't stop that. Pets die too. It's just the way life works. Now there are three options; you can either deal with the pain when each pet dies, you can wither away in grief at the first death, or you can avoid having a pet to avoid it altogether. Since option three isn't available to you anymore, what are you going to do about it?"

"Tortoise."

"What?!" Here she was, trying to comfort Ben and he says something so random. She should've known better than to come and offer him solace.

"There's a fourth option. You can get a giant tortoise. They live for a long time."

Gwen's face cracked into a smile. From Ben's tone, she could see that he was simply joking, which was definitely a sign that he was improving slightly.

"True. You'll probably die before the tortoise. Then the tortoise will have to deal with the grief."

They sat in silence for a while, Ben digesting Gwen's words on death and Gwen wondering how Ben was taking it. Finally Ben turned his eyes away from his shaking hands to look at Gwen.

"Thanks." The simple sincerity of the statement was uncommon and pleased Gwen greatly to hear that her talk had helped.

"Anytime." Gwen smiled at him. She stood up and began walking towards the door. She paused to look back at him, noting that he had stopped crying. "You know you can cry if you want. You don't have to act all macho."

Ben shook his head. "I'm feeling better. I think the tears are done. I love him and I always will, but I don't need to drown in the misery." He paused before adding in a shy voice, "You're not that bad at comforting people."

Gwen acknowledged the compliment with a nod of her head before asking, "You'll be okay on your own?"

"Yeah." Ben nodded his head. As Gwen began to close the door, he shouted after her, "Just don't tell anyone I was crying."

She rolled her eyes, but promised him, "My lips are sealed."

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A/N: Originally I had a different thing planned for this theme, but I couldn't resist typing this up. When I was skimming through the themes to find which one would fit, I couldn't help but use this theme. Even if Ben wasn't openly seeking solace, he did want it and he got it in the form of his cousin. In the end, he was glad he did.

The inspiration for this comes from the death of my beloved fire-bellied toad. I know it's hard to get close to an amphibian since you can't exactly play with them, but I loved him… He died last night. While I didn't cry on the outside (sometimes I just can't display my emotions so well), I was weeping on the inside. And of course, my little sister was crying. My parents talked to her about the inevitability of death, similar to what Gwen told Ben. Of course, my little sister wasn't blaming herself, but they did end up telling her that death was the way life worked. My dad, being the type of person he is, added in a joking way that getting a tortoise is one way to avoid having to deal with the death of a pet. So I took those elements and put them in this story. I feel a lot better now that I've written this. Writing helps a lot when it comes to dealing with reality.

One last note is that Ben definitely has a dog. He was in Good-bye and Good Riddance... Since I couldn't find the episodes online, I was unable to find out the dog's name, which is why I ended up not mentioning the name anywhere in this chapter. I didn't want any contradictions. I'm also certain that the German Shepherd he had never appeared in any Alien Force episodes (if this is wrong, please tell me), so it's possible that he died. Reviews are appreciated as always.

Twilight Phantom Dragon