Author's Note: This one is going to be sad. Brace yourselves.

Hans

About two weeks had passed since the school incident. Isara managed to ease back into school life pretty easily. She and Laura continued to play at recess while successfully avoiding the bullies. Although it was wrong to do it, Isara couldn't help but feel that punching that boy made the bullying less frequent.

Right now, the Gunther family was at the local veterinarian's office. The family pet, Hans was getting a medical check up.

Hans, a porcavian winged pig, was adopted by Alicia during the Kloden Wildwood mission. She had noticed the little animal all alone weeping. His mother was apparently killed by Imperial soldiers or stray bullets. Alicia quickly became attached to the little animal and decided to adopt him with both her and Welkin naming him Hans.

After the mission, Squad 7 decided to take him in where he was cared for and loved by a lot of the female soldiers. Following the end of the war with the empire, Welkin decided to adopt Hans and he soon became the family pet following Welkin's marriage to Alicia.

When Isara was born, Hans essentially became Isara's playmate. Alicia wound up having three full photo albums of what could only be described as adorable moments with the two.

However, Hans wasn't feeling too well recently. He seemed sluggish whenever he moved around. He was spending numerous days just sleeping or doing nothing and as recent as this past week he was starting to eat less and less.

Welkin had a feeling he knew what was happening but he tried to deny it but his deep knowledge of nature told him otherwise.

The veterinarian, an older woman, soon came out and proceeded to ask to speak with Welkin and Alicia alone.

—

"He's very sick at this point, he most likely has only two weeks of life left at most." the vet said in a very somber tone.

Welkin and Alicia just froze as they heard the news. Hans was diagnosed as having a big tumor in his digestive system that was impossible to operate on.

"Are…are you really sure that you can't save him?" Alicia asked hesitantly.

"Previous operations like this done with this species have always consistently ended in premature death. I'm terribly sorry but there's really nothing we can do." The vet replied.

Welkin and Alicia then went to see Isara. This wasn't going to be easy to explain to her.

"What's wrong?" Isara asked with worry when she saw her parents faces.

"We'll explain when we get home." Welkin replied.

Welkin simply held onto Hans as he and his family walked back home from the vet.

—

When they got home Alicia simply starting crying. She couldn't hold in her emotions anymore at that point and started to pet Hans who was resting on the floor.

Isara became visibly confused upon seeing this. She had no idea what was going on.

"Daddy? Why is mommy crying?" Isara asked her father.

Welkin took a deep breath.

"Isara, Hans is sick. But, he's not going to get better." Welkin explained to his daughter while trying hard to maintain his own emotions.

"Why? What's going to happen to Hans?" Isara asked, she was starting to feel nervous.

"He's going to die Isara." Welkin said, tears were now coming down his face.

Isara became visibly upset at this point.

"No! That's not true! It can't be!" Isara said denying what had just been said to her.

Welkin proceeded to hug his daughter tightly.

"I'm sorry…I really am…We just have to be there for him until…" Welkin said as more tears flowed from his face.

Isara at this point started to cry. She broke free from Welkin's hug and ran to her room.

"…moink…" Hans said weakly.

—

A few hours had passed, Isara was still in her room. Welkin and Alicia had managed to get a hold of their emotions.

"What are we going to do?" Alicia asked Welkin, she wasn't sure if they should have Hans put down to ease his inevitable suffering or to be there for him until the day he dies.

Welkin stood silently for a few seconds until he came to a decision.

"Let's just wait a week. Whatever we do afterwards will depend on how much pain Hans is in." Welkin said.

Welkin took a deep breath and hugged his wife.

"Alicia, I know this is going to be difficult, he's been apart of our lives for so long that it might not be the same without him. But, we have to be strong. Hans might be sick but he can still tell how we're feeling. We have to be there him until the end." Welkin said trying to comfort his wife.

"I know. We should let Isara know what the plan is with this." Alicia replied.

"I'll go check on-" Welkin began to say when…

"Moink…"

Welkin was about to check on his daughter when Hans looked up at him weakly. He seemed to have a look of worry on his expression despite his current condition.

"Are you concerned about Isara too?" Welkin asked Hans.

"Moink! Moink!" Hans replied shaking his head up and down. He seemed almost healthy at that moment. As if nothing was wrong.

Welkin could only smile gently at this.

"Alright, Let's go see if she's alright." Welkin said gently.

—

Isara had managed to calm down and was now laying in her bed, her eyes were red from crying, wondering how to handle everything her father had just told her.

*Knock *Knock*

"Isara…are you okay?" Welkin asked gently as he opened the door.

"I think so…" Isara replied.

"Moink." Hans said chiming in.

Isara soon got out of bed and went up to Hans quietly when she saw him.

She was unsure what to do or even say when Hans snuggled up to Isara, trying to comfort her.

Isara proceeded to hug Hans.

Welkin smiled gently at this, holding back his tears.

—

1 week had passed since the diagnosis and Hans was starting to get worse. He was eating less and less. He was resting more and more yet he moved around less and less.

It was clear what was happening. Sometimes the poor thing couldn't handle being petted because the tumor was hurting him so much.

Eventually, Hans began moaning in pain. It was clear he was in a lot of agony.

It was Welkin who made the difficult choice to have Hans put down.

"I'm sorry. But I don't want his last moments of life to be suffering in this much pain. I want his last moments to be peaceful, surrounded with his family." Welkin explained to his family holding back his emotions. He was upset but he knew they had no other options.

—

It was raining as they headed to the Veterinarian's office. When they got there they had the arrangements made for it to be done. Isara was visibly upset, she sobbed as she hugged Hans gently as everything was being set up.

"moi…moink…" Hans said weakly, it was clear the pain was getting worse.

Alicia also began to sob as the preparations were being finalized.

"This is how it works, we inject this medicine first, it will numb out all the pain he's feeling. After you say your goodbyes, we'll inject this which will put him to sleep." The vet explained to Welkin.

"How long does it take for the medicine to take effect?" Welkin asked.

"At least 5 minutes." The vet further explained to Welkin.

"Oh…" Welkin replied, he was having a hard time getting prepared for this mentally.

"If you're ready, we can begin." the vet said.

Welkin then proceeded to take a deep breath.

"Alright…Isara, Alicia…it's time." Welkin said in a somber tone.

After all was said and done, Hans was put on a medical table and the numbing medicine was injected.

A few minutes passed and soon Hans stopped moaning in pain.

"I'll give you a few minutes alone." The vet said and soon left the room.

The family then proceeded to say their goodbyes one by one.

"Hey, Hans…Take it easy okay? Don't be afraid…You're going to be seeing your mother very soon." Alicia said gently to Hans, kissing him gently on his head.

Welkin then walked up to Hans.

"Hans, it hurts to say goodbye but we love you very much and we've been grateful to have had you in our lives." Welkin said gently, caressing Hans' head.

It was now Isara's turn. She walked towards Hans and took a deep breath.

"I love you very much Hans. I'm going to miss you…I hope you have fun in heaven." Isara gently said as she hugged Hans tightly for a few seconds which soon became one minute, tears visible in her eyes.

Eventually the vet came back in. Welkin then nodded, giving the final approval.

Welkin, Alicia & Isara stayed close to Hans petting and caressing him gently as it happened. He died surrounded by the family who loved and cared for him.

—

It was a cold crisp December day in Bruhl. Although it wasn't snowing yet, the feeling of the holidays was in full motion.

Outside the Gunther family home stood a grave for Hans that they had made for him a few days following his death. Isara stood out there in the cold in front of it. She wasn't handling Hans' death very well. Welkin and Alicia were starting to worry.

"Hey…Isara, do you want see something? I think it'll cheer you up." Welkin said gently to Isara.

"No thanks…" Isara said meekly.

"Isara, if you stay outside long enough you're going to catch a cold. It'll make Hans sad if you get sick at a time like this." Welkin then gently said trying to get Isara to come inside.

Isara reluctantly got up and went inside.

—

"What's Mommy looking at?" Isara asked. She saw her mother's warm smile as she was looking at a book.

"Hey, Isara, would you like to see this photo album?" Alicia asked her daughter gently.

"A photo album?" Isara asked her mother slightly curious.

"Yep, it's a book filled with pictures." Alicia said.

"Do you wanna look at it together?" Welkin asked his daughter.

"Okay…" Isara replied.

—

The family was now sitting at the couch together. Isara looked at the pictures. Most of them were of her and Hans playing together. Welkin and Alicia just looked at the pictures quietly with feelings of warmth when all of a sudden…

"I remember this!" Isara then bolted out, pointing to a picture of Welkin on the ground being licked by Hans out of sheer affection.

"That's when we were painting that garage with the big tank in it! Hans came in and he got his head stuck in an empty paint can!" Isara then said explaining what she remembered from that day.

"Oh, yeah…Welkin had to get him out. You were begging him to be gentle because you thought it would hurt him…" Alicia said giggling a little.

"Hans looked really happy when he had the paint can removed." Isara said looking at the photo.

Isara giggled a little bit then noticed another photo.

"Is that Hans eating cake?" Isara asked.

"That was during your 3rd birthday! We had gotten this really nice cake made from a baker I befriended during my bakery exam. Hans couldn't stop looking at it when it arrived." Alicia said thinking about that time.

"He wound up eating half the cake afterwards…" Welkin said remembering Hans' occasional big appetite that he had.

"Really? That's funny!" Isara said giggling loudly at the thought of it.

"Are you feeling better?" Welkin asked Isara gently.

"Yes! Yes I am." Isara replied smiling.

"I'm glad." Welkin said warmly and hugged Isara.

"Isara, this is how we move on when a loved one dies. We remember all the good times we had together. Hans may be gone but he lives on in all out hearts and these memories we have of him." Welkin said comforting his daughter.

"I see…" Isara said at last finding comfort in her father's words.

"Can we look at more pictures?" Isara said asked.

Welkin and Alicia could only smile happily at their daughter's question.

"Of course." Alicia replied gently.

The rest of the night was spent looking at picture after picture and remembering all the wonderful memories that had together as a family with Hans.