A/N: told you this one turned into a monster.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom Stallion or any of its characters. They all belong to the lovely Terri Farley.

DEPENDENCE

If there is anything in the world that Jacob Ely knows, it's that he has an unhealthy dependence on Samantha Forster. It had been the most prevalent force in his life from the time he was only three, chubby cheeked and bright eyed, when Wyatt Forster had laid his baby daughter into Jake's arms.

She'd been a petite little thing, he remembers fondly, with a wrinkled, pink face and a thick crop of red hair atop her head. There had been no cries when he'd held her (assisted, of course, by his mother and a well worn pillow that had lived on the Forster couch for as long as he could remember). Sam had simply slept on as he took in her delicate features, his small golden-brown fingers tentatively stroking at her tiny hand, her pale little fist a stark contrast to his own.

The memory of that day makes Jake grin a little bit to himself. He's walking back up to the house, the family's ever-faithful german shepherd, Gal, trotting alongside him, tongue lolling out of her mouth and her tail wagging cheerfully. She isn't the most typical farmdog, not like the Forster's border collie, Blaze, but she's a good dog and they've had her for almost five and a half years. She'd been a lively two-year-old when Sam's accident had happened. The thought of that day makes Jake shudder involuntarily.

Sam had been so small, only just turned eleven, but had known Jake so long that she knew how to get him to cave quickly, and she'd wanted to take Blackie out on the range so badly. He hadn't been able to tell her no, not with those wide, pleading blue eyes aimed right at him. Confronted with that, Jake had folded like a deck of cards. Oh, he'd given her stipulations: the horse would be ridden bareback, they wouldn't take him too far, and they'd use a soft bridle for him. And she'd done it all.

They had stolen one of her old nightgowns and torn and tied it until it was a rudimentary bridle and off they'd gone. And, for a short while, they had been wonderful. Blackie was perfect and responded to all of Sam's cues like he'd been ridden for years instead of a couple of months. It was obvious the colt trusted Sam explicitly not to lead him into danger and, at the time, it had been an amazing thing to witness. So, of course, it had all gone downhill. All because of that stupid gate.

He'd told her to go on through because she'd said something to annoy him - now, so many years later, he couldn't even remember what it was that she'd said that had annoyed him so much. But he'd told her to take Blackie through the gate first and, by God, she'd tried. Blackie hadn't been sure, but he trusted that Sam wouldn't, couldn't, lead him astray, so he'd gone on through.

Jake remembers the way Sam's skinny arm shook as she held the gate. It had been a windy day and the wind had been pushing back against the gate, and she'd turned terrified eyes to him, begged him for help, but he'd been so angry he hadn't helped her. That had been when everything had fallen apart.

She lost her grip on the gate, and it went slamming into poor Blackie's side and the colt had reared, slim black forelegs pawing, and the moment he'd come back to the ground, he'd bolted. Jake can still remember the abject horror on Sam's face as Blackie had galloped past him. He remembers watching her reach down for the rein she'd dropped and he remembers the moment that she'd lost her balance, in a misguided attempt to snatch it back up.

Later on, he'll acknowledge that it wasn't the horse's fault. Blackie had no clue what was going on, he was just running away from the thing that had hurt and scared him and Sam had been along for the ride, quite literally. But the moment Jake saw Sam slip to the side and heard the deafening crack! of hoof meeting skull, that hadn't mattered. All Jake had been able to think, was that this was all his fault.

It's that memory that taints his breakfast. Jake can't stomach more than a few bites of his mother's homemade waffles and he flips Quill off behind his mom's back when she turns back to the stove. It's justified, he thinks, because Quill's been kicking him under the table ever since the pair of them had sat down, like he used to when they were both much younger, and Jake actually snorts when his mother turns around and catches Quill reciprocating. It brightens Jake's mood considerably and he bounds away from the table with the memory of that day pushed firmly to the back of his mind.

He's on his way to the Forster's atop Witch, who is hemming and hawing at the bit for him to just let her run and, once they've reached the flats, he gives her her head and she's off. She's a freight train, his horse, and her long strides eat up the ground quicker than he thought. He pulls her to a lope, then a trot, and she snorts, annoyed, but does as he asks.

It's just a glance, but when Jake catches sight of Arroyo Azul, he can't help but remember the second time he'd almost lost Sam. Or, at least, the second most memorable time he'd almost lost her.

He'd been sent off to look for her, as she hadn't been where she had told her Gram she'd be, and it had fallen to Jake to find her. And, as a tracker, he had been rather pleased that he'd been the first one they'd thought of to find the wayward Forster girl.

It had been a surprise to him when Strawberry, the pretty red-roan Sam used on occasion, had barrelled around a corner and come nose to nose with Witch. Witch, of course, had been seven different kinds of upset that Strawberry was so close and the fact that Jake had staved off a fight had been something of a miracle. He'd caught her easily, in the end, the horse simply too worn out from her frantic run to try to fight him, and he remembers clearly saying aloud,

"Now, why isn't Sam with you?"

It turned out, being tackled by a starving cougar was a surefire way to come off a horse. Or so Jake learned later.

He'd been riding for at least another fifteen minutes, bellowing for Sam, and she'd just popped out of nowhere, it had seemed. One moment, Jake was looking at rocky cliffside and the next Sam was standing there, a dreamy look on her face and the tiniest bit of stuffing peeping out over her shoulder from her parka. And then, as if nothing had happened and he hadn't just been out scouring the countryside for her, Sam had hopped onto Strawberry's back and started off towards home. Jake remembers sitting there, frozen and gaping, staring at her retreating back and the torn mess that was the back of her parka.

Later, he was informed that Sam's back was black-and-blue because she'd hit the ground so hard and that she was struggling to lift her arms above a certain height because she was so sore and aching. That Monday at school, he'd even caught sight of Jen Kenworthy carrying Sam's backpack and the sheepish look Sam was giving the blond girl.

Jake shakes his head. Now, so many years later, it's a bit amusing that Sam was able to get herself into such a mess. But that was Sam. Always right in the thick of everything and unashamed of it.

River Bend Ranch is a welcome sight, and Jake reflexively smiles just the tiniest bit as he crosses the bridge, catching sight of Sam up on the boards of the corral, talking to Phoenix. From where he's at, Jake can't see the filly, but he can't help but wonder if maybe Phoenix will become just as dependent on Sam as he is; it's no secret to him that the lanky horse is quite interested in Sam and he can only hope that this mustang doesn't pull a Blackie.

Jake doesn't know how many more near-death experiences he can take.

So, I added this little tidbit from when we were mid-beta and my internet went out. i thought it'd be amusing.

CP: So my internet is now completely down. I'm on my phone.

GC: Oh my. What shall we do?

CP: I mean. We can do it this way? It still works, it just a tiny bit more labor intensive.

GC: Mmm ok. It's just this one more chapter tonight anyway. We can start work on the other things you wanted tomorrow?

CP: Sure! Though hopefully my internet will pop back on and we can start on them still tonight but I'm not hopeful. I think my internet updates at this time usually, but it doesn't usually take so long so. Idk.

GC: Well if it is an update, that's encouraging. Means it will eventually finish and right itself.

Once it finishes rendering, of course.

CP: I'd go unhook the router but it's in my parents room and just. No. Not worth it

GC: Yeah. it's 4 am and they'd wake up and freak out, most likely. My mom just came in and asked if i didn't want to go to bed yet and i was like um nope, very busy :) they don't know what i do.

CP: Lool. Mkay lets get to this betaing and HOPE that my internet decides it wants to come back on.

GC: I will hope with all my might xD and lets leave this bit here for now- it's kinda funny

CP: MY INTERNET IS BACK IT JUST POOFED ON GREEN YOURE MAGICAL

GC: OMG THE HOPING WORKED

I AM? WELL HOW ABOUT THAT THEN XD

CP: And now im back on my laptop. :DDD

GC: Get back on pinto?

It's easier

CP: Yeah im logging in rn

GC: K