So after going through an old flash drive I used when I was in college, I stumbled across some random Monster Rancher stories I never finished plus the remaining 2 chapters for this story! Holy Phoenix, this stuff is old! I was debating on whether to post them or not at this point since this story has been over for ages, but what the heck. Minus well just for the fun of it since I did mention them in the last chapter's author's note and I can finally mark this story as "Complete" after all these years! XD

Note: This story takes place after Season 3.

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Monster Rancher or the characters. I'm just a huge fan. Tecmo owns everything. I just own the plot.

Moments We Share

Alternate F: Flowers

"Man, the weather couldn't get any better than this!"

"For once I agree with you, rabbit."

Genki smiled as he leaned up against Golem, with Mocchi sitting comfortably in his lap. On the other side of him, Hare and Tiger sat peacefully in the soft grass and the whole group couldn't help but enjoy the warm sun shining on their skin. The group of friends had decided to enjoy a small picnic on the outskirts of Toriyama and although Holly and Suezo couldn't make it due to complications with Yosho, the rest of the Searchers had decided to spend the day outside anyways. Rain had been keeping the group indoors for days now, and it felt good to get some fresh air.

"Golem, your cooking has gotten really good! The sandwiches were great!" Genki praised while looking up at the rock giant.

"Yeah, chi! Everything was super tasty, chi!" Mocchi chirped happily.

"Golem is happy… everyone liked… my cooking…" Golem beamed, a small blush making its way to his face.

"It's just too bad Holly and Suezo couldn't make it," Hare let out a sigh as he looked over in the direction of where Holly's home stood.

"Things are just really complicated with her dad right now and I don't want to get her into any more trouble than she's already dealing with," Genki frowned and subconsciously held Mocchi a little tighter. "With Suezo, he wants to protect Holly, so he stays with her when she can't go out just in case a fight breaks out."

The group fell into a solemn silence as they thought about the situation their two friends were in, which brought down the mood of the picnic a little bit.

"Well… why don't we bring something to them to cheer them up?" Tiger's suggestion was blunt and simple. "If they couldn't come to the picnic, we can bring some of the picnic to them."

"I mean, that sounds like a nice plan, but Yosho gets kinda weird whenever we visit. I think he's got some PTSD from the ruthless beat down we gave him when he was still Moo," Hare snorted with a hint of amusement.

"Yosho is not… that bad to us… He is usually kind… when he is not drunk…" Golem sweated. "He is usually only aggressive… when he sees Genki… and when he… feels he is… losing Holly…"

"That's true, so what if we get something for Suezo and Holly, and Yosho doesn't find out? Then there wouldn't be any chance of Yosho getting hostile," Tiger smiled cunningly.

"Ooooh! I get it! You mean for us to sneak some stuff over to them without Yosho knowing to keep the peace! I have to say, Tiger, this devious side of you has made me proud!" Hare snickered.

"How do we do that without Holly's dad knowing, chi?" Mocchi tilted his head.

"Simple! We pass whatever we decide to bring them through Holly's bedroom window! Yosho usually hangs out on the porch or the first floor, so this is the safest route," the rabbit monster devised.

"How would we even be able to get that close without Yosho seeing us in broad daylight, though?" Genki asked.

"Another simple solution, my boy! Golem is too loud to be sneaky anyways, so he'll approach the front of the house and will act as a diversion. As he does that, the rest of us will sneak around the back and we'll just place the items on Holly's windowsill, since we can't guarantee they'll even be in there to receive them," Hare grinned.

"Golem does not want… to be a diversion… Yosho is… intimidating…" Golem frowned.

"You're literally a rock giant! I think you'll survive keeping an old man busy for a couple minutes!" the rabbit monster rolled his eyes.

"Mocchi will go with Golem, chi! We'll distract Holly's dad together!" Mocchi placed a comforting hand on Golem's giant foot.

"Thank you… Mocchi…" Golem beamed.

"How do we get to Holly's room, though? It's on the second floor and without Golem, we can't reach her window as easily as usual," Tiger pointed out.

"We'll have to do the classic tower trick, where we stand on each other's shoulders to get at least one person to the window," Hare noted.

"Oh, no, no, no! I already know where on the tower you'd put me!" Tiger narrowed his eyes.

"Where else would you be?! You're the only quadrupedal member of our team! You have to be on the bottom since you can't reach up as easily as us!" the rabbit monster scowled.

"No way! I'm not degrading myself like that! You be on the bottom!" the wolf monster spat.

"And risk my fur getting dirty? No way!" Hare huffed.

"Then why would I want to do it then?!"

While Tiger and Hare argued, Genki sighed and looked down at the grassy field. It had been a while since he was able to see Holly and the consistent distance between the two teenagers was taking an emotional toll on the boy. Sometimes he missed when Moo was still a threat and they were still on their journey since even though they hadn't admitted their feelings to one another yet, at least they were always together. He missed being able to talk with Holly any time of the day. He remembered the many times the duo had stayed awake when everyone else had fallen asleep and how they would talk about everything that came to mind. Now, those days were over and were nothing more than bittersweet memories.

A feeling of negativity crept into Genki's thoughts, but he immediately extinguished it.

'No, even though we don't get to spend as much time together as we used to, I'm really happy to be in the present where me and Holly are a couple,' Genki smiled to himself.

"What should we… bring Suezo and Holly…?" Golem questioned.

"Hmm… What about the leftover sandwiches, chi? Suezo loves food, chi!" Mocchi suggested.

"That is… a good idea… for Suezo…" the rock giant nodded his head in agreement. "What about… for Holly?"

A flicker of yellow caught Genki's attention and he leaned over to find a small bunch of tansies sticking up from the tall field grass. The young boy looked around and grinned as he noticed more of the simple yellow flowers peeking out from within the dense grass, and he immediately began to gather up a cluster of the flowers.

"What's Genki doing, chi?" Mocchi waddled over to his best friend with curiosity.

"Oh! I, uh, thought maybe Holly would like some of these flowers since she didn't get to sit out here with us," Genki bashfully replied with a blush.

"That is… very thoughtful… Holly would… love some flowers…" Golem smiled warmly. "But… are you certain… you don't want to… give her a… different flower… though?"

"Hm? Why? Is there something wrong with these ones?" the teenage boy looked down at the flowers in his hands, a little sad.

"Awww! How cute! Don't listen to Golem! You and Holly make me feel like I'm gonna get diabetes with how adorable you are! She'll love the flowers, Genki!" Hare cooed teasingly.

Genki blushed scarlet and looked at the ground so he wouldn't have to look at Hare's playful grin.

"That's a good choice of a gift, Genki. I know Holly will appreciate it, especially coming from you," Tiger nodded in approval toward the teenager before glaring back at Hare. "Anyways! Stop getting sidetracked, bunny! We need a plan to get this stuff to Holly and Suezo! We're wasting time!"

"You're wasting time for not agreeing to be at the bottom of the tower!" the team planner snorted.

Genki picked a few more tansies before looking down proudly at the small bouquet. Lack of money made it difficult for the boy to get much for Holly, so he felt immensely pleased to have thought of something he was certain she would appreciate.

"Tiger, I'll do all your chores for the entire month if you go through with Hare's plan," Genki offered, the teenager willing to do anything to deliver the flowers to Holly.

Tiger's eyes narrowed. "…even the laundry?"

Genki grinned. "All the laundry."

Yosho sat on the front porch, a cup of tea next to his chair and a book in his hands. The older man sat in peace, sober for a change, until loud footsteps shook the whole house and a giant shadow loomed over Yosho, causing Moo's old host to take his eyes away from his book and to crane his neck to look up at the massive rock titan standing before him. Mocchi jogged to catch up with the largest Searcher with a winded look on his face.

"Golem? Mocchi? What can I do for you two today?" Yosho blinked in surprise at the sudden visitors.

"Um… good afternoon… Yosho… Uh… Golem is hosting… dinner next week… and was wondering if… uh… you would be interested… in coming," Golem spoke nervously, the rock giant not sure what else to talk about with the older man and spewed out their dinner plans in anxiety.

"Uh, yeah, chi! Golem's cooking a huge roast! It's gonna be so good, chi!" Mocchi licked his lips at the thought of the future meal.

Yosho blinked in surprise before smiling softly, the older man not expecting such a warm invite after the way things had been recently. "That's awfully generous of you. Thank you for the offer, I'd be happy to join your dinner."

Golem and Mocchi laughed nervously at Yosho's invite acceptance and the duo kept a small conversation going with the older man about the weather to keep him preoccupied.

At the back of the house, the other Searchers got onto position. Tiger grumbled profanities as Hare clumsily climbed onto his back and the wolf monster grumpily gritted his teeth.

"You need to lose some weight, bunny," Tiger muttered under his breath.

"That's rich coming from a potbelly pig like you, mutt!" Hare whispered hoarsely.

"Come on, guys! We don't have much time!" Genki squirmed anxiously, his grip on the bag of sandwiches and the bouquet of flowers tightening with worry.

"Okay, okay," the rabbit monster mumbled.

Once he got his footing, Hare grabbed onto Genki's hand and pulled the young boy onto Tiger's back before awkwardly hoisting him up and positioning the human boy on his shoulders. The three Searchers wobbled from the awkward positon, but Tiger kept his legs stiff to prevent them from toppling over.

With a sigh of relief that they hadn't fallen over, Genki propped his elbows up on Holly's windowsill and peered into her room. As usual, her room was clean and organized, a stark contrast to his own. In the corner of the room, Genki spotted Holly kneeled down under her desk, presumably looking for something, and a wide grin broke out across his face.

"Holly!" Genki called out happily.

"Eeep!" Holly whipped her head up in surprise at the sound of her name being called and smashed her head into the underside of her desk, causing the wielder of the Magic Stone to bring her head down to her knees and grasp at her sore head. "Owww…"

"Oh, shoot! I'm so sorry, Holly! Are you okay?!" Genki frowned, worry etched on his face.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Holly replied with a chuckle.

"What did you do, Genki?!" Hare whispered huskily from underneath the boy.

"Yeah! What's going on up there?!" Tiger growled.

"Shhh! It's okay! I think!" the teenage boy called down to the two monsters holding him up.

Still rubbing her head, Holly rose to her feet and bolted to the window, a mix of sheer happiness and total worry swirling in her chest. "Genki! What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"Oh! Since you and Suezo couldn't make it to the picnic earlier, we wanted to bring something over for you guys," Genki grinned.

"Yeah, we missed you guys!" Hare called out from his place in the middle of the Searcher totem.

"Well, we missed you, Holly," Tiger snorted, poking a small jab at Suezo.

Holly couldn't stop the smile from breaking out across her face. "Oh, you guys didn't need to do anything for us! I don't want to get you into trouble. You being here like this is pretty risky! What if my father saw you, Genki?"

"Golem and Mocchi are distracting him! Don't worry! Plus, we'll be quick! Here! These are for Suezo!" the teenage boy handed the bag of homemade sandwiches over to Holly. "Golem made them and they were really good!"

"Oh! Suezo's downstairs right now, but I'll make sure these get to him. You guys definitely just made his day," Holly smirked and placed the lunch onto her desk.

"For you, I thought, uh, you might like these," Genki blushed and hesitantly presented the small bouquet of tansies to his girlfriend. A part of him felt a little embarrassed, for he had seen beautiful bouquets of flowers being sold in town and had wanted to buy some for Holly before, but he couldn't afford it. The tansies he gave to Holly were plain in comparison, with traces of dirt still clung to their stems and some of the flowers uneven. They certainly weren't as grand as the ones he had seen in town, and this made Genki suddenly feel a little self-conscious that, perhaps, it wasn't such a good gift after all.

"Oh, Genki, they're beautiful!"

A wave of relief spread over Genki as he watched Holly's eyes light up in delight, and the worry he felt before completely disappeared.

"I'm glad you like them! I, uh, don't know much about flowers, but I thought they were pretty and I thought of you…" Genki blushed as he lost track of what he was even trying to say.

Holly smiled playfully. "So you saw something pretty and you thought of me?"

The teenage boy squirmed a little from discomfort. "You already know how I feel about you…"

"Well, I think such a great gift deserves a gift in return. I don't have much to offer right now, but…"

Genki didn't get the chance to think further because Holly leaned out the window and allowed her lips to brush up against his own, causing his brain to go blank. The wielder of the Magic Stone pushed against the boy firmer, almost desperately, and it snapped Genki out of his thoughts and he leaned forward to deepen the kiss. With one hand gripping the windowsill, Genki used his other hand to cup Holly's cheek, the warmth of her skin sending goosebumps down his arms. Holly's mouth parted slightly, enough for the tip of her tongue to graze against Genki's bottom lip, and the teenage boy's mouth opened to rub his tongue against hers.

"Phoenix, Genki, if you get a tent with me right below you, I'm gonna have to throw you down Heaven's Canyon!"

Hare's voice broke the couple out of their kiss, and both teenagers tore away from one another with bright red faces and embarrassed expressions.

"You're such a mood killer, rabbit!" Tiger rolled his eyes.

"I have to be! You're not the one in the danger zone, mutt!" Hare scowled.

As Hare and Tiger bantered, Genki and Holly looked over to one another a little awkwardly.

"S-so! Um, did you know that each flower has its own meaning?" Holly asked with an embarrassed smile to change the topic. "Some flowers even have a multitude of meanings."

"Golem told me that once, but I don't follow that kind of stuff," Genki scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, these flowers are called tansies. Do you know what one of their meanings is?" the wielder of the Magic Stone asked, a spirited tone in her voice.

"Uhh, I dunno. They're yellow, so something happy, I guess?" the teenage boy replied with a shrug.

"One meaning is that you just declared war on me," Holly chuckled.

Genki stared at the yellow flowers with wide eyes.

"Huh?! What?! Why?!" Genki gaped. "Is that why Golem wasn't sure if I should give those to you?!"

"Oh, Genki, relax! I'm just playing with you! That may be one of its meanings, but it also means protection, health, resistance, and immortality. Maybe because of you, I'll live forever!" the wielder of the Magic Stone joked.

"If that's how it worked, I'd bring you flowers every day!" the energetic Searcher smiled brightly.

"I'd do the same for you, too, because life wouldn't be worth living without you," Holly smiled bashfully, her face a little red, and she nervously looked down at the ground.

Genki blushed scarlet.

"Guys! Yosho's coming!"

"Oh, Phoenix!"

Without warning, Tiger bolted from his place at the bottom of the tower, leaving Genki and Hare to crash down to the ground in a disoriented pile. Immediately, Hare leapt up and pulled Genki to his feet before the two Searchers bolted from the Mercris home, just narrowly being seen by Yosho as he walked around the back of the house to get some firewood.

Holly watched her friends disappear into the distance and a disheartened feeling settled in her heart from the abrupt exit they had to make and their inability to properly say goodbye, but a smile crossed her lips as she looked down at the tansies in her hand.

Down the road, the rest of the Searchers walked along the dirt path as they talked amongst each other.

"…you mangy mutt, leaving us to fall like that…" Hare mumbled grumpily.

"Hey, it's your fault for not landing on your feet. I called up saying Yosho was coming," Tiger shrugged.

"Oh, um… so… Speaking of Yosho… he is coming… to our dinner… next week…" Golem sweated.

"What?! You invited him over for our feast?! You couldn't think of anything else to talk to him about?!" Hare glowered.

Golem blushed in embarrassment and looked down at the ground. "…no."

"Dang, this is gonna be so awkward! You're gonna have to go eat somewhere else, Genki, so no fights break out," the rabbit monster shook his head in disapproval.

Genki was too lost in thoughts to listen to the current conversation, his mind still wrapped around his kiss with Holly. His lips still tingled from where Holly's lips had graced his own and he couldn't stop the butterflies from fluttering in his chest.

He had decided one thing; he would make sure to bring Holly flowers as often as he could.

Alright, so that ends the original chapter F, this time for Flowers instead of Forgive. I think after I wrote this one, I started thinking that like all normal couples that there had to be a fight in Genki and Holly's relationship at some point, so I decided to write Forgive instead since a relationship can't be all just happy things. Plus this one was a little too long compared to the rest. I dunno, this was written over a decade ago so I don't really know what I was thinking. I just remember the reference to Tiger asking about Genki doing the laundry coming from the episode "Lost at Sea: Disappearance of the Mystery Disk" since Tiger is stuck doing laundry and hates it. XD

Going back and reading this, though, Genki and Holly's conversation about the meaning of a tansy and how Holly mentions it also means things like health and immortality, it kind of hits differently with how the rest of this story went. I can't remember if I used tansies because of this as an ironic thing for how things turn out later in the story or if it was just coincidence. I don't know how my own brain works now, let alone over a decade ago. X3

Time to also post the last bonus chapter, Genki and Holly's wedding night, written for ripitupgenki! It's in Microsoft Word 98 while this one was in 2004, so I have to convert it first since it's not opening on my computer right now. Once I convert it, I'll post it and we can finally close out this story, over a decade late! :3

RockyRoadSmith: Signing off! :3