I think I'm having too much fun with this. XD I got a Monster Rancher cell phone strap that has little figurines of Mocchi and Suezo on it. It's so cute. XD Anyways! Thanks everyone for your feedback! This story has so many more reviews than I first thought it would get! You guys are the best! I want to especially thank you, ripitupgenki, for your constant and timely reviews! You're so wonderful! :D

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

H: Hero

Holly let out a quiet yawn as she sat inside Hare's home in the living room with a half full tea cup in one hand and an open book in the other. Today was one of those rare low-key days that nothing eventful was occurring so the young woman found peace in reading a book. Only a day earlier she had been browsing the Toriyama market when suddenly she had glimpsed the cover of an old, yet familiar book being sold. The brunette had been quick to make her way over to the market stall before picking up the book to examine it closely and suddenly, she realized she had to buy it for it was the same one she had read in her earlier days. When Holly was young, she didn't have many friends and books were a way to spend her spare time when she wasn't cooking or cleaning. She used to love to read, though she had no time for it after Moo's attack on her village.

'The Dragon Lord, with its head reared back and its claws extended, tore forward at the knight whom, in turn, slashed his shining sword at the evil beast; metal and flesh connecting with a sickening rip while a splash of blood coated the floor and the weapon.'

Holly took a small sip tea before she placed the cup down in order to turn the page of the book. After spending an entire day reading the book, she was finally at the last chapter and she wasn't about to put the book down now. She could still remember, when she was young, how much she loved the knight in the story. She always dreamed of a knight in shining armor coming to rescue her before sweeping her away to get married and to live happily ever after. He always was handsome, he was strong, courageous, and would fight to protect the ones he loved. Every young girl would dream about a knight like that coming to their rescue, but like most dreams, that's all they were.

'The knight let out a raspy gasp of breath as he raised his mighty sword before bringing it down upon the Dragon Lord's neck in one swift motion. The beast let out a low gurgle before it stopped moving; no longer could it terrorize the local villages and it could kill no more. The tyrant was dead.'

The young woman's eyes scanned the page carefully as she read every sentence with care to ensure she picked up on every detail. She was a careful reader; one in which paid close attention to every hint and detail to make sure she was getting the full reading experience. Holly would always imagine the scenes in her mind, just as she had when she was young. She liked being able to picture what each character looked like from their physical appearance to the details of their clothes. She tried to make it as if they were real.

'The true treasure of the Dragon Lord wasn't the jewels or the gold coins lying in piles around the castle and the knight paid them no attention. With determination, he marched up the long stone stairwell up until he reached the door leading to the highest room in the fortress. The hinges of the door were rusty and the wood was rotting, but the knight could feel his heart race from what he knew waited for him behind that door. With his sword drawn, the armored man opened the door to reveal a lavished room with a single bed in the middle which held the Dragon Lord's prisoner; the princess.'

Holly's eye brow rose slightly as her eyes continued to read the story. She had loved this book when she was young. She had literally read the story a hundred times over and she never got tired of reading about her knight. He was so bold and charming that she would sometimes pretend she was the princess in the story and that he would be coming to rescue her. Holly couldn't help but chuckle softly as she thought back to how much she had wanted her knight in shining armor to come for her on a white steed and to ride away with him into the sunset. Oh, how little girls could dream.

'The princess was absolutely stunning; her golden locks shimmered in the sunlight and her eyes sparkled with love and affection. Her skin was soft without a single flaw and the simple dress she wore showed her marvelous curves. She was the most beautiful being the knight had ever seen, and he felt his heart skip a beat as she slowly took his helmet off to see the face of her savior. He was just as she had dreamt he would be; handsome, brave, and loyal. Without a word, the two slowly closed the gap between each other as their lips met in a passionate kiss before the knight gently picked up his princess and the two left behind the nightmare of the Dragon Lord forever.

The end.'

Holly blinked slightly as she read over the chapter again before she let out a huff and tossed the book on the group with a low thump. "That book… was awful." She whispered to herself as a scowl played on her lips.

"Hey, Holly!" Hare greeted as he walked into the room with a grin until he noted the book on the ground in which he was quick to pick up. "So this is what you've been up to all day. Mind if I read it once you're done?"

"I'm already done so you can have it. Don't get your expectations up on that one, though." Holly replied with a shrug as she picked up her tea cup before taking a small sip of the warm liquid; a look of disappointment written on her face.

"Holly, what's wrong?" Hare asked with a frown.

"It's just… when I was young I was in love with that book! I would read it at least twice a week, but I just finished reading it and I found it to be so... well... corny. I guess I'm just a little disappointed, is all. I was so excited to read that book again but it wasn't as good as I remembered it being." The brunette said with a small bitter chuckle.

"Yeah, I know the feeling. It's probably because you went on a real adventure, ya know? So all that fictional stuff isn't as good to you anymore because you know firsthand what a real adventure really is like." The rabbit monster stated with a nod of his head before he waved to the girl and headed off to go join the other rebels; leaving Holly to think carefully about Hare's words.

'Hare's right; it's probably because I went on a real adventure.' Holly thought to herself as she looked down at her cup of tea. 'I wish I still liked the knight like I use to, though. The adventure part of the book I can understand not liking now, but why do I not like the knight anymore?'

"Holly, chi!" Mocchi yelled as he ran into the house with a large grin on his pudgy face. His body was covered in dirt, but he didn't seem to mind. "You wanna come play with us?"

"What are you playing?" Holly asked with amusement as she went to the kitchen before coming back with a wet rag in her hands. With a smile, the young woman knelt down before using the cloth to wipe away some of the dirt from Mocchi's face like a mother would do to their child, though Mocchi didn't complain.

"Genki's teaching me how to play a game from his world called 'baseball'! It's really fun, chi, but we need more people to play! Will you play with us? Please, chi?" Mocchi pleaded with a childish smile that melted Holly's heart.

"Sure, I'd love to." The young woman replied with a warm smile while Mocchi cheered before half dragging her out of the house to where the rest of the rebels were hanging around in the back yard. With bases set up in a diamond shape while using a stick and a regular ball, the rebels were having fun attempting to play the game from Genki's world, though it wasn't very easy for some of the players.

"This taste like crap!" Suezo complained as he had a homemade baseball glove on his tongue as he stood at the third base.

"If you try catching a ball without it, though, it'll probably hurt!" Genki called out from his spot at first base.

"You think you have it bad? I can't even wear a glove so be happy you can!" Tiger mumbled from his spot in the outfield.

"I don't… need a glove…" Golem stated with a smile as he stood behind home plate as the catcher.

"Lucky…" Suezo mumbled. "It's the one good time you're made of rock…"

"Stop you're complaining, Suezo! It's a beautiful day and I want to play!" Hare shouted as he held the stick in his hands while he waited for Mocchi to get back to pitching. At seeing Holly's presence, though, the rabbit monster's smile grew as he waved to her merrily. "Hey, Holly! You joining us?"

"I think I will after I watch you guys for a minute first!" Holly called back with a smile as she stood off to the side of first base while she caught Genki flash her a grin.

"So, are you my first base coach?" Genki joked with a chuckle.

"I don't know what that is, but I will be if that's what you want me to be." Holly replied with a wink; causing Genki to blush slightly.

"Hey you two! Stop flirting and get ready!" Suezo shouted with a scowl.

"Shut up, Suezo!"

"Make me, Genki!"

"Back to the game!" Hare spoke up with a swing of the stick to break up the argument before a playful gleam shone in his eyes. "Now up to bat is the greatest player this game has ever seen; Hare the Magnificent! Hear the crowd going wild?"

"…I don't hear anything, rabbit. Shows how popular you are." Tiger stated with a role of his eyes.

"I'll show you, mutt! Pitch the ball, Mocchi!" Hare shouted as he got into a batting stance with a look of determination.

"Okay, chi! Here I go!" Mocchi announced as he pulled his arm back before launching the ball forward as fast as he could throw it. With a grin, Hare swung the stick as hard as he could in hopes that maybe he could hit Tiger with a line drive to the face. The second the ball and stick connected, though, the color drained from Hare's face as he realized the direction the ball was really heading.

"HOLLY! WATCH OUT!"

Everything happened so fast that Holly didn't have time to react. She could almost feel the crushing pain of being hit by the oncoming ball and she could feel her entire body tense up in anticipation for the pain. What she didn't expect, however, was for no pain to come at all. In fact, she felt strangely good. She felt her body wash over in warmth and it took several seconds for her mind to click that she was, indeed, safe. There was no ball, no impact, and no pain. It took a minute for the young woman to register what had happened, but when her mind snapped out of it she could hear a variety of shouting and voices that seemed to blur together until she snapped out of her trance.

"Holly… are you alright?"

A soft voice echoed in her mind and, when her vision finally cleared, she could feel a pair of strong arms wrapped strongly against her as her body was pressing up firmly against someone's chest. Genki held the young woman tightly as if she would disappear at any given moment if he let go. His eyes were filled with fear and, Holly suddenly realized, it was fear for her. Suddenly, the rest of the rebels, too, were crowded around the duo as they glanced in concern.

"I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't know that would happen!" Hare exclaimed with guilt.

"Don't worry, this happens plenty of times in the game. It can't be helped." Genki replied with a smile.

"But, still! You got hit! Are you okay?" Hare asked with concern, but no one had a chance to respond as Holly suddenly found her voice again and she stared at Genki with wide-eyes.

"Y-you got hit?" Holly asked numbly.

"His reflexes are impressive. The second the ball was hit he ran out and shielded you with his body. I guess all those days of adventuring had their advantages." Tiger replied with a soft chuckle. "You really should get that checked out, kid."

"Nah, it's only my back. No big deal; it can't be worse than when Pixie shot me off a cliff." Genki said with a shrug of his shoulders, but suddenly worry filled his mind as he felt Holly trembling in his arms and even more fear coursed through him when Holly looked up at him with tear filled eyes. "Holly? Holly! Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"Y-you got hurt b-because of me, Genki! I'm s-so sorry! Why d-did you put y-yourself at risk l-like that?" Holly stuttered slightly as she tried her best to keep her composure. "You s-shouldn't have…"

"Oh, Holly, don't feel bad! I didn't have to do it; I wanted to and I always will. I'll always protect you when I can." Genki said with a smile while Holly hugged him a little tighter while burying her head into his chest.

"…thank you…"

"Anytime."

"Aw… you two are so cute! It's like a knight saving a princess!" Hare cooed with a wryly smile while the other rebels agreed with him, but he felt confusion wash over him as Holly looked back to glance at him quizzically. "Erm, what?"

"Can you repeat that?" Holly asked quietly.

"Repeat what?"

"The thing you said about the knight."

"All I said was that it's kind of like those fairy tales when the knight saves the princess from danger. Genki's kind of like a knight and you're like a princess. I didn't mean to offend you or anything." Hare said with a chuckle.

"No, no. You didn't offend me." Holly replied softly as she slowly looked up at Genki who was currently still hugging her tightly while talking casually to Tiger. '…that's why I didn't like the knight in the book anymore. It's because he's fake; a made up character used only for reading pleasure. I needed him when I was little, but I haven't needed him in years because this whole time…

…my real hero has always been with me.'

Kinda corny, but I was in a corny mood. The Dragon Lord thing was the most steriotypical name I could come up with for the book's villian. XD I always felt that the rebels would love learning about things from Genki's world and that he'd have so much fun teaching them. XD I hate reading books I use to like and finding out they now suck. The same goes for some stories on this site too. I use to love some of them and now I can't read them. XD Thanks again for reading and reviewing!

RockyRoadSmith: Signing off! :3