Love you like I want to

No!

No no no no no!

This....this wasn't happening! This couldn't be happening!

Everything she'd come to know as her life was suddenly ripped right out form under her....tossed into a downward spiral of heartbreak, tears and loneliness. Horrible horrible loneliness that threatened to swallow her completely.

She was all by herself now. No family....no Pets....no one.

"Jewel."

Or maybe not, the sound of her name from a familiar tongue peeking her attention, if only for curiosity's sake. "W-What...." Jewel sniffed, keeping her back turned "....what d-do you want, W-Wizzer?" A few more tears slid down her face, dampening her cheeks as they pooled at her paws. Of all the pups to chase after her, it had to be him. The venom-tongued bad boy who lived to put her down.
At least, he'd try; normally....normally she'd brush him aside--let her attitude do the talking, and never let him get to her.

But now? Now that attitude had vanished. Now she was vulnerable. Now he could hurt her.

If there were a further level of misery than where she currently stood, that is.


"W-Well?" She snapped, when he didn't respond, "w-what are you going to d-do?"

"Do?" Wizzer echoed, as the sound of his footsteps increased, "I'm not going to do anything." A pause. "I just wanted to know if you were okay."

Okay? Okay?! Did she look okay to him?!

"D-Do I l-look okay to you?!" Jewel reiterated aloud, snapping her head in his direction.

He started, and through her blurred vision she saw his brow raise. Like he'd never seen a girl cry before or something.

"W-What?" She asked, her own brow furrowing.

Wizzer's lips twitched, as if unsure how to answer. Finally, however, he shook his head, and a foreign look crept into his eyes. "Nothing I just....thought tears were beneath you."

If his mere presence didn't irk her, that comment had. "Who are you t-to judge me? If y-you were me right now, you'd be crying too!" Her voice cracked at the last word, fresh tears brimming in her eyes. Her heart throbbed painfully, and she shut her eyes, lowering her head.

It wasn't fair....it just....it wasn't fair....

"I-I thought I knew w-who I was...." she whimpered softly. "....I-I was s-so certain I was th-theirs I n-never...." She hiccuped. "I-I n-never thought I'd....I'd t-turn out to be...."

"....adopted." Wizzer finished, and rightfully so as Jewel relapsed into sobbing. It wasn't fair....why her? What had she done to deserve this? Why not Dipstick or Fidget or....or even Wizzer himself? Why did she have to be the....the....
....the outcast.

....the one that didn't belong?

A moment of silence passed between them; the only sound Jewel's quieting sobs, echoing pitifully softly across the darkening sky.

When she'd just about decided she couldn't cry anymore, Jewel looked up....nearly flinching to find Wizzer a mere foot away from her now. When did he--?

"You know," he stated, meeting her teary eyes with his own amber gaze. "It's not all bad, not being one of us."

Jewel bit her lip, his words an emotional stake through her heart. "Y-yeah. S-sure. What g-good could c-come from this?"

"....Well...."

What happened next caught her off guard. One minute, she'd shut her eyes, lowering her head in her ongoing misery....the next....Wizzer's tongue caressed the top of her head. Jewel's eyes widened to their fullest extent, face flushing read. In shocked confusion she pulled back, trying yet failing to understand why--why--he'd just done that. What....what motives drove him to lick her like....

"I can finally love you the way I've always wanted to."

....wait. What?!

"Y-You...." the female dalmatian stammered, "y-you l-love....?"

She searched his face, looking for something--anything--to indicate this was a hoax--that he was trying to mess with her--but failed to find any such evidence. In fact....Wizzer actually seemed....serious.

"Why....do you think I was so mean to you?" He eventually continued, gazing at her with almost....sad....eyes. "I thought....I thought I was falling in love with my own sister and I....just couldn't deal with it, you know? I mean....you were my sister!"

Jewel sniffed. "That's....that's why you teased me? Because you....l-loved me?"

A pause, then he hung his head. Something she'd never seen him do. "Not a great idea I know. I just....thought if I made you an enemy these feelings would go away. but...." and here, his head raised, and he smiled. "....I don't have to do that anymore. Do I?"

Truth be told, Jewel wasn't sure. Everything was happening so fast....

"I-I-I don't know." she confessed, tail drooping in ashamed embarrassment. "I-I've gone so long thinking you're my brother...."

Wizzer cut her off. "We don't have to start anything now. I know this is....uh....weird. Just...." A pause. "Keep me in mind, will ya?"

Though it still seemed--like he said--so weird--Jewel nodded. "O-Okay."

That smile stretched further across the boy's face, tail wagging behind him. "Thanks, Jewel."

This time, her head shook. "N-No....t....thank you. For....for listening. This....isn't easy but....knowing you won't....tease me anymore....kind of helps." She may not have truly felt it, but she offered Wizzer a little half-smile; to prove she meant it.

Behind him, his tail wagged even faster than before. "Ya well....glad to help." he chuckled then, an awkward kind of laughter that drew a blush from Jewel's cheeks. "This is going to take some getting used to, huh?"

"Y-Yeah. Yeah....it is." She agreed. "....but....we'll get....used to it....right?"

Their eyes met for a final time; her answer swimming in his shining pupils. Of course they would. She was so foolish to have thought otherwise before. Sure....things might seem strange now....but they WERE still her family, right? They'd still always be there for her, wouldn't they? Just because she didn't share their blood, didn't lessen her in their eyes. In some, it only increased her status. Her image. Her very being.

It WAS awkward and new and a little frightening....but isn't that how all new chapters begin?

How new adventures start?


Jewel certainly thought so. Wizzer....Wizzer seemed to as well.


And for now....that was enough.


101 Dalmatians (c) Disney