"Ouch!" Gypsy jumped up painfully as one of her puppies nipped her. "Watch it!" She scolded down at the pups, who had previously been suckling.

The youngsters were growing their puppy-teeth in, which meant Gypsy would only have more of that occurring until she switched them onto solid foods. With a sigh, she sat down again.

"Sorry, Mother. We-" Star broke off as Kiwi burst into another bought of coughing. This time, they wracked her whole body and sounded as if they ripped out part of her throat.

The mother-dog stiffened with fright. It was unnatural for dogs to cough more than once or twice a month. This had been going on for days, despite the weather growing hearty with the heat of mid-summer.

"Is she okay?" Ace's voice rang out through the lush forest. Gypsy searched for the source until her eyes fell upon a black-and-cream husky between the greenery.

Ace hurried closer, his ears flattened with distress. However, his reaction further drove Gypsy into a fearful frenzy.

"I don't know. It hasn't gotten better, and now the coughs sound both dry and wet at the same time." Her eyes were shimmering with worry as she looked up at Ace.

"It'll be alright. Perhaps it's time for them to try dry food. Perhaps she's inhaling the milk and that's why she keeps sputtering."

Privately, she wasn't so sure...

Kiwi hadn't been eating consistently for the past three days. She drank almost half as much milk as her brothers did, and played less. Gypsy saw a faint sheen of fatigue over her daughter's tired eyes as she looked lazily around.

A pups eyes shouldn't look like that. And how would she get all four puppies to the neighborhoods? They'd be many times as slow getting there than an adult dog.

"I've been feeding Obelisk every day." Startled, Gypsy looked up into her friends striking blue eyes.

If...he even is my friend anymore.

"I know how to bring the plate here without dropping any. I'll be back soon with some dry food for the pups to try." Ace looked knowingly down at the white mother-dog.

She could tell by his eyes what he was trying to convey.

Food isn't going to cure Kiwi. Only a stroke of luck and good health will. She scooped the tan-and-white she-pup closer with a paw, and then barked after Ace as he retreated.

"Wait, Ace! There's something I haven't had the chance to tell you. And, if you leave now I won't have the chance to again for who-knows-how-long."

Ace looked somehow hopeful as he bounded back to Gypsy. I hope he already knows what I'm going to ask, then.

"Since you came here, Bronx has kept you busy with patrolling the western border, and feeding Obelisk... and I've been busy with my pups- or sleeping in Bronx's den at night."

Ace nodded, as Gypsy tried not to think about how Bronx had complained of his puppies sleeping in the den. He'd heaved them off, and even snarled at Copper once as Copper had tried to cuddle with him.

"But what's important is that I never stopped caring about you." She held Ace's stare as the woods grew darker around them. Somewhere far off, a squirrel chittered up in the trees, preparing itself for an early night.

"Please forgive me. Please be my friend again," the female let a bit of desperation creep into her voice. "Im sorry I left you alone in that shelter. It was selfish... I know you'd never have left me there to die." She winced at the harsh truth of her own words, but Gypsy had finally owned up to it. Her eyes welled with tears as she realized how much she truly needed Ace back. How much she had messed up.

Ace stared at her. He seemed to be hesitating, and then sighed and stepped forward to touch noses with Gypsy. He was immediately crowded by all of her male pups, who shrieked with delight.

"Are you guys done talking? Can we play now?" Asked Star as he leaped on Shadow's tail and attacked it with his tiny puppy teeth.

"You know I could never hold a grudge against you forever," Ace breathed. His body language became visibly more relaxed. He let's his shoulders loosen as he bent over Gypsy, whispering.

"As long as we're being honest...-" the next part seemed hard for him to say. Then, he turned such a powerful gaze on Gypsy that she couldn't look away. The male's tone had dropped to a serious, heartfelt one.

"I always wanted you as my mate, Gypsy."

There was silence... Even from the pups. Her eyes flicked away uncomfortably and then grew larger. A cricket began its symphony from the long grasses nearby, followed by another.

"But I know you never thought of me that way in return. The problem is, I think you were always too busy, or distracted- and looking to other dogs for help rather than me. And I know you have Bronx now," he said before the she-dog could interrupt.

"I just want you to know that you can. You can ask me for help, and I can be your shoulder to cry on. I can be here all day every day, or gone whenever you need me to be. Just say the word- and I'm there." Ace gave a painstaking nod of awkwardness, but she could see that the fondness was truly there.

The husky mix had looked sad as he'd gazed over Gypsy's beautiful white face. Her butterscotch-brown eyes had always been the most fabulous hue he'd laid eyes upon. In the entire world, he had never found a more loving she-dog.

And Gypsy, hardly reciprocating even a look from the male, hadn't noticed.

"I'm sorry I...." She struggled. "All this time, and-. We practically grew up together." She looked up at the male dog in wonder.

"Wait.. Do you LIKE my mom?" Finn questioned with a huge smile up at Ace, but was serenely ignored.

Kiwi shifted next to the two dogs. She looked like she wanted to say something, but cleared her throat painfully and fell silent instead. Ace glanced over at the tiny tan-and-white splotched puppy.

"Um-well. Anyways. I'll be back. If they're not awake when I return, you can just save the food for tomorrow."

She nodded with genuine appreciation, but the two dog's exchanged knowing looks before he left.

She didn't have much time to dwell on Ace's love confession, because Kiwi started coughing again. With a shallow pit of worming worry in her gut, the female wondered how to get water for her daughter at such a late hour. It would be dangerous going to the Lake so late with tiny pups. However, Bronx could help her by watching the male puppies, while she took Kiwi.

"Bronx!" The Pittie left her puppies to play together, yet Kiwi followed her wearily over to Bronx's den. She stuck her head inside to see the dark figure of Bronx sleeping.

"I need you to watch the male puppies while I take Kiwi for a drink. She can't stop coughing again."

With bleary red eyes, the male rose to his feet and shook out his pelt. He glowered at his mate from the gloom, who was blocking the den entrance.

"It's not my job to watch them! Maybe I could watch one or two, but-"

"HELP! HELP! MAMA!" Some dog screamed and Gypsy startled, lifting her head and slamming it against the den roof. Earth showered over her back as she turned and raced from the tunnel.

Bronx was on her paws, as well as a much slower Kiwi. She ignored the two as she burst from the den with her head swinging to and fro.

It was almost just as dark out here, so it took Gypsy a moment before she located her two screeching pups.

"Stop that racket! What happened? I was only in the den for a second." Concerned, she flicked her gazes over Copper and Finn.

"We were playing together, and I actually got Copper to play for more then two seconds," Finn boasted as he puffed out his chest. "Then-"

"Where's Star?" Gypsy's keen eyes searched the clearing. She was aware of Bronx standing close by, with his head lowered towards Kiwi's.

"That's what I'm saying," her pup yipped dramatically. "Star was trying to chew a stick in half for us all to have a piece of it, and we started playing while we waited. Then, when we turned around Star was gone- and we heard him say 'help!' but couldn't see him anywhere." Finn looked up at her as Copper whimpered in distress.

"I can't smell him no more, Mama. Where did he go?" Cooper turned his floppy ears this way and that as terror gripped the white Mother-dog.

She shot a warning glance at Bronx, giving him no choice but to help her look. With a nod, Bronx took off into the nearby woods. Gypsy heard him calling half-heartedly for Star as she began her own search.

Frantically, she yelled for her solid white male up. A looming pressure seemed to keep pressing against her chest, making it harder to breathe. Her legs were a blur of white as she left her three remaining pups in the clearing, searching underneath logs and among the tall grasses for Star.

"STAR!" Gypsy barked her fear into the cool night air as she glimpsed North returning.

"North! Have you seen Star? He's gone. I was only in the den for a second and-"

"That overly-playful white pup who's always asking questions?"

"YES!" Gypsy nearly flipped with relief. North must have found Star on her trip to get food. But then, where is he?! She searched the ground behind North, but saw only Lavender's black and white pelt.

"No, I haven't seen him. Perhaps he was taken by an owl." The she-dog said innocently without blinking.

She gasped as she stared quellingly at the black she-dog. The tall, shadowy trunks stretched around them, bleeding into North's jet-black pelt until she was discernible.

Night had fallen. And her puppy Star was gone.

_______

Star