Plot requested by @X_EmLee_X

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This One shot includes my OC, Rascal. For those who don't know him, Rascal is a wolf that Jesse and Petra found as a puppy, and now shares a close bond with Petra.
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It was a beautiful morning, the sun outside shining and the sky a crisp blue. There was a gentle breeze, keeping the day from getting just too hot. Usually to Jesse, it would have been... perfect.

But as Jesse sat at the table that morning, she was merely glumly staring down at the two pancakes in front of her. A meal that she usually would have wolfed down within minutes, now not even appetising to look at.

Jesse's friends were all at the table as well, but they didn't say much, probably realising she needed the peace and quiet. Even after all these years, the order always reunite to be there for Jesse during this time.

"It's beautiful outside." Olivia spoke up eventually. "Not at all rainy and gloomy like it has been for the past few days-"

"Hey, who said rain was gloomy?" Petra interrupted.

"Shush." Olivia hissed at the redhead. "As I was saying, I think we should make some good use out of this beautiful weather. What do you guys think? We can't spend the day inside while it's so sunny outside!"

"Like what?" Axel asked with a mouthful of pancake.

"We could go for a ride, maybe?" Lukas suggested. "Just take the horses a few miles out of beacontown, maybe stop somewhere in the forest for lunch?"

"That would be great!" Petra spoke up. "My boy here is longing to get out of the house and run." As if the young wolf understood his owner's words, Rascal's tail began wagging.

"Jesse?" Olivia asked, looking over at the only one who haven't spoken up yet.

"I'm not objecting." Jesse just replied numbly.

"It's going to be fun!" Petra said, noticing her sulky expression.

"Why don't we all finish up here, and get ready?" Lukas suggested. "I could go make a start on saddling up some horses for us!"

"I'll come with you." Petra offered as they both got up, walking over to place their empty plates in the sink. Olivia held hers out to them, nodding a thanks to Lukas as he took it for her.

"I should probably just go put something more suitable on." She said, looking down at the red dress she was wearing. "This thing isn't going to get me far on a horse."

She got up, starting to head in the direction of the staircase, as Petra, Rascal and Lukas went outside. She stopped behind Jesse, placing a hand on her shoulder and slightly leaning down.

"Maybe you should too, Jesse." She said softly, giving Jesse's shoulder a gently squeeze, before leaving.

Jesse skeptically looked down at her pyjamas, which she hasn't even bothered to change out of. Olivia probably had a point... She didn't really feel like going out. She usually loved going out with her friends, even more so if they were going for a long ride. Just not that day...

"Are you not hungry bud?" Axel asked as Jesse got up, not having touched her pancakes.

She shook her head 'no', before turning in the directions of the stairs. Axel looked after her sadly, but then his face lit up as he reached over, pulling the plate of pancakes towards himself.

Jesse trudged up the staircase, towards her own bedroom. She stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Her eyes fell on a picture on her bedside table, slowly walking over and picking it up.

She looked down into Reuben's two, round black eyes. Looking up at her from the photo, almost as if he was smiling.

"Eleven years today... huh?" She whispered softly, sinking down on the side of the bed and hugging the photograph to her chest.

Eleven years. Yet it felt like yesterday...

No matter how many months, how many years have passed since her beloved pig's death, Jesse stilled grieved. She still saw his face in her dreams, she still woke up in the mornings and expected him to be there.

And every year, on the anniversary of losing her best friend – Jesse felt one step closer to giving up.

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Laughter filled the quiet air of the roofed forest, the horse's hooves barely audible on the soft ground. Axel had told some joke than had sent everybody into a laughing fit, even making Jesse smile lightly.

She was riding at the back of the group, watching all her friends ahead of her. Petra was at the lead, Rascal excitedly trotting beside her horse, his tail waving like a flag.

Lukas was close behind her, looking over his shoulder as he listened to Axel and Olivia, who were riding side by side behind him.

Jesse was glad they went out. She was feeling better, the fresh air helping to take her mind off Reuben entirely. Her friends seemed to have noticed her change in mood, and the happiness was clear on their faces.

Occasionally something would remind Jesse what day it was, and she'd felt her heart sinking down into her boots. But the atmosphere felt so lighthearted and happy, Jesse's thoughts easily slipped away again.

"We should probably stop somewhere for a while." Lukas said after a while. "The horses need a break, and in all honesty – so does my butt!"

"Yeah, I don't think we needed the second half of information." Olivia replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I know of a nice pond nearby." Petra spoke up from the front. "It's usually just a pond on it's own, but in the wet season the river tends to reach it. With all the rain we had, I think we'll be in for a treat! It's not too far from here."

"You know the way?" Lukas asked. "It sounds like a nice place to stop for a while."

"Would I have brought it up if I didn't know the way?" Petra snapped sarcastically, urging her horse on slightly.

Rascal pricked his ears, excitedly trotting by the horse's side, his pink tongue hanging out as he panted.

Everybody urged their horses on to follow the redhead, as Petra guided her horse into the dense trees. Jesse was curious as to what the location looked like. Petra wasn't usually one for sight-seeing, so it had to be something! Although there's probably some tree or cliff that made a perfect diving board into the pond, and that was why Petra sounded so excited.

Jesse closed her eyes for a short while, her horse steadily following behind Olivia's. The gently breeze tugged at her long chestnut hair, making her T-shirt flap slightly against her.

It was a silent ride, except for the few times Petra whistled to call Rascal back, when he wandered too far. Nobody said much, just enjoying the calmness of the forest.

Jesse loved it. She wondered if she should maybe leave the Order Hall just for work-related stuff and housing their treasures. She'd love to have another small tree-house constructed...

Jesse raised her head, a new sound meeting her ears. Rushing water! They had to be nearing the place Petra was talking about!

"Look!" Petra said, urging her mare on.

Everybody's horses picked up the pace as the broke through the last few trees, coming face to face with a large pond.

When Petra had said the river would probably reach the pond, this wasn't the image Jesse had in her head. The river was in fact a lot higher than the pond, water cascading down the rock face...

Axel and Olivia glanced over at Jesse, realising that the waterfall might be a trigger for memories she didn't want to resurface. But if Jesse was feeling any negative emotions at that moment, she was doing a good job at hiding them.

"Petra, you didn't say it looked this spectacular!" Lukas said in awe, swinging his leg over the saddle and dismounting. "How long have you known of this hidden beauty and not shared it with us?"

"Not long." Petra said with a shrug as she too slipped off her horse as well. She waved her hands at Olivia. "Unpack the lunches, Liv! We're definitely going to chill here for a bit."

Axel and Olivia started dismounting as well, Axel and Lukas leading the horses to a log to tie them up, while Olivia started unpacking. Petra followed her excited wolf to the side of the water, keeping an eye on him as he started to thirstily lap up some of the clear liquid.

Jesse stayed mounted for a second longer, bathing in the familiarity of the sound of rushing water, silently accepting the memories that came to mind again.

So much for forgetting...

Jesse tried to brush it off, dismounting her horse. She never told Petra or Lukas the story of how she met Reuben, so understandably neither of them would know that this place might let some things resurface. Jesse lead over her horse, Lukas taking the gelding's reins for her, and leading the horse over to the tree-stump where he started untacking him for her.

Jesse walked over to where Olivia had lay down an old blanket, the engineer busy rummaging for the food in her saddlebag. Petra was starting to come back over again, Rascal trotting at her side, water dribbling from his muzzle.

Jesse sat down on the blanket, lowering herself onto her back so she was looking at at the canopy of leaves above her. She heard Petra grunt as the warrior promptly dropped down on the blanket as well.

"I hope you packed something good, Liv, because I'm hungry as a wolf right now." Petra said, Rascal on cue starting to lick her face.

"I hope you consider sandwiches 'good' then." Olivia said, carrying over the brown paper bag. "Otherwise you can learn to pack your own next time."

Petra just rolled her eyes, curiously peeking over Olivia's shoulder as the engineer started unpacking the sandwiches. There were a wide variety, from ones with melted cheese, to lettuce and tomato fillings, to peanut butter. No ham and cheese – those were strictly banned.

"Oh good, I'm starving!" Axel piped up as he and Lukas came back, immediately grabbing a peanut butter sandwich out of Olivia's hand before she had even put it down on the pile.

Olivia just rolled her eyes at Axel, while Lukas and Petra both chuckled. Jesse smiled vaguely.

Silently, they all began eating lunch. Petra had to occasionally hold her cheese sandwich out of Rascal's reach, since he wanted nothing to do with the food she brought for him. Lukas seemed to completely forget about his sandwich as he read the book he had brought. If it didn't have a vegetable filling, Rascal probably would have eaten it already.

Olivia was taking small nibbles of her sandwich, seemingly trying to eat it without having any of the filling fall out. Petra had pointed out that the messiness was what made sandwiches fun, only receiving a glare in return. Axel on the other hand was just plowing his way through as many sandwiches as possible, not caring about the millions of tiny crumbs all over his clothes and the blankets.

Jesse kept her mind busy, observing all her friends. All of them seemed so happy in their own ways, while she knew the smile on her own face was forced to be there. Even though it's been so long, she remembered exactly what it was like to have Reuben on a picnic with her.

She always used to share her sandwich with him, most of the time feeding more of it to him than herself. He especially loved the vegetable fillings! Jesse used to love them too, but the memory felt too real, so she decided to stick to one of the cheese sandwiches instead.

Here she was thinking about him again when she'd been trying so hard to force her mind away. If she couldn't get over the little piglet in eleven years, would she ever?

The afternoon dragged on, the Order continuing to enjoy the calm pond. Some time after lunch, Petra had suggested they all remove their armour and go swimming. She and Axel did, while Olivia preferred to only get her feet wet. Lukas had declined the offer, staying on the picnic blanket to read his book. Jesse stayed with him, brushing it off that she had a bit of a headache. Really she just wanted to rest her tired eyes, having barely slept the previous night.

Jesse lay on her back, feeling the heat of the sun rays dotted about her face, the canopy of leaves stopping it from getting just too hot. She could hear Olivia playfully scolding Axel for something – no doubt he probably splashed her with water. Petra was laughing as well, but she sounded further away.

As forced as Jesse's smile was, as tired as her mind was, she was feeling alright about her day. Usually on the time of Reuben's death, she spent the days in her room, constantly battling away threatening tears.

That day however, she felt that she could push her thoughts away for a bit. She was spending time outside, and she hadn't felt the tightening feeling in her chest once. She was coping, and that's honestly all Jesse could ask for...

Maybe this was a sign that things were indeed getting better.

"Get back here with that!"

The loud call made Jesse open her eyes, turning her head to the side. Even Lukas lifted his gaze from his book to see what the ruckus was about.

Axel and Olivia were both in the water, only Axel's head above the surface while Olivia stood at mere ankle depth, the two of them also turning to see what was going on.

Rascal came sprinting across the grass, tail wagging like a flag, ears pulled back with speed. Trailing from his mouth was a piece of striped blue fabric. Petra was running after the wolf, laughing hysterically as she tried to snatch her bandanna.

Rascal dodged her grabs, running circles around the redhead until Petra started to look dizzy. She launched herself at Rascal, both of them rolling to the ground. Rascal dropped the bandanna, leaving it lying in the mud. Petra was on her back, laughing breathlessly as Rascal stood with his front paws on her chest, licking her face.

They looked so incredibly happy.

Something inside Jesse snapped.

All of a sudden it was all gone. The smile on her face, the calmness of the forest. And Jesse felt the familiar burning sensation in her eyes.

This was meant to be her. Her and Reuben.

The happiness she saw in Petra's eyes, the joy she heard in her laughter... she deserved that too. And so did Reuben.

This was all wrong.

It was never meant to be this way.

She couldn't watch somebody else enjoy this happiness she was robbed off.

"Jesse?" Lukas asked in surprise when she all of a sudden got up from beside him, dusting down her overralls.

Jesse ignored the blonde, turning her back on everything as she started walking away. She heard Lukas call after her again, but she didn't look back.

Because if she did, they would see the tears she's been trying so long to hide.

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I had a brainfart when naming this one shot. It went through something like five names and I'm still not happy.

Thank you for requesting, I had way more fun with this than I should have! 

I loved the idea of Jesse grieving Reuben's death, while seeing Petra with Rascal. It's a really nice contrast, since in SBTL, Jesse no longer really grieves Reuben. I still kept the time of SBTL though since that's 10 years after his death (and I feel like Rascal would be about a year old in this so *shrugs*)

I love writing Rascal into one shots xD I don't want to make too much of a habit of it, since he is an OC and not part of MCSM. People who haven't read SBTL wouldn't know his story, etc.
But still, I flipping love his character, and I'm going to go against my better judgement eventually and write more one shots with him in it XD

Let me know how you guys feel about Rascal One Shots! xD

Anyhow, I hope you guys liked this one! Feel free to leave requests, whether they are actual plot lines, one word prompts or sequels to previous one shots I have done!