Bright Eyes by: Evil Hare Girl

I don't own Monster Rancher or the song Bright Eyes (note: none
of my fictional characters appear in this)

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             The eyes are the windows to the soul - unknown
                You have clear eyes - Falcon, Moo Revealed

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The old silver-haired woman hurried up the fog-covered hillside.
"Holly, wait up, I'm not as young as I used to be" the yellow
eyeball slowly hopping after her panted.
"None of us are, Suezo" Holly whispered as she paused to wait
for him, a single tear trickling down her weathered face.
After Moo had been defeated and peace had fallen over the land,
she and Genki had moved here, into different houses, at opposite
ends of the beautiful, sunny valley.
The five monsters had split up too, Suezo and Golem had moved in
with her while the other three, Moochi, Tiger and Hare had opted
to live with Genki.
It had been a quiet, calm life, the years had rolled by happily until a few minutes ago, a panic-stricken Moochi had burst into her kitchen.
"Genki dying-chi" the chubby pink monster had gasped, struggling to catch his breath.
As Holly hurried down the hill as quickly as she could, she noticed the sky seemed to glow black as if the land itself was in mourning.
"He can't be....., this can't be happening" she thought to herself.

              <Is it a kind of dream, floating out on the tide?>
                 <Following the river of death downstream>
                                  <Oh, is it a dream?>
                       <There's a fog along the horizon>
                           <A strange glow in the sky>
<And no-one seems to know where you go and what does it mean?>
                                  <Oh, is it a dream?>

Holly burst into Genki's house, Golem and Moochi were following
her, she knew.
"Holly, he's upstairs, in his bedroom" Hare said, gently as Tiger
watched them from in front of the kitchen fireplace, his eyes surprisingly moist.
Holly nodded, then closed her eyes, picturing Genki's shining eyes
as the light in them slowly faded.
"Holly, are you going to say.....goodbye to him" Suezo's gentle
whisper snapped her out of it.
She nodded, then headed upstairs as if in a daze as Golem and
Moochi entered the kitchen.
No-one followed her.
The five monsters glanced at each other, then outside, the sky
had gone dark, but the lamp on the kitchen table cast all sorts
of shadows around the room.
Right before their eyes, one shadow seemed to form into a figure
of a messy-haired boy with wheeled boots on his feet.

"Let's rip it up" an eager, youthful voice seemed to come down
through the years to them, echoing around the quiet kitchen as
the eyes of all those present slowly trailed up to the ceiling.

                          <Bright eyes, burning like fire>
                  <Bright eyes, how can you close and fail?>
<How can the light that burned so brightly suddenly burn so pale?>
                                       <Bright eyes>
                <Is it a kind of shadow, reaching into the night?>
               <Wandering over the hills unseen or is it a dream?>

Holly gently pushed the bedroom door open.
The wind was howling through the trees outside as if already in
grief, Holly had never heard anything so chilling.
She didn't know if she would be able to start over without him, it
felt like the light was being taken from her, leaving her in darkness.
"Holly?" a faint, failing voice asked from the bed.
She hurried over to the bedside, knelt on the floor and gently took
his weathered hand in hers.
"Holly" Genki started to whisper, suddenly he stopped, she looked
so beautiful even in her old age, then continued "I never told you,
I love you"
"I, I love you too, I have since, since forever" she replied, lovingly stroking the hair away from his eyes.
"Then.....all those wasted years" Genki replied faintly as he smiled
sadly and his white-headed head fell gently back into his pillow, his
eyes sparkling in his wrinkled face.
Suddenly he jerked and lay still as the sparkle in his eyes slowly
faded.

                         <There's a high wind in the trees>
                                <A cold sound in the air>
<And no-one ever knows when you go and where do you start?>
                                  <Oh, into the dark>
                           <Bright eyes, burning like fire>
                   <Bright eyes, how can you close and fail?>

"Genki, are you still with me?" the silver-haired woman whispered.
There was no answer, Holly looked at Genki's face, then into his clear brown eyes.
His eyes and the youthful light that used to twinkle in them at the sight of her had dimmed, but they seemed to twinkle slightly again for one last time as Holly gently lifted her hand and slid Genki's eyelids shut.
Tears running down her wrinkled face, she got to her feet and left the bedroom, as she left, a single tear slid from underneath one eyelid and
slowly ran down Genki's weathered face.

<How can the light that burned so brightly suddenly burn so pale?>
                                     <Bright eyes>
                            <Bright eyes, burning like fire>
                    <Bright eyes, how can you close and fail?>
<How can the light that burned so brightly suddenly burn so pale?>
                                    <Bright eyes>