** Chapter 1 **

I hate him. Bambi is so stupid. I hate him.

That was what Ronno was thinking as he gently rubbed his throbbing nose after being bitten by the turtle. Of course, the whole turtle thing was't really Bambi's fault, but Ronno still hated him. Bambi had Faline, the Great Prince, and a ton of friends.

And what do I have? Nothing. Nothing but a sore nose.

Ronno was a tough little deer, but not tough as in brave. He was tough as in mean and rude. He was a bully.

I have no friends. Bambi does, but WHY? He's so dumb!

Ronno peered through the brush at Bambi and Faline, and was surprised to see them porcupine had threatened to spike Bambi, pushing Bambi toward Faline. When their lips met, Ronno shed a tear and rushed deeper into the forest.

He had loved Faline. He had tried everything to impress her, to make her like him back. But she just hated him, just like everyone else in the forest. Ronno sniffed. In his own mind, crying was something babies did and it wasn't cool. Then why did he feel like crying now?

He sadly ambled off and lay down in a thicket surrounded by blackberry bushes, and began to cry softly. Usually, when he was around blackberries, he'd hog all of them before someone else could eat any. He would've been thrilled to eat those berries. But today he felt too miserable. He figured it was all because he was humiliated in front of everyone by the turtle incident. But something else was bothering him much worse.

Friendship was just something that Ronno knew nothing about. And love was something he knew even less. But he did have feelings for Faline. She was beautiful and sweet. Ronno couldn't resist to make a move on her. But, obviously, it only made his life worse.

Ronno paused his sobbing. It was getting late. He had no idea where his mother was. He looked up, watching the stars slowly appear as the sky grew dark. His dad was somewhere up there. At least that's what his mother told him. The forest animals all believed that the spirits of animals who died become stars in the night sky. Ronno always wondered why his dad had to be so far away. But his mother once told him that once you loves someone, they are always in your heart. Even though Ronno never knew his father very well, he loved him. In fact, the only thing that could make Ronno feel better right now was gazing at the stars, and thinking about his father.

Ronno needed to talk to someone very badly, so he spoke.

"Father... I feel terrible. Sometimes I wonder if my life is worth living. Every time I try to make new friends, I ruin everything. I need your help, Dad. Please."

Ronno laid there in the soft grass, watching the sky for any sign of a reply. When he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, he gave up and drifted off to sleep.

And at that moment, a star in the sky twinkled very brilliantly, as if it were alive.

** Chapter 2 **

Morning arrived, and Ronno awoke with a sad look in his eyes. Here comes another day. Yay.

He was getting hungry, so he got up and nibbled on some blackberries. But he immediately laid down again to start his depression time, which consisted of long periods of moping around, crying, and wishing he was never born.

It was getting close to noon now, and his mother must have been worried sick, so Ronno began to get up, still crying. But he was interupted by a rustling sound, which startled him so much that he stopped crying.

He watched the bushes closely, his breathing so shallow that it nearly stopped. By now, Ronno was alert and aware that the sound he heard could mean danger. He crouched low to the ground, trying his best to hide.

"Why are you crying?" said a soft voice.

Ronno gasped. Although he was relieved he was hearing a voice instead of the barking of hunting dogs or a gunshot, he was still surprised.

Then, a fawn emerged from the bushes. She giggled. Ronno still couldn't get a hold of himself. She was beautiful.

"Um, are you ok? You look like you're frozen or something."

Ronno shook his head furiously to snap out of his "frozen" state. "Uh, yeah, I'm good," Ronno replied nervously.

The fawn giggled again. "Really? Are you sure?"

Ronno managed to make his confident face. "Yep. I'm fine. I was just, um, sleeping with my eyes open."

"Uh-huh. So if you're fine, why were you crying?" Asked the fawn.

"I wasn't crying."

"Yes you were, Ronno," she replied.

Ronno began to get agitated. "No I wa – Wait a minute, how... how do you know my name?"

She smiled. "Easy. I've seen you with your mother in the meadow before and I heard her say your name."

"Oh. Well, how come I've never seen you before?" Ronno asked curiously.

"Long story. I just moved here from another part of the forest, and I haven't got a chance to meet anyone yet. In fact, you're the first deer I've talked to so far."

Ronno was delighted to hear that he was the first deer she had talked to.

"My name is Crystal. What's yours?" said the fawn.

Ronno smiled, happy to introduce himself. "The name's Ronno, and these are the boys, Stab and Jab!"

"Stab and Jab? Weird. Why did you name your antlers?" said Crystal.

Uh oh, she's not liking my style, thought Ronno. I should try something else.

"Uh, forget I said that." Ronno gestured toward a nearby tree. "Check this out."

Ronno charged at the tree, and rammed right into the trunk. His head felt weird and sore, but he looked at Crystal with a proud expression and said, "That didn't hurt at all. Amazing, huh?" But he fell over from dizziness.

Crystal laughed hysterically. Ronno didn't like that she didn't find his moves impressive, so he prepared himself for an argument.

But again, Crystal interrupted. "You're funny!" She giggled again. "We should hang out."

Ronno froze. Did he hear her right? Did she just say she liked him?

Crystal smiled. "I've heard some bad things about you. But I think you just need a friend." She leaned up to him and nuzzled him, her head under his chin. He was startled. But he soon closed his eyes and smiled. Maybe today will be a good day after all.

** Chapter 3 **

Ronno and Crystal spent the whole day together. They exchanged secrets, played in the creek, and chased butterflies. To Ronno, every moment with her was magical. He never felt so alive!

He never had a true friend before. And Crystal was the best friend he could imagine. Something inside him told Ronno that this had something to do with his father. Meeting Crystal must have been his father's doing. Ronno thanked his dad for everything he and Crystal did together that day.

Exhausted from chasing butterflies, the two friends were headed back to where they met in the blackberry thicket, laughing the whole way. Ronno couldn't help but feel like he finally met the right girl.

"Wow, that was so amazing how you pounced after that butterfly! It was like you were a mountain lion!" said Ronno!

"And it was so cool when you pulled that prank on the mean old badger when we were at the creek! Even though we were chased for like a mile..."

Ronno laughed. "Yeah, that was cool, wasn't it?"

They reached the thicket and laid down to rest. But they didn't rest for long.

Crystal nudged Ronno with her hoof. "Hey, you hungry, Ronno?"

He smiled excitedly. "I thought you'd never ask. Let's eat!"

Crystal trotted over to a berry bush and began plucking blackberries one by one, and wasn't getting very many because of the thorns. She didn't want any thorns to scratch her muzzle. When Ronno saw this, he pranced over to another bush and said, "Watch this!"

He took a single branch of the berry bush in his mouth, bit off the thorns and spat them out. Then he gripped the branch firmly with his teeth and shook as hard as he could. Berries flew off the bush and fell in the grass. Ronno wasted no time to gather them all up in a little pile and start munching on his sweet treasure.

Crystal looked at him casually and said, "Nice." And she continued to pluck berries of the thorny bush. "OW!" she squealed when a thorn poked her nose.

Ronno frowned, and looked at his pile of blackberries. Something inside him told him to share them with crystal. So he folded some up in a large leaf and approached her. He dropped his gift on the ground. "Here."

Crystal observed the offering and smiled brightly. She opened the leaf, ate a few berries, and looked up at Ronno. He was blushing and smiling awkwardly. He finally said, "I thought I should give you some of mine. You've been really nice to me, so you deserve it."

Crystal didn't reply. She just gazed into Ronno's eyes. His awkward smile disappeared. They were both gazing at each other now. Ronno felt a funny feeling, and it was true love. What he had felt for Faline was not true love, but it was a crush. But Ronno fet something much more powerful now. Moments passed by, and Ronno found himself kissing Crystal. He immediately started to regret it, thinking Crystal would push him away and say something hateful. But when he realized he was kissing him back, he felt like he was on top of the world. Their lips slowly parted, but he didn't want the moment to end. He couldn't hold in his feelings any longer.

"Crystal, I-I love...you," he stammered, astonished to be able to speak his true feelings for her.

Crystal gently licked his cheek, and snuggled up to him. They laid down in the soft grass, cuddling to their heart's content.

"We'll always be together," said Crystal, as she was drifting off to sleep. "Nothing will separate us. Ever."

As she fell into a deep sleep, Ronno looked up into the night sky once again, and whispered, "Thank you, Dad."

And as Ronno laid his head down next to Crystal's, he could've sworn he heard a distant voice saying, "Well done, my son."

** Chapter 4 **

Ronno woke up in the middle of the night. There Crystal was, his true love, laying next to him. But something didn't feel right. He stood up, sniffing the air. Something was very wrong.

Crystal opened her eyes sleepily. The awoke because she felt cold. But wasn't Ronno right next to her? She looked over to where Ronno was laying and gasped. He was gone!

"Ronno!" called Crystal. She jumped up, panicking. "Ronno?!"

She found herself running away, away from the thicket. She had no idea where she was going. She had just moved in to this part of the forest, so she did not know her way around. But Crystal had to find the meadow, because if Ronno is there, he'll be killed. Because something screamed inside of her that Man was in the forest. And that Ronno was in trouble.

A smarter deer would have stayed far away from the meadow when they sensed danger, but Ronno had never seen Man, or His dogs, or heard his luring deer call. Ronno had fibbed to Bambi and Faline that he had encountered and defeated Man before, but the truth was that Ronno had only heard stories about Him. So Ronno didn't exactly suspect that the dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach was a sign that Man was hunting in the forest. So, Ronno wondered onto the meadow without knowing the danger.

He walked over to a patch of dirt where the meadow grass had not grown, and looked around slowly. Something was really bothering him, and he felt like someone (or something) was watching him. But before he could react to his growing fear...

"MAN! MAN! MAN!" Birds warned the forest as they flew away, but it was too late for Ronno to run. The loud and terrifying sound of gunfire rang out, and Ronno felt an agonizing pain in his flank. Blood trickled down his hind leg. Ronno tried to run, but he fell to the ground. He could hear Man's dogs tearing through the brush and rushing through the meadow grass. It's over, thought Ronno. I'm going to die here.

At that very moment, right before the dogs got to him, Crystal jumped in front of Ronno. "GET UP, RONNO! HURRY!"

Ronno struggled to get on his feet, but he and Crystal made it out of the meadow just in time to escape Man's bullets. But the dogs were gaining on them.

They ran as fast as they could, but Ronno was in great pain, and he couldn't keep running for long. The two deer suddenly stopped running, because right ahead of them was a very steep and tall cliff with a raging river at the bottom. They couldn't jump across, because the other side was too far away for even the Great Prince to make it. But the dogs were almost there.

"We need to jump into the river!" said Crystal.

"WHAT?! Are you nuts?!"

"It's our only hope!"

Ronno looked down at the river. There was a possibility they could drown, but they would be killed for sure if they didn't take the chance.

"O-Okay, Crystal, I hope you're right!" Ronno said, and they leaped off the cliff together.

Ronno burst out from the water's surface, gasping for air. He looked around anxiously, hoping that Crystal was all right.

"Crystal!" Ronno called.

No answer.

"CRYSTAL!"

Finally he spotted her. She had been washed up onto the riverbank. He swam over to her as fast as he could.

"Crystal? Are you okay?"

Still no answer.

"Please, Crystal, wake up. Please! I can't lose you."

But Crystal was still and silent. She was gone. He lay down by her side, crying and telling himself it was his fault. He lay with her for a long time, and then he got up and began to go home. He didn't want to leave her. He wanted to stay with her forever. But life doesn't go that way, so he left. He vowed he'd never love again.

**Chapter 5 **

Two years later

Ronno was an adult now. He had tried to get Faline to be his mate, but she loved Bambi. He had challenged Bambi to a fight, and he lost. Again. But he knew that even if he did end up getting Faline, he wouldn't feel any better. All of his dreams were haunted by the night when his true love died trying to save him. Ronno continued on with his life, but not the way Crystal or his father would have wanted him to live his life. He fought deer without reason. He had more battle scars than any respectable buck would. He treated females with disrespect. And he hated the world.

But more than anything, he hated himself. He wanted Man to find him and kill him. He wanted this suffering to end.

One night, he went back to the blackberry thicket. Ronno lay down in the soft grass, and looked up at the stars.

"Dad, are you there?"

No answer.

"I'm sorry I wasn't the son you wanted me to be. I have failed you. I am a nothing. A horrible nothing."

Silence.

"And Crystal, I need to tell you something."

He began to cry.

"Fir the past couple years I have lived in the shadows, trying to hide from the fact that you are gone. I'm so sorry. You're not here with me because I wondered off and put us both in danger that night. If it wasn't for me, you would have lived a long, happy life. I love you, Crystal."

Ronno lowered his head, and a tear ran down his cheek. "Goodbye," he whispered, and he got up to leave.

"Ronno."

Ronno jumped and turned around, scared out of his mind. "Who's there?!" He said, not daring to open his eyes.

"You can open your eyes, Ronno. I want you to see me."

Ronno forced his eyes to open, and he couldn't believe what he saw. He saw his father! There was a glowing light that surrounded him.

"My son."

Ronno wasn't scared anymore. He ran over to this father and nuzzled him.

"Dad, I miss you so much. I've felt so alone."

His father smiled. "Why is that?"

Ronno tried to hold back his tears. "Because everyone I ever loved is gone."

"No, Ronno. They are not gone. They are always with you. Once you love someone, they stay in your heart forever."

Ronno remembered that that was what his mother had told him long ago, and he had forgotten.

"Ronno, you must stop living your life like this. You must live your life happily. That is all I want from you. I love you, my son."

And then he disappeared back into the night sky.

Ronno was so shocked by the whole thing. He wanted to make his father happy, but Ronno couldn't live a happy life without Crystal. He turned to leave the thicket, only to find a beautiful doe facing him.

"Hi Ronno," she said. "It's me, Crystal."

Ronno couldn't believe it. His childhood true love was right in front of him! He ran to her, and they kissed and nuzzled.

"But... how?" asked Ronno.

"I was alive all that time. I have spent the past two years searching for you, and I never found you until now. I love you Ronno, and now we can grow old together and live a happy life." said Crystal, and she licked his face.

The two deer began to walk off into the forest to start their new life when Ronno stopped, looked up at his father's star one last time, and said a silent "Thank You".

Crystal and Ronno lived happily ever after.

THE END

Author's Note: Now, you may think the ending was a bit bizarre, but I for one was trying to keep myself from crying when I finished writing this. I hope you all liked it, and stay tuned for more stories to come! Thank you all for reading. :)