Eternals

Carefully, he dug his weakened claws into the arms of his two best friends as they lifted him off of the ground, every muscle in his body aching from the fight. He whimpered softly as the pain rushed through his body, his usually broken tail and leg hurting more than anything.

However, despite his mind protesting against it, he allowed one of the two to gently hold him in their grasp, clutching him to her chest as she tried to make sure he was okay. He blinked, his eyes unfocused and blurry but, using his aura vision, he caught sight of his best friends, making him weakly grin with a small happiness.

"J-Jessie. J-James" he simply stuttered out, choking slightly on the bile in his throat.

Jessie continued to hold him, while James leaned his hand down to his head, petting him gently. Ignoring the desire in his mind to pull away, the scratch cat, for once. listened to his heart as he relaxed into their gentle touches.

But that didn't mean his injuries were forgotten. With a hacking cough, he leaned forward and pulled himself out of their grasps, slipping to the ground, ignoring the pain rippling throughout his entire body. With careful self-guidance, he regurgitated a clot of blood, which he recognized as his body's blood and not the blood that he, himself had swallowed.

Realizing the fact only made him whimper softly, knowing he was severely hurt for that to happen.

But once more, he found himself being picked up by his friends and this time, he simply shut his eyes and leaned into them, forcing the tears from his eyes. Struggling not to cry, he clutched onto her, flattening his ears to the top of his head and letting out a painful whimper when he felt James gently touch his broken tail.

"Meowth... Why did you do that? We could've taken them on by ourselves" Jessie said softly to him, holding him closer to her chest.

"Meowth, why did you fight them alone?" James asked him carefully.

Of course they would ask that question. He knew they could've handled the meowths and persians they had encountered but he, for some reason had fought them all alone. Why though? How was it not obvious to them by now?

Forcing his eyes open, he struggled to focus his blurry gaze and, once he did, he spoke clearly, his voice never wavering. "'Cause I couldn't let ya fight dem, when all of dis is ma fault" he paused briefly, but he continued before the other two could respond. "Ya said it yerself, James. 'Team Rocket's a team an' team stick tagetta'. I did dat. More so 'cause ya're not just a team ta me"

Pausing, he glanced down to his bloodied body and then back up to his two best friends, his adopted brother and sister. "Ya're ma family" His voice fell to a soft whisper as he felt a sudden wave of light-headedness. He groaned softly as he shut his eyes and struggled against his strong desire to fall asleep.

He could hear the beating heart of Jessie as she clutched him tighter to her chest upon hearing his response. James also began to gently pet the side of his head as he shut his eyes, ignoring the aching pain in his body at the time.

"Jessie..." he heard James say as he trailed his fingers across his forehead scar which hurt a little too much for comfort. Upon his gentle touch, Meowth whimpered quietly, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

"I-It hurts..." the scratch cat choked out as the memory of the amount of pain he had once been in when he had first gotten the scar. The emotional pain was coming back to him and even with his adopted brother and sister by his side, he couldn't help but feel that dreading sense of being alone and afraid once more.

He finally allowed tears to spill down his face as Jessie carefully touched the bleeding wound on his head, blood seeping out of it at an uncontrollable rate. He knew the two were having some sort of conversation, but he honestly couldn't bother to listen.

Instead, he used his remaining energy to pull his eyes open and to focus up to his adopted sister. Upon noticing his eyes open, they paused their talking, surprised by his determination to remain awake. Finally, he spoke, his voice so soft, it was like it literally was the breeze but they both heard it and understood his steady voice nonetheless.

"Musashi. Kojiro. Ya can heal me, I know ya can. I dun want anyone else ta heal me but youse guys. So please, do dis for me an' dis journey ya promised would brin' us close tagetta" He paused, a small smile creeping onto his face as he began to give into the overwhelming temptations of sleep. "I trust an' I... love youse guys"

And with that, he lightly clung onto both arms of his best friends as his eyes closed once more and sleep seemingly took him the moment darkness took over his vision and this time, he welcomed it.