[R]Faleen~ [L]Rosie~ [R]Jerome- [?]R-A-Y- [R]Kyle- [L]Gon-

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie Solo, directly after Blooms of Spring; To Celebrate New Beginnings
It had been a long full day at the festival of flowers, and a pleasant event from the moment Rosie woke up, to the night when she bid her friends goodnight, the blond had loved every second of it!

The event this year was huge, so much bigger than the small park jubilee that she had attended with her friends in the past years.
Her friends being what made the whole day so great, just being able to spend it with the two of them, and having as much of a care free day as they could, just having fun.

Like each year, Sera and Luke were there, Though this year was the first year they were joined by the Grand Ile man named Yuri, who seemed to taken to looking after Luke, a good man with a good nature, Rosie honestly couldn’t be more thankful that this man was around, and there for Luke as much as he is.
An eccentric woman named Rayan who had chosen to take Sera under her wing, and teach the brunette everything she didn’t want to know about pokemon.
Rosie had heard about Ray in passing from some of her friends on the League forums, very talkative and sociable, and supposedly having a vast knowledgeable on pokemon and training.
There was also a man from the Grand Ile Guarde, Flynn, a close friend of Yuri’s, He seems like a nice guy, even though he had given them quite a scare the first time they had met him. He had just come to Kodo, so Rosie barely had time to really get to know what kind of a person he is, but so far she seemed to gather that he was a kind and polite man.

Though Rosie spent all of her time with Luke and Sera, the other three would drift in and out as they pleased, either to check up, or in Ray’s and sometimes Yuri’s case, poke fun at them playfully.

That time had come and gone however, each of them had returned to their respective homes.
Rosie had spent a good hour downstairs with her cousins when she got home, talking about the day she had, and sharing the news about Seraphine taking up more serious training with a skilled trainer, this news surprising the two men, to hear that she was going through with it, but Rosie’s excitement was contagious, so they could not help but share in her enthusiasm.
Sera was in Rosie’s life enough to where her family knew her quite well, Bruce enough so that he was able to recognize her and get “her drunk a** out of trouble”, exact quote Rosie believes, from his club within what seemed like a couple of seconds.
They weren’t as keen on the girl as Rosie was, but Rosie loved her, so they certainly give it their best.


“Ten night eight and I’m breaking away,
I’m all dressed up and I’m ready to play-”

A quick shower later, to get the smell of the beach fire out of her skin and hair, the young trainer had changing into a much more relaxed outfit of a long tank top and PJ shorts.
Having sat herself at the desk in her room with her laptop screen propped open, one of her legs folded over her as the other bounced lightly along with the music playing from her stereo.
Rosie leaned forward in her seat, her damp blonde hair pulled back away from her face as her eyes remained focused on the monitor of her computer that currently displayed the League forums with the sprawling lists of Trainer usernames and threads about current events and pokemon facts. Reading up on a particular topic about a possibly Kodo convoy later that week.

“Seven six five four and I’m all over you.
Counting three two one, and I’m having fun~”

Singing idly along with the shuffled mix she had playing from her MP3 docking station by her night stand, now also covered in a neat pile of flowers she had pulled from her hair, prior to washing it. In the center of the stack sat the beautiful pink rose.

“Don’t cry out-
Cease fire“

The smaller members of her pokemon team where laid in various locations about her room, a place that still very much reflected a young girl’s tastes, much of the room was pink, though tastefully done, Many of the furniture and the decorations, as well as the piles of plushed pokemon and animals were lingering from the days she was a young twelve year old little girl, posters and pictures along her wall relating to interests of ballet, and music. Her bed, queen sized with a frilly skirt and decorative pink comforters made up over her sheets, though, clearly half disheveled as her pokemon made themselves comfortable.

Pop already laying at one of the pillows, arms crossed with her back to the rest of the room, probably asleep, or just quietly listening to the music.
Vahy’n at her spot on the bed closer to the foot of the bed, her paws folded under her chin as she lay with her eyes closed.

Tank took up a portion of Rosie’s floor, steam puffing away gently out of his shell as he lay in content with everyone’s presence.
And then there was Kiss Kiss, still wide awake and being particularly cuddly that night.

Finished reading through the page, Rosie set her laptop through its shut down sequence, clicking it shut once it was complete.
Pushing herself into a joyful spin in her chair, Rosie rode out the last bit of the song that was playing before pulling herself swiftly and gracefully back to her feet, running her hands through her still damp hair to help shake it out as she started across her room, bending down to gently rub Tank’s head affectionately.

“It's in your eyes, a color fade out
Looks like a new transition”

Her head snapped up quickly as the next song started playing from her mix. The first few lines were sung through before she pulled herself back up, a soft smile playing on her lips as she made her way across the room to lower herself onto her bed next to Kiss Kiss who sprawled out comfortably with the arrival of her trainer, her paws crossed under her chin, with a rose stem pressed under them, the bloom of a yellow flower laying just before her nose.

“Turning your head to see a new day calling”

“Hee hee” Rosie giggled, watching the electric mouse as she hugged the rose that she had gotten from the festival.

She had held onto it all day, it was looking pretty warn down at this point though, considering it had been in the Raichu’s paws and even mouth all day long. But the Raichu just seemed to regard it as if it were the same fresh flower that had been bought for her by a handsome man with long black hair.
“That was nice of Yuri, wasn’t it.” Rosie said, reaching out to stroke a hand down Kiss Kiss’ forehead.
Kiss smiled wider, with a sleepy; “Raaiii`”

Rosie giggled at the enamored Pokemon, Though her eyes draw over to the one flower still standing much better than the others, the pink rose that she had placed the most carefully onto her bedside.

“I'm looking for your hand in the rough
You're caught in the wire
Well, I'll lift you out”

Sliding her legs onto her bed Rosie leaned over and in a soft motion scooped the flower into her fingers, cupping it gently with the stem between her fingers she gently brushed her fingers along the tips of the petals, letting her thoughts drift with the music in the background as she lifted it to her nose, breathing in the lovely earthy perfume of the flower, reminding her of when she had caught its scent the first time, when Luke had held it out to her for appraisal.
It was the perfect rose, perfect in every way, because it had been a gift.
With a slight tilt of her head, eyes staring off at the stereo display distantly though her thoughts lingered on that moment a little longer, when he gave her the flower, over to how her and Sera had put the flowers in his own hair, the soft smile he had given when she had fixed up one of his flowers by the bonfire.

His smile…

“You gotta get out
Go far away
You gotta get out
Go far away”

She closed her eyes, lowering the hand with the rose onto her lap, listening to the lyrics but replacing them with a different sound… a better sound.
Her first experience with this song, when Luke had sung it instead, she could still hear it. That day they had been walking together… it had been a good day, while at the same time a very trying one for her friend. When Luke had to face Asch’s belonging in the storage system… How hard that was for him to face…

Luke had never looked as run down and tired as he had during recent days. After going through surgery, the incredible losses and emotional trauma that he had to endure, she didn’t blame him.
It was still very hard to see her friend like that; it worried her, almost constantly. She worried about how he was feeling at any given moment, was he okay tonight? Was he thinking about his brother? Was he thinking about his father, his mother, worrying about his pokemon? Was he thinking about not wanting being alive again…? The worry made her feel sick sometimes.
There were times when Rosie would lay awake, fighting to not fall asleep, knowing that each moment he was probably awake, not being able to sleep as easily as the rest of them.

Nothing could replace the relief she could get on the occasions that he would text her, or reply to her late night texts, at least then she knew she could reach out and communicate back, instead of leaving him to sit there in silence with his thoughts.

There was so much to worry about, so much that sometimes it was hard to remind herself that even though things have been hard, between now and when he found out that Asch was dead, things had gotten better, a little bit… just a little, but it meant so much. Despite whatever hopelessness she could feel at times like this, she could continue to be strong and brave and just be the friend he needed.

He had started smiling again.
Remember that, remember those little, sometimes feint, expressions that showed that there really was hope, and that things were going to be better, like she had promised they would be, slowly, still slowly, but it would happen.

They were happening now.
Each time he smiled, for mieu, for his friends, sometimes he would smile.

When they danced…

Upon reaching that memory a sudden flood of emotions rushed her. Oh my gosh when they had danced, the look on his face as the song ended-

Furrowing her brow as her shoulders involuntarily rounded in on herself, she let a sharp intake of breath catch her lungs as the blond leaned back, letting herself fall backwards onto her bed. Clasping her hands with the rose still in them to her face, her palms laid over her eyes, as if clinging to the image of his smile behind her eyelids.
The smile he had worn, she had never seen him smile like that before, never.
It hurt to think about, She had no idea why, or where it was coming from just that it was an overwhelming sense of longing and deep aching pain in her chest, it hurt, it was uncomfortable, but at the same time she couldn’t bring herself to think about anything else, to even want to think of anything else.
Recalling over and over that moment, his hands in hers, his forehead to hers, his eyes on hers… The words he spoke, or even when he didn’t, just being there and then there was the way he would smile.

Her hands closed a little tighter. That smile, he deserved to be able to smile again, after everything he went thought, Luke was a good person, probably the greatest person she knew, despite all of the bad things that happened in his life, to just be able to smile was all she could ever want for him.

The hot sting of tears flowed from behind her eyes, streaming down her temples and into her splayed hair.
Though she didn’t feel sad... these were not the scared, hopeless tears she had been experiencing during the events of the last several weeks. even if she couldn’t put words to what they were, they were just... heavier, whatever weight she felt in her heart forcing the emotions up, the pain that her thoughts manifesting.
Still, she didn’t want to change those thoughts.
Somehow, this pain was okay.

There was a pressure next to her head, the bed sinking by her while a small voice spoke in a timid uncertainty “Chuuu?”

Startled back outside of her thoughts rose and hands were pulled abruptly away as glassy blue eyes looked up to meet the concerned blue of Kiss Kiss’ eyes.
Rosie blinked until the blurriness of the Raichu cleared up.

“Raichu… Rai?” Kiss spoke again, reaching a paw out to touch Rosie’s cheer.

The girl just smiled, reaching her fingers up to brush away the light tears from her face, and sat up.
“No, I’m okay Kiss Kiss.” She reassured her pokemon, pulling herself back up and reaching and arm out to gather the Raichu into her arm. “I’m not sad,”
Rolling onto her bed, Kiss Kiss in her arms, while the rose still lay in her hand. “I’m just really happy.”
She whispered into the top of Kiss’ head.

Rosie was going to miss having her friends around, Miss having Sera to go places with in the city every day. Miss having Luke to talk to.
But Sera was taking advantage of a wonderful opportunity, one Rosie would never want to deny her. And Luke, was spending time traveling, something to do instead of sit at home.
Each had someone with them that would look out for her friend.
She could wish for nothing better for them.
But she couldn’t wait till she got to see them again.~~  

[Blood_Goddess]

Mothers day.
Part 1
Rosie -

“Uncle… I can carry that if you want me to.”
Blue eyes blinked as they watched the tall bald form of her uncle reaching down and trying to gather a blanket, cooler, and a set of portable speakers into his arms. She could think of a few things that they didn’t need from each of those items, but without fail, Bruce never quite knew how to pack properly for this day.
A half grin spread over the girl’s face, standing in the hallways with nothing but an instrument case in her hands, and a Vaporeon at her side.

She lifted a hand to her cheek as she watched her uncle nearly drop the ice chest, with a collection of soft swearing, causing another dark blond head to poke around the corner, the blue eyes of her larger cousin narrowing as if wondering what the hell was going on.
“Dad, why do you need all of that?”

“What are you talking about?” With the items place securely back onto the ground, where they wouldn’t make a mess if dropped, the man stood up tall, looking up at his small niece and the head poking around the corner next to her, who continued to speak;

“When, have we ever used the speakers?”

“I have an mp3”

“Dad, when have we EVER used the-“

Bruce let out a snort and waved his hand,

“… The mp3?” Evan finished after the interruption, Rosie letting out a small giggle.
“Uncle Bruce, he’s right. Maybe we should leave it behind this time.” She suggested, prompting a pointed gesture toward her from her cousin, before he vanished back around the corner once again, the footsteps following the young man upstairs.
At the frown from her uncle Rosie just stepped forward.
“Here Uncle, why don’t you let me pack what we’re brining, you go ahead and get changed. Faleen will be meeting us ther, so we need to go soon~”

Bruce just let out a sign, rubbing the back of his head a few times “alright, but are you sure you don’t want to bring the speakers”

Before Rosie could even reply a voice from the upstairs called back for her “DAD! WE NEVER USE THE SPEAKERS!” leaving the girl to reply with an amused smile, and a fit of giggles as her uncle threw his hands up into the air and made his way upstairs, leaving Rosie to gather up the cooler onto the table, opening it up so that she could sort through its contents.
“It happens every year doesn’t it?” the girl spoke as Vahy’n pounced up on one of the seats to watch her.
“I imagine mom just watching us, and rubbing her forehead like she used to do.” She added with a laugh, the Vaporeon’s face forming into an amused smile, and shaking her head. Indeed, that sounded just like Kathryn.
The Vaporeon watched the girl sort, and work, though she had her mind in a much different place… She knew Faleen was going, and while the Vaporeon knew the truth about the eldest daughter… Rosie did not… in fact no one did.
Time and time again, the fact that Pokemon could relay so little details to their humans was such a troubling thing.
Golden eyes lifted up to the blond while her claws dug lightly into the seat. Rosie needed to know. It just made it worse that of all the day Vahy'n could try and relay this information, was the one day Vahy'n wouldn't dare.
No, she would just have to watch, and wait.

By the time the boys had shuffled down from the up stares, Rosie had successfully convinced the cooler down to a more manager size, leaving the blanket behind as well as the speakers.
Rosie had to promise her uncle that she had things handled, and once the man had a guitar case shoved into his hands by the jock twin, the other much smaller twin following after Rosie as Bruce was half wrestled to the car by his much stronger son.
“Don’t break the instrument!” Rosie called in alarm, gathering her own case into her arms.

With Bruce behind the wheel, and Evan in the passenger seat, Rosie and Rodney took the back as the small family of Ewells pulled out of the driveway.
The trip was short; they did not live far from the memorial part.
The spring day was beautiful, as it had been each year on this day, the breeze was light, with sweetness from the ocean, bristling through the grass as the family trudged their way through the soft sloping hills, passing elegant tombstones, with bittersweet words of love and hope about the people who had passed on.

Each one of them knew this rout very well, the small path that would eventually lead to the bottom of a grassy hill, from there they would need to cut across to the top, where the final resting place of their Mother, Sister, and aunt lay, headed by a dark marble memorial, etched elegantly with carvings and the name “Kathryn Ewell” settled in a nook, that the Ewell family owned.
The family would find thought, that they would not be the first ones there.
Another figure, a woman with loose shoulder length dark blond hair had her back to them, her hands in the coat pockets of a very dress suit style outfit.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Mothers day.
Part 2
Faleen -

The offer to meet the family at the house had been extended to Faleen, as it was every year, and usually, Faleen would find an excuse to decline the invitation, politely, while being inwardly repulsed by the idea.
This year however, it so happened that there was an important reason to accept the invitation, an important reason that involved Team Rocket.
Otherwise she would not have bothered coming at all, like all the years before.

Faleen knew Rosie was excited, she could hear it in the girl’s words as she told her she would be there, what more, and that she would spend the next couple of days there, if her schedule allowed it.

Still, the Rocket refused to meet her family at the house, instead, opting to meet them at the site.

Unconsciously Faleen might have considered that this would at least give the women some time alone at the burial site of her mother.
It had been… a long time since she had returned to this site, stared at the dark marble like it had just barely been placed in the ground, kept up well over the years.

It was quiet… everything about this place was silent, though the rustle thought he trees still only served to remind her that there was nothing but stillness here. Hazel eyes set onto the stone in front of her, her feet not daring to wander much closer over the ground her mother lay in.
For a time Faleen wondered if maybe she should say something, thought he idea of that was probably the most ridiculous sentiment she could think of. She never liked that Rosie and the other did this, if seemed so fake, so forced. Trying to cling to the idea of someone when there was simply nothing left to cling to, and celebrate them in this way, when there was obviously nothing more to celebrate.

Faleen was not used to being out of her uniform, though for obvious reasons she could not adorn her pride in the white and red.
Instead the women wore a pair of gray slacks, and a matching jacket over a buttoned up blouse.
She wasn’t unarmed, though her pokemon were out of sight, each of her pokeballs were tucked away under her jacket.
It was professional, but still casual, a preferred outfit if she was going to go out without her uniform on.

The women’s brow furrowed, she wondered for a moment what she was doing here, why. She knew she had to find out information for the sake of her organization, but surely there had to be better ways then wasting her time staring at the etched name of her late mother, or spending the weekend with the last people she wanted to be involved with right now.

Frustration began to build in her chest, though her thoughts were cut off when the silence was broken by an approaching
“Faleen!”

The blond shifted, turning around quickly, only having a couple of seconds to react as bright blond hair and bright blue eyes caught her full attention.
Having to take a step back as the girl ran to her older sister in an excited and gleeful hug, her own arms wrapped around the smaller girl, her hands tensing, though it was far from the same excitement that the girl was feeling.

Get… off of me.

“You made it you made it!” Rosie bounced in place, pulling back from her sister but not letting go.
It was only a matter of a couple of seconds before she was hugging Faleen again.

Faleen placed the single most convincing smile on her face.
“Alright, alright, I've finally made it, I’m glad things worked out this way.”

No you’re not.

"I've missed you so much! I love getting messages from you, but its really not the same as you being here." At Rosie's words Faleen let off a small smile, and hugged the blond again.

Lifting her gaze toward the other three as they walked over, her obligation bringing her to each of them in a traditional family greeting, a casual hug before she once again turned to a bouncing Rosie.

It had been two years since she last saw her sister, though they had talked quiet often through letters and e-mails. Faleen keeping up a careful and busy reason for not ever coming home.
The girl had changed in two years, though she was still energetic, it wasn’t a directionless glee as it had been her entire life, somehow tempered.

Thank goodness, won’t have to put up with that this trip.

She looked older too; her hair was a little longer, though still with the curls. It was clear that she had gaining more shape in her body, where it was one simply small and petite, ideal for the prima lead she had dreamed for all her life, was now filled out, much more like a women then the little girl that Faleen had consistently stuck in her memory. The shape of her face had matured as well, at least somewhat from what Faleen would attribute to losing some of that baby fat in her cheeks.
She looked at bright as ever though, the one thing she didn’t seem to outgrow was the pink.

Ridiculous color.

“My goodness Rosie, Two years sure does a lot to mature someone, doesn't it.” Faleen commented, keeping the kind, sisterly smile on her face as she reached out to smooth a hand down her sister’s hair.
Rosie gave her a puzzled look, blue eyes blinking as she just smiled back at Faleen. Clearly not seeing what Faleen had, to no surprise.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Mother's day.
Part 2.5
Faleen -

What wasn’t to despise about this?
Of all the tasks that Faleen had to preform, this was easily the most… unnatural feeling she could get and all just by the simple speaking to these people again.

Faleen could not see how much has changed, but how could it, when it’s always been this way. Bruce, the careless uncle, preferred to live his life free from responsibility, a lifestyle that was not even given acceptance when it came to his own children.
Evan, though his desire to be noticed by his father went far beyond Faleen understanding, who would even worry about gaining someone’s acceptance when it was from a person like this. He seemed to go about it the wrong way even, Bruce would never notice the talents of a jock, not when the man himself was a musician.

Rodney, Another one with potential, Faleen remember she at least enjoyed talking to him at times, He was smart, but the subject matter he seemed to be well versed on spread too far and too thin to hold any kind of meaningful conversation on any given topic.
He knew a little bit about a lot of things, but what was about it, had he bothered to focus his attention he might not be so insufferably annoying and actually accomplish something.

And then… there was Rosie. The Little sister who-

“Naw Mom… Yeah we’re all here, I told you you should have come out! … Yeah Faleen too.”

Whatever thoughts Faleen had been festering in were tucked quickly away into the back of her mind as she glanced up to catch Bruce looking at her, a cell phone pressed to his ear while he spoke to who Faleen knew was their grandmother.
A truly grotesque person in Faleen’s mind, an old woman who never accepted neither Faleen’s love for robotics nor Katheryn’s business independence, Faleen thought quietly to herself… that she was honestly a little surprised to hear that the women was still even alive.

Bruce lowered the phone from his ear. “Ma says hello” He told her.

Faleen just put on a gentle smile “Give her my best.” She replied gently.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Mothers day.
Part 3
Rosie

The family was settled fairly quickly in the nook by the memorial stone. Bruce was the only one standing, as he paced back and forth with the phone to his ear, Evan and Faleen had taken their seat on a small stone bench that had been placed in the nook for the family, while Rosie and Rodney had opted to settle in the grass.

Everyone was silent as they listened, or watched Bruce talk to their grandmother, who he had promised to check in on for this day.
It had not been long into the conversation before Bruce was wearing that smile on his face that showed that he was probably being scolded for something, not that he ever seemed to mind. Bruce was always the black sheep of the family, and thus usually deserving of the scolding’s he got.
He was the kind to never take it to heart though, and would often just let his mother get it out of her system before letting her go.

There was a stretch of silence from the older man, as he paced, listen to the other line, at one point he paused to take a sip from the beer bottle he was holding, Suddenly cloaking on it and trying not to spit it out all over the grass
“Mmm!” He muffled in alarm, swallowing what mouthful he had and leaning a hand up to brush the remaining off his lips “What!? Ma no, I told you I wasn’t.”
His eyes grew wide and he shook his head at the kids. “No, Mom it water, water, who brings beer to a graveyard? Ma...”

“It’s not water” Evan burst out loud enough for the person on the phone to hear.

Bruce’s eyes shot over to Evan, and he waved a hand frantically at the young man as he started to walk away, from the nook. “No that was Evan, He’s just messing with you mom, NO it’s not beer! Ma…”

Evan and Rodney snickered in very similar fashions, amused as their father walked away.
Rosie had her eyebrows arched, her lips parted a little in surprise and sympathy for her uncle. “Oh no, she’s going to be on him for a while for that one.” Rosie told Evan, who just grinned and shrugged
“Eh, he’ll worm his way out.”

Rosie knew that this was true at least, and he had been lying to his mom, so he would have to face those consequences.
With a small smile on her face, Rosie returned her gaze toward the dark marble stone she was sitting in front of.
A display of flowers was placed just in front of it, freshly picked from the gardens that Hattie took care of.
Rosie absently listened to the idol chat of her cousins, while she gently plucked away at the strings of the small lap harp she had pulled from its case, leaning her head down beside the instrument as it rested on her shoulder, trying to remember the songs she had once known so easily in her earlier years.

Faleen did not seem particularly talkative this day either, Though Rosie knew how her older sister was, especially when it came to their mother, Faleen didn’t really talk a lot, unless it had to do with robots. Still, Rosie would now help but just be happy that her sister was here again… everyone was together again, and it just felt right.

“Alright alright, you PUNKS” Bruce burst out, having finally returned to the group, his pointed stare toward Evan was met with the boys sheepish grin.
“Off.” He muttered, jabbing his thumb for the boy to get off of the bench so that he could take his place next to Faleen.

“Rosie what’s that one you’re playing?” Bruce asked reaching down to his side as he produced a guitar from the case open on the grass.

“It’s one of moms.” Rosie continued to pluck away at the slow gentle tune, lifting her head up to look over at Uncle Bruce, trying to recall what it had been called, a soft furrow in her brow.
“It’s made for the grand harp though it doesn’t sound quite as nice on this high of a pitch.” She explained with a sheepish grin.

“Ah well.” Bruce waved a hand at her “Hey you know that other one that Kathy and I made; you know how to play it right?”

“Ummm…” Rosie eyed the guitar for a moment, then looked over to her harp, taking a moment as she let her fingers slide along and realign on the strings before she plucked away at a faster, more upbeat tune, testing it out so that she could look to her uncle and get a confirmation on if she was playing the correct song.
She was met with a smile that she returned.

“Yeah yeah! That one, play on that one. Let’s get some liveliness up in this party.”

The duo took a moment to set up their instruments, Rosie’s fingers repositioning on the strings once again.
Bruce thrummed his fingers on the case of his guitar, timing out the start before they both started playing.
The song was more upbeat, yet it was still fluid and beautiful. The harp and guitar playing together with surprising motion.

Bruce’s body was quiet while he played, a soft smile on his face, as he watched the sings of his guitar.

Everyone sat in silence, listening and respecting. So much so that they didn’t even notice a figure coming up to the Ewell nook.
Everyone but one person anyway.

Hazel eyes lifted and turned toward the hills, where an older man, with combed back heavily graying blond hair and a peppered well-trimmed beard stood, a cane clutched in one hand as it helped him across the grass.
He wore a suit, one Faleen knew would cost quite a bit of money for the sake of making an impression, and a long coat that tossed in the wind.

He stood off for a time, glancing only at Faleen when she looked up, but otherwise hung back and watched Bruce and Rosie play.
There was a mutual nod between the two, though a frown pulled at the corners of Faleen's lips, her eyes turning back to the name engraved on the headstone.
This was interesting...  

[Blood_Goddess]

Mothers day.
Part 4
Faleen -

This was… a most interesting surprise.
Faleen was the only one aware of his presence for the time being, eyes falling quietly on none other than Nicholas Avery Garnet the third.
The vice President of ‘Garnet Medical Ingenuity’ industry, just one of the smaller branches to a much farther off empire of the Garnet name, a humble branch in the growing city of Camphoreon, reaching out to the cities of Sandelwood and all the way across to Makko.
A man Faleen had known since she was a small child, He had given her sweets when her mother brought her to visit, and let her play with some of the new mechanics that they brought in from Kaiba corp. Always under supervision.
He was known to the Ewells as a close family friend, as well as their mother’s boss.

But he was much more than that.

He had not had a cane last time she had seen him, nor the limp, giving her the impression that his helth was starting to fail, in fact his age was starting to weather the man, his face, while still holding that of a stern prowess, and was looking weathered. His once blond hair now peppered in gray, She had to admit, she was impressed with how well he was holding his posture despite the limp, still holding quite a bit of power in his eyes, though they didn’t ever quite to exude the kind of power Faleen would ever be respectful, or fearful of.
Not like Elite Seth.

The song played on, though Faleen could hardly hear it at this point, blocking the music out as she stared off into her own mind, trying to find her thoughts.

“Was that one of Kathryn’s?”

The voice drew every set of blue eyes onto its speaker, who greeted them with a polite half smile, advancing forward toward the family.

“Mr. Garnet” Rosie was the first to speak, perking up brightly at the sight of such an old family friend. “I didn’t know you were coming today.” She continued.

“Yes well, I try and make it out from time to time, pay respects, remains.” The older of the males limped into the nook, looking around with a nod as he greeted everyone, his own blue eyes falling into the tomb stone behind Rosie.

“That sounded like one of her songs.”

“It was both of ours actually.” Bruce added, standing up to free a seat “Here Nick, sit down, join us.”

The man held his hand up in a decline “Ah, I’m afraid I can’t stay long, I was just driving by and saw your car, I thought it would be nice to stop by, especially considering the occasion.”

So he remembered the significance of May 16th… hm.

Rosie was smiling at the man as he spoke directly to her. “You play the harp lovely my dear.”
The girl lifted her shoulders excitedly with a pleased “Thank you~ I know I’m nothing like mama was though, She played so well...”
“Indeed she did,”

It wasn’t long before Nickolas was looking over at Faleen as well. “Faleen, it has been a while.” Faleen was expecting the surprise in his voice. She had not seen him since before she left for collage. She was told she would have a place in the company if she so chose.
She had not chosen to, Though she would continue to be tied to the company so long as her names were tied to the company stocks that her mother had handed down to her.
They served their purpose, but they were nothing more than a means of income for whatever personal projects that she engineer required, and influence.

“It has,” Faleen replied simply, choosing not to elaborate, and thankfully he chose not to as well.

She could tell exactly what he wanted to say, He had said it every now and then, and she could see just from the way he was looking at her with such polite and kind fondness.
‘You look more and more like your mother with each passing year.’
‘How much more do I look like her this year Garnet?’ Faleen’s internal voice replied bitterly.
‘Do you want to know who looks more and more like you each passing year?’

“Rosie tells me your travels are going well?” He continued.

Oh no, we are not talking about this.

“It’s been a trailing journey, but it’s exactly what I want.” She answered truthfully, hands folding in her lap lightly.
She could tell by the look that followed that he did not exactly agree with her choice, and she felt a pang of hatred in her chest.

“I still say it’s a shame that you’re not longer working on robots Faleen, I remember how passionate you were about them.”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

By the soft crease in his brow she knew that he didn’t quite understand. And Faleen had no intention of elaborating.
“Though really I don’t find that topic to be important right now, I did travel all the way here for a specific reason.”

With the Faleen stood from the bench, shaking the hair out of her face as she walked over to stand in front of the stone, next to Rosie who watched her sister with those large blue eyes.

“Respecting my mother’s memory and her sacrifices” While she spoke the words, they felt completely hollow.

She heard a gentle discussion of agreement, a few comments from her cousins, from her Uncle. Though Rosie stayed silent, instead she just smiled gently; looking down at the harp as she gently strummed some of the strings.
She could feel the presence of the old man among the others, burning like a sore as he stood before her mother’s resting ground.
Almost as bad as the others strewed on the grass, singing songs, playing music and sharing old stories.
Blights, all of them, foul ugly things that dared to address his place with such mockery.

Festering in her thoughts, finding them coming along much more quickly than before, over and over again her eyes scanned the name of her mother, and over and over again she just wanted to turn around and leave.

Slowly, she became aware that she must have been emanating something, be it her rage, or her sarcasm, or her impatience, everyone was looking at her. And in Rosie’s case, she looked concer.

The blond reached up and took her sisters hand.
Faleen’s instincts were to jerk away, but instead she bit the bullet and closed her fingers around her sister’s much more delicate digest.

Among the small talk about Kathryn among her family, another voice stood out, from Garnet, talking to Bruce.
“Wonderful friend, and fantastic books manager,” There was a pause as the man shook his head “The position hasn’t been filled right ever since.”

Faleen’s hand clenched on Rosie’s, and a retort bubbled to the surface and spewed out before she could stop it.
Though her tone was calm and to the point.
“I’m not surprised, especially considering that your relationship was far from professional.”

A dead… silence fell over the group, Faleen remained as poised as if she had not even said anything. Though after the silence dragged out, her comment was joined with “A prime example of this would be-“The dark blond removed her hand from her sister’s grasp, which was then gestured pointedly down toward where Rosie was sitting.

Faleen felt a swell of merciless pride as she felt every single set of blue eyes suddenly move toward Nicholas Avery Garnet the third in stunned and confused silence.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Mothers day.
Part 4.2
Rosie

“What? What does that…” Wide blue eyes had looked from her sisters gesturing hand over to Mr. Garnet once the meaning of the words started to give her a small inkling of what her sister might have meant by them.
“Example of…” the youngest in the group was the one to break the silence, as they did the older man’s horrified expression moved from the back of Faleen’s head down to Rosie. Meeting the younger girl’s expression for exactly three seconds before he stepped forward again.

“Faleen, really-” He burst out, though there was a lace of anger in his voice “What an assumption to come to.”

In an instant Faleen had turned around to face the man, giving him a level gaze. “I know, Mr. Garnet, because my mother told me.” Faleen’s eyes narrowed very slightly in what Rosie thought was one of those calculating looks that Faleen gives one of her problems.

“Told you? How- why would Katheryn have-“

“W-wait. Wait.” Rosie’s voice was weak, but she managed to create a pause in the conversation.
Nickolas took a step back as Rosie joined next to her sister, looking over at Mr. Garnet
“What does she mean, what does… Are-“ Rosie paused, her head tilting a little as she tried to understand what was going on “-Are you my father?”

The answer came from Faleen, who replied with an abrupt, “Yes.”
Rosie couldn’t seem to move, or find anything to say as she just stood there, staring at the aged man who suddenly couldn’t look at her.

“What the ********!” Bruce burst out, suddenly on his feet along with Evan and Rodney. “You’ve been Rosie’s dad this entire time!?”

Garnet held a hand up. “Alright everyone just calm down, this is not what it sounds like- Look, Rosie, we’ll talk about this later, this is just a misunderstanding- Faleen, I need to talk to you.”
The man’s usually strong composure was shattered, as he gave Faleen a hard stare and started out of the nook in a hurried step.
Faleen did not hesitate to move smoothly after him.

With the two stepping out of ear shot, the remaining eyes turned to the pink clad trainer, who’s own shocked and confused gaze had not felt the other two.
Rosie couldn’t know for sure… maybe she was mist understanding… but Faleen… Faleen had told her, Rosie would trust what her sister said.
Mr. Garnet… was her father? She HAD a father!?

Eventaully the thoughts become overwhelming, it wasn’t anything she ever expected in her life, she had lived with and accepted the fact that she had no father, that was okay, it’s how things were, and she never regretted it or felt sad about it… But now… all along, her father had been in her life the whole time and she had never had a clue! What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to feel? All she could do now was try and move past how overwhelming all of this was, so she could start to at least form something of an OPINION!
She had a FATHER!

Slowly lowering herself back to the ground where she knelt, where Evan stepped over to kneel next to her, Bruce standing at the entrance to the nook, watching Garnet and Faleen like a hawk, with crossed arms.
Barely even feeling the hand on her shoulder as her shaking fingers clicked along her Gear, reaching out to the only people she could think of right now.

Seraphine and Luke.

“I’m sorry this is so sudden and random, but. I.. I think I just found out that I have a father.”  

[Blood_Goddess]

A New Partner
Rosie ~

It was the first morning that Rosie and her team woke up in their own bed after returning from Johto, It could have very well been the weather, finally starting to cool down, thus inspiring more active jounces from the trio piled on the pink bed spread.
Immediately upon waking up, Pop and Kiss Kiss were already bouncing around chasing one another.
Though, if Rosie had to give a guess, she would say that they were probably just glad to be home again.
The trainer was grateful that they had at least they had waited till she had managed to roll out of bed before they were tearing around her room.

“Lop lop!” Pop was calling in a dare, crouched amongst the folds of pink comforter with her firsts at her side,
Rosie had to stagger a step over the Raichu dashing along the carpet, disappearing under her bed only to emerge a second later from the other end, and leap up onto mattress.
It was unfortunate for Vahy’n that the Raichu missed her Lopunny mark completely and ended up doing a belly flop on the still mostly asleep Vaporeon.

“Oh my gosh you guys-” Rosie grinned apologetically to Vahy’n, taking a seat at her desk, bringing her fingers up to brush them through the awkward curls of her hair in an attempt to tame her bed head. Knowing it would do very little until she could groom herself properly.
It had been a little under a week since they had to leave to Johto upon family request. It could not have been more than three days, but it was three days that her team had to break their usual training regimen and adapt to not only being at her grandmother’s manner, but dealing with the limitations of Rosie’s own mobility.
Even though her injuries were still hindering her, now that she was back, her team could at least be able to get back into their normal training, with a much more open aria. It was a shame really, Johto was a League region, it was probably a great opportunity to train, it was unfortunate that the new home that Rosie’s grandmother have bought did not have a wilderness around it, thus lacked in wild pokemon to battle, or much space to do anything.
Vahy’n didn’t seem to take as calmly to being jumped on, as she was soon on her own feet and actively scolding the Raichu before the mouse pokemon, half cowering against the best, then perked up and squished her face into Vahy’n’s, stopping the water type dead with surprise and sending Pop into fits of laughter.
Rosie in the meantime, letting the pokemon wake up and rough house, swirled back and forth in her computer chair as she prompted her computer through its wake up sequence.
In the morning she usually checked her e-mail, and catch up on the plans that the other trainers had for the day, after a quick search around the forums profiles, It looked like several of her friends would be in the fields for most of the day, where she was planning on training, That was great! Maybe she could get a few battles in with them.
She took a moment to scroll the news feeds on the front page-

Huh, looked like there was a fair this weekend too.

Clicking on the link that explained the event, blue eyes silently skimming the information for a couple of seconds, gathering that it was going to be something held by the League in order to make up for what happened at the Pokecon it seemed, or that’s what the general consensus was in the comments about the event, due to its timing, she had to agree with the comments.
A corner of her mouth tensed a little, finding that she didn’t feel particularly excited about the fair, at least… not so soon after the Pokecon.
A light sigh escaped her to try and lift the old weight that was starting to bear down on her chest again and the pang in her side that reminded her of the previous week.
There was a speech going to be given by the League… maybe Rosie would make it to see that, but otherwise, she wasn’t entirely sure she was really up to going just yet.

With that settled, the trainer gladly shifted her focus back to the day’s events, thinking about the friends that she would be sharing the training grounds with, It would be best to get in contact with them and find out just when they were planning on showing up. Nudging a foot against the base of her chair to encourage her to spin her seat, catching sight of Vahy’n now standing on top of one of Kiss Kiss’ shoulders while the Raichu giggled, kicking her back paws and trying to wriggle free, while Pop, smacked a paw on the top of the bed as if providing a count down.

Adding a giggle of her own while she continued to rotate slowly her seat, grabbing her poke gear off of the desk during one of her passes, switching it on with a flick of her finger.
Her intentions was to access her contacts list, but before she could even do more then turn it on, she was met with a note that she had a message from her Pokemon Storage Box host.
“Huh?” She didn’t use her Storage box all that much, so this was a little surprising to her, what would they be contacting her about?

“A transfer has been complete to the following storage box Acct #07792265
Rosie Ewell.
To access, please see your local Pokemon Center.”

She saw this kind of thing from banks all the time, but what did it mean when it was from a pokemon storage box… did this mean that there was a pokemon in her box? How did it get there?
Well, it looked like they would be making a detour on the way to the field.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Just really quick, I promise, I just want to check on something.” Rosie reassured her team, patting the pink balls line up along her belt.
Folding her fingers together as she waited for the Pokemon center doors to slide open, helping to fit her gloves more securely at the base of her fingers she crossed the room with purpose, drawing up in front of one of the storage box computes.
Accessing her account the blond paused, her finger hovering over the display screen her eyes widening a little more in surprise.
There was indeed… a pokemon in there.
Just sitting right there, the adorable icon of a pokeball with a bow around it, she had never seen that before, usually the icon took the image of whatever pokemon was being stored in there, but this was just a ball.
Maybe that’s all it was, a ball?
Well no use standing there guessing now was there! Rosie tapped her finger over the screen, accessing the ‘withdraw’ option and standing back to look over at the platform that it would be transferred to.
The course of electricity crackled from the tube, building a ball from the bottom up in a matter of seconds, leaving the blond to stand with wide eyes at the Love Ball that now rested slightly askew on the platform.

“A Love ball.” She noted with surprise, reaching out to pick it up, turning the sphere around in her gloved palms, smoothing the tips of her fingers over the heart marking just at the front of the balls surface.
Rosie made it a habit to always use Love and Heal balls, If she didn’t know better than she would say that this was a pokemon she caught, it was the ribbon on the pixel when she first accessed it that lead her to believe that this was marked as a gift.
So… this must be from someone who knew her.

Her eyebrows arched, cupping the ball in her hands. A new pokemon to her team, this was… quite some gift.
But what was in it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She had a few things to consider when it came to releasing the pokemon from the ball, seeing, firstly, as she had no idea what to expect from the ball, and secondly, that the pokemon center tended to be fairly busy, Rosie had opted to hold off on letting the pokemon out until she reached the more open arias just outside Camphoreon.
While she could have place the ball into her bag or even on a spare slot at her belt, Rosie instead kept the ball closed in her hand, turning the shrunken object in her fingers as it occupied her thoughts for the majority of her trip.
She had friends, lots of them, and it wasn’t exactly an unknown thing that Rosie had a fondness for the color pink. Though the number cut down dramatically when she tried to think of who would get her a pokemon. Gifting a pokemon tended to be a very personal if done right, as well as a big responsibility to the recipient.

“Alright… Let’s meet you.” The stretch of grass was a familiar and welcoming sight, the smell, clear air blowing from the ocean cooling and gentle. Her and her team spent countless hours here, it certainly felt like home.
A finger pressed into the button on the Love Ball, swelling the metallic sphere to its proper size, another tap of the button and a toss into the air triggered the pokemon’s release.
Right off the bat, the first thing she noticed was that the energy that burst forward and collected together formed into something small, very small, leaving in its wake a soft white ball within the swaying grass.

A pink hand snatched the Love Ball back out of the air as it was thrown back toward the trainer.
Before Rosie dared to move again she waited a moment to see if the pokemon would move, though as the tiny white form seemed like it had no plans to do any such thing the blond chanced a boot sliding forward, allowing her weight to lean over it to peer curiously over the grass at the pokemon.
What was it? The trainer by now was familiar with a vast variety of different pokemon, but couldn’t think of any pokemon right off the top of her head that were that pure of white.

Taking another step forward only to halt her progress sharply when the ball suddenly moved, unfurling and lifting a tiny head with a long pointed nose, that it had to tilt up high to get over the grass.
“Cynda?” Its small voice cooed uncertainly.

Rosie felt her gasp catch in her chest, her hand moving to the base her neck, fingers at her collar. It was a Cyndaquil, a tiny tiny little one, and the most adorable little face she had ever seen!
A Cyndaquil, not just a fire type, but one she had been hoping for some time to have an opportunity to train.
“Over here, little one.” Rosie spoke through an unavoidable smile, lowering herself into a crouch, where she folded her hands across her lap. The Cyndaquil turned its head around, a little lost, as it looked toward the source of the noise. Its squinted eyes falling on the girl dressed in white and pink,
“Quill…” It cooed after allowing a few seconds to pass.

Rosie giggled lightly, holding her hand out opening her fingers toward it, “Hello there~ its okay, my name’s Rosie.”

Looking to her hand, then back up at her, the Cyndaquil shifted again, rocking back and form in an effort to stand, moving forward with a clumsy clamoring through the grass that was much taller than it, hesitating as it got close enough to reach its nose out and sniff at the girl’s fingers.
Rosie didn’t move, allowing it enough time to check things out, and become comfortable.
While it slowly worked its noise to her wrist she watched, and tried to think of who would have known to get her a Cynadquil, but there was only one person who stood out. One who she knew she had spoken about this before.
The image of her red head friend was strong in her mind, and her gaze fell.
It had been difficult the last time she had seen her friend, It had been a hard night for the both of them, and it had not been made easier by the concerns each had, nor seemed to be able to agree on.
The hand on her lap closed tightly, the hand being held toward the cyndaquil starting to shake before the pokemon leaned its head into her fingers, encouraging her to brush them gently across its head and down the side of its face.
Snapping her attention back sharply, her fingers twitching as she could refocus on the fire type.
“Hm~” Placing her hand on the ground behind her, the blond carefully eased herself down into the grass, folding her legs.
“Well now,” a light sigh escaped her, with relief that she had not furthered her discomfort from sitting down “It looks like someone though that you would be a good fit for my team, from someone who knows me pretty well apparently.”
The Cyndaquil tilted her head and blinked up at the girl, though it looked more like it was confused than anything.
“I don’t really know who it was, but I can promise that we will thank them by being the best we can.” She told the young pokemon, she wasn’t entirely sure that it knew what she was saying; it seemed to be paying attention as she spoke regardless.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make you a strong, and happy, you’re going to love being a part of this family.” She reassure with a warming grin.

“Quil?” It cooed, tripping over its own feet as it half collapsed over one of her legs.
Rosie giggled and picked it up into her hands, cradling it to her shoulder.
“I suppose you didn’t come with a name now did you.” Rosie though, stroking the pokemon’s back delicately.

As she thought of one her mind wandered a little, She couldn’t know exactly if Luke got this pokemon for her or not, but it seemed that either way, whoever had put it in her box, didn’t seem to want to come out and tell her, she didn’t know why, she would love to have thanked them. But she supposed the only way to properly do that now, was to make sure and take good care of the pokemon.

“Ballet.” Rosie spoke after a few seconds, gathering the pokemon in both hands and holding her out in front of her. “I’ll call you Ballet.”
The fire types mouth opened lightly staring back at Rosie before it let out a happy shrill and wiggled its legs back and forth, a flame on its back flickering a few times with a bright pink flame.

“Oooh!” Rosie gasped in amazement at the fire color, bringing the Cyndaquil a little closer.
“Look at you! You’re beautiful!”

The fire type cheered again happily as the trainer brought the pokemon to her forehead, smiling as it gleefully nuzzled her.
Oh yes, whoever got Ballet for her knew her very well indeed.  

[Blood_Goddess]

'The world before your eyes is a shallow surface, you cannot so easily grasp the depths of what a being is without understanding not only that they are more below the skin, but how to listen for it.'

Amber eyes snapped open with a start, a sharp intake of breath startled its breather into a moment of paralyzed silence, as ever sense every lingering emotion and memory went into overdrive.
The sound of bird and bug chirped from the wilderness around, the indication of life within the trees and brush, while the wind gently rustles a lullaby through the leaves, tossing the light between them and sending them bouncing off the jagged reflecting surface of gold and amber.

The last time these eyes had opened, they had found nothing to look at… the first time they had opened, and every time after, they had seen only darkness.
One would come to expect that it is what the world looked like.
But the world was bright, almost painfully so, despite that, they could not find the will to close back into darkness.
The world was beautiful, vibrant greens flickered before her, clinging tightly to thick unmoving structures bowing out over the land, and the breeze felt comforting, tickling the grass across the thin delicate fur of the small body.

“The world… is-”
A small, calm voice emanated through the psychic fields, manifesting in words.
Small hands placed against the grass on either side of its body, and a tiny white form pushed itself up into a sitting position, a gentle almost distant jingle joined its movements as three decorated tags danced in the air.
Its mouth fell agape as wide eyes stares around, the world was… vast, so big and never ending, it was almost terrifying to think about. The colors almost hurt to look at, the expanse of sky, fluffy white pillows in the sky, which looked as if they would be comfortable to lay in. and the green wavering stretch of land interrupted by tall domed arms.

A light breath was exhaled as the large glittering crystal head turned slowly, scanning in the world.
Quiet, yet so loud at the same time.

'I have seen it, not for myself, but look into their minds, and while shapes and forms cannot be made out, you will recognize what you need to from their feelings. You will know what everything is from them.'

There had been no comprehension of what those words were at the time, how could there have been? But now, sitting smack in the middle of the world, she knew exactly what everything was, having never seen it before, simply by recalling their feelings.
The trees, brown and strong, He had had a home in it, the feel of its bark against his paws, the sound of his claws against wood, the smell of the gentle breeze through the leaves…

The clouds, though they looked fluffy, she had felt them before, cold and wet. The winds below her wings, smoothing along her feathers, high, high over the earth that suddenly felt so small, she knew the feelings of freedom.
Each of these were a dulled distant memory of what the true experience of freedom was, mere shadows to the real thing, borrowed from the minds of those more wise, and more experienced.

Taking in another breath the tiny hands lifted to her face, trying to contain the overwhelming sensation of simply everything, first hand. Though with a heavy heart it was more so that it was to be witnessed alone, no voice speaking, no emotions to indicate that another was even close by.

Alone

“It is how I will never see the world.”
Everything had been a blur of confusion, and intense feelings. Having no idea what had prompted this opportunity of sudden freedom.

It was impossible to tell how long of an existence was spent in a box, closed off from all light, from all sound, joined only with the voice of another speaking directly from the mind.
“We are not dissimilar.” The voice would say. And over the time would teach not only speech, but how to feel the world beyond the box.

It was a cold reality, one that had been voiced many times between instructions. The world, the thoughts the feeling of the others was frightening. Having been thought fear, despair, pain, loneliness… oh loneliness… Greed and hatred, malice and a form of delight that simply felt warped.
But the voice was different… The one to share its voice far beyond any distance that could be reached with tiny hands touched with empathy the single most beautiful thing that could be shared in this desperate and bleak life.
Hope. As it had been named by the other.

Not even the heaviest of hearts could trump the beacon of hope the other voice emanated, in fits of desperation when one would wish for an end of its existence the p***k from an untouched friend had pulled away the degrading emotions from those beyond the box and had helped to carry on for a while longer.

“I remember…” the crystal uttered into tiny hands.

Noise, real noise, It was so frightening, so loud and a force that knocked the room ajar.
The black had broken away, replaced with the brightness of flame and loud with screams, even louder was the panic.
A creature, tall and bright, its arms outspread heavy tail swaying melodically, not even its toes touched the ground as its presence took up the center of the room.
A paralyzing fear gripped any movement, until the creature turned its head, closed eyes glowing intensely from under its eyelids found its tiny trembling form, and the voice once again spoke.
“Go, to the north, they can help, the League is to the north.” A finger reached up and pointed “See it as I will not, and do not forget the most important thing I have told you.”

Monsters of black were swarming the dark and had soon descended upon the creature.
What happened next drew an audible shrike from the tiny crystallized form, energy, arms and tastles wrapping around its body as a power not unfamiliar shook its body.
To the north, go to the north.

“You have given me more than I could have ever asked for my friend; this is my gift to you.”
Hope was present, but laced with a sad acceptance.
“Freedom.”

The heat was gone, fire and noise flashed away in an instant, and the pressure of a small body impacting the soft grass below an umbrella of foliage in the cover of night.

Hands slipped back down from where they were clutching at their owners face, only to linger before large eyes and observed, turned over with a sense of awe
“These are my hands.”
They had always been there, the shape the way they felt the way they moved, that had always been known, but seeing them for the first time…
“My feet!” Another cheer as eyes found two small nub legs “My… uh whatever these are?”
To be honest there had never been a proper name for the long crystal strands coming out of its back.
“Uuugh!” the grunt accompanied its attempts to stand up, balancing with uncertainly on the uneven ground, holding its arms out to help it remain upright.

Staring in amazement at the ground, watching the grass flick around by its feet she than lifted its head,
Standing was a start… But what now?
“North.” Blinking sharply when the memory struck again, the jingle of charms once again joined the turn of a large crystal head.
“Find... The League?”

A soft frown set on the thin lips, having to face the sheer volume and unknown nature of this task.
What was this 'The League?' What was going to happen now and why would this League need to help her? Even more how could they?
These all seemed pointless questions in the end; there was an unspoken undeniable trust, and a gracious gift from a friend, the first friend.

“To the North!” The Jirachi held up a fist, giving the intimidating span of land a determined frown.
Freedom granted, in all its terrifying glory, and she was going North.
My friend, I know you are not there, but I can always feel you.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie~

A finger hovered over the “send” button of the pink poke gear’s display, the screen long having since lost the back-light feature and threatened to go into sleep mode, only to be tapped awake again to redisplay a message laid out in the text box, ready to be sent, But the thumb only managed to hover over the command, leaving the message to sit there, waiting.

“I miss you.”

She couldn’t have given an accurate estimate as to how how many times she had read the same three words over and over again, checking for what felt like the hundredth time to make sure it would be going to the right person… that everything was spelled right, the punctuation was there,
Trying to find something, anything wrong with it to continue to justify her delay in pressing that button.
It was perfect,
For at least a half hour, she could not find anything to fix about it, and her excuse was gone, so why… why was she hesitating?
“Just send it.” The blond spoke allowed to her room, though the heads of the pokemon she shared it with lifted and turned toward her.
“Come on Rosie it’s just… a text.”

Really though, was it?

I miss you; innocent sounding enough, it was a completely genuine and truthful sentiment.
But she couldn’t help but wonder… How would it be taken?
At face value? “I miss you; it’s been a while since we talked.”
Is that what it was meant for? Is that was she meant by it? Was it really just a simple way of getting in to contact with him?
“I miss you, I keep thinking about you, I miss you, I can’t stop worrying, I miss you, and this is driving me crazy.”
I miss you so much.

She pulled her legs in closer to her chest, clenching her arms around them as tightly as her broken ribs would allow, not taking blue eyes off the unsent message.

Everything… she meant everything by this, that’s all she could think. How could she possibly relay more? How could so few words possibly be enough?
But the real question of course, was what he could take this as?
Would he be annoyed? Confused?
The last time they spoke had been rough on both ends, after a lot of things were said; both were hurting, emotionally tired and no less lost than they had been before. Possibly more so if that seemed possible.

Her eyelids fell slightly as she tensed, biting her lip “you’re over-thinking it, just send it.”
Her finger didn’t move.

“He’s not going to over think this like you are, He’s going to see the text, and probably reply, like he always does. No big deal, it’s just a casual… friendly text. Just send it.”
Her finger still didn’t move.
“A-alright, well… maybe I should add more to it than just that…”
Yeah, that would do the trick, clarify, and make it so that she didn’t have to leave anything up to interpretation.

Her other hand reached up, clasping the gear in both her hands and preparing to type out more onto the message, only to find that her mind was only able to ad short, generic and disjointed comments and questions, “how are you doing?” “It’s been a while.” “We should hang out” “How are the- ohmygoshthisissounnatural”

Letting out a verbal whine of frustration the girl quickly deleted all of the text from the box and dropped herself backwards onto the floor of her room.
Ignoring the discomfort of her sudden posture change the splayed her arms out on either side of her, her feet still pressed into the carpet where she had left them.
Her chest expanded as she drew a deep breath in through her nose, holding it for a few seconds as she stared up at the ceiling, letting her thoughts gather in the moment of stillness the silence of her room brought before she let the breath out with a shaking gasp.

"You're the only reason I can live right now."

It was hard to think about that dark in the hospital, the things that had been said… that were felt had been laced heavily in fear and frustrations, pointing fingers and a sense of loss.
She had spent many nights thinking about it, what she could have said better, what she should have said instead, or what she should have done.
Who knew if it would have worked out any differently, but she liked to think that it could have been.
Maybe if she had not been so shaken, hurt, or worried…
But eventually, her thoughts would always bring her to some of the other things that had been said in the heat of the moment.

Things that left her worried about how the message “I miss you” would be taken.

Rosie blinked slowly, feeling the heat already rising in her cheeks.
The things she had said… It might have just been the moment that prompted such honesty and emotions, and while a part of her knew that that was probably the case, she had spent a lot of nights thinking about them, much to her great embarrassment

God what had she told him… thoughts she never expected to express in such a… almost raw truth.
At the same time, that whole exchange…

“Oh my goooosh.” Rosie whimpered with embarrassment reaching her hands up to clasp them to her face as she pulled herself back up into a sitting position. “Why did I say those things!? I might as well have just TOLD him out right…”
What was she kidding, she practically did, and the big question now, was; did he mean the things he said?

Hearing that you were so important to someone that they were alive because of it, was… powerful, She by no means wanted anyone to only be alive for her, she hoped that there was more to life than just silly little her.
But even if it was just an overreaction… was that still an implication of how much he cared? And really, was she so surprised by it?
Her heart was pounding at this point, “He’s always been kind, maybe it’s just me but there’s just…” She almost didn’t catch that she was not speaking to Pop, who was standing just over her with her arms crossed and an eyebrow arched.

She never really stopped to give it much thought before… but what if…
“Oh don’t be crazy Rosie.” She scolded herself much to Pop’s surprise, Kiss Kiss hopping onto the floor.
“You’re projecting; He has enough problems to deal with then this.”
He did, and it wasn’t a secret; “he needs his friends, and I could ruin our friend ship… could it?”

She took a light breath, again doubting her moment of conviction.
How much did she have to look back on? All the time they spent together, the years of knowing one another.
She could still feel the kiss on her forehead, the flutter in her chest whenever she thought about it, the feeling of his fingers around hers, strong, but so gentle, always feeling worried that he would be able to feel how hard her heart was beating through her fingers.
He called her beautiful, and there was something in the way she would catch him looking at her. Those bright green eyes, whenever they would meet her-

Rosie reached her hands up to cover her face, rolling onto her side.
“What if he does feel the same way?”

Pop made a wild gesture over her and smacked her own forehead, and crouched down where she stood over Rosie, reaching out to poke the trainer, who didn’t seem at all willing to move.
“Vapor!” the eldest of the team had slipped off the bed where she had been tending to the newest and youngest of the team, Ballet, who had fallen fast asleep by now. The blue water type stepped up on the other side of Kiss Kiss who had taken to hovering over the emotionally compromised blond.

Heaving another sigh, this one heavier than the last, and considerably more shaky.
“But he was so hurt…” She said from behind her hands, forcing herself onto her good side where she managed to scoop her phone into her arms and curl it, along with her arms into her chest, her forehead leaning into the floor.
“He has so much that he’s dealing with, and it’s obvious he has so much self-indifference, if not felt hate…”
What made her think that putting her own emotional baggage onto that would be what he needed at all! Maybe when he started to like himself more…
She could wait… she was sure it couldn’t hurt like this all the time…
Maybe tomorrow would be better

Yeah… right and maybe Rocket would pack up and turn themselves in tomorrow too…
How could she possibly ever figure this out!

She had to remember her own words, in all reality all she could do at this point was do what she told him she would do, and just keep loving him until he could lea-
“AARR Oh my GOSH did I really say that!?” the blond rolled back onto her back again, throwing her arms over her head unable to contain her embarrassment
“What is wrong with you Rosie!” -Probably a lot of things really, the top of the list being that she had a crippling adoration for that handsome red head.
These broken ribs were a JOKE compared to this, making her realize that if he really didn’t feel the same way, how could she handle being turned down? She would be embarrassed? Worse, sad… sad? Was that the right word?
Crushed?
Maybe for now it’s easier to wonder, and pretend… “Even if that’s not how I want to live my life… I want to be honest, but I think right now, that’s not what he needs.”

Once more she tried to take a breath, only this one caught in her throat.
She couldn’t just make that decision…
“Why is this so complicated?” She whimpered into her arms.
Everything was just swirling around in her head, the pros, the cons, the fears, the hopes, where as one could usually know the right thing to do… how could an answer to this be so elusive? Was this selfish? Was keeping it to herself selfish? Would telling him be selfish?
Arceus they both seemed selfish! There wasn’t any winning.

Pop didn’t seem at all to understand what was going on, frowning with frustration while Vahy’n told the rabbit to calm down, a paw gently patting Rosie’s shoulder.
The older water type recalled a similar event with Katheryn, her old friend when through the same thing when she got to know Nick.
A refined, respectable and well-grounded women, was reduced to a mess of emotions and conflictions on the floor when faced with the realities of love.

The comfort of her pokemon, and the time ticking away of her remaining on the floor, with the message long since gone black of “I miss you.” Helped to organize her thoughts;
She couldn’t do it… and she couldn’t even give herself a straight answer as to why she couldn’t.
But the blond could at least agree with herself, that she could at least maintain being the friend that he needed.

Feeling as if her legs and arms were made of lead, the young women managed to pull herself up onto her knees, shuffling over enough to drape over the side of her bed.
Deleting the message from her gear, she instead held it up to the sleeping Cyndaquil.

Luke would get a Text that night, containing a picture of the white fire type sleeping peacefully over pink covers, and a text box below saying “Meet Ballet, she’s new on my team <3”  

[Blood_Goddess]

It would be easy to say that since the start of winter, life was really starting to take a different feel, a good one. Rosie never let up her training, but what time she had free she was spending it happily selecting colors, looking through dress designs and selecting venues, even though planning a wedding was a lot more work than it had initially looked, she was enjoying it, most in part, of course, because it was her wedding.

Her wedding- it was odd sometimes to think about, but the delight that came with it just from of the fact that it wasn’t just her wedding; it was something she got to share with Luke. And through the winter the thought that Luke would be her husband in a few short months made her happier then she could have imagined.
It was a title of course, a silly little tile that really wouldn’t change anything that was already between them, but still, it meant a lot to her, and she was excited about it.
It was comforting to go to bed with, usually wrapped in the warmth of Luke’s arms, where the stress of organizing wedding events, or the discomfort of people’s hurtful words couldn’t invade her thoughts, giving way to just quiet comfort, and peaceful rest.
Though as always, there would be times when this didn’t always work the way she wanted it to, and as this particular night stretched on, Rosie remained awake, her eyes open and alert with her thoughts buzzing with considerably more troubling events then what color the flower arrangements should be.
Things had been looking good recently, so much so that in a way it had helped to distract her from what’s been going on… or what had always been going on in their world.
Luke going missing had been an uncomfortable wakeup call-
What had happened was a jarring reminded that there really was no escaping the violence that insisted on following him.

Rosie had spent a good average of her nights just trying to make sure that Luke was getting enough sleep, giving him his medication when he needed it in the middle of the night, and keeping hydrated. She didn’t want to leave any margin for his condition to get worse.
Thankfully he seemed to be out of the woods now, and she could let him sleep through the night, but that didn’t mean she was freed from her own worry.
It was difficult to watch him suffer, most of the time with little she could do to help, and end up leaving her to sit there and wonder over and over again why someone would ever do this to another person.
She couldn’t understand it; she never understood it, why would anyone have a reason to hurt someone else?
Years had gone by of her asking the same question, and still not coming up with an answer that she could understand. Time and time again she would just have to sit back and watch these terrible acts committed by people, humans, the same species as herself.

He could have died, and she could have done nothing about it, like before, like every single time before.

She could never help bit be confused, witness the aftermath and sit through it with nothing better to do but wonder how they look a man in the face and cause him harm, to Luke, to someone that was loved so much.
When it came down to it, Rosie knew that Luke took a lot, too much and it was all in the name of fighting this battle that’s been going on for years, it made her wonder just how lucky had she and her pokemon gotten off?
Was she lucky?
It’s not that bad things didn’t happen to her, but nothing like what people put Luke through.
It paled her to think of being in Luke’s shoes, being faced with people who wanted to hurt you, This wasn’t ever the first time she’s asked herself this question. How do you even begin to deal with something like that? How silly was she being now? She knew what would be expected, but every time she tried to think about it the idea made her freeze where she stood; it locked her up with uncertainty and fear.
What would she do? And why didn’t she have an answer for it after years of trying to prepare? Fight back? Could she? Physically, or most importantly, could she mentally?

Rockets taking pokemon, Rockets stealing people out of the air, gangs kidnapping, violence and brutality and cruelty- and not always from the “bad guys” from trainers too,scared and on edge and causing them to jump quickly to violence.
Events like the conference, and the desert that had brought up something that she had been struggling with for some time now, apparently without her really even noticing it.

Rosie had picked up a few brochures from the trainer center during its grand opening. Mostly to do with the new programs opening up for the League in Kodo, But a few were even highlighted for job opportunities.
Rosie remembered being instantly admired of the officer Petra, learning what she did, and how good she was at it from the way she performed with her pokemon during the desert mission. It amazed the trainer and certainly put that kind of work on a pedestal, probably more then she meant to.
At the time she remembered being excited, this was the kind of work that she could admire, this is something she could strive for, these are the people who make a real impact on the world.

But as Rosie had taken a brochure, and come to realize that the Kodo branch was accepting officers into the Special opps, instead of being excited, Rosie felt a weight form in her gut with a small voice telling her that she was silly if she thought she could join them.
At first she didn’t know why or where these sudden feelings were coming from. So for the time being she would just put it to the back of her mind till she could look into it more.
And there is had stayed for weeks since the center opened. The brochure sitting next to her laptop on the counter serving as a reminded, but most days went ignored.
It was only when she needed a break from looking at color pallets and wedding ideas she would jump onto her computer for a bit to look into what the special opps did.

Now though, as she stared blankly up at the dark ceiling, overwhelmed by that pit in her stomach that had once just been a minor annoyance, she understood what her heart was trying to tell her-
How could she even think of joining something as important as the Special opps if she carried so much doubt in her own abilities to keep up the struggle?
Her pokemon, she had every confidence in, they were incredible, and when it came to working with them she at least felt comfortable, she could face opponents and usually come out ontop, and with every confidence in the world take on trainers in friendly battle. It helped make her feel like she could do anything with them. But that was just another illusion, when it mattered; they were always the ones to carry her.
She would remember what it felt like to go up against hostile opponents, each time she freeze up, the whole time battling with herself on what to do, how she was supposed to react, how was she supposed to attack them? What if they got hurt? How much was enough?
If it wasn’t for her pokemon making those choses for her, she would be lost.
She just stood there, useless, so much so that not even her pokemon needed her guidance on what to do.
Rosie swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, as if to take the rest of her confidence with it.
She couldn’t help but think of what Luke had said after the falling out with Dove.
She really didn’t have any confidence when it mattered… she really would just sit back and take whatever people gave her, because she was scared to hurting everyone
Because in the end she couldn’t tell a difference from a Rocket and a Trainer, even though the obvious was staring her in the face.
She really was that bad at standing up for herself, worse then she realized, and was it just not dawning on her just what exactly she was getting herself into? And the most alarming, how could she stand up for other people if she didn’t even know how to stand up for herself.

All Rosie ever wanted was to help her home, to help its people and keep them safe, help make a difference, giving up never seemed like an option to her, and she knew it never could be.
Did she think she could do it? Before the center opened she would have said yes, but for the first time in her life she was beginning to think realistically, and sever doubt was starting to seed into her heart.
No, she didn’t think she could do it, not like Luke did, not with how brave he always was in the face of cruelty and danger.
She could never do it like Petra, like Dith and Sera and all her friends who reacted the way they should.
All she ever did was cry, and she cried a lot, more than most people knew,
over all the stress, fear, worry and pain she felt. After everything that’s happened to the people she cared about she didn’t know how else to deal with it other than to just cry.
That’s how she dealt with it.
And to think, she had wanted to help in special opps, where these people would probably just be embarrassed of her.
How could she even think about it?

She wouldn’t anymore… with a heavy heart and a deep strained sigh Rosie made the choice, that she wouldn’t think about it anymore. Just make the decision not to join special opps… maybe volunteer so that she would be in the way as much, and still help if they really needed it.
And maybe someday find some way she can help.
With that decided, Rosie rolled over to hug her pillow to her face, not feeling the least bit better about her choice, and knowing that breaking the news to her pokemon would disappoint them. They could do so much good without her.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie sat on the concrete of her backyard on a still chilly fall night, bathed only in the dim glow of the outdoor light she had switched on before she had stepped out to bring the tiny Flabebe to the garden for Hattie to look over.
The silence of the home carried out to the silence of the backyard, the events of the evening had left most of its occupants speechless, Rosie more so.

All around the yard various creatures of different sizes stood among the grass, their eyes all turned to the human who- while making her way back to the home had stopped just an arm’s length away from the sliding door when she suddenly stopped with a waiver. The Pokémon watched as she took a step back to steady herself, and just as steadily lowered herself to sit on the cold ground, hands clasped in front of her and tucked under her chin.



In the distance Rosie could hear the kindly of Hattie, closing her eyes as the other Pokémon spoke back to her, though she couldn’t understand what they were saying… not that she needed to, no doubt they were telling her about the events of the evening.
As if included into the conversation Rosie replayed it herself, the decisions she made and the consequences of those actions… or more like, the ones that were made for her. She honestly couldn't say if she would have willingly called Perdy out if he had not taken that choice for her.

Pulling her hands away from her chin she looked down at them, her fingers trembling as the weight of the night pressed down on her. And more than anything, the disappointment she felt in herself all over again.
Just when she was starting to feel a little more confident in herself it had been once again ripped away from her, making her realize just how delicate it had all been in the first place, especially with how brave Zacharie had been during the entire ordeal… once again becoming something for her to hide behind when it really mattered.

the deep voice of Grealhorn added.
The larger of the Pokémon who usually remained impassive had spoken up, at the same time moving forward.

Rosie had already lifted her head when she heard Greal’s voice, hearing the words of the grass type. But it wasn’t until he spoke her name that Rosie glance to the side, turning a little to face him as the large Sawsbuck made his way over, hooves clapping against concrete when they transitions from grass to the harder surface.
Blue eyes filled with regret met him, but only for a second before she dropped her gaze from his stern face, knowing what kind of conversation was going to follow.

“I know… I know I just.” Rosie clasped her trembling hands even closer, bowing her head away from his gaze, knowing everyone else’s were on her. “I know how you feel about it, Its just… they had guns, they would have hurt you without even thinking about it. They... They did hurt you without thinking about it...”
Grealhorn replied, only to have Rosie shake her head again.
“How can I let you just worry about something like that- I’m supposed to be your trainer! I’m supposed to protect you.”

Grealhorn bellowed with a little more force then he had meant to, the action of him pulling his head back showing his immediate remorse for his tone. At her flinch he stepped toward the trainer, lowering his head to get to her level. The small girl hanging her head, eyes closed tightly.
He spoke with a more gentle tone,

Blue eyes opened again, lifting slightly but not quite all the way to meet Greal's.



Another set of hooves announced the slow approach of one of the other Pokémon, Pastin drawing up next to the trembling trainer, and lowering his head so that he could press his face into her.
In a show of gentle support, he lingered there while Rosie sniffed and trembled into him, slowly moving her arms after a length of time sitting in silence and wrapping them around Pastin’s head.
For a while no one said anything as Rosie embraced the Pokémon whose soul was most connected to hers, the warmth of his mane spilling over her form, and his gentle kindness easing her sore heart.
Slowly, he lifted his head, guiding the humans back onto her feet.

“I’m not giving up.” Rosie whispered into his muzzle, closing her eyes tighter “I was never going to give up… Not when people like that exist…”
It wasn’t like she wanted to give up… but there was truth in what Grealhorn was saying, the fear was overwhelming, and no matter how hard she worked at it, she couldn’t seem to find a way to overcome it, even when she was starting to think she was making progress. That alone was the most demoralizing feeling that she had to face about her situation, and it took every scrap of courage she had to keep going when things got this bad.
Each time though, she managed to find just enough.
She feared the day she would run out.
“I do trust you… I’ll do better at showing you.”  

[Blood_Goddess]

It was just fabric right? It felt like it was fabric, just as the hilt felt like it was metal… cool and solid under her fingers, with the rough texture of rust that sprawled closer toward the guard, it made her palm feel uncomfortable.
They really were just living swords weren’t they? A fabric arm…
She ran a finger absently over the sheet of purple and black coiled tightly around her own arm. Trying to see if she could get a finger underneath, finding that every time she tried it just tightened more.

“Mrs, fon Fabre… Do you understand what we’re saying?”
Rosie quickly returned her attention to the doctor sitting in the seat next to her hospital bed.
she stared for a few seconds before she let her gaze slowly fall.
It was hazy… what had the Doctor been saying to her.
“That the Honedge is feeding off of me.” She replied, looking back up at the Doctor.

The Doctor titled her head watching Rosie as she went back to examining the sash wrapped around her arm.
“… Do you understand what that means?”

Rosie tilted her head again, trying to find the words to explain back what the doctor had already told her.
She was finding it difficult to hear… It was difficult to just sit up really. It wasn’t always this hard to concentrate was it? Rosie was overwhelmed with tired… Even though she had slept for so long already, according to what everyone had told her...

She had been awake for three hours now, having arrived at the hospital five hours previous to that . The doctor required that visitors were kept at a minimum for the time being. So far she had only been able to see her Uncle Bruce, and Cousin Rodney. Aside from her pokemon, who had the right to be in the room with her, the others, including the trainers who has brought her here were collected in the waiting room… So she was told.
Waking up had been difficult, She knew she was awake, but making sense of anything… she just remembered blurs, people trying to talk to her, trying to move was sluggish and increasingly painful.
Over time she gained awareness, she started to remember and recognize certain feelings… her body ached,bringing back memories of being kicked, being dragged, and pinned as much as she would have liked not having remembered that, it was no doubt why her whole body hurt.
She couldn’t remember much beyond that though… just waking up here, in the hospital.
Her mind was hazy, but there was something else, even when she had gained enough cognitive ability to understand what was being said to her, and she could talk. She felt something… odd… something indescribable, something she had never experienced before..

“Its using my… life energy to stay alive.” She managed to piece together her sentence, strange to note how apathetic she felt about those words.

The Doctor folded her hands in her lap.
“Yes, So you understand.”

Understand… that was… complicated.
Rosie let her tired blue eyes drift down to the broken blade lying on the bed, bound down tightly by the length of her leg. A wide, purple eye staring back at her.

Rosie stared at this new pokemon as the doctor continued to explain the situation.

“Honedge are extremely dangerous when you touch their hilts, They have been known to instantly steal away a person’s life force before you have a chance of getting it off.”

Its blade was black… the edges where it was sharpest glinted menacingly. Inside the grooves the blade took on an opal effect… it was beautiful, in a haunting and ominous way.

“According to the story your young friend told us, the Honedge appeared to do just that when you had initially grabbed it, He said you lost consciousness, and when he checked for breathing he couldn’t find any.”

Her free hand clenched, though weakly, her strength had still not returned. Though she was listening she didn’t look away from the Honedge, studying this strange creature attached to her. The blade ended abruptly toward its middle, half of what made off its body was missing, with freshly jagged points indicating it had been shattered from that point.
A steady purple smoke coiled from the end, Rosie noticed that it would puff in time with her breathing… she had tested this theory by taking intentional deep breaths, or holding her breath for a few seconds longer.

“The attack from your Rapidash successfully snapped its blade in two… We suspect that’s what ended up saving your life.”

When she had clenched her hand, the sash gently squeezed her arm.
Rosie lifted her eyes to look back at the Doctor.
“I... I understand…” She confirmed. “... But what now? Will it heal?”

“... We don’t know.” The doctor admitted. “It’s never been recorded that a Honedge can grow itself back once broken… realistically, it’s haunted being should have dispersed and passed on. We suspect from the smoke that is collecting at the damaged area that it could possibly heal, but it’s also missing half of its blade.”

No real answer… She wasn’t sure how to take that. There was something stirring inside of her when she heard that… again it was difficult to understand where this feeling was coming from.
What she did understand, was the feeling of pity she felt when she heard this news.
Though as if to directly contrast the pity she was feeling, the doctor continued on with a more disturbing possibility.

“We have to address the fact that before it returned your life… This pokemon, not only tried to murder your pokemon, but had successfully robbed you of your life for a time Mrs. fon Fadre we have to be clear that we can’t speak for its intentions with you if it didn’t currently need you to keep itself alive.”

The Honedge’s eyes slid away from Rosie for the first time to look sharply at the doctor.
Rosie felt a pit in her chest, only increasing the sore stabbing that was already there.
“So you think it may try and kill me again once it doesn’t need me anymore.” she repeated.

“With the evidence presented… Its not out of the realm of possibility.”

The blond trainer fell quiet, purposely not looking around at her Uncle, or her pokemon. Instead she kept her eyes down in thought.
“So what are our options?” Rosie asked.

“Removing the Honedge from you would assure your recovery.” the doctor explained.

“... But then the Honedge would die.”

“Once it is removed, yes.”

“Yes, but Rosie would survive.” Bruce clarified.

“It’s not a complicated procedure, so it's unlikely she would experience any ill affects from it, we would want to do it before the Honedge gains too much strength, right now it’s too weak to take more then it can process, but if it gets strong enough, then its threat on Rosie’s life to assure its own grows very serious.”

“Then it’s a no-brainer, how quickly can this be done?” Bruce, in his eagerness stood up from his chair.

“Wait…”
Rosie’s soft voice drew everyone’s attention to her,


“What do you mean wait?” Bruce asked, with a weak smile on his lips, as if she was expecting this to be some kind of joke. “Come on honey, you heard the doctor, we can’t let that thing get any stronger.”

“I understand, It’s just… It doesn’t feel right to make a decision like this that quickly.”

Bruce’s smile faded and there was a strain in his voice when he continued to talk “Rosie… Sweety, I know that you care deeply about everyone… but this thing… you need to get it off of you. You heard the doctor.”

Her shoulder’s rounded at her uncle's words, feeling distinctly bad going against something he clearly felt very strongly about. And it wasn’t a small matter either, she could absolutely recognize that! But perhaps she wasn’t really grasping the full weight of the situation yet… sure they were throwing around words like… dying and murder… but that just didn’t seem real right now.
“Please, just… give me a little bit of time to absorb this before I make a decision.” Rosie said finally. Looking over to the doctor, because she knew she wouldn’t be able to bare the look she knew her Uncle would give her.

“Rosie, Rosie please-” Her Uncle started, Rodney reached up to take his father’s arm, the older man pulling away but was quickly silenced when the Doctor, upon hearing Rosie’s request nodded softly and pushed herself to her feet.
“This decision is completely up to you Mrs. fon Fabre, Do you want to be alone?”

No… No she didn’t want to be alone, she knew instinctively that she didn’t want to be alone, but for some reason there was a numbness in her that kept her from understanding just why she so desperately wanted the company and support of loved ones.
“Yes...Please.” she confirmed anyway.
If Luke wasn’t off Island, she could have gotten away with just asking him to stay, She considered asking Rodney to stay, she knew that he would have sat there with her quietly, but she couldn’t ask her Uncle to go and Rodney to stay, that would hurt her Uncle’s feelings. She still had her pokemon, and she knew this would be something to talk with them about once she was in a state to talk about it.

She could tell my the way he walked toward the door that her uncle was upset, knowing that alone caused the sides of her face to go cold, and her eyes to sting with the build up of her instant regret, though she swallowed hard and managed to… for the most part control the oncoming tears.


Feeling the Doctor's eye on her one last time as she turned to close the door behind her. She felt the eyes all the way until the soft “click” of the door announced to Rosie that she was alone.
Well… almost.
In the silence that followed, Rosie let out the breath that she was holding, allowing herself to sink back into her pillows and her eyes to close.
Before too long however there was movement at her right side, something crawled up onto the bed with her then a warm soft body pressed into her side.
Without opening her eyes Rosie brought her arm up to curl around Kiss, the Raichu burrowed further into her human’s side.
Though Pop wasn’t as physical, Rosie could feel the Lopunny cross the room, and take a seat where the Doctor had been previously.

This didn’t feel real… ever since she woke up, everything that they had told her just didn’t seem like it actually happened, and she wasn’t sure what to blame it on. She felt unusually drained, and not just physically, every aspect of her just felt like it was half full. The thought of just moving her body was exhausting, her emotions felt like they were being compressed by a damp towel, Even breathing felt heavy.
Was that what they meant when they said it was feeding off of her life energy? Was this what it would be like to support this pokemon?
A part of her worried that this was something that was permanently done to her, Was life energy… or however they put it something that can be replenished? Or once it’s gone, is it gone?
Had the doctor mentioned that? She… she didn’t remember if the doctor mentioned that.
Gosh, she was so tired…

Another long breath was expelled from her lungs, but once the air was gone she didn’t breath in, allowing herself a few moments of complete stillness. She found it helped clear her mind, at least until she started breathing again.

What was she going to do… The choices she had now, were to have them remove the Honedge, or leave it on and see if it recovers.
What were the consequences of that? Well… the Honedge was dangerous, there is no telling if it would still try and hurt her if she chose to leave it where it was.
The option to remove it would secure her safety, but in turn would kill the Honedge.

It seemed like such an easy decision, logically, but somewhere in her compressed emotions she couldn’t help but dwell on the thought that self preservation never felt more wrong.
That was stronger than anything, but was it right to feel this way?

Maybe logic was something she had to explore first, She had asked for the time to consider her decision a little more, and despite how tired she was, she had to assess how this situation happened in the first place.
She was grateful not to have to move for this, thinking might feel like she had to track through knee high mud, but at least her body got to rest.
It was hard to tell what was causing her body the most trouble, was it this Honedge, or was it physical pain in her body.

She had seen a lot of cruelty in the world… and she had been the brunt of it a handful of times. Though she always seemed to get a much smaller dose then she had bore witness too, she could hardly understand, or get used to the fact that there were people in this world so willing to put harm onto another.
The soreness of her body seemed to throb even harder as she remembered just how helpless she felt while being pinned down like she had been, there had been a very clear difference in strength from her own compared to the man’s violence.
Her hand clenched on the hilt of the Honedge, and in response she felt his sash tighten.
Still, the only reason it happened was because she had stepped in between him and Gon. Though the boy looked ready to go in for a fight, If she couldn’t do anything to stop the man, how could a boy of Gon’s age?

It wasn’t fun to remember, it wasn’t fun to think about, but she found that the words he had said hurt more than the bruises and swelling.
‘More powerful men then you have died under my boot so I get what I want, don’t for a ******** second think I will hesitate just because you’re not fighting back, or that he’s a kid!”

That someone felt that way… that someone lived that way. That someone was okay just hurting people with complete selfish motives and no regard of understanding for other living creatures.
The ‘Why’ swirled around a lot at these questions, but in there she came up with an answer
Not that it was an appropriate answer, but the name that came into her mind hit her chest with such force that she actually gave a mild spasm in pain.

Northern.

“Rai?” Kiss Kiss cooed with concern, lifting her head up to look at Rosie when the trainer tensed and flinch.
Rosie placed her hand on the Raichu’s head, taking short quick breaths until she was able to calm down once again.


They had taken Northern, they had been after her the whole time… the Jirachi that had escaped them, The jirachi had nothing when she came to them, and slowly learned how to become the bright, curious, beautiful and kind Pokemon that she was. She was special, in so many ways, but to them she was property, and they got away with stealing her, right from Rosie’s presence.

This wasn’t the first time she had had a pokemon stolen from her. She had experienced it more times then she had blatant human violence. And she would honestly rather take the violence.

It all came back to this Honedge… he had helped them take Northern, She saw him cut into her precious teammates… and even though she doesn’t remember it, he had drained her of her own life.

Rosie opened her eyes, looking down at the pokemon at her hand.
Logically speaking… Her choice was as easy as Bruce had said.
But that still didn’t mean that this was such a simple choice... not to her.
She wished she had the strength to lift her arm up so she could look Honedge in the eye. But even if he and the arm weren’t strapped down, she doubted she would have the strength.

_________________________________________


“You’re not going to remove it?!”

She knew this was coming, but she didn’t expect the level of desperation in Bruce’s voice.
Rosie shook her head timidly, too tired to want to explain her reasoning.

“Rosie, did you not understand what the doctor told you?”

“I did… I thought about it...I can’t do it.”

“Obviously you’re not in the right mind, you’re still barely able to keep your head up, I should be making all your medical calls.”

“Uncle Bruce…” Rosie said gently, voicing what she said next carefully as to not offend her beloved Uncle “I’m not a child anymore, you can’t make these decisions for me.” It still earned a hurt look from her Uncle.

“Then I’ll get Luke to! He’s got the right as your husband.”

“Luke won’t do that.” Rosie countered “Uncle… this is my choice… I need to do this.”

“But why.”

“Because it’ll die.”

“So what, after what it did…”

“Uncle Bruce… I know you’re just scared for me… but I can’t live with the fact that I made a chose that ended a life… not when I could do something to prevent it.”

“I don’t understand this.”

“I’m sorry… I’m not doing this to hurt anyone.”

“Rosie” Bruice sat down next to her, crossing his arms over the bed and grasping her free hand in both of his, resorting to a plea in his tone
“I’ve been taking care of you for a long time.. Ever since your mother died I’ve tried to be as much of a father figure to you as I could, I lost my sister, and we’ve lost Faleen, this family has suffered so much, Please… Please don’t make a decision that will take you away from us too.”

Rosie swallowed, closing her tired eyes so she wouldn’t have to see the tears now rolling down her uncle’s face, Squeezing his hand, not so much as to reassure him, but to steady her own trembling. “Uncle… It’s going to be okay.”

“How do you know that.”

Rosie paused “I guess I just know...” Blue eyes met the blue of her uncle and she tried to give him a warm smile, worn out though it was it brought more tears to his eyes “Its got to be.”  

[Blood_Goddess]

So this was it… She knew she had made a big decision, but it hadn't really hit her how big and risky of a decision this was until she woke up the next morning.
Her entire body hurt, But not just her, She could feel his pain too. She knew it was him, She wasn’t sure how, but somehow she just knew. It was gaining more and more consciousness. It had to be, because the longer she laid there the more she felt like something wasn’t right.
Not just in her body, it was… it was in her being, like something was slowly leaking into her soul, something was now sharing her existence, it was a small sliver, touching a part of her that had always been and was always supposed to be purely her.
And what she knew now, was pain.

As she first woke up, Rosie was aware of her own thoughts, and aware of her own body as well as that of the Honedge, but slowly she was starting to hear sounds outside of her, the muffled sound of speaking. Slowly those voices became more coherent, until she could recognized who was speaking, before she could make out just what they were talking about there was a pause in which silence followed as the guests realized that Rosie was waking up.

The more she woke up the more a pit started to form in her gut.
“Can you hear us?”
That had to be Ray. Rosie had gotten to know the tall women in the past few months, Her voice usually held a tough humor to it, There was none of that now, her voice was quiet, making Rosie feel like she was on her deathbed, even more than she already did.
“Hi Ray.” She replied, easing her eyes open slightly, before they snapped open at the sight that met her.
Blinking and staring back at the cool look of the rugged Trainer Ray. beyond her, the bright eyes on the young Gon. they both looked expectant, as if holding their breath for what Rosie would say next.

“Gon-” she stammered,

Pop was sitting on her other side with her feet dangling off the bed. While Kiss Kiss remained curled up at the foot of her bed with Vahy’n
There certainly were a lot more pokemon than people in the room, Both Ray and Gon didn’t use pokeballs it seemed. She could see Emith, the Scizor leaning half against the armrest of the seat Ray was sitting on, and half against the women herself… curiously that seemed to be the only of Ray’s pokemon in the room. Maybe… that shouldn’t be too unusual, her pokemon tended to be able to roam wherever they wanted to.
Gon of course, the young body standing behind Ray where she sat, bandages on his face, and still in the cut up clothing he had on the night before.
Treecko on his shoulder, and Heracross by his other side.

She felt… comforted, having people around, and having pokemon around always made her feel safe. The room could be filled with the people she loved and she wouldn’t at all feel out of place, or crowded. Right now more than ever even, she felt like she just wanted her friends and family to be close. But this sliver of a foreign presence in her dragged a new anxiety behind her.

Swallowing hard, Rosie looked back over to Ray as the women steadily pushed herself to her feet and walked over to Rosie’s side, where the Honedge laid still strapped down.
“... Just when you think you’ve seen everything.” Ray spoke easily, reaching out to touch the cloth on Rosie’s arm.

A puff of purple smoke billowed from the broken end of the Honedge as Rosie let out a startled gasp as panic rocked her body, the cloth around her arm very suddenly tightening.
Ray pulled her hand away “Did that hurt?” She asked, kind of unbelieving.

“Uh… N-no?” Rosie continued, having to think about the sensation that she felt. “I don’t… I don’t know why I…”
She strained to sit up, trying to make sense of what she had just felt and why.

Ray placed a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from moving much further. “I’ll leave it alone, Don’t worry about trying to explain anything to anyone, if you get to active they’re going to kick us out.” Ray crossed her arms with an arch of her eyebrow once Rosie settled back down onto the pillows “Your Uncle already seemed pretty intent on us not seeing you.”

Rosie blinked “Uncle?”

“Not that I’m surprised, I’m not opposed to taking some blame for the situation you’re in now, but I guess that’s why I wanted to see you.”

“I’ll talk to him” Rosie said weakly, then looked at Ray pointedly “What happened had nothing to do with you” She moved her words to Gon, whose face looked particularly stern. “... Neither of you, okay?”

“Strictly speaking” Ray continued “It had everything-”

“They were after Northern, Ray…” Rosie interrupted her, allowing her voice to trail away, she tried to swallow to keep her throat from tensing up. “Whatever is happening… It would have happened sooner or later, We just didn’t know until it was too late.”

For a while there was just silence, Ray choosing not to argue, Instead seeming to take those words and consider a different approach to her view of the situation they had all gotten themselves into.

“Gon.” Rosie said, with concern lacing her voice, reaching out her free hand toward the boy. “Look at what they did to you… are you okay?”

At the summon Gon walked over to the blond, shaking his head when she took his hand “This is nothing.” He said determined shaking his head “this isn’t anything I haven't dealt with before.” His eyes widened before as the concerned look that Rosie gave him at those words
“I’m prepared for this,” He stammered to try and chase the look away “I didn’t go into this thinking that I was going to be safe the whole time, I know what I’m getting myself into.”
At her speechlessness He reached his other hand out to grip hers in both his hands “What you did… I promise that next time, I won’t let anyone hurt you!” He burst out causing her to widen her eyes in surprise, a soft blush creeping over her cheeks at the intensity of his determined words.
“Yeah!” Rosie heard Treecko chime in, with the less translated “Cross!” Of Gon’s other bug partner.

Ray watched the two, eyeing her protege, her changed student… The young boy had been aged by this experience… She predicted that she wasn’t going to be able to hold him back like she could in the past. This… This was the start of something big.
As for Rosie, there was an unknown factor to her fate.
Ray looked down her arm, and studied once again the broken black blade of the ghost type on her.
This was the reason she was alive, and the reason she was dead…. Right now Ray couldn’t decide what Rosie was, but whatever it was, she had no idea how to classify, nor how to proceed to any particular fate.
For once, Ray wasn’t sure what would happen, She didn’t have a plan going ahead, and she didn’t have an answer to this problem.
Ray wasn’t used to this… wasn’t used to not being in some semblance of control.

“That can’t be all it was though.” Ray spoke. “Taking Northern can’t have been all it was.”
Rosie and Gon looked over to her.
“It can’t have just been that… they knew us… They knew Gon and I.” Tilting her head with a bit more of a curious knit to her brow.

Gon looked over to Rosie, both of them knew that the tone she had implied that she was pondering to herself more then to them, either way, he would find a distant look in Rosie’s eyes, as if she was being pulled back to the night before.
Gon himself could suddenly hear the defiant and painful screaming from the night before, and the yelling through a foggy haze of ringing ears. He closed his eyes tightly and shook his head, chasing those memories away.

Ray eventually pointed to the Honedge on her arm, and turned to Rosie. “Rosie.”
The blond snapped back, looked up at the gray haired women who continued “Was there something you had planned for this?”

The question threw Rosie off, only staring at Ray, trying to come up with what she meant by the question, or what kind of answer she was expecting.
“Planned…?”

“When I heard you were going to be keeping it on, I guess I wasn’t really surprised, but it got me thinking… Do you think that this could end up helping us?” Ray asked.

“I have no idea.” Rosie replied honestly. Looking down at the pokemon “I just… didn’t want to kill it.”

Ray nodded, drawing her shoulders square again and looking down at the Honedge.
It had its eye closed, it was laying completely still, other then the steady puffing of the spoke that collected around its broken edge. She tilted her head “What does it feel like Rosie?” She asked “Despite having obviously suffered injuries from the fight, something else seems kind of off about you.”

It astonished Rosie time and time again how Ray’s perception boarded on the line of supernatural. Then again she had no idea how she looked right now… probably terrible.
“I don’t know how to explain it. “ Rosie said after a pause “I don’t feel like… I’m all here right now, but at the same time, I don’t feel like I’m alone either... “ She leaned her head back and closed her eyes “I’m tired, in a different way than I’ve ever felt before.”


“So it’s probably got something of an affect on you.” Ray pondered “Not that I can know for sure.” She reached a hand down to put it in the path of a few of the smoke spouts, watching as it curled around the obstacle of her fingers.
“Where are its missing pieces… or its sheath?”

“... Do you think that will affect its recovery?”

“I can’t image how it won’t.”

Rosie closed her eyes and swallowed “It probably is… since I woke up I’ve been feeling worse and worse. I just thought…”

“At this point it’s not a good idea to rule out anything.” She looked over to Gon “I assume they’ll probably be where you had that fight.”

“It has to be, We left there in a hurry as soon as Pop knocked that Griff out.” Gon confirmed, a slight frown on his lips.
“Unless he collected the pieces once he woke up.”

Rosie furrowed her brow, watching the purple smoke puffing from the sword. “... Can I ask you guys a favor… I know it’s unfair but-”

“I’ll go back and look for the pieces.” Gon completed before she even had time to finish what she was saying. Rosie blinked at him, Ray sliding her hands into the pockets of her jacket as she nodded as well.

“Thank you…” Rosie said quietly.

___________________________________________________________

Ray took to Gon’s lead on this one. After they had been separated she had lost track of where he and Rosie had gone completely until she met up with them again at base.
The walk was quiet, After they had stepped outside of the city there didn’t seem to be anything to say, and a weight hung in the air.

Ray herself had a lot to sort through in her own mind… most of it just unsure of how exactly she felt, something she wasn’t used to and something she definitely was intent on sorting out.
The first… being Gon.
Mossy eyes glanced up to stare at the back of the young boy’s head. Tromping through the fallen forest leaves ahead of her.
There was something different about him now. She watched him step over branches, carving a path for the small group of pokemon and humans. The Treecko sitting on his shoulder, hair standing tall and dark. He was still such a small tiny boy, but there was a new air to him… something changed, he didn’t give off that frailty that she knew before and was training him out of.
Far from being scared of him, or what he could do to her, but she had to admit, she was getting that edge of not wanting to disturb him from his silence, aware of the possibility of retaliation.
… interesting.


She let her breath come out in a long puff of steam as she followed him, turning her half lidded gaze up to the sky, curtained by the orange leaves of fall.
Whatever happened yesterday… had impacted him. She hadn’t wanted him to get involved just yet, but perhaps it was just something she thought she could control that she really just…. Couldn’t.

Worry had not started to set in about her friends until after her encounter.
She had to get herself and her own partners out of trouble, Deal with the threat in front of her.
It wasn’t a matter of them underestimating her, by all rights she didn’t give off the impression that she was capable of taking certain actions, and perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to show her hand as fully as she had.
With that behind her, and her opponent… dealt with, Ray had placed her focus onto her friends and instantly scrambled to try and find them.

The first thing she really remembered triggering her worry, she was standing before the defeated Griff, he was on the ground with wide eyes, staring up at her and the pokemon gathered around her.
Impact, per the norm was attached to her back, giving her extra mobility, The bellowing of the Rapidash a few feet away, his black form erupting with violent flames through his rage.
Wisely, Emith avoided that side of Ray, the steel bug making her way to Stand next to Ray, holding the busted open Chitin of her left arm.

Ignoring the man on the ground, his Houndoom horde scattered on the ground around him Ray turned to her partner. Reaching a hand out to place it on Emith’s shoulder, the Scizor glanced sharply at her and shook her head.
She was okay, a wound that would be expected at any point during a conflict like that… Ray and her team knew to expect this… but what about the others. Gentle Rosie and Ray’s very young student.

Turning sharply back to the gangster in the snow Ray drew herself up, no longer slouching she stormed toward him through the snow.
As she went, Impact; startled by the sudden movement, flared his wings out as he was jostled on her back.

The Griff let out a strangled yelp and attempted to scramble backwards in the snow. Crawling over the bodies of his pokemon. He didn’t get very far before Ray’s lanky arm shot out, grabbing the man by the neck and dragging him back up into her face. All humor missing from it, though the anger she felt in her chest didn’t quite reach her face either.
She studied him closely, her face still but her mossy eyes burning into him.

“Oh Arceus! Oh Arceus! None of this was my idea! Please don’t hurt me!”
He screamed holding his hands up in surrender, not even trying to pry her hands away from his fragile neck.

“Emith!” Ray barked suddenly.
The Scizor stepped over one of the Houndoom’s bodies, clacking her claws a couple of times, allowing the metal to sing as she made her way over, then held them open b the man’s ear.

He let out a shrike if fear, struggling now against Ray’s hands.
“This wasn’t even my team! None of them!”

“Yeah I could tell.” Ray said, with a soft glance to the pokemon around them. “But here’s the real problem. You separated me from my friends.” She tilted her head slightly, boring her glare back into his eyes.
“You had the bad luck of trying to corner me, didn’t work out very well for you did it? I don’t know if your friends are any better, but do you have any idea what I am going to do to your friends if I find out that they’ve hurt any of mine?”

He paled tearing his gaze downward in a moment of internal realization.
What that realization could be she had no idea, but she observed it quietly anyway.
To say the least it wasn’t the calm kind of reaction she expected after she threatened his friends.
“What!” She snapped, clenching his neck tighter, causing him to choke out a gag.

He flinched, wide eyes pulled back up to stare at Ray with a new paleness to his features.
“Do you know what they’re going to do to me after they see this?”
The way he worded this statement seemed to be more of a realization he had come to rather then a genuine question for Ray.

Ray frowned lightly, the fear on his face was genuine, and at this point not even directed at her. The real and present threat. She felt a little insulted by it honestly.
“Should have thought of that before you joined them.” she pointed out blandly.


He reached up to grab her wrists and pulled himself closer “Please you have to believe me! I had no choice! I had no choice!”

From the corner of her eyes she saw Emith’s head move, prompting Ray to glance over as well and make eye contact with the pokemon. Together they held their gaze… Emith was taking pity. If anyone knew what the Grifs were life, then Ray could trust that it was her partner.
Emith pulled away as Ray yanked the man to his feet by his throat, pulling him forward then forcefully pushing him away, causing him to stagger and collapse among the scattered Houndoom.

Without another word she straightened up recalling Havoc into his dark ball. “Imp, lets go.”
The bat spread its vast wings around Ray’s body. Emith primed her wings along with them and in the next second the pare had taken off into the sky, and DS slithered back into the forest.

Her search had yielded nothing, it wasn’t until she returned back to base that she was relieved to see her friends already there.
Only they were not as she left them.
Rosie was rushed to the hospital, and Gon was treated for the injuries he had sustained… but that was to only speak for the physical ones.

“Ray! Over here!” Gon’s voice calling her brought her back to the present, and she looked up from the trampled snow and soggy leaves to see Gon standing tall, holding his hand up high in the air and waving a piece of dark glinting metal.
Both Heracross and Treecko scavenging in the area around him.

Ray ran over holding her hand out as Gon placed the fragment in her palm, turning the black metal over she nodded. It looked like the edge of a blade to her.
“Good work,” she told him, placing it into a bag. “Let’s get the rest and bring them back to the hospital.”
She looked over and nodded to Emith who got to work shoveling through the snow.