The Spirit Carries On
With a hand on one hip, and wiping a sweaty brow with the other, an exhausted Sienna Volbeda takes a few steps back to admire her handiwork.
"O…K!" she gasps, staring at her crafted 'masterpiece', and gently waving a hammer to and fro in her right hand, "It took a while, but it's done!"
Stressed, unimpressed and in need of a rest, she's far from proud of her work, but happy that she's actually fixed something for once, and relieved that it's simply out of the way. She stares at her creation with a small sigh, combining her mixed emotions of relief and slight disappointment at her ineptitude with a hammer. Her original goal had been to fix this door up, all nice and neat, so that it would blend in well with the rest of the dojo in which she resides. But things didn't go so smoothly for the twenty one year old, and she finds herself glaring at the mound of splintered wood and bent nails.
"Why am I the one who has to go around fixing all this stuff?" she moans, reaching out to try and open the door, to test it and see whether or not she actually has fixed it, "Where's Elliot when you need him…"
Ever so carefully, she tries to slide the screen door to its side, only to have the recently 'repaired' handle break off in her hands!
"Oh, HELL!" she cries, kicking the adjacent wall out of frustration, only to have that backfire as well. It starts off with a little chip that dislodges itself from where she kicked the wall. That chip grows into a crack, which finds itself streaking across the wall after only a short while, and Sienna's mortified expression slowly dissolves into one of horror when the entire section of the wall collapses in front of her!
"Argh!" she cries, clenching her fists in frustration and remembering the thing that started it all. "This is all your fault!" she yells at the innocent door handle, and throws it out of the nearest window.
"My Arceus…" she sighs, slowly walking back to the collapsed section of wall and wondering how the hell this could even happen, "Come on, I've saved the world twice. You could at least treat me a little nicer…"
But a stare into the little copse in the wall has the young redhead intrigued. The wall falling apart so easily would suggest to her that it has been repaired in the past, and while that doesn't surprise her in the slightest, given that this dojo used to be a place of training for lots of Rock, Ground and Fighting-typed pokémon, she can't help but wonder…
"Is there… something in there?" she asks herself, finding a shiver run itself down her spine at the mere thought of going in there. Barely two feet wide, the little gap between the walls is covered in cobwebs, and simply gives the young woman a strange sense of foreboding. She mentally weighs up her concerns; her fears versus her morbid curiosity, and eventually decides that she's bored enough to check the place out.
"No way am I going in there alone, though…" she mumbles, instinctively reaching for her belt. However, a couple of failed grasps has her realising that she's left her poke balls elsewhere; "Oh, bloody hell…"
Becoming increasingly frustrated, Sienna Volbeda stomps off into the next room, where her poke balls lay innocently on the central glass table. Just by touch, she can tell which one she's looking for. A gentle static tickles at her fingertips, and a soft smile tickles at the corners of her lips, "…hello, girl"
With its trademark 'whoosh!' noise, a vibrant young Ampharos bounds onto the scene, as jubilant as ever.
"Hey there, Meloi!" Sienna laughs gently, finding herself ensnared in a tight hug by the Ampharos before she can so much as move, "Ready for some exploring?"
"Amph!" Meloi the Ampharos hums, nuzzling her trainer's arm at the exciting thought of exploration.
"Ahh, just in case…" Sienna mumbles to herself, grabbing one more poke ball from the pile as well, "Let's go, girl!"
"Amph!" Meloi says energetically, her soft padded feet slipping on the polished wooden floors of the dojo as she chases after her trainer. Confusion mounts as her trainer stops just seconds afterwards however, with Meloi bumping into her softly thanks to the lack of friction on the floor, "Aaaamph?"
"Yup. We're here" Sienna coos to her little Ampharos, "Can you light it up, please?"
She points to the small niche between the two walls, and Meloi the Ampharos nods fervently at her instruction. With a small humming noise, her tail begins to shine brightly, coating the room in an almost blindingly white light.
"Good girl…" Sienna blinks feverishly, trying to adjust her embattled eyes to the new level of brightness, "Now once I can see again, I'll be able to see what's in there! Eheh…"
Picking up a broom that was conveniently resting against the nearby wall, she uses it to swipe away at the thick, sticky cobwebs that are barring her entrance from the little gap between the walls. The feeling of sticky web on the bare skin of her arms is not something she wants to experience. "OK girl, let's go" Sienna instructs, pointing into the gap and slowly pacing forwards, her excited Ampharos toddling after her. Meloi's all-consuming light easily illuminates the narrow passageway between the two walls, where Sienna readily swats away cobwebs with her broom. However, she's met with disappointment when her 'exploration' comes to an abrupt halt.
"Huh?" She mumbles, confused, "…well that was pointless"
Much to her dismay, she's only walked a couple of metres or so before hitting the proverbial brick wall at the end of this mystery tunnel – literally. With a defeated shrug of the shoulders, she sighs disdainfully and turns to make her way back. However, the sight of her faithful Ampharos staring fixedly at the wall behind her spurs yet more confusion, "…what's wrong, Meloi?"
"Amph!" Meloi cries, pointing enthusiastically at such a high angle, Sienna at first believes her Ampharos is pointing at the ceiling.
"What the…?" she mumbles, turning back around and craning her neck skywards to see what has gotten Meloi so excited. And then she sees it. She doesn't know how she missed it, but waaaay up above her head she spies a solitary shelf, and on top of that shelf, a dark object!
"A-HA! Knew there was something back here!" Sienna cries victoriously, raising a clenched fist into the air. "But… how am I gonna get that down?"
She turns to Meloi for support on the matter, and her Ampharos just shrugs with ambivalence, simply happy that she found a mysterious thing.
"Of course…" Sienna can't help but chuckle with mirth. Of all times, she picks now to find something on a high up shelf that she can't even dream of reaching. "Where the hell is everyone today?" she asks. She knows that her boyfriend Elliot is out shopping, because she gave him a list of chores to do so that he wouldn't resign to a day of laziness. Last she'd heard, Bailey and Jasmine were meeting her parents, while Nikki and her boyfriend Christian were out somewhere together. Nikki's brother Scott had left to finally take on the Elite Four, and no one has heard from him since, but no one's particularly worried either, because, as Nikki herself puts it; 'He's Scott. He'll either come back a champion, or stay there until he is'
However, this doesn't solve her problem. There's a strange box on top of a high up shelf, and she – being the most vertically challenged of all her friends – can't reach it!
"OK, let's give this a try…" she mutters to herself, hatching a plan in her mind. Retrieving the other poke ball from her belt, she releases its inhabitant.
"Indigo!" Sienna cries, hugging her Girafarig with relish, "I haven't seen you guys in ages! I should really let you out more…"
Indigo the Girafarig bays quietly, tamping her front hooves on the ground as a means of showing appreciation for her trainer. Meanwhile, Sienna bluntly asks, "You see that thing up there?"
She points towards the mysterious object up on the shelf, and her Girafarig's opalescent eyes sparkle with acknowledgement as she sees it also. "I want to see what it is" her trainer states. "Do you think you could give me a lift?"
Without a noise, Indigo lowers her front legs, allowing Sienna to mount her faithful Girafarig. Progress is shaky, but the petite Sienna suddenly finds herself a clean three feet higher than she was previously, and almost within grasping reach of the object!
"A… box?" she queries, confusion rising once again. Her fingers have all but made contact with the box when a noise in the background startles her, almost causing her to slip and fall from on top of Indigo!
Unbeknownst to the three, a distraught Nikki Harper has just rushed into the room outside, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Are all men the same, Sienna?!" she bawls to no one in particular, not knowing that her friend is currently hidden out of sight.
"Wh-what's wrong, Nikki?!" Sienna gasps, once again retracting her hands away from the elusive box to address Nikki.
"It's… Christian" Nikki mumbles self-consciously, wringing her hands together and still failing to register the odd echo that Sienna's location created. "I-I put a lot of effort into a nice dinner, and a walk along the beach, and there was a sunset, and it was so pretty, a-and… so nice! But then he got a phone call from his agent or someone, so he had to leave right in the middle of dinner! W-why does he have to put his contest stuff first?!"
"Ohh, Nikki…" Sienna tries to console her friend from the little copse between the walls, "I'm sure he had his reasons, don't worry! He'll make it up to you, just you wait!"
"Y-you really think so?" Nikki queries, actually looking around this time, and getting confused when she doesn't see her friend anywhere.
"Of course!" Sienna cries, rolling her eyes at Nikki's sheer innocence, "If I have a pokedollar for every time Elliot screwed up, I'd be – WHOA!"
Trying once again to grasp at the box, Sienna overbalanced, and ended up face-planting the adjacent wall, "…ow"
"Where… are you?" Nikki asks bemusedly, hearing Sienna's voice, but not seeing her.
"In… here!" Sienna gasps, pushing off from the wall again and trying to regain her balance on top of Indigo the Girafarig.
"Huh?" Nikki mumbles slowly, withdrawing her arms so that they're closer to her body, and following Sienna's voice, where the obvious bright light that Meloi is still exhibiting gives her presence away, "…oh!"
"How did I miss that…?" she asks herself, before her eyes adjust to the bright light, and she spots her friend balancing precariously on top of Indigo the Girafarig, sporting a fresh graze on her arm from where she stumbled earlier, and clutching desperately at something tucked away on a high shelf. "Wh-what're you doing?" Nikki feels the need to ask, as she can't quite piece the complicated situation together in her mind.
"Trying… to get… that!" Sienna gasps, giving the box another determined swipe, "God, I hate being short! It makes everything so much harder!"
"I wouldn't say everything?" Nikki smiles, approaching the three and helping Sienna steady herself by wrapping her arms around her friend's thighs, "Christian's pretty tall too, and he says that it makes me easier to hug and… stuff. So I guess that's good?"
"One way to look at it, I guess" Sienna chuckles in spite of herself, "Almost there…!"
With Meloi lighting the small passage, Indigo doing her best to remain steady, and Nikki holding Sienna legs to minimise balance problems, the little group works together in their mission; retrieving the box!
"C'mon…" she puffs, just barely managing to nudge the little box with the tips of her fingers. All she needs to do is move it to an angle where she can properly grab it, and-
"Oh no!" Sienna gasps as the box overbalances and falls from the shelf, crashing towards the floor!
"GOT it!" A fast-moving Nikki cries, letting Sienna go and lunging for the box, ensnaring it between her arms just before it can hit the ground!
"Ohh, great catch, Nik!" says a massively relieved Sienna, shakily bending her legs so that she can properly dismount Indigo rather than risking a jump. "Good job, you two…" she affectionately commends her two loyal pokémon with a thankful hug each. "Whew! Now, let's see what's in that box…"
The little group head back out of the passage between the two rooms and Sienna sits herself down on the couch, placing the box on the table. The thing couldn't be any more unassuming if it tried, being just a simple parcel covered in brown packing paper, tied together with inexpertly knotted, fraying string. The only remarkable thing about it is that it's gathered enough dust to coat most of the room, at least in Sienna's mind.
"How did you find it?" Nikki finds herself asking, due to the fact that it was hidden behind a wall. One that – as far as Nikki is concerned – was in pretty good shape this morning.
"Looong story" Sienna mumbles, choking as she blows the dust away from the little box. Poking her tongue out with concentration, she carefully manipulates the old, frayed string. The knots eventually come undone, and she peels away the packing paper to reveal another box inside. This one still has no trace of ownership, or any indication of past intent, once again being of simple design; this time a black leather, perhaps implying that it was indeed once loved.
"What a surprise…" Sienna chuckles awkwardly, failing to conceal her obvious excitement. After all, there could be anything in here!
The lid is removed, and inside of it…
"An envelope?" Nikki asks, peering over her friend's shoulder inquisitively.
"That's not all…" Sienna mumbles, beginning to feel clammy at the name on it; hers. She recognises that untidy handwriting, too…
"Oh no…" Nikki gasps, raising her hands to her mouth.
Her hands now shaking with a combination of nerves, clamminess and anticipation, she has some difficulty in detaching the sticky seal, but even more in retrieving the letter from inside the envelope and actually reading it:
To my dearest Sienna.
'I won't ask exactly how you found this letter, but if I could hazard a guess, I would imagine it involved you getting angry at something. That one trait was practically the only thing you inherited from me; you have your mother's looks, her talents, her stubbornness…
Either way, it looks like I picked a good place to hide this.'
"Oh, dad…" Sienna sighs, feeling the hot sting of tears pricking at her eyes.
'I knew hiding this letter was a good idea because I knew that you would find it sooner or later. Months, years, it didn't matter, because letters are timeless. However, they're good for one thing; memories. Remember how you hated, even feared me when you were growing up?'
'Where is this going…?' she asks herself, raising a cynical eyebrow.
'Well, I just figured I'd let you know that that wasn't always the case. Believe it or not, there was one point when we were a family; just you, your mother and I'
"Pff, what a load of bull" Sienna scoffs, ready to throw the thing away. Her eyes scroll down a little further…
'Don't believe me? Look back in the box'
"Yeah, yeah…" Sienna mutters, ignoring the fact that her father knew exactly how she'd react. She places the letter down and takes another look the box. Her eyes widen with a sense of sheer disbelief as she uncovers what the letter obviously hinted at.
Mouth dry, fingers tingling, an awed Sienna Volbeda shakily retrieves a thin wad of photos from the box. The first of the three pictures is one depicting her as a baby, perhaps a year old at the most. Despite sporting the usual confused baby expression on her face, she can tell that it's her by the hair and eyes. Her eyes were just as bright a blue back then as they are now, still showing their mischievous sparkle, while a fluffy tuft of reddish hair sits almost awkwardly on top of her head. A poke ball décor onesie surprises modern day Sienna due to how much she insisted that she disliked pokémon back then, but it doesn't surprise her nearly as much as the toy she's holding. Her baby self is holding onto an adorable Corsola plushie, where it shows the basic shape and patterns you'd expect to find on a Corsola, with a simple smiley face plastered on the front of it; most likely to appeal to small children.
The second photo shows Sienna a little older, at perhaps three or four, with her father Cal giving her a piggyback ride, and Sienna herself throwing her arms into the air happily, with her hair tied into pigtails on either side of her head.
"Aww, you were so cute as a baby…" A teary-eyed Nikki chimes, her overhanging sleeves already soaked from drying said tears.
"Was not!" Sienna retorts, quickly flipping over to the next photo, and not surprised in the slightest when Nikki melts into another "Aww…"
The last of the three photos shows her, her father Cal and her mother Suzanne all in the same photo. Clear evidence that they were, indeed, once a happily family. Cal has his arms wrapped around Suzanne, resting his head on her shoulder, while she balances a young Sienna – again maybe three years old – on her hip.
Stunned beyond words, an open mouthed Sienna flips haphazardly through the photos, as if trying to discern some hidden meaning behind them, perhaps even doubting their legitimacy. Her searching pays off however, and she finds yet another surprise on the back of the third photo:
'Not convinced? Look back in the box'
Once again, she groans at her father knowing her exact responses, and peers into the box for a third time, and finds what could only be described as 'proof'.
It's wrapped carefully in tissue paper, but Sienna doesn't need to guess what it is. The delicate paper almost falls away, and in her hands she holds the old, tatty Corsola plushie from the photo.
"D…dammit dad" Sienna mumbles, furiously fighting to stop tears from spilling, "E-even now, you still-"
"Umm, Sienna?" Nikki interrupts, perhaps preventing Sienna from saying something she'd regret letting other people hear, "T-there's still more…"
"Wha?" Sienna sniffs, wiping her eyes, "Seriously?"
Nikki just nods simply, and shows her the bottom of the box. Yet another note:
'Not a day went by where I didn't lament the life I threw away, Sienna. I never admitted it, but I respected, even admired how you defied me, from such an early age too. I'm proud to have such a daughter with such spirit.
Kind regards,
Dad'
With her arms now shaking violently, Sienna Volbeda finally loses her battle with her own spirits, only to find them streaming down her cheeks.
"Y-you always knew…" she sniffs, cuddling into the long lost Corsola plushie, "Always knew how to make me cry, dad…"
"Aww, you're so cute when you're sad, Sienna!" Nikki gushes, somehow even more upset than Sienna. She wraps her arms around her friend's waist and hugs her tight.
"H-he really did care…" she sniffs, resting her head on Nikki's shoulder, "After all this time, he still… c-cared"
"Oh, of course he did, silly!" Nikki cries, rubbing Sienna's back with her arm, "He's your dad, not some monster!"
"Can't he be both?" She replies in spite of herself, and manages a weak chuckle. More tears stream from her eyes, and she buries her face in Nikki's shoulder once again, so she can continue to vent. At this moment, someone else appears in the doorway:
"Hey, I'm back!" A tired Elliot Wood calls, laden with heavy shopping, "I found this thing outside" he continues, gesturing to Sienna's DIY 'project' in one of his hands, "What is it, some kinda voodoo-" However, the bags crash to the floor when he sees what's happening, "Oh no, what's happened?!"
"I-it's nothing, Elliot" Sienna sniffs, wiping her eyes again and wrapping her arms around her boyfriend this time. "I just had a… surprise, that's all"
"S-so I dropped that shopping for nothing?" Elliot flails, glancing back towards the crumpled bags on the floor and grimacing, where a trickle of spilled milk indicates that he's already regretting his discussion.
"Yup" Sienna answers simply, "Looks like you've gotta get more now, huh?"
"Guess so…" Elliot sighs, scratching the back of his head, "So, what happened here?"
"Long story" Sienna dodges, kissing her boyfriend on the cheek, "I'll tell you over dinner, OK?"
"Did I hear dinner?" Another voice shouts. All attention is suddenly drawn to the two people standing in the doorway; Jasmine Moore and Bailey Grey.
"What… happened here?" Jasmine calls, sidestepping the dropped shopping on the floor and approaching the three, "Cause whatever it was, I wanted in on it! It looked fun!"
"Just… DIY gone wrong, Jazz" Sienna finds herself laughing, "How did it go with your parents and Bailey?"
"Ohh, I convinced them to like him" Jasmine responds simply, crashing down into the sofa beside them, "At first, dad was like 'you can do better, Jasmine', but then I said 'Really? Cause I think I've done pretty good, thanks!', and that shut him up!"
"Wow, nicely said!" Elliot chuckles, nodding approvingly at Jasmine standing up for her boyfriend, "So her dad's accepted you now, eh Bailey?"
"I-I wouldn't say that…" Bailey mumbles slowly, "That might take a while. B-but he doesn't hate me now?"
"It's a good start, yeah" Elliot laughs, "I was lucky your mum's so accepting, huh Sienna?"
"She may be, but I'm not!" Sienna teases, poking him in the stomach, "Now you go clean up that shopping!"
"N-not get more?" Elliot queries, confused.
"At this hour?" Sienna laughs, "Nah, you can just go tomorrow now!"
Elliot sighs in defeat, and reluctantly drags himself away to go pick up the ruined shopping, in hopes of saving something. However, during the ruckus, nobody noticed someone disappear…
With her long black hair blowing in the soft evening winds, a dejected Nikki Harper stares off into the distance. Her two best friends are happy with their boyfriends, and at this moment, she couldn't feel more alone. Christian Hart is likely off in another region right now, pleasing thousands of adoring fans with his contest skills. Her hands to her chest, her eyes sparkling with tears that aren't quite ready to fall, and her morale all but depleted, she stares off into the purple dusk, as if the only thing she can do is will him to return. But she knows better than that.
"Things like that don't just happen…" she sighs, collapsing into a sitting position on the ground, with her arms around her knees, "N-not to me, anyway"
She buries her face in her arms, depression sneaking up on her like her slowly growing shadow, when a tell-tale squawk in the distance catches her attention!
"Staarrr!"
Her eyes bolt open, and Nikki Harper once again looks up, craning her neck so quickly that she could've risked damaging it. Floating towards her on the purplish horizon, the tiniest black speck can be seen. It slowly grows bigger, until it finally takes some semblance of a shape, and Nikki clambers back to her feet again, a smile slowly spreading across her face.
"Oh!" she cries, jumping up and down in joy, "H-he's back!"
Barely waiting for Christian's prized Staraptor to touch down, she throws herself at her boyfriend, "Christian! You can back for me!"
"Of course!" Christian chuckles, taking her into his arms, "How could I not?"
"I-I thought you'd be busy, and gone for days, and you'd forget about me or… something…" Nikki mumbles, her enormous brown eyes staring directly into his.
"I couldn't forget about the girl who changed my life now, could I?" Christian chuckles, slowly sliding his arms around her waist, "But I did forget one thing"
"Hunh? What's that?" Nikki asks, placing her arms around his neck.
"This" Christian whispers, and leans forwards. In the glimmer of the evening sunset, two silhouettes become one as the pair kiss in silent embrace.
"Oh, and I forgot the best part" Christian chuckles, lifting her up from behind her knees, causing her to squeal with surprise.
"W-what's that?" Nikki asks, watching Christian's Staraptor slowly follow them into the house.
"I yelled at my manager for tearing me away from you" Christian says calmly, as if it was nothing, "So he gave me a week off!"
"Ohh, that's wonderful!" Nikki cries, kicking her legs out happily and wrapping her arms tighter around him. His entrance is greeted warmly by the house's other inhabitants;
"Hey, Christian! You're back!" Elliot cries, "It's great to see you!"
"Great to be back" Christian laughs, gently placing an ecstatic Nikki onto a chair, "So, is there enough room for me tonight?"
"Of course" A busy Sienna remarks as she fervently chops up vegetables of mixed description. On her way across the room, she whispers into Nikki's ear, "Told ya he'd make it up to you!"
Nikki softly giggles to herself, while Sienna and sous chef Bailey prepare dinner for the group of six. Jasmine has sprawled herself lazily across the couch next to Nikki, while Elliot and Christian catch up on what's happened since they last spoke. With a smile slowly breaking out across her face, a happy Sienna inwardly mumbles, "That's not everything, dad. I've got your spirit"
Author's note: Ohai everyone!
You might be a little surprised to read this, seeing as these aren't my characters or anything, but my dear friend OceanSpiral needed cheering up, and what better way to do that than to write something fanfictiony?
I can't draw worth a damn, so I figured I'd do this instead. Note that this contains no spoilers whatsoever! I have written this from a personal standpoint, based off what I believe may or may not happen in those dying chapters of Free Spirits.
This is only a rough draft, and may get polished up at a later date, but until then, please enjoy! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. ^-^