Don't go.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself stuck. Somewhere, in some kind of room or space. Darkness had engulfed her and all of her senses dulled, but the paresthesia parading across her skin and the quiet sounds of her shallow breaths were astonishingly clear.

Come back.

And there was nothing else that existed in the emptiness. Between the itch that dispersed across the very cracks in her bones and the cold that grazed over each hair on her body, a single thought existed in the spaces of her mind. Indistinct and fleeting but somehow tangible enough for her to think it was real.

I can't leave.

Her fingers ached to reach for something, anything, but the darkness proved to be home to nothing. For a moment she thought she was falling, or maybe floating— here, it was impossible to tell the difference. But that didn't matter. It didn't matter because within this endless void suddenly came something.

It was hardly more than a mere dot, but within seconds it expanded and contracted and expanded again, then exploded with enough force to dissipate the cold and quell the itch. A foreign sensation had overtaken her, and though she couldn't explain this feeling, it was for one reason or another that her mind kept repeating a single word: warmth.

Not when I've made this my home.

She woke up with a jolt. Blue eyes shot open and were immediately met with the sight of a pure white ceiling. She tightly clutched her blankets and waited, quietly counting under her breath— one, two, three— before exhaling deeply. She sat up slowly and adjusted herself into a seated position, lifting her arm to her head and gently pressing her palm near her eyebrow.

"Ugh…" she groaned. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before opening them and blinking rapidly.

Rays of stray sunlight filtered in through hastily wrapped curtains. With the window cracked open a gentle breeze blew and that familiar word came back to her. Warmth, she identified. Something that made the goosebumps on her arms disappear and the linens wrapped around her feel all the more softer. It bathed her room in a slightly yellow tint, and with the sounds of birds warbling being enough to drown out her own shallow sighs, her lips twitched bitterly.

"Good morning."

When Day Breaks

i. On Horizons

—

"I hate it here."

The simmering heat that accompanied springtime humidity lingered in the air like a weight that produced beads of sweat on unsuspecting people's foreheads. She watched with an irate glint in her crystal blue eyes at the people who passed her. Her aggravated expression composed of furrowed brows and pursed lips was hardly more than a brief memory to the everyday civilians on the street. She knew this— she was fully aware of it— and yet, something about knowing it made her all the more displeased.

"You don't hesitate to remind me at least three times a day, Jenny."

The girl, Jenny, let out a large huff and showed her increasing irritation in the form of locking her arms firmly across her chest. She attempted to slide down further in the car seat, but her seat belt caught underneath her arms and she was forced to sit back up. The woman beside her stretched her hand out the window, firmly grasping a paper bag that was handed to her, thanking the employee who handed her the item. She took a moment to open the bag and quickly scan over its contents before unceremoniously dropping it in Jenny's lap.

"Check to make sure everything is there," the woman said as she pressed her foot on the gas. Jenny instead turned her head away and looked out the window. "You sure you don't want anything?"

"I'm dieting."

"No you're not. You're being moody." The woman sighed. "I better not hear you ask Riley or I for any of our fries."

"I don't want this stupid town's stupid fries."

The woman withheld the urge to roll her eyes. She glanced over at Jenny, who crossed one leg over the other and continued her silent rebellion, gaze set deeply on the trees lining the streets they drove by, the buildings with roofs painted a subdued color, and perhaps most notably, the giant tower that loomed in the distance, its silhouette seen wavering ever so slightly.

"Well, at least you know what you want."

The rest of the ride was spent in silence. Jenny didn't bother to turn around and say anything else, and the woman figured it wasn't her place to get Jenny to try. In some ways or others, this was their routine. The quietude was no stranger.

When they reached home, before the car could be adjusted to park straight in the driveway, Jenny practically burst out of the passenger seat and made a beeline to her home. She placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it, but to her stunned disappointment it was locked. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing the woman smirk at her as she lifted a pair of keys in the air. Jenny returned the gesture by scoffing.

"Patience, my dear," the older woman hummed, making her way to the front door. As soon as she pushed in her keys and turned the knob, Jenny stomped inside, only stopping when she reached a large space that was most likely the living room, seeing a man hunched over a table with a series of papers strewn around him.

"What're you doing, uncle Riley?" Jenny asked.

"Paperwork," the man, Riley, responded without looking up.

"You're a dentist. You don't do paperwork."

"I don't recall saying it was job related," Riley retorted. Finally lifting his head, his hazel eyes lighting up with a mischievous glimmer. Cheeks turning red from embarrassment, Jenny shifted her gaze to the floor.

"Whatever," she murmured. Riley chuckled and craned his neck a bit, seeing the other woman appear from behind Jenny and hold out the paper bag toward him. "Ugh, Amelia, you're the best."

"You don't have to remind me," Amelia responded with a coy grin. She and Riley exchanged a quick peck on the lips before turning to face Jenny, both of them smiling amiably at her, as if inviting her to join in the exchange. They were certainly two people who seemed to just radiate a pleasant aura. Riley, even when seated, was obviously a large man, towering well over six feet with dark brown short cropped hair and a stubble that seemed to accentuate his relaxed demeanor.

Amelia, similarly, was a gracious woman with choppy auburn hair and emerald green eyes, which along with her sharp features gave her a slightly more confident disposition. Conversely, unlike the smiling adults, Jenny kept her expression neutral, but with a hint of vexation present in the tug of her lips. Raven hair flowed to her mid back in loose waves, kept in a side ponytail that was obviously tied with haste, with her bangs framing her face and sweeping across her forehead.

She stood at a relatively average height of five foot six, and she seemed well developed for someone her age, though this was mostly hidden by her clothes. Her outfit consisted of a red plaid shirt kept open, revealing a white tank top underneath, with ripped jeans that conformed to her figure. The ankle cuffs had been rolled up and a pair of black combat boots topped off her attire.

"I'm going to my room," Jenny murmured. Unfortunately, she was only able to take a few steps when the doorbell suddenly rang, the sound causing her to flinch and stop mid-step.

"Visitor?" Riley asked, getting up from his seat at the table, easily dwarfing the other two women. "Do you have any clients, hun?"

"None who are doing home visits," Amelia responded. She immediately looked at Jenny and motioned to her. The girl exhaled deeply and trudged to the door, intentionally dragging her feet across the ground in a show of theatrics. Opening the door to see who it was, her expression almost instantly twisted into one of disgust, prominent wrinkles appearing around her mouth as she openly blanched.

"Oh my god," she groaned. "Blue?"

The young man leaned against the doorway, smirked, and offered Jenny a two fingered salute. "Hey."

"Bye."

Her attempt at slamming the door shut was hindered by Blue placing his foot at the doorway. Looking up, Jenny saw a pained look cross his features, his smile acting as a poor attempt at hiding the sting of a door slamming full force against him.

"C'mon, don't be like that!" he whined, pushing his weight against the door. "Are your aunt and uncle here?"

"Blue?" Amelia asked, stepping forward, eyes wide in disbelief. "Is that— is that really you?"

"In the flesh, Amelia!" Blue answered. With Jenny realizing that she couldn't overpower him, she relented and moved back, her sudden absence causing Blue to lose his footing and stumble inside. Upon regaining his composure, he attempted to play off the slip by removing a pair of sunglasses from the collar of his shirt and grinning coolly, but based on the unamused look on Jenny's face, she wasn't particularly pleased by it.

"What're you doing all the way in Violet City?" Riley asked, joining his wife and niece. "Doesn't Kanto need its Champion?"

"Eh, things at the Plateau have been pretty dry. Thought I'd step out and pay my favorite girl a visit," Blue explained, wrapping an arm around Jenny's neck, only to receive an elbow to the gut. He wheezed and doubled over, wrapping his arms around his abdomen, chuckling nervously at the blue eyed girl. "Y-You're into me."

"Can you not be disgusting around my guardians?" Jenny asked, gesturing to Amelia and Riley. "And I thought I've made apparent several times how much I hate you. As in, how much I actually don't like you or your attempts at flirting."

"Playing hard to get, I get it," Blue chuckled. "But you'd better stake your claim on this," He gestured to himself. "Before some other lucky girl does."

"I envy the people who don't know you."

Amelia cleared her throat and stepped in between the two, looking back and forth between them before settling her gaze on Blue.

"Hate to break this up, but what exactly is it do you want with Jenny?" she asked, creasing her brows together. "She didn't get into any trouble, did she?"

"Nah, nah! Well, aside from ignoring all my texts— but I can forgive that. I wanted to talk to her. I have an interesting offer for her."

Jenny frowned. "I swear, if this is another sorry attempt to get me to go on a date—"

"It isn't!" Blue quickly defended, holding his hands up in front of him. "I swear! Is it okay if I just take her outside for a sec?"

"Absolutely not," Jenny hissed. "I'm not spending a second alone with you."

Turning on her heel, she froze in place upon seeing the smiles on her aunt and uncle's faces, which all but told her you are most definitely doing this. Groaning in dismay, with no other choice, Jenny grabbed Blue's collar and dragged him outside, a toothy grin spreading across his rosy cheeks.

"The only reason I've come this far out with you is because you bought me ice cream."

"Only using me for my money, Willy? That's harsh. But I forgive you, since you have such a cute face~"

Jenny grimaced angrily at Blue. She consciously stopped herself from delivering a slap to his face— although she very much thought he deserved worse— and directed her anger to the ice cream in her hands, biting into the cone. The two had made their way to a local ice cream shop, where they sat outside on a bench, staring at the road before them, with a river flowing just ahead. That wobbling tower always remained in the background, looming quietly over the entire town.

"What do you want from me? And stop calling me Willy, you asshole, you know I hate that nickname."

"Why?" Blue asked, amber eyes carrying a devious glint. "Come on, it's cute!"

Jenny held up three fingers. "One, it's a masculine nickname. Two, it sounds stupid. Three, you came up with it. Therefore, I hate it."

"Ahh, I love it when you play hard to get," Blue cooed, sprawling himself out across Jenny's lap. "Are you sure you don't want this pretty face?"

"Blue!"

"Right, right!"

The older boy sat up and sighed as he leaned back against the bench.

"You're starting high school, right?" he asked. Jenny answered with a single nod. "I was thinkin' Jenny… you should go to the one I went to."

"What? Are you insane? Why would I ever go to the same school you went to? And have the possibility of sitting in the same seat you were once in?" Jenny gagged. "I'd rather die."

"You don't gotta be that harsh! It's a great school! A lot of Champions and Gym Leaders went there!"

Jenny turned away, still unconvinced. This, of course, didn't deter Blue, because when it came to her nothing did. Scooting closer to her, he grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Well, I'll tell ya that it's in Goldenrod."

Jenny paused. She didn't want to give Blue the satisfaction of seeing her even remotely interested in anything he said, but she knew she had lost the moment her gaze flickered toward him. While he grinned widely, Jenny just rolled her eyes.

"So what? That doesn't mean anything," she grumbled.

"To you it does," Blue returned. "Look, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. That fancy school, ranked top in the region, with the super low acceptance rate. I can get you in, no problem. I'll just write up a recommendation for you! You don't have to take that stupid entrance exam. I'm a League official, so I have the power to recommend you, and they'll automatically acce—"

"I don't want it."

Blue bit his tongue, wincing at the taste of copper that now entered his mouth, but in spite of this his eyes remained locked on Jenny. He at first looked at her as if she had completely lost her mind. Then, he took a closer look at her body language; the way she seemed to shrink; how she turned fully away from him, strands of her hair falling into her eyes. He opened his mouth then promptly closed it, and he looked around as if hoping the right words would fall from the sky and land in his lap.

"... You're different now, you know," he said after a few more agonizing moments of silence. "You don't have to be scared of putting yourself out there."

"The whole reason we moved to this stupid city was to get away from who I was," Jenny muttered.

"And you have. Haven't you? I mean, you seem to be doing pretty well now."

"Only because no one has recognized me," the girl continued, keeping her voice low in order to prevent her words from entering any wandering ears. "I just want to live a normal life, Blue. Is that too much to ask for?"

"'Course not. Look, there are plenty of people like you out there, Jenny." He smiled. "I wish I could hide like you. Everywhere I go, there's cameras and a crowd of crazy fan girls always following. I guess that's why I like this city so much. It's quiet, off the map."

"I thought you liked those girls."

Blue smirked. "You know I only have eyes for you."

"Your tenacity is infuriating," Jenny scoffed. Blue threw his head back as he released a hearty laugh.

"Hey, that tenacity is how I got to where I am now!"

"Eighteen and without a girlfriend?"

"That's besides the point."

Getting to his feet, Blue exhaled deeply and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"It'd make Amelia and Riley happy," he said, his voice uncharacteristically calm. Jenny frowned slightly with the topic having made a roundabout, but she herself acknowledged his stubbornness. It wasn't something that could be avoided so long as his mind was on it.

"Maybe it'd make you happy," Blue continued, now rocking back and forth on his heels. "Seems like it's impossible to see you smile."

"There hasn't been much to smile about lately."

Something about that made Blue smirk. Looking over his shoulder, he chuckled and sat back down beside Jenny, tilting his head to get a better view of her face.

"Will you let me do this? If you won't go out with me, will you at least let me help you?"

"Why?" the raven haired girl asked, only slightly shifting her head to look at him. "Why are you so hellbent on this?"

"I wanna make you smile." The older boy simpered. "That'd be some great bragging rights."

Glaring daggers at him, Jenny rose to her full height and began walking away. Blue scrambled after her, stopping when she did, his entire face lighting up when she turned around to face him.

"By the way, your outfit is super trashy. Black and green?" she commented, referring to his shirt and pants, respectively. "Tacky and not subtle at all."

"Any suggestions then?"

Her eyes quickly scanned his form and, pivoting around, she continued her venture, a small pull at the end of her lips.

"You look good in gray."

As soon as Jenny's eyes fluttered open, the first thing that entered her mind was how tragic it would be if, say, the world were to suddenly end. Then, rather morbidly, because she was apparently some kind of masochist, she thought about what the worst way to die was. She settled for a heart attack because that was all she could think of at the moment, and began to consider the pros and cons of suffering from such; Blue was somewhere in both lists, but Jenny immediately ejected his name from her mind, miffed that he had even entered it in the first place.

"Jenny!"

Another day, another dollar.

Jenny swung her legs off the edge of the bed and took a moment to sit there, looking around her room. A few boxes had been piled up in the otherwise empty room, having now been stripped bare. She took a moment to consider the reality of the situation. She had somehow been convinced by Blue of all people to actually enroll in this school, and it was her own pride that was now screaming in her head that this was, while not at the very top, definitely somewhere in the top five worst decisions she's made.

The only solace she could get out of this was that she would no longer be in Violet City. It wasn't necessarily a bad place— no, as a matter of fact, it was quite wonderful— but it held too many remnants, carried too many reminders, and something about that tower that constantly shifted in the distance made her wish she could disappear from it all.

At the very least, she would now.

Getting ready didn't take very long. After showering and putting on her clothes, she made her way downstairs, stopping when she saw the familiar dirty blond mop of hair that belonged to Blue. He turned around and smiled, offering Jenny a friendly wave, to which she ignored and directed her attention to her aunt and uncle.

"I'm ready," she said.

"Let's get your stuff," Amelia said, dropping a device from her pocket. It bounced on the floor and split open, producing a white beam. From it, a purple simian pokémon with two large tails emerged, jumping around enthusiastically.

"Ambipom, mind helping us out with the boxes?" Amelia asked, her pokémon nodding its head and bounding up the stairs. As Jenny approached the other three, she slid a hair tie off her wrist using her teeth, pausing when Blue held his hand up in front of her.

"What?" she asked crossly.

"Use this," he said. He reached into his pocket and fished out a white ribbon.

"No."

"Oh, c'mon." Blue dismissed the glare he was given and grabbed Jenny's shoulder, pulling her closer to him, and raked his fingers through her hair, grabbing a large clump.

"Are you guys just going to let this happen?" Jenny asked, looking at Amelia and Riley.

"What? It's romantic," Riley said with a shrug of his shoulders, and hurried upstairs to help with the boxes. Jenny pouted in response and simply let Blue tie her hair into the messy ponytail it was always kept in with the ribbon.

"There," he said, allowing it to rest on her shoulder. "Now, you'll always have a part of me wherever you go."

"Disgusting. I might have to shave my head now," the raven haired girl spat.

"Well, if you two lovebirds are done, I'm going to start up the car," Amelia stated, giving the two teens a friendly smile before heading outside.

"They don't hate me." Blue smirked. Jenny clenched her fists in preparation for what was coming next. "I think that's proof you and I really should be a thing."

"Last time I checked, relationships are a mutual agreement, and whatever we have is definitely not mutual."

She stormed outside without another word. Chuckling under his breath, Blue sighed deeply, almost longingly, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"She's into me."

As the boxes were placed into the trunk of the car, Jenny watched from a bit of a distance, standing farther away from her aunt, uncle, and Blue, who all seemed to be engaged in a conversation. She didn't bother to figure out what the topic was about, and just turned her head upwards to the blue sky above, but looked down when her name was called.

"Have your pokémon?" Blue asked. Jenny nodded. "It's a good school, Jen, I can tell you that. You'll like it."

"Maybe."

"If you don't, you could always come back home to m—"

"Save it, or else I'll cut you in places you didn't know you had."

Blue shuddered at the threat that, based on the darkened look in Jenny's eyes, seemed more like a genuine promise, but he smiled regardless.

"Aw, Jenny, don't be so cruel," Amelia said, thoroughly amused at their exchange. "C'mon, get in the car. We're heading out."

Jenny trudged to the car, but Blue stepped in front of the backseat door, his body serving as a physical barrier. Crystal blue eyes stared angrily into amber, but before anything could be done, Blue wrapped his arms around Jenny and pulled her in for a hug. She gasped sharply at the sudden action, eyes widening in shock, her expression left dazed even after Blue separated them.

"You know I always got your back," he said. "Even though you constantly reject me, threaten me, abuse me, and even took my title away for a while—" Jenny frowned. "But I'm always rooting for ya, Jenny."

It took a moment for her to come around. Mostly because she was debating what to say to that, if she should say anything at all. Keeping her lips pursed, Jenny pushed Blue to the side and opened the door to get in the car. After closing it, she rolled down the window and looked at him, the faintest trace of a smile gracing her features.

"I know," she finally said. Two words that instantly made Blue brighten like fireworks. "Thanks, Blue."

He waved as they backed out of the driveway, and Jenny even gathered the energy to wave back. They made eye contact one more time, and his amber eyes were soon replaced with the green of trees.

"We're proud of you, you know."

Jenny looked at Amelia, who spoke without facing her. The young girl leaned back in her seat and cleared her throat.

"It's been a long time since you were in a school setting," Amelia continued. "I think we really owe it to Blue for giving you this opportunity, but you're the one who made the final decision. I think this is a huge deal."

"I dunno," Jenny muttered. "I guess a part of me felt bad. He seemed really adamant on me going there. He acts like he owes me something, when really, it's the other way around."

"You guys have fought with and against each other. It's just a friend doing a favor for another friend," Riley said. Jenny rolled her eyes at the word used to describe their relationship, but for what it was worth, friends was rather accurate. Somewhat. Blue was the only one she could consider as such, and she knew that he didn't do this because he liked her, but because he genuinely thought this was something that would do good for her. No matter how she felt about him, Jenny couldn't reject an offer with such intention.

"I just want a normal life," she admitted. "I want to put everything behind me."

"Then this is a great first step." Amelia smiled. "You'll be fine, Jen. You always have."

Nodding listlessly, Jenny leaned her head against the window and released a quiet breath. Starting new, she thought. Two words that were somehow as terrifying as they were exciting. She closed her eyes and for a moment considered what the normal life she had spoken about looked like, except—

She saw nothing in the darkness.

With the sun's rays on her skin she could recall the vaguely intimate feeling of warmth that she knew best in her dreams. She wondered what would happen if, theoretically, she were to suddenly fall off the moon or a star or some other celestial body, and allowed the darkness to engulf her because she was given no other choice but to accept it.

With the shadowed tower in the distance, a series of notions and inquires suddenly cycled in Jenny's head not unlike a hurricane, drowning out her thoughts until all that remained were questions she always seemed to have, never accompanied with the answers she desperately craved.

Am I a monster?

In the same beat she thought of a home by the lake. Inconspicuous, quaint, identified primarily by the terracotta shingles that reflected the color of the sky. Orange, pink, yellow, the shades of a setting sun. A single wind chime rang with a passing breeze, its hollow echoes serving as the first hello when she opened her eyes and the final goodbye when she laid her head to rest.

No.

And the darkness returned because it had never left. A dull throb flared to life under her skin, unable to be reached, but that didn't matter. She pushed it to the back of her mind as the nondescript warmth enveloped her like a blanket, and for the first— or perhaps final time— she heard the toll of the wind chime, far off distant yet somehow incredibly close.

Not when this feels so real.

postscript;

Ah shit, here we go again. Okay no, in all seriousness hi, I'm back from the millionth hiatus! And under a new name and everything! The truth is, I started getting into art, and I dedicated all my time to that, but after a while I realized I never felt as fulfilled with drawing as I do with writing, so I came back. I overhauled everything, basically decided to start fresh, and yeah. Admittedly, I'm pretty damn rusty so please forgive me for this poor quality prologue, but I've had this idea festering in my head for a while and I decided to bring it to life. I've been implementing healthier writing strategies, so hopefully this story will last a bit longer than others.

As always, this is a SYOC story, the form is on my profile. I ask that you send through PM only and not through review. I'm not fully satisfied with this prologue, but I hope it was at least enjoyable. This story will take elements from previous ones, and hopefully what I have planned will be executed well. Thank you for bearing with me, I honestly don't deserve you guys. So go ahead and shoot a PM if you're interested in submitting a character, and I'll see you next time!

post postscript;

Yes, this is Blue from the games, most specifically with his design for Sun and Moon, because quite frankly that's his best design. This story will include canon characters, not a whole lot, but they'll be there.