Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon Special

A Mother's Sorrow

"Ruby, can you come downstairs for a minute?" his mother called, from the base of the stairs.

"Ruby?" she called again. She was met by silence once again and started up the stairs for her son's room.

"Ruby," she called, with a firm rap on his door. Still hearing only silence she gripped his doorknob and gave it a turn letting herself in. She was met with an empty room and his curtains billowing in the breeze. Her heart stopped when she spotted the rope tied to his chair and leading out the window. In a few strides she covered the distance between the door and the window. She peered out the open window and as she had suspected she was too late. He had already vacated the house and the surrounding area.

She turned around and started for the door. He strides slow as she walked back downstairs in a daze. She stopped at the phone and gingerly lifted it up listening to the dial tone as her fingers hovered over the buttons. She gathered herself together and swiftly dialed the number for Professor Birch. She received his answering machine and left him a quick message informing him that the surprise party for Ruby was cancelled.

Her courtesy call finished, she quickly punched in the number for the Petalburg Gym as she blinked the forming tears out of her eyes.

"Hello." A gruff voice answered on the other end.

"Norman," her voice cracked.

"Cathrine?"

"Norman, Ruby – we'll he's – he's run away."

She heard a crunch from the other end of the line before it went dead. He had crushed the phone in his hands again. She sat herself down at the kitchen table and let her head fall into her hands. She knew Norman would be out looking for Ruby right now in a fit of rage. He wouldn't stop by the house to support her or reassure her that Ruby would be all right and that they'd find him. Norman was quick to anger and slow to compassion. It was his fault but she reasoned that no matter how angry he was no harm would befall Ruby. It hadn't in the past at least.

She glanced over at the iced cake on the counter with 'Happy Birthday Ruby' written in her own swirly handwriting. Her gut told her Ruby wouldn't be back soon no matter how much she wished Norman could bring him back tonight. Ruby was elusive when he wanted to be.

With once last glance at the cake on the counter she got up and lifted the glass cake stand it was resting on. She walked over to the trashcan and let the cake slid form the stand into the garbage.

"Happy Birthday, Ruby," she whispered. "I wish you had stayed. We were going to be a family again, and your farther was going to let you partake in contests."

She brushed the tears from her eyes and walked over to the mantle. She carefully picked up a picture frame from the mantle. The picture inside depicted the three of them before they had left for Norman's first gym leader qualification exam. She remembered that day so well. It had been the last day she had seen Ruby give a genuine smile. After that day pain, sorrow, resentment, and remorse had been lurking behind it.

"Please be safe, Ruby. When you get back we can finally be a family again, and maybe you'll finally be able to truly smile again like before our family broke apart."

She set the picture back on the mantle but this time face down. She vowed she wouldn't turn it over again until her was back and they could restart fresh as a family.