Roots

by EyeofAmethyst07

Giratina, having died, reflects on his life with Shaymin. Eventually, he finds, everything has to end where it began. An R.W. Yang novel. Sequel, but you don't necessarily need to read the prequel.

A/N- Hey, all. I'll keep this short.

I will not be updating my other stories yet. This was just something I needed to write down. Sorry for the inconsistent I'm-not-writing-oh-wait-I-am-psych-I'm-actually-not thing, but…

*sigh*

This is a sequel to Under the Willow. Back by unpopular demand, it's told by Giratina this time 'round. This is told just after Giratina dies in the story. Although you don't need to read the first one… I'd suggest it.

You might love it. You might hate it. You might just skip this Author's/Note regardless.

But please do me one favor… finish it before you decide, okay? Don't leave this half-read.

Title and the beginning lines of each segment are inspired by the song Roots by Imagine Dragons. What else is new?

Now, then. Shall be begin?

Roots

Ah… so it's you. I cannot hide my surprise; I was under the distinct impression that our story was lost. Apparently not…

Let me be blunt; you only know me as death. You only know me as pain. Suffering.

You're not wrong.

But you're not all the way right, either. I left my prison, my home of the Distortion for the upper world some millennia ago. There, I lived a life of fear and hate. None cared for me, and I reciprocated. I stayed for two reasons only.

The first; the environment was much better than my home. The Distortion constantly works to unravel anyone within it, trying to break them down. It would have taken an eternity to do so to me, so I suppose you think I should have had no reason to leave.

I was supposed to live an eternity as well. You see how well that has played out.

The second reason was exponentially more recent. A creature who somehow managed to survived the monster my home had created. Sadly, my reason for leaving the Distortion was also my reason for returning.

I wanted to live. And by extension, die.

You've no idea what I would give to have another sunset under the willow. The universe has other plans, though.

This is my story. This is how a deity of fluid space, of anti-matter, was pulled back to his Roots.

/-\-/-\

Another day, another door/Another high, another low

Crimson eyes revealed themselves to the world once more. My chest lurched horribly as the poorest substitute for breath found its way into my spectral lungs.

Noting my Origin Forme, I lifted into a slight hover and took in the visage of my home.

An endless sea of violet-blue atmosphere circled my vision. Broken bits of land, buildings, even some plant life were floating aimlessly amidst the ectoplasmic air. Yet, to me, the air smelled as clear as ever.

Bubbles of matter and energy gently collided with one another, causing brilliant flashes of color and light. Despite the violet gloom that hung in the air, there seemed to be a light shining through all the world as tendrils of smoke twisted and curled softly.

It was more beautiful than it should have been.

Perhaps this was homesickness? A deep, inner desire to return to the place of my origin and be reunited with my home?

I suspect not.

Perhaps I have simply been taught to see beauty in all things. It wouldn't surprise me at this point. After all…

I do find beauty in the smallest, oddest things. Especially when those things smile shyly at my presence with soft emerald eyes.

/~\~/~\

All I looked for was/Washed away by a wave

I looked down, twisting my massive girth away so I could see what lay below me. I seemed to be presiding over a chunk of land that was slightly larger than the rest. Dirt clumped together, knitting tightly with itself to form the landmass that I hovered above.

Small, black blades coated the ground. This world's equivalent of grass. Paper-thin sheets of metal gleamed silver, floating aimlessly, some landing on the blades below. This world's leaves.

A massive growth of twisted grey bark snaked its way skywards. After about 30 feet, it split and branched off, hundreds upon hundreds of un-earthly tendrils waving about in a breeze non-existent. Scorched threads of copper wire hung sadly from the branches, swaying in time with each other.

This world's equivalent of a willow.

/=\=/=\

I know it's gotta go like this, I know/Hell will always come before you grow

Something… snapped inside at that moment. I cannot say why. Perhaps I simply regretted my choice to engage in a battle that would ensure my death. Perhaps I desired to simply see actual life again.

Perhaps it was the guilt at knowing the pain I'd caused her.

It started subtle enough; a simple churn in the pit of my stomach. However, it didn't stop. I felt the pressure and heat scorch my insides, burning out the inside of my throat. My blood tipped past its boiling point, making it pulse erratically throughout my massive form. Then it reached my mind.

Nothing mattered anymore. The small bubble collisions and the Ominous Wind that forever blew in my home faded into the distant background as my vision narrowed. Now, I only saw everything that was out of my reach.

Life. The sun and moon. Companionship found in Council members.

Shaymin.

The agonizing flames of rage pushed its way past my lips as I let loose a brutal scream of pure pain. The island of dirt with the crooked tree was obliterated by the Dragonbreath that accompanied my outburst. Everything, from the landmasses to the bubbles, floated away from me, as if they consciously could sense my rage.

It hurt. I will not try to deny it in defense of pride. The painful flames washed over every inch of skin, making it feel as though it was alight in a blaze. My serpentine form whipped violently around in every possible direction, a stream of yellow-purple pain following in its wake.

I was destroyed, needless to say.

/?\?/?\

Had to lose my way/To know which road to pave

Slowly, my rage subsided. As I turned in a circle to gauge what remained of my surroundings, I was eternally shamed at finding my vision burned and blurred by tears of suffering.

Mind shattered by pain and grief, I let my mind wander.

If there is one quality I do not possess, it is naivety. When I first met Shaymin under the willow so many days ago, I knew damn well what would inevitably come from it. How could I not? After all, being the ghost I am, I've seen so many other cases of this that it may as well have been a cliché. I knew what would happen.

So… why did allow myself to be subject to this?

It was as much as a mystery to me as to anyone else. I had no reason to get involved with any of this. I never wanted it to go this far. But the damage was done quickly enough. I went from never caring to never being able to imagine a world without her. I suppose that's just Arceus' cruel joke, because;

I'm living in that world now.

/*\*/*\

Rock bottom/Rock bottom/Rock bottom

I couldn't do it. Losing Shaymin was too much for me, apparently. I spent two thousand one hundred sixty-five days floating aimlessly in the Distortion, dull to the world. Anything unfortunate to come across my path would be reduced to ectoplasm in a split second, and I would just resume my wandering.

It's a stupid and ridiculous notion. Greif doesn't last forever, correct? I should have recovered long since the incident.

But this was about more than just sadness. This was me in shock. I had my life turned upside-down. I sacrificed my life for a world that never cared for me. I fell in love.

All of my own free will.

Can you not comprehend what that knowledge does to a being? Not only does regret from not saying everything you could have said when you could have said it take you over. Not only does the emptiness tear at your insides, rip you in two, stitch you back together, then burn the poor workmanship to ashes.

You also get the satisfaction of knowing that it was all your own fault.

I slowly, progressively, began to hate myself and all I stood for. What worth did I have? I had no real purpose. The Distortion had done fine with my two millennia long absence. Arceus banished me long ago anyways. I was stupid enough to believe that I was stronger than emotion. And now I resigned myself, all all-powerful deity, to aimless wandering and moping.

Why was I here?

I shouldn't be. I should be back in the world above, so at least I could be with her. Perhaps… I had gotten to the Distortion by dying. And it is a known fact that doors open from both sides.

So all I had to do was go through the same door I'd come in through.

Surprisingly, the thought didn't shock me as bad as I thought it would. There was a bolt of fear and doubt; what if my plan was flawed? What if I never came back? But it quickly faded and was replaced by what felt like determination.

I was going to see this through. Even given the quite likely chance that it wouldn't work, I had to try. I owed that much to both myself and to Shaymin.

I was going to kill myself and return, or die trying.

/^\^/^\

All the noise of this/Has made me lose my belief

The second I confirmed this, I felt something in the air shift. It suddenly wasn't as depressing anymore. The chill was removed from it, and the wind's biting edge turned gentle, almost like a caress. I glanced up and saw the violet sky turn perhaps the slightest shade lighter.

The hope that clutched my heart almost killed me right then and there. I whirled around, frantically trying to locate the source of this sudden disturbance that had yet to be seen for two thousand years. I… I could feel her. I could feel the aura of life and grace that radiated from Shaymin in that moment. I knew it could have been no one else. Even after two eons, I still knew her presence.

She was here, in the Distortion. And I was going to find her.

Frantic hope and drunken euphoria clouded my mind as I rushed in the direction that used to be at my back. The world around me blurred into unintelligible streaks of color. The six tendrils at my back whipped around furiously, and my eyes began to sting from the wind that was assaulting them.

I couldn't have cared less. Once again, nothing else mattered anymore.

It's quite a shocking thought to see what some creatures will go through to get what they want. I was willing to die twice to be with Shaymin again. And now I was willing to cross an entire universe just for the minuscule chance of seeing her.

What has happened to me?

I used to be powerful. Feared. Cold. Believe it or not, I appreciated that life. While it may not have been the best for companionship, those that I had bonded with held a deep respect for my strength. I was the voice of reason, the eye of the hurricane, the calm in the storm. A pillar that could be relied on, the level-headed facilitator in an argument.

Now, I am reduced to a depressed creature of shadow. My mind never able to set itself on a straight path, a record so scratched that even it can't remember what it used to play. Plagued by memories that before I would have simply dismissed as unimportant.

I began to slow as the thought progressed. I had changed greatly, that much was obvious. If I were to have met myself from two thousand years ago, it wouldn't have even identified me as the same species.

But that was who Shaymin had fallen for. That was who had fallen for Shaymin.

Were we even compatible anymore? Was there still a point to this?

Did she even want to see me again?

"… Giratina?"

/}o{\}o{/}o{\

I'm going back to my Roots…

Fear stabbed at my chest, stealing my breath. Slowly, I turned to face the owner of the voice that had come from behind me.

At first, the only thing I saw was another landmass. This particular clump of dirt was slightly bigger than myself, and composed of the dull grey 'earth' that passed for ground in this world. I was about to dismiss it completely, before I noticed something rather out of place.

There was a flower on it.

Arching my neck, I lowered my head so I stared at the misplaced lifeform. I immediately recognized it as a Gracidea, Shaymin's chosen symbol. It lay there, dejected almost. The petals had a curve to them that was the slightest bit unnatural, and its normally vibrant color was dulled a little. However, thanks to my close proximity, I was able to duly note that it still smelled as though Shaymin were right in front of me.

I am too far gone, I realized. Now I'm imagining her voice, on top of everything else. I closed my eyes and sighed. For some reason, I felt a strange need to speak up.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered to the plant, my breath causing some petals to ruffle slightly. You cannot imagine the combinations of shock, fear, and joy that ran down my spine when I heard this suddenly;

"I could ask the same of you."

I felt a shudder course through my body. That voice… I still remembered it as if she'd only spoken to me yesterday. Almost afraid of what I might see, I glanced up. Not three feet from my face stood a small, stunted creature with a shag of green fur on its back. The creature stood no taller than a foot on its four legs, and its pale green eyes regarded me with indifference that almost rivaled my own.

Shaymin.

/|\|/|\

Both of us remained silent for a moment, simply staring at each other. Shaymin regarded me with a cold, expectant look that was so out of character for her that I wondered if this was a trick by some Zoroark.

Then I remembered how much I had changed in the eons that had passed.

She sat down on her belly suddenly, lowering her height by about two inches. However, it was enough to make one thing apparent to me;

The Gracidea that typically graced her fur was gone. Spending a millisecond to glance down again, I reasoned that the flower that sat between us was the one that she used to wear. My curiosity was not lost on Shaymin, apparently, as she immediately questioned it.

"Wondering why I discarded it?"

The cold, biting edge to her voice took me by surprise. Now, I wasn't exactly expecting a tearful reunion, but I was expecting to see at least some degree, of… happiness. A smile, or even just a gleam in her eyes. Instead… she regarded me as though I were simply a chore that she had finally gotten around to doing.

As such, I could only nod in response to her earlier inquiry.

Shaymin huffed gently, and I noticed her paws clenching the grey dirt slightly. "It served as too much of a reminder," she said somberly. I could not help but tilt my head slightly at this.

"Of what?"

"Of life."

I forced my expression to remain as neutral as possible. "Why would you want to forget life?" I asked her. "You are an embodiment of it."

Shaymin chuckled darkly. "Am I?"

I was about to answer in the positive range when the Gratitude Pokémon lifted her head to meet my gaze. I froze as I gazed into her celadon eyes. In them, I could see untold amounts of pain. But it wasn't the prominent emotion in them; it looked more like the pain had become a part of her, and there was nothing she could do to alieve it.

It was eating her apart from the inside out. That much was evident. There was a hollow emptiness to Shaymin's eyes that I couldn't quite describe. It was as if she only moved for the sake of moving; not because she actually wanted to.

"You have no idea what you did to me, do you?"

I blinked, Shaymin's voice jerking me from the slight trance that had overcome me. Before I could voice a response, she sighed and closed her eyes, curling up on the grey dirt. Small clouds of loose dust were kicked up as a result.

"You know something, Giratina?" I refrained from answering, instead settling on keeping my eyes firmly trained on her. I hadn't seen her for several thousand years; she wasn't going to leave my sight again.

"I would have been just fine with you dying," Shaymin said eventually, eyes still sealed shut. I tried to ignore the empty pang that sounded in my chest as the small creature continued.

"I didn't love you, believe it or not," she continued. "All those nights and mornings; all the hours spent simply sitting next to each other; I didn't care for it." I felt a vortex open in my chest, consuming me from within.

It's even worse than I imagined, I thought. She's changed just as much as I have. Now our roles are reversed; I am the shy, nervous one, and she is indifferent to it all. The thought brought a gloom to my mind until I realized something; when I was like that, before all this happened…

… it was all an act. A persona I had adopted. Not what I truly felt. So, if our roles truly had switched, then I had the duty of breaking down whatever walls Shaymin had put around her heart. I had to. I owed it to her.

"… Until you had to up and die."

/+\+/+\

I blinked for the second time in as many minutes, the blunt continuation jolting me a little. Shaymin sighed and propped herself up to sit on her haunches, opening her eyes once more.

"Once you died, battling that stupid battle against Arceus," Shaymin continued. "I stopped living. I don't know why I felt the need to stop. But… I did nonetheless." The Gratitude Pokémon gazed evenly at me with soft celadon irises.

"It hurt, Giratina," she said bluntly, a hard edge in her voice. "Obviously you didn't give a single thought to what it would do to me once you died. So thanks to you, I couldn't die after that, because I closed myself off. And also thanks to you, I couldn't live either." I averted my gaze, slightly ashamed despite not having a reason to be. In truth, it was just as much her fault as mine.

"Neither could I."

Both of us jumped slightly at hearing my voice; Shaymin from curiosity and me from shock. I hadn't expected those words to come from my mouth, but they'd just blurted out.

"When I awoke here…" I allowed myself to trail off, trying to pick the right words. Shaymin narrowed her eyes at my pause.

"What are you doing, Giratina?" she asked, suspicion thick in her words. "Why are you acting this way? Nervous? It is unlike you."

"I didn't know."

Shaymin's eyes flickered for a moment as her brow furrowed. "What? How can you not know yourself?"

I shook my head, waving a few tendrils to further make my point. "No, that's not what I meant," I told her. "What I meant was, I didn't know there would be anything… after."

"After what?"

"Life."

Shaymin's gaze eased for a second; and I could see a fragment of her shy, former self. Then the mask came back up and she scowled. The scowl did not look right on her face, as if it were meant to never be angry.

"How could you not?" she snapped. "You rule the dead."

I shook my head. "Legends are different," I countered. "Latios' spirit never showed up when he died. Neither did Heatran's. Or Darkrai's. Or Deoxys'. Why did I have any reason to think different?"

Confusion now seemed to be pushing aside Shaymin's anger for a moment as she questioned me again. "Then why did you allow yourself to die?" she asked, voice soft and light like it was in life. "Why, when you thought there was nothing else?" I sighed, lowering my head a little. This was a question I had often asked myself, but the answer only came to me as of recent.

"It was a test," I said finally. "A test to see if I really had fallen as far and as deep as I thought. If I hadn't, then I never would have died. Given a month or so, I would have healed and been perfectly fine. But I suppose I did fall… and once I knew that, I accepted it."

Shaymin was silenced, her face not betraying anything to me. I stared back at her, trying not to let the hope show through in my features. For a long moment, neither of us say anything as a soft gust of wind comes by and ruffles Shaymin's fur. Then…

plink

I see a single droplet of clear liquid hit the dirt at Shaymin's paws. I return my gaze to her face only to see it twisted in grief and pain. More of that very same liquid poured from her eyes, and she curled up into a ball of green fur on the ground. She quivered periodically, and I could hear a distinct sobbing noise come from her.

I neared her, and was about to nudge her with my snout when-

"I'M SORRY!"

I floated several feet back by instinct, then I gathered myself and pulled in closer. I mustered the courage I had left and nudged her gently. A small head poked out from the mound of green, and I saw streaks of red in her celadon eyes.

"Why are you sorry?" I whispered to her gently, nuzzling her. "I died. I left you." Shaymin sniffled and reached over to hug my snout. As odd as it may have looked, I felt a discreet warmth blossom from the contact.

"But-but you remained faithful," she said. "You still loved me for thousands of years." I felt something shift in my stomach, and a cold feeling set in my bones. I pulled away slightly and looked Shaymin in her miserable face. She looked to be on the verge of another outburst, just barely contained.

"… What do you mean, Shaymin?"

She looked down at her paws glumly. "I told you that I went cold and lifeless after you died, right?" I nodded, not sure where she was going with that.

"You know Legends have to be exposed to die." Another nod from myself.

Shaymin looked up at me, eyes fractured and red, and I saw another tear find its way to the ground.

"How do you think I got exposed?"

I wouldn't have been able to discern the answer from her voice. Her eyes said it all for her. I felt the feeling of cold intensify, and I could feel some of my past indifference returning. I felt angry… but this was worse than my earlier outburst. This one had cold syrup winding through my veins, chilling my thoughts and forcing me to see the worst.

"Who?" I asked bluntly. Shaymin flinched at hearing my tone, but she wiped away some tears and appeared to steel herself.

"Celebi," she said eventually. The frost in my stomach turned to ice at this, but Shaymin rushed on before I could intervene.

"I-I was alone, mourning," she said quickly, almost stumbling over the words. "Then… then he found me. He comforted me. Made me laugh. Helped me to live again." She hung her head in shame.

I felt the cold syrup almost come to a stop in my veins. "And you lived for two thousand years," I finished for her. Shaymin nodded glumly.

"He was a good friend to me, Giratina," she said, voice a bit stronger. I growled, and the sound reverberated so loudly that the dirt shook beneath Shaymin's paws. I reared back and scowled deeply, my mask sliding over my snout completely.

"It sounds like he was much more to you than that."

Shaymin flinched once more, then stood abruptly. When she met my gaze, I didn't see any traces of sadness. Instead there was… rage.

"At least he was there, Giratina!" she yelled suddenly, making me jump at her sudden tone change. "I wanted you, Giratina. Dammit, I loved you! You should have been there to hug me, you should have been there to ask what was wrong, you should have been there to love me! But you died!"

I was ready to launch a withering retort, but Shaymin continued before I could intervene.

"After you died, I should have moved on!" she yelled, fur shaking violently. "I should have forgotten. But I didn't! I couldn't! I needed you! So when Celebi found me, I let myself love him! I opened myself up, Giratina. It took two thousand years, but I did it!"

I froze. "… Shaymin?" I asked slowly. "How did you-?"

"I KILLED MYSELF, GIRATINA!" Shaymin's entire body almost glowed with the force of her statement. She suddenly seemed to lose her adrenaline rush, because she immediately slumped over to her side and began weeping again.

"I-I'm so sorry, Giratina," she said in between labored breaths. "I just w-wanted to see you again…"

Slowly, the coldness began to dissipate. Warmth didn't come in its place, though, like I thought it would. Instead, it was something else. Kind of like a bubble, slowly expanding in my chest, making me feel full.

She did that… for me?

I couldn't fathom it. I had gone to my grave believing that she had hated me to my core. Now… I found that she had gone to hers just for the chance to be with me again.

I fell for Shaymin all over again. And this time, I didn't need to test myself. I know how deep this goes.

I slowly began to approach Shaymin's trembling, sobbing form. I began to slowly curl my massive trunk of a body around her, leaving a space just big enough for her to be comfortable in. She glanced up at me and retreated further into herself, as if afraid that I was going to squeeze her in a death grip.

When I ran out of body to coil, I reached behind myself and used my mouth to pick up Shaymin's discarded Gracidea flower. Gently twisting and lowering my neck, I deposited the flower in her fur, where it belonged. Shaymin flinched at my touch, then lifted her head to meet my gaze. Her celadon eyes shone with tears, but I could tell she was no longer sad.

"… Giratina?" she whispered softly. I nuzzled her side again, feeling the softness of her fur ignite spurts of warmth along my cheek.

"I love you, Shaymin," I whispered in her ear. Given our proximity, I could feel the heat from her face as she blushed. I nudged her playfully.

"Now, I believe it's your turn," I said foxily. Shaymin's blush only deepened, and she bashfully smiled.

"You're really going to make me say it?" she asked softly. "After everything we've been through?"

"Yes," I reassured firmly. "I died to hear this from you."

Shaymin smiled widely. She rose to her paws and used her front two ones to pry at my mask. I let her wear out some energy before retracting the ends that covered the lower part of my snout. She stumbled from the sudden loss of footing, and I chuckled lightly. Shaymin took this opportunity to suddenly step forward and press her lips to mine.

I cannot tell you how surprised I was to feel Shaymin so close to me. The warm bubble of emotion in me exploded, sending droplets of warmth everywhere. Given our size difference, this never should have been possible. Yet… it happened anyway. A powerful current ran through me, and I was certain Shaymin felt it too.

We remained like that for some time, enjoying the feeling of completeness that surged between us. Eventually, Shaymin pulled back and gasped. Her chest was heaving, and her face was redder than Groudon's sunburnt hide.

"I love you, Giratina," she whispered finally. I smirked and nuzzled her again. Shaymin let out a content sigh and curled up next to my cheek. It was silent for a while before she spoke.

"You know, this is still forbidden by Arceus' laws," she said gently. I laughed heartily, a sound I had not ever heard in my entire existence.

"You're already getting your punishment for that," I said.

Shaymin giggled. "And what's that?"

I closed my eyes and nudged her gently. "You're sentenced to solitary confinement with the feared ruler of the Distortion," I said with a playful evil in my voice. Shaymin sighed and leaned closer to me, if that was even possible.

"How will I ever survive?" she asked.

I chuckled, and happened to glance down. There, I noticed a small black sapling protruding from the dirt. I had a distinct feeling I knew what it was going to be. I smiled and closed my eyes.

"You go back to your roots."

/-\-/-\

I'm going to come out straight and say; this story and its prequel, Under the Willow, are not your typical fanfic. I truly believe that each has a hidden, deeper meaning, and as such these two stories hold a certain emotional attachment to me.

Please review. I will see you all sometime in the furture.

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EyeofAmethyst07