Renny: I've kinda left this fic alone for a little bit because I had no clue how to start the second chapter, but then I realised I didn't care and so here we go! Disclaimer, because I have no idea what to say other than that.

Green: You're amazing at this. Renny doesn't own pokemon.

Renny: On with the show!

OOOOOO

Mom called them into the kitchen the next day. Leaf had been unnaturally quiet, and Fire was worried that their parents had noticed.

Or perhaps they hadn't, because they'd been busy with getting things ready for Aqua tomorrow. This wasn't to say that their parents were neglecting them or anything, but they were sort of focusing a little bit too much on this Aqua boy.

Fire could sort of see why Leaf was so against this.

He sat down on his usual chair, and Leaf sat next to him silently. She'd been quieter than he usually was. It was unnerving for him, to see his twin so quiet.

She didn't even confide in to him like usual.

It was awkward, because they shared a bedroom. Twins and all.

"Leaf, Fire . . . we've got something to tell you." Dad began. "Now, before I say anything, I just want you two to know that we love you both very much and we'd never replace you- alright?"

"Of course, Dad." Fire replied, and glanced at his twin sister.

She was still silent.

Mom looked concerned, but he took up the speech nonetheless. "Lately, Auntie Crystal has been coming over a lot, and you've probably noticed this and you're probably wondering why. She's been checking over our house, making sure we have a bedroom suitable for a child- another child, that is."

Dad smiled. "You're getting a little brother!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms out wide.

Fire looked at them, quietly, and Leaf once again said nothing.

"Well, we expected a bit of confusion or whatever, but total silence isn't the reaction I had in mind." Mom huffed. He glanced at Leaf. "What's the matter, Leaf? You're not usually this quiet."

"Why do you care?" Leaf snapped, the first words she'd said all morning.

Mom blinked, taken aback.

"You'd rather spend all your time getting ready for some stupid kid who's not even related to us." Leaf went on harshly.

"But we only told you just now, how could- . . . have you been listening to us when Crystal comes over?" Dad asked, frowning.

"Yeah." Fire decided to answer this time, because Leaf would probably just swear at them. "We were listening yesterday- and Ethan told us . . . everything. About Aqua, about . . . why we don't have any other siblings."

Mom flinched, and Dad put a gentle hand on his shoulder. Leaf stood up, ignoring that, and glowered at the two of them.

"You think you can just bring some kid into this family without asking us?" she demanded. "I know we're just fucking kids, but our opinion matters- we should have had a say in this! Better late than never I guess. I don't want a little brother, Fire's my brother and that's it!"

"Leaf, we're trying to help a boy finally have a real home." Mom said, looking up with his eyes blazing. "Stop being so selfish."

"Selfish? I'm selfish?" Leaf laughed almost hysterically. "Selfish is what I call parents who don't tell their kids that they're suddenly adopting some kid we've never even met- hell, have you even met him before?"

"Yes." Dad replied. "But we-"

"Oh, there's another thing you failed to tell us, surprise surprise!" leaf snapped. "Well, go fuck yourselves, I'm not gonna agree to this Tauros-shit! Screw this Aqua kid, he can go to hell!"

"Leaf, stop this!" Mom exclaimed, standing up. "I don't know what's gotten into you, young lady-"

"I'll tell you what's gotten into me!" Leaf shrieked. "This crap! You didn't tell either of us- now he's suddenly coming tomorrow and you only figure to tell us now? That's bad parenting! This family's fucking broken, Mom- and guess what? It's your. Fucking. Fault!"

Mom froze in shock and Dad quickly wrapped his arms around him. He looked at Leaf angrily, opening his mouth to tell her off, but Leaf just stormed out of the room.

Dad glanced at Fire.

" . . . Do you feel the same way?" he asked quietly.

"I . . . a little, yes." Fire admitted. Actually, a lot. "But not about the . . . broken family thing . . . I . . . See you later."

He got up and left, following Leaf out the room.

oooo

They didn't see Mom for the rest of the day. When Leaf had finally calmed down enough, she realised what she'd said- and what impact it could have on Mom's emotional state- and wanted to apologise.

But Dad said that Mom went to the Gym, even though it had been closed for a few days due to renovations.

Fire knew it was just an excuse to get away from them. Mom wanted to be alone for a while, just like Fire did whenever he was feeling upset.

But . . . Dad always went to Mom whenever that happened. But for some reason, Dad stayed at home all day, not even going out to the Gym once to check up on Mom.

Fire knew that was unusual, because generally alphas wanted to be with their mate if he or she was feeling upset or something. It couldn't have been that they'd had a fight, because they'd heard no shouting- so maybe Dad was staying home, under Mom's orders (even though Dad was an alpha everyone knew that Mom was in charge), to keep an eye on Leaf and Fire.

Mostly Leaf, really.

"But . . . I wanna say sorry for what I said!" Leaf cried.

Dad sighed and shook his head.

"Mom needs to be alone for a little while." he said again.

"But he's been gone all morning!"

" . . . Are you sorry for being mean about Aqua coming to live with us?" Dad asked.

"No." Leaf said, almost growled. "I . . . I'm sorry about how I said it, I know it was harsh and I know Mom's not very good with stuff like that . . . but I'm not sorry for actually saying that. I am sorry for saying he's broken our family, because- because that's not true!"

Dad's look softened and he opened his arms. Leaf didn't even hesitate before rushing straight into them.

"I know you didn't mean it." Dad said softly. "Mom'll be back soon- he's the only one who knows how to cook in this house anyway."

But Mom didn't come back soon, and as the day went on, Dad got increasingly worried. But he didn't want to leave Fire and Leaf, he didn't want to disobey Mom.

You only do that once, a lesson which Leaf apparently kept forgetting on a regular basis.

Dad cooked some stuff in the mircowave for them, which was nice but it wasn't Mom's awesome home-made food. Leaf looked incredibly guilty about everything, because even though was technically right, she did think this was her own fault.

"Do you think maybe Mom's left for good?" Leaf asked quietly, sometime in the evening when she and Fire were sitting on the sofa, watching a movie to pass the time.

" . . . I don't think he'd do that. Not to us or Dad." Fire replied.

He was just as worried- sick to his stomach, in fact. So much that, when Dad said it was tea time, he couldn't eat a single bite.

"Kids . . . Mom'll be back, alright?" Dad sighed, taking the mircowave meals off them, placing them on the coffee table nearby. "Before he left, he told me he'd come back."

"But did he say when?" Leaf asked.

" . . . No, he didn't." Red mumbled. "But he is coming back, I promise."

"We should go look for him." Leaf said, more strongly than before. "Get Ninetales or Arcanine- we can even try using Leo and Shinx- have them track his scent, then we'll know for sure where he is!"

"That's a good idea." Fire agreed, looking at Dad. "Should we try it?"

But before Dad could answer, they heard the front door open. A moment later, it closed- and all three of them exchanged glances.

Then they rushed off to the hallway.

Mom was standing in front of the door, dirty as hell and looking way more tired than Fire had ever seen him.

"Green!" Dad cried, rushing forwards and gathering Mom in his arms. "Where the hell have you been, we've been worried sick about you!"

"Sorry." Mom murmured, hiding his face in Dad's chest. He clutched onto Dad's shirt tightly.

" . . . M-Mom?" Leaf shakily called.

Mom twitched, but he didn't react beyond that.

"I'm . . . I'm sorry. F-for saying you . . . um . . . You didn't break us up." Leaf blurted out. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry- I promise I didn't mean to make you . . . I don't know . . . Mom? Mom, please say something to me . . . I'm sorry!"

"It's okay." Mom said, pulling back a little to look at Leaf. "Really, it's okay. I know you didn't mean it. It just hurt at the time, that's all."

"O-oh . . . s-so . . . you're okay?" Leaf asked.

"Yes." Mom nodded.

"O-okay . . . I'm gonna . . . go upstairs . . . I'm sorry." Leaf repeated, and then she rushed off.

Fire was torn between immediately going after her, or checking that Mom was really okay.

He certainly didn't sound okay- more or less like some sort of humanish robot that was just learning how to feel and speak with emotion.

"Mom?" he quietly called.

Mom looked at him, and there was something in his eyes Fire couldn't really place.

"Are you really okay?" Fire asked.

" . . . Of course." Mom replied.

"Fire, go upstairs for a while, keep Leaf company." Dad told him, taking charge for once- it was rare, but sometimes it happened. "Alright?"

"'kay, Dad . . ."

As Fire went upstairs to his and Leaf's bedroom, he realised what that something in Mom's eyes had been.

Nothing.

It had been . . . nothing.

oooo

"You're not okay." Red said, leading Green to the living room and sitting him down on the sofa. He sat next to his mate. "I know you- I've seen every bit of you, every single mood, good or bad . . . I know you're not okay right now."

"I'm fine." Green told him.

Even his voice sounded dead.

"Don't go back to this, please." Red begged him. He picked up Green's hands and held them, trying to get his mate to at least look at him. "Please, Green . . . Leaf and Fire can't tell. They'll take your word that you're fine, but you're not, are you? Don't lie to me."

A flicker of emotion passed in Green's eyes and he quickly closed them. Red just about saw tears about to fall, and he quickly wrapped his arms around Green, protecting him like he always did.

"She didn't mean it." Red whispered to him. "You did not break this family, Green."

"It was my choice to adopt Aqua." Green mumbled, voice shaking. "It's my fault she . . . she hates me . . ."

"Leaf doesn't hate you!" Red cried. "She doesn't like the idea of suddenly having a brother, after all these years of it just being us . . . that's why she's so angry, that's it. She's not gonna blame you for this."

"But . . . if she doesn't . . . then she'll blame Aqua." Green said. He curled into Red and cluthced at him. "You know what Leaf's like, when she doesn't like someone she makes sure they know it- what if . . . what if Aqua just gets worse because of it? If she blames me, he won't have to take that."

"We'll take it as it comes." Red told him gently. "We can't control what our kids feel- no one told us parenting would be easy, did they? In fact, a lot of people- including your grandpa- told us that it'd be one of the hardest things we've ever had to do in life. But we'll get through this, Green. We always do."

" . . . We can try."

"Yeah, that too." Red agreed. "Leaf and Fire might not like it at first, but Aqua's coming to live with us- like you said, we can't let him down, not after getting his hopes up like this. They'll get used to him."

"Hey . . . you remember when we used to be rivals?" Green asked, glancing up.

Red was incredibly relieved to see that whatever crap he was saying was actually working. Green looked more like himself.

"We hated each other, right?" Green went on. "But . . . then we actually became friends. You and Blue sometimes got into fights over me, after some of my heats, but we were actually friends. It took a while, but . . . A-and maybe that'll happen here, too . . ."

"It will happen." Red nodded. "We'll just have to mediate between them- after all, we can't let this turn out like any of our fights. If only we had adult supervision back then, right?"

"Your parents were good enough." Green muttered.

"Not really." Red grinned. "But, anyway . . . where did you go? You're dirty as fuck, and I know for a fact that the Gym's almost finished. You can't have gone there."

"I went for a walk in the forest." Green answered, not exactly looking at him.

"And . . .?" Red prompted.

" . . . And I found a Beedrill nest." Green sighed.

"You ran, right? The last time you found a Beedrill nest you sort of just froze and got stung like a million times. I'm pretty sure Daisy had a heart attack when you came back."

"Of course I ran!" Green snapped, punching him. "I'm not an idiot! Took a while and I got muddy and dirty, but I shook them off eventually . . . and then I came back here but I . . . I wasn't ready to come back yet."

"That's okay." Red reassured him. "You can take all the time you need- I'm not angry or anything, I was just worried. So were Leaf and Fire. You know they were both considering having Ninetales, Arcanine, Leo and Shinx track you down?"

"Wow, okay, that's a bad idea." Green cringed.

"Totally. So . . . you're alright now? Or you're going to be alright?"

"I . . . I think so." Green murmured. "But . . . can I just stay here for a bit longer? You're warm and I'm really cold."

Red chuckled, and pulled Green onto his lap so they could snuggle. "Of course. You don't need to ask for a hug, you know."

Green huffed and buried his head in Red's chest.

OOOOOO

Renny: D'awww some fluffiness!

Green: And you said nothing bad would happen to me in this fic . . . you said you'd give me a break.

Renny: I said I'd give you a break. I said nothing about Leaf. Read and review!