"Here he is, honey," The nurse propped the door to room number 221 wide open with the toe of her shoe and waved 000 inside with her clipboard. "He's all yours!"
000 gave the nurse an annoyed glare as she unceremoniously forced him into the room. The nurse was fully aware of the agent's undignified scowl and with a light smack on his back with her clipboard, the woman smirked.
"And you're definitely right, girlie," the nurse nodded to 000 who was lingering awkwardly in the doorway. "He's the most miserable looking guy I've ever seen!"
000 was about to turn around and give the nurse a piece of his mind, what with her last comment and all, but the nurse had backed into the hallway and was well on her way to her next patient with a chansey at her side. 000 grunted in exasperation as he stepped into the bright room, too tired to even consider the next challenge that was awaiting him within.
He turned about slowly, but that didn't make his pain any less.
There she sat. A question mark thrown into his life, but a new welcomed distraction from his usual misery. The most recent trial to enter 000's world. Probably the least threatening obstacle he had ever faced, too. But, regardless, there she was in all of her odd glory.
The blue-haired Faller.
She looked a lot less gaunt in a hospital gown that fit her properly, for a change. Her complexion appeared a lot more natural than when he fished her out of the water, but her freckles still stood out prominently on her fair skin. She seemed to be roughly five to ten years younger than the agent himself and she was playing the part of his junior well with that childish pout on her face.
The agent sighed again. This wasn't going to be easy for either of them today.
000 took another step into the room, closing the door with a quiet click behind his heel. He peered up deliberately through his bangs, hoping to give himself another minute to prepare for this next battle.
She wouldn't dare give him the chance.
The room was warm and bright, sunlight was streaming in through the open blinds. 000 knew hospital rooms to be a solemn place of gloom, but this room was the strict opposite of anything he had ever experienced. This place, though, it even had a perfect view of the ocean. The window was cracked open, where a pikipek was preening itself on the window ledge. The rustling of palm fronds and the surge of the sea to whispered into the room and filled every corner with a delightful cheerfulness. It was a beautiful setting, but the Faller's oppressive dark energy lingered in the room, sapping the life out of all the brightness the room had to offer.
The woman sat there on the bed stationed against the wall, propped up in the center of the room. Her arms were crossed sternly in front of her chest and her eyes pierced unfathomably into his soul. An IV had bitten into her arm and fed into some intravenous contraption that was standing besides her bed. She had an audience of a number of computerized systems that were also surrounding the girl, scrutinizing her every bodily function and waiting to cry out the moment anything fluctuated.
A vibrant old-fashioned travel poster featuring a laughing couple and their pokémon taking a walk down a scenic beach was hooked onto the wall, next to the window. In colorful, exciting font, the thing read, "Welcome to Alola, where everyone is your ohana!"
Underneath the poster, two stools were stationed in the corner. A small counter top with a sink was pushed in the corner by the entryway by where 000 was standing. There was also a small TV set out on a short cabinet across from the bed, buzzing quietly. It was playing a famous old, black and white comedy show where a zany woman was trying to concoct a way out of being blamed for something or another by her husband. All together, it nice little hospital room, by any standard, especially when compared to his darker days in a similar room. That is, minus the girl's death glare locked onto him, of course.
As 000's eyes stopped observing his surroundings and glanced to the Faller, his usually strong gaze suddenly faltered. He couldn't help but turn from the girl and avert his sight.
Her eyes were like staring into the sun. Far too painful to keep staring at for long and he feared he'd go blind with elongated contact with her. And how had he not register the Faller's fierce gaze before? Her irises were a bright turquoise that seemed to shimmer as the light caught in her gaze.
Impossibly so, the girl perfectly radiated the chaotic energy of the ocean. Dazzling and stunning with a deadly darkness contained at her core. He knew for certain that she held secrets in her depth and though he couldn't reason why, 000 was itching to bring them to the open air.
Tuning back into reality, the agent froze abruptly as her glare continued to bite into his soul. He feared her intense gaze was somehow able to see through him perfectly. As if she could see straight through the patches he fit over the dark spots in his life. As though she was lifting them up and peaking in at the scars he had tried to hide from the rest of the world.
Whatever she was, her eyes held far too much power in her eyes.
000 shuffled closer into the room and brought his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing at a sore spot while trying to think of what to say. For one of the first times in his life, the voices in his head shut up entirely. 000 was at a baffling lack of words. Try as he might to think up anything to say, his voice had become mute.
Luckily for him, the Faller was the first break the silence.
"I'm still mad at you, you should know." She huffed at him, puffing up her cheeks in anger. Her voice rang clearly with some peculiar sort of lilt in her voice, a dialect or accent he couldn't place. She turned her head dramatically away from him and toward the window.
Agent 000 kept his distance from the Faller's bed. "What do you mean, girl?" His voice came out in his normal rough tone, though he feared some sort of gentleness was creeping out with his every word.
"A real gentleman wouldn't make a lady walk that far while shes taken ill." The girl leered into his soul again. "I really didn't appreciate that."
000 blanched slightly at her remark. As good as it had felt to whip his work phone into the hungry abyss of the ocean, it took him but a minute to regret his decision. Just as he was about to dig the Faller out of the sand, it occurred to the agent that he had no way of dialing emergency services.
"That was my fault," 000 admitted gruffly. "Sorry. I didn't mean for you to suffer on account of my poor decisions."
She perked up at his moment of weakness. "Your 'poor decisions?'" she questioned, sounding uncertain.
"I'm not sure if you were all there when I did it, but I threw my phone into the ocean." 000 interlaced his fingers behind his head and leaned backwards a bit, his half-lidded eyes and posture made him look far more lax than he actually felt. "Not my smartest move, I'll admit," he chuckled.
The Faller dropped backwards into her pillow. "You could have called for a taxi then, instead of making me walk in that hot sun after I nearly died!" She frowned at him, feigning weakness though an absurd strength radiated out of her eyes.
"Hey, now," 000 snapped gently back at her. "to be fair, I offered to carry you three separate times before you chose to take me up on it."
He instantly recalled the sea-soaked girl wobbling as they walked back into the city and how she took her good time before finally accepting his offer. Dying or getting hurt just to prove a point wasn't the smartest decision a person could make.
This one's got a lot of pride, don't she? He had thought to himself with mirth.
When she had finally climbed on his back, the Faller wrapped her sand-dusted arms in a death grip around his neck, her head rolling with his every step like a she was a broken doll. A broken, wet, sandy doll.
"Plus," the agent added with a rub to his nose. "There ain't no taxi service on this island." The Faller sat abruptly upright looking concerned. "Unless you're talking about those hariyama drawn carriages, but," he continued carefully. "I don't think you are. You're meaning something like those awful yellow cars that putt around the city, ain't you?"
"No taxis?" She spoke quietly, uncertain of herself and her confused mind. "How are there none - where did they go?"
"Nah, we've never had them at all," 000 continued. "People here on the islands are really particular about keeping nature clean, can't say that I blame 'em. They've got a unique sort of ecosystem here. A lot of people thinking that it needs protection. So, most folks don't have cars. Hell, I don't even know anyone here on Ula'ula that has one - everyone gets around the island on pokémon or by their own means."
"Island?" she started, sounding shocked. "What do you mean 'island?' We're on an island?!"
000 cocked his head to the side. "Yeah, Ula'ula in the Alola region. It's a chain of a few islands. You ever heard of it before?" He tried, softly.
She shook her head slowly from side to side. "No, I've not." Her head bowed down as she began to fidget with her fingers. "The doctor said I must have hit my head. I guess this is the amnesia talking…"
The two remained in silence as an odd suffocating feeling enveloped the room.
Suddenly, she bolted upright, giving 000 a jump as she focused back at him. "But I've never heard of this place before! I swear, I have never been to an island region before! I would remember that!" Her voice was desperate, as if she was trying to convince herself that she was right.
The agent nodded. This was a good enough segway as anything.
000 walked across the room and pulled a stool over to her bed and sat down closely near her side. "Listen, do you remember anything? Anything at all?" He gestured gently with his hand. "What was the last thing you remember before you met me?"
"'Met me', why aren't you absurd!" The girl laughed at 000, who sat up straight, looking perplexed.
"What the hell do you mean by tha-" 000 barked to her amusement.
"I can't recall what I was doing just before coming to," she interrupted him suddenly, sounded a lot more focused now. "But, I can remember quite a lot of other things!" The Faller chirped proudly.
"I know this show," she stated hastily, pointing to the TV. The woman on screen was run wildly away from her angry husband after she flipped a pie in his face, while the studio audience laughed merrily at the scene. "I know I love popped corn. And I know…" Her voice drifted off as her brow creased, as if she was fighting to remember something or anything else.
"Such as," 000 tried with a sly smile on his face. "Your name?"
The girl jolted in the bed and she took up a disapproving glare. "Yes, of course, I remember my name!"
000 raised his eyebrow sharply at her. "And that would be…?"
The girl's head swiveled around the room, searching for something. Her eyes locked onto the poster and 000 could see her wide eyes scanning it, hopelessly begging for help.
"Well?" The agent asked again.
The Faller snapped back to meet 000's glance. Somehow she appeared as though she was holding back tears, a broken frown was etched into her face.
"Lola." She called out. "My name is Lola."
000 looked over to the poster, obviously doubting her conviction.
"You sure you didn't take that straight from the poster?" The agent asked, he couldn't help it as the smirk stayed on his face.
"No, I didn't!" Lola shouted defensively. "That's my name and I'm certain of it!"
000 lifted up his hands in defeat. "OK, fine, I won't question you again on that matter."
"It's not a 'matter!'" She shouted sharply, a blush sprinkling across her face. "It's my name and that's the end of this discussion!"
000 nodded, still smiling at her angered expression. He snapped suddenly and pointed back to the Faller.
"Well, that works out for me, 'cuz I have another discussion to start with you." 000 put his hands on his hips and leaned in toward Lola. "Now where did you get off to, saying I'm your fiancé and all? I get it if you said it to the docs just to let me back here, but I want you to know, girl, I'm not one for games like that."
"What? I would never do that to you," Lola frowned, her voice was genuine with hurt.
"What on earth are you saying?" 000 peered into her eyes, looking for the answer she wasn't giving him. "You've never met me before today."
Lola snorted at him, mockingly. "Now, you're playing with me!" She jeered. "That's not fair!"
000 leaned backwards on the stool, his hands set on his knees. "Seriously, girl - Lola! What are you talking about?!"
His frustration was coming back. It was a shame the water ruined his pack of cigarettes and his matches. He was really dying for one now.
"Stop lying to me!"
The Faller now moved in towards 000, her face coming uncomfortably close to his own.
"I'll admit that I'm having a hard time remembering things, but I know something's that are true." She huffed, her face growing redder by the minute.
"My name is Lola, I really do like popped corn, and you are my fiancé."
000 moved backwards, away from the Faller. This was too much!
"I'm not!" He cried out loud. "I think I'd remember if I offered my hand to some girl, especially some girl I just met today! If you keep up with this nonsense -"
"Nanu," her stern voice cut through his, like a hot knife through butter, effectively silencing 000 immediately. "I don't appreciate this at all."
000's face reddened. No one had called him by that name - his true name - in years. Not since he parted ways his old, terrible life. He made sure to see to it that Nanu died when Agent 000 was born.
"You," 000 gasped, caught completely off guard. "How do you know my name?"
Lola tilted her head towards him and playfully flicked the end of his nose. She gently grazed her fingers over his cheek. 000 was frozen in utter shock.
"I think I'd at least be able to remember the name of the man I've agreed to marry," a sincere smile blossomed onto her face.
000's head swirled wildly as she embraced the agent, tossing her arms as well as she could around his neck.
"After all, you would never be able to forget me, would you?"
000 was trying to force a word out of his mouth, but before he could release it, Lola pressed her lips onto his own. The voices in his head came wailing back at full force as the Faller kissed him, his hands hopelessly hovering over her back. For a change, each screeching voice was crying out the same thing.
What the hell was going on?!