Chapter 10:

"You make me do strange things," N said, his voice painted with gentle inflections. "I don't understand why you make me behave this way. The thought of another human—I mean person—touching me like you do makes me feel nervous, but when you put your hands on my body…I can't explain it."

Once again, as he stared into Touko's deep blue eyes, he was at a loss for words. He had yearned for true science—for the thrill of discovery and experimentation. And now, as she lay beneath him ready to surrender herself, he felt a desire that he could not quantize or evaluate. As he tucked her hair behind her ear, he felt as though he were moving science with his own hands.

He smiled; if he knew Boyle, he would laugh in his face for there could be no truer chemistry than the one he felt as she pressed her lips to his. No physical laws could govern it; not even the most brilliant mathematician could hope to express it. His mind was filled with biological definitions for what was happening to his body as she let a small moan slip through her lips when he pulled her hips into his; surely such cold and clinical words were meant to explain something—anything—else but this.

"I can tell you Planck's constant; I can tell you the atomic weight of antimony. I name all the arteries in your scalp—and yet, I cannot say what is in my mind," he sighed, his lips tickling her sensuously as he spoke.

She smiled warmly at him, her chest heaving heavily as she strained to catch her breath. She gave him a goofy kiss on the nose. "Would you like to know what's in my mind now?" she asked him playfully.

"Of course," he said softly.

"Well, I suppose it's something like this," she said as she grabbed his shirt by the collar and pulled his lips back to hers. As he deepened their kiss, she placed her hands on his waist and slid her hands up his shirt. She let her fingers trace the shape of his chest, enthralled by the way his skin felt on her fingertips. She gasped as she felt his warm fingers fumble with the bottom of her shirt, unsure of whether he should proceed. The prospect of seeing her creamy white skin both frightened and excited him.

"Let me help you," she said, disengaging herself from his lips. She gently placed her hands over his, making him close his shaking fingers around the soft fabric of her shirt. As she felt him tug on it, she turned her head toward the little window next to her bed, her face now a bright shade of red. She sighed as she gazed at the bright moon that now hung in the sky; N was still fumbling nervously with her shirt, but she could forgive him this awkward trespass for she was shaking too.

The sky is beautiful tonight, she thought dreamily. Those two stars seem to be glowing so brightly. I don't think I've ever seen them before. As N pressed his warm lips to her stomach, she could feel her breath catch in the back of her throat. She kept her eyes on the strange twinkling stars, unable to peel her eyes away from them from a mixture of embarrassment, pleasure and plain curiosity. That's strange; they seem to be getting bigger—no, they're definitely getting bigger. She jumped back, banging the back of her head against her headboard, and shrieked as two large red eyes appeared just outside her window.

"I'm s-s-sorry, Touko! What'd I do wrong?" N said, now sitting up stone straight on the foot of her bed with his hands in the air.

She shook her head, her hands now over her thudding heart. "Window," she choked out, her chest heaving up and down as she struggled to catch her breath, pointing to the brightly glowing eyes.

"Oh, look, Touko, it's a Hoothoot," N said excitedly. The little owl-like Pokémon hovered outside her window squawking impatiently; every once in a while it would tap on the glass with its beak. Touko glowered at it, now thoroughly fed-up with all the interruptions she had endured today. "He wants to come inside; he says he has a message for you."

"For me?" she repeated, slightly stunned. "I don't know anyone with a Hoothoot."

"Hoot hoo!" the Pokémon cried, irritation obvious in its voice.

"He really wants in," N said smiling. "He says it's urgent."

"Ugh, fine," she grumbled. As soon as she pulled back the sliding panel on her window, the little owl Pokémon zipped through it. It flapped about her room chaotically before finally coming to a rest on her headboard. It craned it's enormous head down and stared Touko in the eye, making strange little hooting sounds and clicking its beak every once in a while.

"Creepy," she said as the Hoothoot hopped around on her headboard, careful to never break eye contact with her. It hooted at her louder than ever, hopping and clicking its beak frantically. "I'm sorry, but I can't understand you. You want him," she said gesturing to N, who's eyes had grown several sizes larger than normal.

The Hoothoot hopped on to her lap and turned its head around to look at N. "Hello," he said softly. "You sound exhausted. Have you come from very far to see us?"

Yes. I've come all the way from Johto. I've been flying for nearly three days straight.

"Johto? That is far. What brings you here?"

I was asked to deliver a message to a girl named Touko. I was told I could find her here with a man who could speak to Pokémon.

"Are you delivering a message for your master?" N asked, unable to keep the fear rising inside of him from seeping into his voice.

No. A traveler came to my forest in the middle of night. I was at the shrine in the woods when I felt hands grab me. Before I knew it, I was put in a cage and taken to a strange building. The man told me that if I took this package to the girl, I could go free.

"That's horrible," N said, putting his hand gently on the owl's head. "I am sorry one of my kind has been so cruel to you. It is the fate many of you must face, I am afraid. But let us talk of something else; you say you have a package for Touko?"

Yes, the man tied it to my leg before I flew off.

The Pokémon extended one of its legs to Touko, who, having only understood snippets of the Hoothoot's conversation with N, was still rather confused about what was going on. The Hoothoot shook his leg at her impatiently; understanding dawning on her, she gently untied the small parcel from the Pokémon.

She hastily untied the tiny brown paper package, not sure what she would find. Inside was a white necklace box. With shaking hands, she pulled back the hinged lid, her fingers buzzing at the feel of the crushed white velvet. Lying in the middle of the otherwise empty box was a skeleton key.

It was tarnished and old, but it was clear that when it had been first made that it was extremely beautiful. The end of the key was shaped into a fleur-de-lys; inlaid into each of the three petals of the lily was a glittering, round-cut sparkling ruby. Touko was instantly reminded of Zekrom's glowing red eyes as she examined the gems, making her feel oddly exposed and uncomfortable.

Laced through the loop above the flower was a bright red satin ribbon. It was obviously a new addition, for if it were as old as the key appeared to be it would surely be in tatters. She set the box down on the bed between her and N and looked at him with curious eyes. "Why would anybody want to give this to me?" she asked, her voice shaking with fear.

"Is there a note inside the box?" he asked as he picked up the box and examined the key.

"No," she said softly. "Nothing but the key was in the box."

N ran his hand through his hair; Touko could tell this strange gift was troubling him as much as it was her. "Do you know anything about the man who sent you here? Was there anything about him that stood out to you, like scars or markings of any kind?" he asked the now quiet Hoothoot.

No. He came up behind me when he captured me. After that, he kept me in that covered cage. But his voice…I heard his voice; that is why I know my capture is a man.

"What did he sound like?" N pressed. He flashed his eyes to Touko quickly, hoping that she would not be able to see the dread in his eyes.

It was so strangely sweet and gentle. The words he uttered though…The Hoothoot hopped into N lap and pressed its head into his stomach. I think that's what made it the most frightening. The gentle way he threatened me…it was just so bizarre. I am terrified to return to my home because I fear he will find me again.

N wrapped his arms around the trembling Pokémon, relief washing over him. Gentle threats…definitely not my father, he thought. "You can stay with us; Touko and I will protect you. She is a very kind and gentle person."

Thank you, King N. The man said you were gentle-hearted.

N felt as if the blood had drained from his body. "He knew I was a—"

"N, look," Touko said. "There was a message written on the back of the packaging." Her hands were shaking so violently that as she read the message that the paper crinkled and crackled. Her voice cracked and shook as she read the cryptic message aloud.

To the hero of Unova: You and your King have done well to come as far as both of you have; you've accomplished so much in your short time together with Pokémon. But know this—your journey has only just begun. You are being watched with great interest. One day soon, if you are truly the chosen heroes they say you are, you may uncover the truth of the truth.
-N.G.S.
P.S.—I suggest that Miss Touko wears my gift at all times. She may find that it comes in handy one day.

She let the paper slip from her hands and fall to the floor. It seemed to weigh a thousand pounds by the time she had finished reading it. She let her head fall limply against her head board and hugged her pillow to her chest tightly. All traces of desire and longing had been expelled from her body the moment she read those sinister words: You are being watched with great interest.

Her skin crawled as she thought of some strange man watching her from the shadows. The last time someone had followed her with interest, she ended up battling him in castle with a dragon. Then again, he also ended up in her bed. This time, however, she doubted it would end quite so well for them.

She jumped back in fright as N placed his hand gently on hers. Her imagination had gotten the better of her once again. She sighed in relief as she saw the same uncertainty and confusion she was feeling reflected back at her in N's emerald eyes. Somehow knowing that she wasn't the only terrified person in the room put her at ease.

"Does any of that mean anything to you at all, N?" she asked, now clutching his hand in hers.

"I'm afraid not. I have no idea who this N.G.S. person is. We can't even be certain that he is from or currently in the Johto region. He may have simply stopped there to capture this Pokémon to mislead us."

She nodded in agreement. "I don't know any N.G.S.'s either. He sure seems to know a lot about us." She shuddered as she realized that she had likely been followed since she had first left home. This person has three years' worth of knowledge about me. She felt sick to her stomach as she replayed the faces of strangers she had met over the years; perhaps she had seen him and not realized it. Instinctively, she slammed her window shut, locked it and pulled her curtains shut.

"Yes, he does," N said softly. "Hoothoot addressed me as King N and again in the letter he refers to me as King. The only people who know what my true position in Team Plasma truly was were my Sages, The Shadow Triad, and my father…one of them must have spoken to him of them about me. I would not put it past my father to try to place blame on me now, if he thought it would absolve him of any responsibility.

"This last line here is a riddle," he said, gingerly picking up the letter from the floor. "'The truth of the truth'…but what could that mean? The truth is the truth; there's nothing more to uncover once you find the true answer. He must have known this would trouble me…"

She could see the gears in N's mind turning rapidly as he spun out several of his own meanings to the cryptic words written on the paper. If she was not afraid for her life, she would have found N.G.S.'s hand writing elegant, maybe even beautiful. It looked as though the haunting words had been scrolled across the page by a master calligrapher.

Sensing that neither of them would get any rest tonight, Touko listlessly resigned herself to helping N in any way she could. She got out of her bed and stretched out her limbs, making sure to keep her eyes focused on the now sinister seeming window. As she moved to leave the room, she felt N's hand wrap around her wrist. Gracefully and fluidly, he tied the little satin ribbon around her right wrist.

"I don't want to wear that damned thing," she spat, trying to slip it off over her hand. "It makes me sick to even look at it, let alone have it hang off my arm."

"Please, Touko—wear it. If it could keep you safe, help you in some way, I would feel personally responsible if any harm came to you if I didn't do my best to make sure you wore it. Just pretend that it was a gift for me; I did put it on you."

She sighed, unable to turn him down with that dose of mega-guilt. It was a nice thought—N giving her a jewel encrusted bracelet. The little rubies sparkled up at her even in the dim light of her room. Limply, she let her wrist fall back to her side with the key securely tied around it; no amount of pretending could make it feel any less like a pretty shackle.

She grabbed Serperior's Pokeball from her bag, holding it out before her like a weapon, and descended the stairs to her living room. Once she was in the more open space of her living room, she released the large green serpent from its ball. He landed on the carpeted floor with a soft thud and slowly uncoiled its massive body, grateful for the chance to stretch out.

"I know you've been cooped up in there for too long," she said, sympathetically patting the great snake on the snout. "Things have been a little crazy lately." The Pokémon hissed as her softly, as though he were letting her know that all was forgiven. "Thank you for understanding. I really need your help tonight. Follow me, please."

She walked hesitantly to the front door, careful to avoid the now crunched glass of the picture frame that had fallen earlier, Serperior close behind her. He could sense that she was unwell and anxious, as though she were waiting for an attack. It made him hiss in anxiety and tighten his muscles in preparation to protect his girl.

She grabbed the door knob, feeling the skeleton key now tied to her wrist knock against her arm. She felt as though she were being mocked by N.G.S. now; she couldn't even lock a door without his words parading through her mind. She swallowed hard, steadying herself as she gripped the little turner on the lock.

Suddenly, the knob on the door began to turn. She jumped back, knocking into Serperior. He hissed wildly and stretch to his full height, his fangs now fully bared. Defensively, he coiled himself around Touko as she sat helpless and shaking on the floor. Even as his rough, leafy scales scratched at her, she was glad he was here to help her face whatever was about to come through her door.

"Touko!" her mother screeched as she took in the bizarre scene. "What the Hell is going on here!"

Touko had never been happier to see her mother's enraged face in her whole life. Serperior relaxed out of his defensive pose and she clumsily lumbered over to her mother. She collapsed against her, glad to be welcomed into those familiar arms.

"Oh, Mom! You're alright!" she sobbed as she threw her arms around her neck. She buried her face into her mother's neck like a child and allowed herself to shed a few tears of relief. Her wrist felt weighted down as the taunting little key clunked against her arm as she shook with her sobs.

"Hey, hey, Touko—of course I'm alright," she said gently, taken aback by her daughter's strange display of emotion. She gently petted her hair, glad to see that for the most part she alright. "What's come over you? You never cry like this."

"I was just so worried about you, Mom," she sobbed. "I couldn't live with myself if anything bad happened to you because of me."

"What did you think was going to happen to me, Touko? All I did was look for you with Professor Juniper. It's not like we went base jumping or anything. What's with all the melodrama tonight, anyway?" she asked, pulling back from her a little. She brushed back Touko's tear stained hair from her face. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Touko inhaled deeply, trying to steady her crying. Of course her mother thought she was talking about her searching for her. She couldn't let her know that it was anything else; she wanted desperately to tell her everything that had happened that night, but knew that she could not. There was no way she could put her in anymore danger than she already was in.

She quickly pasted a smile on her face. "I haven't had any good sleep in a while. My emotions get pretty screwy when I don't get enough sleep." She hoped she sounded more convincing than she felt. Her smile felt like it had been moulded out of plastic and stretched awkwardly across her face. The skin around her lips felt brittle, as though it may snap from the strain of holding her artificial smile in place.

Her mother arched her eyebrows at her suspiciously. "Too busy flying on the back of dragons?" she asked slyly.

"Yeah, something like that," Touko mumbled, remembering that her mother was still likely very angry with her. "I'm sorry I didn't call you, Mom. It was pretty selfish of me to let everyone worry like that."

"Where's your 'kidnapper', anyway? Bianca said he was at the house with you."

Touko's eyes widened in horror as she realized that Bianca had likely blabbed her brains out about N to her mother, including when he threw Cheren out of the house; she hoped for her own sake that she had left certain aspects of the afternoon out. Why do I talk to my friends still? she thought bitterly. "He's in—"

"Touko!," N yelled as he tore down her stairs, Zoroark stalking behind him. "Are you alright? I heard Serperior yelling and then you crying—I would have come sooner, but Hoothoot was so terrified he wouldn't sit still and then I couldn't find Zoroark's Pokeball and—"

Touko put her hand, silencing N's nervous chattering. "I'm fine, N," she said calmly.

"But you've been crying," he said softly.

"I was just really glad to see my mom," she said, putting extra emphasis on the word 'mom.'

N's eyes snapped from Touko's puffy red eyes to the flabbergasted woman standing behind her. She looked very much like her daughter, besides the dumbstruck look on her face. She was a few inches shorter than Touko and her hair was not so long or as wavy; their eyes, however, were nearly identical. He could sense in her the same fiery, good-natured spirit that he admired so much in Touko.

"Oh, hello, it is a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. My name in N Harmonia," he said stiffly, as though he had rehearsed the same line several times in his mind. He took careful and measured steps toward her, taking great care to leave a large amount of space between them. Hesitantly, he extended his hand toward her; he wasn't sure if this was proper protocol from meeting a mother. She placed her hand in his and shook it politely, but coldly.

"Why don't we sit down?" Touko suggested, ready to be off of her flimsy legs. "I'm sure you want to interrogate me, Officer," she said jokingly to her mother.

"Oh, you have no idea," she said dryly.

Touko took a deep breath and collapsed on the couch. N sat crossed legged on the other side of the room, Zoroark never leaving his side for a minute. As her mother paced in front of her, Zoroark let out a series of low keening sounds. N's lips twitched briefly, trying to stifle a smile. She could only imagine what he was saying.

-

"So, basically, what you're say is that you want to travel the world with your friend N," her mother said.

"Yes," Touko said weakly. She had explained this so many different ways to her mother that hearing someone else say the words felt exhausting.

Her mother crossed her arms and sat down on the couch next to her. "I don't know how I feel about that, Touko," she said softly. "You're set on not staying her for a few weeks? After all, I've only just got you back."

"I can't stay here, Mom," Touko said flatly. She felt horrible telling her mother this, but if lying to her kept her safe, then she would gladly do it. She had no idea what this N.G.S. person was capable of doing, but the way Hoothoot had acted did not put her at ease.

Her mother nodded her head in understanding. She looked absolutely crushed. "How long will you be gone this time?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "Until I feel like coming back, I suppose."

"Well, Touko," she said miserably, "you're an adult now. I can't make you stay if you don't want to."

"Oh, Mom—it's not like that…" Touko sputtered. She had never felt so rotten in her whole life. She pulled her mother into a tight hug, her already blood-shot eyes spilling over again with tears.

"I know, Baby, I know," she said gently, patting Touko on the back. "It's just so hard for me to think of you as grown up. It was hard enough for me when you left last time and now you want to leave with a boy," she said jokingly. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Touko smiled, bittersweet tears still spilling from her eyes. She had never felt such a range of emotions in one day. Her mother pulled away from her and wiped the moisture from her cheeks, just as she had done so many times when Touko had been a child. They both sat there silently, tears spilling down their faces, as they both accepted that new chapters were beginning in their lives.

N, who had been forced to sit on the couch by Touko's mother, watched them with fascination. He had never seen a human relationship so strong as theirs before. He had always heard that the bond between a mother and her child was unbreakable; he had seen it many times with mother Pokémon. He realized now, as he sat awkwardly next to two sobbing and hugging women, what he had missed out on by not having a mother in his life.

A mother would have given me a name, he thought bitterly.

"Oh, Touko!" he mother cried excitedly. "Where did you get that beautiful bracelet? I love those old keys." She held Touko's wrist in her hand, turning it from side to side as she examined the gemstones in the petals of the lily.

"N gave it to me as a gift," Touko said warmly.

At that moment, she could almost believe it.