Chap 12: Realizations

Ameythest felt herself slowly regain consciousness, the weariness wearing down her hands and eyelids oddly. She felt her eyes flutter open, a bright, blinding light filling her vision. She groaned, fighting the tired feeling as she raised her hand to shield her eyes. An odd tugging at the back of her hand caused her mind to grow more alert, and she tried to push herself up.

She found it nearly impossible, however, and realized that she was on a stretcher in what looked like a very tiny room. The tugging on her hand she noticed was an IV, and she must have been on some very heavy pain drugs, because her head felt like a lead weight.

Then sound filled her ears as a rush of air hit her face, and she saw a medic leap into the back of the ambulance. "Oh, good you're awake. That's a good sign." He talked quickly.

"What happened?" Ameythest asked, fighting to orient herself.

"You were hit with a powerful electric blast. It seems you had some very good defenses up, thanks to your Pokémon."

"Oh, wow." She reeled at the information, having a very difficult time absorbing any of it in her drugged state. "And…my home?"

"Safe." He said. "Look, you're pulling through pretty well, but there are more injured out there. I'll be back in a few to check on you, all right?" He looked at her, making sure she was listening. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She responded, trying to sit up. "I'll just sit here."

"Yeah. Do that." And with that, he jumped out of the ambulance, leaving one door open.

She squinted to see out the one open door, and realized it was dark out. How long was she out? She sat there pondering, wondering what kind of condition everything was. With the dragonites and the large ship…and what was with that black Pokémon? Her arms felt wrapped, and she noticed that there were plenty of small burns and cuts covering her entire body. "My Pokémon…!" She realized with a jolt, and suddenly felt a bit helpless that she couldn't just get up and leave to check on them all herself. Then again…

She stared at the IV in her arm, and knew any grogginess was from whatever meds were coursing through her bloodstream. Taking a deep breath, she plucked out the IV from her hand and let it drop to the floor, easing herself off of the stretcher and making her way out of the ambulance. Outside, red and blue light flashed, making her wince, and there seemed to be plenty of injured still lying about, being tended to by whatever medics were available. She stumbled out of the ambulance, trying to make her way back to her home, to look at the fields that made up her zoo. She spotted a few police cars, and a rather odd looking man talking to one of the officers. Curious, she tried to get a better look at him. He was tall, pitch-black hair and wearing a red and white jacket and baseball cap. Next to him was a Pokémon she had never seen before, tall and purple, with a catlike face. Just by the way he stood she could tell he was a man of great confidence, and she wondered what he was doing here with such a strange Pokémon.

Either way, it probably wasn't her business, and she fought to keep steady as she approached closer to her home. The flashing lights of the emergency vehicles were very bright at night, and as she reached the gate she could clearly tell what damage had been done. It wasn't too bad, a couple of torn up fences and a hole or two that would need to be filled, but mostly small time clean up other than that. "I just hope they're all okay…" She murmured to herself, and decided it was time to find an officer to talk to. It didn't take long to find one, but it was some doing getting his attention.

"Sir…" She called out, and the officer just walked her by. "SIR!" She shouted sternly, gaining his attention at least. He turned, facing her with the most annoyed look on his face.

"I need to know how many people have been hurt." She asked.

The cop frowned. "I don't know if I should give you that information." He seemed very stern.

"Please, this is my place. I need to know how many have been hurt and if any of my Pokémon was stolen."

He paused, and retrieved a notepad from his pocket, reviewing a couple of pages before he addressed her. "Well we've had over thirty injured, none too seriously, and no casualties thank God. And after talking to all the staff members, they confirmed that no Pokémon had been successfully stolen, even though some shady good for nothings had tried in all the commotion. Those three are in custody down at the station now."

Ameythest sighed a large breath of relief, happy to hear the good news. "Who were they?" She asked more to herself than the officer.

"Who knows. There are plenty of syndicates established all over this world. It could have been the Rockets, easy, though they've been inactive for a few years at least." His thoughts seem to wander on that last sentence.

"Well, glad to hear everyone is all right." She sat down, feeling a bit nauseated. "Thanks for the info."

"You all right?" He asked, though he didn't sound overly concerned.

"Fine. Just a little dazed…" She frowned, her gaze aimed at the ground. She was forgetting something, something important, something that she should have remembered instantly…

"AMEYTHEST!" A voice screamed strained and in a panic. "Ameythest!"

"Oi, stop your yelling!" The officer broke off from her, approaching the shouting person.

"Where is she?!" The same voice demanded, and Ameythest looked up in sudden recognition.

"Silver?"

Next thing she knew a pair of comforting arms had grasped her round the neck, fast and tight, and the thick red hair was being shoved in her mouth by their closeness. He squeezed her, whispering feelings of relief that seemed to fall in her ears. "Why did you leave your bed?" He asked sternly, his voice thick with worry.

"S-sorry…my Pokémon…the ones that protected me…"

His grip loosened, and she looked up at him and his clear, glistening silver eyes. "You should really worry about yourself once in awhile, huh?"

"Never had time for it." The joke made herself laugh, and he just chuckled lightly. Her humor disappeared when she noticed just how scraped and bruised he was, though, and her small smile faltered into a worried, creased frown.

"What did you do to yourself?" She asked him, placing her hand on a deep gash in his cheek.

Silver started to speak, but closed his mouth, thinking better of it. He shook his head. "Not much. I called in a friend for some backup; he helped me drive away those thieves."

"How'd he get here so fast?"

"He…has his ways. We're actually very lucky, it's pretty hard to get in touch with him…he can be a bit of a loner."

"So why'd you call him if you didn't think he'd answer?"

Silver shrugged. "I was a little…desperate." He admitted it sheepishly. "I saw you get hit, and then you fell, so far and fast, and…I just-I couldn't catch you in time, and I really began to worry." His gloved hand rested on her cheek, and he rested his forehead against hers. "Seeing you hurt made me so angry."

"Silver…" She whispered his name gently, moving her gaze to look into his eyes. "Silver, I love you."

The words made him jolt in surprise, his body shuddering the slightest bit. He looked up slightly, matching her gaze, his mouth slightly agape. "…you mean that?" He asked stupidly, and she just looked up at him, their faces so close they could feel each others' breath on their cheek.

"Yeah. I think I do. I think-"

He sentence was cut off as Silver kissed her deeply, his arms clamped around her back and his hand supporting her head as he molded his body against hers. Their lips tingled with the sensation and Silver nipped and kissed at her, exploring her mouth with his tongue with an insatiable appetite. After several minutes they finally broke off the kiss, both breathing deeply and blushing furiously.

It took him a moment to realize just how good, how RIGHT it felt to kiss her, and how all his confused emotions suddenly fell into place as this small, fragile looking girl in front of him had lit a fire in his heart that had tried to quench itself with her absence. She was suddenly everything to him, someone who supported him and that he could support, a girl with the determination to do anything. He then knew that he was most attracted to her when she had caught XD001, the exact moment when she stared at that poke ball in disbelief, and then smiled at him and asked 'so, what's our next goal?'

Modest but a bit proud in different ways, and the single most determined person he's ever met, she was rarely shaken and tried her best to be honest. He hugged her again, holding her close, as he realized that she was just so easy to talk to, so easy to tell the truth to, and he wanted her to be there to listen whenever she could.

"Ameythest…would you like to do something with me this weekend?" He asked her breathlessly, cupping her face with his hands.

"I think I would enjoy that very much." She replied lightly, a gentle smile gracing her face. She wrapped her arms around Silver's neck, hugging him tightly, and he in turn moved to pick her up, cradling her in his arms as he clumsily stood up. She sighed contentedly, letting her head rest lazily on his shoulder.

"We should get you back to the ambulance. Just in case." She spoke softly, nuzzling his face against hers and planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Sure." She yawned, exhausted, still a bit dazed from the meds coursing through her body, and decided that just being held like this was one of the most comforting feelings in the world. "Silver…" She said meekly, nearly half-asleep now.

"Yes?" He responded with a soft whisper, heading back towards the ambulances.

"I should thank you again. For everything, you know…you saved my home."

He smiled at her tenderly, the warmth in his chest filled him with elation and an emotion he was entirely unfamiliar with, but happy to have. Truly happy.