High School Union, Chapter 21
EmeraldDragon1; Got another for ya! This one should include elements of comedy and slight sadness. Am I revealing too much?
Giratina; Of course not, it's not like they couldn't read it and figure that out for themselves!
EmeraldDragon1; … Your ability to be sarcastic astounds me. Be that as it may, I believe we have some disclaimers to get done. Hey, Arceus!
Arceus enters.
Arceus; Yes?
EmeraldDragon1; Please accompany Giratina with the disclaimers.
Arceus; I would be delighted. EmeraldDragon1 does not own pokemon.
Giratina; And he doesn't own the songs that have been used, mentioned, or planned to be used in this story.
EmeraldDragon1; Alright, let's do this!
A Delightful Surprise
It was Saturday morning and it found Giratina snoring away peacefully. Her right arm was draping out of her bed while her head was facing her left. The alarm clock was ticking idly away on her bedside table until it began to ring loudly. Giratina flinched but didn't get up. Instead, her arm crept up the table, occasionally feeling it with her fingers to determine its position. It reached the top of the table and made a beeline for the clock, grabbing it and hurling the cursed thing at the wall. When it hit it stopped, and Giratina sighed in contentment, snuggling back under her blanket. Not ten minutes passed, however, when another noise, a bit more obnoxious this time, though, went off. Giratina's hand followed the same process, closing around the annoying pest. She was about to throw it until she felt it better. She groaned and sat up, her nightshirt wrinkled, and she pressed the answer button to her phone and placed it next to her ear.
"Whaddyawan?" she asked blearily.
"Giratina? Is that you?"
"Hmm? Shay?"
"Yeah, it's me. Listen, I just got a call from the doctor; he said that Palkia's awake and wants to see us."
Giratina jumped out of bed, wide awake now, gathering up her clothes and asking
"Can we see her?"
"Yes, but only for a short time."
"Better than not at all. Call Arceus and tell him what happened, then ask him to pick you up. Tell him to come for me and we can visit her together, okay?"
"All right, will do. See you soon."
"Later."
Giratina hung up and rushed to her bathroom, quickly getting ready for the day. After she finished she rushed out and grabbed her phone and wallet, then waited the twenty minutes for Arceus to arrive. She hurriedly jumped into the car and Arceus drove off. They said nothing as they went to the hospital, too excited by the good news to say anything yet.
When they arrived, Giratina and Shaymin rushed inside, followed shortly by Arceus, who was chuckling silently to himself. There they went up to the front desk and said
"We're here to see our friend Palkia."
The attendant looked over her list and told them
"I'll call the doctor out, he wants to talk to you first."
They all nodded and sat in the chairs as they waited for the doctor to arrive. When he came through the doors, they all jumped back up and walked over to him, where he said
"Anxious to see your friend, huh?"
They nodded eagerly and he chuckled. Then he motioned for them to follow him, which they did. While he led them to Palkia's room, he explained
"Now, her condition is stable but still pretty bad. Keep in mind that she still has broken bones and a concussion. I realize you want to see her, but we need to avoid overexciting her, so I have to limit your visit to a half hour, which means you each get ten minutes."
Giratina and Shaymin began to protest but the doctor held up his hand and said
"I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. She still needs a lot of care right now. Besides, with the concussion and medication, she can't stay up for very long. She's probably asleep right now, but she insisted on seeing you. Who will be going first?"
They looked between the three of them and Arceus said
"You two deserve to see her first. Can I surrender my time to them, give them each an extra five minutes?" he asked the doctor. He appeared surprised and asked
"Don't you want to see her?"
Arceus nodded and replied
"Yes, but these two are her closest friends, and such a limit is cruel for their first meeting after an incident. I can wait for another time to speak with her, hopefully when she can stay up longer."
The doctor scrutinized him for a moment, then shrugged and said
"Okay, if that's your decision, do what you want. So, which of you two will go first?"
"You go ahead, Shay" Giratina said. Shaymin looked at her and asked
"You sure?"
Giratina nodded, so Shaymin faced the doctor and said
"I'll go first."
The doctor nodded and stopped in front of a door that was closed. He knocked briefly, then opened it, motioning for Shaymin to enter. After she passed the door, the doctor closed it behind her and motioned for Arceus and Giratina to take the bench nearby. He went to his office but promised he would be back in fifteen minutes. Giratina and Arceus sat on the bench, and while they sat Giratina kissed his cheek and said
"Thank you for doing that. You didn't have to, you know; you have every right to see Palkia like we do."
He nodded and replied
"Yes, but you and Shaymin are much closer to her than I am, and it makes more sense to have her closest friends see her first before shorter-length friends. I am happy to surrender my time so you two may talk with her, even for just another five minutes."
Giratina felt extremely grateful to him but didn't know how to express it without being uncomfortable. Eventually she just hugged him around the chest, saying once again
"Thank you."
He smiled and rubbed her back, relaxing her. After a minute, he said
"While you're waiting, why don't you tell me how you three became close friends?"
Giratina laughed softly and said
"Well, that's quite a story, actually…"
Flashback; about thirteen years ago…
Giratina entered the building, unsure about herself. She wasn't too happy about her mother dumping her off in this unfamiliar place, telling her to have a good day, then driving off. But her fear overrode her anger; she had no idea what to expect in this place. There were few rooms, but she had been told to go into the blue door.
She wore a light gray dress of her own choosing. Her mother could never understand why she chose such dull colors, but couldn't convince her daughter to pick anything else. The first time she tried to get her to change her outfit had been a disaster. Giratina had threatened to go out naked if she couldn't wear what she wanted. Her mother decided to call her bluff; it turned out she had been serious, causing her mother to nearly have a heart attack. After that, Giratina pretty much made her own wardrobe choices.
Her smooth, dirty blonde hair reached the back of her neck but not quite to her shoulders. Her piercing red eyes were swiveling around, looking timidly for the door she had been told to find. She also wore a black hairband that had a black rose on it, something her mother insisted she wear. Giratina didn't really like it, but if she took it off her mother would know somehow, and then she would be in trouble.
At long last she found the blue door and she nervously knocked upon it. After about ten seconds it opened to reveal a tall, thin, beautiful lady she presumed she was the teacher, who also happened to have blonde hair, but it was longer and she preferred to wear purple instead of gray. Her face split into a wide grin and she bent down, asking
"Hello, are you here for our class today?"
Giratina nervously nodded and the teacher stood up again and offered her hand to her, saying
"Don't be afraid, we're all friends here! Come on, I'll show you around."
Giratina took hold of her soft, gentle hand and was led inside. She saw a fairly big room filled with various toys and other children. The teacher led her to the front of the classroom and clapped her hands, saying
"Children, please give me your attention! Today we have a new visitor with us! Go ahead, tell us your name dear."
"Giratina…" she mumbled.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"Giratina" she said, more clearly this time.
The teacher nodded briskly and held out her hand again, telling her
"Well, Giratina, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Mrs. Cresselia, okay?"
Giratina took the hand again and had her arm shaken. She faced the class, unsure what to do at this point. Mrs. Cresselia rose to her full height and addressed the class again.
"I want you all to treat Giratina nicely, okay?"
They all gave a collective nod, and Mrs. Cresselia gently nudged her to the other children. Giratina stumbled for a moment before she caught her feet. She walked to the other kids in the room and tried to play with them. For the most part, though, she wasn't interested in anything they were doing. She just didn't have a taste for tea parties that didn't actually have anything to eat or drink, nor was she very good at imagining. She could color, but she was a bit too realistic with her drawing, so she didn't make many friends there.
She was about ready to just walk out the door and call it quits, but she saw a kid who was different from the others. Closer inspection revealed a little girl, probably around her age, give or take a few months. The strangest thing about her, though, was her hair. It was a mint green and mostly straight, until the ends where it became curly. It wasn't very long, but it was long enough for this to occur.
The girl was just staring out the window, looking at something with a strange intensity. Curious, Giratina walked up next to her and asked
"What are you looking at?"
The green-haired girl jumped, scaring her too. The mystery girl stared at Giratina while she attempted to catch her breath. When she did, she looked at her and said
"Geez, sorry. I didn't know you scare so easy."
The green-haired girl looked down at the floor, shamefaced. Giratina felt bad then and tried to make amends.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. My name's Giratina; what's yours?"
The girl didn't answer; instead she continued to stare at the floor.
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?"
The girl giggled a little but shook her head.
"Okay, so what's your name?"
After a moment's hesitation, she mumbled something Giratina couldn't quite hear.
"Can you speak up, my ears ain't what they used to be" Giratina said, imitating her grandfather's elderly voice. The girl laughed now and she tried again.
"My name's Shaymin."
"Oh, okay. So, what are you staring at out the window, Shaymin?"
Shaymin looked back at the floor and said
"You'll just think it's stupid."
Giratina raised an eyebrow and said
"Try me."
Shaymin looked outside and then back at her face, saying
"I just like looking at nature, and being stuck I here, the best I can do is look out the window."
Giratina cocked her head in confusion and asked
"What's so interesting about nature?"
Shaymin faced her with a look of joy on her features, and she excitedly said
"What isn't interesting about nature? It changes with time, the colors rearranging themselves with each passing season, they breathe, helping us breathe… every time I look at a tree or a bush, I just feel so grateful for everything nature does for us, without asking anything in return. Whenever I can, I'm going to start a garden and grow my favorite flowers."
Giratina cocked her head again and asked
"What kind? Roses?"
Shaymin shook her head and replied
"Roses are nice, but my favorite flower is called the Gracidea Flower. It's a pretty pink flower with six petals on it. It can bloom all year round but it takes six years to grow, and you have to be careful when growing them."
Giratina frowned and asked
"Why would you want to spend six years working on a plant that doesn't grow?"
Shaymin shook her head and told her
"No, the plant grows, and so do the buds, but the flowers don't bloom for about four years. The plant is fully grown in about a year and a half, and the buds appear after another half year. After that, though, it takes a lot of intensive care to make the flowers bloom. My mother gave me a Gracidea flower one time, and it had the loveliest scent I had ever smelled. She put it in my hair, saying it was the best place for it. I could smell the flower from there, and it made me feel so light, as if I could grow wings and fly."
Giratina chuckled and said
"You know you couldn't actually do that, right?"
Shaymin nodded and replied matter-of-factly
"Oh yes, I know that. But a girl can dream, can't she?"
Giratina and Shaymin laughed their little girl laughs and heard Mrs. Cresselia say
"Okay, everybody, lunch time! Grab your lunches and meet at the tables!"
Shaymin walked over to a cupboard and grabbed a small lunchbox out of it. Giratina had been holding on to hers for a while, so she waited on Shaymin. She led her outside and to a table where they sat. Soon after they opened their boxes, another girl showed up. She had candy-pink hair about the same length as Giratina's but wore pink and white clothing. The new girl looked at Giratina, then asked Shaymin
"Hey, Shaymin, who's this?"
Shaymin put her sandwich down and told her
"This is Giratina, she just came into my class."
"Oh yeah?" the pink girl asked, staring at her with interest. She stuck her hand out and told her
"Name's Palkia. I'm in the class with the green door. So, how you likin' your first day?"
Giratina shrugged and answered
"Well, I didn't like it at first. I didn't really fit in anywhere. Then I met Shaymin and after a bit of talking, we became friends."
Palkia regarded her with confusion, looking at her and Shaymin back and forth. Then she addressed Giratina and asked
"You made friends with her that quickly?"
Giratina nodded and asked
"Why, what's wrong with that?"
Palkia rapidly shook her head and quickly said
"No, no, there's nothing wrong with it, it's just that Shaymin is very shy around new people. We've been friends since we were babies, so she's not so shy around me. But you're new here, right?"
Giratina nodded, and Palkia continued.
"Well, it's not very often that Shaymin makes a friend with the new kid. So you two must have hit it off pretty well."
Giratina shrugged and said
"Well, she was staring out the window, so I asked what she was looking at. After a while, she told me she likes looking at nature, and things just went off from there."
Palkia looked at Shaymin, who nodded. Then Palkia slapped Giratina on the back and said
"Okay, then, if you're good by Shaymin, then you're alright with me. You got yourself some new friends, girl."
Giratina smirked and slapped Palkia on the back, saying
"Well, thank you!"
Palkia slapped her back and said
"You're welcome!"
This continued on for the next five minutes, making Shaymin sweatdrop nervously. After that, the two girls vowed they would never do that again.
Present…
Arceus chuckled as Giratina giggled, and for a while the hall was filled with their soft mirth. Giratina wiped a tear out of her eye and said
"For a while, we only saw each other at school, where I was happy to go to. Then we learned that our houses weren't that far from each other, so we terrorized our parents for play dates. When we grew up a bit, we walked to each other's houses. It was the time of my life."
"I bet it was" Arceus responded.
The door to Palkia's room opened just as the doctor returned, and Shaymin stepped out, motioning for Giratina to enter. Giratina stood and walked over to the door. The doctor stopped her for a moment and said
"Remember, fifteen minutes."
Giratina nodded and stepped through, gently closing the door behind her. The room smelled sharply of antiseptic, making her wrinkle her nose in displeasure. Then she walked forward and looked over her friend. She was in the tacky puke-green hospital gown, but she was mostly covered by a thick blanket, which was necessary considering how cold the room was. Her left arm and right leg were both in casts, and Giratina could see the bandages wrapped around her chest. She also had a bandage wrapped around her head, covering most of her pink hair. Giratina sat in the chair next to her bed and asked
"How you doin'?"
Palkia chuckled and replied
"Well, despite the fact that I'm wrapped up, my car's totaled, and they keep drugging me up, I'm great!"
They both laughed at that for a minute, then Giratina asked
"Seriously though, are you alright?"
Palkia shrugged with some difficulty and told her
"Well, I won't pretend it wasn't a scary moment there. I wasn't sure if I was going to live or die. And when you're that close to death, you begin to look back on your life and curse yourself for all your mistakes, begging that your good deeds make up for them."
Giratina regarded her nervously, but relaxed a bit when she said
"But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop heckling you over your relationship. Gotta keep myself entertained, you know!"
They laughed again, and Palkia paused for a second, then said
"You seem to be in a pretty good mood. Something good happen while I was out?"
Giratina rolled her eyes and said
"Well, I took Arceus to my parent's for Thanksgiving…"
"And…" Palkia prompted. Giratina blushed a little and said quietly
"My dad approves."
Palkia raised her good arm in a victory fist, then smirked and asked
"So, he get to second yet?"
Giratina shook her head and Palkia groaned, then said
"Come on, what are you waiting for?! You already like him, he likes you, and your dad said yes! There shouldn't be anything holding you back!"
Giratina shrugged and said
"It's not that easy, Palkia. You know what I went through. It's not easy to move past that."
Palkia sighed and responded seriously.
"I know, but this is your chance to finally move past it all. I know it's not easy, but you shouldn't dwell on it so obsessively. It's not healthy for you. You have a chance at a new life; you should take it."
Giratina didn't respond for a while, so Palkia changed the subject.
"You know, the news says that Meloetta's coming to town."
Giratina jolted, her eyes snapping up.
"Really? When'd you hear this?"
Palkia rolled her eyes and said
"Sometime last night; I couldn't tell, they had me on some crazy medicine that made the room spin. I mostly got the report by hearing it. From what she said, it sounded like she was interested in finding you."
"Me?" Giratina asked incredulously.
"Why would she want to find me?"
Palkia placed a finger, mock-thinking as she said sarcastically
"Gee, I don't know. Maybe it has nothing to do with the fact that your singing has become almost as legendary as hers? After all, your choir competitions were quite the hit."
Giratina thought back to all the standing ovations she had received whenever she participated in the choir competitions. Her voice was especially prominent during solo pieces, and almost everybody in attendance had their mouths wide open at the sound of her voice. It was true, she loved singing, and she wasn't half bad at it, but she didn't think that it was up to Meloetta's level.
"I don't know, Palkia, that seems a bit farfetched to me."
Palkia shrugged and replied
"Well, whatever. I honestly don't trust my senses at the moment, what with all this dope around. I swear, I'm gonna be an addict by the time I get outta here."
"When will that be?"
Palkia shrugged again and responded
"Doc says that if I'm lucky, I'll be ready to go in a couple of weeks. I really want out of here soon, I can't stand the smell of hospitals!"
Giratina winced and nodded, saying
"I agree with you. It really stinks in here, doesn't it?"
"Ugh. Anyway, do you have any more details on Arceus' idea on his parent's mountain condo?"
Giratina shook her head and replied
"Not yet, but I think he'll let up soon. If he does, and Shay doesn't get to you first, I'll let you know."
"Cool, thanks."
At that point the doctor poked his head in and said
"Alright, girls, you're gonna have to wrap this up."
"Okay."
Giratina rose from her chair and gently hugged Palkia, telling her
"Get better quick, okay?"
"You got it!"
They both laughed again and Giratina exited the room, accepting Arceus' arm around her shoulder as they walked out of the hospital, Giratina feeling lighter than she had yesterday.
All right, I think that's good. What about you? Remember, I appreciate long reviews, so don't hesitate to send 'em over. See you next time!