Pokémon: 19 Deaths: 3
"Are you still in hospital?" Silver complained, hopping up onto the visitor chair. "How weak."
"Excuse me for not having a Pokémon healing factor," Saylee said, rubbing at the two smallest fingers of her right hand. They had been very stiff and hadn't moved normally since the Lake of Rage. "I'm surprised you're still in Goldenrod."
"'Course I am, the cripple's family feeds me," Silver said, juggling one of his pokéballs. Saylee snatched it away from him left-handedly, secretly proud of herself for managing to hold onto it even though she fumbled slightly.
"Silver, I want us to be able to get along as siblings," she said, "but I swear that the next time I hear you call Bill that, it will go very hard on you."
"Why should I be scared of you?" Silver said. "You won't hurt me." He reached out for his pokéball. "Now give Siren back."
Saylee transferred the pokéball to her injured right hand and held it away from him. When Silver leaned over to try and reach it, Saylee flicked his injured arm. Silver yelped in pain and leapt back, clutching his arm and staring at Saylee. Mag flew towards her, sparking, but Silver snatched him out of the air quickly.
"I will never really hurt you, Silver," Saylee said. "But I am not above disciplinary pinging. Now, Bill and his parents are being very kind to put up you and Blue while you're in Goldenrod, and extremely tolerant of your mouthing off. When people are nice to you, you ought to be nice back."
"I always got told that if someone's rude to you, you should give them a beating for it to show you're strong," Silver said, sitting back in a huff. "Nobody ever says I have to be nice."
"Team Rocket never told you to be nice," Saylee said. "I don't know if you've noticed, but they are not shining examples of humanity."
"And you are?" Silver snapped.
"I like to think I'm better than Team Rocket," Saylee said, handing Siren's pokéball back. "I'm sorry I hurt your arm. How is it feeling?"
"It's fine, it's just a little scrape," Silver muttered, looking down. Saylee caught the flash of pain on his face, but didn't say anything. It probably wasn't pain from his wounded arm.
"Silver, please promise me that you won't be rude to Bill," Saylee sighed. "He's very badly hurt, and the circumstances of his injury were very bad. His Clefairy died. If Tyra had died when you got that arm injury, how would you feel about people making fun of the scar on your arm?"
"I'd KILL them for that!" Silver shouted. "I wouldn't let anyone get away with that!"
"Bill's much less angry than you are," Saylee said sadly. "But it hurts him just as much when you make fun of his injuries. Next time you want to call him a cripple, think about that, okay?"
"…why should I care about his feelings?" Silver said, staring at his arm.
"You'd want him to care about yours if it was the other way around, wouldn't you?" Saylee told him. "It'd be a very cold world if nobody ever cared about anybody else's feelings. The kind of world that people like Ariana and Giovanni live in. I don't know about you, but I'm not interested in living in a world like that…"
"They're weak," Silver muttered. "That's why I don't want to be like them. I'm not weak…"
"No, you're not," Saylee agreed. "If you don't care what anyone thinks, why are you so intent on proving that to everyone?"
"I don't care! I'm not weak!" Silver jumped to his feet. "Who cares about you? I'm out of here!" He stomped off towards the door.
"Silver," Saylee called after him. "Thanks for visiting!"
"You're welcome!" Mag said, flying after his trainer.
"Shut up, Mag!" Silver slammed the door behind him. Blue came in a few minutes later, staring over his shoulder.
"Man, that kid looked pissed off," he commented.
"Yeah, but just as long as he stops calling Bill a cripple…" Saylee glanced back at the door, but Blue was on his own. "So, how're all the Pokémon?"
"Hanging out at the Pokéathlon dome," Blue said with a shrug. "Some of the sports there are pretty intense, actually, for all that it sets itself up as a cheesy-ass games centre. How're you doing?"
"Feeling better," Saylee said, rubbing her throat. "My injuries feel better, too. You were the one who told… Mrs. Pryce about me, right?"
"Yeah, somebody pointed her to me when she was asking after you," Blue said. "Hope you don't mind. I thought it would be good for you to meet a relative who wasn't crazy."
"It was. Thank you." Saylee leaned over and squeezed Blue's hand. "Thank you so much, Blue. For everything."
"Don't worry about it." Blue frowned at her pale skin, the way the dark bruises on her wrists showed up even more lividly against it, the faintly red-stained bandages. "Why do you always have to do this to yourself, Saylee? Why do you always run off into this stuff yourself?"
"Someone has to," Saylee said, tensing herself for another argument.
"But it doesn't have to be you!"
"Actually, it just might."
Both of them stared sharply at the woman that had stepped into the hospital room. It was a geisha, hands held folded in front of her demurely. She was wearing a red kimono and a pink obi under a long black overcoat. "Who the hell are you?" Blue said in confusion.
"Don't you dare spout some cryptic junk and run off again," Saylee said warningly. "For once, can you speak straight and tell me what the hell you just said means?"
"Regardless of whether or not you believe it, this is the first time we've met since Ilex Forest, Saylee," the geisha said, closing the door behind her. "But I have heard about you from my sisters. You have begun to appear in our divinations, Saylee, ever since the day you first came to Ecruteak."
"Divinations? Are you a psychic or something?" Blue asked, frowning.
"Ella is," The woman said, drawing a pokéball out of the folds of her obi. "But it is irrelevant. Our divinations are of an ancient style, directed by flows of an arcane power in this world. We watch over those around whom these flows tangle. Until now, such tangles have formed almost exclusively around gods and avatars."
"Ava-whats?" Blue said, looking at Saylee. "Is this some super-secret women's guild conversation, or am I allowed to know what that means?"
"Wait, I think I heard about this from Eusine… it's a human destined to absorb one of the most powerful Pokémon in the world into their body," Saylee said with a frown. "Pokémon powerful enough to be regarded as gods. I met a guy who's hoping to become the avatar of Ho-oh—they think it's the god of rebirth."
"Wait… are you saying that Saylee's destined to be an avatar?" Blue said, looking from the Geisha to Saylee. "I'd worry that doing that would get you sucked into even more trouble, but I'm not sure if that's actually possible."
"Your body is not destined to harbour a god," the Geisha said, shaking her head. "But those who are will be drawn to you, and you will defend them."
"Wait, no," Saylee said, shaking her head. "What does that mean?"
"It means that soon you will be able to see," the Geisha responded. "You will be able to see those who are destined to become avatars, and you will be driven to defend them. Like Silver."
"Are you trying to tell me," Saylee said with a frown, "that the only reason I keep running into Silver, the only reason I was ever worried about that stupid kid, is because I'm destined to? Because I'm born to? No, I'm sorry—"
"Oh, no," the Geisha interrupted. "As I said, the flows did not begin to tangle about you until you first came to Ecruteak. I don't doubt that you are a kind soul who merely sought to look out for a lost child—"
"And can't keep your nose out of trouble," Blue agreed. "Does sound like you."
"But in looking out for that child in the Burned Tower… at that time, in that place…" the Geisha continued. "Silver, though he did not realize it, was drawn to that place because of the Beasts sleeping underground. His presence awakened them. At that time, they awakened to see you protecting them, and that brought you to the attention of a greater power."
"Are you saying that Silver's meant to be an avatar for one of those things?" Saylee asked sharply. "Suicune, Raikou, Entei…"
"He will be the master of all three, one day," the geisha said smoothly.
Blue whistled. "That angry little kid?" he said. "Tell me that's not any time soon, because that kid can barely handle himself and normal Pokémon, let alone anything really powerful…"
"When his time comes, he will know what must be done," the geisha said placidly. "He will have to take on Ho-oh's power, because he has been chosen to do so. And I do hope that you will be there to guide him, Saylee. "
"Because it's what I'm chosen to do?" Saylee asked, irritated by the woman's calm demeanour when talking about handing the powers of gods to damaged children.
"No, Saylee," the geisha said, smiling placidly. "Weren't you listening? You were not chosen. You chose. You chose to protect that child time and again. You chose to protect those others that needed protection. Each time that you chose to do so, each time that you succeed in doing so, the powers will be ever more drawn to you. Because you can protect them. And every time you choose to do so, your powers will grow. Your ability to find them, to recognize them, to protect them." She shook her head gently. "You can still choose not to. I'm sure you are not the only one. Go home, live quietly, let Silver and the other avatars go about their way and the powers will lose interest."
"I can't just leave Silver on his own, though," Saylee argued. "He's my little brother! He's got no other family, not now his mother's in jail and our—I can't abandon him!"
"You can," the geisha interjected. "You are physically capable of doing so. But you won't. I can see. And while you aren't chosen, your little half-brother is…" she stood up, bowed to them and left the room.
"Well, that was creepy as all hell," Blue said, looking at Saylee. He put his hand on hers in an unusually gentle gesture. "Are you… alright? That sounds like a lot to take in, on top of everything…"
"Suddenly, finding out about my relatives doesn't seem that bad," Saylee sighed. "I… don't know if I really buy all this 'avatar' stuff…" she couldn't help thinking of Ethan's silver-glazed eyes, or the way that Silver seemed to connect with Entei, Raikou and Suicune. "She's right. I'm not going to abandon Silver, and I'm not going to be able to keep myself out of trouble if I see it… I have to…"
"But not on your own," Blue insisted, gripping her hand. "That weirdo was right, you really don't listen—"
"I know, she said there might be others," Saylee said, "but I haven't met any yet, so until then, who else is there?"
"There's me!" Blue shouted. "You're not the only one who gets to choose, okay? And you might be a protector, but sometimes you sure as hell need protecting. I happen to think that I'm quite a good trainer, believe it or not."
"You are," Saylee said, touching the bandages on her neck. "I…" she swallowed heavily. "I wanted to ask you to come with me. To Johto. But we started arguing again…" She shifted over on the bed. Blue took the hint and sat down next to her, leaning back against the headrest, not letting go of her hand. "Just like when I turned fifteen and I said I was going to leave. I really hoped that you'd want to come with me. We hadn't been apart for a single day of our lives before that, had we? Adults came and went, Red came and went, but you and I…" she sighed. "But you got so mad… I thought you hated me."
"I didn't want you to vanish like Red," Blue sighed. "And I was pissed off about you running off on your own… you never said you wanted me to come with you, how was I supposed to know?"
"You… I don't know," Saylee said, shaking her head. "We suck at this communication thing, don't we? I missed you a lot, travelling on my own, but then every time we ran into each other we just fought… I was really glad to see you in the Radio Tower, y'know. Not just because you saved my life. Suddenly, it just all seemed so much more doable. Team Rocket didn't feel like a threat anymore. I feel like if we travelled together, I could do anything."
"You can do it anyway," Blue grumbled.
"But I don't feel like I can," Saylee said, leaning against his shoulder. "Not until I'm fighting with you. As in, on the same side, although sometimes proving you wrong is a good motivator…"
"Well, if that's all I'm good for…" Blue sighed. He rolled his eyes at her startled look. "Oh, come on, you and Red are always the heroes. You've both run off to fight Team Rocket on your own, saved cities, doing all that heroic shit, while I just tag along. That's what I'm for, I guess. You protect the gods, I protect the heroes."
"Funny," Saylee said, squeezing his hand, "you looked pretty bloody heroic when you got Proton off me. And back when you turned up to help me fight through Silph. That's proper hero timing, always turning up just in time…"
"Stop trying to make me sound like a good guy," Blue grumbled. "I'm not. You can't possibly have forgiven me for killing Eliza and Paul."
Saylee sucked in her breath sharply. "Eliza… I know you and Sam didn't mean to kill her," Saylee said softly. "Paul…" she took her hand out of his, looking away. "I know why you did it. I know you were trying to protect me. That… that doesn't make it okay. And I don't know if and when I'll be able to forgive you for it. But, Blue… you haven't forgiven yourself for it either, have you? That's why you're doing all this, right?"
"Oh, for…" Saylee glanced over to see Blue facepalming. "You can be pretty clever about Pokémon, but you're also a moron, you know that?"
"So you keep telling me," Saylee said, giving him a push. He swore as he rolled off the bed and thumped onto the floor. "What's your point?"
"My point is that yes, I still feel terrible about Eliza and Paul," Blue said, leaning up and peering at Saylee over the edge of the bed, "but I didn't haul my ass all the way out here on a guilt trip. I came for the same reason I do any stupid shit, like leaving Pallet or having Paul killed. I came because I care about you, moron."
"…forgive me for not getting that when you alternate between saving my life and killing my Pokémon," Saylee said, stomach clenching with something halfway between fear and happiness. "One minute you're telling me Giovanni's my father, then that I have a really nice granny who makes scarves."
"All true and relevant information," Blue insisted. "Sorry for not figuring out a way to tell you about your gran without bringing up your dad."
"That's not it, it's just…" Saylee ran her hands through her hair, trying to figure out how to articulate her thoughts. "Since before I was born, we moved around all the time. Even when we settled in Pallet, it's constantly been changing as we try to build, as things get destroyed, and we try again… in all that time, there've only been three constant, important people in my life." She held up three fingers. "Red, Mum, and you. But Red's gone, nobody knows where. Mum's…" she hesitated.
"She's not someone you can lean on," Blue said softly.
"I love Mum," Saylee insisted quickly. "And I know she loves Red and me… I can't count how often, when we were kids, she'd give up her own food so we could eat… but she spent so much of our travel searching for a husband that she couldn't be sure existed, as if finding him would make everything better. She pined endlessly. Since forever, Red's been the strong one…"
"And me?" Blue asked, standing up.
"I told you, you've always been there," Saylee said, fidgeting with her fingers rather than looking up at him. "You always made everyone smile. Even if it meant being a jerk, so long as it was funny…" she bit at her lip nervously. "You're the only dependable constant left in my life, and the past couple of years, you haven't been constant. You've been… I don't know. I don't know what to make of it. And I want to, I really do, but things get in the way… I have to find Red, and you…"
"I've got to protect Pallet and Viridian," Blue said. "I probably shouldn't be away from it for too long as it is. SG's covering for me, but wild Pokémon and the roaming gangs are still a problem…" he scratched his head and sighed. "Since you're a moron, I will say this flat out: you're important to me, Saylee. I don't like seeing you get hurt. REALLY don't like it. But sometimes, I don't get you at all. Sometimes, I don't know what to make of you either…" He shook his head and sat down heavily next to her. "Mostly, I really just wish I could make you a happier person."
Saylee put her hand over his where it rested on top of the sheet. "Nobody makes me happy like you do, Blue. Nobody makes me sad like you, either, but… either way, I don't know what I'd do without you."
"I'd rather be making you happy than sad," Blue said wryly.
She watched him for a moment, not sure how to respond, before smiling slightly.
"If you're up for it, I have something that could make us both happy."
Blue raised a curious eyebrow. "That would be?"
Saylee tugged on his sleeve a little, inviting him to lean closer, before kissing him. If it had seemed like a good idea at first, it had suddenly seemed even better when whatever surprise he'd felt in the beginning had quickly evaporated and he kissed her back.
"Lee! Did something good happen? You suddenly felt really really happy and—OOPS, SORRY!"
Blue and Saylee jerked apart in time to see Tobias whirl around and fly back out the door. "Toby!" Saylee called.
"Well, that was private for all of five seconds," Blue snorted, leaning back and putting his arm around her shoulder. "Good, though. Definitely a good idea. We need to do that again sometime." Saylee leaned against him with a little laugh.
"From the way some of my Pokémon talk, there will be exactly no surprise anyway," she said. "So, what now?"
"Just what we were saying, I guess," Blue said with a little shrug. "I'll go back to look after Pallet and Viridian over the winter. You'll go get to know your family. But now…"
"Now we know," Saylee said, working an arm around him. "Now we both know. And we still have time before winter comes."
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*Flees screaming from attempts to write romance* I just got Fire Emblem: Awakening. I've never played an FE game before, so I've only just discovered how much I love this. I'm probably just going to copy down all the romantic support conversations as an alternative to trying to write anything remotely romantic…
