Sapphire sniffed the warm midday air, then turned to Needlefur. "You like sweet berries, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"There's some over that way." Sapphire nodded in the direction she smelled the berries.

"Really?" Needlefur quickly sniffed the still air. "I can't smell anything sweet."

"Follow me, and I'll show you."

A reasonably long walk proved Sapphire right. The familiar pink shade of Pecha berries greeted them as they came around a tree.

"There you go." Sapphire said triumphantly.

"You were right, I'll give you that." Needlefur commented. "So, how do you want them?"

"What do you mean?" Sapphire tipped her head to one side.

Needlefur answered by throwing a weak bolt of electricity at a single berry. It dropped to the ground, slightly blackened and smoking a little. "Try it." the Jolteon offered. "Careful, though, it's still a little warm."

Sapphire curiously took a bite of the lightly toasted berry. It was slightly crispy on the outside, but warm and soft inside. "Wow! That's really good!"

"I know." Needlefur agreed. "That's how I like mine, too." She repeated the process, and six more berries fell to the ground; four for herself and two more for Sapphire. "Eat up." Needlefur told her, already working on a mouthful.

The young Leafeon needed no further bidding. As the two Pokemon ate, Needlefur spoke up. "So, Sapphire, you still haven't told me where you learned how to fight so well."

Sapphire swallowed before responding. "For the past month, I've taught myself, but before that it was my father that taught me. Sometimes I'd lose my temper with him, because I never had a mother to show me how to be patient." She sniffed slightly as she finished. "But," she whispered, "Rustfur has taught me that, and a lot more."

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened to your mother?"

"No, I don't mind. I've told Rustfur, and it isn't as hard to talk about it. As I was being born, there was a blue moon in the sky. It couldn't have come at a worse time. Right after I was born, she p-passed away... Now I'll be affected by the same condition."

Needlefur paused in mid-bite. "What? Why?"

"The energy from the blue moon is inside me; that's why my eyes are blue. It also makes me similar to an Umbreon. Ravenpaw went through the same thing, right?"

"Yes, he did." Needlefur answered. "About two years ago."

"How long did it last?"

"Only during the night."

"Good. At least it won't last too long." Sapphire muttered.

"How do you even know you'll see another blue moon?"

Sapphire went on to explain that Rustfur could sometimes see the future and what he had seen.

"Do you know when it's going to happen?"

"I have no idea." Sapphire admitted, taking another bite. "But when it does happen, Rustfur will be there with me."

"You're lucky to have a Pokemon like Rustfur, and he you." Needlefur gently pointed out.

"I know." Sapphire replied, blushing a little. "Speaking of him, he's probably wondering where we are. Let's finish up."

A short time later, they had finished eating and were headed back with Sapphire carrying three Pecha berries in her mouth.

Rustfur was dozing off when something landed in front of his nose. Instinctively, he sniffed it.

"C'mon, Rusty." Sapphire giggled. "Wake up."

"Rusty?" he murmured, half-asleep.

"I thought you were starving." she said, a hint of humor in her voice.

The Espeon slowly sat up, taking care not to aggravate his foot. By now, it had almost stopped bleeding, as Swiftclaw had found some cobwebs to help slow the blood flow. He shook his head and blinked against the bright sun. "What'd you call me? Rusty?" he asked Sapphire.

"Yes, I did."

"Why?"

"I think it's cute..." she shyly answered, shuffling her paws and blushing lightly. "Do you like it?"

"As far as I'm concerned," he whispered into her ear, "you can call me whatever you want."

"I thought you would like it." she said, looking up.

"Now I'll need to find a nickname for you." Rustfur replied jokingly.

"In any case, we found you something to eat." Sapphire pushed the three berries closer to him. "Here, I've already eaten."

"Thanks." Rustfur crouched down and began eating. Sapphire watched him for a little bit, then let her eyes slowly sweep over the other Pokemon. Most of Rustfur's relatives were either asleep or close to it, resting from the battle with Team Galactic. Her gaze fell on Needlefur, who was speaking to her Vaporeon mate. Now and again, Sapphire's ears could pick up little bits of conversation.

"I knew it! We've been going the wrong way! Team Galactic is set up in Veilstone City!"

"How could we have known that they would station themselves in their previous headquarters? It's a rather stupid idea."

"But we fell for it!" Needlefur exclaimed. "We have to turn around."

"Well, we're not going anywhere with Rustfur's foot in the condition it's in now."

"That's true... Though, it might be about... a week to a week and a half before it's fit enough for any serious traveling."

"That long!? I guess there's nothing for it. We'll just have to wait." Torrentpaw decided. "I suppose we'll have to get used to this area then."

"If we're not going anywhere for a while, we could afford to have three of us keep watch."

"Good idea. I'll ask Fireheart if he'll keep watch with us tonight. Besides, Leafpool might need some time alone. That was a pretty shocking secret she found out about." the Vaporeon suggested, padding off to speak with his eldest son.

Now Rustfur had finished eating and sat back up. Sapphire turned to him and related what she had overheard.

"So, looks like we're going to be staying here for a while, huh?" he responded. "Oh well, it might actually let me do some training."

"You know, I still haven't seen you train yet." Sapphire teased, her blue eyes sparkling with laughter.

"We'll change that tomorrow." Rustfur promised, gently licking the curled leaf on his companion's forehead. "But, until then, what should we do?"

Sapphire looked around for something to do, and her deep blue eyes fell on the sleeping, curled-up forms of Swiftclaw and Rayne. "It looks like they have the right idea..." she observed, suddenly sounding very sleepy. Shortly after, she yawned widely and blinked several times.

"I see where you're going with this." Rustfur yawned. He lay down and pulled his tail across his nose. A warm touch against his back told him that Sapphire had joined him. She softly laid her broad tail across him. He fell asleep in this position, with Sapphire's scent lingering in his nostrils.

When he came around again it was dark, and at first he thought he was dreaming. But after looking about, he saw his father and his parents softly silhouetted against the darker background of the forest. Sapphire's tail still lay across his back and she was still asleep, her chest steadily rising and falling. The Espeon wasn't about to move and disturb his beautiful companion. Instead he lay there, watching her, his eyes violet eyes soft. Here was his whole reason for living, sleeping softly next to him.

"Is she still asleep?"

Rustfur looked up at the whisper. His father was silently padding up to him. "Yes, she is." the Espeon murmured, tenderly looking at her.

"I'm not surprised. She had a full day. And her morning started off a little rough." Fireheart threw a glance at his son.

It took Rustfur a moment to understand his father. That argument he'd had with Sapphire was only that morning? It sure didn't feel like it. Suddenly Rustfur thought of something he hadn't before.

"Dad? What if Sapphire doesn't want a Trainer?"

"What do you mean?"

"She was born wild." Rustfur explained. "What if she doesn't want to come with us when we get back to the Daycare?"

"If you're worried or not about whether or not Eric will take her in, don't worry, he will. He's been my Trainer for four years. Besides, he took in your mother, right?"

"Well, what if she doesn't want to come with us?" Rustfur asked hesitantly.

"Rustfur," Fireheart laughed, "she would follow you to the other side of the Sinnoh region and back without question."

"Do you really think so?" Rustfur flashed his father a quick glance.

"He's right, Rustfur, I would."

Rustfur snapped his head around. "How long have you been awake, Sapphire?"

"Long enough to hear you worrying about me." She sat up and fixed him with her vibrant cerulean gaze. "You should know me better than that."

At first, Rustfur thought she was angry with him, but he caught the amused gleam in her eyes.

"I would go anywhere or do anything for you. That includes joining you when you return to your Trainer. Don't worry." Sapphire answered him, brushing her muzzle against his cheek.

"All right, I'm sorry I didn't realize that." Rustfur apologized. "I should've known that."

"It's okay." Sapphire told him. "Let's get some more sleep. I'm still tired."

Fireheart smiled. "I'll let you two get some rest."

"Good night, Dad."

"Good night, Fireheart."

The Flareon silently trotted off to resume his watch, throwing a glance over his shoulder at the Espeon and Leafeon settling down to sleep. He smiled at the loving lick Rustfur placed on Sapphire's cheek. Wow, he thought in amazement, I barely recognize Rustfur. He's grown up so much in such a short time... It's almost as if those two were destined to be with one another.

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Author's Notes:

Toasted berries regular berries. That's a fact of life.

To those who don't feel like waiting to read chapters that I have not yet posted,
allow me to refer you to my deviantArt page under the same name; "Eeveexpert".