Japanese Title: Love Can Be Both Lost And Gained! Just As Friends Can!
Translation: Ai Yoroshii Iru Tomo Soreru to Gein! Bakari Gotoshi Furenzu Yoroshii!
By: Pro_V
Co-Authored By: rainflower
"Sitting around here, staring around the house, isn't getting us anything," Jason said as he rammed his head into the pillow on his bed, "The Beasts are gone. Medira's gone. Peter's pretty much gone. Why am I still here?"
Eevy was doing the same in her room, "How could she just leave with him like that? She just fell for him like she tripped over him. If I feel this bad, Jason must feel absolutely wretched. Poor guy. I wish there was some way I could fix this."
Luri was in a similar conversation with herself in her room, "Why wasn't I trying hard enough? I really wanted to help her, but there was just something different. Maybe she was right when she said our powers were too different to work out."
Jason's took a turn for the worst, however, "I'm up. I'm gone. I'm leaving," he stood and went to his closet, digging like a maniac, "None of them are going to stop me. No way, no how," he pulled out a small brown backpack, "Haven't seen this in a while. Oh well. There's a second time for everything, I suppose."
After stuffing it full of the things he thought he'd need (including his father's dog tags and mother's jewelry box) he scribbled a note in Japanese script, to ensure no one could read it easily to buy himself more time, and left his room silently. He didn't stomp down the hall like he wanted to; he knew that would arouse curiosity as to where he was going and why he was going. He snuck down the main hallway slowly and quietly, ducking and hiding when he believed it necessary. He passed the room where everyone else was sitting and slowed even more to ensure no one would hear him and continued down the hall again. He hit the main door and slowly looked back to the room, tempting himself to go back, but walked out anyway. He trudged out into the snow and walked off to the right, heading off into the dark and frosted woods.
*^~^**^~^*
Will laughed wildly as he walked down the hall and shoved Jason's door open, "Hey, Jason! This show's pretty fun-…funny. Where the hell did he go? Jason!" Will snatched the note from the bed and ran back to the other room, "Jason's gone!"
"What?!" Lance spiraled and flipped, "Did Peter take him?"
"I don't think so. I have a note here. It's written in Japanese script, but he hand signed it. I wish we knew how to read this!"
"Let me see that!" Eevy snatched it from his hands, "Why am I the only one who can read this stuff anymore?" she snapped and scanned it, "Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no! No, no, no!"
"What?! What happened?!" Luri spazzed, "We need to know!"
"Come on, Eevy! What happened?!" Morty jumped around in his chair and stared at her.
"You've gotta tell us!" Ash watched as Eevy's eyes scanned every inch of the paper.
"Fine! Here, listen…
~~~
Everybody,
Sitting around and hanging out isn't getting my girl back to me. I'm heading out to find her; with or without your approval, cooperation, and/or help. I want Medira back and none of you seem to care. Either you're trying to play it cool until we see her again so I'm misjudging you, or you just don't give a damn anymore and I've been right all along. I'm going to find her and bring her back, even if it entails slicing Rubeus' throat or breaking his neck. I'll damn well do it. Find me when you find me.
J. Peruwa III
~~~
"He sounds really ticked off," Eusine swallowed, "Should we go after him?"
"We have to!" Mizu barked at him, "Why wouldn't we?!"
"If he's that mad, maybe we should just let him steam for a while," Lisle brushed the hair from her face.
"But if we leave him too long Peter could turn him to steam!" Luri snapped.
"We can't go out without a plan!" Rachel jumped.
"We've got to leave soon! Who knows how long the letter's been there!" Yuu-Yuu shouted.
"It could only be a few minutes old! We'll never know!" Beth spat.
The bickering continued for a good five minutes before Eevy exploded, "Enough!" she burst louder than ever, smashing the bulb in the lamp at the other end of the room, "All of you! Just be quiet! Not one word! I don't want to hear one word!" the group nodded slowly, not taking chances, "Thank you," Eevy said calmly, "Now, this letter is about half an hour old. The ink's dry and the scent of pen is gone."
"So what do we do?" Skiff tilted his head.
"We're going to have to go and look for him," Eevy folded the note and jammed it in her pocket, "By the way he was talking, and by where Peter seems to like to hide, I'd say he's in the woods somewhere. We should go and see what we can find. We're going to have to work fast, so I suggest splitting up. If Jason finds Peter or Peter finds Jason, we could have a very large problem on our hands."
"Splitting up?" Will questioned, looking side to side, "Isn't that a bit dangerous?"
"Not if we stick with our group and take our Poke'Gear and Poke'Dex," Ash nodded and stood up, "Let's go!"
"Hold it!" Eevy slapped her hand on his shoulder and pushed him to sit, "You are staying here."
"What?!" he tried to stand again but she pushed him back down.
"You heard me. You are staying here. You, Misty, Brock, Tracey, Sooney, Rachel, Beth and Yuu-Yuu are staying here. Vic and Victor are returning to the gate and the rest of us will search."
"Why do we have to stay here? We're old enough to take care of ourselves!" Yuu-Yuu snorted, "It's not fair!"
"You will do as I say, thank you very much," Eevy stood straight and held out the corner of her cloak and acted as if listening and talking to it, "What's that, cloak? You say I'm Champion Mistress? Well, I'll be damned! My cloak's right."
"That's not funny!" Sooney snapped, "You're misusing your power!"
"Wrong," Eevy waved the same corner of her cloak at them, "I'm doing my job, thank you, and I intend on doing it right the first time around. Right, cloak?" she made the corner nod, "I may act nuts, but I'm about as sane as they come."
"Could of fooled me," Tracey muttered and slouched.
"If that's true," Brock paused, "we're all doomed."
"Hardy, hardy, hah, hah," Eevy reached to her belt, "I choose Star Ball!" Vovo burst from the ball, "You agree that they should wait here while we look for Jason, don't you, Vovo?" she asked him as he perched on her shoulder.
"Eevee-eevee eev eevee!" he nodded vigorously.
"What about you, my little Pik-amigo?" Eevy leaned into Pikachu's face.
"Pikachu-chau!" Pikachu nodded as well and crossed his arms.
"How about you, Togepi? What do you say?" she smiled wide at the baby Pokemon.
"Toge-toge-pii!" she chirped happily.
A Poke'Ball in Misty's backpack shot open, "Psyduck! Stop coming out unless I call you!" Misty stomped.
"Ah, Psyduck. Good to see you again," Eevy patted him on the head, "What do you say, buddy? Should you and your friends wait here until we get back?"
"Psy-duck?" he just looked to the side with the dumbest of expressions and Eevy gave a totally embarrassed face.
"When your Pokemon turn against you," Ash muttered, "there's no turning back."
"Depressing yet true," Misty mumbled and stood up as the group went outside.
"OK," Eevy turned and cracked her knuckles with Vovo on the top of her head, "Ash, Misty and Brock wait here with the main Poke'Gear. We'll let you know if we find anything or if we need your help. Tracey, Sooney and Beth watch for Rubeus, Medira, and/or Jason and let us know if you find them. Yuu-Yuu and Rachel stick to the front door and defend with Seaking and Miasma if necessary. Pikachu's also on patrol and, if necessary, Psyduck as well. Like I said before, Vic and V are going back to the gate. We'll be in contact with you with our Poke'Gear and Poke'Dex," the whole group raised their gear, "If we find anything, we'll be sure to let you know, just as you should with us. All right?"
"You got it, Eevy!" Ash stood at attention with Pikachu mimicking by his side.
"OK then," Eevy turned around, "You already know the groups, I'm sure, so lets move out. Morty and Lisle go to the left, Eusine and Mizu go to the right, Will and Luri take the left section of the back and Lance, Vovo and I can take the right of the back. If anyone finds anything, send out a multi-signal Poke'Gear call based to the Mansion. If those who didn't send it don't contact the Mansion within ten minutes, call them and see what's up, got it, Ash?"
"Yeah. We'll do this yet!" he turned and headed back inside as the group split into sections and walked off into the Mansion and woods.
*^~^**^~^*
"This was my dumbest idea yet," Jason shivered beneath his cloak, "I'm not stopping. I'm going to go until I find some sign-," he paused and looked down, "…of her. Well, charred grass and no snow makes my day."
He was right. There wasn't a speck of snow for a good three or four feet in every direction. The grass beneath his feet was blackened to a crisp and some just disintegrated with the slightest touch. That was quite the sign of fire-throwing life if you asked him. He continued in the direction the heat was flowing from, soon coming to the smell of recent smoke. A nicely blackened tree was still smoldering and some specks of bark were glowing red-hot. He swallowed hard and didn't dare get near it. He kept walking and stopped at the sight of movement. He swung himself behind the trunk of a nearby tree and peeked around the corner. Medira was sitting alone, poking at the fire in front of her with a stick. Not that she needed the stick, but used it just the same. She threw it into the flames and leaned back, staring up through the trees at the sky. A sudden shadow blocked her view.
"Hi," Jason stared straight down at her and waved twice.
She shot up as fast as she could, springing to her feet and jumping away, "Holy shit! Holy shit!" her heart beat wildly, "You keep back!" she raised her hand and filled it with fire, "Keep your distance you disgusting blob or I'll knock you into the next world!"
He totally ignored her and walked around her side. Her hand and eyes followed him intently, watching his every movement as he stepped all the way to her right and sat down on the ground, staring into the fire. She scowled at his nonchalant nature and stomped around behind him.
"What do you think you're doing? Did I give you permission to sit here in my campsite?"
"No, and I really don't care," he stood with his back to her for a moment before slowly turning around, "Why are you doing this?"
"You'd better leave now before Peter gets back from his walk or-"
She stopped as he slapped his hand around her chin, "I asked you a question, Medira. Answer me. Please."
"You're not my boss!" she smacked him away and stepped back, "Leave me alone, Jason!"
"You used my name," his eyes narrowed, "At least he hasn't totally sucked you dry of us. Please answer me, Medira. Why are you doing this? Why are you letting yourself fall to him?"
"I'm not falling to him! He's helping me! I don't want to keep taking the chance of hurting any of you. It's better that I stay here with Peter and learn than endanger all of you with every breath."
"Then why did you attack us yesterday? You tried to fry three of your best friends and me. If you're so worried about hurting us, why did you attack?"
Medira didn't have a clear-cut answer for that and looked nervously side to side, "Peter considered it…Target practice."
"What? He's been feeding you lies like that? Oh man," he rubbed at his eyes, "Medira, you can't listen to him!" he snatched her elbows and held her steady, "You've got to get away from him before he totally destroys you! You can't do things like this! This isn't what you really want! This isn't what your life is meant for! This isn't even you!" she looked down and away to the left, "Look at me when I talk to you!" he shook her a bit to straighten her gaze, "Medira, you could roast me black and I'd still love you. You've got to trust me. Trust us. Show Peter we're stronger than he is. Let us help you."
"But I don't want to hurt you," she muttered sadly and looked straight down, poking her index fingers together nervously.
"I don't care if you hurt me," he ran his hands from her elbows to her waist, "You could beat me brainless and I would still go on caring for you. I will never not love you, Medira. That's just how it is. No amount of pain is going to change my mind and no meddling pyro will ever take you away from me."
Their eyes were frozen on each other for what seemed like an eternity. She still wasn't quite sure about this, but Jason was about to make her decision for her. He pulled her closer, putting his arms around her back and leaning in for a kiss. She recognized this feeling and let it happen, putting her hands around his waist. Their lips locked slowly together with a rush of pleasure. Her hands found his shoulders without hesitation and his stayed in their places on her back. She lost herself completely in the moment and started heating things up a bit more than needed.
"Youch!" Jason jumped back and held his shoulder, moving his hand to reveal a good-sized burn.
"See what I mean?" Medira stepped away and cupped her hands over her mouth, "See what happens? All we were doing was kissing and I could have killed you! I've got to go. I've got to find Peter. I've got to get away!" she turned and took off to the side of the campsite.
"No, Medira! Wait! Don't go! I survived it! I'm not hurt that badly and I'm not mad! Medira!"
*^~^**^~^*
"Well, there's no sight of them, but enough charred wood to choke a giraffe," Luri pulled a blackened chip of bark from the tree beside her, "I'm sure they were here."
"Yeah, then where'd they go?" Will asked partially nastily.
"If you ask me that one more time, I'll slug you right upside the head!" she turned and stomped around the tree, "Let's go."
"What are you mad at me for? What did I do?" he jumped along behind her.
"I'm not mad at you," she pushed a branch out of the way and let it snap back into his face.
"Then what do you call it?" he spit out a leaf and pulled the twig from his hair.
"I call it annoyed with your pestering! Now, come on. We've got to find Jason."
*^~^**^~^*
"There's not even a hint of evidence they were here," Mizu muttered, "It's getting late anyway."
"I'm not even sure how far into the forest we've come," Eusine swallowed, "It's starting to get kind of chilly too."
"Kind of chilly?!" she nearly fell over, "I'm freezing!"
"Not that I'm not cold, it's that I'm so cold I'm numb!" he threw his arms around her, "Keep me warm!"
"Keep yourself warm! All of my heat is for me!" she pushed at him to get him away, "It's too cold to be playing games!"
"Let's just find Jason and get back to the Mansion before we freeze!"
"If we find Peter, we won't have to worry about freezing."
*^~^**^~^*
"Almost every tree around here is fried crispy," Lisle shivered and swallowed hard, "I bet they were here recently."
"Stop that!" Morty snapped and quivered, "You're making me nervous!"
"You weren't nervous on your own?"
"Shut up."
"That's what I thought. Is it getting colder or is it just me?"
"I think it is getting a little colder. Let's see," he fiddled with the Poke'Gear for a few seconds, "Yeah. It has gotten a little colder."
"Could it be because we're getting farther away from Peter and Medira? Or maybe because we're getting closer to Luri? Or possibly because it's getting later? Or maybe even-"
"Stop it! I get your point, Lisle! Geez…It's probably just because it's getting later out. The temperature does drop at night, you know."
"Yeah, but even with Rubeus running around?"
"Stop making me nervous!"
*^~^**^~^*
"This is getting creepy," Eevy looked frantically side to side, searching for any movement, "Stupid Jason had to go and get lost."
"Well, enough girls have told him to," Lance partially snickered from behind her.
"Would you shut up with your idiot jokes?!" she barked and huffed at him, "I don't really think now is a time to kid around!"
"How about fooling around?"
"Shut the hell up, you moron! We're looking for Jason, not sick sarcasm!"
"Sorry, geez! I was just fooling with you," he pulled her shirt sleeve, "Don't you have a sense of humor?"
"Not right now I don't," she smacked his hand, "Don't start! I'm not going to ask you again! Now, just st-"
Lance slapped his hand over her mouth and pulled her back, "Be quiet," he whispered, "There's someone over there."
"Where?" she asked into his hand, scanning left and right.
"Over there," he motioned to the left.
Eevy leaned forward and looked around the tree before biting Lance's hand, "That's Jason, you dolt!" she smacked him off and crossed her arms, "You knew that the whole time, didn't you?"
He gave a mischievous grin and waved his eyebrows, "Hey, can't blame a guy for tryin'!"
"Oh, whatever," she moaned and turned and headed towards Jason.
"What?" he slouched, "What?" he ran up behind her.
"Jason," Eevy put her hand on Jason's shoulder from behind.
Jason spun and came within inches of punching Eevy right in the jaw, "My God. I'm sorry, Eevy," he calmed then looked overly confused, "Wait. Eevy? How the hell did you find me?"
"I…can read…Japanese…script," Eevy panted, "Please…remove your fist…from the side of my face."
"Sorry again," Jason drooped, "I've just had a hard time here with Medira."
"Medira?! You saw Medira?!" Lance jumped, "What happened? Did you have any luck?…"
Lance continued talking with Jason while Eevy used the Poke'Gear, "Hey, everyone! We've found Jason. We're in the southeastern section of the forest. He says he's seen Medira. Come on over right away. Everyone in the Mansion stays put. I mean it! The cloak is watching."
*^~^**^~^*
Morty and the others made their way to Eevy, Lance, and Jason, all greeting the Elite First with great looks of relief. The entire group opted to campout, seeing as how it was dark and late already. Will, Lance, Morty, and Eusine set up the tents while Mizu and Luri looked for firewood and Lisle and Eevy set up a place to actually have a fire. Everyone had decided to let Jason sit for a bit; he looked low for obvious reasons.
As Eevy was taking some sticks from Mizu, she heard Jason stand and stretch, "I'm gonna go for a walk. Just for a second," he turned and wandered off, indicating his Poke'Gear as he left.
"All right, Jason," Eevy looked to everyone else and shrugged as they did the same.
*^~^**^~^*
While Eevy and the search party set up camp and Jason pranced aimlessly about the forest, Medira searched for Peter. She was already upset before she burned Jason, but now she was feeling worse than bad. She was feeling more along the lines of wretched. The smell of smoke attracted her attention and she turned to head in that direction. His back was to her, but Peter was standing there with his arms crossed, watching a tree burn. Embers and sparks flew everywhere as the wood slowly burned away. She reached to tap his shoulder, but had a sudden burst of fire. Peter caught a sense of the power roaring behind him and jumped to the side as a blast of flames shot from behind him.
"Medira! What are you doing?!" he leaned away and panted.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! It was an accident!" she put her hands over her face, "I'm so sorry!"
"You just surprised me, is all! You can't hurt me, Medira," he looked down at his shirtsleeve, "Unfortunately, my clothes aren't so lucky."
"I roasted your shirt, didn't I?"
"Yep," he blew the flame burning on his sleeve out and grumbled something to the respect of, "No sense in wearing a shirt with only one sleeve," and maneuvered the burnt shirt over his head and tossed it on the ground, "Well, it was my favorite shirt…"
She turned away and rubbed at her eyes, "I should just go. I'm not only a danger to myself, but I'm a danger to you now too. This stupid power is too much for me. I should just ask the Beasts to take it away. At least that way we'd all be safe."
"Woah, woah, woah!" he jumped, "You don't have to give up your power because of me! If anything, you should keep them because of me. I'm helping, aren't I?" she only bit her bottom lip, "Aren't I?" she continued to look away, "Why won't you look at me and answer my question?"
"Y-Y-You've got your shirt off," she muttered and turned beat red.
"So what?" he asked, throwing his arms out to his sides questioningly, "What's wrong with that?" he paused and looked as if a light bulb popped on over his head, "Is it this? This thing?" he pointed to the serpent tattoo reaching from his right forehead straight down is right arm and down his ring finger.
"That's…part of the reason," she bit her thumbnail nervously, "I'm just freaked about hurting you, I suppose is the real picture."
"You can't hurt me, Medira. How many times must you be told that before you actually hear it?" he turned her around, "You can hurt me about as much as this tattoo can hurt you; not at all. It's just paint to you, and to me, your fire is just fire."
She decided to change the subject, "That's quite the design," she eyed the snake up and down, "Why a snake?"
"The family mark," his voice was flat, "Every Rubeus has one. Men and women alike. I didn't really appreciate the numerous hours it took to get the damn thing done, but it's a conversation piece, if nothing else."
"What's that thing?" she pointed to his other shoulder.
"Ah, that's just a dagger. That happens to have been my brother Paul's idea. He used to get to me a lot when I was younger. Always tricking me into doing some pretty stupid shit. I've had that thing for ten years now, and it's never coming off."
"Why not? There're ways to remove them, you know. If you don't like it, just get it taken it off."
"No. I want it on. To remind me of my brother. He died a while back. Hey, smoking five packs a day can do that to a guy, you know?" he suddenly turned sadly sarcastic, "Then my sister Pat. She's been gone a while too. Drunk driver vs. drunk driver and unfortunately my sister lost while the other son of a bitch won in all his hiccuping glory and got off damn near scot-free. My mom and dad are both in the brig for robbery and other shit. It's basically the family career to screw-up."
"Sounds like I'd fit right in," she reached to turn him to read what was written on the hilt of the dagger tattoo when a rush of fire shot from her hand, "Whoa! Look out!" she started to run backwards.
"Woah! Hold on! Hold on! Hold on. Calm down," he grabbed her hands even though they were rushing with fire, "Look! It doesn't hurt. No pain!" he pulled their hands up to her face, "See? Not even a scratch."
She calmed a bit and looked up into his eyes, blinking a few times before loosening as the fire calmed, "Thank you, Peter," she looked a bit depressed.
"Don't look so sad," that usual evil grin rolled across his face, "You got my shirt off, didn't you?"
She laughed once before turning red, "Red Rubeus," she looked at the dagger's hilt, "Why 'Red Rubeus'?"
He gave an evil snicker, "Because we burn with passion," he brushed her hair back and pulled her closer, "As you'll soon find out."
Lips locked together in a kiss more serious than usual. To Peter, this was a sweet reward for being a true Rubeus. To Medira, it was a total proclamation of love. Had she not had her fire, his tongue entering her mouth would have burnt her beyond recognition. She laid her arms around his neck and stood that way while his hands ran along her arms and up her sleeves. He pulled back ever so slightly and kissed his way down her neck, stopping at her left shoulder and moving the neck of her shirt. She partially stiffened for a moment, not quite sure why, but did so just the same. Peter worked his way back up her shoulder and neck, covering her mouth again. He slowly pulled away and looked directly into Medira's dark purple eyes. Her breathing was deep, but not fast, as was his. He ran his hands through her hair and noticed he felt differently. He looked thoughtfully at her as he left his hands in her hair, trying to figure out what he was seeing now that he hadn't seen before, yet wasn't. He felt like he could see it, but she was still the same "hot little blond" he'd seen a dozen or more times before. He wasn't quite sure what it was that hit him just then, but it wasn't anything he'd felt before. Something in her eyes caught his and kept them there, sending him a chill, even though he was sweating. He leaned and kissed her again, leaving his hands in her hair. Her hands found his chin and kept him in place before they both pulled back and swallowed with a smile. Peter shook his head and blinked in a signal for something like 'wow' and wrapped his arm around her waist while reaching for his shirt. They turned and headed back, not hearing the snap of a branch behind them.
*^~^**^~^*
Jason came walking stiffly and silently from the bushes and stopped blankly beside Lance with a slight moan. They'd set up camp in the center of the woods behind Rainbow Mansion. Jason had gone off for a walk about an hour before and just now returned looking as if he was going to melt like a burning candle. He swallowed hard and looked shakily down at the Dragon Master.
"What's up with you?" Eusine asked from the other side of the fire.
"Did a zombie eat your brain or something?" Morty tilted his head.
"That looks to be about it," Mizu nodded quickly.
"Come on, Jason. What's wrong?" Luri straightened in your seat.
"You're whiter than the snow, boy! What happened?" Will jumped.
"Don't just stand there like a bump on a log!" Lisle snapped.
"What's wrong, Jason? What?" Eevy looked at him blankly.
"Lance," Jason's voice was cold and dead flat, "You've been a great friend, correct?"
"Uh…Yeah?" Lance answered in a half question and gave looks to the others as if to say, "Look at him! He's lost it completely!"
"Could you do me a favor then?" Jason sat down and pulled his knees to his chin while looking into the fire.
"Sure, Jason. What is it?" Lance turned to look at him straight on.
"Kill me," were the only two words heard.
The Next Chronicle:
Fixations