AN: So I finally finished translating a new chapter after such a long time x_x I haven't really been working on that as much lately, especially since I was in Japan for a couple of months as an exchange student. But who knows, maybe I'll work some more on that. So yeah, enjoy! :D

Yuki ^-^

_._

4. Silent Night

_._

Faint moonlight was shining down on her through the red curtains, while she was starring at the ceiling, completely lost in thought. It was silent outside; she couldn't even hear the soft thrashing sounds from the Hoothoot that were normally flying around at night. Almost as if she was all alone in this world. She turned around under her blanket, just to see the half-covered, peaceful looking face of Ju, who has probably already been asleep for quite a while. No, she wasn't all alone. Even though she sometimes struggled to accept that fact head-on. Way too many times, she felt arising doubt, sometimes she regretted, sometimes she was frightened, and other times she just wanted to leave everything behind. At that moment she was tempted to push it all aside, to cuddle herself even deeper into the bedsheets and to close her eyes in hopes of temporary peace.

But she couldn't get any sleep, just like so many other nights before. She had already given up on the turning-around and shifting-positions. And tomorrow would be an important day; there would be much work now that they had found Spear Pillar at last. Still, she couldn't really believe it. How long she had been fantasizing about this scenario, asking herself over an over again: What if…? And then, this question had shifted to a clear "then…" after her goals had become more and more tangible. She felt differently about it that she had expected. Glad, yeah, but there was this emptiness inside of her, that couldn't really deal with this realisation.

She didn't even have to look at her alarm clock; she had done that countless times before. She knew it was around half past two, and she still hadn't slept at all. Was that only due to the prospect of tomorrow's duties, or maybe also because of her dream last night? It left her with a bad feeling; she felt slightly sick while thinking about it. She would have to get used to it, though.

At the end, she gave up. It couldn't be helped.

Silently, not to wake up Ju, she pushed her blanket aside and swung her legs over the bedframe, looking for her house shoes amidst half-darkness. Surprised by the sudden cold outside the warmth of the bed, she grabbed a fluffy jacket before heading downstairs, to the balcony door. She closed said door behind her and took one of the metallic chairs while feeling a slight, still comfortable breeze of the summerly night, and how it played with her hair. From here, she could look down on the small park, which she liked the most out of all places here. It seemed utterly misplaced next to these high, cold concrete walls, that plummeted into the sky in an almost threatening way, that could not have looked any more sterile. But she liked it. She sat down for a long time, observing the same structures around her. The trees amidst the grassed area, the mountains at the horizon, the glassy ashtray on the table, with still some witnesses of Ju's previous agitation and frenzy inside of it.

Everything as always: so normal, but still different.

_._

It had already gotten dark when Ju had finally come back from her mission. At that point in time, Saturn had also already started heading back, leaving Mt Coronet, after he had successfully managed to provide such good news. The boss hadn't really shown it, but even he must have been quite pleased. Her shift had ended at dusk, after she had wandered endless rounds across the laboratory, checking on each member's work. But she had found herself staring almost hopefully at the big monitor repeatedly, after it had broadcasted the excavation. The way back to her living quarters had been way quicker and with more urge.

Now, she was sitting on her sofa, aimlessly zapping through the TV channels. There weren't many of them that could be received here, and so she was overcome with boredom pretty quickly. She looked at her piano which, a bit dusty because of her countless hours of overtime, was standing in the corner.

Should she?

While thinking about it, she heard a knocking on the door. A sign that would hopefully end her burning curiosity.

So, she wouldn't.

"Hey man, I need to tell you somethin'."

Luckily it was Ju, who, after giving her detailed report to Cyrus, had rushed to her apartment, therefore still clothed in her uniform. She entered the big, comfortably furnished room and put on the house shoes that had been prepared for her. With a loid noise, she let herself slump onto the sofa, visibly exhausted from today's events.

"So, what exactly happened? I heard there were some complications, is that true? Wait, I'll make you some tea."

"Thanks, dear."

She entered the kitchen area, put some water in the kettle and opened the cupboard, looking for Ju's favourite tea flavour. Chamomile, fruity, peppermint… Where was it? She knew that she still had some here. Ah! Lemon! There it was. She took a small, red teabag with the wonderful smell of fresh raspberries and forest air for herself before filling the mugs. She went back to Ju, who was sitting cross-legged, her arms wrapped tightly around a pillow while she was watching some random police series on the TV.

"Fucking cops."

"Hm?"

"They really need to meddle with everything, don't they? Well, sit down, I'll tell you what happened today, there's much to talk about."

_._

She was sitting at the kitchen table, observing Ju while she was dealing with different types of vegetables with a sharp knife. Empty beer bottles were already piling up between them; Ju really seemed to be pissed about today's events. She couldn't blame her. They had been so close. They could have captured that police agent, but obviously Charon had to mess up. What else could they expect from him? He was a pretty talented scientist, with greater knowledge in these fields than anyone else, and he was fussy and meticulous about his research. Unfortunately, he wasn't useful when it came to anything else. Anything that he didn't see as deeply important for his scientific research was put aside or just completely ignored. As if he existed in a different world, created by his laptop and greatest companion at the same time.

But it couldn't be helped, she wouldn't lament about mess-ups from the past. However, they had to take extra care in the upcoming days, which she was ready for. These kids would probably be there, too. It wasn't really surprising how they had been able to discover their base and bring Ju in an almost critical position during battle. How eager they were to stop their organisation! It was almost enviable, what these trainers were able and willing to deal with, just following their own ideals without being drowned in fear. It was beautiful, almost.

A pleasant smell spread across the whole apartment, reminding her of her appetite. Once again, she had skipped out on meals today, which had made Ju look at her in an initially incredulous, then worried way.

"How can anyone even forget something like that? That's something you notice right away! I see, but don't worry, I'll manage. But seriously, promise me you won't forget that as much anymore, that's unhealthy."

And just like that, Ju had started exploring the contents behind the steel handles of the various cupboards, taking out some kitchen utensils before systematically heading towards the fridge. Even in there she found everything she needed very quickly. Ju had been a talented and passionate cook since she could remember. So much so that it almost verged on sheer fascination. She had seen her very often late at night, how she had been leafing through cooking books with great interest sparkling in her eyes. Sometimes she had been watching videos about those recipes at the same time, in order to improve her skills, to try out new combinations or to "get inspired", how she liked to call it. It was fun to observe her doing all of these things, how she oscillated between cooking plates and kitchen counters, driven by an insane amount of energy and motivation or visibly satisfied with her newest creation.

"So, what really surprised me was how strong these young trainers actually are, you should've seen that. Well, they will probably have found the cop, right?"

"Hm, well, they really know, what they want, but aren't you the same in that regard? And as long as the chains are in our possession, the rest shouldn't be a problem."

"Yeah… That's right. About the chains, well, you could say Charon was useful for once. He purposefully left a red shard that looks like a piece of the chains there. But actually, a pretty nasty virus has been programmed in this thing. If they find and want to examine it, all data on the police station are gonna be deleted instead. A pretty handy invention, I'll have to admit that."

"Let's hope for the best. It looks like this agent has already found out way too much, he's a serious threat."

"Sooo, almost finished. You can already dress the table, but for three."

"Three? Why?"

But the look on Ju's face alone was already enough for her to know exactly what her friend had been planning.

"Saturn? You're kidding! Why?"

"Well, if I don't help you at all, that's never gonna work out."

"Oh, come on, we've talked about that already."

"I know, I know, but it's become unbearable! If you two continue to stare at each other like a bunch of infatuated Mareep, but then keep acting like nothing's going on, I'll seriously lose it. You should be thankful."

"I'm not a little child anymore."

"Oh, really?"

"Ju!"

"Haha, calm down… I've already invited him anyway. How happy he looked once I told him we would all be eating together again; you should have seen the sparkle in his eyes."

Well, that was just like Ju. But she couldn't be mad at her for long. It was always so easy for her to connect with other people. No matter where she went, after a couple of minutes it always looked as though she had always belonged there. This adaptability was something that she unfortunately didn't have, though. And yeah, if she had only been half as brave as Ju, if she had only had a fraction of her confidence, then maybe she would have asked Saturn if he wanted to go out somewhere with her. To be honest, she didn't really know that much about him, unlike Ju she had only met him through the organisation around two years ago. He had been a good colleague, nothing more. He always complied with given orders, without ever questioning them too much, and he didn't seem to mind overtime either. At first, she had deemed him boring. Perhaps a distant acquaintance, that, as soon as shift ended, quickly evaporated from one's mind, just to reappear again the next day. Over and over again. But never anything new to it.

_._

One day, she had seen him sitting in the park for the first time. This place that she always sought refuge in whenever she needed variety. This place that no-one besides her frequented. At least it seemed so, because she had never seen anyone else there, except for some members who used it as a walkthrough when busy or when running late to the next meeting. It didn't have much to offer either, just some greenish lawn paired with few but tall trees and two little park benches. Flowers were a rare sight, only sporadically appearing from time to time, even though the ground in this mountainous region had to be quite fertile. During construction of this huge complex the underground had been wired and cross-linked, digging the earth over several times, which was probably the reason for this desolate scenery. A Hoothoot family was nesting in the few tree crowns, at least she deduced so because she could sometimes see them flying towards the horizon at night. And in the middle of the park, in between two tiny hills, there was a small pond in which a few Poliwag, Barboach and Wooper could be seen swimming around, day and night.

A slight wind was blowing, finding its way through the mountain peaks nearby, only to lash down onto the concrete scaffolding. There was no fog, which allowed for a rare sight on the almost uninhabited landscape, a sight that was usually only granted during the peak of summer.

As such, it was pleasantly warm; even the few gusts didn't make her shiver, they rather tickled a few hair strands – which had freed themselves from her hairstyle – out of her face, so that she was granted a better view on the grey-green of the landscape.

When she entered the park, a few Wooper were startled by the unanticipated visit, which turned out to be double the normal amount today. Saturn had his back turned to her; probably he couldn't even hear her due to the wind. She wondered what he was doing here. Did he maybe come here regularly?

"Commander."

"Oh. Hello, Commander Mars. What are you doing here?"

"My shift has ended not long ago, so I just wanted to come by before going back upstairs."

"I see."

She looked at the pond whose floor wasn't visible due to the murkiness of the water. She tried looking for the Wooper, to no avail. They had dived into the greyish, muddy mass and would probably not come back up soon. She was thinking about what to say next, but she couldn't come up with anything. The silence was growing uncomfortable, and she just wanted to flee this situation at this point. He looked at her, observing her briefly.

"Are you coming here regularly?"

"Yes. I really like the peace and quiet."

"I understand that. I also like visiting this place."

"Why?"

"Well, I like the peace and quiet."

She smiled briefly.

"Well, from what I have noticed you have been given quite some work from the boss lately, so I can really understand that."

"You don't say! Now I still have to look through three purchase order reports and write two accounts until tomorrow. But that's just how it is, I guess."

"Sometimes when I have a heavy workload, I bring everything up here and work over there on the bench, it really helps. I feel like I can focus way better this way, and on top of that it's summer now so the weather tends to play along."

"Sounds great! I'll try that some time, but it seems it's going to rain soon."

One glance at the progressively closing and darkening sky confirmed his statement. But now, he was also smiling.

Well..., I only said it tends to, right?

"Well, I really had no idea that others were also coming to this place, I had never seen anyone. But now I'll have to go do my work if I want to survive tomorrow's meeting."

_._

And even though they had parted ways not long after due to a sudden late summer rain fall, she kept thinking about the few words they had exchanged, all evening long. It had been the first time that he had not acted calculated or mechanical in front of her. It had just been a normal, taciturn conversation, but it had shown her that other members of the team were only other human beings after all, who needed some rest from time to time. And some of them seemed to think just like her.

In any case, they had seen each other more often after that, in the hallway leading to their living quarters, in an elevator, in the canteen or even in the sparsely luminated hallways of the headquarters while scurrying to the next meeting room. Every time they exchanged some words, sometimes more, sometimes less. But soon enough, she learned new things about him. He came from Pastoria City, had never known his father – at which she had not inquired further – and knew quite a lot of things about informatics, which he had studied before. He had caught his Toxicroak, back then still a Croagunk, near the safari zone, after which he had trained it very well. A couple of times, they had reserved one of the many battle fields placed at the members' disposal to compete against each other. And it had been fun, something which battles hadn't been for her for a very long time.

_._

At the beginning of the next winter, he had learned about Ju's and her routine. It was like a personal ritual for them to let Ju experiment with a new cooking recipe each Wednesday evening, to eat the meal together and to maybe watch some movie afterwards. Eventually they had started inviting him as well, and now he was a part of it once every few weeks, helping her with cleaning the dishes while Ju was mostly already sitting on the couch, zapping through the TV channels, a cold beer in her hand.

She liked talking to him. She felt understood, which was normally only the case with Ju. It felt nice having some company for a walk amidst good weather. Sometimes, they helped each other out for work; he dealt with the virtual stuff while she took it upon herself to study the antique text of the Sinnoh region.

And of course, that hadn't gone unnoticed by Ju. Partly weird, partly uncomfortable conversations had been creeping their way into their Wednesday evening talks ever since. But only those for which Saturn had not been present, of course.

_._

"…now that we are talking about it, what exactly is going on between the two of you? Now, don't look at me like that, I'm just interested."

"Ah, Ju, sometimes you are really exhausting me. I've already said we're just talking from time to time, there's not much to say about it. What's more, I don't have time to deal with that kind of stuff."

"Hun, you don't HAVE time for that, you TAKE the time. Trust me, I'm talking out of experience. But you haven't been in a relationship for so long, obviously I'm starting to get worried."

She had to admit sometimes she could be really cute. She suppressed a chuckle.

"I won't have to spend my entire existence alone to the bitter end."

_._

"And what exactly is that supposed to be?"

"Filled turkey roast with pistachios and raisins, and as a side dish there is a creamy potato gratin and peach halves, coated with lingonberry jam."

You could have probably seen this sparkle in Ju's eyes from kilometres away.

"Wow, that's so much. How much effort you always put in that stuff, I could never!"

"If I do it, I do it right!"

"Isn't that more of a wintery dish?"

"Ah, I don't care about these conventions, and I mean: Look at it!"

That's just how she was. Simple, just doing what she wants, and no-one could stop her from doing that.

Exactly on midnight there was a knock on the door.

"Your darling is there! Come on, open the door!"

_._

Mealtime was harmonious despite the previous circumstances and the fact that it was taking place much later than usual due to their insane work schedules today. Saturn was telling them details about the finding of Spear Pillar, while Ju described her encounter with the young trainers and the undercover agent. They all seemed a bit worried because the biggest hardships still awaited them, just a couple of days away. What would it bring about? They were as close to not only their goal, but also to the uncertainty as never before. It was calming and frightening at the same time.

"You think we are already going to get new instructions tomorrow?"

Saturn seemed to have agonised over the same things as her. Her gaze wandered over the fully set table whose dishes and casseroles were already empty before setting on him.

"I think he will. You know how much he hates tardiness; probably he has already worked on his plan for the next couple of days up to the smallest details."

"Yeah, I think so, too, that's gonna be somethin'. But don't be too worried, no stress, it's gonna be alright. Otherwise, we're fucked. Lemme tell you, if that doesn't work out, we can all throw ourselves in the damn trash. And that bastard of city cop is gonna have so much fun pissing us off, I swear to Arceus."

"And you, Jupiter, are drinking too much."

"Me? Never!"

Ju was laying more on her chair than she was sitting; her long, unbound hair was almost reaching the floor in that position. From the outside, she looked more bored than drunk, but her slurred words and the piled up, empty bottles on the table were a clear sign that she must be worried, too. She would never admit that though. Saturn looked from one of the women to the other, thinking.

"Should I help you to bring her back to her room?"

"No thanks, but she prefers to sleep here."

He looked a bit taken aback, but didn't say anything more about it, looking at the ground. Suddenly she realised how that must have sounded; she felt the need to explain the situation. But she knew she wasn't permitted to give an explanation; Ju had almost pleaded with her not to tell anyone. So, she kept quiet.

She saw Saturn off, who had to work the early shift the next day but still wasn't completely finished with his report about Spear Pillar, so that he had to leave the small group a bit earlier than usual. Meanwhile, Ju had made herself comfortable on the balcony, smoking a cigarette while looking over the ink blue landscape of the already advanced night in a thoughtful manner. Her hair got caught in her ochre-coloured sweater while she took the poisonous-sweet puffs. She turned her head, almost hurling the purple strands over the balcony fence, and looked at her.

"I'm serious, don't be too worried. All of that's quite concerning, but we've overcome much worse before."

She nodded. She knew.

"I'll go to sleep."

"I'll to that too, soon."

"Okay."

She went up a few of the steps that stuck out of the wall, towards the sleeping area of the room. But she stopped midway, looking at the balcony door one last time.

"Ju. Thanks."

_._

Later that night, she laid in her bed, starring at the bald-white ceiling above her. Ju had come up not long after her, crawling under the blankets of the second bed before falling asleep fairly quickly. But she, on the other hand, was too excited; her head just didn't want to stay quiet. The same scenarios had been playing deep within her thoughts over and over again, but the results were never satisfactory. She tossed and turned, from one side to the other, even though she knew that it wouldn't help her in any way. Her gaze alternated between the small slit between her curtains and her alarm clock whose every merciless ticking reminded her of the fact that this night would still last for a very long time.

She knew exactly that she would not be able to fall asleep.

_._

To be continued...