Hey! Remember me? No, I'm not dead. –checks pulse- Yep, still alive.

Gomen ne for not updating in so long!!! I actually –gasp- HAVE been quite busy. I haven't even been online that much just for fun...meh. Screw school! On the other hand, I have been doing fun stuff, like getting a really funny idea for this fic I'm not going to tell you about yet, and competing in my first horse show of the year...ha, two firsts and a high point thankyouverymuch!

Okay, enough about me. Hmm, I should actually be working on this fic...do you know how long it took me to write a chapter WITHOUT writer's block? Three week. That's right. Three weeks. Told ya I've been busy.

I will shut up now...back to listening to my j-pop...WOO! –dances-

~Chapter Twenty-Eight~

I blinked again. "Me? How do you know?"

He shook his head again and reread some lines. "I...I don't know exactly, but it seems like it is talking about you..."

"How can you tell?" Ivy asked, also shocked.

"Well, look," he said, skimming his fingers over the page. "These two lines. Was the label of Lynn/See she did, powers of water, lightening, ice, and fire," he read.

"So?" Ivy asked.

"Lynn...See," he sighed. "Say it quickly, together, like a tongue twister."

"Lynn...see..." I mumbled. Suddenly, I got it, and my eyes flew open. "Whoooooa there," I cried, holding up my hands to the book in a sort of 'I surrender' gesture. "Why would this thing be talking about me? How did they know I was even born when it was written?"

Steve shrugged. "But they do it again...Is the Tamer with the power within, like Lynn/

See into the Den's Great Waters..."

"What Den?" Ivy asked, cocking her head at the page. "This is getting way weird..."

"You can say that again," I sighed. "What does this all mean? I mean...not just this, but everything." I began to think of things my parents had been hiding, or just wouldn't tell me. "Why Mom was so shocked when we saw that Dragonair when we were younger. Why we moved to Slateport City in the first place. Why that Dragonair...pierced my heart," I listed, clutching a hand over my chest, remembering the feeling.

"Lindsey..." Steve started.

"Why we moved back; ,why she didn't tell me about April, whoever she may be; why she chased Darrell away..." I continued. "But really, they've always looked terrified of Darrell even before he came here. And why..." Tears threatened to spill out of eyes. "And why she called him Anthony, whoever he is."

At simply saying the name, my throat closed up and I started getting all twitchy again. I rested my elbows on my knees and buried my face in my hands.

"I don't know how this got so messed up!" cried my muffled voice. "I've heard of dysfunctional families but...geez."

"Hey," Steve said, and I felt his arm around my shoulders. "How many times do I have to tell you that things always work out? One way or another...everything's going to be answered."

I looked up at him, and he was smiling his same, silly Steve smile. Man he was a dork. "I know you're not one to moon over stuff you can't figure out, so quit your blubbering," he continued.

"Steve..." A small smile crept up my fact, and a heavy silence hung between us. It was like we were...waiting for something, but...

"Hey, is there anything else in the book?" Ivy interrupted.

"Eh?" I said, looking back towards it. I flipped through the dry, crumbly pages, being careful not to rip any of them. "No, I don't think so. Just these weird symbols..."

I stopped at one particular page, and stared at it for a second, lightly running my fingers over the symbols. What did they mean?

I gasped as the symbols began to move underneath my fingers. I stared in shock as those squiggly lines formed actual words---in English.

"Lindsey? What are you gawking at?" Ivy asked.

I faced her, yet not taking my eyes off the page. "The symbols," I stuttered. "They..."

"What about them?"

I looked back at the page. "You guys...can't read this?"

"No…" Steve said slowly. "They're still in the squiggly lines, or whatever. What, can you read it or something?"

When I didn't respond right away, Steve's mouth dropped open. "You can! But...how?"

"I don't know," I whispered. "They just sort of...transformed into actual words."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Ivy asked excitedly. "Read it!"

I shrugged. "Okay..."

I took a deep breath and began to recite the words on the page:

"Truth be told of the Tamer's Prophecy that tells of the girl who shall end the misery that was set to surround Dragon Pokemon. Direct descendant of the heir which will protect the Dragon Pokemon from here out, and is bound to the first heart's desire. Also, in which, if the Evil Power attempts to attack, only an action of true love to the Tamer can bring it to a halt and further the destruction of the set misery."

I blinked at the page. "Whoa...okay, so what the heck does that mean?"

I glanced over at Ivy, who was staring at me like I had grown two extra heads. I looked at Steve, who was wearing a similar expression.

"Okay...what?"

Steve shook his head. "Where did you learn to sing like that ?!"

"Eh?"

"You said you could read the words..." Ivy started. "But...when you read them...you didn't speak English at all. You sort of...well...sang."

"I what?"

"Well, it wasn't really singing," Steve explained, still amazed. "I dunno...more like another language."

"But I was speaking English!" I cried. "I can read the words and I know I spoke perfect English. So how could I...do that without even knowing?"

"I don't know," Ivy sighed. "But there's something really weird going on with your family. What did that thing say, anyway?"

"It said..." I glanced at the page again, trying to memorize what I was reading. If I didn't read it directly from the book, it meant I wouldn't talk in that singing language, right?

And right I was. After I recited every word on the page, Steve was looking at me kind of funny.

" 'Bound to her first heart's desire', eh?" he laughed.

I shrugged. "What does this all mean? I don't get it..."

Ivy looked at her watch and groaned. "I don't know about you, but my mom's going to come get me any second now." She looked back at me. "Don't let it stress you out. Since, for whatever reason, you can read this language, maybe you should look through the rest of that book...but I would suggest hiding it from your mom."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm going to hide it in my room..."

"And I'm going to wait outside for mom." Ivy rolled her eyes. We stood up and she gave me hug. "Like I said, don't let it stress you out. You don't have a dysfunctional family, just a weird one."

I laughed. "Get out of here!"

"Okay," she winked, giving my arm another squeeze. She gingerly stepped through all of the boxes and left.

I sighed loudly when she was gone and stretched to look at Steve. "I'm going up to my room to hide this thing. Care to come?"

"Sure," he said, and we tromped up the stairs, which still felt a little alien to me, and I plopped myself on my bed, nearly squishing Kitsune.

"Ehh, sorry Kit," I sighed, twirling the book in my hands. "I guess I'll hide this here," I shrugged, sliding the book under my mattress. "No one ever looks there."

Kitsune jumped on the tons of boxes still in my room until he reached a comfy chair, and snuggled up to resume his nap.

I sighed again, lying back on the bare mattress. "This all so crazy," I moaned. "I'm coming to realize that I don't know my family as well as I always thought I did." I sighed yet again. "Who knew I was being lied to all my life?"

I heard a car driving outside, and realized my parents were back. Steve jumped up. "I should go," he said, sounding like he didn't want to go at all.

"Oh no," I said sarcastically, standing up. "Don't you want to stick around and see how many more things my parents are keeping from me? Hmm, I wonder...oh the possibilities...maybe my dad's an Aipom in a human suit. Or Mom's actually battling gym leaders when she says she goes to those shows. Or..."

Steve rolled his eyes and put a hand on my shoulder. "Do you listen to Ivy anymore? Chill out."

"Actually, she said, 'Don't let it stress you out'," I smirked.

"See, you were listening," he smiled. "Good girl."

"What am I, Iggy?"

"Iggy's a boy..."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah well..." Steve was interrupted when the front door to the house slammed. "That's my cue to leave," he sighed. He inched forward a bit, and to my surprise, kissed my hair and then made his way through the boxes to the windowsill without looking back.

I touched the spot where he had kissed it. Why was my heart racing?

~*~

There was no time the rest of the day for me to look through that book. I bugged Mom and Dad to tell me what was going on, but they didn't say a word---in fact, all Mom said to me for the rest of the day was that she was keeping April's diary, and that she was going to get Joker and the Rapidash tomorrow.

"That's fine," I had answered. "But why did you yell at that stuff to Darrell? Why don't you tell me anything anymore?!"

But no response.

It was late at night when all of the boxes in my room were back in the attic, and everything was unpacked---like Hoenn  had never happened. I looked around my familiar room: the posters, the sky-high pile of stuff already on my desk, the framed pictures covering my dresser. I smiled, eyeing some of those pictures as I sat on my bed. I had a rare picture of Darrell and I, and a few of Kitsune in his Espeon form.

"So maybe things have changed," I admitted to my room. "But I guess...some were for the better," I added, thinking of Darrell.

Darrell. Would he be out in the forest like I thought?

I stepped up and ran to my door---Kitsune suddenly waking up and following me---but I realized there was no way I was going to be able to sneak out with all of these creaky stairs and doors in the way.

"Oh man," I muttered. I closed my door and leaned my head against it. There was no way I wasn't going to not get out to see Darrell, the question was how I was going to do it.

I suddenly looked up and eyed my window, the one Steve always climbs through. A small smile crept up my face. Well, if Steve had been climbing to and from my room for who knows how long, couldn't I do it?

I quietly unlatched the window, worrying that Mom or Dad was going to burst into my room at any second and demand to know what I was doing, but nothing happened as I pushed the window completely open.

Kitsune was on the windowsill, looking down. "Essss," he hissed.

"Why don't you just Teleport down there?" I whispered. "I'll meet you."

He nodded and with a small flash of light, disappeared from my room and reappeared the many feet down. Somehow seeing tiny little Kitsune down there made me realize how high up I really was.

"Here goes," I muttered, swinging myself over the window and grabbing at the vines. I quickly realized how easy it was to climb down---it was like Steve had created a pattern or something after all of these years. I jumped the last few inches down, and looked up at my open window.

"Eh, let's hope no one tries to rob the house," I laughed quietly, picking up Kitsune. "C'mon. Let's go find Darrell."

~*~*~

WHEEE! YAY CHAPTER!

Steve: Hey, wait a sec...I'm the handsome hero of the story...why aren't I stopping her?

Uh, sorry, but you're not the handsome hero. You're not even really the hero. Just one of them, I guess.

Steve: HEEEEEY! You—you—you...!

Watch your mouth, mister. I can have you replaced by Lurk or...or something. Maybe one of Rose's Pokemon will fill in for you. They could probably do a better job at—

Steve: Shut up! And besides, don't we already have an Espeon here? –holds up Kitsune-

Kitsune: Esss...

Steve: O_O...uh-oh...

Kitsune: -uses Psychic-

Steve: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

I hate to steal the famous line, but…he's blasting off again.

Okay, enough of that...yeah, sorry this update took so long. X_X I'll try to update on Tuesday, and if not then, I will definitely on Friday! So yeehaw!

Eh heh...I'm borrowing this line from Melani...

"Sticks and stone may break my bones, but reviews will never hurt me!"  So that means...you must review! ^.^;;