"Brock!" she called out, fear and worry evident in her voice. Her eyes widened and she ran, collapsing besides a figure on the side of the road. "Keya? What is it?" asked Mia, running towards her. She gasped and gave a squeak, falling besides Keya who was trying to sit Brock up. Mia grabbed his wrist and relaxed slightly. Only knocked out, not dead. Keya sat him up against the wall and a groan escaped his lips. Knowing he was alive, she broke into sobs. Brock opened his eyes and looked weakly at the girl collapsed on him and the one who sat besides her, looking on calmly. He gave a weak smile. "Hey, relax, I'm ok, Keya. Don't cry," he said softly, stroking her hair.
Mia could tell that even such a small gesture required much effort, but she stayed silent. Keya stopped sniffling and glared at Brock. "Who said I was crying because you were hurt?" she demanded angrily, shocking both Brock and Mia, "I was only scared to death that you'd dare to leave me!" she cried indignantly and punched his arm with a huff, turning away. Mia smothered a giggle, looking away to avoid Brock's expression. "I'm sorry," he replied, making Keya turn around and glare at him. "Well you should be!" she replied before hugging him. Brock winced but didn't pull back. A glance over Keya's shoulder told him that Mia was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Keya like Brock, Keya likes Brock!" chanted Mia continuously, skipping besides Keya. The older girl growled, "Shut up!" she mumbled, "I do not!" but even that was said only half heartedly. Brock had been placed on Pidgeot and flown ahead. Keya looked away from the girl who looked and acted like the seasons. Dressed in winter white, with the complexion of autumn, a summer personality and filled with the hopes of spring. Like the seasons, she was free. She didn't understand, couldn't. She'd never understand Jack's hold over her, never understand why she was the way she was.
Mia had stopped chanting, looking up at Keya almost wonderingly. Noticing this, Keya blushed, but no one could possibly tell under the amount of make up she used. "You aren't what you seem, are you?" she remarked lightly, startling Keya. "What are you talking about?" she said, looking at the child with fake annoyance. Inside, she was shaking with fear. Was it finally time for someone to see beneath the layers she'd built up around herself, time for someone to see who she truly was? Mia nodded slowly to herself, making Keya fidget uncomfortably. "People have let you down, haven't they?" she stated, rather than asked. Keya turned away, not ready to face someone who knew the truth. "They have, and Misty saw it, as did Brock," she continued slowly. Keya, startled, looked at the child in surprise. The summer sunshine had left and cool, winter understanding had replaced it. She turned away again. "What would you know? You're only a child," she said bitterly.
Mia stared intently at Keya and she was forced to look at those hazel eyes, filled with understanding. "I know more than you think, Keya. I know the feeling of being betrayed, the feeling of loss. I understand the feeling of helplessness and hatred. But sometimes, it is better to know and understand than not know at all. To be a person with knowledge of pain will prepare you for understanding and accepting. You have known pain too much, and your step-brother has forced you to acknowledge anger as the only other emotion you should ever feel. But it doesn't have to be that way. You are your own person. You are the one who controls your emotions and it is your choice whether you want your brother to control you or not," she said.
Keya listened with slight astonishment. Then, she couldn't help it, she smiled. It was a genuine smile, one that true friends give each other and receive in return. Mia smiled back and Keya laughed. No more did it sound like the shrill of one who's intent was to capture the attention of males in any desperate way she could understand. Now it was filled with the sound of summer. "Gee, you really sound like a philosopher, you know that, kid?" she said with a warm smile and ruffled Mia's hair, laughing like an older sister would when Mia squealed in annoyance.
When they reached Brock, he had rested and was nursing a few bruises. Other than that, he was fine. "Hey," he said with a smile upon Keya and Mia's approach. "Hey," they replied together with a smile. Brock looked at Keya in wonder. Something had changed. He looked at her in confusion, trying to figure out what had happened. It was as if she was... healed, from something. She was smiling and Brock was forced to acknowledge his feelings for her. When Keya sat down beside him, he felt his heart beat faster and tried to ignore it. He prayed Mia would stay around for fear he would embarrass himself. "Hey, I'm going to go check up on Gary and Ash, ok?" said Mia with a smile. Brock looked at her with fear and shock mixed with hope and happiness. "Yeah, no problem," replied Keya. Her voice was light and cheery, something one didn't hear from Keya much. Was that a wink when Mia turned away from them?
"So, how do you like it here?" asked Jack. Misty glanced briefly up at him and faked a smile. "Oh, it's beautiful," she assured him. And so it was, but she was in no mood to enjoy it. The view was breath taking, but Misty wasn't in the mood. The sky was a beautiful blue and there was a cool breeze blowing. On top of the cliff they could see the small rows of islands in the distance. Yet her mind drifted. She couldn't help but think of her friends. What were they doing? Why were they trying to find her? What was with the search party? 'Probably Ash overreacting again,' she thought bitterly. She looked up at Jack who was gazing out at the shimmering blue sea. He wouldn't hurt her, would he? She shook away the thoughts and the secret delight she found herself feeling in knowing that Ash had cared enough to take the time to search for her. 'No,' she told herself fiercely, 'You hate him and his obsessiveness, remember?'
"Hey Brock?" she said. Brock turned to face her. Still the same face with the same heavy make up, yet it seemed so different. "Yeah?" he replied, butterflies in his stomach. Keya leaned in and hugged him, "Thank you," she whispered. He looked at her, startled to see the same Keya he'd escorted back to the hotel after the encounter with her brother. "For what?" he asked, puzzled. "For believing in and caring for me," she said simply. Brock seemed to accept this and relaxed into her embrace, putting an arm around her. "You don't need to thank me for that," he replied with a smile when Keya put her head on his shoulder, "No one should need to be thanked for that."
"So why are you here, Misty?" asked Jack so suddenly, it startled Misty out of her thoughts. "What?" she asked, confused. Jack's soft complexion seemed to have slipped, and a slight trace of impatience could be seen in his face. Misty bit her lip and looked away, "I'm sorry. I haven't been myself..." she trailed off. 'What you mean is that you haven't been yourself since you started going out with him,' a voice in her mind sneered. She pushed it away and smiled at Jack. "I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you, ok?" she said brightly. Jack smiled back, "I'm sure you will," he replied. Misty missed the way his lips curled at the corners and the slight gleam of malice in his eyes.
Mia smothered a giggle for the second time today and walked away. She wanted to yell out in happiness for her friends and congratulate them on finally finding each other, but she didn't want to spoil the moment. Turning the corner, she wanted to squeal and jump up and down with happiness and excitement but contained herself, because down the street was a girl running away from three guys, the same three that had injured Brock, but Mia wasn't to know that, she was concentrating on the girl. "Jay?" she exclaimed, startled.
Mia ran forward and stopped in front of the three thugs, Jay falling into step besides her. "Who are you and what do you want?" she demanded. They stared incredulously at her. Was that all they were up against? Some scruffy little kids? Mia glanced at their right arm. A black band was tied just below the shoulder and her eyes darkened. Black Onix. "Get lost, kid," said one, sneering, "We just want some information out of your little buddy over there." Mia glanced at Jay in confusion. Jay had always been a strong fighter, surly she could have taken on these three? Where were her pokemon? "I'm telling you, I don't know a Misty!" she cried out, startling Mia. "What do you want with Misty?" asked Mia, crossing her arms and glaring at them. Jay was the same age as Mia with brown hair but she had emerald eyes.
The one who had spoken last time, most likely the leader of the group, smiled a smile filled with malice. "Not what we want with Misty, but those who know her. I suppose you're the little vixen called Mia, then?" he said. Mia held her breath and glanced at Jay who shook her head slightly, and she relaxed. 'Don't do anything stupid,' she told herself, 'They don't know you're in the gang.' She stood up to them bravely, "So what?" she demanded. "So," continued the leader, "We've got to stop you from ruining Jack's date." With that, he advanced towards her, but she was faster. Dodging from his grip, she grabbed Jay's hand. "Run!" she called out to her friend and they ran. "Pidgeot!" cried Mia, jumping onto the bird pokemon's back, Jay climbing on behind her. "Fly Pidgeot, fly!" she called out, and they took off into the sky, leaving the three Black Onyx members looking after them.
Keya and Brock broke apart in surprise when they saw Pidgeot take flight with two girls on its back. "What the..." began Brock, but Keya gasped, cutting off his sentence. He was about to question her with something, but the look of fear in Keya's eyes stopped him. "Brock, you've got to trust me, run!" she whispered hurriedly. Brock stared at her in confusion but was forced to stay silent when he found himself being dragged along after her to hide in the nearby forest area of the park.
"What was that?" demanded Brock. Keya sighed and sat down, head in hands. "They were sent by my brother," she replied miserably. Brock gave a sharp intake of breath. "What?" he asked. Keya stared guiltily up at him and sighed. "My brother is apart of the Black Onix gang," she mumbled, "He must have sent them after you two because he knew you'd interfere with his plans. He's always abusing his gang rights like that." Brock sighed and sat down besides Keya and sighed. "You're not mad at me?" she practically squeaked almost inaudibly. Brock looked at her in astonishment. "No, why would I be?" he asked, surprised. "Well, seeing as Jack's my brother and all..." she said, trailing off, fidgeting. Brock gave a small laugh and shook his head, "Your brother is your brother. There's no need to hold what your brother has done against you, you're two different people," he said. Keya seemed to study Brock's expression. There was no trace of sweet deceit, just pure kindness. "Thank you," she said, falling into his arms for the second time in just one day.
"Hey Gary? Yeah, Jay's with me. No I haven't seen Misty. No they weren't chasing us for information about the Vixens. Gary, shut up. Just go to 'Star', ok? No, I mean the one near Jack's apartment. They have a chain of clubs. Look, that's not the point, ok? Just get there," she said irritably into her phone. She turned around to look at Jay. "Where do you want us to drop you off?" she asked. Jay looked at Misty with a weary smile. "Headquarters if it's ok. I'm too tired to walk," she replied. Mia was about to ask why but she saw the bandaging around Jay's stomach. "Vixens or personal?" she asked instead. Jay looked away. "Both," she whispered. Mia stopped asking questions. The whole of the Vixens knew about Jay's troubles. The love of her life was Travis of the Black Onix, Jack's second in command.
"So you wanna ditch this scene?" asked Jack. Misty shrugged, "Whatever you want," she said with a distracted smile. Jack's eyes narrowed at her distance but he kept his temper. This was his chance to get back at Brock for daring to challenge him, at Keya for defying him. "Come on," he said, slinging his arm around her shoulders and walking her towards his car.
"So I'll see you on my way back from the competition, right?" said Mia with a forced smile. Jay stared at her and smiled weakly. "Yeah, yeah I guess so," she replied with a dazed look as she entered the main bar owned by the Vixens. Shaking her head, Mia sigh. "Come on, Pidgeot, let's go," she whispered and they flew off. Mia stopped Pidgeot so that they hung mid air. "Come on Pidgeot, follow that car!" she called and they flew down after Misty.
"Misty!" cried a voice. Misty looked around in confusion. She knew that voice. "Mia?" she said aloud, startled. Jack swore under his breath, but Misty didn't seem to notice. "Misty, come on! Tell Jack to stop the car and come with me!" called Mia desperately. Misty looked up to see Pidgeot beside her window, just above Jack's car. "I can't!" she shouted back, seeming to withdraw within herself. Mia jumped off Pidgeot and onto the roof of the car, something Jay had once taught her to do long ago. She had scorned at it, but now she was thankful for the idea. "Stop the car!" she called again. Jack swore and skidded to a halt. Both Misty and Mia screamed as Mia was launched into the air and almost hit a nearby building. Instead, Pidgeot blocked her path and she fell to the ground, not as injured as she may have been.
Misty made to open the car door but Jack held her arm. "Mia!" she told him frantically, "I need to see if she's alright!" Jack smothered his outrage. The Black Onix members seemed to have failed. "She is," he said calmly, trying to reassure her, knowing that if she didn't step out of the car, it would most probably be enough to make her believe that Misty didn't care for them anymore. "Look. She's getting up with barely a scratch," he added and Misty looked. He was right. Thanks to pidgeot, Mia's hair had slipped out of her pigtails and she had a few grazes that Misty was too far to see. Other than that, she was relatively unhurt. Misty nodded slowly, "Alright. We can go," she finally said and Jack took off. He didn't see the look of sadness and despair in her eyes as Ash might have, nor did he see her single tear.
((Sorry, I've been in my sappy mood lately. Well, at least it's longer than usual...))