Back in Archie's office Sakura had laid her head against her dad's shoulder while she cried.
"Shh…… It'll be okay……." Archie lifted Sakura up into his arms and rocked her a bit.
Sakura tried to stop crying but was still scared, so Archie continued to hold her as he walked over to the sofa in his office and sat down and placed her head in his lap and began to rub her back in an effort to relax her.
"Shh…… Take it easy, baby…… The others won't let any harm come to you." Archie told her, still rubbing her back. "And neither will I."
Sakura lifted her head and looked at Archie.
Archie looked at Sakura and smiled, "I know…… It'll be hard for you to adjust to call me your 'dad', but I know you can do it. If you feel comfortable give it a try, but only if you're ready."
Sakura thought for a minute before she said, "Okay…… dad……."
Archie smiled, "I knew you could do it! I'm so proud of you! I'm finally going to be a father; I had been married but my wife passed away last spring from cancer. I was heart-broken until I found you, and here we are a year later and I find this adorable little child that really needs someone to love and take care of her like I need you."
"Oh dad!" Sakura cried happily.
Archie pulled Sakura into his arms and hugged her, "Take it easy baby, everything will turn out well. Don't forget you have a birthday tomorrow, and that should mark a very happy day in your history."
"I know." Sakura said, leaning her head up against Archie's shoulder.
Archie wrapped his arms around Sakura and held her, while he hoped that the other members had caught the spy by this point in time.
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Back in the training room Thomas was glaring daggers at Matthew for what he had tried to do for Sakura.
"How dare you try to take Sakura back to Maxie! We just got her away from him, and she belongs with us and not him!" Thomas practically screamed at Matthew.
"No she doesn't! She deserves to be a slave all her life!" Matthew yelled back.
"No she doesn't! She deserves to be a free child with the prospect of a better future!" Thomas yelled back.
"Whatever, but I will however tell Maxie where she is! You can't stop me from doing that!" Matthew cried.
"Think again!" Some other Team Aqua members cried as they burst into the training room.
Matthew whirled around, "You won't take me! I'll make sure of that!"
"Save your breath!" The Team Aqua members cried as they seized Matthew.
"Let go of me!" Matthew cried, struggling against them.
"Not happening! Sakura will remain here with us! She belongs with her new father!" Thomas cried.
Matthew glared at him as the other Team Aqua members dragged him out of the room to take him to jail.
"I'm glad that's over…… I don't want Sakura to be stuck in a situation she can't get out of…….. Now I better go see how Sakura is doing……." Thomas thought, heading out of the training room and up to Archie's office.
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Thomas walked up to Archie's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in." Archie called.
Thomas opened the door and entered Archie's office and walked over to where Archie and Sakura were.
Thomas saw Sakura being held in Archie's arms with her head against Archie's shoulder.
"Aw……… How's Sakura, Archie?" Thomas asked, looking at Sakura with concern.
"She's fine, she's just a little shaken that's all, but Sakura and I have gotten closer now and she even called me 'dad' if you can believe that." Archie said.
"That's wonderful! I'm glad you two have gotten to know each other better and that she feels more comfortable around you, Archie." Thomas replied.
"Yeah……. Now what happened? Did you catch that spy that was endangering Sakura?" Archie asked
"Yes, we caught him. The other members dragged him off to jail, Sakura's safe now." Thomas replied.
"Thank goodness……. I didn't want to lose my little girl to Maxie after I just found her……." Archie remarked relieved.
"You're not going to lose her, the rest of the team won't let that happen. In fact they united in order to keep Sakura safe. They believe she belongs here and so do I." Thomas replied.
Sakura looked up at Thomas, and smiled.
Thomas smiled back at her, "Yes, you belong here, Sakura. I know you just joined, but you do. You fit in perfectly, you're going to be a great trainer once you get going, and we'll all help you achieve your full potential."
"Thomas, I'll trust that you'll keep a good eye on Sakura when I send her out with you. Please don't let anything happen to her." Archie said.
"Don't worry boss, I'll do my best to not let anything happen to her."
"Good." Archie replied, holding her tighter and then releasing his hold a little. "It's hard to believe that Sakura is so small yet is such a delight to have around. I'm so glad we were able to rescue her."
"Oh dad……" She hugs him.
Archie smiled and hugged her since Sakura had officially accepted him as her father. Thomas patted Sakura on the head, and smiled. Thomas was beginning to really like Sakura, and he had a pretty good reason too. She was sweet and was about his age even though he was two years older than her, and also because she had a way with connecting with her first pokemon that Thomas hadn't seen before and he thought that she was something special that should be kept under watch and loving care by her father. This moment however was broken by Archie's radio crackling to life, and Archie was forced to let Sakura go for a minute to answer his radio.
"Hello?" Archie asked.
"Boss, it's me, Michael. I just wanted to let you know that the Team Magma spy is now behind bars for aggravated kidnapping along with other charges for things he's done while in Team Magma. Sakura's safe now, no harm will come to her."
Archie exhaled, "Thank goodness, I knew you wouldn't let anything happen to her but I couldn't help but be worried."
"You were right, like I said Sakura is safe, nothing is going to happen to her." Michael said.
"Good, come on back to base, dinner will be taking place in an hour." Archie said into his walkie-talkie.
"Will do, boss, over and out."
Archie pocketed the radio and took Sakura in his arms again. Thomas smiled and looked on, happy that Sakura had opened up to Archie to let him in her heart.
"Thomas, boss, will Sakura have to share a room with some other girls or will that change since she's your daughter now?" Thomas asked.
"That will change, I'm going to give her the extra bedroom in my quarters that can be hidden by a bookshelf in case I need to protect her while she's with me. Of course the bookshelf is automatic and will slide in front of the opening to her room if need be, but I hope that I won't have to do that. I'll move her there after dinner." Archie replied.
Sakura laid her head against Archie's shoulder and just let her dad hold her, she was happy that she finally had someone to love, who loved her back. Just then Archie's computer beeped as a new message came through.
"Not again…… How can I take care of my baby if all these things require my attention……." Archie muttered.
"She'll be fine, it'll probably only take a moment anyhow. Oh Archie, do you want me to get Sakura's arm checked by the doctor to see if it's ready to be removed from the sling yet?" Thomas asked.
"Yes, I would appreciate that. I would prefer if she had both hands free to open gifts tomorrow." Archie replied.
"Then I'll do that. Come along Sakura, let's get your arm checked again to see if it's time to remove the bandages."
Archie released Sakura and Sakura stood up and walked over to Thomas and followed him out of Archie's office and up to the infirmary. When they entered the infirmary, the doctor hurried over to them and smiled when he saw Sakura.
"Aw, I'm betting Archie wants to know if her bandages can be removed yet. Let me see……" The doctor probed Sakura's arm with his fingers before he said, "Yes, her arm has healed perfectly so it's time to remove the bandages."
The doctor removed the sling from around Sakura's shoulder and slid her arm out of it before he unwrapped her arm from the bandages.
"There you go, sweetheart. Your arm's all better now, it'll be like nothing ever happened to it." The doctor told her smiling.
"Good, I'm sure her dad will be happy." Thomas said, smiling as well.
"I'm sure he will be. Now take good care of her." The doctor said.
"I will and so will her dad." Thomas said.
"Well it's dinnertime now, so you should head to the dining room for the meal now." The doctor said.
"Right, come along Sakura." Thomas replied, taking Sakura's hand.
Thomas led Sakura out of the infirmary and to the dining room for dinner. Everyone was there when Thomas and Sakura arrived, but Archie had saved two places at the head of the table for Sakura and Thomas. Sakura took her seat and Thomas took his, and Archie got ready to hand out his start of meal notices.
"Okay, this'll be short and quick as I only have one thing to say. I just got an email about ten minutes ago that all the paper work has fallen through and that Sakura is now legally my daughter." Archie told the team.
Sakura looked surprised, but was happy since she now wanted to be with Archie since he had opened his heart and his home to her since she desperately needed someone to love her. The team looked at Sakura and cheered since they knew what Archie and Sakura had each gone through in their respective lives, and also because they knew that the two of them would be happy together. Shortly after the news was announced, the meal began. Everyone served themselves some food and began eating. Between bites, Archie would look at his new daughter and pat her on the shoulder before he went back to eating. An hour later everyone finished eating and got up and left the room.
Before Thomas left the room, he patted Sakura on the shoulder and said, "I'll be available to help you train some more tomorrow if you want, but I have a feeling that you'll want to take a break since it's your special day."
"Yeah, most likely." Sakura said.
"Well let's put it this way." Archie said. "I want you to have nothing but fun tomorrow so I don't want you to train tomorrow unless it truly is a pure idea of fun for you."
"Yes, dad……" Sakura said.
"I'll see you tomorrow Sakura." Thomas said.
"Okay, see you tomorrow Thomas." Sakura replied.
Thomas smiled, and left the room.
Archie now took Sakura to get her nightgown from her regular room since Edith had put it back in there on her regular bed after Sakura had gotten up in the morning and went to train after breakfast.
Sakura entered her room she had shared with Rebecca and picked up her nightgown and left the room to meet back up with her dad outside it.
"Come on, I'll take you to my quarters, which will also be yours." Archie told Sakura lovingly.
Sakura nodded, and followed Archie down the halls of the base until they reached the door to Archie's quarters. Once there, they went inside and Archie walked over to the bookshelf and slid a book out and the bookshelf slid to one side revealing the room that was to become Sakura's room.
"Uh dad? Can I get out if the bookshelf closes?"
"Of course, baby, look here….." Archie pointed to a switch in the wall. "If it closes you just need to flip this switch and the bookshelf will slide open again.
"Oh, okay. Thanks dad."
"Get ready for bed baby, and get in bed. I'll be back to tuck you in, in a couple minutes and I have one little surprise that I want to give you." Archie told Sakura smiling.
"Okay."
Archie now left Sakura's room and hit the switch to cause the bookshelf to slide closed so that she could change into her nightgown. Sakura now changed into her nightgown and climbed into bed after hanging her clothes up on a hook. Sakura now waited for her dad to come back to tuck her in. About five minutes later, Archie returned carrying a little something behind his back.
Archie walked over to Sakura and kissed her on the cheek, "Oh my little baby……"
Sakura smiled, and Archie pulled the little something out from behind his back and gave it to Sakura. As it turned out, it was a Seadra doll that Archie handed her since he thought that she should have something to hold to protect her while she slept. Sakura wrapped her arms around the doll and Archie pulled the covers up around her and sat down beside her with the thought that he wouldn't leave her until she fell asleep. Sakura closed her eyes and Archie hummed a lullaby that his mother used to sing to him when he was little, and a few minutes later Sakura fell asleep and Archie got up and left her room leaving Sakura to sleep.