"Kate? Keith? What're you guys doing here so late at night?"

Brook stared perplexedly at the sheepish Rangers who had so gracefully paid him a visit at one AM. Kate was hiding partially behind Keith and muttering what Brook made out to be "I told you this was a bad idea" and Keith was grinning nervously at the pink-haired man.

"Well, y'see, we're sort of on a Mission to go to Boyle Island to investigate the kidnapping of a thirteen-year-old girl, but we got a little caught up in the moment and we need somewhere to crash for the night… So, uh… please?" the spiky-haired boy explained embarrassedly. 'It's not a lie,' He thought determinedly. 'It's not a lie! I'm just slightly bending the truth!'

Brook blinked, but then smiled and nodded. "Yes, of course!" He exclaimed, waving them in. "You guys look as if you fell off Lookout Ridge just a few minutes ago. I'll lend you some clean clothes so you can get those washed by tomorrow. Oh, and we should also get some snacks to eat while we talk, after all, we're obviously not tired now… Mom! Mom, are you awake?"

At that moment, an elderly woman walked down the stairs. She had tan skin like Brook, but her hair was bleached a silvery white. 'He lives with his mom?' thought Kate in slight disrespect, but then corrected herself that it probably wasn't Brook who was living with his mom, it was his mom that was living with Brook. The woman looked very frail, almost as if she'd collapse into dust at the slightest was sad, but Kate had to admit that it didn't look as if she had much time left on this earth.

"Hello," the woman smiled. "My name is Rosalyn. I trust that you are friends of Brook's?"

Kate jumped. "Y-yes!" She stammered. Rosalyn nodded. "Has Brook been of any help to you Rangers?" She asked curiously.

Keith tried to respond to this inquiry. "Yeah, he's been a huge help. He's just, uh… very, err… enthusiastic?" He seemed to be asking himself more than Rosalyn, who laughed lightly.

"In other words, he's an idiot." She offered. Kate and Keith sweatdropped simultaneously, thinking, 'This lady doesn't do anything halfway…!'

Rosalyn smiled on, clueless. Brook, who was slightly put off by the 'idiot' comment, cleared his throat and said, "Mom, could you make something to eat for our Ranger friends here while I get their whole story?" Rosalyn nodded and tottered off to the kitchen. Brook gestured towards the Rangers to sit down in the living room, which was a cozy little place with a fireplace, a couple of antique lamps, and a large array of pictures scattered around the table.

Kate noticed one picture that showed a woman with long light pink hair not as chromatic as Brook's salmon color, but more pale like Gracidea's. She had dull blue eyes that were only slightly richer than Kate's nearly colorless ones, and her smile was bright enough to stand up to Luana's downright glittering white teeth. She was very pale and thin. Kate pointed to the picture.

"Who's this?" She asked curiously. Brook looked over and smiled.

"Oh, that's Brooke." He answered. The Rangers blinked in slight shock.

"YOU'RE A GIRL?" Keith yelled in surprise. Brook sweatdropped.

"No, no, Brooke! Spelled with an e." He laughed. "She was my wife."

A moment of awkward silence ensued.

Keith, of course, was the one to break it, asking uncertainly, "…Was your wife?" Brook nodded with a sad smile on his face.

"Then, if that's the case, then…" Kate murmured, then she gasped and bowed her head, saying, "I—I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

Brook laughed. "Oh, don't be sorry. There's no way you could have known, after all." He assured. "She had a lung disease. Two years ago she had an asthma attack and… well… she couldn't be saved."

"I'm so sorry!" Kate blurted out again. "I was inconsiderate and—"

"Why're you talking about Mom, Dad?" A voice resonated from behind the group.

The three turned to see a young child, apparently male, staring at them suspiciously. He had salmon hair and eyes like brook, but he was also very pale and skinny. Wild freckles stood out intensely against his white skin, and his pink hair stuck out in every direction you could think of. He wore a T-shirt with a Pokéball print on it and black sweatpants.

"Oh, you're up? Then let me introduce you to these two. They're Vientown Rangers, Kate and Keith!" Brook grinned, gesturing towards the Rangers, then towards the boy. "You guys, this is my kid, Alex. Short for Alexander. He just turned eight last week. Say hi!"

"Hi," Kate and Keith said pleasantly, but Alex simply stared at the two suspiciously, his eyes narrowing. He walked up close to the two, then stood directly in front of Keith and looked up into his eyes. Keith blinked in confusion, and Alex's eyes narrowed even more.

Then he kicked Keith in the shin.

"OW!" Keith yelled in shock, but it was more from surprise than pain, as the ten-year-old wasn't very strong. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" Keith shouted in anger, but Alex bolted up the stairs speedily before responding. The slam of a door sounded from upstairs.

Brook looked apologetic. "Oh, crap…" He sighed. "I'm sorry. Alex has been like that ever since his mom passes away when he was six. It's just the two of us and his grandmother here, so he gets a little lonely."

"I don't see why he had to kick Keith, though…" Kate laughed uncertainly.

Brook laughed nervously in response. "Yeah, I'm sorry about him. He's very stubborn and insists on getting his way, and sometimes he'll go and mouth off—or kick off, in this case—to other people. He's a good kid, really! He just has trouble expressing his feelings, and ends up accidentally hurting others in the end ("No kidding," Keith mumbled). He doesn't really know how to show his emotions correctly. For example: If he's happy, he'll kick you. If he's sad, he'll kick you. If he's angry, he'll kick you." Brook paused, then added "He's got a bit of a kicking issue."

Kate nodded in understanding and said, "Oh, I see… Keith, you're not mad, are you? Keith?"

But Keith didn't reply, and Kate looked over at him to see him looking up the stairs with a very thoughtful expression on his face that most certainly did not appear on him that often. She blinked in surprise, but then jumped a little as she remembered.

'That's right,' She thought, 'Keith's mother passed away too when he was a kid…'

Just then, though, Rosalyn came in with a tray of tea and sweets. "Sorry for the wait," She said. Kate looked over at the woman, startled, but then smiled and said, "No, it was nothing. Thank you for the food!"

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Fifteen minutes later, Kate and Keith were sitting in the small guest room Brook had showed them to. There were, thankfully, two beds to prevent awkwardness since this apparently wasn't the first time Brook's house had gotten unexpected visitors.

Kate was dressed in a petite pure white nightgown that draped listlessly over her small figure, thereby making her not much to look at—unless you were Keith, of course, in which case it was the precise opposite.

Keith, who was dressed simply in a gray shirt and dark sweatpants, stared over Kate in shock, but then finally managed, "…I'm sorry, where did you get that outfit again?"

Kate sighed and repeated, "I told you, it apparently belonged to Brooke. The wife, not the gatekeeper."

"Mmm." Keith mumbled in response. He finally tore his eyes away and said, "I need a drink of water. Be back in a sec."

The boy then quickly walked out of the room, closing the door behind him and muttering to himself, "Arceus! Could she ever choose something less distracting to wear?" A tiny voice in the back of his head that sounded scarily like Rhythmi argued that it was Kate and not the dress he was looking at, but the voice was quickly crushed by Keith's higher consciousness.

"Whatever, let's just find the kitchen… where were the stairs again…?" Keith muttered to himself, walking down the hall in confusion.

Suddenly, however, he heard a sound from a closed door next to him. It was a violent gasping, almost like someone had just come above water after ten minutes straight of holding their breath. Keith opened the door in curiosity, and was shocked at what he saw.

On the floor, Alex was curled up in a ball and struggling for oxygen. His pale skin was tinged with red that was slowly turning to blue, and he huffed in frighteningly short breaths.

"Hey!" Keith yelled in shock, running up to Alex and bending down over him uncertainly. He grabbed the young boy by his shoulders and asked urgently, "Are you OK?"

Alex shook off Keith's hand and gasped, "Does it look like I'm OK, Spiky-head? G—get my inhaler, it's on the bedside table—"

Keith immediately grabbed the inhaler and put the breathing end near Alex's mouth, who immediately took it and pressed it to his lips hastily. After a few minutes, his breathing lagged a little and gradually slowed.

"You OK, kid?" Keith asked worriedly, but Alex shrugged him off as he sat up.

"I'm fine," The pink-haired boy said clearly. "Now get out of my freaking room, Spiky-head."

"Spi—?" Keith stammered in surprise, but then he growled and stood up, walking out of the room and saying, "Whatever. At least you're OK."

Keith stomped back to his and Kate's room, the drink of water long forgotten, slamming the door behind him. Kate was sitting quietly on her bed as she played with Lyrical. "Sssshhh!" she hushed, but Keith took no notice of her. "That kid is such a brat!" He hissed, sitting down angrily on the floor next to Kate's bed. "He didn't even try to thank me after I freaking saved his life!"

Kate blinked in confusion. "Saved his… excuse me?" She asked uncertainly. Keith explained what had happened in the seven minutes and thirty-eight seconds he had been gone. Kate's eyes widened.

"Oh… that must've been one of his asthma attacks." She murmured. Keith blinked. "One of his what?" He demanded.

"Brook mentioned to me earlier that Alex inherited his mother's disease. They have the medicine to treat it now, so it isn't fatal, but he does still have asthma attacks every so often." Kate explained hastily. Keith blinked in surprise and looked down to the floor.

"Oh." He muttered. Kate simply nodded in response. A small, slightly awkward silence ensued.

Finally Keith broke the atmosphere, saying, "…I was ten years old when my mom died. It was, well… shocking to say the least. I was constantly angry and violent for a couple of months after it, but I eventually settled down. This kid, though, Alex… It's been two years since his mom passed and he still acts like some mini-delinquent."

Kate sighed quietly. "Yeah, but he was six, Keith." She murmured. "It had to be traumatizing to go through all that at such a young age. And maybe it's just in his nature to be rebellious. But… his tone when he saw Brook was telling us about his mother… somehow I have this feeling he's resentful of her for dying."

Keith grumbled for a few seconds under his breath, but Kate was able to make out the words 'we're' and 'alike'.

His grumbling continued a little longer, but then Kate giggled. Keith looked up. "…What?" He inquired.

"You keep calling Alex a brat, and yet you can't stop talking about him." The female Ranger laughed under her breath. "You're actually worried about him, aren't you, Keith?"

Keith blinked rapidly. "No I'm not!" He disagreed irritably. "W-why would I be worried about a kid like that?" Kate simply laughed more.

"You're a really sweet guy, Keith." She smiled.

"Sw—?" Keith very nearly cracked his neck from the speed he swiveled it around at to look at Kate. "I AM NOT SWEET!" He argued, his face a pure scarlet red.

"Buizel bui bui." Tempo mumbled quietly. Keith glared at his partner angrily. "DON'T YOU GO TAKING HER SIDE ON THIS!" He yelled. Tempo sweatdropped and laughed slightly.

At that moment, the door opened to reveal none other than Alex standing outside the door, who was looking a little more than annoyed.

"Could you keep it down a little?" He scowled. "Some people are trying to sleep."

Keith glared whilst Kate quickly apologized, and the pink-haired boy left. "Brat." Keith muttered. Kate giggled more, but then Keith strode over to his bed, picked up a pillow, and promptly hit her with it.

"Hey!" Kate protested, falling sideways onto her bed, but looked up to see Keith grinning smugly at her.

"Keep it down, Kate," he mimicked as he smirked, "Some people are trying to sleep!"

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The next day, the sun was shining brightly down on Puel City. Brook had contacted his friend with the boat to Boyle Island a few moments ago and the man had agreed readily to aid Kate and Keith.

Keith charged down the stairs quickly only to find Alex sitting at the bottom step, looking straight out the front door, which was wide open. He bent down silently.

"…Hey." He greeted casually. Alex jumped.

"WHOA!" He exclaimed, shooting to his feet and whirling around to face Keith. "DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT! ARCEUS!" The pale boy yelled.

Keith's eye twitched. "Jeez, sorry." He mumbled. Alex sat down again and looked out the door intently. Keith seated himself next to the boy.

"…Y'know, I lost my mom too, three years ago." He commented. Alex blinked as his breath caught, but composed himself quickly and retorted, "So? Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you did too, and it sucks." Keith put bluntly. "But you can't go around acting like a little brat, or else you won't make any friends, kid. And that would make things even suckier."

"I have—" Alex began to protest, but was cut off by Keith standing up and moving to block Alex's view of the front door. He then grabbed the boy's small arm and pulled him into a standing position.

"…You're tiny. And skinny." The Ranger commented. Alex went red. "Let go of me!" He demanded, wriggling to get out of his grasp and still trying to regain his view of outside.

"What're you looking for anyways?" Keith asked curiously.

"None of your business!" Alex shouted. "Let go of—"

He was stopped, however, by another voice. "Alex!" A small, petite female voice called from outside.

Keith blinked. "That sounds like…" He muttered, craning his neck to get a closer look. He was finally able to make out the figure of none other than Gracidea, Kate's younger sister, running towards the house.

"Alex!" She called again.

Keith blinked again. "Alex, you're friends with Gracidea?" He inquired, looking back down at the boy, but Alex had already gone a deep shade of red that stood in striking contrast with his pale skin. Gracidea finally reached the door frame and beamed joyfully.

"Alex, I'm here!" She announced happily.

"I—I can see that, idiot." Alex muttered embarrassedly as he suddenly took a deep interest in the wooden floor. At that moment, Gracidea noticed Keith.

"Ah! It's Keith!" She exclaimed. Keith raised the hand that wasn't holding Alex to wave at the pink-haired girl.

"Hey, kid." He greeted.

Alex was confused. "Hold on, you two know each other?" He demanded.

Gracidea nodded. "Yeah, he's friends with my big sister, Kate!"

Alex's eyes widened. "Wait, then that means—"

As if on cue, Kate came rushing down the stairs, saying, "Sorry I took so long, my hair wasn't—huh? Gracidea, why are you here?"

"Big sister!" Gracidea smiled jovially. "Alex, this is Kate, my big sister! I've told you about her, remember?"

Alex jumped. "She's your older sister?" He yelped in shock. Kate blinked and nodded.

Gracidea then diverted her attention towards Alex, her long pink locks bouncing in the curly pigtails with flowers she kept them in. "Anyways, Alex! You'd better come outside and play with me, because I didn't spend one hour walking from Chicole to Puel all by myself for nothing!"

Kate started to protest that Gracidea was too young to make such a commute by herself, but was distracted by Alex's state. His face was much redder than ever before, and the only person who didn't seem to notice was Gracidea. "Well?" The pink-haired girl demanded.

"Uh… that's… s-sure." Alex finally managed. Gracidea smiled.

Kate, who was getting slightly worried now, inquired, "Alex, are you alright? Your face is red, you look like you're running a fever."

"Shut up! I'm fine!" Alex yelled, turning an even deeper shade of red.

Keith, however, was looking from Alex to Gracidea and back to Alex again. Finally he raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh-ho. So that's it."

"That's what?" Kate asked curiously, but Keith finally released the younger boy and strutted over to Kate.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that I guess I was wrong about Alexander here not having any friends. After all," Keith commented, smirking at Alex with a terribly suggestive leer on his face, "he has Gracidea."

"SHUT UP!" Alex screamed, kicking Keith in the leg again, and Keith immediately buckled under the sudden burst of pain. Kate hurriedly aided him in standing, whilst Alex ran out the front door to Gracidea.

"C'mon, Gracidea, let's go." He mumbled, and he started out onto the path to the fountain outside the house, but not without one last look at Keith, who met his eyes and smirked again.

"Well, what're you waiting for, brat?" Keith yelled happily. "It's not nice to leave your girlfriend waiting!"

Alex actually grinned back for a split second before retorting, "You're one to talk, having left your girlfriend alone all this time! I mean really, I didn't even see you kiss her once the whole time you've been here! I bet she's getting pissed!"

Keith went the same shade Alex had not moments earlier and shouted back, "IT ISN'T LIKE THAT, KID!" Alex simply laughed and ran off after Gracidea.

Kate looked off after him, her own face still red after the accusation, and commented, "Well, it looks like you've made a new friend, Keith."

Keith simply snorted in derision and stood up on his own, wincing a little from the throbbing pain in his leg. "What're you talking about? He's nothing but a little brat." He scoffed. His featured softened up a little, however, as he added, "…But… he's not that bad a kid. He's a brat, but he's not a bad kid. Does that make any sense?"

Kate giggled. "Normally, no, it wouldn't. But coming out of your mouth, it somehow fits." She answered. "You really are just a big softie, Keith, huh?"

"Aaaah, shut up." Keith grumbled, blushing slightly. The two set out on the path towards the dock where their boat was waiting.

But not before Keith gave Alex a well deserved push right into Gracidea.