I've been thinking lately about what I wished for…

and what I truly wanted.

From the minute she heard the words 'Keith' and 'baby brother' in the same sentence, Kate's head was spinning.

"Y-you're…" she stammered as she watched the boy, Cameron, who was apparently Keith's older brother grin up at her. "Keith's older… b-broth… er…"

Some time passed as she tried to process this, but then Kate suddenly gasped and inclined her head in a small bow, saying, "I—it's very nice to meet you!" she winced at the pain she got even from shifting her body for that small gesture.

Cameron stared, surprised by this sudden outburst, but then he laughed. "Wow," he commented happily, "you really are as polite as he said! I like that in a person!"

Kate blinked at this strange remark, but was distracted from her trying to decipher its meaning when Cameron spoke up.

"It's obvious that you're in some serious pain right now," he said, reaching into his backpack and pulling out some pills, "so I'm going to give you something to ease your pain, if that's OK with you. You're pretty small, though, and these pack a punch, so most likely you'll be put to sleep a few minutes after you take one. Do you mind?"

"No, I don't mind," Kate said, trying to hide the pain her ankle was bringing her. "If it'll stop my ankle from hurting then I'll take it. B-besides, I'm tough! These won't put me to sleep…"

'Hopefully,' she added to herself as she took one of the white pills and popped it in her mouth, swallowing it. Cameron grinned.

"Perfect!" he said happily. "Now then, let's get on going to the Union. I'd like to see Keith. Dad's probably arrived by now, too."

Silence. Kate stared at Cameron as she took in that last sentence.

"D… Dad…" she finally murmured hoarsely. "You mean… you mean that Keith's—I mean, your—your guys' father is here too?"

Cameron smiled. "Yeah, he is," he responded. "He has official business here, since he's a member of the International Police and all. He's in the Sinnohan Division. I just tagged along since…"

He trailed off, and Kate, being as perceptive as she was, finished, "…you got a break from medical school? K-Keith told me about your training to be a doctor."

Cameron thought for a bit, but then he smiled mysteriously. "Yeah…" he said deliberately, "something like that."

This confused Kate even more, and the sudden drowsiness she was feeling wasn't helping either. Before she could inquire further, however, Cameron turned around and crouched down low. "U-um…" she said uncertainly.

"Get on," Cameron commanded. "I can't let you walk all the way to the Union with your ankle. I'll carry you."

Kate blushed lightly, but then she reluctantly climbed on, wrapping her arms around his neck. Cameron straightened up and started walking, Metro tailing behind eagerly. Kate was feeling her limbs slowly ease up, becoming less tense, and her heartbeat seemed to slow down. 'D-dammit,' she cursed internally, 'those pills must have been… too much for me after all…'

She tried to see Cameron's face clearly, but all she could make out was his spiky hair. He carried her easily, as if she were nothing but a feather, and Kate was reminded of a faint memory, something that had occurred months ago. But what? When was the last time she had been carried like…

'…Oh,' she recalled sleepily, 'that's right. Back at Peril Cliffs… when I sprained my ankle and Keith carried me for awhile…'

It was a familiar, bittersweet memory. Bitter because she'd sprained her ankle, for Arceus' sake, and had been forced to rely on Keith for most of that Mission, but sweet because… because Keith had saved her from the Pinsir that had caused the wound, tended to her injury, and even carried her for part of the journey. When she thought about it, Kate realized that that was also the first time she'd heard of Keith's family.

Then she remembered what Cameron had said earlier.

"Wow, you really are as polite as he said!"

Who was 'he'? Keith? It couldn't be anyone else but Keith, after all. Could he have told Cameron about her? What about his father?

'…I'm jumping to conclusions,' Kate sighed mentally, 'why do I even care, anyway?

'…But…' she continued as she tired by the second, 'I don't know why, but… if Keith had mentioned me to his family…'

Kate's vision blurred, then went black altogether as her eyelids closed from the medicine she had taken. Short, fleeting memories hazed through her slowly dozing off mind, memories that she hadn't remembered in a long time.

'…If he had mentioned me to his family… then that would make me very, very happy.'

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

'It's official. Life sucks.'

Keith grumbled random curses to himself as he stormed down the Union halls, trying to find where the hell Kate was. He'd been completely on edge all day, what with all the tension last night's sleepover had caused, Crawford's argument about how he should tell Kate his big secret, Rhythmi teasing him endlessly about finding him asleep with Kate in the closet that morning, Kate herself having wandered off by herself when all Union staff were to be back by three o' clock to greet the International Police agent…

…in other words, his dad.

'And to think I have to go shopping after all this, too,' Keith thought bitterly as he rounded a corner only to very nearly crash into Chairperson Erma, who looked just as annoyed and irritable as he was. He stepped back slightly and immediately bowed his head, saying, "Chairperson Erma," in recognition, as everyone in the Union was required to do when faced with the woman.

"As you were, Evans," Erma huffed with a wave of her hand. "Have you seen Gwendolyn, by any chance?"

Keith stared blankly for a moment before recalling that Gwendolyn=Wendy, and responded, "I saw her preparing her Staraptor for a fly earlier this morning, Chairperson." When Erma groaned at this, he quickly added, "But she should be back any minute now, you might be able to catch her at the stables!" The Union had stables on the grounds for Rangers—or Operators and Mechanics, for that matter—to store the larger kinds of Partner Pokémon, including huge Flying-types such as Wendy's Staraptor.

"Lovely," Erma muttered sarcastically as she turned to leave, but Keith quickly called after her.

"C-Chairperson Erma!" he shouted. "Have you seen Kate Lovett around?"

"Out on patrol at the Vien Forest," the elderly (yet surprisingly fast) woman answered before turning a corner out of sight.

Keith ran to the escalator and took the steps two at a time, miraculously avoiding any nasty trip-ups like when he usually attempted this feat. He took to the front door of the lobby with the full intention of going out to find Kate, but when he exited the Union's doors outside he saw something unexpected.

"Huh…?" he muttered to himself. "A tourist, maybe?"

Visible in the distance was a silhouette, walking towards the building. As the figure got closer, he saw that it was carrying something on its back. When it took a few more steps, he noticed that that 'something' was a person. A few steps more and—

He nearly passed out.

"CAM?" Keith yelled, running towards the boy.

"Hey there, little brother!" his older sibling grinned happily.

Keith was dumbfounded. "You—I—what the hell are you doing—I thought only Dad—and that's—but—what in the name of Arceus is my partner doing on your back?"

Cameron blinked, but then realized that Keith was most likely referring to the girl he was carrying, Kate. "Oh," he said, "I was in Vien Forest when her Kricketot came up to me and led me to her. She sprained her ankle and even twisted it a little. I helped her out, and carried her back here. The reason she's asleep is because of the meds I had her take for the pain."

The spiky-headed black-haired boy grinned. "What a coincidence, huh?" he laughed. "To think I'd meet her in an out of the way place like that! What do you think, bro?"

"!*&$*%$*%&$*?" was Keith's only legible response.

Cameron snickered. "Thought you'd say something like that."

At that moment, Kate stirred. "Nn… huh?" she mumbled, slowly opening her eyes. "Where…"

Keith moved to Cameron's side to see her. "Kate, are you OK?" he asked urgently.

Kate looked blearily at him. "…Keith…?" she murmured, still extremely groggy from the drug. "What happened…?"

Cameron was the one to answer, much to Keith's dismay. "Ah, you're awake!" he said. "I found you injured in Vien Forest, and so I took care of your ankle and carried you back here… But I guess the meds I gave you ended up to be too much, huh? You were asleep the entire walk, I had to get your Kricketot to give me directions!"

"What were you even doing in Vien Forest?" Keith demanded.

Cameron looked over innocently. "Well, I had just docked in Puel City with Dad and wanted to look around the town for a bit, so he went on ahead to meet with the Chairperson and stuff. When I was finished, I left for the Union."

A short silence passed.

Finally, Keith put his head in his hands. "Cam," he groaned, "you do realize that Vien Forest is in the exact opposite direction as the Union, right?"

Cameron stared. "Was it?" he remarked lightly. "Guess I got lost. Ahahahaha!"

"Well, your sense of direction's as swell as ever," Keith muttered.

Kate was confused. "Does he get lost often?" she asked.

"Hell yeah, he does!" Keith said irritably. "Give him a map and twenty seconds, and I guarantee you he'll end up completely and hopelessly lost. You're just lucky Metro was there to guide him. Anyways, shouldn't you be getting down from there?"

Kate looked around and seemed to realize she was still on Cameron's back. "A-ah, you're right!" she said, scrambling down, but as her bad ankle touched the ground it started hurting. She kneeled down to the ground in pain.

Keith sighed. "Guess I've got no choice…" he muttered, and with that he promptly put one hand under her knees and the other on the small of her back, standing up to carry her bridal style.

"Keith!" Kate protested. "I can walk—"

"No, you can't," Keith cut off swiftly. Kate scowled.

"Aren't I heavy?" she asked.

Keith pondered that for a minute before replying, "Not really. You're tiny. And skinny."

Kate went red as she tried to hit him in the head, but Keith dodged it by an inch. Kate, not being one to give up, grabbed Keith's spiky hair and pulled.

"OW, OW, OW!" Keith yelled. "WHAT THE HELL? I THOUGHT GIRLS WANTED TO BE CALLED SKINNY!"

"Not like that, they don't!" Kate retorted, not letting up on newfound her torture method.

"WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?" Keith shouted in response, nearly biting his tongue from the pain the brunette was bringing him. Cameron, who was now walking beside the two, blinked.

"Wow," he commented, "you two sure get along well."

Keith snorted in derision, his face faintly red, and Kate simply huffed as she looked away, a light pink tinting her cheeks.

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

Kate sighed as she pushed away her lunch. "Sorry, Keith," she mumbled, "I made you miss the introduction for your dad."

"It's no big deal," Keith assured, "it's not as if I won't see him later."

"Yeah," Cameron nodded, "besides, we wouldn't have been able to get close to him through all the Union that went. It's best to stay here and make sure that ankle heals up."

Everyone was in Kate and Keith's room. Kate was sitting up in bed, as Cameron had ordered her not to do any walking for at least a few hours. Her ankle seemed to have regained its proper shape, but it was still slightly bruised. Cameron had given her specialized meds to heal her ankle, and it was already feeling much less painful than it had before.

Keith shrugged. "I'll just go visit him when I find the time…" he said. Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"I got it," Cameron offered, standing to walk towards the door. Just as he was about to put his hand on the knob, though…

BANG!

"Cam!" Keith exclaimed in alarm. Cameron was now on the floor holding his head, as it had been banged via door. "Who the hell—"

He stopped himself short, though, when he saw just who was in the doorway.

It was a man, and a tall one, too. He had slightly tan skin, gray eyes and black hair. He wore a brown trenchcoat with a darker brown suit underneath and a light purple tie.

"Oh, no," Keith groaned. "Not you!"

Kate stared. "Keith, do you know this guy?" she asked. The man walked up and smirked. Keith's eyes narrowed.

"In a manner of speaking," he sighed. "…Kate… well, this guy's my dad."

Kate stared.

"What are you even doing here?" Keith demanded of his father.

"I was originally in a meeting with members of the Union," the man answered, "but then I realized that I needed to see my adorable younger son and meet his partner, so I sneakily snuck out of the slippery room and—"

"In other words, the meeting ended early," Keith interrupted flatly. The man said nothing to contradict him, instead looking over at Kate.

"Ah, you must be the lovely Ms. Lovett!" he said in some strange accent that was sure to have been made up as he held out a hand. "I am Keith's, how you say, father. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Kate stared, but then she jumped and shook his hand. "I-it's a pleasure to meet you, sir!"

"Please, please," Keith's dad protested, "there is no need for you to call me 'sir'! My code name, it is 'Looker'. It is what they all call me."

"Mr.… Looker?" Kate tried again uncertainly. Looker smiled.

"There you go, saying things in the correct mannerism!" he laughed. Then Looker turned his attention back to Keith. "And you there! Son! Why have you not yet greeted your father properly? I at least expected a proper 'howdy' by now."

"Hi, Dad," Keith mumbled in response.

"Put more of what is the of the 'oomph' in that sentence!" Looker demanded. Keith stayed silent, refusing to meet the man's eyes. After a few moments, Looker sighed.

"Honestly," he said, "you can't even issue a proper 'hello' to your own father. What would Hyacinth say?"

As soon as the word 'Hyacinth' had escaped Looker's mouth, Keith whipped his head round and glared at him. Kate took a sharp breath, feeling a pang of nervousness shoot through her. She'd seen Keith glare a million times before, but this one… this one was filled with a venom she'd never witnessed before. And all because of a flower? She didn't understand.

Keith, who didn't seem as if he would be letting up on his glowering anytime soon, growled, "Don't talk about that, Dad. Not in front of…" his gaze flickered to Kate for a moment before turning back to his father.

Looker stared back at his son for a moment before sighing again. "Alright, I can see it's still a touchy subject for you. But putting that aside, have any of you seen Cameron? I believe we separated back in Puel Harbor, and given his regular penchant for becoming fairly lost in short periods of time, I've begun to worry about—"

"Down here, Dad," Cameron muttered into the floor. Looker grinned.

"Ah, there you are, elder son!" he laughed heartily. "Where did you get off to?"

"Well, I took a wrong turn to the Union," Cameron mused, "and in doing so I ran into Kate here. She hurt her ankle and I helped her out."

"Ah, I see!" Looker nodded. "Very good use of your doctor-ly skills, Cameron! I trust everything is alright now, Ms, Lovett?"

Kate jumped. "Y—yes, sir! I mean, Mr. Looker!" she stammered. "It's already feeling much, much better!"

"Good!" Looker laughed again, and soon Cameron joined in his good humor.

Keith was now holding his head in his hands, muttering, "My family is insane. My family is completely, utterly, insane."

"Whatever," Keith finally muttered, his voice filled with anger. "I'm going out."

Kate blinked. "What?" she said worriedly. "B-but it isn't one of your days off!"

"I got special permission from Chairperson Erma," Keith informed as he woke up Voice, who had been slumbering on his bed the entire time. "I need to run an errand."

"Errand?" Kate parroted, confused. "What errand?"

Keith didn't seem to hear her, as he was still trying to wake his Misdreavus. Finally, he sighed. "Arceus, you've been napping all day!" he scolded. "Get up!"

He stood there for a moment, glaring at Voice, but then he sighed again. "OK, OK, I get it," he said irritably. "I'll go by myself. Jeez." Kate sweatdropped. It was always weird when Voice spoke to Keith through telepathy.

"Keith," she asked again, "what errand?"

Keith was already at the doorway by the time she said this, but then he turned to look at her. Finally, he grinned.

"It's a secret," he said happily. And with that, he left.

Kate stared after him, puzzled. "That was weird…" she murmured. Then she turned her gaze towards Looker, who was also staring at the doorway Keith had just left out of. Finally, he looked over at Kate and smiled.

"Oh, my," he said innocently, "I just remembered something I have to do."

Kate jumped. "Eh—ehhhhh?" she exclaimed. "B-but you just arrived here not two minutes ago!"

"Yes, 'tis most unfortunate," Looker sighed. "But it is something that requires my immediate attention and cannot be put off any longer. Farewell!" He was already zooming out the door by the time he finished his sentence.

Kate stared after the two in shock. '…Weirdest… day… ever,' she thought to herself, leaning back on the pillows. At that moment Cameron spoke up.

"Looks like it's just you and me now," he commented.

Kate looked over at the ebony-haired boy. She smiled faintly. "I guess so," she agreed.

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

Keith scowled slightly as he looked through another shop window, deciding it would be no good and moving on down the busy streets of downtown Puel.

This was stupid. Why couldn't presents just buy themselves? Oh, yeah, because presents were inanimate objects and thus couldn't buy things, much less themselves. Keith sighed morosely as he discarded yet another shop and moved onto the next.

A few minutes later, he found a shop which was vaguely promising. He scanned the products inside, trying to see if there was anything that she might want for her—

"So, my adorable son, what are you doing?"

"HOLY ARCEUS!" Keith screamed as he whipped around to see none other than his father standing behind him. "NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!"

Looker blinked. "Hm," he remarked, "I didn't think something as innocent as a question would frighten you so much."

"FRIGHTEN?" Keith yelled more, "YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A FRIGGIN' HEART ATTACK!"

He turned back to the window, muttering something about 'stupid freaking ninja dads' and 'why does shopping have to be so annoying?'. Looker smirked.

"So," he tried again, "What are you doing?"

"None of your business," was Keith's painfully blunt reply. Looker winced.

"How harsh, son," he sighed melodramatically. "Even when I, your father, am trying to help you in your time of desperate need—"

"If you want to help, then help me figure out what the hell a girl would want for her thirteenth birthday!" Keith snapped, not realizing what he'd said until the words were out of his mouth.

Looker stared, then replied simply, "Jewelry."

"Not this girl," Keith groaned, facepalming. "She barely ever wears jewelry. And she hates it when people buy stuff for her because she thinks they go to all sorts of 'trouble' to do it for her. She's modest, not concerned enough with herself, and way too nice for her own good! Jeez!"

Looker blinked, completely lost. "…May I ask who it is you are speaking about?" he inquired.

No answer.

Looker stared more, but then he smirked. "Let's see," he mused loudly. "I don't suppose it's that beautiful Rhythmi girl I met in the meeting…"

"Rhyth?" Keith raised an eyebrow. "Hell, no! Besides, her birthday was five months ago."

Looker disregarded the comment and moved on. "Not likely it was that Top Ranger Gwendolyn either; she looked to be at least sixteen…"

Keith, now fully aware that his dad was screwing with him, chose to ignore the man now. Looker, unfazed, continued. "Unlikely that it's the cute—if not scatterbrained—Misha of the laboratories, but I did meet a nice girl working at the offices of Altru Inc. when I visited—what was her name, Miss Momoko Harukaze? No, from the informational tag on her uniform she has already turned thirteen… Now then, are there any other females around that tender age in the Union? Hmm…"

"Dad, if you've got something to say, then just say it for Arceus' sake," Keith muttered. Again, Looker pushed the comment aside as his face lit up.

"Ah!" he exclaimed. "Eureka! What about that girl? That one girl? You know, spiky brown hair, pastel ivory skin, alluring pale blue eyes… what was her name again…?"

Keith started walking quickly down the sidewalk in an attempt to avoid the sentence, but Looker followed as he 'remembered' the name.

"Ah, wasn't it Lovett?" he said lightly as he speed-walked aside Keith. "Lovely Ms. Kate Lovett!"

Keith didn't answer as he kept moving. Looker glanced over at the boy. "Am I right?" he asked lightly. "Keith?"

A few seconds passed before Keith exhaled exasperatedly. "Yeah, you're right," he said crossly, "her birthday's in five days and—well—I just wanted to get something for her, OK? So yesterday I got special permission from Chairperson Erma to go out so I could buy a present."

Looker was quiet for a moment, but then he smirked yet again. "Keith," he said, "there's no need to be embarrassed! After all, it's normal to buy a present for your girlfriend on her birthday."

Keith whipped his head round to glare at his father, but finally he muttered, "She's not my girlfriend. Just a friend."

Looker stared, but then finally looked forward and murmured, "…I see."

"Yeah," Keith grumbled in response. "I guess you would see."

A short period of quiet passed between the two for a few seconds, but then Looker spoke up again. "Do you want her to be your girlfriend?"

Cue Keith choking on his tongue.

When he was over his sudden fit, the redhead gasped, "W—what?"

Looker blinked and repeated, "I said, 'do you want—'"

"I heard what you said!" Keith snapped. "I… I just…"

He trailed off, conflicted. Looker simply looked on and said, "Keith, do you have feelings for this mademoiselle?"

"Don't use big words like that! And… well… well, of course I do!" Keith yelled back. "How could I not?"

The two were now standing in front of some store or another, and no one was paying attention to their bickering. The citizens of Puel City rushed on, concerned with their own goals or troubles or just plain shopping.

Looker glanced into a store, not meeting Keith's eyes. "Well then, how about you tell her that?" he asked.

That was probably the breaking point. Keith glowered at his dad with a poison worthy of taking out any Dim Sun goon.

"You're the second person to have said that!" he shouted. "If I told her, it would ruin everything! Do you understand? She would get freaked out, I would be completely embarrassed, and things would probably never be the same again! She'd… she'd just leave…!"

Keith leaned against the wall of the building they were in front of and looked down bitterly at the ground. "She'd just leave…" he repeated. "Just like…"

Looker simply stared at his son for a few moments, but then he averted his gaze. "I see that you're not yet completely over all that's happened," he sighed. "Even after three long years…"

He looked up at the sky. It was filled with dark clouds, and the air had dropped by a few degrees. "It seems as if it is going to rain soon," Looker remarked, "do you wish to return to the Union?"

Keith didn't answer.

Looker sighed. "…Alright then," he murmured.

He left just as the first drops of rain fell from the sky.

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

"But really, Cameron, you really know your stuff when it comes to medicine," Kate commented cheerfully.

"You think?" Cameron laughed modestly. "I'm still a student, but I like to think I'm not completely incompetent."

The two had been left alone in Kate and Keith's room and had been chatting good naturedly for the past hour or so, Kate sitting up in her bed and Cameron seated on the floor, leaning slightly against the desk next to his backpack. Voice was still asleep on Keith's bed, but now Metro had joined her in her slumber. The conversation the two humans were having now was mostly about Cameron's training to be a doctor. He was going to a medical college in Sinnoh, and had apparently been determined to become a doctor for three years now…

"Three years?" Kate blinked at this statement. Where had she heard that before?

Cameron nodded. "Yeah, three years," he confirmed. Then he looked at Kate odd. "…Something wrong?" he asked.

Kate seemed troubled. "No, it's just… I don't mean to pry, but…" she looked up tentatively at him. "Three years ago… wasn't that when—"

"When our mother died?" Cameron finished swiftly. "Yeah… it was."

Kate turned to her lap. "Oh," she said quietly.

Cameron looked up at the girl, then smiled faintly. "…Would you like to hear about her?" he inquired.

Kate jumped at this question. "No!" she squeaked. "I—I mean, yes! That is, um, I—"

Cameron sat quietly, waiting for her to make up her mind. Finally, Kate calmed down enough to say nervously, "Y-yes. If it's OK, then… then I would love to hear about her."

"Alright then!" Cameron said happily, and he reached into one of his backpack's pockets and pulling out a wallet. He stood and walked over to Kate, holding it out to her. "Open it," he said.

Kate stared at the wallet as if it were some kind of bomb, but then she took it slowly into her hands and opened it.

Inside, there were some credit cards, cash, and a student ID, but in another pocket… there was a photo. Kate hesitated for a moment, but then curiosity got the best of her and she carefully took it out. Her eyes widened at the image in the picture.

It was a photograph of a woman carrying a little boy. The woman had long brown-red hair that spiked as it ran down her back, healthy shining skin and sharp amber eyes filled with passion and determination. The boy she was carrying shared many of her traits. He had short brown-red hair that was extremely spiky, a playful grin, and his eyes were precisely the same as the woman's. Kate couldn't tear her gaze away from the young boy. He looked to be six, maybe seven, but it wasn't his age that Kate was looking at. That smile… that spiky hair… those amber eyes…

"This is Keith," Kate whispered. "Isn't it?" Cameron nodded in confirmation.

Kate moved her focus to the woman in the photo. "And if this is Keith," she mused, "then this must be… your mother?"

Cameron nodded again. "Her name was Hyacinth." He grinned. "She was an amazing woman."

"Hyacinth," Kate repeated quietly. "She… she looks exactly like Keith. Oh, I—I guess I mean that Keith looks exactly like her… but still."

"Our mom was a great person," Cameron sighed in nostalgia. "She was captain of the entire Jubilife Police Force."

"Really?" Kate exclaimed. "T—that is amazing!"

"Right?" Cameron grinned more. "She was very kind, too, but she tended to get mad easily, plus she was really very stubborn. She didn't like admitting to things she couldn't do. But… when it came to protecting the people she loved… she would be willing to do anything. Even admit to a fault."

Kate looked down at the picture again. "…Keith really is a lot like her," she murmured.

"Oh?" Cameron asked, glancing up at the brunette. "How so?"

Kate went slightly pink as she stammered, "W—well, he's really easy to anger in some cases, and he's extremely stubborn, b-but… he's really determined to protect the people important to him—and the people who aren't so important to him, even. He's the kind of person who will listen to what's worrying you. He's… he's really…"

'It's OK to cry. It's OK to cry in front of me.'

"…a very… kind person," Kate finished, gazing down at the picture with a faint smile. "Even if he tries to hide it most of the time."

Cameron stared at Kate in shock. "…You…" he said slowly. "You really do understand my idiot of a brother, don't you?"

Kate's eyes widened as she felt her face go slightly warm. "N-no, not that much!" she stuttered. "I don't understand him that well! I mean, I just now found out his family's first names, and I don't even know what sort of errand he dashed off on earlier!"

"It's not about understanding his personal information, like names or errands or locations or any of that stuff," Cameron pressed. "It's about understanding someone as a person. Their traits, their personality, their fears, their wants…"

Cameron looked over at Kate and smiled mysteriously. "…I wonder…" he murmured, "I wonder if you know exactly what Keith wants?"

Kate blinked at this, confused, but at that moment the door burst open. She swiveled her head around to see none other than Looker standing there.

"M—Mr. Looker!" Kate said in surprise. "What happened?"

Looker grinned slightly and answered, "Well, if you must know, I went after Keith. After we talked for awhile, though, he seemed to become rather angry with me and thus I left him."

Kate's eyes widened as she looked out the window, and she was alarmed to see that it was pouring rain. "You left him when it was raining like this?" she cried.

"It wasn't raining when I left him," Looker said. Then his face seemed to become rather solemn as he added, "…and besides… He's in one of those moods when he needs to be alone."

Kate gaped at him for a half second before screaming, "Even so, you don't just leave him in the rain like this!"

She climbed out of bed, still dressed in her Ranger uniform, and moved to her wardrobe, opening it and pulling out a dark gray raincoat. She slipped it on, saying, "I'm going to go out and make sure he's OK."

Looker was alarmed. "Lovely Ms. Lovett," he said, "you don't have to go to any trouble! Keith just needs to be alone for some time to think!"

Kate grabbed an umbrella that was leaning against the wall next to the door. "I understand what you're talking about, Mr. Looker," she said, "and I don't buy it. 'Alone'? I know that feeling more than anyone, and… and I've been proven that being alone doesn't solve anything! Not ever! And I'm sorry, Mr. Looker, but—but if you can't understand how you can't just leave Keith alone if he's angry—then—"

Kate was in the doorway frame, and she turned to look at Looker in the eye angrily.

"If you can't understand what 'being alone' truly means, then what kind of father are you?"

"Kate, hold on a sec!" Cameron shouted. "Your ankle—!"

But she was already gone, the door slamming shut behind her.

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

Keith sighed internally as he looked up at the rainy sky, wondering if Voice would be able to hear his thoughts from this far off. Probably not, and besides, it was most likely that she was still asleep.

Just as his dad had left, small drops of rain had started falling. Keith had disregarded them as no big deal and had moved on with his shopping. He'd eventually found something, and the gift of choice was now sitting in a small white paper bag he was holding in his hand. On his way to the Union, the rain had begun to pour down so hard he could barely see two yards in front of him, and so he was now taking refuge outside a restaurant, underneath one of those extended roof things that were meant to look decorative. He'd decided not to try running back to the Union until the rain let up at least by a few gallons. Besides, he needed to cool off. He was still feeling angry over what both Crawford and now his father had said.

Why was everyone telling him that he should confess to Kate? Everything was fine the way it was before, but now Crawford was saying that Keith should tell her because she deserved to know, and Looker's reason as far as Keith could tell was to… to try and start something. Was his old man crazy? And what was more, just to put salt on the wound, he'd had to bring up—

"Keith! Keith, is that you?"

Keith blinked and looked down the road to see what familiar voice could be calling his name. At first the figure just looked like a grayish blur in the distance due to the rain, but as the person got closer his eyes widened.

"Kate?" he said, shocked by her sudden appearance. "What the hell are you doing here?" He quickly hid the paper bag containing her birthday present in a small secret pocket inside his jacket.

Kate was breathing heavily as she bent down slightly. "I… found you," she panted. She was holding an umbrella and it seemed as if she'd been running for awhile.

Keith was aghast. "Found me…? Kate!" he shouted. "Are you seriously telling me that you ran all the way through Puel City looking for me?"

Kate flinched. "B-but…!" she protested. "But Looker said you were still out here, and it's raining so hard, and I thought you might catch a fever or something, and—and besides!"

The young brunette seemed to struggle with herself for a bit. Her face was going red, most likely from running so hard, Keith guessed. That had to be the reason. "Besides?" he pressed harshly.

"A—and besides!" Kate finally continued. "I want to hear more about your mother! About Hyacinth…!"

Keith stared as he processed those words, but the ones that had hit him most were 'mother' and 'Hyacinth'. Finally, he sighed in exasperation.

"Did Cameron blab?" he muttered. Kate nodded, but then she looked up anxiously.

"P-please don't be mad at him!" she begged. "All he did was describe the kind of person she was to me! He—he showed me a picture, too!"

Keith blinked. "A… picture?" he said under his breath, and then he demanded, "Was the picture of a woman holding a little boy?"

Kate nodded in confirmation. Keith scowled. "Damn Cameron and his big mouth," he cursed.

Kate looked up at Keith. "T-the little boy in the picture," she said tensely, "it was you… r-right?"

Keith felt his face go slightly red, but he answered truthfully. "…Yeah," he muttered. "It is. I was six when that was taken."

Kate smiled in triumph. "I knew it!" she said happily. "You… you look so much like your mother! E-especially your eyes!"

Keith wasn't feeling as enthusiastic as she seemed to be. "I guess," he said reluctantly.

Kate was quiet for a moment, but when she spoke again her voice was hushed. "There… there was one thing that wasn't quite the same about your eyes, though."

"Huh?" Keith looked at the girl in confusion. "What's that?" He'd been told his eyes were exactly like his mom's so many times by his family and old members of the police force back in Sinnoh, it was almost insulting to be told otherwise.

Kate stared at the ground for a few seconds, but then she murmured, "They… they weren't yours."

Keith's eyes widened slightly as he looked down at her. Finally, he managed to say, "Is there a difference?"

"There is!" Kate insisted. "B-because your… yours are just… I don't know, OK? But they are!"

Keith stared at the brunette, but then he averted his gaze.

"…You… wanted to hear about my mom, right?" he asked quietly.

He felt Kate's eyes snap up to look at him for a moment, and then he heard her voice murmur, "I-if it's OK, I would really like to hear about her from you."

"Alright then," Keith consented. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to say. Finally, he said it.

"My mom was commissioner of the entire Jubilife police force," he started. "A lot of people were uncertain of a woman being the boss at first, but whatever doubts they had at first my mom just proved completely and utterly wrong. She was amazing. With her on the force, the crime rate in Jubilife dropped by a huge percentage."

Kate drew a breath in wonder. "That's so cool…" she sighed. "Cameron told me she was captain of the police force, but I had no idea she was so incredible."

"Well, she was," Keith said. "And she was as great of a mother as she was a cop. She always tried her hardest to make sure Cam and I grew up without being exposed to any of that bad criminal stuff. It… it almost seemed as if the reason she tried so hard to protect Jubilife was to protect us, too."

Kate smiled gently at these words, but Keith knew his next sentence would wipe that smile clean off her face.

"Then something happened."

Sure as sure could be, Kate started frowning. "What?" she asked.

"Her death," Keith said plainly.

Kate winced, then said, "O-oh, that's right, you… you said she died on the job. Was there an accident or something?"

"Nothing like that," Keith said. "…She was murdered. Y'see, her second in command was also the guy who lost in the election to decide who would be chief. He… he wasn't happy about her success. In fact, I think it drove him a little mad. So one day, he came into her office… and he just shot her. He was apprehended and arrested immediately. I can't remember if he got the death sentence or just prison for life, though."

Keith leaned back against the window of the restaurant they were standing in front of. He knew that patrons inside were probably staring at the duo, but he didn't see it as important. It wasn't as if they could hear him, after all. The rain wasn't stopping, pouring down relentlessly. Barely any cars passed by.

"After Mom was killed, I was, well, angry." He said. "Angry and sad and all sorts of other negative emotions or whatever. I got into fights. I talked back to Dad. I barely talked to Cam. I dunno… I guess I just—"

A small sob pierced the air.

"Wha—" Keith looked up in surprise, and was shocked to see that Kate's eyes were filled with tears. "Why the hell are you crying?"

"B-because!" Kate whimpered. "It's—it's just so sad! A-about how she was such a g-great mother to you and she d-died, about a-all you went through after she was k-killed, a-and…"

She looked to the ground, and Keith saw small drops that definitely weren't raindrops fall from her face. "I-I'm sorry…" she sobbed.

Keith stared at her with wide eyes. How could she be like this? She didn't even know Hyacinth. She'd never met his mother before, and she was crying? Whenever people had said they were sorry his mom had died before back in Jubilife—even sometimes in Almia—they'd really been sad that she had died. They weren't concerned with how he felt or how he was hurting after it all. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. It wasn't…

Keith grabbed Kate's shoulders and hugged her tight, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

Kate seemed to have been taken off guard, obviously. "K-Keith…" she stammered, her voice thick with tears. Keith simply scoffed and held her tighter, hoping he wouldn't restrict her breathing.

"I don't get it," he mumbled shakily. "Why… would someone like you… stay near me… and cry for me?"

A few seconds passed, but then he felt Kate's arms slowly wrap around his frame as she pressed her body against his. Some strangled noise Keith assumed was a sob escaped his throat, and he just stayed like that, not letting go of her. Not letting go of what right now was his only lifeline. Somewhere in the back of his head he dimly registered the muffled voices of the people in the restaurant talking, and he knew they were probably staring at them and making comments. Maybe some were taking pictures. He even thought he heard a few claps in there. Applause? He really didn't care at the moment.

After two eternities (well, it could have been ten minutes), Keith finally loosened his grip on the brunette slightly so that he could pull back and face her.

And then he understood.

Everything Crawford and even a few words of his dad's came flooding into his head—and he understood. He really should tell her about his feelings. The only thing that had been holding him back this far was fear. The fear that if he told her everything, she would leave him just like his mom had. It was the same fear that kept everyone from confessing love, the same fear of being left alone in the end.

Who didn't feel that way?

Now, looking into those two pale blue irises, he felt… confident, somehow. Confident that no matter what he told her, she would always return in the end with that smiling face and the shining eyes that had captivated him ever since he'd first seen her.

"Kate," he said cautiously, "I… I need to tell you something."

Kate stared innocently, and then she smiled. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's… it's just…" Keith looked down for a moment before turning his gaze back up and saying, "Kate, I—!"

'HOOOOONK!'

Of course, at that exact moment, a truck came barreling down the empty, rainy streets. Its wheels hit a puddle in front of the two, splashing them and covering them in water.

Inside the restaurant all the patrons, who were now crowded at the window watching the couple, burst out laughing, their hysterics muffled by the thick glass window in front of them.

Keith, once he had overcome the initial shock of being splashed, whipped around to face the crowd and yelled, "SCREW YOU!"

One man shouted something back at him, and to Keith it sounded oddly enough like, "There's always next time, kid!"

Keith blinked at this comment, but then his face went a fine red. Had it really been that obvious that he had been—well—confessing? Just then, though, he heard a small "a-choo!" from next to him. He looked over to see Kate sniffling.

"Dammit," he sighed, "Looks like you caught a cold. Not surprising, with this weather… It looks like the rain's let up a bit, it's only sprinkling now." He cast a sideways glance at the brunette. "…Wanna go for it?"

Kate nodded. Keith noticed that she wasn't holding her umbrella anymore. She'd probably dropped during their, well, hugging. It'd probably been blown off by the wind or something… or so Keith thought until he looked at the road and saw a heap of crushed umbrella.

'Damn truck,' he thought bitterly. But when he thought of Kate, he knew that he didn't have to tell her now. After all, he had all the time in the world.

"Well, let's get going, then," he said. The two started walking down the path, and even as they took their first steps the last drops of rain fell, and a few rays of sun began to peek out.

"Ah!" Kate smiled. "The rain stopped!"

Keith looked over at the brunette silently.

I've been thinking about what I wished for…

"Hey, Kate?"

And what I truly wanted.

"Yes?"

And I think… it just might be…

"…Thank you."

To stay like this.

Keith cuffed the girl lightly over the head, but then ignored her protests and put an arm around her shoulders as they walked, pulling her close and making some stupid joke they would both (probably) laugh at later.

To stay by her side.

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

Two days later, it was time for Cameron and Looker to leave.

Kate and Keith stood outside the Union as they said their goodbyes. Looker made a big deal out of it, using extremely large words that were probably made up as he gave his farewell speech.

"OK, OK, Dad," Keith groaned. "I get it. Bye."

"Goodbye, Mr. Looker!" Kate said happily.

"See you, Dad!" Cameron grinned.

Keith turned slowly to Cameron. "Cam," he said uncertainly, "why are you saying bye to Dad…? Aren't you going with him?"

Cameron stared, but then he started laughing. "Oh, I forgot to tell you!" he snickered.

Kate blinked. "Tell us what?" she asked. Keith looked as if he didn't want to hear the reason.

"The reason I came to the Union," Cameron said. "The real reason. You see, I'm going to be working here as part of my college credit as an intern!"

Kate gaped, but then she jumped and squealed, "Oh, Arceus, that's wonderful! Now we can see each other all the time! I bet you're excited about this too, huh, Keith? Keith?"

Keith's eyes had gone extremely wide and he was staring at Cameron as if he was a ghost.

Cameron winked. "Aren't you happy, little brother?" he asked cheerfully.

"!*&$*%$*%&$*?" Keith said in shock.

Kate stared, wondering how he could have pronounced that, but Cameron simply grinned more. "Aw, love you too, bro." he said endearingly.

He started a conversation with Kate, who was obviously the more legibly competent of the group at the moment. Keith looked at them for a moment, but then he felt Looker's hand on his shoulder.

Keith turned to his father. "W-what is it?" he asked as he slowly got over Cameron's big surprise.

Looker seemed slightly uncomfortable. "Well," he said with a nervous cough. "I just wanted to… to apologize for all this time."

Keith was taken aback. "Apologize?" he said, confused. "For what?"

"For not being… as good as a parent I should have been," Looker confessed. "You were just so out of control after Hyacinth passed, and I didn't know how to handle it, so I just let you be. But now I can see the error of my ways. I suppose I should thank the lovely Ms. Lovett for that."

"Kate?" Keith murmured. After a few seconds though, he grinned. "Yeah… she tends to have that effect on people."

Looker studied the different emotions in his son's eyes, emotions he'd never seen in those amber irises before. Finally, he asked the question that completed the advice he'd given Keith before the redhead had gone to Ranger School.

"Keith," Looker inquired, "is she… your weakness?"

Keith blinked, but then he looked over at Kate, who was now talking contentedly with Cameron. He took in the spiky brown hair, pastel ivory skin, and the alluring pale blue eyes that only she possessed.

Keith looked up at his father and grinned.

"She is," he answered confidently. "And she always will be."