Continuing with the adventures in alcohol. Will everyone be okay? Will Sango be able to get to a toilet without throwing up? And what about Cynthia and Maddi? Will they be okay?

KedharS: I find it fun, what don't you like?

ConfusedCradily: Maddi has a nice side to her, too. Especially when she's cheery like this.

Aquahaze675: Yeah, definitely. She'll open up a little more this chapter, too.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 432

To everyone's relief, Sango had managed to make it to the bathroom before vomiting up her massive dinner. To everyone's despair, the amount of food that Sango ate meant she was going to be in there for a while, and the sound of vomit was not exactly appealing.

"Urgh…" Maddi held her stomach, shivering. Hearing Sango going at it like that was making her own stomach not exactly the nicest place at the time.

"You good?" Cynthia asked, glancing at Maddi. Maddi shook her head, rising to her feet.

"No, I… I really don't think I-" She felt a dry heave rise up, holding her mouth and doubling over. "Another… another bathroom," she mumbled out, glancing desperately at Cynthia.

"R-Right," Cynthia nodded, rising to her feet, still a little shaky. She rushed Maddi out of the room, leaving Marion staring off into space, giggling to herself.

Cynthia ushered Maddi down the hall, and they managed to make it to one of the other bathrooms in the inn before it was too late, much to their relief. Maddi slid to her knees and tilted her head over the toilet and began to hurl, Cynthia closing the door behind the girl and leaning against it, sliding down to the floor.

Cynthia's head was swimming, the sudden movement making her feel nauseous herself. But she was able to keep her dinner down, focusing on her heartbeat to try and decompress so that the world would stop spinning around her. Normally her dizziness was manageable. Right now, though, she wasn't really able to bring herself back down. She stared hazily at a stain on the far wall, the sound of Maddi vomiting being the only thing keeping her grounded at the moment.

As Cynthia's head cleared, she felt a wave of sadness run over her. Today had been hard. Her fatigue had petered out, though she knew she would sleep like the dead tomorrow, but seeing Violet again had been a surprise that she didn't consider exactly pleasant. Having been in this situation before, though, she was somewhat better equipped to realize what was going on. She didn't remember anything about the Pokemon Day party after she'd started drinking, but according to Blake she had been very honest; and more notably, very emotional, bawling like a baby.

Right now, she was feeling what she imagined it must have been like. Seeing Violet didn't usually make these emotions rise up like this, but she couldn't help herself. She was trembling, ready to break into tears at a moments' notice, and her attempts to smile through it weren't helping.

"…Urf…"

While Cynthia was wallowing in her feelings, it finally dawned on her that she couldn't hear Maddi throwing up anymore. She knocked on the door. "Maddi? You good in there?"

"…'Good' isn't… urgh… the word I'd… *blarf* use…" Maddi groaned, the sounds of another wave of hurling and the repeated splashing of water coming from behind the door. At least her throwing up was coming in waves now, instead of one constant stream. After a few seconds, the sounds stopped, followed by more groaning from Maddi.

"Cynthia?" Cynthia's ears perked up as she heard Maddi's weak voice call out to her.

"Yeah? What's up?" Cynthia asked.

"It's stopped… for now… but I feel like I might throw up again…" Maddi groaned out. "Can you, um… can you get me a pillow or something to kneel on? I might be here for a while and my knees are starting to get sore…"

"Of course," Cynthia said, stumbling to her feet and heading down the hall. She got some linens from the laundry and brought them back, sliding the door open. Maddi glanced up at her weakly, Cynthia wincing. Maddi's face was pale and lined with anguish, vomit flecked on her lips. Luckily her hair was pulled back. She was clinging to the toilet bowl like if she let go she would be flung off the earth, which seemed not that far out there judging by what she looked like in her current state. Cynthia gave her a sympathetic look, kneeling down next to Maddi and folding the blanket over beside her legs, Maddi propping herself up slightly to get them under her knees.

"Thanks," Maddi murmured, turning back over the toilet bowl. "Feels a lot better now…"

Cynthia sighed, stepping back from Maddi.

"Sorry I had you guys drink, then…" she mumbled. Maddi's condition was really starting to help her sober up. "I even tried moderation this time, and, well…"

She burst into tears.

"I'm sowwy… now you hade me again…" She wailed.

Maddi glanced up at her wearily.

"No, I don't hate you…" she muttered. "It was my idea, after all… I'm not going to get mad at you for finding booze when I was the one who suggested it…"

"Then… then we're still friends?" Cynthia asked, wiping her eyes and looking hopefully down at Maddi, crouching next to her.

Maddi turned her head and began throwing up again, which resulted in another wave of waterworks from Cynthia.

"Stop… urgh… crying," Maddi grunted, glancing up at Cynthia. "Your blubbering is making me feel even worse."

Cynthia sniffled and shut up, wiping her nose and nodding obediently.

"Thanks," Maddi said. "Like I was saying… this was my idea, and what I get for it. I knew chugging for three seconds was gonna suck…"

Cynthia could tell that Maddi's cheery disposition had worn off. Maybe vomiting out most of the alcohol was causing her to sober up and go back to her normal, more sour and withdrawn personality. Cynthia didn't mind, but it made her feel less comfortable around Maddi, especially as vulnerable as she felt right now.

And more importantly… there was something that Cynthia wanted to ask, and she wasn't sure if the more composed Maddi would answer.

No… that's awful. How could I consider doing something like that? Taking advantage of Maddi's intoxication to ask her something like that… it would be horrible. Cynthia was grateful she was sober enough to still feel disgust towards herself. But she couldn't blame the idea itself on the alcohol. She did want to know, she really did. This was the insensitivity that Maddi held against her, and that hurt Cynthia even more.

Cynthia sighed. Her lowered inhibitions made her want to ask even when she knew she shouldn't, and she was relieved that Maddi, at least, would hopefully be sober enough to make an informed decision, and Cynthia wouldn't take advantage of her.

"Maddi… can I ask you something?" Cynthia tested the water. If Maddi didn't want her to ask anything, that would be it, then.

"Sure… might as well pass the-hurf!" Maddi hacked a little, but nothing came out. She glanced up again, tilting her head. "…Don't mind if I'm busy throwing up in the middle though, can't really help that, all things considered."

Of course Cynthia didn't mind. She took a deep breath, and hiccupped in spite of herself, causing Maddi to snicker. That helped lighten the mood a little, at least.

"Why did you… suggest drinking?" Cynthia asked Maddi. She swallowed. "I mean, you always seem like the kind of girl who wouldn't do stuff like that, you know? Like, you're a lot more responsible than me, and you're cool, and reserved, so it's like… it would be like if Sango suggested stealing a car, you know? Or Marion suggesting… well, anything that wasn't fishing."

"I'm not the 'type' huh?" Maddi muttered. Cynthia gasped, realizing what she had just said, and frantically waved her hands.

"Nonononono! I didn't mean that in like a bad way," Cynthia exclaimed. "I just… well, I mean, you're so cool, so…"

"I'm messing with you," Maddi muttered, smirking up at her. Cynthia scowled.

"Maddi!" She pouted.

"You're not wrong," Maddi sighed, rubbing her stomach. "Yeah, I'm not usually the kind of person to suggest stuff like this… unlike you, I didn't get sloshed at the Pokemon Day party, since I'm a responsible person. I've only actually drank a few times before."

"Then… then why did you suggest it?" Cynthia asked, worried that her concerns would be proven true. "Were you… were you wanting to get drunk… because it would be the only way that you could stomach hanging out with me?"

Maddi straightened up, knowing this wasn't the conversation she should be slumped over the toilet to have. Luckily, she had sobered up considerably, the fog in her head clearing as she turned to Cynthia, staring at her reddened face quietly.

"It isn't that," she stated. It didn't change Cynthia's downcast face, so Maddi said it again, not sure if it had gotten through to Cynthia's inebriated ears. "It isn't. That."

"It… it isn't?" Cynthia asked, her innocent blue eyes lighting up hopefully as she they looked into Maddi's multi-colored ones.

Maddi sighed. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about this, especially not with Cynthia. Then again… maybe because it WAS Cynthia, Cynthia would be the person who might understand. Sango would get it, but Sango wasn't here. And Sango didn't deal with things the way that Maddi had chosen to deal with them. Sango didn't want to drink. Sango faced her problems head-on, without using alcohol to numb the pain.

As for Cynthia…

Cynthia might have wanted to drink for a similar reason that Maddi had. So she might understand why Maddi had chosen to drink as well.

"Today, meeting your sister… she reminded me a lot of my older sister," Maddi said quietly.

"Your sister?" Cynthia said, her eyes widening. "I didn't know you have a sister!"

"My sister… is dead," Maddi said coldly, Cynthia freezing up, her face falling at that. And she'd gotten so excited, thinking that she had something to bond with Maddi over, too, what a horrible person she was. She just kept doing shitty stuff like this.

"I… I see. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Maddi muttered. "Not just my sister. My mom and dad, too. They're also dead. The only family I have left is an aunt who lives in Johto, and I'm not that close to her. So yeah, you can say that my family is a little…"

Maddi's voice trailed off as she looked at Cynthia's big blue eyes, filling with more and more tears as she trembled even harder. She winced, expecting more waterworks to come out from the redhead, and sighed.

"Yeah, I know. It's been rough, you don't have to tell me," Maddi said, shaking her head. "I don't want to talk about it. Is that clear?"

Cynthia nodded rapidly, sensing the tension in Maddi's voice. She didn't want push things any further, or make Maddi feel any more uncomfortable about what was happening, so she kept herself from crying as best she could.

"So after I saw you getting along with your sister," Maddi continued, "it reminded me of when I would get along with my sister. She was a lot older than me, too, so… after spending the day with her, seeing her as kind of like my own big sister, and then seeing you, her actual little sister, get all flustered and angry like a sister should, well…"

"You missed it," Cynthia filled in the blanks, Maddi nodding her head. "I see…"

"So I suggested drinking. I wasn't really serious back then, but… at dinner time, I found myself hurting even more, wishing that there was something to take the edge off."

"What? Was my cooking that bad?!" Cynthia exclaimed, missing the point entirely. "But… but you said you liked it, so I thought-"

"Cynthia. This isn't about your cooking."

"O-oh, okay, sorry," Cynthia said, shutting up again.

Maddi sighed. The more she talked, the more she was sobering up. And the more she was sobering up, the more she realized that the smell coming from the toilet in front of her was one of the most foul things she could imagine. She reached over and flushed the toilet, letting the sounds of water swirling fill the void of awkward silence before she explained what had really set her off tonight.

"Your grandma said it, right?" Maddi said. "Christmas is a time for family. But what about me?"

She turned to look into Cynthia's eyes, and Cynthia could see real emotion in them. One eye was red and one was blue, but both were watery with tears. Cynthia felt closer to Maddi than she ever had before, closer than, honestly, she ever expected she would be, given what the girl thought of her.

But she still didn't know what to say to make the girl feel better. So all she could do was stare into Maddi's eyes, with a face that she was certain wasn't helping. Maddi said that she didn't want Cynthia's sympathy, she didn't want her crying over her. So just sitting there looking sad and feeling bad for her wasn't going to make her feel any better.

"If you're thinking about what you can say to make me feel better, then don't bother," Maddi informed her.

Cynthia flinched. Was Maddi reading her mind?

"I was thinking, and it was about you," Maddi said quietly. "I don't have a family anymore, not… not the way you do. And sitting there, seeing that… it made me want to push the painful thoughts away. I wanted to drink before, but now I really wanted to."

She wiped the tears out of her own eyes.

"I'm glad you invited me, Cynthia."

Cynthia blinked, surprised. Was Maddi still drunk?

"I know I didn't show it, but I was happy," Maddi said. "And yeah, I wasn't looking forward to spending time with you at first, because of how annoying and pushy you always are. But… I've spent holidays like this alone for years, ever since my sister's accident. And the last time I had a real Christmas with my parents… that was YEARS ago, I can barely remember it. So the fact that I had people who wanted to spend the holiday with me, wanted me around…"

Maddi smiled a little.

"It made me feel nice. So thank you. I know… I know that I'm not a very nice person to be around, I can be kind of abrasive," Maddi explained, shaking her head. "And I know it's going to be hard for us to get along, since we're so incompatible. Let's… I don't know, let's just try to get a better understanding of how we can get along, and go from there. I don't hate you, I want you to know that."

"I'm glad," Cynthia said. "And I know that you don't want me to say 'I'm sorry' to you or anything, you don't want my sympathy, but… I am sorry. And I'm glad that you were willing to come here, to Hoenn with Sango and me, especially since you weren't comfortable about doing this with us. …With me, anyway. I'm sorry my grandparents made you feel bad at dinner, but-"

"It's nothing, it's my problem," Maddi interrupted her. "But… if you don't mind me asking… you also seemed a little tense at dinner. Especially when your sister was brought up. Your sister… is she… if you want to talk about things, I'm not the best person to talk to, but…"

Cynthia sighed. Her relationship with her sister was complicated to say the least, and she really wasn't in the best frame of mind to be talking about it right now. Even if she wasn't drunk, the complex emotions she felt about it…

"It's… about my sister," Cynthia admitted. "Since I saw her again, well… let's just say that, as much as I love her, our relationship is complicated, and leave it at that."

"I can understand that, at any rate," Maddi muttered, knowing what it's like to live with a sister herself, even if her own memories of her sister were fond treasures to her. "Sorry… didn't mean to pry into anything personal."

"No, no, it's fine," Cynthia assured her, shaking her head. "You don't need to worry about that, you aren't making me feel uncomfortable or prying, don't worry. Maddi… it's not a big issue. It's just hard, you know?"

"…Yeah," Maddi said, nodding. "I get it. I'm not exactly the most open person either, after all."

Maddi and Cynthia stared at each other. Due to the compulsions of the alcohol, both girls felt an urge to come clean about the pain they were in, and confide in one another. But neither girl knew all that much about the other, and they weren't sure they were at a state where they could open up. So all they did was share a hot stare, not saying anything.

"Cynthia…"

Maddi opened her mouth up to say something, before the wave to vomit surged back up. She turned to the toilet and began heaving up more bile, Cynthia reaching out and rubbing her back. The moment may have been slightly ruined, but Cynthia still cared about the girl, even if she wasn't quite ready to open up to her just yet.

Sango trudged back to her room, yawning, and much to her surprise, she found Marion was the only one there. The fishing enthusiast was spread out on Cynthia's futon, snoring away, her robe slightly untied just to show even more of her sloppiness. Silver and Grim were next to her, also asleep.

Sango rolled her eyes and walked over to Marion. She tied the girl's robes back up and stood back up, her head swimming. She was still a little dizzy from everything that had happened, the alcohol still working its way through her system. She looked around, noticing that Cynthia and Maddi weren't anywhere to be seen.

"Cynthia? Maddi? Where are you guys?" Sango called. After vomiting she was starting to sober up, and with that came concern. The two girls had been drunk off their asses the last time Sango had seen them, and she had no idea where they were going.

Sango began to get worried. She looked around frantically, making sure they weren't hiding in the room somewhere. No, they'd gone off and left the room. Hopefully they had only gone out for some fresh air. If they were off wandering the street at night, well…

Sango felt sober now, that was for sure. She didn't even want to THINK about what might have happened, or could still happen. She rushed to the door, worried that her friends might have been off doing god knows what.

What's with this "I can let myself go for the night without having to worry about anything"? She demanded of herself. She shouldn't have gotten drunk, knowing that her friends were in this sort of state. She had let herself go when she should have kept a level head and looked after her friends, making the responsible choice. Her heart beating in a panic and her face no-doubt flushed with worry, she ran to the door and flung it open, ready to run off into the hall…

Only to see Maddi and Cynthia walking down the hall, a scant few feet ahead of her.

Seeing that her friends were okay, Sango snapped back into focus and came down, panting, her heart still pounding in her chest as the adrenaline running through her kept going.

"…What's up?" Cynthia asked, confused at the fact Sango was standing in her door, looking like she was possessed by a ghost pokemon.

"You good?" Maddi asked.

"N…Nothing, nothing's up," Sango said, shaking her head. She began to calm down. She had just panicked a little, that was all. "Just… you know, I got worried about you guys. Are you guys okay? Everything fine? Where did you guys go? I got worried."

Cynthia and Maddi glanced at each other. They burst out laughing, holding their sides.

Sango glanced between the two of them in confusion, not sure what was so funny. She wasn't even sure that they knew why they were laughing, as drunk as they were.

She sighed, and slumped over against the frame. She was just glad they were okay.

Good old alcohol, brings things to light. Glad that everyone's okay, but in the morning they've definitely got some stuff to face, that's for sure.