"So, he cancelled on us because he and Julia want to have another baby?" Lizzie asked, part confused at the idea and part frustrated that even her old and trusted friend Michael would bail out on her. The three of them originally had plans to spend the day together after not having seen much of each other once the war with Claude had ended. Then, Mark asked if Greta could accompany them, torpedoing the whole idea of the trio spending time like the old days. The death blow now came from Michael cancelling on their plans to be with his wife. She knew how much Julia meant to Michael and all, but it was frustrating to think that his oldest and dearest friends from his time in exile had fallen so far down the priority chain. Now, she, Mark and Greta would have to try and salvage some kind of plan for the day in the Library of Kingston Castle.

"It's because Professor Maria passed, Liz" Mark told her. "Julia feels lost without her grandmother and thinks another kid could help."

Greta swooned at the idea of such a romantic gesture. "Oh, that's so sweet. Those two are so in love. Ah."

"Don't get any idea" Mark insisted, his face reddening at the prospect of he growing a family of his own. "We've got more to worry about than starting a family."

"But wouldn't you think it's the sweetest and most wonderful thing in the world to have a baby?"

Mark sighed. "First, you were zealous about the wedding between Jon and Annie. Now, you're worried about having a baby?!"

She giggled. "A girl has to have some idea of the future."

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Can't you two get a room or something?"

Greta rose from the table and gently patted Lizzie on the head. "Oh Lizzie. I envy you. It seems you're the only one in the whole castle not bitten by a Love Bug." She walked her way over to Mark and flirtatiously tapped him on the nose. "Since Michael bailed out on us, how about you and I spend the day together? You know, show me some of these sights Arcana is best known for."

Lizzie looked like she had been slapped in the face with a fish. "Excuse me?!"

"I don't think our plans were cancelled, Greta" Mark told his kinda-sorta girlfriend. "The three of us are still set to do some-" Greta's fingers walked their way up to the center of Mark's head and she gave him a brief and ever so subtle breath on his neck. Mark was almost instantaneously underneath her spell of affection. "Some-some-some other time."

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "I don't believe it. Not you, too!"

Mark could only look like a complete doof in front of his old friend as Greta casually brought him out of his chair and led him out of the library, leaving Lizzie to simply look absolutely perplexed by the whole events of what had just transpired in front of her.

"Stupid Mark" she grumbled. "Stupid Mike. Forgetting our plans because of some stupid-" She paused at those words. "Wait a minute. It's not stupid to feel like that. To love someone is the same as being related to them or loving a Pokémon, right?" After all, she had never had a problem with Michael and Julia's relationship before this and had even been a proponent of Mark and Greta finding a distraction from all of the uncertainty surrounding them in a relationship But something did seem amiss to her. The concept of love in of itself was not something she was used to knowing or needing to grasp. "I mean, I think I know what it is. To feel like that. But...have I?"

With her day's plans unsalvageable thanks to both Michael and Mark choosing to spend them with the ones they loved, Lizzie realized now might be a good idea to read up on the concepts of love and how the feeling comes about. She skimmed through book after book in the library, trying to understand just what was it about her friends that made them feel so...so...weird when it came to the idea of either of their partners. But after over thirty books and coming away with no answers, Lizzie found herself even more frustrated than she was when her plans were ruined. Maybe she could find an answer if she asked someone? But who could she turn to in order to get a crash course on the concepts of love? Michael and Mark were now unavailable. Piper was hellbent on bringing Chris back from Mirage Island, so she was out. Cameron probably knew more about love than she did, but would probably see it as a distraction.

"When in doubt" Lizzie said to herself as her Umbreon napped casually by her on another chair, "look to your roots." She picked the Umbreon up and made her way over to the computer in the room. With the ArcNet team working in the Cellar and absorbing much of the processing power to analyze something on behalf of the Lord of the Castle, she knew she would only have one realistic shot to make contact with her family back home in Hoenn. She opened up the application to chat and sent out a request to her mother, the only person she knew would answer her. After a moment of trying to connect, Lizzie was surprised when she found not just her mother, but her grandmother and her brother Kyle on the couch in their parent's home, waiting to greet her.

"Surprise!" her mother giggled.

"Hi everyone!" Lizzie said happily. "This is so unexpected. You guys are awesome!"

"I hope all is well, Lizzie" her Grandmother spoke softly. She was short, bespectacled and round with curly white hair, but never had anything less than a smile on her face. Her mother was beginning to take on after her own mother, her hair graying a bit. But she too was always happy and content to see her daughter. Kyle sat stiffly and rigidly on the couch, constantly poking at his glasses to ensure they didn't fall off his face, only to smudge the glasses every now and then. Her Grandmother helped him clean his glasses as she went on. "I do hope that mess in Arcana is sorted out soon."

"It will be" Lizzie replied, though it was more of a hopeful answer than a confident one. "We just need to find a way to get Jirachi back. I suspect that Hunter has him, though."

"Hunter?!" her mother gasped. "Not that one, again!"

"I thought Hunter was killed when you and your friends defeated him in a Pokémon Battle" her brother asked as worriedly as he could. "How could he have survived?"

"I don't have an answer for that, Kyle" his older sister frowned. "But he also has Manaphy, Celebi and Mew. Until we get them and our friends from Mirage Island back, I don't think this fight is going to end."

"Does this mean that you could not uphold your promise to Grandpa?"

Lizzie's heart sank as she lowered her head. "No. I let him down."

"You didn't fail him" her mother assured her.

"Yes I did." She could vividly remember the Shrine of Jirachi being swallowed up by the water from Meteor Falls and Hunter leaving her in there to die. How dark it became, how it came to symbolize her failure to protect that which the West family had held so important for so many years. "What Grandpa wanted me to protect is gone. And with Jirachi gone, I don't see how I can fix any of this."

"Can't you fix it?" Kyle asked. "Return home so you can fix it and nothing will have happened."

"She can't come home" their grandmother interjected. "She's busy in Arcana."

"But for how long?"

The trio looked to Lizzie for an answer, but she could not give them one. "I don't want to return home until I'm no longer needed here. Arcana is on the brink of collapse and if it falls, Hoenn might be next. Or Sinnoh. Or Orre. Or any other of the regions of the world." She held back a sorrowful moan. "If I let someone else I care about down again..."

"You haven't let anyone down" her mother again corrected. "Lizzie, no one can be infallible. We all make mistakes. What matters is that we learn from them, not let them define who we are."

Lizzie sighed. "I don't feel as straightforward about it, but if you say so." She knew now was the time to speak what was on her mind. "Mom. I have a question about something regarding me. Do you think I'm capable of understanding what love is?"

"Love?" Kyle asked in confusion. "I don't understand that, either."

Her mother beamed. "I have no doubt you can love people, Lizzie." When her Grandmother went strangely silent, her mother continued. "Love isn't as complicated as some people make it out to be. After all, you love us, right? And your Pokémon? And your friends?"

"But those aren't the kinds of love I'm talking about" Lizzie replied. "I mean, do you think I can fall in love?"

Her Grandmother finally commented. "We thought you did. Once. A very long time ago."

Lizzie cocked her head in confusion as her Umbreon stirred in his sleep beside her. "When was this?"

Her mother sighed. "When we all gathered back here to celebrate your first defeat of Hunter."

Lizzie gasped. "No! There's no way I could ever love that-that-"

"Not him" her grandmother responded. "A creature like that man is not worth loving. We mean, your friends." She let out a wistful sigh as she recalled those days. "Ah, the good old days. When it was just the three of us at the Day Care Center. While I tended to the business side of things, you and your grandfather would care of the Pokémon. Take them out on runs, feed them and care for any eggs we might find. While I knew you were happy helping us, a part of me was sad that despite there being so much for you to do for us, you didn't have anyone around your age to play with."

"Some of the trainers would come and go, but I never saw many of them ever again."

"We couldn't give you the kind of companionship kids your age could" her grandmother recalled. "But until such a day arose, we were happy to have you helping us and the business. Your Grandfather even took you up to Meteor Falls for the first time to show you what our family has been keeping secret for centuries. Even if you didn't have the same socializing skills of other girls your age, we were content to just let it roll from there." She again smiled. "Then, as if a prayer was being answered, you were in Mauville City when you ran into those two free-spirited travelers from far away."

Lizzie smiled brightly. "Mark and Michael taking out those bikers at the Game Corner and driving them off was so cool!"

"And it drove our business up. Those thugs weren't around to scare off any customers and our business was booming."

"I remember getting a phone call from your grandmother" her mother added. "She was so excited to tell us that you made some friends. Two who not only didn't judge you for being different, but also wanted to hang out with you just because. I was so happy for you, after we had to send you to live with them after Kyle was born."

"There would be some mornings you would scarf down breakfast and then be out to find out where those two had gone next" her grandmother continued. "You were joined at the hip with those boys and they welcomed you with open arms. Mark was taking on the Hoenn Pokémon League and...well...we all know what Michael was up to. But you didn't, back then."

"None of us did" Lizzie said sadly, "He was a completely different person. So polite and kind, you wouldn't think he was battling the demons he was."

"Weeks passed as if they were only hours" her grandmother recalled. "All you could talk about was rooting for Mark in the Pokémon League alongside Michael. But all of that was put on halt when Hunter came along and terrorized us. You kids stopped him from being able to capture Jirachi and sent him running with his tail between his legs. And after all that was over, we went to Mossdeep City to celebrate with your parents. But the Michael we saw exiting Meteor Falls was not the same Michael that went in to rescue you and Jirachi. I could tell something had changed inside of him. And when we all went into the kitchen to celebrate Kyle's birthday, Michael left."

"If only we knew what he was going through" her mother commented. "We could have helped him."

"No one could have helped him but Wes and Rui in Orre" Lizzie corrected.

"But what surprised me the most was how upset you were" her grandmother said mournfully. "I mean, you threw your cake against the wall and stormed off because of his abrupt departure. None of us even knew how to react to that kind of outburst, mostly because of how rare it was from you..."

{}

A younger Lizzie West, roughly fifteen years old at this point in her life, was running wildly in front of her parent's home in the middle of the night, demanding that Michael stop hiding from them and show himself. Her mother, grandmother and old friend Mark could only look on sadly as it finally dawned on the young girl that one of her first and dearest friends in the world had indeed left.

"Lizzie" Mark said gently. "We should get inside."

"I don't understand" Lizzie spat out, shaking her head in confusion. "Why? Why would he leave like that?"

"I expected much better manners from that boy" her grandmother pointed out. "He was always so polite before."

"What could have changed him?" her mother asked. "I noticed he seemed a little on edge when he saw the pictures of my darling Espeon, but that couldn't have caused something like this." She desperately looked to Mark. "Unless there's something we're not aware of about him."

Mark sighed. "I've known Michael for almost two years. He's had some strange and erratic behavior, but even this is alarming from someone like him."

Lizzie stomped her feet on the ground. "Grrrr! THIS ISN'T FUNNY, MICHAEL! JUST COME ON IN, ALREADY!"

"The thought just occurred to me" her mother spoke up as she walked over to console her daughter. "We know all about you, Mark. What your story was. The former Champion of Kanto who renounced his title to explore the world, even stopping the resurgence of Team Rocket. You came here to test your mettle at our Pokémon League and it's Champion." She looked out into the skies above Mossdeep City. "But I don't think Lizzie ever told us Michael's past."

"Michael never liked to talk about it" Lizzie admitted. She looked worriedly to Mark. "But you know, don't you?"

Mark lowered his head. "There's no other way for me to put it, so forgive me for using sharp language. But Michael has been through hell in his life. Betrayed by someone he trusted, put through some scary experiments by some evil guys, forced to watch his best friend and Pokémon companion die in his arms and having his entire family and home turn their backs on him and banish him, it's amazing he's even went on as long as he has." He looked to the heavens above as stars began to twinkle into view. "He genuinely has nothing but his Pokémon in this world. I thought that I could maybe help him and become a friend he could confide in, but I guess even that is too much for him."

"Banished?" Lizzie's mother gasped. "Who would do such a thing?"

"Arcana" her grandmother explained. "Arcana is an elite region dominated by families who still retain many barbaric and rigid traditions. I remember reading in the Hoenn Gazette the other morning that there's some tyrannical dictator taking power in the region."

Lizzie, despite knowing the others were in conversation, could not contain her anger anymore and erupted. "THAT'S JUST STUPID! WHY WOULD HE THINK THAT HE CAN'T HAVE FRIENDS? DOESN'T HE REALIZE THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD WHO DO CARE ABOUT HIM?" She flung her arms wildly as if she were about to become rabid and uncontrollable. "I don't understand why he would do this! We're all friends. He promised to teach me how to become a master battler when-" She paused. "when-when his heart felt better."

"Does this heart issue have something to do with this?" her mother asked.

Mark nodded. "He was a little vague on what they did to him, but those experiments he was put under made him become some kind of battling machine. He's afraid to fight, because he knows when he does, he can become dangerous. He was relentless against Hunter."

"Maybe that's why he left?" her grandmother theorized. "To find a way to prevent himself from harming people. An admirable thing to do, if not a trifle foolish to do so alone."

"He wouldn't harm us!" Lizzie insisted. "We're his friends. We care about him!"

"No one is doubting that" Mark told her gently. "But if Michael wants to do this by himself, we should just let him."

Lizzie scowled. "Absolutely not! Michael needs our help! And we need to find him!"

"There's no sense in going after him now" her mother told her sternly. "We'll contact the Devon Corporation's Mr. Stone to see if anyone has seen a boy flying a Dragonite anywhere in Hoenn. But we all need to get some rest."

"How can I rest when my friend needs me?!" Lizzie cried out.

Mark walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Liz, I know how much you want to help. I do, too. It hurts to know how much pain he's in and I would give up anything I could to stop him from feeling like that." He shook his head sadly. "But so long as we're his friends, we have to abide by what he wants to do. I'm sure he'll come around to us again, but it may take some time."

Lizzie flung her arms around Mark and cried. "It's just not fair. I know he needs us."

"If we could have helped him" Mark said confidently, "I think he would have stayed." He looked out onto the horizon of the seas beyond Mossdeep. "He's out there somewhere. Fighting to fix what's wrong with him. If anything, you and I have helped him to see that even though he can't ever return home, he can always look to us for help if he needs to."

"Honey" her mother came over to speak to her. "Mark is absolutely right. If Michael is everything you said he was, he's just the kind of person who would hold onto his friends for a very long time. He's only doing this to protect you and Mark here."

"But if we could-" Lizzie pleaded.

Mark shook his head. "No. Let him go."

Lizzie fell onto her knees and cried. "Why?"

"I think we should give her some time" her grandmother commented. "Losing Joseph and going through what we all did was enough. Losing a friend on top of that is even harder." She herded her daughter inside and left Lizzie and Mark outside.

Mark made a movement to follow, but stopped himself. "You know, Lizzie, I may not be as strong a trainer as Michael is, but I promise that I can help you become a better Pokémon Trainer. It will take some time, but I think we can make you enough of a trainer so that when we're both ready, we can go out there and find Michael. Hopefully, by that point, we can all reunite and stick together for a long time. What do you say? Do you trust me?"

Lizzie wiped away her tears and nodded. "I guess."

Mark helped her up to her feet. "Alright. Then let's get some rest. Tomorrow, we start training. And since we both have Mew and Jirachi, we don't have to go too easy on each other!" The two walked back into the home after the others, with Lizzie finally at least consoled over the loss of a dear friend.

{}

Lizzie was reflective for a moment, recalling the memories all too well. "Mark and I trained for two years and then were about to go off on our search of him when we ran into Julia and his cousins. When we found out who she was, I kinda lashed out at her for hurting Michael and Mark refused to help her find him either. But apparently, it didn't matter since she found Michael first in Orre and we all sort of banded together to go and take out Giselle in Arcana." She looked to her Grandmother. "But I didn't love Michael. Or Mark, for that matter. I mean, I did, but I wasn't in love with them! Right?"

"Who can say exactly how you felt, my dear" her Grandmother asked rhetorically. "I can say I genuinely never saw someone get that upset over a friend abruptly departing like he did."

"I have considered the possibility of love" her brother stiffly commented. "Sister, do you think it's possible that though we may not love people like the couples in movies do, that we still have a strong love for all of the people?"

Lizzie cocked her head in confusion. "Come again?"

Her brother pushed his glasses upright on the bridge of his nose. "I believe that you and I are perfectly capable of being as you call it, 'in love'. But because we're not wired the same way your friends might be, we instead choose to disperse this feeling not to just one person, but to an assortment of others. Ergo, your feelings for Mark and Michael are similar in strength but not substance to the feelings this Michael has to this Julia."

"I believe your brother hit the matter on the head" her mother giggled. "Well said, Kyle."

"Thank you, mother."

"Lizzie" her grandmother spoke gently, "just because the way you feel towards your friends is different from the way they feel about a significant other, that doesn't mean it's not as strong."

Lizzie sighed. "Sometimes, it feels like it's weaker. I thought that by returning to Arcana to help out would spark the good old days when it was the five of us patrolling Arcana. But with Chris gone, Cameron being shaken by what happened on Mirage Island, and both Mark and Michael being busy with Greta and Julia, I feel like I'm falling behind the rest of them. Maybe I should just come home."

"The bonds you share with those two cannot be weakened or strained by other relationships" her grandmother explained. "A husband has duties to his wife in the same way a trainer has duties to their Pokémon. Just because things aren't the same as they were between you, that does not mean they have forgotten you. Those two are still your dearest friends in the world and nothing will change that."

"Besides" her mother added, "I've always felt that you were more of an outgoing and more complete person when you were in Arcana."

"What do you mean?" she asked her mother.

"Darling, I will always welcome you back to Hoenn. We all will, even to the end of our days. But that doesn't mean that your time working with Michael to better Arcana was just time to hone your skills as a trainer or to help your friend. You welcomed both Christopher and Cameron into your heart. You have become such an open and friendly person to so many. You became a hero to so many people. You helped mentor that young Champion and helped Michael and Julia get together. Arcana was the home your heart chose, though your mind always longs for the times we shared here at home."

Lizzie was contemplative for a moment before asking the last question she had. "Mom? Grandma? Kyle? What do you think the future holds for me? Should I stay here or come home to you all?"

"I thought you had mentioned you wouldn't be coming home until you got Jirachi back?" her brother asked.

"Returning without him would not be good for our family's legacy" her mother teased.

"The future will come when it does" her grandmother replied wisely. "For now, Hoenn is safe. Your friends need you and so too does Jirachi. You cannot abandon your friends when they need help. That's not the Lizzie I raised."

Lizzie smiled. "Thank you. All of you. I needed this." She then blew them all kisses before ending the conversation and logging off the computer.

{}

Utilizing all of her power to concentrate her energies into suppressing the mental prowess of The Grand Master, Courtney sat in a silent and meditative position while her smitten minion Caleb continued to work on the computer, checking if the components of the helm they were inventing were all in full operation. This could be the most game-changing thing for her since she had first discovered the power of the Singularity. If she could somehow acquire even a fraction of the Master's power without needing to have his mind linked to hers, she could both do his bidding and fulfill her own purposes once more. She would not need to hope that the genocidal Pokémon she served under would keep his word and spare the other half of her heart. She could have everything her heart has ever desired: a complete soul and all the power in the cosmos at her fingertips. Not even the spell of attraction that Julia Pines had on Michael would be enough to keep her from claiming him as her own.

"How will you know that he is not within your mind?" Caleb asked nervously.

"I will know once I do not feel his own emotions" she explained, tapping her fingers on her slender thighs. "Right now, he feels a combination of frustration and ambition. He longs for the power to give Professor Wong what she needs to complete his plans. He also desires results from my research on the Arcane Prophecies."

"You did achieve what he asked of you?"

"Of course I did" she snapped. "I'm no idiot, Caleb. Failing The Grand Master will result in a fate worse than death."

"What could be worse than death?"

"You'd be surprised to know just what The Master is capable of" she cautioned. "You're better off sticking outside of his radar as you have. Not doing enough to earn praise, but just enough to avoid suspicions." She once more tried to concentrate hard on the only thing that was keeping her tethered to her dreams of accessing lives beyond this one.

Michael. He was the key to everything. Her past, her present and especially her future. She had already deduced that the forces of their enemies would no doubt thrust her poor Michael into the role of King of Arcana one way or another. It had been foretold since his birth twenty eight years ago. But if she could somehow alter fate before it came to pass, she would not only earn the admiration of The Grand Master, but she'd finally pry Michael from the wicked grasp of the arrogant peasant turned noble Julia Pines. For her Michael's sake, and a bit of her own sadistic mind, she would make Julia live long enough to see her husband abandon her and her children perhaps join them, driving the arrogant woman into madness.

There was just one caveat. Michael had believed the truths she spoke to him in their last encounter were nothing more than falsehoods. That their fates had not been intertwined over the generations. That Sora and Celina's love for one another had never been a thing and was nothing but a figment of her imagination. All that mattered to him was his precious Julia. Her failure to convince him before would only make the case for seducing him back into her fold all the more difficult. And the plans they would have for the rest of his family wouldn't necessarily endear him to their cause. But if she was freed from The Master's influence and was able to snare Michael in a trap, he would willingly surrender himself to her. He had to.

But what bait could she use? The Champion had proven to be useless as bait and had put her in this state of bad faith to begin with. And getting to either Julia or his children would be impossible without The Grand Master's consent. Whatever lure she would need had to be something that would not only unsettle him, but also make him seek her out as he had when she was in league with Elezar and his Syndicate.

Why can't I kill two Pidoves with one stone? She grinned a truly wicked smile. "Yes. That'll be perfect."

"What will?" Caleb asked.

"Keep with your tinkering" she ordered. "Let me figure this out on my own." She rose from the chair she was seated in and took a look back at the helm her lovestruck minion was working on. "Once you're finished, let me know. I have a report to make to The Grand Master."

"You mean-"

"Why delay him what he desires?" she shrugged. "If he wants the Prophecies, he'll get them. And I'll be one step closer to his inner circle and even closer to raking my enemies across the coals." Courtney collected the research she had gathered on the Arcane Prophecies and kept a wry smirk on her face. She placed her Team Magma helm back atop her head and slithered out of her makeshift lab, prepared to take one step further to achieving her destiny.

{}

Once word had spread that Addison and Ryan were together in a room and talking for the first time since well before the war, Kingston Castle became a ghost town. Everyone who could go out did or chose to keep to themselves inside their own chambers. The couple had the dining hall all to themselves and were sharing a dinner and a date in what had to have been months. Both had taken a moment to dress up for the occasion, with Ryan wearing a sharp looking blazer and khaki shorts, while Addison wore a short skirt and white blouse. And anyone who had seen the two prior to them meeting would realize how excited they were for the night to come. Hopefully, the heart and soul of Arcana would finally be mended.

But the date was far from a romantic and pleasant one. Sure, romantic music was playing on a Poké Gear and both were speaking and talking about things beyond their relationship as normal couples should. But the mood was tense and the feeling in the room was a combination of existential dread and worry that no matter how much they wanted things to go back to the way they had been, it just was not meant to be. Once Addison had finished regaling Ryan in a story about her Aunt and Mother's exploits at the Tavern they had gone to the evening prior, the two simply ate their meals and sat in silence. Occasionally, one would look to the other as if about to say something, but neither had the courage to speak.

Ryan in particular was utterly horrified of saying the wrong thing. He did his best to avoid mentioning what had happened between him and Holly at the wedding, as well as to avoid bringing any attention to either what happened on the rooftop of the Grand Titanio Hotel or on Mirage Island. For him, if the last six or seven months could be completely negated, he would love for it to come. But he feared losing Addison more than he did her blowing up on him, so he kept his mouth shut on the matter.

Addison, conversely, was trying to make it seem as if their tense situation had nothing to do with her displeasure with Ryan's choice of date to Jon and Annie's wedding or what had unfolded on Mirage Island. She too, shared a fear of losing Ryan, though if she was afraid it was from a romantic sense strictly and not also what had been happening to him since returning from the Island, she was unsure. They both wanted things to go back to the way they had been, but both were afraid of what would come to pass if they failed to get back to those times.

"Out of curiosity" Addison chided, "what did you speak to Countess Rosemary about?"

Ryan sighed. "It was about what I've been going through and a bit about what she said during the hearing. A lot of it was putting me on edge. But she promised me that nothing is exactly set in stone. So long as I keep my faith in myself and the people around me, the dark fears I have about the future and what is to come should fade into the back of my head." He tried to bring some levity into the situation. "What did you and your Mom talk about?"

"My Mom did most of the talking" Addison recalled, rolling her eyes at the idea of tethering her fate to the prophetess. "It soothes her to hear what the Countess has to say. But I don't think it's helping. Whatever Michael did to convince her to come back from Alchemiburg worked more than whatever she's telling her."

"I can see why people would want to know what she can say" he suggested. "I mean, a lot of people are still missing loved ones on Mirage Island, us included."

Addison bit her lip and took a drink from her Soda Pop before continuing. "Did...did Holly mention Jeremy last night?"

"She did. She still misses him. I don't blame her. I'd go ballistic if anything happened to-" He cut himself short and quickly went to taking a bite out of his steak.

"I guess the two of us came up in conversation quite a bit" she thought aloud, herself taking a bite out of her salad.

"Oh yeah" he assured her. "We would have much rather been there with you and Jeremy than with each other. But, since we couldn't be there with you guys, we went to support one another."

The two again slipped into silence as they cleared their dinner plates and the music began to change into another more jazzy tune. Both wanted to speak their minds, but were afraid of the consequences of doing so. Addison used her napkin to clear some dressing off of her lower lip and rose from the chair. "I-I have to take Zero for a walk. If you want to come with-"

"Addy!" Ryan called, with such force that she jumped. Realizing he had startled her, he coughed nervously and tugged at the collar of his shirt. "I-uh-I'm sorry about that. But-I just want to say..." Ryan found himself with nothing to say. An empty and vacuous thought which symbolized all that he had feared coming true. He squeezed his eyes shut and lowered himself into what was normally his cousin's chair. "I'm sorry."

Addison cocked her head. "For what?" She waited for an answer. When he didn't give one, she giggled. "If this is about startling me..."

Unable to bear it anymore, Ryan finally broke down. "I'm sorry for everything!"

Addison walked over to his side and sat beside him in what was usually Julia's chair. "Ryan..."

"I'm sorry for everything I've ever done. For letting our relationship slide back down to this, for what happened between me and Avery, for ever letting anything come between us." He pounded at the table in frustration, causing the Rockruff sleeping in the corner of the room to jump up and bark in fright. "But you were right, Addy. I didn't want to admit it, but you were right. It's never gonna be the same after Mirage Island. After all of this."

She shook her head. "No, it's not. But maybe change is important. If things were always the same, how could we ever improve who we were as people?"

"No matter what I do or what I try" he said, feeling himself growing colder with every word he spoke, "I feel like I'm failing. Like...like I'm losing you." He put his head in his hands. "And the more I fear this, the more those old feelings start to kick in."

"Old feelings?"

"Remember from when we were on the Chairlift heading to Billy's Gym?" He took his napkin up to try and wipe some of his tears aside. "About not wanting to be left behind by you and Matt?"

"And what did I tell you that day?" she asked back. "That you were the one I wanted to be with, not him."

"How can I tell that? How can I know anything when my head and my heart haven't been in sync in months? Nothing that I do fixes what's wrong with me. Not Michael, not Holly, not even getting my mother back has made a difference. And with Matthew back in the fold, I feel like I'm just fated to slide away into nothingness." He finally brought his head up to address her. "Addison. As much as it pains me to admit it, I can accept if you want to let things end. I don't want to hold you back anymore than I already have."

She grunted. "Oh shut up and let me wipe those tears away." She took the napkin and gently batted at his cheeks. "And would you stop with this crap already? You haven't lost me and you aren't going to lose me." She sighed. "Because you and I are in the same boat, Ry. Just because I haven't said it yet, doesn't mean that I'm not feeling the same way as you. I'm just as scared of things ending as you are. You think it's easy knowing how much Holly and all those other girls care about you? Or how Avery spoke about you like she saw you like a god?" She took the now damp napkin and wiped away a tear of her own. "Do you think I don't have the same doubts that I may not be good enough for you?"

"Of course you are" Ryan exclaimed, using his arm to wipe another one aside. "It's me who's not good enough for you. After what I've done, you deserve better than someone like me."

"Maybe we should stop thinking of what would happen from an outsider's perspective and more from what exactly we feel about each other?" she offered, once more dabbing the napkin on his cheek. She lowered her head. "Ry, when my mother up and abandoned the castle, me not having you made me feel more alone than I've ever felt. You were all I had left in this world and I was keeping you at a distance despite what we promised each other. I started to rely more and more on Galatea for companionship and it nearly caused my brain to melt. It broke my heart that I couldn't be there when you needed me. I thought that if we kept our focus on other things, we'd be better at helping defeat Claude. It's clear that was a mistake."

"Addy, I genuinely don't know what I would do if I lost you."

"And I you. So, maybe instead of worrying that it might come to pass, we should be focusing on what's in front of us." She took a deep breath. "When we were on our way to the Cauldro City Faire, do you remember the night after you beat Billy? Do you remember the promise you made to me?"

Ryan nodded in an attempt to contain more of his sorrow. "Just know that if you're ever in any danger, even when the darkness comes in and creeps up on you, come hell or high water, I will fight to keep you safe." He clenched his fist. "I hope I've done that."

She laughed. "Of course you have. I would still be a slave of the Syndicate if you didn't keep that promise." Seeing the severe lack of confidence in him, she opened up his balled hand and took it in her own. "You have kept up your promise to me. You plunged yourself in to save me. Let me make a promise to you, now." She closed her eyes to draw in some kind of confidence before she continued. "Ryan, I know things haven't been the brightest for us. That we feel like, no matter what we do, things are just going to keep getting darker and darker until we can't see anymore. But I swear to you, if you ever feel like you're falling into some hopeless abyss, I swear to you that I will fight with all of my strength and go into the deepest and most cavernous darkness there is for you and make it bright." She squeezed her eyes shut. "I know you didn't want to admit it yet when you made your promise, but I make mine because I love you. I don't care what has come between us or what may still. I know without a shadow of a doubt that you are to me what my Dad is to my Mom or what Michael is to Julia. I cannot imagine or even begin to contemplate a world where you're not by my side another moment." She pulled Ryan off from his chair and flung her arms around him. "That is my vow to you. I will never let you go."

Ryan exhaled and did the same as she did. The young couple clung to the other, until both realized what song was beginning. The very same song they had danced to in Addison's Couples Contest in Cauldro City, the only contest Addison had taken part in where she had swept all of the judge's scores away from Piper. The two eyed one another and beamed.

"What's one more dance?" Addison giggled.

"I think I could go for one more dance this week" he laughed.

Ryan and Addison collected Zero and Ryan's Poké Gear before walking out onto the veranda. He put down the music device after making it blast the song and quickly taking Addison's hand and pulling her into their dance. Though Ryan was expecting Addison to want to check on her choreography for any upcoming contests, she seemed content to simply move from one foot to the other as if they were just dancing in the ballroom of Kingston Castle. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chin. Ryan did the same and finally let out a bright smile on his face, his sorrows melting away.

"Addy?"

"Ryan?"

"I am yours" he pledged. "Never forget that."

Addison nodded. "I won't. I am yours and you are mine."

The two continued to slowly dance along to the song. Ryan and Addison embraced one another. Ryan blinked for a moment when he noticed Deidre watching the two young ones dancing from inside the dining room. She had a warm and approving smile on her face and nodded to him, before disappearing back into the castle. Ryan picked Addison's head up and the two shared their first genuine kiss since getting Avery's letter of warning months earlier. Finally, the two were together and nothing would dare change that.