A frosty February melted into a wet, mild March, and Jasper found himself staring out of the living room window at the grey sky shot through with patches of pearly blue. It had seemed like forever since he had been able to play in the garden, and he suddenly found that the story book in his lap no longer held any excitement for him.

"Ma?" he asked.

"Mm?" Rose replied from next to him on the sofa. She was staring at the recipe for cottage pie, trying in vain to figure out exactly how you were supposed to spread the mashed potato evenly over a whole dish of meat and vegetables.

"Can I go outside?" Jasper asked with a hopeful smile.

Rose glanced out of the window, where every now and again the odd rain drop struck the pane of glass.

"Course you can," she said, laughing at the way his little face lit up, "just make sure you pop your wellies on!"

But Jasper was already out of earshot. Rose smiled to herself over Jasper's childish eagerness. Recently, she found herself reluctant to deny him things that made his eyes sparkle in such a way – especially as getting a little wet wasn't going to cause him any lasting harm. It was a relief, she admitted to herself, that Jasper had been acting happier these last couple of months, for, only once his little face had stopped looking so white and pinched, and his large brown eyes had regained their sparkle, had she realised just how…drawn and anxious he had been. Granted, Jasper now slept in their bed every night, refusing to sleep alone in his own (something that Morty was wont to mutter sullenly under his breath about every couple of weeks), but he was definitely happier. Rose knew Jasper was bound settle down again, and the phase of sharing their bed would pass; there was no need to rush him into sleeping alone, for it was only likely to make the child more anxious to do so. Rose giggled to herself as she pictured Morty's mutinous face every time he came to bed and saw the small golden head sleeping soundly upon both of their pillows. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes at both her husband and her son, Rose turned reluctantly back to the cookbook. She hated Monday evenings; Morty stayed late at the Gym, which meant it was her turn to cook, and cooking she did not enjoy.

-o-

Jasper wrenched the back door open and ran blissfully out onto the muddy, squelchy grass. The mud encompassed his little shoes almost as far up as his ankles – but he didn't notice: Raichu was also in the garden, and boy and Pokémon stood rooted to the spot as the black eyes met the brown, neither having expected to see the other.

Jasper felt the blood rise up to his face as he blushed; he felt very nervous all of a sudden and was unsure as to why. But when he saw the way Raichu was regarding him, with fear and mistrust in his round, black eyes, Jasper remembered.

"H-hello Raichu," he managed to stammer. He would have taken a step closer to the Pokémon as a friendly gesture, but his little legs seemed to have seized up.

A few metres away, Raichu exhaled slowly, and felt his muscles relax slightly. Jasper's voice was normal, and his brown eyes looked bright, if a little cautious. He was the nice Jasper, the good Jasper. In fact, Raichu thought to himself, it had been a couple of months since he had sensed anything 'off' in the child. His hopes rising, Raichu took a step closer to Jasper, and gave a small smile.

"Rai Rai?"

Jasper's eyes widened considerably, and he too gave an involuntary smile.

"You want to play with me?"

Raichu nodded, his heart swelling at the visible happiness on the child's face. However, Raichu did not want this playtime to turn sour, as so many others had in the past few months.

"Raichu," he replied, with a slight warning in his tone.

"Hurt you?" Jasper replied, bewildered, "why would I hurt you?"

Raichu narrowed his eyes, and scrutinised the boy's face, but he could find no trace of deceit.

"Rai Raichu!" he said earnestly, watching Jasper warily.

"I didn't!" the child cried, "I've never hurt you! Last time we played together you hurt me!"

Jasper could feel his lower lip beginning to tremble in hurt and indignation.

"Chu," Raichu contradicted stubbornly, still watching the child for any strange signs. And then it happened. The bright brown eyes seem to drain of light, and Jasper's face contorted. He took a step towards Raichu, his hand raised as though to strike.

"Rai Rai!" Raichu exclaimed leaping backwards, attempting to shield his face whilst swinging his tail away from the child's grasp: he did not want to shock Jasper again, and so he poised himself for flight rather than fight, as would be his natural instinct.

Jasper blinked, and stared down at his hand, which was outstretched in front of him. He seemed to be lunging towards the electric Pokémon, his centre of gravity having shifted from having his feet parallel, to having one foot decidedly in front of the other; and his whole arm seemed to be tingling…burning almost. How had it happened? He had made no move, as far as he was aware, towards Raichu…

"Raichu Rai," the Pokémon whispered sadly, relaxing slightly now he was sure Jasper was no longer about to strike.

Jasper continued to stare at his hand, his brown eyes narrowing as he strained himself to think. And the more he thought, the more he…remembered? Raichu had made him angry, he had implied that Jasper had been lying, saying that Jasper had hurt him, Raichu, the last time they played…but he hadn't…had he?

Feeling very confused, and a little bit funny in his tummy, Jasper sat on his bottom on the muddy floor, taking no notice of the wet mud soaking through his shorts. He was still staring at his own small hand, and the more he stared, the more he felt. The tingling burn that he was aware of had started to recede from his fingertips and was making its way slowly up his arm. Its potency was fading, Jasper realised. But somehow, he was now aware that when he touched someone with his burning hand, he would be able to make them burn too…he could hurt them, although it didn't hurt him…

"Raichu," Jasper began, his brown eyes wide as he realised what he must have done, "Raichu…I-I didn't mean to hurt you last time I…I don't even remember –" he stopped speaking abruptly, his eyebrows almost meeting across his nose with the severity of his frown.

As the tingling burn continued to fade from Jasper's hand and arm, Raichu himself became aware that the creeping, smothering sensation that he felt in the air when 'good Jasper' became 'bad Jasper' was lessening. Raichu had always assumed that the feeling was his own; a fearful reaction to the change in the child - but it was not. Although it did affect the way that Raichu felt, this creeping something was not just an emotion, but rather, something that was tangibly present. Raichu could not understand it, and could not have put it into words had he tried. But this thing, this thing that was made of darkness, and that only made itself known when Jasper was near, was no more a part of the golden haired child than it was Raichu.

-o-

Morty unlocked the front door and grumpily shook the raindrops from his dark blond hair. He was trying not to dwell on the fact that, after nine years as a Gym Leader, he was starting to feel somewhat disenchanted by the role…*

Kicking off his boots, he made his way through to the open-plan kitchen-living area, where he could see Rose gazing out of the kitchen window. The fact that she was standing in semi-darkness, and that there was no smell of cooking in the air, made Morty deduce that his wife had not made dinner. He wasn't sure whether to be amused or irritated, for he really was very hungry.

She heard him approach, and beckoned him silently towards her, her cat-shaped brown eyes alight with excitement. Morty rolled his own eyes, but couldn't help smiling as he moved towards her to see out of the kitchen window. What he saw made his mouth fall open: Raichu and Jasper were playing together, and both looked very happy indeed, despite the rain that was now pouring heavily down upon them.

"Didn't I tell you they'd settle down?" Morty grinned as he pulled Rose towards him.

She wrinkled her nose before she pecked him on the lips.

"I suppose you did," she conceded, "and you know how I hate it when you're right," she teased, her eyes dancing.

Morty gave a soft laugh as he held her tighter against his chest, but his stomach growled earnestly, and he found that he could not ignore it.

"Do you fancy a take-away?" he smiled into her hair.

Rose pulled back from his chest in alarm, her eyes wide and her hand flying upwards to cover her mouth. She had completely forgotten about cooking, what with her excitement over Jasper and Raichu's rekindled friendship.

"Don't worry," Morty winked, his turn to tease, "I can see you tried really hard," he gestured towards the packet of frozen mincemeat and the unchopped vegetables that lay on the chopping board.

"Oh shut up," Rose snapped, trying and failing to hide her guilty smile as she slapped him on the arm.

-o-

The weather became significantly drier as April rolled around, the spring breezes blowing away the last of the winter rains. The bird Pokémon sang happily from the cherry tree in Morty and Rose's back garden, and Jasper was still his happy, open little self. Quite a large portion of this happiness was due to the fact that he and Raichu were once again 'as thick as thieves', as Isadora would say. Nevertheless, despite Jasper and Raichu having regained their friendship, it had taken a definite turn. Yes, they still played together¸ but Raichu, and now Jasper too, was aware of just how quickly things could change. On the one hand, Jasper had left behind his anxiety of the winter months, no longer afraid of being 'watched' in the night. This was largely due to the fact that every night he could be found sleeping between his parents, secure in their presence and their warmth. On the other hand, he was still wont to experience the strange sensation in his stomach – usually when he was feeling angry or frustrated – that was accompanied by the flash of fire that moved rapidly from his shoulder down to the very tips of his fingers.

Raichu had come to the conclusion that this was in no way Jasper's fault; Jasper was a good child, and Raichu did not wish to see him suffering. So the electric Pokémon had devised a plan. Raichu remembered being a Pichu, before he had left Chicory Forest to travel with Rose, and he remembered how difficult he had found it to control his electric powers. In fact, before he had been trained by Rose, he had hardly had any control over them whatsoever.

Jasper, Raichu had therefore deduced, only needed similar training himself to enable him to stop accidently hurting Raichu when they played together. Jasper did not want to hurt anyone - that much was clear from the way his large brown eyes would fill with tears every time he caused Raichu to cry out in pain. But he was improving. It had taken a long time, almost a month, for Jasper to recognise when the burning power he possessed was going to arise; it only seemed to come forth when he was angry. But, he could not learn to control it until he learnt to recognise exactly when it was going to occur.

The bright, breezy, Saturday morning in April was just another of Jasper's 'training sessions'. Morty and Rose were painting the kitchen, keeping half an eye on the child and the Pokémon in the garden. Raichu, although Jasper didn't realise it, had learnt ways to deliberately anger the child whilst they played together. Jasper was too good-natured to become naturally angry often, but Raichu knew that if Jasper was ever going to control this power, he needed to get used to the feel of it – and fast.

Jasper gave a small gasp as he once again felt the flash of fire beginning to tingle and smoulder in his shoulder joint. Only a split second after the arrival of the sensation, Jasper felt the fury, and all he knew was that he wished to strike the electric Pokémon in front of him, to cause Raichu as much pain as he possibly could. But now Jasper was much more aware of the burning sensation and, as Raichu had been instructing him to, he began to count, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes as he concentrated, attempting to prevent the fire flashing down his arm and manifesting itself in his fingertips. His task was to be able to hold the sensation off for ten whole seconds.

"One…two…three…" he panted, desperate to hold it back lest he hurt his friend, "four…five…six…" perspiration began to bead his forehead with the effort it was taking him to keep the fire at bay, to keep it burning only in the region between his shoulder and elbow, "seven…eight!"

Raichu leapt backwards as Jasper's small hand groped towards him. His brown eyes were cold once more, having finally lost his battle against the sensation, which surged inevitably down to his fingers. But every day the child was growing stronger, and he was able to keep the power at bay for longer. Jasper also seemed to come back to himself more readily now that he was aware of his power; it seemed like almost no effort for him to slip back into being 'good Jasper'.

"Raichu! Chu!"

"You really think so?" Jasper panted, wiping his sweaty, dark blond hair from his eyes, "you really think one day I'll be able to hold it back forever?"

"Rai," the Pokémon confirmed with a smile and a nod.

-o-

Jasper's latest effort had exhausted him, and Raichu too. They had only been outside for a mere half hour when they slumped into the kitchen, yawning and hungry.

Raichu had a bowlful of his own food in the kitchen, so he began to tuck into it happily.

"Ma? Can I have something to eat?"

Rose checked her watch.

"It's not long until lunch, Jas," she said, "can you wait? Daddy's just popped out to buy some bread, and as soon as he's back we can eat – okay?" she smiled.

"Okay," the child returned, "please may I have my new book to read? I can't reach it."

"All right," his mother winked, "I'll get it, but mind you don't touch any of the paint all right? It's still wet!"

She left the kitchen to fetch Jasper's new book, which was on the higher shelf in the living room.

As soon as she was out of sight, Jasper automatically placed his small hand on the freshly painted kitchen wall, leaving a textured handprint. Brown eyes wide with interest, he dragged his hand upwards, and giggled at the messy, smudgy smear. There was an ugly patch now where the wall had been a very neat, smooth sage green.

"Here you g-" Rose began to say, holding the book out to her son, before her mouth fell open in horror. Jasper, who had held out his small hand to receive the book, wondered why his mummy suddenly looked so furious.

"Jasper!" she shouted, "What on earth possessed you to do such a thing? I specifically told you not to touch the wall!"

Raichu looked around from his food bowl – he didn't think he had ever heard Rose raise her voice in such a way…not for many years anyway, and never to Jasper…

Jasper's own small mouth fell open in confusion, and his huge brown eyes grew wide and fearful. His mummy never shouted. Looking down, he spotted the green paint all over the palm of his right hand. How had it gotten there?!

"I-I didn't do it!" he stammered, realising why Rose looked so mad.

Rose seemed to swell with fury.

"Don't you dare lie to me young man," she said in an icy whisper, as she took hold of his little wrist.

Jasper found the whisper scarier than the shouting, and he couldn't prevent the tears rolling down his cheeks. He hadn't done it! But then…why was his hand green?

"Why did you do it?" Rose snapped, Jasper's tears only causing her to feel more irritated.

Still the child did not answer, but he turned towards the wall, staring at the patch that he had ruined.

"It wasn't me," he said, his lower lip trembling. It was Zyrir.

The voice in his head was his own – but he had never heard that name before; he didn't know who Zyrir was.

"I told you not to lie!"

"What's going on?" Morty asked, as he entered the kitchen with a frown. His violet eyes roved over the ruined patch of wall, over to his son's green hand, and finally to the fire that was blazing in Rose's eyes as she held fast to Jasper's wrist.

"Jasper…" Morty said sadly, "why did you do that?"

The disappointment in his father's voice was too much. Jasper burst into noisy tears. He was being told off, but he hadn't done anything. He didn't even remember touching the wall – he hadn't wanted to! His mummy and said not to and he always did as he was told…

"And why did you lie to your mummy about it?" Morty continued, crouching down next to Rose so that he could see directly into his son's eyes.

"I d-didn't d-do it!" the child continued to bawl miserably.

"Jasper," Rose said, trying hard not to lose her temper again, "there is paint all over your hand, and your handprint is on the wall – why are you lying to us? Don't you know that's a very nasty thing to do?"

Concerned though they were over this strange show of behaviour from their son, Morty and Rose had to hide their laughter as Jasper rubbed at his tears, leaving huge green smudges all over his little face.

"I d-didn't –" he began, but he stopped himself. Because why was his hand green if he didn't do it? "I didn't mean to do it," he finally mumbled.

Rose gave a sigh as she pulled the paint-covered little boy into her arms; she was wearing her painting clothes anyway.

"I can understand that it seemed like fun, Jas," she said softly, "but daddy and I spent a long time painting this morning…and I know it's only a little bit that you touched, and that it won't take long to fix, but you shouldn't deliberately ruin other people's things, especially after I asked you not to…okay?"

Jasper took in a deep breath. He didn't know what to say. He hadn't wanted to ruin his mummy and daddy's work…he gave a small, confused frown as he tried to think it all through.

"And you must never lie," Morty added, "trying to cover up your mistakes tends to get you in more trouble…just be honest with us, Jas."

The golden-haired child gazed up into his parents' faces. He loved them so much, and he never wanted to make them angry again. Giving a small sob, he launched himself forwards onto both of them, crying harder as they cuddled him against them.

Stupid Zyrir, he thought, getting me into trouble.

It took a minute for Jasper to realise what he'd thought. Who was Zyrir?

-o-

"I have absolutely no idea what to do with him," Rose said angrily as she came down the stairs, having just put Jasper to bed…their bed. A month had passed since the paint incident, but Jasper had deliberately pushed a freshly baked cherry pie off the kitchen table that evening, and had been brazen enough to lie about it again.

Morty heaved a great sigh, although he too was at a loss as to how to deal with the situation.

"I just don't understand why he lies…he's not stupid, it's obvious we know that he's lying…"

"It's such a horrible habit in a child," Rose continued, "and I really don't want to feel as though I can't trust him…but that's the second time he's done it now!"

Morty pulled her towards him on the sofa, and rested his chin thoughtfully on her dark hair.

"You're certain it wasn't an accide-?"

"I wish it was," Rose replied mutinously, "I watched the cheeky little bugger deliberately push it off the table."

Morty tried hard to stifle a laugh; it really wasn't funny, but he couldn't help it. Rose could also feel her lips twitching in spite of herself.

"It's just the lying…" Morty sighed, "I could get on board with the naughtiness…well, within reason," he grinned; he had really been looking forward to that cherry pie, "but the lying is…"

He hesitated, unable to find the right word.

"The lying is dreadful," Rose said baldly, "and it needs to stop."

"He must still be feeling very unsettled…"

"We've lived here almost a year now, Morty," Rose scoffed, "if he's not settled now, he never will be."

"Well maybe he'd feel more settled if he slept in his own bed," Morty muttered under his breath.

He looked up tentatively when Rose didn't reply, and saw that she was trying very hard not to laugh at the grumpy expression on his face.

"What?!" he exclaimed indignantly, "I never sleep! He kicks me half to death most nights!"

Rose merely raised an eyebrow now, her eyes sparkling.

Morty looked away from her, biting the insides of his cheeks to prevent his own laughter escaping.

Rose climbed onto his lap, and held his face in her hands.

"Look me in the eye," she grinned, "and tell me that's the reason you wished Jasper didn't sleep with us."

Morty's face began to tinge pink, and Rose burst out laughing, before she leant forward and kissed him.

"Maybe we could try and move him once he's asleep?" she mused, "but in the meantime…be a little spontaneous," she jokingly teased, "who needs a bedroom?"

"Who indeed?" Morty grinned, as he kissed her back with enthusiasm.

*see my other fic, We Can Make It If We Try, Chapter 'Rose vs Morty' if you're interested!