As Alex opens the door to our room, I place the hand not holding my upset Kirlia, Angel, on his shoulder. "God forbid I ever have to travel without you, Alex. Thank you so much for the help."
Alex gives me a warm smile as he stands back to let me in. "It looked like you could use a hand. PR never works as well in a public area, and to be honest it only delayed her reaction. No offense, Angel. Two couches, sweet. Take the far one, I'll get the one closer to the door."
The room had one bed, one large couch on the far wall and one smaller couch on the opposite by the door. It was fairly dark, but as it was late and Angel was distressed, I figured it would help. I crossed the room to the far wall and dropped my bag at the foot of the wide couch. I heard the door lock and looked at Alex, confused. "If I read that situation right, those trainers will do just about anything to get Angel. The bolt will prevent them from getting in."
I nodded, then brought out the weighted blanket I keep on hand for Angel. I sat down on the couch and brought Angel onto my lap, placing her head against my heart. I cover her with the weighted blanket and the contact and steady beat of my heart immediately start to work their magic. Her fear slowly drains away, replaced with an intense, drained feeling. She snores softly soon after. I lay like that, with her in my arms, mulling over the day. So much happened in the four-ish hours we traveled. Angel has a fear of crowds, an extreme fear, for good reason. I need to come up with a way to keep her calm in a crowded area… Perhaps the backpack could provide a place for her to travel in… I could line it with the blanket and she can zip herself in when she's nervous. Ill ask her tomorrow…
I get up slowly, not waking Angel, and set her on the couch, still covered by her blanket. Turning around, I find Alex putting Nicky down as well, who's out cold.
"Go ahead and use the facilities first, Alex. I need to relax a bit more first. The bed is yours by the way, I can fit on this couch easily, and Angel will probably be a bit distressed in the morning anyway. I'll need to confront that." I tell him in quiet tones. Alex nods, grabs a spare change of clothes, and heads into the bathroom.
He pauses in the doorway, and says quietly, "On the off chance Nicky wakes, tell him where I am please." I nod and he looks slightly relieved before he enters the rest of the way and closes the door behind him. I take off my shoes, shirt, and pants, and put on some long shorts. Ever since Angel started laying with me each night before bed for PR, we find that a shirt is agitating to her, but the shorts prevent things from getting weird.
I lift her up slowly, trying not to wake her. As I'm laying back down, though, she awakes. I feel her momentary panic before she remembers where we are. "Sorry for waking you," I whisper, rubbing her forehead. "Go back to sleep, Angel. I was only moving you so you could get some PR while you sleep. I know that it helps with nightmares."
This being entirely true, the few times we stayed overnight anywhere besides home, her nightmares kept her up very nearly all night, and I would purposefully stay at the hotel so she would feel safe. She doesn't respond, rather just lays back down and listens to my heartbeat. I allow our mental bond to flow, exchanging her fear, worry and tiredness with my calm, safe and secure feelings. Soon her thoughts taper off and flow into dreams. After Alex returns from the restroom, I allow myself to follow her example.
I wake up to sunlight streaming through the small window into the room. My hands search for the Kirlia that was sleeping with me but instead find empty covers. I sit bolt upright and see no one else in the room. There is, however, a note on the door.
Dear Terry, Angel, Nicky, and I have gone down for breakfast. Angel is doing OK, I have Nicky playing with her. I expect people to give stares, so I will be having Nurse Joy set up a small security for us while we are here. We will see you in the lobby. -Alex
With each word, I relax a bit more. I recognize Alex's handwriting so I know it's him. I take a moment to compose myself, then reach out with my mind to sense Angel. She senses me and connects, sounding refreshed. "Hi, Terry! Did you sleep well? I did, the PR helped a lot."
I smile warmly to myself before replying. "I slept great, thanks. I'm glad you did as well. Tell Alex that I'll be down in a moment… And I know you want to come up and see me, you can't hide it… Stay there, I think it would be much safer for you to stay with Alex until I get there," I finish. Her emotions recoil for a split second before she agrees, but it's enough to tell me that she doesn't like that decision. I make a mental note to ask her about it later.
I get dressed and head down, pausing in the hallway exit while I search for my friends. I spot them on the couch we were at before, and make my way to them. As I approach, one of the nearby assistants puts a hand on my shoulder. I look at him, and he holds my stare. Then Angel jumps onto the couch arm next to him and then into my arms. He looks confused for a split second and then backs off, his face red with embarrassment. I chuckle and pat his arm, letting him know it wasn't a problem. I adjust my hold on Angel slightly so she is sitting on my arm, and head to the couch. Alex nods in greeting as I sit down, his mouth full of ham sandwich. Nicky does the same. I laugh, then set Angel on my lap and grab one of them from the platter on our table.
"Have you eaten yet, Angel?" I ask. A stupid question, she almost always waits for me, but I ask out of respect nonetheless.
She shakes her head. "No, I haven't." Her stomach backs her up to make sure she was heard. We laugh, and I get her a sandwich to nibble on as well. While we are eating, I scan the room with my eyes. I saw several people staring at Angel, but as I caught their eyes they looked down. all except for one person. He was big, with arms like bazookas, a leather jacket with the sleeves ripped off. We finished our food and started to get ready to leave. Alex signaled that he was ready, so I thanked the assistants that watched over us and was halfway to the door before I felt an arm on my shoulder.
"Hand over your Kirlia." A voice says, sounding rough and full of menace. I didn't move, but I could hear the whole center quiet down.
I quickly came up with a plan.Nicky, tell Alex to keep walking and have him get ready to catch Angel when she teleports to you. My number one goal is her safety. I direct the thought towards the other Kirlia, and in the corner of my eye I see Nicky and Alex walking out the door. I tighten my grip on Angel slightly and turn around.
Like I thought, the biker guy was the one who stopped me, and he had his hand stretched out to take Angel. I backed up half a step, speaking. "I thought I warned all of you yesterday to back off. She may be rare, but she is not an object to be owned. Angel is a pokemon, a partner, an equal, and my bonded, trusted friend!" I raised my voice, by the time I finished talking I was shouting.
I saw the biker pull back his fist for a punch. "ANGEL, TELEPORT!" I scream. She disappeared in a flash of light as I dipped to the left. He threw another wild punch, but I used my forearm to knock it away and then put everything I had into an uppercut. My fist smashed into his chin and the man was lifted over a foot into the air before he fell back, out cold, onto the floor. I looked at him in rage before casting an angry look at the rest of the center, all of whom had backed up in fear.
"Anyone else? Why you would think I would go around with the only known shiny Kirlia in existence without knowing how to defend myself, I have no idea! Now I'm going to walk out the door, and if anyone follows me you will end up a hell of alot worse then him!" I yell, pointing at the biker.
Nurse Joy walks up to me, and I have half a mind to defend myself from her, too. Before I can act, she speaks up. "This biker will be going to jail for attempted kidnapping of this boys Kirlia. Judging by how fast he dealt with that man, you all should consider the consequences of trying anything." She looks at me with a reassuring glance. "I'll let the other pokemon centers know of your travels, so they can set up security for you. What is your name?"
"Terry Collins" I reply angrily, adrenaline still coursing through me. Nurse Joy walks back to her desk, but pauses slightly when I send her a mental thanks. Breathing deeply, I turn on heel and walk out the door, catching it before it can screech at me again. Alex is sitting under a nearby tree, Nicky playing in the grass next to him, but with Angel in his arms, quivering. God dammit, that was stupid. I let my anger control me, and through our bond I scared the shit out of her.
I pause just outside the doors and check my anger. I move over and sit next to Alex, who speaks. "Next time, close your connection first. I know you needed to take care of that the way you did, but she can't even speak with me, she's so terrified. Look at me." I look over. Hes got a stern but understanding expression. "Take her, you two need to walk a bit. We can head to route 2, it will be much less crowded. You can talk to her there, when the pair of you have calmed down a bit." Being very gentle, he lifts Angel and sets her in my lap, then gets up and starts heading to the Route 2 entrance. He may be only 10, but he's smart and really mature. I need to remember that. I get up, shifting Angel slightly, and head after Alex.
As I follow my friend, I meter the connection between my partner and I. Positive thoughts pass between us, and Angel, although she knows I'm not telling her everything, calms down as we enter the exit patrol area for route 2. When I enter, it's empty, as Alex has already gone through. I set Angel down on the help desk. We stare at each other, her sunset orange eyes and horns clashing beautifully with her light blue hair. I sigh.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. My priority was to keep you safe, but all I did was mentally scar you. Please, although I don't deserve it, please forgive me." I say softly. She doesn't respond for a moment, then walks toward me from the counter. Without a word, she hugs my chest, and I return her embrace.
"Some things have to be done," She responds. "I should know. You were only trying to protect me, and I could have shut you out so I wouldn't have been scared. But I didn't… You ask for forgiveness. I forgive you, and I ask you to forgive me for being scared when I could have handled it better…"
"I forgive you. Look at me, Angel." She looks up at me with her sunset eyes, wary but determined.
I continue, sounding confident. "I give you my word that I am making your mental, physical, and emotional safety my top priority. You were born looking different, which isn't a bad thing. But people that know how rare you are will do anything they can to get their hands on you. From now on, I want you to go nowhere without me or Alex with you. Also, you and I are going to start your power training ASAP. We are going to train on route 2 until we can defeat all the trainers here without breaking a sweat. How's that sound?" I finish, sounding more determined with every word.
Joy and and excitement flow out of her like a dam broken open. We walk out of the patrol area to find Alex and Nicky training as well. I nod to Alex and send a huge mental thanks to him. He smiles and nods. "All right Angel, let's do some training!" I shout.
(Author's Note: Chapter III has been rewritten to fix a grammar issue with multiple speakers in one paragraph, as well as an issue with POV. If you see anything, let me know! Thanks, and Happy Reading! -Orthros)
