And again, the whole flashdrive ordeal… But I enjoyed rewriting it – the changes in the last chapter sure made it a lot more interesting for this one… and it's so heartwarming, perfect for Christmas time… Happy Holidays, everyone!!!

Enjoy!

Read and review,

Raven's secret-keeper

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A Work of Magic

Chapter 4: Real Relaxation at Last

Jess sighed softly as she sat on the bed, numbly gazing out the window. Pidgeotto, sitting on the windowsill, tilted his head with a soft note. Murkrow shifted uncomfortably on her shoulder, sensing her anxiety in her posture as well as her mood and expression as she tilted her head down and blinked at the Ninetails lying across her lap with his luxurious tails encircling her.

"I'm just worried," she told them. "And not just about Missie, about Mismagius, too... I hope she's not sick... and Missie's fever was just so – so high…" She swallowed and closed her eyes tightly, trying in vain to keep the tears gathering in her eyes from falling.

Ninetails blinked, then sat up and nuzzled his nose against her neck, then he licked her cheek a couple of times until she giggled and began rubbing the mane on his neck.

"Okay, okay!" she laughed, and she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his silky mane. "Don't worry," she told him softly, "I'll be fine…"

"Murkrow murkrow?" the black bird asked softly, and Jess gripped Ninetails just a bit tighter.

"I hope so," she whispered, and a shiver cascaded down her spine.

Murkrow made a soft noise in his throat, then let out a sound to get Pigeotto's attention. When he turned his way, Murkrow nodded his head towards the bathroom, and they fluttered off towards the room.

Jess was too absorbed in her worry to notice.

When the birds flew out of the bathroom carrying a towel in their beaks, Ninetails nuzzled her to awareness just before they dropped it around her shoulders.

"Thanks," she told them quietly, and she unfurled her arms from the fox's fur and drew it closer around herself.

"Murkrow murkrow," he croaked comfortingly as he lighted on her shoulder.

Pidgeotto landed next to her on the bed and leaned against her.

Jess sighed with a sad smile and turned to the black bird on her shoulder. "I know, it's just… I worry whenever I let you guys out of my sight. I mean, if there's an Umbreon loose or something and it gets to Missie – it could really hurt her!" She blinked her desperate eyes and bit her lip, all of the fearful images and emotions she had been trying to suppress flooding her mind.

"Krow, krow, murkrow!" he cawed back, reassurance unmistakable in his tone – it was as much to comfort the trainer as himself; the desperately afraid look in Jess's eyes was just so unnatural, so out of character...

"Yeah, I know… But they always say that… They can't be right all the time, can they…?"

Murkrow tilted his head and blinked, then raised his shoulders in a gesture of helpless thoughtfulness.

Jess sighed and bowed her head.

"Murkrow murkrow?" he asked softly.

The trainer shook her head. "I just don't like leaving you guys with other people… I haven't found one person except for my father who treats my team the same way… Who knows what they might do to Missie? What if they can't figure out what's wrong and they try something, and it ends up poisoning her or…!"

"Mur murkrow?"

"If they don't know what to do, they're bound to try something…"

The fox wrapped around her let out a soft note of agreement.

"Krow murkrow…?"

"Anything can happen, Murky," Jess told him, blinking desolately out the rain-covered window, trying to tell herself that "anything" included all the healing possibilities… but her other logical side prevailed, and her worry stayed as strong as ever.

Had she not been so engulfed in her own thoughts, the sudden fluttering of Pidgeotto's wings would have startled her, but the only sentiment in her gaze as she watched him settle on the top bunk to sleep was anxiety.

"Krow," the bird on her shoulder muttered softly as the soft cooing of the other's breathing filled the room.

Jess could only sigh, and she let herself flop over on the bed.

"Murkrow, mur murkrow?" he asked, hoping to lighten her mood with a bit of playful teasing.

"No," Jess replied.

He let out a soft note of defeat, then fluttered over to the windowsill and watched the rain water run down the glass.

"I should've been more careful," the trainer muttered to herself, and the bird cawed lightly and turned his head to her. "Murkrow, mur mur, murkrow…"

"Well… No, I didn't know, but…"

"Mur, mur murkrow!"

Jess lifted herself up and blinked at him. "Okay, you win…"

"Mur murkrow, murkrow?"

"Yes, I give, it's not… entirely my fault."

The bird shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

"I could've been more careful, though…"

"Mur," he replied, simply stating that it was a fair enough exchange. "Mur, murkrow murkrow, mur? "

"Yeah… Okay, sure… But that doesn't change the fact that she's still in another room with a bunch of strangers – "

"Murkrow."

"They're only trained to take care of them physically. I mean, I know that they're really caring, but sometimes there's just nothing that can ever replace actual experience… Especially with one as delicate as Misdreavus…"

"Murkrow mur…?"

"Yes, delicate's the only way I think I can… Well, she's… I don't know, I just don't think it was a good time far all this… I only found her a day ago, and Mismagius is gone, and so suddenly, too – she has to be at least a little upset… So, I guess it's more like a delicate situation… But still, I… I want to be really careful with her…"

"Murkrow murkrow," he said, voicing a random observation of her obviously straining to stay awake.

"That was both off-topic… and true."

"Murkrowmurkrow!"

"Yeah, and you weren't the one running for at least an hour in the freezing weather, you didn't fall onto your back, you aren't soaked with water so cold that it feels like you just jumped into the Arctic Ocean in the middle of January – "

"Murkrow murkrow."

The trainer sighed yet again. "Okay, yeah, I'm sorry, it's just… I'm just really worried."

"Mur," he replied softly, turning back to the window.

"I just hope everything turns out okay…" Jess said quietly.

Murkrow made a soft noise in his throat, and the room fell silent.

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"Murkrow!"

Jess gasped and bolted up at the sudden call. Somehow, between the rain still softly pattering against the glass, Pidgeotto's gentle coo-like snoring, and her own physical and mental exhaustion, she had managed to fall asleep, and his call had just pulled her back to the dawn-lit room.

"Wha -? Murky, what's…?"

He nodded his head towards the door, and Jess called, "Coming!" before stretching quickly and running to open it.

The bird fluttered over to her shoulder curiously as she glanced down to the round, pink visitor. "Chansey…? What - ?"

"Chansey, chansey!" the helper called, gesturing for Jess to follow her as she started off down the hall.

Jess and Murkrow exchanged a curious glance and headed after her.

The Chansey led them to the recovery room, and Jess gasped ecstatically and bolted in, unable to contain her relief – even though a whole new kind of nerves set in.

"How is she?" Jess asked the nurse at the other end of the room, stroking the little ghost's cheek with one infinitely gentle finger. Her heart leapt as she stirred and opened her eyes halfway.

"It's doing much better," the nurse replied, shutting a cabinet and meeting Jess at the bedside.

Misdreavus let out a soft note of recognition and relief, and Jess smiled. "Can we take her into our room now…?" she asked, managing to suppress her hesitation as she tried to find a way around the inevitable answer.

"Well, I wouldn't say she's ready to go just yet…"

"Exactly how healed is she? She's not sick anymore, right…? Just regaining her strength?" Jess began thinking back to all the times her father had brought home an injured Pokémon and they had all helped it heal…

The nurse nodded with an 'm-hm'.

"So… Is there any way she could get out now…?"

"I don't think you should –"

"Please…? I don't think it's really going to make a difference where she heals…"

"She's a lot safer here."

"Yeah, but… I've actually seen proof that Pokémon tend to heal better in more pleasant surroundings… I really think she'll feel a lot better if she's with me… Besides, it's in her eyes, she's kinda nervous right now…" She turned to the nurse as she pleaded farther. "I really, really think that she'd be a lot more comfortable if she didn't feel like she was confined to one room…"

Misdreavus let out a soft note of wonder and blinked up at her trainer. It was actually true…

The nurse looked a bit flustered – she couldn't help agreeing with some of the trainer's points… but then again… "She's still not fully healed yet…"

"It's not going to be physical stressful either; I'd probably just let her sleep in my bed, and she could rest there."

"Well, I –" The nurse sighed – it was actually pretty touching to see this trainer trying so hard. "I guess you're right…"

"So, can I take her out…? I don't plan on leaving the center any time soon, we were moving nonstop for at least an hour last night, and in that rain it was just… wow, so exhausting… And we could all use a break… So, yeah, it's not like I'm going to be leaving today… So… Please…?"

The nurse smiled. "I guess it wouldn't hurt…"

"I can take her now?"

"But be careful…"

"Trust me, I will!" Jess said as she picked Misdreavus up gently and cradled her in her arms.

The ghost made a noise of pleasure as she snuggled closer to Jess's body, and her trainer's smile widened as she realized that her flowing body felt cool and smooth, the way a ghost-creature's body should feel, and not burning with intense fever. "Feeling better, Missie?"

The ghost nodded with a sound of affirmation.

"Good."

The nurse smiled at their tender reunion, then said, "Make sure you keep your word."

"Oh, I will, trust me… And… Nurse Joy? Thanks."

"Oh, you're welcome!" she replied readily.

Jess nodded, and Murkrow pulled her bang playfully before they headed back to their room.

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Jess sighed contentedly as she let herself slip just a bit farther into the steaming water. It felt so amazingly nice to be able to relax after all that had happened the past few days… She glanced around the bathroom – Murky in the sink grooming himself, Pidgeotto watching the birds outside, and Ninetails sitting in front of the door…

"Hey Misdreavus, have you ever been in a bath before?"

The ghost hovering by the tub tilted her head and blinked.

"It'll feels great, and with your back and all, it might actually be great for your health, too… I poured some Epsom salt in here, and it's just so… Well, come on, find out for yourself!"

The ghost moved a bit closer and looked at her trainer curiously, watching her steadily.

Then she smiled mischievously and used the two front tendrils of her "hair" to splash Jess with the water.

Jess laughed and splashed her right back, and they began throwing water at each other like a pair of Seel.

Murkrow couldn't keep himself from laughing and Misdreavus dove in and hid herself below the bubbles.

Jess watched the surface with jovial caution, but she was still a bit startled when Misdreavus suddenly shot out and sent a small wave of water right at her. The trainer couldn't help laughing as she wiped the bubbles that flew up from Missie's sudden emergence from her face.

Then Jess caught a flash of white light in the corner of her eye and turned, watching the space in the middle of the bathroom.

Misdreavus, recognizing that she had stopped playing and was suddenly serious, followed her gaze. Then she squealed ecstatically.

The white iridescence had just materialized into the form of Mismagius.

Jess blinked, holding back her own ecstasy. "I don't know, Missie... What if it's just a hallucination...?"

Misdreavus either didn't hear her or didn't care. She shot right towards her friend and began zooming in wild circles around her body, squealing excitedly the whole time.

"Mismagius… Is it really you…?"

The ghost blinked away from the hyper Misdreavus and turned to Jess, then nodded with a note of reassurance. Then she joined the smaller ghost, and they were doing circles around each other until Mismagius broke the cycle and shot towards the ceiling. Misdreavus yelped playfully, and suddenly they began playing their own version of a cross between follow the leader and tag.

Jess couldn't help laughing. Then, after a few seconds of watching them play, a sudden serious thought crossed her mind: "What made you decide to come back?"

Mismagius stopped and tilted her head, blinking at the trainer as Misdreavus nipped jovially at the top of her "hat." Then she replied something with a smile, and the trainer blinked in a moment of confusion before shrugging. "So, you're saying you never left?"

The ghost shook her head, and she let out another few notes.

"It was a hallucination?"

She shook her head yet again.

Jess watched her, a bit puzzled. "You leaving was just a hallucination?"

"Magius," the ghost replied – her tone a flat negative.

"You're just messing with me now, aren't you?" the trainer asked with a smile.

The Mismagius nodded with a note of satisfaction.

"So, seriously," Jess asked as the ghosts began chasing each other once more, "why did you come back?"

Mismagius replied as she and Misdreavus flew past Murkrow so suddenly that he tried to flutter away in surprise but only managed to land on the floor in a sopping mass of feathers.

"How were you being a hypocrite…?"

Mismagius turned, smiling at Murkrow's huffy muttering as he stood up, and explained everything she could before diving into the water where he had been a moment ago, and sending a wave of water over him. She smiled in her satisfaction as Misdreavus followed, and he fell to the floor again with a sound of indignity.

Jess watched as the bird struggled to get his footing, then try to shake himself dry.

The ghosts took to the air again, and Jess blinked. "I've never heard any Pokémon talk like that… Even some people don't think like that…"

Mismagius turned and blinked at the trainer, half amazed and half puzzled as she let out a soft note of questioning.

Jess smiled. "There's just something so interesting about you…"

Misdreavus tilted her head at them, having realized her friend's sudden lack of playfulness, and she nestled herself against the other ghost's side.

Jess smiled tenderly at Mismagius's expression of affection as she wrapped one of her tendril-like arms around the smaller ghost and brought her closer.

"It's nice to have you back," Jess told her softly.

The ghost nodded, and then voiced her agreement.

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Later that night, after everyone had eaten dinner and after a bit of browsing the Pokécenter's main lobby for any interesting tourist attractions, Jess brought out her own blankets and lay one on the bed, the others on the top bunk for Pidgeotto and Murky.

"Alright, I'm ready for bed," Jess said, turning to the others on the bed. "What about you guys?"

"Murkrow!" the black bird agreed, and Pidgeotto led the pair to the top bunk.

"How 'bout you?" the trainer asked, turning to the smaller ghost.

Misdreavus blinked up at the trainer with a concerned look, then turned to Mismagius and let out a barely audible note.

Jess, following her gaze, blinked at the purple ghost hovering by the window, and Mismagius looked up, seeming a bit startled. Then she bowed her head and blinked uneasily.

"Hey, you okay over there?" Jess asked, just now noticing exactly how uncomfortable she was.

The ghost looked up, but all she did was smile awkwardly.

Jess blinked and tilted her head, suddenly feeling a bit worried about her. But she decided that maybe it'd be better to let Mismagius have a little privacy for a couple of days… She knew that adjusting to a new life like this would probably be pretty hard on her…

"So, are you guys ready?" she asked.

Misdreavus let out a soft note before she nudged Mismagius gently and glided over to the bedside, nodding her head for Mismagius to follow her.

The other ghost blinked, then followed her to the bed, her expression making it obvious that she was ill at ease with… something…

"You sure you're okay?" Jess asked as she lay down.

The ghost nodded, then watched as Misdreavus snuggled herself next to the trainer. She couldn't help feeling out of place as she moved to Misdreavus's side and let herself rest on the blanket.

Misdreavus muttered a soft note of questioning, but Mismagius shrugged and made a quiet and neutral sound, reassuring Misdreavus that she was okay.

The smaller ghost still watched her for a few moments, but when Mismagius's breathing became slow and steady, she guessed that if Mismagius herself wasn't losing any sleep over it then she shouldn't either, and she wrapped one of her strands that served as arms around her friend affectionately.

Jess smiled a bit with relief when she felt the tension leave Missie's body and allowed herself to slip to sleep as well.

Once the sound of Pidgeotto's sleeping breaths filled the moonlit room, Mismagius cautiously opened one eye and glanced around. After studying Jess for just a moment more than the rest, she gently moved Misdreavus and took to the air. The ghost hovered across the room and gazed out the window longingly, feeling a pull towards her old home as she saw the forest beyond the meadow.

Murkrow, still not able to adjust his sleeping schedule, lifted his head from beneath his wing and blinked, then fluttered to the windowsill with wing-beats as quiet as an owl's. He didn't have to look to hard to see that something was bothering her, and he inquired exactly what it was in a soft whisper.

She turned her head to him and opened her mouth, but then she bowed her head and hesitated to speak.

The iridescent bird let out a reassuring note, a gentle and patient expression on his face.

The ghost blinked, then turned back to the view of the free world. She looked at their reflections for a few moments before she spoke a few nearly-silent notes – she couldn't finish and let out a homesick note before she had to turn away from the glass to stop, or at least lessen, the painful call of the wild.

Murkrow cawed a couple of comforting notes. Mismagius only shook her head desolately; it still hurt…

The black bird gave her a few moments of silence before he inquired again, only with a softer tone. She held her silence. Murkrow didn't want to rush her, but it was becoming a bit uncomfortable, and he insisted that she could talk to him without fear.

Misdreavus shifted in her sleep, and Mismagius glanced at her uneasily, almost apologetically, and then she turned back to the window, gazing up at the stars as she told Murkrow just a small gossamer bit of the truth.

He made a soft noise in his throat and followed her gaze. They watched the moon crawl through the cloudless sky for a few minutes before he made a soft noise in his throat and cawed his empathy and understanding.

Mismagius glanced at him with a small note of wonder.

He turned to her and nodded. Then he inched closer to her and held out one of his wings, a promise of friendship.

Mismagius blinked, then she nodded and put her tendril-like arm in his wing with a small sound of thanks.

The bird nodded, a smile of harmony on his face as he put his wing around her flowing body.

She hesitated, but for only a moment before she leaned into his feathery body, glad to have finally found someone she could confide in. Misdreavus wouldn't mock her or anything, but she didn't want to burden the young ghost with her own secrets…

"Murkrow, murkrow," he told her reassuringly, and Mismagius nodded, closing her eyes contentedly as she smiled, actually smiled, for the first time in far too long.

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-Raven's secret-keeper