A/N: I'm SOOOO sorry... I've been sick, my school has been evil, I've had places to go... All right, I'll stop making excuses. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter, and I'm so sorry...

Emerald 5

"Emma, you silly little girl... What are you doing?"

The small girl, about 2 years old, turned around, innocently chewing on a plushie toy's ear.

The aging man, rocking in his chair, said with a smile, "I suppose she likes it."

The mother let out a small laugh, picked her child up, and swirled her around. Emma let out a happy giggle.

"Mommy," she squealed. "Spin again!"

The mother tenderly set the child down, and patted her once on the head. "...Emma, Mommy needs to go someplace with Grandpa for a little while. You can stay with Daddy, and Grandma."

The child immediately burst into tears. "MOOMMMYYYY!!!"

"Shhh, it's okay..." The mother smiled. "You're getting a little cranky. I think it's time for your nap." The little girl, never one to deny that she was tired, nodded.

"Bed."

"Yes." Swinging her up onto her hip, the mother walked into the girl's bedroom. She set her down into a cradle, kissed her on her forehead, and began to sing.

"Little one, do not cry,

For soon will come the day

When everyone sings a lullaby

Together

The wind and the rain's end

Will be one

And shooting stars will lend

Their fire

So little one, wait for the day

When the world sings together

And shining stars will lay

Their blessings

Upon you... Little one...

So don't cry

She lay the blanket upon her child.

"Is she asleep?" The aging man stood in the doorway.

"Yes. What's happened?"

The old man frowned.

"Rayquaza is restless... He thinks that something will happen soon."

The woman looked distressed. "Soon, for Rayquaza, can mean hundreds of years... But he never acts like this. He hasn't acted like this since Deoxys first came."

"I know, I know." The old man pulled on his white beard. "I can't make out everything he says, but it's something about a little girl."

The woman gripped the railing of the crib tighter. Her face paled. "Emma?"

"No. I don't think it's a real girl... But I can't figure it out. He says girl like he would refer to a pokemon under his care."

The woman nervously stroked Emma's head, finally steeling herself. "Why must this all happen now?"

"It had to happen sometime, Emiline. You knew that. We knew Deoxys would be back. That he would try and destroy everything again..."

And we know, the woman thought bitterly, That my own child will have to do something about it... Will have to work with Rayquaza to stop them...

But she said none of that. "Has Rayquaza mentioned Jiranchi?"

"No, but I believe that Jiranchi is restless too... but probably for silly reasons. You know how childish it is."

"It's childish, Father, not naive. It may be lonely, but doesn't it have the Speaker to talk to?"

"It should," the old man said, troubled. "But perhaps that's what's troubling it... I don't sense the Speaker of Jiranchi anywhere..."

"That's nonsense. It always has one. The only way it would not have one is if the Speaker were to be emotionally or mentally destroyed."

"Exactly."

"The Speaker would only be... What, four? What horrible people would crush a child of four years old?!"

The man's face darkened. "Emiline, do you remember the stories I told you of the Seekers? The ones who worked with Deoxys... Who treated him like a God, and who were furious when he was banished from our earth by Rayquaza?"

"Those are just stories, aren't they?" She asked in almost a whisper.

"No, Emiline. They're not."

"Deo!" Jira whispered, giving him a soft prod on his side with her finger. "What's the matter with you?! Sleeping outside!"

Deo rolled over. "Jira," he stated plainly. There were no "good mornings"... There never were. There were no "I love you"s. In fact, they both barely knew that they existed.

The word love for them meant nothing but wanting something... A word that was an empty shell, devoid of real meaning. The meaning was far away from where they were.

But that didn't mean they didn't feel it.

There was warmth in her eyes as she looked at her only brother, and also worry. "You could have just slept inside Emma's house... It's so much easier for him to get you outside!"

"That's not true."

She sagged. "You're right. But still. It's not logical for you to sleep outside. You may be hardy, but you're not invincible to the weather and the cold."

"I feel fine."

"Where's Emma?"

"Inside the lab. She was sleeping outside, and I made her go in."

"Just like you should have done." He waved her off.

"Are you going to go get her?"

"I don't want to wake her up. She needs her sleep. She looked bad yesterday. She must have liked her parents. A lot."

"I don't really get why, but yeah." He paused. "Jira, maybe we should just leave. Deox-"

"Don't say his name!!" She hissed, fists clenched. "It's already bad enough that he comes to you!!!"

He looked at his sister slowly, observing her. "Jira, what's wrong?"

She frowned. "It's nothing." She, in turn, began to observe him. "Deo, you look... Clean. Pure."

"So do you." Their trained eyes observed the other's aura, carefully watching and beginning to learn.

Then they both calmed.

"That voice spoke to me again."

"Emma told me the rain could cleanse me."

Jira smiled mechanically. Sadly. A smile that could make your heart wrench. "Deon, do you think that we'll ever really escape him?"

"No, Jirali."

He shifted, settling himself down upon a seat of cloud.

A deep rumble came from inside his throat, that of thunder.

He had to protect her, but should she really be protected?

Was it any of his business?

He laughed, lightning. No... Everything was truly his business.

From the rain that populated the seas to the stars that made fire, it was his.

Rayquaza slowly began to ascend.

He would watch for now. Watch over Emma.

Tree, for the first time, was being something other than cool.

His crying trainer was much more important than this.

"Tree, I miss my mother. I miss her so much!! I don't even know why she's gone!" She buried her face in her hands as her other pokemon crowded around her, Beautifly gently stroking her face with one of its antennae, her Taillow rubbing her arm with its head, Tree having one hand placed like an anchor, firmly, on her shoulder, keeping her lodged to the world that she now felt so wrong in.

She tried to gather all of them into a hug.

"I never cry. I'm never sad." She swallowed.

"I guess I am now."

Jira watched her Linoone burrow into the pile of leaves, watched her Altaria let out a plaintive call. They were never secret about their emotions. She supposed that was what she liked about them, in a way. What she disliked about herself. But all of that didn't matter now... That's what she told herself... They had to escape Deoxys... She should spend her time worrying about that... About Deo and him. But she couldn't. Instead, she was selfish.

She wished she could be more open.

She almost gasped aloud.

Wishing for that was like wishing for the sky to turn green, wanting to live to be thousands of years old, wanting to be able to breathe underwater. It was never to be so. Maybe for somebody else, but never for her.

"Wishing can come true. I should know." A giggle.

The same voice.

"Don't try to make wishing go away. Wishing is good for you!" Another giggle, a soft sing-song. "A dream is a wish your heart makes..."

It stopped, and she felt it sadden. "We haven't talked, really, for a long time. But now you've wished for three things!" Warmth... "I guess I should say hello! You're Jira, aren't you? Short for Jirali? What a funny name! But I guess you're named after me. That's weird, because mostly Seekers don't name their children after pokemon like me!"

She stood upright. "How do you know that?" She whispered, her voice almost harsh. Jira was never harsh. Seekers were secret... Nobody knew about them...

"I know everything, really. Well, not everything. I mean, not compared to Rayquaza and Kyogre and them... They're really old, and I'm kinda not." Another giggle. "Oh, but I guess you don't know me... And judging by your angry feelings, you don't really want me... But still, I'm here! And because I can talk to you, I won't be lonely any more!"

"I'm Jiranchi!"

A/N: Now I feel really weird. A weird chapter. I think it was decently long, though, full of lots of mystery! And thanks to my reviewers! Yay, here we go!

Orangen- Yes, that could WORK!!! You're a genious!! Thank you for that! And thanks so much for reviewing, and just everything!!! You rock!

Yeah, well, yay! Okay, I write seriously, and then my A/N's are weird. I'm crazy. Anyway, thanks so much to Orangen, and I hope everybody enjoyed this chapter.