A/N: I've just looked at the length of the chapter. My gosh, it's the longest one I've written yet!!! I'm so sorry for wait and all that other stuff... I stink, I know. Anyway, on to the story.

Emerald

6

"Emma?"

She jerked her head up, and her red eyes were enough to make the man at the door worry.

"Why are you in my lab?"

"I didn't want to sleep in my own house."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Along with a truth.

"Well, you know you're always welcome here."

Flashes of a happy childhood dashed through her mind, days of playing with pokemon outside in the sunlight with her best friend, Brendan, on snowy days cuddling up to a Charmander or Torchic for comforting warmth...

But that was an Emma that was very different from the girl she was today.

She stood, no signs of trembling in her stance, or in her voice. But her eyes cried out loud and clear.

"Thanks, Professor Birch."

"Ah..." The Professor looked around, trying to look for something, anything, to distract her from whatever was happening to her...

His eyes came to rest on a pokeball. The only one left. The Treecko and Mudkip had been taken already by two previous trainers. But the last... It was still there...

"Here. Take this." He practically threw the pokeball into her hands.

"...What is it?" She asked weakly.

"A Torchic. It's a real sweet thing- But a bit naive and has a bit of a childish manner."

"Like I was."

"Yes, like you ar-" He paused. "Was, Emma?"

She clenched her fists tightly. "Yes, Professor, was. And until my parents are found, this is the way I am going to be."

He stepped aside as she swept out the door, her pokemon racing after her, faces worried.

He collapsed into his lab chair, massaging his forehead. "...Poor child." His face darkened, and he looked up at the ceiling. "I know you probably can't hear me, Emiline, but if you've got any idea of what your daughter is going through, you'd stop this. You wouldn't do this... And I know it's for her own good. But your father can stop this on his own. Why risk your own life as well?"

Deo swore as his foot was caught in a unsteady String-Shot. Really. He was getting out of practice. Then again, without the Machines it was much more difficult.

He gritted his teeth. He could face Dragonite, but not a stupid Beautifly?

It taunted him, fluttering about him, almost giggling with delight. With a specialized kick designed for String-Shot, he broke free easily, landing firmly on his feet as he knocked the Beautifly away. Dizzily, it flapped its way to the shoulder of-

"Deo?" Her blue eyes looked over him, hardening a tiny bit as she strode forward, her voice a tiny hiss. "Are you insane? What if somebody saw you? People don't fight pokemon!"

But she softened as she picked a piece of string out of his hair, gazing fondly at him, yet carefully restraining from any real emotion. "I hope you're all right, Deo. The rest of us certainly aren't."

"What?" His attention was focused solely on her. "Don't tell me that he came for you instead-"

"No." She nervously blew a strand of blonde hair away from her face, obviously struggling for words. "It wasn't him... Or at least, I think it wasn't him..." Aggravated, she crossed her arms. "It was the voice that I told you about before... But it said it was Jiranchi... And it knew all about me..."

"Jiranchi?" He placed both hands on her shoulders firmly. "Jira, that can't be. It's never awakened except for when that comet comes by."

"But it spoke to me. It did!" She slumped. "I think I'm going insane."

"It's pretty hard to go insane," a cheerful voice volunteered. "Ooooohhh, but I know several who have!"

She withdrew from grip, glancing about as though she had heard a gunshot. "Did you hear that?" She hissed. "It said something to me!"

"I didn't hear anything." His mind began whirring. He and Jira had spoken about this before... But now he saw somewhat of a resemblance between her voice that spoke to her and his own... His eyes narrowed. "Jira, you know that's how it is... Deoxys talks to you, but nobody else hears it- Jira? Jira!!"

She had turned, concentrating on the trees. "Maybe you're right... But it isn't as you described it... It's more like... Somebody's there, just beyond my reach."

"He can't hear me, silly. He's of Deoxys, not of me." The voice lazily paused, and she felt herself grinding her teeth in annoyance. "I mean, really! To say that I'm Deoxys... That's silly! I'm Jiranchi, not Deoxys, and I talk to you, not to him. I know it's complicated, but still!" A giggle. "Hey, say hello to him for me. And try to cheer him up, will you? It must be horrid, having to be Deoxys' living form and Speaker and all." She felt its mood darken, and she felt a hole beginning to form inside of her. "You know what we have to do, right?"

"What?" She whispered. But there was more than annoyance in her voice now, or even a questioning. There was worry.

Sorry filled her, a feeling she had often pushed away. It was easy to keep feelings away. She had been taught her entire life. But this... Jiranchi (but it couldn't be... Jiranchi was legendary...), as the voice had last said before leaving, felt for her. The feelings were not hers, yet they were. It was such a strange sensation, not feeling much of anything and feeling so much sorrow at once.

"You don't know, then..." All childishness was gone.

"What we are going to-"

"Jira!" He had her wrist now, twisting it painfully (although for her own good). "What are you doing? Who are you talking to?! Please, please..." He couldn't say it. For her to suffer what he did, that would be too horrible for him. To have anger and darkness growing inside you, making you do things that you regretted. Knowing that you, somehow, were responsible for the terrible things it did...

She let her body begin to tremble. Whatever "they" had to do... Whatever it was planning... It was not good.

She looked at her brother, attaching herself firmly to his arm, afraid of her legs giving out. This was insane. ...Seekers didn't tremble. Seekers weren't afraid...

Then again, they weren't really Seekers anymore.

She was out of the lab now, the sunlight streaming through her black hair, making it shine. The day was beautiful. It certainly wasn't how she felt.

"Groo-vyyle..."

She picked him up, not to cuddle him, but to have him as a comfort.

"Tree, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? I miss them so much..."

Her eyes darted upwards as Jira and Deo came in from the trees, both pale, Jira shaking and wiping her forehead nervously.

Despite her own sorrow, she was still worried about them. After all, how would they get home now? She had failed them, utterly failed them.

Jira looked up as well now, blue eyes locking onto Emma's green ones.

"Hello, Jira."

"Emma," she responded, a small, fake smile on her face. Emma's face was almost a mirror of hers.

"Are you all right?"

"I just had a little... A little scare. That's all."

She looked to Deo for confirmation, but he just shifted uncomfortably on one foot, finally clenching his fists at his sides, stiffly standing upright.

Jira smiled again, and a chill crawled up Emma's spine.

"I'll be in the woods if you need me." A glance at Deo. "I need to think, to be alone."

"I know what you mean. Go ahead."

And Jira was gone, and Deo was left standing there.

"So, Deo..." She spoke softly, her tone saying that she was thinking deeply. "What's been happening with you?"

He twitched, finally shaking his head. "Nothing."

She frowned, then felt a twinge of an urge to hold his hand. Jira had looked troubled... Deo looked worried... Which was huge, for him...

Why were they both so upset?

"You can tell me."

It was probably the wrong thing to say. After all, she herself didn't feel like telling anyone how she felt. And here she was, telling him to open up to her.

"There are some things," he began slowly, then began gaining momentum. "That shouldn't ever be said."

The largest response she had ever gotten from him, from one question. And probably the most truthful.

A thought struck her. Perhaps he missed his parents... Like she missed hers. They probably seemed so far away, and that they might never see them again. After all, people were hard to find. And they hadn't had word for a long time. What if their parents gave up on them and moved?

"We could ask somebody else to fly you back..."

His head jerked up, his eyes narrowing. "I prefer not to trust strangers." He preferred not to trust anyone, with the exception of his sister.

And perhaps Emma now.

The thought disappeared from his head as quickly as he had thought it. After all, becoming attached to something he was going to eventually lose was... Painful.

The Seekers would never accept a girl like her... They might even kill her.

They most definitely would.

And whatever Jira seemed to know about her was a mystery, dark and strange. The Emma he knew, and the Emma that she seemed to see sometimes...

The question was out of his mouth before he had time to think.

"Why would your parents just disappear?"

She turned away. "I don't know, Deo. I don't know."

Humans were foolish. It was quite simple to see.

So why was he attaching himself to one of them? After all, humans were so fragile. Thousands of their lives could easily fit into a small part of his. So why had he attached himself to their family?

It all started, he supposed, with that little girl.

Bright, energetic. He had glimpsed her on earth one day, and he had loved her. In a fatherly way. She was so innocent, so childish, so pure... But he had blinked his eyes, and she was gone.

Gone, gone, gone, turned into a woman. With a child of her own.

He had learned, and refused to lose that little child. Exactly like her mother, with hair darker than the darkest rain cloud, green eyes brighter than his own scales. He had shown himself to her.

It was not forbidden for him to show himself to a human. Just incredibly rare.

And he had let her climb upon his back. Shown her the world and more.

But she was young, and as all people do, her childish "dreams" were soon forgotten in the midst of the brimming life she had. He was nothing more than a wisp of time, a time long left behind.

He had wondered what he had done wrong. Had he scared her, with his fangs, and his size? But something nagged him. He wanted to blame himself, badly. But he knew he could not, as it wasn't true.

The child, more or less, had forgotten him of her own free will. Or perhaps, the will of the humans had been too strong for her. He didn't exist in their little world.

He hated being angry. The sun felt cold compared to his burning rage. He had to do something, or burn mankind to nothing but scorched ground.

So he waited, for just a little longer. He knew her child would be herself reborn, made into another innocent being, entirely pure until the world killed her true spirit.

He wouldn't let that happen. This time, he did more than let her ride upon his back, and show her the world. He took her to his world: the land of clouds, where the stars blessed you.

And he let her touch the moonbeams, before they were poisoned by the harsh air. He let her drink the sunlight in, let the sky and its pleasures be her pleasures.

But the inevitable came. She wanted to know when she would go home.

He wanted to say, Never.

But the green eyes that weren't so little any more looked at him, pleading. She missed her mother, her family, her friends, her life.

Heaven wasn't enough. Not if she was alone.

No father can deny their child something so wished for, so hoped for, so lived for. A dream never fulfilled.

He had let her go.

Even now, a deep hole filled him as he thought of her, and all before and after her. They were all the same. Beautiful, pure, happy, wonderful like no other human could be.

He was so taken in by them, all of them. Humans were almost all the same in his eyes... She was different. He could hardly refer to them all as the same person... But in his eyes, they were.

Rayquaza looked at the soul, the essence... Everything that made her her. He could never find a reason that he loved her so. It just was. She just was.

But it was always the same. He would never be able to bring her here, forever, where he was. For while he hardly aged, she would. And without her on earth, her children would not be there, to be the same, to be loved by him.

It was torture.

A thunderstorm began to gather from his thoughts, and he swiped it away as easily as one might wipe off a chalkboard.

And now the little girl he loved was... She was in so much pain. It filled him with rage.

She was not going to be quite the same...

But he so wanted her to stay the same. Perhaps if he just changed something... Just a little...

He could make it better...

A/N: Wait, what the... WHAT THE HECK DID I JUST WRITE?!?! Ahem. Anyway, yay for drama and all of that... I love writing from the view of Rayquaza. It's just so fun. Well, now you know why the sky is seemingly favoring Emma... OR DO YOU?! Just kidding. Anyway, on to reviews!

Orangen- Yes, I agree on the exclamation... Hee hee. I like to use multiple exclamation points... Anyway, thank you! And thanks so much for supporting this story and my other story too! Thanks so much!!!

CandyKins- Really? That's great!! I hope you liked it!! And I hope you liked this chapter and it appealed to you too!!

Well, that's all, folks! I'll see you in another week or two... WAAAAHHHHH!!!