It had been a long time since he had been home. He knew the night he had ran out would be the night he'd never return and now, years later, Cain regretted every second of that ordeal. He regretted lashing out at his mother—oh his kind, loving, gentle-hearted mother—as she tried to break up the quarrel between her husband and her only son. He regretted lunging at his father, hatred burning in his cyan eyes, with the intent to kill the man for his bloody sins.

Cain regretted being so naive and narrow-minded.

And now he stood a short distance away from the modest, blue-painted two-story house, the home he had grown up in. How many years had it been since that night? Three? Four? In a sorrow tinged with guilt, the Articuno Fourthbreed figured that no matter the length of the lapse, it probably still felt like an eternity to his family. Or at least, to his mother.

The young man knew his father well, however. After all, the apple never fell far from the tree and all his life, Cain had been told that he was the spitting image of the silver-haired Dragon Trainer, only with his mother's brilliant, neon eyes. But whereas his mother was docile and sweet and eternally loving, the man who sired him was the exact opposite; bold, dark, twisted, possessive, jealous, strong, protective… Cain knew very well that his father would not lightly forgive his betrayal. If Jet hadn't forgiven his son by now, then he probably never would.

Slightly terrified by the prospect of his intimidating sire still hating him, the gray-haired teenager swallowed hard before summoning up all his courage to close the gap between himself and the front door of his childhood home. With each hesitant step he took, his doubts grew. Would they still love him? Would they even welcome him? Did his mother hate him too, for trying to murder her husband? Slowing, this thought thrust Cain's attention back into his dour memories.

He had been seventeen. Two or so years had passed since that night, but even still he felt the immense contempt he held for his father in his chest. From across the small living room, the blonde Vulpix Fourthbreed frowned at the scorn on his friend's face.

"You still hold a grudge?" He half inquired, half stated, already knowing the answer though still asking for the sake of asking.

"What do you think?" Cain threw back in a slightly bitter tone, catching the veiled disapproval in the man's voice.

"I think you're a selfish, idiotic, dumbass," Seth countered coldly, matching the other male's glare without any sign of backing down. "You know I'm right," he added. "After two years, you still hold a grudge you have no right to hold."

Ferally baring his teeth, Cain growled, "I have every right to-!"

"Like fuck you do!" the blonde shot back before the younger man could finish. "You know very well that your parents would've told you about your genetics! And you know very well that they didn't because they didn't think you were ready to handle the knowledge of how much of a genetic MUTT you are!"

It took a lot of the gray-haired teen's will to not flinch at the insult. Though it still stung. He was a mutt; human, Articuno, Mew, demon, and trace amounts of a handful of other Pokémon thanks to his mother. Hiding his hurt behind his pride, Cain yelled back, "And what about my father? You know what he was! What he did!"

The two men were standing now, glaring and growling at one another. Seth's earthy brown ears were laid flat against his spiked hair, the fur on his three rustic orange tails standing on end, while Cain's small, dusty blue wings ruffled angrily.

"What a hypocrite you are, expecting those around you to be perfect!" The blonde always hated how his friend thought so lowly of his father. "He's a normal person just like the rest of us! He's made mistakes!"

"KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE ISN'T A MISTAKE!"

"NO, BUT IT WAS A WAY OF LIFE WHEN HE DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER!" Being five years older and nearly a foot taller, Seth easily overpowered his counterpart.

"You know something, Cain?" He hissed, balling his hands into fists. "My mother's a murderer. In fact, she's the DAMN BOSS of TEAM ROCKET. Her whole LIFE has been filled with nothing but committing crimes. She killed her father—my grandfather—out of revenge, she killed Giovanni, she killed his other Executives... All simply so she could rise to power without a challenge.

"And for all my life, she's been Boss. She has no problem with hurting others and wrecking families and ruining lives, all for the sake of power and profit. She was born a Rocket and she'll die a Rocket. Even when she became a mother, she did not stop in her vile ways."

Cain was silent. He had never been sure of his friend's parentage. The man really only spoke of the father he hardly knew (fore the man had left his mother after discovering she was pregnant), but his mother... The teenager had never imagined the woman was so infamous and cruel, but the blonde's lofty lifestyle and seeming immunity from the violence of Team Rocket now made sense.

"But you know something else?" Seth continued, still in that angered, insulted tone of voice. "I still love her. She is my mother—the only one I'll ever have—and she went through hell to not only raise me, but to raise me right and protect me from the hatred ones like us get. And your parents... Oh, they went through MUCH worse!"

This had the Articuno Fourthbreed intrigued slightly. What did the older man know about his parents that he didn't?

"What do you mean by that?" Cain asked warily. Knowing that he had gotten the boy's attention, the Vulpix Fourthbreed smirked bitterly.

"Your parents, when they were younger, went through hell and back just to stay together. Everyone always told your mother that she deserved so much better, and that your father would be the death of her, and that she should just leave him. They had countless enemies trying to kill them, some with a reason no greater than because they simply existed. But they persevered and they loved each other with all their hearts, 'cause back then, one was all the other had and without one, the other refused to carry on living.

You and your sisters were conceived out of love, as well. Never lust. It was never lust for your parents, my mother once said. And once all three of you were born, your parents worked as hard as they could to give you the childhoods and lives they never had. After all, you know very well that your father was orphaned at a young age and that your mother had no childhood at all. And because of those things, though they are wise in the ways of life, academically, your parents aren't much smarter than middle schoolers; neither of them ever had formal education… Your father learned only what he had to in order to survive and your mother learned mostly housework rather than anything academic…"

The boy had heard enough. Locking his jaw and gritting his teeth, he turned his head away from Seth in a sign of defeat. Some of those things he had known, but everything else… He had been clueless about. How shameful it was to have someone not even related at all know more about your parents than you yourself, their one and only son!

All too soon, it seemed, Cain was suddenly pulled from his reminiscing, now finding himself standing before the white front door of the two-story home. His doubts and fears were at their pinnacle now, but he knew he couldn't turn back. He had to, he had to, he had to… Gingerly, he raised a loose fist and knocked on the door.

There was a long pause and it took much of the young man's will power to stay in place rather than turn and run away as fast as he could. But with a mix of relief and nervous fear, he heard the lock unbolt and saw the door pull open to reveal a slightly bored-looking redhead with blue streaks in her hair. For a split second, she retained this look, but as the realization of who stood before her dawned in her mind, she took on a look of shock.

"Ah… Hi Auntie Miho," the eighteen-year-old greeted shyly, averting his eyes downwards out of a guilty shame. For a few moments that seemed like more years, the woman was silent, simply staring at the now grown son of her mistress. But then she donned a grin that lacked any humor.

"It's been a long time, Cain," Miho replied softly as she stepped aside to allow the young man to pass by. Once he was inside, she closed the door silently and turned to call in a resonating voice, "Otomé! You have a guest!"

There was a murmur of voices from the kitchen that was hidden from the front door's landing, one voice silvery and light, the other masculine and carrying authority. He knew them; they were familiar to the Articuno Fourthbreed, whose stomach was suddenly filled with ice. He couldn't do this. They hated him, he knew it. But he couldn't turn back; there wasn't any place to run.

Swallowing hard again, the teenager suddenly forgot how to breathe when he saw them appear from around a corner, both heading towards the door before instantly stopping dead in their tracks when they caught sight of him.

His mother still looked the same; a gentle beauty with a delicate face and pale skin, her long hair—the color of the sky on a clear summer's day—still pulled back into a loose Ponyta tail. And close behind her, his father… Still with that striking, silver hair (which was still spiked, but a tad longer than it was in the days of his youth) and those piercing, blue eyes that were as deep as an ocean…

The father and son stared at one another for what felt like an eternity. But the longer it dragged on, the greater Cain's dread grew; His father was glaring at him, nothing but loathing and hostility in those dark eyes of his. No, even after all these years, Jet still had not forgiven his son for that night. And without a word, the Dragon Trainer turned away and disappeared back to where he had previously been, abandoning his first born child, who wore a look of hurt and guilty dismay.

A/N: o hay guize. Sorry for the long delay. In July, I played hostess to my ex-boyfriend for two weeks (he's from England and was staying over for a bit) and now for August, my senior year of high school's about to start. Oh noes.

Plus, I'm at a part in TDD where all Otomé and Jet do is talk, talk, talk, but I can't cut the talking out because it eventually leads to something important. So I'm still trying to figure out how to condense their blabbing so y'all don't get bored.

Forgive me. D:

Also, if you're curious as to how Cain looks, check the post in my LJ I made about it:
http://tsukiyashi (dot) livejournal (dot) com/132374.html#cutid1