"He's awake! He's awake!"

"Jirachi! Hush! You'll annoy him!"

"Aww, he's awake already, stop making a big deal about it."

What... Are these voices in my head? Skye's eyes flickered once, twice, and they slowly opened. "Uhnnn." His eyes were still adjusting to the light, and all he could see were colorful blobs in light blue, yellow, green, and pink.

"Step away, guys, give him space!" a loud voice coming from somewhere to his left commanded the blurry, colorful shapes. He shook his head a little, feeling woozy, and then he was able to focus a little bit more on the Pokemon surrounding him.

His eyebrows rose immediately. He was completely surrounded by legendary Pokemon. Heck. There were some he didn't even know existed. There were more here, possibly more than the time when Sam was Spirit Sage.

"Hi, Skylar!" the whole lot chorused.

"Uh... Hi?"

(*)

Meanwhile, in the real world, everything had just exploded into a big mess.

Sam, for some weird reason unknown to all, had passed out almost five minutes after Skye had passed out, leaving a stunned, bewildered Erin pounding on the door.

Erin, shocked by that, dissolved into even more tears.

Gary had forgotten about Skye the minute that Sam went down, leaving Skye in the hands of James and Mason, who had followed Gary. "Please not again, please not again, oh damnit, please not again."

An immediate uproar followed, even though most of the people present were completely mature adults, it turned into chaos as everyone tried to figure out what was happening.

Wallace, being Wallace, did the only thing he knew how to do in emergencies.

He took charge.

"Winona, are there any rooms available on the ground floor, or somewhere near here?"

Winona's eyebrows furrowed. "Yes, Wallace. Suite 5. And 6."

"Good." He smiled. "Alright, James and Mason, you bring Skye to Suite 5. Watch over him. Note if anything strange has happened." The two nodded, and started carrying (almost dragging) Skye towards the room. "Sidney, please contact Steven and Phoebe, tell them to come over here today. Tell them I needed them yesterday. They can bring Zoey if they want to, just tell them to get here pronto."

"Sure thing, Wallace," Sidney said, shrugging, and brought out his PokeNav.

"Amber, Topaz?"

"Wallace?" The twins looked at him. They were comforting Erin, who was just lying on the floor having a meltdown.

"Bring Erin to her room," he said softly, noticing how distraught the redhead was. "Comfort her."

"What about Sam?" Amber asked him, fear clouding her eyes. "And Skye?"

"You can check on them later," Wallace assured her.

"Gary, you bring Sam to Suite 6. You know the drill. Winona, you go with him."

Gary nodded, and carried Sam bridal-style towards the suite, while Winona followed him.

Wallace rubbed the area between his eyebrows, and breathed out slowly. Meanwhile, I am going to see what was so important about that boy standing in the doorway. There's something fishy going on here.

(*)

"...and Palkia and Dialga and Shaymin and Regice and Regirock and Registeel and Reshiram and Zekrom and Darkrai and Arceus and Giratina and-"

Skye was starting to get dizzy with all the new legendaries, who were just staring at him, some smiling, expecting him to remember their names while Jirachi just rattled on and on and on and on...

"I think he gets it, sweetie," Cresselia said in a sweet voice, and smiled at Jirachi.

"And Cresselia!"

"Are you done yet?" Articuno asked politely.

Jirachi, suddenly very bashful, nodded.

"Well then, hello, Skylar. Welcome to the space inside of your head where everyone meets every once in a while."

"And you better get used to it, since it's going to happen a lot from now on," a wry voice said from behind Articuno.

Everyone turned around to see Sam and Arianne standing before them, Arianne looking regal yet warm, and Sam's purple eyes sparkling.

"Sam!" Moltres cried out. Everyone crowded towards them, and Skye squeezed himself through.

"Glad to see you here, Skylar," Arianne said, nodding. "You're the first ever male Spirit Sage, I'll have you know."

"What an honor," he said, smiling.

"Mom." Sam sounded impatient now. "So, now we've been all nice and hostess-y, and welcoming Skylar as a Spirit Sage is now complete. Can I go back now?"

"Why are you in such a hurry, Sam?" Celebi asked, flying around her head. "Didn't you miss us?"

Her expression was softened, and she reached out to give Celebi a hug. "Oh, no, it's just that Gary's probably going nuts out there... I mean, I just collapsed on him and-" she gasped. "Oh Arceus!" she exclaimed. "I completely forgot about Erin!"

Skye remembered. "Erin... Sam, what happened back there?" he couldn't forget how in pain Erin looked... How sad she was... How he'd just love to wipe the tears off of her face.

Sam opened her mouth, then stopped, as if reconsidering what she was about to tell him, and closed it again. "I think it's something that Erin should tell you."

"Right." Skye was silent.

"Anyways, Skye, you'll find yourself traveling back and forth from here in your mind," Arianne said. "When you go to sleep, when you faint, you'll come here most of the time. I guess you know how the room works, right?"

"Yeah, Sam explained it to me once upon a time," Skye said, not mentioning that his knowledge about this room was lacking. He only noticed that Sam was getting a bit antsy, wanting to go ahead. "You can go ahead, Sam."

"See, mom-"

Arianne held up a hand. "You two can go ahead together. I can sense that both of you are needed in the real world. Take care, both of you." She then kissed Sam on the forehead.

"Bye, mom!" Sam waved at Arianne, and closed her eyes, visualizing herself outside.

"Wait, wait, how do I wake up?"

Sam chuckled at Skye's befuddled tone before she disappeared.

(*)

Gary noticed Sam's eyes twitching a few moments before her purple eyes flew wide open. "Thank goodness," Gary said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"How long was I out?" Sam asked, getting into a sitting position. "I didn't cause a stir, did I?"

"Let's just say that it made our engagement party more interesting," Winona said, and Sam turned and saw the Flying-type gym leader sitting on a chair near the door. Her eyes twinkled. "You had us worried a bit, Sam."

"I didn't even know I was going to collapse like that," Sam admitted. "Mom didn't even think to warn me."

"I'm just glad you're alright, Sam," Gary said gently, and kissed the top of her forehead.

Suddenly the door opened and James came in. "Skye woke up."

"Took him a while," Sam scoffed.

Skye followed James into the room. "Took me a while since somebody didn't tell me beforehand how to wake up," he said through narrowed eyes.

"Don't get your jeans in a knot," Sam said, smirking. "Anyways, did you finally figure it out?"

"I did," he said defensively.

Mason stood by the doorway. "Sam, Amber told me to tell you that Erin's looking for you."

"Erin!" Sam stood up, and rushed towards Mason. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah," Mason said. "A bit shaken, but I guess she's fine." he smiled. "You should go and see her."

"I will," Sam said. "Gary?"

"I'll come get you in a while. Wallace wanted to talk with me earlier," he said. "Go on ahead."

She smiled. "Well... Alright."

(*)

"You weren't supposed to do that."

Shadows danced across the room as Will knelt angrily before a chair that was turned around.

"We had a deal So-"

"Did I not tell you not to call me by my name?" a voice said from the chair. "And deals are deals. Remember, who's debt are you in?"

Silence came from Will's part.

"Answer me."

"You."

"And who do you serve?"

"You," Will said softly, only it was more resentful.

"Remember that."

Cold blue eyes glinted in the moonlight.

(*)

The door creaked open and Sam stepped in, noting that Erin was lying supine on the couch in their living room, and Amber and Topaz were hovering around Erin like two anxious nurses... All eyes were on her the minute she stepped in.

"Sam!" the twins chorused, while not leaving Erin's side.

Erin merely looked at Sam - the latter winced. Erin was as white as a sheet. "You saw him, right?" her voice was scratchy and hoarse.

"I did, Erin," Sam said, as soothing as possible. "Don't worry, it was just... Uh..."

"It was him," Erin insisted, pleading Sam to believe her with her very blue eyes. "It had to be him, Sam, I'm not crazy or anything, but I-"

"Shh, shh," Sam sat down next to Erin, and rubbed her back, sensing that Erin was on the verge of another breakdown. "Erin, we're going to find some explanation for this, okay?"

Erin's eyes filled with tears, and it took all of Sam's power not to cry with her. (Sam was very emotional, sometimes)

"Wallace and Gary are gonna figure it out, okay? And we'll help," Sam said, gesturing to the twins, who nodded eagerly. "We're going to get to the bottom of this for sure, Erin." She tried to give Erin a reassuring smile.

Erin was silent for a few seconds, and the trio decided not to say anything.

"B-But Sam..." Erin's voice came out as a whimper. "Sam, I... I..."

Understanding purple eyes met the scared blue ones, and Erin closed her eyes, tears spilling out. "Why didn't he recognize me?" she cried out, curling up fetus style on the couch, and shaking, the sobs racking through her body. "He looked s-straight into my eyes and h-he walked a-away from me, S-Sam! H-How could he d-do this t-to me?"

"I don't know, Erin..." Sam whispered as she tried to wrap her arms around the poor girl. "I really don't know."

(*)

"So according to Sam, that boy was a previous boyfriend of Erin's, who supposedly died in that tragedy of the boat going to the Battle Frontier a few years ago?" Winona asked Gary for clarification. Hoenn's Elite Four, Winona, Wallace, Gary, Mason and James were meeting in Suite 6 to talk about the incident. Skye had gone upstairs to comfort Erin and see if she was alright. He was also hoping that a certain helmeted miner hadn't gotten to her first.

Erin had given Sam permission to tell the others the whole story between Will and her, so that they could solve the mystery on why this said boy was still alive and walking.

Gary nodded. "Hard to believe, but... I really don't know."

"I remember that day so well," Wallace mused, a hand on his chin. "I was having a battle with this one trainer... 'Patrick', Patrick something from Rustboro... I remember him so well because he was good. And then all of the sudden, someone comes rushing into my gym and tells us the bad news, and the guy just breaks down."

"Pretty hard news," Sidney commented from the door.

"No kidding," Mason said softly.

"But what I also remember is that there were 'no bodies recovered'," Wallace said, mouth in a straight line.

"Which means there's a possibility that he was saved - a long shot, but it's still better than the theory that he just rose from the dead," Glacia pointed out.

"The thing that's bugging me," Winona spoke up again, "Is that this island is closed to the public. Only gym leaders and the Elite Four are allowed to be here - with the exception of you guys," she looked at Gary, Mason and James. "He isn't supposed to be here, dead or alive."

"You're right," Wallace said, straightening up a little. "That's gotta be something to look into."

"And the way the door locked all of the sudden," James reminded them. "What are the master locks for those doors?"

"We have a lot to deal with tomorrow," Winona said wearily.

"Let's just wait for Steven. And I think he'll be impressed with the fact that Skye has already made progress."

Gary was silent, debating with himself whether to tell them about Tate and Liza.

"Gary?" Mason poked him. "You okay?"

"What? Oh, nothing," Gary said hastily, thinking that he didn't have enough proof or evidence to actually prove that Tate and Liza were either being impersonated or faking their illness.

James grinned, misreading Gary's absentmindedness. "Just can't get Sam out of your head, hm?"

The tenseness in the room immediately faded, and Sidney had a wide grin on his face. "You guys are old enough to get married, right? Why don't you?"

Gary blushed crimson. "I'm... We're just not ready yet, that's all," he protested. "Sam and I are way too young-"

"Oh, pshhhh," Sidney waved his hands around. "Nothing as ridiculous as the 'we're too young' excuse."

(*)

"Mmm..." Erin felt a warm spot on her forehead, and, grunting, she squeezed her eyes open, trying to find the source of the heat. She had fallen asleep on the couch, and it seemed like no one had the heart to wake her up from her dreamless sleep. One of the curtains had opened a little, and had let some light shine on her face. Well, I guess that was a sign for me to wake up already. She sat up, and noted that the clock read almost a quarter past nine. She sighed. Sam's probably up already. She stretched, and that was when she noticed a figure, slumped near a table that had been propped up next to the couch, sound asleep.

Skye? His shock of blonde hair belonged to no one else. She didn't know what to think as she noticed his uncomfortable position, lack of a jacket when Erin felt like she needed about two quilts and a sweater since the air conditioning was on, and the absense of a pillow. She sighed, got up, and walked over to him, a quilt in hand, as she tucked him in - despite his almost sitting position, and smiled at his baby-like features as he slept.

There's probably some bread around here, somewhere... She mused as she looked around the kitchen. A flash of purple caught her eye, and she found a stick note taped to the refrigerator.

Steven, Phoebe and Zo arrive today. Have to go greet 'em. Sleep in all you want. Oh, and Skylar didn't have breakfast yet. -S

Skye... Erin's eyes crinkled as she smiled. He almost reminds me of Will, a little... The thought of Will instantly sobered her up, as she got up and started preparing breakfast. What were you doing here, Will? Why are you still alive?

And why, if you are really alive, haven't you contacted me ever since you died?

A loud yawn interrupted her musings, and she desperately tried to put on a brave face as Skye woke up. "Ahhhhhhhh..." Skye yawned again, and Erin smiled as she found the bread, and slipped in two slices into the toaster. "Wha-"

Skye found himself wrapped in a blanket. He stepped out of it, and saw the back of Erin's head as she busily rummaged through the refrigerator looking for butter. "Thanks," he called out.

"My pleasure," Erin said, and was horrified to realize that her voice was still hoarse from crying. She coughed and tried to cover it up, while Skye frowned. He didn't like hearing her like this.

"Don't mind me," she said softly, while scraping a little bit of butter off of the block, knowing that he could still hear her, and yet make the scratchiness in her voice indiscernible. "Bug in my throat. You know."

"Yeah, I know," Skye said, making her jump about a foot when she realized he was right behind her - almost three steps away. "I know that you're not okay," he said softly. She turned around and was captivated by his gray eyes. She looked away.

"Don't creep up on me like that," she said, staring at their feet. "I was holding a knife," she explained lamely, holding up the butter knife she was holding.

"Don't ever try to pretend you're okay, Erin," Skye continued, taking one step closer towards her. "Because it doesn't only hurt the ones who are looking at you, it hurts you even more."

Erin stepped back, the small of her back bumping against the counter. She gulped.

"I saw it... So many times, the pain flashing through your eyes," he said softly, and stepped closer again. "Why can't you just let it all out? There's so much pain in there."

"I... I talk about it," she protested weakly.

"You didn't talk about all of it, didn't you?" Skye persisted.

"Skye..."

"I made the biggest mistake of my life when I decided I didn't need to tell anyone anything about myself. And telling one person isn't enough, Erin," Skye said.

He reached out and cupped her face with his hand; she melted against it, her face fitting perfectly into his palm. "Let me help you shoulder the burden you have," he said softly.

"Uhm, I, uhm... I..." she was becoming a mess in front of him. Don't tell him, Erin, don't tell him... Suddenly she caught a whiff of something. "My... Our toast!" She said, and stepped out of his hands and went to the toaster, her hands shaking.

Skye stayed where he was, listening to the quiet, 'ouch! Ouch!' that came from her as she attempted to get the hot toast with her fingers. She spread a little butter on them, and put both on a plate. She looked at him, holding the plate in her hands. "Uhm... You can have one. I made it for you."

He looked up at her and smiled, and she was so stunned by the beauty of him that she nearly dropped the plate. "Thanks, Erin."

He got the plate from her, and put it on the table, gesturing for her to sit in front of him. She complied, finding his silence a little odd, seeing how he had been going on and on about her needing to open up to someone. Now he was being quiet. Was this a tactic of his or something?

Suddenly he looked up and looked her directly in the eyes. "Erin, I just want to help you."

For some reason, either that or she was just emotionally weak at the time, her heart melted at the words. Tears ran down her face, dripped from her chin, and he reached over to wipe away some of the tears off with his hand. Realizing that it wasn't enough, he got up, and drew her into his arms as she cried, holding her as tight as he possibly could. He waited until she was done crying, and he listened to a soft voice coming from his chest. "I'm sorry..." she was whispering. "I never told anyone but he..." she burrowed deeper into his chest. "Will is..."

Skye waited for the continuation.

"Will is from Team Aqua."

(*)

I AM SORRY. GOSH. This is one of those things that I couldn't get off of my brain during my two year absence. It was always, 'oh noooo, people are waiting for updates of this' 'I wonder what Afterpurple would be now?' and etc.

So anyway I AM SO SORRY.

Hope I made up for it in this pathetic excuse for a chapter.

Please look forward to the next chapter. :) I AM going to finish this. My word on it.

Ja~

P.s I'm in college now! Taking up nursing. I'm also a staff writer of our school publications... School and life is hard in general, but oh well. I have to find time in my sched for this. I HAVE TO.