There were many ideas for this entire story. In the first, I actually thought Calvin would've been better off dead, but then it occured to me that noone kills the hero (I'll appreciate your opinion if you think otherwise). Seventeen Blades spawned from his death, and the entire story was supposed to revolve around it, but I rewrote it before I published it, keeping him alive. Instead of completely deleting the original version, I merged it with the current version, and now parts of it make up this story. Besides, everyone deserves to have a good Christmas.

Typhlosion handed me the tree star. I climbed up the ladder, and reached over to place it on the tree. This was a triangular ladder, so by the time the ladder topped out, the tree, being triangular in shape as well, was about two feet away. "Almost…" I pushed the star out to the edge of my fingers as it finally caught hold of the tree, and slipped into place. "Finally, I—AAH!" I slipped off of the ladder, and fell into Typhlosion's arms.

"Great catch," I said to him. He put me down and I went to plug in the tree. Finally, the entire house was decorated. Grandma came out of the kitchen and looked around.

"Great job, Molly," She said.

"Thanks," She took the easier job by cooking all of the food, but it was still a conjoined effort. I could smell the sweet aromas of the food coming from the kitchen, and I couldn't wait to start eating, but unfortunately the food was cooked in preparation for Christmas Night's dinner. My stomach growled. "Grandma…can't I just start eating now?"

"No. You can't eat this food until tomorrow night. Hopefully your father will be at the table."

I groaned. Dad's whereabouts were unknown and I was hungry. What would she say at the dinner tonight if he didn't show up? She'd start to ask and I'd have no other choice but to tell her what happened.

"Fine," I pouted, grabbing my coat and walking outside.

It was late in the afternoon on this Christmas Eve. The boardwalk was very quiet. Lights from other houses filtered down to the water's surface. I greeted some passer-bys until I thought I spotted something familiar. "Is that…Matt?" I walked down the boardwalk until I came up behind him. He was looking up and down the canal, fascinated by his new home. I tapped him on the shoulder. "Hi, Matt."

"Molly?" He turned around. "How did you find me?"

"Well, my house is right down the way," I pointed back. "You're lost, aren't you?"

"Um, no, this is my house, right here," Come to think of it, I could see boxes through the window and his mother was walking around, getting settled in. "I guess that makes us neighbors."

I nodded. "You want to go for a walk?"

"Sure," He went to tell his mother that he was leaving and walked with me up the canal. "So, Molly, how long have you lived here?"

"All my life," I thought of something. "Why?"

"Well I was hoping that—"

"I could show you around?" We said in unison. I smiled. "Sure, I don't mind."

"Great! Where to first?"

"The park."

We walked back up the boardwalk until we got to the street, and took the street all the way to the park. Upon entry, it started to snow, and for the second time I got to witness it in action. Matt looked at me curiously.

"You've never seen snow before?"

"Well, yesterday, when I went for a Christmas tree, but no," I said. "It doesn't snow in Alto Mare."

He sighed in relief. "I guess it means I don't have to shovel."

I turned to him and laughed. The snow was such a beautiful sight at night, and when I looked up there were a million more snowflakes coming down. I spotted what looked like a green streak flying through the air, but the snow was impending. I looked around, but couldn't find it again, and gave up. I looked at Matt again. There was already a thin layer of snow on his jet black hair.

"Come on," I said. "You'll be amazed at how big this park really is."

We continued down the path.

I woke up early the next morning. I looked out the window. It was still snowing.

"What?" I pushed the blinds aside and looked outside. Apart from the heavy overcast, snow had built up on the roofs and balconies of the houses across the canal by at least a few inches. Down below in the canal, the water had frozen over, and I could see people skating on the ice. "These people make the best out of any weather."

"Mil?" Millie joined me at the window. She looked like she wanted to show me something. I put on my slippers and followed her downstairs to the living room. I saw dad lying under the Christmas tree, fast asleep. I shrieked and he woke up.

"Molly!" We both hugged for a while. "Oh, I was so worried about you…"

"Me too," I looked at him. "What happened?"

"I went chasing after Morgan, but it lead me to a trap," He sat down on the sofa. "We were imprisoned for nine days before we escaped."

"We?"

"Me, Mismagius," She was sleeping around the other side of the tree. "Rayquaza and Latias."

"Are you all okay?" I sat down next to him. "Morgan didn't do anything to you, did he?"

"Kind of," He said. "Come on, get dressed. I'll explain when we get there."

"Okay," I ran back upstairs and put on the heaviest clothing I could find. I then went back downstairs and joined dad outside. It was freezing.

I trudged through the snow in the garden upon entry. It was so beautiful with the snow. The fountain had frozen over, capturing the water in place, making it look like an ice sculpture. The soul dew wasn't there. Dad told me that Latias had taken it with her to keep it warm. I followed him through the trees, deeper into the garden, until we came up to a rock formation. On the inside, was a cave entrance which eventually led to a small cavern where Rayquaza and Latias were staying. He looked up.

"It's just us," Dad said. "Molly…"

He pointed me over to Latias, who, when I took a good look at her, had suffered some serious injuries. She looked like she was still crying.

"Latias!" I ran up to her. "Are you alright?"

'No,' She wept. 'But I'm glad you came.'

"Hold on, I know what can help," This was a time where my extensive knowledge of berries came in handy. I taught myself, because when I was younger and on my own, I had to find some way to heal the injuries I had been dealt from constant sparring matches. I ran back out of the cave, and looked around for the right berries. Luckily they weren't frozen yet from the weather. I picked off a bundle of berries and returned to the cave.

"How did this happen?" Rayquaza put his head down in a guilty manner as I fed the berries to Latias and dad got ready to explain.

"Morgan somehow put Rayquaza under his control," He sat down on the edge of a rock. "It has a visual side effect this time, by distorting the skin and eye color. Once that was done, he used him to spar with Latias, and as you can see," Dad sighed. "It was costly."

"He got away, didn't he?" I asked. He nodded.

"I'm sorry, Molly," I said. "But I couldn't stop him without stopping Rayquaza first."

I opted to feed another berry to Latias, but she refused to eat. Rayquaza inhaled deeply, wrapping his tail around the two of us to keep us warm. He groaned, but it looked like dad understood what he said.

"What do you mean that's not all?" I turned around.

He growled for a moment. Latias looked up, apparently hearing something she remembered. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand them in my human form. "What's going on…?"

Latias filled me in. She told me that Morgan had taken blood samples from her and Rayquaza, and they both showed me the puncture marks. That was weird. What would Morgan want with that? I tried feeding her another berry, but she refused again, emitting such psychic energy that it could be physically felt.

"Latias…" I put my hand on her head. I knew exactly how she felt. Suddenly my hand started to glow and I froze.

I blinked. It was a warm, sunny afternoon in the garden, and I was wearing my winter clothes, but I didn't feel like I was being affected by the weather. Latias was levitating just a few feet away, and was looking around as if expecting something to happen. Some time passed, and she started to look a little irritated. I giggled.

'How did I end up here?' Her ears twitched, and she flew off, further into the garden. I followed, but she was fast, and with all these clothes on, it was hard to keep up "Latias, slow down!" A shadow raced over my head. I looked up, and was shocked at who eventually tackled her to the ground. "Is that…"

I caught up with the two. When the dust cleared I heard some laughter, and the two were staring cloudless sky.

"What took you so long?" She asked her brother. I was more amazed that I could understand them now.

"You let your guard down," He replied, grinning. "You're easier to catch when you don't expect me coming."

"Humph!" She pouted. I sat on the ground next to them. I tried getting their attention, but it looked as if they couldn't see me. This had to have been one of Latias's memories from before I met her, but how and why was I having it? Latias continued to stare at the sky, and sighed. "Latios…do you think we'll always be together?"

"We live forever," He said. "You know that we will."

"No, I mean together, as in…never separated?" He looked at her. "What if…in the future…"

"No, it will never happen," He got up, bringing her up with him. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you."

I felt a tear roll down my face. I felt the pain as I thought about it. Latios wouldn't fulfill that, even as much as he wanted to think otherwise.

"Now come on," He spread his arms and she smiled, hugging him. "Better?"

"A lot!" She developed an evil smile. "Now it's time for me to catch you!"

She tried catching him, but he slipped out of her grip and out of reach. She chased after him, leaving me standing there. So peaceful and innocent…I wished I could've told them what lay ahead. I blinked again, returning to the cavern. Latias looked up at me, now with more tears rolling down her face. I gasped.

"Latias!" I hugged her as she started to cry. "Latias…I-I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to…"

'How did you?' She looked at me. I had never felt a surge like that before, nor could I read people's thoughts. I wasn't a psychic, but it all pieced together once I looked at the star. It was glowing at its center. Dad said he made it out of the elemental plates, so maybe it temporarily gave me psychic powers.

"What happened?" Dad asked, walking over. I turned back to Latias.

"Latias, I'm going to try something, bear with me," She nodded, and I placed my hand on her head again, and started to concentrate. Eventually I could feel energy flowing through my arm from the star to Latias's body. It was overwhelming, and I struggled to keep up the concentration, but I broke it off, holding my head and squinting. Dad came to hold me.

"Molly, what's going on?"

"Latias…did it work?" I asked her, opening my eyes. My vision was a bit blurred, so I couldn't see her all that well.

'You could say that,' Her voice was filled with joy.

"Okay, can someone fill me in?" My vision regained focus, and I looked up. Latias was partially healed, but she did the rest herself. I turned back to dad. "How did Latias heal so fast?"

"I think there's more to this star than just the plates it was made out of."

We spent the rest of the afternoon explaining how I survived my predicament, eventually telling him about Matt. Then, that evening when we got back home grandma finally got a chance to look at dad and scolded him for worrying us all. Speaking of which, the dinner table was very full this evening. Rayquaza, or as dad described him to grandma, "Ray", had a human form, and he and Latias joined for dinner. Danielle and Gallade closed the restaurant for the day and came to join us. Grandma, having finally given in to all my pleas, opened up the food cooked from the night before.

"Calvin, you never told me," She said. "Why did you fire that employee of yours? Danielle, was it?" He tried to get her from finishing the sentence, but it was already too late. Dani looked shocked.

'You told her that you fired me?'

"W-what I meant to say," He tried to ignore her, but her glare was unavoidable. "Is that as I fired her…she quit."

"You know why?" Grandma asked. "You didn't mistreat her, did you?"

He cleared his throat. "Well…"

Grandma gasped. "Calvin Augustine Winthrop, I did not raise you to disrespect."

My mouth dropped to the floor. So did everyone else at the table. Latias immediately broke into laughter, which meant that grandma's vibe was slowly starting to help her get over what had happened before.

"Augustine?" I laughed. I honestly thought that dad didn't have a middle name.

"Well since we're throwing middle names around, Carolyn," I stopped laughing. "No, mom, I did not mistreat her, she found a better job in Goldenrod City, so she said."

She nodded, and the table went quiet. I saw someone standing outside and decided to excuse myself before the moment became awkward. It was Matt again. He was bundled up for the weather. "Hi, Matt."

"Oh, hi Molly, merry Christmas," I replied with the same greeting. "I just came back from the store, but even that's confusing…"

I giggled "Well I found out that my dad's middle name is Augustine," We both laughed again. "Say, I know this is a bit too much but…are you busy?"

"Not really, we're all moved in."

I nodded. "Do you mind joining us for dinner? My dad would love to know get to know you."

"Really?" I nodded. "I'd love to."

"Okay then," He followed me back inside. I caught a look from Latias and responded with a nod. Destiny was looking real good right now.