Darkrai had never been the type to freak out, or feel scared nonetheless, as he was the nightmare Legendary – a creature created by Arceus himself to scare the minds of both normal Pokemon and humans everywhere. He loved his role among the rules of natural balance, finding joy in the mere satisfaction of knowing that the beings among the Earth were screaming in their sleep since they were being chased by horrific monsters behind closed eyelids.

He was the 'grim reaper' of the Pokemon world; the pure definition of horror, carrying more capability to frighten people than the guardian of the Underworld's gateway – Giratina. Whenever he felt scared, he would scold himself, mentally grading his cowardly thoughts to be out of character for him, or simply bad for the reputation he held to beings in all places. It was oxymoronic for the prince of darkness and horror to be afraid of anything, even if it was sometimes because of the unknown events the future had in store, or the fact that his counterpart, Cresselia, was on one of her moods.

Speaking of which…

Darkrai blinked, escaping his mesh of jumbled thoughts that he had gotten lost into while sitting in his cage. He wasn't surprised that he had been daydreaming, as it was pretty much the only thing he could do in the imprisoned state he was in (well, other than stare at the four colorless walls all day). The current things he had been pondering about revolved around the fright that had been filling his heart lately, and how it seemed weird for such a 'paranormal' apparition like him to be experiencing feelings similar to them. He hated it when he felt scared, mainly because when he was his arms got wobbly, feeling weakened even, and it was bad enough for the nightmare Legendary to feel cowardly in the first place.

Now, however, he somewhat understood why he felt so scared, although he managed to confine it all into a simple silent phase he put himself in. He was being cowardly because he did not know what the future held, which was one of the 'usual' reasons for one to become scared, despite that this didn't make him feel any better.

What was Terotrey planning?

That had been the question on everyone's mind lately, and no one, not even the wise Pokemon, Entei, could come up with the deep intention the silver-haired scientist obviously had in mind. It was mainly because of this did Darkrai feel scared since he did not know what this very intention or plan was. He held hope still, like he always told others he did, even when he actually didn't simply due to the fact that the mess he was in was something beyond hoping for a solution would bring comfort in. In fact, since Terotrey had captured most of the Legendaries with ease, he was certain they were all doomed.

He decided to keep such acceptance of the end in his mind rather than explain it to Entei and Cresselia. He had told them off whenever they implied that they had accepted the obvious truth – how Terotrey was winning and there was no signs of any change – but in the back of his head he was actually thinking the exact same things. Sure he believed in Raikou, but even he knew that giving support to the thunder tiger who had gotten exiled off the council because of his intolerant arrogant behavior looked more like a sign of desperation than true belief. Then again, he really had no one else to believe in.

Even Legendaries need hope sometimes…

Such a comment was now starting to sound like the motto of an insane philosopher to the mind of Darkrai, as the Legendaries were the ones who protected the world – not the ones who needed to be saved; who needed to be rescued. Even with evil organizations such as Team Rocket or Galactic on their tails twenty-four and seven, they had always fought to the end and made it out easily before the members of the said groups could even realize they had lost.

Darkrai wasn't trying to sound defeated, but he knew he had to face reality, and believing constantly, placing hopes in the last few beings that had a one percent chance of carrying the capability to save them like the folks in those child movies always managed to do was the complete opposite. He also wasn't believing just because of Raikou; he liked the kid! But, as said before, if the thunder tiger didn't rescue them, then it wouldn't be the only time he had let his Legendary teammates down.

Shifting his sea-green eyes to the corner of his cage, where Cresselia was hovering quietly, examining the ceiling like a bored genius, Darkrai sighed to himself. He admired his counterpart quite a lot, mainly because when he displayed symptoms of having hope even when he didn't, she never showed any signs of giving up either, almost as if she was willing to fight by his side until the end. He hated the Arceus-awful truth on how he had lied previously – that he didn't have hope for the future; that he actually believed this was the end for the Legendaries, but even then his counterpart actually acted like she did. He had no direct idea if she was carrying hope just because he said he did, but nonetheless was just happy that at least one of them hadn't been looking at the miserable side of everything lately…

To tell you the truth, he enjoyed being with his counterpart. Despite that they were both stuck in one cage in one room that gave them no signs if it was day or not, were probably mere days away from an uncertain death, and were forced to tolerate each other's personalities when they were both usually arguing all the time because of it, he had grown to believe that he wouldn't want to suffer such things by anyone else's side but hers.

He turned his softened eyes downward, smiling slightly, a blush rising to his obsidian face.

Yup, he loved her for sure.

He wasn't in the mood to dwell why, as his mind was already aching enough from the scolds he had mentally given himself for feeling scared all day. Now, whenever he looked at his counterpart, even when she was too lost in her thoughts to notice his loving gaze, he felt comforted – that everything would be fine. His heart fluttered with warmth, his fright dissipated away, and he felt the urge to move closer to her tug on his nerves. Strangely he wasn't scolding himself for experiencing these feelings, as, even when they seemed against his nature, they were the only things that helped him keep his sanity in their room that sort of looked like a confinement for a lunatic at an insane asylum.

"Hey…'Rai?"

Darkrai blinked as Cresselia's soft tone emitted from the corner of the cage, barely above a whisper.

'Rai?

She hadn't called him that in ages! It was the nickname she had made for him when they first met back in the days when she would annoy him just for the heck of it, seeing as how he always acted like an ass to her. He still did at times, although she was used to it and usually retorted back, eventually turning it into a full-fledged argument that made the Pokemon all the way in Orre cover their ringing ears in pain. He had to admit that he enjoyed it when she got angry, as when she did her expression turned into a one fit for some sort of barbaric woman before contorting into a pouting face that would match a stubborn kindergartner's – a face that would make Darkrai chuckle and want to bring her into a full embrace at its mere cuteness.

Now, as he had realized that he had grown to love his counterpart, he didn't mind the nickname, and instead felt happy since he was certain it was meant as a sign of affection, or simply a friendship bond 'thing'. Perhaps she felt comfortable when she was with him now, which was good because he wanted her to feel happy in his presence.

"Yeah?" he eventually replied, feeling his heart melt as she turned her attention away from the roof of their cage to his eyes, which had grown a somewhat-glowing hue to them. She slightly smiled as well, even when her counterpart had placed a smirk on his face rather than the large grin he wanted, just so he could hide his softie side from the being he loved with every inch of his dark, ghostly heart.

Cresselia slowly hovered closer to him, landing right beside him, which convinced him to land as well. Her eyes slowly gained a monotonic glisten to them, obviously hinting at the boredom that covered her countenance. When Darkrai saw this he immediately displayed the same look, feeling similar to his counterpart since there was nothing much to do in a cage. She suddenly brought her eyes to him, the awkward silence bothering her to where she finally answered, "I just wanted to ask you something…"

Darkrai turned his eyes to gaze at her, eyebrow slightly quirked. He had placed his arms behind him to support his weight as he leaned back against the cold flooring of the iron cage, although he brought his claw up to brush a strand of albino hair from his face every now and then. Even with silence dominating him Cresselia could tell that he was waiting for her question.

"I just wanted to ask," she began, voice quiet, "if there are any things you always wanted to do before you die…"

Darkrai could feel his eyebrow raise higher at the randomness of the question, and also at the fact that his counterpart was yet again implying that she had accepted their possible tragic fate, or at least something just as horrific. He remained silent, slowly sliding his eyes upwards as he pondered on her question. It was obvious she was trying to start a conversation to end the boredom that lingered among them, so the least he could do was provide her with an answer. If he could he would give her the world, after all (despite that he was trying to avoid becoming a hopeless romantic).

Eventually he shrugged, his voice casual since he was good at keeping his feelings away from his tone. "Explore the world; invent the cure for cancer; go bungee-jumping – you know, the usual stuff…"

Cresselia couldn't help but chuckle slightly at his attempted humor, which he thanked himself for pulling off since he enjoyed the sound of her heavenly voice coming out as a laugh. He found it quite strange that he was mostly complementing her on this kind of stuff, although he couldn't help but smile at the fact that he could still bring happiness to his crush even in gloomy times like the one they were in now.

"Come on, 'Rai," she managed to mutter out between giggles. "Tell me what you really always wanted to do."

Darkrai brought his eyes back up, this time pondering for a REAL answer. He could feel himself even cock his head to the side, as he really had never asked himself such a question, mostly because he never thought death would be looming over him. Perhaps he would want to go out with a 'bang' and give everyone nightmares in a few seconds flat, and also make them really weird ones where the victims woke up with quirked eyebrows rather than faces contorted with fear and nervous sweat. Maybe he would also take a trip to Alamos Town and visit Alice one last time – his good friend from a conflict he solved a while ago that involved an arguing Dialga and Palkia.

He eventually found himself turning his eyes to Cresselia, and, as if he knew all along, the very thing he would want to do before he died flashed through his mind like a sudden realization.

He would want to tell her how he felt.

He would tell her that he loved her – that he had grown to have feelings for her despite the bickering they did most of the time. He would tell her that he wanted to have her in his arms, comforting her, caressing her cheek with his finger like any creature affectionate to another would.

However, he didn't want to answer with such a conclusion. The last thing he wanted was to freak out his counterpart, and despite that the moment where they were obviously not far from a horrific ending fit with the act of confessing his love to her, he still felt like it wasn't right. What would he do if she didn't love him back? It would simply just add tension between them, which they really didn't need in the end of days.

Gees, he sure was sounding negative today…

To save himself from being suspicious, he chuckled in an arrogant manner before replying, "I will tell you my goal I would want to accomplish before I die" – he suddenly smirked deviously – "but you have to tell me yours first."

Cresselia only turned to eye him confusingly before her mind processed his words and brought her to display an expression of bewilderment. She hadn't really given it much thought on what she would want to do before she died, apart from probably play a prank on Darkrai that would make him swallow his tongue and eat his arrogant words on how he thought he was the only 'civilized' one among them. She didn't want to reply with such a response, though, as she didn't want to offend her counterpart, or even bring a frown to his face when the recent times had been depressing enough already.

With a short sigh, she brought herself to mutter, "To tell you the truth I can't really think of anything…" She chuckled sheepishly, as if embarrassed, although her lips formed into a smile a few seconds after. "Nonetheless, I gave you a response, so you have to tell me the thing you would want to do."

Darkrai groaned, as her answer hadn't even been worth postponing his. He debated with himself mentally if he should tell her the truth about his love towards her, or simply give her one of the answers that he had thought up before. Finally choosing, he turned to her. "I would want…" He stuttered a bit, pausing his sentence entirely as he gave one last inch of thought to what he wanted to say. Admit his love? Don't admit his love? Admit his love? Don't admit his love? He had a hard time deciding. He slowly sighed, though, as he then finished. "I would want…to scare as much people as I could before I go."

Cresselia, who had been waiting anxiously for his response, suddenly allowed her enthusiasm to die down, acting as if his answer wasn't the one she had been hoping for. In fact, she didn't know what she was expecting, but with the way he had replied with such a voice that would outmatch a depressed person's, she couldn't help but feel the same emotion.

She didn't want to pursue it in case the reason behind it all was private, so she instead nodded slowly before turning around to head back to her part of the cage.

Darkrai watched her go, and could feel his heart plummet right then and there. He always scolded himself for being afraid, and now he was mentally bashing himself in the brain for being too scared to at least admit his feelings. He didn't want her to fall out of his reach without knowing the truth, and even he, a loner Pokemon who was obsessed with the idea of tormenting others with horrific dreams, had to agree with this. Before he realized it, his mouth had opened before his brain could comprehend.

"Wait!"

He froze as Cresselia snapped around to eye him, her eyebrow quirked, lavender eyes glistening with curiosity. It was obvious he wasn't going to get out of this one without telling the truth, and he could fell his breath quicken as he struggled on what to do, or even on what to say. He blinked a few times, staring at her as she stared back, which he found quite odd that she was acting so patient when most usually would've went back to their business by now and shrugged the unexplained call away. He knew that this very moment had to be the moment he was waiting for.

It was now or never.

Before Cresselia could even shiver in surprise when Darkrai lunged forward and grasped her face in his claws, pulling her towards him, the nightmare Legendary had closed his eyes, leaned in, and brought his mouth to hers.

He was…kissing her?

She widened her eyes at this, seeing as how her counterpart was actually kissing her, as if they were two dopey humans madly in love. She felt the emotions inside of her go off like fireworks, and she could feel warmth flutter through her stomach. She didn't even realize that in the midst of this she had closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation.

Eventually Darkrai pulled away, still holding her face in his claws, and he smiled as she opened her soft eyes to meet his. "The only thing I would ever want to do before I die," he then began to speak, his tone abnormally soft, "was to tell you that I love you."

Cresselia blinked, somewhat doubtful that the loving being holding her face in his claws was actually her loner, arrogant counterpart, Darkrai - that the being who had kissed her with such gentleness as if she was actually kissing a ghost (irony not intended) was her rival among the arts of bravery versus fright.

Eventually she smiled, though, realizing that the being in front of her was Darkrai – the being she had been wishing would become nicer and livelier. Now he had, and she felt like her life was complete, that being in her lover's arms, feeling his fingers caress her metallic skin was everything to her. She could fell her heart fly when he leaned in to touch his forehead to hers, both of them smiling like goofy teenagers.

His answer to her question…it was the one she had been hoping for all this time!

"I love you, too," she then replied, and he responded by placing another kiss to her lips before bringing her into an embrace.

Eventually a giggle emitted from out of nowhere, and Darkrai and Cresselia pulled away with quirked eyebrows and wandered their eyes around to find the source. They slowly turned them to the cage next to them, where the fire lion, Entei, was chuckling to himself as if he had just witnessed something cute and fuzzy. It was quite a weird sight when the old, philosophical Pokemon was performing it.

"Darkrai and Cresselia," he then said in a sing-song tone, "sitting in a cage, k-i-s-s-i-n-g."

The dreaming Legendaries rolled their eyes at the fire lion's childishness, but eventually brought each other into another embrace as they enjoyed the fact that they both were finally together.

They were suddenly split apart when the door into the room burst open, and two Rocket grunts surrounding a moveable cage came in, placing the metallic confinement right by Entei, who he, along with Darkrai and Cresselia, stared bewilderedly at as the Rocket grunts then, without sounds of any type, scurried off out of the room, slamming the door behind them as if they were in a hurry. With silence dominating them Darkrai and the others gaped their mouths slightly when they realized there was an unconscious four-legged being in the cage, and they couldn't help but widen their eyes as they recognized who it was.

Blue skin.

Purple cape-like feature on its back.

White whips for tails.

A crystal ornament attached to its head.

Darkrai could feel his breath quicken again, his stomach churning as his fears of the future and the strong lack of hope returned to his heart, allowing sudden depression to rest within him.

And all because the dog-like being in the cage – one of the 'free' creatures they had been hoping would save them – was Suicune.