Chapter 5 – Piercing the ice
"It's not as bad as I thought. Both Khali and Sneasel will be back in good health soon enough, and when Sneasel is, you're leaving."
"I'm staying the night."
"No. You're leaving. Period."
"Oh, come on, you can't expect me to sleep out there in the cold. In a few hours, the sun will already be setting, and it will be dark long before I reach Blackthorn City. I'm staying the night, whether you like it or not."
"You can borrow a flashlight, but you're not staying, and that's final."
"Damn it, woman!" Silver slammed his fist onto the table, making the coffee mugs rattle. His anger was returning. Did she really not understand? "I'm borrowing your tent and sleeping outside, then, but I'm staying the night here. I'm NOT going through Ice Path in the dark, with or without a damn flashlight!"
Rowena sighed, irritated, while pouring coffee into the mugs.
"Fine, take the spare tent and sleeping equipment. Tomorrow morning I want you gone." She put the coffee kettle on the table sharply, as if to emphasis her point. "Understood?"
"Why are you so desperate for me to leave?" Silver asked, still fuming. Rowena snorted.
"Why are you so desperate to stay?" She hissed back. This time, though, Silver actually had an answer.
"I'm sick of being pushed away!" He snapped, rising from his seat so forcefully the chair fell backwards. "You can mock me all you want with how that monster left me when I was a kid and how my personality traits aren't exactly making me likeable in any way, as usual. No, I'm sick of being pushed away by you!"
He paused, catching his breath as if he had run a marathon, waiting for her response. Rowena narrowed her eyes.
"Then why in the world of Arceus did you come looking for me in the first place, knowing you'd be pushed away?"
That pushed Silver over the edge. In one swift, forceful movement he grabbed her and slammed her into the wall, his hand on her throat. She didn't even flinch, simply blinked once, as if she was getting used to the situation. This annoyed him even further.
"So I could make sure you understood I'm not going to take that from you anymore. You can try all you want, but I'm not leaving this time." He hissed.
"You never did without a fight before either, why would I expect you to leave willingly for once?" She spat through gritted teeth, struggling to breathe normally.
"You tell me, since I'm not." His grip was tightening, and Rowena felt her head spin slightly. Darn it, he was strong! "I'm staying the night here, whether you like it or not, understood?"
To answer, she kneed him in the stomach, causing him to gasp in surprise and letting go off her throat. Massaging her aching neck and feeling oxygen rush up to her head she leaned against the wall, panting.
"Sit… down! Drink… that… darn… coffee… and shut up!" Rowena sank down onto her chair, her head still slightly blurred. Silver didn't answer as he picked up his chair and sat down on it, clasping his stomach and coughing. "One day you'll be the death of me, and you're probably looking forward to it." She glared at him, eyes full of hatred. "Is that why you're not leaving? Hoping you'll see me drop dead? Sorry, not going to give you the satisfaction." Her voice was hoarse and cracked; the combination of her sore throat, anger and hurt.
"That's not it, and you know it." Silver said, his voice cracking a bit too. Rowena huffed, taking a sip of her coffee and wincing at the pain in her throat.
"Then what?"
For the first time, Silver fell silent. He didn't know what to answer. This woman had always stirred up his emotions to their boiling point; she was the fire and he was the kettle of water. Undoubtedly she felt the same way, as she had always enjoyed annoying him. In the past, this had always resulted in one of them leaving without their meeting reaching any conclusion whatsoever. Now though, all of sudden, it felt like they had reached that conclusion, and neither of them were leaving. Silver had to answer her question, there was no other option. Sneasel was still out cold, sleeping soundly on the quilt right beside Khali, and jolting out the door without Sneasel in good health was completely out of question. Therefore, Silver took a sip of his coffee and took a deep breath.
"One of us always left. Sometimes you did, sometimes I did. It was unsatisfying; never reaching this point where you and I actually try figuring each other out. When I saw you in Ilex Forest the past came back to haunt me. I was powerless to do a thing. Don't you see? I had to find you; it felt like some kind of balance had been disturbed. I had to find you and confront you once and for all, and hence, I'm not leaving now. Not this time."
Silver looked over at Rowena, waiting for a response. She was silent, not knowing exactly how to respond. Clearly, despite his cold exterior, Silver was a man of emotions. He had always been – always angry, hateful... Rowena, on the other hand, wasn't. She enjoyed annoying him, amongst other things, and his presence had mostly annoyed her, which she somehow liked and disliked at the same time. Yet, now that she thought about it, he was the only person to ever actually amuse her in any way, be it his anger when she won a battle or his sneering remarks when she lost. Never had she thought about this in such a way Silver was now suggesting. Slowly, she finally responded.
"To be honest, I'm still not sure exactly what you seek. I might not be a Rocket admin anymore, but I'm still me, and from what I know, you've always hated me. The sight of me seems to disgust you, and sure, I can somehow understand why. The fact that you're not leaving puzzles me more than anything else, since I thought you wanted nothing more than leave me and this forsaken place behind as fast as possible. Then again, I really couldn't figure out why you came looking for me in the first place, since I was so sure you really wouldn't want to see me a second longer than you had to. Admittedly, I enjoy annoying you to no end, it has always given me some kind of satisfaction I can't quite put my finger on, and running away from you was certainly entertaining. Exhilarating even. So, fine then, stay the night here with Sneasel. I won't kick you out if you that desperately seek my company, even though it remains to me a mystery as to why in the world of Arceus you'd want to."
She stood up and walked over to a cupboard, taking out a spare mattress. Silver was still sitting by the table, stunned, like she had hit him in the head with a frying pan. Rowena had never spoken more than a few, short sentences to him at once, and now, she had basically spilled her heart out. That ice-cold heart... He looked at her making the extra bed on the floor. Feeling his heartbeat speed up slightly, he decided to ask her.
"You know my story. Tell me yours." It was more a request than a demand, and apparently, that could be heard in his voice, since Rowena didn't even flinch at it. Instead, she sighed deeply.
"There's really nothing to tell. I grew up in Viridian City; my dad was a Rocket agent and mum was no criminal at all. She worked at the Pokémon Center as an assistant. Mum died of a horrible illness when I was six and soon after, dad was assigned for an undercover mission in Johto. Unable to take me with him, I was left in the care of two Rocket admins, a married couple. They took me under their wing and I can't say I had a bad childhood. They loved me and took care of me, taught me how to battle and how to survive in any condition under any circumstances. Dad gave me Khali when he left, and she's my most precious companion to this day. I never saw dad again, and when I became an admin, I found out he had died during his mission. It was no surprise really. About Giovanni... he trusted his admins, and trusted them so much he made me one at an early age. I think he did it mostly so I could be left standing in your way, really, since around the time I was made admin you had started to get in the way of Team Rocket's plans... Not that I minded being the one always standing between you and your dad, I can truthfully say it was a thrill. That's really all there is to it. Mewtwo happened, I walked out together with my step-parents and here I am, a Johto ranger; and I intend to stay this way."
Not really having expected an answer at all, it took Silver some time to process her story. She was an orphan, just like him, even though she actually had a stepfamily, which he never had. She had been taken in by Team Rocket, while he basically had been left out of it. Somehow he was grateful for it, even though Giovanni had handed him over to his fate when abandoning him. Rowena was probably right in saying she had been promoted to an admin with the main purpose of keeping Silver busy from basically screwing up their plans.
Rowena stood up and went over to the fireplace, fueling it up with some more firewood. The light of the flames reflected on her pale cheeks, her silver hair shimmering. Silver felt his heart skip a beat and looked down on his clenched fist. What exactly was she doing to him?
"I need to get us some food, since you're staying." Rowena stated, throwing yet another piece of firewood into the flames. "I'll head down to the ranger's supply under the house; there should be something or other edible. I'm back in a few." With that, she pulled on her boots and jacket and headed outside.
Silver drank the rest of his coffee, struggling to get a hold of himself. Finally, it felt like they had pierced the ice, and he was going to make sure it wasn't freezing over again in the first place.