Note: Huff... I'm back! I'm AWFULLY sorry for the late update, but sad thing is... School's back, so I guess the best you can expect right now is a minimum of one update per week now... Oh well, I hope you guys still managed to enjoy this... I've got a little surprise here though... I brought someone from a previous chappie back! Read on to find out!

Rose's POV:

Ouch!

Why do I feel so... uncomfortable.

Hello? Anybody here?

Silence...

I slowly opened my eyes. I groggily woke up and looked around. It was nighttime and everything was still and silent... I tried hard to remember what had happened before I fell asleep.

He kissed me...

I guess I'd rather NOT remember. I checked my surroundings once more to survey the area. I was in a forest, that much was obvious... But where was Blade?

I saw my captor, Blade, soon enough though, answering my question. The noble Gallade was asleep in a sleeping bag beside his belongings.

I guess he was asleep so I could just walk away-

I walked away to notice that my hands were tied together, the rope stretching out to latch onto a wooden peg, preventing me from escaping. At first, I was distraught, but my face soon changed to a grin.

A rope? This freak must be underestimating me, I thought as I smiled.

I silently burned down my ropes using weak jolts of electricity from Thunderbolt. After getting rid of all the ropes that had bound my body, I brushed off the ashes and stood up.

"Too easy," I spat, giving Blade, who was still sleeping, a wink to taunt him.

I guess I had only took three steps when I heard a cracking sound from the ground. I turned around, hoping that the sound didn't wake Blade up.

He was still asleep.

I sighed in relief and took another step.

Crack!

Oh boy... It had dawned upon me too late that I had stepped on some pitfall trap.

I fell down to a hole that stretched deeply into the ground. Upon closer inspection, the hole was finely dug, the walls being all smooth with cut-like marks all around.

I sighed.

I MUST be getting old now... I cursed.

A head popped out and looked down at me from the top of the hole. It was Blade's. I guess I must've woken him up.

"Trying to escape?" Blade sleepily yawned.

"What do you think?" I spat back.

"Well, I guess you should know that I wouldn't be so gullible to leave a well-known thief tied up in the corner without taking any extra precautions," he stated.

I gritted my teeth. Did I really have no hope of escaping from the start?

A few seconds later, Blade had hauled me up and tied me... tightly this time. He had tied up my whole body this time, not just my hands. It made it uncomfortable for me to move or sleep, for that matter.

"Ouch! At least learn to be soft on a woman!" I groaned, moving my body as a gesture telling him that tying me up like that was too much.

"I'm sorry, but if I loosened it, you would escape like awhile ago," he sincerely replied, closing his eyes as he said so.

I groaned, I guess I blew his trust away... Not that he had any trust in me in the first place...

After he had tied me up, he began to wear a leather strap around his waist. He clipped a chain to the rope that was tied up around me and clipped the other end to the leather strap he wore. In other words, I'm trapped and I couldn't escape from him.

"There, now you can't go anywhere. Don't try attacking me, because I know all the attacks you currently have at your arsenal and I have separate counters for each of them. You might not like what I have in mind though, so I suggest that you just behave," he warned, keeping his voice stern.

I groaned, but I nodded in approval. I guess I had no choice but to follow Mr. Swordsman's orders.

He went back to his sleeping bag and was about to sleep, but he changed his mind and stood up after contemplating what to do.

He finally moved and took out an extra sleeping bag from his supplies. He walked over to me and unrolled it on the floor.

"I'd suggest that you sleep now, we have a long day of questioning tomorrow," he unemotionally suggested, not allowing a small bit of emotion to escape his mouth.

I looked away from him to show that I didn't care about what he said. Instead, I continued to move wildly, trying to break out of my ropes.

Blade merely sighed, as if his act of kindness was a mistake.

"They get tighter if you move," he informed, "I don't know about you, but I'm sleeping now. Don't try anything funny."

He immediately went to sleep, snoring softly with an innocent look on his face. No, he wasn't innocent... He was the fool who had played with my feelings.

I continued to try to escape, but let's just say that the ropes were beginning to make breathing harder for me.

With all hope extinguished, I sighed. Maybe that pathetic do-gooder was right. I lay down on the extra sleeping bag that he had laid out for me.

I couldn't sleep though, for the temperature was awfully cold. Blade looked all cozy with a blanket and all... I wonder if I could...

No! I scolded myself, There's no freaking way that I'm going to ask or borrow anything from that pathetic fool!

The cold weather seemed to relish the thought of emotionally torturing me though.

No! No! No! I'm not asking him nicely for anything!

I began to sneeze.

I guess I was REALLY feeling all cold that I guess it was messing with my mind.

You'll never guess what I did next... I shyly inched closer to him and slept just beside him, using the edge of his blanket to keep me warm.

The warmth was just... refreshing. The welcoming warmth of the blanket and Blade's body heat lulled me to sleep. Maybe I shouldn't have done that simple action. I soon fell into a wonderful dream.

Everything was calm in the forest. The trees, the flowers, they all bathed me in such warmth. The silence was shattered by footsteps though.

As they got louder, I noticed a black silhouette approaching me. I somehow recognized it as the same silhouette that had appeared from my vision.

I got into a battle stance, ready for whatever he might throw at me. To my surprise, a small flash of white showed on his face,,, it was a grin. He warmly hugged me as if... as if he cared. He hugged me as if he was inviting me to just empty all my feelings to him.

I desperately tried to shrug him off but I stopped when I realized something, the whole world was unfair to me... I was alone. But with him, I knew that I wasn't alone.

For the first time, I returned the hug and cried. I cried to him. I wanted someone to know how I felt. I wanted someone to understand me. I wanted someone who would wipe off my tears. I just cried out all my feelings to the stranger knowing that he would run away, leaving me like the rest.

Just once, I didn't want him to leave. I wanted him to-

"Um... Can you please... err... take your hands off me?" a voice echoed, snapping me back to reality.

I opened my eyes, only to find out that I had been hugging Blade whole I was asleep. I blinked, feeling that my eyes were wet, as if I had been crying.

Oh nuts! I silently prayed that he didn't know I was crying, that would be unexplainable. I noticed that my tears had slid off to Blade's body as I hugged him during my sleep... I am SO sleeping in the cold next time.

I stared back at him and he stared back at me, still frozen... I couldn't tell what he was thinking. I could feel a small blush creeping to my face then, I silently prayed that he wouldn't notice.

"So..." Blade awkwardly asked, blushing, "What are you doing?"

"Oh... um... err... well..." I tried to find an excuse, taking away my hands from his body and trying to hide my blush, "I-I was cold..."

I gulped.

"I-I was cold," I continued, "So, I... err... thought that I could... borrow that blanket of yours..."

He began to look away from my face as if he was also embarrassed.

"Oh... uh... okay, it's not because we... kissed or anything, right?" he awkwardly shot back.

"N-no!" I yelled back, "Listen, let's just pretend that nothing happened, okay?"

Blade sighed.

"Okay," he continued, finally calmed down, "Let's get a move on then... I'm supposed to bring you back and turn you in today..."

Oh right! I was his prisoner...

I sighed, I had no choice but to follow him as I was all tied up to him anyway. I began to think to myself if all this stealing stuff was actually worth it in the end... I can already imagine tomorrow's headlines: "Mystery Thief Finally Caught".

"So... uh... Why were you crying?" he suddenly broke the silence as he walked, his voice kept at a stern level.

I contemplated on whether to to answer his question. Of course, he wouldn't care... I mean, why would he?

"I... don't know what you're talking about," I plainly lied.

He looked back at me sternly.

"Don't lie," he continued, "I was drenched in your tears last night. Now, why would a cold-hearted thief like you cry? I'm... intrigued by such a behavior..."

I fell silent. Would I dare tell this fool... Would I tell him that, secretly, this thief was born because of the feeling of loneliness? Did I dare tell him that under this mask of trickery was actually loneliness?

No, I won't...

"I... Was crying for I felt unaccepted," I softly replied.

Yeah right, my conscience scolded, you wouldn't admit it...

"Why would you care about that?" he asked, his tone turning somewhat lighter, "You're a thief, of course you'd be unaccepted."

"No," I geared up, "I became a thief because of that. I was abandoned! I was all alone! Everything... everything was unfair! I wanted to take vengeance on this kind of way fate worked, I wanted to take my revenge on those who saw life fairly and happily. That's why I steal stuff, they have no right to live in bliss when they cannot see the true cruelty of life!"

I fell silent after the outburst. I... I felt a deep feeling in my chest grow lighter. I had never spoken out how I truly felt before. It felt... good that it was finally out.

"Oh, I understand how you feel all right," he answered, as if he cared, "I understand how you feel, because I also feel that way. I was abandoned when I was young, so I also know how it feels... The unfairness and all, the cruelty, mostly... But that is also where we differ. I do feel the world being unfair, which is why I choose to help others so that I may make this world better. I'm sorry for saying this but, even if I feel sorry for you, I still have to turn you in for your crimes. I hope you understand."

"I understand," I answered, now calmed down.

Was what he said true? Was I... Was I really wrong from the start?

I had no such time to think about that though, as a Shadow Ball had been hurled towards Blade at the moment from an unknown attacker.

Blade was caught off-guard this time and so he wasn't able to counter the Ice Beam shot towards him from behind.

The ropes which were tied around me suddenly broke, as if someone invisible had just cut them off. My mouth was still hanging open when a Froslass suddenly made herself visible in front of me after the ropes were cut.

"Come," she softly said as she beckoned me further away into the woods.

Still shocked, I did the only thing that was left in my options. I followed her. When we were finally hidden in the thick foliage, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Um... thanks... You saved me... but why?" I uncomfortably asked.

"I've come to save you after learning from Jirachi that you had saved me," she said with a bow.

"What?" my eyes widened, "You're saying... you were... THAT Froslass?"

"Umm... Yes... Please call me Claire," she shyly introduced, bowing politely.

"Well, err... Thanks anyway... I should get going now," I slowly replied.

I began to walk away. Little did I know that before I could ever break free of my emotional prison, I would first have to learn what a friend is... Despite my rude refusal to accept Claire as one back then, I'm quite glad that she would indeed become a friend.

Note: Didn't expect Claire, did you? Oh well, I've already started on the next chappie, so I guess it won't be long before I upload the next one. As always, all I ask for is reviews! Opinions are really my burning fuel for this... Without it, my product won't come out well, so if you have 'em right there, just spit it out! I'll be sure to lend an ear to them. All right, seeya guys then!~