We had some amusing scenes in the last chapter, another light breather. This chapter's not exactly a breather, but it's certainly warm and comforting. Finally, a reunion that's taken too damn long to get to, this is exactly what we needed! Enjoy this nice bit of wholesomeness before we get to the dramatic story of brothers and sisters that's plaguing the Harker family's siblings.

KedharS: Yes, they're very interesting side characters.

Guest: Well, here's one more bit of peace and happiness before that drama.

Hyphenman: Yeah, Daryl and Julia are friends, which is why Reiner has an instinctual distrust of him immediately.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1277

Things on campus were eclectic for the next few days. Blake was training for his match with Kanone, and many of the other students were training for their matches, as well. If that wasn't enough, the students who had been training with gym leaders were slowly trickling back in, Kate included. The dour Poison type specialist went to Blake the second she came back, before she even went to check in with her beloved Alcea. That alone was a pretty good indicator of how serious Blake had made the situation out to her.

But with everyone excited and preparing in anticipation, there was one person who was anticipating the students' return more than anyone else.

"Am I okay?" Dakota fretted, checking her looks in the mirror for the fiftieth time that morning.

"You look fine," Serefina assured her, rolling her eyes.

"But… but my hair's pink. And my eyes are blue. You don't think… is this really okay? That I look different now?" Dakota frantically started to hyperventilate, not sure what to make of her situation. She turned to Serefina, begging her friend to give her some advice.

Serefina just rolled her eyes again.

"You know you look fine," she assured Dakota. "Just go already!"

Dakota turned pale. "W-Wait, you're not coming with me?!" She whimpered. "I-I can't go all by myself, no way!"

Serefina smirked. "Oh, me being there would just get in the way."

She didn't mention the part where she would be hanging back on the sidelines, ready to capture the whole thing on video. It worked both ways, and Dakota was finally going to get a taste of her own medicine.

It was karma, really.

Somehow, Dakota managed to summon up the courage to actually leave the room. She crossed campus, nearly turning back in self-doubt about twenty times, but she finally made it to the docks. Fortunately, there were a lot of other students waiting for their friends to return, so it wasn't like she was stranded there alone.

Come on, just think of it like you're writing a story, she reassured herself. Yeah, that's it. You're just doing a report on all the returning students, nothing too major.

That lie was enough to calm her down slightly, but only just slightly. Her heart refused to stop beating no matter how badly she wanted it to.

The worst thing about waiting for someone to arrive via boat is how slow it takes. When they're coming in by airplane, they're on the ground before you can blink. But with a boat, the process is slow and gradual; you can see the boat slowly pull into the pier, and before that, it can take dozens of minutes to get there after you first see it over the horizon.

When the ferry first appeared, Dakota's heart stopped in her chest. She didn't start breathing again until it had almost reached the shore.

To Dakota's continued fortune, all eyes were focused on the boat. Because if someone had happened to glance her way, they would have seen the pink-haired girl flicker for a brief moment as she teleported back to her room, before chastising herself as a coward instantly and returning to the spot she'd been standing on.

No one but Serefina saw this, thank god, and she hastily deleted the recording from her phone before starting a new one.

Then the ship finally stopped. It felt like it had been coming in for a lifetime. But it pulled to a stop, and the kids on board began to get off. There were only a handful of them in this batch, and they were talking with one another, describing the events of their tutelage to their peers as they excitedly discussed how much fun and what a great learning experience the events were.

Then they saw their friends come to greet them, and the conversations erupted from there, with everyone saying hello, talking about what had happened, laughing and joking around like they'd never left.

But none of that mattered. Because at that moment, a certain someone got off the boat, and his eyes landed on another certain someone, standing in the center of the crowd but completely isolated at the same time.

It should have been difficult. After all, Dakota hardly looked like herself. Her brown eyes had turned blue and her red hair was pink now. But she was still Dakota. And in that moment she realized that it didn't matter she was in the middle of a crowd of people; as far as the two of them were concerned, those others didn't exist.

Right now, they were alone, a boy on the pier and a girl on the shore. Their eyes stared into each other's, and neither one could even take a breath.

Before she knew it, Akira's arms were around her and she was buried deeply into his chest.

"Dakota…" He cried, hugging her tighter than he ever had before. He clutched her to his chest like she was a specter who would disappear if he ever let her go.

Dakota sniffled, her eyes welling up in tears.

"Aki…"

"You're okay… you're really okay… I thought… I mean, I had dreams about you, but they… those were just dreams, I never imagined…"

"It's fine," Dakota said, shaking her head. Finally Akira loosened his grip, letting her lean back to look up into his eyes. Even if he kept his arms around her waist, this was fine. As far as she was concerned, he never needed to let her go again. "I'm alright. You don't need to cry so much, you big baby. You're making a scene."

That was the truth. While Akira and Dakota were not the only couple reunited on that beach, no one's welcome had nearly the passion or fervor as those two. It was like a soldier returning home from war, which was a very good analogy. After all, when Akira had left, he still believed that he'd never see Dakota again, at least not awake. But she'd proven him wrong. She was back. And she was smiling at him.

And he couldn't believe she was real.

"Your hair… it's pink!" He managed to gasp out. "And your eyes…"

"It's a long story," Dakota said. "But I promise, I'll tell you everything." She winked at him. "That's my job, after all-mmpth!?"

She didn't even have a chance to finish her sentence because Akira shoved his tongue down her throat before she could blink. She struggled for about half a second before she succumbed to the kiss, just glad to feel him again.

It was a verifiable "and then everybody clapped" moment, even if their audience was too stunned and confused to clap. Still, when she posted the report on her blog, she'd make sure they were clapping. It was her heartwarming reunion with her sweetie, after all.

"What, no welcome back kiss for me?"

And just like that, the magic was ruined. Akira pulled back from Dakota, leaving her panting for air. She strained for a second to try and reengage the kiss out of desperation but Akira had already turned to look behind him, standing defensively in front of Sylvia as she smirked.

"What do you want?" He growled.

"I'm just so happy to see you two are reunited!" Sylvia wiped her eyes. "I'm all choked up, really!" Her Shuppet nodded in agreement.

"Back off," Dakota scowled. To Akira's surprise, she stepped in front of him to keep Sylvia at bay; he had no idea that things had changed drastically for Dakota since he'd last seen her. The pink hair was more than a makeover.

"Excuse me, is that any way to speak to the woman who saved your life?" Sylvia sniffed, her blue eyes glittering. "If it wasn't for me, you never would have woken up from that coma, you know, didn't those boobs you call a friend tell you that yet?"

Dakota didn't reply. "I don't care," she scowled. "You think I'm going to thank you for that? You think I'd thank you for anything, you witch?"

Sylvia absentmindedly twirled a lock of her hair between her fingers, not really caring one way or another what Dakota felt.

"I mean, an apology would be nice, but-"

"I haven't forgotten, you know," Dakota glared, narrowing her eyes. "Did you think I was just going to let it go that you tried to destroy my Newspaper Club?!"

"That? That was a lifetime ago!" Sylvia scoffed, rolling her eyes. "For someone who got a new lease on life you're really clinging to old grudges."

"Don't mess with me," Dakota glared, stomping over to the blonde. Sylvia was a hair taller than her, but Dakota wasn't intimidated. "If you don't get out of here, I'm going to fuck you up, I promise."

Serefina had enough of watching. If this kept going, her friend might do something crazy. She burst out of hiding, running over to join them. "Look, Dakota, maybe we should-"

"No, it's fine," Sylvia said, raising up her hands in surrender. "I'll go." She moved to walk around the three of them, when Akira grabbed her by the arm.

"Oh? Right here, in front of your girlfriend? How scandalous!" Sylvia purred in amusement.

Akira wasn't amused.

"Don't think I've forgiven you, either," he growled.

"Oh? For the Newspaper Club? Really, Akira? After everything we went through together in Lavender Town, you still-"

"Screw the Newspaper Club," Akira growled. Dakota's jaw dropped in shock. He did NOT just say that in front of her!

They'd been reunited for all of five minutes after a two month separation punctuated by a near-death experience, and already she had something to fight with him about. Some things never changed, apparently.

Serefina sighed, recognizing the look of moral outrage on her friend's face. But it was better than the actual outrage from before, which could have led to Dakota's secret being revealed to a good chunk of campus, and Sylvia fucking Driscoll.

"Well, if it's not the Newspaper Club, why are you so upset?" Sylvia asked, scrunching her face up in contemplation. But there were way too many things she'd done to have any guess which one in particular had set him off. "Dakota's just ignorant. But you know full well how much help I was for her. Again, I think a 'thank you' is in order, now that you're reunited!"

"Fine, thank you," Akira spat. "And also, go fuck yourself."

Sylvia's eyes narrowed and her lips curled up in a smirk.

"I know what you did," Akira growled. "What, did you expect me to write it off as a coincidence that my phone ended up at the bottom of the pool?"

"What?!" Serefina gasped. So that's why he never returned all her calls or emails!

"I don't know what you're talking about," said the woman who knew exactly what the hell he was talking about.

"You stole my phone, didn't you? What was it? A text message? A call? Email? Whatever it was, you knew damn well Dakota had woken up, I can see it on your smirking bitch of a face. And you destroyed my phone so I couldn't get in contact with her!" He was seething now, ready to choke the life out of the bitch standing in front of him.

Sylvia gasped, her eyes widening in shock. She held her hand over her mouth. "Why, Akira!" She exclaimed in faux outraged. "Accusing me of something so sneaky and heinous?! I've never been so impressed in all my life!"

"So you admit it?!" Akira exclaimed.

Sylvia shrugged.

Akira wound back his fist to smash her face in, but Dakota practically threw herself around his arm to stop him.

"Okay, hold up! Look, I get it!" Dakota wailed. "But come on, it's fine! I'm okay, there's nothing to worry about!"

"Exactly, listen to pinkie over here."

"SYLVIA!"

"Okay, let's all take a breath everybody!" Serefina stepped between them. Dakota and Akira actually noticed her for the first time.

"Seri? What are you doing here?" Dakota asked.

"Stopping you both from making a huge mistake! You can't just get into a fistfight in the middle of campus!" Serefina exclaimed, scowling at her friends. "Do you both want to get in trouble your first day reuniting!"

"Yeah, you tell 'em, sugar tits!" Sylvia nodded.

"And you!" Serefina whirled around, glaring at the blonde. "While it's true that we're grateful for everything you did to help when Dakota was in a coma, don't for the life of you think that we believe it was anything altruistic. I don't know what your agenda is, but frankly, I don't care. Now beat it. Nobody on this beach wants you here. There's no one who was anticipating your return or hoping you'd come back. And no matter how much you torture these two with your teasing, the pathetic truth of that isn't going to change. So just get lost and let them have their happy reunion, alright?!"

Serefina had to stop to catch her breath. She'd let out a lot of aggression with that. But she didn't give a damn. A bitch like Sylvia needed to know that no one was going to be taking her shit.

Sylvia stared at Serefina with an unreadable expression, as if she was trying to process what the other girl was saying.

Then she smirked.

"I see. Well, that's fine then," she purred. The ominous tone of her voice and the malevolent light in her eyes made Serefina shiver. Suddenly, she had a very serious realization that she may have picked a fight with someone she shouldn't have.

"W-Well…"

"I'll be an obedient girl," Sylvia lowered her head, turning and skipping away. "But Serefina… hmm… I think of everyone here, I owe you the most, yes… and I'll be happy to repay you. So you'd best watch your back."

This wasn't the playful Sylvia who didn't do things others expected. Sylvia's atmosphere was dangerous, and Serefina shivered in spite of herself.

She had screwed up, big time.

"Seri…" Dakota reached out and placed her hand on her friend's arm, but Serefina pulled away. She turned to the couple and smiled.

"It's fine," she said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some preparations to do for the Pokeathlon. It's coming up fast, you know!"

She couldn't help but feel the anxiety in her chest be soothed as she looked at Akira and Dakota's worried expressions.

"I mean it," she whispered. "You two are together again. It's a miracle. So forget about me, you should be focusing on yourselves right now, alright?"

She tilted her head to the side and offered a cheery smile that belied her anxiety.

Akira and Dakota were both reluctant to let her go, but they couldn't just force her to say, either. So they nodded, and Serefina headed back up the path, towards the main campus.

At that point, the couple realized they were the only two people remaining on the shore. Everyone else had quickly split after the confrontation with Sylvia began, and they'd been so swept up in things they hadn't even noticed.

Now they were alone, for the first time since forever. It may have been just the two of them to each other, but it was to the world as well. And as they looked into each other's eyes, they realized how much they wanted to say.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," Akira said, clutching her hands. He began to shake. "I shouldn't have… I mean…"

He didn't know what to say. How could he apologize for what he'd done? He'd gotten a mad scientist to tamper with Dakota's genes, turning her into something that couldn't even be considered human. There was no excuse for his actions.

Dakota just smiled. "What? Because you had that professor give me… what was it, again? The Mew Gene, or something?"

"The µ Gene, yeah," Akira said, correcting her in spite of himself. "It's just… I mean, given your condition…"

"It's fine," she said, shaking her head. "We have a lot to talk about, I'm sure. But also… let me show you something."

She looked around, making sure that there was no one else in sight. Then she took a deep breath.

Here it was. The moment she'd been dreading. Serefina had accepted her for who she was now, but would Akira? Would the boy she loved be fine with the fact that his girlfriend was a freak? Or would he break things off with her?

Or worst of all, would he wallow in guilt, blaming himself for what happened?

She didn't know. As much as she trusted Akira and believed in him, she still didn't know. And the fact that she didn't know frightened her.

But she wouldn't let it discourage her.

So she focused her mind, ignored the throbbing in her head, and pictured her bedroom.

And then she was there.

She let out the breath she was holding and looked around. She needed to give it a second, so he wouldn't mistake it for anything else. It was the longest second of her life. In that time, she had countless doubts about what she'd just done, her head running through all sorts of scenarios about Akira's reaction, and the possibility of his rejection. It was so overwhelming she almost decided to stay and forego the rest.

But she couldn't She needed to see him again. She needed to know. So she swallowed her doubts and concentrated, and returned.

Akira was standing in front of her, mouth open and eyes wide with shock. He couldn't believe what he'd seen.

"…So… yeah." Dakota didn't know what else to say. She stood there fidgeting in the grass, waiting for him to calm down.

Unless he didn't calm down. Maybe he'd get upset, or start shouting, or-

…Or maybe he would hug her. Wow. She didn't expect that. But it felt nice, and she didn't want it to stop.

Aww! How sweet! A reunion that we've been building up to for so long now. They're finally together again, and we couldn't be happier for them! Definitely a chapter worth waiting for! I wanted to get our touching couple's reunion out of the way, just a nice moment of heartwarming, wholesome feels before we get to the drama between Blake and Kanone. It's good to see Akira and Dakota back together again, after so long.