I finally updated, yay! Feel free to hate me now because I've been home for ages at this point and I haven't typed anything for this story for a while. I did manage to write a couple chapters while I was at the shore and at camp though. This is one of them, it's mainly just a filler chapter and nothing of big importance happens. I don't even think there's much character development in it. I'm so sorry I kept you waiting for nothing.

Long story short, feel free to skip this chapter if you want.

A Random Human: I had to make it interesting somehow, and it does actually have to do with the plot, I swear! I can't tell you how or why, just know that it does. Plus, it could just be because of the water, after all, water is blue, when you look at your reflection in the water it is tinted blue, she could easily just be seeing things that way because of the water.

RangerTakara: Her eyes were brown, but now they're blue... I'm weird okay so I make choices like that because I can. Plus I had the final sentence in the last chapter running through my head for ages to the point where I felt I had to use it somewhere. Sides, like I told A Random Human, it ould just be the water playing tricks on her. As for Summer not deserving to be hurt by the goons, well, all I have to say is try telling her that since she does think she deserved it. Ben is going to be in this chapter for a moment, and he is literally what is going to end up moving the plot along farther in the next chapter as well. I can't tell you how, but he does.

Faliara: Summer's eyes were brown for a good part of the story, now they could possibly be blue.

Ranger Belle: You would buy my book if I wrote one? Really? I honestly can't believe I'm good enough to even write an original story, with an original setting and all the other things that go along with writing a book. I am really glad you like my writing style, but I don't think I'd ever write a book. Also, thanks for helping me with the spelling mistakes, I'll fix the as soon as I can. As for the aura idea... I've always loved the concept behind aura and wish they'd bring it back, but I don't think what Summer is going through has to deal with aura... though I might have to save that idea for another story if I can come up with a plot for it.

Aquabluey: Well, here's that chapter you were hoping for. ^^

Oakwillow907: Calm down, calm down, I update when I have the time and will to type up each chapter, originally my update plan was about twice a week... then school started and I just update when I can.

Disclaimer: I don not own Pokemon or the song Will the Circle be Unbroken. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and the song Will the Circle be Unbroken belongs to Ada R. Habershon.

Words: 4,000 words exactly (I swear I didn't mean for that to happen, it just did! xD )

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Chapter 15

Waiting

My eyes were blue… why were my eyes blue? My eyes are brown, not blue. Why could they have possibly turned blue?! It didn't make any sense! My mind was searching for explanations, anything that could explain it. Shaking my head, I sighed, hoping to release the shock from the discovery and the stress of everything else that had been going on lately, and closed my possibly blue eyes before rubbing them slightly. Maybe I was just imagining it. Or maybe it was just the water; after all, reflections in a pond or ocean aren't the most reliable thing in the world. Ya. That was probably it. Taking in a deep breath I looked to the sky, scouring it for the red legend. There was nothing. Was she mad that I failed her? After all, I promised everything would be alright, and clearly nothing is alright.

A few minutes passed, Latias never came. One thought came to me, it was almost morning, I hadn't called in all night after storming out. Knowing Ben, he was probably worried sick… or mad/ disappointed in me because of my short outburst. Maybe… now would be a good time to report…but looking at the styler in my hand, I couldn't help but stop and think about it. Would it really be for the best? How do I know he doesn't hate me for yelling at him and the professor? It's not like him to hate people, but anything is possible, right? I mean, I'm not usually the one to put my foot down the way I did last night, but it happened. So who's to say the same couldn't go for Ben? After all, I'd been an idiot; he had a fairly good reason to be mad at me.

A sigh escaped my lips as I pressed in the number on my styler. I was being paranoid. Ben wouldn't hate me; it was Ben for pete's sake! The kid couldn't hate someone even if his life depended on it, and, while he could get mad, he hardly ever stayed that way for longer than ten minutes. Yet, despite the fact I knew that about him I couldn't help but find myself hoping to hear a friendly voice on the other end instead of a cold harsh tone. Hell, I had even started muttering "Please don't still be mad at me…" over and over and over again like a mantra. I don't think I'd ever been so nervous to call a person in my whole life, and I had no reason to be nervous either! It was ridiculous! It was silly and it was stupid.

Eventually a beep came from the styler, stopping my mantra right after I had begun it for maybe the 500th time, and I looked at the small device. Taking a deep breath I tried to say something, but nothing would come out. Beyond the sound of silent static, I could hear nothing. Nothing was said, not a word came over. I tried to say something again, it was pointless, in the end; I couldn't seem to find any at all. There was silence, well, as much silence as possible with the static, for a good minute and a half. I thought for sure he was going to hang up if I didn't say anything, figuring it was a prank call or something. But instead, he spoke up, his tenor voice sounding tired and slightly irked "Hello" he started, I knew he knew who was calling him, even so he continued with his usual introduction "Ben here, what is it?"

I closed my eyes and mentally prepared myself so that I could finally open my mouth and have sound come out. Breathing in as a way to calm the nerves that had no reason for being there, I began to speak. "Summer here" It was only now that I spoke outloud that I could notice just how tired, sore, and anxious I sounded. It even hurt my throat a little to speak louder than a whispered mutter. Though it was logical, I had just almost drowned, screamed as loud as I could and haven't drank any water for about a day, my voice was bound to sound like that. "I just wanted to rep-"

He suddenly yelled, interrupting me mid-sentence "Sum!" It was almost like all his worries and exhaustion had been wiped away, his voice now upbeat and joyful. The wind blew, and the water lapped at the rock I was on. I couldn't help but shiver, still soaked from the water. And I didn't even bother stopping him to tell him not to use the nickname my brother gave me; the nickname that Terran always used when he spoke to me when we were laughing and playing in the fields together. "We were worried when you didn't call in or come back last night. Is everything alright? Are you okay? Are you still mad at us?" He continued with a flurry of questions, but I stopped paying attention after he asked if I was still mad. Why? Why would he ask me that? Shouldn't I be the one asking him that? Shouldn't I be the one hoping that he'd tell me everything was alright with him and the others? Why was he asking if I was still mad? It made no sense.

Even so, I let him rant on for a few minutes as I mulled over the thoughts in my mind before I finally interrupted him myself. "Ben," I started, to which he responded to his name with a 'huh?' "Just shut up, alright? I can't exactly explain anything if you aren't going to let me talk. Okay, so can I get an explanation in now?" There was a silence that filled the air, as though he were thinking of a response… but I knew otherwise. "Ben… are you nodding? You do know this thing isn't like an Xtransciever and can only do audio and not video, right?" That was one of the silly things about him… sometimes he thought he was using his old Xtransciever instead of the styler.

"Uh…" Without even seeing him I knew that his face was a vivid pink, flushed from embarrassment. "No, no I wasn't!" It was a weak lie, but if it made him feel better, far be it from me to take that away from him. "So…" He began awkwardly "Are you going to tell me anything or not?"

Shaking my head I responded, trying to keep my voice even as my teeth chattered and I shivered as a breeze blew past. "First, I need to be picked up from Tilikule Island, Latias won't respond when I call her" 'And for a good reason to, failure.' The thought ran through my mind before I could stop it, causing me to frown, but Ben didn't need to know about my self-loathing thoughts. After all, they were my problems, not his, he shouldn't have to worry about me. "And I may be on one of the rocks around the base of the island… and the cliff may be a bit too steep to climb if you have a one bad leg…" I couldn't stop my voice from sounding harsher with the final five words. It wasn't that I was mad at Ben, but I was mad at the situation that I had gotten myself into. Only a complete idiot, like me, would get into a problem like this. "…so capturing the Starraptor that is usually here is not an option. Long story short, I'm stuck."

Another minute of silence passed before Ben replied. Poor boy probably needed time to let it soak in the fact that I actually was admitting that I needed help, it was a new concept… to him, at least. "Um, alright… I'll just head over there to pick you up… so just hang tight, alright?" I chuckled, it wasn't like I do go anywhere really, and I even told him that in response, I think I got him to smile… and I can hear the amusement in his voice when he said "Okay, I'll be right over. See you soon." With that the transition ended and static filled the quiet air with otherwise pointless noise. As annoying as the sound was… it was oddly comforting. To be honest, I can't really explain it, but it was. Maybe it was because it gave me conformation that Ben didn't hate me, like I knew but my nerves were saying something else.

Ben was always the one who could make me smile, even if I had no reason to. Without him, I'm not really sure what I'd do. Sure there are other rangers… but I never really talked to them out of fear of the judging me. After all, I was the youngest in the academy and they didn't even try to get to know me on their own to even have a good conversation with me. Only Ben actually tried to get to know me along with one other girl. She was fairly tall for her age, she had cinnamon brown eyes and chocolate brown hair which she kept in two pigtails on both sides of her head. She was in the graduating class while I was still with the starters when we met. I think her name was Kate… I don't know her last name… but I'm pretty sure her name was Kate, at least. She still works as a top ranger in Almia. I haven't heard much from her, but the last I heard said she had been doing well and everything is at peace.

I don't know how much time had passed, but Ben still hadn't shown up. He wasn't like this. If he said he was going to do something, he does what he says before anything else. Though, I wasn't too worried, it gave me time to dry off and just try to relax… well as much as you can when you're sitting on a rock. Not to mention he had other things to do than come and get me, he had missions to complete, people who need help and pokémon that need saving. And they were far more important than I was because unlike them, I could wait. Not to mention the distance between the two of us could have been farther than I thought. If he got sidetracked, I wouldn't blame him, after all, it wasn't his fault. Even if he was the type of person to do one thing before moving onto the next. To pass time, I ended up doing something I hadn't done since my father died all those years ago.

I sung. It was just an old church hymn that came into my head; nothing special… it was called Will the Circle be Unbroken… at least I think that's the tittle of the song. My voice was still rough from earlier and the fact I hadn't sang in years probably helped the fact, but eventually I got into the swing of it. As I sang, lyric on lyric, note by note, I could almost hear Terran playing his guitar next to me, swaying and singing harmony as I went. A simple song took me back in time almost. I could just barely feel the wood floor under me as I sat on the ground with a warm blanket over my shoulders, my brother's eyes closed and his face had a smile on it as he strummed his guitar.

Things were better back then and as I sang the final verse I couldn't help but feel my eyes get watery. The verse was "One by one their seats were emptied, and one by one they went away. Now the family is parted. Will it be complete one day?" My family was parted, each of their seats were emptied as each of them died or abandoned the others. I think… I might have been the only one truly left by the fireside; waiting for the others to come. Sometimes, I wondered why they left, but the answer was almost always the same. They left because they had no reason to stay. There was nothing left there for them, so they went away. None of them noticed me alone, and none of them thought that I was important enough for them to stay and try to be a family again. Instead, they left me alone. I wasn't worth anything to them… and, after thinking about it for so long, they're right. I'm really not worth anything, I'm just a disappointment, a worthless soul with no point of existence. Soon I had finished the final chorus, and when I did I tried to will the illusion of a happier time to stay.

It didn't, instead it faded away into my memory. As much as it disappointed me that it vanished, I understood that it couldn't stay. What reason was there for it to remain? There was none, and so it left. Opening my eyes, I looked to the sky, Ben still wasn't here. For a moment I wondered what was taking him so long, it wasn't normal for him to take so long, but the thought was quickly pushed aside. What did it matter anyway? It wasn't like I was good for anything. I closed my eyes once more, feeling the wind blow my hair back and chill my slightly wet skin. The water lapped against the rock and occasionally reached my feet, rewetting the underside of my shoes. My leg throbbed slightly sending small rivulets of pain up and down my leg, I sighed when I looked at it. The bandage was stained red except for the part that was opposite the wound and the part that was overtop it was a deep crimson, I could even see small drops of blood come out from under the wrapping and down my leg. Unlike most, it didn't disgust me, or even bug me at all, it was there, and I accepted its existence. It wasn't like I could do anything else about it at the moment.

The wind blew once again, getting me to shiver. But all things set aside, the whole predicament was rather calming. With the view of the vast ocean and sky in front of me I could almost see the point where the sky meets the water. Streams of sunlight fell onto the water, reflecting on its fragile surface and gleaming in its light. Taking a deep breath I closed my eyes and let the scent of the salt water fill my nostrils, and I couldn't stop the small smile that formed from it. Leaning back against the rock I could feel the rough surface sometimes dig into my back, but I tried to ignore it.

Honestly, I don't know how long I stayed like that. It might have been minutes, it might have been hours, all I knew was that I fell asleep at some point. Fatigue was something I should have expected after all, I'd been up all night and had a fairly eventful morning; I was bound to be tired, even if the adrenaline had kept me from feeling it. But it was still there, so I was bound to fall into the grip of sleep soon enough. If I had been asleep for hours, or if it was just minutes, I don't know. What I do know is that I had that dream again. It was the same hallway, the same three people, same scream, same walking through solid objects like I was a ghost and seeing myself at the end. There were only two real differences, one was I could see the three people's hair color, but their faces were still blurred (the girl in ash gray had light blonde hair with a slate gray highlight that goes down to her shoulders, the man in forest green had jet black hair that was messy and spiked, as for the man in dirt brown oddly enough had dark brown hair that fell down over one of his eyes and the back went to the bottom of his neck). The other, was me, my hair was slightly black and matted, my eyes were actually blue (an almost bright sapphire blue really), I had a few cuts and bruises spread across my skin and my uniform was tattered and torn. To be truthful, that did freak me out. Seeing myself was still freaky on its own, but seeing myself the way I was even odder. It sent shivers down my spine; goosebumps popped onto my skin and filled me with a slight sense of dread.

When I opened my eyes it was to a voice, more accurately Ben's voice, telling me to wake up. Well… what really woke me from my sluggish state of just waking up was when I opened my eyes and Ben's face was right above, just staring. Simply put, I hadn't expected it, I yelled and raised my head to sit up and scoot away from him… a normal human reaction… but I may or may not have hit my head against his on the way up. My forehead throbbed and the side of my head where I hit the rock when I stabbed my leg with a pickaxe ached as well, my brain pounded against my skull as he reeled back and placed one of his hands on his head asking in a joking tone, as though he were trying to hold back a laugh at my response "What was that for? All I did was wake you up." And that did it, he started to laugh, and… while I wasn't too happy about the joke, just seeing him laughing and smiling caused me to do the same. I could swear his happiness is contagious sometimes, but that was never a bad thing.

Besides, the important thing was that he got around to picking me up eventually. Sure, it took him a lot longer than it should have but he got to me. My clothes and bandages were mostly dry… and I couldn't quite tell if my leg had stopped bleeding. The once white, turned crimson was now a dirty looking redish brown showing dried blood around the edges of the blood flow, but the areas closet to the wound were still the same deep red. However the wound itself seemed to have stopped bugging me as I sat there I noticed my leg wasn't pulsing every few seconds to let me know it was still here (as if the bandage hadn't reminded me of it enough). I knew the injury would have to be redressed and cleaned again considering all that happened. A simple question escaped my mouth "What took you so long to get here anyway? It's not like you had a far trip, and it's not like you to say you'll do one thing and then go and do something else. So, what happened?" I hadn't meant to ask him, the words just came out of my mouth without me thinking about them.

For once, Ben was quiet, his eyes going from left to right as though he were trying to think of something, until they rested upon mine for a second. His left hand going behind his neck and he looked to the ground "Some World's End goons had been reported to be seen at the ruins outside Cocona Village. I managed to get them on the run before they got the shard. I have no clue how, but I did." He closed his eyes for a second before saying "I did get the shard, but I dropped it off at Rand's for safe keeping." I raised an eyebrow, why would they go after another shard if they had just gotten two of them? Wouldn't it make more sense for them to head directly back to their base and show their boss what they accomplished? Sure whoever is in charge would probably be upset that they lost me as a hostage for leverage, but they probably think I'm dead. They probably wouldn't even value my existence, hardly anyone does. The other thing that made me suspicious was Ben's body language. He was acting as though he had done something wrong and like he had been lying. "Don't be silly," I thought as we sat there looking at each other "He has absolutely no reason to lie to you, he probably just thinks you're mad at him or something."

Taking a deep breath I stated "I'm not mad at you Ben. You did what you had to do. Besides," I grinned at him as he looked up at me "you got here eventually, right?" The older ranger nodded. "Then there's nothing to worry about."

"Thanks, Summer." He responded, his eyes sparkling in the light.

I nodded "No problem." The hazel eyed boy stood up and motioned over to his starraptor so it would come closer, and it came flying lower to the ground. He stretched his hand out to me to take, and I accepted it, getting onto my feet as he helped pull me up. Immediately my leg began to protest, the nerves burned and ached sending a hot throbbing pain up my leg causing me to wince. I assume Ben had noticed this because a second after it happened he was right there grabbing my shoulder and giving it a quick comforting squeeze.

"You okay there, Summer?" With a quick sharp nod, he released my shoulder and took me over to his partner. "Did you open the stiches in your leg?" Another nod was my response, and all he could do was a sigh before helping onto his starraptor (though I did protest saying he didn't have to, but he insisted). Soon he was on the flying pokémon as well, it's feathers slick and glossy from the salt water spray making dusty gray into a slick black and dull rose red a smooth red-orange like color. As soon as Ben was on, we took to the skies, his arms around me waist so I wouldn't fall off, and clouds began to fly past us as we went higher into the air, and I couldn't help but smile as the wind hit my face.

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I'm sorry this took so long... and I have some bad news... chapter 16 might take a while... I'm looking at my written copy now that I've finished typing this chapter and it's just... how do I put this... it's absolutely awful. It's way to cliche for my liking, it has so many flaws, and is just plain horrible. Long story short, I might end up having to rewrite the chapter. Thing is, I sort of like the idea I had for the chapter, so I might just try to find a way to make it not so cliche and have the same idea... and that could take even longer than just completely redoing it. Simply put, don't expect the next one for a while. This one took so long to type because this has to be the buisiest summer I ever had so I had little time or will to sit at my laptop and type for hours on end.

Plus the fact I've been sort of addicted to Bioshock Infinite and figuring out the details and plot points and all that stuff probably doesn't help.

I'll see you guys later,

Ember