Morning wasn't showing any propitious sign of the weather I had hoped for. Knowing that this was the last place before our first goodbye with the departure of Mandite, I wanted this day to be one of the best so we could all enjoy it. I hoped for a clear blue sky that seemed to melt into the ocean at the horizon point, the sea a dazzling sheet of sapphires and aquamarines. I have seen days like those, and now I really wanted to just go back in time, pluck out one of those days and replace with this one.

I wanted Aurora to see the beauty of where I grew up – she did too. But, as I raised my head to see dark clouds tumbling overhead, I guess she will have to wait for another day. Before I fell asleep, Mandite said that he wanted to stay for a day at the coast once we got closer, despite our urgency to find the portal quickly. Apparently, the weather didn't change his mind at all.

"Have you ever witnessed the pure-awesome-ness of a storming sea?" Mandite asked me, delirious, "All the foam and momentum?" I was rather appalled by his eagerness to see a depressing sight. Even more, I couldn't believe that he didn't want to find a place to shelter from the oncoming downpour until he has properly eaten his breakfast – actually, I could believe that.

"Mandite," I pleaded anxiously, "look around you – it's dark, dreary, and about to rain. We should go find some kind of shelter before we get soaked." Mandite, with stern jade colored eyes, glared at me so sharply that I felt my next retort vaporize from the intensity. The warrior returned to the luxury of eating the round, wheat-product he called a bagel. He took his time, as Aurora roused herself and glanced around at the darkening sky. I couldn't tell how she felt about the situation, but I certainly felt the guilt of disappointing another. I bit my tongue, not trying to make eye contact; so, I merely watched Mandite eat his bagel to the last crumb. When he finished it, I got up to leave.

"And where are you going?" he asked.

"Are you finished with breakfast?" But Mandite had pulled out another bagel to eat at a slow, painstaking rate. I suppose not.

"Lucario," he said, swallowing, "I could perfectly see that the rain is not going to hit for another hour to an hour and fifteen minutes and thirty three seconds." I have no idea where he got all the numbers from, and I doubt he was that precise with unpredictable elements such as the weather. But his eyes, as I have said before, we extremely keen. Who knows – maybe he can tell when rain will fall.

But aside that matter, I was still anxious over the fact we had done nothing to find shelter. Mandite, savoring his breakfast, was taking too long. The nearest cave, overhang, or something could be miles away, and the warrior acted as if our shelter was just a casual walk away. He seemed to see the concern in my eyes.

"Relax, dude," he said, frowning disapprovingly, "if you are that desperate to do something, then go fetch some driftwood and pile them up on the beach. I'll come after I finish my breakfast." He closed his eyes and bit into his bagel once again. Well, I suppose I have no other choice other than watching him eat – which is something I would rather not do.

Aurora insisted that she wanted to help me find pieces of driftwood. So, together, we walked over the sandy crests of dunes. Just as I predicted, we weren't too far from the sea – it wasn't long when we came upon a long stretch of sandy coastline, being pounded by the surf. Standing on the top of a dune, I allowed Aurora to look around from a panoramic view, watching her face for her first reaction. It astonished me when I saw the look of awe playing her eyes, and the wide smile.

"I've never seen so much water in my life!" she cried out in some sort of amazed way. However, I found this rather contradicting.

"I thought you didn't like to swim," I said. Aurora's face seemed to turn a little red from embarrassment.

"Well," she said, her paws fidgeting, "I still think its pretty..." The ocean was a stormy green, highlighted by white froth and foam. Waves were churning, but not so tremendously high as they have been in previous storms I have seen. But, I found the scene, despite the contrasting colors, rather depressing. I stared glumly at the water.

"If it was sunny, then this would look much nicer," I said, feeling that I had let down Aurora. At that moment, the female lucario gave me a questioning look.

"What are you talking about?" she said, indignantly, "This is great!" And then she ran down the dune, laughing and kicking up the fine sand about her feet, her arms spread like wings in flight. I was puzzled – what was she seeing that made this place so wonderful? Maybe it was because she has never seen any place like this one, and her curious nature was just itching to look around. So I let her, keeping her in my view at all times as she ran along the shoreline, skipping at the waters edge. At the same time, I scrounged about looking for driftwood. Luckily, there was plenty – I suppose these pieces were once fallen trees from a neighboring region, bashed into long splinters, or mulch by the relentless surf. Mandite had not specified how large he wanted the driftwood to be, so I piled all the driftwood I could find into one central heap some ways off from the shore. Every once in a while, I glanced up at the sky, expecting it to pour at any moment. What was taking that kid so long?

Eventually, Aurora began to help me as well after she had her fun.

"The water is salty, Lucario," Aurora exclaimed, "how are we supposed to drink?" I smiled – of course, Aurora has never encountered salt water before. And, with that noted, she does not know that we could extract the salt from it.

"There is a certain way how to take the salt from the water," I told her, tossing a last piece of the hardened wood into the pile, clattering as it tumbled towards the bottom. Seeing no other piece along the shore, nor I could see anything else to do, I sat down next to the driftwood, staring out at sea. It was so vast, and the sound of it combined with the sight made you think and reflect. I wonder what we would be doing if this day had turned out clear and beautiful. I wonder what we would be doing in the days following this one. Where was the portal, anyways?

I heard Aurora sit down beside me.

"What are you thinking now?" she asked. I blinked, turning to look at her.

"You always seem to be thinking deeply, ever since I met you," she said, "so, what are you thinking now?" So, she finally decided to bring that up after all these years. Thinking was a natural thing for me, and delving into subjects with a highly inquisitive manner was second nature to me. Sometimes, I hardly noticed that I had dazed off while I thought – I wonder how many times she has seen me do that.

"I'm just thinking," I said simply. Aurora laughed, poking me in the shoulder.

"I know you're thinking," she said, "but what exactly are you thinking about?" I smiled, but perhaps a little forcefully. I wasn't thinking of the happiest thoughts.

"Oh," I said, raising my head to stare out at sea again, "it's just some things, like what we might be doing tomorrow, and the day after that."

"Do you ever think of your love?" she asked.

"That too," I said, smiling, acting as if it didn't bother me. I suppose it looked like it too, because Aurora didn't seem to realize that I was bothered. She only sat, asking no further questions, just staring out at sea like I was.

"HEY YOU GUYZZ!" I heard a familiar voice cry out to the two of us. I glanced over my shoulder to see Mandite hustling down a dune, carrying his backpack on his head. And for some reason, the bag seemed to be fuller than when I last saw it.

"Sorry I am late," he said, approaching comfortable talking range, "I finished my breakfast and then I looked around for something else to eat, because – you know – I was still hungry." Aurora let out a sigh and I rolled my eyes.

"And then?" I asked. Mandite, now right beside us, placed his backpack down from his head, and his childish face beaming and wings fluttering with delight.

"And then I found this HUGE berry patch," he pleasurably announced, "and I brought lots and lots of them back." As Mandite celebrated his little victory, thunder rumbled in the distance. I glanced upward.

"Mandite," I said, urgently, "we have to get shelter before it rains." But of course Mandite wasn't deterred by this fact. Without the least bit of concern, he skipped over to the pile of driftwood, and began to toss pieces to the side. In this strange organization, Mandite finally ended up with four, long and thick pieces of driftwood. Carrying all of them on his head, he waddled about, sticking each deep into the sand in a rectangular formation. Aurora and I merely stepped aside to watch the little warrior continue his operation.

"Cape please," he said, "it's in my backpack." Aurora unzipped the backpack and found Mandite's cape. She tossed the cloth to him.

"Thank you," he approved with a nod. Then, standing back a bit, he said,

"Be amazed with my skills of pure awesome-ness," I snorted, shaking my head. Mandite, standing with the cape, took a deep breath. A second later, without warning, he threw the cape so that it stretched wide over the four posts. The warrior lunged forth, and with extreme speed, he tied a corner of his cape around one of the posts. He landed a split second later, and jumped again, tying the second. Then the third. Then the fourth. When he was finished, standing in the sand, brushing his hands together, only two seconds has passed. And again, I was amazed. Mandite smiled, flapping his tiny wings.

"Trick of the trade," he said, winking, "you gotta learn how to do these things when you want to be a über cool knight." Walking right underneath the protection of his cape, he gestured us to follow. There was a generous amount of space underneath, thanks to the extraordinary flexibility of the cloth. Aurora and I sat down once we were inside the rectangle, for there wasn't much room for us to stand.

"Lucky there isn't much wind blowing about," Mandite remarked with an air of pleasure, "or else we would have rain blowing into our dry spot – and that wouldn't be cool." And sure enough, the rain didn't. The water droplets began to fall, the drizzle creating a misty appearance. The world around us became grayer and grayer, watched by our silent party, except for the scratches of a pen on paper. Mandite had his little book out, and was writing something down – whatever it was, nobody else knew. I rarely saw that little book; when I did, it was when I awoke suddenly on random nights, and saw Mandite scribbling away before I drifted back to sleep. But now he wrote in the open, where we could obviously see him. We didn't dare disturb him, though – he looked as if he was in deep, serious thought.

Finally, after a long period of silence, Mandite closed his book, and stared at the cloth ceiling above us. And the, surprisingly, he threw his little book upwards. It sailed upwards, flipping about. Instead of falling down, the book melted back into the cape. It was a neat trick, yes, but it raised other questions in my mind.

"Is the cape collecting water?" I asked, looking up at it.

"Yep," Mandite said, nonchalantly.

"Then, wouldn't the cape absorb the water like it absorbed your book?" I continued. Mandite glanced up at his garment.

"Nope," Mandite said, still sounding casual, "if I wanted my cape to absorb water, then I would have to think about my cape absorbing water - and some other thought process I don't know how to describe."

"It takes a lot of mind power to get that cape to absorb and transport items." Mandite finalized, and left me to my admirations of the interesting cape. He grinned at me, and gestured towards the ceiling again.

"If you're thirsty, you can go get some water up there once the rain has passed," he said. I caught Aurora's eye, and her smile – at least she has an answer to her drinking problem now.

~*~

Mandite insisted that he would do the firewood collecting. Then he insisted on making the pit to put the fire in. Then he said he would make the fire. Then he ordered me to go find something to fish.

I didn't object. The ocean welcomed back my presence, the feel of the water bringing back joyful memories as a riolu. It was cool, and the sun was finally peeking out from behind the rain clouds, casting rays of light into the clear water. I began to swim farther out into the ocean, the exhilaration of traditional hunting pulsing through me. I couldn't wait to get out into open water, where it was so deep I couldn't see the bottom at all. I loved that, looking down upon a fathomless void with sun rays streaking all around you. How the light reflects from the scales of finneons, lumineons, barboaches as they swam by stuns me every single time. If I swam out farther, I would begin to witness rarer marine pokemon eating amongst the more common ones. Usually, when I swam out that far, I would see mantykes and mantines. Today, as I pushed farther out in open sea, I found a more diverse variety. It looks like that I wasn't the only one who thought that this was a good fishing territory.

Serenely looping around me with their lengthy coils, were three milotic, donned with their beautiful ruby streamers and marbled tails. These were gorgeous creatures, and uncommon around here – normally, most would live at the bottom of large lakes, so it was a treat seeing some out here. But they were exceedingly large – to the point it sometimes scared me. Although I knew they were gentle giants only wanting a bite to eat, I am afraid they might accidentally snap me up too, for they move fast. I watched them, waiting for my turn to fish.

One of the milotic swam over to peer at me with large, blue eyes. That was strange – I thought milotic had scarlet colored eyes.

[Do you need help fishing?] I heard a giggly, feminine voice ask me. I could easily fish for myself, but I guess my guardian wanted to do something. I gave her a nod.

[I had a feeling you would be here,] Mew said, and then shot off in a brilliant display of colors with a squeal, snagging finneons with her open jaws. I smiled, observing how she deftly plucked them from their schools. Swimming back to me in serpentine motions, she said,

[Let's go drop these off and get Aurora!] she suggested happily. I found myself conflicted.

[She can't swim, Mew,] I said, feeling rather depressed. It would be so nice if she was able to see this incredible beauty. The water was a deep, calming blue, lit by the sun. The schools of marine pokemon swirled and darted, like moving stars in a timeless world. It was incredibly spectacular, but Aurora couldn't swim.

[Don't worry,] Mew said, still keeping on the bright side, [she can hold onto my back – I won't let her drown.] Now this sounded more like a friendly plan.

Mew was speeding over the top of the water, as I kept my hold on her neck, feeling the wind brush over my face, the late afternoon sun shining bright on the ocean. Thanks to Mew's speed, it wasn't long when we reached the shore. She arched her neck high, and I slid off her tail, my feet touching the damp sand. Aurora was looking at the two of us with mild curiosity, her eyes flashing, as Mew snaked through the sand, dropping the load of finneons before Mandite.

"Aurora," I said, "why don't you come out to sea with us? I'd hate to think you'd be bored here." Aurora stepped away from me, as I expected.

"No," she said, her voice shaking, "I'm perfectly fine – you can go." I gave her a warm smile, reaching out to take her trembling paw. I held it protectively, firm but gentle; our eyes met.

"It will be fun," I said, "I promised I won't let you drown before, didn't I?" Mew snaked by, looking steadily at Aurora.

"You can hold onto Mew," I said, letting her know that the milotic was Mew, "you won't have to swim at all." The female lucario's eyes lowered, thinking about the situation. Knowing that if I said anything else, she might feel pressured and would say no; I remained silent, but remained holding her paw. Finally, her eyes gazed up at me, and she smiled a tiny bit, nodding.

"I think I'm crazy, but," she said, hesitating, "I'll go." Happily, I seated myself on the sleek back of Mew and pulled Aurora to sit in front of me. I could feel her body shaking nervously. Taking her paw again, I called back to the remainder of the trio.

"Mandite," I yelled, "want to come?" Mandite looked up to the mentioning of his name, and grinned, seeing us.

"Nah," he said, "I feel like keeping dry today." At first, I was confused – Mandite was the one who wanted to jump into the thick of action, so why did he refuse? Then, I saw him wink at me, and gesture towards the sea.

He was giving me time with Aurora – no wonder. I found myself blushing, and nodded my thanks, as Mew slipped back into the ocean, propelling herself at the surface. It took a while for Aurora to trust our company in the midst of the great ocean, remaining stiff, and her grip tight on my paw.

"Relax, Aurora!" I said, laughing as I brushed her arm, "If you keep being this stiff, we're going to use you as driftwood." Aurora whimpered, nodding. I frowned, observing the situation – how was I going to get Aurora to enjoy this experience? I had to think back to how my parents got me into the water, which was hard; all I could remember in my childhood was wanting to swim all the time.

But I had a vague idea. Gently, I took her arm, and dipped it into the saltwater, much to her dismay. But when the cool clarity of the ocean fluked and plumed about the tip of her paw, the sun lighting up the smooth curves like shining silver, she smiled a tiny bit, mesmerized by the beauty. I lifted her paw from the water and let go of my grasp. Immediately, Aurora held my other paw.

With my free paw, I dipped it beneath the surface, and the spray from it lit up like a bunch of diamonds. I let it stay there, and gazed at Aurora, smiling. She looked back at me uneasily over her shoulder, and then back to the liquid arcs of silver, with diamond rain trailing. It wasn't long when her curiosity prompted her to create this magic again; slowly, and shakily, she reached out, her magenta eyes reflecting fear. But when her paw dipped at the surface, a smooth plume eased out of the water, like a crystalline wing, and she broke into a smile, beaming at her accomplishment. It may not seem like much to me, being able to dip my paw into the water, but for Aurora... Oh Aurora.

"It's so pretty," Aurora breathed, her grasp on my other paw loosening. I smiled, seeing the progress she was making to letting go of her fear of the water.

And as if the whole scene was planned, great eruptions from the sea in a dazzling spray of light exploded before us. From it, the two milotic had flung themselves from the sea, the water trailing their serene, marbled bodies like shards of stars, twinkling before the sun and wide, blue sky. With a clean splash down, the two pokemon disappeared beneath the royal blue surface, their plumed tails slipping under.

"Lucario..." Aurora gasped, mesmerized, "That was..." I could tell that she was amazed by the breath taking sight. I was too, and I was glad to share it with her. I rubbed her paw with mine.

[They look like they're having fun!] Mew whined longingly, her body twisting from her eagerness. I wanted to see what was going on below the surface, where the action really was. Somehow, I needed to get Aurora there, too. I watched her create another arc in the water, smiling broadly.

"It's prettier underwater," I said. Unfortunately, Aurora became still as stone.

"But... But..." I could tell she was panicking. Without meaning to, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and turned her so she could face me a little bit.

"Trust me, Aurora," I smiled, "have I ever let you drown?" I began to wonder whether or not she was remembering the time she was washed away by the flash flood. I retrieved her and she lived. Could that be enough trust?

She slowly smiled. It was.

"All right," I said, holding her, "just hold you breath, okay?" She nodded, nervously – luckily for me, her curiosity kept driving her to face her own fear. Mew, hearing the okay to dive, gave a great squeal, and with a big jerk, her powerful muscles propelled us out of the water, flying us in a great arc and SPLASH!

Before us, underneath the surface was the bright blues of the sea, gradually growing darker deeper down. Light from the sky above filtered down, waving about and pierced the darkness, like it was strands of hair from the sun, bending down to look at the rich blues. Darting around these silky strands were pinpricks of silver, like flashing stars in lively motion. Larger, colorful lumineons swam into view in a large school, their fins waving in the water like they were lifted by wind. As we dove deeper, the schools moved their brilliant array around us in a circle, so that we were surrounded. Weaving between the thicks and thins of the schools were the milotic, the sun bringing out the stunning hues of their streamers and tails. Mew followed the milotic, weaving herself and us into the cloth of marine life. It felt almost as though we were flying through stars.

But goodness can never last forever. Mew plummeted down deeper, beneath the schools. Suddenly, she made a sharp incline and rocketed towards the sparkling surface, as the marine pokemon created a tunnel of silver, pinks, and periwinkles around us. We broke into a plume of water and spray, the brightness of the sun almost blinding us. I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the light. Aurora was gasping for air, holding my arm tight – was that a good sign?

"Aurora?" I asked, becoming increasingly worried, "Are you all right?" To my surprise and utmost delight, she whipped around with a big grin on her face.

"We're going again, right?" she asked eagerly, her eyes brightening with laughter. I couldn't resist smiling; she had done it.

~*~

Mew had left us, returning to the Tree of Beginning, at the shore, with the two of us laughing with joy and exhilaration.

But by now, we had calmed down, sitting side by side upon a smooth outcropping some ways off from Mandite and the tent-like shelter, enjoying the last bits of the day by watching the sunset.

I kept my eyes on the scene before me, as the sun sank lower towards the ocean, the sky becoming golden from its radiating warmth. The clouds were growing into lovely shades of pink, orange, and scarlet, trailing off into wisps that streaked across the sky like the strokes of a careless brush. The ocean, too, had slipped on its gold shawl in the presence of the beautiful sun, studded with winking jewels. The ocean was singing her calming lullaby, as the sun began to turn in for the night, the frothy waves crashing upon the shore where we sat.

At this point, I was filled with mixed emotions. Aurora, Mew, and I had a great time as we dove through living nebulae. I was beyond glad that Aurora got to see why I loved my homeland so much, and even happier that she enjoyed it too. However, the first part of the day was terrible. Only if the entire day was just as great as the last hour or so, then I wouldn't feel as bad. I know it wasn't my fault that the weather had turned out the way it did, but I felt the way I felt.

"Lucario?" I heard Aurora call my name.

"Hmm?" I answered, my eyes still on the horizon. I heard a small chuckle from her.

"What are you thinking now?" she asked me. Blinking, I turned to look at her, my eyes meeting her own with their dazzling characteristics. My heart would have fluttered – but it had been long time since it was broken.

"Just thinking about the day," I said, sighing. She smiled, her feet tracing some unknown figure on the water.

"Lucario?" she called for me again in her gentle voice.

"Yes?"

"I'm glad we're here," she continued, "I had a really great time – we should come back again." Ah, only if that were true.

"Well," I said, shifting my seating, "today could have been much better – you know we could have saw the sunrise, and felt the warmth of the noon." I sighed, wishing that we could have. Now we can't, because tomorrow we would be traveling with an urgency that made us blind to such beautiful spectacles.

"I wish you could have seen a perfect day," I concluded, and continued to watch the sun, now touching the sea. From my side, I heard Aurora laugh.

"You can wish all you want, Lucario," she said, "but it's more than good enough for me." I did not expect what came next – at all.

I gave her a sideways glance, and saw her lean towards me, so that her muzzle brushed my cheek. And then, I felt something warm and gentle rasp a tiny length of the side of my face. Something inside me burst into life, and was flapping about wildly. My face became very warm as I became bashful.

It took me a while, but I realized she had kissed me.

Aurora drew away from me, and smiled brightly, not deterred by what she had done in any sort of way. I looked back at her, my heart reborn and pounding furiously, not knowing what to say at all.

"Aurora?" I found my heart speaking through my mouth.

"Yes, Lucario?" she asked, her head tilted to the side, the golden light shining on her beautiful face. I swallowed, thinking I might die on the spot.

"Wha -" I couldn't pull my voice together, "I... I..." I coughed, and shook my head, as Aurora watched me, curiously.

"Aurora," I began again, my voice becoming softer, "I just wanted to say..." My face flushed and I looked down at the ground, hoping that something would come and help me. Now I seriously think I'm having a heart attack from my anxiety.

"Yes?" I heard her gentle voice. At that moment I looked up at her.

"I lo -"

"WHERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN?!" We both jumped from the sudden noise, startled. Turning around, we saw someone barely recognizable. But I could tell it was Mandite. I sighed, feeling dejected – the moment was gone. I was so close...

"What happened to you?" Aurora cried out. Mandite stopped before us, his entire body covered in black ash, his bright eyes glaring up at us.

"The fire blew up on me," he muttered, glancing at a blackened arm, "but it's time to eat, whether you like it or not – I'm starved!" He marched off, brushing off clouds of black ash as he grumbled. Aurora snickered, and gave me a small smile.

"Well, you heard him," she said, brushing me on the shoulder, "it's time to go." I smiled back, sadly; I guess I could wait till tomorrow. We both got up, and Aurora bounded off to poke fun at Mandite's misfortune, leaving me behind.

I watched her leave, hearing her laugh in the distance, feeling dazed. Lifting a paw, I touched the place where she kissed me, and smiled.

I guess this was more than a good enough day for me, too.

Should've written it better... T_T

AAWWWWWWWWWWW MANDITE!!!! He had to ruin the moment, didn't he? :3