Chapter 13.

As Xavier was walking back to the Waterfall Paradise, he heard a ruckus coming from inside the palace. Eevee's ears perked up, then instantly went down again and jumped out of Xavier's arms. It ran off into the Garden and hid.

Xavier looked toward the palace and waited to see if anything would happen. A moment later, he got his answer.

Rukia came storming out of the palace and into the Garden, not even pausing for a moment when Xavier called to her.

"Rukia, what's wrong? What happened with your parents?"

She said nothing, she instead grabbed Xavier by the wrist and dragged him toward the Waterfall Paradise.

"Whoa, Rukia! What happened in there?" Xavier asked, nearly falling over by how forceful Rukia was dragging him.

Rukia just shook her head, and continued toward the Waterfall Paradise.

. . .

Tal looked at the note in his hand, then back up to the palace gates standing infront of him. He started to smirk,

"This is the place."

. . .

Inside the Waterfall Paradise, Rukia stopped and stood infront of the stream. Looking into the water, she let go of Xavier's wrist, allowing him to stand straight.

"Rukia?! Your awake?" Andrew called as he jumped off a high rock.

"Yeah, she's awake, but she's totally different from the way she was before." Xavier said as Andrew walked over to them.

Andrew raised an eyebrow, then turned to face Rukia. "Hey, what happened Rukia?"

Rukia's hands balled into fists, "I'm done with them! I'm over it! It's their fault we're freaks! It's...It's their fault I could never leave the palace walls." She yelled, getting quieter at the end. Slowly, her hands uncurled until they were just hanging there. She dropped to her knees.

Xavier knelt down next to her, and put a hand on her shoulder, "Rukia, what are you talking about? Tell us."

Flashback:

Rukia slid open the door, then closed it behind her. She sat down next to her mother while they were drinking tea. needless to say, they were more than shocked to see her just wandering about when last they knew, she was knocked out cold.

They composed themselves quickly, however, and greeted her. "Rukia dear, are you feeling alright?" her mother asked. Rukia nodded,

"Yes, mother, I'm fine...but I need to speak with you both."

"Oh? And what might it be?" Her father chimed as he sipped his tea.

Rukia sat there for a moment, then balled her left hand into a fist, and slammed it onto the table. It startled her parents, and they both looked at her with concern.

"The village is in trouble and you sicked the guards on my friends when you didn't even know the situation! They might've been able to wake me up sooner if you didn't run them off!"

"Rukia, those people were trying to kidnap you! We did what we must to protect you." Her father said.

"No, they weren't trying to kidnap me or anything of the sort! They were trying to figure out what was wrong with me because I passed out three days ago!" She shot back.

"They were freaks sent by those evil people! How can you say they're your friends? How can you sit here and treat your parents in such a manner when you don't know anything about the world?" Her mother said sternly.

"Oh, so they're freaks? What about me, mother? What am I supposed to be? Because if a Gijinka is a freak, then I am one! And what about Grandmother? Was she a freak to you?" Rukia said angerily.

"And you think I know nothing about this world...All you two do is sit here sipping tea all day...While me and the "freaks" were out saving our village from that evil team you fear so much! And you know what, grandmother was right there helping us! She cared about our village and our family! All you two care about are YOUR well beings! You don't care about anyone else!"

Her dad slammed his hand on the table, "Rukia, you are the next head of the village. We need to protect you. Everything we do is to protect our family and this village. Why do you think we turned you into a Gijinka in the first place?!"

Rukia was taken back by that. She slumped back down. Slowly, she looked up at him,

"You...You what..?" Her dad sighed and sat back down.

"Before you were even born, we fused Mew's genes with yours, to make you the way you are now. Several other families did the same with their children-your "friends"-intending for them to all become the head of their families, and you were all to fight for leadership of the village. When news of this reached other villages, they came looking to kidnap one of the children, so they could use them as weapons to gain power in our land. Because of these outbursts, slowly, the other families were wiped out...Leaving only the children. We took precautions so you wouldn't be in any danger, and tried what we could to protect the others, but...One group of people came to us, claiming that they would be able to train these kids to their full potential, and asked to take them. We refused, of course...but after they heard our answer, they stormed in the palace, knocking out and killing guards...and kidnapped the other children. We figured they were eventually killed, or turned evil, and were sent back here to get you."

Rukia sat there trying to process what she was just told. She frantically tried to piece together everything, all her memories, everything she had learned about Team Plasma, her family, her friends...

When she came to a realization.

"Why didn't you try to rescue them..? And if they were kidnapped...why are they all fine now? How did they get to the Garden...What about Grandmother?"

"Your grandmother..Her parents did the same thing to her as we did to you, that's why she was part Mewtwo." Rukia's mother said.

"But how does that explain why she would send us to defeat Team Plasma, when she knew perfectly well the dangers?!" Rukia asked, pleading in her eyes for an explanation.

"Tsk, your Grandmother was crazy. She didn't care about your well being. Who knows what she was thinking." Her father said.

"No, your wrong! You didn't spend everyday of your life with her! She wasn't crazy, she cared about me and my friends! Don't talk ill of her infront of me!" Rukia blurted out.

Rukia looked back and forth between her parents for a moment, then stood and ran out of the room.

. . .

Xavier and Andrew were shocked to hear this. Andrew sat down next to Rukia, as did Xavier.

"I remember being trained by some people, but...I didn't know it was them. They told me, "your going to be the leader of the team"...but..." Andrew said, looking into the water.

"I just don't understand...Why didn't they try to rescue you all..? And if you were taken away...how did you manage to get back here..." Rukia mumbled.

"Well...Your parents had to think about your safety, and the village..They couldn't come looking for us." Xavier tried to explain.

'Screw that! They should've went looking for them anyway, no matter what! Everyones families...they were all friends of my parents, and they didn't give a damn about their kids!' Rukia thought.

Rukia stood up, "I need to be alone for awhile..." then she wandered off.

Xavier and Andrew looked off toward Rukia's direction, then looked to each other.