Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters
"Momma!" Blue sat up quickly in her bed when Aqua cried out to her. She was out of the bed in seconds as she stormed to Aqua's room. When she opened her door though, she saw that Aqua was standing in the hall with tears in her eyes and clutching something to her chest.
"I'm here baby," Blue fell to her knees in front of Aqua and gathered the little girl to her chest. She mumbled words into her hair to try to comfort her, thinking that she had another nightmare.
"Where's Poppa?" Aqua asked softly. She could feel her mother tense slightly but refused to let that sway her. She would give her mother a chance to tell her the truth. If she didn't… she didn't know what she would do.
"Oh, Aqua," She held her at arms length so she could look into her eyes. "I already told you that your father is very sorry that he can't be with you right now. He away to save the world from-"
"Green's my father, isn't he?" Aqua's lips trembled. Blue was frozen with shock and she stuttered over her words. Aqua knew the moment her mother wouldn't look into her eyes, she knew her mother wasn't going to tell her the truth. A seed of hatred blossomed in her and she stepped back.
"It's true! You've lied to me all my life! How can you do this to me?" She pointed at Blue accusingly. "You were never planning to tell me! Even when he does come back, you didn't tell me. You did everything you could to keep me away from him. Does he even know about me?"
Blue shook her head. When Aqua would've turned and run, Blue grabbed both of her arms more roughly than she usually would have because of her desperation. She felt as if she was going to lose everything. She felt the same desperation that she did on her wedding day, only this time she didn't know if she would be able to survive this. She couldn't lose her daughter, she was the only thing she had left. There was only one thing she could do: tell her the truth. She was old enough and mature enough to understand, she hoped.
"Green is your father." Blue told her, her voice surprisingly steady. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to hurt you. I know that it would've been better if I told you but I didn't want you to think that your father was a bad man."
"But Green isn't a bad man," Aqua argued.
"He is a great man, but he does have his flaws. I thought he loved me just as much as I did back then. If I'm honest with myself, then I would admit that I still love him. But I'm not willing to risk you getting hurt like I did. You see, Green and I were supposed to be married. But then he got that stupid phone call. He was called in to help out with this experiment and research."
"But that's great," Aqua said, proud of her father. She was confused when Blue shook her head.
"Yes that is great, and I'm happy that he was able to do what he loves. The problem was that he wanted the job more than me. The job was in Washington and he left on the day of our marriage. Just before I was going to walk down the aisle, he came and said that he was leaving. He chose his job before me. I wasn't important to him, and that was what I was afraid of, that in the end, his job will still be more important than us."
"But Green is my father! He loves me already and I know that he wants to stay with us. Why can't you just tell him for me? Please Momma, we have to tell him so that he knows. He deserves to know! We can be a family and I won't be a bastard anymore. It's my birthday soon! I want my Poppa to be there for my birthday."
"I don't know Aqua. He has his job in Washington and that's very important to him at this moment. Please understand that he already has a life and we might not fit into it. Isn't our life good enough? I've tried to make it so that you don't need your father but I guess that was too much to hope for. Every girl needs her dad and I'm sorry that I took that from you."
"Does he know that I'm his daughter?"
"No. I didn't tell him because I didn't think that he would come back, even if I told him that I was carrying you, his only daughter. Even worst, I was afraid the he wouldn't believe me… that he would think that I was only making you up to bring him back with some teenage drama. Then when you were born, I thought to myself: 'I have this wonderful little girl. I don't need that bastard anymore. He's the one that missed out. All I need is you.' Then as I watch you grow up, I began to become fearful that I would lose you to him, so I continued the lie. If I knew this secret would've created a drift between the two of us, I would have told you sooner. I'm sorry about that. I was selfish, I can see that now."
"Oh Momma," Aqua's launched herself at her mother, staining her shoulder with her tears.
"I know that it's hard but you can't tell him. You might not understand but you have to keep this from Green. He's going to go back to Washington."
"He'll stay if we tell him," Aqua argued.
"Out of honour and responsibility. Do you want to know that the only reason he stayed was because he felt that it was his job?"
"He wants to stay, I can feel it." Aqua stomped her foot. "When he was at the lab, I saw him examining the lab equipment. He must've been seeing if he could still use the lab! He's staying, I know that for a fact."
"Aqua McAlister, I say that we keep this a secret so you will not tell Green. You will-"
"Oak!" Aqua interrupted, "I am Aqua McAlister Oak. And I'm going to tell Green!"
"Aqua no," Blue was stunned that her daughter would speak her to her in suck a way. Aqua turned on her heel and ran away from her. It took her a moment to realize that Aqua had run from her and when she ran after her, Aqua was already out the door.
"Aqua!" Blue screamed after her. It was dark and her eyes couldn't adjust to the dark quick enough to follow her. Panic quickly seized her as she scrambled around in the dark for her, hoping to find her.
Aqua could hear her mother calling for her but didn't stop. She would show her mother that she was right and that Green would stay with them. She didn't want to lose her mother but she didn't want to lose the chance of having a family either.
She didn't know where Green was staying but she knew that Wally would so she went to him. Wally didn't live too far from them so it didn't take her much time for her to reach his house. She was about to knock at his door when she heard his voice. His words caught her attention when she heard her mother's name. She went to the open window next to the door and peeked in. She saw Wally at his computer with Tansy leaning over his shoulder.
"Why can't I translate this?" He threw the paper onto the table. He groaned and leaned back, placing an arm over his face. "God, I wish I knew French. It would help to tell who's sending all of those body parts to Blue. He has his notes in English so this might mean something more."
"Translating website never work," She laughed and took the piece of paper. "I took French as a minor so I can probably help. I'm a little rusty but it's better than nothing. Let's see… it says 'I wish I could tell you what's in my heart blah, blah, more flowery poems. For a guy that speaks the language of love, this isn't much of a poem."
Aqua stepped back. Someone was sending body parts to her mother? Why didn't she know about this sooner? She wanted to go back to her mother. She wanted to go to her father. She just wanted to go back to where she was safe. Her mother was closer so turned back to where she could hear her mother calling her. When she turned the corner, she bumped into something large and solid.
Alex.
Aqua choked back on her words when she looked up at the large man. He stared down at her, his face void of all emotion. "What are you doing here all alone at night?"
Aqua couldn't answer with the lump in her throat blocking them. She stepped back until she was stopped by the wall. She could hear her mother calling for her, her voice becoming closer and reasoned that if she waited, her mother would come upon them. She wished that she could call out for her mother but fear took away the ability.
Then she remembered something. "You know French. You told me once that you travelled the world and learned French while you were traveling Europe."
"Green!" Blue burst into her office and saw that Green was sitting at the table, going over papers laid out on the table. The moment he looked up and saw the look on her face he was on his feet. No sooner did he move did Blue tackle him, burying her face into his chest, her arms going around his waist.
"Please tell me that Aqua is here! I told her about her father and she ran away," Blue broke down crying. Saying the words made Aqua's disappearance that much more real to her. A part of her wished that this was all a bad dream but the pain clutching her heart was very real.
Green felt the pain too. His little girl was out there in the dark, lost and afraid. A part of him blamed himself. In his mind, he could clearly remember him telling her to tell Aqua the truth about her father.
He shook himself from the pain. Blue was shaken and afraid, he had to be strong for her. He had to be the one with the logic when all he wanted was to break down as well. He hated how some people saw it as cold when it was the only way he knew how to deal with the situation.
"Don't worry Blue," Green grabbed her arms and tried to reassure her by using a soothing voice. "We'll find her together. How long ago did she run away?"
"Half an hour. I've been running around the town looking for her until ten minutes ago and came here. I went to look for her at the library and Daisy's house but I can't find her anywhere. Good God, that killer is still out there! What if he finds her, or-"
"Shh," He kissed her tears. "Crying and worrying won't help us find her. We will find her, I promise you that."
She nodded and he took that as a sign for him to take the lead. He took her hand and led her out the door, grabbing a flashlight and jacket from beside the door. The cold air rushed to him and he gritted his teeth. He turned back to see that Blue was only in a large shirt he recognize all too well. It used to be his but she took it the first night they made love. She wore it every night from that night on and only allowed him to wear it when she said it lost its scent before taking it again. The adrenaline must've prevented her from feeling Winter's chill.
Green shrugged off his jacket and placed it around her. It was long enough to cover her like a raincoat, and he blushed when images of the past came to his mind. He quickly shook them off and turned his attention back to Aqua.
"We should find her before Aqua catches a cold. I hope she wore something warmer than you did."
Blue laughed shakily and muttered beneath her breath, "You would've made a great father."
"What is that?" Green turned to her and she gave him a weak smile.
"I promise to tell you one day," She wiped her eyes and the warmth of Green's large engulfing her smaller one. Even though he had been away for years, he seemed to be able to make his way around the small town easily enough. Her mind was bombarded with images of Aqua hurt, cold and afraid. She didn't want to think beyond them finding her. She didn't want to worry about Aqua telling Green because at this moment, all that mattered was finding their little girl.
"Aqua!" They called out together. Green found footsteps in the snow, small enough to be Aqua's and followed them until they came to a different pair of larger footprints. Blue's imagination became frantic at that moment.
"He has her! I'm a horrible mother," Blue began to cry again.
"We'll find her and then we can argue about this all we want!" Green yelled to snap her out of her shock. "Aqua's a smart kid so she must've left something for us to follow. She's your child so she won't give up without a fight."
Blue nodded her head, looking around for something that would help find her missing child.
"I can't believe that you put a tracker on the child and forget until this moment," Green mutter as he followed Blue. She waved him away and reminded him that she was gripped with the fear and couldn't think clearly at the time.
"How many ethical codes have you broken in your life? Sewing chips into her shoes! Didn't you say that you had a tracker in my phone?" Green wanted to throw up his hands but didn't. He couldn't let his emotion blind him at this moment. He followed her into an alleyway and his eyes searched frantically for any sign of Aqua.
"Aqua!" She called out instead of answering his question. When the fear and tears subsided, anger took over and she wanted nothing more than to wrap her hands around the killer's throat. She was generally a gentle, peaceful person but she felt as if she would take pleasure in taking his life. How dare he touch her child?
"Momma!" She turned and saw that Eric was standing at the end of the alleyway, holding Aqua's hand. When Aqua saw them, she ran to them and hugged them. Aqua lifted her into her arms, kissing her temple. She felt Green wrapped his arms around them, holding their chest closer to his chest. She could feel Aqua turn in her arms so she could hug her father as well.
"Poppa, it was Alex! He's been the one sending you the present and killing all of those people!" She said frantically and her parents stared down at her in shock. Green knew very well that Blue didn't tell Aqua about the murders. Green stiffened and wanted nothing more than to punch in the man's face. He could see the man's face in his mind clearly. He felt a bad feeling from the man since their first encounter and he knew Aqua felt it too.
"What happened?"
"I was going to go to Wally so I could go find Green but then I heard about the body parts! Then I was going to go back to you but then Alex came! But then the next minute Eric also came. He took him down and said that he had been investigating and finally found that Alex who was behind everything!"
"You must've been so scared," Blue kissed her temple again. "You're my brave little girl. Thank you for finding Aqua and for Alex."
"It's okay, I will do anything for you. I called someone to bring him down to the station." Eric stepped forward. "Please, can we talk for a moment?"
"No!" Aqua held on tighter to her mother. "I want to sleep with you and Poppa tonight. Please, I don't want to sleep alone tonight."
"I would really rather just take Aqua home," Blue told Eric before she turned to walk away with Aqua in her arms.
"I understand," Eric said though his words were bitter.
"Thanks," Blue said softly and walked back to the direction of her home. Green followed after them and placed his arm around the two. He kept a protective arm around the two and felt oddly territorial over them. He didn't like how Eric's eyes followed Blue. At least now, the threat of the killer was gone and he could court her properly without the pressure of the killer.
He looked back and glared at Eric. He was grateful that he helped bring down Alex but a part of him didn't like the man.
"Momma, can you tell a story now?" Aqua sat on Blue's large bed next to Green. Blue had insisted that he stay to help Aqua feel safer and it didn't take much of an argument to convince him to stay. In fact, he would've asked if he could stay. This was a nice excuse for him.
He watched Blue at the window, breathing in the fresh air. It was nice to see her so relax since he saw her so tense the last couple of days. Aqua seemed less afraid than when she was when they found her. If he were to ask her, she would've told him that it was because she had both her mother and father there to protect her. Her emotions were so frazzled that she didn't remember to tell her father the truth.
The bed shifted when Blue sat on the bed. She leaned over and kissed Aqua's forehead, before settling under the covers with them. "What story do you want me to read to you tonight?"
"The one about the princess and the knight!" She requested. Blue nodded and saw that Aqua settled into Green to hear the story.
"Once upon a time," She began. "There was a princess that ran away from home. She wore a silver coloured cape to disguise herself. She didn't want marry a man she didn't love and joined a travelling group of bandits that stole from the good and gave to the poor under the disguise of being a group of traveling performer. There she met her knight. She wanted to tell him the truth of who she was but didn't want her family to find her. None knew her name so the Knight gave her one of his own, naming her Mistletoe for the day he found her, she was standing under mistletoes.
"The Princess Mistletoe would always try to keep to herself but she found that she was close to the Knight. He was charming and endearing with his lighthearted jokes and dashing chivalry and she began to fall in love with him. Likewise, the Knight, who personally appointed himself her protector, was stunned by her beauty and grace fell for her the moment he saw her. But the love grew when he realized that she was also smart and kind.
"One day, the group went to rob from a very rich family, but not any rich family. They were going to rob from the Princess's family. She of course was very worried about being discovered but didn't want to have her friends be captured. Like every mission, she stayed close to the Knight. She tried to bring them to the royal vault as safely as possible but it had been a many years since she had been home and her family has placed more traps around the castle.
"Unfortunately, they were discovered and brought before the King and Queen. They didn't even look at the group before they declared that they were to be put to death. Princess Mistletoe was shocked at this of course and stood, pulling off her cape, revealing that she was the missing princess.
"'Do not put these people to death!' She pleaded. 'I shall only return home if you spare these people's lives.' They agreed of course and Princess Mistletoe was to be married again. A year had past and she stayed in the castle. One day, when she was walking in the garden, the Knight was there. He begged her to come with him, to run away with him. The Princess wished that she could but knew her parents would come after the group and couldn't risk her friends' lives.
"She sent him away with tears in her eyes. Then on the day of their wedding, just as they were going to say their vows, the Knight came. He proclaimed that he loved her and wouldn't let her marry a man that she did not love. Everyone was so moved by his words, that they allowed them to marry."
"I like the Princess," Aqua said softly as she yawned and snuggled under the covers.
Green pulled the covers over Blue and Aqua so that they were warmer. He couldn't sleep and watched the pair sleep instead. Feeling a chill in the air, he moved out of the bed to close the window that Blue had left open. He turned when he heard Aqua mumble something. He smiled at how adorable she was curled up with Blue. In a short time, they had become his life. His grandfather's lab was still in a good enough condition so that he could work there. He didn't know when or how he would tell Blue that he was going to stay.
The sound of glass shattering broke the silence and the noise cause Blue to wake. Fast footsteps made them stare at each other in shock. Was it just a robbery or something more? Blue made sure that Aqua was asleep next to her and the window locked before she pulled on a sweater and followed Green down the hall. She laced her finger through his as they walked down the stairs. She motioned for her to stay back as he rounded the corner, in case the intruder was still there and had a weapon.
Blue followed though and her eyes went to the coffee pot that lay shattered on the ground. Besides that, there was no sign of someone being there. Green's eyes went to the present lying on the counter. His heart stopped when he saw that it was a head, Alex's head. He closed it immediately before Blue could see it and instead handed her the note placed beside the present.
How can you not run away with me and mistake me for this imbecile? The words were angry and she was surprise the pen didn't cut words into the paper. The next time we meet, you will come with me and not leave with that bastard or I will take our daughter. How dare you be an unfaithful slut?! I am so vexed with you, that I can just kill you.
Green gritted his teeth at the words. How dare the man say he loved Blue yet called her such angry words? He tightened his hold on Blue's hand, trying to contain the anger he felt.
Wow, it's one in the morning and this must be riddled with mistakes but I can't make you wait any longer with the chapter so here it is. Review if you liked.