A/N Not nearly as long as before :D All right so there are no actual conclusions in this chapter, but more leads if you can pick them up. I honestly think that I haven't done very well with the last few chapters and I'm working on that. I usually can't stand it when a story or movie doesn't get right to the point so that was hard. Everything will start to pick up in the next chapter, but in the meantime, see if you can catch the hints to the plot. This chapter skips around a lot. And as either a warning or a spoiler: Lot's of romance in this chapter! I have to get off the computer, so I won't write any more, but please review when you finish! I'm sorry it's been so slow! It'll pick up I promise!! Hope this chapter is enjoyable.

When Makaila was five years old she was in a car accident. Her best friend, Kaiton, a boy who was on the far side of the car, died. Makaila herself went through several operations, and the doctors had to replace a couple different organs inside of her. Misty didn't fail to notice that as soon as she pretended to see a boy on her roof, the nightmares disappeared. And the way she described the boy, his hair color and his eyes, it was just like Kaiton. And Misty began to wonder if her daughter was seeing a real person, or imagining someone to comfort herself. When she was small Misty hadn't had any reason to worry. Plenty of children have imaginary friends. But pretending to have this friend, and really seeming to believe it, when the child is now thirteen, is quite a frightful thing.

Ash and Misty entered the office together, each silent as Misty sat down and Ash simply sat beside her. They were in the principle's office as requested. The phone call had been brief, and they weren't sure what it was about considering the fact that Makaila was not the type to get into trouble during school.

The principle sat down and looked at both of them. "Well…" He threw down some papers in an almost lazy action. "I have been asked to… talk to you about Makaila."

"What exactly is this about?" Ash asked with his eyes narrowing.

"Makaila's been to see the counselor."

"The counselor? What for?" Misty interrupted.

He held up his hand to quiet her and the action beyond bothered her. "All of the kids see her once, just for a talk. No real psychiatry. But she asked to see you."

"Where is she?"

"She should be here soon."

Just at that moment the door opened and a woman entered, looking quite disgruntled for the way Misty had always viewed counselors.

"I'm-I'm sorry I'm late and-oh." She noticed Ash and Misty and nodded more to herself as she walked towards the principles desk.

The principle rose. "I have some stuff to take care of so I'll leave you to talk."

"Thank you." They watched him leave and then the counselor walked to Misty and extended her hand. "Hi. My name is Ms. Green."

Misty shook it politely. "Misty."

She nodded in reply and then gave the same to Ash before backing up. "Well first, let me just say that your daughter is a very bright girl, and I so enjoyed speaking to her. I mean no disrespect by this, I just think that as the school councilor it is my job to make sure that everything is alright with the students."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"This may seem personal, but if it is alright with you, I have a few questions. The first being… has Makaila ever lost a friend?"

Misty paused for a moment. "Yes. Once in an accident."

"Was Makaila in this accident?"

"…Yes."

"This friend was a boy. Correct?"'

Misty raised her head in surprise. "Yes. He was."

Ash fidgeted and finally interrupted the conversation. "If you don't mind me asking, what do these questions have to do with anything?"

"Yesterday Makaila hit a boy on school property. Several children saw her, but she insisted that she didn't do it. That a boy did it. A friend of hers that no one else saw. She's… told me quite a bit about this boy. Sometimes when someone looses a loved one, their death may be hard to except. It is actually normal for some people to comfort themselves through-"

Misty closed her eyes. She had thought that this was over.

"You think she's delusional." Ash cut through the conversation and got strait to the point.

The counselor stayed still for a moment and then said, very quietly but very firmly, "Yes. I do."

Ash stood abruptly. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Green. Let's go Misty."

"Ah-" Ash left out the door before Misty could continue and she looked between the two before getting up and following him out.

She was pulled up harshly and was shaking the entire time. A man came behind her and held her arms while another man bent down to her level. "Hey… Hey!" she blinked and dazedly looked up at him. "What is your name?"

"A-Alexi."

"What's your number?"

"Two four oh two."

He nodded to the man behind him and the man turned her to face a small boy with brown mossy hair.

"Alexi!" he yelled out and fought against the grunt, who barely seemed to notice his attempts.

"Who is he?"

She sat, completely silent and face blank before looking down, her brow coming together. "I…"

A few more moments of silence passed and the boy's eyes widened. "Alexi…"

Finally she looked up and shook her head. "I don't know."

"N-No! Alexi!" He began yelling as the grunt pulled him out and she stuttered an apology as he began crying.

Finally he was gone and the man kneeled back to her level.

"I should know him." She muttered. "I know I should. Wh-What did you do?"

A hand slapped across her cheek and left a sharp sting, and she looked up at him in shock and fear, wondering what she had done to deserve it.

"Stop asking questions." He ordered slowly.

She lowered her head and nodded quickly while biting her lip.

"Good. Now, I'm going to ask you a few more questions. And I need you to answer them… Alright?"

"Yes sir." She whispered.

"That's a good girl." He said, ruffling her hair while standing to grab some papers.

She clenched her teeth and put up with it, feeling anger began to bubble within her. She wouldn't be able to put up with it for much longer. Not if the results were the same.

"Alexi…. Alexi!"

"What?"

"Daydreaming?"

"Um, yeah."

"Are you going to help me with this?"

"Oh… sorry." she leaned over the keyboard and looked at his screen. "What am I looking at?"

Keagan looked up at her with a lopsided smile. "You tell me. It's a sample of your blood."

"What?! How did you-"

"It's way messed up and way to complicated for me."

She hit him over the back of the head as a way to show him she wasn't happy that he had decided to do it without her, than sat beside him and tucked some hair behind her ear. "It's not all my blood."

"Wh-What?"

"It was a test thing… I'm not going into detail. As for the other stuff, half of what was pumped into me I have no idea what it is. I think this is pointless."

"Wait! A found three things I'd like you to look at. The first is this." He changed the screen and she struggled to keep her eyes from crossing as all the data flicked to life.

"When did you get this good at computers?"

"See it?"

She looked closer. "What?"

"That right there. It's supposedly a truth serum of sorts."

"So they used a truth serum, so what?"

"You don't care that they forced you to say things you didn't want to say?"

"If that was as far as my tests went I would have been overjoyed."

"Okay… here's the second thing." He popped up another screen. "It's a memory repressent. Did you ever forget things?"

She stayed still for several moments and then nodded stiffly. "Yes, I did. But I already knew about that."

"One more. You okay?"

"Fine."

"Alright. This one's kind of… complicated. I really can't place it. It's a mix of different things."

Alexi looked at it and tilted her head to the side. "I don't… I don't know."

"I'm not sure, but I did a lot of work on it."

"And?"

"Well you were always looking after kids there, right?" She stiffened and he went on quickly. "Ash mentioned to me once that you're motherly. I think you were so… connected to them because of this."

"Are you saying that a test made me do the right thing?" she asked with almost a glare.

"No. But… it's a mother thing. You know what you told me when you got sick? About the test they put you through?"

"Yeah."

"Well, did it happen before you started looking after kids?"

Alexi paused, realizing he was right. "I just didn't want to see any more children suffer. I wanted to see them smile."

"See that's what I mean."

"Wh-What are you talking about?"

"Mothers have really just a natural instinct to protect their children. You already had a little bit of that, because you're a girl. I think they just increased your need to protect."

She stared at him, completely silent, before turning and running up the stairs.

"So… strawberry right?"

Taylor smiled softly and nodded as Michael turned back to the girl behind the counter. "A strawberry and a chocolate." He took the ice cream and handed her the strawberry, then

led her to the table by her other hand.

"Michael, I have to tell you something." she whispered once they had both sat down.

He heard the anxiety in her voice and looked up.

"Skye's stopped giving me the herbs. Actually he hasn't done much of anything."

Michael's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

She took a shuddering breath. "It means that they weren't working. And… Skye can't do anything. I haven't been having any dreams and I hurt all the time."

Michael was silent, but felt his breath being sucked away as she led up to what she wanted to tell him.

"Michael, I think this is the last time we'll be able to come here together."

Michael's eyes widened. "What? Why? I mean he-"

She shook her head. "Michael, I'm not going to last much longer. I feel it all the time."

"What do you mean? You don't mean you're…No. I-I mean you look fine. You're beautiful and happy and strong-"

Despite the blush that came when he called her "beautiful", she felt some of the first annoyance she had ever felt towards him as he rambled on. "Michael!"

His eyes widened as he desperately hoped that he was understanding her wrong.

"Michael, I'm dying!"

And just like that he lost what breath was left in his lungs. "No…."

"Please stop."

He did so and bowed his head as the reality really began to sink in. But he didn't want it to. "No, you're not. How can you even know that?"

"I… don't know how I know, I just do." she muttered.

Michael shut his eyes against her words.

"I'm a clone. I'm not… normal. Clones aren't suppose to exist. I'm not a real person."

"That's not true." he muttered. "You're supposed to be here. I-I…" he trailed off, unable to make himself say it.

He heard her release a breath of disappointment and mentally hit himself over the head.

"Please don't do this. It only makes it harder."

"But it isn't true! You are real! And you're supposed to be here! And I-"

"Please Michael!"

His eyes widened impossibly further and he looked up at the girl now standing over him. She had never even begun to raise her voice while talking to him, even when she attempted to chide him. Her voice was always soft and calming, something he loved about her. He looked through her eyes as she looked somewhere over his head and he finally realized how much he could have hurt her.

"I-I'm sorry." She stumbled over the short sentences, and shook for barely a moment, before pulling out from behind the table and running through the door.

He stared at where she had been sitting, the strawberry cone had fallen over on it's napkin and begun to drip off the side of the table.

He ignored the faces staring at him and clenched his teeth, his expression hardening, before standing and running after her. He looked up and down the street, and finally found her. She hadn't gone far, considering the fact that she couldn't see. "Taylor!"

She heard his voice and straitened suddenly but finally just waited for him to catch up. He took a shuddering breath before turning her by her shoulders and breathlessly and eagerly laying his lips on hers.

He had to pull back much sooner than he would have wanted considering the energy he had used as he had run up to her, and Taylor stayed still for several moments afterwards, finally recovering enough to mutter his name in shock.

"M-Maybe you're right and-and I just don't want to believe it because I… don't want you to die. I want to be with you forever, a-as long as I can…." He took another breath of nervousness and let it out, pushing the words out with the breath. "Because I love you."

Taylor inhaled sharply and he closed his eyes against the tears that threatened to fall. He had finally told her, and it seemed to be to late.

Taylor bit her lip and reached up shyly, surprising him as her hand worked carefully to under his eyes and wiped the tears away. "Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"I think… I'm in love with you."

The short sentence filled him with unbelievable joy and he bent down again and placed his lips on hers.

Taylor's shoulders began shaking and he pulled back and looked down at her in confusion, but it only took a moment for his face to change to one of understanding.

"I-I don't want to die." she whispered, desperately trying to stop herself from sobbing as she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "I want to be like this forever. With you…. I…"she drew in a shuddering breath and Michael pulled her protectively to him.

"I won't let you die."

"You can't do anything Michael. No one can."

Michael felt her words stab him and shushed her by wiping her tears away and running the pad of his thumb over her lip. "There has to be a way. I don't know what it is, but I promise that I'm going to find it."

She shook her head. "Don't you get it? Why can't you understand? Please. Don't do this to me."

He put a hand under her chin and turned her face to his despite the fact that she couldn't see. "Taylor, I do understand, but I refuse to believe that there's no hope. I love you to much to just sit by and watch you die. I'm going to find something, even if I have to go back."

Taylor drew in a sharp breath of fear. "No. Don't say that. Please Michael, don't."

He held her firmer, as if he were afraid that she might die right then and there if he didn't hold her tight enough. "I will find a way Taylor. I'm going to find a way. Do you understand?"

Finally she nodded he let out a breath of air and looked up as it began to rain and Taylor's tears were washed away. "We better get you home. Skye'll worry."

She nodded again and he looked around before pulling ditto from his belt and releasing him. Ditto happily formed himself into a green umbrella moments later and Michael pulled her under it as he walked back home.

Skye heard the door open and stood a little to quickly and made his way to where the sound had come from. To his surprise, he didn't find the two in their usually happy states and Taylor made her way to the top of the stairs as Michael stood there and watched.

"What's wrong with her?" Skye asked once she was out of earshot.

Michael turned to him and once again he was surprised at the gaze that the young boy held him under. "Why aren't you doing anything?"

Skye's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"She's dying." he closed his eyes. "She's dying and I can't do anything. But you can, so why aren't you?"

Skye stared at Michael and then suddenly leaned his hand against the wall to steady himself. His gaze went to the floor.

"You didn't know?" Michael whispered.

Skye almost glared at him. "How do you know?"

"What?"

"How did you find out?"

"She told me. She said you're not giving her stuff anymore. She said she hurts…. She said she feels it."

Skye clenched his teeth and closed his eyes.

"Please do something!" He looked up and his eyes widened at the desperate look on Michael's face. "Please! I-I've never asked you for anything. Even if you think it won't work, just try it. Please, Skye!"

Michael's gaze lowered and in the dim light Skye could see the tears he held down, bordering his eyes. "You think you need to ask me to help her?" Skye whispered in disbelief. "Look… I would if I could. But… I've tried everything I can think of."

"No, you haven't! You've just given up! You think you're going to lose her just because you lost Sarah. They're not the same person! And just because you were in love with Sarah it doesn't mean that I'm stealing Sarah from you by being in love with Taylor! Sarah's dead! But Taylor isn't. I love her! And if you won't do anything…" He paused to gather his breath and opened the door. "…then I will."

Skye watched him run out the door, completely frozen in place. He finally recovered several moments later and looked up the stairs. When he reached the top he knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in." came the whispered reply.

Skye opened the door and found her sitting on the bed, her head turned towards the floorboards. "What happened?" he asked quietly.

Her head rose and he was shocked as her eyes gazed directly at him, unseeing though they were. She stood and after a moment ran to him and wrapped her arms around him as she began crying.

He fell back in surprise though his feet stayed firmly in place and shakily hugged her back.

She continued to cry and then finally spoke. "Skye, he's going to go back."

"What?"

"Team Rocket. He's going back. He thinks there's something that will save me."

Skye could feel the guilt began eating at him, despite the fact that he wasn't sure he had done anything wrong. Taylor looked up at him and he was surprised to find a sad smile on her face. "He kissed me."

Skye felt as if all the air had just been pulled from his lungs. He wasn't sure whether to be happy for her or sad for both her and himself. Finally he sighed and sat down on the bed, taking her with him. "I need to tell you something."

"What?"

He shuffled slightly wondering which way to properly tell her all she needed to hear. Words weren't something he was good with. "When you first came here, you needed a lot of attention. I think you were to young to realize it. You didn't grow properly and… there were other things to. I would mix stuff into your food and give you an injection late at night. And then there were the herbs in the morning to get things in your body moving."

She dropped her hand to finger a dot on her right wrist. "That's how that got there."

"There's something else."

Taylor rose her head. She wasn't looking in his direction but he could tell that she was listening.

"Sarah died and I… Well, she died in the test that made you. And when I saw you I just… I wanted to protect you. Michael never took anything seriously He wasn't what I thought would be… good for you. I didn't-" he stopped and shook his head, realizing that for perhaps the second time in his life he was babbling. "S-Taylor. I didn't want to loose you again." He said it quietly and calmly. He hoped that this would explain the way he acted and the way he felt towards her and Sarah as two different people. It was short and vague, but he felt relieved. Taylor didn't say anything and the tension came back. Had been to vague for her? Was she mad at him? She looked up at him and surprised him with a smile and three words that he desperately needed to hear. It wasn't "I love you", he didn't want to hear that, but a reply to the final comment.

"Skye… you never did."

There was silence as Skye absorbed the words and his mind went back to what Michael had said to him.

Taylor calmly allowed herself to fall against him and he wrapped his arms around her. "Taylor?"

"Mmm?"

"We should go get Michael." He felt his throat constrict as he thought about it. He and Michael had never gotten along, but still Taylor was in love with him. And he loved her back. Michael was going back to Team Rocket and all three of them were risking so much trying to keep each other. And even if he didn't like Michael, Michael was a good person. And she deserved to choose. He would've liked to believe that he had a say in the matter. But he didn't really.

She nodded.

"He might be going back if what you say is true."

She nodded again. "He'll do it. He's stubborn." Skye smiled and unleashed a breath of amusement. "Will you help me?"

"Of course."

The time in which Makaila spent with the boy, her best friend who had never been named, was some of the happiest time of her life up to that point. When she had met him as a young child, he had been skittish, strangely mysterious, and unsmiling and daunting. Gradually he began smiling. Gradually he began opening up to her. Gradually the barrier around him began to melt. Gradually he began to fall in love with her. And gradually, she began to fall back in love with him.

Makaila spent all of the time she could with him. Just the two of them in the middle of the forest and away from the troubles of life. The only time they ever touched would be if he decided to lace his fingers shakily with hers, or if she decided to kiss him on the cheek. Neither happened often, and so both relished the short moments of innocently beautiful contact.

And then someone just had to step in with, "He's not real. Get your head out of the clouds and come back down to earth! And if he were real, would you want to spend all of your time in the middle of the forest with someone who won't even allow anyone else to see him?" Eitan's eyes had almost gleamed as he spoke to her, and she had replied with childish rebuttals. Expected answers and yet the only things she could think of.

Afterwards she returned home, cold from the rain on her walk and completely confused. Finally she turned to her mother, and told her very vaguely what had happened. Misty had sighed and sat her on the bed and began explaining to her that the accident had been very hard on her. She had just begun speaking when Makaila stood and raced down the stairs and out the door, strait for the trees.

She reached the branches and began pushing through, not bothering to find a direction that wouldn't leave her legs horribly scratched, and yelled out to him, begging him to come to her.

He came. He always came. But that wasn't comforting at the moment. The first thing she did was place her small hand on his cheek, startling him and he struggled to remain where he was. He was taller than her now, the muscles were now proportioned evenly through his body. He was a young man, but Makaila didn't know for sure.

"Am I completely insane?" she had whispered, her fingers delicately gliding down his chin and then up to the side of his forehead.

He gulped and closed his eyes, trying not to blush.

"They say you're not real. They all do. No one believes me. Are-Are they right? Am I really as crazy as everyone says?"

His eyes opened and narrowed in confusion. "Do you even know what I'm saying, or did I imagine that to? I always know what you're saying. How can I know what you're saying when I don't even know who you are?"

She dropped her hand and tears started forming. She shut her eyes. "You're not real. This is to much. I can't live like this. I can't love someone who isn't real."

His eyes widened.

"You're not real. You're not real…. You're not real." And she repeated it till she nearly believed. But then she opened her eyes… and he wasn't there. She took a deep shuddering breath and wiped her tears away. They had been right. All she had to do was stop believing in him for his presence to leave her.

She turned back the way she needed to go but paused. No. He had been there. He had done things for her, and she had done things for him. They had shared those breathless moments. She believed in him. He was real. He was.

And then suddenly he was back, from where she had no idea. But his gaze hardened before he grabbed both of her wrists and left her gasping as he bent down and laid his lips on hers…

…and gave her a completely real kiss.

Ash had been under an outcropping during the kiss. He had no idea what his daughter was doing. He was just gathering the things his wife had asked him to get while he was on his walk. Then suddenly somebody put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around calmly and then froze. A multitude of emotions ran through him in one moment: fear, anger, shock, and caution. The last one was discarded as he dropped what he had been carrying and made to do the first thing he could think of.

The man that had tapped him was off behind him without hesitation, weaving between the crowd as he followed him.

Ash inhaled sharply as he felt something hit the back of his neck and slipped into a building filled with a large variety of cargo. He hid behind a large pile of crates and breathed deeply to calm himself. He was sure the man could hear his breathing. And his heart was beating so hard that he could probably hear that too. He closed his eyes tightly and held his breath as he heard feet come running into the building behind him and over the concrete.

"Ash, come out." He kicked a random box and looked around. "Why are you running? You have no idea how long they've been looking for you. Did you actually think that you could hide for the rest of your life? That you could hide your fees?" The man talking had dark red hair and blue eyes. His hair stuck up messily but somehow didn't look messy, simply untamed. He was thin, not exceptionally so, but was obviously very strong regardless. He had a sloppy gallop to his walk and his sharp eyes gazed around the room before he sighed, and then suddenly began smirking. "Alright you wanna play it like that? I have news for you, I know who your family is. That's right. And if you don't give me what I want, your family… is finished."

Ash's heart pounded all the more painfully in his chest. Misty and Makaila? Should he go to them, or would this maniac follow him? What if somebody was there? At his house? Like when he had been taken… He closed his eyes. What should he do?

"All I gotta say is you better run. I'd start now."

The man surprisingly left the building and Ash stood and ran out the opposite side of the building and made his way back home, the destination seemed so much farther away.

He suddenly felt terribly numb. The only two feelings running through him were fear and an overpowering need to protect the two most important people in his life.