Landing the ship in Vermillion was easier than it should have been.

Red had expected a dozen guards to come aboard, checking the vessel's credentials, cargo, and crew. But he didn't even have to say anything as the four men sporting the Kanto insignia stomped aboard. They addressed only the captain, and didn't even go through the crates properly—they didn't seem to notice that beneath the layers of fur within laid deadly tools of war.

So, Red unloaded the ship with Black, Wally, Cheren, most of the crewmen, and, surprisingly, Yellow. While the other girls had opted to stay hidden in the galley, Yellow had donned men's clothes and hidden her hair in a hat. Nobody blinked an eye at her. She'd said, though, that she was doing this to keep an eye on Red; she didn't want anyone to recognise him. Red found that adorable—Yellow couldn't kill a bug if she'd wanted to.

"I must say," he mumbled to her as the port guards moved on to other incoming ships, "I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get the chance to pretend to be a sailor."

"You just wanted to play pirate," Yellow said.

Tansy emerged from below deck and hopped over to Wally. It was clear that something had happened between them, judging by their attention to proximity. It wasn't a tense awareness, but the blush on Tansy's freckled face whenever Wally drew near was enough to know.

The captain also came to address the young Resistance. "I suppose you will be on your way to Viridian," he said. On the boat, they'd managed to convince a good number of his men to join their own cause, including the captain himself. Of course, many of the men still wished to attack Kanto. Red and his friends couldn't exactly argue with that; after all, if tempers had risen too high, they could have ended up dead. "And, perhaps, when the time comes, we'll be found doing our part here in the port city," the captain added. "I don't fight for any foreign man's country, but I'll fight if it brings better times to my own land."

Red nodded and shook his hand. "I wish you luck."

He chuckled. "Oh, I think it is you who needs luck, Prince."

Red watched as the men still loyal to Unova's democracy departed, setting off on their own path. He was just about to leave as well with his friends, when Black started glancing around, looking very lost. "Has anyone seen Prez?" Yellow had even changed her clothes again, back into her dress, and in that time, White had not shown up.

"She was in the galley with me," Tansy said. "But she couldn't find Musha. She's probably still looking for him."

"We've already got a carriage to Viridian, though," Cheren said.

Black sighed. "I'll help her look for the dog, and we'll get another carriage. Get to Viridian, the lot of you."

"Alright. Head to the castle when you're there," Red said. He didn't like the idea of splitting up, but it was only practical. Seven of them couldn't really fit in one carriage.

Still it was a tight squeeze for just five in one coach. They managed, but not without grumbles of elbows in sides and shoes scuffling one another.

"So, what's the plan?" Cheren asked as they were tumbling along the bumpy trails. "What should we do once we're in the castle?"

"I had wanted to see if we could find any more allies in the city," Wally said, "but it feels as though we're running out of time, and we need to get to a point. Plus, it's easier for Black and White to find us at the castle."

"And I was thinking that we might be able to gain some power there ourselves," Red explained. "Seas know just how much there is in that palace—and why should my father have it all? If I can sway some councilmen, some advisors, without my father discovering us, then maybe—"

He was cut off suddenly by the carriage rattling to a stop. A rapping came on the door, along with a bark: "Out of the carriage, the lot of you!"

They had been betrayed. One of the rebels had squealed, or maybe one of the port guards had recognised Red after all. It mattered not how it happened, but only that policemen had the coach surrounded. The driver was tugged to the side; after all, he hadn't known who he'd been transported. But when Red and his companions within spilled out into the open air, they were met once again with weapons, this time a few rifles.

"You five are coming along with us," a policeman said. There was no way to argue as they were forced into different coaches, still bound towards Viridian.

White was flitting about the ship like a confused moth, calling out to her darned dog, when she heard Black's voice, loud above the noise of the ship.

"White," he said. She froze in her tracks, right in the middle of the galley, searching there for the second time. It seemed the likeliest place to find Musha; after all, he'd probably be scouring the area for food.

"Please, White, just speak to me," Black said. When they had been at the ports of Castelia, and White had joked with him just for a bit, it had almost seemed like maybe things were okay. But now, they were so clearly, heartbreakingly not alright.

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say," she shot back, trying to keep her voice from trembling.

"Then just read this." She turned round to see Black holding out his leather notebook. His voice held notes of desperation that she'd never heard before.

Unable to meet his intense gaze, she took the book from him and carefully flipped past the rough draft of his mystery novel. A foreign story was scrawled in his hasty handwriting after it. Narrowing her brows, she skimmed the first page, then the next, then the next. Finally, she looked up at him. "It's a drama."

"You always said you'd wanted to open a theatre," he said sheepishly.

"But…why would you write this?" The protagonists were so clearly herself and Black.

"I started it on the day that we fought. I was so confused and frustrated. But all things broken or stolen must be paid for. I broke all those cups, and so I had to work at the coffee house. I'd stolen your heart, and now I must pay you back. I can only hope that this is enough, for it's all I've got." He spread his empty hands wide. "You can have my heart in return. Break it or keep it as you please."

White hadn't the foggiest idea of what to say, so she remained silent. It seemed to work well enough.

"From the moment we met, I wanted to know you," Black went on. "And from the moment I woke up in a hospital with a bullet wound, I knew I had to find you again, or I'd be so terribly lost. I don't think I'll ever know what I would have felt for you before if I hadn't been so blind. But now, it's almost as if my vision has cleared of the fog that cloaks Unova before a storm. I think I can see you properly now, which is what you deserved before. It's taken me far too long, and I'm sorry for that."

So this is it, she thought. His grand apology. Black had always wanted to do things correctly. Even when he could have gotten out of working at the café, he did his time. He was a faithful friend, no matter how oblivious he could be. And now, here he was, wearing his guilt like it was his best jacket. She wanted so badly to look into those warm brown eyes of his and believe everything he said, but she just couldn't believe it.

"I don't know much anymore," Black admitted, "but I do know one thing. The moment you had even an inkling of love for me, I became the luckiest man in all of the kingdoms, and in every land beyond."

White could feel tears start to spring into her eyes. Damn it. "You think flattery will get you anywhere?" she replied coldly, blinking hard.

He shook his head. "No. I'm just trying to tell the truth as best as I can. I guess the writer in me came out there. But, White, what I'm trying to say is…I don't deserve it, but will you let me into your heart once more? I need you, and I don't think I'm content just being your best friend anymore. I'm just trying to say that, well, maybe in time, I might, sometime, feel that you and I—"

She couldn't stand his blabbering anymore. She surged forward and threw her arms around him, feeling like she was jumping off a cliff into the ocean. There may be rocks at the bottom that could hurt her, but it also could just be the honest, true sea. With his arms circled around her, she could feel his thundering heartbeat, and somehow, that was how she knew he would catch her this time if she fell again.

Black didn't exactly feel comfortable under the steely gaze of White's brother-in-law.

They had found Musha successfully, made it to ViridianCity, and located the castle okay, as the sun was burning into the horizon. But White felt nervous trying to step up to the king's home and claim she wanted to end the war. She'd wanted to see her sister anyways, and decided to recruit Lyra.

So that was how they'd ended up sitting on an old, smudged couch, Musha in Black's lap and White's nephew in hers, Lyra speaking rapidly.

"Oh, I knew this war was bad news," she was saying.

"Lyra, it's a war," her husband, Silver, deadpanned.

"Hush, now. I just had hoped Blue wouldn't get too tangled up in things, but look at our sisters, Silver! Look at what troublemakers they are!" She leaned down and hugged her sister again—for the third time, Black noted. "I'm just glad you came to us now that we're in the city. I know you're old enough, but I'll never stop wanting to protect my little sister."

Silver turned his attention to Black again. "So you're telling us that you've gathered the prince of Kanto, the former prince of Unova, a boy and girl from Johto, a maid from Kanto's castle, and White, and you lot plan to end the war?"

"Not just that," White said, but her voice sounded feeble. "We've got people in Sinnoh spreading the word."

"How can people in Sinnoh help?" Silver asked. Black didn't blame him for trying to see the logic, but it felt like they'd built a house of cards and Silver was that gloomy bit of wind that knocked it down.

"They can overthrow the weak democracy and control the military," Lyra suggested, suddenly serious. "Maybe they already have." So she was smarter than she seemed by far. Black had underestimated her—but then again, she was White's sister. He shouldn't have expected anything less.

"So you want our help," Silver said.

"I know it's a lot of trouble," White replied, "but I can't do nothing. I have to make a stand for what I believe in."

"We'll leave the kids with our neighbour," Lyra decided quickly. "She told us that she used to own a daycare."

"Yes, but she also said she was once a popular singer," Silver said, "and I highly doubt that." But Lyra had already spirited off, and returned with an elderly lady who immediately gathered up Aries and Iron.

"Do we have to stay here?" Aries asked, pouting. "I want to help Oba-chan too!"

Lyra saw straight through the crocodile tears. "Yes, I'm afraid so. But, um, Oba-chan will let you play with her dog!" She looked imploringly at White, who nodded and set down her basset hound.

"His name is Musha," she said. "I can't really take him into the castle anyway."

"Woof," said Iron. Musha stared at him.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Lyra told her children, kissing them both atop their heads before she flew out the door.

After a while, it became clear that they weren't going to a prison, because the police coach barreled straight towards Red's house.

Kanto's palace was enormous, imposing, and built to withstand anything. It seemed to glare at the rest of the city. Before they entered through a heavily-guarded side entrance, the castle guards restrained them in metal cuffs.

"What's this for?" Cheren asked, unafraid. "We haven't done anything wrong."

A guard leading them in snickered. "You're foreign conspirers have been doing quite a job. This idea that you've been trying to spread has been corrupting many different places. Thankfully, we've been able to control the news in Kanto."

"There are rumours, though," said another, "that your 'Resistance' isn't the only group fighting for peace. And we want answers."

They were brought into the throne room. The most powerful room in the most powerful building in the most powerful city in the kingdom.

They were in the belly of the beast.

Red could feel the tension, the anticipation of something violent, in the room—it was thick like a humid summer day.

Lance Corvus sat on his throne, looking regal and lethal as always, a sharp glint in his eyes as he said, "Red. Why could you not simply follow behind and act as a good prince instead of participating in this nonsense?" He spoke coldly—not as a father to his son, but a king to his heir.

Red stepped forward, in front of his friends, in front of Yellow. Speaking for them, shouldering any blame, protecting them. "We want peace, Father. We want the fighting to end. We want people to stop dying. We want government systems that will truly be fair."

"What do you know about fairness?" his father countered. "You're a man of action, Red. Not of words. And it appears you're too late; as of now, the blood of my own men is staining foreign ground."

"Must it be that way?" Wally asked, tilting head to the side. "If the war stops now, the deaths and pain can be reduced."

"I do believe this argument is between myself and my son," Corvus snapped. "A family skirmish, of course." Red moved to stand before the throne, head held high, ignoring his bound hands.

"You can't punish Red!" Yellow burst out suddenly. "This wasn't even his idea. It's not his fault."

Red stared at her incredulously. "Yellow, don't say that. Let me handle this."

"No, no." Corvus beckoned to one of his men. "Bring her forth. Let the lady speak."

Red couldn't stand the sight of a guard shoving her forward. "Yellow, stay back. I don't want you involved in this."

But that was just the opening his father was looking for to get inside his head. "Do you fancy yourself a leader, son? Do you think that if you can lead this sorry bunch, you could lead a kingdom through a dark passage? You cannot protect them, Red. Not any of them, not even this little girl."

"That's not true," Red said. "I'm not the one with a God complex."

"What's so special about these misfits? This girl, whom you value and would take punishment for?"

"I've become friends with them. We believe in the same things, and we want to work for the betterment of these nations."

"Why can you not ever leave people alone?" Corvus asked, going on. "You think that you'll protect them, but you only drag them into your pitiful struggles. The dangers you've forced upon them are already plenty. Why did you carry on, for you must have known? Why did you not let this poor girl be alone?"

"BECAUSE I LOVE HER," Red shouted, his temper flaring at last. He knew immediately that it was the wrong thing to say; not only had he wanted to tell Yellow at a better time, but he knew his father would only use this new development against him. Still, it burst out of him. He met her eyes; they were wide with horror or shock or maybe both. He couldn't tell just how she would react. Either he had taken a risk in the name of love, or doomed himself to lose his best friend.

Corvus snarled disapprovingly. "How selfish you are, bringing an unfortunate peasant into your troubles. Did you think she would be grateful for you? Did you fall in love with her need? Did you think, perhaps, she could be queen?"

Red knew the king was only trying to throw knives into his heart, but it was working. "I know that it's selfish of me, but I couldn't help it. After all, I learned from you, Father, what it means to be selfish. At least I allow it to drive my heart, and not my kingdom."

"What do you know about ruling a kingdom when you wish to run from a fight?" his father spat. "When you and your little pests want the fighting to end in the name of peace. I've never seen more sorry cowards than you insolent children."

"But just how bad would peace be?" Cheren asked. He'd come a long way from his Johto bakery, and he wasn't about to give up in the face of a cruel king. "Just how bad would it be to say you'd lay down your weapons if the Harmonias stepped down?"

While Corvus was distracted with a new nuisance, Red turned to Yellow. "I love you," he said, only to her this time. "I haven't had the strength to say it to you until now, when I have to, but I love you with all of my heart."

Yellow wasn't sure if she could un-widen her eyes if she tried. "But…I heard you say to Crystal that you couldn't possibly…"

"I couldn't tell Crystal," he said. "I was worried she might misunderstand, and I didn't know that you could hear us."

"Enough of this!" Corvus shouted, cutting through the noise of the room and stopping Red short. "Guards, bring them to the dungeons."

"I don't think that's a very good idea," said a voice suddenly. And, out from behind the king, stepped Black Harmonia, holding a sword to Lance Corvus's throat. "You didn't think we'd stranded you, did you?" Black asked with a grin. "We only went for help."

Silver held up a hand. "I'm a locksmith." He unlocked all of their shackles with almost impossible speed. Any guards who tried to get close to him were warded off by White, and a woman who hurriedly explained she was White's sister and Silver's wife, Lyra. Both brandished daggers—damn, was all Red could think. They're tough.

The Resistance had time to do absolutely nothing, though, once they were freed. For at that moment, guards flooded the throne room, at the king's side, rushing in a panic.

"Your Majesty," panted a guard. "We must get you out now—soldiers from Sinnoh and Unova have been spotted outside the city!"

Green stood within his grandfather's old chambers. Technically, they were the king's quarters, but he hadn't moved into them. They just felt to quiet, too neat. His subjects might think him more organized than the previous king, but Green relished certain chaotic messes. His rooms were strewn with papers and books; signs of his hard work.

Some strange part of him had been drawn into the chamber. It was as if he had thought some answers would be hidden in there.

But nothing jumped out at him, even as he went through old books or looked for journals. King Samuel hadn't even had that much lavish décor. He didn't indulge in fancy baubles as other kings might have. He was the person from whom Green had learned about the world and mannerisms and how to be a proper, just king, after all.

He didn't like being a snoop, but he couldn't help but feel as though there was something he was missing. Something about the war, about the democracies, about his grandfather, about Corvus, even about himself. There was a gap somewhere, and he needed to know everything if he was to make good decisions for his people.

Feeling a twinge of guilt, Green moved onto sifting through letters. Mostly recent ones, as well as the ones his grandfather had never sent. He did end up learning about some extra news concerning the war; just how many troops were where, and that although Hoenn was neutral, it had long before been suspected of suspicious dealings. Green stopped, though, when he found an unsent letter addressed to his own sister.

What did their grandfather have to say to her that he couldn't have saved to tell her at the wedding? It was only a week or so after he had died. It couldn't have been too urgent, anyways; the parchment looked very old, as if King Samuel had written it months, even years before.

Unable to shove down his curiosity, Green carefully opened the unsealed letter, scanning it. He had to read it once, twice, three times to let the words truly anchor themselves in his mind. He dropped the letter in shock, piecing it all together in his mind. It made sense. It made perfect, piercing sense.

That file he had seen wasn't there because of the early information on the Harmonias and the democracy. It never had been; Green just hadn't seen that before.

It had been about that strange, snowy night.

"Blue!" he called as he stepped into the halls, storming off. It didn't matter whether she was really there or not. Someone had likely overheard him and would tell her.

Sure enough, she appeared in his doorway only a few minutes later. "What's wrong?" He was packing a bag, a letter in hand.

"Get the cat. We need to go back to Kanto. Now."

A/N: me and my cliffhangers XD

So I got some really great suggestions for shipping names! Unfortunately, Pokemon has so many ships, and I wanted to do one with a name that's never been used before, so almost all the suggestions I liked were already taken (I used really weird words and there were still ships for them -.-" so, without further ado, this is what I've chosen:

Emerald x Tourmaline – PaxShipping (suggested by Pokeluv101 and two guests) Pax is the Latin word for "peace", which is probably the last name you'd expect for two energetic people. But Tourmaline is more emotional than Emerald, and when she's there to balance him out…though they're hyper, they could work together to stop trouble. Also, in the Emerald chapter of the manga, remember the softer sides of Emerald's character? How though he's coarse with people, he truly does care about Pokemon. The fabulous Pokeluv101 wrote me an amazing story called Misunderstandings to suggest the name PaxShipping! (shameless advertising XP ) A guest also suggested it after reading her story, and before that, another guest suggested PeaceKeeperShipping (which is essentially the same thing and also a fabulous name)

Wally x Tansy – UnexpectedHeroShipping (suggested by a hilarious guest) well, the name was actually going to be HeroShipping, but that already exists, apparently. But anyways, I really love the idea that anyone can be a hero for someone, no matter who they are or where they stand or whether or not they wear a cape!

Pearl x Poppy – CloudlessShipping (suggested by the same guest as before, I think) well, technically, the guest suggested LightShipping. But I even put in a bunch of synonyms and this was the only vague synonym that didn't already have a pairing, and I actually kinda like it. I'm always describing the clouds in Poppy's eyes, and the clouds above my stormy version of Unova, but Pearl clears those skies for her :)

Thanks so much for sending in suggestions! Hope ya liked the chapter. The climax is soon!
Rant over! Thanks for reading.
-Silvia

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokespe or anything else.