The kitchen was thick with the smells of boiling fruit and the heat from the cooker was making beads of sweat stand out on my brow, but I was so used to it now that I barely even noticed it. I handled my baking at home the same way as I did when I was still working in the professional kitchens, with a sort of nonchalant practiced ease, my fingers carrying out the actions quickly and efficiently, almost instinctively. Years of practice in both the workplace and at home had made this almost like second-nature. I knew this particular pie was a favourite dessert among the family and likely to go down a treat once it was presented at the table after the main meal. I hadn't made one since the last time Bailey, Jasmine, Nikki and Christian had come to dinner. That had been a rowdy affair, to say the least…

Despite the amount of disasters that always came with big get-togethers like that, I always wished I could see more of my friends. I knew that it just wasn't possible though, especially with everyone living in Kanto, and at opposite ends of Kanto at that. They had their own responsibilities too, as we all did; jobs and family commitments that took up a lot of time and money. It was rare enough to get the entire family around one table nowadays, let alone all the friends too. I made a mental note however as I began collecting the dough together for the pastry base to at least try and get something arranged. It had simply been too long. It hadn't felt like it had been too long, but when I thought about it, it must have been two years at least. That was the funny thing about time, and life too, really. It always seemed to rush past you when you were busy with other things. Then before you knew it, decades had slipped by…

I heard the front door suddenly swing open and bang shut. That wasn't unusual in itself, so I didn't pay much attention to it. The Free Spirits dojo, adjoined onto the house, was a hive of traffic. There were always people, Elliot especially, running in and out of the house looking for one thing or another. If it was any of Elliot's pupils, sent in on an errand, they normally left me alone unless it specifically concerned me.

"Hello?"

I recognised the voice immediately; certainly not one of Elliot's pupils. A smile touched on my lips as I heard the noise of shoes being kicked off. I always did love it when she came to visit me, especially now. I didn't look up at first. I kept my attention on kneading the malleable dough until I got it to the soft texture that I needed it to be at. A few moments later, the door to the kitchen opened and a rush of pleasant cool air invaded the room.

"Jeeez! It's like an oven in here!"

"Well, I am cooking in here," I replied, grinning.

"Let some air in, you must be roasting," She swept past me and pushed open one of the windows at the far end of the kitchen. Almost instantly, I felt the temperature in the room drop. "Oh, wait…" she grinned, turning to face me. Her red hair was windswept and messy, her face aglow and her hands sprawled protectively over a heaving belly. "You're so used to working in industrial conditions, this is probably nothing to you."

"You got it," I set the dough down and shot her a smile. "Well, you're looking well."

She looked embarrassed as she crossed to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. My hands, still sticky with dough flailed around uselessly in fear of getting flour on her dress. One that I'd bought for her, I'd noticed.

"Yeah? You think so?" she asked, as she pulled away.

"Oh yeah. Really good. Pregnancy glow and all that, you know?"

She laughed, gingerly lowering herself into one of the kitchen chairs and letting out a relieved sign. "I'm glad there's finally a positive symptom. What with the swollen feet, morning sickness, bloating and having to pee all the time, I'm glad there's something nice to show for it,"

"It'll all be worth it when you get that little baby in your arms after all of it," I smiled. "Trust me, there's no feeling in the whole world like it."

"Yeah, I guess so… Just…"

"Just…?" I prompted her when she trailed off.

"Just… just worrying…" I saw her hands tighten around her protruding belly as she spoke.

"About what?"

"Everything, really…" her gaze detached from mine and she looked off out the window. "Having them… raising them… all that stuff. Just all seems so scary… Not really sure I can do it…"

"Well, it's too late to turn back now!" I joked, but the worried look on her face made me soften. "Oh, sweetie, we're all the same on our first," I said, taking a seat opposite her at the table and reaching for her hand. "Babies don't come with manuals, unfortunately and as for labour… Well, you'll find out about that soon enough. Just remember, women have been giving birth since the beginning of time. And even if you don't know exactly what to do about it, your body does. So don't worry. When the time comes, it'll all be alright. You'll know what to do."

Her grip tightened around my hand and I squeezed back encouragingly. "God…" She said, looking at me in amazement. "When did you get so wise, Mum?"

"Oh, when you've been around as long as I have, you pick up on a few things," I said, pushing myself up from the uncomfortable chair. My bones creaked in protest with every movement. "Don't worry. You'll be just fine, love. Come on, come into the sitting room and we'll have a nice cup of tea, okay?"

"Sure. But here, let me make it. You've been on your feet all day cooking for everyone, so—"

"You will not, you're pregnant!" I slapped her hands away as she reached for the cupboard where I kept all the tea things.

"Hey, I may be pregnant, but I'm not an invalid!" she protested, pushing her way past and busying herself at the kettle.

"Well, neither am I!" I said, but I knew it was pointless to argue with her. She had unfortunately inherited the stubborn streak from my side of the family and once she set her mind to something, would always see it through. She had always been independent as a child, never letting me help dress her or bath her or feed her when she got to a certain age. That stubbornness had only seemed to intensify as she had gotten older too. My mum had just laughed and said that was a thing with first-borns; they always wanted to do everything for themselves. That was certainly true for my Naomi. She was a strong individual, and oddly enough, the only one of my four children to inherit my Volbeda red hair.

Red hair and stubbornness; that's a lethal combination. I think she spent too long taking a dip in your side of the gene pool. Elliot had joked once. I had laughed, of course. He always did have the oddest way of putting things. The other three children took more after Elliot, laid back and easy-going, but Naomi had always been different. I loved each of my children dearly, but there was a particular closeness between myself and Naomi. I wasn't sure if it was just down to the fact she was my eldest, or like Elliot thought, she reminded me of myself. I suppose those could be potential explanations, but the more I mulled it over, the more I started to develop my own theory. Perhaps it wasn't that she reminded me of myself, per se. Maybe it was more that she reminded me of my father…

I hadn't thought of my father in some time. Maybe the odd fleeting thought here and there, but sometimes I would spend months, even years without him ever crossing my mind. Don't get me wrong, his memories were always there, but as time passed and we went through the hassles and stresses of new jobs, weddings, births and children growing up, everyday life had a tendency to push away everything else away. You couldn't confine yourself to living in the past, not with children to bring up who needed constant care and attention. Every now and then, though, I could bring him back. I could bring him right in front of my eyes again, like he'd never left. But I could only do it when I really wanted to. There was simply too much else to think about and remember. The rest of the time, his memories slumbered in the back of my mind, like the comforting feeling of having someone watch over you while you sleep. You didn't always know they were there, but they were. And that's what mattered.

I crossed to the living room while Naomi took care of the tea-making. I looked around the messy living room, strewn with papers and books and whatever else that we'd forgotten to put away. There was a bookcase slotted into the corner of the sitting room and a collection of forgotten mugs were congregating on one of the shelves. I groaned. Any cups that were left around the house always seemed to attract more to their masses until I was sure the things were breeding somehow. I reached out for the offending mugs but was quickly distracted by the sights of the familiar treasures that lay on the middle shelf. Everything there was arranged haphazardly, several items back to front or fallen over, completely at the mercy of the trials of the everyday. I started moving everything around so they stood properly, like soldiers in an infantry line. Wedding photographs. Letters of acceptance. Photographs of newborn children. Family portraits. All the normal things that you would expect to see in any normal family home. But there were other things too; old badge cases that held onto dusty medallions, a pink Clefairy doll missing an arm and half of its tail hanging off, a dog-eared photograph of friends on the sunny shores of Slateport, a Mareep mail, never written on, newspaper clippings of the re-opening of the Free Spirits dojo; and finally, a red beaded bracelet peppered with soft painted flowers…

"Amph?"

"Son of a—" The sudden noise startled me and I knocked over the badge case I was trying to manoeuvre around to face forwards. A Cascade badge fell out of its plush interior. I quickly stuffed it back inside and turned around too look for the source of the noise. Meloi was sitting on the sofa in the centre of the room, staring at me quizzically. There was a half-eaten berry hanging gormlessly out of her mouth. "Meloi, you scared me." I said, pretending to yank the berry from her mouth. She squeaked indignantly and quickly swallowed down the berry, making me giggle. I sat down next to her and gave her a fond pat.

Naomi pushed her way into the sitting room a few seconds later with a tray of tea and some biscuits arranged prettily on a plate. At the sight of the biscuits, Meloi instantly perked up and snapped at the spare ones. When that failed and I pulled the biscuits from her reach, she resorted to simply trying to grab them right from Naomi's fingers. Naomi giggled delightedly as the Pokémon tried to clamber all over her trying to pinch the biscuits even before she raised them to her mouth. "She never changes, does she?"

"Mind her, Meloi, she's pregnant!" I told the Pokémon, eventually getting her to calm down. "And yeah, she's ever the spirited one. Don't count us oldies out, you know? Meloi keeps her own grandchildren in line, just like I will with mine."

Naomi giggled. "I just love how you and Meloi are still together after all this time, Mum. You're still as close as ever you were."

"I'm close with all my Pokémon, silly," I grinned, snapping a biscuit in two and tossing one half to Meloi, who hoovered it up in about five seconds flat. "But you never forget the bond you have with your first Pokémon. Meloi and I have always been together and we always will be. I don't think that'll ever change."

There was a silence for a moment, broken only by the noises of loud chewing as Meloi stole another biscuit and crunched it up, spitting crumbs all over the carpet. Naomi was dipping her biscuits in her tea, an infernal habit she had picked up from her father and had caused way too many upsets in the past when the biscuit ended up at the bottom of the mug. She bit off the soggy bit, swallowed it down and then spoke suddenly, as if an idea had just occurred to her. "I remember what you told me on the day I picked out Moss from Professor Elm's lab."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You said 'You're not just choosing a Pokémon. You're choosing a lifelong partner. A friend. Someone who you'll share every experience, both good and bad, with for the rest of your life. So, choose well and always remember to treat them right'." She paused for a moment. "Well, you were right. You've been with Meloi all your life, after all…"

"And just like you'll be with Moss all your life. And how your children will be with their Pokémon all their lives. Pokémon…" I chuckled a little. "Your granddad once said that 'your Pokémon aren't just Pokémon… they're our precious friends. Friends that are going to be with us, no matter what we do or what mistakes we make in our lives. And those of us lucky enough to learn their company should be eternally grateful for every second we have with them'." I felt a smile tug at my lips. "Because… because we're always going to be together…"

"Granddad knew what he was talking about, didn't he?"

"That he did, funnily enough." I smiled, glancing at Meloi again. In that moment, as she danced around Naomi, begging for more biscuits, she looked as young, fresh, innocent and spirited as she ever had done. I touched my face and felt the deep wrinkles eroding my skin. I knew my once fit and slim body was getting older and plumper by the day, and don't even get me started on how forgetful I had been getting recently. The stresses of working, marriage, children, raising a family and day-to-day family life had not been kind to me. As the years piled on in what felt like merely seconds passing, sometimes I had days where I was so exhausted that I felt about twenty years older than I actually was. But Meloi… she had never changed. Not one bit. She was as strong and nimble and quick-witted as the day I had taken her as an angry little Mareep from Professor Oak's lab, all those years ago. Time had raced by, babies were born, children grew up and we loved, and lost, people around us. Time never waits for anyone. We have to make the best with what we're given. And as I looked at my beautiful daughter, pregnant with my first grandchild, I knew that I had done alright, really.

Life is what you make of it, after all. I had made of mine four beautiful children and a wonderful husband, and I was blessed with the fortunes of a good home, good family and good friends. And of course, my Pokémon. Meloi butted her head into me, still eager for attention and I smiled as I looked into her eyes. My Spirited Six had been one of the best things that had ever happened to me. My Spirited Six – Meloi, Aurora, Monty, Kiba, Cairo and Indigo – had given me the stepping stones I needed to get the life I had always wanted. They were my friends as much as Nikki, Jasmine, Scott and Bailey were. They were as much my family as my husband and children were. My beautiful family.

Meloi, not satisfied by the limited attention, started baying incessantly. I tickled her under her chin and a thought struck me. "My spirited one… You were the one who started it all. Thank you. Thank you for everything you did. For everything you allowed me to do. You gave me this life. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have this and God knows where I would be now. You gave me my family and you gave me my friends. So, here's to us. Here's to everything we've gotten through together. Here's to the past years with you. And hopefully, so many more to come. So many beautiful, amazing, incredible years to come. Thank you, Meloi. Thank you for always being my spirited one."

I leaned in a little closer so our faces touched.

"And most importantly, thank you for helping me find my spirit."

Free Spirits
Fin

Author's Note

Oh my goodness... It's done... It's finally over...

I, uh... yeah xP I don't quite know what to say xP This is the last chapter for Free Spirits, there will be an epilogue and credits 24 hours after this has been published. I can confirm that this is the LAST instalment of the Spirited series and it will not be revisited unless I take the urge to randomly rewrite stuff...

I know this chapter was a bit of a jump in time and all that, but I've had this scene in my head for so long that I felt it was only right and decent to end Free Spirits like that. So yeah xP Hope you've all enjoyed this and I'll see you in the Epilogue and Credits =)

Thanks to MasterFreezeman, Shadow Serenity 57, ArchXDeath, The Neverending Meep, TwewyReaperGirl, TcoBlackRoses, Lmv16 and WarriorSwift for reviewing =)

Cheers everyone, you've been amazing. Thanks for sticking with me =)

This is OceanSpiral, signing out.