What's that? I started writing again? THAT'S RIGHT. Little sick ol' me started writing again. DAYS AND DAYS LATER. I swear. This sucks. THIS SUCKS. CURSE YOU, WEAK IMMUNE SYSTEM!

Thanks to Gur40goku, Rizzo-P, Random Visitor Girl and thedancingcricket for following and/or adding this to your favorites :D

Special shout-out to Kackijax for following me as an author! Thanks much!

Thanks for all the nice reviews wishing me to get well! :') I really love everything you've done to support me, whether it be reviewing, following, putting this in your favorites or simply reading! I really do! :)

I own the plot, some other things, and that's about it.

Ruby, naturally, saw it first.

"Smoke!" he exclaimed, pointing his finger in the direction of the plumes. Indeed, gray clouds puffed up slowly, languidly, as if they had all the time in the world to rise and dissipate.

"Why would there be smoke here?" White asked, temporarily putting down the fibers she had been braiding together. She, Ruby and a few others were working on the task.

"It could be a fire-type," Bianca suggested. She and Diamond were whipping up a meal from the assorted berries the Sinnoh trio had gathered. "Maybe it just set something on fire."

"Or," Yellow pointed out, efficiently sewing up Gold's torn shirt, "It could be a smoke signal from Sapphire."

"We don't have time to look," Cheren snapped from nearby. He was sorting through the things the Kanto four had salvaged from the ship, which, to the boy's relief, included the ship logs. "Look at all we have to do!"

Ruby bit his lip and looked down, returning his attention to his half-finished braid. He could see the truth in Cheren's words. But Yellow, with her keen brown eyes, didn't miss his disappointment.

"Ruby." Her junior looked up. "If you really want to, you could poke around, see if there's anything going on over there."

No words could describe how grateful he was to her. He snapped his fingers once, summoning Zuzu to his side, and was making his way through the foliage in a flash.

"Did I miss something?" Emerald asked after a moment, sitting cross-legged on the ground and pulling Ruby's rope to him, intent on finishing it

The three girls present rolled their eyes and even Cheren barked a laugh at the boy's obliviousness. But it was White who said scornfully, "Haven't you noticed the way they look at each other?"

Bianca added with a smile, "Sapphire thinks she's hiding it so well, but we all remember that one time at night when she finally got him to sleep. They were both bright red."

Cheren added, "Ruby's always watching her, when he's not busy with the sails. And he loves trying out new recipes on her, since she eats practically anything, but he always takes special pleasure when she likes it." The other five looked at him and he shrugged, his dark blue overcoat shimmering with the movement. "What can I say? I like to observe people."

"You boys really didn't notice anything?" Yellow asked of Diamond and Emerald. Dia shook his head and Emerald grinned sheepishly. She shook her head, amused, and returned to her sewing. "I guess there really is something called feminine intuition."

"Excuse me, but I am not a female."

"Oh, shush, Cheren," White said dismissively. "Everyone knows girls are better than boys, anyway."

"Hey!"

Ruby kept his eyes trained on the plumes of smoke, one hand brushing undergrowth away from him and the other keeping Zuzu balanced on his shoulder. It was slow going, especially with the humidity and, great Arceus, the heat, but he was determined to continue on.

After all, what would he be if he let this one chance to find her pass up? A coward, and a moron, and everything else in between. He'd been a coward for so many years he was sick of it, and, well, his previous antics could easily be labeled moronic, that was for sure.

In any case, this was Sapphire he was talking about. If he lost Sapphire, he might as well lose the whole world.

Not that he'd ever tell her that.

But he knew, and that was enough. Hopefully.

Zuzu squeaked at him in alarm when something rustled nearby – far too close for comfort. Ruby froze, slowly poising his hands in a defensive position and shifting his feet ever so slightly. The rustling came again, closer, and Ruby willed his heartbeat to slow and his breathing to be silent.

Then a Heracross came into view at the corner of his vision. Ruby's eyes narrowed; what a disturbingly hideous creature. He took a quiet step back, checking the ground for dry leaves or twigs or whatever else might give him away. No need to start a battle; it would serve him no purpose, and in any case, he had better things to do.

So naturally, he tripped over an entirely nonexistent pebble. He did that a lot in choice moments of his life.

The Heracross snapped its head up, large eyes quickly pinpointing the source of the noise. The Pokemon obviously thought they were suspicious, as it lowered its head and began what seemed to be a charge. Ruby swore out loud before commanding Zuzu, "Water Gun!" As soon as the attack hit its target Ruby bolted, aiming for the smoke that he knew was somewhere in front of him.

This did not go as planned, as the Heracross gave chase. Ruby swore again, lifting a hand and keeping Zuzu on his shoulder as the little Pokemon turned around. "Try to stop it, Zuzu!" he ordered, increasing his speed and barely wincing as branches and twigs scratched at his arms and legs. His clothes, which he had repaired, could deal with more damage. Besides, he had extra thread in his pocket, he could easily thread the cloth back together once he – once he –

Stopped? Found Sapphire? Ruby forced it out of his mind, focusing on running and running only. It was his priority to escape, wasn't it? After all, he –

He swore again, keeping his legs moving. He could defeat the Heracross easily. Why was he running away?

His father's words echoed in his ears. You're too precious to let go, Ruby. Stay in the house. The world is a dangerous place, unfit for a frail boy like you. Ruby gritted his teeth. To hell with it; he would prove to his father, and himself, that he could do what anyone else could.

"Zuzu, remember that move we were practicing? Back h – I mean, back when we were at Petalburg?" he asked in a rush, slowing his pace. He could feel the Mudkip nod. "Why don't we try it out?"

He got an affirmative squeak, so he whirled around, crossing his arms to block the Heracross's incoming blow. It was a stupid move in retrospect; the Heracross merely put its horn between his arms and his chest and sent him flying up into the trees. Ruby's body, though battered, had been through worse, so after a brief tussle with the branches he landed on his feet on the jungle's floor, Zuzu standing in front of him.

As the Heracross charged again he said, "Zuzu, Ice Beam." The attack, which Ruby calculated to be extremely effective against a bug-type unused to the cold, hit the Heracross dead-on. It was more slush than ice, but at least his Mudkip was getting the hang of it, and it left the other Pokemon stunned on the ground, cold and slightly frozen.

"Let's go," Ruby said, scooping up his Pokemon and checking its body for wounds. It was relatively unmarked, though it had a few scratches on its legs. Ruby dabbed the dirt away with a part of his shirt, murmuring compliments to the Mudkip all the while as he walked. In all honesty, Zuzu was the best Mudkip in the world.

After a moment, Ruby looked up and saw the smoke was very close; the fire was only a few yards away. He paused, hesitant. What, exactly, would he say if it were Sapphire? Several cheesy lines came up at once, ones that he dismissed nearly as quickly. Zuzu nudged his master's shoulder, curious as to why he was pausing, and Ruby sighed, placing the creature on his shoulder. He might as well just walk and see what happened. Perhaps if he improvised, he would say something intelligent for once –

Which is when he felt a piercing stab to his back. He still managed to squeak out another few words as he went flying – "Damn that Heracross!" – only half-aware and landed with a splash. A splash? He was in water?

Well that was just grand. "Zuzu?" he called, treading water. The Mudkip was paddling easily next to him. "Jeez, that thing's persistent," he grumbled, noting the water was shallow enough that he could stand. He did so, making his way toward dry land, eyeing the surrounding foliage for the bug-type. But it was as if it had vanished. When Ruby stepped onto dry land, this time keeping his guard up, he could sense the attack before it came.

He whirled swiftly, grabbing the offending – thing and twisting it, hard. An enraged shriek of "Hey!" immediately made him release it from his grip, which could have broken an arm had he pulled harder, though he still let his fingers grip whatever it was.

"I wasn't trying to hurt you, Arceus dammit!" Oh, he knew that voice anywhere.

He looked up and met blue eyes. It really was Sapphire. Smooth, Ruby. He had grabbed her arm and nearly broken it. That would've been a problem, had he actually broken it…

Then he realized he was still holding her arm – her hand, actually, and he released it, a faint blush on his cheeks. "My apologies," he said, embarrassed. He was further embarrassed by the eyebrow raise he earned from her and the amused sound Zuzu made from his feet.

Her eyes ran over his body. Observing him. Examining him.

"You're really alive," she whispered, and Ruby blinked. He'd been standing here for a good thirty seconds. Of course he was alive. Really, even a person with clouds for brains could've figured that out sooner than she had –

Which is when he realized she had her arms around his neck, her face against his shoulder. She was hugging him.

Good Arceus – what – what – what in the world was he supposed to do?

Hugging her back might be a good start, the logical part of his brain said helpfully. Ruby complied, carefully placing his arms around her waist, mystified at his captain's out-of-character antics, fully aware that he was blushing furiously and marveling at the relief he felt as he realized she was safe.

After a few more moments she released him, her hands flying to her mouth. "I – did – um – I – um – I – didn't-mean-to-really-I-didn't – " Then her eyes went up to his forehead. More specifically, his scars. Her mouth closed and her eyes widened.

Ruby watched this with apparent mild interest while instead he was drinking her in, so damn relieved she was alive that nothing really mattered to him anymore. She was looking at his scars – so what? – and then he realized: oh dear. She was probably going to get mad at him for not telling him sooner.

Her fingers rose and lightly traced the scars up to his hairline. Her touch sent shivers down his spine. "Where did you get these?" she asked quietly. Her tone was deadly soft, and Ruby repressed a quiver as he looked into her blue eyes.

"I was scratched," he mumbled, breaking eye contact and looking down, folding his hands behind his back. By her silence he assumed she wanted him to continue, so he muttered, "By a – "

"Persian." Her tone was clipped, certain. "Right?"

He nodded, and she said quietly, "When you were running away from a pirate captain."

He nodded again and added, "When I looked back to see what was chasing – us. You remember, of course."

"Of course." After a moment, she seemed to realize what he said. "Wait a minute. You didn't tell me this when I told you – that night on the ship – when I told you what – what happened to me – "

"Us," he interrupted before she could finish. He scratched the back of his neck, self-consciously. "I wasn't sure if it was the right time – "

"Right time?" The scorn in her voice burned his ears. "Right time? Ruby, I've been searching for Ruby, I've been searching for years only to find out it was you, and you didn't tell me because you didn't think it was the right time?"

Ruby was expecting her to hit him, but soon he knew that wasn't enough for her. Sapphire never did things in halves, so as he watched as she spun expertly on one foot, the other twirling around, he knew immediately she was going for a kick.

He did the natural thing – he closed his eyes, prayed to Arceus for mercy, and managed not to scream when her foot nailed him on the side of his stomach, sending him flying back into the water he'd just swum out of.

"You idiot!" she fumed as Ruby slowly dragged himself back out of the water, aided by Zuzu's helpful little nudges. As soon as he had pulled himself up she grabbed his collar and held him up in the air – not exactly a feat for her, considering the wiry muscles. Ruby stared down at her, almost impassive. "You did it on purpose, didn't you! Just to, to, torment me!"

She looks kinda cute when she's angry, Ruby thought through the haze of pain, and he couldn't stop the small smile that tugged the corner of his lips upward. Sapphire immediately slapped him, yelling something about being condescending, or patronizing, or sarcastic, or something. Ruby just waited for her to get it all out; once she did, he could talk to her like a normal human being again. But until then…

He let out an inaudible sigh, focusing his eyes onto her face as he dangled. She was just yelling at him at the moment, something he tuned out with relative ease as he carefully prodded his waist where she had kicked him. He in haled sharply at the pain; he'd have a bruise there for sure. And his cheek was burning with white-hot pain, so he'd probably have a mark there for a few days. He was moping about the loss of his blemish-free face when she abruptly dropped him, grabbing his shoulders before he fell backwards into the water again.

"I hate you," she grumbled, and Ruby knew the storm had passed.

"Of course," he replied, taking her hands off of his shoulders but not letting them go. "You want to go back to the others?"

She looked down at their interlocked hands, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. Ruby resisted the urge to smile again because, well, she was just so freaking adorable.

Which was when Zuzu butted Ruby's leg, squeaking in an agitated manner. Ruby released her hands and turned around in one graceful motion, examining the area for whatever caused the Mudkip's uneasiness. "Sapphire, you have a Blaziken, right?"

It took her a moment to gather her thoughts, not that Ruby was watching. "Um, yeah. Toro."

"Where is it?"

"She," she corrected automatically. "Dunno. I imagine she'll be back when she feels like it."

As soon as the words left her mouth Toro tromped onto the scene, and Ruby started laughing when he saw what she'd thrown over her shoulder. "A Heracross?" Sapphire asked the Pokemon, watching as the Blaziken lowered the unconscious bug to the ground. "Looks like it was frozen and then scorched…"

Toro made a quiet noise to Sapphire and the girl reared back from the bug, eyes wide in surprise as she shouted, "No, you can't eat that! Good Arceus, Toro, why would you want to eat a bug, anyway?!"

Sapphire cast a quick look at Ruby, whose back was to her, shoulders shaking. Zuzu was balanced on his shoulder and gave the girl an innocent glance as Ruby let out a sound that sounded suspiciously like a snort. "Okay, we're leaving," she decided, stalking over and jabbing his shoulder with a finger. "Where's the rest of the crew?"

Ruby immediately straightened up, and when he looked at her there wasn't even a trace of a smile. She blinked, impressed, as he said calmly, "This way."

She raised an eyebrow when he didn't start walking right away. "Which way?"

He shook his head, a small smile on his face, and started walking confidently into the foliage. Zuzu was padding along ahead of him, and Sapphire and Toro were quick to follow.

Behind him, Ruby heard Sapphire say hotly, "No, Toro, you can't bring that Heracross with you. It's not even dead, just put it down for Arceus's sake!"

LINE line LINE line

After numerous misadventures in the jungle (Ruby lost sight of Sapphire and had to backtrack to find her again, resulting in her hitting him for leaving her behind), they finally arrived back to the beach near sunset.

"Finally!" White exclaimed, jumping to her feet and running to them as they walked onto the beach, Pokemon trailing. "We thought you'd died or something," she told Ruby cheerfully, patting them both on the back and leading them toward where she'd been sitting previously.

"Eh, something like that," Ruby said offhandedly, not about to risk a glance at Sapphire. He had been abused enough today.

"Everyone's here?" Sapphire demanded of Cheren. He, White, Yellow, Dia, Bianca and Emerald were still sitting in the same spot as the morning, with a long length of braided rope resting in the middle of their impromptu circle.

Cheren nodded, yanking the sleeves of his overcoat back up as they slipped down to his elbows. "Now that you 're here, yes."

Ruby noticed Emerald staring; he gave him a curious glance to which Emerald swiftly looked away. "We have food," Bianca volunteered, handing the two some berries. "Me n' Dia made a salad with them, but it looks like it's already been eaten."

Sapphire examined the berry she was given while Ruby simply bit into it (his logic was that it was food, and even if he didn't like it he had to eat it). "There's so much variety here," she mused, poking the soft flesh of what appeared to be a Pecha berry. "I had an Oran berry before this."

"We found lots of Liechi berries here, too," Dia said. He was currently peeling the skin off of a Payapa berry. "They're really sour, though – not exactly the best things to eat."

So that's the berry I had earlier, Ruby thought to himself, finishing the sweet Pecha berry with a few quick, efficient bites. "How's the ship going?" he asked.

"Fine, thanks for asking." Nine heads turned to see Pearl walking toward them, a net thrown loosely over his shoulder. "Green has everything planned out to patch the hole; the rest of the sailors are already on it. Cheren, some sort of net for you – "

"Fishing net, excellent. White, do you suppose you could – "

"Sure, sure, whatever. You're lazy, you know that? Hey, Bianca, come with me?"

"No problem! You grab that corner."

As the two girls walked off, holding the net between them, Pearl asked, "What are they doing?"

Cheren gave the blonde a withering look. "Fishing, of course. What else would one do with fishing net?"

"Where's Platina?" Ruby asked, suddenly noticing the bluenette's absence. She was never without Pearl or Dia, and since they were both here he was surprised she wasn't.

"At the moment, she is training with the water-types," Pearl replied promptly. "She's not too good at what she calls 'manual labor', but she knows how to train. This way, no one is lazing about." The blonde registered Sapphire's nod of approval with a grin. "I'm going back to work, and you should, too. We've got a lot to do."

And then: "Wait… when did you get here, Captain?"

Since my final statement last chapter wasn't too great (cough cough pokefan cough cough), I'm lengthening it. Happy now?

And now for a rant. You may want to just skip over it. Of course you won't, though. Here we go. *deep breath*

So. This chapter. UGH this chapter. It. Was. So. Hard. I thought Ruby might die, actually, but him being a manga character doesn't help much… Ahem. Fluff is so hard! ROMANCE is so hard! I don't even know why, but it just doesn't come naturally to me. It uses up so much of my brain cells that by the time I write one paragraph I'm like 'I am DONE writing for the next hour, thank you'. AND THEN THE RUBY FINDS SAPPHIRE SCENE. OH MUH GAWD. That was terrible. That took me the longest to write, actually. DAMMIT, chappie, why are you so hard to write? WHYYYYYYY – *breaks out coughing* And this! This! *gestures to self* Of all the times to have – I HAVE WHOOPING COUGH, and it's frickin' SUMMER! What the hell?! WHOOPING COUGH, OF ALL THINGS – *starts coughing again*