Chapter 10, or Burst into Flames.

This is it, guys.

WARNING FOR THOSE OF WEAK STOMACHS: THERE ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF BLOOD AND ONE INSTANCE OF MILD GORE. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

WARNING FOR THOSE WHO HATE CHARACTER DEATH: THIS IS SELF-EXPLANATORY. DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ.

(As I am in both of said categories, you can imagine how this was for me to write.)

I do not own Pokemon; I do, however, own the plot.

He was floating.

That was the best way to describe it, really. He was floating in an endless sea of water, the currents stroking his face in the most gentle of caresses; it lifted his hair, twirling and twisting around his body and clothes, in a strange yet endless silence was both calming and pure. A steady blueness worked through his eyelids, neither piercing nor gentle, just a constant luminosity that seemed to hum in his ears and vibrate in his bones.

His body felt languid like honey, his limbs heavy like lead – not that it mattered, as he didn't feel like moving them in the first place. He was tired, and right now he was resting; he would return to whatever he had to do after he'd taken a nice, long nap. Yes, that sounded excellent, he would do exactly that, and so his eyelids remained easily shut.

What had he been doing before this, anyway? He couldn't quite remember.

In an effort to recall, his eyes opened and he was met with an endless expanse of blue water. Sunlight streamed in and hurt his sensitive eyes, but he couldn't move his arm over to protect them, much to his chagrin. After a moment he decided that wasn't really a problem, for the place was very, hm, pretty, yes, it was very pretty, the way the sun struck the liquid and brought out the cerulean in the sea in front of him, and he smiled vaguely as a bubble meandered by. The colors surrounding him were fascinating, the palette bright and varied, and he wondered if a Smeargle had come along and haphazardly painted the world around him.

Without thinking about it he tried to breathe, and salt water rushed into his mouth and he was gagging. Calm down, he told himself, before he reflexively tried to breath again because he was a stupid idiot, and he started choking in earnest – and suddenly his arms and legs felt light and normal and he could move. He began to struggle upwards, his arms pulling clumsily through the water while his feet kicked with an embarrassing lack of strength. He was going nowhere fast and there was no air in his lungs and his throat burned from the salt.

The ocean around him then abruptly exploded into vivid sounds and colors – screams and clangs of steel on steel and gasps and groans and insults clamored in his eardrums, and he felt a searing pain across his mind as his ears burned, going from silence to chaos in a second. Bubbles of neon swirled around him in a vortex of rainbows, shooting him down and holding him there when he tried to claw up, to air, to oxygen, to life.

He heard Blue shriek a long cry of pain, that's right, there was a ship, she was hurt, he had to do something. He saw Silver lying still and cold in one of the bubbles floating in front of him and tried to reach out, his fingers stretching not nearly far enough as his vision began to darken at the edges because he needed air. He saw Red and Green fighting back-to-back, eyes narrowed and bodies poised and dancing with their swords, moving with each other with the ease of long practice.

That's right, he remembered now: Giovanni, the captain, he'd attacked Ruby, he'd killed him hadn't he. And then there was him in one of the bubbles, or his body rather, there was blood all over his chest and face, his eyes were closed –

But he wasn't dead. Ruby wasn't dead yet. He couldn't be dead, not with the pain ripping through his lungs or the darkness threatening to obscure his vision, he just needed to wake up so he could help his friends, was that really too much to ask for?

And then Sapphire's screams echoed through his ears, like a hot knife through butter, clean as a polished crystal, and suddenly he could breathe and his eyes were open – not just open, but open, and he could see the blue sky with soft, wispy clouds floating above him, a betrayal given the bloodshed around him. Fighting rang clear as day and his hand was wrapped around the hilt of his dagger; Zuzu was letting out a pathetic, shaking purr besides his master, scared and uncertain and sorrowful. There was a burning in his shoulder, muscles cleaved apart and bones scraped by metal, and his neck had a thin line of embers burning across it – Giovanni must have missed somehow, or had been distracted before he could finish the blow.

He wasn't dead, only an arm was lame, but the members of the Ingenium had hell to pay if they thought they could hurt his friends, his family.

He sat up, Zuzu squealed loudly, Sapphire looked over from her fight with Giovanni and took the flat of his blade to her middle and fell onto the deck. RUBY shot to his feet, stepping forward and throwing the dagger for all he was worth, rage making his aim precise. It dug its way deeply into the captain's right shoulder, and the man dropped his weapon automatically, roaring for reinforcements as he stooped to retrieve it without taking his eyes from the young girl staggering just a few feet away. Sapphire was wheezing and clung weakly to Ruby's good arm when he pulled her up off the deck, and Giovanni picked up his sword in his left hand while her Blaziken and Zuzu protected the pair from the captain's erratic attacks.

"I thought – you were dead," Sapphire managed to get out, coughing, her tight grip on her rapier never lessening, and as soon as she regained her balance she stood on her own and grimaced, cupping a hand over where she'd been hit for just a moment before her blue eyes lit upon Ruby's bloody and bleeding shoulder. She quickly slipped out of her blue silk overcoat and tore off a wide piece of the end, expertly tying it around his arm and knotting it tightly. The sheer, cerulean fabric was quickly bled through, and blood dripped down his arm and stained his white sleeve yet again, but he wasn't paying enough attention to care.

"Sorry," Ruby said, his eyes elsewhere. White and Black had cornered the bushy lime-green hair guy, his face emotionless but his eyes anything but, and he could tell both of them were harboring a deep, terrible sadness even as they both pointed blades of varying lengths at his throat.

And then Ruby's head was whipped to the side, fingers holding his chin, and her blue eyes were so very close and something gentle pressed against his lips – hers, he realized belatedly, and then she whispered furiously, "Don't ever do that again, asshole," before darting off somewhere with Toro in rapid pursuit.

He could've spent the entire day trying to remember his name were it not for the Unovians on the deck; he had promised Bianca to keep an eye on them, and it looked as if Crystal and Gold had Giovanni distracted and most of the opposing crew was down for the count, either dead, dying or unconscious. He hoped for the latter as he rushed to Black, White and the one called N, never keeping track of Zuzu but somehow knowing the Mudkip was always by his side, however exhausted it was.

The three were not saying anything, not even when Ruby made his skidded, noisy entrance, though Black's eyes glittered with tears and White's face showed nothing but steely resolve. N looked over at the newcomer when he arrived, a wicked-looking saber drooping in his hand with the tip settled on the deck, and he was quiet for a few moments before speaking in a voice that grated with exhaustion, "Ghetsis."

Ruby turned and his eyes went up, up, up until he was met with a man taller, larger, and stronger than the same person behind him, and White hissed in profound, yet unknown pain while Black snarled something unintelligible, his voice gargled from unshed tears. Their green-haired friend spoke nothing, showed nothing – the only thing that spoke a thousand words were his eyes, shining with regret and fear.

"Why do you hesitate, son?" the man said calmly, and Ruby could feel someone's sharp intake of breath – N, no doubt, this man was in no way related to White and Black given the color of his hair. "Kill them. Finish this. That's what you wanted, wasn't it?"

Ruby knew better than to look back over his shoulder at the son in question, instead keeping his eyes on the man's hand, resting on the hilt of his sheathed sword, as he slowly backed up a few paces. He needn't have worried; White shouldered him aside, her narrow arms hiding lean muscle as she faced Ghetsis alone, her sword and stance ready, while Black kept N back with his blade at the other young man's throat.

"He would never," she told him in a voice that shook with passion, though if it was for the boy in question or for the situation itself he did not know, "Ever want to kill us, you shithead. Never," and she choked on the last word before regaining her composure. Somewhere behind her someone shifted in a rustle of clothing, and when Ruby spared a quick glance backwards he saw it was N, either ignorant of the beginnings of tears sparkling in his eyes or choosing to refuse they existed.

The green-haired man did not draw on White, and Ruby would call his tone sorrowful were it not for the utter hatred in his eyes. "You can't defeat me, little girl," he said to her, and she stood still, unflinching, "And you should, by all rights, be dead."

"I have a way of staying alive," she responded, and suddenly her Emboar loomed into view, somehow having gotten behind her without being noticed. Her brown eyes were hard as stone and rich as chocolate and narrowed to slits as she added, "I'm not leaving this world without taking those who deserve nothing with me."

"Big words," Ghetsis said, sneering, and then his saber was out – almost identical to the one N was not using – and sparks flew as she parried his blow and swiftly counterattacked, a side slash lunging for his side. It was clear the girl was outmatched, in strength and bulk; Black looked over at Ruby, beseeching him silently to help, and the Hoenn native quickly ran through several situations in a manner of seconds before taking action.

"Oi! Ghetsis!" he yelled, having no weapon on him to do anything other than distract the man, and it was enough to get the man's attention for the briefest of seconds. White took the opportunity to leap forward and drive her lithe blade into the older man's left shoulder, pushing him hard into the ground. Ruby's own wound flared with sudden pain, when he was violently reminded it was there, as she retracted the weapon and shook off the blood coating at least four inches of the metal.

"No," N whispered when Ghetsis remained motionless, and White whirled on him with an animal-like snarl, her rapier rising so the tip shook mere inches from his nose. She had her back to Ghetsis as he slowly stood up again, gritting his teeth and lifting his sword to bring it back down on her head. Black screamed a warning, and Ruby was frozen, unable to do anything except stare as the blade began to fall, and then N moved.

The next thing Ruby knew, Ghetsis was flat on his back on the deck, with N standing stone still above him, and Black was pale with shock while White's face was pinched tightly, as if she were trying not to react. There was dark blood pooling silently on the deck under the man's back and a sword remaining upright in his upper left chest, the liquid seeping into his clothes, so quietly it seemed inappropriate given the amount of fighting and shouting going on just a few feet away.

Ruby quickly took stock of the situation, taking in that Black, White and N were not looking up from the corpse, and, deciding his job was done, ran towards the bow of the boat, intent on helping Red stave off a crewmate that was trying to gut him. Yellow made it there first, and Ruby veered sharply to the left when his boot slipped in a puddle of red blood, changing his direction to where Blue lay with Silver's head on her lap.

She looked up with her sword in her hand and a growl in her throat when Ruby approached, and only relaxed when he skidded to a halt a few feet away and didn't come closer. Crystal stood ready close by, easily fending off an inexperienced sailor while keeping a close eye on the brunette; Ruby hovered, unsure and worried, but when she nodded at him, he took off once again, scanning the area for anyone in need of aid. Sapphire, thankfully, was holding her own some distance to his left. He was sure that if he stepped in, she would no doubt tell him to go help someone else, so he cast his eyes across the deck and observed.

It seemed that his shipmates had made quick work of the majority of foes on the ship, so he stooped down to collect a sword from a random person and looked around for the leader of the ship once more. Zuzu rejoined him then, though he hadn't noticed when the little creature had left – at any other time he would feel bad, but now all he knew was that he needed to find the captain, and quickly, before someone else got hurt. It's a good thing he had a weapon now, this time he wouldn't have to just stand there and do nothing –

He felt something squeeze his injured shoulder, hard, and the world went brightly white with pain and his fingers uncurled, releasing the hilt of the blade. His legs collapsed from under him and he fell to his knees, a long, drawn-out hiss escaping his lips when someone hefted him up with the same arm, and he barely had the ability to crack his eyelids open to peer at the face; he wasn't surprised when Giovanni's ugly mug stared back down at him.

"You're lucky you survived for so long, boy," the captain growled, his eyes and poise menacing, and Ruby's head drooped, his vision swimming, and he knelt on the deck and tried desperately to control his breathing, to calm down, to look at the world and figure out something to do to save himself. But the only thing he could muster was a gasp, and then another, as his arm was wrenched behind him, and blood that had dried on his flesh felt fresh liquid drip slowly down past his elbow, past his wrist, down to the tip of his fingers. The man behind him laughed quietly, and he felt a surge of pure hatred fill his being – but he was too weak to do anything other than slam his eyelids shut and try not to make a sound.

Giovanni leaned in close and whispered harshly in his ear, "Too bad there's no one who can save you now," jerked his arm back even further, and Ruby gave up on the previous venture and let himself release an agonized scream as fire tore up the nerves in his arm and left him shaking and shivering and choking on sobs. The horrible pressure did not lessen, even when Zuzu unleashed Hydro Pump on the man – the little Pokemon was on its last legs and the power behind the move wasn't as notable as it could've been – and all he could feel was pain, pain, pain, he just wanted to die if he had to live with this any longer, no more, please…

Something in his arm cracked ominously, and he cried out again, the sound much more pathetic than before, but then there was a yell from his captor then he was falling forward and landed hard on his good shoulder, his chin following close second. More cracking there in his jaw, more pain on his face, and it was all he could do not to whimper or beg for mercy, even as a telltale tear eased its way out of his eye, following the natural, tracing lines of his face.

He could barely move but he forced himself to at least roll over, so he could see what had happened to tear Giovanni away from him, even with his vision fading in and out of blackness. Blue and Sapphire were staring Giovanni down, the latter holding his Persian in what was no doubt an uncomfortable grip though the Pokemon was evidently not awake. The Kanto native's eyes were shadowed and empty, with her sword touching the Adam's apple of the older man's, free hand pressed to her side for whatever reason, her leg coated in red, and the entire deck was silent.

"I hate you," she told him flatly, and her words echoed emptily into the sudden, immense quiet. They sounded loud in his ears, and Ruby felt dizzy but forced himself to remain focused.

"You wouldn't be the first," Giovanni replied, and his eyes glinted with something unreadable. Sapphire stamped hard on his wounded shoulder, grinding the dirty heel of her boot into it and causing the man to convulse violently, while her hands squeezing the Persian in her arms hard enough for it to let out a pained mew in its unconscious state. Whatever the captain had been planning was forgotten in the resulting wave of pain.

"You killed your own son," Blue said, her voice again monotonous and expressionless, and the man found his composure again, enough so that he could let out a soft, bitter laugh.

"My son died years ago, little girl. Though I admit, I'm surprised you even knew I had one."

"Silver was alive and you killed him," Blue whispered, staring down at the man, and for the first time, uncertainty briefly took up residence on the opposing captain's face, just for an instant, like a passing cloud. Sensing that he recognized the name, Blue went on, bitterness and agony making her voice a croak, and Ruby finally noticed the blood was actually still flowing down her leg, "He was like a brother to me, when we met at the orphanage. And you killed him."

"What's done is done," Giovanni rumbled, but to Ruby, his jovial tone sounded forced, and Blue looked so far from unimpressed even the captain took a double take.

"He was your son," she said slowly, enunciating the words as if the man was a child. Her hands fisted at her side, fingers squeezing the hilt of her weapon. "He was your son, and you killed him." Her sword went up, held unmoving above his neck. "I will never forgive you, not even when you are dead."

Ruby was sure there were crewmembers of the Ingenium still alive, and wondered vaguely why they weren't fighting his own mates, why the silence was still so profound; the answer was made clear when Blue's sword bit into the captain's neck, impaling his throat and clipping his spinal cord and digging part of the deck below him. When she released the hilt of her sword and took a staggered step back, breathing hard and saying nothing, the blade remained upright by itself, and all that could be heard was the breathy wheeze coming from the captain, somehow, impossibly.

And then chaos ensued, people screamed as they met the sharp blades of others, and Ruby blacked out.

He woke up without fanfare, along with the realization that the last thing Giovanni had done before he had died was laugh, his tone hysterical but his body too damaged to let it loose, upon learning he had killed his own son.

A lone kerosene lamp burned silently besides him, on a table covered in papers and packets and jars of herbs and medicines – a fire hazard, he noted hazily. Moonlight streamed in from the small porthole studding the side of the curved walls, silent and cold and beautiful, and a small, warm weight was sleeping at his side.

Good old Zuzu. There was no other Pokemon he could ever want. He reached out and patted the little Mudkip, and upon the slightest touch it jumped up, nuzzled his hand, and pitter-pattered out the door on its stubby little legs. He watched it go with faint amusement, then wondered where it was going.

He tried to sit up, only to realize he couldn't feel his left arm at all, and memories rushed by like water flowing in a river. Images passed by and words fell upon his ears until his mind settled onto the remembrance of the captain Giovanni chopping up his arm and them twisting it and wrenching it around, and with a sinking feeling, he took the fingers on his right hand the prodded the digits on his left. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

He dug his fingernails into the flesh of his forearm, hard enough to draw blood, and even as he bled he felt no pain at all. Just as he had predicted, his arm was now useless, and he watched with morbid fascination as the blood welled up into a drop before falling; then he shook himself out of it, lay back, and sighed quietly to himself.

What a price to pay, all in the name for revenge. Ruby suddenly felt sick to his stomach, and he began to wiggle around frantically, trying to push himself around with both arms while forgetting he could only use one, for a bowl or something to throw up in. Conveniently, at the side of the cot he was lying in was a bucket, and he retched until his stomach was empty. Then he lay there for a while longer, quivering with effort and feeling acid burn his tongue, before deciding yes, he was going to sit up, even if it was the last thing he ever did in his young life.

He had just pushed himself up with his one arm when the door opened and a flurry of movement tackled him back down again. He at first felt disgruntled, after all the work that had gone into sitting up, but then Sapphire was pulling him back into a seated position again and had her arms wrapped around him, her whole body shivering ever so slightly, and whatever he had been planning to say was forgotten. His good arm settled around her waist, and he rested his head on her shoulder, his eyes closing as he breathed her in.

"Sorry," he whispered after a moment, and Sapphire pulled away to give him an incredulous look, thankfully appearing to be unharmed and well.

"For what?" she asked, her eyes narrowed, and she dashed at the tears threatening to fall from her eyes before pressing herself again him again. "You haven't done anything wrong," she whispered, her voice muffled against his shoulder. He was suddenly aware that he was shirtless, and with a brief moment of panic he realized his mates must have seen all the little scars that coated his body from training with his dad. Then he realized it didn't matter, and he instead chose to bury his face in her hair.

"Sorry," he said again, and her soft chuckle sounded like an angel's harp in his ear. After a few minutes of simply rocking back and forth, a little bit, just taking in each other's presence, she sat up and took a deep breath, her hands fisting in her lap as she cast her eyes down.

"You're not going to like this," she said, and he let out a shaky sigh, absently fingering his now-useless arm. Her face took on a pained expression when she saw what he was doing, but she said nothing about it and instead continued, "I'm just gonna tell you this straight out, so, um. Some of us – died."

"Silver," Ruby whispered, and Sapphire nodded, then shook her head, and then sniffed. He held out his good hand and she took it in hers, and he realized how cold her fingers were as they closed tightly around his.

"Not just him," she said, and she swallowed hard, then told him thickly, "Blue as well." He blinked stupidly at her before what she said was processed and clicked in his mind.

No. He took in a shuddering breath and didn't bother rubbing at the prickle in his eyes. That can't be right. Images of the Kanto native's smile roared through his mind, her easygoing nature, her harmless pranks, her lighthearted jokes, the way she lit up when she was with her friends, her expression when she and Silver were sitting together without saying anything.

"But that doesn't make sense," he whispered, falling back against the wall. It was fortunate the cot was shoved up in the corner; elsewise he would've fallen out of it by now. "She was fine when she – you know."

"She had a bad wound," Sapphire said softly, sniffing again as she took her free hand and laid it gently on her stomach, here, and he remembered the blood on the older girl's leg with an ominous shudder. "It was treatable, but after she killed him, she just – looked at Silver just lying there and, and I don't know. She gave up, maybe." Her voice lowered and it quivered violently as she confided miserably, "Green's taking it particularly hard and I don't know what to do."

Ruby, after a moment's hesitation, leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. She gave a little twitch of surprise, but then relaxed again, lacing her fingers more carefully through his. "You'll be okay," he told her quietly, "You'll figure something out."

"I don't know," she said, and a tear glided down her smooth cheek, followed closely by another, and then another, and she rested her face on his shoulders and tried not to make any loud noises as she sniffed again.

It was the first time that Ruby had ever seen her cry, and while he stroked her hair and hugged her close and didn't say a word, knowing they wouldn't be enough, he reflected it would most probably be the last.

When Crystal finally deemed him healthy enough to walk, he went on deck and found his father leaning against the railing. The rest of his crewmates were giving the man a wide berth, and, steeling himself for the worst, Ruby went up to him and took a place right next to him, his lame shoulder an inch away from Norman's.

Neither of them said anything for a few moments.

"I'm a terrible father," Norman said at last, breaking the silence that was filled only with the wind, the cries of gulls and the words of his mates as they spoke to one another, their tones subdued and quiet.

"I can't disagree with that," Ruby said guardedly after a moment, and his father sighed, his head drooping between his shoulders, his expression one of tired resignation. For a good, long time, nothing else was said, and the silence between them, while tense, was slightly more comfortable than Ruby would have thought.

His eyes found the water at the sea – what else was there to look at, really – and he could almost feel the waves crashing in his mind. Life had had its ups and downs, its troughs and its crests, but in the end, he reflected, even with all the hardships, even with him having to grow up too quickly in a world so foreign, he was glad to be alive.

Just when he was about to take his leave, before the silence stretched into a zone labeled awkward, the former Gym Leader looked over at him, his eyes sharper and clearer than Ruby had ever seen them before, and told him, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Ruby met his eyes, and then looked away after a moment, casting his eyes back to the white top of the waves in the distance. Perhaps he would stay a few moments longer.

"I know."

They had gained a new crewmember, one that both White and Black were fiercely protective of. His name was N, and while he spoke little, he worked as hard as three people and his dark, haunted green eyes expressed enough for his silence to be unproblematic.

Cheren and Bianca carefully kept a distance from N, neither having known the older boy for as long as White or Black. Both still treated him courteously, Bianca more than the other, and even with the bad blood between them she still served N the same Unovian-style meals she gave to her friends. And, even with this general avoidance that irked the brunette, Cheren and White became even more focused on their files and logs and writing, working into the slivers of light of dawn and often showing up at mealtimes with their fingers stained black with ink.

Green had taken to long sessions of solitude. No one could blame him; no one would interrupt him.

Yellow and Red were almost never seen without the company of the other. When Green wasn't down below in the dark by himself, he wasn't anywhere without one of either of them.

Platina, Pearl and Dia had changed little, even after defeating their enemy, the man named Cyrus. However, Ruby had seen the precise, cold, ruthless nature Platina had inside of her to be hesitant of merely talking about her striking the final blow; though it only came up when it was needed, he had seen enough to fear what calculating, icy Platinum could entail.

Gold was quieter, more thoughtful, and prone to shirking his duties even more often than usual. Crystal was always the one who found him whenever he was mourning Silver's death on his lonesome, and she kept him going as he struggled through the loss of his stony yet kind best friend.

Emerald spent more and more time up in the crow's nest, and when he came below, he kept to himself. Still, he kept up a bright personality and a happy image, and when there was a game being played he was always there to either actively participate in it or supervise it.

And then there was Sapphire.

Ruby watched her as she paced restlessly in her quarters, gnawing her lip with a pointed canine and wringing her hands behind her back. He had his useless arm in a sling, so it didn't get in the way as much, and was slowly getting adjusted to the fact he only had one arm. It didn't freak him out as much as it should've, really; somehow, he felt calm when he regarded the limb, and he had even begun to think of it in terms of meat, and that maybe he should get it amputated.

His father was, naturally, against this, but Ruby no longer feared him, and if he thought being one arm short was for the best, that would be what he would do.

But in any case, Sapphire was pacing and Ruby was watching her, sitting in the chair at her desk while her footsteps tread softly on the worn wood. He knew she was thinking about something, something so serious that she wasn't even aware of what she was doing. In some way, the movement was mesmerizing – maybe it was the rhythmic turns, the way her hair gently swished as she pivoted on one foot, or how one finger was carefully rubbing her chin.

Finally he spoke up. "Sapphire."

Her whole body jolted, and her head whipped over to face him as he lounged on her chair, his arms thrown around the back as he sat on it backwards. She then massaged her temples to clear her head and folded her legs neatly under her so she sat crisscross on the floor, and he asked her, "What's the matter?"

She muttered something in response, and he said, "Say again?"

"It's my fault they're dead," she blurted, and then covered her mouth with both hands, her blue eyes wide. Ruby stared at her for a few moments, and she flushed bright red and regarded her feet, saying nothing and twiddling her thumbs.

"If it's anyone's fault, it's mine," he said at last, and then he explained how he had used Silver as a distraction so he could save his father.

"But I told him to stay back and he didn't," Sapphire pointed out and moaned softly under her breath, burying her face in her hands, leaning slightly forward. "If I had just made sure he had stayed, he wouldn't be dead."

Ruby gave a slight shake of his head, even though she was not looking. "We don't know that."

"And that's the worst part," she said miserably, through her fingers, and then she told him forcefully, without looking up, "But it's not your fault."

He replied calmly, "And it's not yours, either." She lifted her head to meet his red eyes, saw the truth in his words, and they both remained silent for a few, long moments.

Then, out of the blue, she whispered furiously, "Fuck survivor's guilt."

"Fuck survivor's guilt," he agreed, the swear word unfamiliar on his tongue, and at her small smile he knew they were going to be okay.

They had given Blue and Silver a castoff at sea a number of hours after the last fight, once Red and Green had finished making coffins for them with wood from the now-sunk Ingenium. Ruby wished dearly that he had been awake at the time, but it turned out he wasn't the only one who hadn't been present: Gold, too, had been out for the count, as had been Yellow and Pearl. All had recovered sufficiently only to discover their shipmates' deaths, which caused Gold to faint again and both Yellow and Pearl to demand tearfully why they hadn't been awoken to be there as well. He, on the other hand, had been the worst off, so all he could do was lay numbly for a number of hours.

Once the afternoon had turned to night, on the first day he had been allowed to walk around, Ruby once again leaned on the railing, folding his left arm onto the worn wood with his right before slouching forward slightly. The moon was three-quarters full and waning, and it reflected off the sea waves, glittering pearls of light shining softly back at him. He devoted his thoughts to Blue, first, recalling every instance he could remember where he had interacted with her, however small.

There was the one time when she had tried to steal his headband but he had almost broken her wrist when her hand reached out to grab it; her expression, one of disbelief, had quickly turned apologetic as she realized the value Ruby placed in the thin strip of fabric.

Then there was sitting with her while eating meals, sometimes in a group, sometimes with just her. She was always funny and never failed to put a smile on his face, whether it be from her infections grins or laughter.

Or that day she decided that teaching him how to cheat at poker would be a fantastic idea, on the requirement that he steal some money from Green while using said tricks. He had only been successful because Green had known Blue was behind it, and had let him just take some money from him in the end.

Speaking of which, she and Green had had something going, behind closed doors and during the deepest hours of night, but he wouldn't label it as a mere relationship. They were kids who were forced to be adults and the bond they shared transcended mere attraction; they were best friends who liked each other in that way, and while they argued and had spats and disagreed, they were loyal to a fault, to each other at least.

He cast a glance over his shoulder and scanned the deck for Green, his eyes settling on the older boy's lithe form as the Kanto native leaned against the mast, his face aimed skyward. Exhaustion was written in every line of his body, and he seemed to sag like a windblown fern rather than standing with his shoulders back, as was customary.

Ruby bit his lip and looked away.

Next there was Silver, the boy with an icy glare, a chilling temper, a cold personality, and a heart made of gold. Ruby's interactions with him had been limited, and he hadn't quite known what to do with him when Silver had locked him out of the navigation base of operations that one time; but even so, most of his memories of the stony redhead were good ones.

Like the one time when Zuzu hadn't been feeling well, and could do little more than snooze while cradled in Ruby's arms. Silver had wordlessly handed him a small, wet blanket to cover the little Water-type in before disappearing into his room, so quickly Ruby hadn't even begun to open his mouth to give his thanks by the time the door softly closed.

Or when Ruby talked about not having parents – in his case, having a father who pushed him beyond what a toddler and tween should do – Silver had nodded knowingly, and at the Hoenn native's questions he had eventually revealed he knew his dad but his dad didn't know him, and he had no idea who his mother was. While it was a little thing, it connected Ruby to him in some way, knowing someone else understood what it was like to have grown up in difficult and strenuous conditions, rather than being forced into it suddenly.

And there were small things, too. How he smiled, a little bit, when he was with Blue, just the two of them chilling on deck. How he and Gold were friends but also somehow not, how Gold bested him easily in anything physical, but also how Silver easily manipulated the other without a seemingly conscious effort. How his expression grew dark when the name 'Lyra' was mentioned, and how quickly the subject was dropped.

Ruby sniffed once, imagining twin coffins floating in the sea with the name of a color and the name of a mineral engraved upon them. At least they had gone together – and while the thought was sobering, it also gave him a brief sense of relief that pushed down the sorrow, somewhat.

The Zaffiro sailed on, and so did they.

Green and Red and Yellow cried and slowly grew even more closely together. Gold would never be the same again, but he was smiling and telling jokes once more, and Crystal was less strict than she used to be. Platina and Pearl and Dia stayed together and played music when they could, with Pearl learning to play some sort of hand-held harp thing he'd found on the Ingenium; the Unova group, now numbered five, eventually forgave but never forgot what N had done to their hometown. Emerald made jokes about his own height, and Sapphire looked better, healthier, no longer looking gaunt and pale like a ghost.

Ruby and his father gained a truce of sorts, and while interactions were still stiff, they learned to accept each other's actions in stride, for while they might disagree, they would always have each other's back if the circumstances demanded it. Thus, Norman understood when Ruby chose to stay with the pirates rather than return to Petalburg, even with a useless arm and a fate that would most likely lead to death. After all, what was the point of a home where everything he had once cared about – his mother, the girl from his past, his father, his Pokemon – was no longer there, when all he had loved had burst into flames?

His father didn't try to stop him, and when he gave his son one last hug, Ruby squeezed him as tightly as he did to him. "I probably won't see you again for a long time," Ruby told him, and the man nodded, his eyes bright with newfound life and ambition and a tired, sad, hopeful smile on his face.

"I guess this is it," his father agreed as he stepped back. Then he waved once and began trudging back to his destroyed mansion, to deal with reporters and people who thought he'd been killed and whatever else it was that Gym Leaders dealt with. Meanwhile Ruby turned back to his shipmates, meeting them each in the eye for a few seconds: Red, Green, Yellow, Gold, Crystal, Emerald, Platinum, Pearl, Diamond, Black, White, Cheren, Bianca, N, Sapphire. Sapphire.

"I'm ready to go," he said, and while no one smiled at him, he knew they understood.

So ends the story of Burst Into Flames.

The death toll is two, and I am sorry I killed them; Silver is one of my favorite characters, and Blue is so awesome I felt terrible for it. Also, I think I sort of flailed at the ending, plus the epilogue is as long (if not longer) than the actual climax. You'll have to forgive me for that; it's been a long few days.

In other notes, I have to say that I am not too fond of this AU. Too many characters remained underdeveloped and too many situations went undescribed (that's not a word, just so you know) due to the whole thing being told in Ruby's point of view. I would have loved to go more in-depth on what the relationship between the Unovians was like, but eh, c'est la vie. Whatcha gonna do, yo. (no, I am not writing a parallel fic. Jeez.)

That being said, I am extremely grateful to anyone and everything who reviewed, followed, or favorited this story. It really means a lot to me to know that as a writer I must be doing something right, or else all of these people wouldn't like it. That goes for you, too, readers who haven't done any of those things but simply read the text.

And before I forget, I have a poll on my profile for suggestions of what multi-chapter fic to write next. Be sure to take a look and vote for what you want to see next.

And with that, I kiss this AU a fond farewell, though I never intend to write it in again. Any other writers are welcome to take their own take on this, though I ask that you please to message me so I can see it :)