Woo, this is a bit of a longer chapter. In no small part because it was originally meant to be three different chapters. Ultimately I decided to make them into one chapter so all three of the trio could be introduced.

I might do multiple different perspectives for future chapters.

I paced back and forth too nervous to process recent events. I had a veritable mountain of novels prepared. Each sorted by genre and organized alphabetically. This was absurd! I was far too nervous over something as simple as a private book club meeting. Then again I never really talked about the contents of my books with someone before. Usually I was written off as a reclusive book fanatic. Not exactly the biggest surprise I suppose…I could be a tad protective of my books. Not that I was in much hurry to change that perception either. I tend to prefer being alone with my books roughly 90% of the time.

A green flash briefly illuminated my cave along with the usual greeting Celebi had for me. "Hey bookworm, I'm here. You alive?" I flew out of the room I had set aside for their meet up to properly greet my guest. "Greetings Celebi, I wasn't certain what sort of books you would be interested in. So I prepared a wide variety to choose from." She followed me and took a seat at the chair I designated for her. "Well, I've been on a mystery kick lately and I imagine you're bound to have some interesting secrets tucked away in that pile." I nodded excitedly, had my eyes been open then maybe she would have seen them shining with a newfound joy. Procuring for her a lengthy novel, one of the books from the top of my shelf that I had become heavily invested in lately. "Just… please be gentle with it."

She agreed and I still felt an overwhelming reluctance to even let her hold the book. She eventually got the books in her hands. "'The Phantom Thief of Goldenrod'. So correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this also a romance novel?" I froze in place not realizing I unconsciously made that same mistake more than once in front of someone. Clearing my throat I responded as calmly as possible. "Yes… I've been… broadening my usual interests." Celebi was silent for a concerningly long time, please don't inquire further. I just wanted to talk about books today. "Fair enough." That was a wave of relief, Mesprit had been so persistent I was worried she might have recruited some outside help.

Evidently Celebi had quite the romantic outlook for this story. I was surprised with how enjoyable an experience it proved to be. She discussed characterizations I never considered before for both the lead and the villain. Before I realized it, that bright sun quickly disappeared and was replaced by a faintly visible moon. I sorely wished we could have continued this discussion on the merits of the phantom thief's gambit. Had I not felt the need to sleep outweigh my abilities to think clearly. "OK bookworm, you are tapped out for today." I hated to admit to such a fact, but it was true. I nodded and carefully set the book aside. "Tell you what though, I can set some time aside next month if you want to do this some more."

"YES! PLEASE!" I hadn't realized how quickly I had acted in such a rash and emotional manner until I could hear Celebi chuckling under her breath. I hastily recomposed myself, that was completely undignified of me. I should have better control of myself than that. "Please don't tell anyone about that…" She was silent and that only made the dread I was feeling all the worse. "Celebi please…"

"Oh right, I was… uh nevermind. Secrets safe with me." Ah that was it, she was giving me a physical confirmation. I didn't need to see her face to know she was blushing about that slip up. She must have also been feeling the need to rest if she so easily forgot my eyes were closed. She stretched audibly and sat up, "Well bookworm, that was fun, but I gotta get going and make sure Mew's been playing nice without me." She was preparing to depart, but there was this burning need in my chest. Something I needed answered before she headed out.

"Before you go...How is she?…" Celebi let out a soft hmm to inquire what I meant, but fortunately caught on to what I was implying. "Azelf or Mesprit?" "Both… yes, I know how it sounds coming from me…" Celebi bluntly responded in a manner similar to how I would have in the past. "Mesprit is doing terribly." I felt a rather hefty burden then. It was never pleasant knowing Mesprit wasn't her usual peppy self. "I see…" "As for Azelf… I have no clue. I haven't spoken to her for a few years now, but from what I've heard… worse than Mesprit." That burden in my chest pushed all the way to my throat and briefly escaped. I believe Mesprit would call that some form of misery. Well these answers certainly were not going to make sleep come easy to me this evening. "Thank you… that was all.." My voice was far shakier than it should have been and I can't imagine how much of a mess my appearance had become at this point.

"We can always talk about them if you want to." "Maybe some other time, when we're both rested." Was I a coward or tired, at this point I was varying degrees of both. At least Celebi could respect my wishes for the moment. "Alright, talk to you later Bookworm." With that she vanished in a bright flash only barely visible through my tightly clenched eyes. Then it was just me.

"That…was really nice…" I honestly can't believe how enjoyable that was, nor could I fathom actually being excited about the company. Perhaps I truly had been locked up in here for too long. Well I could put that momentary momentum to putting this enormous pile of books back where they belonged. Oddly the majority of these ones came from the top of the shelf where I only ever ventured to for the sake of keeping the dust away from the covers. Honestly I'd been going to the less traveled parts of my library with increasing frequency these past few years. My preferred collection had lost that spark that once held my attention so thoroughly. Looking at the final book I was about to shelve I cautiously opened his eyes to get a better look at it. Yet another romance novel, a REALLY bad one at that. I was about to discard it back on the top shelf when a thought came to me. With my change in preference lately, perhaps a second reading could shine this particular story in a new light. If all else fails I will be asleep rather quickly. With my mind made up I sat in my favorite recliner and quietly read until sleep conquered my wavering mind.

Mew had taken far too long to arrive. I had expected him to maybe be maybe five minutes behind me, not well over an hour. I leaned into the couch and let a massive yawn past my lips. "Maybe I can just rest my eyes until he shows up." My eyes flickered back open when I felt someone sit next to me. Cool Mew was here, "Just give me a minute dude.", focus came back to me and sitting across was not in fact that mischievous troublemaker. Rather sitting across from me was that smart ass holding a welcoming smile. "Helmet head? What are you doing here?" Sitting up I instinctively looked for any signs of Mesprit. "I wanted to see you, to tell you something." He said that last bit, taking one of my paws in his. An immediate shiver shot down my spine. Oh Arceus! Since when did he get so bold?

AND WHY WAS I SO OK WITH THIS?!

"I love you."

I couldn't even respond to this. It was equal parts exhilarating and terrifying. He continued his bold actions. Pulling me close and wrapping his tails around both of our waist.

My head was safely tucked into his chest, where I could feel and hear how fast his heart was beating. His paw traced across my chin, guiding my head to meet his hidden gaze. I closed my eyes and invited him to continue. Waiting for his next action. Nothing came of it though, in fact it felt as though he had vanished entirely.

Something was wrong, I felt like I was flying through the air, specifically straight down. My collision with the cold cave floor was the final push I needed to tell me I was awake. "I'm going to end you…"

Mew only cackled maniacally at what he knew was an empty threat. "Sorry Azzy, but you would have done the same to me." I hated that he was right about that in no small part because she HAD done that to him in the past. "Soooo, what were you dreaming about?"

"More of a nightmare than a dream…" I said finally prying my face from the dirt. "Didn't look or sound like it to me~" He had an absurdly smug look on his face, his tail motioning for me to join him back on the couch. "You didn't see or hear any of it." He made a zipping motion with one finger against his lips.

Booting up the console and silently waiting for everything to finish loading. God it was going to feel so good to just unwind like they used to do.

Well it would as soon as I got this question off my chest. Ever since he told me about how close he and Celebi had gotten. Usually he'd just ramble on and on about whatever mundane activities Celebi dragged him into. The majority of which involved copious amounts of chocolate.

"Hey, I have a question for you." He tilted his head and motioned for me to ask away. "Is Celebi treating you right?" His eyes widened briefly and just as quickly brightened with the usual joy they always held so firmly. "Yeah dude! We get to eat SOOO much chocolate, and she actually laughs with me now instead of at me, and plays along with some of my absolute best ideas. It's like having an even cooler version of you around, no offense." I shrugged it off and would have left the matter there, but Mew was not done gushing about Celebi. "I never thought anyone other than you would ever even want me around… It's kind of nice y'know? Like, she protects me from everyone else now and holds me close to her after those rare days where I don't get to see her." His voice held his usual joyful disposition but masked an otherwise well hidden appreciation. I couldn't help but compare part of it to those rare instances where I protected Uxie. "So… yeah, things have been awesome between me and Cel. Why ask though?" I shrugged and tried my best to keep my true purpose for asking buried. "Just keeping an eye out for my partner in crime." Which was partially true, if Celebi had been mistreating him behind closed doors not even Arceus would be able to stop me from tearing that onion apart layer by bloody layer. He wavered his head from side to side, humming in acceptance. "OK, my turn! How are things with Uxie and Mesprit?" I felt a jolt rush down my spine. Of course Mew would naturally ask about my counterparts after I asked about who he was closest to.

"Well if you must know, Mesprit has recently taken it upon herself to play matchmaker with me." With any luck that alone would be enough to keep his attention to ask any follow ups relating to Uxie. "Really now? Who's she been pairing you with?" Easy answer: "Nobody important." An obvious lie, but as long as he had as little information as possible he wouldn't know any better. He hummed quizzically, "So, what about Helmet Head?" The inevitable follow up I hoped Mew would just forget about. I needed to act quick too or he'd start thinking like Mesprit. One soul trying to hook me up with helmet head was already more than enough.

"Nope, nothing new…" Another lie, no way was I going to admit to that night where I broke down in his arms, especially to someone with lips as loose as Mew's. To my frustration, Mew's stubborn nature had been emboldened from the many years I've known him. He refused to leave the matter at that.

"Ah come on Azzy, you gotta have more stories. Y'know like that one where Palkia lost his memory because he forgot to keep his eyes shut. That was so funny!" Sure it was funny to someone who hadn't been there, but I actually had the misfortune of seeing how terrified Uxie was at that moment. He just froze in place, too frightened to respond in any way. Not helping matters was when Dialga's feral screaming turned violent. I shuddered to think what might have happened if I didn't step in when I did… "Sorry dude, I just haven't been around him lately." Mew pouted in the way a child denied desert would, but gave up when the title screen loaded and the loud blaring music captured his undivided attention.

Fortunately Mew was completely enthralled by the absolute chaos the two of us could achieve through simulated violence. Finally, I could relax and take my mind off Mesprit's ridiculous gambits and of Uxie in general. I could just enjoy some free time like the two of us used to whenever Mew needed a safe haven in the past. Now when he needs somewhere to hide he just goes to Celebi and she protects him without question. It was nice to know Mew was doing well without me, but it did kinda suck to see so little of him nowadays. Not to mention I couldn't even remember the last time he did one of his really big pranks. The ones that Arceus usually had to find some kind of special punishment for, usually it involved limiting his powers for some arbitrary amount of time.

Eventually I fell back asleep after so many hours of sweet simulated violence. When I woke back up hours later, he had thrown a blanket on top of me and left. Not only that, he left a sticky note on my face. Yanking the letter off I read out his message. "That was awesome! We gotta do that again sometime. Gotta go now though, Celebi doesn't like sleeping by herself. Next week, same day?" Yeah, I'd happily take more games with Mew. Really anything resembling how things used to be sounded really good now. Because I certainly wasn't getting that with Mesprit or Uxie anymore.

I tapped my tea cup impatiently, practically counting the seconds tick by before I could begin my plan in earnest. I had a mission, one I felt could be achieved with enough careful planning. It was simple in theory, finally getting my two thick headed counterparts to admit that they were in love with each other. The difficulty came from just how unrelentingly stubborn Azelf was and how unbelievably guarded Uxie was. Neither could let their guards down long enough to be vulnerable with each other.

"Not enjoying the tea?" My attention turned to the white and yellow star sprite sitting across from me, Jirachi. "Nah, it's fine."

Her emotions were nauseatingly sweet, even more so than all the pastries she baked. It was to the point that her own emotions began overpowering my own and I was smiling in spite of how I really felt. It probably looked like whatever would qualify as a smile from Darkrai. She was utterly ecstatic to have me around to gossip with. It had become something we just kept doing after Arceus made me be therapist for a day. Though it became a far scarcer activity with me focusing so heavily on my counterparts. That being said, catching up on all the gossip I'd missed out on these past couple of months has been keeping my attention.

"So… I'm actually curious about something. You feel the emotions through others no matter how much they try to hide it?" Mesprit nodded "Uh huh, like right now. I can feel your joy mixed with a wave of curiosity." "So what does it feel like when an emotion hits you and you've never felt it before?" It was a rather bizarre question, but it made sense in an odd way. Logically if I hadn't felt an emotion before how could I recognize it emanating off of someone else. I tilted my head resting my free paw against my cheek. "Good question… Once upon a time I must have had that reaction, but it was so long ago that I can't even begin to imagine what it felt like then." Jirachi took a sip from her cup, equal parts satisfied and annoyed with the outcome.

"OK, so I danced around the topic for long enough. Why them?" I eyed her curiously trying my best to play dumb. "No need to act so coy about it, Azelf and Uxie. Why are you trying to make it happen?" I let out an exasperated sigh, no point in keeping it hidden if its so blatantly obvious to everyone. "I can feel it from the both of them, but they're both too stubborn and stupid to admit it." Jirachi tapped her chin thoughtfully, munching on one of the dozen cookies she'd prepared.

"So, have you ever felt what they're feeling? For yourself I mean, not because someone else around you has." I nearly choked on the cookie I was eating. I wound up speaking more harshly than I intended to. "Of course I have." Brushing off the tone in my voice, Jirachi's curiosity peaked. "Really? Who then? I just gotta know the lucky soul!" I sat up to respond yet found not a single name came to me. Jirachi's eyes widened with excitement and held her gaze the entire time. A bunch of names flashed by, but the more I thought about it they were always because someone else had feelings for them.

"Hmm… On second thought… That'll be my little secret." The star headed wish granter totally deflated. "AW Come on! You're going to lead me on THAT much?" I nodded and sipped what remained of my tea. "Sorry Ji-ji. You're gonna have to try harder than that to get that kind of information." Jirachi grumbled and plopped her chin against the surface of the table. Her slump didn't last long, they never did. It might have been a side effect of having Mew as a designated counterpart. Or just her enjoying every ounce of freedom she had now that she was free from hibernating an entire eon. Regardless of the reason Jirachi bounced back and engaged in yet more frivolous gossip with me for the rest of the day.

Night struck and Jirachi had finally fallen asleep, the abundance of sweets she gorged on having finally taken their collective toll. She and Celebi really were Mew's counterparts with how much they loved sweets. With a beleaguered sigh, I floated over to the slumbering genie. As soon as I picked her up her arms and ribbons wrapped around me. Jirachi was both a heavy sleeper and a cuddle bug. Something I had experienced first hand an abundance of times since we became friends. At first I thought Mew was joking when he told me about that, but Celebi's jealous huff told me everything I needed to know. Those two absolutely had nights where Jirachi clung to one of them and would not let go.

Her room was remarkably similar to the one I had at my cave. A closet loaded to the brim with clothes and drawers filled with all kinds of makeup. With great effort, I pried the Wishgranter off of me. She unconsciously felt around her bed for me, eventually settling with a pillow Tucking the sleepyhead in for the night another sigh escaped me.

I grabbed one last donut and took to the night sky. I wasn't quite in the mood to just teleport there tonight. Hopefully the trip could sort out my thoughts for the busy day I was going to have tomorrow.

Why was it that I couldn't find an answer to such a basic question? It should have been easy for me. I was the romantic soul of the council. If someone needed romance or love advice they came to me. If anyone should have fallen in love before in their life it should have been me. I could try to justify it as the love I felt for Azelf and Uxie, but deep down I knew that it was absolutely nothing like what the two had developed for each other. They held the sweet forbidden and intimate love I realized was completely foreign to me. Nothing like the platonic love I had for them, that same love they never felt for me anymore. Now Azelf just felt annoyed and angry with my presence and Uxie was just on edge and paranoid of everything I did.

This is really starting to bother me now. At a simpler time in my 'childhood' I could recall how inseparable the three of us were. Uxie was an even more obnoxious smart ass and Azelf was an uncontrollable demon of chaos. They never got along either, always arguing, and loudly questioning how they were even counterparts. At least they never directed their vitriol in my direction. Uxie hadn't exactly been open with me, but I could sense he appreciated having me around. Azelf meanwhile always tried to rope me into her insane plans, this was before Mew became her partner in that regard. Back then she acted as the 'leader' of our group. It wasn't until years later when that role wound up falling to me with how frequent the arguments between Azelf and Uxie had gotten. Virtually every day I got to see the two of them hurl insults at each other.

Now I was lucky to even see one of the two for a five minute interval once a month. Why couldn't those two just accept that they loved each other and be happy? Couldn't they see so many others had managed to do the exact same thing? Why was I so invested in their love life anyways? It had eaten away so many years of my life and was costing me the bond I once thought was completely unbreakable. Was it because of today's revelation? Did I just want them to be happy so I could feel that love by proxy? This thought sent a nauseating pain in my gut. I really hoped that was just all the pastries I ate today…

With a defeated sigh, I accepted that this was going to be a sleepless night.

So what did we learn? Uxie is an emotionally insecure recluse, Azelf is a pent up ball of emotions, and Mesprit is struggling to understand her own emotions now.

All in all, I think those three are having a good day. As always please leave a review and have a good one yourself.