Cilan liked to think he was adjusting to the… situation just fine. True, his attempts at encouragement were falling on deaf ears, but someone had to be optimistic here. At least they could take a well-deserved vacation from the Gym and restaurant for a few days. Not that they did much relaxing, but the point still stood.
It was nice to be able to enjoy some peace and quiet, Cilan thought. The girls had just come back from the Trainers' School—thankfully without any incidents like yesterday's—and were, if Cilan had to guess, upstairs.
Cilan wasn't entirely sure what to make of the girls. Granted, he wasn't sure exactly what he'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't… this. Carolina was so angry and abrasive, but there was something under there Cilan couldn't quite put his finger on. She spent all her time in the woods around the house, often not returning for hours and meeting any attempts to bring her back in with sharp refusal. (Cilan was pretty sure he'd seen her eating Oran Berries right from the tree once, tearing into the skin and juicy parts like a wild Pokémon.) In contrast, Cinna was polite but distant, and she still hadn't said anything to anyone. It wasn't uncommon for her to go one or even multiple days without speaking when she was younger, Cilan remembered. Maybe it was some kind of stress reaction brought on by the situation. She always did do that when she was particularly scared… yes, that had to be it.
And that wasn't even mentioning Clove. Cilan wasn't sure if he'd done anything to scare her recently, but she certainly seemed afraid of him. Every rare smile was strained, every motion stiff. It worried him. What had Coriander done to them…?
Cilan shook his head and looked out the window, the one facing the back garden. It was nice out there; it had been their mother's pet project—probably one of the few good things about the place, he thought with some sadness. Cilan had always liked helping her with it, and even now he and his Pokémon were mainly the ones taking care of it. A loud laugh caught his attention, muffled through the glass, and Cilan looked over to see Carolina falling backwards onto the ground, mud splattering around her. Scraggy had tackled her, a proud expression on the little Pokémon's face, and Cilan smiled. It was such a refreshingly sweet sight. Carolina had been so… harsh, ever since the six of them had been reunited. At least something could make her happy.
So why was she so aggressive around all of them?
Cilan considered telling them to come back in. It was raining, after all, and they were both clearly soaked to the bone, not to mention muddy. Still, Cilan knew well enough by now that telling Carolina to do anything was futile. Either she would deliberately avoid coming in just to spite him, or she would act like she'd never heard him. Neither outcome was one Cilan particularly wanted to deal with. Besides, a little rain never hurt anyone, even if it made Cress upset whenever Carolina came in with leaves in her hair or tracked mud into the house. It would do no harm to just let Carolina have this little moment. It was nice to see her happy for once, at least, and not glaring or snapping at anyone. Maybe they could get her to open up after all.
Something floated past Cilan's eyes, and he looked down to see something sitting by the window. Clove's Cottonee had taken a liking to the windowsill, and Cilan had seen the Cottonweed Pokémon lounging there more often than not whenever it was sunny outside. Unfortunately for Cottonee, today was not; the rain pounded down around them, and there were no spots of sunlight on Cottonee's favorite windowsill.
Cottonee seemed to realize this at the same time Cilan did, sitting up and looking around. Its eyes landed on Cilan, and the little Grass and Fairy-type watched him with a pleading expression. "Cott nee?" it asked, glancing at the windowsill.
"Hm?"
"Cott, cott neeeeee." Cottonee pointed outside at the pouring rain. "Cottonee?"
Oh. That was what it was asking. Cilan smiled and shook his head. "Sorry, Cottonee. I can't bring the sun back. You'll just have to wait until it stops raining to sit there."
Cottonee let out a plaintive whine, and Cilan briefly felt sorry for it. It was still relatively young, if his guess was right, and he knew how young Pokémon tended to be. He patted the Pokémon's head. "Don't worry, rain doesn't usually last long here. I'm sure you'll have your spot back in no time, okay?"
Cottonee huffed, but it seemed placated by the comfort. Cilan gave it a reassuring smile before going back to his pacing around the living room. While it was nice to have some time to relax (sort of), he had to admit he wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself. He was used to having the days full of customers and challengers and the general busyness of the Gym and restaurant. Having the day so empty was a new flavor to him, and he didn't really know what to do with it.
Cottonee rested on the arm of the couch before something on the coffee table caught its attention. With a few curious bleats, the Cottonweed Pokémon picked the object up with its leaves and held it up. "Cott?"
Cilan looked over and gently took the object from Cottonee, who settled on his shoulder instead. It looked like a notebook, its cover a solid black and nothing particularly interesting about it. Cilan frowned, wondering what it was doing on the coffee table. Maybe someone had left it out? It looked sort of like the books they used at the restaurant to keep track of the financial side of things. Maybe someone had just left it out and forgotten to put it away.
Well, it would be better to check. Cilan opened the notebook, peeking inside, and—
Oh.
Oh.
This was definitely not anything they used at the restaurant. The page Cilan had opened to was stabbed through, probably by a pencil. Whoever had done that had apparently done it several times, judging by all the holes in the paper, and those weren't the only thing wrong. Where there were no holes, someone had scribbled on the paper, hard, and some of the paper had torn lines through it as if they had pushed the pencil too hard.
"Who…" Cilan murmured, flipping through the notebook. Page after page of stab holes, torn lines in the paper, all mixed with disconcertingly normal doodles of flowers and the occasional drawings of random Pokémon. Cilan still had no idea who would have done this. Cottonee seemed just as surprised as he did, and—
A sad little sound snapped Cilan out of his thoughts, and he looked up. Clove was peeking around the doorway, though she disappeared as quickly as she'd come. Still, Cilan had managed to see the look on her face, and it certainly wasn't happy. Maybe this was her notebook.
Damn it.
Cilan closed the notebook—what kind of idiot was he for looking through it, anyway?—and made a beeline for the stairs. "Clove?" he called, looking around for any familiar trace of her pink hair or her dress. Nothing. She must have gone upstairs already.
"Cott nee…" Cottonee's leaves dropped, and it looked at Cilan as if asking for reassurance. It was her Pokémon, after all; of course it would be upset if she was. Cilan reached up to gently pat the little Pokémon's head.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we can set things right." Cilan finally found Clove's bedroom door and stood in front of it. Damn it, she must be upset…. Why hadn't he just put the damn thing down and ignored it? Why did he have to—
Clove opened the door, and Cilan's heart twisted. She was a far cry from her usual cheerful self; rather than her usual smile, her expression was one of anger and frustration and sadness. She didn't say anything, though Cottonee sat on her head and settled in her hair.
"Hey…" The word seemed entirely inadequate, and Cilan cursed himself. "Can I come in?"
Clove considered it for a moment before nodding and opening the door a bit further. Cilan sat on the edge of her bed, and Clove joined him after a second. She was looking down at the floor like this was somehow her fault. Damn it…
"I shouldn't have done that." Cilan held the notebook out, and Clove looked up. "I'm sorry. I thought it was something else, but that's no excuse. Here. I won't look at it anymore. It's yours, after all."
Clove cautiously took the notebook, setting it on top of the blanket. She seemed to consider something, lost in thought, her cheeks slightly puffed out.
"Are you okay?" Cilan asked, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder. Clove's shoulders went tense under the touch before slowly returning to normal.
"Promise you won't tell anyone else." She looked up with such sadness and pleading that Cilan couldn't find it in him to tell her no.
"Okay. I won't tell anyone, but why not?" He sighed. "If you don't want to tell me, that's okay. But you know we're here to help, and I'm worried about you three. I want to help if I can."
Clove shook her head, looking down at her lap. "They need me…" she mumbled, and Cilan had to strain to hear her.
"Hm?"
"Carolina and Cinna." Clove looked up. "They need me to be happy so they don't have to worry about me. And if anything's wrong with me it'll just make things here worse, so…" She trailed off.
Cilan took a minute to think about that. She was just concerned for the other two… and for everyone else too, by the sound of it. She wanted to make things better, and the only thing she could think of was to bottle up whatever she'd been feeling and taking it out on that notebook when she was alone. His heart broke a little bit; he didn't want her thinking like that…
"Clove, you're not responsible for how they feel." Cilan gently patted Clove's shoulder. "You're not, and you don't have to hide how you're feeling just to make them feel better." He sighed. "Listen, if anyone's responsible for them, it's me and Chili and Cress. Not you; you shouldn't have to think about that at this age." Cilan tried for a reassuring smile. "I know you're trying to help, and it's an admirable thing to want to do, but you don't have to hide anything from us. Okay?"
Clove was quiet for a second, and Cilan wondered if she was going to say anything. After a few seconds of tense silence, Clove threw her arms around Cilan in a hug and buried her face in the fabric of his shirt. The motion caught Cilan off guard; it had been a while since she'd done that. Still, he didn't mind, and he returned the hug with a little smile on his face.
They sat there like that for a moment, the silence shifting from tense to amicable, before Clove finally looked up. "Why did Papa say you guys didn't want to see us anymore?"
That was a new one by Cilan. He paused, blinking in surprise. "What?"
"Papa said you guys never came to visit because you didn't want to see us," Clove repeated as if it would make more sense the second time around. Cilan remained quiet. Why would Coriander say such a thing?
Well, it wouldn't be the worst thing he'd done, Cilan thought bitterly, but he put the thought out of his mind. Clove needed him.
"Clove, you know that's not true, right?" He gently ruffled her hair. "Come on now, we love you three more than anything in the world."
"But everyone's so mad…" Clove murmured. "Everyone's really upset, and Carolina's so mean, and she and Cress fight all the time…"
"It's not because of you three. No one is mad at you three, okay? If anything, Chili and Cress and I are all mad at Father." Cilan paused. "Look, I know this was, ah… unexpected for all of us, but we're not mad at you or Cinna or Carolina. We really missed you, you know."
Clove seemed satisfied with the answer and snuggled up to Cilan, her head on his shoulder. "M'kay. I missed you guys too. Is Carolina gonna be okay?"
"She'll be fine. I'm sure she'll come around once she's had some time to settle in. She and Cinna are probably just still getting used to things." Cilan put his arm around Clove, giving her a one-armed hug. "Don't worry about them, okay?"
"M'kay."
Clove smiled, the first real one Cilan had seen out of her, and he ruffled her hair again. They sat like that for a few minutes, snuggling just like when she was little and looking to him to chase away some nightmare. It really was nice to have them back, Cilan thought with a smile. They sat on Clove's bed for a bit before Cilan finally stood up. Much as he wanted to stay there, he had something he had to do.
"I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?"
Clove nodded, grinning still. Cilan thought he could briefly hear her giggling as he stepped out into the hall. This wouldn't be pretty, he thought with dread, going back down the stairs and electing to go to the kitchen. He and Coriander needed to talk, and he didn't want the girls overhearing what was about to happen.
With shaking hands, Cilan tapped out the familiar number on his Xtransceiver and waited. The device buzzed, the "now calling…" display making his stomach twist. It took a bit, but Coriander finally picked up, glaring at Cilan as if he'd pulled him away from something important.
"I told you three not to call me," he said in a dangerously low tone, and Cilan flinched. Even at twenty-one, that tone still scared him.
"This is important" was all Cilan could get out before he had to pause to collect himself. "Why did you tell the girls we didn't want to see them?"
Coriander shook his head. "I said no such thing—you know how children are. I'm sure one of them made it up. Either way, I said nothing to them, and I don't appreciate you saying I did." He glared at the camera, and Cilan tried to keep from backing down.
"Father, first you give us every excuse in the book why we can't visit them, and then you tell them we didn't want to see them. Why would you do that to us or them?"
Coriander's scowl deepened. "Someone had to undo the damage you three did. Letting them run around like hellions—"
"They're children, and it's called playing," Cilan said through gritted teeth. He was well and truly angry now, something that didn't happen often. "So you lied to them and to us because you just wanted to??"
"As I said before—"
Cilan hung up, and the screen went dark. He couldn't do this right now. He really didn't need to hear Coriander saying that again. He and Cress and Chili did as well as they could for fifteen-year-olds who had no business raising anyone. Besides, running around and playing like children should hardly made the girls "hellions." They were children, and even if they were a little weird, they were still his little sisters.
Cilan just took a second to calm himself down before going back upstairs. Clove was probably wondering where he was. He made his way up to her room, and Clove's eyes lit up when she saw him.
"Cilan!" She flipped through a notebook—this one a different color from the one that had started all this—and finally held up what looked like the beginnings of a drawing. It was the vague outline of Cottonee (who looked very happy with itself, primping and preening in the mirror above Clove's dresser). Clove grinned, obviously proud of the thing, and Cilan smiled. This was the Clove he knew.
"It looks great. You did a good job with Cottonee's outline."
Clove seemed to glow at the praise, and Cottonee puffed up even more with something that was probably pride. Cilan smiled as he looked at the little girl and her Pokémon.
Maybe things really were getting better.