A Tricky Situation ~Touch and Go~ is ©1999 Seiya (starr.evans@mailcity.com)
and Hotaru (faris.greyweirs@mailcity.com). Steal it and Ashton's...
associates... Gyoro and Ururun will eat you for dinner -- literally.

If you haven't visited it yet, A Tricky Situation can be found at
              http://fly.to/touchandgo/




                        Opening Theme: Our Evolution
                  Title Screen: Now, Quickly Let's Run Away



    "Yo~sh!" Faris smiles, pulling into the driveway. "We're here, everyone!"
    "What time is it?" is Misty's immediate question.
    She checks her wristwatch. "9 PM. You want to head to bed right away?"
    "No," she says. "I just wanted to know what time it was."
    Faris shrugs in response. "Whatever." She opens her car door and steps out.
The others do the same.
    "Pika pikaaaa!" Pikachu smiles, stretching and breathing the fresh evening
air.
    "Rai, rai," Raichu agrees, standing next to her. 
    Batts opens one eye from the back of the minivan, awakening from his nap.
<Hmmm?> He raises his head to see where they are; upon doing so, he teleports
to the outside. 
    Everyone proceeds to bring everything inside. Faris shows them all their
rooms (some have to share), and they all proceed to unpack. Because that's
Boring Detail, we'll just skip all that and get to the part where they're all
in the living room, which is to the immediate left of the main door. There's a
couch at the far end of the room; Starr, Misty and Ash are sitting on it, with
Pikachu on Ash's shoulder, Raichu sprawled across all three of their laps, and
Togepi on Misty's shoulder. Pikachu pokes Raichu's tail once in a while,
admiring the static. Strewn across the wall opposite the entrance near the
front door are three chairs; two are cushy velvet and one is a rocking chair.
Jessie and Faris are sitting in the velvet chairs and James is sitting in the
rocking chair. Meowth is sitting in Faris' lap, and Batts is at her feet. Brock
has placed the frozen pizzas in the oven and set the timer, but since all the
seats were taken while he was off doing that, he has to sit on the floor
opposite the space between Jessie and Faris.
    Now that everybody's position has been stated, we'll continue. 
  

    "You've got a really nice house!" Misty states for what must be the
twentieth time. "You're so lucky to have all this space to yourself, especially
when the ocean's so near..." She sighs contentedly. "And your furniture is
*soo* comfortable!" Her eyes take on a starry sheen as she imagines herself
living in such a beautiful house.
    "I could sell it to you, if you want," Faris returns mildly.
    This startles Misty out of her reverie. "What?"
    "Would you really?" Jessie asks, an interested look on her face.
    "No," she replies, scratching Meowth behind his ears. "I was just getting
tired of saying, 'I'm glad you like it, Misty', and saying, 'Would you shut up
already?!' is rude."
    "Ahehe," Misty blushes. "I guess I have been saying that a lot... but it
IS a nice house!"
    "We know, Misty, we know," Ash informs her in a bored tone.
    "Chu, chu," Pikachu and Raichu agree in unison. Misty humph's and crosses
her arms in silent reply.
    "Say, Faris, tomorrow, do you mind if I take a walk in the forest outside
before we leave for Cinnabar?" Brock speaks up. "I saw a lot of interesting
Pokémon on the way here, and I'd like to get a closer look."
    She shrugs. "Do what you like."
    Brock smiles. "Thanks a lot!" 
    "Just watch out for the property guardians," she adds. 
    "Property guardians?" Brock repeats, sweatdropping a little. 
    <Lenna used to be a Pokémon trainer. When she became a breeder, she quit
training,> Batts tells him for Faris. <Now some of her more...
*overprotective*... Pokémon keep this area safe from Pokémon thieves. Those
Pokémon include a Scyther, a Fearow, an Arbok, and a number of Voltorbs. In
the ocean, there are several Tentacools to ward off those who come by boat.> 
    "Tentacool?" Misty says eagerly, emerging from her bad mood in an instant.
"Then *I* want to explore, too!" 
    "Voltorbs?" James and Jessie repeat, oblivious to Misty's comment. 
    "What did you think he said? Jigglypuffs, maybe?" Meowth says sarcastically.
    "Expect to see me inside all day tomorrow," Jessie states as an answer. 
    "Me, too," James concurs. 
    Ash blinks. "Lenna was supposed to be really gentle, wasn't she? Then why's
she have so many dangerous Pokémon guarding the place?"
    "Lenna Inverse had a reputation of being able to sooth even the most
bad-tempered Pokémon," Brock informs him.  "She would have made a great
Pokémon doctor with that ability." He sighs. "Well, I guess I'll take my
chances tomorrow."
    "Have fun!" Jessie and James say in unison, waving good-bye. Brock piku's
in response.
    "Pansy." Starr throws a cushion at James, who in turn throws it at Jessie.
"Voltorbs only Self-Destruct when they're pissed off or scared. If you leave
them alone, they'll leave you alone."
    "Even so, I'm staying in." Jessie makes a face. "I'm sure there are some
perfectly NICE Voltorbs out there, but I've had too many bad experiences with
them."
    "You've had bad experiences with Meowth and you still like him," Misty
points out.
    Jessie and James piku, then bust up laughing. Meowth sulks.
    "Great. Even my own teammates hate me. Next think ya know, they'll be
replacin' me with a POISIAN."
    Faris rolls her eyes. "I'd take a Meowth over a Persian any day. They're
smaller, have a way better attitude, and learn attacks faster." She smiles and
scratches Meowth behind his little black ears. "And besides... Meowth is much,
MUCH cuter than any pussy Persian."
    Meowth sighs happily, a grin plastered all over his kitty face and a few
billion stars shining in his eyes. "I think I'm in love..."
    "Martina's Persian used to be my Meowth," Faris goes on, "but one day after
I left for Pokémon Tech, she decided he was 'stylish', but he'd be far more
chic as a Persian, so she went and evolved him. Too bad she didn't take into
account that Persians tend to have nasty dispositions."
    "Ten bucks says he walked all over her after that for being such a sucketh
trainer," Starr grins.
    Faris nods, grinning evilly. "Nothing's more hilarious than a trainer who
can't control their Pokémon."
    "Oh, THANKS." Ash drops his head, thinking of Charizard.
    Faris looks thoughtful. "Maybe you could trade that Charizard of yours at
the Summer's Festival when we go."
    "No way!" Ash protests, looking back up. "Charizard was abandoned once
when it was still just a Charmander--she might think all her trainers will
ever do is leave her!"
    "That's so, but there's really no point in keeping a Pokémon you can't
control," Faris points out. "Besides, you're not abandoning Charizard, per se--
you're just giving it a new trainer."
    "..." Ash traces a circle on the arm of the sofa, a shadow covering his
eyes.
    Brock looks up at Faris. "If you love Pokémon as much as Lenna...Faris,
why did you join Team Rocket?"
    "You're a persistent one, aren't you?" Faris grins mildly.
    "I'm persistent!" James says proudly.
    "Yes, but nobody was talking to you."
    James sulks as Brock presses, "Sooo...?"
    Faris rolls her eyes. "Fine. I'll give you a straight answer. It's because
it was destiny."
    Brock stares at her. "...What?"
    Pikachu does likewise. "Pi?"
    Jessie gives her a disbelieving look. "You joined Team Rocket because of
some silly 'fate' notion?"
    "Fate's not silly," Starr informs her.
    "Rai?" Raichu sits up in her lap.
    Faris shifts so she's kneeling in the chair. "Ara, I think you
misunderstood. I said destiny, *not* fate."
    "What's the difference? They're the same things, right?" Misty asks.
    Faris leans back and starts scratching Meowth behind the ears, causing him
to purr cutely in contented delight. "That's where you're wrong! Destiny is
not the same as fate. Fate is adamant: for a living thing to die is fate.
However, destiny is flexible. Destiny is formed according to our choices and
lifestyle."
    James and Jessie stare at her.
    Faris doesn't seem to notice and goes on.  "Destiny is not just what you
make of it, though--it's the choices and lifestyles of everyone else in the
world, even those of people you've never met, because everything is connected
in some way or another. If a butterfly flaps its wings a certain way on one
side of the world, it could start a long sequence of events that ends in a
tornado on the other side."
    Brock nods. "The chaos theory."
    "Yeah, that's right."
    James now looks as though he's thinking very, very hard about this.
    "I hope he doesn't hurt himself," Misty stage whispers to Starr.
    Faris smiles a little at the remark (to which James was totally oblivious),
then continues. "For instance, if I'd never joined Team Rocket, you and your
friends would have never met me, Brock. Therefore, right now, you would be
sleeping in the woods. However, there is always a possibly that my never
joining Team Rocket might have inadvertently caused Ash's mother to not go on
that vacation, so you could be sleeping in a bed."
    Starr strokes Raichu, raising a little more static. "Sounds a lot like
time to me."
    Faris nods. "That's right. Destiny and the possibilities of time have a
lot to do with each other."
    "Faris, you are beginning to sound like Setsuna," Starr smiles.
    Faris grins back. "And your point is?"
    "No point, just thought I should mention it."
    "Anyway, the choices that we make in the present all has to do with what
events made up our pasts, and the possible events that may make up our futures.
I believe that a long chain of events caused me to finally join Team Rocket."
    Misty blinks. "You sought out to join Team Rocket?"
    Faris looks over at Misty and raises her eyebrows. "Don't be dumb. I never
said that. I only joined because the Boss offered me a position on the team."
    Jessie smirks and (pointedly) crosses her arms in front of her chest.
"Telling that flat-chested twerp not to be stupid is like telling a fish not
to swim."
    Misty b'iiiiiiiiiiiiihs her. "At least I'm smart enough to win Pokémon
battles!"
    Jessie glares at her. "That's got nothing to do with anything!!" 
    Misty laughs. "That might be true if you weren't a Pokémon trainer!" 
    Togepi is standing on Misty's lap and waving its tiny arms, trying
unsuccessfully to get the two girls to calm down.
    Starr stands up and clears her throat. Raichu leaps off onto the floor.
When everyone turns to listen, Starr clears her throat twice more and
proclaims, "In the words of my dad, SHUT UP AND LISTEN!!!!"
    Misty and Jessie stop arguing.
    Starr nods happily. "Better. Okay, Faris, continue."
    James perks up. "Yeah! What happened, that you decided to join Team Rocket?
You've got me curious."
    Pikachu jumps onto Ash's head. "<Spill it already!>"
    Faris looks pensive and sad at the same time. "...I guess it started in
this very house." She sighs. "But honestly, I don't want to talk about it.
It's like throwing battery acid on an open wound to me."
    Starr cringes a bit at the analogy. "Now you sound like Kenji. Oh... I've
been meaning to ask...I know you hate red, and you can't stand roses--"
    "I learned that the hard way..." James's lower lip sticks out.
    Starr picks up a cushion and throws it at him. "Shush. Faris, why is that?
I hate to be forward, but I always wondered..."
    Faris rests her chin on her hands and her elbows on her knees. "Why do I
hate the color red? Well... it's because... a pool of red signaled the end of
my happiness as a child..."
    Everyone is quiet.
    Starr leans a little bit toward Faris, green eyes reflecting concern.
"......if you don't want to go on, you don't have to. The end of happiness is
a pretty hard subject to discuss."
    Faris shakes her head. "No, it's okay. It doesn't really matter anymore.
Roses I don't really mind, it's just red roses I hate. That's because, at her
funeral, my aunt Lenna's coffin was engraved with a red rose. Her grave was
covered with red roses. Whenever I see a red rose, I see Lenna's dead body.
It's kind of a hard image to erase."
    James abruptly stands up and stalks off into the kitchen. Seconds later,
there's a loud shredding noise.
    Starr turns and yells, "James, what in the name of SEPHIROTH are you
doing?!?"
    James hollers back, "Getting rid of all my red roses! I'll never touch one
again!!!!!!!!!"
    Faris laughs. "You could try white roses. They'd suit you."
    Ash lifts his head suddenly. He sniffs the air. "Huh?"
    Raichu's nose twitches and Pikachu sneezes. "Chu!"
    Ash sniffs again, then asks, "Hey guys, is it just me, or do you smell
something burning?"
    Brock immediately begins to spazz. "AUUUUGGGHHHH!!!! THE PIZZAS!!!!!! I
TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He dashes off into the kitchen as
James also begins to spazz within.
  

             /Later, in the dining room.../

   "Yum. My favorite. Charred pizza," Starr says dryly as Raichu pokes lightly
at the round blackened objects on the dining room table.
    Faris wields the pizza cutter, inquiring, "Would you like your slice burnt
or well burnt, Misty?"
    Misty makes a face. "I'll take burnt."
    James glares. "No way, I want burnt!!"
    Misty crosses her arms. "Then you should have called it!"
    As they argue, Jessie glances quickly around the room, then helps herself
to the 'burnt' pizza. "YOINK!"
    James and Misty notice. "HEY!! THAT'S MY SLICE!!!!!!"
    Jessie finishes off the slice and licks her fingers, then wipes her mouth
with a napkin. "Not anymore." She looks thoughtful. "Not bad...That one was
actually pretty good, it was just charred a little on the surface."
    James and Misty sigh disappointedly, exhaling little tiny puffs.
    Brock nods to Jessie. "Yeah, this entire side of the pizza is good! It's
just a little black." 
    James and Misty jump. "REALLY????" They look, but unfortunately for them,
see that 'this entire side of the pizza' is on everyone else's plates.
    Faris grins. "Of course, the rest of the pizza is all black and charred
through..." She finishes her slice. "Mmm, yummy."
    James and Misty exhale the little puffs again. "Oh, no fair......!"
    Faris rewards them with a mildly amused look. "Life's not fair."
    Ash beams, pizza in hand. "You shouldn't have wasted your time arguing!"
    Jessie has been staring at something on the floor throughout Misty and
James's entire exchange.
    Starr notices. "What the heck are you doing?"
    Jessie indicates a small dark spot. "That...did somebody spill something
on the floor there sometime, Faris?"
    Faris looks where Jessie is pointing. "Hmmm?" She takes a closer look.
"I'm not sure... it looks like--"
    Her ruby eyes go wide as the words catch in her throat. The silence in her
throat threatens to choke the life out of her. However, Faris does nothing but
stand up silently.
    Jessie and the others stare at her. "Faris?"
    Faris turns as though she's sleepwalking. She's physically here, but her
spirit is a million miles away, or perhaps a million miles within.
    "That stain is blood, Jessie...Lenna was shot near there...." 
    Jessie's face goes pure white, and a collective gasp rises among the
others. "Oh, Faris--"
    Faris walks to the stairs and leaves the rest of them behind.



    Faris closes her eyes. 
    With a ragged sigh, she buries her face in her pillow. 
    Professor Oak was right; coming here was a mistake. There are too many bad
memories here...
    It's not Jessie's fault. She didn't know. Even though she probably still
feels horrible about pointing out the dark stain in the woodwork...
    They never had managed to get the blood out of the floors. They never
bothered to replace the floorboards, either. They just covered it up with a
rug, as if that would make it all better, as if that would make it go away.
    A salty tear streams down Faris' cheek. 
    She settles into her bed and wraps her blanket around her. This place used
to be so warm, so full of life, when Lenna was alive. Now it's cold, dead...
just like Lenna.
    Faris hugs her pillow tight, beginning to cry. Just like Lenna...
    "I forgive you." Her last words to her murderer, her last words before she
died. How could she forgive the person who was going to kill her? How could
anyone forgive someone like that? "I forgive you." Who did she forgive? His
face was hidden in shadows, so she never had seen him, only heard his voice...
Faris curls her body into a fetal position. Who was it that Lenna loved so
much that she could forgive him, even though he killed her, even though she
knew he would probably kill Faris as well?
    That memory is shrouded with the haze of time and the fog of repression.
She only barely remembers it--she remembers the words, the gunshot...the pool
of blood, the pool of red that ended her happiness...
    "Why do I hate the color red? Well... It's because... a pool of red
signaled the end of my happiness as a child..."
    Her grave was covered with red roses. Lenna's death was strewn with red
roses. Carved on her coffin were red-painted roses.
    That's why she hates red roses. That's why she hates the color red. The
color of blood and death, of hatred and anger and innocence lost...
    That's why.
    A sudden, too-loud rapping disturbs Faris from her thoughts. With a jolt,
she sits up in her bed. When she realizes it's only the door, she sighs, and
her heart begins to calm again.
    "Go away," she calls to whomever is knocking. "I want to be alone."
    "Faris, what's wrong?" a familiar voice calls back pleadingly. James.
"You've been holed up in here all night!"
    "Go AWAY, James!!"
    A flash of light, and James and Batts are inside the room. <We will not
go away,> Batts states resolutely. <Locking yourself in your room is no way
to confront your past.>
    Faris swipes at her eyes to wipe away the tears; then she lies back down.
"I don't want to talk to anyone right now," she whispers, lying back down. 
    She cringes when James sits down at the foot of her bed. "Faris..." he
starts, unsure of what to say. "I... Is there anything I can do?"
    "There's nothing you can do," is her muffled reply.
    James blinks and stares down at the floor. "..."
    "James, just go away. You're not helping."
    <Faris, James is concerned for your well being. He is concerned because
he is your friend, and he cares deeply about you. All of the others are
concerned about you as well, because they are also your friends, but James
loves you. Do not reject him.>
    Faris shudders involuntarily. 'Don't say that...'
    <"Trouble is a part of your life, and if you don't share it, you don't
give the person who loves you enough chance to love you enough." James wants
to help you because he loves you, and he continues to love you even though
you reject him to the point where others would have given up long ago. If you
refuse to love him back, you will be alone for the rest of your life... is
that what you really want? To always be alone?>
    She answers only with a quiet sob.
    "Faris?" James says, concerned.
    "I always feel as if I'm alone..." she whispers. "As if there's nobody who
can understand me. But it's always because I push others away... I don't want
anyone to know my pain. I make myself be alone, yet I don't want to be
alone..." 
    James gazes at her a moment, then gets up from the bed, walks up to her,
and kneels down so their faces are level. He takes her hand from her face and
holds it to his. "You're not alone," he tells her softly, reassuringly. "No
matter how many times you push me away, I'll always be here for you. I care
about you, Faris, more than anything in the world."
    "I wish I could believe you..." is her quiet reply. "But everything I care
about eventually goes away..."
    "I won't go away," James tells her firmly. "I'll always be by your side.
I'll always be there for you when you need me. I promise."
    "Promises are empty," Faris whispers. "I don't believe in your words. I
believed once before... but my ability to believe died a long time ago..."
    James closes his eyes and sighs. "I love you." He opens them, gazing upon
her with sadness in his eyes. "I love you beyond measure. Why can't you
understand? If I promised you the Moon, no matter how long it took, I would
make sure you got it, because I love you and I want you to be happy." He holds
her hand to his lips. "I'll do anything for you, because I love you."
    Faris stares at him for moment, then wrests her hand out of his grasp and
turns her back on him without a word.
    James stands and sits on the edge of the bed. "You told me that even though
you push others away, in truth you don't want to be alone," he reminds her
gently. "You're not alone; you have me." He turns his gaze away from her. "I
promised you I'll always be here for you, and I meant it. You'll never have to
be alone as long as I live; all you have to do is let me love you."
    Faris remains silent.
    James is silent as well for a moment, to let his words sink in.
    <...> is Batts' only commentary.
    For several long minutes, stretching into what seems to be eternity, there
is only silence.
    Then, a dry chuckle arises from Faris' throat as she slowly sits up. "What
irony..." she says, half to herself. "At first I hated you beyond measure, and
now I'm letting you see a side of myself I never show anyone else. I already
told you before, James, that I'm not interested in falling in love, but that's
because I'm afraid of getting hurt." James gazes at her, and she pulls her
legs in and hugs them to her chest. "But if I'm so afraid, why am I letting
you come close to me and see these things I never let anyone see? It's
something I can't understand about myself..."
    <Maybe you are falling in love with him,> Batts suggests quietly. <Only
you don't seem to realize this yet.>
    Faris opens her eyes and gazes over at James. He meets her ruby gaze
evenly, an uncharacteristically serious look on his face. "I don't want to
belong to anyone, through loyalties of friendship or love or anything. More
than anything, I want to live for myself." She breaks off the gaze and looks
over at the end of the bed. "But can I really be happy, living only for
myself?" She smiles mirthlessly. "I've been a fool to myself; I thought that
I could live for no one else. If you live strictly for yourself, are you
really alive?"
    "..." James pulls his legs up onto the bed and kneels, facing her.
"Faris..."
    She smiles over at him, then leans over and rests her head on James'
chest, much to his surprise. She looks up at him and smiles faintly. "You're
really someone special, James, you know that?" Then she closes her eyes.
    A faint blush spreads over James' face, and it stays. "..." he says; then
he smiles as well, and gently wraps his arms around her. Faris' body tenses
when he does so. "I must be, if you're letting me love you," he replies,
stroking her hair.
    She sighs softly in response, curling up closer to him. James rocks her
gently, continuing to stroke her hair, as if she was a small, defenseless
kitten.
    'She really is like a kitten right now,' James realizes as she begins to
relax in his arms. 'The way she's acting now is really not like her.' He runs
a hand through her hair, feeling the softness of it beneath his fingers and
loving it. 'I wish we could stay like this forever... I feel so happy like
this. No other girl's ever let me treat her like this...' He closes his eyes
and makes a contented noise. 'No other girl's ever let *me* be in control...'
    There's another tap on the door then, much softer. They look up to see
Starr and Jessie. Suddenly embarrassed, Faris pushes James away and faces the
two.
    <I told you two to stay downstairs and leave Faris to James and myself,>
Batts reminds them.
    "Yeah, we know, but... Faris... are you okay...?" Jessie asks tearfully,
not commenting on how they had been holding each other--a surprise, to Faris.
"I feel so awful..."
    "It's okay. You didn't know," Faris shrugs, trying to act as if nothing
had happened.
    "Thanks..." Jessie sniffles, a tiny sad smile growing on her lips. "I
really am sorry...I must look terrible. I'm going to fix my make-up. I'll be
right back, okay?"
    As Jessie goes, Starr shakes her head. "Is it okay if I sit down...?"
    Faris nods and Starr sits on the corner of the bed. "I don't know about
Jessie...but I heard almost the whole conversation. I'm sorry. I didn't mean
to eavesdrop, but I didn't want to disturb you, and at the same time I didn't
want to just leave. I really need to talk to you, Faris."
    She gives her a tilted glance. "What about?"
    Starr looks at Faris seriously. "I just want to warn you. This might seem
totally uncharacteristic of me since normally I'm ricocheting off the walls,
but deep beneath the psycho exterior is a normal human being.
    "I'm a lot like you in some ways...though I don't know the same pain
you've had. I feel as though my experiences in the past scarred me a little,
and I worry sometimes that the scars don't heal, that I'll always be scared
that...one day the people I love trust the most will stop knowing me someday.
    "I carry a lot of memories...some happy, some sad...and though I know the
sadness in my past shaped me into who I am and made me strong, it kind of made
me cynical. I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop or assuming the
worst case scenario. I know it hurts the people I love to be judged as though
they were the people I disliked so long ago.
    "Everything's changed. Everything's over. The people who I fought with so
often, so long ago smile at me and say hello now when they see me...because
they know it's past. I suppose they regret what they did. I suppose their
laughing at my tears was only childish ignorance, not deliberate meanness. I
was always kind of weird to them...and people tend to find it hard to accept
what they don't know.
    "I found out that a lot of people thought I was a snot because I didn't
talk. In truth it was fear, fear that if I spoke up they'd tell me to go away.
I regret not having the courage now, but, hey...it's the past.
    "I'm strong because of what happened to me, even if I am kind of a cynic.
In my heart I know it's past, but sadness takes a long time to fade. Memories
of hurt tend to linger on long past their usefulness, unwelcome thoughts that
only impede our joy... I still worry that everything I love will someday go
away. I worry, too, that I'll be all alone, and this time I don't know if I'll
be able to take being so alone.
    "But...no. There's no reason for anyone I love to go away." 
    She smiles and takes Faris' hand. James takes her other hand tentatively,
as though he expects to be smashed, but Faris only squeezes his hand lightly.
    "And there's no reason for any of us to let you down, either," Starr goes
on. "You're one of my best friends, and because I know how much it can hurt to
be left, I'll stay with you. There are still a few lost, broken shards of the
past somewhere in my mind...but...they keep me strong more than pull me down.
You're strong, too.
    "The sadness will always be, but you're only scarred if you want to think
of yourself that way. Don't let the memories weight your joy down...it has
wings, and just because they were once broken doesn't mean it'll never fly
again. True, it'll be more cautious at first, and afraid of being hurt again,
but if you stay afraid, you can't fly. Who knows...the endurance of pain and
sorrow makes the wings of your joy stronger, maybe, and you're more grateful
for it when it comes.
    "I never take happiness for granted. True, it's silly to fear everything I
love ending.  I'm grateful for everything I have. I'm grateful for my friends
and my love. Even if this does end--and this is me being very pessimistic--
I'll be grateful for the joy I had. But don't push away a love just because of
fear. Love is stronger than fear."
    Starr grins, then looks over at the periwinkle-haired young man smiling at
Faris adoringly. She turns back to her friend with her usual bright smile.
    "That... and James is really, really persistent."
    Faris smiles softly as Jessie re-enters the room, along with Brock, Misty,
Ash, Pikachu, Togepi and Raichu.
    "Hi... sorry, Batts, but we couldn't stay downstairs any longer," Ash
explains, a little embarrassed.
    "We wanted to see how you were doing, Faris," Misty adds. "It's the least
we could do, after you've been so hospitable to us." Brock, Raichu, Togepi and
Pikachu all nod in agreement.
    She blushes slightly, smiling. "Thanks, all of you..." She swipes at her
eyes, as if to brush away tears. "I'm fine. I...I just need a little sleep.
It's been a long day..."
    They all nod sympathetically and begin to leave. Batts, Starr and James
are the last to leave, and they give her a long glance before actually leaving.
    Faris lies down on her bed, the sheets twisted between her arms and legs.
The faint blush is still on her cheeks, and grows slightly stronger as she
thinks about the embrace she'd shared with James.
    "A rose-scented embrace..." she whispers to herself. She smiles slightly,
exhaustion finally catching up with her. "Maybe you're right, Batts." She
closes her eyes, and before long she is asleep.



    "Roses..." Starr suddenly says out of nowhere as she stares up at the
ceiling.
    "Roses what?" Misty asks, wide awake. Togepi, beside her, is fast asleep.
    "That's what it was..."
    "What WHAT was?"
    "That's what I couldn't figure out..."
    "What couldn't you figure out? Starr, tell me what you're talking about!"
Misty wheedles.
    Starr moves so her head tilts back over the edge of the top bunk and she's
looking at Misty upside-down. "Have you ever stood next to James?"
    Misty shakes her head and turns a little red. "We're still on different
sides, after all."
    Starr smiles. "No big. You might not notice anyway...but..." She trails
off, then starts over. "When he was first trying to get Faris to like him, she
kept smashing him and turning him down. Seeing HIM sad made ME sad, so I gave
him a hug to comfort him...that happened twice, and both times I wondered, was
he wearing some kind of cologne? Now I know what it is...he always smells kind
of like..."
    "Like what?"
    "Roses." Starr's smile grows. "Look at me having a crush on a guy who's
already taken, and besides which smells like roses."
    Misty smiles too. "James IS okay...when he's not stealing Pokémon...but
don't you find it weird? A guy who smells like roses?"
    Starr nods. "Yeah, but somehow James manages to do so and be cute about
it."
    Suddenly her grin fades, replaced by a distant sad look.
    "Faris is so lucky to have someone as special as that."
    Misty sits on the edge of her bed. "Are you all right?"
    "Sort of," Starr replies. "You know...I have the most terrible timing."
    She closes her eyes.
    "I only realize now when it's too late. I've fallen for that guy."
    "Don't cry," Misty pleads. "You'll make me sad, too. Lost love is always
so tragic."
    "I won't cry. Don't worry." Starr opens her eyes and smiles a little bit
again. She sits up and wanders over to the window, sitting down on the window
seat and looking out. "It's a full moon...how romantic. I wonder if James and
Faris are out tonight..." She sighs to herself. "I hope they're happy
together."
    Misty nods. "If that's what you want, then I hope so too."
    Starr smiles at her. "Thanks, Misty."
    Misty smiles back.



    James stares up at the ceiling from his bed, his hands crossed over his
chest. Lucky for him, he managed to snag a room for himself, right next to
Starr and Misty's room. They'd been talking for a bit before going to bed, but
he couldn't catch any of it. He didn't really want to, anyway--it's none of
his business. 
    Ever since he'd held Faris in his arms, he's been unable to fall asleep.
No amount of tossing and turning has helped. 
    He sighs, frustrated, and turns onto his side for maybe the one hundred
and fifty-first time that hour. "It's because I can't stop thinking about her,"
he mutters to himself.  "I can't concentrate on anything else when I think
about her."
    James lies facedown on the bed and hugs the pillow to his face. 'Faris...'
    He closes his eyes and lets his thoughts drift to her, finally giving up
on ever sleeping. Her soft hair... her eyes, shimmering with tears... her
tear-stained cheeks... the warmth of her body against his...
    Just before he falls asleep, James thinks dreamily, 'I've fallen in love
all over again...'



    Faris joins the others in the dining room as they eat breakfast. Fixing
herself a bowl of cereal, she sits down at the table as if nothing had happened
the night before. 
    Ash swallows the piece of toast he'd been chewing. "Hey, Faris, are you
feeling okay?"
    "I'm fine," she replies before starting on her cereal.
    "You sure?" Jessie grins. "You sure were blushing when Starr and me walked
on you and James..."
    "Starr and 'I'," Faris returns coldly. "Starr and 'me' is bad grammar. But
then, I suppose you wouldn't know the difference, since you failed English."
    "Um, Jessie, I don't think you should start on that..." James starts up.
    "Why not?" Jessie teases, elbowing him lightly. "Embarrassed to admit you
and Faris are finally going out?"
    A loud slam of metal on wood brings everyone's attention to Faris. Her
expression does not bode well for a certain Rocket with gelled-up red hair.
"We are NOT 'going out'," she says flatly. "James and I are friends. That. Is.
ALL."
    Half of her brain says, "Shut up now before you get smashed," but the
other half of Jessie's brain says, "You've got her just where you want her,
go for it!", and that's the half that she listens to. "Faris is in denial..."
she says in a sing-song voice. James starts to inch away from her.
    Starr nods, grinning. "Faris loves Bara no Bishounen!!"
    Faris' glare transfers to her. "Shut up, you two," she snaps, her
expression dangerous.
    Starr flinches at her glance, and almost complies to her wishes. However,
when Jessie elbows her and gives her a meaningful glance, she continues,
"Eheh. But at least I can say Rose Boy in Japanese!"
    By now, James has folded his head underneath his arms in embarrassment.
    Faris shoves her cereal away. "Good for you," she says icily. "You can
have your 'Bara no Bishounen'. Technically, 'boy' is only 'shounen'--adding
'bi' makes it 'BEAUTIFUL boy'." She rises from her seat and stalks away.
    Starr and Jessie watch her, sweatdrops adorning their heads.
    Finally, Starr speaks up. "Dammit. I think we hurt her feelings."
    "That wasn't any fun," Jessie adds.
    "Well, what do you expect, when you were deliberately prodding her like
that?" Brock says, arms crossed. "I can't believe you could be that insensitive!
Especially to another girl!"
    James raises his head and gives him a dirty look. "I didn't see you doing
anything to stop them," he says flatly. With that, he gets up and stalks off
as well.
    More sweatdrops.
    "We should probably apologize," Starr suggests. The others nod.



    "Faris?"
    The red-eyed Rocket glances over her shoulder at James. "What?"
    He sits down next to her on the outside porch. "I...I'm sorry for what
they said. They didn't mean it."
    She raises an eyebrow, then looks to the morning sky. "Why are you
apologizing for them?"
    James looks startled as a cool breeze brushes his hair in front of his
face. "Huh? What do you mean?"
    "I meant what I said. Why are you apologizing for Jessie and Starr? You
didn't have anything to do with it. And how are you to know if they meant it
or not, James?"
    James considers this. "Well...I don't..." he admits. "But I didn't do
anything to stop them. I guess I'm apologizing for that."
    Faris turns to stare at him. James notices, and stares back. They continue
to do this for a moment.
    Then she smiles and laughs. "You're really whipped, you know that, James?"
she grins, tousling his hair.
    Normally, James would be freaking over anyone touching his hair, but Faris'
touch makes him smile shyly. "I guess so," he replies, not really knowing what
'whipped' means in that context but assuming it's a compliment.
    Faris stares at him for a couple of seconds, then laughs again. "You're
cute, James."
    James' smile gets bigger. "Thanks."
    She stands. "Hey, James, you up for a walk through the woods?" 
    He awards this arbitrary question with yet another startled look. "What?
But we don't even have our shoes on!" 
    She shrugs. "Oh well. If you don't want to go with me, I guess that's
that." She heads for the woods with an indifferent air about her.
    "Hey, wait!" James yells, getting up. He catches up with her and follows
her into the woods, just in time to leave Starr, Jessie, and the others behind.
"I'm going with you!" 
    Jessie, Starr, and the others watch them leave. "Should we follow them?"
Ash wonders. 
    "No, let's leave them be," Starr replies quietly. "They should have some
time to themselves."



    "Wow..." James breathes, awestruck by the view. 
    "Chou sugoi, ne? This place is the midway point between Lenna's house and
the ocean. Because of that, you can see them both on opposite ends," Faris
smiles. "Ever since I was a little girl, I called this place 'the rock', even
though it's not just rock. As for the views, I don't know which I like more."
    Blushing slightly, James says shyly, "It doesn't matter to me what view it
is, as long as I can share it with you..."
    She gives him a sideways glance, not smiling. "..." She looks away, to the
ocean. "..."
    An uncomfortable silence falls between them, and it dawns on James that
maybe that wasn't the right thing to say.
    "Err... sorry," he amends, blushing, but for a different reason than
before.
    "For what?" is the monotone reply.
    "For... um..." James struggles with the words as he tries to figure what
exactly he is apologizing for. "...Making you uncomfortable...I guess."
    Her ruby eyes slide over to him. "For letting your feelings be known?"
    He stares at her. "Huh?"
    Faris looks away, eyes downcast. The shade of the tree they're standing
underneath, the sole tree on the expanses of ground between boulders, makes
rustling noises in the wind. "Never mind. It's nothing."
    James gazes at her, then takes a step towards her. "Faris... I... you know
how I feel about you..."
    "Unfortunately," she returns mildly. James flinches visibly, but Faris'
back is to him.
    "So... why?" he queries. "Why..."
    Faris turns to him. Looking into his sad face, a sudden urge to walk up to
him and kiss him overtakes her. However, she only shakes her head. "Because
all I can do is run away," she answers. Faris smiles wistfully, and adds,
"Looking at you now, I feel as if I'm not alone..."
    "You're not alone," he says quietly. "I already told you: You have me."
    Faris sighs; a long, drug-out sigh. "But," she says equally quietly, "do I
want you?"
    James reacts to this as if he'd been slapped in the face.
    There is a long moment of silence between them.
    "You're being intentionally cruel, aren't you." It's more of a statement
than a question, and James knows it.
    "Maybe, maybe not. I'll leave it up to you to decide." Vague as ever.
Deliberately eluding it. But then, it wasn't a question to begin with, and
Faris knows it.
    He closes his eyes and bows his head slightly. "I love you..."
    She stares into eternity, stares into nothing. "Do you?"
    A sudden, unexpected surge of anger wells up in James from out of nowhere.
With an inner strength he'd never known he had, James marches forward, grabs
Faris' arm, and spins her around to face him. "Why do you always take me
lightly!?" he demands, holding onto both her arms so she can't turn away. She
stares at him in shock, and he continues, "I confess my deepest feelings to
you, and you just LAUGH at me!! Why can't you take me seriously!? Just ONCE!?!"
His eyes begin to tear up, and his grips on her arms tighten. "Just *once*, I'd
like to be taken seriously!!"
    She winces from both his grip and his verbal assault. Attempting to divert
his attention, she whispers, "James... you're hurting me..."
    In a wash of white feeling, he realizes what he's doing, and promptly lets
go. "Oh... I'm so sorry, Faris, I didn't mean it... Please, I'm really sorry,
please forgive me!" His voice holds a pleading note, sharply different from
how he'd been talking before.
    Faris turns away from him, arms crossed in front of her chest. "..."
    Feeling a deep sense of shame, James hangs his head. "I'm so sorry..." he
whispers.
    With a significantly different note in her voice, Faris returns, "Are you?"
    "?" James lifts his head in time for Faris' hand to crack onto his cheek in
a resounding slap. 
    He falls over from the force of the blow, holding a protective hand to the
assaulted cheek. His jade-green eyes fill with tears, and spill carelessly onto
his trembling, tender cheeks.
    Looking up at the object of his affection, looming overhead, Faris suddenly
seems dangerous and threatening, like a thunderstorm growing on the horizon.
Lovely and charming and ever so dangerous... When she kneels down and reaches
out to pull his hand away, he cringes back, shutting his eyes tightly. When
she gently pulls his hand away from his cheek, he realizes with a start that
his hand is shaking, and prepares himself for the worst.
    What he does not prepare himself for, though, is what comes: A gentle kiss
on the afflicted cheek.
    He opens his eyes wide. "Wh--wh, wha..."
    Faris kneels down and cups his face between her hands. She slides her arms
down his back, pulling him into a hug. Hesitantly, like a small, frightened
child, he hugs her back. "James..." she whispers in his ear. She pulls back a
little so that they're looking at each other face to face; he can now see that
there's a gentle, apologetic smile on her lips. "Don't apologize. I'm the one
who should be sorry."
    James hesitates a second, then simply does it because he knows if he
hesitates any longer, he'll lose his nerve.
    He kisses her.
    Only on the lips, yes--Faris would kill him if he brought tongue into this.
But James figures this is his only chance for any sort of kiss from her, so...
    And while it's only on the surface, the emotion, the deep need he feels for
her, communicates well enough.
    "...!!!" Faris is, to say the very least, completely caught off her guard.
She never figured he'd be this bold or this passionate... A flurry of emotions
ranging from embarrassment to anger to a shy happiness storm in her body as he
refuses to let go of her, as if she is his source of life.
    'Maybe I am...' she thinks almost drowsily, giving up the idea of resisting
and instead flowing into the kiss. 
    It's James who breaks away first. They stare into each other's eyes,
pausing for breath. He gains a guilty expression, and turns his face away.
"...Sorry..." he mumbles.
    Faris sighs. "It looks like just words aren't going to convince you," she
says softly, tilting his face back by the chin. She places her hands on his
shoulders as he stares at her, flabbergasted. Lips parted slightly, she kisses
him.
    "...!!!" James is, to say the very least, completely shocked. He'd never
expected *her* to kiss *him*, especially like *this*... He closes his eyes,
relaxing and enjoying the feel of her cool, firm lips against his, her tongue
caressing his. Who cares now? So what if his heart is racing so fast it might
explode? If he dies, he'll die happy. He wraps his arms around her, one around
her waist, one on her neck, and kisses her back. Although he isn't very
experienced at this--this *is* only his second kiss--James does his best to
follow along. 
    When they break off at the same time for air, it's obvious by Faris'
expression that he'd followed along quite well. 
    As they gaze wide-eyed into each other's face, a slow blush creeps over
them both.  Faris is the first to glance away. "I don't know why I did that,"
she admits, smiling a little. "You know, James, you're a better kisser than I
thought you would be."
    "You've kissed before?" he asks quietly, still holding her. 
    "No. You're my first." With a (slightly shaky) sigh, she turns her face
back to him, and places a hand on the wrist that's resting on her neck. "But
I have a lot of secondhand experience on what a good kiss is supposed to be
like. Have you ever kissed before?"
    He shakes his head mutely. "You're my first, too..." He gives her a shy
smile. "I'm glad you were."
    She runs a hand through his hair, smiling back. "I'm glad you were, too."
    He sighs contentedly, pulling Faris close. Playing with her hair, James
murmurs in her ear, "Faris, are we in love?"
    Faris closes her eyes, leaning on him. "I don't know for sure, James," she
admits. "But I think so." 
    They lie down on the smooth rock surface and together gaze up at the clear
blue sky.
    "Our relationship is complicated, ne?" Faris comments.
    "Yeah," James agrees.
    They spend several moments together in each other's arms, enjoying the
sounds of the forest--birds chirping, streams flowing, wind rustling, people
shouting...
    "Eh?" Faris blinks, getting up. She walks to the end of the rock towards
the source of the voices, and sees Starr, Jessie, and Meowth approaching, all
three of them calling for James and herself.
    She blinks in surprise. "Are?" Faris checks her watch, and sees with some
surprise that it's past noon. "Ara... they must have gotten worried..." She
half-walks, half-runs back to James, who is sitting and waiting expectantly
for her.
    "What is it?" he asks.
    "Jessie, Starr, and Meowth," she replies. "I guess they got worried when
we didn't come back. C'mon, let's hide up in the tree and see how long it takes
them to find us." 
    "Are you sure we should do that?" James queries with some doubt, getting up.
    She shrugs. "You don't have to if you don't want to, I guess." She proceeds
to climb up. 
    "Hey, wait!" he protests, following her.
    Both of them make it a fair distance in the tree, enough to be shrouded by
the leaves, by the time Starr, Jessie, and Meowth make it to the rock.
    From the tree, Faris catches the tail end of something from Starr as she
and Jessie sit down on the rock.
    "...It does seem like that. She's a good friend of mine, but I wish she'd
stop being so scared of what we'll say if she admits she loves James. It hurts
them both." Starr sighs.
    Jessie looks relieved. "So I guess you feel the same as me..."
    Meowth looks at the both of them wildly, a huge grin plastered all over
his kitty face. "Don't tell me you two are in LOVE with James!?!"
    "Anooooooo..." Starr says as she and Jessie turn approximately as red as
Jessie's hair.
    Meowth laughs in disbelief. "You ARE!! Jeez, who'da thunk it? Now, STARR I
could understand, but JESSIE? No way, no WAY I could ever guess it, not with
the way you treat him!"
    Starr acquires a frankly immense sweatdrop.
    Jessie proceeds to strangle Meowth. "YOU KEEP YOUR BIG MOUTH SHUT!!!!!!"
    Meowth scratches her till she lets go. "Cut it out!" he coughs. "It's not
like James is HERE!"
    Faris murmurs to herself in the tree, "Oh, the irony of it all..."
    James only listens.
    Meowth looks at Starr. "So how in the world'dya fall in love with James?"
    Starr pokes Meowth in the head. "He's thoughtful, he's innocent, he always
makes me laugh, he's determined, and he's really sweet. That's how."
    "Whaddabout you, Jessie?" Meowth coaxes.
    Jessie is silent. She looks up at the sky.
    Starr hugs Jessie gently. "Don't worry. You didn't laugh at me; I won't
laugh at you."
    Jessie looks grateful. "Thanks, Starr." She leans her chin on her hand and
sighs, deep in thought (as deep as Jessie ever gets). "Hmmm... how many years
have James and I been together? Three? Four, maybe? In all those years that
I've known him, he's never hit me, not even once. He's yelled at me a few
times, but he's never hit me. I guess that's one reason why I love him. But...
there's something more... I don't know how to describe it..." She looks
frustrated as she pauses to search for the right words, then goes on, "I
guess... I guess it's because we're on the same level. We're both outcasts,
so we have nothing to hide from each other. I don't have to be shy or
embarrassed around him, because he knows what I'm like, and he still likes me.
Most people, when they get to know the REAL me, they don't like me anymore..."
She sighs again, sticking her lower lip out, then picks up a small pebble and
turns it over in her hand.
    Starr nods. "I worry the same thing...but so far it's never happened...even
when I'm at my worst on purpose, my friends never push me away."
    Jessie laughs sharply, bitterly. "You're lucky! At least you HAVE friends!
James is the only one I can really consider a real friend. He doesn't judge me.
And I don't judge him, because we're the same. I just feel--I feel RIGHT around
him. Like I actually belong, instead of being an outcast, like I've always
been. Collecting friends for social purposes, putting on a pretty face so all
the other pretty faces will like you--I LIKE being pretty, but nobody cares
about ME!"
    To Meowth and Starr's surprise, Jessie starts crying frustrated tears. She
pitches the small rock exceptionally hard. "Only James cares!! THAT'S why I
love him!!! Are you happy now, Meowth!?!" 
    " ..." is Meowth's only reply.
    Starr hugs Jessie again. "It's okay."
    Meowth looks guilty. He gazes up at Jessie imploringly, making sincere Big
Cute Eyes. "...sorry, Jessie. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
    Jessie isn't comforted, though. She rushes on, "And THAT'S why I hate
Faris!!! She doesn't have to do ANYTHING and James trips over himself to make
her happy! She doesn't even want him, doesn't even CARE about him, and he's
her SLAVE! I hate her! I hate her!! I HATE HER!!!!" She starts sobbing again.
"It's not FAIR!!!! We've known each other for so long--he should just KNOW how
I feel about him!!!"
    "No one can just know how you feel," Starr says. "You have to tell them."
She looks sad. "I wish I had told James."
    Said blue-haired Rocket now looks as though he's about to faint out of the
tree. Faris shakes him to snap him out of it.
    He stops looking green, but the shaking knocks Faris off balance and she
has no choice but to jump out of the tree.
    THUMP.
    Jessie, Meowth and Starr jump three feet off the rock.
    "Faris?????" Jessie exclaims, identifying the dazed figure sitting under
the tree.
    "Hi," Faris says mildly, getting up.
    No one bothers to ask how much was heard.
    "Where's James?" Jessie asks, enunciating her partner's name pointedly.
    Faris shrugs. "Probably wandering around someplace. I ditched him in the
forest when I ran off--I didn't want to deal with him. In other words, I have
no clue where he could be right now. You guys go back to the house and get
something to eat."
    "Faris..." Starr says quietly.
    Something in her voice tells Faris Starr knows that's not the truth.
    Jessie glares at Faris with eyes to kill before turning away. Before Faris
can react, her hand moves lightning-fast and cracks across the cheek.
    A split window showing James, Starr and Meowth, and Faris' shocked faces
flashes across the screen before Faris regains composure. Holding her cheek
lightly, she glares back at Jessie.
    "That was for James," she states flatly. "How could you do such a thing to
him when he loves you!? You stay away from him!!"
    "Bakame," Faris growls in reply. "That's what I've been trying to do from
the beginning--and just look what good it did any of us."
    Having no other retort for that, Jessie snarls and whirls around. With an
electric air of restrained fury swirling around her, she stalks away into the
forest. Starr and Meowth spare Faris a worried glance before they chase after
her. 
    As soon as they're out of earshot, there's a sudden sharp *CRACK* from
above Faris.
    Seconds later, James and a large tree branch plummet from the tree and
crash to the ground.
    "eeeeeeeeeeeeeigh..." James whines.
    Faris smiles. "Hi."
    James blinks, eyes changing back from kawaii little swirlies to angular
jade green. "Why did you lie to them?"
    Faris shrugs and mumbles something.
    James nods, though he has no idea what she's said.
    The lavender-haired Rocket rubs her cheek lightly as James rises to his
feet, then says in a mild tone, "So, James, looks like you've got two other
love interests in your life. Think you'll ditch me for one of them?"
    He stares at her as if she'd just proposed they move to the rainforest and
spend the rest of their lives studying the lifestyles of the pygmy tree-people.
"Faris..."
    "Starr will treat you better, and, well, Jessie... Jessie, I'm sure there's
good points about her you know about that I don't," she continues in an equally
mild tone. Her ruby eyes slide over to him. "What do you say?"
    James looks positively miserable as he replies in an almost-whisper,
"But... Faris... I love *you*."
    Faris' eyes soften. "Oh, James," she says gently.



    Dinner is an interesting experience for everyone in Lenna's house. Jessie
refuses to talk to anyone and takes a fourth plate of lasagna. Starr only talks
rarely, pushing the croutons from her salad around on her plate to make
interesting patterns whenever anyone asks her something.
    Soon, any conversation dwindles into awkward small talk, and that fades out
into silence. All anyone can hear is crunching and occasionally Starr asking
someone to pass the salt or Pikachu asking for ketchup.
    Ash reduces a crouton to dust and sighs, looking around the table at all
his friends. James looks from Faris to Jessie to Starr nervously, as though he
expects any or all of them to mangle him any second. Jessie looks even crabbier
than usual. Starr's expression is completely hidden by her long bangs as she
leans over her plate. Faris doesn't seem to notice anything and simply
concentrates on her dinner.
    "This is very good lasagna, Brock," she says, causing the former gym
leader to turn red and stammer his thanks for the compliment.
    Jessie suddenly looks up at Faris and gives her a Death Glare that would
cause Jenova to run screaming in fear (if that thing can run). Misty jumps and
flinches. She whispers to Ash, "What happened? They were fine until they came
back from looking for Faris and James."
    "Maybe something happened while they were out." Ash guesses right on,
though he doesn't know it.
    There's a loud crunch as Starr hears and looks up, accidentally squashing
a crouton.
    Ash grins nervously. To his relief, Starr smiles back and for a second her
emerald eyes regain their normal cheery look--but soon they cloud over again
and she returns her attention to the 'salad art'.
    Misty tugs on Ash's sleeve again. "After dinner, I'm asking them what's the
matter. This can't go on, it's gonna drive everyone nuts."
    Ash and Brock nod in agreement.
    Pikachu looks from Starr to Faris and back again. She's really not sure
what's going on. She turns to Batts. "<Hey, you read minds. Can you tell me
what's the matter? I'm worried.>"
    Batts shakes his head. <Faris being stubborn about something. When she's
like this, I find it's best not to enter her mind; she gets angry when I do.
But, I can still skim her thoughts, and it seems to have something to do with
James.>
    "PI PIKACHU!!?!"
    Everyone jumps as Pikachu exclaims.
    "Pi...." Pikachu puts a hand to the back of her neck and smiles nervously,
then turns back to Batts. "<James?>"
    Batts nods. <I'm not quite sure...but I believe that...Starr, Faris and
Jessie all love him.>
    "PIKA CHU!!!!!???????"
    Everyone jumps again.
    Raichu looks at Pikachu. "<What's up with you, Pikachu?>"
    Pikachu relays the information.
    Raichu crashes to the floor in disbelief.
    "What ARE those guys talking about?" Starr inquires, poking Raichu gently
in the stomach.
    Raichu leaps to his feet and looks innocent.
    After five minutes of total silence, Faris shakes her head. "Batts isn't
telling."
    "Whoopee," Jessie mutters. "Who cares."
    Faris blinks, but ignores Jessie.
    Suddenly Starr closes her eyes. "Excuse me. I ate too fast. I'm going
outside," she states dryly, taking her plate to the kitchen and scraping it
off, then walking out the door.
    Silence descends once again.
    Faris then gets up. "I know what this is. I'll talk to her. Don't worry,"
she says quietly to James, who's about to get up.
    James's lower lip sticks out a little, but he reluctantly says, "all right."
    Faris leaves as silently as Starr had.



    The red-eyed Rocket makes her way down to the dock, where she can pick out
the form of a girl sitting on the end watching the reflection of the night sky
dancing on the lake.
    Starr is humming something to herself. As she moves close, Faris can make
out the tune--Aerith's theme--and a few words.
    "Keep your dreams in your heart, at the soul of your memory...In this new
tomorrow, hope will stay...Feel your fears and sorrow fly away..."
    Faris walks down the dock, but a board squeaks. Starr stops singing.
    Faris decides to go for it. "Starr?"
    "Faris."
    Faris barely recognizes Starr's voice when the other girl acknowledges her
presence. Instead of the usually cheerful, welcoming tone, Starr's voice is
cold.
    "What's wrong? You've been out here all night," Faris asks with a slight
frown.
    "Nothing," Starr replies, her voice getting even colder, if that's possible.
    Faris is a little irritated. "It doesn't sound like nothing to me."
    "Would you even care?"
    "What do you mean, would I care? Of course I would...I *am* your friend,
after all."
    "Well, you seem to be getting very cavalier with the emotions of your
friends lately, Faris." Starr replies dryly, barely turning around
    "What do you mean?" Faris frowns, annoyed at the implication that she's
careless but at the same time wanting to know what's the matter. Starr doesn't
get this upset over small issues.
    "I'll give you a hint. He has periwinkle-colored hair, green eyes, and a
fragile heart that you seem to push close to breaking with alarming frequency,"
Starr informs her. 
    Faris' eyes narrow slightly. "James," she states.
    "Mhm." There's a different note in Starr's voice when she says this.
Something below the cold...
    "Look, I'm scared of this, okay? I'm still worried that if I get close to
him, I'll lose him."
    "So it's necessary to push him away and break his heart for the sake of
saving your own?" Starr's voice rises as she speaks.
    "Better only one heart broken than two lives ruined."
    Starr turns, emerald eyes glittering. "You still believe that." She shakes
her head. "You're a hell of a lot smarter than me in some aspects, Faris, but
when it comes to reaching out, you have no clue. You're so scared of the
offside chance that things could go wrong you don't even BOTHER to reach out
and you'll lose everything because of that if you don't at least gather enough
courage to tell the truth about you and James! How hard is it to say you love
him!?"
    "Could you?" Faris questions quietly.
    "Hell yes!" Starr retorts. Leaping to her feet and turning to face the bay,
she yells, "ATTENTION WORLD AND UNIVERSE BEYOND... I, STARR EVANS, HAVE THE
MOST ENORMOUS CRUSH ON JAMES, AND I AM NOT AFRAID TO ADMIT IT!!!!!!!!!!"
    Faris does a combination flinch/jump, but Starr goes on, more to herself
that to anyone else. "I love him. I love him a LOT, and I'm still kicking
myself for not making the first move when I had the chance. Now he's going
after my friend, who's as scared as I am of reaching out. Now, ladies and
gentlemen, if that's not a perfect example of what can happen if you don't
reach out when you have the chance, I don't know what the hell is!!!!!!!"
    Starr's voice breaks a little mid-way, but she finishes the sentence, then
sits down hard, staring off into the bay with her fists clenched and her hands
shaking. "You can't go on being so scared. Everything in life is a risk. If
you won't take a risk, if you won't reach out...life is going to pass you by.
You have such a special person...James is so special...why can't you see......"
    Now Starr doesn't finish. She starts to cry, head down, arms crossed over
her chest as though to protect her heart from getting hurt anymore. "You have
someone so special. Forget your fears. I admit I was dumb this morning, going
along with Jessie, but why be scared of what we think? We were teasing you
because we were happy, because we thought you'd both finally reached out and
accepted each other. Love's scary, and it takes real courage to admit...god
knows I'm still shaking from telling you how much I care about James...you
HAVE the guts for that, Faris. You've gone on after so many terrible things.
Love isn't a terrible thing. It's a gift, a wonderful one, and you're so lucky
to have the chance to share it.
    "Faris, it would make me happier than anything to see James with someone
who cares as much--or more--about him than I do."
    Starr's voice stops wavering and becomes serious, but she sounds almost
like she's daydreaming now. She hugs her knees, cherry hair hanging over her
eyes. "I said 'Bara no _Bi_shounen' on purpose. James is a beautiful boy, face
and soul. When I hugged him to comfort him those times you pushed him away,
he smelled like roses...I can smell those roses with my soul, feel that love
for him inside me...a part of me I never knew I had. But even when I found
that love, I felt like crying, because I knew it would be unrequited.
    "James loves YOU. He's never loved anyone else. He'll never love anyone
else. I have no chance. You have the chance. You are someone for somebody.
Please...Faris...accept his love. I want you both to be happy.
    "......Even if I'm not."
    Starr cries again, tears running down her cheeks and making damp stains on
the knees of her jeans and on the sleeves of her pink shirt. This is the first
time Starr has ever cried in front of Faris. She's cried before in front of
Kenji, Alex and Jason, but she isn't afraid of that, because she knows they'll
know how she feels and will want to help. Faris seems to look down on any
expression of feelings.
    "I know you likely think I'm oversensitive and silly for relying so much
on friends and love when one day they could be gone, but I don't care. As
humans, we need each other. No one stands alone."
    Starr looks up, green eyes full of tears, but also full of knowing. "You
 make yourself out to be this tough, independent ice-woman, but I can see you.
Ice is fragile and transparent. All it takes is a warming touch..."
    Faris is silent, shadows cast over her face. Her expression, from Starr's
position, is unreadable.
    Starr goes on. "Most of the time when we're saying, 'Go away', what we
mean is, 'I need you, stay with me, love me, I need you'. James is brave
enough to come out and say he needs you. That's courage. You're brave enough
to say that back. I know you are."
    Starr looks at the lake. "All I ask is you tell him you love him. Ignore
Jessie and me being bitchy, that doesn't matter. What matters is how you feel
about him. If you love him, tell him. If you don't, for the love of Sephiroth,
let him down easily or I'll beat you down with a blunt spoon."
    She stands, taking Faris' hand. Her friend's shoulders are now shaking,
but Starr chalks that up to the 'blunt spoon' comment.  "So answer me now,
okay? I screamed my confession like a psycho. You don't have to...just tell
me if you love him."
    "..." Faris doesn't reply.
    "Faris, --" Starr starts, but abruptly cuts herself off when she sees a
tear slide down the lavender-haired girl's cheek. "Faris...?"
    Violently, she pulls her hand out of Starr's grasp. "Don't touch me!!"
she cries. Faris' eyes meet Starr's. "You don't understand anything!!!" But,
the look on her face tells Starr that she's lying, scared that she managed to
see through her so easily.
    Starr, however, has arrived at the end of her patience. "How can you say
such selfish things?!" she yells back. "We're exactly the same--it's just I
can admit my love!"
    "Well, good for you!" Faris snaps, tears streaming down her cheeks. "If
you want James, you can have him!!"
    Starr's green eyes go cold again, like frost-glazed emeralds.
    "Stupid...I can't."
    Faris blinks...
    ...and stares at Starr.
    Starr's face is devoid of emotion, but her cheeks are tear-stained.
"Weren't you listening at all?!" she says unnaturally calmly. "James loves
*you*.
    Faris closes her eyes and shakes her head, her hair tumbling over her face.
"Just mind your own business..." she whispers before shoving Starr out of the
way and stalking across the beach into the darkness of the forest.
    "You have no reason to be ashamed of love..." Starr calls after her,
though she knows Faris isn't listening, then sits down on the dock again.
    A small shooting star flits by. Starr holds her breath and makes a wish,
even though she knows it's never meant to be.
    *Let me be someone's...*
    "Starr?"
    Starr turns around to see a worried Misty and Jessie. "D'you need
anything?" Misty asks. 
    Starr sniffs. "I really need a hug," she replies in a small voice.
    Jessie and Misty smile and comply, holding onto Starr while Starr cries
and cries until the sadness inside goes away and she runs out of tears.
    "I brought cookies," Misty says after a while, "but Jessie made them, so
I don't know how good they'll be."
    "Twerp," Jessie says, but she doesn't mean it.
    "Raichu ate the cookies," Starr says.
    "So they WERE good!" Jessie looks proud.
    Misty giggles. "Yeah, to Raichu. I bet Raichu eats anything."
    "Nah, Raichu's picky with cookies," Starr smiles.
    "I really hope this thing with James and Faris works out," Jessie says.
"I heard you yelling, so I figured that was what you were talking about."
    "I don't know what's going to happen," Starr sighs. "Faris won't listen to
reason. We should probably ease up on teasing her; that might help. She and
James are both really scared of this."
    "That's a huge understatement, Starr," a tired voice says from behind them.
The three girls turn to see James, standing on the rocky expanse of beach.
    "James..." Jessie whispers. In a louder voice, she says, "Come here, sit
with us."
    James complies without a word, face covered with shadows. Jessie hesitantly
puts a hand on his shoulder. "Hey... I was wondering... how'd you find your
way out of the forest?"
    In an unemotional tone, he replies, "Faris showed me."
    Jessie blinks and shares a look with Starr. Starr speaks up, "But, James,
didn't Faris..."
    He takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly. "She lied. She didn't
ditch me in the forest; we were always together, including in that tree." 
    A heavy silence falls over them. 
    Finally, Jessie speaks. "You know, then. How Starr and I feel about you,
I mean."
    "Yeah..." 
    There is another pause. James adds, "I also heard your entire conversation
with Faris, Starr." He sighs raggedly. "Sometimes I just feel like giving up..."
    Starr and Misty instantly protest. "No...James, you shouldn't--"
    "Give up!!" Jessie interrupts. The three of them, startled, stare over at
her. "Just give up on Faris, James! She's no good for you!" 
    He blinks at her, his expression one of amazement and surprise. "Jessie..."
    She grabs his shoulders, her eyes beginning to tear. "Listen, James," she
cries aggressively, though her tone is pleading. "You know how Starr and I
feel about you. If Faris can't make up her mind, then to hell with her! You've
got me, James, and you've got Starr! Both of us are here, and we won't run
away from you! For once in your life, James, don't be stupid--pick one of us!!"
    He blinks rapidly, mouth agape. "But...Jessie..."
    She grits her teeth, looking as if she's about to hit him. "James, you
idiot...!!" However, instead of hitting him as she usually does, Jessie opts
to kiss him instead.
    "Mmmph!!!!" is James' surprised-is-a-heavy-understatement reply to this
when Jessie's mouth presses aggressively onto his. His face rapidly grows
hotter and hotter as her tongue explores his mouth, and her hands feel
underneath his shirt, holding him close to her, keeping him from struggling
away...
    Finally, suddenly, she pulls away. James immediately gasps for breath,
clutching the portion of his shirt in front of his chest.
    "Look me in the face and tell me you didn't feel anything!" Jessie demands.
More as a reaction than anything else, he complies with the first part of the
order. When he sees her face, he sees the girl he's always known and taken for
granted...crying. True, he's seen her cry before, but not like this...
    James takes an unsteady breath. "I did feel something," he admits. "Fear."
    The light that had been growing in Jessie's face crashes, shattering into
a million, perhaps more, pinpoints of light, all so tiny they disappear into
darkness.
    He stands, visibly shaken. Jessie stares up at him, a pitiful, pleading
look on her face. "James..." she whispers. "We could... we could *make* it
work..." 
    James turns his face away to the open ocean. "I'm sorry, Jessica. You're
very special to me, but--it's Faris I love."  With this, he walks past her, up
the rock beach, and into the forest.
    Misty covers her mouth, trying not to cry. "Oh, Jessie..." she says in a
muffled voice.
    "Holy..." Starr whispers, staring after James. She places a hand on
Jessie's shoulder. "Jessie, are you going to be okay?"
    She sobs in response. "No!!" she yells through her tears. "I'll never be
okay again...NEVER!!!"
    "Jessie--" Misty and Starr cry in unison. Together, they hug Jessie, and
the redheaded girl leans on them, crying all her bitterness and frustration
out in great, chest-wracking sobs.



    James watches Faris cry by herself in a spot under a tree just behind a
moonbeam. He feels guilty about being so cold to Jessie, but... He needed to
get away from her anyway. She's NEVER acted like that before, and true to what
he'd said before, he'd been terribly frightened by it--more so than when she's
on a rampage. He especially didn't like the feeling that had stirred within
himself when she'd kissed him so passionately... he didn't want to feel like
that, not towards *Jessie*, of all people...
    He shakes his head, clearing his mind of those thoughts. 'Faris is the
important one here right now,' he reminds himself. 'Now, just walk up to her
and talk to her...it's not that hard...'
    He almost takes a step forward when Faris speaks. "I'm so stupid," she
sobs. This startles James into keeping still. "I've ruined everything now.
Starr hates me, Jessie hates me, Batts cut off the mental link...is this my
punishment for being cruel to James? Of course it is, what goes around comes
around," she bitterly recites to herself. Faris doesn't seem to be aware of
James' presence; she surely wouldn't be talking like this if she were.
"Everybody's turning away from me...I guess it's what I deserve. A heartless
bitch like me doesn't deserve to be loved, especially since I'm incapable of
love. James is so stupid for falling in love with me; he'd be so much better
off with Starr. At least Starr would treat him right..." She lapses into her
crying fit again. "I'm so stupid... I'm so weak...!" Her voice dies on 'weak'.
    'Faris...' James thinks to himself, a sad look on his face. 'Is this how
you really act when you're alone? You must feel so lonely, crying by yourself
where no one can hear you...'
    He steps out into the moonlight. "Faris..."
    Her head jerks up in an unnaturally swift motion. She stares at him for a
couple of seconds, then curls up into a ball, shoulders shaking.
    James approaches her slowly, taking step after step until he's by her side
on the other side of the light. He kneels down next to her and touches her
shoulder lightly.
    "How much did you hear?"
    The question startles James, especially since it's muffled by tears and
clothing. "What... do you mean?" he asks gently.
    She looks up at him, a tired expression on her face. She gulps a couple of
times, then says in a slightly shaky voice, "I meant what I said. How much did
you hear?"
    James gives her a sad look. "You aren't stupid," he says softly. "And
Starr doesn't hate you... And nobody's turning away from you; you're turning
away from them. We all love you--you're just afraid of being loved."
    Faris trembles as a cool breeze flows through the night air. "You're a
liar..."
    "I'm not lying," he replies firmly. "I love you too much to lie to you."
    A shuddery sob emanates from Faris. "I feel so cold..."
    James immediately pulls her to him in a loving hug. "I won't let you be
cold," he whispers in her ear. "If you ever need a hug, or want someone to
share your feelings with, you can always come to me. That's the kind of love
I want us to share." With this, he gently kisses her tears off her cheeks.
    Faris sighs and leans against him. James gently hugs her and rocks her
back and forth until she stops crying. Though she still trembles in his arms,
it's no longer because she feels cold. Soon, the two are fast asleep in each
other's arms under the cool moonlight.



  

     Naive dreamer with an open heart
     Takes another chance despite
     The shattering sadness of the past
     Hoping that the world will overlook her lateness to the game
     And brush away the long-remembered tears
     Her fear to live so far unrealized
     She takes a step
     And holds her ground
     They may like her
     But the ones around her recede.
     But she is just another hopeful
     And though beautiful inside
     She may push another longer-holding friendship away
     Hopeful child's heart
     Inside a one destined to forever be an outsider
     Looking in and wishing
     Someday she might be part of the love in the world she sees
     Through the window shines its unreachable amber love
     Shining faintly over her, but embracing those within
     Who have known this world longer than she.
     Though soothing, it speaks faintly
     That she outside has little right
     To feel the love within
     And possibly disturb the harmony inside.
     She would never want to be a destroyer
     Would rather end everything and vanish
     Than hurt what others have worked so hard for
     Though special, she is nothing special
     Her parting may leave wounds on the hearts of her friends, though,
     So she stays, not quite within or without
     Balancing on the borderline of love and emptiness
     Trying to keep the still-delicate heart within her body
     From shattering again.
     She wonders if she ever found all the pieces
     After the impact of losses before.
     If any small, careless mistake might destroy the rose glass again.
     She tries to let them see what is inside her
     That she might fully belong
     But knows within herself she may be striving for a hopeless dream.
     But she is a dreamer.
     Despite the sadness, she will carry on and stay.
     Even if her dream is never meant to be.


    "Starr? Whatcha writing?' Misty asks, leaning over Starr's shoulder. 
    "Just another of my inane poems," Starr says. "Inspired by the current
state of things."
    "Can I read it?" Misty inquires tentatively, after a pause. "I know some
people don't like their stuff read..."
    Starr smiles at the orange-haired girl from Cerulean. "No, go ahead. I
trust you. You saw me crying all over the place and you didn't think I was
psycho when I gave you a hug. You're like a little sister to me. I know you'd
never laugh at me." Starr hands Misty the small black notebook. "My writing is
terrible. If you can't read it, feel free to toss my book at my head."
    "Your writing's fine," Misty snorts. "Now ASH'S writing is another story.
It looks like...it looks like Pidgeotto walked in a mud puddle, then danced
across his page!"
    Starr laughs as Misty reads over the page.
    Misty blinks, then puts to book down and seriously faces Starr.
    "You know that's not right," Misty says quietly. "It's been a hard day,
and it's late so everyone's sad, but you don't have to run away. We like you.
There's always room for another person."
    "I know...but sometimes that's how I feel." Starr shrugs and sighs. "Now
whenever I'm around Faris or James, I feel like a third wheel. I worry that
Faris will think I'm flirting with James if we're together, and I worry that
James will think Faris and I make fun of him when we're together--because we
used to, but that's before either of us got to know him."
    "When you find out the truth, everything shifts around," Misty agrees. "I
used to think everyone from Team Rocket was mean and didn't know a thing about
Pokémon until I met you and you gave Pikachu back. I really thought that was
amazing! You could have lost your job for doing that, but you put Pikachu's
happiness over your own. You could have had a promotion and everything! Jessie
and James have been going after Pikachu forever! If you took her, you would
have been famous!" 
    "But she wouldn't be happy, which would make me unhappy." Starr pets
Raichu, who's currently snoring away at the foot of the bed.
    Misty nods. "See? You're a caring person, and now that I know, I can see.
Nothing's what it seems it is when you first look at it. You have to get below
the surface to really know. On the surface, you think you're getting in the
way, but deep down, Faris and James both need you. You're their friend!
Probably you're one of the nicest friends they have! I know you're one of the
nicest people *I* know."
    Starr turns pink. "Stop flattering me or I'll throw Raichu at you."
    Misty makes a face. "I'll send Starmie after you, then."
    "Raichu will fry him!"
    "Not if Starmie gets Raichu first!"
    "HAH! You're BOTH crazy!" someone proclaims triumphantly from the door.
Both Misty and Starr whip around to see an evilly grinning Jessie.
    "PREPARE FOR TROUBLE!" she yells. "Arbok will smash both of you!"
    Seconds later a pillow whacks Jessie in the head.
    "HEY! WHO THREW THAT?!"
    "BE QUIET!!!!!!" Ash yells from across the hall.
    There's a barely audible snicker from the direction of Faris' room and a
stifled insane laugh from James.
    Harmony is slowly returning even if no one's ready to admit it.
    Jessie is still hyper. "TO PROTECT THE WORLD FROM DEVASTATION!" she yells
louder.
    James lets out his psycho laugh and intones, "To unite--"
    THWAP.
    "OW!"
    "Go to SLEEP, James!!!!!" Ash hollers.
    "WHOEVER THREW THAT POKéBALL AT ME IS IN FOR IT!!!" James roars.
    "EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Faris calls above the chaos. "We're heading to the
Summer's Festival tomorrow! You don't want to be tired for it. Go to sleep or
I'll send a Gyarados after ALL of you."
    "We'll be good!" Jessie and James say hastily.
    Starr and Misty don't, though. They keep snickering until midnight, when
they both fall asleep, completely worn out.



    When Faris awakens, it's six in the morning, so she goes back to sleep.
    When she awakens again, it's not to the noise of birds singing, but to the
sound of someone stifling a giggle.
    She tentatively opens her eyes...
    And sees Starr staring into her face and grinning wildly.
    "Can you shee the beasht?" she inquires.
    In the background, Misty loses it, laughing uncontrollably. Togepi also
laughs, although it doesn't really get the humor.
    "What time is it?" Faris asks, sitting up. Starr moves so Faris' head
doesn't hit her in the nose.
    "It would be approximately eleven. Brock kept breakfast warm for you,"
Starr replies.
    "Hmm, I slept in longer than I intended to."
    "Don't feel bad. Jessie's still snoring." Misty giggles.
    Faris nods. "I figured as much. Oh well, the festival lasts two weeks,
and this is only the daytime. If you think Cinnabar is lively now, it really
comes alive in the night."
    "More parties then there are now? I don't believe it!" Misty says
skeptically, opening the window to let the warm breeze in. Carried on the
light wind is the smell of the sea, the trees, and the faint sound of many
people having a good time. "If you really squint at Cinnabar, you can see all
the colorful flags and lights..."
    "And tourists," Faris adds dryly. "That's why I usually don't go. I'm
something of a celebrity to them. Them, and annoying trainers. Not to mention
that thing that's my mother."
    "Look on the bright side, at least Martina isn't Jenova," Starr smirks.
"Sorry. Blatant silly FF7 joke."
    "Sometimes I think Martina is worse," is Faris's serious reply, though
there's the ghost of a smile playing around the corner of her lips.
    "You're right; at least Jenova wasn't an exhibitionist," Starr agrees.
"Let's go have breakfast--or lunch--or whatever so we can get to the festival.
We might see Kenji-tachi there, too. Kenji's mom is a musician and sometimes
she plays there with the orchestra."
    Faris gets out of bed and heads for the shower. Starr and Misty head back
to the kitchen to report that Faris is awake.
    Once there, they find James staring quizzically at something outside the
window.
    "What's up?" Starr inquires, tapping him on the shoulder.
    "It's this Vulpix," James replies, looking even more confused. "It keeps
following me around. I took Weezing and Arbok outside to give them some
exercise this morning, and this Vulpix has been following me ever since!" He
scratches his head.
    "It probably likes you," Starr says.
    "Why would it like me?"
    "Why wouldn't it?" Starr smiles. "You should go outside and play with him
some more. You'd like that, wouldn't you, Vulpix?" Starr smiles at the fire
fox Pokémon.
    "Vulpix!" it says happily, wagging all six fluffy tails and looking
expectantly at James.
    James smiles back and heads outside.
    Starr watches and smiles. He seems much better. 'He and Faris probably
smoothed things over. I hope she told him she loves him...those two deserve
each other.'
    There's a loud yawn from behind Starr then. She turns to see a very
sleepy-looking Jessie, red hair in a state of total chaos, make-up free.
    "I know I'm scary." Jessie makes a face. "Don't laugh. I'll be fine once
I take a shower, have breakfast, and put on my make-up."
    "You look fine without it, you know," Starr informs her.
    "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jessie grins as though she doesn't believe it, makes a
beeline for the cupboard, and pours herself a bowl of Frosted Flakes.
    Soon, Faris is out of the shower and dressed, Jessie is in the shower
(and singing very loudly and tunelessly), and James is sitting on the grass
laughing as Vulpix licks his face.
    Faris watches this in amusement. "That Vulpix has always been really
friendly."
    Starr giggles as James falls flat on his butt. "So cute."
    Soon, the running water stops.
    Faris blinks. "How odd. I assumed Jessie would be in there until the hot
water ran out."
    As if on cue, Jessie calls, "The hot water ran out!"
    Starr and Faris exchange a weird look, then shake their heads.
    Jessie comes down the stairs and finds Starr and Faris looking as though
they've seen a UFO.
    "What?"
    "Never mind. Just another occurrence of utterly random weirdness," Starr
finally replies. "Now, who's up for getting our collective butts in gear and
getting to that festival before it's dark?"
    Ash pokes his head into the kitchen, Pikachu sitting on his head, then
walks in. "Are we finally going?" he queries. "I was getting bored of watching
TV with Brock and Pikachu."
    Brock follows Ash in. "If you want, Faris, I can fix lunch for everyone
before we go."
    She spares him a glance before looking back over at James and smiling.
"Sure, it'll save me some money for when we get to Cinnabar and everyone's
starving from the trip. Besides, I'm still hungry. Thanks."
    Brock finds himself blushing and stammering you're-welcome as he heads to
the counter.
    Faris smirks and moves to the dining room so she won't end up making him
slice off his hand.
    In the dining room, she finds a very troubled-looking Meowth. "What's up,
Meowth?"
    He jumps a little, then stares over at her. She notices there's a photo
frame in his paws. "Say, Faris, can I ask you something?" he queries.
    She tilts her head slightly, frowning. "What?"
    Meowth stares back at the frame. "Your aunt Lenna, did she have dark blue
hair tied back in a braid and a pink dress?"
    Her eyes narrow. "Yeah. Why?"
    He stands. "Faris, you and I need to talk." He hops off the chair he'd
been sitting on and heads over to the porch. Faris silently follows.
    Once they're in the porch and the doors have been shut, Meowth shows Faris
his picture. "When I was still the Boss' favorite, I'd sometimes look through
his room. Once, I found this same picture. When I asked him who the goil in
the photo with him was, he told me I didn't have to know. I insisted--he
finally told me, she was 'someone important', and that I should leave it at
that."
    Faris glowers at the photo. Smiling up at her is Lenna and a shadow-free
Giovanni, standing together hand-in-hand in front of the Viridian City Gym.
"Hm." 
    Meowth nods. "I know what you're thinking," he says, arms crossed. "I've
heard all about Lenna, and I'm just as curious as you on why she'd be that
cozy with the Boss. I'd never think she'd be that friendly with him! I mean,
he's the leader of freakin' TEAM ROCKET! I can't picture Lenna havin' anything
to do wit' us Rockets..."
    "Neither can I," Faris says dryly as she undoes the back of the frame,
releasing the photo. "But I'm not too surprised. Professor Oak already told me
they were lovers before she died... I used up all my surprise then."
    "It just doesn't make sense," Meowth grumbles. "If they were so close,
why's he never told me anything about her?"
    "You're not his favorite anymore, Meowth," Faris reminds him, mild as ever.
    Meowth piku's. "..."
    Faris stands. "Exactly. We all have secrets we'd rather die than confess.
I guess if they really were a couple, talking about Lenna is just to painful
for Giovanni to do unprovoked." She slips the photo into her shirt pocket.
"I'm going to keep this around. Until then...let's see if lunch is ready. We
shouldn't go to Cinnabar on an empty stomach."
    Meowth nods slowly, then follows the lavender-haired Rocket back into the
dining room.


                          Ending Theme: Amour Sonnet




NOTES FOR EPISODE IV of TOUCH AND GO:

	Going in order of what shows up first...

 - The title of the episode, "Love Will Leave You Crying", is taken from
one of the lines of the song "Tenchi Muyo! TV Theme" (yes, that's the song's
real title). I personally think it fits this episode better than the previous
title, "Dying Petals of a Red Rose".

 - "Trouble is a part of your life, and if you don't share it, you don't
give the person who loves you enough chance to love you enough." This quote
was originally said by Dinah Shore.

 - "A rose-scented embrace..." she whispers to herself.
      Another reference to Shoujo Kakumei Utena. In the section that plays
before a number of episodes, a tale of a Princess who was very sad because
both her parents had died plays. A Prince on a white horse came and wrapped
her in "a rose-scented embrace", and gently kissed the tears from her cheeks.
I could have probably relayed that in a more original manner, but oh well ^_^

 - The words Starr is singing to the tune of Aerith's theme is something
Starry wrote a while back.

 - "Can you shee the beasht?" is some personal joke of Starry's. I asked her
about it, and she told me it's a weird-ass thing her little sister and she
were talking about while impersonating Scott Moffat (a singer her sister
likes), who she says really does have a lisp like that. It's supposed to be
"Can You See the Beast?", although that's kind of easy to guess.

 - Jenova...herm. How do you explain Jenova? Well, she's an ugly-ass space germ
who wiped out the Ancients. That's the most compact version I can think of.