The next day she was able to pluck up the courage to eat dinner with the rest of her family, but it pained her to sit there with her mother, but not to say a word to her.

She glanced at her, confused as to how weak she looked. To Aya, she had always been a force in her own right, so strong and unwavering when problems arose, but now she looked somewhat helpless. It was as if some impostor had replaced her. Even the sparkle had disappeared from her eyes. Conscious of the fact that she was responsible for her mother's melancholy, she felt a sliver of guilt rise within her. But before it could sway her even slightly, she rejected the emotion with the knowledge that she was innocent of any crime, that her mother had brought this upon herself.

However, despite this bitterness, she desperately missed her mother. She missed her constant encouragement, her warm, tender arms and her soothing words. She even missed her discipline. But she knew that, despite these longings, she was not ready to forgive her and would not give in. Many people had told her that she seemed to have inherited both of her parent's stubbornness, and, though she knew it wasn't always an attractive facet, she was grateful for its help in this situation. If she were a weaker person, she would have crumbled long ago, meaning that the situation would never be fully resolved. She owed it to herself, and to her mother, to wait until her mind was unclouded before she gave up.

She looked over towards her father, whom was absentmindedly pushing his food around his plate with a fork. When he felt her glance upon him, he forced a smile. It meant so much to him to have her back with the rest of the family, despite the fact that she had spent every minute, sans dinner, in her bedroom. Just knowing that fact gave her a little more courage to take the steps she knew would have to come in the following days and weeks.

For weeks she walked around the school halls in somewhat of a daze, never giving the true reason when her friends and teachers asked about her subdued demeanour. She just tried to continue with her normal life, while trying to deal with the situation that preoccupied her almost every minute of the day.

Over the period, her anger and confusion had been somewhat quelled. The things her father had told her began to filter in a little more, and every day, when she saw her mother, she could see what he meant by her punishing herself. She was so quiet...so unlike herself. It only made her judgemental side ease up and feel deep sympathy for her. Several times that compassion broke through, and she almost ran into her mother's arms, but she still held off.

Aya began to make her way home, absentmindedly tracing her everyday steps through the small town. Paying no attention to her surroundings, she kicked a stray rock down the dirt path, rousing clouds of powder with each boot. After minutes of her play, its appeal abandoning her, she struck the stone with a little more force, knocking it off the road to hit a white picket fence, coming to rest in a perfectly tending patch of grass. Bringing her view upwards, she looked towards the house that the fence bordered. Without conscious thought, she had found herself standing outside her grandmother's house.

Feeling a sense of comfort come over her, she decided to pay a visit. This was a place where she always felt at ease. Her grandmother did everything possible to make sure of that.

She must have known about what had happened in the past, and been able to forgive her mother, just as her father had. The two women were incredibly close. She guessed part of the reason was that her maternal grandmother had died when her mother was just a young child. Nana was more like a mother to Misty than a mother-in-law.

Climbing up the front steps, she knocked upon the painted wooden door. She was greeted by a cheerful 'Coming' from within. She smiled at her nana's soft, caring voice.

The door slowly opened. "Oh, sweetie," her grandmother affectionately uttered as she looked down at her. Aya could tell by the shaken look she wore, poorly hidden behind the usual gleeful smile, that she knew about the revelation. But then Aya already suspected so. Her dad always told his mother everything. Wrapping her tender arms around her, she whispered into her granddaughter's ear, "Are you okay, Aya?"

She relaxed into the embrace, glad for any comfort she could receive. Aya thought for a moment about the question; was she okay? Or was she not? "I'm not sure, nana. I don't think so," she told her, feeling guilty about her confusion.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that. Come on in and I'll get you some milk and cookies."

She smiled at this. She didn't think she had ever come to her grandmother's house without receiving some kind of treat, something her parents weren't always too happy with. Nana would always spoil both her and Kai without fail.

Aya tucked into the home-baked cookies and gulped back a generous amount of milk.

She itched to ask the question she had come here to put, but her nervousness overcame her wish. She kept shoving another cookie into her mouth every time she came close. Glancing up towards her grandmother, she studied her pose; sitting upon the edge of the sofa, staring back at her with an anxious smile, seemingly waiting for her enquiry. Finishing the rest of her treat, she forced herself to say something, but only finding one solitary word escaping. "Nana?"

"Yes, sweetie," Delia replied.

Looking down once more, she took a deep breath before continuing. "You've forgiven mum for what she did, haven't you?"

"Of course I have," she replied softly.

"But...why? I mean, what she did was horrible. She hurt you and dad so much," she found herself almost shouting, unable to control her words. Pacing her breathing, trying to calm herself, she continued. "How did you forgive her?"

Delia stood, making her way to her granddaughter's side, sitting on the edge of the chair. She placed her arm around her shoulder, regarding her with a sympathetic aspect. "Aya, I forgave her because your dad did. He has been affected more than anyone else by this, went through so much. I felt that if he could find it in his heart to accept her mistake, I knew that I should do the same. And, when I did, I found that it wasn't really that hard. Seeing you and your parents together as a real family made me realise that both your father and I had made the right decision. If we didn't, life wouldn't be as good as it is now."

"Dad said something similar. And...and I really hate seeing mum this way. I want to be able to forgive her, but I can't do that until I'm ready."

"I know. And you shouldn't. You need to be true to yourself."

Aya nodded. "I feel really bad about hurting her, but I can't do anything else yet." She looked up towards the clock upon the mantelpiece. It was half four already. "I better go, nana, so that I'm home before mum and dad get back from work." She stood and made her way to the front door.

Delia followed her. "Okay, dear. I'll see you in a few days." She pulled her granddaughter into another embrace. "You know you can come over here anytime you need to, right?"

Aya smiled. "Yeah, thanks, nana. Bye bye."

"Bye, sweetie."

Aya turned the page of her calendar, setting her eyes upon the red circle that marked the 23rd. Three weeks. Only three weeks until she was due to leave home and start her journey. Time was being to run out, draining away like grains of sand.

If she left without this situation being resolved, what would that mean for her and her mother's relationship? She couldn't even contemplate the fact that they could go on like this for the rest of their lives. She couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't let it happen!

She was beginning to understand her father's and grandmother's words more as each day passed. The events still reigned heavily within her, and she knew that they would never move from her mind, but the more she thought about them, the more she could understand the reasons for her mother's crime and see the effects of the punishment she had wrought upon herself. She had suffered too much, and so had Aya herself.

She didn't want it to go on like this anymore. She was the only one who had the power to restore the equilibrium again, and that was what she wanted. She wanted her family to be the way it had been a month before. Not perfect. Not the kind of family you see in dodgy sitcoms where nothing bad ever happens. No, she wanted HER family back. The mother who had a short temper and couldn't cook; the father who could often be a little slow; the little brother who always cried too much for her liking; her, the daughter who was often way too stubborn for her own good, but who all loved one another without a thought. That was her family, the family she had withdrawn herself from for so long. The one she would soon be leaving.

Aya slowly walked into the kitchen, trying to keep her movements silent.

Her parents sat at the table on the other side of the room, her father gripping her mother's hand firmly but affectionately within his own. He was looking into her eyes with such passion and loyalty, the same look Aya had seen many times before. It was clearly evident he was still in love with her, no matter what she had done. Any anger, hate or revulsion had evaporated, giving way to such a pure devotion.

She remembered what her grandmother had told her. She had been right. If he, the one who had been wronged the most, could forgive her, then she could as well. It had just taken time, just as it had for him.

Feeling a tear roll over her lower eyelid and onto her cheek, she softly uttered one word. "Mummy?"

Misty drew her focus away from Ash, turning to regard her daughter, who still stood by the door. "Aya?" she asked unsurely, confused as to what emotion the muffled word was expressed with.

"Mummy," Aya said once more, almost running across the tiled floor and into her mother's open arms. She hugged her with all her strength, crying heavily into her shoulder, just happy to be back within her embrace.

Misty rocked her gently for a moment, her own tears now unrestrained, then guided her to one of the chairs next to her, releasing the embrace and looking into her daughter's eyes. "I'm so sorry, honey," Misty told her as she stroked her fingers through her daughter's dark hair. "I'm so sorry for doing this to you. I wish I could take it back, go back ten years and try to push away my fear...but, no matter how much I wish, I know it's impossible. All I can do is promise to never hurt you again."

"I know, mum. And I know you couldn't do something like that again." She grabbed Misty's hand and brought it down to caress her cheek. She had missed her presence for so long. "I forgive you," she whispered.

"You do?" Misty pleased, unsure. This seemed to good to be true.

"Of course. I love you, mum."

"I love you too, sweetie."

Ash watched the two, while rubbing Aya's back. He felt the weight lift from his shoulders, and his own heartstrings pull.

After a few moments, Misty began, "Aya?"

"Yeah, mummy?"

"Your dad and I have a little surprise for you."

A surprise? Was this the other thing they had to tell her, what they had been discussing over a month ago, the other secret they needed to tell her? "What?" she asked, smiling through gleeful tears, knowing that, from the expressions her parents wore, this wasn't going to be the bad news she had previously expected.

Ash put his arms around Misty, affectionately rubbing his cheek against hers. "You're going to have another little brother or sister," he excitedly announced.

Aya turned to her mother, her mouth wide open with surprise. "You're pregnant again?"

Misty nodded. "Over three months now."

"That's...that's so great," she almost shouted with exhilaration, jumping into her mother's arms once more. She pulled back a little and touched her stomach. It was barely noticeable, and would still be invisible to the eye, but she could definitely feel a slight difference. "Were you planning on having another baby?"

"Yeah," Ash started. "We'd been trying for a couple of months. Luckily it took a lot less time than it did with Kai."

Aya felt a tinge of sadness build within her at the memory, and could see a similar reaction upon her parents. She wasn't sure how long exactly it had taken for them to conceive Kai, but she knew it had been a number of years. Also, there had been that incident that until recently Aya hadn't understood. About a year before her little brother's birth, her mother had a sever miscarriage nearly four months into a previous pregnancy. She had remained in the hospital for over a week recovering.

"You're the first person we've told," Misty informed. "We didn't want anyone to know before you...and we wanted to wait until I was a little into the pregnancy...just...in case."

Aya nodded, stood from the chair and began eagerly pacing the kitchen. "Yes! This is great. I hope it's a little girl. I really wanna have a sister. I love Kai, but dealing with two brothers...that would be hard. Have you thought of any names yet? I like Briana, Rika, Yoko...ah, there are so many other ones I can't remember at the minute. Oh no, I'm going to be away when the baby is born. I don't wanna miss out. And I need to be there in case you pass out again, dad."

Ash awkwardly scratched the back of his head, embarrassed by the recollection of Kai's birth. Misty just laughed.

"Maybe I can put off leaving on my journey for a little while. Maybe train around here, catch all the Pokemon that live between Pallet and Viridian before heading off. That means I could get my Pokemon up to really high levels before I battle for my first badge. We could all go on little trips and you guys could help me with my training and-"

Ash and Misty watched as their daughter rambled on, enchanted by the change in her personality. This was the true Aya; impulsive, loud, hyper but inherently adorable.

Ash pulled Misty closer to him, giving her the most passionate kiss he could, resting his hand upon her barely swollen stomach. He hadn't seen her smile like this in so long. He couldn't have coped without seeing it once more.

While Aya continued on with her spiel, she admired her parents from the corner of her eye. Their love was so strong that they could get through anything, and the same was true for the whole of their family.

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