Weeping Willows

Seven-year-old Kaci was out in her yard, playing fetch with her Houndour, Blaze. Her long, pitch black hair was pulled back in a ponytail (even so, it came down to her knees. She hadn’t let a person near it with scissors since she was two) and her midnight blue eyes laughed. Playing with Blaze was one of the few times she was happy; one of the few times she could forget about the ongoing war.

Ever since she could remember, Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn had been at war with each other. Probably because the war had started before she was born.

About a month after her parents were married, some huge disagreement had started between the three, and somehow it evolved into a war. Her father suspected Team Rocket had had a part to play, but nothing was ever proven. (If they had, their plan had seemingly backfired, because Team Rocket had virtually disappeared after a couple of years) Not that her dad was ever around anymore. In charge of the defenses for the Kanto infantry, he spent most of the year at the capitol, Saffron City. Because it was always under a threat, Kaci was forced to spend all of her time at the house in the care of the gardener and his wife. Her mother worked in a hospital in Saffron treating either humans or pokemon, Kaci wasn’t sure which.

So Kaci was left in the care of the gardener and his wife, with her parents coming back to visit. But as the war the war had progressed, they had started coming less and less often, leaving Kaci to wonder if they really cared about her. So she slowly began to unconsciously distance herself from them.

The gardener and his wife had a son, Jason. He was two years older than Kaci, and a few years ago they had been good friends. But now it was rare for them to even acknowledge the other more than once a week. Kaci didn’t know what had happened, but if he wasn’t going to tell her then she wasn’t going to ask. But sometimes she wished that she had a human friend.

So Kaci knew that something was out of the ordinary when Jason came outside to find her.

“My mom wants you to come inside. She said it was important,” he said plainly. Kaci tried to ignore him and continued petting Blaze. But soon her curiosity got the better of her.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Some guys came and told her something and she turned really white and told me to tell you to come inside,” he answered. Kaci followed, puzzled.

Inside, the gardener and his wife sat quietly, while the men Jason had spoken of stood and waited for someone. Kaci noticed that everyone was wearing black. Except Jason, but he didn’t matter. What mattered was that his parents weren’t wearing their usual white. The men looked like Secret Service agents or something, and were dressed accordingly, briefcases and all. And Kaci always wore black. Always.

One of the men looked at the gardener, who nodded. The tallest and most imposing man crouched down to Kaci’s height. A hard thing for him, because he was well over six feet and Kaci was struggling to reach four. But somehow he managed, and Kaci found herself staring into… the man’s face. He seemed to be squinting at her.

“We regret to inform you that your parents are… help me God… dead. As you may know they both worked in the same building. A suicide bomber flew a small aircraft into the building and… it collapsed. There were no survivors. I am truly sorry for your loss. I knew your parents personally. They were good people.” Kaci just stared, struggling to understand.

Suicide bomber… collapsed… dead… no survivors… regret… sorry… good… dead… aircraft… dead… The words spun round and round in her head.

“No… NO!” she screamed. But even as the words left her mouth, she knew they weren’t true. Tears threatened to spill over the edges of her eyelids, but she shook her head fiercely, refusing to let them come.

“How… are you sure? Did you find…” she managed to choke out. Two of the men behind the first one stepped forward. One reminded her vaguely of her father; the other had ruined his black outfit by adding a pink headband. Pink Headband held out a baseball cap, partly blackened by fire. The fire that must have come after the impact. Even charred, Kaci recognized it. The other one held out a gold chain with a Suicune charm on it, the links and clasp fused together with intense heat. Shakily Kaci reached out and touched them both with the tips of her fingers.

“Mom… Dad…” The tears fought harder to escape. Kaci snatched the necklace and hat out of the men’s hands.

“They’re mine! Don’t touch them! How could you do this? Just come in here and tell me like this? I hate you! I hate you all! Go away! Just… leave!” Kaci sobbed, having lost the battle with her tears and clutching the hat and necklace to her chest. The men obeyed, though reluctantly. Friends of her parents, they felt some small connection to the sobbing child. But the job was done and that was that. Kaci rushed to her room blindly, slamming the door and locking everybody out, including Blaze.

She looked at the necklace in her hand. Still crying, Kaci fiercely yanked it over head. She turned to the cap and wiped off most of the ash. Ironically, the hat wasn’t too badly damaged. Threading her ponytail through the back, she jammed it on her head. Quickly she pulled out her shoulder bag and started stuffing it full of things she would need. Silently she slipped out of the window and started running off. The sun was fading fast behind the trees; weeping willows. How appropriate Kaci thought sardonically. She was interrupted by the arrival of Blaze.

“Hey, buddy. I was wondering when you would show up.”

Even in her depressed state, Kaci had to appreciate the subtle beauty of the sunset. The sky was alight with delicate shades of pink, yellow, orange, red, and just a hint of purple. She stopped for a moment, but soon remembered that she was running away and any moment now, they would discover that she had left.

She stopped again when she reached the gate. One of her least favorite people was standing by it. Jason, his Abra sitting beside him.

Kaci had once heard that to control a psychic pokemon you had to be a psychic yourself. She had no idea why that came to her now, but it did. He stood there silently, never blinking, staring at her.

“Me and Abra knew you would come. I foresaw it. Here you are.” His voice was eerie, you could almost say unearthly. Kaci didn’t know why, but it sent shivers up her spine. It was almost as if he was possessed.

“I have but a small part to play in the foreordained. You needn’t worry. When we are done we shall not tell my parents.” Kaci gasped; somehow he had known what she was thinking.

“Remember Celebi.” With those final words he teleported out of Kaci’s view. She stood, stunned, fingers curled around the Suicune necklace.

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