May this bunny live a long and useful life!

Disclaimer/Notes: See previous chapter

Timeline: Only about a day and a half later

Chapter 10: Reflections

So pretty, the little dancer.

Pretty little light…

Lance closed his eyes and the mirror. * Now it’s up to you to play the game, little one. *

His hair shimmered with the darkness as he smiled cutely.

Lugia watched as Lance began to fade, before only the faintest hint of existence remained.

< I hope you know what you are doing… my Chosen. >

< If he really wants me, he knows how to find me. >

Three days later…

“Demo, where is he?!”

Pika-chan shrugged as Ash proceeded to incinerate an unfortunate bush in his search for Lance.

Pity, that bush might have brought some good blueberries too.

He felt rejected.

Lance-chan never left him alone, never!
Why was he gone now?

“Y-you promised you’d never leave me…”

But it was true!
What if… what if something had happened to him?

Lugia would know, wouldn’t he?

Wouldn’t he?

“Ash!” Misty called. “Dinner!”

“Coming.” Ash said, only slightly reluctantly. After all, food was food no matter how it was served.

Marina was pretty good at cooking.

Actually, compared to most, she was a gourmet.

Ash really liked the meals she made, but he wasn’t quite sure why Marina was so fidgety.

Surely, it wasn’t the problem with his reappearance?

Maybe that was it. He should ask.

After the meal had been finished and the dishes cleared away, Marina took Misty off for a ‘ladies chat’.

“You have your eye on Ash, don’t you?” She asked without preamble.

“Well, you keep wanting me to marry, he’s the best choice!” Misty retaliated.

“I’m not blaming you, Misty. Just wondering.”

“Oh.” Misty said in a half-sullen tone.

“But I want you to be careful.”

‘Careful? Ash wouldn’t hurt a flea. Have you seen his pathetic display of skill? It’s a pity Lance isn’t here.”

Marina shook her head. “I think you are overestimating yourself, Misty.”

“Trust me. I’m not in love with him or something stupid like that. But he’s the best choice I’ve got right now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure! The other three guys around her are jerks, idiots, or both!”

“Well, I can’t blame you. But marriage without love…”

“Pish-posh. All I need is a kid, right? And then you’ll leave me alone and quit bugging me about settling down.”

“I didn’t know we were putting that much pressure on you.”

‘Well, you know now!” Misty stamped her foot. “So I’m choosing him!”

“I understand. Don’t rush things though, that makes it worse in the long run.”

“Heh, like I have competition?” Misty said cockily. “The only other girl around here is Giselle, and Joe likes her. They’ll be a good pair.”

“I suppose…”

Still, Marina couldn’t quite shake her worry.

It wasn’t just a mother fussing over her daughter anymore. Ash’s reappearance had been unexpected, but what if it foretold misfortune?

No, no, don’t worry.

It was probably just illusion you saw back there!

Anyways, he was back. She had counted him as part of her family, and was ready to welcome him back home.

It would be like the prodigal son, but everything would work out, right?

Of course, it had to.

Ash was waiting outside the door, to Marina’s surprise. “Oh Ash, I didn’t see you.’
“Mrs. Marina, are you mad at me?”

Marina was startled by the seemingly random question. “Why no.”

“B-because… if you don’t want me here, I’ll go away.” Ash said hesitantly. * Lance-chan… come back… do you not love me anymore? *

“Oh Ash.” Marina gave him a warm hug. “I’m not angry. Just worried.’

“Worried?”

“What happened to your brother?”

Ash’s eyes widened in fear and some shame. “I-I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“W-we were supposed to come here together, but he… he got lost along the way, and now I can’t find him!”

Marina tried to calm the hysterical teenager, and made a mental note to tell misty to wait. Gone?

Where? And most importantly, how?”

She still couldn’t shake the faint feeling of foreboding, but Lance seemed to shine in darkness, while Ash…

Ash just seemed like a lonely child.

A normal, human child…

Maybe she had been seeing things, the shock of two kids’ disappearance playing tricks on her mind.

Ash was certainly real and solid at the moment.

Or the fumes… sometimes, salt air in copious amounts affected people’s thinking. Bruno was right. She had been dreaming.

Of course, she was a flighty water-type, while he was a down-to-earth fighting trainer. Opposites do attract after all.

Misty and Ash were both lonely people. Perhaps they could learn to love and heal each other. It would be a hard process, with unwilling parties, but maybe it could be done.

Marina reassured Ash again that she didn’t’ hate him, or nonsense like that, before she sent him to bed to relax.

Dream Realm

It was peaceful, here.

Golden eyes stared into the brilliance of rainbow clouds as they drifted overhead. Finally… relaxation.

He hadn’t realized how tense he had been on earth.

Why did he need Ash so much though? Was it insecurity?

Lance studied the amulet held between his fingers, tapered lengths drifting across the polished silver and white surface.

What a lie.

He wasn’t some type of pretty pure, angel. Oh no…

I am death. I am darkness. I am the shadow that follows in the steps of the light. I am the one who holds the balance of fate, Lugia’s Chosen. I am the Dragon Master who can heal and kill and cure.

I am Chosen.

I am the night wind and the turbulent seas and the hidden power in its pure form.

I am more than human, and more than pokemon as well, I am the link between two worlds in one and I summon the weather at my command.

I am cunning, I am malicious, I am arrogant and vain, I can mirror insanity, and I will kill for my love. The humans don’t understand my ways.

But I am myself.

End Chapter

Complete 4/16/04