Chapter Text
*************Aria POV***********
“Aria! I hate to say this, but you gotta stop making a fuss, we don’t need rules for nothing! There are reasons that I can explain why you need supervision and a new life schedule!”
I, grounded and sitting at the corner of stupid Scarlet’s room, wanted to cry in anger when I thought of how she scolded me today. My mood was as dark as the room itself, just like a black thundercloud was above me. I still could not believe that my new “caretaker” that I had no choice but to accept was a humanoid with so many knives on her body, like those horrible ones that hurt Mommy. It was disappointing enough she wasn’t a Flareon. She looked ugly with that body that shone redder than a Sableye’s rubies. And she had been the one who was making a fuss out of nothing, NOT ME!
“But I just wanted to go for a walk and do some exercises! I am tired of getting stuck in this crummy house! And besides, it’s that rigid old weasel who was annoying me the whole time! He thought he was a boss who can take control of me like Rebekkah did! I’m not his kid, so I don’t think I need to listen to orders! I see nothing wrong with beating him up!” I remember shouting with at the top of my lungs towards her when I was struggling to break free from her forceful cold metal hand, using all my energy to reach the handle of the dumb door or use my foot to blast it open.
“Firstly, Kung Fu the Mienfoo isn’t as old as you imagined! Don’t insult him by his age! He’s only around late twenties to early thirties! Secondly, and most importantly, you are not supposed to punch him up just to get what you want! I am not excusing his harsh tone on you, but I am also here to tell you that not allowing you to go out isn’t a punishment, it is just for protection ok? It will be much better to have us exercise with you at a fixed session than being stalked by that newcomer Lucario in the neighborhood! We just want to spend some time with you after all!” That was what she excused herself as a way to make me stay without choice and yanked me violently from the door with her odd powers.
Her excuse was so pathetic that it still cringed me a lot, especially at the “wanting to spend time with me” part. I didn't even know her that long in the first place, and I don’t like her for being something horrible called a Bisharp (yeah, so sharp that my mind hurts every time I think of it!). Good thing that she hadn’t tried to slice-n-dice me, but she had been pretty do-mi-na-ting (is this a way to describe someone as bossy?). She always thought she and her so-called “friends” were right, like that mean Mienfoo who she called “Kung Fu”. It was his own fault for not making me be able to get stronger for Mommy by doing my usual morning exercises, or else that annoying Lucario would keep laughing at me like a big bully! It was also his fault for shouting at me for doing something not on “the s-ca-d-ue-le” of the “team” and being a bad “role model” for his son. I do not belong to this stupid place, teams are all trash as they never support me from doing anything good for Mommy, and models only pose and are not their own person. Therefore, I don’t think I need to do petty posing for his stupid son and would rather do it for Mommy! Why did Scarlet support him for being mean to me?! Her name starts with S and is sticking to the rules, so she must be equally stupid! STUPID STUPID STUPID--!!!
WHAM WHAM WHAM! I couldn’t help but hit my fists repeatedly, hoping that I could smash it open and then I could run away, wildly and freely.
“Aria? Is everything alright? I heard my bedroom door banged thrice- I mean three times.”
Oh no! Scarlet heard my “quiet” attempts on trying to crash the door and escape! How could she still hear me with a lack of ears??? Ugh, no matter. She’s always been annoying as Rebekkah and Miss Forrest who always tried to be a couple of super smart-alec observers that have fun expo-s-ing me and made me feel like I had done something wrong! Ok, maybe I could diss her off by pretending to know I have done nothing. Then she would leave me alone!
“Aria...I’m sorry for upsetting you. I just want to know that you’re doing fine...You won’t mind us cooking a feast for you tonight? I’m sure you would love the priceless honey we were going to use for the drinks!”
It sounded attractive to me, but I pretended to not hear what she said and held my breath, sitting as stiff as a Wailord bone with my back sticking close to the wall. I wouldn’t let her convince me to give up my escape plan on getting back to Mommy tonight, even with a dinner with my favourite honey. No matter how delicious a bottle of golden honey tasted, it would only taste best if I was with Mommy... Ughhh! Why did she have to make me sad again?? I felt like my mind was like boiling hot water, popping all those bubbles that contained memories between Mommy and me, and one of them was about honey…
Back at home, there weren't any so-called rules. Well, as long as Mommy was around. She used to let me roam around the meadows near our home with no limits, saying that it was our playground. I could run wherever I wanted to go, freer than a running Rapidash. I could keep hitting and pummeling those trees that were taller than those trashy things called “towers”, because no matter how tall they were, they would still not withstand and win against my rock-hard fists, and would finally break into halves. I could do exercises by climbing up the tree limbs and branches very quickly, so quick that even the faster Pachirisu that lived in the tree holes could only pant at me for being a better tree leaper than them with envy, and couldn’t stop me from picking their berry stashes along the way. The best part was every time after I finished playing around, Mommy could make Rebekkah, who tried to be the killjoy to make me feel bad for having fun, shut up with something like “Cmon Beckka! I’m sure tolerating a young fighter not following conventional training might yield better results!” or “I heard your mom really missed you loosening yourself just like you did as a kid” (I still didn’t know what “tolerating” and “conventional” meant, but they seem to be magic words that make Mommy so powerful against Rebekkah!), and then she would have no choice other than giving us my favorite food-- sweet sweet honey, freshly harvested from Combee hives (it was also funny to see Rebekkah being swollen like a Bulbasaur’s bulb except she was tomato red after having to grab honey for us, haha)! While we were slurping and sipping our honey, Mommy would exclaim how Daddy would be proud to see me getting muscles from all the honey and playtime outside…
Those were the good old days. Now Mommy was alone at home, far away from me. No more Daddy too. And worse, that bothersome Bisharp was preventing me from running like the wind. It wasn’t the first time Scarlet topped me like this. But I shouldn’t be too immersed in this pool of sadness, because I should be perking up my ears and listening to whether she had been gone...no sound?! I took a careful peek from the small door gap. There’s nobody there! The house was empty!!
Filled with excitement, I sparked with so much joy that I was able to kick down the dumb door with just one single kick! That loud CRASH of it falling was so satisfying! And since they left me alone, it means I could run and do anything I want! I could even make my escape! Haha!
Carefully tiptoeing through the empty kitchen, I quickly noticed how the upper box on the wall was left open and unattended. It must be the cabinet where they all stored expensive foods. I had been observing them doing that and they always said those food supplies had gotten them a lot of money. They really cared about food more than me, which was a good reason for me to run away. At least they forgot to close it. I then leaped onto the rectangular long table thing where they put all the cutting and chopping stuff, and whoosh! I used the small sieve net to capture and pull the small bottle of honey closer to me. It looked incredibly delicious but I came to my senses and told myself to be more aware of my surroundings. I tucked my ribbon to keep myself careful and focus; I had to be fast enough or else that annoying Lucario would notice me and I would not make it back to Mommy next morning.
Then, after immediately running out of the kitchen, I, equipped with my precious semi blue and pinkish purple bag with the honey bottle hidden inside, stood in front of the front door. It looked giant, but I didn’t get discouraged from its bullying size. Instead, with just a tiny hair clip that I used to screw its knob lock, it surrendered to me and had no choice but to give way for my grand exit. The house rule for locking the door when nobody is at home does not apply to me, for now... I could see the light of hope…and I once again tightened my ribbon happily...
No Lucario… no rules… more Mommy to relive the good old days…
FREEDOM WITH HONEY!!!
************Scarlet POV****************
“So… Anyone gonna rave over our procurement of ingredients for a welcoming feast for our adorable Aria?” I nervously chuckled, hoping that the evening sunlight shimmering through my steel armour could at least enter my friends’ eyes and spice up their mood after such a long day of choosing the best products that resulted in us carrying heavy bags.
But instead of giving out chortles or giggles, my lighthearted question didn’t raise any bright smiles or grins as intended. They all glared at me as if I was an irredeemable criminal. Aside from that, Mary Lee just had to spit right in my face: “You screwed up real badly with this new kid, Scarlet.”
“Guys!! C'mon! You really believe that I deliberately imposed the house grounding rule?! I had no other options! I couldn’t let Kung Fu die like that! He has a son to raise!” I anxiously moved my hands uncontrollably while struggling to explain my inner conflict, “Besides you cannot indulge your own children! I-“
“Problem is she’s not gonna understand your common sense even if you’re her new parent, pal,” Kung Fu finally groaned, “ Don’t get me wrong, I’m still grateful that you saved me when she went barbaric. But in all seriousness, you probably have pushed her past her limit.”
“How?” I tilted my head in frustration, while still curious on what he had to say.
“Children with extreme aggression, like Aria, have had a loose household where the parents were too lenient with them. She’s having difficulty adapting to our environment, which is full of regulations, and her huge ego doesn’t help as it prevents her from understanding the good in us. Even though I thought I was on the edge of dying after she hit me in the stomach, I vaguely witnessed how she was attempting to reach the knob when you were struggling to constrain her. It’s not something a meal can solve, let alone earning her trust,” he said with a frustrated sigh.
Sila the Sneasel agreed wholeheartedly with him and remarked, “Have you even noticed that Aria has been tucking up her ribbon all the time? We don’t know what such action means every time when she does that. But that’s quite an alarming precursor that she’s planning to escape. It’s only two weeks and she’s doing this more often than we thought.”
“Guys...thanks for the advice but I had been a sane guardian for her, practising and enforcing the household rules like normal parents do...it’s just...I have no idea what went wrong…I simply want her to be at bay and away from that stalking Lucario in the neighbourhood...” I felt like I was going to bawl my eyes out when I said that. I could tell how my kids were preparing their knife hands to catch my potential tears.
That was when Jennie finally spoke up, “That’s because she just wants people to be straightforward with her, through actions.” I was stunned, as Jennie normally wouldn’t say such a thing.
Until she reminded me, “You used to be like that too, although to a milder extent. You felt like we didn’t love you because you thought people in a new environment sucked. There had been a few instances that you intended to bash the door, because you missed home. You extended your blades to threaten us, but we have always known you meant no harm. You felt like our actions weren’t evident enough to show we care about you.”
Jennie was right. And Cuddles added, “And you telling her that you were readying the honey was pretty much gonna make her crave for home even more. She would definitely take it away with her at all costs just to taste the memory within.”
I was left frozen in shock, and the same for everyone else. It’s not often that Cuddles would actually spit some straight facts at me. I stood like a stiff statue and slightly clutching onto my paper grocery bag full of goods. I actually felt extremely regretful for not walking a mile in Aria’s feet, regardless of how much I had started to grow fond of her. She was just like my past self who first was taken to Kalos, struggling to adapt to a new and unfamiliar place, and most importantly just wanted someone to explain the drastic changes…her being a kid must’ve been having a harder time than I did...I must return to her before that dubious Lucario may get her...
“Psymie, you mind helping me carry my groceries first? Sorry to ask you a favour, but I need to fix my mistake and tell her that I’m not trying to trick her with a dinner and-“ Just as I handed Psymie who voluntarily levitated my groceries, I suddenly came into close contact with a memo note blown by the wind, and SLAP! It blew on my face!
“Ouch! What is this?! Who delivers a memo via the wind!” I complained in exasperation to the unknown sender of the memo, until I stared in astonishment at the messily scribbled words on the piece of paper.
“Oi, I saw that the rebellious rascal from your house has apparently run off on her own and left your door open. I also saw her with your expensive bottle of honey in her bag. Don’t fret, I’m gonna fetch her for you careless people. LOL! Don’t ask me where I am going after her! Be thankful for me! Haha!”
“Oh not that stalker of a Lucario again!” I clenched the paper in my palm with intense fury, “Regardless of how she’s not understanding me for now, I’m not letting him get close to Aria! Mary Lee and Kung Fu, come with me!”
***************Aria POV******************
Huff...huff...pant...pant… how much farther do I still have to go? I felt tired and free at the same time…”It’s only a few miles away! The straight lights being held by sticks will guide the way!” I tucked my ribbon and muttered to myself.
Without rules, I could explore wherever I wanted to! I then curiously turned my head to check my surroundings in different directions. Maybe this could help me recognize the colors of my old home. Pretty sure my natural adventure instincts were going to work! I took off my ribbon for a while, and decided to use it as my Mommy Detect Compass. Nobody can determine how I use my ribbon. Mommy gifted it to me to show how much she loves me, so it’s definitely going to sense her somewhere.
Spin...spin...spin. Aha! My ribbon landed on a direction...where I saw a super enormous house! Ahh! It had those broad and clear glass window looking doors, just like the ones back home! It also had a large backyard. Pretty sure it was the house’s boundless meadows, similar to the one I used to play with Mommy! Oh and I noticed that inside the house, there were varied colors of lights being lit up, with lots of bright green and blue! Mommy loves flashy colors that glow as shiny as those exotic orbs she decorated at home! Oh and most importantly, I saw a lady Lucario with blue-green eyes! She looked super beautiful, even more drop dead beautiful than the Milotic I used to admire from the big lake I visited before! My ribbon compass is so accurate!
With a strong heart-throbbing sensation of aura full of excitement that charged my entire tiny body, I darted across the road, feeling that I was overspeeding even the faster flash of lightning, and decided to bash the glass so that I could rush in and leap into Mommy’s arms. MOMMY I AM BACKKKKK-
“Kid, we NEVER have a rule that says you can trespass into our private property, quit banging our costly glass window-slide-doors already…” Said an unknown stranger who suddenly and rudely plucked me up with their beak-shaped hand, “Go home to your trainer.” Turned out that he wasn’t Rebekkah, which was both good and bad at the same time.
“But I saw my mommy!” I yelped and struggled, “I SAW HER! The one having blue eyes--”
The not-Rebekkah human groaned impatiently, “Kid, there also lacks a rule that a person looks like your mom is your mom. There are many lookalikes and it seems that you have mistaken my Lucario girl as your parent. Don’t disturb our raving.” They then flung me onto the grass, as a way of discouraging me for my efforts on searching for Mommy. My shock for such a revelation expanded when that Mommy-looking Lucario eyed me and refused to look at me any further. What have I done wrong?!
“Come on...come on...Mommy has gotta be somewhere near!” I muttered and began to fret, no matter how I wanted to hide how upset and nervous I felt. I still spun my ribbon as a compass again. Not giving up! Giving up is not part of my rules, if I ever had any of them-
Suddenly, I heard that irritating male noise right after my ribbon finished spinning. “Looks like a rule-less life gets you to nowhere, huh?” It was HIM again, that tall arrogant Lucario man! He continued to annoy me, “So, you’re just like a thief like your mother did to me. Stealing your grandmother, who was as sweet as honey, from me. Now hand it over to me.” He went on laying out one of his paws, with his other arm resting on part of his hip, then gestured his nubby fingers in order to force me to hand over that honey.
I had rarely felt a small surge of the aura of fear other than being forcefully sent away by Rebekkah, but at that moment, I didn’t know why I was feeling both angry and scared. That didn’t stop me from clutching onto my bag, “No! It’s not yours! I got it myself!” Besides, why did he know my grandma? Only Mommy told me about her! Why did he sound so familiar now?
But he didn’t want to stop pestering me either. I couldn’t get why he was getting more furious than before. It got more confusing when he said with gritting teeth, “Wimp, have you ever learned the rule that when one is demanding you to hand something over, you are supposed to follow? Guess I have to apply brute force.” All of a sudden, he rudely pushed me down as if I was his punching bag, and stole my bag away from me! And he even had the dare to simply grab the bottle out of it! I hate him so much!
I was also enraged too, so I dashed and hit him right in his ankle. “Go away! Give it back to me!!!! You’re not preventing me from going home with a valuable gift for Mommy! Get off! Get off!” However, he laughed at me nastily with a bellow instead of following how I wanted him to move away from my way, “You’re not going home anytime soon, kid! Do you know why?”
“I don’t know, other than you being a jerk blocking my way!!!” I yelled furiously, hoping that his ears would explode. But rather being frightened by my powerful yell…
...He suddenly and swiftly clutched me with his spare hand. I couldn’t react because I was too shocked to understand why. His pearly-whites gave me unexpected shivers and he shouted at me in the manner of a mean victor, “An immature Nickit like you would only shove the blame onto others when you were disobeying the rules and ended up getting caught. Do you wanna know why you are never getting closer to home and instead recognize the wrong house?? Because you were never looking carefully at the road signs above you, dimwit!!! Hahahaha!! In fact, I know that your original home is miles and miles away, and coupled with you being a ruler breaker, you’re going nowhere and that’s why you have come across me! Now finders keepers, losers weepers! This honey is mine!!!”
Worse still, I felt how he happily raised his hand up, seemingly higher above the sky. Then surges of horror filled my blood, when he gave me a cruel smile...and the force was so strong that within a short time, I painfully got tossed into the boundless air… At that moment, my mind and body felt extreme pain at the same time...and for so long, something intangible called “regret” was slowly eating up my fighting spirit...was I going to die earlier than Mommy and never get to meet her again? Should I have listened to the things I hate which are called the rules? Maybe I shouldn’t have ventured...Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten the honey bottle...I still couldn’t figure out who this Lucario is, but he was making me die inside...Maybe I should’ve looked carefully at the so-called road signs and I wouldn’t die-
“Aria!”
Huh? What was that familiar psychic force lifting me up in midair? My eyes slowly twitched and lowered… WAIT?! Why would Scarlet, the bossy Bisharp, ever bother to save me with her odd powers?! I thought she was gonna finish me off for not following the rules!
“Scarlet!! Back off!” Yelled her Steenee “teammate”, “YOU’RE TOO WEAK AGAINST FIGHTING TYPES!”
That Mienfoo, Kung Fu joined her lead, “Yeah you at a 4x disadvantage against that humanoid dog! Don’t bite off more than you can chew, pal!”
Yeah I knew they were gonna be unsupportive to me with their bad blood, no less, and Scarlet would listen to her. I was the one at fault, and nobody would care about me...and Mommy wasn’t here to help me…I could totally eye how the Lucario jerk was smirking at me…
But then… “Mary Lee, Kung Fu, what about the rule of protecting an injured comrade, especially a family member?”
She...was being soft to me...even she is not Mommy?
“Mary Lee, Kung Fu, you two can care less about the honey. Just escort Aria, I’m gonna distract this troublemaker.”
She...was helping me...as a rule? Why would she help me like Mommy did? No! Stop rethinking that memory that was related to me running around and almost getting killed when I was much younger...that memory was really painful...it was already bad enough that Lucario blamed Mommy for letting me play all I want only because I accidentally stepped into his backyard “territory”... I couldn’t believe that back then he had the guts to punch Mommy till red liquid spouted from her mouth and nose...that is why I hate him so much…and I just also wanted to forget the other memory when the Lucario made me get punished by Rebekkah only because I didn’t listen to her and had to rush into the deepest forest...that had been why I hated following rules, because they made me feel guilty...I felt like I couldn’t catch on with every single one of them, and they couldn’t make me get stronger and protect Mommy either…
But why was I feeling extremely hurt when I had to watch Scarlet getting repeatedly kicked as if she was a useless PokeBall that nobody needed? She was screaming over and over with discomfort...She rolled continuously and stumbled on the ground with many falls, her blades hitting the rugged ground loud and clear... If she wasn’t somebody I was supposed to like...then why did I keep thinking she was like Mommy who kept getting injured again and again, just to rescue me from not following the rules?
And...why is she not giving up? Why would she keep standing up even with little energy? Why does she look so brave and glaring at that Lucario? She has no intention of backing down even though she’s at a huge disadvantage, so intense that even the Lucario had his jaw dropped in slow-mo and shock onto the floor?
And...WHY DID SHE EVER BOTHER TO BITE HIS FOOT WITH SO MUCH FORCE FROM HER TEETH?!
*********************Scarlet POV****************
I could barely stand up… but I managed to struggle onto my feet after suffering constant beatings from such an advantageous opponent...I...I couldn’t...believe..myself...that I...broke my...passive approach rule… and...bit the stalker. From the day that I grasped the very concept of how rules work, I had never bitten anyone. However, I had always imposed myself another rule of protecting whoever is in a desperate plight, so...maybe my response was right to this rule? But I also had imposed myself another rule of NEVER applying violence in front of a juvenile...so had I violated this anti-violence rule?
“Holy sugar-honey-iced-tea, Scarlet! I know you like sticking to the rules, but please! Cease being so rigid already! You would have cost your life if you lacked the quick wit to maul his frail foot!” Yelled Mary Lee hysterically from afar which startled me greatly and instantly dragged me back to reality, “It’s not about rules of being anti-violent! It’s about doing the right thing for Aria! Quit beating yourself up! Just look at her!”
Kung Fu supported Mary Lee’s argument by pointing resolutely at Aria who was cowering in guilt. Sometimes, I gotta admit that Mary Lee really speaks the right things through her straight gut. They were conveying the crucial message of standing in Aria’s feet for a mile, rather than being hyper-fixated with rules for now. Right now, Aria was solemnly standing from not too faraway, her nervous hand clutching onto her semi-crumbly ribbon. She seemed to have tried fixing it just now.
On top of that, she, albeit quietly and gingerly, apologized to me for the first time while eyeing at her bag that I was holding which had its bottom filled with honey, “I’m sorry...Sorry for taking your honey and breaking the bottle on accident...and that you had to rescue me like this...Scarlet.” Sniffling, she continued in a sheepish but also trembling voice, “There were reasons why I refused to follow rules and found you annoying, sorry about that...I’m just not used to them, my m- umm...didn’t need me to obey, and yes, I love freedom. Following rules reminds me of Rebekkah, and I always got made fun of by the neighbor- ummm… and I always feel defeated because I failed doing so before, and scary sad stuff happened to um...m-... she really bled so hard.”
She stuttered for a few times and glossed over a few names, but I could comprehend what those vague names referred to. Not just that Lucario, but also...likely a mother that she might not want me to know. However, that mother wasn’t something that I should poke my head into, and instead of being furious with the ruined honey, I decided the best to do was to admit how I used to be in a similar mindset as well. Maybe that would build up some mutual trust, that is more important than some honey that you can buy anywhere at the grocery store.
So I took a deep breath, and said gently, “Aria. I admit that I got a bit too pushy rather unintentionally with the rules, without knowing that you weren’t used to them and have rather bad experiences. You may continue to believe me as a rule-stickler, which is understandable. But when I got moved to a new place, like you did, I refused to obey my Trainer, Jennie. I was too caught up in my sadness and anger of being away from a familiar surrounding, because I had already lost someone in my family back at my old home. I lashed out at them all the time and acted the opposite of what she told me, as I found it hard to accept new things. However, this is normal, it just needs some time and things will get better if you let us help explaining stuff. We’ll gladly clear your confusion and sorry that I shoved the importance of rules down your throat when you couldn’t figure out their purposes.”
For the first time since she arrived at our team...Aria actually bashfully smiled. She added, “I finally know why you have the rules of never taking things away and running off with it. Thank you for telling me.”
And for once before we headed back home, I let her hop on and sit on my shoulder, and returned a smile to her, “Thank you for being honest with me, Aria, and I’m always glad to explain more to you. Come with us, I'm sure everyone is waiting for us, including you.”
That stalker Lucario might be still on the way to get us, considering how I fiercely bit his ankle...that’s for sure. But I could tell my relationship with Aria had taken a baby step which can help us fight back. All thanks to our newfound understanding of each other’s feelings.