Chapter 4

"Okay," said Misty with a genuine smile, her stomach making longing noises for the food a dozen or so scientists and generic techies were enjoying, "Let's get going."

The two quickly caught up to the young scientist who was respectfully waiting for them a short distance away. "So!" inquired Miranda, smiling broadly, "What's your name?"

"D-Dave," he stammered as Misty and Miranda linked arms with him and led him to the table.

"Then get us a good seat!" laughed Miranda as several of Dave's friends smiled and made amused remarks about the eight shades of red he was turning. A few people made room for them, and Miranda sat beside the younger man as Misty took a seat across from her, Umi still wrapped about her shoulders.

"Do you always make friends so easily?" inquired Misty, her tears all but forgotten as people graciously passed down platters of food, all the while commenting on Umi.

"It's good for business!" chuckled Miranda handing Nezumi some kind of fish cake.

"You, your Courier Crew, right?" inquired Dave, noticing the insignia on the sleeve of Miranda's jacket as she slipped it off and stashed it safely under the table with her backpack.

"Guilty as charged," she replied awkwardly, opening the pack and fishing out her teacups, "Because of myself and Misty, you guys have yourselves a brand new porygon."

"Oh good!" said Dave thoughtfully, "I'm really quite close to perfecting my latest experiment and I need access to one of those. I have the feeling it's conversion technique and ability to project realistic holograms are exactly what I need to test out theories."

"You people are really dedicated around here," commented Misty, more concerned about feeding Umi than herself.

"Oh! We have to be!" assured Dave with concern, "Otherwise Kathy'd have our heads!"

"So what is it that you're working on here?" asked Misty.

"Oh, just a de-evolution stone," replied Dave as Miranda handed Misty one of the dragonair decorated teacups and grabbing the handle of the tea pot someone passed down.

"Actually I'd prefer something cool right now, sorry," apologized Misty.

"As you wish," assured Miranda with a smile, "So, de-evolution stone? This is the second time we've heard something to that effect."

"Oh! Yes," stammered Dave nervously, "I'm studying the effects of the standard evolution stones, and trying to track the effects they have on pokemon. That way I can back track the process and find a way to reverse it. I believe that if I can cause, for instance a water stone, to emit opposite energy waves, it may return the pokemon's DNA to its original state. I'm close. VERY close."

"We've also heard about a special evolution-stone that can force evolve a pokemon who isn't usually affected by evolution-stones," Misty commented with interest, "Is that one of your projects too?"

"Nope," confessed Dave, swallowing what he was eating, "That would be Victor. He's got it easy! He even has Kathy helping him out most of the time."

"It must be important to her," commented Miranda, "Even if pokemon are just 'test subjects' to her."

"She's just clinically detached," explained Dave dismissively, "Also, I heard awhile back that as a child her seel left her. Just swam out to sea one day. Never came back apparently."

"How horrible!" gasped Misty, the thought of loosing any of her pokemon making her shudder, and causing Umi's eyes to swirl red with alarm.

"I suppose that's why she studies the water types," Dave continued, "To try to find out more about them and maybe find out why her seel took off. I know she seems a little cold, but Kathy does care about pokemon. Why else would she be trying to weed out the gene that makes them weak against electrical attacks?"

"I suppose you're right," replied Miranda, glancing up at the windowless top floor of the main building.

"Don't worry too much about it, miss," assured Dave with a laugh, noticing the look of concern on Miranda's face, "She mostly only uses magikarp for her experiments. It's practically all there around here."

"Their still living things!" defended Misty, banking her fist down on the table, making Umi coil tighter and utter an unhappy sound.

Dave leaned back in his seat and swallowed hard. "I-I'm sorry miss!" he stammered, "I didn't know they meant that much to you... If it helps, we also have a few tentacruel-"

"Hey! I happen to like tentacruel!" exclaimed Misty, causing Dave to slowly slide under the table.

"Is there a problem here, Ms. Lilcamp?" inquired the voice of Kathy Forester, as stern and unyielding as ever, but with a hint of amusement.

Miranda looked up at their hostess with an apologetic smile. "No, ma'am," she assured, "Everything's just peachy keen!"

"I see," replied Kathy in a slightly disapproving tone, "I just came to tell you both, that I've arranged for a place for you stay tonight. Assuming you still wish to."

She glanced at Misty who was now pointedly paying attention to Umi, before motioning to a double row of prefab buildings made to resemble straw huts, even though they were mostly made of modern plastics.

"Yes, and thank you, Dr. Forester," Miranda agreed with a nod, all the while maintaining the pleasant grin she didn't feel.

"Very well then," responded the scientist coolly, "If you need anything else, seek out Dr. Lazarus. He will see to your needs. I also won't be around to see you off tomorrow, due to complexity of the experiment I'm working on. Good evening, ladies, David." Dr. Forester then turned and walked away once more, her path taking her ever closer to the main building.

"That's a bit more than clinical detachment!" commented Misty, a little bitterly.

"More like clinical callousness," agreed Miranda with a smirk, "But then I'm used to the more goofy variety of mad scientists. No offence!"

Dave extracted himself from the awkward position he'd gotten himself into with the table and sat up straight. "None taken!" he assured as volunteers came to clear the dishes away, "But don't be too hard on Kathy. She's just that way with new people."

Miranda shrugged and stood up as several people began heading off, some back to work, and some just to sit by the beach where a fire had been started to ward off the chill of the night air. Or possibly Kathy's personality.

"No worries," Miranda assured him, grabbing her jacket and backpack before picking up the all too sated Nezumi and placing him on her shoulder, "I'm not sure when we'll be down this way again anyway."

"That's too bad," remarked Dave wistfully as Misty shouldered her pack and headed for the their temporary accommodations.

"Want to go swimming later?" she asked Miranda, still a little touchy about the tentacruel thing.

"In about an hour," replied Miranda, giving Dave a polite good-bye before having to run to catch up to Misty.

"I always thought Sylph Corp was about helping pokemon," commented Misty a little distantly.

"They are really," replied Miranda quietly, desperately wishing that she could brighten her friend's mood.

"But who knows what their doing up there late at night!" continued Misty, turning to Miranda with a look of deep concern in her eyes, "I dread to think what she's doing to those poor tentacruel..."

Miranda put her hands on Misty's shoulders as a sign of support. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I'll send Wraith to check it out," she said reassuringly.

"You will?" asked Misty, looking up and meeting Miranda's gaze.

The woman nodded and a gentle click sound came from one of the pokeballs on her belt. A heartbeat later, Miranda's gastly was hovering to one side of them.

"Nez! Nez!" called Nezumi, frantically pointing at the main building.

Wraith turned towards it, his smile broadening. "Gassssstly!" he chuckled.

"This is strictly recon, dear," Miranda told him in a motherly tone, "If you inhabit the computer system this time, I won't take you to the graveyard in Lavender Town this Halloween!"

"Gah!" the little ghost exclaimed with sudden fright and nodded repeatedly, making affirmative noises all the while before fading from site.

"It must be a ghost thing," pondered Misty with a shudder.

"It's not as scary as it sounds," replied Miranda thoughtfully, "The city puts on a huge Halloween party every year in an unoccupied part of the graveyard. Just about every gastly, haunter and gengar trainer for leagues around show up to show off their pokemon. The tourists seem to enjoy being scared almost as much as the ghosts enjoy scaring them."

"I think I heard something about that once," admitted Misty with a shrug, "But I've always been a little bit afraid of ghosts."

"They're just pokemon," said Miranda, keeping a defensives tone from her voice, "They may be pranksters, but their just as loyal and loving as any pokemon."

"Ratta!" agreed Nezumi before letting out a loud belch that seemed to reduce the size of his bloated stomach by at least half.

"I think you needed that!" laughed Misty, brightening a little and scratching the rodent under his chin.

"I think that one was on purpose," Miranda commented, eyeing the rattata suspiciously, but silently thanking him for bringing the light of joy back into Misty's eyes, "Anyway, we should go and drop off our stuff. By the time we're settled in it should be safe to go swimming."

Misty nodded, her smiled still present. "You know," she commented as they walked between the rows of mostly high-tech plastic, pre-fabricated buildings, "I think I'm getting used to biking again. My legs don't hurt much anymore."

"Hey, that's great," Miranda half-lied, easily disguising her sorrow at loosing any further opportunities to massage Misty's legs back to a functional state, "We'll make a Courier Crew member out of you yet!"

"I'm not that used to it!" laughed Misty as they found a door that had had note hastily tacked to it.

"Must be for us," commented Miranda, ignoring the fact that "Lilcamp" had been spelt "Lillencamp".

She reached into the little mailbox and after digging out the key, opened the door. "Lights!" she commanded, causing the uncovered light above them to illuminate the main room.

"'Be it ever so humble'," quoted Misty as Umi and Nezumi slithered and hopped down to explore their limited surroundings.

"As a child I once had to sleep in a linen closet," replied Miranda half jokingly, "And as a baby my crib was the second drawer of a dresser. So for me this is luxury!"

She dropped her gear between the two mattresses that served as two beds and fell backward on to one with a contented sigh, her arms and legs sprawling out in four directions.

"Hey, it's not like I'm complaining," assured Misty lying down on the other bed and staring up at the ceiling where a fan slowly spun, "I've slept outside more time than I can count."

"When you go camping, does it entail going into the city and finding a cheep hotel?" laughed Miranda, lazily turning her head to see Misty.

"Yeah!" laughed Misty, her right hand hanging off the bed tantalizingly close to Miranda's, "And when we were roughing it we'd go to an expensive one!"

Miranda's smile faded as the girl's expression became more neutral, her eyes idly following the blade of the ceiling fan. "You okay?" asked Miranda.

"I'm fine," assured Misty, "it's just been a long few days."

"Do you... Regret leaving with me?"

Misty took a deep breath and held it for an excruciatingly long moment. "No, " she breathed, "No, I think that Ash had it coming."

Miranda quietly watched her for several minutes before sitting up. "I-I'm going to see if we have a shower in this place," she said, but wasn't completely sure she'd been heard. Misty seemed thoroughly lost in thought, and Miranda had run out of things to say.

Instead, she stood up and walked over to the small bathroom that had been wedged into the east-facing wall along with the small closet. With an unsteady hand, Miranda turned the handle and stepped into the small, cramped bathroom. She then quietly shut the door and leaned against the paper-thin wall, sighing heavily.

'I'm insane, ' she thought to herself, sliding off her glasses and placing them carefully on the small counter, 'absolutely crazy. Why do we always want the one's we can't have?'

Miranda shook her head in dismay, disrobing without really thinking about it, her mind still on Misty. 'Although I suppose she's a little crazy too, ' she pondered mirthlessly, turning on the shower, 'She's still clinging to him. Even if she won't admit it... '

The warm water felt cold as she stepping inside the stall and let it cascade over her. "Must have forgotten to pay the electric bill," Miranda muttered, turning the temperature up until she could feel her skin protesting the abuse. "That's better," the woman commented, tilting her head back and leaned against the shower wall, letting the hot water claim at least one layer of skin, as she tried to clear her head.

"Miranda?" came a polite but muffled inquiry, followed by the gentle click of the door opening and a slight exclamation at the amount of steam trapped in the small room, "I, I just wanted to apologize."

Miranda opened her eyes and stared at the tap for a moment before adjusting the temperature so that it wouldn't melt human flesh. "What for?" she inquired, glancing at the vague silhouette she could make out through the shower curtain.

"For shutting you out," came Misty's quiet reply, "It's just that when I think about Ash... It hurts."

"I understand, it's okay," Miranda assured the girl, her heart twisting in her chest, "There are things I find it hard to talk about too..."

Misty stepped closer and Miranda heard a strange sound as Misty went on. "I, I really don't want to be alone right now," explained Misty in a quavering voice.

"Neither do I," agreed Miranda distantly, "I shouldn't have just left you. I'm sorry, I guess sometime I forget that you just can't return people to their pokeballs when you're not sure how to deal with them."

Misty laughed nervously at the comment, and nearly caused Miranda to slip and fall as she pulled the curtain back. "M-Misty!" stammered Miranda, taking half a step back and staring with conflicting emotions as the girl stepped naked into the shower with her, "Misty, I-! I!-!"

Misty looked up at Miranda, her eyes full of sadness, her face betraying embarrassment. "Please, just hold me," she said quietly, moving towards Miranda with her arms held apart.

Miranda gulped down her nervousness, and took the girl in her arms. "I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable," said Misty, her head upon Miranda's shoulder.

"N-No, it's fine," she replied, feeling a chill run down her spine despite the warmth of the water that Misty was now blocking, "I'm more than happy to help you in any way I can."

"Thank you," said Misty; looking sadly up into Miranda's eyes before continuing, "You're the best friend I've ever had."

"It's nothing," assured Miranda, absently rubbing Misty's shoulders, "But you sure picked a funny time to tell me that."

Misty smiled in spite of herself. "I suppose," she agreed with a shrug that made Miranda tense up, "But I suppose it's just my affinity with water."

"That'd do it," agreed Miranda, hoping her smile didn't seem too silly.

"Here," offered Misty, reaching for a bar of soap, "You've helped me time and again, let me help you for once. Turn around, I'll wash your back."

Miranda blushed and reluctantly turned around. The woman gritted her teeth as she felt Misty's small hands upon her, an unaccustomed feeling of vulnerability coming over her. Miranda bowed her head, crossing her arms over her chest, leaving Misty to her work.

"You know," commented Misty, smiling at the memory that came to her as she lathered her way across her friend's back, "You never did write me a better poem like you promised."

Miranda glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "Yeah, you're right," she agreed, turning around to face Misty, who's hands were cloaked in soap-suds, "Now, allow me to derive some inspiration."

Misty gave a slightly confused look as Miranda took her hand and slid the soap out from between her fingers. "Yes," the woman said thoughtfully, the bar of soap in one hand, her other still holding Misty's fingers, "Yes, I think I have it!"

"Have? Have what?" inquired Misty, looking down at the soap.

"Inspiration," whispered Miranda, relinquishing Misty's hand so that she could untie the girl's hair before putting her soap-wielding palm against the side of her neck.

Misty sighed in response, tilting her head to one side as Miranda gently caressed her neck before moving down to her shoulder. "Your eyes are the turquoise colour of the sea that you love so much," she whispered, her free hand upon Misty's opposite shoulder as the other made it's way down her left arm, "And your voice is whispered upon every Summer's breeze I feel. Where as all others seek solace in the vastness of this world, I seek only the small contentment that can be found in your arms. And only the taste of your sweet lips can make you seem more real..."

Miranda stopped, turning away and blushing profusely as she cursed her muse. "I, I'm sorry-!" she stammered, feeling tears welling up in her eyes.

"No," whispered replied Misty softly, touching the side of Miranda's face and turning her head back, "It's okay. Please, continue."

Miranda took a deep breath, observing the strange mix of emotions in Misty's eyes. "Where as others have overlooked all that you have to offer," she managed, letting her muse speak through her, the words she couldn't have articulated otherwise, "I long only to savor every treasure that you hold, as though they were a sacred gift of the magi. Where as others take you for granted, ignoring the finely honed skills you posses, my respect for you is as unquenchable as my desire. Even though I am well aware, that there can never be a you and I..."

Misty wiped the tears from Miranda's eyes, before leaning in close and sliding her arms around her. "Go on," she whispered, the look in her eyes making Miranda want to both laugh and cry.

"The severity of their contempt for you, is equaled only by my devotion," she continued, finding herself holding onto Misty as though her life depended on it, "While so many others seek only to be rid of you, I would willingly spend the rest of my days with you, making love on a beach by the ocean..."

There was silence between them for a time, Miranda's words filling the small cubical. The woman felt tears pressing against the backs of her eyes, her heart full of both relief and regret at admitting such things. Miranda tried to speak, but her words were lost to her, and only her tears, which flowed from her eyes unhindered, were able to express her feelings.

"Don't cry," soothed Misty, a sad smile upon her face, "'Eyes as beautiful as yours were never meant to harbor tears'..."

Miranda smiled, trying not to laugh. "You're memory's too good!" she chuckled, shaking her head slowly in dismay before asking, "Misty? Can you forgive me?"