Chapter 6: Welcome To My World

Miranda made gritted her teeth, making an angry/pained sound as her fist ploughed into the wooden pillar that held the front porch's roof up. "Sorry..." she said quietly, bowing her head as Misty's arms wrapped around her from behind, holding her protectively, "I just find her infuriating at times."

"It's alright, dear. I understand," her lover replied sympathetically.

"I just wish I did," Miranda replied with a bit of a laugh at the irony as she raised her head and glanced at the purple colour her knuckles had become.

Misty sighed, shaking her head in dismay before taking Miranda's uninjured and leading her over to the ancient looking front porch swing. "Look, I'm sure everything will be fine," she said, sitting Miranda down next to her, "You're mom cares about you, and she just wants to find out a little about me before she submits her approval. I'm not worried."

"Oh, it's not that," Miranda replied, leaning back against the seat and pushing against the floor with her feet, "I know you, dear. You're tougher than all our pokemon combined. So even if my mother does find some reason to disapprove of you, which I'm confident she won't, I'm sure you can handle her."

Misty smiled, giving Miranda's left hand a squeeze as she rested her head on the courier's shoulder. "Then you're worried about your talk with Bob, then?" she inferred, chuckling at how harmless the man seemed.

Miranda sighed heavily. "It's the same thing every single year," she explained warily, "They sit me down and have their little discussion about why don't I stay here? Why don't transfer over to admin? Or if I like being courier crew so much, why don't I just become Lavender's city-bound? Oh, Misty, I'm just so sick of it..."

"Is it really so bad here?" Misty inquired, closing her eyes for a moment as the wooden swing-seat moved back and forth, creaking on it's hinges as some distance behind her, the ocean waves crashed upon the rocky cliffs.

"I'll show you why it's bad," Miranda replied sadly, taking several deep breaths as Misty opened her eyes and immediately put her arms around her, "I was meaning to show you the place anyway, just as a point of interest. But I think it will prove my point. I think it'll explain everything."

"The 'Cavern'?"

Miranda nodded. "It's where Umi was born. Where Undine and Selece raised her until I was mature enough to handle having a pokemon, and she was no longer dependant on her parents. The place where my parents were married, and the place where my father died... I haven't been there since before I left home."

"I see."

Miranda glanced over at Misty, her eyes feeling dry despite sadness. "Sorry, dearest," the courier apologized, "I don't mean to depress you."

"No, no, no," whispered Misty with a warm smile as her hand caressed Miranda's cheek, "It's alright. I want to see this place. I know it's upsetting, and I know you're probably going to have a rough time of it when we get there. So, as promised, I want to be there for you. You're not alone, Miri. Not anymore. I've chosen to share my life with you, and that includes sadness as well as laughter. Now come on, let's face the past together, shall we?"

Miranda's smile was sad, and her heart felt as though it would burst as she looked into her lover's eyes and kissed her hand affectionately. "Yes, let's," the courier replied in a quiet tone as their feet halted the gentle creaking of the swing's motion, "It'll do me good to put a few metaphorical ghosts to rest."

"So long as they're only metaphorical," teased Misty as they made their way down off the porch.

"They wouldn't dare enter the Cavern," assured Miranda with a sudden bemused smile.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Two reasons, actually. First of all, the cliffs have a halfway decent mithril content, which repels ghosts, and the second is the same reason why Wraith's never messed with my father's car," she explained, "Their all afraid of my mom... !"