*woof, woof woof?*

“^Sigh... yes, you can stay and play with Bell,^” Marco answered.

Anne blinked a few times in confusion at the incomprehensible exchange as her brain played catchup. The Riolu suddenly showing up had startled everyone in the room, and she didn’t know what the pup’s words were, but the context let her infer enough to giggle along. Especially once the lil’ Ralts got to excitedly scrambling towards the edge of the bed.

“Yay, play!” Bell squeaked.

Yay indeed Bell, yay indeed.

Anne shyly observed the antics that followed, the two kids wasting no time before pulling each other in a big hug. The Riolu seemed to be approximately the Ralts’s age, and, of course, just as eager to play as he was. It only took them moments to go from hugging to roughhousing, Bell persevering valiantly despite his acute size disadvantage.

‘Physical play with a Fighting-type’ sounded more like a messed-up dare as opposed to an everyday fun activity for Anne. But, if everyone else’s reactions were any sign, it was at best unremarkable here. Enough so to where nobody but the pair of adults cared much anymore after just a few moments. And, once she got over Reya’s sudden appearance and the awkwardness of the group’s previous topic, Anne could join them in not caring, too.

Not being the immediate subject of a newcomer’s interest for once was very appreciated.

The loose leaves of paper being shuffled in front of her brought Anne’s attention back to the here and now. Cadence’s nudge would’ve almost looked accidental to the human girl... if not for it ever so coincidentally revealing the hidden work-in-progress drawing of the Kirlia herself.

The human girl giggled, making the Kirlia blush brightly. “~Okay, okay, I-I can continue on your sketch, Cadence, teehee.~”

Cadence was already flustered at her little gesture having been seen through; Anne’s comment only added more fuel for the fire of her embarrassment. The fairy looked away in embarrassment after scuttling closer to her new large friend. Once Elric had connected the dots himself, he chittered out loud, “What’s wrong, Cadenceeee~?”

“^Sh-shush, E-Elric...^”

Both the Gligar and the human laughed quietly at the flustered response. The latter put a pencil down and instead wrapped her good arm around the Kirlia, holding her close. She was of half a mind to chime in, but... nah. Cadence didn’t need any more embarrassment right now~.

As amusing as the situation was for everyone in the room who could spare the attention towards it, eventually some hearts began to melt, and the ones Anne expected the least at that. Elric rolled his eyes and scrambled over to his friend, making sure not to disturb anything as his chitin body embraced his denmate, classmate, and, most importantly, good friend.

No words were needed, only the gentle reassurance that despite all the amusement at her expense, nobody thought the Kirlia any less for the situation. And especially not the guest she looked up to. Much too easy for well spirited fun to end up in unpleasant territory by accident, and even the ability to read stray thoughts doesn’t prevent outcomes like that.

It’s only a small leap from “They’re just saying it to be nice” to “they’re just thinking it around me to be nice”, after all.

Once Cadence relaxed some, Anne let her go with one last hair ruffle; Elric taking it as a signal to get into position for observing the art about to happen. Marco and Cypress alike had to split their attention between the antics of older and younger bunches of kids. And, in the ghost’s case, also between keeping an eye for any unpleasant presences that could be approaching, and his own sheer exhaustion.

Even if the non-deathborn ghosts didn’t have the same habit of sleep as the deathborn ones, they still needed their rest. That was for him to take care of later, though. Here and now, he had the second class view of one particular human girl’s artistic efforts; the glide of colored sticks on a white, thin canvas producing very pleasant results. Even if he wouldn’t have normally thought of the Kirlia as particularly... colorful in appearance, Anne still used plenty of green tones as she colored in the hair and legs of the sketch, occasionally exaggerating for artistic impact.

Cypress might have been curious, but Cadence was enthralled.

She kept leaning forward, only barely avoiding obscuring Anne’s view of the underlying drawing. She couldn’t help it, really; this was amazing to watch. The most she’d ever seen herself depicted before was with a very simplistic outline on a couple communal structures, sometimes with a handprint, and once with a simple straw doll when she was still a Ralts. Those were neat, sure, but they paled when compared to being drawn by someone talented, and with so much detail.

It made her feel special.

She leaned her head on Anne’s side as the human worked on the drawing. The backdrop of combined Ralts and Riolu laughter off to the side left the atmosphere equal parts serene and exciting. The little she overheard of Anne’s thoughts was very technical—thinking of which shade to use and where, how hard to press, whether she should sharpen the colored sticks. As vague as that latter tangent was, the actual execution of that idea was much more curious.

Cadence had seen plenty of adults sharpen objects from time to time, be it with their fangs, claws, or a well applied Psycho Cut. But never with a small, brightly colored... trinket. Its exact method of work remained a mystery even as Anne used it, inserting the stick’s tip into it and giving it a few spins. A couple of shavings later, Anne pulled the now very sharp stick out of it, catching Cypress’ attention in particular. Wonder if something like that could be scaled up.

Before anyone could either ask Anne what she’d done or... about anything else, the human got back to work; older kids and adults keeping quiet for the time being. Nobody wanted to be the one to interrupt an artist, after all.

Anne took her time with the detail as their half of the room was plunged into a quiet, focused mood. At least, initially—once she had moved on from coloring Cadence’s hair to shading her horns, other, less technical thoughts began to creep into her mind.

The Kirlia found them more amusing than anything else—at least, initially. She often giggled inwardly at just how little some of her friends really understood what it meant to be a psychic, and much the same was true in Anne’s case. The over exaggeration of how much she could manipulate people mixed in with underestimation of everything else she could do, even without being particularly naturally gifted in anything but sensing emotions.

It was very hard not to feel Anne’s emotions this close to her. Any other psychic in her position would’ve been able to sense what the human felt almost as acutely, though.

These kinds of thoughts had a nasty habit of veering into... less pleasant topics, sooner or later, and it was also the case here. Anne might not have been as outright scared of their family as she once was, but her thoughts about being attacked were still unnerving. Even Bell could likely hurt her plenty; Cadence would’ve had no difficulty killing her there and then on a whim.

It was deeply chilling to think about, for both girls. The latter felt a small pang of discomfort at being thought of like that, at being imagined as a potential murderer... and she wasn’t the only one. Right after her mind had stumbled upon that unpleasant topic, Anne immediately shifted to feeling very self conscious about it. About having even theoretically accused the innocent, cuddly fairy beside her of ever doing something as abhorrent as that. The anxiety that followed was much more noticeable than even the unsavory thoughts; Anne’s hand shook as she tried to keep on coloring, second guessing her every move and thought.

The previous focused expression had soured into one of concealed distress; all the practice at keeping that emotion hidden made it almost unnoticeable to an outside observer. Unless one just noticed her eyes going wide. Or her racing heartbeat. Or the sludge rolling around inside her head. The human was at least somewhat aware of the latter, trying to force herself to stop feeling bad and focus on the drawing again. Predictably, it only barely worked. Maybe enough to keep it from being too noticeable to the two toddlers, but definitely not to the Kirlia.

And she wanted to do something about it.

What exactly, she didn’t know, and wished she had any ideas she was confident in. Maybe a friendly chat wouldn’t hurt? “^Anne?^”

Cadence’s voice startled the human; the trail of the reddish pencil almost escaping the confines of the linework. Despite that reaction, Anne seemed to ignore her, attempting to cover up her anxiety by focusing even harder at the task at hand, almost to the point of obsession. Cadence was no stranger to that state of hyperfocus, but this wasn’t it.

It was only about as effective of a disguise as trying to paint over a missing brick in the wall.

Still, startling Anne like that made Cadence feel rather bad, and she had no idea what to do now. Should she just try again? The constant guidance of her mom to never Calm Mind anyone without their consent rang loud and clear in the fairy’s head. But… at the same time, so did wanting to do just that, anyway. It really felt like Anne needed it, and with this instance revolving around what the Kirlia was and could do, she doubted her previous approach would work anywhere near as well the second time around.

All that was left was to try again, “^Anne? I-is everything okay?^”

Once more, the human paused at hearing that, weakly hidden discomfort threatening to spill onto her face. Didn’t help one bit with feeling self conscious, that’s for sure. Hopefully Cadence could help keep it all under wraps, if not from her uncle, then from others. “^Anne, nobody else can hear me right now. Just think about what you want to say, I-I’ll pick it up. A-are you okay?^”

As straightforward as her instructions felt like, Cadence knew from experience they were occasionally tricky for non-psychics to follow. For once, that wouldn’t be the case here; Anne’s coloring pace slowing to a crawl as she tried to gather her thoughts, “^I-it’s fine, Cadence...^”

“^But it’s not! I can feel that! What’s wrong, Anne?^”

More self-consciousness, a slight grimace creeping onto Anne’s expression. “^N-nothing, p-promise, everything’s alright...^”

As much as Cadence didn’t want to be blunt about it, it seemed like this was the only possible way forward. “^You don’t have to feel bad about thinking of me hurting you, I promise Anne...^”

Just like earlier with the torn door, Anne froze in place, and Cadence responded immediately with a tight, warm hug. She didn’t want to drag anyone else into a topic this unpleasant, but still wanted to help make the big friend feel better.

“^...I-I’m sorry,^” Anne whimpered, making the Kirlia redouble her efforts as determination burned bright inside her.

“^But you don’t have to be! You really did nothing wrong, Anne! I-I’m not gonna hold that against you...^”

As the fairy kept a close watch over Anne’s emotions, something else became apparent, souring some of Cadence’s enthusiasm. The fearful imagination that had ignited the runaway wildfire of anxiety was all but gone by now, but the realization of just how much her mind was being read in the moment had slithered in to replace it. It was... a weird thing to think about, scary even, not helping in this entire mess one bit.

And the worst part was that Cadence didn’t know how to respond to that. It’s not like she was trying to snoop on Anne’s thoughts... much. Of course she could sense things like that, especially from this close! But, yet again, what was normal to her, quite a few found disturbing.

What she was, quite a few found disturbing.

It was a hard lesson to learn, again and again; anxiety threatening to send her into the same mental pit as Anne had fallen into. But she couldn’t. She had a friend to help, and she was gonna help her, gosh darnit! “^Anne, I... I’m sorry for—for reading your thoughts like that. It’s really... unintentional most of the time, especially when we’re this close.^”

For once, her words wouldn’t have the human lock up even more. The older girl snuck a glance down at her before relaxing at the apology; the pencil resuming its glide on the page as Anne thought up a response, “^I-it’s a b-bit uncomfortable to th-think about...^”

“^I... I know. It’s uncomfortable for most; I’m... I’m well aware. I wish I knew what to say. It’s like... like hearing a quiet voice nearby. It catches your attention, you can’t not hear it unless you’re deliberately trying to ignore it. I-I can try to do that, if you want...^”

It was a rather depressing idea to consider. Cadence wanted people to like her, and she especially wanted Anne to like her. If it were to take having to pretend to not be psychic in her presence... then she was willing to try, as deeply uncomfortable as that idea felt.

Anne may not have been a psychic, but it wasn’t exactly difficult to pick up on how unpleasant that option was for the Kirlia and why. As weird as it was to think about, this... was normal for her. She trusted Cadence to not be acting with any malice here, that she wasn’t trying to excuse anything more nefarious, but... still.

Others hearing her thoughts felt eerie, her imagination providing her with a mental image of a transparent skullcap, everything inside visible. Every hope, every doubt, every displeasure, about herself or others. Every fear.

In a place like this, the latter felt especially scary to consider, as both girls were finding out. As far as Anne went, people already had plenty of good reasons to despise her, and realizing that she was afraid of them for no reason was just a Cheri on top. Who in the world would accept, let alone like her, knowing what kinds of prejudiced thoughts could swirl around in her head—

“^I would!^” Cadence interrupted, suddenly so much louder and eager than before. The human glanced at the Kirlia in surprise as the latter continued, “^I mean it Anne, it’s really alright! You’re... you’re not the only person who has these thoughts, f-far from it. They... they don’t feel nice, but I really don’t hold them against people, and especially not against you. I can only imagine how scary this must be, this... powerlessness. A-and that’s after all the pain you’ve been through, a-and mean parents, and...^”

The Kirlia had no more words in the moment, expressing what she wanted to convey in a much more acute way. Her hug was as tight and as big as her tiny body could manage. Anne let go of the pencil to return it, finally dropping all pretense that things were alright. Thankfully for them both, Elric was too confused to speak up right away. Even once he’d found the words, though, seeing a few tears threatening to roll down the girls’ cheeks discouraged him further.

The two held each other for a while, fears and insecurities yearning for and being soothed by each other’s comfort. As different as they were, as their worries were... maybe they had more in common than either of them could’ve guessed. And, for once, it was Anne that spoke up, one part of Cadence’s words catching her attention in particular, “^I-I’m sorry p-people are afraid of you, Cadence. They shouldn’t be, you’re really nice, a-and cool.^”

“^So are you, Anne!^” the Kirlia insisted, “^I-I wish I could draw anything like you do; it’s so pretty and awesome and—^”

“^B-but it’s nothing special, plenty others c-can draw like this and even much, much better. You’re special, and can do all these cool things, l-like—I would’ve fallen a-and gotten hurt if you hadn’t saved me!^”

“^But that isn’t special, either. Any Psychic c-could’ve done that...^”

“^Anyone half decent at drawing could’ve d-drawn this sketch.^”

“^I—I don’t care, you were the one who drew it!^”

“^A-and you were the one who helped me out earlier.^”

For a few moments, the two remained at an impasse, equally flustered as they held each other tight, sniffling any budding tears away. After a few long moments, Anne whispered, “^You’re really cool, Cadence.^”.

“^And so are you, Anne.^”

The tweens continued their mutual embrace, veiled discomfort giving way to much more noticeable reassurance and relief, together with a few stray tears. As weird and scary, or as pathetic and off-putting as they might have thought they were, the other’s unconditional awe and interest overcame these feelings, bit by bit.

And this time, everyone noticed, even those without any psychic gifts.

“...are they alright...?” Cypress whispered as quietly as he was capable of. Marco answered with a wordless nod, attention split between watching over the little ones as they called a temporary ceasefire,

And being so, so proud of his niece.

“Cadence! Are you okay?” Bell squeaked.

His sister squirmed while Anne broke into giggles, holding the little psychic closer as she answered, “~W-we’re okay now, I-I think. We both felt... rather bad earlier, but it’s alright now.~”

The Ralts accepted Anne’s response, about ready to return to his antics... but Reya had a different reaction. Suddenly, this odd, tall person she’d noticed in her peripheral vision was much more noticeable now, and apparently felt bad. The situation called for her intervention, and it was an intervention she was more than eager to provide every time.

Hugs.

Right as Anne began to let go of the Kirlia, she held her tight out of reflex at her entire body being suddenly lifted. The change in perspective made her freeze with a gasp, the briefest instant of cold anxiety going through her before the rest of her mind chimed in with what it was feeling. Namely, a pair of small paws wrapped around her midriff by which she was being currently held.

And then, shortly after, also by telekinesis here and there, Marco’s intervention helping make Reya’s introduction more pleasant.

“Hiiiiiiii!” a very young, very girly voice greeted. It wasn’t exactly difficult to connect it to the Riolu that had lifted her entire body a foot into the air, the sudden motion rolling a hefty bit of her t-shirt up. The voice couldn’t have sounded older than five, putting it in the same approximate age and cuteness bracket as Bell.

Thoughts about how strong the lil’ pup was while Anne’s soft, squishy body was being held by her didn’t help, though.

Thankfully, the elevated hug wouldn’t last much longer. The area that Reya had held her by felt sore as the human released a breath she wasn’t even aware she was holding. Cadence wasted no time before intervening to help with the soreness, following what her grandma had taught her while Anne finally responded, “~H-hello! Y-you must be Reya, right?~”

Excited nods and tail wagging so fast it was little more than a blur behind the Riolu—yep, dead on.

“~I-I’m Anne, it’s nice to meet you!~”

The human was of half a mind to reach out to the mighty pup with her good hand for a handshake, but eventually reconsidered. Instead, she opted for something that would hopefully be received just as well. And indeed, it turned out Reya did like her pets, her tail somehow wagging even faster in response.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Anne was so amused she didn’t even notice Bell having made his way back onto the bed with his uncle’s help. Predictably, the Ralts loved to see his friends becoming friends, expressing his satisfaction with a loud squeak—at least, before something amusing caught his attention.

Right as Anne was winding down her pets, she felt an unexpected touch on her front, doubling over out of reflex. Nope, no immediate danger to her vulnerable, soft stomach this time. Just a toddler that had stuck his hand into her belly button.

“Hehe, funny!”

Who could’ve known that the funny bone was in the navel.

Anne giggled at Bell’s amusement over her very unimpressive body. She was grateful that he didn’t continue it for any longer, lest it became uncomfortable. Right as she was about to smooth out her ruffled shirt and cover her stomach once more, Elric spoke up, catching her attention, “What’s that?”

“~What?~”

Anne had no idea what the bat was referring to, looking over her arms just in case. Alas, they wouldn’t be where the strangeness was located after all. A pink pincer soon tapped the soft skin near her belly button, the odd texture sending shivers down her body. She remained none the wiser, squinting at her stomach and trying to find what she expected to be a stain of some sort, but no such a thing was present.

Nope, the answer was much more banal, and yet veered into much weirder territory.

“^This... hole? I-is that a wound?^” Cadence asked, concerned, her own pointing hand finally making Anne realize what all this was about. The ‘wound’ possibility caught everyone else’s attention, Marco’s gaze narrowing as he imagined just what brutal injury could’ve left a scar like that.

Good riddance to her worthless excuse of a human family.

As correct as that thought and general hunch were, they didn’t quite extend to this specific anatomical curiosity. The realization clicked together in Anne’s mind almost audibly, followed by an explanation in a raised voice, “~OH! No no, it’s not a wound, it’s j-just my belly button.~” The second part of her explanation clarified absolutely nothing, and the human knew that. Her mind searched for the right words before coming up with something hopefully reasonable. “~I-it’s normal for humans. It comes from—~”

It was at this exact moment when Anne realized just how much ground she’d have to cover to make sense of her words, the reminder that mons didn’t give live births batting that whole attempted lecture out of her mind with enough force to end up with a home run. If she wanted to explain something as silly as belly buttons, she’d need to go through both the pregnancy, and the little of the queasy anatomy involved that she really understood.

One icky sex-ed class convincing her to never have biological children of her own was enough, thanks. She’d rather not inflict that kind of knowledge on anyone else.

“~U-Umm... it’s normal,~” she repeated. Cadence and Marco didn’t need to know about the relevant concepts to pick up on how uncomfortable explaining this would’ve been for Anne; both of them were more than satisfied with this explanation if it meant avoiding discomfort.

Elric, however, wasn’t privy to that fact, “But it looks so weird! Is it like a—”

“^NO, EWWWWW!^” the Kirlia squealed, catching onto her friend’s idea before he’d even vocalized it, making him giggle at her squicked out reaction.

“~I-it’s just an... indentation. It doesn’t do anything,~” Anne explained, hoping it would prevent any more infantile wondering.

“Ya sure? It really looks like a—shlmsdlfkjsdfSLSKDFJSDL!”

Anne stared, stunned, as Cadence Psychic’d Elric’s mouth shut mid-sentence; the incoherent mumbling that followed sending the little ones into a laughing fit. Part of the human really wanted to know just what his idea was and just how bad must it have been for the Kirlia to react like that. But only a part, most of her content avoiding accursed knowledge.

“^Come on, you two,^” Marco chided.

“^Okay, uncle...^” / “Okay, Mr. Marco...”

The Gallade sighed at having to diffuse the childish situation. Deep down, he was grateful towards Cadence for intervening when she did, but he had to maintain pretend impartiality. A small, vestigial bump in the stomach wasn’t all that there was to be seen, though, Anne’s rolled-up shirt letting him notice something else, something more... concerning.

“^Are those... ribs?^” he asked, catching Anne’s attention and making her glance down at her exposed torso. And indeed, a couple of lower ribs were visible, poking through the skin, but thankfully only them.

“~Umm... yeah,~” Anne confirmed, confused about the confusion in the Gallade’s voice. From what she’d remembered learning about, many mons shared the approximate human skeleton, ribs included, so they shouldn’t have been surprising—

“^Should they be poking out like that?^”

Oh.

Marco words had drawn the rest of the room’s attention over to the area in question, though its significance was lost on the kids. At least, aside from Anne, the girl looking away as she got the implication, “~P-probably not. I’m just... really thin. Probably too thin...~”

Marco’s worry was confirmed. He looked at the human with concern as Elric spoke up again, “Sounds like you need to visit Holly some more, hehe! Time for a second lunch?”

“~I-I don’t think I’ve had the first one. Or breakfast...~”

The room immediately went quiet at that, Elric taken aback by that in particular. It was well after noon already! “Whaaaat!? But it’s already so late in the day! I would’ve been screaming in hunger by then!”

All the while, Cypress kicked himself at not noticing that in time; the very simple truism of ‘living beings need food’ somehow slipping by unnoticed in the mess of Anne’s situation. Though, Elric’s remark brought up a good, if odd point. “Why didn’t you say anything, dear Anne...?”

Anne squirmed at all the surrounding concern. The answer to Cypress’ question was awkward and unpleasant, forcing her to package it in… softer language. “~I-I’m just used to not eating much.~”

“This isn’t just ‘not eating much’, my dear...”

“~...o-or going days without eating,~” she admitted.

“But why? Aren’t you hungry?” Elric asked.

“~I’m—I’m used to hunger. I-I don’t r-really notice it anymore...~”

It didn’t exactly take a mastermind to piece the details together. Marco felt the same vindictiveness towards her family as before, but now with a dash of wanting to comfort Anne some more, somehow. He might not have been in the right position to act on that, but Cadence was. She only needed to glimpse her uncle’s feelings to realize what was up for herself too, her embrace redoubling in strength.

Didn’t take a mastermind, but some needed to have the truth spelled out to them.

“But how? Did your human family not feed you or something?” the bat continued.

Before anyone could chide him for continuing further into what was clearly an unpleasant topic, Anne replied first, “~P-pretty much, yeah...~”

For once in his life, the Gligar was left speechless, not expecting such an absurdly cruel possibility to ring true. Even if he wasn’t too familiar with the feeling of shame, he sure felt it now, it and affection; scrambling over to Anne’s free side and contributing with his own hug.

“Sounds like a meal is in order...” Cypress murmured.

“^Indeed. Let me go and grab something—^”

“^Oh, can I go too, uncle!?^” Cadence chimed in.

Marco wasn’t sure how to react to his niece’s eagerness, even if he applauded her wanting to help her friend. He could more than likely haul the entirety of Holly’s pantry in here with his bare arms, if needed. Help wasn’t really necessary... but why not. Let’s let her help and feel good about it. “^Hmmmm, sure. Come Cadence, let’s grab us all a nice, big meal, especially Anne.^”

“^YAY! We’ll be back soon Anne, hopefully the hunger won’t be too bad until then!^”

The human herself was a bit taken aback at the sudden intervention, but... couldn’t deny that it all felt nice. To be cared for like that and to get to fill her tummy a bit. She still didn’t handle excess attention being placed on her well, but as long as it remained this caring, she wouldn’t mind anywhere near as much as she usually did.

With how much Cadence adored her little drawing, it was probably best to wait until she was back before continuing with it, heh. That wasn’t an issue, plenty of other things to do, and kids to chat with, after all! Who knows, maybe Reya would enjoy a sketch too?

“~R-Reya, want me to draw you?~”

*woof, woof?*

Oh.

That... was an issue. Being left without Cadence or Marco for a moment wasn’t the end of the world, but being left without a translation... was a different matter. Anne had already been in this spot before; she knew nothing bad would happen. Still... there was something unnerving about being left with superpowered children and no way to communicate with them, or to convey asking them to stop if needed.

Guess screams will work for that too, but it might be too late at that point.

*woof?*

Before that vicious train of thought could threaten to swallow Anne whole, Reya’s bark caught her attention, the Riolu now on her lap. To the best of the human’s ability to tell, she was concerned, which... aww. “~I-I’m okay Reya, just... feels a bit scary with nobody understanding me anymore.~”

Even if that was the case, speaking like she normally did proved to be rather soothing in itself. It really helped, even if it was just playing pretend, and so did Reya’s adorable head tilt in response. A smile broke through Anne’s prior nervousness as she reached to pet the pup. And once she’d done that, the Ralts wanted in on that too, scrambling in on her lap beside his friend, and even Elric wouldn’t say no to some human affection.

Hugpiles, an ever effective antidote to anxiety.

The Gligar’s chittered comment soon kicked off an entire conversation between himself and the pair of younger kids. It was amusing to hear Bell speak like this, his high-pitched boyish voice becoming little more than squeaks and an occasional baby gargle, the Ralts getting an extra portion of affection each time he spoke. Which only made him squeal each time, teeny body splatting on Anne’s front and hugging her as much as it could. Wonderful, each and every time.

Yeah, suppose she could just rest like this for a while.

In time, Anne had even gathered enough courage to close her eyes for a moment. She almost took off her glasses too, if not for the Riolu’s accidental burst of strength being liable to turn the entire trinket into a pile of shattered glass and metal shavings.

Sorry Reya, you’re a wonderful lil’ pup, but the ability to see is more important.

As Anne chuckled at her unspoken joke, having long since tuned out the incomprehensible conversation, a movement against her side caught her attention. Reya was shuffling weirdly, as if trying to peek around her. It was quite cute. A couple pets towards the puppy had her squirm, but her focus remained where it was previously aimed at.

Was there something odd behind her? Might as well take a—

Ember was moving.

A switch audibly toggled in Anne’s head as that singular realization took over the entirety of her mind. Her good arm immediately started to gently, yet firmly, push the other kids off her lap and clear some more space on the bed. The Braixen was shaking softly in her shawl, and whether it was in fear, hunger, or pain, Anne could not tell.

Couldn’t tell, but wanted to help.

Within moments, Anne had shifted over to her best friend, laying down beside her and sneaking her good arm underneath the Braixen’s body to hold her close. She heard quiet whines and mumbles, together with an occasional strained breath, the sounds conveying both that her beloved vixen was probably awake, and that she was not feeling good in the slightest.

“~I-I’m here Ember, I’m here...~” she whispered. The shaking fox first froze, and then shuffled towards her at hearing that, turning around with slow, staggered motions.

With every little slide, more of Ember’s snout came into view. And, with it, so did the clearly visible pain, winces and grumbles constantly streaking across her face. As much as the firefox hurt, it absolutely paled compared to finally seeing her human awake and beside her once more. She yelped, the sound one Anne remembered well despite all the time that had passed. Before the human girl knew it, she was being held tight with very warm, very shaky arms. Ember’s intermittent winces had turned into quiet growls and woofs, some sort of speech she couldn’t understand but which had reached deep inside her, regardless. Tears ran down their faces as Anne’s brown eyes met Ember’s singular red one, the resulting embrace as tight as both battered girls could manage.

“~I-I love you Ember, I’m here...~”

Some of the fox’s vocalizations were clearly words, but the rest equally clearly conveyed pain. Anne knew just what to do, hand reaching up to stroke the fox between her ears; hoping that despite their suffering, she could help somehow. Just like she used to do, again and again.

For a few moments, the two just held each other, words simultaneously incomprehensible and conveying everything in the world; the sheer outpouring of love and comfort especially clear to the toddlers. Anne wasn’t considering letting go of Ember for the next, preferably forever, but her discomfort was obvious and very worrying. She wouldn’t wake up for so long earlier, and now she was in pain, the thoughts of what it all could mean scaring Anne.

She wouldn’t have to wait long for help, thankfully.

Cypress’s whispered, drawn out voice caught both girls off guard. The inseparable pair looked up at the ghost through teary eyes; the Mismagius’s yellow eyes focused firmly on the Braixen. From the little that Anne could make out, he’d just asked her a question of some sort—and if Ember’s shaky nodding was any sign, she’d just agreed.

A familiar, ethereal chant followed as Cypress rested one of his tentacles on Ember’s forehead and the other on his side. For a few moments, nothing happened, the piercing tune continuing until, at last, the Braixen’s Pain was Split. Both she and the Mismagius jumped at the sensation, the latter immediately reaching towards his head as his entire body shriveled up, yellow eyes wide and mouth left slightly agape. Whether he even needed to breathe, Anne didn’t know, but it looked like he was doing just that, and heavily while at it. He’d only forced out a couple of short words before floating away towards the entrance to the room, outside of either girl’s field of view, and then out of it.

Before the two girls knew it, they were left on their own again, with only each other to look at. But now, with Ember in the condition to do more than whine quietly and cry in pain. Anne had no idea what just happened, but deep down she didn’t care, redoubling her hugging efforts and bringing her head to the smaller vixen’s shoulder, her comforting whispers continuing.

“~I-I’m so glad to see you feeling better, Ember... I-I love you, I’m sorry f-for leaving you at that shelter, I know it was scary but—~” she apologized before the vixen’s quiet growl cut her off.

The Fire-type finally had the strength to hold her best friend closer; to return all the physical affection she’d been provided over the years, at last. Anne kept sniffling all the while, relief, comfort, and apology all welling up within her. An uncountable number of words she wanted to say, what she’d been wanting to say for as long as they’d known each other. It was so much Anne almost didn’t notice Ember’s warm paw sneaking its way up the back of her head, the pleasant warmth combining with soft fur making her squirm. “~H-hehe, t-tickles...~”

Did she want to return the pets after all these years now that she finally could? That’s so sweet of her, goodness—ow.

Anne didn’t expect the blissful touch to suddenly be cut off by a stinging sensation where Ember had touched her; a harsh wince interrupting her train of thought. It wasn’t even a burn or anything; maybe she’d caught something in here? Hopefully not. Ember’s headache looked so terrible—

“^Anne?^”

...

The voice she’d heard was a bit gruffer than her own, slightly huskier, but, at the same time, unmistakably girly and her age. Anne reeled back, staring wide eyed at the vixen’s face, shock turning into joy at seeing the same happen on Ember’s end.

“~E-Ember?~”

A slow, firm nod from the vixen.

“~EMBER!~”

Anne’s eyes teared up as her heart sang in joy. Her embrace immediately redoubled in strength, getting absolutely everything the battered human still had in her. And, moments later, her effort was returned in kind; Ember’s squeal turning into a quiet but excited ‘awoooo’ at her telepathy working out despite her utter exhaustion.

“~E-Ember, I-I’m so happy to h-hear you, I—~” Anne whispered. There weren’t enough words in Unovan to describe even a fraction of the turmoil she had been through without her best friend by her side—but it didn’t matter anymore, not now, not ever again. They had each other once more. Ember was back with her. She was back with Ember. Everything would be okay. “~I-I love you, Ember...~”

“^I love you too, A-Anne! I-it’s been so long, a-and you’ve grown so much!^”

“~I think you grew up a lot m-more,~” Anne giggled.

Ember was much too tired to even pretend to not have found the joke funny. Her barked laughter filled the clinic’s room before Anne’s joined it soon after, the duet as sudden for onlookers as it was deeply, profoundly relieving for the participants. Even after it had eventually calmed down, the girls kept giggling from time to time, the mix of emotional high and physical exhaustion clear to see for all.

And nobody minded, mostly because they had found something else to occupy themselves with. The girls neither noticed nor cared about that, though. Their hug continued as Anne’s thoughts ventured towards her earlier whispered apology; several tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. “~I-I’m so sorry for leaving you a-at that shelter...~”

“^It’s okay Anne, I-I promise! Y-you wanted to save me, a-and... you did,^” Ember reassured. She could only faintly remember her own distress, the fresher, complete perspective replacing it all in her mind.

It was such a weird sensation, to suddenly remember so much more than just what she did or thought. If anything, it only made it obvious just how much her human had loved her. The awareness that she used to not remember Anne was present somewhere in her head, but again, it paled in importance to everything else going on at the moment. It was probably just stress and despair, anyway.

She couldn’t wait to tell her mom; finally introduce Anne to her.

“~I-I’m glad you found a home here, y-you really deserve to be happy—~”

“^A-and so do you, Anne! Oh, maybe you could stay with me and my mom a-after you get better?^” Ember asked, eyes lighting up with excitement. After all, of course Anne would stay for good. The only real question as far as Ember was concerned was ‘where’.

Anne was not opposed to that idea in the slightest; sharing a home with Ember again was one of her closest held dreams ever since they had to separate. Though... ‘mom’? “~I-I’d love to, Ember. D-did you find your mom here?~”

“^No no, she adopted me, she’s n-not my biological mom. She’s a Delphox, a-and has been helping me with learning my moves, a-and telepathy and letting me talk to you now, a-and so much more, and—^” Ember paused, but she knew full well she could go on for much longer than that. Her mom meant so much to her; she loved her almost as much as she loved Anne. She might not have liked humans much, but there was no way she’d say no to Anne, not after everything they’ve been through, right? “^I-I love her a lot, and I love you.^”

Anne’s smile grew as she listened in, a one-armed hug tightening at hearing all the good things that her friend had experienced in the meantime. Ember deserved them all, deserved everything in the world. “~I-I love you too, Ember. I missed you so much...~”

The Braixen’s embrace tightened for a moment before loosening just enough to let the two lean back and look each other in the eyes. Tears, exhaustion, fluster and smiles all combined into a soggy, blissful mess. Two soggy messes meant for each other—

*Woof.*

The bark was very similar to Reya’s at a glance, but much, much lower in pitch, making Anne jump. No way it could’ve been Reya making that kind of noise. Wonder who was—

A Lucario stood by the entrance to the room, Cypress hovering next to them. Their call might have chiefly caught Reya’s attention, but their own focus was unmistakably on Anne; narrow red eyes staring at her. Through her, freezing her to the very core. Reya clearly noticed the sensation too, glancing over at her before another rough bark made her resume her descent from the bedding, followed by a dash over to what was presumably her parent.

For once, Anne really wished she was a psychic, just so that she could figure out whether that Lucario only looked furious, or whether they were actually angry at her. And, if it was the latter, what she’d done wrong this time to have caused it.

She must’ve botched something, right? Something small but offensive, no doubt. M-maybe she wasn’t meant to pet Reya like that and it was really insulting in hindsight? Probably something to do with some sort of etiquette. She should’ve sat up or stood up and bowed when she saw them, and not doing that was unknowingly a great offense. Something like that—no matter what, though, she messed it up; she made them angry at her, she’d caused it, she deserved it, she—

A sudden, tight hug from behind. Ember’s warmth shook her out of her spiraling anxiety, letting her finally see that the Lucario and Reya had left at some point. “^Shhhh, shhhh, i-it’s okay Anne, it’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong, I-I promise.^”

Ember’s reassurance had the human curl up a bit, the fright still coursing through her veins. The Braixen kept trying to help with yet another hug, yet more pets, desperate attempts to comfort her best friend—just like she herself had been comforted so many times.

“~Wh-why did he look a-at me like that...~” Anne mumbled, terrified.

“^Th-that was Mr. Lariat; he’s always gruff like that. Y-You did nothing wrong, I promise Anne...^”

Even Ember’s warmth and explanations took their time melting through the utterly freezing glare that still lingered in Anne’s mind, but gradually, second by second, they slowly managed. Once Anne no longer felt like she’d been immobilized with a Mean Look, she shakily turned back towards her best friend, letting the vixen administer all the warm affection she was capable of. A whole heaping lot of it; learned over the many, many years of being held and pet by the very same human she was now trying to comfort.

“^It’s okay Anne, it’s okay. N-nobody will hurt you here,^” Ember reassured. Anne nodded shakily, her breath finally beginning to even out as Ember dispensed her love, soft fluff feeling softer still by the moment. “^I-I won’t let anything happen to you, Anne, I promise...^”

I promise...

The words finally broke through the last of Anne’s anxiety-induced paralysis; the one good arm holding the Braixen tight enough to knock the breath out of her for a moment. “~Th-thank you, Ember—~”

*squeak!*

Anne might have not understood what Bell just shouted about, but Ember sure did. The louder noise was followed by a back and forth between the Ralts and the Gligar. Each bit was just as incoherent to the human as the last one, while Braixen looked like she was only barely succeeding at holding in laughter—and eventually, failed at that; her soft barks music to her friend’s ears.

She couldn’t remember ever hearing Ember laugh like that, and now she wanted to never forget that sound.

It took the vixen a moment or two to realize that her friend had no idea what was going on. The thought of how dumbfounding all of this must’ve been to an onlooker sent another wave of amusement through her. Instead of trying to answer that confusion, though, she helped Anne see for herself, slowly sitting up together with her before pointing a shaky paw towards the nearby antics.

Elric was busy exploring his more creative side, picking Bell to inspire his first ever creation. Unfortunately for the bespoke Ralts, said creation involved him having been drawn with a bowl cut large enough to cover almost his entire body, only his feet visible from underneath all the hair.

Pfft.

Moment by moment, Anne joined in on the group’s giggles. Her hiccupy, kettle-like laughter was much more pleasant to the ear, and just different enough from the rest to catch Bell’s attention. As loudly as he’d squeaked in protest at the caricature of himself, he now realized that there was an actual artist in the room, someone who wouldn’t draw him this wrong—his hair wasn’t this big!

Bell wasted no time scrambling over to the human and squeaking out his request to exactly zero comprehension; teeny arms lightly patting Anne’s thighs for emphasis. The contrast between the apparent seriousness of his words and the adorableness of everything else about him added further fuel to the fire of the girl’s laughs, especially once Ember provided the well needed translation, “^He’s asking you to draw him, but nice, not l-like Elric, hahaha.^”

She had another drawing to finish first, but sure wasn’t opposed to that idea. Right as she was about to ask the Braixen to translate her words back, she realized it wouldn’t be needed.

The room had smelled the pair’s return before they saw them.

The Gallade was carrying several large bowls of roasted, spiced berries and what looked like the most delicious mashed potatoes Anne had seen in her life. Cadence, on the other hand, was levitating a bag with a small mountain of pastries, sweet and savory alike from what the rest of the room could make out.

Anne wasn’t used to neither this quantity nor quality of food; her school lunches anemic and only technically edible. This smelled like something out of a restaurant, like something a small army of chiefs had spent hours on each. “~I-is that all f-for us?~”

“^Indeed, Anne. Good afternoon Ember!^” Marco greeted.

“^Uncle Marco had to stop Holly from making even more! When he’d told her that your family didn’t feed you well, she started cooking so fast and so much she almost had a fire in her kitchen! Oh oh, hi Ember!^”

“^If only it was just one fire...^” the Gallade grumbled.

Most of the room laughed at that clarification as Anne stared dumbstruck at all the food, latent hunger suddenly growing much, much harder to ignore. The firefox beside her huddled closer beside her as she waved at the pair of returning psychics, gathering the words to respond to the greetings up before the lil’ Ralts went through with his request first, “Anneeeee, can you draw me nice?”

His repeated question snapped the human out of her daze. Anne was about to respond before the Gallade in the room cut her off, “^Bell, how about we all eat something and then Anne can go back to drawing you all?^”

The Ralts gave that option ten seconds of the most intense thought in his teeny life before expressing his agreement with a loud, happy squeak; his attention immediately redirected over towards the freshly brought foodstuffs.

Yeah, that sounded nice.

That sounded very nice.