Pokémon Obsidian | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 36: Final Goodbye

The first person Reira reacted to was Anabel. She fell asleep with her head buried in her mom's shoulder. Anabel stayed stiff and uncomfortable in the chair beside her bed until she woke and smiled at her daughters, then Zane.

As was traditional in Hoenn, it was Kazuki's responsibility to arrange his mother's funeral. Everyone was waiting for Reira, because there seemed no send-off as hopeful as one where she returned after her loved ones began to give up; but at this point, Kazuki was anxious to get it over with. Though Courtney of course couldn't complain when she was dead, he knew that even if she could somehow feel something, she would be more patient than he was. It almost seemed she was waiting as patiently as ever, as beautiful as ever in her white kimono, in her casket with a pair of comfortable slippers and traditional six coins. She would want to wait for Reira.

'If it makes you feel any better,' Aiko gently, wearily told her twin, 'I'm just like you... wondering why I can't be more like Mom. Wondering why no-one will ever be as graceful and... as wonderful... as she was. As she still is.'

'Fuck off, Aiko. You're making me cry.'

'Point proven.'

It seemed only right that they stayed with Lyndon until they could say their final goodbye to their mom. Trip stayed, too, because Courtney treated him as her own son. For Aiko, it was partly disappointing that ending up with Yan wasn't as euphoric as it was comforting; but it was as if her mom's death was her final lesson to her daughter. Obsession wasn't love. Love could seem less appealing, because it would never be as wild or addictive, but obsession would never be as permanent. The death slapped Aiko out of her obsession at the very moment it was about to be fulfilled. It forced her to realise the value of love.

The wake came before the funeral. Aiko picked everyone from the Pokémon HQ Lab up in the towed Team Magma bus, which cost P75,000 to retrieve, so there was room for Reira's wheelchair; but no matter how much her family told her to take it easy, she refused. That, at least, was proof that Cipher failed to break her spirit.

'So,' Wisteria said when she sat behind Aiko, 'You've retired as a stalker, now, huh? Teach me your ways. YOLO and Whitby is hot.'

'I didn't do anything. I didn't even know the difference between love and obsession. I thought I loved him, but I didn't. Now... hey!'

Wisteria saw Aiko's smirk in the rearview mirror. 'You never shut up about the age gap and how Yan is an "old man," but Whitby's 10 years older than you! When you're 25, he'll be 35!'

'Still three years less than you two. You can't bully me yet.'

'What if he's you-know-who?'

'We all know that's Camden.'

'Wisteria!' Anabel sternly called, 'Even your mom knows it's not Camden.'

'Whitby's looking very suspicious,' Aiko said, 'A "mate" fixed his teeth? Really? Well, yeah, I guess they did. A mate in Obsidian City!'

'You know,' Jovi mused, 'I don't know if I'm imagining this, or making something out of nothing, but there's something... a kid I used to see... it's bothering me.'

Wisteria glanced back. 'What?'

'When I used to teach at the University of Orre... and my lectures were open to every STEM student... you know what young students can be like, especially the loaded ones. They pay to attend stuff and don't even bother. You can beg them to show their faces, because you don't want them to fail, but they never will. But there was one kid – I think he was a dude – who showed up at every single one for a couple of years. I thought he was, like, painfully shy, because he was always hiding in this baggy hoodie... but looking back... maybe I am imagining it, but I feel like there was something really ominous about him.'