Into The Unown

The Phone Call

Gary leaned against the railing of the deck, the sharp rays of the Orrean sun toasted his skin. He held the phone to his ear, listening to the dial tone until she picked up.

"I didn't expect you to answer," Gary said, stretching his toes and fingers as if causal movements ever untangled the knot in his chest.

"Then why'd you call, Ted?"

Gary found himself smiling at the nickname. It had been years since she'd called him that. "I... I guess I just missed you..." he blurted out the words, realising their meaning a bit late than one would expect him to, "...sarcasm," he quickly added. "I missed your sarcasm."

"I should be the one doing the missing. After all, I was the one who got replaced."

"You weren't replaced," Gary said quickly, though the words felt like a lie, even to him.

Dawn's silence was heavy. "I'm not a child, Gary. I know my place. So, why'd you call?"

Gary ran a hand through his hair. Images of their cabin where Ash and Serena were still curled up flashed in his mind. He'd woken up to the sight, and quickly left the room when he was unable to understand why the image left a metallic taste in his mouth. The next thing he knew was that he was outside, dialing her number.

"How's backpacking with Calem?" He asked in a feeble attempt to deflect.

"Oh, don't even! He's the worst."

"At his job or as a human?"

"Both! I swear, sometimes I catch myself secretly wishing for a landslide to put me out of my misery."

Gary let out a laugh, "You haven't changed."

"Nope, and you? Still playing the perfect sidekick?"

"Something like that."

"Thought so,"

The silence which befell them was broken by the sound of waves crashing against the ship. Gary didn't know why he called her, he just knew that he was glad she'd picked up.

Gary leaned against the deck railing. "Calem's that bad, huh? What happened this time?"

"Where do I even start? Yesterday, he argued with a shop owner over berries. Berries, Gary! We ended up wasting an hour because he wanted a discount on five Lum Berries. I swear the rich are always stingy!"

Gary smirked. "Classic Calem."

"I swear, if I didn't need him for this mission, I'd kill him and blame it on the apocalypse."

Gary shook his head. "You're too nice for that, Dawn."

"I'm not that nice anymore, Gary. It doesn't get you anywhere in this world."

His smile fainted as he looked out at the horizon. "You don't say." He mumbled.

"Look at us. You, Ash, and Serena are off fighting the Apocalypse while I'm stuck babysitting Calem in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I wasn't cut out for this life after all."

"Hey, don't say that. If it wasn't for your ground work we wouldn't have any idea about the whereabouts of the Apocalypse. Heck, we wouldn't even have beds to sleep at night. You're one of the strongest people I know. Just because you're not here doesn't mean you're not making a difference."

"I wonder if only I was able to channel my own Aura would I be here? But enough about me. What's it like traveling with our I don't remember boy?"

"It's... complicated."

"Complicated how?"

He hesitated, his mind taking him back to their cabin. The image of Ash and Serena curled up together flashed in his mind. "Ash is... well, Ash. Always putting others first, always carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. And Serena..." He trailed off, unsure how to put it into words.

"Shes been through a lot, Gary, give her some time to get back to normalcy."

"So this is normal for us now,"

"Yes, I can't wait for the war to be over. I'd like to get back to my business."

Gary ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, me too. I lie awake at night thinking about all the new papers I'm going to write. So... don't worry about me."

"Why would I worry about you?" A faint giggle echoed through the air, quickly followed by a disappointed sigh. "I always worry about you... you all. After what happened with Serena, we'd be fool to not worry about each other."

Each other, huh.

"Dawn," Gary started, his voice quieter now. "About what you said earlier... You weren't replaced. No one could ever replace you."

"I'll believe that when I see it, Ted."

"One day," Gary promised, his voice firm. "One day."

"I'll hold you to that. Now go, I'm sure Ash did something stupid."

Gary chuckled, shaking his head. "Goodbye, Dawn."

"Bye, Ted."