"Mama! Papa!" She wiggled her head from side to side, trying to get a hold of her body and move it. Liam walked her over to sit between them on the couch. She stared at them smiling down at her, not taking their time to wrap their arms around her as she silently cried "I-I didn't expect to see you so soon!"

"Oh? Were you expecting to see us? What are you doing here? Is Wyatt here?" Mom looked around

"No... he's not here. He doesn't even know I left" she closed her eyes, then looked at Froslass taking out her medicine to help with the freeze "I left... because I knew he doesn't want to see any of you. I left on my own, without him"

"Crystal, that's dangerous! You can't take care of yourself! Do you want to go back to the hospital?" Dad asked. Froslass stared at the syringe, looking for someone who knew how to use it. Everyone looked at each other, seeing if there was

"I've been fine this whole time... I've seen Samantha, Leah, and now Olivia before I got here. I'm... traveling with a friend" Mom blinked a few times.

"You called someone your friend?" Crystal blushed, pouting

"It's not what it seems like" she sighed "He's been taking care of me... because he's stubborn and doesn't want anything happening to me, even when I said I'd be fine..." she looked away "I mean... I'm glad I have someone to company me just in case something happens. He's in the middle of his own journey, so he promised to take me home when I see every one of my family members."

"How sweet" Mom gushed

"A boy?" A vein popped out dad's forehead "Who is this boy? I want to talk to him" Crystal and Froslass blinked confusedly

"Uh... I can't promise you'll see him in the future. He'll be gone if he makes it to the Elite four."

"Wait... He's challenging gyms?" Her aunt Eloise, the one she saw before, walked over to hold her hand "You actually believe he can get past your gym?"

"I'll probably give it away. I don't care. He's fine in battle, but he won't be my problem after I see everyone" she looked at her parents "taken that not all my sisters are here, I hope you won't tell them I'm coming to see them. I want to see more of the Kannena region before I go home."

"You can't go home!" The boy she saw behind Eloise said, surprising everyone "you just got here! The more family, the better! Right?" He looked down shyly "I heard you're never around because you're sick... and you can't leave because of an evil monster keeping you captive."

"Uh... Are you talking about Wyatt?" He turned red "I know it seems off that way, but there's a big reason for everything..." she took a moment of silence, imagining Wyatt as an evil monster "Who are you anyway?" He flinched, looking down further into the floor, walking backward to hide behind his mom, Scarlett.

"Well, since you never had the opportunity to meet everyone, how about we start?" Eloise smiled. She introduced everyone individually, starting with every aunt and uncle Crystal had, then ending with the Elite four she somewhat knew as Declan; the poison master with two baby twins. Scarlett; the water master with three kids named Kayla, Danny, and Tonya, then there was Zachary; the ground master who had no children, and Eloise; the flying master with Mary, Liam, Jeff, and Kendall as her children

Of course, her family all had different personalities that did not match anyone in the room. Many of the aunts and uncles weren't blood-related and weren't part of the league, but married into the family, somehow always giving birth to children with the same color since as early as the family name was given

"What a big family I have..." Crystal sighed, smiling a little

"Now all we're missing is the rest of your siblings."

"And Wyatt" dad huffed. Crystal looked down, frowning.

"Dear..." mom frowned.

"I'm surprised you even mention him... taken how much you hate him" Crystal eyed him. He started sweating at the sight of her serious eyes. He fixed his tie and sat straight, staying formal and traditional as always, but practical

"Don't start with this, Crystal. We don't need to bring up the past."

"From that tone of voice of yours... you seem to still be there. I'm not the one who mentioned his name to begin with" the two of them held a stern expression at each other and shot daggers without physically showing it

Because of what happened between dad and Wyatt, Crystal choose to not pick a side and always back mouth their drama together, not feeling bad whatsoever

"Now now... let's not be so serious today. It's Tonya's birthday. We should have a good day!" Mom clapped, always being the confident and understanding one "it's the first time Crystal has even shown up to face almost the whole family, so let's keep having a good time and welcome her!" Everyone nodded and agreed, clapping to the idea. Mom blushed with a giggle

This is the same woman who proved the Otashi family wrong: that a non-blood related person can be part of the league. After reaching the top, she earned the Otashi family's full respect and became champion alongside dad

Although, it's not saying that anyone can easily beat someone in the Otashi family. The family respected mom before they even knew she was battling the gyms in secret under a disguise.

They knew her and Gabriel had a thing, and it was the very reason why they weren't really all that hard on her, especially when she married him before she faced her husband as a champion and showed her true colors in battle, since that's what married couples should do; show each other's inner self and be honest.

Crystal sighed, getting tired of staying frozen and looked around for Froslass to get her mom to use the syringe, but Froslass was nowhere to be found.

"Where is she..?" She flinched when Tonya unexpectedly climbed her lap and sat down "huh..?"

"Oh! Looks like Tonya has gotten a liking to you" Scarlett smiled "she's usually a shy little thing like her brother" she patted Danny in the back softly "but she's usually more terrified if she doesn't know who you are" Crystal looked down at Tonya staring at her with those blue eyes of hers "wonder what's gotten into her"

If she can remember, she was told that Tonya could see ghosts... She kept staring at Froslass earlier when they met. Did she want to say something about Froslass being a carrier of an ancient heart? She's mute, isn't she? And only five years old...

"Yeah..." Crystal's hand flinched, wanting to move that extra hair falling on the birthday girl's face "I think I have a fairly good idea what's going through that mind of hers."

"Geez..." Olivia walked in through the front door "can't seem to get rid of him..." with an annoyed look on her face, Froslass floated in while tugging on West's hand. Doublade's scarfs were wrapped around his forehead for some reason

"West?" Crystal blinked confusedly. So that's where Froslass went... "what are you doing here?"

"Froslass dragged me after I won my match with Olivia" Olivia huffed, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Agh... yeah, and right when I thought I finally get the chance to... to..." Olivia looked at Crystal and begin to cry. Crystal frowned, seeing the lonely look in her eyes before running away sobbing.

"Huh? Wait! What happened!?" West panicked

"Leave her... she'll be alright. She's a total crybaby naturally" she looked back at him "now are you going to help me or what?" Froslass handed him the syringe

"Oh! Sure!" He kneeled in front of her and caught the glare of her father glaring at him. He flinched and fell on his butt.

"Papa, be nice" Crystal closed her eyes "this is the boy who's been taking care of me this whole time since I left home."

"P-papa!?" West gasped, standing immediately, but got stopped by Crystal's foot pressing on his chest.

"Don't mind him, help me" he didn't move.

"Why do you need the Daiyamondo if you're able to move your leg..?" he peeked down at Froslass being the one doing it for her, knowing she wanted to do this "oh... that's how it is."

"Hurry it up, will you?" He looked at her dad's stern face, unable to make out a single feature due to the blurriness he sees in a few of the adult's faces, but not in the others he already met

"M-may I..? Sir..?" He nervously asked. Dad was about to speak before mom covered his face, face gleaming in awe.

"Go ahead, sweetie!" West sighed in relief and stabbed Crystal's leg with her medicine

"All done" he stood up "sorry to have barged in uninvited. I'll show myself out now" Zachary wrapped his arm around West, stopping him and pointed a beer bottle at his chest

"Hey young man, you think you can touch my niece without introducing yourself first? That's rude" West froze.

"He seems nervous, want to sit down next to my niece you touched?" Declan appeared behind him, making him jump and fell on the couch Crystal laid on without a care in the world while her parents stared at how calm she was compared to him. The two looked at each other. Dad huffed and turned away while mom put her hands together.

"Don't scare him! He's the one taking care of my baby! He's been doing good so far if she traveled this long without anything horrible happening!" Mom pouted

"Her body was frozen, and he wasn't around. I don't think he'll be suitable for her protector" dad said

"Don't be so hard on him! She made it here safely!" The two kept going on and on, getting the family involved while Crystal and West sat there with Tonya between them

"What a family you got here..." he sweatdropped.

"It's a first time for everything to see how they really are" he smiled.

"That's right. This is your first time seeing them all! I bet you're really happy!" She looked at him surprised, feeling her fingers getting feeling again and started playing with them

"Yeah... I am" she smiled a little "thank you..." everyone stared at them in their own little world. Seeing a smile on Crystal's face they would never expect to see her have, her dad cleared his throat to get West to stand. West jumped up and narrowed his eyes to try to look at her parent's faces, but it was impossible. He didn't even know Doublade was responsible.

"So... you've been taking care of my daughter? Exactly what drive you to care for someone you don't know?" West took a deep breath and sighed

"Well, to tell you the truth; I was on my way to start my journey when I came across Crystal half unconscious in the middle of the rain. I rushed to help her to the hospital my aunt works, so she was guarantee proper care. I stayed a while keeping myself from leaving so I can make sure she was okay, but I found her trying to escape... finding out she doesn't like hospitals."

"Oh my..." Mom gasped and sat him down to hear more of the story. Crystal tried her best to hide her blush "please, continue."

"I decided to nurse her instead, and we became good friends since."

"Speak for yourself" Crystal blushed, refusing to be looked at

"And I'm very open to having friends. I can tell she's pretty cold towards others, but when I saw that she had a warm soul, I wanted to help her travel, so I asked if we can go together while she finds her sisters and I challenge the gyms. Our journey is fun so far, except for some people trying to get in our way... other than that, I can't ask for another friend."

"How sweet... I'm glad our little girl is opening up a little. You say you were battling the gyms. How many do you have so far?"

"I earned three badges from Samantha in her show, from Leah over at Mt. Lightning, and earlier from Olivia after we found her in the forest. We ran into a situation with some bad people... and that's why Crystal is this way now. After so, Crystal insisted that I challenge the leader while she comes here. I honestly didn't expect to meet you all... I wanted her to spend time with those she hasn't seen" he looked down "I don't see much of my family either since they work all the time. I'm sure it would be nice to see family after so long, so I know where she's coming from" he looked down "sorry, I got off topic."

"Don't worry about it, sweetie. Thank you so much for taking care of our daughter. It makes me happy that she's going out more. Growing up, since she was as small as this little birthday girl here," she petted Tonya's head "she always spends her time indoors and watching her sisters playing together. Her condition isn't easy to handle, and I don't like the idea of her leaving her safety zone. She seems happier than I've ever seen her. Thank you" she stood and bowed. Dad took a moment, knowing she was right and bowed as thanks as well. West waved his hands in panic

"Oh! No! It's no big deal! Honestly! It's just what friends do!" He stood up "actually... this is a little embarrassing to say, and maybe a little disrespectful" he blushed. I-Is he going to say what Crystal thinks he's going to say? "b-but I like your daughter!" Crystal slowly sat up, reaching out to grab him and stop him "it was wrong of me to travel with her without anyone knowing. Her doctor doesn't even know... I want to ask if I can have permission to keep traveling with her" she froze, not expecting that.

"Oh!" Mom clapped "aren't you a gentleman!?There's no way I can pass that up! You've gone this far!" She looked at dad "isn't that nice, Gabe? He's asking permission! Wyatt doesn't know she left..." he nodded, standing closer to West for a better look

"Yes... that's very brave of you to ask. It seems like you're a man of your word, really wanting to protect my daughter as a friend, but also a lover?" West jumped and suddenly got dizzy, feeling nervous to the bone

"W-well... I-I haven't exactly won her heart yet!" He rubbed the scarf on his forehead, trying to take it off, but Doublade tightened itself tighter to avoid that "if it ever comes to that point... that'll be great."

"T-That's not going to happen" Crystal sweatdropped, not meaning to it clear to anyone how much she was blushing and how embarrassed she felt

"Awe, don't be like that" West grinned "we're meant to be! Like the legend!" Tonya widened her eyes a little at this fact and ran off to grab something from somewhere

"It's just a legend, West."

"You know it's not actually a legend. We got proof" she curled her legs to her body and hid her blushing face. Really..? In front of her entire family? "Oh, right! I forgot I came here to give the medicine... don't let me bother you guys any longer" he waved "see ya tomorrow, Chris-" dad stopped him from moving

"Hold on there son. I have a question for you..." West gulped "you're challenging the gyms, don't you recognize us?" He calmed down and tried focusing his eyes to try to see his face, but couldn't

"I guess I need glasses... I can't see a few of any of your faces" he tried looking at the champions's and Elite four's faces, but all were blurred. Crystal looked at Doublade floating there. It might be the reason for him to not see them properly

"I see... very well. I'll let you go for now" West nodded confidently.

"Thank you, Mr.Hiyori!" Dad blinked, confused

"Hiyori..?" Mom blinked confused, looking deeply into West's eyes, finding something familiar "Um... West, dear... What's your name?"

"Oh! Sorry! I'm Westly Kimana!" Everyone froze "if you'll excuse me... I have to get to training" he waved to Crystal "see you later" she nodded and watched him leave at the same time Tonya came back with a book in her arms.

"Crystal..?" Dad asked

"Yes, papa?" She stretched herself and stood, finally

"What is the meaning of traveling with a Kimana?" She closed her eyes, lifting her chin

"If you must know, he has no idea that I'm an Otashi, so I told him my name was Hiyori. He's pretty gullible, but he's different from the rest of his family" she glanced away "It's okay... he's going to find out soon, and he's going to hate me at the end anyway."

"But if he finds out... What's going to happen to you? How can you just say-" Crystal interrupted her mom

"I already made my decision. He might like me now" she frowned "but I've known from the start that it's not meant to be..."

There's so many family members! I'm sure you won't need to remember any of them, but keep them just in case!