As night turned to day, Blue stretched and yawned.

" Phew! I didn't expect this session to turn into an all nighter!"

I rubbed my eyes. " Mmmmm...."

" But we trained so much you should be ready for anything now! Right, Mia?"

I blinked. " Uh.... I'm not sure I'm ready....."

" Don't go all weak on me now! You'll be fine! You're strong!"

I blinked. " I'm not sure, Blue. You've seen me with.... you know who."

Blue sighed. " You'll be fine. Of course, you still don't hold a candle to me!"

I blinked. " What's that supposed to mean?"

Blue laughed. " Anyway, time for me to go. I have my own match to win."

Then we heard steps on the bridge, and we turned. " Oh? Heh. Guess my teammate came to pick me up."

He walked to the boy, and Rosa blinked. " No way... is that Red?!"

I yawned. " What's the big deal?"

Rosa looked at me like I had sprouted a second head. " What do you mean?!"

I walked over to him and took his hat, taking mine off and putting his on. " Honestly, I don't expect you guys to remember."

I took my locket off and threw it to her. " Here. This'll explain why I really don't see the big deal around him."

Rosa took it and blinked. " Wait... These are all pictures with Red.... And Ash!"

I nodded, yawning and stretching. " Keep guessing, Rosa. You're almost there...."

Rosa blinked. " Wait.... You're his sister?!"

I looked at her. " Yeah. So?"

Rosa squealed. " How come you never told me?"

" I did."

Then I furrowed my brow. " Wait, did I?"

I looked at Pikachu, who was on my shoulder. " Remind me, buddy."

Pikachu shook her head.

" ... Oh. Oh well."

I handed Red his hat, picked mine up, and went back to Bellis and Rosa, who were discussing Red.

Blue, meanwhile, was having his own conversation with Red

" Last night, it happened again." Blue said, his voice low. " Red, one day or another you know you're gonna have to tell her to stop overthinking it. When I asked her right now if she was ready, after pulling an all nighter, she said she wasn't ready."

Red grunted. " ... .... ....?"

Blue sighed, rubbing his hair. " I don't know, Red. See, she's overthinking it now too!"

Indeed I was.

I was deep in thought, thinking about the battle between Cynthia

I sighed. " Pikachu, should we train some more?"

" Pika?"

".... I don't know. I... I don't know at this point!"

And with that I ran back to Bellis 's lab.

Blue sighed. " Come on, Red. Let's go save your sister from her own mind."

Once again I found myself sipping on some lemonade and watching the fish swim around.

" .... You know, Pikachu, sometimes I think Blue's angry at me. And Red."

Pikachu tilted her head. " Pi?"

I sighed. " I mean think about it. Blue's always smiling, but that smile could be hiding his anger towards me. And then there's Red. No one except a few people can understand, but even I sometimes don't get it."

I looked at my fingers. " .... I just want to be loved. That's all I've ever wanted. For Red to just one day hug me, and tell me just how much he cares for me."

Tears were falling now, and I took a sharp break, trembling.

" Because no matter how many times Blue says it I can't bring myself to believe it. How can I?"

I buried my head in my arms and sniffed quietly.

" Why are you crying again?"

I flinched at the voice, lifting my head just enough to see Blue and Red standing there. Blue had his arms crossed, his usual confident smirk replaced with something softer. Red, meanwhile, just watched me, his eyes unreadable as always.

I quickly wiped my tears away. "I—I'm not crying."

Blue sighed and sat down next to me, leaning back on the chair. "Mia, come on. You always do this. You overthink, spiral, and then you shut us out. What’s going on this time?"

I hesitated, glancing at Red, who still hadn't moved. His expression didn’t change, but his eyes held something… concerned? Worried? I could never tell with him.

I bit my lip. "I just… I keep thinking that maybe you are mad at me."

Blue blinked. "What? Me? Mad? At you?"

I swallowed. "You always act so confident, but what if you're just pretending? What if deep down, you resent me? What if Red does too? I mean, he never says anything. What if he just tolerates me because we're family?"

Blue's jaw dropped. "Mia. Seriously?"

I looked away. "I just… I don’t know. I just want to know I’m loved, you know? Like, really know. And no matter how many times you say it, I can't make myself believe it."

There was silence. Then I heard movement.

Red was in front of me now. He knelt down so we were eye level.

I hesitated. "Red—?"

Then, without a word, he pulled me into a hug. A tight, warm, real hug.

My breath hitched.

Red didn’t speak—he never did—but this? This said everything.

I gripped his jacket, squeezing my eyes shut as fresh tears fell.

Blue huffed, shaking his head with a small smile. "You really are an idiot sometimes, Mia. But at least now you get it."

Red didn’t let go. He just held me. And for the first time in forever, I believed it.

I was loved.