*Chapter 44: Vines

Looker panicked as I was crying the entire time while still sitting on the ground. This is my second physical touch with someone and they remembered so quickly... Looker remembered me, but he was looking at me as if I was someone else.

"C-Camilla..?" Looker still stared at me in shock instead of helping. I got my first aid kit out and started cleaning the scraps I had on the palms of my hands "Camilla" he kneeled down "How is this possible..? You're so different" I frowned at him staring at my eyes "This isn't the Camilla I remembered"

"Yeah... I know" I put a bandaid on my hands and shakily sat up "You remembered me..."

"I can't believe I've forgotten after making you a top priority" he looked at all the cops watching us. I flinched at all the eyes and went to hide behind him "You're scared?" I gulped.

"I'm not the same girl I was a year ago, Looker..." he slowly nodded and turned to everyone.

"Everyone. This is someone very important! Show some respect! Many of you were rookies last year, and this very girl was the reason why you got your jobs. Her name is Camilla!" everyone looked at each other surprised before standing straight and bowed to me. I panicked and waved my hands.

"N-No! You don't have to do that- Whoa!" The ground started shaking.

"Be careful everyone! Another vine might grow!" Looker shouted.

"But they only grow at night under a full moon!" One of the officers said.

"It's not full yet! And it's daylight!" Another said. Looker turned to me.

"Come on. We need to get you to safety-" before we could grab each other's hand, the ground under me lifted me in the air and grew a vine that transported me high up in the sky "Camilla!" Looker shouted. I hung on for dear life until the vine stopped growing. I shakily looked down and gasped at how high I was! Everybody looks like marbles!

"Camilla! Are you alright!?" Looker shouted at me.

"Y-Yes!" I shouted as loud as I could.

"Jump!" I flinched as he held his arms up to catch me "come on! I've seen you jump from high places like this!" I shook my head "Why not?! You were the one that worried me after doing something like that!"

"I can't, Looker!" I frowned "It's just not the same! I'm not going to jump!" I saw him lower his arms "I'm not the same person a year ago... I'm weak now!" I looked at my damaged hands "I'm.. weak now" I cupped my face and leaned away from the fall "How can I even face everyone like this..? They know me, but they don't know this me. I don't even know this me... I'm pathetic"

"You are not pathetic" I froze and slowly turned around to see a pink Pokémon watching me from the other side of the tree. The feathers on my dream catcher started glowing. I walked over to stand before it's majestic glow I know I've felt before "Camilla... You are not pathetic"

"You are..?" she nodded.

"I am known as the full moon goddess, and I have been watching over you for a very long time. The new moon god had heard your desperate cry when you were a child and lend you a hand. You've grown to get use to the strength it provided you, but what you lived with isn't who you are. It might've made you scary and taunting, but you were always more than that... and that's why I've always watched over you"

"Moon Goddess..." I looked through my Pokédex and was surprised that I got a scan "Cresselia..." below her information was Darkrai, which I didn't see before "You've watched over me... Why couldn't you have saved me before?"

"I could only do so much. My feathers have reached you from a different source, and it was exactly what you needed. I couldn't find a way to get near without Darkrai trying to invade, so all I could do was watch. That dream catcher may just be the one thing that saved you" I hugged my dream catcher "You have met very kind people... They deserve to know this part of you. A part of you that showered them with love and affection. You are a beautiful young woman" I started to cry again "Fear not... I trust you can find everyone again. There's many people you've met along your journey, but you must find the most important. I will guide you" she floated up to me "Allow me to join you on this journey" I gasped and held my heart.

"You want to follow me..?" She nodded and turned into light before floating into my dream catcher. I took it in my hands, feeling my strength coming back.

"I will hold onto you from this catcher for as long as possible until you regained your true strength back"

"I... I'm not worthy. I did a lot of things in my life. I should had just stopped them, but I let that darkness take over me. My first trigger was murdering my dad... my second trigger was being held against my will and taking my freedom... and the third trigger was sexual harassment in Sinnoh. Anytime I see someone get hurt, take away my freedom, or touch me wrong, I couldn't help but do something about it. These triggers are self including, but my first trigger made me want to protect those I loved. I could had handled it differently... And knowing Franco has hurt people and taken young girls from their freedom and touch them inappropriately... I did what I did, and I liked it" I cupped my face.

"All this you are saying is your way of self defense, whether it was for you or someone else. The amount of pressure you put yourself to do what you think you were set out to do had made Darkrai use that power against you and use it to express out your feelings. Those feelings were a trigger, and Darkrai pulled it. You were able to take care of the mess. You took care of that organization without Darkrai until the very end when it separated Zekrom from Kyurem. That punishment you received was used against you and hurt the ones you loved right in front of your eyes. It was not Darkrai's power that saved them. You saved them by working with your own hands and treated their wounds. I know you can do this. Focus on yourself by regaining your strength and find those you care about most" I nodded and hugged myself, feeling warm and appreciated, even after so much things I went through.

"Yo!" I made a weird noise from the surprise voice and looked over at Benga riding his Latios "You seem to have gotten yourself in a high situation" he offered his hand "The cops down there are trying their best to get some help, so I figured to make myself known. I don't care if I get in trouble for trespassing. I'm not gonna leave a girl up here all scared" I walked over to him and looked at Latios looking at me. It nodded to me, accepting that I can get on its back and get back down.

I took Benga's hand and was quick to get back on ground level where the cops were coming over to make sure I was okay "Y-Yes..!" I looked at them all, not seeing Nate part of them "I'm fine... Thank you for your concern!" I smiled to them. Their faces went red for some reason as Looker moved pass them to make sure I was okay.

"Camilla. You alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine" I smiled and turned to Benga, who wasn't in sight anymore. He must've flew away "I'm sorry..." I looked down "I shouldn't have came here. I knew it was dangerous, but I couldn't help myself" Looker came down to hug me "Looker?"

"You really aren't the girl I once knew, but that's okay. Even if you were a brat before, you were always helpful and wanted the best for everyone" I started tearing up again "I'm sorry I forgotten you" I quickly hugged him back.

"N-No... It's okay. I'm sorry for leaving" I couldn't contain my crying and ended up sobbing so hard to the point where it made everyone worry. I felt so scared on that tree growing and didn't expect to be respected by anyone, especially Looker. He said my name proud and only acknowledged me as the one that helped everyone get their jobs.

With this much respect, many of the cops came to comfort me and offer me some candy like I was a little kid. I calmed my crying and just laughed with them. I was now softly crying, not because I was scared anymore, but I felt happy I wasn't seen as scary anymore.

I had a bunch of candy the cops had on them for some reason and couldn't hold anymore "Thank you, everyone" I smiled at them all "This makes me very happy!" Looker leaned down to me.

"Are you still not allowed to have sugar?" I sweatdropped, forgetting that I get hyper and he was the one that made that rule for me.

"I-I think I'll be fine" I nervously laughed and looked around the destroyed city slowly turning into a forest "What's happened here..?"

"Since a few years ago, we had reports that grass and tree vines were popping out of the cement and taking claim of some areas in back alleys. They were removed, but they kept coming back. The streets were never repaired much, so nature broke free. As of last year, more and more kept appearing, but only those who lived here long enough to notice. As summer was ending last year, it got out of control... Scientist are still studying this phenomenal, and they believe that they only grow under a full moon at night, which is often in the Unova region" I gasped amazed "It's gotten so bad that we evacuated the city for people's safety. This also started getting bad when a mafia mayor of this city was killed" I looked down "How he was killed, I'm not sure..."

"Me..." he looked at me "I... I killed him, Looker" I looked down "If I want to start this life right, I have to come and tell you the truth. You know of my past crimes. I know I made rules to keep me out of trouble, but I heard so much from this man personally... I'm sorry" I bowed "I... I don't want to get in trouble, but I did it to... Protect" I gave him my wrist "I want to start over after I tried... killing myself" I had to lie to keep away Darkrai from being the reason for everything "After a whole year, I failed. I want to be better... I'm not strong anymore, and I get nervous easily. I still want to protect others, but I'm incapable. I didn't have to tell you this, but it only feels right. Looker... I trust your decision" I was expected my wrist to be cuffed, but instead a hand was placed on my head. I looked up at Looker frowning at me.

"That's right... I actually forgot about your past. You've killed under self defense, that's why you were never arrested. If you're being honest with me now, what was the reason you encountered this man?" I looked down, not wanting to give too much away.

"I was at a party... And I was touched where I didn't want to be touched. That was my trigger, despite him telling me personally what he's done in life, I killed him from that trigger. Don't ask how we spoke... It just happened" he nodded and messed up my hair "H-Hey!"

"I won't even take it under anything. You served justice in those you've killed. Unova is a safer place after all your hard work. It's fine. No one has to know" I started crying again "Don't cry again. It's so unlike you" he chuckled.

"Okay..." I wiped my tears "Oh... Have you been keeping an eye on my family like I asked?" He looked at his Xtransceiver.

"I had forgotten the reason why I was looking after them, but I did it because I knew I had to. Your mom is well, and your sister is attending a university on the other side of Unova" I put my hands together, happy to hear it "It's summer vacation, which means she'll be going home soon" he sighed "I can't believe I forgot the reason why I was looking after them. Why did I just remember that you asked me too?" I giggled.

"Thank you. That means the world to me" he nodded "S-So..." I played with my hands nervously "H-How has Nate been?"

"Ah" he chuckled "That's right. You and Nate had been traveling for almost an entire year together as your guard. Well, if you really want to know, he's one of my best cops" I gasped happily.

"That's so great! I'm so happy!" He nodded "I...I'm too nervous to meet him after I left"

"Well, you should meet him. He just got off the clock to go to Nimbasa city" I nodded "You know... Ever since you broke our contract, Nate just hasn't been the same, really" I was confused "He's always dazed and takes his work too seriously. He works long hours and doesn't give himself time to take a break. When there's no work, he just sits on his own while staring at a picture"

"A picture?"

"I think one of those pictures you take at a park or something" I cupped my mouth. The pictures... I totally forgotten about them! "He showed it to me before, but even he doesn't know who that person was. She looked like Rosa, but it was too different and blurry. When he sticks his mind on something, he won't forget about it" is there a chance that Nate still remembers me without a face to face encounter..? No... That's not possible.

"I... I think I'm going to go and find him" he nodded. 

"Good luck" I put all my candy away and ran out the city "Be careful with growing vines!" Looker said. I waved and kept on running without a break. With this new strength, I felt stronger and no longer flimsy. Thanks to Cresselia giving me her power, I should take the time to rebuild my own before she's done helping me.

I made it to Skyarrow bridge, seeing nothing too different about it. This reminds me a lot of the time when I was little and leaving home all on my own. I traveled through the same path I was traveling through and even pass Black City. This bridge was where I told Nate about that story.

Melanie appeared right in front of me while I was walking through it. She was staring at the view "Unova sure is beautiful..." she sighed "I'm actually glad I'm able to see it like this. It's so peaceful now" she turned to smile at me "Hey, Camie?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think you can ever live with the burden of possibly never being able to see your other half again?" I frowned "You got to live, even when you thought you were going to die. Even if I didn't get to live life, I was fortunate enough to have people I love surround me just like you, but I can't come back..." she looked down "I told you I'll follow you until you need me, but I can't be with you forever. My soul remains here because I have unfinished business" she held her heart "I died before I could tell Hilda something... If it's not too much to ask, when you see her again, repeat what I have to say to give a message I have for her"

"Melanie... You don't have to ask me that. Of course I will do this" she frowned "When I see my family again... When we are united, I will deliver your message under your words" I held my heart "It might take awhile though..." she smiled and shook her head.

"I don't care. I've been patient for this long, waiting for you to have the ability to see me again. I cannot leave until I tell her this" she wiped her tears away and vanished again. I smiled and continued to run the long bridge for a long while until I eventually made it to Nimbasa City.

"I'm here..." I breath heavily and looked around "What should I do now? Should I look for Nate, or should I just go home?" I held my fast beating heart "Will it be too soon to face him?" I held my necklace "I need to think of my family first... That has to wait" Rotom escaped my Xtransceiver and flew off "Rotom! Where are you going?!" I chased after it across the city until it entered an arcade "No! Stop!" It started controlling the machines and glitching everything "What are you doing?!"

"Hey you! Are you responsible for all this?!" A employee yelled at me. Rotom came back to my Xtransceiver as the employee started yelling at my face. I didn't know how to respond to anything, so I took it as it was and let him yell at me until someone else spoke.

"What seems to be the problem here?"

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