FicWad

Kabir clings desperately onto the recollected name of his wife. He feels fear rising in the pit of his core as his very existence continues to waver, despite his best efforts, ever threatening to tear him away. The man now finds that he doesn't want to be sucked into the abyss. He would instead rather continue recalling sweet reminders of his time spent with the girl.

A new memory floods into his mind. One of a young boy and girl wandering through an unknown stretch of land. He recognizes the laughing voice as Sashi's and begins to pull himself towards the noise eagerly, like a Venomoth to an open flame.

Two teenagers walk along an open path. Though the boy cannot see it, he knows the sides of the road remain clear of trees or bushes as he feels an unhindered touch of a gentle breeze brush along his face. The sun overhead was warm and strong. They were hot and tired from their travels, but the two children were happy.

Tinsel, his Sylveon, had a ribbon wrapped around his wrist, guiding the boy around holes and rocks on the ground, expertly navigating the blind child away from small debris that could cause him to trip.

The girl beside him held a recently caught Skitty in her arms. He could hear it chirping happily as the two made their way down the path.

"I have a lot of training to do with this little one," the girl exclaimed with a giggle.

Sashi had found the creature in the forest just behind them, and after battling with it, using her old Ninetales, Garbee, She had captured it with a Heal Ball, commenting that the ball would heal the Pokémon after the first battle since they still had a long journey before the next Pokémon Center.

Kabir wasn't as knowledgeable about all the different types of capture devices that were available for Trainers, as all of them felt the same to him unless marked otherwise.

Thankfully, the young girl was the one who kept track of what balls to use in what situations. After some discussion with him, she had even begun to etch small marks into his so that he would be able to tell them apart for his own creatures that he caught.

"Okay, little Skitty!" Sashi exclaimed with a laugh, halting her shuffling feet and standing still. "I need you to get into this ball. Now, return!"

He heard the mechanical whir as the girl tried and failed to call back her new creature. There was the sound of fur smacking the back of his friend, then a patter of feet landing farther away. The girl stumbled to her knees before him but swiftly stood, uninjured and grumping a little. The creature growled teasingly.

"No! Bad Pokémon! I am your Trainer now, so you have to obey me. Get inside the ball!" Sashi stamped her feet in frustration with each call she made. "Return! Return! Return!"

Each recall failed, though, and he listened with an amused smile as he heard the mischievous cat Pokémon bounce around the path, easily avoiding the girl's attempts.

"Sounds like you've found yourself a very jumpy Pokémon," Kabir called, laughing at the noises before him, unable to stop his amusement from showing.

The girl finally stops trying to return her new Pokémon, huffing in exert, and begins to giggle with her friend. "I think you're correct, Kabir. "Alright, little Skitty, you win. I won't put you inside the ball for now, but you will eventually have to go in."

"How about we pick out a name for it." The blind child says as he begins to shuffle his feet forward again. Sashi patters back up to his side and walks on his right, the small cat's paws bounding next to them and then away as it starts exploring, sniffing loudly at the ground before them.

"You know, I think Hop would be a good name," She exclaims after some careful consideration. "As you said, it's jumpy. Hey Skitty! What do you think? Would you like it if I started calling you Hop?"

"Nya!" Came an eager reply as the cat pattered close and happily purred at her.

"You like it. Hooray! From now on, I shall call you- hang on, what's that?" The child cuts her celebration off on a suddenly surprised note. He feels her hand grab his arm as she gently pushes herself slightly in front of him.

The young boy reaches a hand to his side and feels the PokeBalls on his belt, swiftly locating Rebel, his Rapidash, by the three dots in the shape of a triangle, etched on by his travel companion.

Before Kabir can ask the girl what she sees, he feels a rush of powerful wings before him. Two sets of claws land on the rough ground, and a sharp beak pokes at his stomach eagerly, searching. He tries to push the head away, but it continues its hunt. He flashes a feeling of irritation at the bird before him and feels the warm breath on his stomach draw back in surprise.

"Oh, you have a note on your leg," Sashi says in curiosity, her own fear diminishing swiftly at the clearly unthreatening new arrivals. "Is that for us?" She asks as he feels the small girl leave his side, heading towards the two bird Pokémon before them.

The girl stands in silence for a while as the blind child hears her remove a letter from the second beast and then reads the words on the note to herself. He absently pulls a treat out of a pocket and feeds it to the large Pokémon before him.

"No," She whimpers.

"Sashi? What is it?" He asks as fear begins to bubble in his stomach.

"Kabir, it's your father." The girl whispers.

The two Fearow that were sent make swift work of flying the children back to an airport, where they catch a plane to Johto. The journey back seemed to take a lifetime and was only enhanced by the silence that followed them. He couldn't bring himself to speak, and his friend was lost for words, so they remained in a somber stillness. Even the lively new Skitty, Hop, seemed to understand the need for quiet.

Only one voice broke the hush as they finally were released from the plane and heading into the terminal in Johto.

"Kabir, Sashi," A voice cried out over the muffled din of the noisy airport. "Over here, you, two." It was the voice of Heena, Sashi's mother, calling out in a fret. The woman's footsteps rushed over to them, and he felt a hand grasp his shoulder, pulling him and the young girl beside him into a tight squeezing hug. Neither child said a word, but he felt his friend choke out a small sob.

"Oh, Kabir, sweetie, I'm so sorry. It all happened so fast. I wish we could have known sooner, but by the time we received your message that you were on your way, he was already gone." She said, her voice shaking heavily, her own warm tears falling gently onto his shoulder.

When they finally made it to Kabir's home, he and the girl had cried their eyes dry, and he now stood numbly as somber people hugged him, kissed his forehead, and apologized to him for the unfortunate circumstance.

He hated this. He despised the sound of their voices. The boy wanted only to run away and hide, but his body was weak from his sadness, and he knew it would take more effort than he had even to begin an escape. So instead, he stood silent, Sashi staying by his side.

Finally, after an eternity of suffering the voices and sympathies of people he couldn't bring himself to recognize, only Kabir, Sashi, and one other woman remained in the now hushed home that used to be his father's.

The woman who remained was his Step-Mother. A couple of years after Kabir's discovery of his psychic powers, the Doctor, who had helped him learn to control them, Melanie Gomez, had married his father.

Kabir didn't mind the Doctor at all. She was kind to him. She understood exactly what he was going through, and when she joined his family, he found it easy to call her mother, as she had taken to the role even before the wedding. Most importantly, though, she never treated him differently for his lack of sight.

If he did something he knew was wrong, Mel would reprimand him no differently than Sashi's parents would treat her for misbehavior. Like the time he failed a test because he simply hadn't felt like studying for it. She scolded and punished him. He wasn't allowed to play with Sashi for the weekend but instead was forced to stay inside and write an apology letter to the teacher and plead for a second chance on the test.

Now she sat on the couch before him, her own soft sniffles of sorrow echoing through the quiet house.

Kabir sat across from the woman, Sashi's side pressed against him, and he listened, a sad, niggling, and very worrisome thought jumping about in his mind.

"Mel," he whispered the name of the woman, fearful of calling her mother for the response he was sure his answer would receive. "Will you leave?"

There was a pause as the woman went silent. Sashi stiffened beside him, her own worry mounting and pushing into his exposed mind. He wasn't working at controlling his powers now, and he was suffering the headache and exposure to others' emotions as punishment for his negligence.

The only mind he could never feel the emotions of was Mel. If she didn't want him knowing her thoughts, even if he pried, she could easily keep him out. Now he found himself trying to probe her mind as the seconds ticked on.

"Kabir, why would I leave?" Mel asked in a hush before him.

"Because Father is-" he choked on the words. "Father is gone now. So what do you have to stay for?"

"You," she answered with immediate certainty. She pushed a convicted emotion towards the young teen, encouraging and without any hint of hesitation. "When I married your father, I agreed to take you in as my own son. Circumstances aside, I made a promise to always care for you as well. And I made that promise to both your father and you. I'm never leaving. I'm staying put, with you and your sisters as well."

The woman had risen to her feet while she spoke and sat on her knees in front of the worried boy. Her arms wrapped around Kabir's shoulders as she pulled him in for a hug. For the first time since the news of his father's passing, he felt truly comforted by the arms holding him.

The woman was Doctor Melanie Gomez. His Mother.