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Cami had just gotten out of the shower and gotten dressed. On her days off she gladly slept in and took her time to enjoy her day since it was a day of rest. Today though, she was starving and she was thinking if she acted cute enough around Nikolaj he would cave in and take her on a cute little lunch date. [break][break]

She was finishing putting her hair in a braid as walked barefoot into the kitchen. Her feet padded softly against the wood floor as she looked around for her earrings that she had on the other day. "Baby, have you seen my earrings?" She said with a frown as she looked around. "The cute ones with the sapphire stone you got me?" she said as she continued to ruffle through their things in search for her jewelry. [break][break]

After a moment when Kolya hadn't responded she looked up for a moment. "Kolya?" she called out to him again but he still made no move to acknowledge her. With a frown she puffed out her cheeks in a pout. Nikolaj rarely ignored her so she assumed he was in the middle of something. Still though, shouldn't his wife in need be more important?[break][break]

Leaving her searching duties to the side for now she closed the distance between herself and her husband as she approached him from behind. As she got closer she reached out with her hands to cop a feel of his butt before pressing herself closer to him. "This is your punishment for ignoring me." she said with a pout as she soon wrapped her arms around him. "What's wrong?"
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It seemed her approach finally got her husbands attention, but when she received it she noticed that something was wrong. He turned to embrace her before gently planting a kiss on above her brow. But when she looked at his facial expression she could tell he was troubled. Suddenly her playful mood was replaced by a more concerned and serious one as she waited for him to answer her question. What's Wrong?[break][break]

"I just got off the phone with Dad," Kolya responded after a moment. This caused Cami to raise an eyebrow in confusion. For as long as she'd known Nikolaj he didn't have a good relationship with his father. For what purpose would he be calling out of the blue suddenly. "He called to check that Sasky had arrived safely and was settled in."[break][break]

Cami's frown deepened but she nodded her head in understanding. That was the other shitty part. Despite Evgeni being a total ass to his own flesh and blood son, he was apparently a doting grandfather. Camila hadn't resisted when Saskia had mentioned going back to her parent's homeland to study. She even permitted that she could be in contact with her grandfather, though she did protest a bit. How could he continue to be an ass to his only son yet treat his granddaughter with delicacy?[break][break]

Well, at least he had a small decent bone in his body to do that much. Camila wouldn't have allowed such treatment of her daughter on top of how he treated her husband. It seems the strange news didn't end there, "He also let me know that James died recently. His funeral was a couple of weeks ago." Camila's eyes were wide as she stared up at her husband in disbelief.[break][break]

She knew James was Kolya's friend from their days in Sinnoh. To be more specific James was a friend he made when Kolya was still a member of Team Rocket. She could remember all the stories Kolya would tell her about their escapades. Some of them sounding so outlandish that it almost seemed like it was straight out of a movie script. "Ah." Cami breathed as she lowered her gaze to the floor. "W-What happened? Did he say?" she asked as she turned her gaze back towards him. She took his hand and led him to the kitchen table so they could sit and talk.
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It was clear Nikolaj was still quite shaken up, understandably so. Even Camila couldn't quite believe it. It didn't seem real, almost like it was some bad nightmare that they hadn't woken up from. When she thought about James she thought about when she'd met both James and Nikolaj through her work back in Sinnoh.[break][break]

She thought about how she would always chastise him for coming into her clinic with some new injury every other day because of his recklessness. Camila's brow creased as her frown deepened. In her mind, she'd always thought of James and Nikolaj as invincible. Of course, she knew they weren't. She was a doctor after all, she'd seen almost everything in her line of work. But those two were some of the strongest people she knew so this was...hard.[break][break]

She could only imagine what this was like for her husband.[break][break]

"Lung cancer," Kolya replied after settling into his seat. "Fuck." Camila breathed. Cancer was a bitch, this she knew very well. In her line of work, Doctors would do their best to care for their patients but sometimes...sometimes you lost them and that was never easy. Even after twenty plus years of working in medicine.[break][break]

Cami would like to think she knew her husband pretty well at this point. And considering she was concerned she was more hyper-focused on his subtle movements and body language now more than ever. She noticed his eyes drift to the cabinet where he stashed his cigars. She could understand his thought process immediately.[break][break]

"Hey." she said softly as she stood closer to him and took his face in her hands. "Look at me." she said softly as he pulled his head up gently to look at her. "I've got you." she said firmly as she softly caressed his face. "And you know how careful we're being." she said as her gaze softened on him. "You'll be okay." she said as she pulled him in close to her chest and hugged him.[break][break]

"I'm sorry." she mumbled softly into his hair as she embraced him. Her sorry wouldn't bring James back. If she was honest, part of her felt guilty even though she knew this wasn't her fault. But as a Doctor she wanted to save everyone. She'd worked so hard to study medicine to prevent her friends and loved ones from suffering and she still wasn't good enough. "I'm so sorry."
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Despite the guilt she felt over this, as ridiculous as that might be, and the emptiness from the sudden loss, that was all that Camila could bring herself to feel in the moment. She wasn't that close to James if she was being honest. The extent of their relationship was straight business. [break][break]

Outside of seeing him at the clinic to patch him up, she didn't have much interaction with him. He was Kolya's friend after all. And above that the man was dangerous. She wasn't in the habit of hanging around dangerous men. Putting the fact that she married one aside. Still, whatever Kolya was feeling right now Cami knew she needed to support him through it. She was sure this was quite jarring to say the least.[break][break]

Camila didn't say much, instead just offering a comforting embrace as she rhythmically ran her fingers gently through Nikolaj's hair. "That's not all," Kolya spoke, his voice piercing through the silence that had enveloped them. He lifted his head to look up at Cami while she shifted to gently caress his face instead. All the while giving him her undivided attention. [break][break]

"James' sons are here in Hoenn. Plural. I didn't know he had more than one." Cami's brow creased as steel blue pools stared down at her husband. "More than one? And here? Of all places?" she echoed before her mouth pressed in a firm line. If she was honest, Camila wasn't too thrilled to know that more and more pieces of the life they had strategically left behind in Sinnoh was now following them here in their new home.[break][break]

She felt threatened enough with Rocket on her back desiring her husband's services. She was doing everything in her power to placate them all while keeping secrets from her beloved. It tore her up inside. And now this. Her frown deepened as she thought about their daughter returning home. With her return Camila's resolve to protect her loved ones was strengthened. So now there was only one question on her mind. "What now? What does this mean?" she asked after a long pause.
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"Now nothing," Kolya responded curtly. Camila felt her jaw tighten but she said nothing. Her husband gently nudged her to the side and she obliged as she watched him now rise to his feet. "So what if James' sons are here in Hoenn? It doesn't mean anything for us. They don't know we're here or even who we are."[break][break]

That might be true for now, but if living in Hoenn for the past twenty years had taught her anything it was that the only constant in life was change. Here in this region things could change in a moment, in a fraction of a second. Sure they might be fine now but for how long? Especially considering the position Camila was in. [break][break]

Her lips pressed into an even firmer line as she cast her gaze down to the floor. Her hands balled into fists so tightly at her side that her knuckles turned white. She knew this, but the concern and fear where still there. And she couldn't tell her husband about it. "It's not..." Camila muttered softly before taking Kolya's place sitting at the table. [break][break]

She felt a headache coming on as she bent over and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm afraid it's not that simple." Camila was reminded of the initial fear she felt when she found out she was pregnant. Their past wasn't anything to play with. She'd worked so hard to try and heal and overcome the scars that her past had left her with. But as she sat her with all those feelings rushing back to her, she couldn't help but feel all the progress she thought she made was barely any progress made at all.
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She'd slipped up. [break][break]

In her worry and fear she'd made a mistake. Spoke too much that was on her mind. Of course it would draw attention to her. She sighed and ran her fingers through her orange locks. She didn't like actively lying to Nikolaj like this. It made her feel dirty. Besides, she seen what a lack of trust could do in a relationship, she didn't want that for her self. [break][break]

Camila had long since promised that she'd be better. Better than her. Stronger too. That being said, her strength would come into focus when she protected her family. Squeezing her hands into fists she looked down at her lap. "Maybe we'll be okay for now." she started, refusing to meet her husbands gaze. [break][break]

"But how long will we have that peace? You've seen the sort of things that happen in this region. It's full of uncertainty. Anything could happen at any time. You and I know that better than anyone." she was referencing how they had to cope with their impending doom when the meteor had been about to strike.[break][break]

Camila shakily clasped her hands together. "I thought I was fine. I thought our new life here filled with happy memories would make me forget about my past but...it's still there. It never left. We just ran from it but it's still a problem left unresolved and I can't help but to worry..." she trailed off. [break][break]

All this was true. Camila was still often plagued by nightmares from her past that always seemed to haunt her. Not wanting to draw attention to herself or to cause Nikolaj to worry. Ever since she'd joined Rocket she'd been suffering from these restless nights. And while she could reveal the entire truth she could relay a part. [break][break]

"I'm sorry." she whispered.
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"Unresolved? What's been left unresolved?" Her husband asked her and Camila froze. How was she continuing to put her foot in her mouth like this? Camila bit her lip and lowered her head. She'd really done it now. She was an idiot. And now she was going to be forced to tell even more lies than when she had started. [break][break]

Well, she could always tell the truth, but she wasn't quite ready to deal with Kolya's potential outrage. Besides, he had enough on his plate for today and here she was making things about her. She was despicable. "Do you want to talk about what's worrying you?" Kolya gently prodded. [break][break]

He was concerned and he was trying to help but it only made his wife feel even guiltier for what she was about to do. Cami let out a heavy sigh as she picked at her nails. "I didn't want to make this about me...you've been through enough..." she said as she tightened her grip on her hands. "You lost a friend."[break][break]

Cami continued before sighing once more, as if she was saying she had no choice but to finally come clean. "Before...the dome went up I got a funny message while at work." she started. Nikolaj already knew about Cami's past. How her father's death was what prompted her to study medicine. [break][break]

The steady decline of her mother's mental health before she fell to drugs, prostitution, and alcohol. Her pimp and drug dealer becoming her lover. Her bringing him in their home and turning Camila's life into a living hell. Her mother turning a blind eye to the abuse until her daughter stopped coming home because she couldn't stand how he looked at her.[break][break]

Finally, the breaking point. The final fight she had with her mother when she caught her mother stealing from her. Her mother's boyfriend coming home inebriated and joining in. Her mother and boyfriend getting into it before an accident broke out and ruined everything. The fire destroyed everything that was left of their house and the short but pleasant memories she had with her mother and father. All it left behind in it's wake were ashes and the burnt corpses of her mother and boyfriend.[break][break]

Her hesitation proved how there was still trauma there as her body began to tremble slightly. "J-Jamie....my mother's boyfriend." she spoke the name as she stared down at their tiled kitchen floor. "Jamie had a brother who was also in the business. He wasn't as...aggressive as Jamie but he was no better. He was...closer to my age. And he never hid his interest in me." she continued. [break][break]

"After my mother and Jamie's death, word on the street was that he was looking for me. You know, since I was the only one that made it out of that. That's why I needed to move away from my hometown. It's why I chose to start my clinic somewhere else. Why I got to meet you in the first place." She took a shaky breath and ran her fingers through her hair.[break][break]

"It would seem after all these years he still holds a grudge. Because the message I got was from him. I don't know how he found out about me, about where I work here. But he got ahold of me at my workplace. It must mean he's allied with powerful people and the two strongest forces in Sinnoh happen to be the Syndicate and Rocket."[break][break]

Cami slowly lifted her gaze to her husbands. "A-and...I didn't tell you because I didn't want to worry you. Besides, the dome went up quickly after that and we had bigger concerns. I quickly forgot about it until now." She lowered her head again looking guilty. White lies were lies nonetheless.
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