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DESIREE BLOOMS

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Standing there in the middle of this pristine place, clutching her phone awkwardly as she waited for Desiree to reply, Yuina looked down to the two small cats that she had with her, they were far from perturbed about being here in such a nice place themselves, though they could perhaps do without the cold marble floors.[break]
Just when she could swear she was in the incorrect place, Desiree replied and said she'd be right down? So... This was a place where people lived? It was incredible, and... So, so fancy. It wasn't a moment more before Yuina heard the ding of an elevator, but she had little opportunity to locate the opening before she heard Desiree's sing song voice call out her name, and then she was hit with all of the love and affection that Desiree could give her.[break][break]
While Yuina smiled, glad to be in the right place, and over joyed to see Desiree, she recoiled a bit at the affectionate assault, her left shoulder only just out of the sling she was having to wear for a little while.[break]
"Ow, ow easy haha, I'm still really sore," she laughed, taking Desiree's embrace on her right side then and wrapping her arm around the pinkette tightly. It was so good to see her, and know that... they should be safe tonight and nothing was going to happen. What a relief.[break][break]
"No, yeah, I mean getting here was fine I just... This place? I could swear it was an office building," she joked lightly, taking Desiree's hand as they walked together towards the elevator, and she smiled at the shimmering pink canine that had followed down with her. The two felines meowed and padded along the floor, coming up to either side of the glittering Pokemon, and while Pouncival rushed forward to hop into the elevator, Binx rubbed past the Ninetales with a flick of his tail before meeting the group in the lift. And then up they went![break][break]
"Well, at least I don't have to lie to you and say I've been fine and nothing exciting has been going on," Yuina returned softly, that part was a relief too. Not only was Desiree involved in the same things that she had been as of late, she also didn't have to hide her memory loss either.[break]
"It's been a lot, but, just one day at a time is all we can do. Have you felt better lately? The toxins are out of your system," she returned, having been closely keeping up with how Desiree was after being induced with such terrible poisons in the swamp, she couldn't imagine what kind of lasting effects or sickness could come from such an experience.

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DESIREE BLOOMS

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Going up the elevator and being led by Des, Yuina couldn't help but settle into an unfamiliar, but very welcomed sense of calm. She didn't have to hide anything from Desiree, she didn't have to pretend, it was the same kind of calm that she felt with John Sullivan, the only two people who knew what had happened to her. She didn't have to make up fake lies about her past, she didn't have to try and remember one place vs another to not get things mixed up in the web that she was drowning, and it just felt so relaxing to know that none of that mattered here. She was safe.[break][break]
"Oh Des I'm so glad, I still wish I would have known you were there... On the other side of the swamp, maybe together, you could have been spared that awful experience," Yuina sighed, she knew what was done was done, she couldn't go back and change what happened in the swamp and at least Desiree was alright, but she shouldn't have had to go through something so terrible... She didn't see Desiree in the midst of all the chaos, but if she had to endure anything like Aurelie Lefevre, the red head that had attacked her with that... Thing coming out of her chest, it would have been just terrible...[break]
"But as long as you're okay now, that's all that matters. Maybe because you were strong enough to break out of the hold, that meant your recovery time would be better too," she smiled then, moving into the open floorplan living space that Desiree called home.[break][break]
It was really something else, Yuina couldn't imagine living somewhere so lavish and elegant, the way the windows looked out to the city, that the entire place was absolutely perfect for Desiree down to the pink hues of the stain glass and the decorations that made the place so uniquely hers. And yet, this was nothing that would mar Yuina's view of Desiree, her kindness and her love for everyone around her didn't reflect this luxury at all, and that would never change Yuina's opinion.[break][break]
The two felines that trailed along with Yuina mewed at the invitation into the large tree meant just for the Pokemon, padding along and leaping into the fuzzy branches to find a comfy place to lounge about while Yuina moved with Desiree to the comfy cushions and the table that was laid out with all sorts of foods and snacks for them to enjoy. Desiree moved first to get comfortable with a blanket, cozying up into the cushions that welcomed her, and Yuina smiled as she too took up a part of the blanket and settled into the pink plush plethora of pillows.[break][break]
Over the time that everything had settled from the events they experienced, Yuina and Des did well to stay in touch and keep each other going through some of the more difficult days proceeding what had happened to them. In those, Yuina had mentioned what the most recent distortion had done to her... And she couldn't blame Desiree for wondering if anything new had happened. It was nice to not have to hold it all in though... Yuina wasn't sure she'd be able to harbor all of this by herself.[break][break]
"I... Still don't have any memories from before, but I've been getting glimpses, like day dreams every so often, of what that short life in Hisui was like," Yuina returned, the distortion hadn't been so kind, or was perhaps merciful in that way, who knows, but she had no recollection still of what her life was before being lost to time.[break]
"I remember forging Pokeballs, and how quiet the village was, and the tatami mat I slept on... I haven't been able to see any faces or hear any names yet though... I want to know if I'd met anyone from any of the books I've been reading up on," Yuina said thoughtfully, it was so nice to have memories, to have things to recall and reminisce on, even if she knew that she would probably never be able to go back to that far away place.

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DESIREE BLOOMS

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Nestled in now among the comfy pillows, cushions, blankets and other fluffy necessities for a night in, Yuina took up a cookie from the trays of goodies that Desiree had set out for their hang out, listening to Desiree lament about the things that had happened thus far... It was unfathomable, it really should be, in just such a short amount of time, only a couple of months, there were so many different things that tore into the region and were creating so much strife...[break]
They did both make it out okay though... From everything so far that they had faced, at least...[break][break]
"It's hard to wrap your head around that's for sure... Hoenn is a big region, but all of this stuff makes it feel so small, like no where is really safe," Yuina returned, and yet, it did all happen, it was all continuing to happen, and all they could do really was just keep on keeping on...[break][break]
Thinking back on the memories that had started to come to her from her time in Hisui, it still felt strange to actually have memories at all, after months of hitting a wall trying to think back on anything further than waking up in Petalburg City... Every time she tried to remember something, or think of anything before, it was like her subconscious ran into a shadow, an impenetrable blackness that was just... Nothing... But now, when she reached that space, it was filled with the sounds of wind rustling through that pink flower field, and the sound of Daikenki splashing around in the water, visions of the stream that ran so peacefully through the middle of the village...[break]
And then Desiree asked a question... One that Yuina hadn't considered before... Would she? The question made Yuina pause, it was such a thought...[break][break]
"I... I don't know? I mean, I don't even know how... or why I was there in the first place? I've been following distortions, since the swamp and... I'm still here still, I haven't gone back," Yuina spoke first, she didn't know why or how... Did certain conditions need to be met? Why is it that Hisuians haven't come through distortions before until Doug and his person did? Or have they and something happened to them from other distortions? Why has she been through other distortions and she didn't end up anywhere other than right where she was standing in Hoenn?[break][break]
"But... Maybe, I would... want to? I know it's not 'home', it's not where I'm from, but I don't have anything else that feels like it... And it's nice to feel like I have somewhere to look back on, even though I wasn't there for that long...," Yuina described, it was the only part of herself that didn't exist within these last couple of months in Hoenn, surely that's how people felt about their home region or their hometown when they went away somewhere else too?[break][break]
"I would be so afraid though... of forgetting again... of being erased again like I never existed in the first place...," she continued though, after a moment, her voice soft, distant, like she didn't want to say it out loud lest it happen all over again...[break][break]
"I... This life right now, with the friends I've made, with you Desiree... I wouldn't want this to go away... I'm just still afraid that one day, I won't have a choice..."

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DESIREE BLOOMS

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There was little that Yuina could do in that moment except let the quietness of the moment overtake her, her thoughts swirling and culminating into the very thing that caused her so much strife, every day... This life that she was living now, this life that she had built as Yuina Higashi... It was such a wonderful life, with all of the friends she had made, the things that she was doing... But... Was it her life to live at all? Was she supposed to be here? And what was going to happen if she wasn't supposed to be here, if all of this was some kind of cosmic mistake that would inevitably be corrected?[break][break]
That thought hung around her, surely it had to be true? Yuina Higashi was a lie, all of her was a lie and this wasn't her true life. Could she really expect to be able to continue in this life as this person without any recourse from who she truly was in the world? It could happen in so many ways, including forgetting this life now, as she forgot her life then, and just the thought... The thought of having this life torn, ripped away from her, but not knowing or remembering what she left behind... Should she feel that way about her past life? It was all so jumbled...[break][break]
Of all of the things that she was certain of, she was certain, for one reason or another, that her past life could not exist with this new life, and vice versa. She couldn't explain it, she didn't know why the feeling was so visceral when she truly did not know who she was before, but something inside of her just couldn't fight off the notion... That if the two ever collided, if her two lives somehow converged, she couldn't have both... What would she lose from her past life? Would one life be worth more to her than the other? She felt like Desiree was worth everything to her...[break][break]
Her angel spoke, of how cruel whatever force in the universe was for depriving Yuina of the choices that she could make in life, the ability to learn from who she was and grow more into who she is... And Yuina knew it to be true. Desiree herself was a shining, glittering example of what someone could draw from their past and how they could blossom into the most beautiful soul... Could she have the same grace? The same chance...?[break]
"You're the most beautiful example of that Desiree, your growth, your strength, in spite of it all...," Yuina spoke softly. Desiree was proof, living proof, that someone could move far beyond what their past may have intended for them...[break][break]
The more Desiree spoke of how cruel the universe had been to Yuina, tears began to sting at her eyes... She knew Desi meant every word, down to the letter, that she would fight against the hand the universe had dealt her... But did she deserve it? She couldn't possibly feel deserving of the insurmountable show of love that Desiree was giving her, reaching across the table and grasping her hand. Yuina held hers gently, almost tentatively, as though she were afraid to grip too tight... Someone like Desiree had to be too good to be true... Right? What had she done, that she was deserving of such love...[break][break]
Yuina was finding it hard to speak, how could she possibly find words to return Desiree bearing her soul and how much she cared for Yuina in that moment... And then... And then Desiree spoke her most true feelings...[break][break]
'...if there's a way, please don't do it...'[break][break]
Yuina's breath caught, tears stinging at her eyes... Did anyone care about her this much in her life before? It... seemed impossible....[break][break]
"Desi... I....," Yuina was stunned, tears dripping down from her eyes, and she did grip Desiree's hand tighter, she couldn't let go now, this felt so real... The universe wouldn't take this away from her...? Right?[break][break]
"If... If there was one person I would be afraid to lose the most... it's you... You've made this life feel like its real, like... I'm supposed to be here... no matter what kind of lies I've had to hide in...," Yuina spoke, she couldn't bear the thought of losing Desiree, she couldn't bear the thought of the kind of pain it would cause them both, to be apart, to be separated...[break][break]
"You're the one thing that does make me feel like I was supposed to be here... Even if I had to lose my life before... That who I am now... was who I was always meant to be...," Yuina struggled through soft tears, but she got her words out... The same words that Desiree spoke to her on that island, the same words that she held onto since then... She doubted herself many times, and had a lot of reasons to worry about what the future held but... Those words that Desiree gave her, that hope... those few words had been more valuable to Yuina than Desiree could have ever imagined.

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Had she not felt selfish in making such a request, it would have meant that her soul was no longer able to feel what it needed to feel to consider itself part of a natural human being. Hearing the hesitation in Yuina's voice, it stung, as did the harshness of the weedy concoction at the back of her throat and the constricting grasp of hands on hands; she wished not for control but for security, a safeguard, as she did not want to lose one of the few things that mattered above all in her heart. It was her biggest fear, as for all things considered, the universe consistently took and took and took thing after thing after thing.[break][break]

A tear fell from her eye, however, at the proclamation that the feeling of forbidding loss was a mutual one. But she felt that way, even after the secrets Desiree had confessed in whispers of hurt inside the thicket of pastel clouds at the resurfaced island's warfront? It was something difficult to fathom, even if the thoughts that she was beyond redemption were beginning to subside.[break][break]

"You've always been meant to be here with me," she sniffled, shakily twirling a strand of her brunette locks within her slender tattooed fingers, ".. and you've always been meant to be Ina.. a bird of flames risen from the ashes of its old self, shed from any mistakes it ever made.."[break][break]

Doubt in themselves was a mutual feeling between the two; cloaked in their mistakes and regrets, one that existed vibrantly and out there while the other remained tucked behind cosmic glass. It was a habit of hers to avoid taking the words she spoke to others she cared for and running with them on her own- perhaps that, one day, would be her biggest mistake in the slew of the cosmos. If only she could- but that was even harder than overcoming the grim veil, as she did not know if she could or could not trust the words that dazzled from her crimson lips.[break][break]

Especially as those lips, unconsentually, had been stained with the blood of the victim of a murder. Her murder. Placing the vase that she consumed her vicarious greens in the form of smoke through, she tearily nuzzled upon Yuina's side with her face buried in the slit between couch cushions. A yawn dotted her affection followed by another, induced by the swirling mixture of recreational substances she coveted as a means to not feel. Yet, in this presence and the words exchanged, she felt everything.[break][break]

"People give me doubts on if I made a mistake coming to Hoenn," she paused with a drawn-out yawn, ".. it's selfish, but.. you being here right next to me gives me a purpose unlike any other.. to make sure we can both live out loves and not have them taken from us.. so we can stay together and laugh.. and cry.."[break][break]

That which she felt was complex, consuming; as if it were lulling her to sleep, the bliss that she felt from the love present within the penthouse that was previously labored so much with self-hate and loathing. Her eyes were beginning to forcibly close within the yawns, pulling the head out of the couch to place delicately on her shoulder.[break][break]

"I love you.. Never forget that..."[break][break]

And then she fell into her slumber. A dreamscape filled with all that she wished to protect in the world, of all she wished to remain- her.

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Yuina Higashi[break][break]
♡ annd that's a wrap ily eps

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