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DESIREE BLOOMS

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The distress signal came, over the ranger's comms, someone had been separated from their expedition party and had been lost. The resources were still so thin, many of the other rangers had already been deployed for one purpose or another, it was whoever could take the signal first. Yuina was the first responder.[break][break]
The signal came from deep within the chasm, deeper still into the area that had been separated as 'Area Zero', they'd gone so far... Yuina raced through the depths on Centos' back, the sword her guide and trusted ward within this devastating place.[break][break]
As soon as they left the grasses and trees behind, finding the caverns below, Centos' blue energy glowed that much more, billowing against the rocky walls, his hooves clanging against the stone beneath them. Yuina was nearing the signal, she didn't hear any signs of struggle, she was hoping that they weren't too late...[break][break]
Rounding another corner, the signal growing closer, Yuina did find a figure in the near distance, and she brought Centos to a halt, his cloven hooves gouging into the ground, but given that brief moment of pause, ready to dismount, Yuina heard...[break]
"Des...," she breathed, standing on the ground now, finding... What? What was she doing down here? How did she get down here...? And... what was she doing alone?[break][break]
Yuina's gaze found the still figure on the ground behind her... She... wasn't glad to see Desiree... not here... not like this... She rushed towards her, hands coming to cling to her arms, almost wanting to shake her.[break]
"What... Desiree, what are you doing down here? Why- What happened? Are you hurt? Why didn't you tell me you were here," her questions came, pouring from a place of abject fear, somewhere close to anger... If something happened to her, if she was lost to this place, and Yuina didn't even know she was down here at all? The thought alone was more painful than the knife that had plunged into her on that island... She couldn't stand it.

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DESIREE BLOOMS

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There were hardly words that Yuina could use in that moment to express the incredible pain that she felt of seeing Desiree here, alone, having now know that her dearest angel was here... Anything could have happened...[break]
Yuina knew, deep down, amidst the surging waves of fear and anguish that were washing over her with the intrusive thoughts of what could have been, that Desiree only ever wanted to help, be a part of the things that were bigger than herself... To place love where it had been lost... But that wasn't enough.[break][break]
There were rockets everywhere, the earthquakes plentiful, swarms of Paradox Pokemon looming within the mists... Rifts to the reverse world were lurking in the darkest corners, the Drk Triad were making themselves known, and so many other dangers that ravaged this place... And Desiree was looking for even more of the terrible things that they had already encountered?[break]
Yuina's hands gripped Desiree's arms that much tighter, the swirling petals obscuring them from such a world, the one where Yuina was trying to force away the most horrible thoughts of what could have happened to her... Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as Desiree brough a soft hand up to her cheek. But the idea... That the still figure, just outside of their small, shared world... 'it could have been her...'[break][break]
"Des... No, I can't... Why would you do that? Why would you go out of your way to be here and not tell anyone? You don't have to be here, you shouldn't be here, you should be... Anywhere, but here, anywhere that is safe and where...," Yuina was trying so hard not to be angry, she was trying so hard not to admonish her, she knew Desiree wasn't a child, but... She had to understand?[break][break]
"What... What if I came down here... And that was you. What am I supposed to do then," she asked finally, a single, searing hot tear marring her cheek, Yuina couldn't stand the thought...[break]
Desiree tried to apologize, tried to say she wasn't hurt... And then... Yuina knew what she was getting at... Her hands left Desiree's arms, but only moved down to grasp at her hands, she still had to know that she was there, and she was okay... The thought of losing her to this place was permeating, invasive, almost as if she expected to be holding onto Desiree as a manifestation of the interdream mist around them... And when it faded, she would be that still figure in the near distance.[break][break]
"Des... Don't... It's not the same, it's my job to be down here... That's what I've signed up for," she tried to say, gently, evenly. It was her job, not Desiree's.... Her angel didn't need to make those sacrifices.

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DESIREE BLOOMS

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She was angry... And Yuina couldn't stop her, she wouldn't... Every desire, every emotion that Desiree held within her was so precious, so dear to Yuina, that she would brunt the darkest, most intense that she had, even if they were directed at her...[break]
Yuina could only stand there, her hands empty as Desiree withdrew from her, and it hurt, no... It ached, as if her hands had been crushed by the rocks that created the cavern around them. Yuina's heart ached, she could feel Desiree's ire, this was all a long time coming, a built up pressure that her angel just couldn't contain any longer. And while Yuina couldn't hold in the tears at knowing that she was the cause of the final push that brought all of this to the surface, she wanted to let Desiree release it all. She didn't need to harbor it any more.[break][break]
Desiree was turned away from her now, though they hadn't left the sanctity of their small flower petal world, and Yuina didn't hesitate to close the gap between them again, moving forward, reaching out to Desiree, pulling the pinkette into her. One arm wrapped around her torso, the other came to the back of Desiree's head, she wasn't going to let her go, not this time, even in spite of the rage that dripped from the last of Desiree's words.[break][break]
"Des....," Yuina's voice was broken, she couldn't help the sob that stopped her, hugging Desiree close.[break]
"I-I would never stop you from fulfilling your desires... I could never bear to know that I'm in the way of your beautiful dream of bringing love to every soul you can reach," Yuina started, she would never, Desiree's dreams were too powerful, too good, to deprive the world of her wants... Yuina wouldn't do it.[break][break]
"I'm proud of you, Des, you have so much desire, so much will to see your actions through... But," she was pushing through tears, she had no idea that she was the reason why Desiree was out here...[break]
"If you're going to do these things, if you're here because of me, then.... You should be here with me, Des, don't you understand," Yuina stood back just a bit from Desiree, one arm still around her torso, the other brushing ribbons of pink from Desiree's face.[break][break]
"You don't need to do these things alone, you shouldn't do these things alone, not when I'm here, I'm always here, right here next to you... Coming down here and seeing you here alone, not knowing that you were here at all, you have to understand how terrifying that is Des," she continued, urging Desiree to understand... She only wanted to be with her, not to shroud her and hide her away from these things, but to work together with her...[break]
"We will look death in the eye and tell it to kill itself, but you have to promise... That from now on, we make sure we have the chance to do that together..."

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DESIREE BLOOMS

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Keeping Desiree close, holding her dearly as Yuina spoke through her heart, she only wished that as the ire subsided, and Desiree was free to sift through her own thoughts without the weight of her anger, that her angel would be able to feel free again. There was nothing more that Yuina wanted than to know that Desiree understood she would never try to shroud her from the things she wanted most, it would never be fair to expect her to stand idly by, not when the region, the world, was in the state it was in...[break]
They fought together in the icelands above, protected each other on that island, found each other in the swamps, saved each other from the toxins deep within the Ultra Sea... Yuina knew that Desiree could do so much more than the pinkette might allow herself to see... And if she wanted to draw from that power, Yuina would never stop her...[break][break]
Her words hung in the air, drifting through the petals that swirled around them before Desiree finall spoke, lightly trembling in Yuina's embrace. She no longer held fury in her tone, instead she had softened, giving herself to Yuina's promise... So long as she did the same...[break]
"Of course, Des... I can't imagine having faced anything that we have so far without you...," Yuina spoke, her heart swelled, eveyr peril they faced, being able to do so together made all the difference... And Yuina would hold her promise so dearly, until the moment that Desiree would be in danger because of her... She couldn't bear the thought, if the Drk Triad got a hold of her angel... Yuina would make sure her darkness never reached Desiree...[break][break]
Her angel's sweet words, the love that Yuina felt, her tears disappearing at Desiree's most gentle touch, Yuina looked up to the pinkette with the same love in her amber eyes. It was true... In so many ways, the universe did push them together, and the more Yuina continued to walk through this life, walk the steps of someone who should have never been... A mistake... She really was starting to wonder...[break]
Was the mistake that she wasn't born into this life, and this was recompense from the universe?[break][break]
"Desiree... my angel... I love you too, more than words will ever be able to describe," Yuina breathed then, through another sob she tried to swallow, but it was tears of such adoration that it was nearly impossible to contain.[break]
"You make me feel like I was always supposed to be here... Maybe the universe was actually paying me a kindness in putting me here, in this place, in this time, at a point that I would be able to meet you, and be with you in this life...," she spoke. Yuina knew her darkness, her shadows... They loomed ever darker behind her, every day threatening to pull her into the depths, but so long as she could hold onto those in her life like Desiree, her guiding light... Maybe one day... She would actually start to truly believe it.[break][break]
Her words fell still though, her darkness melting away for that brief moment as Desiree placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. It was the kind of affection that Yuina didn't know she was missing... The kind of feeling that she wondered if she had ever known at all... It was overwhelming, the amount of care and pure love that came from such a small, soft gesture... Yuina was experiencing this for the first time.[break]
Yuina could do little to reciprocate the gesture except hug Desiree tighter to her for the remainder of that moment, until a cry rang out through the cavern around them, a stark reminder of where they truly were... They were not in a world of flower petals and warmth meant just for them... They were in the depths of a world unknown and dangers untold. But... They were there together...[break][break]
"Death can come, if it wants, if we're together, it doesn't stand a chance," Yuina nodded, finding Centos stationed behind them where she had dismounted.[break]
"Centos, kuru," Yuina spoke, bidding the sword forward, ready to move through the caverns now with Desiree, together.

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DESIREE BLOOMS

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It was not to be, that they could stay in their small world, the pink cascade of solace that they had manifested together. But at least for that last moment, as Yuina looked up to Desiree at her words, her encouragement... Her belief that there could be nothing else in the world that the Universe had planned other than to right a wrong for her... Yuina wanted to believe her more than anything.[break]
"As long as I am with you Des, that's all that will ever matter," Yuina returned, taking the gentle hand that was offered. She wasn't sure if she could ever truly feel that way, and she hated to think that she was destined to ruin this life that was never meant to be hers at all... Would Desiree still care for her, when she wasn't able to be Yuina Higashi any more...?[break][break]
She wanted to stay tucked away inside of their flower petal world... maybe that day would never come. Or maybe... as much as Desiree wished it, she would be able to have that choice... Whatever Desiree wished, whatever her angel wanted, the universe should be nothing but kind to her. No one was more deserving...[break][break]
Hand in hand, they were ready to face what may come, the petals falling around them, and in spite of the darkness that loomed behind her, Yuina clutched Desiree's hand just a bit tighter, looking to her with a smile.[break]
"Des, you know I don't know what you're referencing, let's add that one to the list," Yuina laughed a bit, it was easy to forget (how funny the irony of it was) that Yuina had no reference still for many things that were commonplace to everyone else. But Desiree was a great source for keeping up with the then and now, even if not all of it made sense to Yuina.[break][break]
The two star crossed soulmates walked through the caverns, Desiree's Pokemon mapping them as they went, but Yuina knew too of the dangers that had already been found to wreak havoc upon those that traversed the depths. The ground began to shake, the rocky ceiling above them showering them with dust and pebbles. An earthquake no doubt was rushing through the unstable plates of the deep earth. Yuina returned Centos, and Desiree her own Pokemon before a dazzling pink ribbon was ready before them.[break]
Yuina wasted no time, clung to Desiree as she too mounted the pink dragon, coughing and ducking her face to avoid any dirt that fell around them.

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