What happened after was for tomorrow. They would not get off of this island today, but rescue would come or they would claw their way from this small, forested strip of land with nothing but their hands and sheer will. Even if their water supplies dwindled and their few allies abandoned them, they would survive.

They both had that obligation. To each other and to themselves. They would see the sun rise. They'd see the sun fall. They'd see it rise again.

They were going to live.

Even if he should be dead.

No matter what happened after they left this island behind, that fact would not change. Nor would it change the fact that in this moment, they needed one another.

As they left the water, trails of saltwater trickled from his wounds and into the sand below. Not just the wounds, but them. It fell from them in small trails, and Rex shook his head like a Growlithe, sending drops of water everywhere.

"How do you do it?" He asked curiously. "Plan so far ahead, I mean? You always know what to do next, no matter what happens."

---

keiko mori

"Time never felt special to me. It's just time. A clock ticks, an alarm goes off, or the sun shines in my face. Either way, I'm up." He kept Littleroot silent. Time had not been on his side then. "And life goes on. There's still things that people like us have to do, regardless of if we plan or not."

No matter how Keiko had planned this trip, she would not have anticipated the shipwreck that left them here, nor the time Pelipper spent traveling to Dewford or Slateport or even making it there at all. She could minimize risk, but things would still go amiss.

That was the way of the world.

"It feels like if I plan every step, every scenario, I'll lose out on moments like this. This wouldn't have happened if every scenario had been mapped out." He watched as her hair fell down, long and loose. He imagined braiding it between his fingers, like he had used to do for his sister when they were younger. "I'm already stuck in the past, I don't want to be stuck in the future too."

Was Rex weird? His brain said definitely, especially since Keiko was stripping as he did so. Time and fate and the meaning of life were too vast of topics for him. The courier definitely thought he was deranged.

"I want to live in the present, where what I do matters immediately. It's-"

She turned to him. He blinked once, before reddening.

Fuck.

"-comforting."

---

keiko mori

Eventually, the moment ended.

Eventually.

She curled against him, her face buried in his chest as he twirled her silky locks in an open hand. His eyes met hers, the embers of a fervid gaze flickering and burning within pupils that shifted colors as he looked at them. Were Keiko's eyes that dark purple? He could've sworn that they were a lighter shade of azure a few minutes before.

Ah, there was that shade again.

How curious.

Her halfhearted attempt at a neat pile of clothes had quickly fell apart when his had been haplessly thrown over them, the Togepi boxes having caused an eye roll and a scoff before Keiko had silenced herself in other ways. What a woman.

"I lost track." Rex confessed as his hand followed her face, caressing her neck and lingering at her recently acquired bite marks. His fingers explored each indent left by him, before down towards her back and lower still. "But I confess."

His lips twitched upwards for a moment.

"I wish this moment could last forever."

---

keiko mori

There was no need for moral qualms. Not for Rex. Keiko struggled with her heart's desire, with whatever need drove her to this region beyond the simple desire to help. Keiko Mori was an anomaly. Rex could try to understand her. He wanted to. Yet ultimately he wanted to instill order through slaughter.

If she saw that in him, she would hate him. Rex knew it in his soul, even as he wanted to continue to stretch this series of moments into infinity. Maybe he was broken. Maybe she was broken. Maybe they were both defective.

"It's like you're a Growlithe chasing cars." He teased her as she prodded his hand. "I don't think you know what you'd do with one if you actually caught one."

They were words without malice, for he was describing himself as much as he was describing her.

"Someone," he laughed as he nuzzled her shoulder like an overfriendly dog, "needs to put you on a leash so you don't get stuck in the clouds. You're entitled to the act of treading upon the earth. It feels wrong to banish you to the ever-spiraling heavens."

There was a moment of melancholy between them as he just... held her.

---

keiko mori

"Now? Whatever we want. There's nothing stopping us from simply... being."

There were no eyes on this island. As far as the world knew, Keiko and Rex did not exist. They were simply two names that had disappeared into the uncaring maw of Hoenn, and the region had simply refused to spit them out. Instead, it had swallowed them up.

And now they were here. Animalistic and uncaring.

"But." Somewhere in his heart, he knew that Keiko would want to return to the real world. He would, as well. "First things first, we should get back to camp and get some sleep. It's been a long day."

His grin grew sly as he basked in her brilliance.

"Assuming..." He nudged her with a teasing expression on his face. "...that you're not too weak to stand, courier~."

---

keiko mori

She was so competitive. Even as they requisitioned their clothes from where the various alcoves they were perched at, it was the trait that shined the most. Maybe that was why he felt a twinge of sadness when her hair was knotted into buns for the sake of efficiency.

She looked liberated with her hair down. When it fluttered in the wind, he couldn't help but stare.

"Nah. No storms since we ended up here, and not a cloud in the sky. More likely he's just meandering." Rex tugged on his shirt and tried to flatten his hair. A lost cause, he was beginning to accept. His little dance with Keiko had messed it up further. "Probably doesn't realize that things are a little dire."

He attempted to downplay their circumstances, lest Keiko burst a blood vessel.

When their clothes were on, Rex clucked his tongue at the path they had taken to reach this point. The trail was still clear in the moonlight, so he led Keiko down it. Absentmindedly, he popped a Pinap into his mouth and chewed, before swallowing.

"If he doesn't get back soon, I want you to take Togepi. It's a risk, but he might be able to teleport you to Dewford. Just make sure you don't forget to come get me."

His voice was casual, but his expression was serious. It was his attempt to protect her.

---

keiko mori

He was a passable swimmer, but he pursued physical activities with a perverse sense of fervor. He suspected that she would have better form, and form was important when contesting the shore.

"You've spent this entire time looking after me. You've planned for me. You've cared for me. Do you think I'd be half as useful if you got hurt?" He was quiet for a spell, though that was because he refused to dig deep enough to answer his own question. "I want to help you. All I have is my name, my body, and my Pokémon."

Eventually, the trail widened. Sharp cuts in the trees guided their way, and Rex felt them as he passed. A reminder that like the Pokémon that made the marks, that he was a sword that coveted victory.

Even if, sometimes, that victory didn't need to be for him. It could be for the courier by his side.

"And besides," his voice trembled slightly. " I don't want you to be alone here."

Even if she deserved to trod upon the land, she would eventually have to return to the sky.

---

keiko mori