Surprise. Confusion. Regret. Each of those flashed over the girl’s face, but only for a faction of a second. She let the woman say her piece, tilting her head back to get a better look at her. “You’re not wrong. Normal seems… boring, after a while. But it’s comfortable. Safe. Boring doesn’t have to be all that bad either. I miss it, but only sometimes.” A wistful tone told that it might have been a bit more frequent than ‘sometimes’.

“The safety of it is nice, I guess… But you’re not wrong. I’d still be a weak little girl if things had stayed fine for me.” She paused, turning back to Melody for a moment. Her ferry heard the hesitation and knew that a soothing tune was in order. A gentle hum began, quiet enough that the girls could still talk, but present enough to be heard and appreciated. Annie barely gave a second thought as she started stroking her Pokemon’s neck, laying her gaze back on the ranger.

“More normal than now. I started off in an orphanage, so that wasn’t so bad. Then Rocket burned it down. And messed up a lot of the rest of Kanto. Getting out of that taught me a lot about being strong. Also, not dying.” Normally, she knew better than to share a tragic backstory on the first meeting, but something about Kaida’s words, the look in her eyes, the emotion (or lack thereof) she seemed to hold, told her that the woman might empathise rather than sympathise. At the very least, she wouldn’t fall over herself pitying Annie for what couldn’t be changed.

“I managed to get myself out of the region, and things are better here. The place isn’t being run by crime lords, for one… But I’m underage, with next to no legal documents, so finding proper work and a place to stay has been… Bad. And that’s how I ended up here.” She gestured to the body of water, and the mount that separated them from it. Despite the circumstances that had led her there, she sounded mostly content with it. Mostly. “On the road, doing odd jobs to earn my way and training up my Camp. This is pretty normal for me now, but it’s not… normal normal, you know?”

❤ wizz

In the face of a kindred spirit, she could speak without fear of judgement or pity, and Kaida made sure her faith wasn’t misplaced. All it took was a few words to make her face light up. “Yeah-yeah, you what I mean! It’s like in all those stories and myths. The big hero starts life with a bad hand… But that just teaches them how to be strong, fierce, inspiring!” She dared to take her hands off Melody, so she could flex and pump both of them. “That’s how people become legendary. I’m getting there. It just takes a little time.” When she smiled, it was far from that of a child chained by her past.

Then came the Ranger’s turn to share. A beaming grin lost some of its life. A bad childhood wasn’t much to brag about, but Annie wasn’t sure if not knowing hers was something to envy. Probably not, considering what she’d just said. “You made the most of what you were given. That’s the most important thing. Looks like you did a pretty good job, too. You’re doing what you love, your guys seem pretty happy being with you, and you don’t have to look back when there’s so much to look forward to.” A job easier said than done, she reminded herself, when remnants of that past whispered in the dark. Before she could dwell on those thoughts, Melody’s coo drew her attention to their journey, which seemed to have come to an end.

“Great. Thanks, Mel!” The Lapras bowed her head as Annie disembarked, beckoning Kaida to follow. “You’re welcome to visit the Camp any time, Shiro! …If you can find it. I don’t really have a phone yet, so once I say goodbye to somebody… Sometimes they email me, and sometimes I just get lucky. If we’re both travelling the region, I’m sure we’ll run into each other again eventually.”

❤ wizz