We're here...now what?

Akari felt like she had been walking for days. Her sister and she had just managed to escape that stupid organization and had made it back to what the organization records had labeled as their home town. Akari looked down at her belt and the pokeballs she had stashed there. She wondered what her sister would say when she saw them. Best to just leave the subject alone for now."I wonder if our parents are even still here. They could've left for all we know." She spoke her thoughts out loud, not exactly dwelling on the positive. In actuality she was more worried that what she was saying could be true. "Where to look first?"Akari looked around the town a bit, taking in everything there was."It almost doesn't seem real to be here."

Kotone was becoming tired as they walked to Laveridge. How far exactly did they walk? She had no idea whatsoever. Their hometown. What if Akari was right? Then again, what if she was wrong? What if her parents hadn't wanted them? What if they gave them to the group. All they had was their hometown and a guess that the people had let them keep their last name.
"I'm not sure what to do. We could ask around about people that either look similar to us, or people with our last name. Like you said though, we have no idea if they're even here. Or if they'd even want us after so long." Her own pokeballs were hidden on her belt. They both knew of two pokemon, but Kotone had four and shewondered what Akari would think.

Akari nodded to her sister's suggestion, though she really hated giving anyone information about them. In her mind, she couldn't trust anyone because you never know when someone will try to harm you. "Well, it's not that big of a town so surely someone here will know if they're here. We know our last names, it's something to go on. Let's check the hot springs over there, I'm sure people will be there." Akari moved forward, hoping her sister was following. Along the way though two of her pokeballs fell from her belt, it seemed they weren't as secure as she had though. She quickly picked them up, maybe her sister didn't see. As if to stop any kind of questioning in case she did see, Akari pointed to an elderly couple not far away. "Let's go ask them."

Kotone was glad that her sister didn't put up too much of a fight when it came to giving out their last name. She didn't really like it either, but she knew that it was probably the easiest way to find their family. Kotone noticed two pokeballs drop from her sister's belt and onto the ground. She was about to ask what was in them when Akari said they should ask the two older people near the hot spring. She sighed and followed her sister to the couple. "You will ba answering my questions later." If Akari looked back at her sister, she would be able to see the new pokeballs on her own belt. She knew what one was, but the other was a mystery. She hadn't let it out yet. She had an inkling of what it might be, and she was super curious.

"We'll see about that."Akari mumbled but kept walking forward as if she hadn't heard anything. Maybe Kotone would forget it if Akari didn't acknowledge it. She really hated explaining herself to others, even if that other was her twin. Besides, it wasn't like she even knew what was in them.

Akari approached the elderly couple and attempted to be pleasant for once. "Alright, I'll make this quick. We're looking for some people that may look a little like us. Their last name is Kemuri. Ever heard of them? We were told they lived here." Akari crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. The elderly couple just smiled and pointed to a small house not far away. Well, that was easier then expected. Akari nodded and headed in that direction. Maybe this wasn't a complete waste of time after all."Come on, Kotone. We're going."

Kotone rolled her eyes when her sister muttered something. She would be asking, and she would figure out what was in that last pokeball as well. She was super excited when the couple pointed to a small house. Her sister was already walking that way and she caught up and pulled slightly ahead. She got nervous once more and fell behind slightly. What if they had been replaced and their parents didn't care that they were finally home.
They reached the house and Kotone nervously knocked on the door. She then ducked behind her sister, black skirt billowing slightly in her created breeze. She was always the shier of the twins.

Akari glanced at Kotone out of the corner of her eyes after she knocked. Really, it couldn't be that bad. Still, Akari didn't want Kotone to be hurt if something didn't go the way they wanted it to, she knew Kotone would take it harder. She reached out to take her sister's hand to show support. "It'll be ok. I promise." Some shuffling was heard behind the door before the door in front of them was opened and a blonde haired woman came into view. "Hello, can I help..." A few seconds passed by with the woman staring between the two girls. Finally the woman reached out hesitantly and would cup one of each of the twins' cheeks before crushing each of them to her in a hug nearly sobbing. "Kotone, Akari. My babies. You're back! I can't belive this! You're back!"

Their mother continued to cry as she hugged her two daughters. Akari hesitantly hugged back, not believing that it was that easy, but it felt safe. She wondered how Kotone felt about all of this. Then another set of arms wrapped around them and Akari looked up to see a man with dirty blonde hair. Their father? That was the only explanation. After a few minutes, their parents withdrew and ushered them inside and offered them to sit down on the couch."I'm sure you two have questions for us, just like we have some for you. I just can't believe you found your way back. I'd almost given up hope." Their mother spoke once more as she brushed away more tears.

Akari sat down, but she didn't know what to say, what to feel. She was just so overwhelmed. She looked to her sister to see what she would say.

Kotone squeezed her sister's hand and steeled her emotions for what was coming next. Their mother came out and she wasn't sure the woman recognized them until she called their names and hugged them tightly. She only somewhat hesitantly hugged back. Kotone didn't really recall their mother, but their father, she'd probably recognize. Speaking of, he joined the hug and she looked up into his face. Yep, him she recognized.
When her mom spoke again, she recognized her voice. She had almost given up? Does that mean they'd been looking for them? "We were only able to get away a little while ago. Were you guys really looking for us all this time?" She was confused and wanted to know more. "Why were we taken away? How were we taken. Do you know?"

Their father was the next to speak, waiting for his wife to calm down a bit. "Of course we've been looking for you! You're so precious to us we couldn't stop looking or it would've broken us. We do know how you were taken to an extent. Your mother and I were going to go out for a night, you were so little and we hadn't had much time to ourselves. It was only going to be for a little while, so we left you with a babysitter, a friend of a neighbors. But when we came back, the house was empty. We looked everywhere and later found out that the babysitter never actually made it to the house, she was found in a closet the next morning tied up. It was an imposter, we had no idea. After that though, we had very little to go on. To this day we've never forgiven ourselves for leaving you two alone. We're so sorry for what we've done." Their father was shaking at that point, so upset by the entire situation.

Akari took everything in slowly. So they did really care, they had been trying to find them all this time. Wow. "So, you didn't mean for this to happen. It was just an accident. You...care about us." Akari had been so strong up until this point, but now she felt her walls coming down momentarily as tears leaked from her eyes. "They were vile. They showed us little care, simply making us believe we weren't wanted. That we were sent away for a better purpose. But it was a lie. They only wanted to take pokemon from trainers and they were using us to do it. They used me to advance their equipment, protection from fire types. They stole so much from us." Akari went silent after a few seconds, not quite strong enough to say all she wanted to.

Kotone listened to their story and she started to cry silent tears. "They used me for more than just that. My control over wind made it so I could get up with flying types. The only good thing that was ever really done or given to me was my charizard, but that was only after something happened." Oh dear, she said too much. Hopefully their parents didn't ask any further, because she wouldn't be telling. It was hard enough telling Akari.
"We found these pokemon eggs a while ago. They are really cute. Do you want to see?" She brightened slightly, reaching for the ball and succesfully knocking off her other two...

Akari went to hug her sister as she knew how hard it was to talk being in that awful place. She whispered to her sister as she would hug her."We're not there anymore. Mum and Dad aren't going to hurt us and I'm still here. No more crying." Akari would draw back and see that Kotone had more pokeballs than those that she had seen already. She knew about some of Kotone's pokemon, but what was in the other two?

Their mother and father sat there, hearing about their daughters talents. Their mother spoke up once more. "Let's go out back for a bit. I believe we owe you two some answers and we can't give you them inside." Akari was unsure what exactly she was talking about but she stood to follow them outside. It seemed their were a lot of things that needed answered. Akari should probably show Kotone that she had other pokemon as well while they were outside. Who knows what could be in them. That and it seemed Kotone should do the same.

Kotone hugged on her sister, thankful that her parents hadn't asked about what happened. She smiled and laughed when Akari reminded her of their no crying rule. She wiped her slightly wet eyes while giggling slightly. Her sister always had a way of cheering her up. Their parents then said to follow them out back and Kotone followed, but picked up her pokeballs first and reattach them. She pulled Akari's sleeve and walked through to the back.

As they went outside their parents stood apart. Akari noticed this immediately. Akari felt her sister's tug on her sleeve and remained close to her. Their father spoke first. "There's a reason why you two can do those things. Watch." Their father swirled his hands in front of him and made a small wind twister that twisted around him. It wouldn't go anywhere but it would show Kotone where she got her powers from. Their mother was next. She created three small balls of flame and started to juggle them. That in itself was entertaining. Akari smiled at that. It was cool to see such a spectacle."If we had gotten the chance to raise you, we would've helped you grow into your powers. Still, we'll do the best we can while we can."

Akari nodded excitedly. Now she could learn everything there was about using her fire abilities. "Well, now that you two know, we'll be inside when you want to talk." Their parents stepped back inside to allow their daughters to discuss their feelings. Each one laying a hand on their shoulders as they past."Well, this has been a rather interesting day. If there's anything you want to talk about we can now if you want." Akari then turned to Kotone and showed her three other pokeballs. "So, I'm sure you want to know about these, right? I guess I have some explaining to do." Akari actually blushed a bit as she prepared herself for a possible scolding.

Kotone watched in wonder as their parents showed them where their abilities came from. Her dad did something that she hadn't even tried yet. And their mom? That was a cool trick, and she had a few ideas for those tricks, if she could do them anyway. They the went back inside and left the girls outside to talk.
"It certainly has been an interesting day. And there are a few things we should probably discuss. Namely the extra balls on our belts. I guess I'll show you mine first. I know what one is, it's a swablu that I rescued from a mean man. It gave me the other." She let them out, first the swablu, who nuzzled against Kotone's neck. The other one was a gardevoir. "Wow, she's so pretty." The gardevoir made a happy sound and glided over to hug her new trainer. She also let out her denkineko, but refrained from letting out Kira. He was a large charizard and the yard was only so big?

"That's cool. I wonder what kind of pokemon I have." Akari fidgeted a bit before drawing out three of the pokeballs. "I don't know what's in them. I didn't want them to hurt us so I haven't released them from their pokeballs yet. Just stand back a bit ok, there may be a problem if they're aggressive." Akari moved away a bit just in case. She released them one at a time to judge their hostility levels. The first was a Krokorok, he looked over at Akari with a bored expression, his arms crossed. Akari tilted her head a bit before shaking it. "Alright well you don't look very hostile. Just don't try anything funny. You look like a Johnny though so that'll be your name." The Krokoro shrugged before walking over to her and leaning on the side of the house.

Akari threw the next one and this one seemed a bit more her speed. It was a houndoom and by the looks of it she wasn't very happy. She started to growl and looked towards Kotone. Akari immediately stepped into action when it blasted fire towards her sister."No you don't!" Akari directed the fires control back at the houndoom and instantly got a reaction. The houndoom jumped out of it's way and looked over at Akari."Want to bring it? I can take you!" The houndoom seemed to find respect for Akari and made her way over before nudging her hand. Akari started to pet the dog pokemon and she cheered right up. "Really? That's all you wanted? Alright, you're definitely a Lilith." Akari threw the final one and it surprised her the most. This one was a large white Charizard that once released started to roar and spit fire into the sky. Akari just looked on with wide eyes. "Well, now that's a problem. See, this is why I didn't release them earlier!"

She watched the reactions of the pokemon and as soon as the charizard came out, her own charizard broke from its ball and shot a second stream of fire into the air. This one was to signal that he was the alpha and the others, especially the girls, were his to protect. He faced the other of his species and stretched his wings in all their black and red glory. He roared and gazed at the other pokemon.
Kotone couldn't help but roll her eyes at Kira's actions. "You stupid boy! What do you think you're doing, huh?" she said and lightly flicked his hind quarters. He just huffed and continued to stare down the white charizard.

The female Charizard wasn't going to back down from some arogant male. She roared again and proceeded to do the same that he did, making her pure white wings stretch to their full wingspan and shot out a puff of blue fire as a taunt, a low rumble in the back of her throat. She knew she wasn't as strong as him, but she was close. It wasn't a taunt for a fight though it seemed, just to be acknowledged as a possible equal. Akari actually laughed at this action. Her Charizard was so stubborn, this was great!"Let's let this play out Kotone. It could be interesting. As long as they don't destory the buildings or anything. Let's go Angelina!" The white Charizard looked like she was smirking at this point. Akari almost wanted to go get some popcorn as she watched the two Charizards stare each other down.

A deep rumbling chuckle was issued from the male. His wings fluttered, making a small, stiff breeze. Kotone listened to what her sister was saying and nodded in agreement. She was getting more and more fascinated with this display of real power and strength. "Kira, just watch out for the house." He nodded slightly and let loose an almost black flame into the sky. Another flutter of his wings and half closing them to show he respected this white beauty. He then lowered his head slightly for a playful headbutt. If she returned it he would let out a happy roar.

Angelina smirked once more and headbutted Kira back. She had gotten what she wanted so she didn't show the need to be defensive anymore, even playfully swatting his tail with hers after he let out his happy roar. Akari just rolled her eyes and nudged Kotone."I'd almost think they were flirting. As long as they aren't at each others throats I'm cool with it." As far as her other pokemon went, Lilith seemed to be content to just sit next to Akari and nuzzle her side and Johnny was more or less just relaxing. "So, should we go back inside or do you want to stay out here, Kotone? If you want to talk about anything else, I'm here to listen so it's your choice."

"Flirting? Oh my gosh they would make such cute charmanders!" Kotone started squealing like a giddy girl and Kira looked at her like she was nuts. After all, they had just met. She looked back at him and used herwind control to lift her to his eye level and tapped his nose before landing on his shoulder. "I just think it would be cute if you both ever had charmanders." He just shook his head once more.
Kotone looked down at her sister and called down, "Wanna see if she'll let you up here? The view is great!"
Her swablu flew up and joined her, resting on Kotone's shoulder. "Silly Kaira. Why don't you stretch your wings?" Kaira chirped happily and flew around Kira's head. She looked down and saw Rei playing with Kora. Well wasn't that cute.

Akari flinched from her sister's sqealing. My gosh, was she trying to break the eardrums of nearby people and pokemon? She sighed when it finally stopped, though she did silently agree that the charmanders would be quite adorable...not that she would admit it. When she next looked back up at Angelina, it seemed the Charizard had lost interest in said conversation and was now ignoring everyone. Splendid. When she heard her sister ask if she wanted up on Angelina she shook her head. "No thanks, I'm perfectly fine on the ground. But enjoy your time up there air head." Akari snickered at that, she'd been waiting to use that one for a while. Though a sense of dread came over her wondering if her sister would be mad about it.

Just like her sister, too scared to come up into the air. She spread her arms and made the air carry her down. Right in front of her sister, she landed and proceeded to pout. "Air head?" she pouted, "I'm not absent minded, flame brain. I just like having fun." Yes, she'd been waiting to use that one too. Kotone flipped one of her long pigtails and walked back to Kora and Rei. Picking up the white cat, she held it around the middle and petted it's soft head. It started to purr and Kone got a wicked idea.
"Hey, Akari. You know what we should do? Maybe we should go to the hot springs. What do you think?" Oh her idea was wicked, she just hoped that Akari didn't have one of her own. Of course, Akari might end up burning er if she actually followed through with it, but she would have to see. It would be rather funny to "cool down" her hot blooded sister.

Akari called back all three pokemon into their balls and reattached them to her belt. She barely acknowledged her sister's gibe, she supposed she deserved that. Akari shrugged and started to walk towards the gate. If her sister wanted to go then she wouldn't say no to her. "Alright, but I make no promises as to if I'll get in or not. And if you do anything funny like I get the feeling you're going to do based on past experiences I will not be held responsible for my actions. I mean it." With that, Akari walked out the back gate already on her way back to the springs. Somehow she still had the feeling Kotone would ignore her warning.

Kotone smiled and called her four back as well, attaching the balls securely to her belt. She wondered if Rei or Kora would like the springs, but she really wanted to play in the water and not have to worry about her kitty drowning or anything.
"What? I'm not going to do anything. And even if I did, it would so not be my normal trick of throwing you up in the air. No way on earth i would do that to you if you were only wearing a towel." she said before murmuring something hoping her sister wouldn't here. "Though I would imagine some boys would like that."
She dashed through the house waving to her parents, a soft breeze left behind her, and she ran to where the air felt thick with water. "Come on, slow poke. I promise it will be fun!"

Akari blushed heavily at what her sister said and the glare on her face clearly showed her embarassment as the image of what her sister just said came to mind right before she added in the bits she caught from Kotone's mumbling. "BAKA! Don't say such things!" Akari took off running twice as fast after that, wanting to hide just how red her face really was as well as catch up to her sister and possibly beat her. When they did reach the hot springs though, her blush would've almost completely have been gone. Akari would grab Kotone's wrist gently and lead her towards the building just beside it."Let's go change so we can get this over with ok? Then we can go back. I have something I want to give you later since our birthday was last week and I forgot to give you your present with all the planning that was going on for the break out." Akari smiled a bit at that, thinking about what she had gotten for Kotone. She quickly covered it up though before anyone saw.