Two hours later, he was desperate. If he kept going out much farther away from the camp, he was going to get lost. It was true that they had spent more than a week training in this area, and he had become rather familiar with the territory, but this was getting ridiculous. He must have already searched a two mile radius!

And he could only imagine what Myrea was doing right now. Probably looking for the both of them, worried out of her mind. And also getting ready to kill him. She'd know, just like she always did. It wasn't as though he as scared of her, but... she certainly knew how to put someone in their place when she felt it was needed. And it wasn't exactly fun, James knew that well enough already. It wasn't the same as when Jessie got mad, but... He shook his head. There was no time to think about that now.

Coming to the top of another rise, he stopped to survey the area. Nothing. Except... There was a noise coming from somewhere ahead, perhaps just over the next small hill. A faint noise, sounding... muffled somehow?

As cautiously as he could, he crept up to the top of the hill and looked over. What he saw froze him in place momentarily. Jon was there, but he wasn't alone. The largest Arbok James had ever seen was coiled tightly around the boy, slowly squeezing him.

Perhaps he had just stumbled into it's nest unaware, or maybe the Pokémon had actually attacked him without provocation; whatever the reason, it really didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was saving Jon.

He looked pale and very scared, no doubt extremely uncomfortable, so out of breath that he could only moan as he rolled his eyes in James' direction. At least the boy knew that James was there now and could calm himself. A little. No matter how certain you are to be saved, being squeezed by a giant snake would still be far from a calming experience.

Then James realized: he had left all his Pokémon behind, not anticipating the need for them. Cursing his stupidity, he searched desperately for something, anything he could do. He spotted a Pokéball laying on the ground a few feet away from the Arbok. It must have fallen there when it had attacked Jon, maybe before he had the chance to call it out. Riza.

James knew there was probably nothing he could do himself to free the boy, but maybe Riza could distract the other Pokémon enough that it would let him go. It was worth a try... all he needed to do was call it out. He started forward as quickly as he dared, the Arbok only looking at him briefly before turning it's attention back to Jon. At least it wasn't going to give him any trouble. But as soon as his hand closed over the ball...

Searing pain cut deeply into James' chest, causing him to let go of the ball and fall backwards, landing hard on the ground and gasping desperately for breath.

Why? What's happening?

Realization came quickly. By taking Jon's Pokéball without his permission in this way, he was inadvertently stealing, even though it was for a good reason rather than a bad one. And the bracelet Yume had given him apparently couldn't distinguish between the two reasons.

James sat up slightly, enough to see that Jon's face was turning blue, his moans becoming sickening gurgles deep in his throat. Desperation forced him to get up and crawl back toward the ball, fighting the agonizing pain that reappeared, twice as sharp this time and hot like fire. He could have sworn he was about to die when he finally held it in his hand, and it took every ounce of willpower he had to keep from screaming.

"Go... go, Riza," he gasped out, trying to toss it at the Arbok's head, but only managing to get it to roll to a stop by the end of it's tail, which would have to do. Then he dropped flat on his face, unable to support himself any longer, the pain gone but the effect still taking it's toll.

So he didn't see the Charizard appear, roaring in anger at the sight of it's master's predicament, flying overhead only to swoop down and crush the snake Pokémon's head in it's massive claws. Freed from the Arbok, Jon fell to the ground only a few feet from James, his breathing hard and frantic. When he was able, James finally crawled over to the younger boy.

"Are you... you okay?" Jon nodded slowly, his eyes still closed, but he reached out to touch Riza's foot as it sat anxiously nearby. "Listen, I'm sorry... I'm sorry this happened. If I hadn't been so mean to you, this never would have..." His words died away as Jon shook his head.

"No, Jim... ya got no reason to be sorry... it could've happened to me anytime... and if ya hadn't felt bad and come to look for me... it would've been too late by the time ya did get here. I shoulda left that Arbok alone, anyway... it was a stupid thing to do."

"But I'm still sorry," James continued earnestly. "I really shouldn't have said those things... I'm still just a idiot who needs to change from what I once was..."

"I'm not sure I understand what ya mean, but I forgive you. I'll try not to be so annoying from now on... cuz I guess I was overdoing it..."

"Oh my god..." Myrea's voice made them both turn to look over at her as she stood gaping at them, Riza, and the dead Arbok in turn. "What happened here?" She all but ran over to kneel beside them, her eyes scanning over them as if looking for any visible injuries. "Are you two alright? Tell me... tell me everything that happened."

Jon obliged her, telling her in a voice still half out of breath the whole story. She glared angrily at James during most of the first part, leaving him wishing he was anywhere but sitting within her reach. But later, she just looked sad, staring at the ground as Jon finished the story.

"And neither of you is hurt?" she finally asked after a time. They both assured her that they weren't, after which she simply reached out to hug Jon. "You're very lucky that you weren't bitten. I'm so glad... you're both alright," she concluded, sitting back again to smile faintly at James. "Let's go back to camp and get some rest, okay? I have a feeling you'll be needing it." They nodded in agreement and began the long, slow walk back, each of them quiet in their own thoughts.

"Look at him now... he's so peaceful. I suppose he was scared at the time, but he's almost forgotten about it already. He's a pretty tough little kid."

James just nodded without saying a word and continued to watch Jon as he slept on the other side of the little fire they had built for the night. It was dying down now, tiny wisps of smoke curling up into the black sky. The boy was sleeping peacefully, very peacefully for someone who had had such a close brush with death. James, on the other hand, still felt sick to his stomach whenever he thought about it.

"You're awfully quiet," Myrea continued next, looking at him now instead. "But I hope you realize now why I always made you keep your temper in check around him. Kids have a tendency to do dangerous things when they're upset. A lot of experience has taught me that. I should be extremely angry with you now... but I think you've been through enough already without me being like that. After all, you saved his life."

"Riza saved his life."

She seemed startled by his sudden statement, but she soon had a reply. "Without you, Riza wouldn't have been able to save him."

"Without me, there wouldn't have been a reason to need to save him."

"James..."

"If he had died, Myrea... I would have been responsible. What would I have told his parents? 'Thank you for trusting me with your son's care, but my stupidity killed him'? Why did I... why did I even..." He couldn't say much more as tears started to run down his face in what felt like rivers; he was dimly aware of Myrea hugging him, and he momentarily felt awkward for behaving this way.

"James, please don't do this to yourself," he finally heard Myrea saying. "You've learned your lesson, everything is forgiven, and Jon is just fine. Dwelling on 'what if' is usually unnecessary unless you're planning on putting yourself through more misery than is really needed. Honestly... Jon took this much better than you, and you weren't even in that much danger.....There now, just stop crying," she soothed, patting his back gently. When she pulled away at last, he was able to smile at her faintly.

"Thank you."

"It's the least I can do for you," she shrugged, giving him a warm smile in return. They sat in silence for some time before Myrea started searching her pockets for something. "Here," she said, offering him that something. James stared at it in surprise.

Two identical pieces of gold-colored metal lay on his upturned palm, glinting dully in the remaining firelight. And looking at his left wrist, he saw for the first time that the bracelet Yume had given him was gone. Except it wasn't gone, it was laying on his hand, broken. "Where did you..."

"I found it as we were leaving from the place the Arbok was. I figured it was yours, and I thought I'd save it for you. But what did you do to make it break apart like that? Is there something that happened that you're not telling me?"

Her tone was accusatory. He didn't know what to say. To the best of his knowledge, he had done nothing that would cause it to break. So he offered the first weak excuse that came to mind.

"Well, I did trip once... I guess it must have smashed against a rock or something." Her eyes told him that she thought he was lying, but thankfully she just nodded and let it go at that. Why she wasn't prying the truth out was beyond him, but he was definitely grateful.

"I think we should be getting to sleep now," was all she said. "And James..." she continued as if on impulse, giving him a stern look. "You're going to move on and stop blaming yourself, aren't you? Well?"

She made him promise that he would before she would smile again, then she lay down to sleep. James just sat looking at the stars for a long time before he finally slept as well, his dreams restless and impossible to understand.

The light awoke him; that glowing, pink-tinged light that seemed very familiar to him now, even though it was only the third time he'd seen it. This time, however, he wasn't frightened, and he didn't have to look to know that his two friends were still asleep.

"Yume..." he began slowly, searching for the right words to say. "I... I'm sorry if I did something I shouldn't have and the bracelet broke because of that... I really didn't..."

"Everything is alright," Yume assured him, her voice smooth and comforting. "You could have just gone on wearing that bracelet until your wish was complete... But you've shown through your sacrifice that you no longer have need of it. That is why it is broken now."

"Sacrifice? What do you mean..."

"You were willing to go through an immense amount of pain to help another. As I said, that stands as proof that it no longer needs to control your actions."

"I see..." He thought he did, at least. "So... is the reason Jon is with us because of that?"

"I cannot say."

"Oh..."

"Do not worry. Someday, you will understand everything. It will all make sense on that day. Farewell... for now." James quietly watched her fade away, then sat looking at Myrea and Jon. He did understand that he was lucky to have found friends such as them.

Laying down once more, he tried to sleep, allowing the peaceful calmness of Jessie's own sleep to drift through him. For some reason, he dreamed of her the rest of the night.

I'd love you forever if you'd send me comments. Uhh.. maybe that's more discouraging than encouraging. :p

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