Spitfire wielded her photon sword in hoof and faced off against Mono and Lith, who both wielded photon swords around their paws. Mono took the first step and dashed towards Spitfire. Spitfire smirked and clashed her blade against his, parrying the blow and knocking him away.
Lith sidestepped towards Spitfire’s side and leaped towards her with her blade aimed towards her center. Spitfire hopped into the air towards Lith and grabbed her with her front hooves. Lith’s eyes jolted open. She felt her body lifting with the effortlessness of a rag doll. Spitfire threw her down to the ground and hovered in the air.
“You two need to be even less predictable with your movements. I’m reading you like a Sunday comic strip!” She called out.
“I didn’t expect you to grab me like that though. It’s kind of weird.” Lith said, raising herself up from the ground.
“Rule one of swordsmanship; a sword is merely just an extension of your body that happens to have a dangerous blade. Your body is the weapon, so you have to use your body to its full extent.”
“Is that what you were doing? I felt a pulse of energy emanate from your body, Commander.” Mono stated.
Spitfire’s sword deactivated. She smiled and offered her right front hoof to Mono. Mono grasped it and lifted himself up.
“You two have definitely been training through the way of the sword though. Ever since I began tutoring you with fencing and swordsmanship two weeks back, your skill has improved. Still, you two need to work on concealing your intents. If you don’t, I guarantee that you will lose against foes with even the most basic of reading skills.”
“Thank you for the encouraging words, Commander. We will work on that weakness next time.” Lith said.
“Our time together is over that quick?” Spitfire asked. “I guess time flies when you’re having fun.”
Mono looked through a window into the night sky and eyed a crescent moon behind the dark clouds.
“We really have been training all day, haven’t we? I have to go to bed.”
“Me too.” With a loud yawn escaping her gaping mouth, Lith said.
“Alright. Then… Thursday would be a good day for training?” Spitfire questioned.
“Thursday sounds great.” Mono responded.
Lith enshrouded herself within her blanket and looked towards the dark ceiling. She turned her direction towards Mono, where the left half of his body is swallowed underneath his sheets. She popped her upper paws out of the blanket and brought them under her head.
“You don’t normally sleep like that unless if you are nervous about something, Mono. Mind sharing what’s on your mind?”
“Nothing much. I’m glad that Spitfire is teaching us the way of the sword and even takes us out to eat, but I see why she is doing so. Did you think she ever wanted to mother children of her own?” Bending his right leg and having a sigh pass through his open mouth, Mono responded.
“Isn’t she around forty-two years old? It doesn’t surprise me much, considering that she told us how she was always involved in the military even during times of peace. Even if she could have fun, it seems like she was always stressed with her obligations to war.”
“It’s nice that she’s acting more of like a parental figure to us, but no one is able to replace mom and dad.”
The smile on Lith’s face curled into a frown. Her eyes became half-lidded and a silent air passed through her nostrils.
“No matter what parental figures come into our lives, they can never take the place of mom and dad. I still sometimes blame myself for what happened to them, even if I know it wasn’t my fault. I sometimes think back to that day, thinking whether pushing dad to pick up mom from work for their anniversary party I planned was the best thing to do.”
“I think I might’ve forgotten what mom’s face looked like.” Mono uttered out with quiet words. His eyes sparkled with regret and tears welled up within his eyes. “I must be a horrible son if I forgot that.”
“Please don’t beat yourself over it, Mono. You haven’t done anything wrong. It is easy to forget about anyone’s faces after a large amount of time had passed. Coupled with the fact that we’ve had… many startling changes happen to us over a short amount of time, there is no reason for you to feel bad.” Lith comforted.
“Yeah… I guess. Good night, Lith.”
“Good night, Mono.”
A cool haze wrapped around Mono and Lith’s heads. The twins opened their eyes, seeing an azure blue space around them. Luna stood at the center of their vision. Her eyes peered into their souls with an eager smile on her face.
“I was hoping to see when you two would start to dream tonight.” She said.
“Council Lady Luna? What’s going on? Are we still asleep?” Mono asked.
“I did say ‘start to dream tonight’. So yes, you two are asleep.”
“I’m sure that I might have seen you in my dreams from time to time, but I’ve never seen you approach the two of us like this.” Lith noted.
“Out of all the Pokémon that have appeared in this city, you two are the most intriguing.”
Luna opened her wings and flew to Lith’s right. She extended her neck towards Mono’s direction at the left of Lith.
“You two have shed several masks from your heart ever since you first came into the city, but I sense that you have several more masks underneath. Do you love those that are around you, or are you still defensive around them?”
Lith bore her teeth and waved her right upper paw in a slapping motion towards Luna’s direction.
“K-knock it off! I don’t need you to read my heart!”
Luna disappeared into a veil of smoke and reappeared towards Mono’s left side.
“Do you feel like you are betraying the memories of your parents by living on with your life, or are your intents much deeper? I am interested in hearing what your subconscious reveals.”
“Council Lady Luna, why are you even interested in us? It is very invasive of our privacy.” Mono asked.
“My dominion extends into the realm of dreams. I’ve been detecting an intruder entering into both of your dreams, so I need to figure out why it is. For that, I will need to see what your subconscious thoughts are hiding.” Luna responded.
A brilliant light flashed from the tip of Luna’s horn. The azure space around them flashed into a pure white.
The bright light faded away. Mono and Lith stood upon a blue carpet. Rays of light emerged through windows curtained with lilac drapes. A large table fashioned out of glass and oak stood at the center of the room. The two looked around them and a wave of nostalgia hit the nerves in their limbs.
“This place feels… familiar for some reason.” Lith said.
She set her eyes on Mono, whose head shifted around with aimless direction. His mouth was agape in confusion.
“Is this place what I think it is? Was this… our parents’ home?”
Tails of wisps converged before their eyes, forming into humanoid shapes. A male body wrapped itself within brown skin. A bed of black hair formed on his head. His eyes lit up with brown irises. A cream-colored button shirt, brown khakis and black shoes adorned themselves upon the man.
To his left, a female body became enshrouded with fair-colored skin. Her brunette hair extended down from her scalp. Her green irises lit up with life. She was adorned in a black dress with a puffy skirt and a black top hat. In her gloved white hand is a black cane.
“It can’t be... Is that mom and dad?” Mono asked with a voice breaking in disbelief.
“It is what I was able to sculpt based off of your most recent memories of them.” With her body phasing back into existence, Luna stated.
Lith walked towards her mother’s face and waved her right upper paw.
“How come they aren’t moving?”
“They are not endowed with the proper artificial intelligence yet. Once they are, they will react naturally to how you two have progressed based on what I have constructed of their personalities.”
Luna vanished from the room. A midnight blue shockwave engulfed the area, sharpening the colors within it. The twins’ parents blinked once and looked upon them.
“…Mom? …Dad? Is that you?” Mono asked with a wary voice filled with hope.
“Ummm… Samantha, are you aware that there are two Meowstics talking to us?” The man asked.
“I am aware Emilio.” The woman, Samantha, responded. She brought her hands around the base of Lith’s upper paws and picked her up. She then embraced her. “You certainly have changed a lot since I last saw you, Lith.” She said with a smile.
Hearing these words, Lith’s eyes watered. She closed them and wrapped her arms around Samantha’s neck, crying a river of tears with muffed sobs.
Emilio focus his sight towards Mono. Mono extended his upper paws towards him. His lips wrinkled and his eyes were on the verge of bursting with tears. Emilio kneeled down to Mono’s eye level and wrapped his arms around him. Patting him on the back, he heard Mono’s tears muffled on his shoulder.
“There, there. Everything is going to be alright, Mono. I’m here for you.” He whispered.
“D…dad… I missed you and mom so much.” Mono cried out.
“I’m not exactly sure how you two turned into Pokémon, but I am glad to see that you two are alright.” Samantha stated.
Lith lifted her face off of Samantha. With her eyes reddened with tears, she let go of Samantha and dropped to the ground. She walked to Emilio and hugged his left leg. Emilio smiled and released his grip on Mono. He then ruffled the patch of fur on Lith’s head with an affectionate motion.
“Dad, I need to know something; do you hate me for being indirectly responsible for you and mom’s death?” Lith asked.
“What makes you think I hate you? I would never hate my two children, especially not over something as trivial as causing us to die.” Emilio responded with a good-natured voice. “On that day, chances are that your mother and I still would have been involved in that accident. It was just simply our time to leave.”
“Please! Don’t say that dad! Just scream at me! Scold me and hit me for doing something horribly wrong! I was being a selfish little girl!” Lith screamed out with a frown on her face.
Emilio turned his body towards Lith and placed his hands onto her shoulders. Lith looked into her father’s eyes. She saw a gaze that was not filled with bitterness nor anger, but a gentle and warm flame that resonated from his soul.
“You were just rash. I can’t punish my daughter for expressing her personality and wanting to surprise her parents with a surprise anniversary party now would I? I’m sure that you behaved very well after all that time we were separated from each other.”
“Daddy…”
Lith dug her face into the lower left leg of Emilio’s khakis. Emilio wrapped his arms around Lith and rocked her with a gentle speed.
“Come here, Mono. Come to your mother. You must be very exhausted.” Opening her arms wide and kneeling down the ground, Samantha stated.
Mono sidestepped his way towards Samantha with an uneasy frown on his face. He shook his head.
“I’m sorry that I kept you and dad to the brink of exhaustion when dealing with me mom. I’m so sorry! If I had never seen that murder, then you and dad would…”
His words drowned under his stifled sobs. Seeing his face stressing to fight back his tears, Samantha reached her arms towards Mono and pulled in him for an embrace.
“It didn’t matter if I put all of my active time into making sure you were growing up to be a healthy young boy in body and mind, Mono. I would gladly have given even my sleeping hours just to make sure you were okay. I’ve been in the Performing Arts business for too long to see that this was bothering you for a very long time.”
“It was mom… it was…” Mono stifled out.
Samantha backed her head away from Mono and looked onto his face. She wiped away a stray tear on his cheek with her right index finger.
“You don’t need to try to act tough, Mono. You are too sweet to try to be like that in front of me. I want you to show me how you really feel right now.”
“Alright… mommy.” Mono uttered out.
Samantha placed her right hand behind Mono’s head and nudged him towards her body. She rocked him with a gentle motion and hummed a soft melody. Mono rested onto Samantha’s shoulder and his eyes calmed down to a half-lidded state.
“You two have definitely changed a lot since we last saw you! You two are so big now. Your mother and I would love to know what happened.” With his mouth formed into an upbeat smile, Emilio requested.
“It’s a very long story, but we will try to explain.” Lith responded with a cheerful disposition.
The family sat on the couch together; Emilio and Samantha sat at the middle of the sofa. Mono is wrapped around Samantha’s left arm and Lith is wrapped around Emilio’s right arm.
“So my son and daughter are kicking alien butt to free several races of aliens from war? That’s quite an impressive feat!” Emilio complimented, rocking Lith’s body to her left and right.
“But that’s nothing, Emilio. Our children finally have romantic others that they can share their lives with!” Samantha noted.
“Well… yeah!” Mono stated with a nervous fit of laughter. “But, you don’t really have anything against me going out with someone who was originally a Pokémon, right mom?”
“Why would I? You are free to love who you love and nothing in the world can change that. Besides, it’ll be much easier loving a Pokémon now that you are a Pokémon yourself. It makes having a fulfilling sexual life with her much more manageable.”
Saying these words, Samantha blinked her right eye and smirked.
“You got to tell me all about this ‘Fei’ fellow that has grabbed your heart the way it did, Lith. I want to know if he will be man enough to keep up with a lady such as you.” Emilio stated.
A small grin formed on Lith’s face. She punched Emilio’s shoulder with her upper right paw.
“You wouldn’t think I’d go for someone who wouldn’t push daisies? At least have more confidence with me in choosing a boyfriend, dad.” Lith said with a collected tone.
“Well, I did raise you. You should know well-enough. Plus, like your mother said, I don’t have a problem with who you have feelings for. If you feel for girls the same way that you do about boys, then I don’t have strong feelings one way or the other. All I care about is whether you are happy with your decision or not.” Emilio assured.
“Also, I’ll have to thank this Professor Pasque for doing a good job with raising the both of you into such productive members of society. If only this was more than just a dream.” Samantha said.
“It is just a dream, but I want this dream to last as long as possible. I wish every night was a dream where Lith and I can just talk with you two.”
Luna stood within the room of Mono and Lith. She gazed at the puffy cloud between the twins, looking at the smiling family chatting inside of it. Her chest radiated in warmth and her stone faced façade melted away and revealed a smile. She looked towards Mono and Lith’s bodies, where the two snuggled into their blankets with smiles on their faces.
“Their dreams reveal the truth they held back. These children truly did miss their parents, did they not? With these sweet dreams they will have, I’m sure that they will have no more subconscious intrusions. But… why would anyone intrude on the dreams of these two? Surely these are two average aliens, correct?”
Luna shook away the questions setting roots into her head. She popped her head out of the window and into the sky, where the moon hung high above the stars.
“The night is still young and there are many more dreams to be in. I, Council Lady Luna, will make sure that the faces of everyone tonight will show a grin.”