Note: This bonus takes place in between Chapters 39 and 40 in my fanfic, Follow Me.

Follow Me Bonus

A Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver Bonus Story

Reflect

"I still can't believe it," Soul said as she read the paper over again in the sunlight as they exited on the Kanto side of Tohjo Falls. "A real clue to where your father is..."

"Right," Silver said, nodding. "So the old bastard wants to be found after all."

Soul grinned. "We sure have come a long way since having ramen together that night, huh? To think we'd be standing here now..."

"A lot's happened since then," Silver said, eyes pondering.

Soul's grin broadened. "You run away less," she teased.

Silver scoffed. "You're still just as stubborn."

She puffed her cheeks for a moment and then shrugged. "Maybe you've rubbed off on me, then." She glanced at her PokéGear for the time. "It's almost noon, did you want to have lunch?"

Silver's stomach let out a loud growl, and he clutched at it. "Sure."

Soul nibbled on her sandwich, watching as all the Pokémon ate their meal together. She smiled. "This reminds me of that lunch we had in the Whirl Islands."

"You mean right after I saved you from dying from idiocy?" Silver said before filling his expectant mouth with his sandwich.

"That was still a fluke, you know," Soul said in a huff. "We could Fly to Viridian after we're done here."

"I'd rather not risk you conking out again," Silver said, deliberately teasing her. "Besides, it's not far, and walking's good for you."

Soul huffed and took an angry bite of her sandwich.

"Were you at least having a good dream?"

"Hm?"

"Before you fell," Silver elaborated, "were you having a good dream? I'd want to have a good dream before dying in my sleep."

Soul's eyelids drooped, recalling the words that still stung in the very back of her mind, words Silver had never said aloud but still hurt nonetheless. "...No...I was having a nightmare."

"Ah," Silver said, nodding in understanding. "Maybe that's why you rolled off?"

"Maybe..." Soul said, eyeing her lap as she trailed off.

Contemplative silence fell between them. Soul stared at her lap, nibbling quietly at her sandwich. Silver, sensing the awkwardness and detecting that Soul did not care to elaborate, swiftly changed the subject.

"Still, I messed things up soon after that," he said. "My assholishness has gotten us into plenty of trouble."

"Nn, you mean with the legendary Pokémon we met? That was pretty scary."

"What kind of Pokémon was that, anyway? I've always wondered since then."

"I couldn't make it out through the waterfall," Soul said, "but its shadow was massive. I read somewhere that a large Pokémon was rumored to live there, but I never found anything concrete."

Silver nodded then glanced upward, pondering. "Still...whatever it was, it was powerful. It teleported us across the ocean like it was nothing."

"Nn, all the way to the Safari Zone. I woke up on the other side of the compound from you, too. Gold found me unconscious."

"That's still weird that he found you in the first place," Silver said, retaking his effort to eat his sandwich. "That's beyond coincidence that he was even there."

"Not really," Soul said, shaking her head. "Gold frequents the Safari Zone a lot, so it's not so odd that he was there. That he was there the day I travelled back in time in Ilex Forest was beyond coincidence."

"Right, he was there for that, too, wasn't he," he said. "You never said what you were doing there that day, Soul."

Soul's cheeks flushed, recalling the quandry that had led her to that secluded place. "I-I just had some soul-searching to do that day, that's all. Ilex Forest is quiet and remote, so I thought I could get some thinking done there."

Satisfied with this answer, Silver nodded and took another bite of his sandwich. As he chewed, he squinted, obviously thinking. "You know, it's fuzzy, but I think I remember bumping into someone that day."

"Really?" Soul asked, eyebrows raised.

"Nn," Silver said through his mouthful before swallowing. "I was all rage and fire that day, but I vaguely remember knocking someone over. Did I say anything interesting?"

"You yelled at me," Soul said with a grin.

"Ah. Figures."

"It wouldn't be the last time you knocked me down and then yelled at me," Soul said, chuckling.

Silver grinned a little too. "Yeah, I was kind of an asshole back then,"

"'Back then?'" Soul repeated, her grin wider than ever, and she laughed when Silver shot her a dirty glower. "I was surprised Gold and I found you in that tree, though, if we're talking about coincidences."

"Nn, I guess that was pretty lucky. The three of us making it out of there alive was lucky, too."

"Oh, I don't think we would've died at all," Soul said, shaking her head. "Mr. Baoba's workers would've found us under the mountain when they came in to feed the Pokémon. It was nice of him to let us stay at his house for the trouble, though."

"Yeah, it was. Wish he'd told us how exstensive his underground network is, though. Would've saved us days of fruitless searching."

"It wasn't all fruitless, though," Soul said. "We found your father's pin. Speaking of," she said, reaching for her bag and digging in one of the side pockets. After a few seconds of rummaging, she retrieved the inocuous pin and offered it to Silver. "You gave it to me to hold onto, so I've had it since then."

Silver took the trinket from her and rolled it between his fingers a few times, examining it. "It's funny, I don't think he meant to leave this there, but back then, it was just the sort of thing I needed to light a fire under my ass."

"We headed back to Olivine after that," Soul recalled.

"Nn, and collided with Barry and Palmer, literally," Silver said with a smirk.

"Nn, yeah, that actually hurt, you know," Soul said, wincing in recollection of past discomfort.

"We did get to stay in the Tower Tycoon suite, though. That was pretty cool."

"And we got to meet Leaf and that little green Pokémon. Just seeing that little guy made me itch to go catch one."

"Thinking about Leaf makes me itch in other ways," Silver said with a grimace. "Seriously, Green is a saint for putting up with her for as long as he has."

"She's not so bad," Soul said, smiling sympathetically regardless. "She has a lot of wisdom for her age."

Silver snorted doubtfully. "For all her complaining about Red, she and him are a lot alike. I thought that when I finally met him. They're both schemers."

"You got so mad when I mentioned I'd met him before," Soul reminded him. "I couldn't figure out why you got so angry at me."

"I wasn't really angry, just surprised," Silver said with a sigh. "The guy's an enigma, and yet you found him hiding on some mountaintop like it was no big deal. You found my father like that, too. Honestly, that's why I keep you around; legendary figures just fall at your feet."

"Ha ha," Soul said sarcastically, catching his taunting smirk. "Let's see, since we're on a roll here...after that we left for Olivine and met Crystal, after I—"

She stopped midsentence, and her face darkened. Silver studied her quizzically for a moment before the realization dawned on him. "Ah. Right."

The two sat in silence, the air tense. The memories washed over them both: Soul's accidental confession, her spontaneous flight of feet, the ensuing chase, resulting in their meeting with Crystal and Silver's exclusion outside the Pokémon Center in the pouring rain.

"...You know, the way you helped save that Gyarados was amazing, Silver," Soul said quietly after a few minutes had passed.

Silver shook his head. "I only did it because Gold and Crystal were so stubborn." He sat for a moment, eyeing the mostly-eaten sandwich in his hands. "It was really cold out there."

Soul nodded, understanding his meaning. "It was cold when I was sitting there with you, too."

Silver swallowed, wanting desperately to discuss the conversation they had had. If he regretted any of the discussions he had had with Soul, that was the one he regretted most. If he had just reciprocated, if he hadn't been such a collossul idiot, things would have played out in a completely different way. But the past was past, and he couldn't change it. He had ruined his chances, at least for the moment.

"...It was cold that day, too..." Soul said suddenly. "The...The day I left."

Fresh guilt washed over him as he recalled that snowy afternoon. The day he had spit venomous words at her and driven her away from him, only to regret it soon after, plunging him into weeks of self-inflicted inner torture. The words, "I'm sorry," remained in his throat. Did he have the right to say those words? After all the hurt he had caused her, did he actually have the gall to apologize, like it would magically make it all better?

"I learned a lot about myself by leaving, though," Soul said. "We'd been together for too long in a tense environment. We both needed space. I finally started Chocobo's training, and he evolved. I...I evolved, too. At least I like to think so."

Silver avoided eye contact, recalling his own evolution during that time. After weeks of struggling, he finally allowed himself to love Soul openly. It did him little good, but at least he could be honest with himself. He did wish the dreams would stop, though.

"I chose Mt. Silver to train because the Pokémon Center was close and the wild Pokémon there were rumored to be strong. I honestly didn't expect to run into Red there, though I knew he trained on the mountaintop. It was rare for him to come down, though, so it really was a coincidence that I met up with him." She smiled a little. "I had a nice time training with him there. He had a lot of good advice for battling thanks to all his experience. It was interesting to learn from someone like him."

Silver swallowed his bitterness. "I saw his Gym battle with my father. His personality aside, he really is a great Trainer. Watching their battle was almost like watching art in motion."

"Nn, I know what you mean. I felt that way when I battled him, too," Soul agreed. "He's...Red really is an amazing guy."

"...Sorry I ruined your honeymoon by showing up."

The bitter words escaped his mouth before he could filter them, and he flinched in horror as he awaited Soul's reaction.

Soul's face sank, an eyebrow raised in surprised indignation. Sniffing, she turned to her sandwich again, adding over her shoulder, "Well you certainly did make an ass of yourself when you arrived."

Silver winced, accepting her barb without complaint. Great. He really was quite the charmer.

"Still," Soul said with a sigh, "I was surprised to see you come looking for me."

Silver leapt at the opportunity to make amends. "I needed you." He blushed as she looked up at him for the uncharacteristic admission. "I mean, it's like I said then, you were the only one with clues to help me move forward, so it made sense that I needed to find you."

"That's true, I guess," Soul said, nodding.

"A-Anyway, that brings us to the present, doesn't it?" Silver said, still shaking off his embarrassment. "We went to see your mom, we had my birthday, and now here we are, on the trail of my father again."

"Nn, more or less," Soul agreed. "Do you think we'll be able to find him this time?"

"I can't say for sure," Silver said, shaking his head. "But..." He removed the note scribbled in his father's handwriting. "At the very least, I can say he wants to be found, at least by me. Why else would he address the note to me? If we found this clue, who's to say there won't be another clue at my house in Viridian?"

"For all we know, there could be a whole trail of clues waiting ahead of us," Soul said.

"True," Silver relented, "but still, a wild Zangoose chase with clues is better than one without, wouldn't you say?"

Soul smiled and nodded. "Nn, definitely."

"You know, we've already been through a lot on this journey...I can't say how much longer it will take until we find my father. But..." He looked up at her. "I hope you'll stick with me until the end."

Soul beamed at him, gripping his hand on his knee with her own. "Don't you worry about me, Silver. I'll follow you forever if I have to."

To everyone who has read Follow Me over the past 4 years:

Thank-you. Sincerely.

I hope you'll follow us to the happy ending.