"Stupid…and arrogant…and stupid…and arrogant…did I already say he was stupid and arrogant?"

Suicune stopped in movement, sighing, her furrowed brows releasing from their firm position and allowing her scarlet eyes to soften. Her mouth was still slightly ajar from the various curses she had been muttering under her breath, and although the air of the Hall of Legends – a place in the Heavens where the Legendaries debated on business and held meetings – was quiet due to being deserted, she felt like she was becoming claustrophobic in an atmosphere smothered by stressful anger. The cathedral-sized space of the meeting room echoed with her groans of annoyance, as every time she thought over the argument she had only minutes ago, she boiled with hatred, wanting to bash in the first face she saw.

Of course, she was all alone in the Hall of Legends, and therefore unless she wanted to hit her own reflection as it mimicked her movements across the golden floor tiles, she was left without something to take her anger out on.

She sighed again, despite that, like the many rushes of air that she had blew from her nostrils before, it failed to calm her, or at least convince her frown to dissipate. She lowered her eyes to the ground as she continued forward, not paying attention to where she was going, although when she noticed the red plush-ness of a long carpet appear under her, she could tell she was a few steps away from bumping into the pedestal in which Arceus usually sat upon at meetings. She grunted, raising her head up so she could identify where to turn and sit – anywhere would be fine as long as it would help her clear her mind. It was times like these where she was thankful that Legendaries' had earthly duties, and because of this she had the Hall of Legends all to her sulking self.

She sat down by the jury seats, which was where the other Legendaries sat during meetings. She felt like screaming into the air regardless that everything was quiet, calm, and eventless, and every time she thought about it, she slowly grew angrier.

"Stupid and arrogant…" she muttered again, her whispering voice drifting off across the walls and echoing throughout the air like a calm hiss. For some reason she couldn't stop mumbling those words to herself, despite that those two personality traits happened to belong to the one Pokemon that had gotten into the argument with her, and convinced her to stomp off on her own away from the forests of Johto. With anger blinding her, she hadn't been really paying attention to where she was going, and before she knew it she had found herself pacing around in the Halls of Legends like a phantom obsessed with haunting.

Suicune closed her eyes, sighing again, leaning her head against the oak wood of the jury seats, feeling its untouched coldness meet her skin. Now she was slowly turning depressed, and this showed through the unlit glint that bore from her mellow eyes as she revealed them through slits.

"…who's stupid and arrogant?"

The water dog gasped, jumping back, her head snapping around to find the source of the voice who had repeated her words in a ghastly, yet bewildered tone. The voice had sounded familiar, although the anger and depression that ran through her head had blocked her from identifying the mystery owner on the spot. Her mouth was slightly gaped again, this time from surprise that whoever was in the room had even heard her.

Eventually she turned her somewhat-widened eyes up when a shadow grew on the ground before her…

…and only to come in contact with a pair of sea-green eyes, their owner hovering above her like the actual phantom he really was. His albino hair rested calmly across his back, his red collar, as always, hiding away the confused frown that decked his mouth, and a few of his bangs hung over his left eye, refusing it access to see the world around them. His obsidian skin blew in shrivels like smoke from a steam pipe, although it maintained a spiky look nonetheless, his arms long and scraggy like the branches of a dying tree.

"Dark…Darkrai?" Suicune managed to mumble out, slight awe drenching her tone. She was surprised to see the nightmare Legendary in the Hall of Legends, and as she wondered why he was there, she also wondered if he had been watching her the whole time she was throwing a quiet fit.

Darkrai shrugged, no longer seeming surprised by Suicune's presence in the area, and instead lowered himself until he was eye-level with her. "Hey," he then mumbled, his ghastly voice fit for a loner carrying a nonchalant tone, despite that such a thing was normal for the dark type. He quirked his eyebrow slightly before crossing his arms as he then asked, "What are you doing here?"

Suicune blinked, realizing that he had beaten her to questioning the reason behind the other's presence, and brought her eyes back down to the ground as she remembered why she had come to the Hall of Legends. "I'm going through some problems…I came here to clear my mind…" Her voice was quiet, and Darkrai easily caught the hints of sadness that rode it, as well as the anger that had covered it before. Of course, every Legendary knew about one another, even if they weren't counterparts to some, and therefore he could already tell what her problem was.

"Another argument…with the kid?"

Suicune blinked again, turning her surprised eyes to Darkrai, who kept a poker face as his gaze met hers.

"How…how did you know…?" she managed to reply, irises brightened with curiosity.

Darkrai shrugged, not noticing that he had lowered to the ground completely and settled against the wall of the jury seats. "It's obvious, isn't it? I mean, Raikou always gets on your nerves…"

Suicune sighed, mentally agreeing with him, and turned her hurt eyes away yet again. She always got into fights with her arrogant counterpart – the thunder tiger, Raikou - because he was always childish during times when his duties required him to be mature. Despite that she indeed 'loved' the thunder tiger, it had turned out to be the love a sister would give to her little brother, and all because she felt like she was babysitting him half the time they spent together. Even her other counterpart – the fire lion, Entei – noticed that their connection was more family-like than anything else.

"I just wish…" she began, her voice trailing off. She sighed again before continuing. "I just wish that for once he would act grown up – don't get me wrong; I love Raikou with all my heart and he's a great friend, but it would be nice to have someone I could talk to…someone that understood me, and didn't jump around all the time like a sugar-high adolescent."

Darkrai, who had been listening to her words with interest, slowly nodded. The news of Raikou's childishness and arrogance didn't surprise him at the least. "You still have Entei…"

"I know," she replied, "but…he's more like a father figure to me…I want someone that I could…you know…" If she wasn't caught up in her words, she would've noticed that a light tint of red had covered her cheeks.

Darkrai, finally understanding her position, turned away to ponder on it. He wasn't surprised that Raikou, who he had taken fond of calling 'kid', had gotten into another argument with Suicune, although with the words she was saying…

Every Legendary had been foreshadowing Raikou and Suicune to get together – to be a couple – but as of now Darkrai found himself thinking the exact opposite. Every Legendary was usually a couple with their counterparts regardless of their differences, like Groudon and Kyogre, and Dialga and Palkia, or even Arceus and Giratina. Now, however…

Wow, this was unexpected.

A cough from the very water dog he was sitting beside, wondering about, snapped him away from his thoughts and convinced him to turn his eyes to her.

"Enough of my sad talk, though," she then forced herself to laugh out, and Darkrai arched his eyebrow at her choice of words, already being able to tell that she had learned of them from – no doubt – Raikou. His thoughts were subsided when she turned her gaze to him, and as her eyes met his he felt a strange feeling rise from within his gut, although he pushed it away as if it was nothing of importance. "What are you doing here?" she asked after she caught his attention.

Darkrai rose his eyes to the ceiling out of the act of clearing his mind. "Just trying to escape…have some time to myself - this place gets quiet when the other Legendaries are busy."

"Oh…" Suicune muttered, turning her head away. She soon reverted her gaze back to him, though. "Did you have another fight with Cresselia?"

Darkrai blinked, although it wasn't out of surprise. Cresselia, the dream Legendary, was his counterpart, and like Suicune and Raikou they usually fought because of their differences. The other Legendaries believed they were on the borderline of becoming a couple, despite that Darkrai had found himself disagreeing with them, definitely with the fact that his last argument with Cresselia had been a month ago and they hadn't spoken one word to each other since. He didn't see her as a lover figure, but more as a friend whom he bickered with every now and then…

When he thought about it, he was in the same situation Suicune was.

"We haven't spoken in a while…" was all he answered, eyes turning away out of slight embarrassment, and he ended it there to give Suicune the chance to catch the implied rest. She nodded, not emitting another word about it in order to avoid digging into his business.

The water dog suddenly sighed again, and this time true depression rode it. Darkrai brought his eyes to her, slight compassion covering them as he analyzed her sorrowful expression, and he soon asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's just…" Suicune began, yet again her voice trailing off. "It's just that every Legendary has fallen in love with one of their counterparts..." She slid her darkened eyes to the ground. "If I see Raikou as a brother figure…and Entei as a father figure…then does that mean I have no one?"

If his red collar wasn't in the way, Suicune would've been able to see that Darkrai's jaw had slightly dropped. He quickly closed it, though, and allowed his gaze to wander over the deserted meeting room of the Hall of Legends, thinking over her words carefully with his expression now emotionless. He agreed with her – that every Legendary usually fell in love with one of their counterparts, and never had there been anything else.

Cresselia…if she wasn't what he was looking for…then did that mean that he was alone, too?

Suicune yawned, breaking him away from his thoughts. "I guess I better be getting back to Johto…maybe if I ignore Raikou for the rest of the night I'll be able to sleep peacefully in our cave…" She got up.

"Wait!" Darkrai suddenly spoke, convincing the water dog to blink in surprise, and she turned her scarlet eyes to him out of curiosity. The nightmare Legendary stumbled from her gaze, simultaneously wondering why he did so, but pushed it away as if it was nothing and instead continued. "Listen, Suicune…if you want anyone to talk to…just ask, alright?"

Suicune couldn't help but quirk her eyebrow. Darkrai was acting nice, which was abnormal for him. Usually he was the loner being whose grumpiness tended to outmatch Zapdos' at times, and now he implied that he accepted being the figure she could turn to if she wanted to talk to someone and express her feelings. Before she realized it, a soft smile had corrupted her snout, and she slowly walked over to the dark type, nuzzling him into a hug. "Thanks, Darkrai…" she cooed in the midst of it, and the nightmare Legendary, slightly blushing from the contact, eventually smiled himself as he wrapped his arms around her neck, returning the warm embrace.

After what seemed like years when in reality it had only been seconds, the two Legendaries pulled away, and Suicune shot him one last warm smile before saying goodbye and making her way to the exit out of the room. The nightmare Legendary waved at her, and when she disappeared he turned away, his blush returning as he thought over the recent events.

Eventually, though, he turned his sea-green eyes towards the door, finding himself thinking about the water dog. He hummed in approval, finally realizing the one thing he had been wondering about all along as his blush deepened.

Who said Legendaries had to fall in love with their counterpart? Who said love had to make sense?

Who said affection couldn't be...

...abnormal?