No longer a one-shot.

The wyvern lighted down on the Sky Pillar, forsaking the maze of the obelisk for the sake of time and convenience. As her wingbeats erased the footsteps worn in the dust before the lair's entrance, Reshiram had to wonder if the rumors of Rayquaza actually eating stray, unwitting trainers and their companions were actually true. She knew that the sky dragon would have no problem at least maiming and disfiguring any foolish competition to scare them away from his holy ground, despite how forcefully Arceus forbade such an act. Such was the stony, coldhearted character of Rayquaza, she thought with an expressive eye roll.

Much like Zekrom, a voice in her mind quipped as her claws played over each other. Over several hours of mumbling to herself and several helpings of a delicious concoction humans called "ice cream", she concluded that her actions from the previous day had torn her aching heart even further apart than it had been before. Anger struck her for a moment; how could that big lummox, that insensitive dumbass do something so simple to turn one of the great Unovan legends from strong, noble peacekeeper to complete mush?

She quickly berated herself for the comparison, almost laughing at her attempt at considering Zekrom heartless. Dumb? Possibly. Oblivious? More than definitely. But she knew for a fact that he had a strong will and a stronger heart, interests placed in the right things for the right reasons. As the embodiment of Truth, such veracity spoke to her more than any words or actions could.

In stark contrast, she knew almost nothing about the dragon ho she came to visit this day. Only observation has shown an cold, unsympathetic individual so focused on maintaining his staid, composed figure that even a single chink in his armor shone like a beacon. From that it was easy to deduce that he held a portion of his heart, however small it may be, for just one other on the council - the blithe, fun-loving, adventurous Latias among all others. The sheer juxtaposition and the few memories of Rayquaza actually somewhat losing his composure while talking to her brought a small, wry grin to her face. She came not intending to scorn him for the secluded life he pursued nor to tease him about his unusual attraction, but to discover how he dealt with such a feeling eating away at him from day to day.

The irony of asking the one she knew the least about for help with handling the one she knew the most about was not lost on her.

As she began to approach the entrance of the small lair atop the Sky Pillar, the more rational part of her mind began to plead with her - why wouldn't you ask someone you were actually friends with, instead of this reclusive jerk who you know couldn't care less about anything, let alone your feelings?

But this jerk quite possibly knows more about your plight than anyone else you could think of, she reminded herself sternly. And that was enough reason enough to even bother attempting to talk to him today.

She quietly ventured close enough to the entrance to see Rayquaza's coiled figure breathing softly, angular head nestled in the middle. His emerald armor told tales of battles long past, scratches and scars remnants of his extended service to Arceus and the Council and the sacrifices made for them. Clearly he had fought wars that she wouldn't have had the courage to face, let alone learn of.

As she stepped softly in the chamber, it seemed that his instincts has not yet left him. The green dragon's head flew up as his entire body unwound in an instant, fierce snarl painted over his muzzle as his armor pulsed bright yellow. "Who enters?" he asked, acerbity of the demand sending a healthy amount of fear though her for a moment. Moments before she can respond, however, he quickly cut her off as his eyes widened slightly in recognition. "Reshiram," he acknowledged brusquely, small claws retracting. "What are you doing here?"

If fear hadn't gotten the better of her, she was more than certain she would have smacked him silly for the flagrant disrespect just displayed. Instead, the wyvern looked straight up into to the triangular face staring straight down at her, somehow swallowing her fear for a moment to return a glare of equal intensity. "Hello, and good afternoon to you as well, Rayquaza," she said, trying to contain her anger. "Do you mind if I... enter?"

"Enter?" He waved his arm at the room, a stone box and nothing more. "Certainly." As she walked in, he said, "As you can tell, Reshiram, I am not quite used to visitors. This seems to be the first time in my life you have appeared to me here, so you must forgive me if I'm not the most accommodating host there is." His yellow eyes flashed at her for a moment, seeming to reveal some nebulous emotion behind his expression. "You may sit down somewhere... anywhere, even." A blink and a shrug completely erased the face she tried to scrutinize.

Reshiram chose somewhere preferably close to the door, taking particular care in making sure her tail wasn't dirtied by the dust and sand underfoot as she sat. She heard him coil up besides her, but not too close - however icy and cold the green dragon may have been, he was certainly not stupid enough to risk the ire of an already irritated dragon. "So, what brings you here?" he repeated, watching her out of the corner of his eyes. "Your assigned area isn't anywhere near here, so you must have came of your own volition. Maybe you have some moral quandary that only the venerable Rayquaza could solve."

"You spend too much time in the clouds," she said, a scowl covering her face and her surprise at how precisely he nailed her reasons. "And you would be the last I would ask about morality, if you were wondering."

He seemed to let that slight go, instead smirking in a manner that Reshiram definitely didn't like. "Right, right," he said, "I would imagine that you would have asked Zekrom instead of me about that jargon. But that doesn't seem to be an option, does it? Especially after what happened yesterday."

She felt ice flow through her veins as shock, embarrassment, and a newfound desire to wring that little skinny neck of his fought a three-way battle within her. "Rayquaza..." she started warningly, wisps of smoke escaping her jaw as she conjured her most intimidating glare.

Clearly Rayquaza has seen much worse, for he simply stared down his snout at her with arrogant derision. "It's not as if I'm wrong," he said, annoyed expression ever-present. "After all, I find that your appearance here after that certain situation yesterday hardly coincidental. We'll set a scene: you leave the Hall of Origin confused and upset, and haven't a single soul to talk to besides yourself until now.

Reshiram only watched him carefully, slowly feeling more and more exposed each minute. Even though she had her expectations, she didn't expect this arrogant green lizard to actually figure almost word-for-word her very intentions, let alone bother talking at all.

"Who better to talk to than someone who you know doesn't fraternize with anyone? He'd certainly be a good candidate for harboring your painfully obvious secrets." He dropped his claws and snorted. "At least, that's what I imagine ran through your head as you flew all the way out to the middle of nowhere."

Her eyes widened as Rayquaza watched her steadily with those yellow pupils, and she found them startlingly similar to Zekrom's in how analytically they gazed at her. She was so stunned that she even let the insulting concept of "painfully obvious secrets" slide right by. "How did you deduce that so swiftly?" she asked, hopefully wondering if he had reached that conclusion by experience.

Another snort. "It's common sense. Emotions write themselves on faces, and you're as easy to read as a kindergarten book. And I hate to dash your hopes, but," he said, pushing off the ground with his tiny claws, "I'm not your personal diary, so you will have to find someone else to talk to."

As he uncoiled to take flight, she saw that same traitorous expression on Rayquaza's face from before. As she pondered what he had just said, she summoned the one thing she knew could make him stop in his tracks. "So, how's Latias doing?"

His horselike head snapped back for a moment to stare at her, mouth slightly agape. "How should I know how she is?" he asked sharply, slight hesitance showing before he plastered sheer annoyance on his face. "You're much better off asking Latios that."

A quick scan of his face yielded a treasure chest's worth of details in his demeanor. The way his eyes narrowed to slits, the slightly bared fangs, the rise of pitch, how his entire body seemed to stiffen slightly as the slight mention of her name.

In that one moment, Reshiram found the origins of how he had known her intentions so quickly. Under normal circumstances, she would have shamed herself over not detecting his fib so quickly.

"Liar."

It seemed that there was another thing that could halt him. He quickly descended and pushed his snout barely a foot away from her's. "I beg your unbelievable pardon?" he hissed, claws balled in overt, more than obvious anger. "You dare to intrude on my sacred ground, bring your problems to my doorstep, and then call me a liar when I refuse to entertain your - I must emphasize - your problems?"

Reshiram instantly shrunk away from the emerald dragon's fury as his angry tirade continued. "Pray tell, what am I lying about? You think that deep down inside, I want to sit here and be talked at for hours on end about your problems? Or am I lying about how I don't know of Latias' whereabouts and feelings? I am certain you realize I don't exactly live with her."

In the face of this green monstrosity, the wyvern slowly found her voice as her argument began to compose itself. "You protest too much," she said softly, a weak chuckle escaping her at Rayquaza's surprised expression. Apparently he wasn't used to being talked back at.

"How do I, as you put it, 'protest too much' when you violate my honor and my pride by calling me a liar?" he asked, eyes returning to slits.

"Because you lie to preserve your pride." Reshiram watched how the rays of light illuminated his face, saw the momentary bout of uncertainty that captured his expression, and knew that she was right.

"You lie about how you were able to know my problems so quickly," she said, heart pounding as she anticipated to either be fully accepted or fight the enraged dragon to the bloody death. "You said that all you did was read my face, but I find that hard to believe."

He scoffed, looking at her with much more anger than before. "Is it not believable that I know how others feel? You have knowing confused with understanding, even, especially in this case. I know you feel a certain way, but I couldn't relate to you even if I tried."

She acknowledged his scowl with a stoic expression. "I am more than certain that there's a little more than 'knowing' under that armor of yours, especially in this case. You say that I have painfully obvious secrets? Even Giratina, the densest of the dense when it comes to feelings, knows what you try to hide away so desperately! It's such a wonder that Latias is so damn blind and oblivious that she hasn't figured out yet!"

"Now look-" the dragon snarled back, incensed by the mention of the name.

"No, you look," she said, causing Rayquaza's jaw to drop in shock - she guessed that this was the first time in his life he had been interrupted mid-sentence. Had she been in a calmer situation, she might have actually been proud of that feat. "I come here with the hope in my heart that you would at least be able to sympathize with me. You hold the same fears, the same trepidations as me, and we both know that. But you have the audacity to lie through your teeth to me, a being of Truth, and pretend that you're just some big damn hero who is incapable of an iota of emotion just to protect some imagined shred of pride!"

She looked up at him, outstretched wings dropping as she finally took a moment to catch her breath. Rayquaza had regained most of his face, albeit looking much more conflicted than before. "So I lied," he said slowly, teeth gritted as he spat each word out. "So I might know what you're feeling at this very moment because I've felt it for such a long time. Do you think it pleases me to look so incapable, so weak? Especially in front of one of the few I respect?"

Reshiram wasn't sure if she was to take that as a compliment, but what the dragon said next whisked those thoughts away. "But do you honestly expect me to reciprocate simply becausewe share the same woes?" he asked, expression slowly returning to its irritable self. "Don't forget that we haven't talked face to face until this very day - do you really expect me to release my demons here and now to an audience I know nothing about? Considering your past, I didn't expect you to be so foolhardy and naive about this, but I guess even I could afford to learn something new."

With this, he again lifted off the ground, long serpentine body silhouetted against the dying sunset. "I'm going for a fly," he said dryly. "See yourself out if you'd like."

"So," the black dragon said, using his claws to motion, "Latios comes from the left with a Luster Purge, and tries to strike me from my flank. I spin, and he actually deflects off of my arm, shooting him off in a different direction. From there it wasn't hard clipping his wings with a Thunderbolt while he was confused."

Latias, sitting on a half-broken pillar, smirked slightly "Is this true? I wish I was there to see it," she said with a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Yeah, okay," her brother said, scowling darkly at Zekrom. "So I improperly timed the move and I paid for it."

Zekrom looked out at the lake surrounding Dragonspiral Tower before swinging his head back at the source of indignation. "Right, right," he said with a short laugh. "Though I would have honestly stayed at range if I were you. Such a vantage would have been much better, considering I'm a hulking beast compared to you."

"I thought that you were going to do a range attack," Latios said, claw stroking his chin as he began to think analytically. "It's not as if I was wrong, considering what you did at the very end. I also wanted to go in for the kill, if that was possible."

Latias frowned slightly. "But he was strained to do that last Thunderbolt, wasn't he? If he had let you go, you probably could've tried to attack him again instead of just having the battle end there."

The interjection drew the surprised attention of both dragons. "What?" she asked with mock indignation. "Who's to say that he does all the protecting?" She put her claws on her hips mockingly and stood tall on her pillar. "Why can't I protect Alto Mare as well as my brother can?" The facade quickly fell to a fit of giggles as her composure lasted for mere seconds, eliciting a heavy sigh from Latios.

"Sometimes I swear I spar with her instead of you," Zekrom said with a shake of the head. "Though it seems that your skills are starting to slip. As a guardian of something much greater than what I will ever protect, I would have thought your combat tactics to be at least as good as mine - not rushing headlong into combat with the most powerful moves at the most inappropriate times. We must always remember that even though Arceus granted us powers, they're no good if we've no ability to use them properly."

The azure dragon nodded once in affirmation. "Understood - I'll be more conservative next time. Do you want another go, or..."

The mechanical dragon gave him an odd look. Latios' blue fur was clumped and singed from the electric attacks he had failed to escape; Zekrom's armor wore dings and scars from both the physical and special strikes the dragon had laid upon him in the past few hours. He swore he felt something oozing out of his left wing, but he willed himself to ignore it while the two eons were still with him. It wouldn't be polite to tend to his wounds in front of company.

"I guess not," Latios said a little stupidly. "It feels like that we've trained a bit harder than usual this time around, considering the condition we're both in." He neared the edge of the platform, taking no time at all to dive into the waters surrounding the tower.

As Zekrom watched the rings flow across the lake, Latias floated to his side. "So," she started, seemingly unable to find hold of a topic. "Are you doing anything later today?"

"Actually," he said, "I was hoping we could catch some dinner. I don't think either of you have had Unovan food in a while?"

"I would love to go," she said, head bobbing in agreement, "But Latios seems to have plans of his own later. Don't you?"

The sopping wet figure clambering back onto the tower shook himself dry. "Pardon?" he asked, though Zekrom could see his face change from curiosity to abject fear as he saw his sister's dark, malicious grin. "I, uh..."

"You know," she nudged ever so slightly. "The certain someone you're seeing later this evening? The one you've had eyes on for the longest while?"

Latios' face turned a color much more befitting of his sister. "La-ti-as!" he hissed, blood creeping up all the way up his snowy ears. "I thought you wouldn't say anything about this! To anyone!"

"Say what to who?" she asked with such divine innocence that Zekrom had to chuckle. "All I know is that you're going to see someone tonight, and that's it. What will happen to you two, or between you two, if that is the case, is something that's left up purely to the imagination. Whether that someone is a her, or a him, or..." Latias let out an illicit giggle as Latios' head practically exploded.

"It is a her, for the record," he snapped back, though the black dragon was more than certain that at the rate things were going, Latios could have boiled the entire lake with the heat of his embarrassment. "And you better quit that laughing, because this is just a casual dinner between two friends. Yeah, that's it. A casual dinner." Zekrom was sorely tempted to roll his eyes at such futile reassurance, noting that Latias also picked up on the waver in his voice. "Anyways, I'll be off now. No more gossiping, Latias, I swear," he sighed, lifting off from the tower into the dusk.

"So who is this someone Latios is so desperate to keep me unaware of?" Zekrom asked once the figure became all but invisible against the sky.

Latias shared a small laugh with him. "Oh, it's nobody special - just Lugia. It was inevitable, but apparently he likes to think much, much, differently about it. Speaking of inevitable," she said, turning to face him more fully, "You've had your hands full for all of last night, right? Considering what happened with you and Reshiram at the council meeting yesterday, I mean."

Zekrom frowned slightly, raising a black claw. "I've been meaning to ask someone about that for the longest time. I'm not sure what to make of any of that, to be honest." As Latias floated to the top of a pillar to make eye contact with him, he continued, "Last night I tried talking to her and asking her about what she did, but the only intelligible things I got out of her were 'idiot' and 'you don't understand.' And I don't, which is what frustrates me. She just rushed at me when we were talking for no reason at all - how is anyone supposed to make anything of that?"

"Be specific," Latias said, though not without an air of amusement. "What were you talking about right before she hugged you?"

He stroked his chin and stared at the ground as he struggled to recall. "Perhaps... she looked disappointed because she was playing that human game, 'love me not.' She only had one petal left on the flower, and I split it in half so that whoever she was thinking about liked her, or something to that extent. Then she tackled me for some reason, and that was that." He looked up to see Latias stare at him with some amount of horror, and immediately felt something wilt within him.

"You are a colossal idiot, Zekrom!" she almost shouted, causing him to flinch at the temper of the normally happy Latias. "You didn't talk to her about anything last night?" At the shake of his head, she failed to keep a groan from escaping her. "How is it not obvious to you that she likes you? Oh, that poor dragon, having to spend all of last night with an ignoramus like you! I can't believe how oblivious, how stupid you are!"

She would have continued to babble at lightning-fast speeds if Zekrom didn't hold his claws up. "Latias, slow down," he said calmly, though his insides began to churn slightly as he began to process her rambling infodump. She likes me... how? "What are you talking about?" he instead asked, attempting to handle the situation as delicately as possible. "How are you able to extrapolate all of that from just one thing?"

"Alright," the red dragon said, preparing her claws for demonstration, "So when a girl likes a boy-"

"No, Latias, not like that!" He took a brief moment to put his face in his claws. "I mean to ask, what do you mean by like? I don't see any fundamental reason that I would be disliked - I carry my weight as a counterpart, I assist her on missions and her likewise, we draft and submit reports together. I do everything expected of me, so I would be at least tolerated at the very least. And maybe," he said, heartbeat ramping up ever so slightly, "Maybe she was delusional or upset about something yesterday, and needed someone to comfort her." He couldn't help but notice that he was starting to talk like Latios, the last few words starting to sound more and more like a giant lie.

She just sat there, mouth agape, the phrase you are so dumb silently conveyed through her revolted expression. "I wanted to clarify," he said defensively, deliberately leaving out why he wanted to do so.

"Zekrom," she said gently, "When I say like I mean 'like like' despite what's in your head."

"Like like? A little redundant, don't you think?"

"Like like because there are Pokemon as thickskulled as you that don't understand it at first sight! It's not like that she's been mooning over you for the past few months - or years, even! It's been so long that I've lost track of time!" She snorted exasperatedly, floating up right before him. "And for all this time I thought you were looking at someone else this entire time, because there's no way the great and mighty Zekrom can be so dumb!"

The revelation left his jaw open for a moment as his mind reeled from the much more indignant, transparent fact she had just fed him. With newfound unease, he pointed towards himself and mouthed her and me?

"Yes!" She was clearly reaching the limits of her infinite patience as she sighed heavily. "Zekrom, I have to ask this now before this conversation goes any further. Do you like her? Not as a partner or whatever stupid stuff you thought of before, but as an individual?"

Abruptly fronted with that question, he came to the quick realization that all of the talk before was meant to skirt that particular topic, not to tackle it head-on. "I... I think I have the right to not answer that question," he said slowly, feeling something in his chest drop. He again thanked Arceus for the black, mechanical skin at that moment because of the blood starting to rush to his cheeks, not unlike what had happened to him in the councilroom yesterday. The source of this feeling came not from an awkward sort of embarrassment, but rather...

Latias' stormy expression cracked into a mischievous one the moment he eked that statement out. "So you do like her!" she squealed, dancing around him and hugging his neck. "You'd be so cute together; I can just imagine it! Reshi and Zeki, sitting in a tree-"

"I don't think I ever said that," he protested weakly, fighting the red dragon off of him as what little remnants of his dignity crumbled to dust. "Look, Latias, when I say that, it means I don't know yet. I... like her as an individual, and I'm definitely on good terms with her, but in a romantic sense?" He tensed slightly as the happiness sloughed off of Latias' face, her sad almond eyes invoking some irrational feeling of guilt.

"I need some time to think about it," Zekrom said, frowning as he sat back on his tail. He didn't quite know how to feel at the moment - his moral aspects immediately chided him for keeping her so wound up over him. So she feels that way about me, he thought, as if to remind himself of that fact. How did he miss all the signs? Reshiram had tried so hard and so many times to telegraph that sentiment, even up to tackling him in public to let him know, and he hadn't known at all? Maybe Latias was right in calling him an idiot.

But whose fault was it that she liked him? Whose fault would it be if he didn't accept her? Would denying her unintentionally make him the bad guy? I didn't choose to be liked, he thought worriedly.

He grunted as a red-furred dragon bopped his nose. "You'll figure it out one day," she said reassuringly, giving him a small, heartwarming smile. "Just be sure to be honest when you finally come to. Tell all the truth."

Zekrom couldn't help but snort slightly. "That poem is about telling half-truths, you know."

"Oh, I'm aware," she said a little loftily. "But you'll understand what I mean when it happens. Everybody does."

The only conclusion that he drew after was that he desperately needed a new topic - something, anything to get his mind off of white feathers, strong blue eyes, a soft and soothing voice...

Perhaps Arceus was with him that day, for he was able to distract himself long enough from that to think of something else. For all that Latias had assessed how Reshiram doted over him, Zekrom couldn't help but wonder if she was aware of a certain green dragon's overt affection for her. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask," he started, interrupting the silence between the two of them, "If you don't mind me prying, do you happen to like anyone?"

"Yeah!" she responded all too suddenly, her voice going an octave above what he believed possible. "But why bother talking about it? It's not like he's interested in me or anyone, that bellyaching jerk! That green snake can go stick his head out in space and suffocate to death for all I care!" The red dragon crossed her arms and huffed, eliciting a small grin from Zekrom.

"You don't happen to be talking about Rayquaza, do you?" he asked, smirking as the irony of the situation began defined itself. All of the thoughts about Reshiram fell to the back of his mind as he realized that Latias was just as blind and woeful as she accused him of being.

Oh, the revenge he'd exact on her for that ridiculous tirade...

She turned her head away from him and stuck her nose up, completely unaware of the gears turning inside Zekrom's head. "Of course I'm talking about Rayquaza! Have you ever met a more insensitive legendary? And it's not enough that he's made that way, but he tries to get others to hate him! How do you even begin to approach someone like that? But," she said a little more softly, "He sort of slips up whenever I talk to him, so I know there's something under that. But it sucks! I won't be able to talk back to him because he'll be too busy ignoring whatever I say, or let him know how I feel, or - ugh!"

Only after that small outburst did she realize who she was talking at, and she recoiled slightly as the mechanical dragon gave her a wide grin. A trickle of fear ran down her spine, and she suddenly got a much more familiar idea of what her brother felt earlier.

"We have a lot to talk about over dinner, don't we?"

A fierce gust of wind roused Reshiram from her stupor. The argument and the realization that all of her hopes had been burned down to cinders left her mentally and physically tired, and she decided against her better judgment to rest for a few hours at the Sky Pillar before making the long trek back to Unova.

Now she really wished she followed said judgment's suggestions as a dark, horselike head poked into the chamber, shadowed by not a setting sun but a full moon. It seemed to nod perfunctorily at her before retreating, as if beckoning her to follow.

Even in the darkness she noticed that her plumage gained a new dirtiness to it. She scowled at the undoubtedly dusty ground and briefly entertained taking a dive into the sea below to cleanse herself before realizing that water and fire do not mix all that well. She walked out, preparing to snap her wings and make a hasty retreat from the being who would undoubtedly question why she still intruded on his tower.

Instead, she found him sitting, staring out at moon far above them. Had she felt more adventurous at the time, Reshiram would have quipped how much of a hopeless romantic he was, or offered to take pictures so the rest of the Council could see how he was such a kindhearted legendary. Instead, she chose to simply watch, intrigued as to how such a stormy being could possess such a pensive expression.

The moment couldn't last forever. The second Rayquaza realized that someone was watching him, his head swung to meet hers. The snarl on his face slowly faded to something calmer, something definitely not of his character. "Eat," he commanded, motioning to a pile of berries placed between the two of them.

Reshiram eyed him suspiciously at first; it wouldn't be too far fetched of a concept to imagine him doing strange things to the food he proffered. Apparently he was just as aware of her thoughts, for he let out a sigh, speared a berry on his claw, and dropped it in his mouth. As mild crunching permeated the air, the wyvern almost let her jaw drop - since when did Rayquaza sigh? Since when did he bother to get food or anything for anyone? Since when did he watch the moon? She was tempted to blurt, "Who are you, and what did you do to the real Rayquaza?" but politeness got the better of her, and she simply kept her mouth shut.

Rayquaza gave her an insistent look, almost demanding that she join him in the dinner. At first, his cruel words replayed strong in her mind, telling her to just leave him alone, but her civility and the fact that her stomach began to growl audibly convinced her to stay.

With no real choice, she crossed the short gap between them and picked up a berry between her claws. Her eyes widened for a moment as she figured it to be a Tamato berry, spiky exterior poking at her feathers. She shot Rayquaza an ever more suspicious look before taking a small bite out of it.

As the spicy juices from the berry flowed in her mouth, she couldn't help but hum slightly from just how delicious it was. Zekrom had brought them back once from a mission in Hoenn, and she had decided to plant several Tamato seeds in front of Dragonspiral Tower right after that. Needless to say, it was unquestionably her favorite berry, and how Rayquaza of all legendaries had managed to guess that was beyond her.

A short chuckle immediately drew her eyes to the green dragon's figure. "You're so polite," he said, a small twinkle of amusement in his amber eyes. "Other Pokemon who hadn't eaten for an entire day would stuff their faces in without question."

A part of her wanted to engage Rayquaza in small talk, since it seemed to be the first time in her life she actually heard him attempt to start conversation. However, the memory of him brutally turning his shoulder on her came and instantly flattened that desire, and she again regarded him with an air of suspiciousness and anger. "Why is it that you got these for me?" she asked with surprising coldness.

If he was offended by her sharp question, he concealed it quite well. "I...," he started, struggling for words. "I went on a fly because I needed to think about all the things that you told me," he said with a softness that left Reshiram staring incredulously. That and stuttering, two more things on the list of things Rayquaza never does. "I lashed out at you back then because I was..."

Reshiram felt odd, now that he came to her with problems, not the other way around. Her uncomfortableness apparently didn't infect Rayquaza, for he only continued to talk. "I was afraid," he admitted, wearing a defeated expression. "For someone like me, looking in a mirror is the hardest thing to do. It doesn't necessarily help when the mirror starts shoving back at you, taking the ideals preserved for so long and contorting them into the beasts you locked away."

Not for the first time today, she couldn't find anything to say back. Reshiram was rendered speechless by how quickly Rayquaza's demeanor changed, and shocked at how he was able to express, Arceus forbid, actual emotions. All she could do was swallow the last vestiges of her berry as the dragon before her cobbled together what came as close to an apology as she thought possible.

"I thought attempting to leave would have been good enough to shoo you away, but I didn't anticipate your resolve. And then you challenged my honor - which I still resent, if you must know," he said with a sharp glare. "But your points were fair and valid, and I retreated further because I had no legitimate response - because there was no legitimate response."

He paused, as if suddenly realizing he was baring his heart out for her to see. "You really should eat some more," he said, nudging the pile of berries.

As she silently took another between her claws, he turned back to face the ocean. "I was a coward," he muttered, barely loud enough for Reshiram to hear. "I am a coward in that I can't even begin to defend my beliefs the moment they're challenged." He let out a short bark of laughter, causing her to wince at how painful it sounded. "I'm so afraid of breaking who I am that I am loathe to even approach the object of my attraction."

"I assume you came here for a shoulder to lay your head on, for someone to tell you how they cope with the struggles and pains of trying to say what should be left unsaid. I'm afraid I can't afford you that service, Reshiram," the dragon said as he appraised her, causing her to notice newfound respect in his gaze.

His voice seemed to give out there, last few words whisked away with the sea breeze. She noticed Rayquaza fidget a little, and though she understood how uncomfortable his soliloquy must have been, Reshiram couldn't help but find him a little endearing. "You go to such lengths to avoid saying that you brought these berries here because you're sorry," she said, knowing smile somehow working its way on her face.

"The hell I am!" he said so swiftly that it couldn't have been anything but another lie. The bite of his response redeemed itself in the way his jawline softened and how his scowl faltered ever so slightly, but the wyvern let him keep his honor for the time being.

Silence fell between them, the sounds of the waves crashing against the Pillar the only thing in the night air. Rayquaza returned to looking out at the sky above, moonlight glinting off of his armor. Only then did she start to understand Rayquaza's suppositions, and almost wanted to kick herself for thinking of him as such a simplistic, one-minded moron who said and cared for nothing.

Leave no stone unturned in the search for ideals, Zekrom had told her a long time ago. Suddenly, she felt like she understood his words far more than before, and it floored her that Rayquaza was the one who helped her to her conclusion. Maybe Zekrom cares for you more than he lets on, she thought, the words feeling much fuller than they did before.

"Rayquaza?" she asked suddenly, confidence quickly returning to her voice as the thought stuck in her head. "Why do you stare at the moon?"

He turned to her, mouth seemingly opened for a response; nothing came out, however, as he snapped his jaw shut. She sensed a new emotion washing between them, and quickly identified it as... embarrassment?

Rayquaza looked all around him, as if searching for some invisible spy or intruder. He snaked his head down to Reshiram's, closer than he had ever come before. "You tell anyone this," he hissed menacingly, "And I promise to eviscerate you as slowly as possible."

She almost snorted at the empty threat, instead nodding as she let his pride remain intact for the second time today. "I promise," she said. Inside, though, she knew she could probably blackmail him for the remainder of his existence for what he would say next.

"So Latias had me watch this human device known as 'television', where humans spend segments of time pretending to be different humans between other segments of time where humans pretended to like certain things," he began, claws in the air to emphasize the quotes. "And the show we watched concerned a pair of humans who lose a Pikachu they trained to respond to certain songs they sang."

"Sounds like a normal day for you," Reshiram said as she tried to stifle her laughter.

"Shut it! I know it sounds ridiculous, as human inventions usually are," he growled as she nearly lost her composure, "But when they lost their mouse, their friendship gets torn apart. Then, one of them starts singing the song in an attempt to regain both the mouse and their friendship. And as annoyed as I am about it, I cannot shake the song they both sang from my mind, and..." He coughed slightly as he faced the moon.

"Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight," he sang softly, "Someone's thinking of me, and loving me tonight..."

He looked at her lamely, embarrassment quite visible as hints of red flashed across his features. "... and that's how it began, from my recollection. And every night since then I can't help but wonder if she does the same as me."

A lot of things crossed Reshiram's mind that instant. A devious part of her considered telling the troublemakers Raikou and Palkia about this moment and entirely shattering Rayquaza's prized veneer for the rest of eternity. Another pushed her to deny common decency and tease him about how mushy and cute he had become, but dignity saved him from that shaming. Her heart then fluttered as another part of her wondered if Zekrom ever thought of her in such a fashion. She got the biggest enjoyment, though, at imagining how Latias would react if she ever found out about this. From the many times she had talked with her, the red eon dragon made no small secret of who it was that she was attracted to. Such maudlin thoughts for someone who practically has his girl, she thought, and a momentary bout of shock rolled through her as she found that the same could apply to her.

She sat silently in thought, but after a long debate, in the end it felt right to say one thing, and one thing only.

"You should tell her how you feel," she finally said with a genuine smile, and as Rayquaza gave her a hopeful expression, she realized that saying that was more than enough to steady the doubts she had brought to the Sky Pillar that day.