Gali never left the Celebi's side. Not once.

She had given the Celebi of the forest her eternal thanks for helping her, knowing full well she could never really repay the debt that she owed to them for their help. Generous, were they, that they thought nothing of it; rather, that it was their job to heal and maintain the peace. Celebi come to these shrines all the time to get healed, even if some wander outside their forest home more than others, so it wasn't a big deal to them.

What was, though, was absolutely none of them recognized this new Celebi face - or rather, half-face, before it went into healing. Many were curious about its power, sensing not all was right, and its appearance beget even more questions. Still, Gali quelled most of the fears of the fae, hoping that it would have a speedy recovery and be able to handle its own. To that end, she had moved so that she sat just in front of the shrine, where its spiritual energy would be strongest.

And yet...its condition had taken considerably longer than it did in the dream.

"You...can't..." The telepathic voice sounds in Gali's head. The forest glowed with twilight, though many a Celebi still flitted about. One in particular took to taking an early nap next to Gali, while another offered to bring over berries so that the anthro Bi could at least have something to eat, not wanting to move too far away from either the pink Celebi in her arms or the shrine.

"Your strength is recovering...but your body..."

True as it was that the Celebi was becoming more stable, so true was it that its body was not healing as Gali had hoped it would, using her dream as reference. She had hoped that regenerating its body by using its previous state would be enough, but...

"Gali...I appreciate everything...I really do." The vines still glowed, and the Celebi shifts around in Gali's cradling arms. "But...my body has been floating out there for...eons..." It shivered, its eye still closed, and yet she can tell it was scrunching its face. "There's...no history...for it to remember...no time to go back to..."

Gali felt tears well in her eyes again for what felt like the fifth time that day. "No..."

The vines surrounding the Celebi lost a little of their glow. The extent of their healing had finished, and yet the Celebi's body was nowhere near complete.

"I'm sorry...Gali...but, please..." Even telepathically, its voice wavered. "It's...okay...to let me die. These wounds...will eventually..."

"No!" Her voice raised. "If...if we can't pull from your past..." Gali readied another Leech Seed.

"I've spent...far too long in that dark prison. All that's happened...Everybody, even Dialga, abandoning me...without time passing, I couldn't die...long after accepting death, it did not come..." It winced.

"S-shut...shut up! You're going to live, even if I have to...if I have to..."

The pink Celebi opened its eye, looking at Gali. The haze in its eye, shrouding its eye color, had only slightly cleared up. "Please...you've already done more for me...than anybody has. But it's...not enough to cure this pain...not enough..."

"I...I..." Gali lowered her hand, tears streaming down her cheeks. "What...what [i]can[/i] I do..." The vines around the Celebi's body began to wilt, and soak red once more.

Her brow furrowed, and her body tensed up. Angry at herself, for not thinking this through. Even all her training as a nurse didn't prepare her for this. And with her time-reversed Leech Seed failing now, she questioned if it even was within her power to heal so much...to regenerate so much. With no history to go off of...

...well, hold on. Did it have to specifically be [i]that[/i] Celebi's history? Maybe...just maybe...

"...there's something. I don't know if it'll work, but..." She clasped the Leech Seed in her palm, holding it to the Celebi so that it may take hold once more. But instead of simply letting it sprout after taking her hand away, she held it there with her hand. Once more, the vines spread across the Celebi as the time-reversing healing came into effect, but the vines also grew up Gali's arm.

If the Celebi truly could not heal, with no past to return to,

it would simply have to borrow from Gali's own.

The Celebi struggled, albeit weakly. "It's...not possible..."

Gali held it still as best she could, almost in a hug. "It is possible. Please...even if you don't have a time to return to, trust me. I...I didn't bring you here to let you die..." She shook her head, closing her eyes. "I'm not going to abandon you...please, have hope. You don't have to die, your future can still be bright..." She felt as if her heart was going to jump out of her throat.

Weak as the fairy was, it couldn't escape Gali's comforting arms. "...why, Gali? All this effort, for someone you've never met...it was just chance that my other half even..."

Gali shook her head, the vines extending around her torso, enveloping the two in a reinvigorated green glow. She could feel the seed draining...healing. Borrowing. "That's easy. I don't need a reason to help those in need." She blinked away a tear forming in her eye. "You're a special case. More deserving of a chance than anyone else. And...by far, the toughest, yes, but you're worth every ounce of care, every little bit of power."

Her grip on the Celebi tightened a little. "If you won't give up, I won't either. I haven't given up on anyone I tried healing before. And if it means you have to take more time than the others, I'll stay by your side until you're better. And...if your body doesn't have a 'time' that it can't remember...then take my body, my history. Anything to heal you. Anything..."

The vines wrapped the two together, but even through them she could feel it starting to work. Slowly but surely, the Celebi's ripped body was being mended, now having a proper history to work off of.

And then a sound Gali wasn't expecting to hear.

A hiccup.

"I..I..." Though night had begun to fall, and the two were lit only by their vine cocoon, Gali could see it. A tear, welling.

"I'm...scared..."

No words came out after. None could.

As the Celebi's body regenerated, its first full breaths of air were spent weeping. It was alive. It had found a place to call home. Someone to care for it. Though it had retained its emotions, it had hardened itself and prepared for a death that never came.

The two stayed there, against the shrine, huddled together. Gali quietly hummed her song again, tears drying on her cheeks. Back and forth she slowly rocked, until sleep finally came and gave their souls a brief respite from reality.

- - -

The morning light shone through the high treetops, reflecting off the dew-covered grass. All was quiet except the Celebi that had gotten up early, though their wing flaps were quiet even as they got their morning exercise by flying laps around the trees. Their chirps and trills were the only other sounds in the forest, as not even wind visited the shrine.

Gali came to, noticing that the vines around her had already wilted away. Looking down, she discovered why: the Celebi in her arms was made whole once more, still sleeping. Its pink skin was no longer aged, although its highlights were made a deep red. Its regenerated antennae had the same curve as her own, and it had a bang-like hair behind its right eye. The most noticeable change, and the one Gali first picked up on, was that its hair had grown out, all red, nearly the length of the Celebi itself.

After having noticed its healing was completed, Gali smiled, and her eyes closed once more; there was no reason for her to get up, and perhaps just a few more minutes wouldn't hurt.

The quietness of the forest helped her drift off to sleep once more, but only until the Celebi in her lap began stirring. Its breathing had stabilized during the night, and once it awoke from its long rest, it stretched its limbs...only to notice it had both of its limbs, and could feel them. It quickly sat upright to look at itself, its vibrant green eyes staying even after the healing. A few wing flaps, to be sure she had both; tugging and feeling both of her antennae to their tips, touching its own cheeks.

Gali awoke again, giving off a yawn and stretching an arm up herself. "Good morning, little one."

The Celebi looked back up at her, a mixed expression with joy taking the lead. "Gali! It...really worked..." The two shared knowing smiles, before the Celebi hopped up with its arms wide, hugging around the anthro Bibi's neck.

"It worked! My body...! I have a body...!" Its voice had become noticeably more feminine, though if it was because of Gali's choice to use her own past to define the Celebi's regenerated body, she did not know. Regardless, it was a body that it could live with, and that was all Gali cared about. She returned the hug, giggling at the affection.

But after a few seconds of joy, the Celebi had begun tearing up once more.

"M-my body...I have one again, but..."

Gali patted it on the back. "But...?"

It stayed still for a moment. "There's this...pain. Right in my heart. And it's not something I think your healing can do away with." It clasped a hand over its chest.

Gali held the Celebi up, then sat it down on the steps of the shrine. She got down on her knees on the grass just a foot from the Bi. "I knew it wasn't going to be simple...it's gotta be..."

"The...other half of me, yes. I keep looking for bruises and blood, but I'm not finding any. And..." It holds a hand to its forehead. "I'm not...dying, but I definitely feel it. It's such a weird feeling...but, heh, look who's talking..."

Gali shook her head with a small smile. "No. I think you're absolutely right." She puts a hand close to the Celebi's chest. It looks at the hand oddly, as if expecting another bout of healing. "Your heart is what will guide us to it." A single finger lightly touches the chest. For a brief moment, it was as if the two had become one, aligned.

Gali pulled back her hand. The Celebi touched where the finger just was.

"...but, then, how? Even you said there wasn't a time I existed in before, so then how could the other half of me be in this timeline? It'd be...out of your power, wouldn't it?"

"Perhaps..." She reached up and touched the ring on her neck. "Saving this half of your body took nearly everything I had just to reach you, yes. But I think saving the other will require something more. Something I...am not really sure of myself."

The Celebi sitting on the steps looked up. As morning turned to day, the familiar teal color returned to the forest, and even Gali seemed to be glowing alongside the plant life. A Celebi snuck up behind Gali, looking at the red Celebi quickly before darting off. Gali clasped a finger around the ring on her neck.

"This...I'm not sure why, but this ring around my neck, it's been a lucky charm of mine ever since I came into this world. This...timeline, rather." She infuses the ring with a bit of her Psychic energy, making it expand enough for her to bring it up off her head. As she holds it, it then shrinks back to the size it was before.

The warnings that she received about it before...were they about this?

The Celebi eyed the ring. "What exactly is it supposed to be?"

Gali took a deep breath. "From what I could gather, it supposedly is made of the same materials as the rings a certain other Pokemon uses. One that can control space to an extent - just like we Celebi have limited control over time. But up until now, I haven't found a way to use it. And...maybe I never will. But..."

She holds the ring to the red Celebi. "Today feels different. If we have to venture across space [i]and[/i] time to save your other half, I think this is the only way we're going to do it without making an adventure half-way around the world that you're probably not feeling up for."

Though it was sweating and still looked rather ill, the red Bi chuckled. "A dream led you to me, and now you have a 'feeling'. You haven't given me a reason to doubt you, Gali." A smile crept onto its face. "If my body could remember how to use its Psychic powers, I'd travel five worlds with you just to find my other half."

Gali grinned wide. "That's a lot of positive energy I didn't expect out of you. Maybe you've taken more from me than I thought."

The Celebi flipped its bang back, turning its head so its hair also moved. It crossed its legs. "Maybe it's how I was like before, too. But that's more reason to go out there and get it back."

The larger Bibi nodded. "Right. Then...I'm gonna need you to tap into those powers of yours. If we both focus on it...something's got to happen." A light blue aura enveloped the ring, floating it between the two. Gali held up a hand and began channeling her energy into the ring.

The smaller Celebi held up a hand as well, but its body only faintly glowed with power. Yet its pink energy mixed with Gali's, encircling the ring as it spun about in place, held up by their powers. "How will we know if it works?"

The ring expanded with the energy being infused into it. "We'll know. Just...empty every other thought. Let every fiber of your being out into the ring. Tell it you want your other half..."

Gali closed her eyes. Images of the Celebi from her dreams flashed by. "Let the emptiness in your heart tell the ring...tell us, where to go. Speak to it, even if it's beyond reality...beyond our comprehension..."

An image of the Celebi's two halves, reaching to each other on opposite sides of the ring. The red Celebi closes its eyes, its glow strengthening. Its pink energy battles with Gali's own as the ring stabilizes between them. It wanted to be together. Whole. It wanted...

It wanted to end the suffering of its other half. No amount of separation in time or space could separate their soul, their heart. Beating as one.

The proof was in their connection. So too was their shrine. Two shrines, one energy. Across space, across time, across realities - they were together.

A burst of energy surged forth from the smaller Celebi, causing the ring to grow large enough for even Gali to fit through, making it spark. Pouring their one desire into it.

Whether it was through dumb luck or the significant connections at play, the ring responded. An inky blackness filled the gap in the ring, a purple spiral forming in the middle.

"Gali..." The red Celebi spoke from the other side.

"That's it! Just hold it open...keep your desire strong!" Gali coated herself in a blue protective aura - the same as she did in her dream. Now was the time.

She floated through, not knowing what lay on the other side.

- - -

Gali entered the dark realm.
A black shroud cast over everything,
lit only by her protective aura.
In that darkness, the Celebi lay next to its collapsed shrine.

Gone was the life from its eyes, crumpled to the ground;
Anyone else would assume it dead. But Gali did not.
Light shined forth from Gali's hand as fast as she could extend it out towards the fae
In a desperate attempt to keep its heart beating.

Gifted with her life force, Gali quickly grabbed it,
All while trying to ignore the backdrop that reminded her of her dream.	
Lonely shadows cast upon her from all angles, meeting this trespasser,
Inviting her to share in their torment beyond death.

Giving them not a single ounce of her attention, she sped towards her portal.
A single being came between her and her goal.
Long had it passed from the world, but stay it did,
In an attempt to defy fate.

A ghost from beyond reality, Gali phased through it without realizing it was there.
Not a single trace was left as she entered the portal,
As if it had never existed in the first place.

- - -

The red Celebi kept its focus, its power on the ring. When it heard the shout of Gali from behind it, phasing into existence, it knew she succeeded.

"Close it!"

There was no time to waste. It was in worse shape than the red Celebi; any second could be its absolute last. Gali prepared a Leech Seed, forcing her own life force into the Celebi while it soaked her arm with its blood. "Stay alive, stay alive, stay alive...!"

The red Celebi closed the portal, revoking its energy. An odd tingling sensation began stirring in its gut as it watched the ring shrink down, and Gali and the lost Celebi came into view. As if on instinct, it began to levitate, floating over to the shrunken ring to grab it. It stopped as soon as it saw the half Celebi once more, closer, the ring in its tiny hands.

Its eyes were almost completely gray, and its Psychic energy had diminished to almost nothing. Its skin's pink coloration had almost completely faded. Even the sight of it, draining onto Gali, was enough for it to give even the other half of its body the greatest fright it could have possibly been given. Staring at itself on the brink of death. Feeling every nerve flare up in its own pain. The red Celebi recoiled and jerked about in the air, as if it had felt itself come close to death once more.

"It's okay, you'll be okay, I'm here...!" No mouth with which to breathe. No...

"C-come here! Now!"

The red Celebi did so. And immediately it was wrapped in vines, as was Gali and the Celebi in her hands.

"No time! We have to..."

The Leech Seed pulled from the two of them. Their history became the lost Celebi's own, and with it, it began healing. But the feeling was much more pronounced now; more time being drained. Gali's technique was wrapping around on itself, not just using their body's memories to restore it, but their life as well, as a Leech Seed would regularly do.

"If we can't get its heart regenerated..."

The squeezing from the vines pulled the three together. All in fear.

The fear to lose one that did not deserve their fate.
The fear of dying.
The fear of living without oneself.

Though it took only a scant few minutes for the Celebi's organs to regenerate, it was in those few minutes that they all experienced a lifetime of worry. They closed their eyes, their thoughts going in wildly different directions.

The vines quickly retracted after their burst of healing was done, with the Celebi having regenerated a fair bit of its body, though not complete. Gali sighed in relief, seeing at least a little bit of color in its eye, though she knew there was more to be done.

"Ah, er...I guess this isn't the best time, but uh, would you like a name?" Gali looked down at the red Bi, watching its other half with intent.

"A name...? I hadn't given it much thought, but...having a name might be nice."

Gali exhaled slowly, her mouth forming a smile. She looks off to the side, tilting her head, then back at the Celebi. "Then, how about...Found?"

"Found? Like, the word 'found'?" It said in disbelief.

"Yeah, why not?" Gali prepared a Leech Seed in her hand once more. "You were thought to be lost, but now you're found. So, Found."

It laughed, shaking its head. "And I suppose you'll be calling my other half 'Lost', despite having found [i]it[/i] too."

A slight blush appears on Gali's cheeks, the corner of her mouth raising. "...It'd make thematic sense." She was quick to think of it positively. "The two of you together, lost, but found. You couldn't have been found if you weren't lost first. And going by that..." Another seed planted on the Celebi, taking effect right away.

"...the part of me that stayed behind, that wasn't ripped from the timeline. Lost." It took a more somber tone. "I'm not sure if I'm going to regret it later, Gali, but sure. Call me Found. And this Celebi..."

Gali nodded. "Lost..." She stared at it again, finding it hard to believe still that she was holding the Celebi from her dreams. The one she thought impossible to save...

A twitch. A pulse of green in its eye.

Then a telepathic voice, reaching the two Celebi. "...g...A l...i..."

Found shuddered. Something wasn't right, still.

"Shhh, it's okay. Save your strength." At this point, Gali was going to get tired of generating seeds, but she did so because it was necessary. Another formed in her palm. "Found, would you mind wrapping yourself to it, like I did you?"

It took a second to realize what Gali was getting at, a new and unknown sensation running through it. But still, it nodded with determination, placing its hand on the seed.

"Here, let me show you...focus your time powers on it. Like this." A familiar blue aura surrounds her hand, and the seed. The red Celebi's hand also glowed, a blue unlike its Psychic aura.

As the seed was pushed into Lost's torso, it sprouted its vines. Gali pulled away her hand. "Just like that. Keep your hand there, and uh, you may want to get comfortable." Found nodded.

Gali lifted the dull pink Celebi off her lap, Found following it, as she placed it on the grass. Found sat on its knees, the vines taking hold of their arm while still spreading around Lost's body. Gali then got up, walking over to where her ring lay in the grass, squatting to pick it up.

She put the ring back over her neck, turning around.

"Gali!"

The two Celebi were inside a blue bubble. A powerful presence could be felt at play with it. Found was startled, but because of the vines, it couldn't move. Lost looked like it was jerking around. A telepathic stream of static and jumbled noises only somewhat resembling speech was emanating from it...

"Found!" Before Gali could reach the sphere, she too was trapped in a similar bubble.

Lost jerked up, its eye flashing bright green. Before Gali felt her consciousness drift from her, she heard a piercing scream...

It wasn't just one. It was two - with one voice.

- - -

Gali felt herself...reform, the best way she could describe the feeling. It wasn't exactly the same as using Teleport, but similar powers were at play. As her body came to, she noticed she was in a very particular landscape. There was no ground, but it was solid. A spotlight centered on Gali's position, even though her body was fully lit, with the circle of light fading in the distance.

The sky was pitch black above, lit only by the stars and what appeared to be a massive galaxy that seemed a little too close, its spiraling arms putting up quite the light display. Gali looked around, finding nothing resembling a planet nearby, but through the light on the 'ground' she stood she could see even more stars. There was even breathable air in this weird space; time, too, felt warped, and she couldn't get a good handle on 'when' she was.

A sound. Gali turned towards it, seeing Lost and Found appear, still tethered by the Leech Seed. Found surveyed the area, just as Gali. Lost's eye had faded back to its dull green coloration. A booming voice commanded attention from an unknown location.

"YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO ABUSE YOUR POWERS, TIME TRAVELLER."

A bright light from above, spiraling, growing. A massive, dark-blue being emerges, covered in steel spikes, a large red gem embedded on its chest. It roared, causing Gali to take a step back.

"YOUR ACTIONS COULD HAVE CAUSED CALAMITY NOT JUST TO YOUR WORLD, BUT THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE."

A second light, and from it a pink dragon emerged, around the same size as the blue beast before. The red gem on its shoulder remained lit after it appeared.

"What actions? Where is this?" Gali looked up at them, trying to figure out what they were.

"DO NOT PLAY STUPID, MORTAL. THOSE TWO BEINGS ARE THE EVIDENCE OF YOUR MEDDLING." As their mouths did not move, Gali could not tell which was speaking. The pink one seemed to have a slightly higher pitch to its telepathic voice.

"Meddling?"

"YES. YOU HAVE BROUGHT A FOREIGN ENTITY INTO OUR TIME AND SPACE."

"A foreign..." She looks over to Found, who looks fatally terrified. "...so, they really are from someplace else."

"NOT JUST SOME PLACE." The pink one spoke. "ANOTHER UNIVERSE ENTIRELY. ONE WHERE THE LAWS THAT BIND US ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT."

"ANYTHING THAT WOULD CONNECT THESE UNIVERSES TOGETHER...RISK THE DISTORTION OR THE TOTAL COLLAPSE OF REALITY."

"Anything..." Gali gasped. "Wait! You're...Dialga and Palkia!" Rigel's warning rung in her mind.

The blue one came forward slightly. "YOUR TRAVEL OUTSIDE THE TIMESTREAM CAUGHT MY ATTENTION. IT WAS WHEN YOU TRAVELLED SO FAR AWAY FROM THE MAIN LINE THAT I THOUGHT TO TRACK YOUR MOVEMENTS."

It turned its head towards Found. "IT IS UNFORTUNATE, BUT THERE ARE A FEW BEINGS LOST TO BOTH TIME AND SPACE. BUT THEY ARE NOT OF THIS REALITY, AND THUS, MUST BE KEPT OUT."

"They...they weren't lost! They didn't have a home to begin with! And they were hurt!"

Dialga's body glowed blue for a brief second. "THEIR HOME IS NOT OURS. EVEN IF ONE HALF OF THEM ENDED UP IN OUR OWN."

Gali closed her eyes and looked down, shaking her head. "How...how long have you known!? Couldn't you have done something about it?"

"OUR LAWS FORBID US FROM INTERFERING. SO, TOO, DOES IT FORBID YOU, MORTAL." The Celebi gritted her teeth. "THEIR PRESENCE WAS OF NO CONCERN TO US, UNTIL YOU MERGED THEM WITH OUR TIMESTREAM."

"You...would have let them suffer? The void beyond our timestream...they couldn't even die, without time passing! Their other half..."

Palkia then floated forwards, with Dialga backing up. "REMAINED ALIVE, AS HALF OF IT COULD NOT DIE. AS A SINGLE ENTITY, IT WAS INDEED TRAPPED IN THAT STATE."

"An eternity could have passed, and still they would be no closer to dying...of their pain..." She looked towards Found again. The two Celebi shared a look.

"BUT THAT IS THEIR REALITY. THEIR RULES, HOWEVER CRUEL IT MAY SEEM."

"I..." Gali balled her hands into fists. She looked back to Dialga, her own body briefly glowing green. "Knowing that they suffered, you didn't act? You couldn't have contacted their own reality's Dialga and Palkia?"

"ALSO OUT OF THE QUESTION. WE CANNOT INTERFERE."

"You would LET them suffer?" Her glow became brighter with her anger. "Some stupid rules would prevent you from saving a life you would be capable of saving?"

"THEIR LIFE IS NOT OF OUR CONCERN."

"Then you have no RIGHT to say that's how they should exist!" She pointed a finger at them.

Dialga's glow intensified. The entire realm shook with its voice "SILENCE! BECAUSE OF YOUR ACTIONS, WE MUST RIGHT THIS WRONG. AND I SEE YOU HAVE NO REMOSE FOR YOUR ENDANGERMENT OF REALITY."

Gali was taken aback, looking over to Found once more. She moves her body between the two Celebi and Dialga, holding her arms out. "I...I won't allow you to take them back! They deserve a chance at life, not the hell they were in before!"

"YOU HAVE NO CHOICE."

"Gali..." Found spoke, still reeling. "I...I don't know if I want to go back...if it would destroy reality, then..." It grappled with the situation.

"Shush! You deserve better than...floating in the void of nothingness. And then having your other half be doomed in its half dead state..." Gali shakes her head, the dream playing back once more. "It's...not right! I won't let you be subject to that torture!"

Found held its head with its free hand. Such conflicting emotions rattled its newfound body...and Lost's, as well, feeling the same due to their connection.

Dialga's gem began glowing, taking in power from the space around it. "WE DO NOT REQUIRE YOU TO UNDERSTAND. COMPLY, MORTAL, OR YOU TOO SHALL BE ERADICATED."

Palkia flew by, mockingly. "OR PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN THEM! HYAH HAH!"

Gali faltered slightly. "...if it would mean they would not be alone."

Found quivered. "G-gali...please, you don't..."

The gem shone bright on Dialga's chest. An energy unlike any Gali has felt before gathered as a ball in front of its mouth.

...

A telepathic voice, belonging to none of the beings present in this realm. "[i]A ha ha ha![/i] A bit dramatic, eh, Dialga?"

The gem stopped shining, and the energy forming vanished. "WHO DISTURBS OUR BUSINESS?"

A golden being flitted in and out of existence before fully forming in front of Dialga. "Come now, big guy. That's a bit harsh, considering her only crime is saving a life."

"A LIFE THAT WASN'T HERS TO SAVE."

The being held its hands up - though it had no shoulders with which to shrug. "Who's to say? Maybe it was fate. Have you considered [i]how[/i] they knew that Celebi was just hangin' out there?"

"HMPH. CERTAINLY NOT OF MY DOING." Palkia appeared to cross its arms. "BUT WHAT MATTERS IS THAT THE MORTAL DID WHAT THEY DID."

"Ugh. [i]Arceus[/i], you're dull." The gold figure held a hand to its head in a disapproving manner, turning around to face Gali.

"FATE HAS NO HAND AT PLAY HERE. AND NEITHER DO YOU, AUDUN." Dialga responded.

"Oh, I beg to differ. Allow me some time." The figure walked towards Gali. Apprehensive, she still held her arms out.

"GRRR..." Dialga held back.

"Audun? You're not..."

The Hoopa wore a mischievous grin, glancing over her figure as he approached nonchalantly. "Not someone you'd expect to have a connection to Dialga, right? My species sure don't." He held his hands up in a beckoning manner. "But I'm not the only one here with an extra connection, am I right?"

Gali raised an eyebrow, letting her arms rest for a moment. Her awkwardness failed her, not finding the voice to respond.

"Hmph, let's cut to the chase. You give me that ring around your neck, and I'll put in a good word to the big guy and we can work out the kinks and get you and your [i]kids[/i] back to your home." He points at Gali. The ring glowed with a purple aura, with the Celebi feeling power coming from it, almost choking her. She held onto it.

"The ring? What do you want with it?"

The Hoopa turned his head, letting the rings hanging from his horns dangle. "Mine are busted up, and I need some for myself to replace 'em. So here I am, thinking I won't find any of these things anywhere, and one falls right in my lap." His grin widens. "Be glad I'm feeling charitable, because ol' Dialga up there sure isn't." He points back at Dialga with his thumb.

"AND WHAT WOULD THAT SOLVE? THEIR ANOMOLY WOULD EXIST REGARDLESS."

"What harm could two little Celebi do? So long as I get my ring, you can do what you want, really." He tilted his head back, looking at Dialga. Gali shifted vision between the two.

"YOU WOULD ABUSE OUR CONNECTION FOR YOUR OWN BENEFIT. AMUSING. YOU MORTALS ARE ONE AND THE SAME."

Audun laughed. "The difference is, I don't have to break any 'universe rules' or whatever to get what I want. And you can save your ire, Dialga. Spend it on someone that cares."

He turned back towards Gali, extending a hand. "Now, the ring."

Gali stepped back, her hand still on the ring. Memories play back in her head.

"This is...my only connection to my own time. My earliest memories are of me with this ring. It'll help me find my way home, I know it." She looks down. "It's far too important for me to give up. Even with my life on the line."

She shook her head. "Thanks for the offer. But I would rather take it with me to the depths of hell than frit it away on just a simple chance of walking away. Either we all stay, or we all go. No more or less."

Audun scoffed. "Frankly, dear, I too couldn't care less whether you disappeared. Give me the [i]ring[/i]."

"You already have your answer."

"Gali...please, a-at least save yourself..."

She turns her head back. "I'm sorry, Found."

The Hoopa charged forward in less than a blink of the eye, with Found gasping in shock right as a sharp pain came from Gali's hip. Before she could even register what happened, something knocked her back towards Found, landing just inches before touching them.

"GALI!"

Blood poured down her thigh. A sharpened dagger in Audun's hand glistened, dripping red on the nonexistent ground.

"Stupid girl." He walked forward. "I [i]will[/i] have that ring."

Gali tried getting up, but arched her back in pain. Found tried reaching out, but Gali slapped the hand back, instead holding out her own hand and encasing the two in a protective bubble.

"You'd still protect them over yourself, even when all of you are moments away from destruction. You're naïve [i]and[/i] stupid." He stood above her, taking out another dagger and flipping it around in his hand.

He raised the dagger high. Found held its hand against the barrier, not even sound being able to escape it. Tears in its eyes as only itself could hear its call.

The slice downwards. Time slowed.

A voice rung in the void that only Gali could hear. But it wasn't anyone she knew...was it? Images from an unknown time circulate within her head as time stops...

"[i]Gali...a life protecting others
is worth protecting itself.
Find your strength within that.
Trust in other's trust in you.

Our strength is not our own.
Friends, family...we all get strength from those around us.

Let the life you give be the source of your own power.
I'm sure you'll understand when you're older.
For the sake of all you heal, you must learn to fight. And fight you must.
Even the best healer must, at times, thirst for battle.

My Galiana, my dear sweet Galiana...never forget.
Even your mother would kill to protect you. [/i]"

[i]Clink! [/i]

The dagger clashed against a blade of white light, outlined by a green flowing aura. Gali held the blade with both hands, one at the hilt and one at the blade to push back.

"I'll prove...prove that I - [i]we[/i], are worth saving!" An echo in her voice formed for the briefest of moments.

"INTERLOPER!" Dialga called out. A pink light flew past Gali. Against the backdrop of space, she barely registered its presence as it flew back amongst the stars.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR INTERFERING!" Palkia's gem glowed, and it disappeared, leaving just Dialga to watch the battle unfold.

Gali struggled against the dagger. Audun was surprised, but still pressed on.

Two figures phased into existence with a blue light next to Audun, one after another, slashing with their blades. He parried the first with his dagger, but had to dodge the second. Gali appeared three times, the one resting on the ground disappearing before one of the copies that slashed disappeared as well. The remaining Gali had her teeth gritted, gripping the Solar Blade with both hands. It was the angriest she ever looked...and was. For beyond that wall of teeth, she was holding back her pain, a stream of red running down her leg.

"It's useless. You'll all be thrown to the void, whether you resist me or not." He charged again, holding his daggers backhanded. He appeared before Gali faster than she anticipated, only having enough time to block the attack. The second dagger came in for a strike, but Gali backed up, a green energy generating around her hands. She spun in the air before stopping and extending a vine-covered hand out, holding her blade in the other, as an Energy Ball fired off towards her enemy.

Audun prepared himself. He knew what was coming. As soon as Gali touched the ground, she rocketed towards him, a one-two punch with the Energy Ball striking first. Swatting away the Energy Ball was easy enough, but then there was Gali. He held off the assault with a single dagger, though even in its backhand hold she was pressuring him down.

A wild grin, even as he was losing hold. Gali took notice, feeling a shift in time. Immediately she let off and swing back down around and behind her, where Audun had travelled. The initial one blinked away. Gali was on the defensive now, parrying his attacks as they came in from every side.

Conditioned, Audun faked her out by attacking from the front twice, letting him get a clean slash at her back as she turned. Even as she yelled in pain, a copy of Gali appeared to attack Audun, its new gash spraying blood. Gali's blade found a hit here, though unlike the Hoopa's sharpened physical blade, hers was made of solar energy; what it lacked in physical damage it made up for with its quasi-blunt nature, and its draining ability.

Audun was sent spiraling. As he righted himself, Gali shifted in her position, her wounds causing her to shake and falter. Even so, her vine-covered arm still prepared a second Energy Ball to fire off. As she fired it off, she knew she would have to do something different. But the Hoopa was doing something different now. He had gotten out a book...

The Energy Ball was swallowed by a giant dark face that appeared as if by magic from the Hoopa's book. Gali jumped high in the air, letting her wings carry her up. The face traveled to Gali's grounded position, then followed her up. Noticing this, she had to attack. She again gathered energy in her hands, but this time she channeled the power into her blade. She swung in a crescent arc below her, sending a shockwave of light that dispelled the dark beast moments away from swallowing her.

Still in the air, Gali took the opportunity to channel more energy into the blade. Her body glowed bright green as copies of Gali flew in out of nowhere towards the blade, making it grow in size until the blade was many times Gali's height and growing proportionately wide, though she still was able to hold it in her hands. Audun, on the other hand, had a dark wind spiraling around him, red eyes glowing in the shadows that began forming in it.

"No more running!" Gali shouted, her blade shining bright. She pointed it down towards her foe, backing up in the air and preparing herself to fly forward. The dark wind around Audun turned into a sphere, tendrils of red jutting from behind.

As the Hoopa fired off his spell, an even fiercer dark beast with a trailing blackness, Gali flung herself forward as fast as she could.

As her Solar Blade met the conjured beast, Gali clones flew from the blade to pierce and slash away the darkness with their own smaller blades, each phasing out after a few slashes or getting exposed to the dark energy.

The clash caused light to ripple away in a shockwave, the gigantic blade whittling down the spell.

The blade reached its hilt, and the remaining Gali clones slashed at the red tendrils before disappearing.

The original Gali was left, flying towards Audun with her blade readied. One slash...

...right in the gap between his shoulder and hand.

Despite not hitting anything, the two shared a dynamic pose, Gali having slid to a stop behind him. A few seconds pass...and the Hoopa's hand falls, its psychic ties severed. Audun stumbled.

"Y-you...! How are you this strong...? How did you..."

A blue light caught his eye. Over there, in that protective bubble where they first clashed: Found had its arm raised, its eyes and body shining blue. It had given its time powers to Gali.

But not just Found. Lost, with its eye open, was also shining blue, and it too had its free hand held up towards Gali. Even while still in its vine cocoon, healing, having not shared but a few scant words with her before.

The anthro Bibi stood upright. "My power is not my own..." She turned towards the Hoopa; her expression changed. She held her blade down, resting it against the lit ground. "Even if I'm going to disappear, I would rather all of me go. I won't..." A scowl ran across her face, gulping, as she tries to find the words. "I'm not going down without a fight."

He scoffed, picking up his own hand, trying to re-establish its connection to his body. "You'd meet your end either way. In case you forgot, Dialga is still up there."

She shook her head. "Either you or Dialga." The blade evaporated from her hands, leaving just the vines covering her arms intact. A Leech Seed, planted during the fight, embedded into her palm. "If it's my destiny to be lost, then I'll face it head-on."

"ENOUGH." A roar that froze both Gali and Audun in their tracks, though they kept conscious and aware of their stopped motion.

"I HAVE REACHED A CONSENSUS." Time resumed, and the two mythicals looked up towards it. "AUDUN, YOU MAY BE DISMISSED."

"What?!" Audun shouts back at it. "Over one good hit? ONE?!"

"NO. YOUR FIGHT WAS MERELY TO PASS TIME."

"...I'm being degraded to entertainment for the gods? I'm here on BUSINESS, you overgrown goat!" Gali wasn't sure just how to interpret 'business' in this context, but she found the Hoopa's complaining to be a bit amusing.

"YOUR BUSINESS IS CONCLUDED, THEN."

Audun made an audible growl. "I said it before. I'm not leaving without the ring!" He made a quick dash towards the Celebi. She flinched, as he took her by surprise. Before he could reach her, the Hoopa was trapped in the same bubble Gali was in before.

He pounded his fist against the inside of the bubble. Dialga's eyes glowed above.

"YOU!" His voice echoed from inside. "You only survived because of those runts helping you out. Sleep with one eye open! I'll hunt you down! I won't rest until I have that ring!"

Audun's body fades alongside the bubble, and his voice becomes more indiscernible as he returns to the timeline.

Gali sighs, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "What's his deal...?"

As the pain returns to her body with her adrenaline fading, she floats over to the two Celebi, dispelling the bubble around them before collapsing on her knees before them.

"Gali, y-you're hurt..." Found can't help but look at how painted red parts of Gali's body were. Lost, too, seemed mortified, though it couldn't express the sentiment beyond closing its eye and shaking its head.

"MORTAL." The three looked up at Dialga. It paused briefly. "THE BEING THAT INTERRUPTED THE FIGHT...DID YOU RECOGNIZE IT?"

Gali thought back. Was it the being that Palkia chased after? "All I saw were little flashes of pink...I didn't see anybody, no. And I didn't feel any energy from them, either."

"I SEE..." Another pause. "THEN YOU AND THE ONE I MET BEFORE ARE ONE AND THE SAME."

Gali tilted her head. "Eh? Wha?"

Dialga closed its eyes and looked down. "IF YOU DO NOT REMEMBER...IT IS STILL NOT YET TIME."

"Time for..."

Palkia suddenly reappeared next to Dialga. "THAT CURSED MORTAL ESCAPED..."

"THERE IS NO NEED TO DWELL ON IT, PALKIA. WHILE THE MORTALS FOUGHT AND YOU WERE AWAY, I HAD A CONFERENCE WITH THE BEING ABOVE." It looks up, but not at Gali. Instead, it turns to the galaxy lighting up the space; as does Palkia.

"Y-you mean?"

"YES. EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE RULES, THEY ARE ARBITRATED BY ARCEUS HIMSELF. BUT NOT JUST ONE; MULTIPLE. MANY."

"WE ARE NOT TOLD WHY HE ACTS HOW HE DOES, OR WITH WHOM HE COORDINATES. ONLY THAT HIS WORD IS FINAL."

"THIS PLACE IS NEAR THE BORDER OF REALITY. YOU MUST FEEL IT TOO; SPACETIME'S EDGE. IT IS WHERE ARCEUS DOES HIS WORK. WHAT THAT IS, WE DO NOT KNOW. WE MERELY ACT ON HIS WILL."

"What does that mean for me, then? And for Found, and Lost?"

"HE HAS DEIGNED IT...POSSIBLE, FOR THOSE TWO HALVES TO MERGE WITH THIS REALITY. THOSE YOU NAME 'LOST' AND 'FOUND'."

Gali's eyes widened. A smile overtook her face, as did Found's. "Y-you mean it?! He did?! Found!"

"Gali! W-we can exist!" The two share an embrace, though Gali had to be sure not to upset the vines still holding the two Celebi together.

"BUT..."

Gali looks back. "B-but?"

"THERE IS A SMALL PRICE TO PAY FOR THIS." Dialga shook its head.

Palkia then lowered its head. "IT...CAN STAY. BUT ITS POWERS MUST REMAIN IN A SIMILAR BEING IN ITS OWN REALITY."

"IT WILL RETAIN ITS SENSE OF SELF. IT WILL EXIST IN OUR REALITY. BUT IT WILL BE STRIPPED OF ALL BUT ITS INHERENT POWER AS A CELEBI. THAT IS THE EXTENT OF WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED."

Gali smiled. "...That's easy to fix. Found is already have of what it is." She turns her head towards the two. "Staying a Celebi, keeping its memories, but losing its powers. It will be better off not remembering how it caused...the things it did. That's...exactly what I'd hope, really. And we can fill in the blanks in its power, Found and I."

"PERHAPS ARCEUS WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR AUDUN'S APPEARANCE HERE. PERHAPS HE WANTED TO SEE HOW WORTHY YOU WERE OF SUCH DELIBERATION."

"NOW NOW, DIALGA, NO SPECULATION. WE MUST NOT MUDDLE HIS WORDS. WE HAVE OUR ORDERS TO SET THE ANOMOLY RIGHT."

Gali clasped her hands together, tilting her head down slightly. "Thank you, Arceus, for this..."

Dialga and Palkia's gems began to glow. "WE SHALL FIX THIS IMMEDIATELY. YOU WILL BE SENT BACK TO WHERE YOU WERE BEFORE, WHEN YOU WERE BEFORE."

"AND, MORTAL...THE ONE NAMED GALIANA." She perked up, being addressed by her name. "ARCEUS DID HAVE ONE MORE ORDER OF BUSINESS. HE WISHED TO PASS ALONG A MESSAGE, AND THAT I, DIALGA, PERSONALLY DELIVER IT."

"Eh? What would that be?" Their glows began to envelop the realm. Gali could feel her consciousness being ripped away once more, being put back where it belonged.

"HE SAYS...CONSIDER THIS AN APOLOGY."

"For..." She couldn't fully ask about it before her body exited the realm.

- - -

From an outsider looking on, as many of the Celebi of the forest were, Galiana and the two Celebi disappeared in the bubbles formed around them, only to reappear seconds later as the bubbles remained in place. Spooked by the weird sounds they made, the Celebi were quick to hide, skittish around such oddities happening close to their shrine.

But in those few moments, much has changed. The Celebi could sense that the Pokemon re-emerging from the bubbles were altered, and it wasn't just that time had shifted. The fae remained invisible, peeking around trees while high up near the canopy.

The three reappeared, taking a quick look around before reconvening. Gali huddled around Found and Lost, scooping them up into her arms. Soft weeping fills the air as reality sets in. She applies another Leech Seed, healing her wounds and finishing Lost's regeneration.

"Gali...thank you." The first words spoken after a long silence.

She held the back of Found's head, pulling it closer in their embrace. "No. Thank [i]you[/i]...for giving me your strength. If you hadn't..."

Found shook her head, nuzzled against Gali's side. "N-no, don't want to...think about..." She could feel its tears rubbing in, and it took a few seconds for it to compose itself. "I...I did only what I thought was right. But, even now, I'm not sure if it was right to begin with..."

"My sweet, little dear..." Gali choked up as well. "It's because of you that you and I are here. You saved not just yourself, but me as well. You followed what you thought was right in your heart. You couldn't possibly be more right."

Moved beyond words, it stayed still, wrapping its arm around Gali's torso and pulling itself in. Lost, with the feelings its body was regaining and its strength returning, also joined in, nestling on Gali's lap. The three were enveloped in vines once more, and, slowly but surely, began to heal.

...

They stayed, snuggling on the grass next to the shrine, for what felt like hours. The Celebi of the forest watched, and eventually got accustomed to the three's presence, their fairy sounds filling the white noise in the forest as they resumed their normal activities.

Lost's body eventually healed completely, and Gali's wounds were sewn shut, as if she hadn't been cut in the first place. As the vines lost their glow and their grip loosened, Gali got a better look of Lost. Aside from its body being restored from the half it was before, its pink body had a slight blue tint to it, with its highlights and newly grown hair being blue as well. Its breathing, like Found before, was coarse, even as it coughed during their snuggling.

"Lost, dear...open your eyes." Gali gently nudged it, apparently waking it from a nap. It stretched its limbs out, feeling...feeling. Its vibrant green eyes visible, it looked at its renewed body, finding much excitement as Found did before. Found stirred on the opposite side of the lap, having fallen asleep as well with her face half-buried against Gali.

"I...I-I'm alive...I can...!" Its voice was considerably deeper than Found's, reminding Gali of its voice from the dream. It coughed again, with Found now opening its eyes.

"Don't push yourself too hard, now." Gali smiled down at Lost. Having recovered, holding its hand against its chest, it continued to express wonder and amazement at its own body.

"I have...a heartbeat again...a-a heart, I can breathe, I...!" Its voice quivered. Excitement and fear stirred behind its words. "Y-you, Gali...you risked so much. For...for me, for us..."

Gali nodded. "All to save a life...yes. Or perhaps, in this case, two lives." She took Lost in an arm and hugged the Celebi close. "I couldn't let you live like that...how you were, in that dream. And then Found was...nearly gone, too. Your original body...I can't imagine why someone would..."

Lost let its body rest against Gali. "St-stop...no more, please. I'm...tired, of death. I-I don't..." It shivered. Found, now fully awake, extended a hand towards its Celebi counterpart. "Just remembering how lonely I felt makes me...unnh..."

"Lost...i-is it weird if I call you that? Since you're...me..." Lost looked towards the red Celebi. It still had the look of amazement in its eyes.

The blue Celebi took a moment to think. "...no, no it's not. I like it, really. It..." The Celebi gulped. "If it'll remind me of what...I once was, what I did...I think I can live with it. It should...make me better. Because I'm not lost, now. I'm just...Lost." A faint smile appeared on its face, extending a hand out and touching its counterpart's hand.

The red Celebi nodded with its own smile, its own giggle. "Lost. Listen, I...it's been so long since we were together, our halves. And now we're here again. Not one, but two. Not two, but one." It looked down briefly. "I've even forgotten...how we separated. But..." Back up, at Lost. "I...I missed you, I guess. I-is that weird too?"

Lost chuckled. "Not at all, I think. It's true, I...toiled away, for so long. I lost track of time, but the memories stayed. And when I had the dream, I thought I had reached the afterlife at last." Tears welled in its eyes. "I'm...I'm glad I'm still alive. That you found me, Gali...and you too, Found. And that...that we can live again. It's..."

Tears streamed down its new face. "It's...such a...I-I..."

Then the hiccups started. Found scooched over and pulled the Celebi close in a hug centering in Gali's lap. "Shh, shh. It's okay. We can start living again, even if we're in separate bodies. We can be...our own. Have our own experiences. But we'll always be one in our hearts." It held a hand to Lost's chest.

More hiccups and sniffling, though it didn't come from either of the two Celebi. Gali, whose head was above them, was the culprit. "B-beautifully said, Found. But I think you're more than that."

She lifts the two Celebi up, hugging them close so their heads rested against her neck. "The two of you, if you grow, you're gonna have different powers each. But you're still...one. You've got a bond like nobody else. And I think...with the chance you've been given, you'll do great things together. You'll always have each other, and..."

Tears began streaming down her cheeks as well. "...I'm glad that I could help. You two, who were forgotten...you're not anymore." She squeezes them, though a little tight as the two seemed to struggle lightly as the seconds passed.

She lightens up, but still holds them close. "W-well...ah, how are you two feeling then? Can you feel your Psychic powers returning?"

Found nodded. "I've felt them for a bit. It's...not as strong as what you showed off, Gali, but it feels familiar." It looks away, a little saddened. "Though...I wonder if it'll just be half, y'know? If it's what a Celebi could be capable of, fully."

"I...can't feel anything, myself. I think I can sense how to time travel, but...maybe I just need more time to get used to things." Lost examines their hand. They try to focus power in it, but all they manage is a slight blue aura, the same as their time powers.

"Oh...right. They said..." Gali looks up. "That your powers...the ones you had before. Those were to be given to a similar entity in the reality you existed in before. To keep the balance, I think."

"Yeah...I think I remember that. I felt an urge to send whatever time powers I had out, I saw...you, in danger. And then...everything went white. I kinda don't feel like the same Celebi anymore..." Lost hold its head, making a soft groan. "Did I really have all my powers taken away? Is this what it's like to feel...powerless?"

Found nodded. "It was necessary so you couldn't...do the things you did before."

"Yes, yes, that's right...urrh. How'm I supposed to get them back? How long do I have to wait?"

"Well, if you need time to heal..." Gali bounced them up, getting up on her feet. "How about coming and living with me until you guys feel better? If you feel more at home here at the shrine, I'm sure the Celebi would take you in too..."

"You mean you don't live here?" Found tilted its head. "I think you made a mention of that during the, uh, fight...about your ring, right?"

Gali's smile disappears. "Yeah. I'm...actually not sure of [i]when[/i] I'm from. My earliest memories are of me already grown up, but I had this ring with me then. So, I don't have a home in the traditional sense..." ...it then returns. "...but I do have a home with a whole bunch of friends. There's a whole lot to do there, I'm sure you guys would fit right in. And who knows..."

She leans her head towards Lost, nearly resting it on the Celebi. "Maybe you'll gain new powers. Kinda like hitting a reset button. You can choose how you wanna grow, no forcing involved."

Lost playfully pushes away Gali's face. "Heheh, I gotcha, I gotcha. Y'know, I never really thought of...exploring, yeah? Just being cooped up in that dark place all the time, I even sorta forgot what sunlight felt like..."

She giggles. "Oh, there's lots of sun where I live. Lots of wide-open spaces, a view of the ocean...very different from the forest here. Because it's on an island, it may be a bit limited, but...it's peaceful. And there's excitement if you look in the right places!"

Found raised its hands in the air. "Alright, I'm convinced! How's about you, Lost?"

Lost pushed a bit of its hair out of its face. "It definitely sounds like a place to get my bearings...and if it's more time spent with you, it can't be all that bad, huh, Gali?"

"Aww, please...I just wanna make sure you're healthy and all. Can't have you running off without even being able to fend for yourself." Gali smiles wide.

"I-I can! I just, uhm, forgot how to...is all. But if you could teach me a few things, I'd like that..."

"Hehehe...alright. It's a deal."

"...but before we go, could, uhm...could you sing that song again? Just one more time..."
