The next morning, Calem's mom was up early to make breakfast. Calem was sleeping like a slob, sleeping with one arm off the edge of the couch. I never really seen him sleep, expect for that time when we slept on the couches back at the lab, he wasn't this sloppy before
"It's nice to see Calem sleeping comfortably for once" his mom walked into the living room while stirring in a bowl. I got up to get out my project and started sewing again "oh, are you making something?" She sat next to me. I now noticed she was covered in flour
"Yes... it's technically for my sister" I didn't take my eyes off my protect "I take pride in making clothes for her"
"Then you must be Serena's sister" I looked at her "I only ever met her and his friends once when they were kids, but I hear good things about them. Serena is Kalo's queen, and she's always talking about you" I blushed a little
"Looks like everyone knows of me" I sighed "regardless, I don't care for the attention"
"Do you mind me asking... how did you meet my son?" I looked into her eyes, seeing the motherly aura within her that my mom often has. It was warming and soothing... "I never get to see him, ever since I moved from Vaniville town, he's been a stranger ever since" she looked down "I'm not even considered his mom, so it's wrong of me to worry so much about him"
"That's stupid" I blurted out, surprising her "you're his mom, you gave birth to him! that's a reason why you should worry for him. I came to Kalos a few months ago, and before that I haven't seen my mom in 7-8 years because we lived in different regions" I put my sewing down "she has every reason to worry about me the whole time... and she's worried about Serena's disappearance. It's the only reason I came all the way here" I shook my head, not knowing why I was telling her my story "you have every right to worry about him. That's why you hired the defenders of Kalos, right?"
"Y-You know about that?"
"They're the most annoying people I know..." she turned to face me more
"Last night... I saw that he tried protecting you from my attack. At first I just saw him taking you, so I figured he..." she looked down "I shouldn't say anymore"
"That... he'd kill me?" She looked at me wide eyed "I know the whole story"
"Y-you do..?" I nodded, starting my sewing again
"Nothing to worry about, he's better" his mom looked at Calem for a long while until he probably felt her staring and woke up
"Not the way I wanted to wake up. Stop looking at me like that, it's making me uncomfortable" he sat up
"I'm so happy you decided to bring the girl you wanted to marry home to me!" I nearly poked myself with the needle "you didn't think I noticed your father's keystone?" Calem looked away
"I didn't decide to bring her to you" he stood up "we're leaving" his mom stood after him
"Wait! I'm making pancakes!" I glanced at them, feeling the tension in this room
"No thanks" Calem turned to the door
"I like pancakes" I said, starting a new section of my project. He immediately sat down when I said that
"We can stay for a bit then" he refused to look at our direction. I snorted a little and watched his mom happily run back to the kitchen. I smiled a bit, wondering how exactly Calem behaved when he stayed with her and how she behaved
I made sure my Pokémon were fed before I got to the table to eat myself. Absol stayed pretty close to me, still being a bit skeptical about Calem. Although he was eating pancakes like a child would. It put a smile on his mom's face
"How's the food?" his mom asked. He slowed down and stared at his food when she looked at me "I didn't formally introduce myself, did I? I'm Nora, it's nice to meet you!"
"A pleasure" I nodded my head
"You have such a polite girlfriend, Calem!" She told him. He looked at her surprised then looked at me with a loving smile that made my heart skip beats. A smile that his mom held her heart in shock to see
"Polite is only very few things I love about her" I flinched, not expecting that "she's perfect, and I want to marry her for everything she is" I kicked him under the table
"H-hold on! Idiot! I didn't agree to your stupid proposal!" He sat there normally, later falling sideways on his seat due to the pain. I shook my head and started eating again. His mom shook her head and smiled back at me
"You must be a very special person to get along with Calem like this" I stared at her "you... know about his past hobbies?" It's a good thing she referred his addiction to a past hobby. I simply nodded and ate again, staring at my plate "aren't you scared? Or... weren't scared?"
"Mo-Nora" Calem warned, getting back on his chair
"I was never afraid" I admit "though I was a bit surprised to learn it, I didn't care about it at all. He wasn't my main concern at all, but he still somehow stays on my side even if he annoyed the crap out of me" Calem leaned on his elbow
"But you still enjoyed my company" I kicked him under the table again
"Shut up" I stopped talking so the table could be quiet for awhile before she asked another question
"I'm sure Blissey recovered you well in the hospital. Professor Sycamore told me you were attacked..." she looked down "I knew I would be the last person you wanted to see, and I wasn't going to worry about you because you were always strong for your age" Calem tried not looking at her "but then I heard that you ran off while still in recovery, coming back to get more injured and required surgery... I hope you had a good excuse for doing something stupid, because nothing is going to cut it for trying to take your own life. We agreed to this, Calem!"
"What I do is my own decision... you can't tell me what to do anymore" he took his plate "I am the last person you need to be concern about. I am not your son, so hiring those idiots to keep me out of trouble was a waste of time" she stood after him
"Can you blame me for worrying about you!? I don't care if it's not on paper! You're my son! And I gave birth to you! Nothing is going to change my mind on how I'm going to love you!" Calem lowered his plate slowly "I'm alone here! It's not like I wanted to leave you! But you pushed me away... I don't want anything happening to you. Did you ever think how I feel about you? No matter what you've done, you're still mine" I frowned "and I don't want anything happening to you... I know you don't care about what I say, but everything I'm saying is from my heart! I wish you'd visit me more! If I didn't love you, why would I put so much work in trying to get us all the way here? I'd wish you understand me more..." she sobbed "you never grew up with a heart, so these words might not mean much, but no matter who you are, you're always my son" she sat down, looking at her lap "I'm sorry... I failed at being your mom" his eyes widened
"Mom..." I cleaned my mouth and stood up
"Mothers are a gift, you know?" I said "they care for their own flesh and blood before their own. They worry about the little things and want the best for you. You might be a monster, Calem, but she stood in front of the bullet for you. This is none of my business, I only want to state a fact. I never grew up with emotions, nor did I ever talk. I was always the last person someone would notice, but there's always that special someone who'd notice you most. Though my sister was my world, my parents were my everything... they'd tried to help me, but nothing worked. From the time they took care of us as a newborn to the day you leave them, they're still going to be there behind you" I took my empty plate and put it in the sink to wash "even if you let her disown you, that's no way to treat someone who helped you live"
"Sophia..." Calem frowned and looked at his mom "I don't know how to talk to you... I know I've been a disappointment to you my whole life, it's why I never bothered to be close to you or visit you. I pretended like I was fine so you wouldn't look at me like you're looking at me now" she was looking at him with such sympathy "and you left me... it was better that way. I don't know why you wanted me to visit you, when I'm good for nothing in this world" he looked down "I still don't know my own heart, but because of Sophia... I learned much" he looked back at her "and I'm sorry I made you feel like that" she shakily cupped her mouth "mom..."
"Oh my baby!" She jumped to hugged him "I love you no matter what..." he didn't do anything as she did this. He looked up at me smiling slightly at the moment. He smiled a bit back and tugged on the back of her shirt, still not knowing what he's doing or knew what he just said
The rest of the time was simple catching up between mother and son. Calem put a full smile for her as he explained everything she missed on his first journey while I took my time to sew my things again. Even from a distance, I can tell he was only putting that fake smile for her to feel better about everything. After what felt like forever, not that I really mind, Calem wanted to find the rest of our friends
"It was really nice to meet you, Sophia" Nora bowed to me at the door
"Thank you for having me..." Calem waved like nothing and jumped off the stairs, ready to leave already without giving her a goodbye hug. I'm sure he doesn't understand the process of a loving goodbye
"I really hope you'll take care of him" she took my hands "I never seen him smile like that... I hope you'll help him continue that" she held my hands tight "I never thought I'd see my baby smile like that again" she kept saying the same thing again "when he told me how much you meant to him. I noticed the other smiles weren't real, but the ones towards you... were just beautiful"
"I guess..." I glanced away "I don't know what to tell you really. It's not like I did anything"
"It's perhaps because you two have much in common, though don't at the same time, if you know what I mean" I sweat dropped
"Yeah... I better get going" I bowed again "it was nice meeting you. I'll keep him out of trouble" I walked down the stairs "give your mother a hug, will yah?" He looked at him mom and jumped, obeying, to quickly hug her. She pinched his cheek and waved when we left
"That was weird..." he said "is there a reason why we stayed for so long?"
"Problem?"
"I haven't seen my mom in 7-8 years, and I wanted to stay away from her because of who I am" he looked around "listen, you probably don't know this, but I'm sure you would had figured it out. Killing people, even Pokémon, brings me joy. It was the only thing that can make me feel, and it's all I wanted! To feel something" he looked down "I'm sure you know what I'm talking about... there's not a day when I haven't wanted to kill the first person I see. I wanted to kill Shauna, Tierno, Trevor, Sycamore... even Serena!" My eyes widened "Serena was different though... she was the least one I wanted to kill. It's messed up of me to even say that I even wanted to kill my own parents as well..." he started shaking "the human part of me knew it was right of me to keep these people close, especially my parents" he looked down, starting to cry "I'm sorry about what I told you about Serena... I swear I didn't kill her. You have to believe me" he wiped his tears away "what is this?"
"I do believe you, Calem" he kept looking down "I know Serena is fine, I told you I don't blame you for her disappearance" he shook his head
"Even so... I didn't want to come see my mom because my cravings. Everything from the separation and never talking to nether of my parents was for their protection... the human part of me knew the right thing. And in all honesty... I..." he fell on his knees, sobbing "the thrill of killing... it's not there anymore" he pulled his hair "ever since Lumiose... with the gang, I couldn't feel anything, and I haven't been able to control myself. I want to feel... I wanted to feel something" he looked up at me "that's why I gave you that stone... I meant what I said when I said I wanted to marry you. I want nothing else in this world. You complete me" he took my hand and kissed the back "you're my everything" my heart was racing out of control
"C-Calem..."
"Please... marry me. I'll die if I can't have you"
"For whatever time we have... I'll share it with you, but I must go back to Sinnoh"
"Why?" He stood up "what's so special about Sinnoh anyways? What makes you want to stay there when you have your family here!?" I looked away "you might have your dad back there, but Serena means a lot to you, and your mom! You never come to visit, so what makes Sinnoh so great that makes you never leave? Are you still..?" I shook my head
"If you're thinking I'm still part of that gang, I disbanded it a long time ago... I have my reasons to needing to go back, and it's none of your business" he looked down again
"I understand... I'm sorry" I gently took his cheek, wiping away the tears off his face
"I'm sorry... for not being enough for you" I gently removed my hand from his face and walked away "I'm not enough for anything in this world. You're developing your emotions already, I have yet to feel it... I've been expressing them apparently, but this whole time, I feel nothing. I'm not ever going to be enough for you, please understand" I felt my heart hurting as I kept walking away "I have other things I have to do... see you later" I gave a gentle smile and left to the park