A Lesson
A Pokemon/Sandman crossover
By White Cat

It wasn't fair.

The little boy crossed his arms over his chest and hunched down against the strong trunk of the tree, and tried hard not to sniffle.

He was eight years old, now, and that was a perfectly mature and acceptable age; he didn't understand why his grandfather and mother had to persist in treating him like a stupid little kid. He'd be nine in three weeks - in little more than a year, he'd be old enough to get his own trainer's license and go off on a pokemon journey of his own.

So why did his mother have to lie to him when he asked about how Baachan had been doing? He'd known for weeks how badly she'd been doing; he'd eavesdropped on his mother's late night conversations with his grandfather, long after he should have been in bed, and he'd heard all the things they wouldn't say to his face in the light of day.

Terminal.

Not much time left.

Die.

He sniffled loudly, then shifted his arms to hug his knees to his chest, shivering a little at the memory.

And today, when he'd gone to his mother and asked to visit Baachan at the hospital, he'd seen the uncertain look that flashed over her face - and he knew.

He knew, and still she lied to him, kneeling down so that they were almost on eye-level, touched his shoulder, and said "Shigeru, I don't think it would be a good idea today - Baachan needs her rest ..."

Though she didn't actually say the words, he saw them in her eyes: Baachan was gone.

And he'd run away at that point, dashing past all the neatly-rowed houses, not even stopping when he heard his best friend call out a greeting to him. Now he was here - wherever here was - huddled in the cool green shadows of the Masara Forest and staring quietly into space, trying to ignore the burning feeling in his eyes and the hitching sound his breath made in his chest.

It just wasn't fair!

"Hey," he heard a woman's voice say from behind him, soft and friendly. "What's with the long face, kiddo?"

Shigeru jumped, whirling to stare at her in surprise; he had not heard even the faintest rustle of footsteps, though the ground had crunched wildly under his feet when he'd first come here.

She was a tiny woman, barely taller than his older sister, and she looked roughly the same age as Satoshi's mother - her face still young enough to be unlined, but old sort of intelligence in her eyes. In the half-light, her skin was pale enough to glow, a stark contrast to the solid black of her clothing and hair. Around her neck, she wore a silver charm on a chain - a small thing that resembled a cross with its top looped over in on itself. She was smiling brightly, and there was more understanding and warmth in her expression than he could ever remember even his own mother directing at him.

He sniffled loudly, then drew his arm under his nose and lifted his chin. "Hu - who are you?" he asked, trying for a show of bravado. It was something he was normally good at, but it didn't phase her at all - if anything, her smile even widened a bit.

"I'm a friend," she said simply. "Mind if I sit down?"

Surprised, he blinked, then nodded. She folded her legs gracefully under herself, sinking to the floor beside him. "You're a long way from home," she said gently. "What's a little kid like you doing wandering around like this?"

He flushed. "I'm not a little kid!" he protested hotly. "I'm eight years old! I'll be nine in a few weeks - that's plenty old!" He scowled, but she only laughed, holding up both hands.

"Okay, okay, I apologize. But this is far away from Masara Town, even for a big kid like you. What's wrong?"

Shigeru lowered his head and watched her sullenly from behind the fall of his bangs. "Nothing."

"Nothing, huh?" She tilted her head to one side. "Running away from home and crying over nothing seems a bit much, don't you think?"

He looked away. "Nothing."

"Are you sure?" Her voice had softened; now it was comforting, and it reminded him of Baachan's voice, whenever he slept over at his grandparent's house and had woken up in the night, crying over nightmares. "Nothing really major happened to you recently? Nobody you loved died, or anything?"

He stiffened, his head snapping around to stare at her, but her expression remained open and friendly - there didn't seem to be any sort of hidden motive in her eyes, and that, more than anything, allowed him to relax. "My grandma," he offered, somewhat reluctantly, then rubbed his nose again. "She's been sick for a long time, an' I wanted to go visit her today, only Kaasan said 'let her rest' - but I know that's not what Baachan's doing now. She's dead, and I know she's dead, but Kaasan lied to me. She hates me." He hugged his knees tighter, and the tears stung the back of his eyes again. "I'm not a baby any more. I knew what was happening to Baachan, but Kaasan and Ojiichan always pretended like I didn't know nothing. They hate me."

"Hate is a very harsh word, don't you think?" the young woman asked, scooting closer. Her slim white arm slid across his thin shoulders, and pulled him close. Her skin was cool, and she smelled of roses and hospitals and earth. "Your mother and grandfather don't hate you, little one. They love you very much - I'll bet they're very worried about you, right now."

He mashed his lips together. "But -"

"But nothing," she cut him off firmly. "This is the sort of thing you can only understand when you're a grown-up, Shigeru-kun. Until you've been responsible for the life and well-being of another, you can't really understand what it's like to try to protect that other from the world. That's what your mother was trying to do. She shouldn't have lied to you, but it was only because she loved you."

"Why?" Shigeru turned his face up to look at her curiously. "I don't get it."

"Eight years old is very old indeed, Shigeru-kun," she said gently. "But even so, you need to listen and obey the things those even older than you say, you know? Because it may not seem so, but your mother knows a lot more about things than you may think. She wanted to make your grandmother's death a little easier on you, so she made up that part about her needing to rest - but I don't think she would have lied to you forever. If you'd've waited until nightfall, I'm sure they would have told you the truth."

"You think so?" The tears had dried behind his eyes, and he was now looking up at her with a cautious sort of hope.

"I know so," she said cheerfully, then tapped a forefinger against the tip of his nose. "She doesn't hate you, kiddo. No true parent really hates their child. She was just concerned about you, so she tried to delay telling you. That's all."

Put that way, it made a lot more sense. "Oh."

She released him, then stood up, brushing a few dead leaves from her jeans. "I have to go now, Shigeru-kun. Go home, because your friends and family are looking for you."

He looked down at his feet for a moment, and then his head snapped up in surprise as he realized something. "Hey, how did you know my -"

She was gone. The forest was empty, except for him and a few unseen birds cooing in the treetops. Slowly, he got to his feet and started walking, arms still loosely wrapped around himself.

When he emerged from the forest, he saw a small black-haired figure making its way towards him. For a moment, he froze - but no, this shape was much smaller and more familiar than the strange woman; if the loudly-calling voice hadn't been an indication, the red-and-white cap perched haphazardly on the dark head was.

"Shigeru, you dummy!" Satoshi called. "Your mom's looking all over for you! You're gonna be in trou~ble." He grinned cheerfully at his friend. "But since you've only been gone for an hour, we'll tell her we went fishing at the creek, okay? Since that's where I was, and when she went to ask Mama where I was, that's what Mama said. Okay?"

He looked bemusedly at his friend. "Okay."

"C'mon!" Satoshi grabbed his arm and pulled. "We need to go to the creek and splash around a bit, so we can prove it if anyone asks us where we were! Let's go!"

Shigeru grinned halfheartedly; he was still terribly worried about his grandmother, and still, despite the woman's kind words, quite angry at his mother.

It would be a long time before he'd take her words at face value again, he thought regretfully.

"Shigeru? Oi, Shigeru, is something wrong?" Brown eyes peered at him in concern, as Satoshi danced from one foot to another. "You looked like you were completely out of it."

"Hm? No, I'm fine," he said. "I'll tell you later, all right?"

Satoshi looked at him doubtfully, but whereas he'd always been one to be at least a little suspicious of anything anyone said - even before this unhappy day - Satoshi had always been one to trust blindly. The round face split into a wide grin. "As long as you tell eventually," he agreed cheerfully, then pulled on his arm again. "Let's go, already!"

She looked up when the other woman entered the room; though there was no herald of presence, it was not easy to ignore her caller.

"I wasn't ready," she said quietly. "I thought I still had a few good years left."

"It couldn't be helped," the other woman said, equally quiet. "You got more than some people do. And you had a good life while you lived it."

"That's true." She rose off the bed, pausing briefly to brush her hand over the wrinkled cheek of her physical body. "I had a good life. I don't regret any of it. But I am a bit worried about my family ... especially little Shigeru; I'm afraid I'll be his first experience with death, and I don't know how he's going to handle it."

The other woman smiled, and tugged on a wayward curl of black hair. "He's a tough boy, and very smart for his age. He'll be fine. Now, shall we go?"

She smiled. "All right. Let's go."

They clasped hands, and the room was filled with the sound of beating wings.

And then the room was still.

~end~