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All she could think about was the cold.
Realistically, Liko knew she was safe. It had been a few days since she returned to the Brave Olivine, and she had been fine ever since then… But some things defied all rationality or reason, and she had come to find herself in a war of feeling and fear in the last few days. It didn’t matter how many times she told herself she was safe; she simply couldn’t believe it.
The Brave Olivine was much warmer than Glaseado Mountain. She didn’t have to bundle up in layers of jackets, scarves, and hats to keep herself warm enough to survive. Her regular blue cardigan and a pair of shorts was fine… But it didn’t feel sufficient now. She shuddered even in the warmth of her room in the Brave Olivine. Even with Floragato, Terapagos, and Hattrem resting all around her, she was still cold. She had piled as many blankets on top of herself as she could stand, but the chill ran far deeper than her body. It was in her bones and her blood, and something so determined to destroy her refused to be defeated so easily.
Liko hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the cave ever since she got back home. She had come out of it safe, but for a while, she had feared she would never see the light of day again. Liko had grown used to seeing her breath on Glaseado Mountain, but there was something much more sinister about seeing it puff up in front of her lips in that cave. If Amethio hadn’t noticed the wind leading out of the cave, they would have frozen to death there. That was what Spinel had wanted, wasn’t it? Spinel was the one who had led them into the trap, and he was undoubtedly the one who had trapped them there too. Liko couldn’t think of another explanation.
Liko had struggled to sleep many times after her encounters with Spinel. It felt like she always came too close to losing everything when she was around him. He had erased her memories, and it was only through luck that she managed to regain them before her lack of understanding ruined her. Spinel had come too close to hurting her and so many people she cared about, and seeing him was enough to leave her as a wandering insomniac for the next few days. Liko wanted to get up this time too and wander around the Brave Olivine, but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t abandon the warmth of her bed. It wouldn’t follow her throughout the rest of the airship… Though she didn’t think the warmth was doing her much good anyway. If it was, then she would have found a way to sleep by now.
Liko had tried many times to remind herself that everything was fine. She knew realistically that she was as fine as she could have been given the circumstances… But she had come so close to not being fine. How could she breathe again with something like that weighing on her mind? She couldn’t do it. Everything was too much, but her blankets were too little. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t keep on this way. Not anymore.
Liko stared at the space just in front of her lips and let out a thin breath. She didn’t see the air fog up around her mouth. She was warm. She knew that… But if that was really true, then why couldn’t she bring herself to believe it? Why did she feel like her guilt was killing her even though nothing had happened? Floragato would have stayed out of her Pokéball with Liko if she started to freeze. Floragato wasn’t good at handling the cold either, but she was determined to stay there anyway. She could have lost everything, and yet…
Liko didn’t realize tears had risen to her eyes until after they started to fall. No, her mind insisted. You can’t cry. Your tears will freeze. It will make you colder. She rubbed at her cheeks furiously with her palms, and for a moment, her hands felt like they were wearing gloves instead of plain skin. Were her fingers freezing? They had felt too cold even when she was wearing gloves to try and fend off the chill. Frostbite had occurred to her a few times, but she hadn’t let herself linger on the thought for too long. It had simply been too much when the threat was too real for her to ignore… But it could have so easily gone wrong. She could freeze now too, couldn’t she? If she wasn’t careful, then…
Liko let out a slow breath. She was fine. She knew she was… But if that was the case, then why couldn’t she believe it? Her body was in the Brave Olivine, but her mind was still in that cave. She feared it would never leave. Liko’s brain kept telling her to find Amethio, to huddle in front of the fire with him and Ceruledge. They would be safer and warmer if they stuck together. It didn’t matter that it would have been the first time he ever touched her kindly after trying to take her, the pendant, or Terapagos for months. Liko still needed it. She needed someone there with her to tell her she was alright.
But Amethio wasn’t there. Neither was Roy, and neither was Dot. Amethio was gone, and Roy and Dot… They hadn’t been in that cave. Coral and Onyx had been tasked with distracting them while Liko froze to death. Roy and Dot had both been terrified they would find her a corpse when they finally reached her, and Dot had almost broken down crying when Liko found them again. Liko saw Dot nearly rush in for a hug, but she held herself back at the last moment. Liko had tried to not think about it at the time, but she couldn’t escape the thought now. She wished Dot had done it. She would have done anything to be there with Dot now to ask her to hold her for just a few seconds and tell her everything was going to be alright.
Liko could have gotten up and gone to get Dot. She knew Dot stayed up far too late at night too, so chances were high that she was awake still… But if this was one of the rare nights where Dot managed to get to sleep early, then Liko would never forgive herself for waking her up. Besides, how much did she really need Dot to be there with her? She could be fine on her own. She didn’t want to bother anyone, especially not Dot, someone who she knew was dealing with more than enough as it was.
Liko knew Dot didn’t like to think about what had happened that day. How could she want to? Liko had come too close to dying, and Dot had always been incredibly protective of her. Dot had hated the idea of leaving Liko alone after she lost her memories and recovered them. Dot grew particularly defensive when it came to Spinel, and if Liko said she was struggling because of something Spinel had done… She didn’t know how Dot would have reacted, but she didn’t want to test her theories either.
She would be fine. She had to be. She was warm, and even if she didn’t believe it now, she would soon. She just had to figure something out. She could do that.
Even if it felt impossible now in a way it never had before.
Liko shuddered as she pulled her blankets as close over her face as she could stand.
~~~~~
All she could think about was the heat.
Dot knew how she came off to most people. She seemed cold, distant, and uncaring. In truth, that couldn’t have been farther from how she actually felt. Dot didn’t know how to express her emotions in a way that was productive or meaningful, but her emotions burned bright and hot. They refused to be quenched, and not even all the water in the sea could calm her when she let something begin to spiral out of control in her heart. She didn’t think she wanted it to soothe her fears either. She just wanted to let the fire burn, and sometimes, she wanted it to consume her.
Dot had never been so desperate to let her emotions get the better of her before she met Liko. Back then, she had been fine to ignore her feelings as much as she could get away with it. She was better off if she focused on her work and all that came with it. She didn’t know how to express herself, so she gave up on trying. She didn’t know how she was meant to open up to the rest of the Rising Volt Tacklers anyway. She had been the only child on the ship for a long time, and while Dot hadn’t ever been great at interacting with others her age, she was even worse at talking to adults sometimes.
Everything had changed when Liko and then Roy arrived on the ship. All of a sudden, Dot wanted to connect with people. She had found them frustrating for a while, but everything began to change and fade the more she watched them. She found herself wanting friends more than ever before. All of a sudden, occasional correspondence with Iono felt overwhelmingly and scathingly insufficient. Dot wanted someone she could see and talk to face to face even if she was horrible at it. She wanted to know she was there with somebody else even if she was terrified of the vulnerability that came with touch.
One of Dot’s greatest regrets had been not talking to Liko about how she felt when the other girl lost her memories at Spinel’s hands. She remembered being completely consumed by her fear when Liko went missing, and it had taken every ounce of restraint in Dot’s body to not use her new Pokémon partner to rush after the Explorers and ruin them for all they had done. Seeing Liko face to face for the first time had been one of the greatest and most important moments of Dot’s life. She would never forget it, and she would spend the rest of her days knowing that she couldn’t hold out on her emotions forever. If she wanted to truly express herself, then she needed to come out and do it instead of letting her hesitation and fear get the best of her. She could do this. She just needed to give herself the chance to do it.
Dot had been slowly getting better about expressing herself since she came to be friends with Liko and Roy. Roy in particular was happy to wear his heart on his sleeve, and that made Dot feel like she would be able to do it one day for herself. Liko was much slower to talk about her feelings, but Dot could sympathize with that too. She would be able to open up one day too. If Liko had been able to do it, then she would find a way to do it as well. She knew she could.
Being around Liko and Roy had taught Dot a lot more about herself than she could ever hope to put into words. She didn’t ever want to go back to the way she had been before either. She wanted to get to the bottom of everything she had ever felt, and she wanted to find a way to express it to everyone she cared about too. She was determined to make it to that point one day. She had changed a lot, but she liked it that way. Dot wouldn’t have gone back to the way she had been for anything. This was how she was meant to be, and she couldn’t believe it had taken her this long to realize it.
Through her care for Liko and Roy, Dot had become intimately acquainted with every emotion she had ever tried to ignore throughout her youth. She was at peace when she was with them, and she felt like she could truly be herself for the first time ever. Dot felt understood, and she was happy in a way she had never let herself be before. It was beautiful and shining, and for the first time ever, Dot felt like she had stepped out into the sun.
But the sun did not only glow; it burned, and Dot could feel its heat beneath her skin now too. She had been prone to bouts of frustration at times in the past, but she didn’t think she had ever felt a rage so complete it tried to swallow her until she met Liko and Roy. After Spinel erased Liko’s memories, Dot had been angry in a way she hadn’t thought she was capable of. The heat had flared deep in her blood, and it boiled over until it manifested as screams of hatred directed at Spinel. The heat of rage had been foreign to Dot until that moment, but now, she doubted she would ever be able to forget it.
The hotness was uncomfortable, and it seethed with each breath Dot took. Her rage had only grown worse since Liko had another close call with Spinel. Liko had been separated from her and Roy on purpose, and Spinel had been planning to either hurt or kill her while she was alone. It didn’t matter that Amethio had been there to intervene and make sure Liko was alright; the effect had been the same as the day Spinel erased Liko’s memories to Dot. She hated Spinel more than ever before, and she didn’t think she would ever be able to forget it again.
Dot didn’t want to leave Liko alone after they got back to the Brave Olivine. When they were still on Glaseado Mountain, Dot had been sleeping in the same room as Roy and Liko each night. When they got back to the airship though… Dot had been forced to go back to her room as Liko and Roy returned to theirs for the first time since before the Terastal course began. For the first time in ages, they were separated, and Dot hated it more than she could ever hope to describe.
All Dot wanted was to be there with Liko. She wanted to be with her friend, and she wanted to make sure she was safe. Realistically, Dot knew Spinel wouldn’t be able to sneak onto the airship as long as the shield was up. Spinel didn’t even know where they were, and he wouldn’t be able to track them down for at least a few days after he set his sights on finding them… But that didn’t matter. Spinel was still out there, and that meant he was dangerous. How could Dot sleep at night when Liko could have been getting hurt in the time they were apart? If they were together, Dot could look after her. After all, Liko had only ever been put in significant danger by Spinel when she was on her own.
But Dot couldn’t just go to Liko’s room and demand to spend time with her, could she? Dot knew she was new to friendship, but she was aware enough of boundaries to be able to say that she would be crossing a line by asking so much of her friend. She couldn’t do that just yet. She didn’t know if she would ever be in a place to do that… But Dot also knew she couldn’t just sit there in the darkness of her room. Quaxwell normally ran warmer than her on account of all the miscellaneous problems with her body that led to her being cold… But right now, he was a refreshing chill against her skin. She knew the only way she would be able to cool herself off was if she was with Liko, but she couldn’t just do that… Right?
Dot let out a frustrated sigh after hours of tossing and turning. She couldn’t keep on like this. Something was going to have to change, and she was going to have to go and find Liko. She knew this was probably going to be horrifically inappropriate, but it was worth a shot, wasn’t it? Dot didn’t think she had any other ways of forcing herself to sleep that night, and she needed to rest. The search for the Six Heroes was ongoing, and Dot wouldn’t be able to help anyone if she was too caught up in her paranoia to sleep. There was a stake to Dot getting rest at night, and she needed to do what she could to fix the problem as soon as possible. If that meant going to see Liko, then so be it.
Dot shoved her paranoia as far down into her stomach as it would go and padded toward the door. She would be fine if she could just find a bit of cold to chill the rage beneath her skin. If she wouldn’t be able to go after Spinel and ruin him then and there, then the least she could do was find some ice to inject into her veins.
In the silence, Dot hoped that Liko–someone who almost always ran warmer than her–felt cold that night.
~~~~~
Liko had lost track of how many blankets she had piled on top of herself by now. She had cuddled as closely to Floragato, Hattrem, and Terapagos as she could stand, but it didn’t feel like enough. Her three Pokémon friends were gathered off to her left closer to the wall, and she was pressed up against them, but it meant nothing. None of this was working, and she hated it more than anything. This was wrong. She knew it was wrong. She just wished there was something she could do to fix it.
A knock at the door jolted Liko out of her thoughts, and she found herself shooting awake. Someone was there. What if it was Spinel? What if he had found a way to the Brave Olivine and was there to take her back to that cave? He had failed the first time, but he wouldn’t falter a second time. No. She couldn’t go back. She couldn’t freeze again. Her heart was already frozen in her chest, and she didn’t know if she would have been able to stand it if her body followed suit.
“Liko? Are you awake?”
Dot’s voice was a sudden burst of warmth against Liko’s skin, and she let out a gasp. It wasn’t Spinel. It was Dot. She was safe. That was right. She was there in the airship, and she was fine. She wasn’t freezing to death. She was out of the cave. Her eyes finally seemed to believe what her logic had been trying to insist to her for the last few hours… But she would believe it even more if she was able to see Dot. She was going to finally feel at peace if she knew who was there on the other side of the door.
“Yes,” Liko somehow managed to choke out around the shaking of her voice. “You can come in.”
Dot shuffled in slowly, cracking the door as little as possible so as to not let in any spare illumination from the nighttime lamps of the ship. Liko smiled at the sight of her, and for the first time all night, she felt her shivering begin to subside. She was safe. Dot was there with her. She would be fine as long as she was not alone. If Dot was at her side, then she would be able to huddle for warmth. She would be alright. She had to be.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Dot explained softly as she sat down on the bed just beside Liko. “I guess you couldn’t either.”
Liko shook her head. “No.” She wanted to say everything that had been racing through her head for the last few hours. She was desperate to explain that she still felt like she was trapped back in that cave with no hope of escape, like she would never be able to feel the sun on her skin again. The skin wouldn’t have been able to thaw her frozen heart either. It was just too much, and she had no idea how to fix it.
Dot let out a slow sigh, and she stared down at her hands so she didn’t have to look Liko in the eyes. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Spinel,” she confessed quietly. “I’m still so… So angry about what he did to you. I can’t help thinking about… About what would have happened if Roy and I hadn’t found you when we did. What if Coral and Onyx had distracted us for long enough for you to end up getting hurt? I-I don’t know if we would have been able to…” She pressed her face into her hands and shook her head. “I want to punch him. I-I just want him gone, and I… I don’t know what to do.”
Liko felt her eyes go wide. Dot had been afraid of the same thing as her? She knew Dot had been rattled when they found each other again after everything was over, but she had hoped that perhaps Dot had been able to find some semblance of reason in it all… But apparently not. Liko wasn’t the only one who was haunted by what had happened in that cave, it seemed, and Liko wished she knew what to do about any of it. This was too much for her to bear, and she… She wanted to be there with Dot.
Liko’s chest burned with the first scrap of warmth she had felt all night. She didn't want to ask Dot to stay there with her. It wouldn’t have been right. Liko’s bed was a tight fit for her, Floragato, Hattrem, and Terapagos. Dot would be left on the very edge, and Liko wasn’t going to ask her to stay there with her… But the warmth of Dot’s skin, close but not yet hers, was too tempting for her to ignore it. She didn't want to be alone. She couldn’t stand to be alone. She needed someone there to talk to, and if Dot was right there…
“I-I’ve felt cold all night,” Liko found herself admitting even as she told herself to stay quiet and not say anything that would frighten her friend. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what happened in the cave. Everything is just so… So cold. I feel like I’m going to freeze even though I know I’m fine. We’re safe now. We’re okay. But…”
“You’re scared,” Dot finished, and Liko nodded the best she could from her place buried beneath her many blankets. Dot’s posture softened ever so slightly, and she slowly let her hand reach for where Liko’s face was peering out around the covers. Dot’s fingers were like furnaces against Liko’s shivering cheek, but she wanted the warmth more than anything else. She didn’t think she had ever yearned for something this much in her life, and that was saying more than she could ever hope to put into words.
“I’m scared too,” Dot admitted. “I don’t want to leave you alone ever again as long as it means Spinel might find a way to get to you. He… He has already hurt you so many times, and I just… I don’t think I would be able to stand the guilt of it if something else happened to you while I wasn’t there to take care of you. It’s just… It’s too much to think about. I should have been there for you when we were separated. I should have noticed you were gone sooner, and I… I should have been by your side. I wish I had been there. I wish I had thought to look around.”
“It’s not your fault,” Liko assured her. ‘I was the one who was distracted, and I should have been more careful about what I was doing and where I was. I don’t want you to blame yourself for anything when–”
“It’s not your fault either,” Dot cut in. “Spinel was the one who did it, and… If you won’t let me blame myself, then I won’t let you blame yourself either. It’s not right to do that when Spinel was the one who put you in that position.”
Liko nodded. She supposed Dot was right about that much. She let out another slow sigh, finding her cheek leaning over so it was pressed a bit closer to Dot’s fingertips. She didn’t think she would be able to sleep if Dot left to go back to her room. They needed to stay together. Liko needed her there. If they had the choice to stay there together, then they had to take it and run with it as much as they could. Liko couldn’t let her walk away.
“Do you want to stay in here for the night?” Liko found herself asking. Her mind screamed at her that she was being selfish, that she was asking for too much, but she didn’t take the words back. She didn’t want to no matter how much she knew she probably should have. “I know it’ll be a tight fit, but I… I don’t want you to leave.” Her voice had tapered off to a whisper by the time she was finished talking, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Even if she sounded pathetic and like a small child, Liko needed Dot to stay. She couldn’t let her walk away if there was something she could do to ask her to stay.
Dot remained quiet and still for a long moment, staring down at Liko behind her bangs. Pink was starting to rise to her cheeks despite her best attempts to swallow it back down. Dot wanted to stay there too. Liko could see it in her eyes where they peered out through her hair even as Dot was doing her best to hide it. Dot had come there because she wanted to be told to stay. She wouldn’t have left her room if she wasn’t searching for something, and Liko had offered to give it to her despite her fears that she would fall short.
“I… I would love to,” Dot murmured. She pulled her hand away from Liko’s face to pull back the covers, and the chill of the night settled in around Liko once again. She shuddered as she moved closer to her Pokémon, going as close to them as she could without crowding them out of the space they rightfully deserved. It would be a tight squeeze, but Liko was willing to take the short end of the stick if it meant Dot would be able to stay there with her.
Dot settled in easily beside Liko, her body pressed up against her friend’s closely. Dot was warm, a stark contrast from what Liko was used to from her. Most of the time, Dot ran cold. She had a variety of chronic illnesses that left her body functioning at less than full capacity most of the time, and one of the symptoms was always running cold… But tonight, she was just warm enough to chase away the chill that had settled so deeply into Liko’s bones. It was everything she could have ever asked for. This was what she needed, and she loved it more than anything.
On Dot’s end, she felt the reverse was true. Most of the time, Liko was much warmer than her, and she had come to expect it whenever their fingers accidentally strayed close enough to touch (though Dot would argue that at least on her end, it was never as much of an accident as she wanted it to seem). Now, Liko was cold, just chilled enough to finally soothe the heat that had been tearing at Dot’s body from the start of this disaster. She was safe as long as she had someone there to cool her, and Liko was the perfect counter to the warmth that threatened to burn her from the inside out.
Liko felt warmth start to blossom across her cheeks as blush. She didn’t bother to stop it. Dot wouldn’t have been able to see it in the darkness anyway, but even if she could, Liko wouldn’t have cared. She needed this. If she was flushed in the cheeks from embarrassment or joy, then that meant she wasn’t red because of the cold. She would be safe as long as she knew this was her choice and not one that had been forced upon her to try and send her into an early grave. This was right. She knew it, and she loved it.
Liko’s eyes started to droop with Dot pressed against her, and for the first time all night, she knew she would be able to sleep. She would not be tormented by dreams of what it had been like to nearly freeze to death. She knew Dot would not fear facing her own inadequacy and shortcomings in sleep either. As long as they were together, they would be able to fend off any demon that came in their direction. Spinel would mean nothing to them if they were able to face him as a team. Liko was sure of it.
When Liko finally drifted off to sleep, she dreamed of warmth she could only find in the arms of her best friend.
When Dot finally fell into slumber, she dreamed of the chill of spending a breezy day with the person she treasured most.
Both of them slept better that night than they had in ages, and they loved it more than they could ever hope to imagine.