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Isadora was greatly relieved that she at least struck a small chord in Aila with what she had said. After all, she would hate for her words to go to waste.

"I ahccept your ahpologeh, if you'll ahccept mihne." She sighed and reached behind her to grab her now cooled tea. She took a sip of it, set it back down, then regarded Aila with a small smile. "I sweah, y' have mohre maturiteh an' courage in ya then perhaps ehvery otha girl your age Ih've met. Truhly." She chuckled.

"Grahcious, I wished I had guhts like you whehn I was young. Wouhldv'e hehlped me f'r mihles if I did." A lonely look passed through Isadora's visage.

Isadora glanced at Aila and saw a curious look in her eyes - more likely than not about the doctor's past. She chuckled again and winked. "Intehrested, are ya? Wehll, Ih'm not one t' dihsappoint." With that, she began her tale.

"See... Me mum wahs vehry poor, an she did not ehxpect t' 'ave a child at all. When she did 'ave me, all o' her finahnces were drained, an' we were lehft wit' prahcticahlly nothin'. Aht an early age, I learned t' thief things f'r my mum to mahke 'er happy. She was vehry dehpressed at th' time... and wahs a bit of an alcoholic." Isadora grimaced, then continued.

"When I was fihve, me mum goht arrested f'r illegal drug use, an' I was put int' a fohster home. Befohre my mum left, though, I rehcall her sayin' one thing t' me..." Isadora's voice caught in her throat. "'You were a mistahke.'" She took a long, deep breath, then pressed onward with her story.

"In any cahse, I wahs taken in by these mahle pahrtners: Jonathan an' Markus. I evehntually grew t'h love them, as wehll as th' Pokehmon they 'ad... But it was an awful tihme f'r me. I 'ad been teased an' made fun of in school f'r years, and one day, I snahpped. Well, tha' led t' my bein' tahken int' therapeh, which is where I found my ahmbition f'r helpin' othehrs with tough lives like mihne. At least... those who hahve found great pain in their lives."

Isadora concluded her tale with a sigh, sitting herself down on the couch. While her life certainly could have been worse, it was difficult. Even so, she doubted that she would change it for anything. She had gotten so much out of it: a family who loved her, friends who cared for her, and a job she would die for. She looked to Aila. "So, in a nuhtshell, there i' is."

At Aila's comment, Isadora could not help but give a small chuckle. "You, ehnvious of me? I hohnestleh thought you dehspised me." The doctor grimaced slightly, then returned to its normal, cheerful self. A heavy sigh escaped her, and she sat back on her couch. It was odd, telling her life's story to this young girl, who obviously had large ambitions and wasn't afraid of what she would have to do to get there. While the look in the girl's eyes told Isadora that their stories were somewhat similar, Isadora was not exactly sure what was and what wasn't true for them both.

After a moment, she spoke. "Thehre's... sohmethin' troublin' you, Ailah?" Isadora was hesitant: she did not want to break the peace now when their fighting had only now come to an unstable truce. Still, she felt that she must ask.

Isadora was surprised at the girl's reply, but more than that, she was pleased. She hated to think that anyone would despise her for anything. Being a little bit nosy, perhaps, but wasn't everyone curious now and again? "Wehll puht," she said.

The doctor sat, listening intently to Aila's shortened tale of her own. What she said had surprised Isadora, particularly the mention of Aila's mother. What kind of person was she? How had she died? What exactly did Aila promise to her? All of these questions burned at the edges of the doctor's tongue, but she bit them back. Her queries would only be likely to upset Aila, and that was certainly not what she wanted. Instead, Isadora chose only one.

"Your mum? Wha' wahs she lihke?" As the words were spoken out loud, Isadora could not help but think of her own mother. Her neglectful, alcoholic, thieving mother, who couldn't so much as change her ways for her only daughter - a daughter that she didn't even want.

Yes, those words still tore through the woman's heart, and she could find nothing to heal the wounds. She was happy with her adopted parents, and she loved them dearly, but... There was an attachment that everyone felt towards the woman who birthed them, and that line cannot be severed easily. Isadora felt her throat choke with the surge of emotion that she always felt when her thoughts fell on her mother. Her hand quickly covered her mouth to prevent an unwanted and sudden sob to come bursting forth.

Isadora blinked in her shock. That was how Aila spoke about her deceased mother? She was showing so much disrespect! Aila's revision of her declaration much better suited Isadora's tastes, but the accusation still hung in the air, weighing on the doctor's mind. Obviously, Aila and her mother were... not on the best of terms, from what she could tell. Isadora shrugged and readjusted her glasses.

"Your mum... rehminds me o' mihne." A bitter smile played on Isadora's lips. "O' couhrse, my mum wahsn't tha' strict, bu' she wahs lazeh, and wahs mohre concehrned wit' mohney than me. Tha' noh-good bit-" Isadora stopped herself and sighed, standing and holding her arms protectively. She looked away from Aila. With a good amount of effort, she spoke again.

"...Me mum's in pris'n now, bu' she's ahs good ahs dead in my mihnd. She cahn go t' hell f'r all she's dohne f'r me!" Isadora's voice had risen in volume, and she had to take several calming breaths to let her rage simmer down to a low boil.

In her mind, Isadora was completely furious with herself. How could she just explode like that? That was one-hundred-percent uncalled for! Why did she have to go and... Isadora sighed and readjusted her glasses once again. Her brow was slightly furrowed and she turned back to face Aila.

"Yehs, they ahre quite similah, hm...?" Isadora's look of frustration softened when she saw that Aila was near crying. Suddenly, Isadora felt the same thing as Aila had mentioned: that nostalgia, and that longing. Her heart ached, and it pained her even more to see her young ally - as Aila put it - experiencing the same torture. Quietly, the doctor walked over to Aila and put a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder, hoping to ease her pain. The kind smile was there once again on Isadora's face.

Isadora removed her hand from her young friend's shoulder and stood, sighing and adjusting her glasses once again. What strange parallels she and Aila had in their lives. It was... fascinating. Suddenly curious for the time, the doctor turned towards the clock against her office wall. It had been quite some time since Aila had shown up at her door, asking for psychology books. That reminded Isadora: Aila had the books the doctor had given her. In the midst of all the parrying emotions going around, it had completely skipped Isadora's mind. She took a deep breath.

"Wehll... I behlieve tha' I've kept ya f'r lohng enough. Will you be ohkay wit' those boohks I gave ya?" She motioned towards the three books, which were now in Aila's possession. Isadora smoothed out her long skirt and gave a minuscule smirk in her ally's direction. "I muhch enjoyed our tahlk. We shouhld do it ahgain sometime, mm?"

Isadora smiled kindly at Aila's reply to her query. "I'm glahd."

She brushed a piece of turquoise hair behind her ear. She was pleased that Aila would not be opposed to speaking with her again. It not only gave her an excuse to probe into Aila's mind and past more [which made her sound much more devious than she actually was - she was honestly curious and concerned about it all], and it would gain her a friend... or rather, an ally.

The doctor glanced at the open office door behind her. She would need time to take in all of the new information she had gathered with their little talk. She gave one last kind smile to Aila. "Wehll nohw, I hope tha' those books'll be o' use t' you. Use them as y' need." Isadora adjusted her glasses once more. She really needed to get these frames fixed. "Good dahy, Ailah"