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Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation... Darkness stirs and wakes imagination...

Lilith wasn't sure what to feel. She was so many things at once... She was happy, nervous, agitated... It was like her own identity was at risk. All throughout her life, particularly in her childhood, she was isolated and, in that way, taught peace. She never hurt anyone and was never hurt by anyone. She never even had any friends. Now, all of that was changing, and rapidly. Within a very short period of time, her heart had been broken and healed, and she had made enemies and friends.

What was happening to her?

Silently the senses abandon their defenses...

The mission, the mission, the mission... She could not get the mission out of her head. Her so-called "sign" from Ho-oh... How could she be even sure that that was not real? It was too long ago now - so long that Lilith's memory became fuzzy whenever her thoughts turned to it. She had a job to do, but how could she hope to accomplish it? It felt like she had no time at all, and Team Rocket was merely inching its way forward, not moving nearly as fast as she thought it would when she first joined. She thought that the syndicate would help her reach her goal and that was all, but... Now she had found an actual place for her in it.

In the beginning, Lilith had almost purposefully isolated herself from the others - particularly from the other grunts - while keeping a distant eye on the agents and elites, confiding only in her Pokemon. Now, though, she was actually interacting with people. She was hurting and getting hurt by them, and she was learning more about the world now than she had in the last 21 years of her life.

She didn't know what to believe anymore.

Slowly, gently, night unfurls it's splendor... Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender...

It was because of this that Lilith was sitting outside of the HQ in the cold desert, alone. She needed to think about her priorities and her feelings and what exactly she wanted - or needed - to do. Her eyes were locked on the dark night sky as countless stars dotted the inky black. In her hand was a music player which she occasionally listened to when she needed to think. The music was soft, but she felt it's power deep within the lyrics. Soon, she started drifting away from her own thoughts and delved into those of the song.

Turn your face away from the garish light of day, turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light... And listen to the music of the night...

The music felt like it enveloped Lilith in a warm, comforting blanket; like the rhythm and the tune would seal her away from the world and all of its pain, all of its reality. She wanted to escape from it all, and she wanted to believe that the music could keep her safe, but she knew in her gut that it wouldn't. She would have to come out of her shell and face the world eventually. Why did she have to, though?! Why did people have to be cruel and conniving and evil, and why did it have to be the only way to live?

A movement out of the corner of her eye startled Lilith out of her semi-conscious state of being. In the dim light of the cosmos, the woman thought she saw someone dancing not too far away, gliding about the sand with the grace of a swan. The dancer looked to be no more than a child. The way that the figure moved and how innocent she seemed made Lilith think of when she was a child, living in Ecruteak and studying the ways of the monks of the Tin Tower. What a sheltered life she lived, away from the harsh reality of the world... Away from her life.

Tears sprang to Lilith's eyes. What had she been doing all her life? She was a shell of a person - hardly able to be called alive. The only time she had even been able to feel even remotely normal was the time she spent in Team Rocket. It made no sense. No, no, no! She needed to stop thinking like this! She needed to do something...

Without thinking, Lilith began to sing.

"Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams, leave all thoughts of the life you lived before... Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar..."

As she sang to her captive audience of the billions of stars, Lilith felt her fears and sorrows melt and fade away to the desert winds. It kept the pain at bay.

"...And you'll live as you never lived before."

A second movement was cause for Lilith to temporarily cease her vocal release. A glimpse in the general direction of the disturbance led Lilith to believe that it was the child she saw earlier dancing in the sand. Why would a child be out in the desert this late at night, though...? And so close to the the HQ, as well. Whatever it was, it had stopped its dancing and shrank into the dark curtain of the night air. Lilith had quite enjoyed watching its carefree movements, and so, she spoke. Perhaps the fatigue and the lateness of the night was making her crazy, but if it was, she would tackle it head-on.

"If that particular song does not suit your tastes, I shall be happy to change it to fit your mood." She spoke quietly, hoping her voice would be carried to the desert mirage [if that was what it was] on the winds. Happy to oblige, she began to sing once more, relieved to let the notes and lyrics carry her away.

"A waltz when she walks in the room... She pulls back the hair from her face... She turns to the window to sway in the moonlight... Even her shadow has grace."

This time, Lilith's voice came out a bit stronger than before. Perhaps she was indeed going insane, for a smile appeared on her face as she sung her heart out to the cold desert night.

"A waltz for the girl out of reach... She lifts her hands up to the sky... She moves with the music, the song is her lover, the melody is making her cry..."

"...So she dances in and out of the crowd like a glance... This romance is, from afar, calling me silently..."

The notes that emerged from the song that Lilith sung spun pirouettes on the desert sands and wove constellations into the sky of the witching hour. It moved as a wave among the constant winds that blew from across the ocean and sent the grains of the thousands of years past cascading down in brilliant dark-golden ribbons, barely visible against the background of this stage that was the night.

In this atmosphere, Lilith felt an odd sensation. She felt completely at ease. Her worries were alleviated as she and the silhouette in the distance wove their tales together in unison.

"A waltz for the chance I should take, but how will I know where to start? She's spinning between constellations and dreams... The rhythm is my beating heart..."

While the song itself warmed Lilith to her very core, along with the joy of having a partner in her tale-telling through the arts, the night was cold and dark, and the chill soon set into Lilith's bones. Her thin frame shivered in the wind, and she clung to her arms, just as the dancing apparition did. Her song came to an abrupt end when a fell wind shocked her system out of its trance.

Lilith closed her eyes for a moment or two, then opened them again, searching through the inky dark for her silent companion. Her small form was barely visible against the backdrop that was the stars and cosmos. Curious, Lilith slowly, very slowly, walked towards the girl, not wanting to scare her away. She was sure now that she was not imagining the girl there, and she was feeling friendly this night.

"You dance very gracefully... I much enjoyed your performance." She paused her steps. The two were still quite a ways away from each other, and Lilith was not so bold as to go any farther at this point.

Lilith tried to get a more solid grasp of her companion's form now that she was closer to her. She could make out a shine of black hair against the night and what seemed to be a sparkle of pink. Her clothing was dark, much like Lilith's was. She seemed young, but had a mature, all-knowing air about her.

The girl's remark prompted a smile to emerge on Lilith's countenance. "I thank you as well." Lilith's face drew darker after she spoke, and she looked down at her feet. The wind continued to blow endlessly, making the sand circle around her feet, tempting her to be sunken into the depths of its golden silence. She spoke once more.

"Have... Have you ever felt like you were being hidden from the world? From your life? And the only time you can wake from your sheltered life is when you throw it away?"

After all, who better to pour your heart out to than a stranger?

Lilith bit her lip. This young girl... She was like herself. Lilith hesitated, unsure whether or not she wanted to open her heart to this girl, whom she did not know worth beans. If anyone was going to know, why not someone she would likely never meet again?

"...When I was younger, much younger, I was kept from the world. I didn't know what it was like to have friends, or to even interact with other people. I had received a... a revelation of sorts. It gave me a goal, and it made me feel as if my life had a purpose. It was because of this goal that I chose to..." She paused. "...To do what I had to do. The unspeakable, for some. When I did do this, I tried to keep myself away from everyone else around me. I couldn't hide myself, though, and soon, I had been hurt like nothing else I have experience before. ...And I felt alive for the first time.

"I've done things I had never imagined before, and I don't know what to feel. Now... My goal seems so distant, and I'm starting to doubt even my revelation. I can't let go of it..." Lilith clung to her arms, and her voice began to choke with her own emotion. Tears ran from her glassy green eyes and sunk into the depths of the desert as she fell to her knees, sobbing.

Lilith's eyes were blinded by her tears, and she shut them, trying to block out the pain. The girl came to her side and Lilith made no attempt to push her away. Her company was greatly welcome. As she listened to the girl speak about life and its pain and its gifts, she opened her eyes once more - perhaps opened to the truth of the matter. What the girl said was true. So very true that it pained Lilith.

"...I don't want this mission anymore," she said quietly. "I don't want that responsibility. To hell with my 'revelation...' I want to live unbounded by anything like that." Her gloved hands clenched onto the desert sands tightly. The tears continued to fall.

Lilith chanced a look at her companion beside her. The tears blurred her vision, but she could make out a young face, accented with magenta eyes and black hair with a distinct sheen. The garb she wore was alarmingly similar to her own... Lilith smiled. "Thank you."