This story centers around Kyo and Meg. It takes place in the same universe as the "ten years later" story, "Blue and Yellow makes Green", and actually takes place sometime after that. You don't need to read it to understand this one, but it helps. You can read it here.

Spoiler:
"There are no rules for who will survive conflict and who will be destroyed by it. This is the very basic nature of war. You never anticipate what can happen. No one has foresight in such places. The future is clouded, obscured, never to be seen until it is too late."

Kyo paused as she spoke, taking a deep breath. These were never easy speeches. Even though she had them down to a science by now, one could not simply remove the emotions from the scene. Kyo's throat always closed up, her eyes always water, and she always felt extremely sad at these events. The funeral of a soldier was one of the few events that could bring her to tears. But this was an especially painful day, for it was one of her own that had fallen in the war. Andrew Cummings, a private that had just gotten promoted a month ago. He and Kyo had been White Rockets together for years, but Andrew always refused promotions. So while Kyo climbed the ranks to reach her current status as general, Andrew stayed at the bottom of the totem pole. He felt he could more more of different in the world that way. At the time, Kyo had found him stupidly kindhearted. His intentions were in the right place, but she thought his methods were not sound. But now, Kyo regretted every ill thought she had ever held of Andrew. The man was a hero, having sacrificed his life for that of the youngest daughter of the leader of Kanto. Not many others would do the same. Kyo was not even sure she would do it if given the choice.

As Kyo wrapped up her funeral speech, she could hear the choked back sobs just barely over the soft claps. Kyo walked down from the stage and sat down in her seat. She felt a hand find one of hers and smiled at the touch. Kyo lifted her eyes slightly and nodded her thanks to the woman sitting next to her. Meg smiled back at Kyo, her supportive vibes just wafting off of her. If there was anyone that was helping her get through these hard times, it was Meg.

The funeral continued at a slow pace and Kyo's mind began to drift. She had to wonder who would try to do such a thing and why. She knew that the White Rockets had a few leads, maybe she could follow one of them. Kyo felt like it was something she should do, after all, this guy had once been what you might consider a friend. Meg nudged Kyo and the general snapped out of her thoughts to see the funeral had ended. Everyone was stepping outside to drive to the burial location. Kyo stood up with Meg, her wife's arm intertwined with hers.

"Do you want me to drive?" Meg asked as they walked to their car. Kyo started to protest when Meg interjected, "You seem very distracted is all." Kyo paused in thought before reluctantly nodding.

"It's probably for the best. My mind keeps drifting off. Even during my speech I wasn't that focused," Kyo admitted with a long sigh. Meg reached over and pat her wife's shoulder.

"It's all right. I understand. You've been working too hard lately anyway. Maybe you should come shiny hunting with me next weekend!" Kyo smiled at the offer. It was sweet of Meg but Kyo wasn't sure she could take her up on it.

"Let me see how the assignment with work goes. This is my first shot at redemption. I can't miss it." Meg nodded in understanding, well aware that for Kyo, it would always be work first. That's just the type of person Kyo was. There was no changing that, but Meg didn't mind at all. It was a miracle Kyo hadn't been courtmartialed following the incident with Celebi. But Kyo was on thin ice. One more screw up and no doubt Kyo would be in a world of hurt. And while that would be bad in general, if her career tanked, Kyo would never survive it.

“All right,” Meg said, “you just let me know. Okay?” Kyo smiled as they approached their car. Kyo opened the driver’s door for Meg then walked around to the other side. As she sat down inside, Kyo straightened her tie a little, observing her appearance in the mirror.

“I’ll do my best. Something tells me I’ll have to go off the grid for this assignment though. Rumor has it the assassin is from one of the side regions.” Meg started the car, the engine purring as Meg shifted the gears and started to leave the church’s parking lot.

“Oh? Like Almia or Ransei?” Meg asked. Kyo wasn’t supposed to be telling her these things, but she did anyway so Meg didn’t worry. In their years of being together, Kyo had realized communication was key for them.

“Yeah. If I had to guess though the likely candidates are probably Ferrum or Orre. They’re big enough regions that you could easily lose a person there. If I were on the run that’s where I would go. It’s expected yes, but if you go to say Orre, stay there a bit, then you can lay low long enough to go to one of the smaller regions.” Meg nodded her head slightly, turning down a nearby road. Kyo opened her mouth to continue when something caught her eye. “Meg, watch out!” Kyo screamed as she reached out and yanked the wheel. But it was too late. As they were turning another car accelerated down the road, t-boning the car on Kyo’s side. There was sharp pain everywhere. Kyo could hear screams, maybe her name? Then nothing.

***

There was a dull beep. It repeated every few seconds. Was that bad? Or was it good? Kyo wasn’t sure. Everything was too fuzzy to make out. Nothing made sense. Where was she? What happened?

“Sir! She’s waking up!” What? Waking up? Kyo groaned a little, pain coursing through her. Everything hurt. Why was that? Suddenly, like a hammer strike, Kyo remembered everything. She sucked in a hard breath and shot up.

“Meg!” All sorts of machines started frantically beeping, obviously signaling that Kyo wasn’t supposed to be moving so much yet. But Kyo didn’t care. The pain that flowed through her veins was already signal enough, plus, she had to find Meg.

“Ma’am! Please lay back down. You’re going to hurt yourself further,” a nearby nurse said, reaching out to try and gently push Kyo back down.

“No!” Kyo snapped, slapping away the nurse’s hands. Kyo started to pull at some of the wires taped to her. “I need to find Meg! Where is she?” Kyo noticed the nurse push a button nearby and began to pull off the wires more quickly. She was calling for backup. Kyo noticed the IV in her arm and frowned. Couldn’t risk removing that. It would hurt like hell and Kyo probably needed it a bit more than the heart monitor. With almost all the wires off and the nurse still trying to hold Kyo back, Kyo decided now was a good time to move. Grabbing onto the IV drip, Kyo swung her leg out from under the covers and let her foot touch the floor. Pushing up, Kyo stood up for a second before collapsing. Something didn’t feel right. As she laid panting on the floor, Kyo looked down at her legs to try and figure out why she hadn’t been able to stand. Kyo stopped breathing when she saw what was wrong. She only had one leg.

Kyo didn’t resist as she was put back in the bed and had all the wires reattached. She needed to process this. Her right leg was gone. It must have been amputated. It made sense. The car that had t-boned them had hit on her side. Her leg must have gotten pinned. There was no salvaging it, she supposed. But what now? She couldn’t go back to the White Rockets for months, maybe even years, depending on how long recovery with a prosthetic took. She and Meg needed that income.

Kyo froze at the thought of Meg again. What would Meg say? Would she leave Kyo now that she couldn’t keep their income? Would she leave because Kyo was no longer whole? Kyo felt herself crumpling at the foundation of her very being. What could she do now? Without work? Without Meg?

“She’s awake? Let me see her!” a female voice shouted. “I don’t care! She obviously was trying to come find me! You let me see her right now!” There was a murmur as one of the nurses try to protest. “Family only! I am here wife! I demand to see Kyo right now!” Kyo lifted her head slightly and caught sight of a familiar figure through the window. It was Meg. She was coming to see her? Why? Kyo was just a disappointment now, wasn’t she?

Kyo followed Meg with her eyes as her wife entered the room. She had bruises on her face, some cuts too that were covered with gauze, and her hair appeared to be a bit shorter, like they had cut it to operate on her. Meg was wearing a tank top as well, revealing some stitches on her left shoulder, with the arm in a sling. It must have sustained some hefty damage in the crash. But what got Kyo the most was the sadness that swam in Meg’s eyes. Was Meg finally realizing she didn’t want Kyo around anymore? Kyo lowered her eyes, staring at her lap in shame.

“Kyo…” Meg moved over to Kyo’s side and put her hand under Kyo’s chin. Kyo felt her face be guided to face Meg’s, and saw tears starting to trace down her wife’s cheeks. “You’re alive! Thank Arceus. I-I was so afraid I had lost you.” Kyo stared in Meg’s eyes in silence before whispering,

“How long have I been unconscious?”

“Almost a week,” a nurse interjected. “It was touch and go at first. You took the brunt of the crash. The car hit on your side and then your car was flipped and collided with a nearby street lamp, also on your side. It’s a miracle you didn’t die on the scene. But… you did not make it out unscathed.” Kyo glanced down at where her right leg should have been under the blankets. Meg followed Kyo’s eyes and sucked in a sharp breath, noticing that it was missing.

“Oh Kyo… I-I didn’t think…” Meg paused before smiling at Kyo, obviously trying to be supportive. “Well I guess that just means you’ll have to spend more time at home with me!” Kyo stared at Meg before smiling a little as well.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Kyo paused a little and started to say something else when she felt Meg’s lips meet her own. Kyo was surprised at the suddenness, but didn’t resist, reaching up and rubbing the back of her wife’s head. When Meg pulled back, she was crying even more now. Kyo smiled a bit wider and winked at her wife. “What? You thought you had to worry about me? You should know a measly car crash and street light aren’t going to take me out.” Meg laughed a little and reached down, taking Kyo’s hand in her own.

“I’m just glad you’re safe. We’ll get through this, I promise.”