A/N Another idea that popped into my head just a while back. Yes, it's Steven and Flannery centered.
This fic takes place ten years in the future from the canon.
My Beautiful Little Fire Stone
"Mommy! Mommy! Look!" A little girl with fiery red hair tied up in two pigtails, burst through the door. She ran up to her mother who was tending to a small potted plant. "Look!" the little girl exclaimed, bouncing up and down on her toes.
The woman looked down at her daughter. A bit of shock was written on her face when she saw a plump little spoink hopping near her daughter's feet. "Where did you find this, Sera?"
"I was just playing near the ledges and it came out from the bushes!" Sera bent down and rubbed the shiny orb on top of its head. "Oh please Mommy! Can I keep it?" The spoink's nose twitched slightly as it let out a snort.
"Taking care of pokemon is hardwork," her mother warned gently. "You can't just abandon it if you get tired of it one day."
Sera nodded hurriedly. "I understand, Mommy." She cleared her throat and recited, "Daddy always told me that you should treat pokemon like they are your friends."
The red haired woman laughed softly and rubbed the top of her daughter's head. "He's right." She looked down at her daughter's wide gray eyes, silently pleading. The woman finally sighed and nodded her head. "If your father agrees to it too, then I suppose..."
Immediately Sera began to cheer happily. "Yay!" She jumped up and down, the spoink following her motions.
The woman smiled as she went back to mist spraying the array of potted plants on the windowsill.
The daughter stopped jumping around and stared at her mother for a while. "Mommy, where's the pretty necklace that you wear everyday?"
"Oh, I had to take it off. One of the links on the chain was broken."
"Aww." Sera looked down at her feet. Suddenly, her face lit up as she excitedly exclaimed, "Mommy can ask Daddy to fix it!"
The red haired woman simply laughed. "I suppose I should." She looked out the window when she heard a very light humming noise. When she saw the all too familiar Metagross landing on the soft grass outside, she turned back to Sera. The little girl, however, already knew who had arrived so she ran out the door. The little gray spoink bounced along behind her.
"Daddy!" Sera exclaimed, running up to the silver haired man. He caught her in a tight embrace just as he got off of Metagross.
He laughed wholeheartedly. "Did you have a good day today?" he asked her.
The little girl nodded rather vigorously. She pointed down at the spoink that was hopping near her father's feet. "That spoink and me are friends now!"
"Is that so?" the man chuckled as he knelt down, putting Sera back down. He gently tickled the spoink's tiny ear. It snorted happily as it bounced around faster.
"Mommy said I could keep it if you say I could."
"Huh?" the silver haired man looked from Sera and then towards the front door of the house. He saw his wife standing by the door. She simply smiled and shrugged her shoulders, silently telling him, "don't look at me." He turned his attention back to his daughter and smiled. In a gentle voice he told her, "I know you'll take good care of it, Sera."
"So that means I could keep it!?" she asked, excitement building in her voice.
Her father nodded with a reassuring smile.
"Yay!" she cheered again, jumping up and down.
The man smiled and got up. He looked towards his wife again and went over to her.
"I'm assuming you said "yes"?" she asked.
"What else can I say?" he shrugged, smiling at her. "Sera seems old enough to take care of her own pokemon. Didn't you say yourself that you had your first pokemon at that age?"
The red head sighed, unable to say anything in response. Instead she allowed a small smile to decorate her face. She stepped forward and took his hand gently, interlacing her fingers with his. "Welcome back, Steven," she whispered just before she kissed him lightly on the lips.
"Thank you...Flannery." He chuckled softly, playing with a lock of her hair. Steven stared at her for a while before asking, "is something bothering you?"
"Oh...well," she hesitantly reached into the pockets of her jeans, "the necklace you gave me...the chain broke." She opened up her hand and the jeweled pendant necklace was shown. Sheepishly, she let him take it. "Sorry, it just sort of fell off while I was in a gym battle. I didn't notice it did until the end of the match."
"I don't think it's broken," he said, running his thumb over the small silver chain. "It probably just fell off because you didn't clip it on correctly."
"Ah," Flannery blushed softly at her embarrassment. "I didn't realize..."
Steven looked at her before he smiled gently. "Is there a reason you didn't wear it?"
The red head looked away, still blushing. "I...I didn't want to lose it again so I just didn't wear it. I never want to lose something like that."
"You know you'll lose it more if you don't wear it," Steven replied, stepping behind her. Flannery remained silent as he carefully brought the necklace around her slender neck and clipped it securely. She looked down and saw the little bead of a fire stone resting just above her chest.
When she felt the silver haired man wrap his arms around her, she giggled softly. "I always thought you were weird..."
"Huh?"
"Most men give diamond rings to their wives. You give fire stone necklaces." Flannery felt him lean down and rest his chin on her shoulder. She gently brought her hands up to his arms and held them. They silently watched Sera, along with her spoink, jumping up and down on top of Metagross. It didn't seem to mind as it stood quiet and unmoving.
Steven finally answered her. "Diamonds don't suit you."
Flannery scoffed lightly. "Was that supposed to be an insult or a compliment?" she asked, smiling.
"Compliment," he replied, chuckling. He pressed his lips against her neck. "Diamonds are too common. They sparkle, but they don't stand out," he muttered. Flannery felt his lips and breath tickle her skin every time he spoke. "You're nothing like a dull diamond." Steven moved one of his hands from her abdomen to the small fire stone bead on her necklace. "...I think fire stones are much more eye catching."
Flannery felt her heart hammer away at her chest. Steven turned her around. Silently she looked into his kind gray eyes as she vaguely felt him untying the ribbon that held her hair up in a loose bun. The red locks came cascading down to her shoulders. Steven cupped her chin and kissed her gently. She melted against him, realizing that she had longed for his touch. He pulled away just slightly so that his lips were nearly touching hers. In a voice that rivaled velvet in softness, he whispered...
"I love you, my beautiful little fire stone."
A/N Sorry if that was so epically cheesy. This time, I can't blame it on the lack of sleep.
-For all of the "slow" people, yes, Flannery and Steven are married. Sera is their child and yes, she's a she. (I don't know why you'd think otherwise.)
-Steven is 32 years old, Flannery is 29 years old, and Sera is around 7 years old.
-If you don't know what a spoink is...I have lost hope for you.
-Steven's dad isn't dead, but Steven does own the Devon Corporation now.
-Their home is in Lavaridge. Obviously because Flannery can't just leave the gym to someone random. Because of this, Steven can't really go back and forth from Lavaridge to Rustboro everyday. So they meet every few days or so.
-Last note, Steven is not Champion in this fic.
That was probably more information than you guys needed. All in good fun though, yes? Also, some of Sera's dialogue may be written in improper grammar. She's only seven years old so I figured she wouldn't talk all "proper English." Feh.
Anyways, read and review!