Disclaimer: Just to be clear, I do not own Pokémon or the characters (But I do have my own copy of the game!)
It had already been almost a year since N had left to discover life and what people and Pokémon really meant to each other. Touko hadn't wanted to let him go, but she knew it had been the right thing to do.
She had continued to travel Unova, seeing places she hadn't had a chance to see during the whole Team Plasma crisis, and raising her Pokémon. There were a lot of trainers, many with stronger Pokémon that hers, and if she intended on living up to the title of the Champion, it meant keeping up her winning streak. That required hard training.
Only once had she ever regretted having to win, and it had been against him. She didn't want to have to shatter his whole world, tear down the reality that had been built for him out of lies and deceit. The image of N when his father had called him a warped defective boy made her sick, how could someone be so heartless. It had been Ghetsis' fault his son was like that, and now N was gone.
Touko stood in front of the Ferris wheel at Nimbasa city, gazing up as the clouds gathered above. It was a place of their shared memories, where N had revealed to her the ugly truth. He was the King of Team Plasma, he was the very thing she was set to destroy. But his smile, his honest words and the gentle way he treated Pokémon, what was so evil about that. He was a pure and innocent creature, and what she was forced to do was corrupt that purity. She had to show him the sin in the world and in his ways, how nothing was perfect. It was like telling a child that everyone was going to die someday. It wasn't fair. And now all she wished was that they could have been more that what they were. Was it selfish to desire something beyond friendship with him? He'd said he'd like her, and that she was special. But what did N know about that anyway, he was just a child stuck in the body of a twenty-year-old man. It was wrong.
'So this is what it feels like to be a pedophile.' Touko smirked to herself, damn teenage hormones. When and if N ever returned she would take it easy and slow, she swore.
It was getting late and the bruette had to turn in for the night, which looked like it was going to be a bleak one. Touko started walking back to the Pokémon centre, her body feeling heavy and tired, when there was a soft tap on her shoulder. 'Damn, did it already have to start raining?' she hummed to herself.
"Hey." Someone whispered hesitantly next to her ear.
She knew that voice all too well. 'No, it couldn't be.'
White didn't want to turn around in case it was just an illusion, not reaching far enough to be reality. Still, natural curiosity overtook her cautious initial response. There behind her stood an apprehensive, smiling man with long tea-green hair. She leapt at him, arms snaking around his body, holding him tight as if he'd otherwise disappear again.
"N! You're back" She gave a relieved sigh. When he didn't respond to her hug, she pulled away quickly, realizing how forward she had been. "I'm sorry, it's just that I haven't seen you in ages, and I thought you might not come back and I missed you." Touko regretted saying every word immediately when N just stared at her with an inquisitive and very confused expression plastered on his face.
"I too missed battling you. When we talked, I felt as though you were a person who really understood me."
The brunette smiled awkwardly, glad that the man hadn't taken her behavior as an offence. Maybe he just wasn't accustomed to hugs and shows of affection. No wonder, considering who his father was, it was more likely he was mistreated at home. No, it wasn't right to make assumptions like that, even if Ghetsis was the personification of all things evil. He was the kind of person could manipulate and use his own child to satisfy his lust for power and world domination. It was disgusting. But N was different, he was sweet and kind, he'd always been considerate towards her.
"That's what people do when they miss each other, right?" N's soft voice brought her back, only for her to loose herself in his clear eyes.
"What, hug? Yeah. It's something friends do. H-have you been hugged before N?" she loved saying his name, but for some reason the question made her nervous.
N nodded slowly. "When my mum was alive, she used to hold me like that. Ghetsis didn't, he was always a lot rougher." The green-haired male grew quiet, sinking deep into thought. Touko bit her lip, wishing she'd learn to keep her mouth shut. Before she had a chance to apologize again, N finished his train of thought and turned to face her straight on. "Do you know what people do when they like each other?"
Touko flushed pink. Why was he asking her this of all people of all things, maybe he'd met someone on his travels and the brunette was just his friend. She'd definitely implied it when she'd hugged him and told him her version of what it meant. Then he'd gone an associated it with his family.
"Umm, well, they might hold hands and do other more intimate stuff. I don't think I'm to best person to explain."
He looked at her wide eyed with interest. "Why not, I think you're the perfect person." Now he just seemed confused, and looked completely adorable with his little puzzled face.
Touko's heart could no longer keep still, it thrashed itself against her ribcage with so much force she was afraid it'd break its way out. If only the man could comprehend attraction on some other than infant level.
"Someone told me that when a boy likes a girl, he kisses her, but she wouldn't tell me what it meant." He was so innocent in this corrupt world. Someone needed to lock him back up in his castle and keep him away from everything.
Touko's face was completely red now, and she looked at him almost horrified that she was the one that had to explain it to him. "Well, you see when two people really like each other they might show it by pressing their umm.. lips together." She was stammering, and trying to get the images of the much taller male leaning unto her, out of her head.
"Would you show me?" N asked as if it was no less ordinary than ordering a soda pop.
"WHAA! But N, I mean we're not like that. We're just friends, right?" It was the stupidest thing to say in the situation, but she'd put it out there anyway.
"Oh."
'Oh, what was 'oh' meant to mean. Was there something else going on in that tea-green head of his?'
"But I think about you all the time, even when I'm in another region of the world. Isn't that being more than friends? My mother said I'd feel that way about someone one day, and that that person would be my girlfriend. I could do special things with her because I liked her. But then dad made her go away."
'Wait what! So N liked her, in that way, isn't that what he'd just said.' Now Touko was the one that found herself utterly perplexed. This man knew what a couple was, yet the concept of what it meant in reality completely eluded him. Well it wasn't good, but better than she'd initially hoped for.
"What are you saying N?" The girl asked cautiously, not sure if she wanted the answer. Who was she kidding, she had been dying to hear it for a long time now.
"You're my girlfriend aren't you Touko? You think about me when I'm gone don't you, that's why you miss me." Again, he was so casual about it. It all seemed simply logical to him, obviously the man had never heard of rejection. Maybe that was a good thing. Then again, he'd experienced something along those lines when his dad had told him the truth about why he existed.
But to her he wasn't a puppet, to her he was the thing that kept her going. Every town she had visited, every bridge she had crossed, every forest she had almost gotten lost in, everywhere, she had been secretly hoping he'd show up.
"Yes, I do think about you N. Actually I can't stop thinking about you. I was beginning to think you weren't coming back." It felt so easy to tell him how she felt, like it was only natural. And yet there she was again, in front of him, wanting to pour out everything she was holding back.
This time he hugged her. It was awkward and he held her quite roughly, but she couldn't complain. "Of course I'd come back. You were the one who taught me about following my beliefs without forcing people to do what they didn't want to." Gently loosening his hold, he sighed "To me, you were always there and I wanted to understand why it was that way."
Touko smirked warmly at him. "And what did you find?"
"That you were right about people and Pokémon." He paused for a moment "And that I don't know a lot about humans, let alone relationships with them, but I'll start learning. I want to be able to support you back so that I won't be a burden." N hesitated, then gazed softly into Touko's eyes.
"You're not a burden" She blushed again, and he frowned.
"Are you feeling alright, you're face has gone the colour of Zoroark's mane several times now."
"Mhmm" She nodded soundly "You'll understand when you do a bit more research." She really hoped he'd do it mostly on his own, she definitely didn't want to be explaining a lot of things to him. Maybe Cheren could help, and have a guy-to-guy talk with him.
"Now" N announced confidently, as the two stood about ten meters from the Ferris wheel entrance. "Would you please show me what a kiss is so I can give you one."
"Look I really..." Touku pulled a face and swallowed the end of her sentence.
"Please." Pale green eyes blinked at her, asking.
The brunette looked at him timidly. "Okay, but you have to promise not to back away then.
"I promise." He reassured her.
Once Touko was confident enough that she could do this, and that he wasn't going to make a run for it, she placed her hands on his shoulders. Rising up onto her tiptoes, she carefully pushed herself against him. The girl closed her eyes and inched their lips closer and closer until they brushed together. She held them there slightly parted for a few moments touching his cold mouth, then pulled away when she felt him tense up. Looking at the man, his eyes were a mixture or shock and wonder. All he could do was stare at her.
"I-I'm sorry, I should have just..." So much for going slow.
But before she could carry on, Touko felt two strong arms pull her in. A pair of cool lips crushed hard against her own. They soon softened as they stood there, just touching. After he pulled away, she leant her head on his shoulder. Despite the slight awkwardness of it, Touko found herself smiling sheepishly.
"Is this what it's like to be in love?" N asked solemnly.
The brunette felt her heart skip a beat or two. "No, this is something that has a chance at becoming love." She breathed in his minty scent. They'd known each other for two years, and missed each other for a third. Touko didn't know his emotional capabilities, but she would have time to find out. And in the end, who was she to tell him what love was. That he would have to figure out for himself.
A/N: This was originally intended as a one shot, but some people are getting the idea that this is just the start to the story, so now I'm adding a second chapter.