Lullaby from a loving mother
I always wondered, why Archie was so fond of the ocean. I considered it was because he felt connected with it, but I never bothered asking him why he really was so fond of it. After our defeat, he just sat at the beach, looking out on the sea.
"Do you mind if I sit down next to you, Archie?", I asked him. He didn't answer, just gestured that it was alright with him so I sat next to him. It was silent for what felt like an eternity until he spoke up.
"Hey, Max, sorry for what I did. It was a stupid plan to expend the sea. I wasn't thinking this through, unlike you, you nerd.", he apologized. That was something he rarely did, especially to me.
"It's alright, Archie. We all made mistakes, but I'm glad this is over.", I smiled at him. Something I rarely did. Then it was silent again. The sun started setting and painted the sky in a beautiful shade of orange.
"Archie, I'm curious about something.", I said. The pirate looked surprised at me but replied: "What are ya curious about, nerd?"
"Why are you so fond of the ocean? I mean, there must be a reason for that.", I wondered. Archie started laughing, he probably thought I already knew why.
"Because it symbolizes freedom in my eyes. Other than those silly rocks and volcanos of yours.", he said, still laughing. I hated it to be made fun of, but it was Archie we are talking about here.
"Other than that, I mean. I've known you for almost all our lives and you always were fascinated by the ocean, but you never told me why. There has to be a reason.", I demanded to know. Archie's face changed from happy to sad. He took a deep breath.
"My mom used to sing me a lullaby about the sea when I was young. After she died the sea started to become my home. It reminded me of her and I believed, if I listen hard enough, I'll be able to hear her lullaby again. But that's the past and I'm glad that she isn't here to see me now, she would be disappointed in me.", Archie explained. "Stupid of me to believe I could hear the lullaby of my mom if I listen to the waves, don't ya think?"
"No, it isn't. I actually wished my mom would have done something like that to me when I was a little boy.", I stated. Archie chuckled nervously.
"Ya know, she not only sang that lullaby when I had to go to sleep. She also sang it to me when I felt sad or sick. She always said, I'm her brave little sailor. It always made me happy.", Archie said, more to himself than to me. I looked up at him, seeing that tears started to build in his eyes.
"You miss her, don't you, Archie?", I wondered. Archie just nodded. I laid one hand on Archie's hand and smiled at him.
"She still is with you, and I'm certain that she would be proud of her brave little sailor. I can't give her back to you, you know, but I can be there if you need someone to talk to.", I stated. Archie smiled and said "Thank you, Maxie." Then I stood up, brushed the sand of my coat, put my glasses back in place and left. I looked over my shoulder, to check if Archie would be ok, and for a split-second I thought I could see the face of a woman, looking exactly like Archie in the colors of the sunset. I shook the thought out of my head and headed back to the Team Magma base. There was still s much I had to take care of.
Author's Note: Hi guys. I thought of a backstory for Archie and why he loves the ocean so much, so I came up with the story of Archie's mom singing him a lullaby of the sea. The song I was listening to, when I wrote this was called "Song of the Sea". If you want to look it up, just add lullaby. Anyway, I don't own Pokemon.