A/N: Here's yet another old kink meme fill :P

Summary: It's only when she's leaving that Green realizes that all he's ever wanted is to be at Leaf's side.

Green focused on the large ship in front of him, trailing his eyes over every detail so he wouldn't have to look at the girl standing next to him. He tried to keep his tone casual, despite the ache in his chest, when he asked, "So you're really leaving on this ship, huh?"

"That's right. But don't worry," He could hear the smile in Leaf's voice, even without looking at her. "You know I'll come back soon. I always do."

Her words gave him pause. Did he really know that, though? Leaf came and went at a moment's notice, appearing on his doorstep one day, and then leaving the region the next. She always seemed to be around whenever he really started to miss her, but every time she went away, he was always left wondering if this was it. If maybe one of these days she was going to decide that she liked the place she was visiting better, and end up staying there forever.

"Green?"

That was what he feared the most everytime he had to see her off. He was afraid that no matter how much she promised that she would come back, one day her wanderlust would take over and he'd never see her again. When they had been younger, just starting out on their journeys, they had passed through cities in what felt like the blink of an eye. It had been like a game, which one of them could see the most while still training to be the best. But while he had settled down and become Viridian City's gym leader, Leaf hadn't stopped or even slowed in the slightest.

"Hey, Green?"

This latest trip, to the Unova region, was going to take her away for at least a couple of months. And knowing Leaf, she would probably find an excuse to extend her visit. She always did. And while she always came back with a ton of stories about the people she had met, the new Pokemon she'd seen, the experiences she never would have had if she'd stayed here in Kanto, the sparkle in her eyes always left him with a feeling of dread. What if she wanted to hop on the next flight back? What if she hated it here and only came back because she felt she had to? What if-

"Green!" Leaf's concerned voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He realized that her face was suddenly only inches away from his, and instinctively took a step back.

"What is it?" He asked, his cheeks burning with embarassment. He tried to cover it up with a cough, furrowing his eyebrows in an attempt to look more irritated than he actually was.

"You seemed distracted." Leaf said casually, though he could still see the worry in her warm brown eyes as she tilted her head to get a good look at him. "Everything okay?"

He wished that she wouldn't look at him like that, not now when the ship was about to take her away from him. Again. He shrugged and turned away, breaking eye contact so that she wouldn't see the worry in his eyes. "I'm fine Leaf, why do you ask?"

"Because something's definitely bothering you." She stated matter of factly. She raised an eyebrow and reached for his hand, gently lacing their fingers together. "Go on, tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's-" He started.

"And don't say that it's nothing, because I can see that little crease you always get between your eyes when you're upset." She said, squeezing his fingers and smiling her 'got ya!' grin at him.

She reads me like a book, Green thought to himself, fighting the urge shake his head in amazement. Instead, he turned his gaze to the ship that she would be boarding in a few minutes. Already the other passengers were climbing inside. He bit his lip and decided to go ahead and tell her, since she already knew. His words came out in a rush when he opened his mouth."You're really coming back, right?"

Leaf's eyes widened in disbelief, as if she couldn't believe he would ask her something like that.

"Of course I'm coming back." Leaf said, her eyebrows rising to her hairline. "I'm only going to be gone a couple of months, and then I'll come see you in Viridian when I get back, like I always do."

"Yeah, I know that." Green said, biting his lip. She hadn't caught the true meaning behind his words. But, he supposed, he wasn't exactly being clear with her, was he? He cleared his throat and tried again, "But what I meant was… I mean, when are you going to stick around?"

"Stick around?" She asked, though in that moment her question was nearly swallowed up by the sound of a loud air horn coming from the ship, alerting all passengers that it was nearly time to depart. She winced at the sound, but immediately continued, "What do you mean by that? Don't I always hang out with you after my trips? I practically lived on your couch these past few months."

"No, that wasn't what I meant either." Green said, biting the inside of his cheek. This conversation wasn't going at all like he had wanted it to, and by the look on her face, he knew that he was only confusing her further. He took a deep breath and tried one more time. "What I'm really asking you is, when are you going to stay? When is coming here going to stop being an obligation to you?"

"An obligation?" Leaf asked, her confusion shifting quickly into disdain. "Is that what you think me coming home is? Just an obligation I'm forcing myself to fulfill?"

"No, of course not." Green said, quickly backpedaling at the sight of her expression. He hadn't meant to offend her with that question, but thinking back on it, he could see why he shouldn't have phrased it that way. Bu as he replayed her response in his head, a single word jumped out at him like a wild Pokemon in the tall grass.

Home. She'd said home.

"So then what are you trying to say?" Leaf asked, looking exasperated with him now. "You're acting so strange today, Green."

"I know I am." He sighed, regretting that he ever opened his mouth in the first place. All he'd done was make things complicated on the day she was leaving. He sighed and said, "Look, just forget I said anything, okay?"

"Just forget...?" Leaf echoed, shaking her head incredulously. "Green, these are the last words we'll be exchanging in person for a long time. You can't ask me to do that."

"I just don't want you to remember our last conversation like this, okay?" Green said, running his hand through his hair in frustration, making it messier than usual. "Arceus, it shouldn't be this hard to say goodbye."

Leaf's mouth curved up the slightest bit, and she had a teasing edge to her voice when she spoke, "Maybe it's because you love me so much, and you wish you didn't have to."

Green froze, staring at her with wide eyes as he processed what she said. She had been joking. Of course she had been joking. She probably meant to get a rise out of him, get him to flush and stutter and maybe laugh at the bold declaration, but he couldn't do any of that, because...

"You're absolutely right."

The three words hung in the air between them for a long moment. Long enough for the ship to blare its horn again, a final warning to the passengers that it would set sail soon. They only had about five minutes now. Leaf stared at him in shock, her clear brown eyes searching his bright green ones for any sign of a hidden meaning. Although he felt self-conscious underneath her piercing gaze, he found that he couldn't look away and stared right back. If he looked away now, she might think he hadn't been sincere, and he wanted her to know that yes, he'd meant what he'd said. Even if he hadn't been planning on saying it minutes before she had to leave.

"Oh." She breathed, breaking the silence first. She was still staring at him like she couldn't believe what she'd heard.

"...Yeah." He said, swallowing nervously. He couldn't think of anything to say to follow up his improvised confession, but lucky for him, Leaf could.

"Couldn't have picked a better time for this, could you?" She asked, trying to keep her tone light, but he could see that she was just as struggling just as much as he was. Her eyes turned to the ship, a worried frown forming on her face.

"Well you know me, master of bad timing." He said, following her gaze. It was an ordinary ship, designed to carry passengers comfortably over long distances like any other ship, but in that moment all Green could see was a hunk of junk who's sole purpose was to cut their conversation short. He shook his head and gave her a rueful smile. "Your boats going to leave without you if you don't hurry."

"Would that be such a bad thing?" Leaf whispered, biting her lip as she looked up at him. There was hesitation in her eyes that hadn't been there before.

This could be his only chance. Everything could change with his next words. He could tell her that everytime he saw her walk away from him he felt like his heart was being squeezed in a vice. He could tell her that he wanted nothing more than to be by her side. He could tell her, properly, that he was in love with her.

But if he did tell her that, she would resent him for keeping her tethered here. Leaf was a wanderer, and he had to learn to trust he when she said she would come back to him. So as much as it pained him, he simply smiled and said, "I'm going to miss you when you're in Unova."

Leaf looked disappointed to hear that, but not entirely surprised. In a blink, her expression was back to her usual easy-going smile, though there was a hint of something else in her eyes as she picked up the suitcase at her feet. "And here I was thinking that you were going to say something silly like you wanted me to skip my trip. As if! But... I'm going to miss you too, Green. So much."

He was making the right call here, right?

The crowd of passengers was starting to thin out as all the people who were boarding the ship hurried to get on. Leaf stared at the crowd for a few seconds, and Green was debating on whether or not to go back on his word, when she suddenly turned back to face him. Before he could blink, she had wrapped her arms around him tightly, her suitcase dropping at their feet in a clatter.

It took Green a few seconds to process what just happened, but when he did, he rushed to put his arms around her too. His voice was quiet when he asked, "Leaf?"

"I get it." She said, her voice small as she buried her face in his chest. "You're letting me go right now, but things will be different when I come back, right? You're going to be looking for a reason for me to stay."

He hesitated before he answered her. "Is that what you want?"

"Maybe." She said, pulling away just enough that he could see her smiling up at him. There was a teasing edge to her mouth, but sincerity in her eyes, "How about you figure out that reason first, and we'll go from there?"

"Okay." He nodded, his heartbeat pulsing through his veins as hope filled his heart. Maybe he hadn't screwed everything up as badly as he thought.

"Good." She said, her shoulders relaxing as she looked at him. She leaned in towards him, and before Green realized what she was doing, she pressed her lips against his. It was so brief he almost thought he imagined it, but when she pulled away, there was a look of wonder in her eyes that threw away any doubts.

"Wow." Was all he could manage to say.

"I-I guess this is goodbye then." She stuttered, a dark red blush spreading across her cheeks as she cleared her throat and stepped away from him. "So long, Green."

"Bon voyage, Leaf." Green said, the edges of his lips turning up as she picked up her luggage and hurried towards the ship. He watched as she stepped onto the ship, the last passenger to get onboard before the crewmen and their Pokemon pulled the catwalk up behind her. She turned to get one last look at him, and the two of them waved from their places until the ship was too far away for them to see each other. Green stood there until long after the ship disappeared into the horizon, towards another distant land that Leaf would be exploring to her heart's content.

He felt something tighten in his chest, something that he would later identify as loneliness, and he clenched his hands so tight that his nails dug painfully into the skin of his palms. She promised she was going to come back, he reminded himself.

He knew that Leaf wasn't going to be gone forever, and that she would come back with dozens of new stories to tell him. And he'd listen to every single one of them, as many times as she wanted to tell them, because honestly, he could listen to her talk for hours and hours on end. After all, she had always known how to capture his attention.

From the moment they first met, he'd never been able to turn away from her.

"Dammit." Green murmured, turning his eyes up to the sky. The sun was beginning to set, and he groaned when he realized he was going to be late for dinner with his sister tonight. He'd promised Daisy that he'd come see her after Leaf's ship left, but it was going to be well past dinnertime by the time he made it back to Pallet Town. Maybe he should call, let her know that he was on his way at least ...

But Daisy knew how he was when it came to Leaf, so she'd probably understand why he was still standing at the docks hours after the ship had set sail. Hell, she probably wouldn't even scold him if he cancelled altogether, so he figured it wouldn't matter if he stayed rooted to his spot for a little while longer. It wasn't until the first couple of stars began to appear in the sky that he finally called out his Pidgeot to fly him home.

It was almost funny how empty the word felt coming out of his mouth. Pallet Town had been his home once, before he had started traveling. But 'home' just didn't feel like the right word for that place anymore. And Viridian didn't feel like home either, especially since Leaf wasn't going to be sleeping on his couch every other night. Now that he thought about it, the only time he'd ever really felt at home was...

Was when Leaf was by his side.

"A reason to stay, huh?" Green muttered to himself, recalling her parting words to him. He glanced up towards the moon, just a sliver in the sky as he and his Pidgeot flew underneath it. Leaf said that she was expecting him to give her a reason to stay here the next time they saw each other, and already the wheels were turning in his head.

His still lips tingled where she'd kissed him.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Leaf exclaimed, her eyes wide as saucers as she stared at the sparkling diamond ring, carefully nestled in the dark velvet box that Green was holding out towards her.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Green asked, attempting to look nonchalant as he put the box into her hands. He quickly stuffed his own into his pockets now that they were empty. "I've been saving up for it since you left. I made the last payment a week ago."

"You... you can't be serious." Leaf said, her eyes still locked onto the ring. There was a slight tremble in her voice that Green definitely noticed.

"I wouldn't have bought it if I wasn't." He said, a pool of dread growning in his gut the longer she refused to look at him. He had expected her to be happy or excited after seeing the ring, but he hadn't expected her to question him multiple times. What if he'd grossly misjudged things and the engagement ring wasn't what she wanted?

"I just..." Leaf brought a hand to her mouth and pressed her knuckles to her lips, keeping a firm grip on the box in the other. "When you said you had to tell me something over the phone yesterday, I never imagined this. I thought that maybe you were finally going to ask me to be your girlfriend but-"

"I want you to be my fiancee." He interrupted her, biting his lip when her eyes grew wider. Yep, this was definitely not going the way he thought it would.

"Oh, um." She stared at him for a long moment, a worried frown forming on her face. "You better not be playing a mean joke on me or so help me Green Oak, I'm gonna—"

"I would never joke about this Leaf!" Green exclaimed, shocked that she would even think that. Once again, his inability to get his point across was causing him all kinds of problems. He took a deep breath before he continued, "I've never been more serious about anything in my whole life, I swear."

"So... you're really asking me to marry you then?" She asked hesitantly, finally looking up into his eyes for the first time since he'd brought out the ring. Her beautiful brown irises were swirling with so many emotions in this moment, disbelief, confusion, happiness, and even a little fear. But most of all, he could see the light of hope in her eyes. She desperately wanted this to be true.

"Yeah, I am." He said, losing his nerve and breaking eye contact with her. But as terrified as he was to know the answer to that question, it was killing him not to know. "So... what do you say to that?"

"I say..." Leaf started, but quickly trailed off. "Um, all of a sudden I can't get my thoughts together. Can you keep talking while I figure out how to turn on my brain?"

"Okay..." That wasn't a 'no' at least. He wracked his head, but suddenly his brain wasn't working either. "What should I say?"

"Anything."

"Anything, huh..." He cleared his throat and decided to try and joke about the situation, "So if you do say yes, that means you'll finally make an honest man out of me."

"Really." Leaf said, pressing her lips together to hide her smile, but she didn't even last a moment before a giggle escaped. "'Honest man,' Green? Who gave you that line?"

"It got you to laugh didn't it?" He said, his shoulders easing up now that the tension had been diffused a little. When their eyes met again though, Leaf's laughter quickly disappeared and she became serious again.

"Green, this is huge." She said, her eyes flickering from him to the ring in her hand. "Are you really sure you want to propose to me now? I... take marriage very seriously."

"I do too." He said, reaching over to take her free hand in both of his. Leaf's face flushed pink and he smiled at her, his next words full of sincerity. "When I saw you get on that boat, I realized something important, Leaf. I realized that I wouldn't be able to take seeing you walk away from me again. I want to be wherever you are, whether it's here in Kanto, or off on a new adventure in a different region."

"Oh, Green." Leaf breathed. The air around them suddenly felt too fragile.

"I love you." Green said, sinking down on one knee in front of her. His heart felt lodged in his throat, but he couldn't stop now. He took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger, tracing over the skin of her knuckles before looking back into her eyes. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so if you'll have me... can this be your reason to stay?"

"Oh Arceus, when did you become such a sap?" Leaf said, rolling her eyes, but he could see that there were tears shining on her lashes. She wiped at them before she pulled him back on his feet, and Green could see that she was smiling wider than he'd ever seen before. "You are so lame."

"Come on, you know you love me." He said, grinning cheekily when she blushed bright pink.

"Yeah, I do." She said, her gaze turning shy as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned in towards him.

They'd already kissed each other twice before this, once when they were six and called it 'practice', and once more when they had said goodbye just a couple of months ago. This time felt different though. When their lips came together, for just a moment it felt like they were kissing for the first time all over again.

At first they only pressed their lips together gently, shy and awkward and just a little hesitant. But after a moment they abandoned their coyness, and it was just tongues and teeth and limbs all over, years of pent up longing surfacing as the kiss evolved into something deeper. Leaf pulled away first, gasping for breath as she stared into his wild eyes, and a grin formed on her face as she playfully smacked his arm. "Could you restrain yourself a little, Green? We're in public!"

"I know." He leaned in so that their faces were only a breath apart, but he didn't move to kiss her again, content just to look into those warm brown irises. He could see the whole world reflected in her eyes. "But, just so we're clear, that was a 'yes', right?"

"Obviously it was!" She said, a giggle bubbling out of her chest as she closed the distance between them again. There wasn't quite as much desperation when their lips met the second time, but they were still passionate enough that they caught the attention of the people around them. A loud cough made them spring apart immediately, and they shared a look of admonishment when they spotted an older woman glaring at them in disapproval.

"We should find somewhere else to make out." He whispered, peeking at her through his bangs and grinning mischevously at her, though his cheeks were still tinged pink from embarrassment. "Somewhere with less people. What are we even waiting around here for anyway?"

"Um, my luggage?" Leaf said, shaking her head fondly as she pointed towards the carousel. "It's not like I can leave the airport without it."

Green sighed dramatically and untangled himself from her until only their hands were still connected. "I hope you're not going to be this high maintenance when you're my wife, or I'm afraid that we're not going to last very long."

"Ugh, you're terrible!" Leaf laughed, squeezing his hand as they made their way over to the carousel. "You're going to make one lousy husband, Green."

Husband. The word reverberated in Green's head, and his heart soared at the thought that he was going to be Leaf's husband someday. He'd never given much thought to being someone's husband before, but after hearing his fiancee (fiancee!) say it out loud, he found that it was something he was something he was really looking forward to.

He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, enjoying the tiny squeak Leaf gave in response. "Just wait, I'm going to be the best husband ever just to prove you wrong."