Reviews of any nature are much appreciated (unless you're here to tell me that 'Green is the girl, and Blue is the boy', because originally, he's Green, and calling him Green is my preference).
Bright emerald eyes stare across the gym, just stare. The owner of the eyes brushed his chocolate colored hair out of his eyes, and then blinked as he noticed the chilled air that touched his cheeks. Squinting his eyes, he could see a shadowy figure in the doorway at the far end of the gym.
A challenger? The male could have laughed. Very rarely did a challenger make it all the way to him, so he just looked away before he could see who the challenger was.
"Vui!" Came the cry of the male's Eevee as it sat on his shoulder.
"What is it?" Was his soft reply, but it was cut short as he saw something come closer. He tensed, and turned his head, but what he saw he was unprepared for.
A pair of deep red eyes stared at him, barely visible from under the visor of the visitor's hat. Ebony hair contrasted with his pale skin, and the visitor wore all too familiar clothes.
"Green." Murmured the visitor in a quiet voice, one that Green hadn't heard in so long(and he hated that he loved that voice, that stupid, beautiful voice).
"…Red." Green finally replied, eyes narrowed(and, oh! The irony that Red should be the first to talk and he the quiet one). "Why are you here?" He asked, frowning.
"To find you." Red's voice stays even- it always stays even, doesn't it? Not a drop of emotion in that man.
"Why find me?" He growled.
"You didn't find me."
"Well… You obviously didn't need me, so there was… no use, was there?" Green doesn't allow Red time to reply. "No use in finding a man who no longer needed, or even wanted you, right? I simply decided not to disturb the great champion, that's all." Green's voice was low, bitter, but Red could hear the hurt in it. "Who am I, in comparison to the pokemon master? The greatest trainer there ever was? Who am I, Champion? I'm nobody- I'm nothing but a loser in your dust."
Red stared at Green, trying to read him. When had the man become so foreign? When had his best friend stopped using his name? When had he stopped being 'Red', and started being just 'Champion'? "…Green…"
"Three years ago you disappeared, and today you finally reared your sickening face, Champion. What, did the world stop being good enough for you? Was Pallet Town not good enough for you? Your family not good enough for you? Was I-…" Green abruptly dropped his sentence and looked at the ground, scowling.
Was I not good enough?
And then Red knew. He knew why Green was like this, or at least knew part of it.
"I hope you never expected a warm welcome, Champion, but the world is learning to forget you, to get over you." I'm learning to.
"I didn't.."
"Well then that's great, Champion, but why did you come to a world that wouldn't welcome you back with splendor? Don't you want a grand re-entrance? A celebration? Why come, when the world's not going to cele-"
"Because I don't care about the whole entire world, Green." Red interrupts the fuming man. His words, quiet but heavy, silence Green. "I'm not the stuck-up person you wish I was. I'm not going to turn into someone like that so you can hate me. I'm not perfect, I know it… And I know that I'm still Red. Call me Red. Call me Red…" Red's words ended with a quiet plea, and he refused to look away from Green until he looked at him. Seconds stretched into minutes, and neither spoke. Neither moved. Green just glared at the ground, and Red stared at Green. Although Red had lived with silence for the past three years, right now it was threatening to crush him. Green… Green.. Say something!
"Why did you leave?" Green finally whispered, moving only his eyes to look at Red. "Why didn't you come back?" Green lifted his head, and took a small step towards Red. "…I thought you were- I thought we… were… best friends." Green's voice died on the last few words, and he met Red's stare face on.
Something in Red twisted at Green's words, and he swallowed. He hadn't talked this much in so long…
"We are, Green. We are best fr-"
"Were!" Green hissed at him, sounding furious, betrayed, and utterly broken.
"We still are, Green… If you want to be." Red paused, then raised his quiet voice just a bit. "Do you want to be?"
Green blinked, opened his mouth, and shut it again, opting to just stare at Red furiously. "…Just answer my questions."
"…I hate crowds… I hate the spotlight… I hated being champion." Red murmured.
"Why did you even become champion, then? It was my dream! It wasn't ever yours!"
"Because I owed it to my pokemon, to make them the best… And because I knew you could become champion, and if- once you did, if I didn't follow you…I'd lose you… I didn't want to lose you…" Red paused, looking at Green nervously. The emerald eyed man had, for a second, lost all hostility, and just looked curious. "But… Then… Just… There was no way to escape, and you were so mad at me, and the attention was driving me mad… There was no way to escape… Unless I ran. If I ran, then I could be alone, if only for a few days."
"But you weren't gone for just a few days." Green pointed out, though his voice lacked as much venom and accusation as before.
"…When you're surrounded by white, by cold, and by your thoughts, then it's hard to keep a hold on time."
"Well… What made you come back?"
"You." That stopped whatever Green was going to say, and the gym leader looked at Red blankly.
"Wha..?"
"I had a dream- just a simple dream- of when we were little, and we were playing hide and seek. I was hiding, you were seeking. We'd been playing for hours, and by then you'd given up. You were telling me 'Red, just come out!', but I wasn't going to. I thought 'Any second now, he's going to find me, and we can go home!', but you didn't find me. You didn't even try to anymore, you just got mad and said 'I give up; forget you!'."
Green stared at Red, utterly confused, and Red almost timidly scratched the back of his head, giving a tiny, embarrassed smile.
"I didn't want you to forget me." Red could see Green's anger and hostility falling down around him, could feel the pieces of their puzzle falling into place. Green, after a while, gave a small, awkward smile, but it was a smile, and it was for Red.
"Could you… Answer my question?" Red asked, almost fearfully, like Green's smile was a spell that might break.
"What question?"
"Do you want to be best friends…?"
Green's eyes widened and he froze. After a short moment, he took a few small steps forward. Those small steps grew in size until he reached Red, and when he did, did something Red would've never expected.
He hugged him.
Green wrapped his arms tightly around Red, hanging onto him as if letting go was impossible. His face was pressed into Red's hair, and he was trembling slightly, but Red could feel Green's smile. Stunned, Red just stood there, caught in the taller man's awkward embrace. Slowly, Red relaxed, and gave a small smile of his own, pressing his face into Green's shoulder. His gloved hands clutched at the back of Green's jacket, and Red marveled at the scents.
Cinnamon and mint. A strange combination, but it was the smell of his- of Green's- of their childhood, of their entire lives.
"I… Take that as a yes.." Red mumbled into Green's chest, and he could easily feel the rumble of Green's laugh.
"I missed you, Red, you big idiot."