~ The End ~
...
The end was near. Temporal Tower was collapsing. Primal Dialga was rampaging. Time was going to stop. The world was going to end.
And Cleffy was smack-dab in the middle of it all.
She and the other rescue team Pokémon.
Cleffy glanced sideways at Roselio, who held his gaze at Temporal Tower. Even the usual happy-go-lucky Pokémon looked nervous. It was evident that he was murmuring under his breath, "Please do it please do it please do it..."
Cleffy knew that he was talking about their friends Breloom and Lombre. They had the most difficult job: 1) Defeating Primal Dialga, 2) Getting to the top of Temporal Tower, 3) Restoring the Time Gears, and 4) Making sure they do it FAST.
Breloom and Lombre, Cleffy knew, were perfectly competent for their difficult job. Although they did often argue in their usual rescue team life, they were actually a great team.
They were perfect for each other.
Cleffy swallowed.
She stole another glance at Roselio.
Perfect for each other?
His face was unusually pale. Cleffy was reminded of the faint dizzy spells illness- and accident-prone Roselio often gets. She panicked, but then realized that he was only nervous.
It was understandable. Although Breloom and Lombre were a really good team, Temporal Tower looked as if it was about to collapse fully any second now. They almost had no time left...
Cleffy was suddenly aware that she was alone with Roselio. She had been all along.
Roselio de la Verde.
She'd had a crush on him for as long as she remembered, but she was too shy to tell him. She'd always been too shy to tell him. And to make things worse, he was unbelievably oblivious.
Man. The world was ending, and she'd never ever told him about her feeling.
Suddenly, a wild idea whizzed into her brain.
If the world was ending today, then she could tell him - right now, even - how much she loved him. It wouldn't matter, because the world was ending. Everyone was going to die soon.
She took a deep breath.
Here goes nothing.
"Roselio?"
Roselio glanced distractedly at her. "Hmm?" he said, but he kept his gaze on the Temporal Tower far away.
Cleffy looked down and played with her fingers. "I want to tell you something."
"What's that?" Roselio's gaze didn't move.
Cleffy's heart sank to the bottom of her soles. "Well, it's actually irrelevant to the current situation... So I don't blame you if you don't think now's the right time..."
Roselio suddenly turned away from Temporal Tower and locked eyes with her. "No. I'm sorry. I'll listen."
Cleffy felt icicles running up and down her spine. It was as if she was shrinking under his gaze.
"Um... I've actually been wanting to say this since who-knows-when," she went on softly. "Now I just want to say it point-blank..."
"Uh-uh?"
"I... Kind... Of... Like... You."
Cleffy said it very slowly. And then the universe seemed to stop. There was a few seconds of silence. Cleffy wondered what Roselio's response will be. Strangely, Cleffy felt lighter, as if some burden has been lifted off her shoulders.
And then Roselio spoke.
"... That goes for me too."
"What?" Cleffy squeaked.
"I've also liked you too, Clef," Roselio said shyly. "But I was too afraid to tell you, so I decided to act... normally. As normal as I possibly could."
Cleffy couldn't believe her ears. He liked her too. Roselio liked her too!
"We were both too afraid," Cleffy said in relief.
"I know..." Roselio sighed. He didn't look relieved at all.
Cleffy's heart sank again. Was there another catch?
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing," Roselio said, but Cleffy was certain something was up. "Tell me," she said, her eyes wide.
It was a long time before Roselio spoke again. "It's just that we only told each other on the last day on earth," he said. "If only I'd been braver, I would've told you sooner."
He looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry, Cleffy. I guess I'm just not bold enough..."
"...Not bold enough?" Cleffy couldn't believe her ears. Then her expression softened. "Not bold enough? You mean you're not bold enough because you didn't tell me sooner?" She thought, 'Gosh... Since when did I become this to the point? I would never have said anything like that... Maybe this is because of those last-day-it's-now-or-never feelings.'
Roselio bowed his head. Yes.
The same thing made Cleffy's hand reach out. She took Roselio's hand in hers, feeling his soft flower petals against her skin. He said nothing, but he did look up.
Cleffy smiled. "You know, you might not have been bold enough to tell me anything before, but remember who braved the hailstorm when Lombre and I were trapped in the snow? Remember who shielded me from being ambushed by Kabutops and the Omastar brothers? Remember who blasted through monster houses to go looking for me, finally catching up covered with bleeding wounds? Who sacrificed himself to save me from being killed by Darkrai?"
Roselio said nothing, but his next thoughts came out like a train at full speed.
"...But he had Skarmory's steel feathers to shield him from the snow, Froslass armed with all sorts of medical supplies when we went to Brine Cave, and Staraptor helping Whirlwind half the monsters away. And he fainted when he was confronting Darkrai, and guess who revived him?"
He looked down again and said in a small voice, "...You."
"That doesn't matter, Roselio," said Cleffy. "That doesn't matter in the least bit... I still think you're the bravest, boldest person I've ever met."
"But I..." Roselio started to say.
Cleffy didn't like to see him blaming himself. And that was when she did something she would have liked to do but never had the courage to. She even surprised herself.
She leaned forward... And she kissed him on the cheek.
Roselio did a double-take. But he did stop talking.
"Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore now," she said with a small smile. "Nothing does."
"I know." Roselio smiled painfully, then turned away and began to stare at Temporal Tower again. A huge chunk of it fell and simply disintegrated into the still sky. The end was coming faster than he'd thought.
But then, he turned back to Cleffy with a wider smile.
"Still, I'm glad we talked," he said.
The End?
Author's Note: ...if I already put "The End" as the title, can I put "The End" at the end of the story...? *random ranting* BUUT ah well, since this story IS about the end, then let's keep it at that, yeah? And please review if you have the time... I'm not going to push you or anything...