Forever Friends, Okay?
"Rubie…. Hey Rubie?"
I started to open my eyes.
"Rubie, move your head."
"Huh?" I muttered half asleep. School! Test! Oh My God! I bolted up right and shouted, "Oh No! I'm late for school!"
There was a loud crash to accompany my light headed feeling from standing so suddenly. I glanced around to realize I had indeed not been late for school but rather sleeping in class. The crash had come from my friend now sitting on the floor. She must have been trying to get the test out from under my head and when I suddenly got up she pulled to hard and lost her balance.
"I'm sorry Arela… are you okay?"
She got up on her feet laughing, "You finished early again, huh Rubie?"
"Rubie!" a boy called me from a couple of desks away. I glanced towards him and noticed his big smile right before he pointed at his mouth, "Drool."
"Ekkk!" I screamed and started rubbing my mouth on my arm furiously.
"Just kidding," He laughed.
I threw my hard, plastic pencil case and watched it bounce off his thick skull and spray my colored pencil collection into the air and clatter to the ground.
"That hurt!" he shouted holding his cheek.
"You're the one at fault Paz, always teasing Rubie," Arela stated.
"Yeah you're always teasing me!" I shouted as I started picking up my colored pencils off the floor.
Once we packed up all our belongings we exited the school and hopped onto our bikes. We were assaulted by the aroma of fresh Miltank manure. This little town was in the middle of nowhere. 70 miles away from Ecruteak City and another 50 from Olivine City, so far away from the main route between the two that not even trainers will come to stop in this forsaken village. The three of us live only about 5 miles away from the school.
As we biked quietly along a dirt path with tall trees on either side I asked Arela, "Arela, why did you suddenly decide to become a trainer?"
Arela rode her bike slowly next to mine as we chatted; her bright, blonde hair was so short the slight breeze barely disturbed the ends. Her light green eyes looked towards the cloudless sky the peaked through the tree branches and rich leaves above as she sought an answer. "Mostly because I don't know what to do." She answered finally looking back towards me with a big smile on her face. "Both you and Paz have a general understanding of what you're going to be when you grow up but I feel like I'm only 9 and why should I have to make such choices with the rest of my life?" Arela now looked straight ahead, "Besides this small town is so boring, I want to make a lot of new friends!"
"It feels like you're going to leave us alone though, right Paz?" I looked behind myself only to notice Paz's bike was parked on the side of the dirt path a ways back.
I turned my bike around and Arela followed my lead till we reach Paz's bike. Quietly we parked our bikes and snuck towards where he had left his. We peaked through the trees and saw Paz squatting.
"Don't look Rubie! He couldn't hold it!" Arela yelled and started pushing me back towards our bikes.
"As if!" Paz shouted, blushing like crazy.
Walking around the trees we approached him, entering the long grass we've been told to never step foot in. Inches away from Paz a small red Pokémon lay.
"A Vulpix," I whispered.
The small red Pokémon, laid on the ground with its eyes mostly closed, its fur was matted with blood and dirt. The poor creature was too weak to do anything other than whimper slightly as we approached.
Slowly I stuck my hand out towards the small creature; it sniffed my hand for a couple long seconds before weakly giving it a single lick. I retracted my hand with a big smile on my face, "How cute! Let's take care of her!"
Paz looked at me sideways and asked, "Really? Can we do that?"
"Sure we can," I smiled looking in his brown eyes, "Our parents may not like it but we can't just leave her like this!"
"I'm with Rubie!" Arela raised her hand with a big smile on her face.
"You too Arela?" Paz sighed and scratched his dark brown hair as he looked at the ground. "Well, okay then. The three of us can take care of her together."
"HEY!" An adult shouted suddenly. The three of us turned to see our school nurse on a bike on the dirt path behind us. "What are you three doing?"
"Mrs. J!" Arela smiled, "We're discussing the future!"
"That's nice but get out of the grass and go straight home!"
"We will!" all three of us yelled.
She stared at us from her bike for a couple more seconds before pushing her glasses back up on her face and pedaling down the road.
"That was close," Paz whispered. "If it had been any of the other teachers they would have actually pulled us out of the grass."
"So… what are we going to do with this Vulpix?" Arela asked.
Paz gently picked up the small creature, "Leave it to me, I know a place that no one ever visits. It'll be a secret for just the three of us. We can even take turns taking care of it."
"Awesome, lets draw up a duty roster." Arela suggested as she followed him out of the grass.
A bit a ways Paz lead us to an old shed that had long since been abandoned. There we cleaned off the blood and dirt, discovered she was a female, and learned just how deep her wounds really were. Vulpixs are normally not found in this area wildly. I wonder if a trainer abandoned her? Did she run away from an abusive trainer?
That night I sat in my room by my desk and stared at a picture of the three of us. We're really the best of friends. I looked more at Paz in the picture, that day the wind had messed up his dark brown hair. It was longer than Arela's but not by much and he was hugging the both of us. I've kept it a secret to myself, but I've got a bad crush on Paz. He's clueless and teases me but he's really a nice guy.
The next couple days after school the three of us visited the Vulpix together. Paz fixed up some of the holes in the wall around the shed with wooden boards he stole from his farm. We feed her old meat from the grocery store that they were going to throw away.
"You're feeling much better, aren't you Ouji?" Arela asked while stroking her fur gently.
"I'm not sure we should have named her after a creepy board game…." I sighed.
"Would you have preferred Pixy?" Arela asked. Man is she simple minded.
"I don't like that either," I sighed. As I stared at Ouji's collection of raw meat we've placed beside her bed I remembered a chore I had forgotten, "AH! I almost forgot! Mom wanted me to go to the store! Wait for me okay?"
"Sure, sure!" Arela smiled.
I biked a couple miles away to the old store nearby and loaded a small basket with salad greens and chicken. All while thinking about the horrible, evil, slave driver. My mother. As I approached the check out, I noticed some ice cream. "Arela loves Ice cream," I muttered out loud reaching for the cooler coffin.
I biked as fast as I could to my house and essentially threw the bags into the house before taking off at full speed on my bike towards out secret hid out with ice cream quickly melting. I parked my bike along the side and ran towards the open door.
I could hear Paz's voice, I hadn't gotten a third ice cream bar but…. Oh well. "Listen Arela… I… you know… I"
I opened my mouth to call something and let them know I was here.
"I love you Arela!" he shouted.
I felt numb, stepped to the side of the door and pressed my back against eh old wood as I dropped my bag of ice cream. My heart pounded in my throat as I listened to the long silence.
"I have… for a long time now… do you feel anything for me?" he asked.
"I love you too, Paz." Arela said happily.
I gasped.
"I mean, we're friends!" she happily continued.
I felt something in my head go 'clunk' and I'm sure Paz had that same feeling.
"I also love Rubie, my brothers Jason and Chad, then there's Mary, Callie… I can't even keep track of them all."
"oh…" Paz muttered, "That's not what I meant. I mean I want to be with you!"
"What do you mean? Aren't you with me right now?"
"I'm talking about something different! Romantic…."
Quietly I could hear Arela ask, "What's the difference between 'friendship love' and 'romantic love'?"
I could hear a shuffling of weight, Paz was starting to stand up, "I get it…" he shakily muttered, "You see me as just a friend…" he took off running and almost crashed into me as he sharply turned out of the door. His checks were so red and he looked so hurt. We didn't say anything, he just looked forward and ran away.
Arela stepped out from the door, "Rubie? How long have you been there?" she asked me.
"Arela, that was mean. He told you he loved you and you didn't know what that meant?" tears were forming in my eyes; I picked the bag of ice cream up off the ground and flung it against her head. "You're a jerk Arela! I hate you and we're not friends anymore!"
Ran towards my bike and pedaled away. I could hear Arela calling my name at my back but I didn't care. My tears, at this point, were starting to free flow. I bike home even faster than I had bike to Ouji's shed, and inside, upstairs to my room, locked the door and flung myself into my bed to cry.
I never guessed that Paz liked Arela. Did he agree to help with Ouji to make her happy? I was the clueless one!
The following day at school was the last one before summer break. Paz wouldn't even look my way. After the teacher told us to have a safe break I left the class room only to be stopped by Arela.
"Um… hey? Rubie?" she asked unsurely, "I'm sorry. I must have said something that hurt you and Paz. I'm still not really sure what it was but we're still friends. Aren't we?"
I didn't even want to look at her, "You're too immature," I spat before running away from her.
Over at the shed I sat in front of Ouji and stroked her fur, "Ouji, why did I say that? I'm awful. It was jealousy. I'm the one that's too immature. You probably think that you've been found by the stupidest humans possible. I don't think you'd be wrong…"
I sighed and looked towards the rotten ceiling, this summer was going to be so fun and now it's just going to be a drag. I grabbed Ouji's water bowl and started walking towards the door. I was going to throw it out and give her some fresh water from a bottle I had brought. Not that a Vulpix drinks a lot of water.
At door, lost in my own thoughts I almost crashed into Paz who was standing there with a full bag and a bottle of fresh water. "Hey," he muttered quietly. "Today was my day."
"Oh? Was it?" I asked just as embarrassed as him. This is so awkward.
"You know, the other day… You saw me embarrass myself right?"
I nodded.
"Somehow I feel free now."
"Huh?"
"I had all these pent up feelings for Arela…. Just being able to tell her felt good. Of course, she rejected me so it's kind of weird to be near her."
Why are you telling me this? I asked myself as I tightened my grip on Ouji's water bowl.
Paz smiled right at me, "Maybe I shouldn't be the one to give advice but if you have a guy you like don't wait. Just tell him how you feel."
I released the water bowl, took a step forward, closed my eyes and gently pressed my lips against his. I opened my eyes and took a step back, he stared at me dumb struck. "I love you! Wake up will you? I love you!!" I shouted to his face with tears forming in my eyes. I reached for my bike a couple of steps away and biked away at full speed while shouting, "I have been for a long time!"
I later learned that after I ran away from Arela in the school Mrs. J had come up and asked Arela was wrong and what had happened to us. Mrs. J. then invited Arela to the office to talk about it.
There Arela asked Mrs. J. what exactly was the difference between 'Friendship love' and 'Romantic love'.
Mrs. J. pulled her glasses off the way she always does when she wants to explain something but is unsure of how to.
Arela mentioned that she wanted to be friends with Paz and I again but she was really worried about me saying she was immature. She figured that was why I was mad at her.
Mrs. J. smiled and apparently told her, "It's hard, even for adults sometimes, to know the difference between the two. I don't think you should worry about it yet. Love is something that grows from within. Someday you'll learn for yourself what it's like to fall in love. I think both Paz and Rubie have figured it out. It should be okay, you're friend is stronger than you think."
Two days later I was lying around in bed. Complaining that the rain had not let up all day, "Summers only a couple days old and I'm bored." I muttered.
I thought about Paz and what he was doing. He hadn't tried to get a hold of me since my confession. I guess I scared him off. Then I thought about Arela and wondered about her. How could this of happened to us? How much of this is my fault? All of it? Until a few days ago we were all taking care of Ouji together…
I gasped and bolted out of bed. Today was my turn to look after her!
I put on my rain coat and ran as fast as I could to the shed. When I got there Ouji was gone and there was blood on the blankets we had left for her.
"No... What happened?" I asked myself. Her wounds had mostly healed shut, what would have caused so much blood to get her? I was so wrapped up in my own problems I had forgotten…..
I ran out of the small shed and shouted at the top of my lungs, "Ouji! Where are you? Come back! Come back please!"
Running down the path I was squinting through the trees when I crashed into someone.
"Rubie?" He asked.
"Paz?" I cried looking at him in his rain coat as held my shoulders.
"Are you okay? It was raining so hard I got worried…."
"I can't find Ouji!" I admitted.
"What?"
"Its… it's all my fault! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." I cried.
A moment of silence passed, he released my shoulders and grasped my hand, "Rubie, It's gonna be okay. C'mon. We'll look for her together!" I looked up as he started to pull me forward at which point he crashed into someone else.
It was Arela. She had a flash light on top of her head held in place by her hod being tightly tied shut, another flash light in her hand and a large amount of rope slung over her shoulder.
"Arela?" Paz shouted, "What's up with the get up?"
Arela laughed and scratched her check, "I was worried about Rubie and Ouji so I came fully equipped.
Paz started explaining to Arela about Ouji's disappearance as I whipped my tears. Arela had been worried about me even though I had been so mean… Paz too. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry Ouji.
We split up into two teams. Paz with me and Arela on her own. Arela had given us one of her flash lights. We looked and looked in the heavy rain.
I started to cry again, "Ouji…." I muttered.
"Rubie…" Paz sighed while reaching for my shoulder.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Arela screamed.
"Arela?" Paz shouted.
"Guys come, quick!" she screamed.
We ran up beside her, she was kneeling in front of a tree knoll. When we could see she had found Ouji lying under the tree with three eggs beside her.
"Ouji…" I whispered sticking hand out towards her nose. She weakly licked my figure.
We took her and her eggs back to the shed, and about a week later, Ouji never got up again.
"Life is hard for wild Pokémon…" Mrs. J muttered as she firmly hammered a stake into the ground outside the shed.
"Maybe we should have somehow managed to take her to a Pokémon center…" Arela whispered.
"I think you guys did a good job taking care of Ouji," Mrs. J. calmly whispered while placing her hands on both my shoulders as well as Arela's, "She knew her babies would be well cared for."
Staring at her grave I cradled a warm egg; tears flowed out of my eyes. Mentally I reassured Ouji, where ever she was, that we'll take good care of her babies.
March the following year….
"Alright, I'm going now guys!" Arela cheered. It was still a little chilly so she wore a thick coat and a scarf.
"Take care!" a large portion of our friends yelled.
"Train hard!" I shouted.
"Good luck!" Paz called.
"And good luck to you two!" Arela laughed. "Ready to go Cinna?" She asked hugging a two-tailed Vulpix.
"Piii!" she happily purred.
Arela walked along the lonely dirt road leaving town, waving on her bike until we couldn't make her form out of the horizon anymore.
"We'll miss her," I muttered to Paz with tears in my eyes.
"Yeah, but she'll be back, and she'll even bring her new trainer friends back with her.
"True, and we'll all still be friends. Even if we are apart," I smiled through my tears, my little Orelia was trying to crawl out of my arm and lick my face. With my free hand I grasped Paz hand even tighter, staring into the horizon where Arela vanished.
Always, Forever…. Okay?
A/N: I was possessed when writing this. I'm waiting for my next chapter of complex to finish with the beta-ing process and then I've been writing a third chapter and I'm getting so mad at it just couldn't take it anymore… I had 4 re-writes for the first chapter of it and then only 2 for the second chapter but I'm on my third take of chapter 3 and I just need something slightly depressing and not overly funny. I can't think in terms of funny right now. (And I usually like to think of myself as a funny person….)
I just wanted to write this for some reason. Half of me is unsure if I really should classify this as a Pokémon fic as it took place in the Pokémon world more than it actually involved Pokémon….
Those going, what's up with not knowing difference between friendship love and romantic love? They're 9. The two around her seem to have reached puberty first.
Both Arela and Paz mean "Gold" originally Arela was 'Minta' but after a while I thought that was a stupid name. I want to write a fic some day staring Arela but she deserves better then the dime a dozen travel across the region to become poekmon master stories but I have no idea what else I'd do with her yet….
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