One shot, m'kay?
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon… *tear* T_T
Author's Notes: Let it be known I am seventeen, almost eighteen, and I still absolutely love Pokemon!
Summary: After beating the Pokemon League for the second time around, Lyra, at the request of the Kimono Girls and her Ho-Oh, revisits Ecruteak City, and meets up with someone she hasn't seen in quite a while.
Pairing: Lyra/Silver
Kimono Girls' Names:
Naoko
Zuki
Sayo
Kuni
Miki
A few days earlier, her Ho-Oh had become particularly restless. It'd been acting funny for awhile now, and she didn't know what to do. She soon received a call from Kimono Girl Naoko, who said she had been receiving a strange aura around the same time Ho-Oh was becoming so difficult to handle. At the time, Lyra had been planning to set sail to the Hoenn region from Olivine City, planning to meet her friend, Ethan. Naoko, however, opposed to this. She suggested that Lyra and Ho-Oh come and visit Ecruteak City again, believing that maybe that it would help calm Ho-Oh. So, now, here she was, hiking her way back to Ecruteak City.
She was looking forward to seeing her friends, the Kimono Girls, once again, as they were all quite friendly and had aided in the capture of Ho-Oh immensely. Though, she would admit, this was going to set her back quite a bit on her trip to Hoenn.
It was a lovely spring evening, and so Lyra had let all of her Pokemon out to enjoy it. She turned her head to see them all smiling happily and adoringly, but couldn't help but notice it when her Togekiss yawned a little bit, it flying just a little closer to the ground. She knew she had to get to Ecruteak before nightfall, which was approaching quickly.
"C'mon, guys, just a little bit farther." She smiled at the encouragingly. They acknowledged her each with a grin, to which she returned. Suddenly, her Pokegear started to ring furiously, and she ushered her Pokemon ahead as she rustled through her bag, searching for it.
"Oh, there you are!" She grabbed it, picking up a Pokeball she had managed to drop. She looked at the screen, which said Naoko. She pressed the talk button. "Hi, Naoko."
"Hi, Lyra!" she the Kimono Girl rather cheerily. "My, my, where are you? It's almost 7 o'clock! Are you okay? Do you need us to send a Pokemon out for you?"
"No, no," Lyra laughed. "We're almost here. Just give us a half-hour, we'll be there."
"Well… okay, then. But if you need anything call us, 'kay?" Naoko reassured.
"'Kay," Lyra replied. She was just about to press the end button, when she heard a sudden squabble on the other end.
"Okay! Okay! Calm down!" she heard Naoko yell. Naoko's distance voice became louder, and she was talking once again to Lyra. "Sorry about that, Zuki just wanted me to say 'hi.'"
"Tell her that I say 'hi' back," and with that, Lyra beeped off her phone, setting it back into her bag and running after an excitedly sparkling and cawing Ho-Oh.
Just as planned, Lyra arrived in the ghostly beautiful city about a half an hour later. "We're almost there, Ho-Oh," she told the bird, who was flapping its wings vigorously, showing its enthusiasm at being home once again.
She walked up to the Kimono Dance Theater, and looked it over. It has changed dramatically since the capture of Ho-Oh. They had rebuilt the front entrance so that Ho-Oh could comfortably go in and out its doors.
She looked down at her two newest Pokemon for a second, and knew that the Kimono Girls would love them. There below her, stood two sleepy Eeveelutions, a Glaceon and Leafeon, the two missing Eeveelutions from the Kimono Girls' collection. Before Lyra had left after catching Ho-Oh, she had promised that she would bring back both a Glaceon and a Leafeon to show them.
"Hey, guys," she bent down and scratched them both behind the ears, and then picked them up into her arms, as they were drifting off to sleep already. Leafeon made itself comfortable in her bag, popping its head out. Glaceon yawned in Lyra's arms.
And with that, she reached out her hand, and with a little push, cracked open the door. She immediately expected to be swarmed by her friends, but instead she just saw them all on the stage in a circle around something, with Naoko yelling furiously.
"Not you again!" she shouted to whatever was in the centre of the circle. Sayo waved her hands spastically, her face burning red.
Lyra piped in, "I thought I would be a little more welcome than that." Abruptly, all of the Kimono Girls' attention shifted to the massive door, where Lyra, Ho-Oh, Leafeon, Glaceon, Typhlosion, Togekiss, and Dragonair all stood, the Pokemon blinking tiredly.
Instantaneously, they lost all interest in whatever was in their circle, and one by one hopped off of the stage and ran directly at the almost-sixteen-year-old (she was going to celebrate her birthday with Ethan in Hoenn), all with open arms.
"Lyra!" they all shouted in unison. They all came at her with hugs and hugs. "Oh my God! It's been much too long!" Naoko smiled ever-so brightly as she grabbed Lyra in a bone-crushing hug.
"I agree," Lyra managed to gasp out.
The second after her, though, Naoko's eyes averted over to Ho-Oh, who, despite being a little worn-out, was sparkling vibrantly, gold glitter coming off in spades from its wings.
"My, he's beautiful," Naoko breathed, staring at him in awe. She gawked at him, walked over to him, and turned to Lyra. "May I…?" she inquired quietly, as though she was embarrassed to ask. The other Kimono Girls waited eagerly for an answer, holding their breath.
"Of course," Lyra smiled. "Go ahead. He's very nice." With permission granted, each of the five Kimono Girls began to pet Ho-Oh, who thrived in the attention, glowing even brighter.
Lyra was glad that he made her friends so happy, and that their anger from before had seemingly drifted away. And speaking of before, Lyra turned around to see what they had been fussing over on the stage. What her eyes landed upon, though, was not at all what she had expected. She blinked and shook her head, her pigtails bobbing furiously, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming. But when she opened them up, it was still the same person. After a moment of them staring at each other head on, Lyra managed to choke out, "S-Silver?"
He looked just as flustered at the current situation as she did. He blinked, too, before fixing his frazzled, red hair and standing up, huffing attitudinally, "Yeah?"
"What…?" Lyra was confused. Why was he here? She turned to Naoko, who was smoothing back one of Ho-Oh's rainbow-y feathers. "Um, Naoko…"
"Oh," the little Kimono Girl turned to her. "Yes?"
"Uh, why is he here?" Lyra pointed very blatantly at a scowling Silver, who now had him arms crossed and looking super bored.
"Oh, him," Naoko frowned, and walked over to the brunette. "Here just… came here. For no reason whatsoever. Normally anyone would be welcome, but since his last stunt, he is expressly forbidden from coming here, and he knows that, too. I-"
"I'm not deaf, you know," he called out at them. "I do know you're talking about me. You don't have to whisper."
Naoko glared at the young red-head. "I'm going to ask you again. Why are you here? You know you aren't allowed!"
"Because I felt like it," he glowered back. Naoko looked like she was ready to pounce on him, and so Lyra, seeing the angry glow in both of their eyes, stepped in between them, as to help calm the quickly heating situation.
"Both of you, stop," Lyra told them politely, but firmly. Naoko was nice, but was stubborn and short-tempered. And Silver was… well, Silver was just Silver.
"Don't tell me what to do," spat Silver. And with that, he jumped off the stage, stomping towards the theater doors. He abruptly stopped in front of Lyra. He looked her up and down, and she blushed. His red eyes stared down at her, with an inexplicable heat in them as they did. It'd been a while since they had last saw each other; at least a couple of months. "You look…" he swallowed when he saw her flaming face. He finished his sentence in a barely audible mumble. "Good," he finished, before his own face began to burn up furiously at his compliment to her. He covered his flushed cheeks with his arm, and continued to tromp out of the doors and out of sight.
Lyra could only manage to stare in the direction in which the young man had stalked off to. Her facing was burning and she could feel her heart pounding a mile a minute and the blood rushing in her ears. Had he really just…?
"Um, Lyra?" Naoko waved her hand in front of the brunette's pink face a moment later. "Are you okay?"
It took Lyra a second to snap back into the real world. She had let her mind wander just a little bit. "Uh," she blinked, regaining her suddenly flustered composure. "Yeah." She abruptly remembered little Glaceon and Leafeon, who, presently, were both curled up in a ball in her bag sleeping. "Oh, I brought you these guys to see, too." She looked down to the half-asleep Glaceon, lifting her out of the bag, where she had go to for the time being.
Naoko's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Oh. My. God! Zuki! Sayo! Miki! Kuni! Look, look, look! It's a Glaceon!" The four other Kimono Girls raced over at the mention of the famed Eeveelution.
"Really?" Kuni squeaked in the crowd of them.
"And a Leafeon, as promised," Lyra smiled, pulling the thoroughly annoyed Leafeon out of her bag. She gave him a look that said she was sorry, and passed him to Naoko. Glaceon, who was attention-seeker, was soaking up the love she was receiving, while Leafeon could care less. He just wanted to go back to sleep. Glaceon purred as she was passed along from Kimono Girl to Kimono Girl, while Leafeon kept a bored look on the entire time.
Eventually, evening drifted into full-fledged night, and Lyra's Pokemon, no longer being able to take it, had been put to bed. She had informed the disappointed Kimono Girls that they would be more lively and less grumpy tomorrow.
Naoko and the others had gone out of their way to make Lyra's stay as comfortable as possible, giving her the biggest room in the theatre. Also, since the renovations, they had moved out of their little house and into the theatre, their own little rooms each built in, to ensure the protection of the sacred building, and also because it was quite a cozy and comfortable place.
After all of the others went to bed, Naoko came in to check in on Lyra to see if she was all settled in and comfortable. "So, is everything like you remember it?" Naoko asked.
"Sort of. I mean, obviously the theatre has changed," Lyra replied absent-mindedly. Her mind was back on Silver, and even though she was trying insanely hard to forget about him, for some ridiculous reason, she just couldn't!
Her friend noticed her looking off in to space. She decided that maybe she needed something to eat- something to take her mind off of whatever was making her so distracted. "Would you like some tea?" Naoko asked.
"Oh, um, sure," Lyra nodded.
"Any specific kind, Lyra?" Naoko was beginning to get a little worried about her. Usually she was very talkative and energetic.
"No, no. Any will do…" Lyra trailed. And with that said, Lyra expected Naoko to be off to the kitchen, but instead, to her immense irritation, she didn't move from the doorway. She just stood there, leaning against it, her arms crossed. She really just wanted to be alone to think right then.
"Okay, Lyra. What's up?" Naoko turn around and shut and locked the bedroom door, and stood in front of Lyra, arms akimbo, demanding a straight answer. "What has been up with you for the past few hours? I thought that having you back was going to be fun! I thought you were going to have fun, no less! So, what's with the sudden change in attitude?" she interrogated.
"I… just…" Lyra attempted to explain, but decided not to. So she settled with: "It's nothing."
"Suuuurrrre," Naoko gave herself permission and sat herself down on the bed, startling Leafeon, who was once again awakened from his peaceful slumber. He ran up to Lyra and under the bed covers, sure that he would find comfort and peace there.
"It's just…" Lyra stopped, recuperated her emotional wits and sorts, and began again. "I just want to know, what was Silver doing here?"
"Oh, that pest?" Naoko's nose scrunched up at the remembrance of him. "I already told you, he didn't make it clear. He just barged in a few minutes after I finished talking to you on the Pokegear."
That really didn't give Lyra much to work with. A moment passed, and Naoko broke the suddenly awkward silence with, "Okay, so Green Tea works?"
Lyra could only present her with a strange look and then a nod.
That night, Lyra couldn't sleep. She got two, maybe- maybe- hours of sleep in total. And why? Because she couldn't get to sleep without knowing why in the heck Silver was there, that's why! It was driving her insane, trying to come up with a logical answer. It obviously wasn't just a coincidence, right? Right. Did he show up there on purpose? Most likely not. He hated Lyra, she was pretty sure, and so purposely being there was probably not on his agenda for that day. But… whatever.
She groggily pulled herself out of bed that morning, dreading the idea of actually moving. She shuffled her way out into the hallway and down into the kitchen. She pulled open the curtain painfully slow, and greeted Naoko. "Morning," she breathed.
Naoko turned to her and raised her eyebrows. "Did you get any sleep last night? You look terrible!"
Lyra didn't even bother to turn her head up to the give the Kimono Girl a look. "Oh, thank-you," she mumbled sarcastically.
"You know what I mean," Naoko moved herself to sit down at the table with the young girl. "So…" she trailed uncomfortably.
"So…?" Lyra repeated with a cocked eyebrow.
"I don't know… do… do you want to go shopping today? A little fair came into town yesterday, and they had some really unique stuff… and-" Naoko looked downcast, sure of herself that Lyra would refuse.
"I'd love to," Lyra smiled cheerily, trying desperately to appear enthusiastic about actually… ugh, moving.
Immediately, Naoko's eyes brightened up. "Okay! I just have to go get ready! I'll only be a bit!" She then hurried out of the room, leaving Lyra sitting in the kitchen, staring blankly into space.
"Oh, Lyra, isn't this just darling?" Naoko turned into one of the many booths of the fair, and found a little golden ring, sliding it on her finger and showing it off in the sunlight.
Lyra, who was showing little to no interest in most things there, turned to the jewellery booth, yawning. She was expecting to just have to stand there, but as soon as her eyes landed on the table, they began to glimmer with newfound curiosity and desire at the sparkling gems and jewels.
Naoko eyed everything for about five minutes straight, before she turned to Lyra, her fingers covered in rings, arms in bracelets, neck in necklaces, and ears in earrings, "Do you see anything you like?"
Lyra blinked; there was just so much. "Y-yeah," she breathed out, overwhelmed by all the lovely, precious jewellery. She suddenly turned her head to a table far in the booth tent, where a single, lone necklace way laid out on a red, velvet cloth. Lyra followed the glow it was emitting further into the tent. She stopped at the table, and looked down at it. There, on the velvet, sat a glittering necklace with a long silver chain, the charm at the a small, simple ruby, which reminded her of him. Nothing too big, nothing too flashy, just the way Lyra liked it. And it was her favourite gem, too!
"Oooh, whatcha found there?" Naoko toddled up to the brunette.
"This!" Lyra pointed to it excitedly. "Isn't it absolutely beautiful, Naoko?" She clapped her hands together, showing genuine eagerness in the shopping trip now.
Naoko looked down at it, and smiled. "Well, it's a little small for my taste, but it's still really pretty," she commented on the necklace. "You should get it."
Lyra, who had been admiring it, turned to her. "What? No way!"
"Why not?" Naoko looked a little confused. "If you like it so much, why not?"
"Well, I don't know…" Lyra trailed. She did have a point there.
"What's the price on it?" Naoko pushed her out of the way, picking up the necklace and checking the little price tag that was attached to it. Her face suddenly went white. "Oh my God!"
"What? WHAT?" Lyra looked at her friend, worried. "Is it really that much?"
"Who knew something so small, could be worth s-so much?" Naoko stuttered. Lyra picked up the necklace, checked the tag, and had to blink to reassure herself that she wasn't dreaming. She didn't even know that amount was even possible when it came to jewellery! Sure, she knew it was expensive, but not that expensive!
"I think we should just go," Naoko said after a moment.
"Yeah…" Lyra agreed, turning out of the booth, just a little disappointed. She really didn't want to get her hopes up, but she had, and now disappointment flooded her entire system. When she began to think of the necklace, she reprimanded herself. No. She didn't want it. Not that bad… Oh, what a lie! She did want it that bad!
She looked down at the ground, crestfallen. She just kept walking, not bothering to look up, when, WHAM! "OW!" she screeched, falling flat on her bottom onto the cold, hard concrete ground. She then heard something clank to the ground loudly.
What she was presented with was not what she expected at all. She expected to open her eyes and see the piercing red ones of a certain stubborn young man, but instead, she opened her eyes to find a pair of blue ones glaring back at her angrily.
"Watch where you're going!" shouted a young man, who stood up and brushed himself off and fixed his blond hair. He looked down at Lyra and gave her a rude look, before turning on his heel and walking off.
Lyra fought the urge not to cry. Why did every guy hate her so much?
"Are you okay?" Naoko rushed to her side. She helped her up, and then looked off into the distance to where the well-dressed young man had tramped off to. "Wow, what a jerk," she gave that direction a look and stuck her tongue out childishly, just like Naoko would.
"Yeah," Lyra agreed, nodding her head slightly, feeling tears prick slightly at her eyes.
Naoko noticed. "Maybe we should just go home," she suggested. Lyra simply nodded again. As they walked, something on the ground shone brightly when the sun caught it, nearly blinding Lyra. She looked down at it as she covered her eyes, and saw that it was a little golden pocket watch. She suddenly stopped and bent down and picked it up.
"Naoko," she called to her friend. The Kimono Girl raced back to her.
"Yes?" she blinked at her.
"Look what I found," she motioned to the gleaming pocket watch.
"Yeah, so?" Naoko failed to see the significance of it.
"I think it's that boy's," Lyra explained. Naoko then got an evil look on her face, and a wicked smile broke out. "You should throw it into the forest," she seemingly cackled.
Lyra looked at her friend strangely. "No, it wouldn't be right."
"And the way he treated you was?" Naoko raised an eyebrow cynically.
"No, but…" Lyra thought about that for a second. He really hadn't been very nice, but she wouldn't be any better herself if she threw the thing away. "But he deserves to have it back at the least. I don't want to sink down to his level." Naoko understood her friend's need to stay positive and friendly despite others' actions towards her, be them unpleasant or polite.
Lyra took her time walking leisurely down the long stretch of street. Naoko strolled behind. Up ahead, they saw a Skarmory flying and cawing overhead. They soon caught sight of the blond boy exchanging some rather harsh words with someone who both the girls could not see through the sudden crowd forming.
"Um, excuse me," Lyra spoke up after a second of awkward reconsideration.
The blond boy turned around, all-together stopping his verbal assault on the poor person from before, and she was yet again presented with yet another dirty look. "And what do you want? What? Are you following me?"
"Um, no," Lyra look to the ground, discouraged by his ill-mannered temperament. She eyed the pocket watch she was holding. She slowly raised her hand and outstretched it to him. "Um, here," she pushed it to him again when he did not take it after a long second.
"What. Are. YOU. Doing. With. This!" he screamed at her, plucking it out of her hand and launching into yet another fit. The Skarmory flew to the ground and beside him. Lyra blinked at him and the bird, who was cawing mockfully, feeling those tears yet again. His expression of pure anger didn't change at all. "Do you KNOW who I AM?"
Lyra made no gesture to signify that she did, because, truthfully, she didn't.
"Yeah," Naoko stomped up to him. "Rude. Just plain, ole rude!"
"No," he said snottily, sticking his nose in the air. "I'm Tyler Hurst the Fifth." Skarmory cawed again, sticking its beak into the air arrogantly.
Both girls remained unaffected by the boy's introduction.
He seemed offended by the fact that they still didn't recognize who he was. "Hello? Tyler Hurst the Fifth? Hurst Family, as in Premier Balls? Ring a bell? Any bell?"
"Sort of," Naoko shrugged. She'd heard of Premier Balls, of course, but what did Tyler Hurst the Fifth have to do with it?
"Sort of? SORT OF?" he shouted. "I happen to be the grandson of Jason Hurst, the inventor of the Premier Balls. And you know what that makes me? Infallibly wealthy, that's what. I happen to be a millionaire… no, a billionaire!"
Naoko, who was just getting annoyed at his gloating at this point, made it known. "You sure like to talk about yourself, don't you?"
With that one remark, his face went blood red. "You know what, you little ingrate? You should be kissing my feet right about now! I'm like royalty to you little people!"
"Actually, I happen to be a Kimono Girl, and so very highly respected in this community and in the Johto and Kanto. And my friend here is the Pokemon Champion and the trainer of Ho-Oh, so we're just as high on the list as you are, buddy!" Naoko defended.
Lyra sort of just stood in the background while the two bickered. As she stood there, something was compelling her to look behind Tyler to see the person with whom he had been fighting with before, to see if they were all right. She looked behind the battling blond to see a flash of familiar red hair. Oh, no, Lyra thought worriedly, not right now. This is sooo not the right time!
He seemed to notice her before she had noticed him, though. "Lyra?" Silver looked straight at her, "what are you doing with this jerk?" It was obvious that he meant Tyler.
"I-I-" Lyra was cut off by Tyler, who had whipped around to see the two talking.
"Oh, Silver, I didn't notice you there. I thought you'd be gone by now," Tyler sneered at him. Silver could only glower at him. Lyra looked in between the two of them, wondering how in the heck they knew each other. She figured that if she really wanted to know all that bad, then she'd probably get a better- more polite, but undoubtedly not by much- answer from Silver.
"How do you two know each other?" Lyra looked directly at Silver when she asked the question, but Tyler, of course, intervened.
"Oh, let's just say that he's lost a couple of times to me. Just a few minutes ago, actually," Tyler bragged not-so-subtly. At that, Silver looked at the ground, ashamed at himself.
"You have no right to go on like that!" Lyra defended after seeing Silver so put out. His head flew up and gave her a thankful look. He never expected her defend him after he had been mean to her so many times. Lyra smiled at him, and his face suddenly went red, he looked away, embarrassed. Tyler noticed it immediately. It was so heavy in the air that moment, the sudden tension. The way Silver looked at Lyra gave it all away, the heat in his eyes when he did. And he found that he had to just go that extra step to make Silver's life all that much more miserable.
Tyler marched up to Lyra, and slung an arm around her. She was flabbergasted and angry by this sudden- and totally inappropriate- notion of affection. She threw his arm off. "What are you doing!" she demanded at him.
"Just admiring how pretty you are, Dearest," he forced out with a huge, cheesy, fake grin planted on his face. "Now I saw that little necklace you were admiring before… let's go get that just for you, okay?" Silver's head flung around to see them, and his eyes narrowed at the sight that was presented.
"So, you're like that with him," he spoke quietly, head cast to the ground once again. The jealousy and betrayal he felt right then came off in spades.
"No, Silver…" Lyra tried to explain, but she didn't get the chance to. Silver walked off into the crowd, receding off into the distance once again. She felt something in her break when she saw the hurt look he gave her.
"Leave me alone," Lyra pushed past Tyler and walked on in the direction Silver went, Naoko following behind.
"Oh, but, Dearest, what about the necklace?" he shouted off tauntingly to them. Lyra ignored him and continued to push through the swarming masses of people and their Pokemon.
Naoko finally caught up to the seething Lyra. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," answered quickly. Where was he! He couldn't have gotten anywhere that fast, now could he of? But, alas, anywhere and everywhere she looked, she just couldn't see him anywhere. Finally, finally, she turned to Naoko, exhausted emotionally and physically, and said, "I think we should go home now, for real." Naoko nodded and the two exited the market and made their way back to the Kimono Dance Theater.
After dinner that night, Lyra was restless and wanted to go outside again. Maybe she could run into Silver again and finally straighten things out once and for all.
She told Naoko that she would be back in in just a few minutes, and wandered outside to the newly-put-in deck on the back of the theater. Glaceon jumped through the sliding door just as she was about to close it. She walked over to the ledge and leaned over it. Glaceon jumped up and sat on the ledge beside her. She stared her master down with big, blue, curious eyes. Lyra looked out into the sunset, completely focused on its beauty. When Glaceon didn't get the immediate attention it thought and expected it would get, it made an annoyed sound at her. She turned on her to look at the little blue Pokemon, leaning on her elbow. "Oh, Glaceon," she murmured quietly. "I'm so confused. I mean, you know Leafeon likes you. But how am I supposed to tell if he likes me or not?"
Glaceon cocked up her ear at her, and proceeded to rub up against her arm and purr. She smiled at her, and continued to talk to her absentmindedly. "I mean… he doesn't act like it. And we've known each other for a long time, too, so that counts, right? Ugh. I mean with you and Leafeon… you're both so adorable together, you can show each other how you feel." She paused, looking unsure about what she was about to say for some reason, but then began again, "I… I don't think Naoko and the others would understand how I feel. I mean, they hate him, so they wouldn't listen… right?" Glaceon's eyes were huge as she stared at her. Lyra finally noticed that she was talking to her Pokemon… who wasn't going to give an English answer. She smiled at her Pokemon once again, before picking her up and slipping back inside, deciding to go to bed. Little did Lyra no the entire time Naoko had been listening to her…
The next few days there were particularly uninteresting and unproductive. It pretty much consisted of Lyra visiting with all the other Kimono Girls, and for some strange reason that she did not know, Naoko wasn't as talkative or social as she usually was.
On her third to last day there, Lyra, who had barely exchanged five words with Naoko for the last three days, confronted her. "Naoko," she pulled her aside after noticing her walking down the hallway. "What's wrong with you? You've barely spoken with me since the night after the market. Did I say something wrong?"
"I…" Naoko looked at the floor, crestfallen. "I heard what you said to Glaceon when you were on the deck."
Lyra suddenly panicked. Had she heard what she had said about her? "W-what part did you hear?" she raised her eyebrows at her, scared at what her answer was to be.
Naoko swallowed. "All of it," she said quietly.
After an awkward second, Lyra spoke, "Oh." Her face was burning up, and it was now her turn to look at the ground, but extremely embarrassed. Another moment passed. "I'm sorry, Naoko."
"Do you not trust me?" Naoko spat out after a second. "Did I do something wrong? Why can't you tell me what's bothering you? I'm trustworthy, I won't tell the others! I expected that you, of all people, would know that!"
"It's just… you wouldn't understand… or approve, Naoko," Lyra explained, her brown eyes not leaving the ground once.
"Well, maybe if you told me what it was, then I could understand! How do you know what I think about it if you haven't even told me what it is yet?" Naoko shouted, a hurt looks in her eyes. She thought they were friends! That they would, could, and should tell each other what's wrong when something is wrong!
"It's… I just…" Lyra couldn't find the words to explain what she needed to.
"Spit it out already, Lyra!" Naoko squealed at the girl, irritated out of her mind.
"I… I think I like Silver. And a lot!" Lyra finally admitted, squeezing her eyes such, bracing herself for Naoko's reaction.
"What?" Naoko's eye went comically wide. "Him?" Her eyes flashed disbelief a thousand times over. Silver? Really? What was Lyra thinking!
"Yes, him," Lyra nodded. "Now do you see why I didn't want to tell you about it. Because you hate him."
It took Naoko a little longer to regain her flustered composure at the confession, but she did. When she spoke again, her voice was clear and understanding, even though she was still going a little crazy inside. "Lyra," she began. "I may, personally, not like him, but you do, and I'm your friend, and so my position is not to criticize, but to listen and give advice. And that's what I'm going to do." Naoko was taking it a lot better than Lyra ever thought she would, should she have found out beforehand! Well, that was Naoko for you.
Lyra blinked, amazed at her friend's reaction. "So you're okay with it?"
"Yeah," Naoko nodded. And with that, she took a hold of Lyra's arm and drug her back to her room. "And now you're going to tell me even more about it!"
"Okay," Lyra replied whisperingly, a small smile secretly appearing on her face. It was nice to know that her news was accepted, and by more than just her already love struck Glaceon.
Lyra's second to last day there went along much better than its predecessors. She spent the hours of the day talking away with Naoko, who gave her advice on Silver that was actually sort of useful. When she began to doubt that he would feel the same way, Naoko only encouraged her that that was not true at all.
"Of course, he does! Did you see how he looked at you when you first got here? And when we were at the market?" her friend reminded overzealously. When Naoko got into something, she got into it!
Lyra blushed at the memories. "Yeah…" she trailed, with newfound confidence in her feelings for him.
Later on that day, around evening time, Lyra finished her dinner and made her way to her room to slip into a sundress that she had bought at the market that morning. It was a pretty turquoise color, which flattered her eyes, making them glow prettily. She exchanged her runners for a pair of matching flip-flops, and made her way outside to the same deck from a few days ago to once again enjoy the glorious sunset that only Ecruteak had.
The Kimono Girls were all inside, doing their regular Friday night dance practice. She looked a little ways off, and saw the little pond beside the Bell Tower, looking as lovely and serene as ever before. She quietly made her way down the little wooden steps of the back deck and across the stone road to a little patch of grass in front of the water. She sat down gracefully. She was surrounded by flowers of every shape, color, and size, which were all dazzlingly vibrant in the evening sun. The water glittered in the sun, as well. Pokemon quietly swam in the water, almost unnoticeably. She stretched out, relaxing lazily, closing her eyes in the process. The sound of the fountain in the middle of the pond was soothing. She then half-opened her eyes, looking out into the horizon, and sighed. It was just so perfect, beautiful, and dare she think it, romantic. She suddenly wished that a certain red-haired, red-eyed young man was there with her…
"Stupid me and my stupid feelings," Silver told himself as he grumpily kicked a rock on the ground, hands jammed in his pockets. He felt at the cold metal in his left pocket, the bitter memories of at the market clouding his head again, and he wondered if he should try and find her one last time. No, he thought, she doesn't want anything to do with you. He should have known better. With his luck, he should have known that something like the incident at the market with Lyra and Tyler would have happened. Of course it would happen to him. Because life just loved to mess with him!
He was planning to take the route to Olivine City out of the town, instead of back to Goldenrod or Violet City. He continued to tromp up the stony road, and just as he was about to turn to go past the Bell Tower, did his eye catch something bright blue in the grass. He stopped, flabbergasted as to what it was. He figured it was just another Pokemon playing in the pond. He walked closer to it, his footsteps heavy and sulky from his remembrance of the market, which was still lingering in his head. He stopped suddenly when he noticed that it wasn't and it but a she. And the second she looked up at him, he knew that he couldn't escape or run off… not that he wanted to.
Lyra thanked her lucky stars. A few minutes before, she had heard an angry grumble and some stomping, but ignored it. It was probably just an angry citizen, anyway. But when the footsteps came particularly close and stopped, she had the strange and sudden feeling that she was being watched. And that was not a pleasant feeling at all! She finally opened her eyes to see who it may be, and whom she was presented with standing there was not whom she expected to see in a thousand, million years! Her eyes met with a pair of piercing red ones, which just stared her down incredulously.
"Silver," she whispered softly after a long moment.
"Lyra," he responded back.
She smiled at him, causing him to blush deeply. "Where are you off to?"
He couldn't bring himself to look at her, instantly thinking of her and Tyler, and so mumbled, "Olivine."
"Oh, really?" she looked up at him and batted her eyelashes, making it ever harder for him to resist her. "Why don't you just stay a little longer?" she suggested, patting the flowery spot next to her.
"I…" he paused, and looked around anywhere but her mesmerizing eyes. "I shouldn't," he finished.
Lyra's smile disappeared. "Oh… um, okay," she turned away from him, feeling tears well up from the apparent rejection. "Well, bye then."
He saw the hurt on her face, and instantaneously felt the need to prove that he wasn't trying to hurt her in the first place. "I-I just have to get there before night, you know," he tried to fight himself not to say 'yes' to her proposal. He wanted to be with her so badly. Obviously she was just being nice and pitying him, obviously she just felt bad for him after the market. But for some reason he just couldn't leave her alone like that, that she indeed wasn't pitying him, in fact. "But… I could stay just an extra night, I-I'm sure it won't hurt." He slowly walked over to her and sat down, but as far away as possible.
She scooted closer to him, and smiled a little smile. He returned it slightly, not trying to convey too much emotion. After a few seconds, she prompted a conversation. "So why were you here in the first place, Silver?"
Like he was going to tell her the truth on that one! He wasn't going to tell her that he had come there because he had wanted to see her again and had overheard the Kimono Girls talking about it when they were shopping in the Goldenrod Department Store. No! He wouldn't. So, he lied. "I was just passing through," he responded.
"Oh," Lyra felt a little put out. So it was just a coincidence that he and she were in Ecruteak at the same time. That didn't make Lyra feel any better about his blatant ignoring of her right then.
It was a long time until another word was spoken between the two. The occasional Pokemon coo or squeak was heard, but other than that, it was silent. The sun was shining on the pair, and Silver looked over at her. He was astonished by what he saw. He saw her skin glowing in the sunlight, her eyes sparkling, and her hair gleaming. And her change in clothes made all the more difference, too. She was truly beautiful, and Silver noticed. He admired her, until she turned to him, causing him to look away, embarrassed.
"You look really nice, Lyra," he said after a moment, face going bright red, before looking away again.
"Thank-you," her face mimicked his, but instead went an adorable pink. For another few minutes, they enjoyed the sunset together, until Silver couldn't take it anymore. Though he was enjoying the moment oh-so thoroughly, he needed an answer and he needed it now!
"Are you dating Tyler?" he blurted out, not believing what he had just gone and asked. He had been sure that he would have exploded if he had not asked. But he wanted an answer, and a straight, truthful one at that, so he forced himself to get over it and appear serious and formal.
Lyra's head whipped around to look at him, astonished. She quickly regained her composure when she realized the seriousness on his face. "About that, Silver," she whispered quietly. "I-"
"So you are? You are dating him? Oh, just my luck!" Silver felt the blood boil underneath his skin he was so suddenly angry. "He's such a jerk, though! What do you see in him! I mean what about me? You-"
It was now his turn to be cut off. "Silver, I never said I was," Lyra gave him a look. He stopped his rant, and realization came to him that she had not given him an answer. And then he panicked. He had said way too much. And it's not like he could just go and take it all back. He covered his face the best he could with his arm and avoided eye contact, too humiliated to look her straight in the face.
"W-what about you... exactly?" Lyra managed out after a few stifling seconds. She scooted closer to him and when he didn't make any movement, she tugged lightly at his arm. "Silver, what about you?" Her heart was beating this way and that and would go from heart-attack fast to life-threateningly slow. What did he mean 'what about him?' Though she wasn't very sure, she was pretty sure she had a good guess. And she hoped tremendously that her guess was right. "Silver, I-"
"Are you? Just tell me that," he murmured, looking up slightly.
"No, of course not. He is a jerk," she justified. "Not to mention I had just met him when that all happened."
This seemed to make Silver feel a little better about his current situation. But this still wasn't going to help him with the whole 'what about me!'!
Seconds felt like years, and he dreaded the question that she was obviously going to ask. "So… what exactly would it matter to you if I dated Tyler? Other than the fact that he's so nasty and your past with him…" Lyra trailed, waiting for a suitable answer.
"Mmmmm… mmmmbuhh mmm…" Silver mumbled into his arms incoherently.
"What?" Lyra strained her ear to hear what he was saying.
"Buuhh ehhmmm, mmmmm mmmmbuhh mmm," he repeated himself, but still in an inaudible mumble.
"Excuse me?" Lyra still wasn't hearing him.
"I said, because maybe I LIKE YOU!" he shouted this so loudly that the Murkrow in the orange trees of the Bellchime Trail began to fly in every direction. Sure she would reject him, he still didn't look at her.
Lyra smiled gently at him. "Oh, Silver," she barely managed out. He looked over at her finally, and couldn't decipher the look on her face. Was it one of reciprocation? Of a forthcoming rejection? Or of just plain pity and sadness for him? He couldn't tell, her face was such a mix of indecipherable emotions.
He slipped his hand into his left pocket again and felt the chain, before withdrawing his hand.
"Look, I gotta go, I really need to get to Oli-" he began to get up, but he felt a soft, small hand grab his in an attempt to stop him.
"Please don't go," she squeezed his hand. The look in her eyes captured him, and he just couldn't find it in himself to leave her there alone. He made no gesture of agreement, just sighed and sat down again.
The second he sat on the green grass again, he expected her to let go of his hand immediately. But, no. It stayed there, sitting on top of his. He couldn't help but stare down at their hands together. With newfound confidence, he slipped his hand out from under hers, and when she looked at him, he automatically replaced it on top of hers, where he wanted it to be. She smiled warmly, which he returned. It was what happened next that really surprised him.
"I really like you, too, you know," she whispered, the adorable blush appearing on her face once again. His eyes, which had been fixated on the water before, now were staring widely at her. Had she just said what he thought she said?
Despite being abruptly tongue-tied, he forced himself to say a jumbled, "R-really?"
She giggled at him, making a cute, embarrassed smile appear on his face. She nodded afterwards, and moved closer towards him. "A lot," she finished after a few seconds, placing her head on his shoulder. He, despite soaking up the almost too-good-to-be-true moment, was panicking inside. You see, he didn't have all that much experience around girls. It's not like he ever gave himself time to, anyway, always training his Pokemon to the limit and such. Lyra was the first girl he had ever had a crush on.
Not wanting to ruin the idyllic moment for both of them, he did the first thing that came to mind. "Oh!" he exclaimed rather quietly, fishing around into his pocket, remembering the necklace. After eventually finding it, he told Lyra to close her eyes. "And keep them closed," he held it in his hand, and put it into her outstretched hand.
"Can I open my eyes now, please?" she asked after a short second.
He closed her hand back up quickly just to conceal the surprise that much longer. "Okay, now you can," he nodded to himself.
Lyra opened her eyes, and then her hand. And what she saw instantly brought tears of joy to her eyes. "Oh my Gosh, Silver!" she marvelled at the little ruby necklace from the market in her hands as it danced and sparkled in the evening sun. A tear dropped from her eyes, and Silver panicked again. Had he done something wrong? Why was she crying?
"Are you okay? Do you like it? Is it the right one, right?" he threw out question after question.
Lyra said nothing, just shaking her head and smiling and crying. "How did you know?" she said after she had stopped freaking out.
Silver blushed. "Oh, I saw you and that other Kimono Girl at the jewellery booth, and I saw you with that necklace, and you looked like you really liked it, but then-" she interrupted him.
"Thank-you, Silver, so, so much," she sniffed. Silver felt his entire heart flutter when she looked at him again, because there was something different in her eyes. Something different than just a few minutes ago. And also because no one had ever, ever, told him 'thank-you' before. And it was a great feeling, all of it. He took the necklace from her, and proceeded to clip it around her neck. When she turned to show it off, he grinned.
"Beautiful," he said.
"I know, isn't it?" Lyra looked down at it, beaming.
"I didn't mean the necklace," he looked away, blushing for the umpteenth time from his cheesy line.
"Oh," Lyra evaded his eyes. After a few more seconds, she looked up, and was caught by the intense look in his eyes as he looked at her. And then, all of a sudden, on impulse, did she lean over and kiss him.
He stumbled a bit, taken aback by this display of affection. But nonetheless, he joined in. They moved closer to each other, and he gently wrapped an arm around her, while she placed a hand on his shoulder to steady herself. They didn't take it too far; they kept it gentle and sweet, but not short. It seemed like a blissful eternity before they parted. This time, Silver was surprised by look of heat that her eyes conveyed when she looked at him. They stared at each other, and it was so quiet they were sure they could both hear the sound of the other's heart beating. After a few seconds, Silver couldn't help but grin the most happy grin ever. He didn't want to be rude, but he just couldn't hold it back. Lyra laughed at his expression, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to him.
They stared there for a good hour, not moving at all, just enjoying there time together. When the sun had finally set and it began to get a little chilly, did Lyra shiver, despite herself, not wanting to ruin the moment. Silver noticed, and slid off his jacket and put it around her shoulders. His eyes were smiling at her, and she felt her entire body go numb from the emotions sweeping over her body.
She looked up to the big clock tower in the middle of town square, and, full of disappointment, stood up. "I guess I have to get back in," she mumbled sadly to him.
"Yeah," he followed her, standing up suit.
"This was nice, you know," she commented, and then she added, "I'd like to do it again sometime." He nodded at her, blushing, and he was thankful that it was so dark out, because he was sure he was so red he could have glowed right then.
Without another word, she turned around quickly, and began to walk back. Silver was caught off guard, and ran up to her. "Hey, wait, Lyra," he took a hold of her hand again. "I don't want it to just be like this. Us seeing each other every once and a while, I want this to be… a little more stable than that."
She refused to look at him, but he heard her murmur something under her breath. "What?" he asked.
She looked up at him now, and said quietly, "Then come with me."
"Come with you where?" he questioned.
"To the Hoenn. That's where I'm off to next," she explained in a hushed whisper, as if to not wake the sleeping Pokemon around them. "And I want more out of this, too. So… come with me. Come with me to the Hoenn region." She took hold of his other hand and squeezed it slightly.
Silver's mind was in a blur. Here he was, with the girl of his dreams, and she was asking him if he wanted to travel with her! That she actually wanted him to be there with her, by choice. Acceptance and gratefulness, but most of all love, flooded through him, and his voice lowered several octaves to meet the level of hers. "Yes, Lyra. I will."
Her eyes glittering with adoration, she leaned up and gave him a soft kiss square on the mouth. He wrapped his arms around her waist loosely, and then she stepped back. "I'm leaving tomorrow, just so you know," she added against his lips.
"Okay, I'll be ready for you," he whispered. And with that, he released her. She began to walk off back to the theater, before she heard a loud cackle in the sky, scaring her to bits. She screamed, and before anyone of the two knew it, coincidentally enough, it began to pour rain everywhere.
"Aw, jeez," Silver muttered to himself, putting his arms above his head to cover himself from the downpour.
"Here!" Lyra turned back to him, and handed him his jacket back. "I almost forgot," she smiled, despite the rain. She then gave him a genuinely concerned look. "Will you be okay out here? I mean, where will you stay?"
He laughed, "I'll be fine. I'm staying at the hotel on the northern end of town. I promise, I'll be at the theatre bright and early tomorrow morning, waiting for you." And with that, he placed a quick kiss on her cheek and bolted off into the rain, pulling the collar of his jacket up over his neck.
Lyra stared off in the direction he went off to, sighing dreamily. But soon, reality hit her as the rain began to get heavier, and she rushed back to the theatre, completely doused in water. She slid open the sliding door, shivering. Suddenly, Naoko popped out from behind a corner. "There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere! Where did you go off to! Oh my God! You're soaked! C'mon, let's go get you dried off!" she commanded, grabbing the waterlogged girl and dragging her off to the bathroom.
As Naoko walked her down the long hallway, she turned to her. "Why were you out there, anyway?"
Lyra sighed again, distracted by thoughts of Silver. "I'll tell you afterwards."
"Are you ready to go yet, Lyra?" Silver questioned impatiently.
"Almost, I just have to find Glaceon and Leafeon, and then we can go," Lyra responded, searching around the maze of benches to try and find her Pokemon. "Oh, where could they be?" She was beginning to get a little frustrated.
"Um, Lyra," Silver tried to get her attention.
"Yeah?" She didn't bother to look up, continuing her search, bench by bench.
"I think I found 'em," he pointed down to Lyra's bag, which was sitting on the ground by the doorway.
"What?" she walked over to where he was pointing to, and, lo and behold, there were the two little Eeveelutions, all cuddled up together in her bag, purring away. She smiled, and went down to pick up her bag, when Naoko and the others came pouring out of the main stage door.
"Oh, Lyra! I don't want you to leave!" Naoko cried, hugging her friend tightly. Lyra hugged her back, too.
"I don't want to leave either," she barely managed out Naoko was squeezing her so tight. All of the other girls hugged her and said their teary goodbyes. "I'm not going to be gone forever, I'll come and visit again," she promised them. They petted down Ho-Oh and the other Pokemon one last time, before Lyra bent down and picked up her heavy bag. "Oof," she fell over a little from the weight of Glaceon and Leafeon in it.
"Here," Silver stepped forward. "Let me take it." He took the bag from her and placed it over his own shoulder with ease. Just then he caught eyes with Naoko. He turned to her. "I believe I owe you an apology," he said stiffly.
"I think I owe you one, too," Naoko spoke equally as stiff. "Well, I'm sorry. I took it a little far."
"And I'm sorry for intruding," Silver nodded. He then turned to Lyra again. "So are you ready to go now?"
"I think everything's set, so, yeah," Lyra smiled brightly. She turned to her friends one last time, and reassuringly repeated herself, "I do promise, I will come back and visit you guys, don't worry."
"Okay," Naoko smiled, "you have fun in the Hoenn. And you," she jabbed a finger at Silver. He turned to her with a cocked eyebrow. "And you take good care of her." He nodded once again, and began to walk out the large, majestic doorway.
Lyra hugged them all at the same time in one big group, before bounding out the door to Silver. She waved spastically at them before turning around completely. "So," she took his hand as they began to walk to the far-end gate that lead to Olivine. "We need to get to Olivine by tonight, at the least, because we have to be on the S.S. Anne right in the morning..."
"Okay, then," he continued to walk, nodding.
After a few seconds, she gave him a funny look.
"What?" he turned to her. "Is there something on my face?"
"No, it's just…" she paused. "What exactly are we now, Silver? In a relationship? Like… um, boyfriend and girlfriend?"
He said nothing, just leaned over and kissed her, which surprised her enough to stop in her tracks. "Was that enough proof for you?"
She blushed. "Yes, yes, it is." He smiled at her. Just then, Glaceon and Leafeon both climbed out of the bag, startling Silver some. Leafeon climbed up onto Silver's shoulder, while Glaceon hopped onto Lyra's.
And with the sun shining bright in the morning sky, Leafeon and Glaceon purring away, and Lyra and Silver hand in hand, were they all off to Olivine City, and to the Hoenn, for their next big adventure, together.
The Happy Ending... for now!
Author's Notes: Sorry for the crappy ending. Truthfully, I couldn't find virtually anything to end this with, so I just went with the first thing that even vaguely came to mind. Well, I hope this wasn't too terrible for y'all readin' it. I have a sequel to this already in mind, which may or may not be up very soon.
Well, tah-tah for now.
Fooboo24