The second day's fic. Quite a while longer than the previous. It seems as though I genuinely enjoy Chessshipping, as I thought I may. If you look carefully, you may spot one or two references to other works in this fic. Besides that, enjoy the story!

Christmas, Day 2: Ferris Wheel

"Deep breaths, White. Deep breaths."

White attempted to calm her frantic nerves, standing in front of the archway that led to Nimbasa City's amusement park. She steeled herself as she walked in, her eyes darting from the fencing to the Gym. With nowhere else to go, her vision slowly landed on the Ferris wheel. A chill went down her spine, but she shook it off as she began to approach it. Barely halfway to the wheel, she stopped, suddenly remembering the incident that had occurred inside of it nearly a year ago. White quickly turned on her heel and left through the archway in a blur.

"Not today," she thought to herself. "Not today."

A few more weeks had passed, with an attempt at trying to reach the Ferris wheel every few days. It always ended with her memories getting the best of her, resulting in White standing in fear for a few moments before fleeing the scene. She was lucky that most of the employees and workers there didn't bat an eye at this strange "habit". Nearly two months after her first attempt, White was back at the amusement park. She pushed forwards, nearly reaching the Ferris wheel itself when fear caught hold of her once more. As she turned to leave, a slender hand placed itself on her shoulder.

"Where are you going?"

White looked up, surprised to see Nimbasa City's Gym Leader, Elesa, standing in front of her. White was a bit shocked at how her outfit had changed so much in the past year. To answer the Gym Leader's question, she quickly mumbled a response before turning her attention to something behind Elesa's head.

"What was that?" Elesa asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Sorry, I can't hear you if you're that quiet."

"I said that I wasn't going anywhere," White responded, pulling the tip of her cap downwards. Elesa looked at her, worry lightly plastered over her face.

"You sure? You've been coming here a lot in the past month or two. You keep walking in, then running out as if you're scared of something."

White shook her head. "It's nothing," she told Elesa. "Just some nerves from... work, yeah, that's right. Work."

Elesa gave her a curious stare before giving a curt nod and turning to head back to her gym. As the doors slid open, she glanced over her shoulder. "If you need any help, talk to your friends. They'll be able to help you."

The moment the doors closed behind her, White dashed to the entrance, getting away from the Ferris wheel as fast as she could. It was an irrational fear, she knew that much, and the fears had only worsened when Black had been whisked away in the Light Stone.

White thought to herself. Why was she doing this? It was a question not even she thought she could answer. The one color nagging at the back of her head implied otherwise, however.

Without much thought, she pulled out her X-Transceiver and dialed two familiar numbers.

She did it. She finally did it.

Triumphant, she sat down in the car with a tentative grace as Cheren and Bianca, Black's two childhood friends, sat across from her. They had been unnervingly supporting once she had explained that she wanted to ride the Ferris wheel but was too scared to do it alone for unlisted reasons.

As the Ferris wheel rose, White clenched her hands into fists, pushing them down her legs as her arms tensed up. She could feel a cold sweat run through her back as the wheel rose. As she looked out the window, the rising height only made her shut her eyes. As quickly as it had begun, the ride slowed to a stop. As the door opened, Cheren and Bianca had to half-pull and half-coerce White into leaving the safety of the car seat. In the end, they managed to convince her that the coast was clear, and the embarrassed White managed to walk outside of the park without bursting into a run.

Despite having her eyes closed the entire ride, Cheren and Bianca looked proud of her. They treated her to a quick lunch, despite her insistence that she didn't need it. As she watched the two bicker, a smile crept across her face. A question rose through her sea of thoughts, and, before she knew it, White had already spoken. "Are we really, you know, 'friends'? I mean, I barely know you two, so-"

The two stared at her in a peculiar manner. For a moment, she shut up. worried that she had said something wrong. White shook the idea of being disliked by the two from her head as Bianca started laughing and Cheren answered. "Any friend of Black is a friend of mine."

"Mine too!" Bianca followed up, wiping a few tears from her eyes due to her sudden outburst. "Why wouldn't we want to be your friend? Friends are there to help each other!"

White couldn't help but laugh at Bianca's lines. "That was both sound advice and a cheesy thing to say, Bianca- I can call you that, right?"

Bianca nodded as Cheren spoke up. "Now that we have that out of the way, why not have a normal discussion as, you know, 'friends'?"

"But what is there to talk about?" White asked.

Cheren glanced at her. "You're the president of an agency, aren't you? How about stocks, management, etcetera?"

Bianca laughed nervously. "No way! I don't know anything about that kind of stuff! How about we talk about-"

To her surprise, Bianca looked up to see Cheren and White engaged in a deep conversation about the subjects Cheren had just listed. She looked around the busying area and sighed. It looked as though the two got along in the strangest way, and she couldn't just help but be a bit jealous of White. Just a little.

"Black?"

The boy took a step outside of the blinding light. Then another. Then another.

He began his slow gait towards the pony-tailed girl, his mouth twisted into a grimace, as though every step pained his entire being. Suddenly, he began to collapse from exhaustion, and White rushed to his aid. She buried her head into his shoulder, tears rolling out in a stream.

"You're back."

She knew he couldn't hear him; two years inside the White Stone probably damaged his senses beyond normal repair, but she didn't care. He was back, and that was all that mattered.

To her surprise, two warm hands wrapped around her back. She looked up from Black's shoulder to see him smiling wearily. His eyes seemed distant, and yet, they seemed to look into her heart. One of his hands lifted to wipe the tears from her eyes. His tired smile never wavered, even as he collapsed once more. However, this time, he had fallen into a deep unconsciousness.

Normally, White wouldn't be able to lift Black's body, but, in this case, she somehow managed to keep it up as other flew in. She didn't know how long they were in an embrace, but the moment someone tried to lift him out of her grasp, she held on tighter and tighter. A silent struggle ensued, but soon, White fell asleep due to exhaustion in a similar manner to Black.

The next morning, of course, came as a surprise when she awoke laying in a hospital bed, her steel grip still ironed onto Black's clothes. Embarrassed, she let go, turning away from the resting Black and jumping out of the bed. She looked around the hospital room to see her Pokemon in a corner, sleeping soundly.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of shifting fabric and turned to see that Black was sitting up as he rubbed his eyes. White giggled at the sight of his bedhead before covering her mouth with her hands. To her luck, the currently deaf boy didn't hear the sound and simply attempted to get out of bed. White winced at the sound of bones cracking and rushed to his aid. As she helped him settle back into the bed, she noticed him staring at her as though she had come out of nowhere- which, in his eyes, she had. White, mistaking the stare for something else, blushed furiously, turning away. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Black open his mouth, then close it in frustration.

Still blushing, she turned her eyes away from Black and to her X-Transceiver. The alert for "41 Unread Messages" flashed onto its screen, causing her to sigh. To her pleasant surprise, however, all of the messages were from her co-workers, who were worrying about her lateness to work. After spending a few minutes responding to each person and explaining that she was taking a day off, she put her phone into her pocket and glanced at Black, who had drifted off into a deep sleep. Smiling to herself, White scanned the room and found a small slip of paper and a pen. She scribbled down a small note and tucked it inside Black's cap before leaving the room.

"So, what's the occasion for calling me here today, Prez?" Black asked, his voice mostly recovered. It had been a few days, but Black had finally regained some of his voice and hearing. Now, the two were walking around Nimbasa City. "Don't you have any work to do?"

White frowned. "We're not working, you don't have to call me that. Also, did you not see the note I gave you?"

"Nope," Black responded, chuckling nervously. He stopped walking and began to cough into his sleeve for a few seconds before looking at White. "So you said it was in my hat, Prez?"

Black pulled off his hat, searching around vigorously. White restrained herself from laughing when she saw the slip of paper sticking out of his messy hair, and, after a few minutes of searching, Black gave up, scratching at his hair before putting his cap back on. "Are you sure? I can't seem to-"

As Black was interrupted by the falling paper, White burst out into laughter. He put on an embarrassed smile and quickly snatched the paper out of the air, reading it aloud. "I have the whole week off. Call me soon. Love, White." He seemed confused. "Love...?" he asked, his voice trailing off as his eyes unfocused.

White suddenly cringed. "Did I really write that last part?" she thought to herself. "I must have been really sleepy back then, huh?"

"I can explain, Black," White began. As she began her next sentence, Black cut her off.

"No worries! There's probably somebody else you write that to, anyways. A mistake is a mistake, and dwelling on the past won't change it! Anyways, where are we going?"

White thought she could hear a twinge of jealousy in his overly energetic voice, but she let it slide for now. She also questioned how Black had such sage advice, quickly boiling it down to the two years he spent in the White Stone. "To the amusement park; where else could we go in the city?"

As she dragged Black behind her, she could see his surprised expression through the corners of her eyes. Did he really care that much about her that he would remember that day for over two years? She shook her head as she half-led and half-pushed Black into the Ferris wheel, sitting down on the other side of him.

Black's first surprise came when he read "Love, White" on the paper, accompanied by a little heart. It wasn't something he had realized earlier, but being around Prez made him feel... uncomfortable, but in a good way. It was something he hadn't given much thought to when he had been absorbed in his dream to become the Pokemon League Champion. Now that he had earned that title, there was no set goal for him to reach. At least, that's what he had convinced himself all those years inside the White Stone. Once more, he convinced himself that it was a mistake on White's end, and simply brushed it off. She probably didn't his feelings after two years, right?

Black's second surprise came when White began to lead the way to the Ferris wheel. If anything, it seemed as though he was more reluctant to ride it than White was. He knew that she remembered what had occurred on there in the middle of their journey, as evidenced by her grip slackening as they got closer to the ride. In response, his grip strengthened, but he doubted she noticed it.

Black's third surprise came shortly after the Ferris wheel began to rise.

White was looking out the window, her hands clenched into fists as the ride rose higher and higher into the bright sky. At the top, the ride seemed to slow to a stop as a worker yelled from below. "Technical difficulties, everybody! The ride will resume shortly!"

White seemed to be shaking harder now. Whether it be from her memories or the height, Black did not know, nor did he care. He stood up and sat next to an open spot near White, who was still staring blankly out the window, not noticing his presence. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and sat there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

"Hey."

Black straightened his back, looking back at White. "Yeah, Prez?"

"Can you call me White?"

Black put on a shocked expression, still staring at the back of White's head. "Isn't that a little bit too... y'know, intimate or whatnot?"

White turned around and grabbed his other hand, throwing it around her neck and completing the embrace. Their heads were touching as she spoke. "I know."

As the two pulled themselves closer together, the ride suddenly started to descend, interrupting their "moment" together. Embarrassed, they pulled away from each other, with Black returning to his original seat. The worker didn't bat an eye at the two, simply apologizing for the inconvenience of the minor incident.

The couple sat down on a nearby bench, looking away from each other with blushing faces. Finally, Black spoke up, his voice nearly cracking with nervousness. "So, do you really mean...?"

White kept her lips shut, but once Black hugged her by the waist, she loosened up-

-at least until Black lifted her up into the air.

"Hey- Black!" she yelled, hitting his hand. Wincing at the pain, he quickly let White down, silently nursing his hand. "So, the Ferris wheel- how'd you get over those memories, Prez?" he asked, changing the subject for the time being.

White looked reluctant to answer but told him anyway. "Cheren and Bianca helped me with it."

"Really? That's nice of them."

The two sat in a few minutes of silence as the sky began to turn orange. Once again, Black was the one to speak up first.

"So, you know you don't have to try and avoid this, y'know?"

White looked surprised. "What do you mean, Black?"

Black shrugged. "Better to start it now than leave it until it's too late, Prez."

At the response, White cracked a small smile. "In that case, call me White. We're not at work, after all."

"Sure, Pr- I mean, Whi- Whi- Whi-" Black stuttered, trying to say White's name aloud.

"Whi- Whi- ah, forget it. W-H-I-T-E. There!"

White sighed at Black's antics. "I asked you to call me by my name, not spell it."

"Sorry Prez, but I guess I'll stick to 'Prez' for now. After all," Black began, winking slyly, "We can't have your co-workers know that you're dating an employee now, can you?"

"What do you mean, 'dating an employee'?" White asked, flustered.

"I'm still going to work for you. After all, I have a debt to pay off, don't I?" Black stood up, giving White a thumbs up. "And this is a date, isn't it?"

"It- that's not why-" White tried to deny the latter portion of what Black said, and after utterly failing, gave up trying to deny it. "I guess so," she said, sighing.

"Then let me treat you! It's been two years since we last saw each other like this!"

Black ran on ahead, waiting and waving from the amusement park's archway. White stood up from the bench and looked on at the sun as it fully set. As she walked towards Black and glanced at the Ferris wheel, one thought popped into her head.

"Hey, Black?"

"Hrm? What is it, Prez?"

"Let's ride the Ferris wheel."