A/N:

Once again an Oldrival story. (That's probly the only thing I'll ever write... or at least, that's the only thing I can imagine myself writing.) You just gotta love this pairing, don't you?

Disclaimer: Pokémon isn't mine. Never has, never will be.

Embrace

Green raises his key to the keyhole, when suddenly he notices that the door is already open. He frowns. Had grandfather already returned from work? No, that wasn't possible: he had just left him behind at the lab. Cautiously, he pushes the door open and enters the house. After just one step, he stops in surprise. Blue is standing in the kitchen, just visible through the doorway. She has her back turned to him, and is leaning on the dresser. Frowning, he wonders what she's doing there, in his house. And how did she get in, anyway? He can't recall ever giving her a key.

Pondering about these things, he walks further down the hall. He is tired from a hard day's work and doesn't feel like experiencing one of Blue's whims, bouncing around him like a skippyball. Perhaps he should just leave her there for a while and first go upstairs, refreshing himself, before heading over to the undoubtedly very (annoyingly) cheerful girl standing in the kitchen. He stops in his tracks again, however, when he hears a sob. One foot on the staircase, he stands quite still, wondering if he has heard right. A second sob does it. Startled, he turns on his heels and walks over to the small kitchen.

Blue's shoulders are shaking; her head is bent. Strands of brown hair fall on the stone surface. Green hesitates, taking in the picture of a clearly upset Blue. He knows that the girl standing in front of him is very proud; that she often poses stronger than she really is … but on the other hand, she is in his house and owes him an explanation of how she got there at the least.

"Blue."

She turns around quick as lighting: a shock of hair framing a pale face. Her bright blue eyes stare at him in shock. "Green…" There is silence for a moment; then Blue conjures a wide smile upon her face. "I was already looking for you! How are you?"

Green ignores the question and says, "Cut the act. What are you doing here?"

"I already said, didn't I? I was looking for you. But you weren't here, so…"

"…you went for crying in the kitchen instead?" Another silence. Then –

"That was mean," Blue whispers.

Green bores his eyes into hers. "No, it's the truth." He pauses for awhile, then continues in a friendlier tone, "Blue, if you tell me what's going on..."

"There's nothing going on!" she cries with a voice that is a little too shrill. She immediately realises her mistake and continues in a normal, forced cheerful tone, "Nothing at all, Green. Don't you worry about me!"

"I don't." A shadow of disappointment glides over her face, but when he blinks it's already gone. Blue is still wearing her radiant smile, though it doesn't completely reach her eyes. He feels a stab of pain somewhere around his midriff, just as short as the change of expression on Blue's face had been. "I'm just trying to help you. As a friend," he adds. Again that stab. This time, it isn't one of pain; perhaps his body can feel the lie.

Blue looks at him, her expression soft now. "I know that, Green. I just don't want to burden you with my problems and – "

"If I wanted to stay out of it, I'd have left you here and had gone upstairs; something I had intended to do in the first place, to tell you the truth. But you're in my house, so I'd like to know the story. How did you enter, anyway?"

She faintly smiles. "You haven't forgotten who you're talking to, have you? There's more needed than a lock to stop me."

Green rolls his eyes but decides against showing his irritation; not before he's heard the whole story. He folds his arms. "Right, we'll talk later about that. Why did you want to see me?"

Blue stares at her feet, intertwining her fingers. After a small pause she says, "To be honest, I was looking for someone to go with me to the Viridian Park. You know how pleasant it always is there in the summer… I already had been at Yellow's place, but she wasn't home." She briefly looks up at him, as though to check if he was still listening, and continues, "I saw you weren't here yet, but I knew it wouldn't take long before you'd return from the lab. So I waited here." She looks with a skewed eye at the fridge. "I took the liberty to take something to drink. I didn't know you were such a fan of strawberry ice cream, by the way. Is that to compensate your usual moodiness? There're at least five boxes…"

"They're grandfather's," Green says, grinding his teeth. He suppresses the urge to add 'noisy woman'. "Go on."

"Well… the waiting took longer than I had expected. My thoughts turned to last summer and before that; when I got reunited with my parents, for example. I… you know that made me very happy, and I cherish those memories, I do; but sometimes – sometimes, the past catches up with you…" Her eyes are still directed to the ground. A heavy silence lies in between them.

"Pryce," Green says eventually. Blue looks at him.

"Pryce," she repeats. Another silence. Green observes her; can see the tension and the burden of her past etched on her face.

"Do you have more often problems with this?"

Blue fumbles with her shirt, weighing her answer. "Sometimes… Especially – especially when there's no-one around. If there's silence and nothing to hold my thoughts back. Then the memories can come undisturbed, piling up, until it feels as though I were a part of that nightmare once again."

Green doesn't know what to say. 'That's all behind you now, get over it? Pryce is long gone? You have to move on?' Everything that crosses his mind seems obtuse and cheap. He had always suspected that Blue still wore the scars of her past, but she never showed. She was too proud, too strong. Too independent to lean on someone else. But now the story was out and she was waiting for an answer. Not having one, and not knowing what else to do, he steps forward and embraces her tightly. Blue's eyes snap open in surprise, but then close again as she, too, puts her arms around him and lays her head on his shoulder. Sorrow and emptiness disappear in the warmth of the embrace; a vague smile on her lips. Green has his arms around her waist, distinctly feeling her body against his. He is still a bit dazed by his rash action, but at the same time shows no sign to free himself. Although his conscience tells him this is something to worry about, he enjoys the feeling of Blue having so close. More than he should, anyway.

At last they let go of each other, rather reluctantly, and their eyes meet. Azure and emerald look at each other. Their faces are still close by, too close, it flashes through his mind. He can see her moist eye-lashes, the dimple in her cheek, her mouth, lips slightly parted…

The tension becomes unbearable. He clears his throat and takes a step back. Blue suddenly looks flustered, aware of the intimate moment that had just taken place. With a barely visible blush, she stares at her shoes. Green doesn't know what to do, knows not what to say, and he hates it when that's the case. He turns on his heels to walk away, when he changes his mind at the last minute. Perhaps it is his subconscious that stops him; perhaps something else. It can't be his common sense.

"Blue… is the offer for this afternoon still standing?"

He receives a broad smile in response. This time it does reach her eyes.

A/N:

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Reviews are greatly appreciated, they make my day :D I hereby also wanna thank the people who were positive about my first story (Beach Day); thanks to that support, I decided to upload and write more stories. So thanks!

Also: if you see any (grammar) mistakes, please notify me so I can fix that. Well, I'll be heading out now. The weather's much too good to be on FF, actually... ;)