Title: stars in the sea
Summary: Jasmine of Olivine was always different, but she was also afraid. Until she found someone like her, someone who dared to be free, and taught her how to be too. Steelwingshipping :oneshot:
Pairing: Falkner/Jasmine (steelwingshipping)
Words: 2341
Jasmine of Olivine was a dreamer.
She was imaginative and inquisitive, and she adored the prospect of exploring the world. Sitting in her room, her mind could wander to far-off lands, from the depths of Hoenn to the mountains of Sinnoh.
Her parents thought she was crazy when she was younger. Other girls talked about dresses and dolls, but she talked about sailing across the seas and exploring strange lands with stranger people. Needless to say, she's wasn't popular.
With time, she learnt. She learnt what people wanted her to be. She learnt that society didn't like people like her.
She begged her parents to let her leave, to let her live in a place that wanted her, a place where she'd belong. Goldenrod, maybe, or Cianwood. She cried and begged them.
They said no.
She was stuck, rejected by her home and forbidden from the outside. She couldn't go on like that. Something had to change. So she did. Her head got heavier and her feet firmer. Long gone were the days of idle dreams and talks of adventure. Her parents were relieved, her community satisfied. But there was a feeling of emptiness inside of her, a feeling she couldn't get rid of. It ate her up inside, day by day, and she never knew why.
Until the lighthouse was built. Glitter Lighthouse - the beacon of light for travellers from all over the world. Jasmine loved it the moment she stepped foot in it. It was tall and grand, like a castle right out of a childhood storybook. And if that was a castle, then she was its princess.
For hours upon hours she'd stand there, on the top deck, staring out into the sea and listening to the sound of waves lapping at the shore. It was magical.
She stayed there for as long as she could, until the moon rose high into the sky, until the drunk voices of sailors faded away, until the ships went to sleep. She'd turn to leave, but not before looking back one last time. Then she'd smile, and she'd dream of stars in the sea and ships in the sky.
And Jasmine was happy, for a while.
_._._._._.
Jasmine of Olivine was a fighter.
She was strong and spirited, and she soon became one of the best trainers in the city. She trained hard every day and loved her pokémon with a deep passion. Ever since she was a little girl, she was taught how to raise pokémon well, to love them with all her heart.
Some said she didn't actually care for her pokémon, and that her parents were forcing her to be a trainer. Others said it was a form of rebellion, because her parents wouldn't let her leave the city. The nicer ones speculated that she finally found her calling and her childhood strangeness was just a phase. Gossip about her was always inevitable.
It was surprising to many that she chose steel type pokémon. When asked about it, Jasmine would smile and quickly change the subject. Maybe it was a statement, to prove that she was sturdy and unbreakable, just like steel.
So when the old gym leader retired and moved to Unova, she was the prime candidate as his successor. It was no surprise that she accepted the position.
Her first gym leader meeting was the first time she met him. Falkner - the young bird keeper of Violet. Of all the other gym leaders and trainers, it was he who caught her attention.
He was young - like her - but he knew the language of adults. He was confident and bold, but also prudent and calculative. But that wasn't what made him special.
It was his eyes. In it was that same passion inside of her, that need to explore which she tried so hard to suppress. Looking into his blue eyes was like staring at her childhood, at the dreams she never accomplished. And she was afraid, of how she felt when she was around him.
So she avoided him whenever she could. She didn't speak to him and kept her distance. She knew he noticed, but he never said anything about it. He respected her space, and she appreciated it. She appreciated it a lot.
Eventually everything settled down. She grew comfortable with her position as gym leader, and her life faded into calmness and familiarity.
And Jasmine was happy, for a while.
_._._._._.
Jasmine of Olivine was a realist.
She was rational and thinking, and she made good decisions. She was a good leader to the trainers under her wing, to the people who looked up to her. She understood the importance of who she was, and what she did.
So when she, as a gym leader, was invited to an official event, she naturally accepted. She learned that it was a bird show, organized by the bird keepers of Johto. Bird pokémon were never her favourite, but she thought it might be enjoyable anyway. She'd forgotten that about that bird keeper she was trying so hard to avoid.
Even if she wasn't a bird keeper, she thought the event was spectacular. Bird pokémon flew all around the aviary, some with riders but most without. She couldn't help but admire their beauty and skill.
The last performance was by the most famous bird keeper in Johto: Falkner himself. She let out a gasp when she recognized that head of blue hair riding a pidgeotto.
From afar, he looked at her, and she saw that wildness in his eyes. But unlike her, it wasn't bottled up. He let it free, and she saw how in love he was with the feeling of liberation.
She was never a jealous woman, but in that moment, she was jealous of him. She was jealous that he could travel wherever and whenever he wanted his pokémon, while she still had to ask her parents for permission to leave her house. She was jealous that he didn't have to hide his raging thirst for freedom, while people called her crazy for wanting to take a stroll out of the city. She was jealous that he was happy, while she had to force herself to be.
Tears formed in her eyes. She tried to blink them away but it was a battle she couldn't win. She excused herself quickly and gave her best reassuring smile to Whitney, who had given her a worried look.
It was only when she locked herself in a toilet cubicle that she let herself cry. She allowed the hot tears fall from her cheeks. She wept and wept, because she was trapped and because none of it was fair.
Once all her tears ran dry, she returned to her seat and mentioned something about drinking some milk gone bad. She joined the crowds in applause and forced a smile onto her face.
Falkner approached her afterwards. That was the first time he had ever done that, if she remembered correctly. He asked if she was alright, concern on his expressions.
Jasmine just smiled, eluding the need to answer. Then she praised his skill and complimented the performance. She had to fight her rapidly beating heart, forcing herself to be calm. It was dangerous, the way he made her feel. She couldn't look into his eyes. She knew she'd start crying again if she did.
Falkner looked at her, in all her shyness and fear and suppressed emotion. He glanced at his pidgeotto in the distance. Then he asked her if she wanted to fly on it.
A gasp formed, but she stifled it quickly. She wanted to say yes. She really did. She wanted to know what it was like to feel the wind in her hair and see the world from high above. She wanted to feel, even if it was just for a while, like she was free.
But no. A lady in her position couldn't go around flying on the back of a pokémon with a stranger. It was just wrong, on so many different levels. She thought of what people would say, of what the media would say. Rejection of that offer was on the tip of her tongue, but somehow she couldn't say no. She couldn't refuse her one chance of freedom.
She looked behind him and saw her parents, staring at her expectantly. She had forgotten that they had arranged to pick her up, just in case. In case of what? She didn't dare ask.
Smiling shyly, she excused herself and commented once again on how good the event was. She took her leave before he had any time to respond.
A situation well avoided, she concluded. She didn't say no, but she didn't say yes either. Thinking back, how could she possibly say yes? It wasn't an option for her, she knew. She had made the best decision she could. She repeated that to herself until she was convinced.
And Jasmine was happy, for a while.
_._._._._.
Jasmine of Olivine was a lady.
She was beautiful and graceful, and exactly the woman society shaped her to be. Her childhood tendencies were long forgotten by all, replaced by admiration at who she had become. And ladies in her position were expected to marry.
Her parents had not-so-subtly told her that she needed to find someone, a husband, to be specific. But try as she might, she couldn't find a match. So her parents made an effort to find one for her. Month after month, she attended the dates her parents arranged for her, meeting potential suitor after another. It was tedious, and dull. And completely fruitless. She couldn't find someone she agreed with.
Some suitors were too rough, and she dared to admit that she was afraid of them. Others were too uninterested. She didn't trust them to be faithful, to care for her if she needed help. And then there were men who didn't want her to be a gym leader, who, she guessed, felt threatened by her position. That was the kind she disliked the most.
Eventually, her parents decided that enough was enough. She was getting older every day, and she was no closer to finding a fiancé. So they threatened her, to take away her position as gym leader.
She was shocked. And then she was hurt. She ran to her room for refuge, crying down the hall. She didn't speak to them for days.
And then he arrived, knocking on her door. He came at the request of her parents, holding a bouquet of violets. His traditional battle clothes were exchanged for a formal shirt and dress pants, his blue hair gelled back to reveal his entire face.
Jasmine nearly fainted in shock at the sight of Falkner himself standing in her living room. But he reassured her with one of his rare smiles. And she was less afraid. He was gentlemanly and kind, and they engaged in an awkward but pleasant conversation. That was their first date.
When he asked if he could come again, she said yes.
On their second date he took her to the Olivine Harbor and pointed to the names of faraway places. Slateport. Driftvale. Hau'oli. Places Jasmine never even heard of. He told her how wonderful the world was, how many things she could see. But she knew her parents wouldn't let her go alone, and she told him that. So he offered to go with her, as if it was the obvious answer. She was surprised, but the idea lingered in her head. Maybe someday, she said. She looked into his blue eyes and she knew the wildness in his eyes matched hers. She realized she didn't feel so afraid anymore.
The next time he saw her, they went to the lighthouse. They stayed there for hours, sometimes lapsing into conversation, sometimes remaining in a comfortable silence. He saw the way she looked at the ships on the sea, with admiration and longing. He didn't think he ever saw anything so beautiful.
He didn't come for a while after that. And Jasmine was scared again. Had she done something wrong? Was he no longer interested? She was lost, and confused, and so afraid.
Then one night he arrived on her doorstep. He stood in front of his pidgeotto, hand outstretched. He asked her if she wanted to fly with him. She reached out to take his hand, but hesitated. It wasn't right. Her reasons still stood.
But one look into his eyes and she knew she couldn't say no. So she clasped his hand and slid behind him onto the back of pidgeotto.
She was afraid. But it was okay, because he was there with her. It was better than okay. It was magical. She was breaking the rules. She was taking risks. She was actually living.
She held on for her dear life as he led her through the skies, so high that she could touch the clouds, that she could almost reach the stars in the sky. He took her so high that the lighthouse looked like another light from a ship, like another shining star.
She tightened her grip around his waist and whispered words of thanks into his ear. For the first time in her life, she truly felt free.
He dropped her off at her door. Then he knelt down and took out a ring. Jasmine said yes even before he started the speech he'd prepared. But he didn't mind.
Their first kiss was miles above the ground, gazing at the ships in the sky and the stars in the sea.
They got married the next month, three years from the day they met.
Then they sailed, on a ship in the sky, beneath the stars on the sea.
And Jasmine was happy, for a very long time.
So this fic is basically the embodiment of "this ship has sailed" (even though it really hasn't). Also, my first ever fic with no dialogue! It was a little tough to write, I admit, but I hope you guys liked it! Look forward to more pokemon one-shots from me because I'm suddenly on a writing spree. Also come board the steelwingship!
Reviews are love!
-DBT