A/N: So I thought I'd give you guys an one shot that I made when making a tutorial on how to write fics (Took me long enough.). No worries-I'll try to get three chapters of Best Friends out soon. One thing you should know before you read: Gold is obsessed with shiny things in this fic. This is an AU situation of Best Friends, about three or four years after the events that took place in Johto in that fanfic-so Kris and Gold are fourteen.

Kris lay in a forest green field of grass, watching a Sunkern best a Magmar in a duel. How? She had no fracking clue.

Unbeknownst to her, a shadow lurked in a nearby bush, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

It struck.

"C'mon Kris, I heard they've got some new jewels in the Jewelry Shop! C'mon, c'mon, hurry up!" Gold, a young boy with black spiky hair and gray eyes, shouted excitedly at Kris. He quickly sped away, an unspoken challenge to race started.

She was startled at first, but quickly recovered. She looked at where her friend had gone, and stood up.

She was lazy, but she did need a little exercise…plus she had to make sure he didn't get into trouble…he had a…"special quality" for doing that.

She ran fast, but not fast enough to beat her energetic friend.

"Gold, wait up! Sheesh, you'd think he would at least let me catch up." She mumbled to herself.

By the time she got to the Jewelry Shop, she was quite exhausted. Gold, however, was jumping up and down-a habit he had earned due to his lively and somewhat impatient personality.

"Gold, you're a pain, you know that?! A real pain! Argh, my legs hurt from all that running." She yelled, quite frustrated.

"I'm sorry Krissy, I didn't mean to make you angry…" He said, slightly wincing at the sense of doom he was getting from her.

"You always say that-"

"Because it's true." He finished for her, but in a different way then she would have liked.

"No, you just want to get out of trouble." She said, calming down a little, but still a bit annoyed. She was fine with running, but she hadn't realized he was talking about the Jewelry Shop on the other side of town. There were two Jewelry Shops, after all.

"But I really try not to make you angry!" He said, a smidgen fearful for his life.

She glared, blew out steam, and…sighed.

"Let's just go inside already."

"Okay!"

It was quite nice inside; Kris had to admit. Tapestries depicting eras of peace and pokemon of all kinds were hung on the walls; rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and other assorted gems were strewn on the counters, glistening with a bright, yet intoxicating light.

None, however, were as amazing as what was to unfold; such a bond is more beautiful than any diamond in the entire world.

"Hey Kris, does this look good on me?" It does, Kris thought, but Silver will laugh at him if he sees Gold wearing that, referring to a pearl necklace.

"Yeah, you look…nice, but Silver…" No more had to be said between the two.

"How about me?" Kris, at the moment had a ruby ring on.

"Oh, well you look good yourself! Ha ha." He chuckled.

"You don't mean that, do you?" It wasn't uncertainty as the undertone of her question, but rather slight disbelief. Kris was a modest person; it's why, unlike the majority of the girls around town, she dressed in practical (but covering) clothing.

"Kris, you know I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."

"Actually, I don't believe that."

"Ah, you skeptic."

"Right you are, I am a skeptic."

Gold huffed.

"I'm going to go look over there," he pointed at a 'Minor Gemstones' aisle filled to the brim with small, pretty rocks. "if you see anything that is particularly shiny, shout to the heavens for me, since I'll probably be rummaging through the gems too much to hear you."

"Can do."

"Alright. Pray that the aisle does not become my grave."

"Already did."

"'Kay!" And with that, he ran into the aisle, searching high and low for the shiniest thing there.

Kris shook her head.

"Note to self: Get him a Sableye for Christmas."

After a good few minutes, Gold returned. Popping up behind a cabinet, he noticed Kris wearing a certain piece of jewelry-an opal necklace (1). It glimmered from the light quite nicely, since she was near a window. It brang out her dark blue eyes, making her equally dark blue hair even more vibrant as well; she was absolutely beautiful. It's not like she isn't already very beautiful, though, Gold quickly thought as he looked at her. Now, Gold, who was very excited, ran over to her, about to make his opinion known.

"Krissy, you have to buy that opal necklace! You're more beautiful than a Milotic when you have that on!" Realizing he said that last part out loud, he started to stutter.

"O-oh, I-I-I, I…I…"

Both of them were blushing, but Kris was the most red.

Gold quickly took off the jewelry he had on, put them back to where they belonged and ran.

"Wait, Gold! GOLD!"

Gold ran out into the streets, paying no heed to Kris' calls. He was utterly embarrassed; he hadn't meant for that thought to slip out of his mouth. Yes, Kris was beautiful, but that had embarrassed her too. And what if when he tried to ask her out, she refused him? These, along with "RUN" were the only thoughts on his mind at the moment.

Kris stood there, stunned for a moment. Sure, it was kind of awkward that GOLD of all people would tell her something like that, but why would he run off? Brushing that thought aside, she ran after him.

Gold was quite the runner; he was going way too fast for Kris to catch up. Luckily, she knew the layout of the town very well; so she took a short cut. She had already guessed where Gold was going to-the Lugia Sphere Cave. It was a little known cave, with various traps and powerful wild life-perfect for hiding from someone. Her guess turned out to be correct, as she saw Gold running inside.

She approached the entrance carefully, making sure that she did not alert Gold to her presence. She doubted he would hear her footsteps, though; he was either battle a strong Pokemon, avoiding a trap, or far into the cave by now. She loomed about the cave, noticing that the smooth, dark blue walls and floors had small disturbances in them. Eventually, she ran into a trap.

"Aeh!" Her leg got caught on an Ariados' rope of web-and the Ariados was pulling her in! Quickly, she got her Noctowl to cut the thread and slash at the Ariados. It backed off, having been heavily damaged by the critical hit.

"That was…exciting." She said between breaths. She may not have been the one doing the fighting, but nearly being eaten was something that could scare anyone.

"Nocoronu, you've done enough. Rest now, okay?" Kris said to the bird as he chirped a farewell.

She got up, brushed herself off, and walked around some more. Now, the cave had a tinge of purple in its walls and floors. Soon though, she came upon something intriguing. When she leaned in closer, she realized it was blood. A small drop, but blood nonetheless. As she got deeper into the cave, the more blood appeared. She found its source after a bit of running.

Gold.

He was leaning against a wall, with a big gash on his left shoulder and a small one on his left arm. He had his hand wrapped around his arm, and seemed to be half awake.

Kris bolted over to his side.

"Gold! Oh god, what happened?!" Her voice was frantic.

In his dazed state, he mumbled, "I…the Lu-". But before he could finish that word, he collapsed into Kris' arms.

She heard a noise behind her.

"Arawh…" The Legendary Pokemon of the Waves looked at her with angry eyes.

Fear.

Fear crawled into her heart, for she knew she had no time to call out one of her party members, and that she would not be able to run away with Gold in her arms.

Then, the most unexpected thing happened.

Just before the Lugia could release a Hydro Pump, the Ariados from earlier attacked it with a Poison Jab. Kris threw a thankful look at the eyes of the Ariados, and hauled Gold onto her back. She called out Drako, her level 78 Dragonite, to the scene. She told Drako to stay by her side, in which the female dragon agreed. They fled the cave, Drako switching between Aqua Tail and Dragon Tail to destroy any traps and turn away any unwanted enemies.

They managed to escape, and Kris called out Nocoronu to fly them to the nearest hospital. The nurses took Gold away, and Kris sat with her entire team on the bench. Piko, her male Pikachu, tried to comfort her, but she would often stare at the emergency room door, silently pleading that Gold would be okay.

It was three hours later when the nurses came out of the emergency room. Kris, however, had fallen asleep, resting peacefully on the plain wood bench. The nurses let her sleep for a while, until she finally woke up. When she was given permission to enter the room in which Gold lay, she dashed in there, immediately at his unconscious side.

Seeing as he probably wasn't going to wake up soon, she thought of how this mess began in the first place.

All he wanted to do was compliment me…but then he got embarrassed, and ran. She held her head down in shame. Gold shouldn't have been hurt just because he wanted to say something nice. If she hadn't followed after him, Gold would have died from blood loss. That one thought had plagued her mind since she ran away from the cave with Gold in tow.

She felt a hand grab her arm weakly.

Gold was awake now, face covered in shadow. It was impossible to tell what he was feeling-unless you were Kris. He was angry and sad, angry that he had put both himself and Kris into such a dangerous situation, sad that Kris must have been blaming herself-sad that he had been helpless to take care of things.

Kris delicately put her arms around the upright Gold, bringing him into a hug.

"Gold, don't ever do that again.." Her voice was strong, filled with so much meaning behind those words. He didn't respond immediately, instead pulling her in a little more. He managed a weak smile as he looked into Kris' eyes.

"I always learn from my mistakes."

It was four days before Gold was released from the hospital's gentle but strict clutches. Gold's mother and father made sure he got lots of rest, much to his displeasure. Kris came by that day, and they sat in a comfortable silence, until Gold spoke up, mustering all of his courage.

"Kris…I meant what I said that day."

She remembered his words, as they floated in her mind like clouds in the sky. "Krissy, you have to buy that opal necklace! You're more beautiful than a Milotic when you have that on!" She had realized since then that he had been honest when he said that, so why bring it up?

"Yeah, I know Gold. You aren't much of a liar, after all."

"…I still have that necklace."

"You do?" He said in a surprised matter.

"Of course, you liked it so much that after you were admitted into the hospital, I went and bought it."

"Huh…"

"Gold, you're trying to make a point. Please tell me what you want to tell me already."

Gold glanced at Kris for a second, than directed his vision to the beige carpet floor. Finally, he looked her in the eyes with a determined expression.

"Kris, I love you."

When she didn't move or change her blank stare, Gold began to worry that he had screwed up. Maybe she really would turn him down. Agh, he must have told her too soon. He held his head down, awaiting her answer.

He felt a soft hand push his chin up, so he would be at eye level with her. She was kneeling, looking at him with a warm smile, eyes closed. She opened them and said,

"And you thought I didn't love you back? You should know me better than that."

If one had passed by the second room on the second floor, they would have heard soft laughter.

A/N: ...Wow. I did not plan this ending, or most of this story, to be honest. But I like it. I really like it. Definitely worth the hard work I put into this thing.

(1)-Fact: The opal is my birth stone.

Thanks 5th D, reviewers, favers, watchers, and people who read my stories. You guys are awesome, and I'm going to try to work extra hard this weekend. Thank you!

2,266 words.