Hello everyone!

Here you have some franticshipping I wrote a long time ago - because why not?

This story is unbetaded so do expect some mistakes.

- Change -

He was trying to get along with his father. They had started training together again - last time he was just a child. He hadn't lost all his battling skills, though. "You have it in your blood, child. Can't run from it," his father used to say. In fact, he did feel the adrenaline pumping in his veins whenever he took on a challenger; a certain hint of pride seeing how Norman-the-Gym-leader had to actually put some effort into battling him in the field. However, he was not yet to be considered strong. Not that he minded that.

She was the real reason he was even trying. Not to become a tougher trainer, that is (although he was aware of the glow in her eyes every time she watched him battling), but to be a part of his father's life. "It must have been hard for Norman… seeing you change so much all of a sudden and everything. He worries about you, I'm sure. I think he just pushed you away to, like, see if you'd go back to being the little boy he raised... But you didn't. I don't want to be to blame for that."

But she never was. No one was to blame for what had happened, he has come to realize over the years. But he knew he couldn't keep those insecurities away from that little heart of hers; after all, he too had his own. So he compromised.

He had also begun to show more of his true self – behind all the acting, fake smiles and beauty contests, that is. Not that all of it was pretending; he knew having an eye for beauty wasn't necessarily a weakness. It made him feel safe; every dramatic encenation was like a brick he used to build this incredibly tall wall that hid his heart inside of him. A heart that could easily be compared to a fierce, wild animal, locked inside a cage for too long, craving its freedom for too long as well. But as the years went by, he would occasionally find the courage to loosen up a little, allowing his confined heart to beat as fast and as strong as it pleased. Sometimes, this mysterious creature would even become strong enough to break free from its chains, inviting the wind to blow away the cruel, darkened, twisted memories from his past and replace them with bright, fresh, new ones.

That is why, when he asked her what hat he should wear that day – "white one or black one?" –, she answered - "just your scars,"- and he agreed to that.

Everyone who knew Sapphire was used to her abrasive personality. She didn't quite mind that people thought she was rude, or insolent, or barbaric, or what so ever. Sometimes she even liked it - having that external appearance allowed her to conceal her true self from uninteresting, ordinary people. In fact, very few had mastered the art of reading in between her lines; and certainly very few had ever realized how sweet and caring she could be at times. Despite that, she was definitely not the type of girl who would change her behavior to appeal to people she didn't even relate to.

But then again, Ruby wasn't just any person.

"Just because Professor Birch is kind of obliged to love you, because, you know, he's your father, it doesn't mean you shouldn't be appreciative of him and the people who care about you," he had told her one day, face serious but loving at the same time, like only Ruby knew how to accomplish. "You should never take anything for granted."

So she was trying to show a softer (and better) side of herself – a side she had lost a long time ago. That is why you could find Sapphire with her eyes closed, taking deep, long breaths whenever Gold showed up in Hoenn for their annual meeting and referred to her as 'the wild girl'; that is why she had started to laugh more often at the oblivious remarks of her father whenever they took on a journey into Petalburg Woods looking for wild Slakoths; and that is why, when Ruby stepped into her secret base, excitingly holding a new dress he had just finished sewing for her, she didn't punch him in the arm like she used to - she pecked him shyly on the cheek and left the room instead, secretly praying for her strong legs to be faster than his running shoes.

Besides all of that, she knew she would never become the 'touchy-feely' type of girl. She would never write cheesy love letters, buy cute gifts or celebrate Valentine's day. But she was full aware that having someone depending on her, although a great responsibility, was also somewhat empowering. What she didn't know, but came to realize over the past years, was that to depend on someone was not necessarily a sign of weakness, but of strength and confidence instead. To let herself submerge into her interior lake of uncertainties, resisting the instinct to pull herself back to the surface, in the hope that he would always be there to hold her and wipe her tears in the (very rare) moments she fell apart, – to have that kind of trust in someone else also brought inside of her, surprisingly enough, a feeling of power.

So later at night, inside the cave, when she was shivering from the cold drops of rain dripping from her hair, she didn't light up a fire – she asked for his jacket instead.

I apologize for any mistakes. Feel free to review and let me know your opinion!

Thank you for reading.

~raspberry cookie