"Aw, man…" Ash threw his head back and sulked as he exited the Lumiose Stadium, "I can't believe we lost…!"
Marcus wasn't too thrilled about it either, but he was at least masking his disappointment better than Ash was, "...I'm gonna blame this one on our faithful supporter over there…" He glanced over his shoulder at Elizabeth behind them, a sweatdrop forming on his brow. She was walking just behind Cynthia and Diantha, and even from his position ahead of the three girls, Marcus could still see the sparkles in her eyes.
"But hey! Everyone's happy!" Ash bounced back quickly, "And that's what matters, right?"
Marcus nodded at that, "Yeah, you're right. Hopefully even Kasumi enjoyed it too…"
Ash's expression turned serious at that and he glanced at the ground in thought. He didn't have much time to think it over however, as all of their friends were waiting for them outside.
"There you are!" Takeba was the first to break out of the group, and she ran right up to Marcus and threw herself at him in a hug… and would have nearly tackled Marcus right to the ground if it weren't for Cynthia and Diantha acting quickly enough to catch them both, "You were soooo great out there!"
"Easy…" Marcus laughed nervously, though he didn't seem to mind terribly. He turned back to Cynthia and Diantha, "Thanks for the save there, ladies…"
Cynthia let out a dramatic sigh and closed her eyes, waving her hand flippantly, "Kids these days… Can't even keep their hands off each other."
Diantha only laughed softly at that and flashed a smile Marcus's and Takeba's way, "Think nothing of it, you two. It's great to see everyone's spirits up after everything that's happened. I don't mind catching a few lovebirds as long as everyone's happy again!"
"W-What birds…?" Marcus stuttered.
Cynthia only scrunched her nose, "'Catching?' You barely even pushed them back up… I did all the heavy lifting."
Suddenly Diantha lost her bravado and her shoulders sagged, "...Alright, that's enough.." She didn't like it whenever her weaknesses got exposed.
Seeing as everyone was mostly focused on Marcus and Takeba, Serena took the chance to walk up to Ash and congratulate him too, "That was still a great battle, Ash! You and Greninja always work so well together!" She smiled and closed her eyes. There might have been a hint of a red blush to her cheeks as she said it too.
Ash rubbed the back of his neck and grinned bashfully, "Aw, thanks Serena. We sure did give it our all back there!"
While Takeba was still clinging to his arm, Marcus looked over to Grace, who stood at his side. He lowered his voice to keep the conversation between the two of them, "How's Kasumi?"
Grace inhaled sharply and locked her gaze on the ground. She tersely shook her head with a tightly clenched jaw as her answer. Marcus just frowned, "I see…"
Once everything started to settle down between the congratulations and the occasional bicker fest, Cynthia placed her hands on her hips and looked around at the small crowd of friends that surrounded her, "Hmm… This seems like a pretty sizable bunch, wouldn't you say?"
Many heads turned to Cynthia in that moment, unsure of what she was talking about. However, the only one who actually spoke up to ask her was Diantha, "Hmm? For what?"
"Hey, Elizabeth." Cynthia greeted her nonchalantly, grinning to herself, "I know this is no stadium filled with people after a landslide Grand Prix win, but… Isn't there something you'd like to ask?"
Elizabeth froze at the mention of her name, and she simply looked between Cynthia and everyone else with wide eyes, "U-Uh… I guess…" Slowly then she started to sink to the ground.
"Don't you dare try and get on one knee!" Grace warned before Elizabeth could get very far and expose herself.
Elizabeth immediately stood back up straight and shook her head at Cynthia. She just stayed silent out of a fear of embarrassing herself further.
"You know… About maybe a certain battle?" Cynthia tried to guide Elizabeth to the right answer.
"W-Wait…" The gears finally started to spin in Elizabeth's mind to work again and everything clicked, "How do you…?"
"I was awake in the hospital that day, y'know." Cynthia explained, "I heard what you were trying to say. I also heard a thud after I tried to move some to try and respond… Was that thud… you?"
"So that's where she dashed off to…" Takeba tapped her chin and smiled deviously.
Grace placed a hand to her face and sighed in disappointment.
Elizabeth glanced off to the side, "Maybe…"
"Well… Anyway…" Cynthia brushed some hair out of her face, "Now's your chance to ask for real this time." She even smiled too to try and give Elizabeth some confidence.
"Right…!" Elizabeth cleared her throat and smiled, placing one hand to her chest and using the other to point at Cynthia, "I've been wanting to do this for quite some time, you know…! So here it is! Champion Cynthia…! I challenge you…to a date!"
Silence suddenly fell across everyone after that. They were just speechless.
"...Wait. That's not right." Takeba blinked.
"Goddammit…" Grace muttered to herself, shaking her head.
"Ah geez…" Marcus sighed.
Diantha didn't say anything at that. She only smacked her lips to try and keep herself from smiling.
Amidst the silence, Elizabeth's words began to catch up to her, and gradually her face grew more and more red before it started to match the color of her outfit, "...Uh… I… Goodbye!" And she instantly sped off, leaving a trail of dust in her wake as she hightailed it right out of there.
Cynthia just blinked a few times and covered her mouth with a hand. She didn't really know what to say to that, "I'm… confused."
Diantha let herself smile more openly afterwards, and she placed her hand on Cynthia's arm, "It looks like I'm not the only one with superfans anymore…" She teased with a laugh.
Glancing off to where Elizabeth ran off to, Cynthia dropped her hand from her face, "...I almost feel as if I should apologize. For both myself and her."
"Don't worry. I'll handle her." Diantha offered, and she turned around to go and follow Elizabeth.
"No you don't!" Grace stepped in, waving for Diantha to step down, "She doesn't need to be chased down by her number two! You'd only make things worse! I'll handle this." She started walking but she glanced over her shoulder before she could get far, "Takeba! You're coming with me!"
Takeba sent a look Marcus's way, but she didn't want to invoke the Ice Queen's wrath so she just followed Grace without protest, "Y-Yes ma'am!"
Diantha flashed an offended expression, "Number two?!" She looked at Cynthia.
"I guess that means I'm number one…?" Cynthia shrugged with a nervous smile.
"I did not know that my darkness could be so captivating…" Lore spoke to himself, placing his hand on his chin, "But alas, I suppose darkness does possess its temptations…"
"Oh, quiet." Kayla sat down in the seat next to Lore, "I've been meaning to vacation to Hoenn for a while. Traveling with you is only a matter of convenience."
Lore nodded at that, "I see… Well, it matters not what the true purpose behind this arrangement was. I'm merely content at the fact that my time with you has not ended yet."
For once, Kayla dropped that attitude of hers for just a moment, "...Yeah. I could be traveling with worse company." She even smiled briefly.
Lore returned the smile before he focused his gaze out the plane's window, "I have missed my homeland greatly in these past few weeks." He began, and he actually pulled the mask off of his face to look outside, "I cannot wait to be back. I am quite the prideful man when it comes to my region." Lore turned back to Kayla then, smiling still, "Perhaps you will allow me the opportunity to show you some of Hoenn's finest sights during your vacation."
Upon seeing Lore without his mask for the first time, Kayla's eyes widened and she simply placed her hand to her chest as sweatdrops beaded on her forehead. This was not good. Lore was kinda hot.
"A-Ah… but if it is not what you desire, I shall not push it onto you!" Lore tried to amend, caught off-guard by Kayla's uncharacteristic silence.
"...Show me everything." Kayla replied with a crack in her voice. She still was floored and she didn't think as to what she was saying, "I want to see all of it."
Lore bowed his head; now he was surprised by Kayla's bluntness, "A-As you wish!"
Elizabeth had never been exposed to the first class lifestyle before, and in any other circumstance she would be eating the lavishness right up. The seats were comfortable and spacious, there was free internet access, and every few minutes the refreshment cart would go up and down the aisle to give out drinks and snacks. Not to mention the Sinnoh Champion herself was in the seat right beside her. Yet… Elizabeth was at the far edge of her seat near the window, chin in her palm and her gaze trained on the sky outside. She couldn't enjoy this with what all had happened to her in the past few weeks. Too much had happened, and on this long, quiet flight, Elizabeth was finally able to deal with everything. She was lost in her thoughts and memories, but eventually she was brought back to reality when she heard a flight attendant's voice.
"Would you two like a beverage or snack?" The flight attendant asked with a sweet smile.
Elizabeth paused for a moment and glanced at Cynthia, who had fallen asleep. She eventually just shook her head and flashed a smile, "We're fine, thanks."
The flight attendant nodded, "Just let us know if you need anything, okay?" She said before pushing the cart further down the aisle.
Letting out a deep sigh, Elizabeth leaned back in her seat, finally pulling herself away from the window. Absentmindedly she looked towards Cynthia again, noticing the peaceful expression on her face amidst her sleep. It barely looked as if she was asleep with how composed her features were, but Elizabeth could tell by the shallow, even breathing and the lack of movement that Cynthia was truly asleep. Part of her was glad that Cynthia was asleep, because Elizabeth still felt absolutely horrid around the Champion ever since that… incident. Cynthia was kind enough still to extend the offer of a nice flight home after everything that happened, but Elizabeth could not yet move past the incident. She really was a mess. Everything was a mess.
Elizabeth groaned silently to herself. She was tired of all these thoughts and emotions. She figured she should take a page out of Cynthia's book and sleep instead of facing her own thoughts. Closing her eyes, Elizabeth tried to make herself situated in her chair, but nearly as soon as she did so the plane hit a rough wind and began to bump from the turbulence. Elizabeth's eyes opened and she gritted her teeth angrily, "Come on…"
A sudden weight on her shoulder jolted Elizabeth from her moodiness, and she slowly looked over to see that the turbulence had caused Cynthia's head to fall on Elizabeth's shoulder. Cynthia didn't seem to wake up because of it either, so she just… stayed there… on Elizabeth's shoulder… blissfully asleep…
Elizabeth placed her hand over her mouth and her face instantly went red, yet her eyes still sparkled.
Dreams did come true.
"It feels so weird… going home without her…" Grace said softly, squeezing her arm.
Marcus turned his head towards Grace. She had been silent for most of the flight, probably because she was accidentally relegated to third wheel since Takeba had came along. Now he was seeing that something else was causing that silence, "...Yeah." Marcus agreed, sighing sadly, "I don't like it either."
"I know she didn't want us to be sad, but…" Grace gripped her arm tighter, lowering her head to obscure it from view, "It's so hard to keep smiling…!"
Marcus placed his hand on Grace's back to try and be comforting, "We'll smile for her. But it wouldn't be right if we bottled everything up inside. We can still grieve."
"B-But… She wouldn't want us to be sad…!" Grace covered her eyes at this point. She was still trying so desperately to hide everything she felt.
"She wouldn't want us ruining ourselves by suppressing every emotion we felt either. Let it out now so you won't hurt yourself down the road. She would understand." Marcus explained, smiling to strengthen his point.
Grace finally turned her head towards Marcus, when her tear-filled eyes and pained expression became visible at last. Her lips quivered and before she knew it, she finally stopped holding back and she wrapped her arms around Marcus, sobbing into his chest, "I… I just… I just can't believe she's g-gone…!"
Marcus's expression fell once Grace was no longer able to see it, and he tried to return the embrace to console her. He may not have been crying in that moment, but that didn't mean his hurt was any less than Grace's, "Neither can I…"
Takeba, who had sat out for most of the conversation out of respect, leaned in at that moment and brushed the hair out of Grace's eyes, "...I'm here for you guys. I just… wanted to make sure you both knew that." She admitted shyly, voice quiet.
Grace sniffled and wiped her eyes, turning her attention to Takeba, "Yeah… I figured you would be with us… I swear if you two keep making me the third wheel, I'll throw you both off this plane…!"
Takeba and Marcus both blinked at that in surprise, but eventually they broke out into a soft laugh. Soon enough Grace joined in too, and she hugged them both.
Moving on without Kasumi would be tough, but they all had each other, which made everything a little bit easier.