This is a story I wrote for a contest on AGNPH. I am know posting it here for your enjoyment.
*****= scene change
"Blossom, come inside. Dinner is almost ready!" A voice called from the house a few yards away. Blossom frowned when her friends, who she was playing with, laughed at her. Being a Bellossom with such a generic name was annoying. Blossom sighed and turned to her friends.
Her friends were grass types as she was. Clarra, to her right was a proud Leafeon, accidentally evolved during a hunting trip. Maria, to her right, was still giggling girlishly, her Tangela vines getting tied in knots as she squirmed with mirth.
And, finally, Tony. He was a big Rosearade. At three feet tall he towered over Blossom's frame, but she knew he was a big softy at heart. He smiled when he noticed Blossom looking at him, and she smiled back, glad for their friendship. Sighing again she excused herself from their game.
"Sorry guys, gotta go before mom gets mad at me." Clarra stopped her as she turned to leave.
"Your going to the festival right? It is a big event for Grass pokemon everywhere, and most even find partners! Hey, maybe you'll get lucky?" She giggled and Maria lost the composure she had just barely reassembled. She laughed too.
"Of course I'm going. I'm not going to miss my first New Growth Festival! Maybe your right, maybe I will find someone special to me." The others got up to leave. Blossom found it odd that Tony hadn't said anything. He usually always had to put his two petals in. Before she turned away she noticed he was watching her funny. The thought left her mind as she entered her home, washed away by excitement for the festival.
The annual New Growth Festival is a gathering of Grass Pokemon to the Great Tree, in the center of Genki De Soomoku, or Genki for short. The Tree was believed to be the mother of all plants, pokemon or otherwise. So every year, at the change of seasons into the opening of Spring, a large festival is held to honor the Tree. There are prayers, banquets, and Blossom's personal favorite, dancing! More often then not, some lucky pokemon also find mates at the festival.
To dispel your doubts, yes, Grass Pokemon mate, and have eggs in fact. They also do strange things like eat solid foods and drink water with their mouths, not their feet. I don't now where this silly rumor of photosynthesis came from.
She almost didn't notice her mother in the kitchen angrily tapping her foot. A loud cough brought her from her dream world. Blossom stared at her innocently. Her mother was a Bellossom, like she was, named Tanna. She was considered the beauty of the village, but Blossom never notcied anything spectacular about her. She quietly sat at the table in the center of the kitchen and looked away from her mother. Blossom could hear the intake of breath, the signal that a speech on not being late was about to start. She mentally braced her self then relaxed when her father came in, realeasing the tension.
Blossom's father was a Vileplume, big to the point of making her and her mother look like children. But being four times their height did that. He smiled and ruffled the flowers on Blossom's head as he walked by. She responded by playfully shoving him, glad to avoid her mother's rant. He sat at his seat across from Blossom and smiled at Tanna.
"Well? Whats for dinner today? Wait! Let me guess... berries!" He smiled in triumph when Tanna pulled out a large plate of mixed berries. Tanna sighed.
"Tirone, all we ever have is berries. Part of the whole deal of being a Grass type." As they began eating, the atmosphere fell in to a comfortable quiet. Blossom's mind slipped back to the coming festival. It was tomorrow! In a long line of tradition, there was always a ceremonial dance held to tell the stroy of the tree and how it came to be. Her family on her mother's side originally had the idea, and since then the daughters of the family have taken the honorary spot as lead dancer. Geuss who was the daughter this year.
Tanna noticed Blossom's excited squirming and looked at her with concern.
"Are you alright Blossom?" She asked.
Blossom smiled, "I'm just so excited about the festival! This is going to be my first festival and I will be dancing the honorary dance! So many pokemon will be there, watching me in awe as I twirl myself magestically across the stage." She did a little spin to accent the point. "And I might meet a mate! After all, you and dad met at the festival." Tanna smiled at Tirone.
"Yes," Tirone said, "yes we did. It was a magical night that I will never forget. The moon shone on her petals, making them glow." Tanna now was also in the past.
"You walked up behind me and asked whether or not the seat was taken. I said no. We sat there for maybe thirty minutes." She smiled at the memory.
"We turned to each other and..." They were leaning towards each other, eyes closed. Blossom coughed and interupted them.
"Not to be rude or anything, but... I'll be in my room." She got up and left, leaving two very embarrased parents.
Blossom's room was simplistic. Against the back wall under the window was her bed, wovenly intricately from saplings and vines. On the left wall was a large peace of Nevermeltice. A strange object for a Grass type, but it served as a wonderful mirror. Under it were several ringlets of flowers for her dress, which she would wear when she danced.
She walked to her bed and hopped up. It was arranged so she could look out the window while she lay, which she was doing now. The moon shone in all its brilliance, reminding her of her parent's romantic love story.
"I hope my love comes to me that way..." She drifted off to sleep, unaware of the eyes of a lustful Rosearade watching her.
The festival was an all day event, starting early in the morning and going well past midnight. Somehow there was always something to do regardless of what time it was. Everyone played games, had fun, and mingled. Mass amounts of berries were gathered throughout the day and were placed around The Great Tree in preparation for the feast that took place at every festival. Younger pokemon ran free, joking and playing games with each other. Nothing bad had ever happened at festival before so leaving children unattended was no big deal, especially when 99% of the pokemon would jump in to help if any trouble arose.
Most important however was the dancing. No matter what the time or where, there was always someone dancing. Fast dances, slow dances, and dances no one had ever seen, dancing was integral to the festival. All night and day grass pokemon danced around The Great Tree in celebration, and at dusk, one very special dance takes place as everyone prays to the tree. Due to the usual lack of music a few non-grass type pokemon were allowed to stay. A kricketune leading a small choir of kricketot provided the music for the occasion, no one minded.
Blossom and her friends were well on their way to the festival. It was just about noon which meant things would be getting really heated. Along the way they exchanged their usual friendly banter, talking about everything they could possibly do at the festival.
It was Clarra who brought up the subject of the dance. "So Blossom, when's your big dance?"
"Dusk," Blossom twirled as she explained how the dance worked. "I'll dance as the sun sets, and after it does the tree will glow like it does every year. Ohhhh I can't wait, I've been practicing for months."
"Well, we got plenty of time before dusk, let's get to partying!" The tangela girl said with a flip before rushing off ahead of the others.
Clarra giggled and rushed after her. "Wait up Maria!"
Blossom smiled and turned to Tony. "Come on Tony!" But her smile disappeared as she noticed his uneasy, almost nervous look. "…You okay Tony?"
"I'm fine…come on let's hurry." He rushed past Blossom, doing his best to hide his obviously fake smile. Blossom knew something was wrong but she didn't want to push the subject if he didn't want to talk about it, yet.
At the speed they were going it didn't take them long to reach the festival. It was a positively massive clearing in front of the great tree. Already there was a large crowd of grass pokemon talking and mingling, some of them dancing, some eating, and some playing games. But regardless of what they were doing everyone was smiling and laughing.
Maria, still giddy and excited, barged through the crowd, giggling, laughing, and knocking other pokemon over. "Hurry up you buncha slowpokes!" Surprisingly the crowd didn't turn into an angry mob and start chasing her. Most of them just continued to laugh, after getting over the initial shock of falling down anyway. It really showed how light hearted everyone at the event was.
Clarra moved ahead a little. "I'll… go and catch her before she breaks anything, you two have fun." With that the leafeon disappeared into the crowd, leaving Blossom and Tony alone. She turned to Tony with a large smile on her face. "Shall we?"
"Yeah, sure…"
Tony's false enthusiasm did little to fool Blossom. Noticing just how nervous he was Blossom figured now would be as good a time as any to get him to talk.
She sighed. "Tony, you've been acting weird for days now. What's wrong?"
He averted his eyes and said nothing.
"Do you need some alone time?"
"Yeah, thanks Blossom." For the first time that day Tony put on a genuine smile, though awkward, it was still a smile. Without another word he walked away from the festival, disappearing into the trees.
Blossom sighed again. "Oh well, I'm sure me, Maria, and Clarra will still have some fun."
There were a multitude of games to play at the festival, everything from the traditional Bobbing for Berries to Tag for the younger children. There weren't very many prizes but it was the fun that counted. Pokemon who could use vine whip used them in strength competitions or just to throw rocks at piles of things, a pokemon variant of 'Knock the bottles down; win a prize.' Those who could use razor leaf were given 'targets' to throw at, anything they could find, berries, rocks, pine cones, you name it. Sometimes they were stationary and sometimes they were thrown into the air like a shooting gallery. For everyone else there were dancing competitions, Blossom's personal favorite.
Blossom mostly watched as her friends participated in the festivities. She acted more like a cheerleader than anything. It was only after Maria and Clarra nagged at her for 10 minutes straight that she decided to enter one of the hourly dance competitions.
Her dancing was unmatched. She blew away the competition with ease, earning her a nice round of applause from the audience as well as her competition. Not wanting to be the center of attention just yet, Blossom waved a few times and made her way back to her friends.
"Blossom you were fantastic!" Maria was still hopping with excitement, and Blossom's dance only served to fuel the fire.
Clarra approached from behind. "Do you think he saw it?"
"He?" Blossom asked.
"Haven't you heard the rumors? Apparently Celebi attends the festival every year, but he likes to hide himself to avoid attention."
"Well if he didn't see that one he'll definitely see Blossom's next one. Who knows, maybe he'll like your dance so much he'll want to meet you alone." Maria added a suggestive wink, making Blossom blush slightly.
"Yeah…maybe…"
Blossom didn't do much else that day; she conserved most of her energy until her big dance. The sun was approaching the horizon and the festival was in full swing. Most of the pokemon were dancing and in some cases, awkwardly hopping around due to lack of feet or hands. Regardless of dancing skill, or lack thereof, they danced without care, smiles stretched across their faces. For the most part the pokemon danced around the area where they were setting up the 'stage.' They were just fallen sticks and leaves arranged into a large circle around the base of the tree. There the ceremonial dance would take place, and the time was fast approaching.
As the sun just barely touched the horizon the dancing began to slow to a stop. The now massive crowd of grass pokemon stopped their dances and awkward shuffles as they all faced the stage. All of Blossom's friends, except for Tony who was watching from the edge of the forest, were in the front row, ready for the performance. An orange glow descended over the forest as Blossom appeared from the woods behind The Great Tree. She took her position center stage and breathed deep in preparation for the dance she had been practicing for so long. All those days of training alone in the woods, they all came down to this one moment.
The kricketune conductor rubbed his arms together, creating a beautiful melody to dance to. Blossom inhaled sharply and began her performance. The leaves of her skirt bounced and flew as Blossom twirled and danced about. She would spin on one leg and occasionally do a graceful leap through the air. The crowd's "oohs" and "aahs" made Blossom smile but otherwise she payed them no mind as she had to focus on the dance. She was in perfect rhythm with the music, flawlessly executing every step of her routine. She danced as the sun continued to drop, when it was completely out of sight the tree would glow and the performance would be over and it was just about that time. The sun was just about to set and Blossom was wrapping up her dance. One final spinning leap and she would be done. She flew through the air once more, spinning as she did so. But at the worst possible time she lost her footing and fell flat on her face, right as the sun set. Just as quickly she had fallen Blossom hopped to her feet and took a bow which hid her embarrassed face. Despite the minor screw-up the audience still cheered and the tree still glowed. A pale green color illuminated the entire clearing and almost immediately after, the music and dancing began again. Not a person in the crowd was frowning, except for Blossom who was embarrassed beyond belief. All that practice, gone down the tubes due to one simple mistake. Even after the dancing continued she simply stared at the ground in disbelief.
Clarra weaved her way through the crowd as she tried to find Blossom. It didn't take her very long since Blossom was the only person there who wasn't dancing.
"Blossom, nice… performance."
Blossom continued to stare at the ground; she didn't even appear to be breathing.
"Look we all make mistakes, and it's not like anyone is laughing or- Blossom wait!"
Halfway through Clarra's sentence, Blossom ran into the crowd. Her small size allowed her to get through with relative ease, unlike the much larger leafeon who lost her in a matter of seconds. Worried, but unable to do anything, Clarra could only sit back and hope nothing bad would happen to her.
The forest became dark and dense as Blossom ran farther and farther away from the festival. She ducked and dodged bushes and ran until she was out of breath. The music had long since faded into nothing, Blossom had run so deep into the forest that she began to fear for her own safety. She stopped and leaned against a tree to catch her breath while trying not to think about how embarrassed she was. But no matter how hard she tried the image kept coming back to her. The image of her hitting the ground face first. She didn't even notice that no one so much as chuckled at her performance, but she didn't feel that way. Nothing short of Celebi himself could convince her otherwise.
Blossom's attention was suddenly focused behind her as she heard the bushes rustling. Realizing just how far away from the party she was, Blossom feared for her own safety now more then ever. Even if she closer the sound of music and dancing would drown out her cries for help, she was completely at the mercy of the forest. Blossom's heart was pounding out of her chest, her breathing was erratic and she was noticeably trembling. She almost felt like fainting, that is until Tony stepped out of the bushes, alleviating all of fears in an instant.
She let out a long sigh. "Tony, boy am I glad to see you."
He said nothing. Blossom noticed he had a nervous look on his face and was refusing to make eye contact. "Tony is…something wrong?"
Tony bit his lip and inhaled lightly through his teeth. "Blossom, is there someone you…you know, like?" Blossom tilted her head but said nothing.
"Umm," Tony squirmed uncomfortably as he talked. "You know, like as in 'more than a friend' like."
Suddenly realizing what he meant, Blossom gently shook her head. While that fact relieved Tony slightly it also made him a little sad on the inside. "So there's no one, you've ever felt…attracted to?" Again Blossom shook her head.
It took Tony several tries to say what he wanted to. He was constantly tripping over his own words. Sometimes they came out as a jumbled mess and sometimes they didn't come out at all. But finally he couldn't stand it anymore and he yelled, "Blossom, would you be my mate?!"
Somehow the eerily quiet forest got even quieter after he said that. Blossom stared at Tony, completely speechless. With the strange way he had been acting combined with the circumstances, she didn't know how she hadn't seen it before. All of those awkward looks he had given her over the past few days, all of those awkward silences, they all suddenly made sense. Tony was in love, and with her.
"Tony…" Coming up with the right words was proving difficult for Blossom, but somehow she made it work. "Tony you're one of my best friends but…I…just don't like you that way."
"B-but…but I love you! I always have, can't you see that?!"
"I do but…no, just no Tony."
"What's wrong, please tell me. I can fix it, I can make this work! Just please, please Blossom."
Tony's voice was slowly breaking, as if he could break down and cry any moment, and that thought hurt Blossom more than she could show. As much as she wanted to just say yes to make him happy, it would only be a temporary happiness for him. After all, a relationship where only one person is contributing can never work.
"Tony it just wouldn't work out between us. I don't think I'm ready for something like that, and besides, you know what they say about relationships between close friends. I'm sure there's a girl out there for you, and she might be at the festival now." Blossom was trying every excuse she could in order to make Tony feel better, but as she could plainly see, none of them were working.
"…no…no no no no NO NO!"
Blossom winced at Tony's sudden increase in volume. Again he looked and sounded as if he was going to cry, but Blossom shivered slightly as his look changed into one she couldn't recognize. Something about the look scared her but she had no idea why.
"I love you too Blossom."
"Huh?"
He took a step forward and Blossom took a step back. "Yes I've always wanted to mate with you too."
"Tony…stop, I already said no."
"I'm sure no one will bother us when we're this deep in the woods. Would you like to?"
He had gone crazy; Blossom didn't want to wait around for whatever might happen next. She turned to run but didn't even make it a few feet before Tony was over top of her.
A tear fell from Blossom's eye as she was pinned down on her back by the almost twice as large roserade. Though he didn't have a lot of grip with his "hands" he didn't need much. Blossom was so small and frail that she had trouble standing in the wind.
"Tony, please stop." She managed to say weakly. He was listening but it barely mattered. He easily held her down with one "hand" as the other moved down towards her skirt. Blossom felt utterly powerless as Tony pushed her skirt to the side, revealing her slightly moist folds. He eyed them intently, noting every small detail as he took in the sight. Gently he rubbed one of his petals against it, making Blossom tense momentarily, but loosen up a short time later.
"Blossom, I want to make this pleasurable for the both of us alright?" He took her silence as the go ahead and lowered his mouth to her slit. Blossom felt his breath on her as he lingered in front of it for a moment, taking in the arousing smell. Lightly, he licked the front, causing Blossom to shiver as she stifled a moan.
"You're delicious Blossom."
Tony's "compliment" only served to make Blossom's tears fall faster. She could only clench her eyes shut as Tony went to work on her flower. He continued to lick the front side, savoring the flavor. Unwillingly Blossom became more and more aroused as Tony continued to lick. Each little movement of his tongue sent a tingle up her spine, which in turn caused more of her juices to flow. She couldn't stifle her moans any longer, they were loud, but the chance of anyone hearing them was slim to none seeing as the festival was back in full swing. Blossom's moans drove Tony to lick even harder than before. His tongue pushed deeper and deeper into her and as much as she hated to admit it, it felt good, but in a bad way. She felt wrong, and unclean, it was an absolutely horrible feeling. It was as if her body belonged to Tony now, and there was nothing she could do about it. His licks were rough now; his face was being buried deeper and deeper into her nether regions. Blossom was getting close and she could feel it. As much as she wanted to tell Tony to stop she knew it was no use. When convulsions began to wrack Blossom's body Tony knew it was time. He put his mouth over her and tried to catch as much of her cum as he could. She arched her back and did her best to stifle a yell as she came. It coated the inside of Tony's mouth in a second and small amounts of it dripped down to the forest floor.
Blossom was panting lightly as she came back down from her orgasm, and Tony was just finishing the last bit of her cum. "Did you enjoy that Blossom?" She whimpered weakly, but said nothing. "Good, then you'll love this." Tony's member was already protruding from under him. Blossom could barely see it from where she was sitting, but she didn't want to. It was an average size, for a roserade anyway. A reddish color, thin at the tip and thick at its base. Blossom could only hope it wouldn't hurt too much. Tony wasted no time pushing it into her folds. She let out a high pitched yelp as Tony made it halfway inside.
"Tony, please don't!" As hard as she tried to get him to stop, Tony wouldn't listen. He didn't even slow down, as if he couldn't even hear her voice. Blossom squirmed at the feeling of him inside of her, luckily it didn't hurt much, but it still felt wrong. Tony let out a large sigh after he hilted her. "Here we go." He went slowly at first, holding Blossom down while moving his hips back and forth. Once again Blossom felt utterly powerless. The tears were flowing as hard as ever as she could do nothing to stop Tony from violating her. Still she couldn't help from moaning a little. She tried to stifle them as much as possible but as Tony sped up she lost what little composure she had. Her now loud moans drove Tony to go even faster. As loud as Blossom's sobs were they fell on deaf ears. He continued to pump regardless of how loud she cried.
"Blossom I'm getting close."
Hearing him say that, Blossom came to horrible revelation: she might get pregnant. Why she didn't realize it earlier baffled her, but now that she knew, she would do anything to stop it. Using every bit of strength she could muster, Blossom flailed and tried to get free. But to no avail, through all of her struggles she barely moved an inch, and Tony continued thrusting into her. His moans were growing louder and louder with each thrust. Blossom knew what it meant, and she was dreading the moment. "Tony please!" His thrusts started to become erratic and his member started to twitch inside of her. "Blossom I'm coming."
"NOOOOOOOO!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. Luckily Blossom's yell was heard, Tony was thrown off of her just in the nick of time, his seed spilling across the ground. Blossom didn't take the time the look at her savior, the only thing in her mind was "Get away." She ran desperately through forest, tripping over everything in sight. But she couldn't slow down, the fear was too great.
Blossom had no idea how long she had ran, all she knew was that she couldn't run anymore. After she stopped to catch a breath all of her fatigue caught up to her. She collapsed on the ground, hoping and praying that she had got away.
Blossom awoke sometime later, it couldn't have been too long since the sun was still down. The first thing she noticed was the small bed of leaves she was lying on. The second was humming; someone was close by and humming a happy tune. Blossom's mind was still in survival mode; she didn't move or make a sound.
"Oh you're awake, I was beginning to worry."
She had no idea how he knew she was up but she didn't care, she had to move. The voice was coming from behind her so she hopped to her feet and ran forward as fast as she could. But she was running blind again, within a few seconds she hit something and it grabbed onto her shoulders. She flailed wildly in an attempt to get free, and much to her surprise whatever was holding her let go with no resistance. When she jumped back to get a look at her "attacker" her mouth hung wide open. There in front of her floated a smallish green pokemon with large bug eyes and wings, it was Celebi.
"Sorry if I scared you. By the way, you should have screamed earlier, I'd have been able to get here sooner." His voice was gentle but had a clearly masculine tone to it.
Blossom didn't know what to say. She simply continued to stare, mouth agape.
"…Blossom?"
"Y-you know my name?"
"I know everyone's name, comes with the territory."
"Oh…"
"Now don't take it that way Blossom, after all I doubt there's a person who doesn't know your name after seeing your wonderful performance."
Memories of Blossom's dance came rushing back to her, one part in particular. "But…I messed up really really bad. I ruined everything."
"Now now, we all make mistakes. The festival is still going strong, regardless of your little 'mishap.' No ones blaming you, and no one think any less of you. Besides, I thought you were fantastic."
Blossom couldn't help but blush a little. "Well I wasn't that great…"
"Nonsense, I've been coming to this festival for decades and I've never seen a dancer as passionate as you."
"Oh stop it." She didn't think it was possible but Blossom was blushing even harder than before. That is until she remembered something slightly unnerving. "…Where's Tony?"
"Oh him? You won't have to worry about him anymore. Just trust me."
"I see…"
"Look Blossom, I know it may seem hard now, but eventually you're going to have to move on and forget about what happened. It's a lot to ask I know, but if you dwell on it for the rest of your life you'll end up miserable." Celebi floated close and held her hands in between his. "And just remember, you have friends. Clarra, Maria...and me. If there's anything we could do for you-"
"Could you…stay here, with me?"
Celebi smiled. "Of course."
They sat in the forest together for hours. Blossom just didn't feel like partying that day. They remained mostly silent, listening only to the sounds of the forest around them. They were so deep in the woods that they couldn't even hear the festival anymore. Both of them sat until the next morning, when the festival was just wrapping up. Blossom had fallen asleep without knowing it, when she woke up Celebi was nowhere to be found. A small amount of sadness showed on her face, but something that rang in her ear brought her smile back.
Blossom met up with her friends back at the festival; luckily Tony was nowhere to be found. She didn't tell them about Celebi, or what happened in the forest. She just smiled and walked herself home.
"Blossom," Her mother greeted her as she entered her home. "Wonderful dance sweetie."
"I'll say!" Her father said from across the room.
Blossom sighed but still smiled. "Thanks, I'm gonna go rest now okay?"
Her father smiled back. "You do that, I'm sure you're tired just like everyone else." Blossom nodded and moved on to her room. Even though she had just woken up, she felt exhausted. As she fell asleep those words rang in her head one last time. "See you at the next festival, Blossom."
Blossom's stomach was in knots. She had been waiting far to long for this day, but she knew he would keep his word.
Clarra and Maria had long ago been told of Blossom's rescue made by Celebi. They didn't seem surprised about Tony's actions, but they were friends, and had probably seen what she had missed so many times. Now that fateful night was a distant memory, made all to real by the return of the festival. Even thinking back on it now, Blossom saw it as a happy memory, despite the horror she endured. No matter what the circumstances, meeting Celebi would have been a joyous event, she supposed.
Now, wandering the familiar ground in front of the Great Tree, she couldn't help but blush at the thought of seeing him again. She had no doubts he would be here. He had said he would. The words still jumped to her mind whenever she thought back on them.
"See you at the next festival, Blossom."
She smiled as the whisper of the wind, the creak of the trees, the sway of the grass, became the words she wished to hear. Her mind was thrust back to present when Clarra playfully shoved her.
"Hey! Earth to Blossom! Are you paying attention?" Blossom shook her head and smiled. She forced herself to focus on what Clarra was saying, but it wasn't easy when her mind was... distracted.
"So, your doing the dance again this year right? I mean you have to since you don't have a daughter. Do you think he will be watching? He better or I'll give him a piece of my mind!..." Her voice droned out again at the mention of 'him.' His gentle smile, blue eyes, calm features...
Maria smacked Blossom with a tentacle.
"Blossom, you were drooling again." She giggled. Blossom shot a halfhearted razor leaf. The pattern continued all the way to the festival. Again, the forest floor was mass of dancing, wiggling, bouncing pokemon, all determined to get as much fun out as they could. Blossom spotted a familiar kricketune, playing a happy beat for everyone to enjoy. Games were everywhere, aligned in makeshift streets. And as before, Maria jumped with excitement and rushed through the crowd.
"I swear, you all are slower then last year!" People laughed as they fell to the ground, not in the least bit angry. Clarra sighed and gestured after the rampaging mass of giggles. Blossom grinned and nodded, giving her permission to give chase. When Clarra was out of sight Blossom turned to trees, hoping to spot the familiar blue of a friend. When she saw nothing she turned away with a frown. Surely he wouldn't miss this. Shrugging away her disappointment, she began to dance her way through the crowd, content to party until Celebi arrived.
The hours passed agonizingly slow. No amount of games could make the sun sink quicker. When the sun did finally begin to set, Blossom was a squirming bundle of nerves, discontent to sit quietly. Clarra and Maria had to hold her down before the final dance to calm her down. She squirmed beneath them futilely, cursing her small size for the millionth time.
"Let me go! I'll be fine." She cried desperately. Clarra shook her head.
"Look at yourself. You can't even walk, let alone dance. If you try to dance now, you will do worse then stumble on your feet." The memory shocked Blossom into momentary stillness, but she continued struggling all the harder.
"I won't mess up. He will be watching! I can't trip. I can do it!" Blossom cried to no avail. Maria was the calmest Blossom had ever scene her.
"That is why you need to calm down. You don't want to embarrass yourself in front of Celebi. Now, take a deep breath and calm down." Blossom did as she was told. She also closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was still, no longer struggling to break free.
"I'm fine," She said, calmer, "And I find it highly ironic that Maria is giving me advice on how to calm down." She smiled, and Clarra and Maria smiled with her.
"Well," Clarra said, "If your calm enough to see logic, then you are calm enough to dance. Go break a leg, but not literally." She nodded and left, Maria following suite. Blossom took another reassuring breath and watched the sun sink towards the horizon. Just as it was maybe fifteen minutes before setting she entered the "stage." Every pokemon was lined up to watch. Blossom smiled at her friends in the front row, glad for their support. With a nod to the kricketune, her dance began.
She had practiced her new routine especially hard, not wanting to miss a single step. She spun and she leapt, gliding across the ground rather then touching it. She felt she was flying, the glorious feeling she always had while dancing. Several thoughts passed through her mind while she danced. Is Celebi watching? Will I mess up? What is the audience seeing in my dance?
In response to her last thought she opened her eyes, which turned to a near fatal mistake. The sight of the audience brought back all the nervous tension, and as she jumped into a aerial spin, she could feel she had left the ground wrong, moving at an angle rather then straight up. She closed her eyes, not wishing to see the ground rise to meet her. Apparently the audience saw it too, she could hear gasps of surprise over the music. The only thought that passed her mind now, as she spun towards the forest floor was, "Is he watching me now?"
Her answer came in the form of another gasp from the audience, followed by the feeling of weightlessness to an extreme level. She opened her eyes to a brilliant glow. Surprise flowed through her when she found herself rising to meet the bright light hanging above the stage. As she neared the intensity lessened, allowing her sight into the brilliance.
Floating above her, arms held wide in welcome, was Celebi. Blossom was stunned into silence, as the audience was, even the kricketune stopped his music. When Blossom finally reached Celebi, he pulled her close into a embrace.
"I told you I would come." He whispered into her ear. He pulled back, holding one of her hands in his, and putting his other on the small of her back. With a cough to the composer the music started again. Though much slower now. Celebi pulled Blossom over the crowd in wide, elegant circles, spinning occasionally, before returning to center stage. As they reached the center the spun around each other, slowly falling in time with the sun. The music slowed accordingly. As they touched ground, they continued to spin until the last golden rays disappeared behind the horizon.
The stage went dark for a few seconds, and people started to worry. They worried the tree wouldn't glow as it should. There doubts were dispelled when the field was filled with light, illuminating the farthest trees in soft golden light.
Still in the center of the ring stood Celebi and Blossom. They were standing close, bodies pressed together, and only the front row could see their lips locked together in a passionate kiss. They stayed like that long after cheering had ceased and dancing continued. They stood in a throng of twirling bodies, completely alone, and oblivious to anything around them. Only when Clarra had lost her patience and broken the two apart did they stop. They continued watching each other, gasping for air they had deprived themselves, ignoring Maria and Clarra's excited banter.
"Oh my god, that was amazing! When Blossom started flying!" Clarra gushed.
"And when Celebi appeared in a halo of light!" Maria continued.
"And when they danced over the crowd!"
"And when-"
"Excuse me," Celebi interrupted. "Can we be alone for a moment? Please?" They blushed and looked disappointed, but bowed their heads and took a step back. Celebi sighed and gestured for Blossom to follow. She took two steps and was lifted into the air. Clarra barked in protest, but they were already flying over the trees. Celebi smiled at Blossom's excited expression. He landed them down on a small hill looking over a lake. Bug pokemon lit the area. Celebi turned to Blossom and smiled.
"You are lovely tonight." Blossom blushed, but met his gaze.
"And you are very handsome." She replied. They stayed silent for a moment. Then turned to each other.
"I-" They both said, but then turned back to their side. Then Blossom spoke up.
"Your first." She said.
"I can't hide it anymore." He said. "I have been holding this in for a year. I love you, Blossom. I have loved you since we first met, even if they weren't of the best circumstances. I just feel like I should always be there to save you. Like I did in the dance. Do you know what I mean?" He said, almost desperately. Blossom turned to him and kissed him again. Celebi felt he had the answer he wanted in that simple contact. When she pulled away she looked into his blue eyes.
"I feel as though I have always loved you, but only just recently realized it. This past year has been anguish without you. Now I just want one thing, and I feel life will be complete." Celebi smiled.
"Anything at all, my love." The words sent shivers down Blossom's spine.
"Could you... stay here, with me? Forever this time?" Celebi nodded and pulled her close. Together they watched the moon rise, then fall, followed by the sun. Time was influential. They were together that was all that mattered. Forever was a long time, but they thought they could manage.
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