"Blue?" Great. This again. This damn thing again. Just what I needed. "Blue, listen to me." Old speech is old, I thought, rolling my eyes in bitterness as she grabbed my shoulders and twisted them gently to get my attention.

"Yes, my love? What is it you want from me?" My words rolled off my tongue with little effort, as if I had practiced. The sarcasm laced within them was biting to my own ears; I couldn't imagine what it would be like to her.

"Blue… I'm serious. You know I am." So what if she was? And yes, I knew that. She really was the most serious person I had ever met. Seldom could I utter even the most obvious of jokes without her staring at me blankly. She was almost too literal for my tastes.

"You can't keep doing this. You need more. I need more. Sitting around moping all the time isn't changing anything." I lowered my head and chuckled. She didn't even know. "Look," she said plainly, lifting my chin and twisting my head back toward her, "I know it hurts, but that was, what? Five years ago?"

"SIX years, today," I replied. I really despised how she spoke to me, like I was eight. I'm twice that age now, and so is she. I haven't a clue how she could possibly forget that, but it doesn't really matter, does it?

"I-I don't want to sound like a bad guy here, but you need to get over it. Buy some flowers, make a shrine, I don't know! You just need to get past this! I need you—"

"Grandpa needs me, and you both love me very much," I finished for her. I'd heard it a thousand times. Once more wouldn't change anything.

"Yes, exactly," she breathed, exasperated. I think she thought I wasn't listening. As if. I couldn't not listen to her if I tried. As much as I detested the fact, her voice was much too sweet and enchanting to ignore. It was light and breezy, like the call of a Gardevoir; smooth, like a fresh stream; filling, like an endless feast. I couldn't ignore her any more than I could ignore the very earth beneath my feet, and she WAS my world.

"Green, my love, do you know how beautiful you are when you're worried?" She blushed: perfect.

"Blue, stop!" she exclaimed, but I knew she wasn't mad. She could never really be angry at me. "You're getting me sidetracked!" She smiled, in contrast to her voice. I knew she would be pleased. "Look, I know you're tired of hearing this, but I don't see why you can't just drop it. I know he was special to you, but that doesn't change the fact…" She was starting to get on my nerves now. She didn't understand.

"Do you even know?" I fumed, "Do you even know what it's like? This isn't just about Raticate. This is about my entire CAREER!"

She recoiled at my outburst. She obviously wasn't expecting it. Indeed, it seemed to confirm that she truly DIDN'T know. "H-how is this about your career? You still beat the gyms, the Elite Four-"

"So? You think that matters? My entire life was destroyed!"

"Don't you think you're being a little extreme? I mean, I-I'm not trying to downplay the pain that you went through, but I don't think it could have been THAT serious—" I cut her speech short with a kiss, almost tackling her onto the bed. I had to, to shut her up. She struggled momentarily (obviously she hadn't been expecting it), but eventually lapsed into submission. Or her version of it, anyway. She never was entirely complacent.

Our tongues twisted and danced together as we embraced, our arms entangled and snaking their ways around our bodies, under our clothes, like four feral cobras: searching a paralyzed victim for the perfect place to sink their fangs, or fingers, in this case.

I could feel the temperature in the room rising as our bodies radiated heat, glorious heat, not just from the friction of our bodies as we ground against each other, but from the ragged breaths we took, the exaggerated movements we made, the gentle words we whispered in each other's ears.

Green started mewling softly beneath me as I tore my lips from hers and began planting sloppy kisses on her neck. Every now and then I would lift my head up and nibble on her ear, eliciting a giggle and a sigh from her excited lips.

Suddenly, she pushed me up and off of her. I stared at her in confusion. Did she really want to stop so early? I received my answer shortly when she ripped off her shirt and tossed it to the side. Then, with trembling fingers (I think it still made her nervous, after all this time) she unbuttoned my shirt. I shrugged it off when she was done, letting it fall into a limp pile on the floor next to my bed. She smiled, that same, enchanting smile. Her lips sparkled as the hall light shone on them; she must have been wearing lip gloss. It was too much. I leaned back down and locked my lips onto hers, driving my tongue deep into her mouth. She responded with glee, her lips moving in unison with mine. She sank her fingers into my hair, forcing it to lose its shape. It was worth it, though, to feel her cold fingertips rubbing into my scalp.

It was time. I rolled over so that she was on top of me, sitting on my stomach. She giggled and leaned up.

"Now?" she asked, her voice a medley of verbal spices that blended together oh, so right. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small, square, foil packet.

"Now," I said, as she leaned back down to kiss me.

That night we fell asleep together, naked but for the blanket that we slept beneath. I awoke softly as I heard the door click shut; someone else was home. Great. Oh well, I didn't have time to deal with that. I was way too tired to care. But still, I sighed softly as I heard the cutting creak of a floorboard and gentle padding of feet as they tried to take their owner away from my room as quickly as was within their ability.

Suddenly my position became very uncomfortable, and I shifted to the side in order to find a better one. I was greeted by the softly dreaming face of Green as she slumbered the night away.

"Blue…" she breathed softly, and my heart—MY heart, my cold heart of tempered steel—melted, releasing joyful butterflies within the core of my body. As I stared at her in the moonlight, her face glittering, I realized something: I loved her. Sure, I had said this before, but I had never truly known until now. She was the only one that tried to cheer me up, the only one who tried to help me past the things that troubled me. The only one that truly cared.

I would try. I would try to change, for her. I would try to lay my demons to rest, try to set down the past and pick up the future. No, I corrected myself. I would DO all of those things, because she would be there to help me. And with her by my side, there was nothing I couldn't do.

With renewed vigor in my soul, I gently kissed her on her forehead, causing her lips to spread into a smile, even in her sleep. I let my lids droop down, encasing my eyes in darkness, the very darkness I would banish from my thoughts, my memories, my mind. With those joyful thoughts in mind, I let sleep overtake me, because nothing, not even my own dreams, could hurt me any longer.