Part Four


Ethan and I sit with Kotone between us, our feet dangling off of the roof of her house as the sun set behind us. I give them both a quick glance and feel a rush of nostalgia, the image seeming to be nearly the same as when we last did so six years ago. I pull my coat closer to my chest as Ethan does the same, both of us shivering slightly in the cold. Ethan slowly turns towards me with a smile and cocks his head.

"...This feels like a dream..." Ethan finally spoke up as he scoots a bit closer to Kotone. "You've been gone for so long and now you're back..." I gave a nod and scooted closer to Kotone myself, feeling cold on the outside but all warm and excited inside.

"I know..." Kotone looks up at the sky and gives a smile, one of those genuine smiles I've missed so much. "I've missed you guys so much. All I could think about out there in that desert was when I was going to see you guys again. I missed you both so much." I gave a grunt and a nod before wrapping my arms around her, Ethan doing the same both out of a need for warmth and a desire to keep her close.

"We both missed you." I found myself smiling as I spoke, the words drifting in the thick winds of New Bark Town. "It was six years of pure torture back home without you." Ethan and Kotone both gave me a nod of agreement and looked back to the sky.

"...So much has changed since I've been gone." Kotone let the words out with a sigh and stared down at her lap. "Johto looked like it always did..." She gives a sad smile at this and I reluctantly pull away, still leaning towards her but freeing her from my grasp. She slowly turns to me and cocks her head, her hazel eyes shimmering the way the always did when she was about to cry. "But everyone's so different. I know that it's only natural...but it feels so strange to see everyone suddenly so grown up."

"Hey," I poked her chest, directly where her heart was and silently noted that Ethan and I weren't the only ones to grow up. "Remember what you told me?"

She gives me a confused look as Ethan releases her, Ethan sharing her confusion as he tried to figure out what I was going to say. "...I'm not sure." She suddenly looked down at her feet and gave them a swing. "I remember telling you a lot of things back then."

I let out a chuckle and shook my head. "Remember? It doesn't matter what you look like on the outside..." Ethan's face lit up as he recalled her favorite lecture.

"But what you look like on the inside!" Kotone gives us both a shocked expression before laying her head against the roof and smiling.

"...You're right." I slowly lean back and join her as Ethan does the same, the three of us finally back together again. "It's the inside that matters. Everyone's still the same...they just look different."

"Like how Ethan decided to try to grow a mustache." I chuckle as he lets out a deep growl and pets the stubble with a frown, making Kotone laugh and close her eyes for a moment.

"Yeah, that's going to take some getting used to." Ethan suddenly stops petting the short hairs and turns his head towards us, still frowning slightly.

"...What should we do now?" Kotone and I turn to him in slight confusion as he continues, "We're practically adults now...three more years and we'll all be boring ol' adults."

Kotone suddenly gains a familiar spark in her eyes and shakes her head. "Who said we had to grow up once we reach twenty?" I frown in confusion as she goes on, "We can still have fun then, can't we?"

"I guess so." I let out a sigh as Ethan looks up at the sky, staring at three stars that are the first to appear in the evening sky. "But...we'll have to grow up eventually. I doubt Ethan's mother will let us just goof around until we're little old men." I let out a groan, imitating Professor Oak when he suddenly gets an ache in his back, making Kotone laugh and give me a playful shove on my left side.

"Yeah..." Her laughter dies off as she looks up at the sky and smiles. "Let's save the growing up part for later, alright?"

Ethan and I both nod before looking back up at the sky, smiling at the thought of all the things we could do together now that our group was finally back together. Ethan suddenly sits up and frowns.

"But what about girls?!" He turns towards me sharply with an anxious expression on his face. "Won't they expect us to get a girlfriend or something?" I cringe as I imagined the odd looks I might receive if all I did was hang out with these two all day like we were ten years old again.

"Bah!" We snap our attention to Kotone as she waves a hand in the hair. "Who cares about that! We have more important things to do than go ga-ga over someone, right?" We all nod and let out our own exclamations of agreement before Ethan slowly lays back down on the roof with a new smile.

I close my eyes and smile as Kotone lets out a happy sigh, all of us just relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

Finally, things are back to normal. Sure, a lot has changed since you've been gone, but it doesn't matter. All that matters to me is that you're finally back home where you belong. I finally have my best friend by my side, right were you should always be. And this time, I'm not letting you disappear again.


Author's Note: And that would be the end of Since You've Been Gone. I'll admit, this was a really short work for me, but I actually like it. Just so you know, I'd love to hear what you think—even if it's some useful critiques! Please don't hesitate to tell me what you think in the Review section! Thank you for reading Since You've Been Gone, I hope you enjoyed it!