Chapter 7: Green x Blue (Cogitation)
Cogitation (noun): the action of thinking deeply into something
The building stood tall in front of her, the word "GYM" clearly written on the outside. The white paint of the walls shows a little more wear, but otherwise the same as it looked 5 years ago, when she last stepped into the building. Blue felt intimidated by its structure, though not for the same reasons she imagines others who stood in the same spot as her has, breathing heavily as she tried to calm herself down. The area was quiet, since nobody really come to this part of Viridian City except for challengers, and even those were few and far between. Taking a deep breath, she slowly and surely walked towards the front door, gently pushing it open.
"Hello?" she called, immediately noting the semi-dark state of the gym as she walked in. She wondered if he was away, but quickly shook off the thought since she hadn't heard anything from Yellow. A shuffling of footsteps caught her attention, and she turned her head towards the back of a gym, where a door leads off to the gym leader's private quarters.
Sure enough, the door opened and a figure walked out.
"We're closed to gym challengers to-" Green started to say automatically, stopping short when he noticed who was standing in front of him.
A tense silence ensured, with both parties staring at each other for a moment.
"Blue," Green began after he found his tongue again. "Haven't seen you around in a while. What brings you here?"
Blue gave a small wistful smile. "Yeah, haven come by since that day..."
Another awkward silence followed, as they both thought back to the last time Blue had stopped by the Viridian Gym.
A while was an understatement, Blue thought, since she hasn't step foot into the Viridian Gym since five years ago, on That Day, as she has come to refer to it. It brought back too much hurt and painful memories of being rejected so callously, and she had avoided interacting with Green on a one-to-one basis since then. In fact, she would still have avoided it if not for the fact that there was something important she needs to tell him personally.
She breathed out a sigh and continued, "I have something to tell you."
Green raised an eyebrows, slightly confused and intrigued since Blue was hardly this serious.
"It's about Red."
Immediately, she could see the change in Green demeanor, as his eyebrows scrunched together in annoyance.
"He's at the hospital," she added before Green could retort anything.
Stunned silenced for a moment at the unexpected news, Green next words came out in a rush amidst the panic and worry for his best friend. "What? When? How?"
"He got into an accident at Mount Silver. There was a snow storm and he got caught in a landslide. He might have died if his pokemon weren't out of their pokeballs at that time." Hesitantly, she added, "It's the reason why he didn't turn up for Yellow's birthday a few months ago."
Green stilled at the new information - it suddenly became clear why Blue had chosen to spoke to him individually. He let out a frustrated sigh and brought a hand up to his face. "How long have you known this?"
Blue shifted uncomfortably at the question. "A few weeks after her birthday."
"And you chose now to tell me about this because?"
"I couldn't alright!" Blue burst out. She took a deep breath before she continued, her voice choked in emotions. "He's in a coma, and they don't know when he is going to wake up. I didn't want all of you to worry about it because frankly there's nothing we can do other than to worry. I tried to tell someone but every time I mention Red everyone goes into this indignant mode on behalf on Yellow and... it's just hard."
"Does she know?" Green asked, and Blue knew immediately who "she" is.
"No.. I can't. She.. Each time she sees me she'll just talk about you and what you two did together. I haven't seen her this happy in a long time and I just couldn't bear to shatter this," she pleaded desperately.
"Why does this have to happen?" he muttered to himself.
"We're not destined to have normal life?" she joked weakly.
"Are you going to tell her?" Blue asked after a while, looking him in the eyes. She could see the turmoil of emotions behind them - guilt, confusion, defiance, resignation, hesitation, fear - as he struggled to make a decision.
Realising that he was not going to answer her, Blue stepped forward to envelop Green in a hug. "I'm so sorry," she murmured, meaning everything she said.
A sigh. "You should go now," he responded back, a clear indication for her to leave.
Blue nodded and made her way out of the building. Once outside, she could hear the pidgeys sing again, as if nothing has happened at all. She turned back and glanced at the building, hoping with all her heart that Green will make a good decision for himself, for her, whatever that might mean.
...
Green stood leaning against the tree in Viridian Forest, patiently waiting for Yellow to appear. He's vaguely aware that Yellow is late for their meeting, but he's so preoccupied with his own thoughts it barely registered.
The forest is bustling with activities, as bug pokemon scuttle around doing their own stuff and Green found it to be oddly relaxing. It has of course been Yellow who got him into the habit of venturing into the Viridian Forest, and now that he is so used to it, he wonders why he never done it before, when his gym is just a few minutes away.
From a distance he could make out Yellow coming towards him, her hand clutching to the top of her straw hat as she ran through the forest to meet him. He smiled at the sight, taking in her flushed face from the running and probably her own embarassment at being late, the dazzling smile he received once she had caught her breath.
He nodded absentmindedly as she babbled her apologies, still internally struggling with a decision even though he had already made one when he asked her to meet him today.
"Yellow, I have something to tell you," Green started without any preamble.
And he wondered if he would have a chance to see all of that again.
A/N:
Not much to say except thank you for being patient with the updates. This chapter never existed in my drafts, and it was something I thought of one day as I pondered a question. I won't say yet what that question is yet (spoiler alert), so you'll have to wait till the next chapter.
As usual, review and let me know what you think about the chapter/story so far. My inbox is always open if you like to chat about the story and characters, or have any questions for me. Thank you for you support *hugs*
