A/N:

Another update to the story, and one that begins to show the aftermath of the election. As always, if you would like to voice your thoughts about the chapter, feel free to do so in the review section.

Thanks to Orthros for editing this chapter as always.

"…" - Spoken dialogue

Italics - Character thoughts

'Italics' - Telepathic dialogue

. . . . . - Time skip

/\/\/\ - Lemon Scene

Chapter 10

— — — — —

Tristan

— — — — —

A month had passed, and the atmosphere of the town had changed completely. Treasure Town had removed all traces of the prior campaigning and had settled under its new Advisor. Tristan, with input from the rest of the team, had made a very wise decision in taking the advice of the elders that had worked alongside Torkoal, and they served as a constant voice of reason for the younger feline. After all, some of them had been around over four times longer than him, and their experience proved to be an invaluable resource.

But the luxray was admittedly caught off guard by the change in his occupation. Such a difference had been expected by him, but it would take some getting used to. He would always miss the days of hunting down outlaws with the others, and the sheer excitement that came with it. But now he had a new, arguably more important mission. The others in Retribution undoubtedly would be able to handle the criminals they pursued without him; his goal was to keep society safe locally.

And he had done just that. This past month had made him exhausted, and things were just now starting to ease up. I guess that's what happens after a transition of power, he thought. The first law that had to be enacted was to establish a general taxation law, and after a great deal of debate with the elders, a slight change had been introduced to Tristan's plans. He had initially set out to establish a flat tax for everyone within the town along the lines of ten percent of everyone's monthly income. But upon careful speculation, it was revealed that such a policy would not sustain the town, so the higher earners needed to pay slightly more. It was then decided that rescue teams would contribute a quarter of their earnings, and the improvised model would allow for the town to remain on pace for the desired rate of expansion and its own provisions.

Next had come the farms, one of Tristan's main focusing points in his campaign. The electric-type had stressed the need for a fully self-sustaining Treasure Town, and agriculture was always where that started. So after a relatively large investment - one that was paid for by most of the town's revenue for the month - Tristan had ordered for the clearing of more land in order to expand the boundaries of their current farms, which would nearly double in size. More workers were hired to tend to the fields, and with the guaranteed growth, an increased variety of both fruits and vegetables could be planted. Not everything had gone completely as expected, though.

Tristan still couldn't believe what all had occurred in the shadows of the past election. Liam had called for a town meeting and had told of various misdeeds on the part of their opponent. The lucario had even admitted to countering Kraven's bribes throughout the campaign, and of undermining him every step of the way. The town was of course shocked to hear all of this; about one out of every three of them, according to the numbers, had voted for the dark-type. But what was even more upsetting for them to hear was of Kraven's history of crookedness. By the time Liam had notified them of everything, he had been sent back word that the dark-type's sentence had been carried out a mere week after his capture. And good riddance, too, Tristan thought. He had no respect for someone like that, and it would be years before the effects of Kraven's actions against the people of several regions had been fully undone. But that was a matter for relief groups and for the police. His job was right here at all times.

Their opposition to the honchkrow aside, though, Retribution held no ill-will towards those who had voted for him. As a hardened criminal, it was in his nature to be deceitful and misleading. And after everything had been said and done, with as well known a team as ACT, there was no doubt that Kraven had gotten what he had coming. But that sure didn't stop Tristan from wishing that he'd been able to put a jolt or two into the criminal before his execution. Oh well. Nothing that can be done about it now.

Without concern for the wellbeing of the town or its leader, things had returned mostly to normal. Flora had gone and retrieved the members of Team AWD from the Shaymin Village, and now they were to carry out the rest of their parole as planned. Or what was left of it, anyways. He would never forget the look on her face upon receiving the confirmation that the person who had tormented them and so many others in the past could never do so again, and the dreaded premonitions of Liam's would never come to pass.

But with his recollections aside, Tristan had a few more things to tend to before he could call it a day. The carefully reconstructed stream that intertwined among the countless houses around town was nearing its finishing touches, and in order to get it up and running by two days' time - the scheduled time of completion - it would have to be all hands on deck. Thankfully the rest of the team had volunteered their time for the task.

"Is everything well?" asked Selina as they headed there. The umbreon had met with him halfway and had decided to walk to the site with the luxray.

"Yes, more than well," he chuckled. "This town is thriving. We will be more successful than Obsidian ever hoped to be."

"It's not a competition," she laughed.

"No, it's not. But this town… no, this city, will stretch out as far as the eye can see. We've already laid out the plans for construction. By the end of the year it will have grown in size three times over."

"Oh my, that sounds… well, big," Selina replied. "Are you sure we'll have the money for that?"

"And then some left over."

"Wow. The Guild wasn't really running things well it seems…" she stated.

"No, they really weren't. And Torkoal had always been at odds with them. The Guild seemed to operate under the idea that by just throwing more of someone else's money at the issue, it could be fixed. They weren't ever taking steps to ensure the growth of the town. They just kept it alive. With our current rate of growth, that was going to lead to a disaster before long. But luckily for Treasure Town, the Guild doesn't have a say in things anymore."

"They don't?"

"No. I've removed the Guild from having anything to do with public spending. They've proven their incompetence. And I doubt a group of explorers ever had business in managing public affairs in the first place," Tristan stated.

"I guess so. It just seems… weird," she said. "I mean they've been doing that ever since I've been here."

"Change is happening in this town, and it's all been for the better." The two of them reached the site of the digging, where over a dozen others were going about transporting materials and clearing out the last twenty or so feet towards the dammed-off stream. Liam had the shovel over his shoulder, taking a break from all the digging. By the looks of it, he needed one, with dirt covering every corner of his body. "You look like you've been busy," Tristan said.

"You could say that. Gotta clear everything so they can begin laying the stone and mortar. It'll take about a day and a half to harden, so we're pushing it."

"I think we should be on time," Tristan replied. "What do you think, Selina?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, I think so too."

"It's definitely an engineering feat for the community," the luxray added. "No more placing homes strategically around the waterways. Now we control where it flows."

"Definitely convenient," said Liam. "Selina and I definitely lucked into one in our house, but others haven't been so fortunate."

"No," Tristan said, "I suppose not." Tristan hopped down into the trench with the other workers, preparing himself to assist in the construction. Eleanor had given him good advice in saying that he would do well for himself to continue performing public services like this, even after the campaign. It would show the residents that he was dedicated to Treasure Town, even when he had nothing to gain from it. Well… maybe reputation… But it wasn't like he was lacking in that regard. The people loved Retribution.

Liam, seemingly having felt rested up enough, joined him in the channel. "Alright, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we get to go home."

— — — — —

Flora

— — — — —

Tending to the fields over the last couple of days had been tiring to say the very least, but Flora loved it all nonetheless. Seeing the dozens upon dozens of grass-types nourish all the plant life was a welcome sight, and the planting of acres full of nothing but berry bushes would be a treat for the town.

Truth be told, things were looking bright with Tristan in charge, and she was happy to see his talents be recognized by all. Though maybe not so in the past, he had proven himself to be a capable leader throughout his campaign and his time in charge. But perhaps even more so than that, he had proven himself more than capable to the shaymin.

Flora had been uncertain when she had made the move that she had, but looking back, she felt that there was nothing to lose and that she may as well try. It was one of those things where she had waited for the right moment - one that had never arrived. So she acted on a whim and had gone for it, and it had turned out better than expected. I wonder if he thinks about that night… she thought. Hopefully he did. Flora hadn't really heard much from the luxray ever since then. And that was understandable; he was a busy guy. I hope he does… Flora would love the chance to make something more of it.

He just had all of the qualities that she sought in a mate, and many females would not halt at the chance to have him. Tristan was both ferocious and protective, yet was a very soft-spoken person after the battle had been fought. And despite his attempt to maintain a tough demeanor, she saw him for the kind and compassionate person that he was.

It was getting more difficult to see, as the sun had nearly set behind the woods. Most of the other grass-types were heading back, ready to call it a day. About time I do the same thing. She hurried up and buried the last berry from the small satchel she was carrying and took off. Everything beneath her grew distant as she headed back to her residence.

Though this wasn't her typical line of work, Flora had been happy to volunteer at the farm. With Tristan in charge, there was a lot to get down now as the town prepared to tackle its largest series of projects yet. And she was glad to be a part of all of it. One thing that did sadden her, though, was the fact that she would be seeing less of him. His job was now constantly around town, while hers was still out in the field. Oh well, she thought. Nothing we can do about that. We all accepted it from the beginning… And besides, who said she couldn't still visit him when she was in town?

She had been contemplating settling down for good before long, anyways. Maybe open up a little flower shop towards the corner of the the main street. Of course, she did enjoy her current line of work, but that still didn't shake the desire to settle down somewhere and perhaps one day start working on a family. But those were matters for another time. For now, Flora would focus on doing what she could to help improve Treasure Town.

— — — — —

Rachel

— — — — —

It had been a long, yet entertaining night for the members of Retribution. After drinking perhaps a tad bit more than they should have over at the café, they all set out towards the beach. This time, though, it was not for some nightly meeting in order to protect the town; this time it was solely for relaxation. Tristan had even tagged along, carving some time out of his now busy schedule to hang out with them. Everything hadn't gone perfectly according to plan, but then again, there wasn't much of a plan tonight. Rachel had to admit, though, a tipsy shaymin was a hysterical sight to see.

"So what's on the agenda now?" asked Selina.

"We get back to Retribution's main line of work," Liam replied. "That and be here to help Tristan whenever he needs."

"Careful now, I might have to take you up on that offer. I need all the help I can get," the luxray said with a chuckle.

"You know we're always right here when you need us. That is, when we aren't out in the field," Liam said. "Not gonna lie, kinda looking forward to it. It's been two months since I had a good fight. All I've been focused on lately is the town, so it'll be nice to really get active again."

"That reminds me," Rachel stated, "you and I have not sparred yet."

"Sparred?" Liam asked. "You say that like it's an expected behavior."

"Yes. I'm actually surprised you haven't brought it up… But then again, you were a human. You probably don't know the ways of our species at all."

"No," he admitted, "I can't say I do."

"Is it a big deal to you all?" Selina asked.

"One could say that. It's like a way of life for us…"

"But I'm not really a lucario," Liam said. "Not when you get down to it. My mind is still human."

"Well are you getting turned back into one?" asked Rachel. "You at least have the body of one of us. Wouldn't you at least be interested in learning our ways?"

"Might be interesting. But I've done pretty well just being myself. Why would I want to change that?" he asked. Rachel shook her head; he was missing the point of this completely.

"No, I'm not saying you shouldn't be yourself. I'm just saying that since you are technically one of us, maybe you should consider learning more about us."

"Alright, alright, fine," he relented. "Tell me why this is such a big deal." The others listened in on the conversation as well with interest.

"Well I'll admit it's been awhile. Keep in mind that I've been on my own for years. But I remember very well what life was like back at our place. Everything was based on honor and respect, and strength was just something that everyone continuously sought to build up. Sparring was what everyone did to hone their skills and pass the time. Even older lucarios wouldn't hesitate to fight."

"Seems reckless to me," Tristan said.

"Not really. Our species has a much higher pain tolerance than others, and we can take far more than what our size would suggest."

"So you want to spar then?" Liam asked. "Is that what you're after?"

"If you would be up for it," Rachel replied. He looked to his side, and Selina just nodded with a smile. Everyone seemed amused by the proposition, as it would surely be entertaining.

"Okay. Let's do it." The male lucario hopped onto his feet and removed the sash from his waist. He had every intention of keeping it a fair fight. "What are the rules?"

"Not many. No shots to the face or groin. No biting or scratching; really anything that would be cheap. I feel like it's pretty self-explanatory. No grappling or stuff of the sort - this isn't wrestling. So the first one to hit the ground loses."

"So punch the other person in the gut to the point where they hit the dirt? Almost seems less brutal to knock them in the head and get it over with…"

"Usually ends with a leg sweep or some sort or flip from my experience."

"Come on," Tristan said, "I think that's enough for the rules. I wanna see the two of you go at it now."

"Well then, are you ready?" Liam nodded, then got into what she assumed his fighting stance was. But it looked unlike anything she had ever seen before. "…What are you doing?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"I mean that stance - what on earth is it?" Liam simply shrugged.

"I don't know. I've always done it that way, and it works pretty well…"

"…Alright then." Rachel got into her own stance - left arm extended, right arm back. She led with her left leg; any strikes to her front would be harder to land due to her posture. But Liam, while slightly leading with his left side, had both paws positioned in front of his face. We aren't supposed to be going for face shots, though… Maybe the point of the exercise was escaping him altogether, in which point it should be easier to take him down. But this was also the same Liam that had fought off both Primal Dialga and Darkrai; underestimating him would be dangerous.

She threw the first punch, and Liam simply used his own right arm to deflect the blow. Immediately his left paw had been thrust forth and harshly contacted her shoulder.

"Ohhh," Tristan said, "looks like he got you there."

"Cool it. This is far from over," Rachel replied. Of course she had to admit that Liam had been significantly faster than what she had expected. But she wouldn't make the same mistake twice. The two lucarios squared off once again, and Rachel could feel her heart pounding in anticipation as she watched his every movement. Liam quickly closed the distance between the two of them with a forward strike, which she blocked. It lacked force, and she guarded her other side the moment she realized it had been but a distraction. Catching Liam's other hand, she pivoted and swiftly responded with a side kick into his stomach. The blow sent him backwards, but he quickly regained his balance.

"Not bad," Liam stated flatly. She subtly smiled as a result of his reluctant compliment, before refocusing her attention on the match. There was no way she was allowing herself to lose this.

In the rush of the next series of movement, Rachel lost track of who had done what. As she fixated on the other lucario's features, the two of them engaged in a brutal dance. His footwork - or lack thereof - followed a set pattern, and as she assumed a defensive stance time and time again, she waited for her opportunity. Finally she found it when Liam had thrown his weight forward in the form of a shove. Rachel guarded her left side as she quickly dodged, leaving her left foot in his way and using her right paw to shove him forward, causing him to nearly lose his footing as he attempted to avoid hitting the ground. But there was nothing he could do as she sprinted towards him and kicked the back of his knee.

"Oh Liam… I'm never gonna let you live that one down!" Selina said, trying to stifle her laughter. The others seemed similarly amused, all except for Flora, who had long since passed out.

"Shit," Liam mumbled, having taken a blow to his pride, but smiling nonetheless. "Oh well. Great match."

"Of course," Rachel said, offering him her hand. "It may very well have ended in the first few seconds had it been a real fight. But that aside, I feel like you have greatly crippled yourself."

"What do you mean?" he asked as he attempted to brush the sand off of his fur.

"How long have you had that thing?" she asked, pointing towards the Space Globe.

"About a year and a half now," he replied, already knowing where this was going.

"I know what it does. It's a highly valuable relic of ancient times, and it fills its wearer with unrivaled strength. And you wear it every single day. You rely on the strength it provides, and on your own. You hit harder than anyone else I've ever sparred with, and I appreciate you not letting up on account of me being female. But you have forsaken technique in favor of raw strength. That's why you lost."

"I know," he admitted. "I need to improve at it. But the Space Globe has helped us time and time again on our missions. And it's hard not to wear it when it strengthens me as much as it does."

"I can understand that. Perhaps we should spar more often. I'm sure we can learn from each other's fighting styles. You have a unique manner of attacking, and if you can hone it, I would imagine it being very threatening, even without the Space Globe."

"That sounds good to me," he replied. Though she kept the thoughts to herself, Rachel was completely taken with his demeanor. She had just defeated a person who had saved the world twice - in front of his closest friends nonetheless - and this was his reaction. It was clear that he hated the fact that he lost, but he showed no signs of irritation with her, but rather he had taken well to criticism and looked at it as a learning opportunity. That is a true leader for you. One that can accept a loss and learn from it. But next time they went at it, she would need to be careful. Odds were that he would refrain from making the same mistakes.

— — — — —

Liam

— — — — —

"She got you good," Selina said at their place.

"I know, I know. You've only said it a couple hundred times now." The umbreon had meant it when she said that she wouldn't let him forget about his loss. And she had managed to sound so excited about it, too.

"Yeah but I've never seen you lose a fight - not like that! She just went behind you and then boom!" the umbreon said, running her head into his leg for emphasis. "You ate dirt!"

"Arceus Selina, I know. I felt it." That said, he was finding humor in it all. "I'll just have to get better."

"Mhm. Good thing that wasn't an outlaw - I would've had to step in and rescue you!"

"Yep. And I'm sure you'd be too busy laughing your ass off to fight," he said with a chuckle. Liam held the sash in his hand, looking at the treasure interwoven into the leather. Rachel was right; he based most of his strategy on his moves being able to end a fight in seconds - all due to the power of the Space Globe. He'd never thought about it until now, but there was no denying the fact.

"Oh cheer up," she said, interpreting his silence as sadness, "you know I'm only teasing you. You know I'd kill someone before I let them hurt you."

"No, it's not that," Liam replied. "She was right, you know. I've become careless by relying too much on this damn thing."

"Maybe. But I prefer you having it. It's always fun watching the criminals go down in one shot."

"I do too. But I need to train more without it. I shouldn't be using this thing as a crutch, but that's what it looks like it's become to me." He was looking at the picture of the two of them over the mantle - their two pre-evolved forms. It had been nearly three years since that picture had been made - since they had finished the fight against Darkrai. "Looking back… and with how much stronger we've grown… I can hardly believe that we were able to do it back then…"

"I bet it's because I was with you the whole time," Selina joked.

"I'm sure," he replied.

"Anyways, I think I could go for a snack right about now…"

"Really? But we just ate."

"Yeah, like two hours ago. And watching you get your butt kicked made me get an appetite again."

"Of course it did," he said, rolling his eyes. "Well I doubt many places are open at this time. We still have some leppa berries if you'd like."

"Eh, sure. That works." The umbreon headed over to the small, chilly stream that pooled in the corner of their house and reached into the cold water. They always kept a small series of jars there to keep different foods cool in order to preserve them longer. She used her front two paws and withdrew the jar of interest. "Umm… A little help?"

"Ugh, you quadrupeds. Always so helpless when it comes to… well, anything really…"

"Well it's not my fault that we don't have arms. Now open the jar!" He grabbed it and did as he was told before taking it over to the table. Selina hopped onto her seat as he set two stone slabs on both sides, putting a couple of the fruits on each. The umbreon gently began to nibble at the berry while he carelessly bit into his.

"Only a few weeks now," he said.

"Hmm?" she asked, before swallowing. "Oh, you mean until the trip?"

"Yeah. Still up for it this time around? Got kinda rough last year."

"Of course. Not gonna stop our annual trip just because of a little bad weather," Selina replied. "Wonder how he's doing…"

"Dialga?" Liam asked, receiving a nod in response." I'm sure he's fine. Probably has everything sorted out by now. With Temporal Tower's reconstruction complete, he has more time to devote to… well… keeping time itself intact."

"Probably," she said. "It's always nice to go visit. I can't wait to see him again."

"Yeah. Kinda crazy how he was intent on killing us all those years ago," he said with a laugh.

"You know just as well as I do that wasn't him. Not our Dialga, anyways. I'm just glad we were able to put a stop to it before he lost all control."

"That makes two of us." He looked out at the night sky, across the sea where the Hidden Land awaited them once again. "I was scared that day. Terrified. Not just because of him, either. I didn't wanna leave you, but yet I had to." He almost wished he could recall those words, which had been uttered in absentmindedness. Selina generally hated even talking about that topic.

"I… understand why you had to. But that doesn't mean I was okay with it. You made the right choice in doing what you did… but you should've told me. I wasn't ready for something like that…"

"You never could have been. I wasn't ready for it either. I had to stop Dialga, even if it meant being erased from existence in the process…"

"Yeah, but… my Liam can't go disappearing on me like that. You barely even had time to say goodbye before you vanished," Selina stated.

"And that was something that haunted me afterwards. There was so much more I wanted to tell you. So many other things to say, and before I knew it, it was too late." She looked at him, having completely disregarded the berries on her plate.

"What was it like? When you were gone?" Liam thought back to the time that he had been away - it had been a period of months before he had returned.

"I don't fully remember. Almost like I was asleep. I can't understand it - I should have been dead. But I didn't pass on to the afterlife. I just… kinda floated in a void. I think deep down, some part of me knew that I wasn't fated to die just yet. I'm glad Dialga was able to pull me back from… well, wherever I was… and give me another chance with you."

"Me too," she replied. "I was… getting pretty bad before you showed up again…"

"So I've been told."

"But none of that matters now. You're back, and this time, you're staying for good. You don't have a choice in the matter this time!"

"Oh? I'm not allowed to go dying on you again?"

"Nope. Not at all," she said with a smirk. Damn she's cute when she does that…

"Alright then. Hopefully I'll be able to comply," he said.

"Yeah, you'd better." The umbreon had finished her berries, and Liam his, so he grabbed the two stone slates and bought them towards the stream for washing. "Anyways, all that miserable stuff aside, aren't you excited about going on missions again? It'll be nice getting outside of this place after two months."

"Agreed. Gonna be kinda weird without Tristan though."

"True," she admitted, "but I know he's where he needs to be. What do you say that we head out with Eleanor tomorrow? Maybe the other two could tag along as well."

"I think that sounds great. I'll get everything packed up tonight, and we can look to see if there are any jobs at the guild." Speaking of which, Liam would need to get used to the change in their payments. Now the guild had no say in how much was paid and where the money went; everything would be run through the city. And that was for the best - Chatot and Wigglytuff lacked the qualifications to be handling the finances that would drive the entire town. Just because that was the way things had always been done did not make it right. The elders being in control of things was far more reassuring to the lucario. "Say, do you still wanna pay ninety percent like we always have?"

"I don't see why not," Selina replied. "For smaller teams I get it. A quarter is fine for them. But you and me… we've got enough between the two of us to buy half the land in town, not to mention whatever it is you have with all those businesses… Money just isn't an issue. But for a lot of people in town - good, hardworking people - they could use that money. I'll still stick with ninety, because I know it's going to a good cause."

"Yeah, me too. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on it."

Once Liam had finished washing off the two plates, he noticed Selina was positioned towards the edge of the cave, looking out over the sea.

The thin, crescent moon hung in the sky as the gentle tide rolled throughout the distance. As she looked at the scenery, the yellow rings on her dark body had begun to faintly glow, illuminating the space around her. Liam took a seat beside the dark-type.

"You know," he began, "I find it really neat how your body does that…"

"You mean the glowing?" He nodded. "Yeah, it is pretty cool. Helps in the caves," she laughed.

"It does. But it seems like every pokémon has its own incredibly unique anatomy. I just wonder what mine looked like before all this… "

"Yeah, I've always kinda wondered that about you too," Selina said. "Do you remember anything? Like at all?" He thought back, but most of it was just a haze. Foggy memories here and there, but never one about his own appearance.

"No. I don't know a thing, aside from the fact that whatever my species was, it was bipedal and it was tall."

"Like how tall? I mean to some pokémon, we're pretty tall."

"Well in the little bit that I can recall, Grovyle was about half my height, if that says anything."

"Oh wow, you weren't kidding," she said. "I'd have loved to have seen you back then. I just wonder how you fought as a human. According to legend… your species lacked any powers whatsoever…"

"Yeah. Probably why they're nearly extinct. I guess we just found a way. Hell, maybe I was good with iron thorns," he laughed. "Eh, maybe. Surprised that I managed to survive as long as I did. Just hope that I wasn't too much of a burden to the others."

"Well I'm sure you weren't. It is kinda funny though," she added. "All of a sudden you're one of the most powerful people in the continent, even without your so-called 'crutch.'"

"Yeah, well I've had a pretty good team the whole way to support me," he said. "From the very beginning, we were always there to support each other - to build each other up. Now we own one of the most powerful teams in the world."

"I would never have believed us capable of something like that all those years ago," Selina admitted. "With me being scared of my own shadow and all…"

"But you became a true leader. And I certainly wasn't the one to be entrusted with the key to the Hidden Land. That required someone completely pure of heart."

"Liam… you're pure of heart…"

"Everyone likes to think they are. But at the end of the day… I did just steal an election. Granted Kraven deserved to have it stolen, but still…" Selina couldn't really come up with a response for that. After all, he was right. Even having a moral goal in mind, Liam had still committed a necessary evil. "I need you, Selina, to be my moral guide. I don't know why… but you can always get through to me."

"Of course, Liam." She looked at him with that sincere smile of hers - one that made him know she would always have his back. Liam placed his paw on her shoulder appreciatively, and his eyes met hers. In that moment, he acted without thinking, doing what he felt was best for the situation. He drew her close and embraced her. He knew not what made him do it, but the lucario couldn't help but feel that it had been the right course of action, especially upon feeling her return the affectionate gesture. She rested her head on his shoulder as they remained there like that.

Gestures of the sort were really common between the two of them. It had always been like that, and it was the way they preferred things. But even with all those times past, Liam could not help but feel that this time it was different. His chest felt warm as the umbreon held him. "You could let go now," she whispered jokingly. "Or I guess we could just stay here like this…"

"That works for me," he replied.