Back From Before

Chapter 10

Hi guys! This chapter may be a little shorter, but I promise there'll be some more storyline on it's way. :)

Reviews-

PolarDawn: It's also nice to see you're still reading it! :) I shall try my best in the next few chapters! :)

KicksAndKisses: Haha, yup. Gary is finally done sulking. Yeah! Same here! :D

QUEENSPELLER67: Yay! Just what I was aiming for! :) Enjoy~!

PH: Thanks! Here you go! :)

Leaffeather: It has... I missed seeing your reviews! *hugs* Haha, no worries, I use a lot of exclamation points, too! :) Water: *eats berry* It's fine! It's fun playing with you, Raku!

Meteor Gin: I hope you're enjoying this story! :) Thanks for the review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon

"Thanks," Leaf murmured, accepting the cup of tea from Gary. Wrapping her hands around the mug, she let the warmth seep into her for a moment before taking a sip.

"No problem," Gary responded. Giving the living room a quick scan, he let the situation sink in. It was raining extremely hard out, and he managed to find Leaf on his way home after spending the day thinking about her. Knowing the right thing to do was to offer her shelter during the storm, it lead to their current situation. Sitting in the fireplace lighted living room with towels and warm cups of tea.

Nothing was wrong, but despite it all, Gary still had a nagging question in the back of his head. He paused, hesitating for a moment before asking, "What were you doing out in this weather? I mean, it's terrible out, shouldn't you have been at home?"

The brunette glanced out the window, watching the rain come pelting down on the glass relentlessly. A flash of lightning lit out her vibrant green eyes. There was a small shudder before she turned back to him.

"I was looking for you."

Not knowing what to say next, he waited, hoping she would explain. If she was looking for him, there had to be an important reason.

Leaf set the cup onto the coffee table, thinking thoroughly about her next words.

"I thought maybe we could talk," she said slowly. "You know, since we haven't seen each other in nearly ten years."

Gary nodded, trying to decipher whether or not this conversation would improve their relationship or turn it worse.

"Alright," he agreed. "So, what have you been up to?"

Although she was the one who suggested they should talk, he could see her visibly stiffen. Gently nudging her with his shoulder, he offered her a smile.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Leaf waved him off. "It's fine, it just caught me off guard. Where do I even start...?"

The brunette wrapped her arms around herself, trying to find a place to start her story. Reaching up to brush away a strand of hair that fell onto her face, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"My dad was offered a job ten years ago, so I moved away from Pallet Town, I'm sure you know that." Leaf explained, looking over at Gary. Gary responded with a nod. Although the memory was a little blurry around the edges, he remembered the sadness that he felt that day. "We lived in Celadon City for a while, then eventually moved to Saffron City, but despite all the moving, Pallet Town always seemed like home to me."

"Home is where the heart is," Gary quoted.

"Yeah... That's why I've always tried to come back. I came back to get my starter from Professor Oak, only to find out you got yours a week before. I was really hoping to run into you during our journeys, but... it never happened. Later when I managed to get eight badges, I was really excited since I heard you were going to enter the Indigo League as well."

"I would've saw you if you entered," he murmured, thinking about the Indigo League. He had be able to recognize many trainers and encounter just as many. Surely he would've noticed Leaf if she were there.

Leaf sadly smiled. "I wasn't able to enter, one of my Pokémon were sick, so I had to go back to Saffron City. I watched you on TV though, you battled really well."

"Thanks." Gary watched Leaf play around with the towel in her hands for a moment, then asked, "What happened next?"

"I realized how much I missed you," she confessed, feeling her cheeks heat up. "Truthfully, I really wanted to see you again. So I called Professor Oak and offered to help him."

The auburn haired teen paused, trying to process all this information. Leaf had wanted to come back to Pallet Town to see him. He was the reason why she wanted to be here. Almost out of instinct his fingers intertwined with hers.

A quiet gasp came from Leaf, but he only responded with a smile.

Thinking back to the day he was helping Professor Oak with filing information, something sparked his memory. The file on Mew had Leaf's handwriting. The time he had saw that confused him greatly, but now that he knew more, everything was starting to fall into place.

"Gramps had you gather information on Mew," he stated. Thinking about all the data that was gathered in that one file. "Right?"

A surprised expression flickered onto her face before she nodded.

"You saw the file didn't you?" she chuckled, thinking back to all the scattered piles of information in the lab a few years back. "Truth is, I was going to give that file to him two years ago."

"What?"

Gary's eyebrows furrowed, puzzled by the new detail he heard. He could have met the real Leaf two years ago, but something had stopped it from happening. Delaying the truth that he had only recently rediscovered.

Lightning flashed from outside the window, distracting Leaf momentarily. Pausing to watch the rain pour down against the glass, she blinked, refocusing on their conversation at hand.

"I was going to deliver the file to Professor Oak two years ago..."

Leaf skimmed through the file she finished, checking to see if she was missing anything. Bulbasaur stood next to her, watching his trainer contently. The journey to Pallet Town from Saffron City would take a few days, but he could tell she was excited to get back to her hometown.

"Looks like I have everything, Bulbasaur," she declared happily, snapping the file shut. Placing it into her bag, she started to head to the door. "Let's get going!"

The two hurried off, ready to start their trip.

"The trip from Saffron City would only take a few days if I hurried," Leaf mumbled. "Maybe I was too eager to get back, I didn't even see it coming..."

"What happened?" Gary urged her.

"A really big thunderstorm."

The sky which had been a clear blue only ten minutes ago was now covered by dark clouds. Leaf looked up at the sky with a sigh. Her plans of camping out over night were obviously useless now, but she was still too far from the next Pokémon Center to get there in time to shelter from the upcoming storm.

"Maybe it won't rain," she murmured to herself, hurrying along the path.

Thunder loudly echoed around her, even though not a single drop of rain had fallen yet. Lightning flashed in the distance, being the only source of light among the clouds.

Something about the clouds seemed like a bad omen, because Bulbasaur had popped out of his pokeball to be with her.

"Bulbasaur?" Leaf asked, looking down at her starter. "Is something wrong?"

"Bulba!" her Pokémon cried out, worried. "Saur!"

"I know, we shouldn't be out in this kind of weather," she stated, "but we either have to keep moving or find shelter. I don't think we can escape this storm."

Bulbasaur merely nodded in agreement, quickly darting ahead to lead the way. After a few minutes of jogging, he turned back around to look at Leaf. The rain had started and the winds were picking up, acting as a thick curtain and making it hard to see through. Thunder and lightning were happening more often and it was becoming very clear to Leaf that traveling in this weather was a terrible idea.

Soaked to the bone, she shivered, making her way to Bulbasaur. As she was approaching the loud crack of lightning sounded above her. A loud snap of a branch echoed around her, looking up, Leaf could clearly see the large branch falling down towards Bulbasaur. Fear struck the brunette as adrenaline filled her.

"Bulbasaur!" she screamed, diving towards her Pokémon. Hugging him closely, the branch fell on top of her before she could get away. Losing her conscious almost instantly, Bulbasaur's cries of despair and the storm were the last things the girl heard.

"Bulbasaur had ran off for help, but I wouldn't have known what happened. It was because of that storm, I was in a coma for the past two years." Leaf explained, hands shaking. Another crash of thunder caused her to flinch.

Gary reached over to hold them in his own. Something about the gesture caused her to seek comfort in him as she leaned towards him. Wrapping an arm around her, Gary could feel her calming down as he rubbed her back gently.

"It's okay," he soothed her. "You saved Bulbasaur then. Everything is fine now, I'm here for you."

The two sat in silence together, any former painful memories slowly ebbing away.

A memory of imaginary Leaf comforting him crossed Gary's mind. The break ups he had with all those other girls seemed pointless now, he never felt much of the pain because of her presence. She had done things the real Leaf would have done with him, and for that he was thankful.

Now it was his turn to return the favour to the real Leaf.

"Hey, Leaf?" he whispered, holding her closely.

"Mm?"

He took a quick breath. This was his chance to move on and live his life the way it would have been if Leaf hadn't moved away.

"Even though you've been gone for ten years, my memories of you were always here," he said, believing in every word. "I can't be too sure yet, but I think I might've fallen in love with you."

There was a moment of silence before he heard a quiet sniffle.

Turning his head slightly, he could see Leaf tearing up.

"You don't know how long I've waited to hear that."

"I hope it was worth the wait then," Gary answered, a smirk on his face.

Playfully punching him, Leaf giggled.

"Of course. You're always worth the wait to me."

Aw. I'm definitely throwing in more fluff and bonding time between these two in the next few chapters. :)

Wow. I'm surprised I made it here. This story was initially thought to only be ten chapters long. Looks like there will be only a few more chapters to come, three or four more I want to say? :)

Anyways, I want to give a big shout out to all you reviewers who have reviewed this story. You guys are super awesome, don't ever forget that! :) Thanks for your support! :)

Until next time...

Thanks for reading and have a magnificent day!

~Skitty13