Sitting on a cushion laid seat with a large hexagon grid window behind them, Scarlet and her mother laughed and giggled at the pictures in the photo album. Saphia just looked on at pictures of Robert when he was younger. After flipping through page after page, she saw a picture of Robert with a boy and a girl at either sides of him as he waved good bye at the camera.
"Isabel, who are these two?" Saphia asked as she pointed to the bottom left picture with a cracked golden crest at the bottom.
Sighing, she brushed her finger across the broken crest. Moving the book onto the left side of her lap, she showed her the picture a little better as she explained.
"That's Robert, and this is Steven. That girl... was the love of his life", Isabel said as she looked at Saphia.
"May I ask her name?" The Lucario asked as she looked at Robert and the girl holding hands in the photo.
"Her name's Saphia", Scarlet answered for her mother, surprising Saphia with it.
"The same as my name...", Saphia said as she looked down at the book.
"Yes... Saphia, has Robert mentioned what happened to her a few years ago?" Isabel asked.
"No, he has not. He has mentioned he will tell me one day, but I did not press him further for this information", Saphia said, while not taking her gaze from the picture.
"She died three weeks before she was due to give birth to her son... Robert's son", Isabel said.
Saphia's head jerked up. Her shocked gaze met Isabel's pain filled eyes.
"Robert was so excited when he heard that his wife was pregnant", Susan said from the doorway where she padded slowly into the room, Draco following behind her.
"He didn't even sleep for the entire week after he heard that news", Draco said with a sigh.
"What happened to her?" Saphia asked.
"She was killed, that was what gave Robert the reason and will to not fight wars anymore", Scarlet said.
"May I ask how she was killed?" Saphia asked.
"I let her die...", Draco said as he leaned against the wall besides Saphia.
"Draco! Don't say that! You tried to save her, you couldn't heal her with the injuries you got from the fight", Scarlet said in an anger filled voice.
"Draco, she's right. You're not to blame. No pokemon can concentrate when they've had their arm broken. You needed both to use your Heal Pulse", Isabel said softly to the Gallade.
"What happened that caused this?" Saphia asked again.
"Should we tell her?" Susan asked the others.
"Pops is going to kill us if he finds out...", Draco said.
"Then I'll tell you myself", Robert said as he suddenly came into the study.
"Pops!" Draco exclaimed as he just noticed his presence.
"You want to know how she died? Then I'll tell you", Robert said as he stood their with his arms crossed, his face filled with pain and anger.
~Seven Years Ago~
Crushing their guns with his Psychic, Draco shoved his blood stained hands in front of him, sending the discs of shattered metal behind them, or stabbing them through their shoulders. Racing around from behind the banks counter, Draco dove at Susan. Snatching her unconscious body up, Draco hopped over the counter. Placing the Mightyena down by himself, Draco readied a Psycho Cut attack as his eyes glowed from surveying the area with his Psychic attack. Suddenly, the wooden counter broke into hundreds of triangles as a Bisharp tore it to shreds. Using Psychic, he pushed her further into the building as he blocked with his sword-like arm. Behind another counter, Robert sat kneeled on his knees with his bleeding wife in his arms as she slowly died.
"No, no, no!" Robert said as he held her in his blood stained arms, "DRACO! I NEED YOUR HELP, GET OVER HERE!" Robert cried out frantically.
"I'm comi-AH!" Draco exclaimed as the Bisharp swung his arms with blinding speed at various points on Draco's arm.
"You mother fucker!" Draco said as he thrust his hand through the Bisharps crossed arms and slammed the back of its head through the floor, killing it.
Racing over to the slowly dying women, he slid to his knees. Scarlet shot back with a gun she swiped from a dead robber. Gritting his teeth, a faint, flickering, pink aura came and went as pain rocked his body and mind of its concentration.
"Come on. COME ON! WORK DAMNIT!" Draco said as tears flowed from his eyes as Saphia laid in Robert's arms, her life slowly fading from the gash across her torso.
"Saphia, please. Don't die on us!" Robert said as the ring leader of the gang of robbers held his arms as he dragged his mangled leg across the debris.
"Draco! Heal her already!" Robert shouted as the Gallade continued to try over and over to use his Heal Pulse.
"I-I can't! It won't- Oh Arceus fucking damnit!" Draco said as he sobbed through his words.
Arm trembling, she slowly reached up, cupping the side of Robert's cheek.
"Hon... I'm sorry...", she said as tears flowed down her cheeks.
"Stay quiet, sweetie. You don't have anything to be sorry about!" Robert said as he took her hand in his own and held it tight.
"I'm sorry... that I couldn't keep our son safe...", Saphia said as the last robber that tried to flee was gunned down by Scarlet, "I'm... sorry...", she said as her head fell lifeless to the side.
"Saphia? Saphia!? SAPHIA!" Robert cried out her name as he brought her up and held her tight.
Hugging her knees, Scarlet cried into her lap as he heard her brother cry out in pain. Draco let out a cry as well as he slammed the fist of his broken arm into the ground, shaking the floor as he did so.
End of Story~
The room was filled with silent sobbing from Scarlet and Susan. Face bearing both pain, anger, and pure hate, he too was crying.
"And I'll never forget the man who killed her", Robert said as he gripped his own arm, cutting his own blood flow off.
Sighing, his face relaxed slightly. Turning himself around and made his way towards the door.
"Robert... Why did you give me your wife's name?" Saphia asked.
"...", he paused at the door, "no reason... It just fitted you", Robert said as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
"Draco, are you going to be okay?" Susan asked Draco as he sat with his back against the wall, his knees up to his chest, his hands at either side of his head.
"Yeah... Pops just had a lot coming out of him... From myself as well", Draco said as he slowly opened his eyes as the source of the large emotional force left the room.
"To lose a child before he is to be born... Three weeks at that... I wouldn't even dare to imagine how I would feel if I lost my son...", Saphia said as she sat there in confusion and sadness towards Robert.
"Saphia, dear. You may look at this photo album as much as you want...", Isabel said as she got up and placed the album down where she sat.
"Thank you...", she said as Isabel smiled and then walked out of the room.
"And don't worry, Saphia. You'll still have a chance to be with Pops", Draco said as he dragged the palms of his hands down his face.
"I-Ah-!" Saphia exclaimed.
"If you're trying to ask how I know, I'm pretty weak right now. I can't control my mind reading right now...", Draco said as he rubbed his temple.
"... How do you know that I may still have a chance?" Saphia asked.
Looking down at the album, she reached for the album and brought it onto her lap and opened back to the first page.
"We'll let you look at it at your own pace...", Scarlet said as she got up and slowly made her way to the door.
"Thank you... again... for everything", Saphia said with a sad face.
"No problem... you're part of the family anyways", Draco said with a smile.
Smiling back at them as they left, she looked back down at the book.
As time went by, Saphia continued to flip page after page. Looking at picture after picture of Robert and several other characters in his childhood. A knock came from the door. Looking up from the book, she saw Robert standing by the door.
"Saphia, I want to apologize for the way I acted towards you all when... that, was brought up again", Robert said as he walked towards her.
"It is fine. You acted like anyone would when something like this was brought back to your attention again", Saphia said.
"So... would you like to ask anything about it?" Robert said as he sat down beside her.
"Yes... What is the name of the man who caused the death of your wife?" She asked as she leaned the book against the window.
"... His name's Holguin, but I don't know his last name. He was announcing himself a lot, not that hard to figure out his name with that", Robert answered.
"... Would you like to ask me anything?" Saphia asked Robert.
"Sure. First of all, what was your mates name? It was Duke, right?" Robert asked, earning a shocked expression from the Lucario.
"Y-yes, how did you know?" Saphia asked, bringing her paw up to her face.
"I saw Junior sitting in the room across from the hall, he kept smelling at the air. As I was about to go talk to you, I heard him say, "daddy". You Lucario's have strong noses, so I assumed it was my fathers Lucario he was talking about", Robert said.
"My mate was a pokemon of your fathers?" Saphia asked, even more surprised now.
"Yes. Here, let me show you", Robert said as he reached behind her and picked up the book.
Angling the book towards her, he opened the book to the very last page. A single picture was centered on the very last page. It was a picture of a Lucario and Carlos, their arms slung across the others shoulders. In the background was a snowy village. Below the picture was a small crest with words bore into the flimsy strip of gold.
"You will be missed, Duke. My friend, my comrade", Saphia read.
"Those are my fathers words", Robert said.
"So... the scent in that room... it's",
"Yes. It's the room Duke stayed in for several years after my father retired from being a trainer and started to settle down with my mother", Robert said.
"Did you two spend any time together? You and my mate that is", Saphia said.
"Of course, he was my sparring partner when I trained. I also cooked with him for my parents from time to time, and various other things that I wish I remembered", Robert said.
"That must be why you remind me of him so much...", Saphia said as she came to realize everything she saw and felt while they were back in the forests of Snow Point City.
"What do you mean?" Robert asked.
"When my son and I first saw you cooking, I saw a flash of my mate... The way you reacted when that vase my son broke... I saw my mate again. My mate would always ignore something my son accidentally broke and say that it wasn't more important than him", Saphia said as she looked up at him.
"Is that why you acted as if I was your mate when you thought I didn't realize it?" Robert asked.
"W-what?" Saphia exclaimed.
Chuckling at her response, he took the book with one hand and lightly bonked her over the head with the spine of the book.
"It takes me quite some time to be able to fall asleep. At the hotel, I felt your head pressed up against my arm when I was trying to go to sleep. Your blushing from things. And various other things... Saphia... do you see me as your mate?" Robert asked, causing the Lucario to blush madly.
Tripping over her own words, she waved her arms around frantically as she tried to come up with a lie to say, or even words at the least bit. In her frantic arm flailing, her rump slipped off the edge of the windowsill, causing her to fall onto the floor. The fall caused several books to fall down from the shelf next to her and land on her as she laid flat on the ground. Trying to get up, a book clunked on the top of her head, causing her to fall back down and whimpered slightly as she held her head. Blushing even more as Robert laughed at this sight, she turned her face away from him.
"And I forget to mention the way you look away sometimes", Robert said as he continued to laugh.
With a slightly angry face, she blushed hard as she pushed her herself with one arm. Still rubbing her head, she turned to him and smiled none the less. Sitting back down beside him, she looked at Robert.
"Is it wrong for me to... like you?" Saphia asked.
"It's not, I can't say no to you for liking me or not", Robert said.
"...So, what if I said I love you?" Saphia said as she looked down at the cushions underneath them, a hot blush underneath her blue coat.
"Not sure what to say about that... but I did feel something for you when we were on the ship... the words you said to me, they made me happy. Almost as if you reminded me of my wife like I reminded you of your mate...", Robert said as he reached over and gently took her paw in his hand.
"So... do you... love me?" Saphia asked.
"... Though I still love my deceased wife... I... do", Robert said with a smile.
Suddenly, Saphia rushed forward and brought them into a hug. Her chest spike poked at his chest, but didn't stab through his skin. Smiling, Robert slowly wrapped his arms around Saphia as a familiar feeling flowed through his body. The feeling of loving another as he had before. As they hugged one another, their arms embracing one another, their eyes closed as they held one another. Slowly, Draco and Scarlet poked their heads out from behind the door, smiling. Susan poke her head out with the two as well, Isabel soon joined them as well. Opening his eyes first, Robert spotted the others and just smiled. His smile soon faded as he saw their faces bore the expression of, "what the fuck?" Noticing they were looking behind them now, he turned his head.
Feeling his cheek rub against hers, she opened her eyes and saw something staring at them from the base of the window. Looking down with her, Robert's eye twitched as they all stared at Carlos as he hung from the window, looking at the two as they hugged one another.
"Dad...Really, what the hell?" Robert said as he looked down.
"Hi you two!" Carlos said as he waved with one arm.
With a flick of a finger, Draco used Psychic to push him off, sending Carlos falling down onto the bushes beneath him. Both slapping him on top and underneath his head, Scarlet and Isabel sighed. Moving apart from one another, they smiled at one another. Standing up, Robert looked at the picture one last time before closing it hand handing it back to Saphia.
"I'm going to see how Junior's handling himself in the other room", Robert said as he patted Saphia on the shoulder.
"I will come with you", Saphia said with a smile, earning one from Robert as well.
The others were long gone from the door, but not from the hall. Leaving the room and walking across the hall, the two looked into the room as Junior sat on the floor with Duke's old Pokeball in his little paws. Sora was lying beside Junior with her head resting on beside his leg, whimpering silently as Junior cried. Smiling at him from behind, Robert walked towards the Riolu and sat down beside him on the ground.
"Hey... Junior", Robert said as he placed his hand on top of his head and gave it a little rub.
"... Daddy...", Junior said in a low voice as he turned to Robert.
"It's okay, Junior. You're not the only one who has lost someone they love", Robert said as he scooped Junior into his arms and hugged him.
Burying his face into Robert's arms, Junior continued to weep silently into Robert's warm embrace. From the doorway, Saphia had her paw on the edge of the door as she smiled at the two. From behind and beneath her, the others were peeking through the door. Suddenly, Saphia felt the photo album being taken from her paw. Looking down, she noticed it was Isabel who was glaring at the window from the far side of the room, it was Carlos again. Chucking the album across the room, Carlos exclaimed as the book smacked his face, sending him onto the grassy floor a story under him.
"Hey, Junior. I have a question for you", Robert asked as Sora poked her head out from underneath Robert's arm.
"Hmm?" Junior asked as he sniffed back some tears.
"Would you like it if I was your dad?" Robert asked with a smile.
"Yes!" Junior asked almost with no hesitation, his tail began to slap Robert's leg as it wagged with joy.
Grabbing his arm, Junior hugged him as his tailed continued to wag. Sora barked happily for her friend as well. From the doorway, Draco, Scarlet, and Susan were smiling at the two as broken bonds continued to be filled. Isabel and Saphia were both crying for their respected sides of their family. Carlos, on the other hand... seemed to have landed on the sand, instead of the softer grass.
"...Ow", Carlos whizzed out from underneath the photo album that splayed open across his face like a tent.
And here's Chapter 25 :D I hate myself, I keep changing things over and over! Lol, believe it or not, they were supposed to fall in love WAY later in the story... oh well, always room to fiddle around with details to make them fit. Speaking of fiddling, this might give me chance to put another couple for lemons, other than Scarlet and Draco who are gonna go have some fun time again :P Pretty obvious on who it's going to be. My last chapter got a long and semi-long review! Both are actual reviews ouo, that makes me so happy QuQ. I actually wrote a first lemon that I think is better, but it was only a test :P Not sure how to upload it if people want to read it. PM me if you want to read it, I'll just send you it :P
Please leave a Review! SIDE NOTE: Sorry if I'm making the relations and story go a little fast ono. It's either that, or I try and come up with boring fillers...