Father... why?

How could you keep such a big secret from me?

Soul slammed her fist down on the rocky ground next to her, leaving behind a small dent as a result. Normally, she would never resort to violence to release her anger, but could you blame her? Her own father kept a huge secret from her, his own flesh and blood. Soul was the current holder of the Ethereal Sphere, the precious treasure that both the Johto and Hoenn Knights have been after all this time. The essence within her was the root of all the problems that have been going on.

The Ethereal Sphere was the driving motivation for all this unnecessary bloodshed.

With a slow breath, Soul leaned back against the smooth rock wall. When she ran away from Nicholas's house, she found this place called Blacktail Cove. She stayed here ever since, thinking of all the complications that's been going on, mostly about the damn Ethereal Sphere. Her hand trailed over to the item that adorned her neck. It was the necklace that contained the charm and wedding ring that belonged to her mother.

The blonde woman pulled it out from underneath her shirt and got a closer look at it. The sea green gem in the middle reminded her of her mother's eyes, the same ones Soul inherited from her. Perhaps that's why her father got it for her mother. It was beautiful, but not enough to distract her. That conversation with Nicholas still lingered in her mind. What he told her was beyond what she expected.

With this new piece of information, it could mean potential danger to her and everyone else. Those knights were out there killing their way through anything to find the Ethereal Sphere. The thing they were all after was right under her nose and she didn't know it until it was too late. Her friends all had to struggle against the people who were after it. Not only that, but she also lost a comrade because of it.

"The Ethereal Sphere is no legendary treasure, but a cursed jewel," Soul bitterly spat under her breath. "I'd rather die than live another day and put everyone in danger."

"That's no way an aura guardian should speak."

Her eyes widened when she heard his familiar voice that chimed in. Although, she wasn't surprised that Aaron of all people would come find her, especially after her outburst in Nicholas's house. An annoyed sigh left her mouth as she didn't even bother looking his way as he came closer her way.

"What do you want? Are you here to yell at me for not keeping cool back there?" Soul questioned, keeping her gaze away from him.

"No," he assured. "I was worried about you. After all, you kind of just blew up and left."

Her eyes softened a bit as she turned her head to look at him. The first thing she noticed was the concern he held in his eyes. Seeing him like that made Soul feel bad for talking to him so rudely.

"I'm sorry." The blonde woman frowned, dropping her gaze downward. "I guess I'm... not okay. It's just that I was—"

"Overwhelmed?" he answered, to which she nodded to.

"Yeah, but that's not all," she revealed. "Hearing that my own father kept such a huge secret from me made me feel betrayed, as if he didn't trust me enough to tell me himself."

Soul felt the tears beginning to build up again, but she refused to let them fall. It took her a while to stop crying beforehand and certainly wasn't easy. Her eyes were still a little puffy and her cheeks were moist from those tears. She sighed and buried her head in her hands, taking an exasperated breath.

"You shouldn't assume that your father didn't trust you," he stated sternly, causing her to look up at him with teary eyes.

"Then why, Aaron? Why was I kept in the dark of something that's putting us all in danger? Why did it take almost twenty three years for the truth to come out? Can you answer that?" she snapped.

Aaron shook his head sadly, giving her a sympathetic look afterwards. Once again, Soul looked away from him. A small tear left her eye, but she quickly wiped it away with the swipe of a hand.

"I don't know why the truth was hidden for so long, but I do know one thing," he spoke in a tender voice, as if being careful with his words. "Your father wanted you to live a long and happy life, and like Nicholas said, to not put yourself in danger. I agree that the Ethereal Sphere shouldn't have been kept a secret from you for almost twenty three years. But maybe he thought it was for the best because he already lost someone important to him. He didn't want you to share the same fate."

Share the same fate huh?

Her father was always very protective of her after her mother disappeared, entrusting her to only a handful of people. Even then, Soul was already having a tough time with training and still getting over the loss of her mother. Her childhood wasn't like any other kid out there. When they played, she trained. When they got paper cuts, she got bruises and scraped patches. When they took naps, she meditated.

However, all of that had gone into one purpose and one purpose only. She was raised to become an aura guardian, just like her father. When he passed away, she was taken in and trained to be a knight. A knight's code of honor was to protect the people and devote your sword to your ruler. There would never be a time where she didn't get hurt, much less not put herself in danger.

Soul regretted to say that her father's wish would not happen as long as she stayed with that idea.

"I understand, maybe it was for the best," the blonde woman admitted, standing up from the ground and fully facing Aaron. "Unfortunately, I grew up as a noble pawn, sworn by chivalry to protect all people and Pokémon by all means. I'm a knight, as well as an aura guardian. As an aura guardian, it is my life's job to do good deeds for the sake of humanity, even if it means gambling my life."

"What are you trying to say?" he asked, his voice wavering with caution. Soul gave him a determined look, her hands balling up into loose fists.

"With the position I am now, as well as with the Ethereal Sphere, my life is already in a gamble," she stated. "Because that's the case, Father was worried for nothing because I'm already in danger's grasp."

"While that may be true, remember that you've got your comrades to protect you along the way. No matter how far you run to keep them away, they'll come running to you," he countered, taking a step closer to her. "Which is why you need to quit talking as if you're going to die!"

Her sea green eyes instantly hardened as she gazed fiercely at Aaron. Death was a touchy subject with her, but not because of the death of her parents. To her, death was something she learned to accept at a young age. However, what mattered was the way someone died. They could be tragic, heroic, and sorrowful.

In her case, death was an option in a dire situation despite people's protests. If it meant the safety of the people and for the right cause, then of course she was willing to let her life down. Her father died a heroic death during the attempted overthrow by the rebels because he fought to protect the Queen. He taught her that if it meant your side's victory, then be willing to die for that sake.

"I am going to die at some point," Soul claimed, raising her voice slightly. "After all, death is an inevitable circumstance. I am no exception to that, especially in the situation I'm in. Because of this Ethereal Sphere, I'm most likely a prime target of the Johto and Hoenn Knights, who are probably searching as we speak!"

"I'm not letting them anywhere near you!" he countered, catching her off guard. "And I'm most certainly going to make sure you get that and something else through your head."

Her eyes widened as he caught her wrist and immediately pinned her against the smooth rock wall. As her back made contact with the rock wall, both of her wrists were pinned above her head. The blonde woman struggled and moved a lot to break free from his grip, but it was no use. His grip on her was iron hard; she had no way of escaping it at all. Sure they trained under the same standards, but Aaron was always the stronger one.

Knowing that struggling was futile, Soul hesitantly gave in and stopped. She cursed under her breath, reluctantly raising her head to look at him. She glared into his dark blue eyes that were filled with anger and something else— she couldn't tell what.

"What the hell?!" she yelled, glaring at the blue haired man in front of her.

"You're an idiot, Soul!" His eyes hardened. "Haven't you realized by now that everyone you know and care about will do anything in their power to protect you from danger?!"

"That's what I'm afraid of!" she yelled back at him. "I don't want anyone getting hurt for my sake, especially not the people I care about. It hurts watching them become my shield. I don't want that to happen for a person like me."

"So you think sacrificing yourself is any better?!"

Her eyes widened in shock at his tone of voice. It was serious, yet still held anger in it. Never once had he yelled at her like that before, even if she did something wrong. She never knew he had it in him to scold her with that kind of tone.

"Don't even think for a moment that you're going to throw your life away! Do you know how much it pains me to hear something like that come out of your mouth?!" he yelled at her.

Soul's eyes remained wide with anguish. The way he just said those words to her, it was so different. His tone made her want to shrink back, ashamed of herself for thinking the way she did. The way he looked at her with that frustrated look made her eyes glossy with tears. Never had she ever seen this side of Aaron and to be honest, it was a little bit scary.

Why did his words have such an effect on her?

"What are you..." Soul trailed off, still affected by his scary exterior.

"If you died, how do you think Queen Rin would feel? How do you think your teammates would feel? How do you think Gallade would feel?! How do you think everyone else back in Rota would feel?!" Aaron's grip on her wrist became tighter. Soul flinched a bit, but quickly recovered. "How do you think I would feel?! Have you ever considered that?!"

"What are you trying to say dammit?!" Soul snapped harshly.

"I'm trying to say I care about you too damn much to let you die just like that!" he yelled, catching her by surprise. "I'd be devastated— no, heartbroken, if I found out that the woman I love disappeared from my life for good."

All that anguish she felt earlier faded into shock. The blonde woman felt her heart began to race, that strange fluttery sensation skimming through her.

"What...?" She breathed out in shock. His eyes soften as he bit his lip, as if hesitating to speak his true words. However, when he simplified what he meant with those four words, it all became crystal clear.

"I love you, Soul."

The blonde woman felt the heat rush to her cheeks as her breath hitched for a moment. He said he loved her. He felt the same way she did about him.

Soul reached for Aaron's chin to make him look at her. A faint shade of pink was dusted across his cheeks. She needed to tell him how she felt. She couldn't keep her feelings locked up from him anymore. They've gone through so much together— she didn't want him to slip away from her anymore.

"You don't think I feel the same way about you?" Soul smiled lightly. "I love you as well. I always have, even when you were training me to become an aura guardian. I've pushed those feelings away all this time, because we both knew that romance could harm us both. Why do you think I'm always teased when you're around?"

"Promise me you'll stay alive, for the both of us? For our future together?" he begged.

"I promise."

What he did next took her by surprise. He pulled her closer to him by the waist and pressed his lips against hers. At first, her green eyes were wide with surprise. Eventually, she closed them and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. It was a strange experience since this was her first kiss. She didn't know how much she longed for it.

"I knew it!" a familiar voice yelled from nearby.

"You owe me thirty gold coins, Akira!" an oh so familiar blond knight exclaimed.

"I do not!"

Both Aaron and Soul broke apart and faced the direction where the voices came from. Why was she not surprised to see Gallade standing there with a smirk and Blake smiling mischievously? From behind him, Lucario and Axel were also smirking while Akira gave the two aura guardians a closed eyed smile. Soul was never going to live this down.

"My my, Sir Aaron. I had no idea you were so smitten with Miss Fraverden," Lucario said while smirking.

"Wait until I tell everyone when we get back! Roman owes me two dozen spicy Poffins for the bet I made with her!" Gallade exclaimed and pumped his fists.

"Akira? Those thirty gold coins?" Blake smirked, holding out his hand toward the white haired woman.

"I never said I would agree on this bet because I knew they were going to get together soon." She glared at him. "Now stop bugging me for those thirty gold coins! I was never part of the bet!"

"You people sure are rude about it." Axel shook his head in disappointment. "Honestly, who bets on people hooking up?"

"Apparently this idiot does," Akira remarked as she pointed at an excited Blake.

Soul pulled away from Aaron and gave Gallade and Blake the death glare that made them squirm. A dark aura surrounded her as she glared daggers at those two goofballs. They both looked scared. Good, they should be.

"Gallade, Blake... You're so dead!" she yelled and chased after them.

They both let out a rather high pitched scream and ran out of the cove with the blonde woman hot on their trail. They're so dead when she caught them.