I was a little surprised at myself that this was actually going to happen. Even though Sage and I organized this together, I still found myself embarrassed at the very prospect of going on a date with Azurite.

I had never had a partner before...

And he didn't quite grasp the concept of a date yet.

"Tag! You're it!" Azurite grinned mischievously as we arrived at the Valor Lakefront resort. Our intended destination was the beach along Route 213, but as we arrived in the small resort town, Azurite had tapped me on the shoulder and raced off, twirling his tails playfully at me. I felt an old, forgotten spark flare inside me at his playfulness and I smirked.

He thought he could beat me at tag? No... I was the master at this game!

Before he could react, I teleported in front of his path and he ran right into me. "Waah!" He gasped, and I laughed.

"I got you~" I let go of him and immediately began flying away towards the beach. "You're it!"

"Hey! No fair!" Azurite puffed out his cheeks and chased along after me. "No teleporting allowed!" He complained, but when I looked back to see how far behind he was, I could see the grin on his face. We were totally gonna keep teleporting.

As we played tag on our way through the city, it half became a game of hide and seek. We'd teleport behind buildings and chase each other down alleys so the humans wouldn't see us. I was almost shocked when I found myself laughing, giggling and cheering whenever I managed to evade Azurite. Even when he did manage to tag me, I laughed and happily chased back after him.

As we finally made it to the beach, I managed to catch Azurite by tackling him into the sand. "Gotcha!"

"Aaaah! Noooo!" We both laughed as he thrashed to escape, but I let him get up after a moment. "Hehe... you're the best, Mesprit.." He wrapped his arms around me in a gentle hug, and I returned the embrace. We turned our gaze to the sea, and watched for a moment, sitting together in the sand. An amicable silence descended over us as we listened to the sea and watched the sun dip ever lower in the sky. Soon, I knew, the sky would light up in a variety of colours... the sunset was always beautiful here.

"Mesprit, what do people do on dates?" He turned to me with his wide curious eyes. "Are we doing it right?" He asked. I blinked at him.

"I don't think you fully know what a date even means," I stood and reached out my hand for him to take. He didn't need it, but he happily let me help lift him into the air so we could hover along the beach together. "It's so we can hang out together, as a couple.."

"Ooh..." he hummed softly, "so, how is that different from hanging out with Sage? I mean- like- of course I feel differently for you than I do for her..." He squirmed awkwardly. "She's my sister! But you... you're just..." he seemed at a loss for words, and I almost laughed at his lack of knowledge. He always seemed to know just what to say to calm me down, to help me, and yet he couldn't figure out his own feelings. Articulating the depth his feelings was still a little too complicated for him.

Still, I bit my tongue and let him continue to jabber. "You're amazing! I look up to you because you've taught me so much- and I can see how you've grown, and opened up to us, even though you went through something so horrible- and, well- you're just so wonderful!" He suddenly turned and wrapped me up in a hug. I blinked, a little surprised at his openness, but I then smiled and hugged him back.

Even if he was a mess at this... He was still so earnest. I pulled away just enough so we could look at each other, and I rested my hands on his shoulders. "Azurite... I feel the same way about you."

"You do?" He gasped, as if I hadn't already kissed him not even two days ago.

"Of course I do," I chuckled, "you've grown a lot since I met you... back then you were an annoying little thorn in my side~" I jabbed him playfully in the side and he flinched and laughed.

"Ahhaha! Stopp!" I laughed too and jabbed him again. "Nooohoho!" He put his hands on my face and pushed me away. I let him go with a laugh and crossed my arms to show I was no longer going to tickle him. He calmed and smiled at me, playing with his hands. "So... I don't annoy you anymore..?"

I smiled, "no, not at all... you mean a lot to me.." I reached back out to him, to gently take hold of his hands. "I wouldn't have gotten so much better if it weren't for you and Sage's help... I would still be so alone."

He flushed and looked down at our hands.. but then he hummed and looked back up at me. "So- how am I.. different from Sage- to you?"

"Well..." I let go of one hand, and brought us to fly along the beach again. The sun was sitting a bit lower in the sky now. The colours were getting stronger. "I feel the same way about you, that you feel about me- Sage is more of a sister, but you're more of a... partner."

"Really? Me? A partner?" Azurite smiled excitedly. I giggled and nodded softly.

"Yes... and that's what dates are for! So we can spend time together, as partners." I smiled gently and felt myself blush.

"So what do partners do?" Azurite hummed thoughtfully. "Can we eat?"

I laughed. "What gives you that idea?"

He tugged my arm a little and pointed with his free hand, "over there!"

It was then that I noticed we weren't the only ones on this beach. In fact, there was a humble little wedding procession, where one human was waiting at the altar, and the other was walking down a clean pathway made over the sand of the beach.. it was a little too far to hear much of what was happening, besides the distant sound of music. Sitting behind the procession, however, was a small buffet. Which was what Azurite was pointing at. I almost wanted to laugh.

"Sure..." I chuckled, "but we only take one thing each!"

"Woo!" Azurite immediately raced off with my tightly caught in his hand- I pulled him to the side to make sure he did get us caught, but we still ended up hiding behind the tables. Azurite poked his head out sneakily to peer around at the various foods. "Hmm..." he grabbed two pokepuffs and handed one to me, "for you!"

I chuckled and rolled my eyes... I took it from him. Nobody would notice these two pokepuffs going missing, there was just so many- and after all, we were pokemon. We sat together behind the tables as we happily ate. In the distance, we could hear the wedding commence.

"Do you take... to have and to hold from this day forward?"

The couple responded. "I do."

"I do."

I blinked and turned to Azurite. He had stopped eating and was now smiling softly down at the half-eaten pokepuff in his hands. He turned and smiled up at me, "That's how I feel about you.." he murmured.

And with every following vow, he would follow along with the couple... "will you take... for better or for worse... for richer or poorer.. in sickness and in health... to love and to cherish, till death do you part..."

"I do."

Azurite was flushed and embarrassed, and so was I... as the couple kissed and celebrated in the background, we continued to stare at each other.

"...I do too," I said softly, and reached out to take his hand. "You mean... a lot to me." I murmured.

He smiled and leaned in to boldly plant a small kiss on my cheek. I thought to return the gesture, but then we heard movement coming our way. "Ah! come on Mesprit!" he grabbed my arm and stuffed the rest of his food in his mouth, quickly flying us out of there as quickly as he could.

We fled into the trees to hide.. and when we were sure nobody had spotted us, the two of us burst into exorbitant laughter. "Hahaha! They almost caught us!" Azurite said. He looped his tails around me and smiled brilliantly through his laughter. I didn't think he had ever looked more handsome than he did with that smile..

"Hah! They were never gonna find us!" I joked and stood up tall with my hands on my hips. "I'd have teleported us out of there to make sure of that!" He nudged my shoulder playfully and we giggled together some more... It had been a long time since I had played like this.

This was... nice. I was glad Sage encouraged me to do this.

I brought us back out to the far side of the beach, where we would be alone. The sun was dipping even lower now, and on the far side of the sky, I could see stars beginning to peek through. We sat down in the sand for a while and watched the sun set all the day down, until the stars and the moon were the only lights illuminating us. We spoke a little, but even Azurite, with his talkative nature, was just happy to sit here with me, and watch the view. We leaned on each other for warmth.

When I found the both of us were starting to get cold, I shook his shoulder and lifted off the ground. "Come on, let's go home." I held his hands to help him follow suit. "It's late," I said gently. He smiled and nodded in agreement.

We made our way back to Lake Valor, as it wasn't too far away. I also felt it was more private.. we wouldn't need to worry about anybody coming to bother us when we were here. Out of every place in Sinnoh, we didn't have to hide when we were in our own homes.

We settled down together to get some sleep when Azurite held my hand again. "So... did we do the date right?"

I hummed with a soft smile, "yes, I think so.." I tilted my head. "I had fun... you make me really happy."

He smiled radiantly at me. "I do...?"

"Very much," I giggled and shifted over closer to him. I put my arms around his shoulders. "I.. really love you."

He rested his forehead against mine and held my waist, "I love you too..." He held me to him and kissed me... and I was quite happy to reciprocate. The kiss started slow and romantic, but it gradually deepened into something more. I hadn't fully realized until just recently... but I truiy had grown to love him oh-so much.

The next morning I awoke to Azurite still clinging to me. He was curled up around me, with his tails tangled up in mine. I wriggled out of his arms gently so as not to wake him, and sat up in my place at his side. I blinked blearily, thinking back to last night...

I blushed, a bit embarrassed at myself. I turned and peered down at Azurite as he snoozed softly next to me. I never would've expected that I would be... together with him like this. Even just seeing his sleeping face.. he was so handsome. I felt my blush deepen.

What was I going to say when he woke up? I held my flushed face in my hands in pure embarrassment. I just couldn't believe myself.

As if on que, Azurite stirred at my side. He took a deep breath in and opened his eyes. He peered up at me softly for a moment before a gentle smile graced his face. He sat up at my side and wrapped me up in a warm, soothing hug. I turned towards him so I could hug him back, but I pouted at him, blushing deeply. "Morning..."

"Good morning, Mesprit!" he hummed happily, clearly not nearly as embarrassed as I was. He nuzzled my face with his own, his eyes shut happily. He pulled away and looked adoringly into my eyes. "How are you feeling, sweetie?" He kindly pressed a gentle kiss on my cheek.

I wasn't quite sure how to respond. I looked away and smiled softly, feeling surprisingly shy. He blinked and frowned worriedly. "Do you... regret it? I don't want you to be uncomfortable-"

"No!" I shook my head vehemently "No, no no no! I'm just... surprised, is all..." I humphed. He smiled in understanding and moved to speak again, when-

"Good morning, you two!" Sage was suddenly waving to us from the entrance of the cave.

"Ah-! Hi Sage," Azutrite was just as startled and shy as I felt, as he cautiously waved back to her. Sage saw that as an invitation to come inside, so she flew in and smiled gently down at us. "How are you two lovebirds doing?"

"well- the date went very well," Azurite smiled with a small blush of his own on his face, "we had a nice time last night!"

Oh gosh. I hoped Sage didn't catch onto his lack of tact. I looked at her and saw her turn to me and grin softly. "Well, I say good job you two," her grin widened a little. of course she caught it, and I could sense the amusement inside her. I sighed softly, trying to hide my face.

But as I did so, I found myself giggling... I peered back up at the two of them and couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Thanks," I said playfully and I knew if Sage could open her eyes, she would've winked at me. Even though I was so shocked by how things had turned out... I found that I was happy.

They were... a family. My new family, one that I could call my own. And I was happy to belong here, with them.