Chapter Seventeen — What is the Perfect Confession


Ugh.

That night, after taking a shower and rinsing off the soda prank Gold pulled and getting a good nights rest, Sapphire realized something important.

When should she confess?

She gazed at herself in the mirror of her dresser. She had just woken up and she looks like crap. Her hair was in tangles, but because she slept with her hair wet, it was messier than her usual. Not only that, but her face was puffy and she didn't look too good. Normally, she didn't really care about appearances, but now that she realizes she likes Ruby and wants to confess, she wants to at least look presentable and good when she does it. The question on her mind was: when, where, how?

Sapphire ran her fingers through her tangles and tried to comb it, but only winced in pain when it didn't go through.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Yeah?" she answered through the door as she tried to yank her fingers out of her hair.

"Sapph!" A muffled voice from behind the door called her name. She can tell it was Crystal by hearing it. "White has come to give us news about something! Get out of your room and get some breakfast!"

"Okay! Coming in a second!" Sapphire shouted back.

Before leaving, she took a last glance at herself in the mirror. It's okay. He's seen your worst sides before so it doesn't change a thing, she reassured herself.


"Oh, Sapph's here!" Blue announced, looking over from her bowl of cereal.

Sapphire walked into the jam-packed living room and kitchen area. As usual, everyone was either taking up all the chairs at the dining table, or on the ground or couch in the living room. With the addition with Black and White, and surprisingly the new junior trio, it looked even more crowded.

"Good morning," Platina greeted, takes sips from her tea next to Blue. Diamond was sleeping next to her, leaning on Pearl. It's only around 9 AM, so she's not surprised.

"Yo," she greeted back casually, with a small wave.

"Sapph, come here."

She looked over to see Ruby calling her over from the couch. He patted onto the floor and took out a comb from his bag with another hand. "It's messy, let me fix your hair."

Sapphire started to heat up at the thought of Ruby putting his fingers through her hair. It wasn't different than usual because Ruby always did her hair, makeup, and clothes, but now that she came to the realization that she likes him, it was kind of weird. But then if she thought about it, it was weird if she tried to avoid him, and she already decided she was going to stop avoiding him.

Gaining courage and trying to act as subtle as she could, she sat next to Ruby's spot and he began doing their normal daily routine of combing her hair.

"Now that everyone's here, I should announce the big news!" White said, squealing cheerfully.

"What is it?" Emerald urged her on. If she came early in the morning and had to wait for everyone to be present, then it must've been another group activity.

"Okay, do you guys remember the last guest appearance on that game show?" White attempted to make them recall the memory.

Green looked up from his book. "I won't do another dumb game show."

At this, uninterested looks and complaints followed. "Yeah White, last time it was horrible. The show host sucked too," Crystal spoke up about her complaints.

"Yeah, I'm with Crystal on this one, and I usually love fun stuff," Blue piped. If Miss Crazy said no to the event, it says a lot.

"What if it's a larger range one?" White asked, trying to persuade them.

"What do you mean by large range?" Red inquired for everyone.

"There's this new show called "Snowpoint Scavenger"! It's basically a large scavenger hunt game show on Route 217 in the Sinnoh region. Unlike the game show you guys were previously on, this one is on a mountain and in a more natural outdoor setting. Because of the views and ratings from the last guest appearance with everyone, they invited all of us for the pilot episode to start it off! Just a scavenger hunt in nature, and no horrible show hosts!" White announced. "This is also amazing publicity to introduce our newest cast members!"

"That actually sounds fun," Red commented, taking interest in the event. "I heard Sinnoh has more snow regions too, so it'll be nice to have a change of scenery in awhile!"

"I'm with Red! It doesn't sound too bad. How bad can it get compared to last time?" Gold agreed, reasonably complying.

"Right? Right?" White encouraged, her eyes sparkling.

"Aren't we behind on schedule for shooting though?" Silver brought up, interrupting her cheerfulness.

"Yeah, he's right. I thought you were gonna pick us up for the shooting this morning, but you came with news," Green piped in.

"I am," White clarified. "We're supposed to be shooting heavily for the next three days. The event in Sinnoh is later. We have to leave in two nights and take a flight, and then arrive there around 6AM because they want to shoot while the sun is up. More details will come when we get there! So what do you guys think? Are you in?"

"Green! It can be fun with different Sinnoh Pokémon! We've never really explored it either, and it has more ice types than Kanto," Red tried to persuade, giving good points.

"Hmm... I'm in. It looks like I don't even have room to say no anyways," Green gave in, indifferently. "I'm interested in a different snowy terrain as well."

"Well, I'm against it," Ruby rejected the invitation, finishing the touches on Sapphire's hair. He turned it from a tangle mess to a now silky look. "Not only do I not trust them, but I'm tired of the outdoors after everything that happened. I need a break indoors."

"That sucks because your next scene in the drama is in the woods," Black mentioned, earning a look from White for bringing it up.

"Exactly," Ruby made his point.

"Even if they have this?"

White pulled out her phone and began scrolling through it. Seconds later, she flashed her phone screen at Ruby, revealing a picture of a small, blue ice type Pokémon. "This is an eevee evolution exclusive to the Sinnoh region. They have a special icy rock that enables eevee to evolve into this form. You like this, don't you?" she tried to persuade, hyping it up.

Ruby stared at the picture for a good second before sighing. "Fine, I'll go," he said, secretly hiding his squeals of seeing a cute Pokémon.

The manager clasped her hands together. "Great! It's decided! I'll go tell the directors!" White informed, grinning from ear to ear. She was going to force them to participate anyways because of the newbies, but them going voluntarily made it much easier for her.

"Well, this could be fun," Blue hummed, earning looks from Green.

"Oh! By the way, Ruby and Sapph, you're with me today!" Black announced, waving his arm at them.

Sapphire cocked an eyebrow. "What, why?"

"Prez has to take Green, Red, and Blue to the same studio along with Gold, Crys, and Silver. Yellow and Emerald are off duty for the day, so that leaves you two. I heard you guys are pretty much caught up, but you need to start the shooting for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire season soon because of the deadline," Black informed.

White nodded her head. "Yeah, usually, I'd go with you two to stop you guys from arguing, but I have to make sure I know the progress of the Kanto and Johto drama groups because we're way behind in shooting. That said, let's power through this and do well everyone! We're going to be in Sinnoh for 3 days for the show, so it'll take time away from the drama! Gotta make every minute of shooting worth it!"


Tears fell down Sapphire's cheeks, her bright blue eyes watery. Sapphire stood there across Ruby, the river flowing quietly behind them. The brunette took a step closer to him, placing her fists onto his chest. Looking up to his face and making perfect eye contact, she pounded on his chest, screaming, "Just who are you?! Why do I feel like you're so important, but not really know?! Huh?! Tell me!"

Sapphire slid her fist down his chest and her knees collapsed to the floor while Ruby only watched her with a straight but serious face. She covered her face to wipe her tears, but failed to because more kept coming. Hearing her sobs, Ruby bent down to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. Sapphire widened her eyes in surprise, and Ruby only responded with silence.

"Cut! Beautiful~!" the director called out, approving of the scene.

Ruby let go of Sapphire quickly and looked up with a smile, proud of the work they did in one cut. Sapphire, on the other hand, took her hands out of her face, revealing the massive blush she was hiding. She wiped her fake tears with her elbow, clumsily clearing her face.

"That was wonderful," one of the staff members complimented, looking satisfied with their performance. "I was screaming internally during the scene the whole time!"

"Thank you!" both Ruby and Sapphire said in unison.

"I need to use the restroom, so can we take five?" Ruby requested.

The staff member nodded. "We can use a small break. I'll inform the director, so go ahead and go."

As Ruby walked away to the restroom, Sapphire stared blankly at his figure, gathering her thoughts. Now that her feelings were clear, she decided to tell him since Lisia did, but it hard to find the right timing. Plus, what would she do after she actually did? Wouldn't it be awkward? If the feelings were mutual, then they would have to go out right? What is dating? Questions filled her head again, making her hesitate even more.

"Sapphire!"

"WHAT?!" Sapphire boomed back, extremely surprised.

After her shout was heard, a small shriek followed. Sapphire turned around to see Black scared for his life and on the ground. She must've accidentally shouted louder than she should've. It was actually shocking that the loud mouth himself, Black, was surprised though.

"I thought you were going to jump on me and claw me when you turned around," Black said as he grabbed her hand to pull himself up.

"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts."

"Yeah, Prez told me you had a habit of doing that lately," Black informed, shrugging it off. "I just wanted to tell you that you have five more romantic scenes to do, and that we're skipping around. Gotta make the most of the three days before we head off to Sinnoh."

"Yeah, okay," Sapphire replied absentmindedly. She stared at Black, who was happily texting the details and scheduling to White. "Hey, I have a question. How did ya confess to White?"

This question threw Black off, making him drop his phone and give her a confused look. "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" he screamed, a bit too loudly on accident.

Sapphire made a gesture to lower his voice before she continued. "Are ya not her lover? Y'all live together and ya're always answering her calls and doin' stuff for her!"

"Well, that's because I'm her employee and I'm her debt," Black clarified, picking up his dropped phone. "I don't think I feel that way towards her."

Raising an eyebrow, Sapphire pressed further. "Really? I see ya all around her though!"

A small blush crept up on Black's face. "H-Hey! I told you it's just employment!" he stammered. "Why are you asking anyways? Is there trouble in paradise with you and Ruby? Are you girls plotting in the restroom to sabotage others again?"

"What are ya talking 'bout?" Sapphire inquired, surprised to know that he's aware of their restroom council. She wasn't really there when White dragged Black there with Crystal, and she was unaware of what they did to Lisia because she was caught up in her own thoughts that day.

"What are you talking about?" Black shot back, feeling as if there's a reason behind as to why she's asking about his love life.

"I was just wonderin' how ya confessed and stuff!" Sapphire replied truthfully, slowly getting quieter as she felt her face heat up in embarrassment. "But never mind!"

At this point, she was crazy. She wanted to get her confession over with to clear her mind of all of this anxiety and uncertainty of getting rejected or not, so she thought she'd ask Black to see how he confessed to White so that she can project it onto Ruby since it was successful. Turns out Black didn't even go after White (or so she thinks but couldn't really tell), and now that she's thinking about it, it's Black. This is the same Black who landed himself in debt because he was clumsy, get bossed and dragged around by White, and read books for fun. Was asking this dude really the right move for her?

"Nah, I don't have interest in anyone!" Black told her affirmatively, but his blush says otherwise. He somewhat figured out why she asked that question now, relating it back to the previous events and his current knowledge about Sapphire's situation that he got from listening in on the girls' conversations. "If you're looking to confess to Ruby, I think you should do something grand because he seems like the type who is into that!"

"NO!" Sapphire screamed, embarrassed that he found out her true intentions. While she shrieked in terror after being found out, Black had been shoved by her at the same time, and the boy suddenly found his butt in pain and on the ground again.

"Argh!" Black groaned when he got pushed. I really can't catch a break being surrounded by these set of crazy girls! He thought White was a lunatic already, but it's the whole group— just one popping up, one after another.

"I'm back!"

Ruby's appearance interrupted their conversation, and Black and Sapphire grew quieter. The boy looked in between the two, wondering why the heck Black was on the ground and Sapphire had her arms out, her face flat out red. Being Ruby, he couldn't tell it was out of embarrassment, and assumed it was rage since Sapphire tend to show that emotion very often.

"... Did I miss something?" he inquired.

"NO!" Sapphire screamed again accidentally, gaining attention from nearby staff members. She lowered her voice when she realized how loud it was. "E-Er, let's hurry up and shoot quickly so we can go home sooner!"

Ruby blinked, wondering if he should ignore the reason why Black is on the floor. The boy got up himself, and looked offended with the look he gave Sapphire.

Black let out a sigh, knowing he can't change a thing. "Just go. It's been five minutes," he said, gesturing the two onto the stage.

"Um, okay," Ruby said, choosing not to question their behavior. Some things were left better unsaid.

He walked away to the set with Sapphire following behind. As Black stared at their backs, he saw Sapphire turn around and give him a look that said "Don't tell or mention this to anyone, or I'll kill ya without notice". Black sweat dropped, finding her threat actually believable.

It was official. He could never escape these psychopaths.

"Hope the trip goes okay..." he muttered to himself, thinking about the entire group altogether.


"It's so cold," Crystal mumbled, hugging herself and adjusting her coat so cold air wouldn't go in.

"Want to hug?" Gold suggested jokingly, opening his arms for her.

Crystal rolled her eyes. "I'd rather not."

Gold shrugged his shoulders, used to the rejection. He turned over to Silver with open arms and wrapped them around Silver. When the redhead got hugged, he immediately growled and shoved Gold off of him, and the boy landed onto the snow. With an icy cold glare that matched the weather, he yelled, "Ugh! Knock it off, or I'll end you!"

"I can never get any love from these people," Gold muttered, not even bothering to get up. He was already making a snow angel for fun.

Everyone was gathered onto the route next to Snowpoint City to do the scavenger hunt game show pilot episode that White talked about a couple days ago. It was the first time everyone's been in snow for awhile since it was rarer to have snowy areas in both Kanto and Johto unless it was on a mountain. Hoenn didn't have any either and it was always hot. For now, they were just taking in the newer scenery before the show started.

Sapphire gazed intensely at Ruby. She was going to take this chance to confess to him and get it over with. Talking with Black actually gave her an idea to make him accept her confession. She was planning to go catch the glaceon that White showed Ruby the other day, and then later, confess to him in a grand way. Though it seemed like a bribe, her gift to him will at least make the mood good. The atmosphere between the two was either awkward because she tried to avoid him, or it ended with them arguing because he always finds a way to point a jab at her, and she couldn't help but return the favor.

Ruby felt a chill go up his spine, afraid of Sapphire and mistaking her gaze as a glare. He leaned over to Black who happened to be beside him. "Hey," he whispered. "Is it me, or is Sapph really mad at me?"

Black glanced at Sapphire, noticing the stare she was burning into Ruby's back. He sighed and shook his head in distress, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "You have no idea, dude."

"Hello guys!" The show host of the program went up to the group. This time their show host was a very bubbly looking girl who dressed in very skim clothes despite the freezing cold. "My name is Candice! I will be explaining the rules of the game and hosting the show! As you know, this is a scavenger hunt throughout the entire route, and it will last for about five hours. You are to find special items such as evolution stones or fossils, etc. scattered everywhere in the snow, and the prizes for finding the most items is being able to keep all the items you found. We are planning to split you guys into smaller groups and have a cameraman follow you around! Make sure to have fun and interact with each other! I heard they really love your interactions during the last game show, and we really need that for this new show! Any questions?"

Once there were no questions because the games and explanation was simple, Candice gave them a warning that they'll go on air in a short minute and went away to go talk to Director Rowan, who was in charge of the program.

"I wonder whose team will be with who," Yellow commented.

"Candice said we would be able to choose this time and there's multiple teams this time, so it'll be interesting," Red replied. "I hope I'm a team leader!"

"Hi guys!" She immediately returned, rushing to the side of Emerald. The rest of the actors and actresses were already lined up in two lines side by side by height that White shoved them into while Candice was explaining the rules. Looking at the camera and seeing the cameraman signal her, she began lifting her microphone to her mouth.

"I'm the host of Snowpoint Scavenger! My name is Candice! For our very first episode, we will kick off by having the actors, actresses, and singers from most famous and loved drama, Pokespe! Also, we have three brand new stars who will be representing Sinnoh! Let's give it up to these wonderful people!" she introduced them in a bubbly manner, jumping in excitement. After explaining the rules that she had told them earlier, she began moving onto the next phase of choosing teams.

"—Now that we got those rules out of the way, let's choose teams! Based on an online poll posted a couple days ago, we will announce the leaders!" Candice ran her hand in her pocket and pulled out a small note with the results. Continuing, she read it out loud, "We had votes for Crystal, Red, Green, and Ruby as team leaders! Please step to the side so we can take turns choosing! We will do it by popularity of the poll, so in order from Green, Red, Ruby, and Crystal!"

Following her directions, the aforementioned names called went off to the side while everyone went another side. Frankly, Ruby was surprised they ended up choosing him and not someone like Blue. Yeah, the world doesn't really know about Blue's personality of being a crazy person, but Ruby didn't seem like the leader type himself or radiate any nature loving auras in interviews. Well, to be fair, they were right to choose Red and Green.

"I'll go first," Green mumbled, staring at the crowd. After a good few seconds, he chose Platina to everyone's surprise, and she walked over quietly when her name was called. He didn't even know the girl, but he already chose her.

"She's a native Sinnoh person and used to the cold and White told me she's smart, so I chose her," he explained his choice when he received looks.

"Aw, that's smart of you," Red complimented, feeling competitive. Whenever him and Green have a small competition, there's always a rivalry growing. "I choose Silver then!" Silver walked over to Red's side.

Silver was pretty good at going through places and dealing with Pokémon. Plus, he always seem to find a way to do stuff and get what he wants, so Red chose him.

Blue's jaw dropped and small scoff was heard. "Really? You guys wouldn't your co-star?!"

"Sorry, maybe next round if you're not picked yet!" Red replied sheepishly, while Green just straight up ignored her.

Though Blue was smarter than Silver and had more common sense about the outdoor area than Platina who never really ventured, along with putting a lot of effort in the game, they were travelling on a super cold mountain looking for items randomly. They didn't feel like catering to her in case she decided to take a break or something or got tired.

Next, it was Ruby's turn. His choices were Yellow, Emerald, Blue, Sapphire, Diamond, Pearl, and Gold. Out of the whole bunch, his best options were pretty much Blue, Sapphire, Pearl, and Yellow. Blue was smart, Pearl was fast and eager and he explored this area since he was born in Sinnoh, and Yellow and Sapphire was just naturally good at exploration and finding stuff using their instincts.

Please don't choose me. Please hate me so much ya don't choose me. Sapphire repeatedly chanted in her head. She was hoping to not have to get picked by Ruby so she can pull off what she wanted to do and go catch that glaceon when the cameras aren't looking.

"I choose Sapph!" Ruby announced.

"NO!" she screamed, obviously upset with his choice.

Some people jumped at her shrieking, caught off guard. The staff looked confused since the two was said to be girlfriend and boyfriend and Sapphire didn't like being picked by him, evident by her reaction.

Ruby laughed to cover it up, and reached out and pulled Sapphire towards him. "Haha! When we were at home talking about this show, Sapph and I had made a bet on who would win and find more items. But you know, being the loving boyfriend I am, I can't compete with her! Sorry I ruined our plans, I hope you forgive me," he told her sweetly, obviously acting and making up some random lie to cover up Sapphire's blunder.

Sapphire laughed nervously and hooked arms with him. "It's okay! I hope ya will still treat me to dinner as a prize to make it up!" she replied, pretending to smile for the camera.

"Aw! You guys are the sweetest!" Candice gushed. "No wonder you are the famous power couple!"

"How sweet of you to say!" Ruby said, acting flattered and throwing his arm around Sapphire's shoulders.

Pulling her close, he whispered scolded her, "Barbarian, you better not screw things up!"

At the feeling of his breath around her neck again and his voice and face super close to her, Sapphire got embarrassed and without thinking, she shoved him off of her. The T.V. cameras didn't really catch what he said to her, so she tried to cover it up, saying, "Geez! He's embarassin' me with stuff!"

Candice giggled. "What a close couple! Let's move on to Crystal's turn!"


Finally, everyone had scattered into teams of three to four people. Team one was Green, Platina, Gold, and Diamond. Team two was Red, Silver, and Blue. Team three was Ruby, Sapphire, Pearl. Team four was Crystal, Yellow, and Emerald. After the teams were made, Candice went ahead and scattered the group, and they began searching for the items.

"The snow is so heavy here, huh," Ruby mumbled as he tread through it slowly. The more deeper they went in the route, the more the snow piled up to his pants. "Have you been here often?"

"Me? Nah! I'm from Twinleaf, so it's the opposite side," Pearl replied, ahead of the two. "I might come here for the drama though!"

Sapphire trudged behind them both, deep in her thoughts. Maybe she should give up the glaceon plan, it seemed like a bribe and it would be random to shove a Pokémon into his arms randomly. She didn't see too many wild Pokemon here except a few snorunts or swinubs here anyways.

"Hey, you caveman."

She looked up when she heard Ruby call her one of his stupid nicknames. It was mainly because the camera men were having trouble following Pearl because he would run off or walk too fast, so Ruby was in the clear. She didn't even notice that he had stopped for her.

"What do ya want now?" she replied with an attitude.

"I know you don't like this arrangement, but you better chill for the cameras," he reminded. "I picked you because you have the best chance for us to win."

Sapphire let out a sigh and looked at him. Did she really like this person?

"Yah, yah," She shrugged it off, still upset at getting picked by him. Well, maybe it was a sign that it wasn't the best place to confess anyway; she should at least try to win before she argues with Ruby.

Looking around, she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. "I think we need to dig or look higher up the mountain."

"Geez, I thought this would be easier," Ruby muttered, letting out a sigh. "We should catch up to Pearl and help him—" He stopped mid-sentence and gasped when something caught his eye.

Sapphire whipped her head around to see what brought his attention. Maybe around twenty feet away, there was a white Pokemon that floated staring at them. It had ice shards coming out of its head and a red sash around its body that resembled a kimono when Sapphire stared at it longer.

"CUTE!" Ruby gushed, earning a 'really' look from Sapphire. He immediately took out pokedex and scanned the Pokémon, the machine identifying it as a Froslass.

Digging into his backpack for a pokéball, he boldly claimed, "I'm going to catch it!"

Sapphire's mouth dropped. "We're in the middle of a game! We can't be catchin' stuff right now!" she scolded, though she had the same idea secretly. She tugged on Ruby's shirt, yanking it aggressively. "C'mon, let's catch up to Pearl!"

"Pearl's around the corner," Ruby shrugged off, nodding his head in the direction of Pearl, who was maybe twenty feet away as well. The boy was too fast for the camera man, and didn't seem to notice that they had left his two partners behind since he was eagerly lookin for items.

Sapphire looked at Pearl's direction then back at Ruby, still pulling on his shirt. "We're gonna be left behind!" she chided, tugging on it more.

At this point, Ruby got annoyed and started swatting her hands. "Hey! Let go you barbarian! You're going to stretch out my shirt! This is handmade too!"

"Shut up, Prissy Boy! Remember what we came here for!" she reminded, finally letting go. Now that she wasn't in the mood to confess for the ruined mood and multiple people around, she was at least going to make the most of the situation. She'd look dumb if she came back to the base empty handed.

"Forget about this game— Ah! Froslass is going away!" Ruby started running towards the Froslass as fast as he could in the snow.

Sapphire turned her head towards Pearl who was getting farther and then at Froslass who was going the opposite direction. Letting out a long sigh, she knew who she had to follow.

"H-Hey wait!" she called, choosing to follow Ruby.


Ruby mouth slipped into a frown and he furrowed his eyebrows as he looked around.

"It's gone."

Sapphire gave him a glare and growled, "Is that the only thing ya had to say right now?!"

She should've dragged him back to Pearl and the cameramen when she had the chance. Ruby kept persuading her that he'll catch it really quickly, and since she didn't want to argue, she complied and followed him. However, they entered a small forest area when they followed Froslass for about ten minutes, and now they lost the Pokemon and have no idea where they are since it was off the trail. They were next to a large snowy mountain, blocking most of the view too.

Sapphire looked around. The path they came from should be easy if they retrace their steps in the snow, but it would take forever to get back to Pearl at the rate that kid was going. On the bright side, they at least got to promote him more since the couple was out of the cameras for awhile.

Ruby rolled his eyes. "Hey, I didn't ask you to follow me here!" he defended. "And if you didn't slow me down, then maybe I could've caught up to it!"

At this point, Sapphire let out a scoff and was offended. "What?!" she shrieked. "How dare ya say that to me! Just sayin', ya can't even catch that Pokémon properly because ya didn't even bring any on this stupid scavenger!" White was scared someone might cheat, so they were supposed to give their Pokemon to Candice before the game started. The cameraman had a Pokémon in case of emergencies, but he was no where to be found.

"Well, you didn't either, you caveman!" he argued back.

"PRISSY BOY!"

"BARBARIAN!"

"YER CLOTHES ARE UGLY!" Sapphire tried to hit him where it hurt.

Ruby did a dramatic gasp. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'D STOOP TO THAT LEVEL! AT LEAST I DON'T HAVE POKEMON POOP UP MY NOSE ALL THE TIME!"

"I DON'T HAVE POKEMON POOP IN MAH NOS—"

Sapphire stopped screaming when she heard some rumbling sound. Shooting her head towards the direction, she could see something on the mountain moving. It was then she realized it was snow falling down from afar. She widened her eyes when the large clump of snow was falling down towards them at faster speed. Before she could do anything, she felt an arm go around her neck and Ruby's body on hers. He had noticed it at the same time too, and he tried to get the both of them out of the way, but the range of the falling snow was too much and they both ended up getting dragged in. Sapphire tried to fight through the avalanche, but in her current state, she couldn't see anything and it was all happening too fast. The whole time she could feel her body pushed against trees and getting knocked around while Ruby's arms were still wrapped around her. The only time she felt his grip get loose is when the avalanche proceeded to shove the both of them off the cliff that was outside of the forest. When their bodies went airborne, she felt Ruby's arms slowly unravel around her body and then a tight grip on her wrist.

Finally being separated from the pile of snow rushing at her, Sapphire could finally see something. She looked up to see Ruby grabbing onto the ledge of the cliff, and the other hand on her wrist. Clumps of snow continued to fall on them for a good minute, making it harder to hold on. However, Ruby continued to still keep his grip on both Sapphire and the ledge.

Once the snow stopped piling on them, Sapphire yelled, "Are ya okay?!"

Though the snow fell on Sapphire, it fell on Ruby more since he was above her. Plus, she sustained some damage from being knocked around in the forest and nearly drowning in the snow.

"Not really!" Ruby replied, his voice strained and his breath heavy. He was using his whole strength to hold onto the cliff and Sapphire the whole time while a mountain of snow fell on them, and he could slowly feel his strength sapping away. Not to mention, since he was the one who was wrapped around Sapphire during the whole ordeal, he got knocked around even harder.

"Okay, I'm going to try to pull you up and then once you get onto the ledge, pull me up," he told her, lifting his arm up to move Sapphire closer to the ledge.

Sapphire glanced at the ledge Ruby had his grip on, seeing it slightly crumble. She looked down below her to see how far the ground is, and from her view, it was quite far. She couldn't even make out what was below her because it was too far and everything was covered in snow, so it was harder to tell if trees were there. Regardless, it was a long fall.

She looked back up at Ruby who was determined to pull her up, but was struggling with the damage he sustained. She could even see a bruise on the arm that was holding onto the cliff.

Suddenly, fear rushed into her heart and felt tears slowly forming.

"Hey, stop crying! We'll get out of this!" he reassured determinedly.

"Prissy Boy— no, Ruby," Sapphire corrected herself when she realized the seriousness of the situation. "The ledge won't hold out for long, and it won't hold us both!"

Ruby glanced at it and then back at Sapphire. "It's fine! I just need to pull us up quickly," he said, refusing to let go of her. "Stop crying!"

Sapphire looked at Ruby's injuries and then at the cliff again. "I think— ya should let me go," she told him seriously.

"Hey! I know you're a crazy barbarian, but I know you're not that dumb! Even you can't survive that fall!" Ruby argued, appalled at the idea.

Ya're hurt and all bruised up! We just drowned in snow for a long time and ya can't even catch a breath properly because ya're trying to hang onto me and a crumbling cliff and the weather is too cold for ya to breathe in! Ya don't even have the strength for anything right now!" she scolded, exposing him.

Ruby continued to breathe heavily and became silent for a second before speaking up again. "Yeah, but I've been in worst situations and I don't feel like dying right now!" he said, giving her one of his boyish smile. "You shouldn't either! What kind of fake boyfriend am I to let my girlfriend fall off a cliff? I'm not Brendan who let May fall off a cliff and didn't do anything! I'm going to keep holding onto you whether you like it or not!"

At this, Sapphire actually burst into tears, unable to keep calm. "I LIKE YA!" she shouted, surprising Ruby.

"W-What?" he mumbled in confusion.

"I like ya!" she repeated, tears streaming down her face rapidly. "When I first met ya, I thought ya were some stuck up loser who only cared about clothes and scared of dirt! Though ya still kind of am one, I realized that there are many sides to ya that I like a lot! I've learned that ya're considerate of others, ya're talented at many things, and ya're not totally self-centered! I'm sorry for shouting so much and trying to argue with ya all the time! It's the reason why we're in this situation! Also, I'm sorry for how I've been acting lately! I didn't know how to act anymore when I'm around ya either, which is why I've been so distant and weird and w-worried!"

Sapphire started to hyperventilate in the middle of her confession because of all of her tears rushing in. "Anyways, I wanted to say, I really like ya! That's why, I need ya to live!"

She couldn't see Ruby's reaction to her confession too much because her vision was blinded with her tears filling her eyes and she couldn't stop, but she could make out somewhat of a shocked expression from Ruby. She couldn't tell anything else, whether he was happy or upset at the confession since she was in a blurry mess.

"S-Sapph," Ruby spoke softly. "I—"

She didn't let him get a word in when she remembered the crumbling ledge.

"Argh!" Sapphire began to forcefully rip Ruby's grip off of her.

"Hey!" he shouted when he noticed what she was trying to do. "Stop!"

He couldn't hold onto her or stop her actions because he was struggling to do anything at the moment due to being out of strength. He continued to try to tighten his grip, but ultimately, he failed as Sapphire ripped off four of his fingers already.

"Tell mah papa that I love him too!" she told him before ripping off the final finger.

Once she had released his grip on her, she felt the gravity slam her down immediately and her body was airborne again. The horrified look Ruby had when she had forced him to let go was her view as she plummeted down. She didn't want to see his hurt expression anymore so she turned her body to face the ground. Maybe if she was lucky and there was a large tree or forest below, it would break her fall or she could land easier.

"SAPPH!"

Sapphire whipped her head around when she heard her name get called. A body was above her, creating a shadow that loomed over her. She could see an arm reached out to her and slowly getting closer. It was then she realized what was happening—

Ruby had let go off the cliff.


Author's Note — The end, they died falling off a cliff after that confession. JUST KIDDING! I ended up kind of changing the original chapter pre-written, just 'cause I wanted more situations where Ruby and Sapphire interact more and a different situation, so I ended up taking awhile to upload this since I rewrote a lot of it. Not gonna lie, I actually planned out how Sapphire was going to confess at an amusement park in Kalos, but then after reading it and rereading some of the manga, I ended up going with an entirely different route and shoving it earlier than originally planned since she confessed in the manga during a life-death situation. Plus, she cried during the manga because of all the pressure, so I thought I'd add that too! I think I'm going to keep the main premise the same, but change it up a bit! I hope I can still add more bits of comedy in those moments of seriousness! Time to get busy!

As for the other reviews that I did not address throughout the 4 years of my disappearance, I said this in the last chapter, but thank you for all of the kind things you guys wrote while I was gone!

Anyways, I'd like to address the warm comments I've received!

Pocky (guest) — Thank you for the review and all of the compliments! I tried to make Lisia stay in character more with her being nice, and I used her to make Sapphire realize her feelings more, so I'm glad you like that dynamic! Poor Lisia though, she ended up getting her heart broken.}
mysteryreader6626 — OH MY GOSH! When I saw your review, I totally flipped out. It's crazy that you're still on here after like 4-5 years! Thank you for the sweet comments about me! Honestly, getting into the fandom again and fanfiction makes me nostalgic and think about my high school days when I wrote this XD Thank you so much for reviewing and popping in again! I don't know about my other fics, but hopefully I can get more chapters in this summer!
Curious Calamity — Yeah, my decision to update was quite random LOL. I'm happy that more people are getting back into the fandom a bit because when I look on tumblr or on fanfiction it seems almost dead! I'm glad you're still in the fandom! Thank you for the warm welcome back and thanks for reviewing!
fanficreader120 — I'm glad you like my fanfic! Thank you so much! Hopefully I can be back longer and not leave you hanging too long!

All in all, thank you for the warm comments upon my return to fanfiction! I was really surprised to see how many people are still in Pokespe after all these years, and I'm glad the fandom still has people XD Also, thank you for the new follows and favorites! Now that I've finished school and my other exams at the moment, I can have more time revising and writing the next few chapters (especially since I just discarded one of the arcs I had planned for this series out of the window). Hopefully, it won't take five weeks like this one, especially since I'm indoors all the time because of COVID-19! Stay safe everyone!