A.N. Sorry for the hiatus, but life just decided to be a pain. School started back up again, then I went to Barcelona for a few days. And unfortunately for me, I've got a mountain of shit to wade through over the next few months, so unfortunately, this story's upload schedule is going to be all over the place for a bit. So, sorry about that. But for now, enjoy a chapter with nothing but fluff.

CHAPTER 5

Time and Space

Excitable whisperings followed Rei and Akari around over the next few weeks. Everyone was thrilled to see them together, as it meant that Rei was staying in Hisui, and Akari was genuinely happy for the first time in years. It was very common to see them sitting at the top of the cliffs in the Coastlands, looking at the sunset, hand in hand. The two were pretty much joint at the hip. They took the same research tasks, rode around together on Rei's steeds and held hands everywhere they went. The only time they were apart was when they had to go to bed, because Kamado expressly forbade them sleeping together. But it wasn't uncommon to see one or the other sneaking into each other's houses when they thought everyone was asleep.

For the first few weeks of their relationship, Irida was thrilled for them. She was so happy they had been reunited, and that they would be able to spend the rest of their lives together. But as the weeks wore on, she started silently wishing to herself that they were still keeping it a secret. Because after a while, people stopped gossiping about how cute they were together, and started talking about how she and Adaman should follow their lead and open up about their feelings for each other.

Both of them repeatedly denied this, saying their relationship was purely platonic, but frustratingly, the more people suggested it to her and the mor she brushed it off, the more she started kind of wishing it was true. She didn't actually like Adaman like that, she reassured herself, she was just hearing about it so much, that her brain was just getting confused. "But how can you explain the way your heart flutters whenever you see him?" a little voice in her head kept telling her. she hoped it wasn't Palkia telling her this, because she was getting really sick of that voice.

Her and Adaman's wardens were particularly vocal about the idea. Lina would often list off all of the feelings she felt when she first met Iscan and comparing them to how Irida was acting in Adaman's presence recently. Gearic would give suggestions to Irida on how to work up the courage to ask Adaman out, completely ignoring (or simply not paying attention to) her constant protests of, "I don't want to ask him out!" Even Lian would sometimes show up and pester her about her feelings towards Adaman. To say it was getting on her nerves would be an understatement.

About a month after the meeting about Rei's return, Irida and Adaman met up for their discussions. They were working together on trying to fuse the two clans into one big one, so they would often meet up to find the best way of going about it. During this particular discussion, Irida noticed Adaman looked rather annoyed whenever they brought up a few of his wardens. "What's wrong?" Irida asked him, "You seem really annoyed about something."

Adaman sighed, then said, "Do you promise not to tell anyone, or laugh?" Irida promised. "Ok" Adaman sighed again, then said "some of my wardens have started to give me advice on asking you out." Irida flushed scarlet at this. "Now don't get me wrong" he hastily reassured her, "I don't see you as anything more than a friend. But they seem to think we like each other." As he spoke, Irida noticed his cheeks go a bit red. She couldn't help but feel a slight bit of disappointment at his words but brushed them off angrily. She wished the stuff like that would stop soon, as they were starting to become a pain.

"Don't worry about it" she told him. "Some of my wardens have been telling me the same thing too. It's been driving me crazy!" Adaman laughed in agreement, but his eyes stopped meeting hers. She would've called him out on that, but hers wouldn't meet his either.

The conversation got noticeably more awkward after that. The two of them finished their discussions rather quickly, said rather hasty goodbyes, then parted ways without meeting each other's eyes. Irida's cheeks were burning hotter than Lina's Arcanine as she walked away, thoughts of actually being in a romantic relationship with the Diamond Leader dancing around her head. She was so preoccupied with them, that she didn't notice Adaman stop, turn around, and gaze at her with a look of slight disappointment and longing in his eyes. neither of them noticed some of their wardens, as well as Rei and Akari, celebrating a victory from their various hiding places.

The wardens spent a ridiculous amount of time over the next week, trying to get Irida and Adaman alone together, or else trying to get them to be present while Rei and Akari declare their love for each other. It didn't take either of them very long to catch onto what they were trying to do and called them out on it. but what was even more annoying was they got Rei and Akari involved in their hairbrained schemes. The two of them would often talk about how wonderful the other made them feel, and how much they loved being in each other's company. Irida felt happy of them, but she also disliked when they did it, mostly because she recognised some of those feelings as how she felt in Adaman's presence.

One night, after hearing the now unmistakable sound of either Rei or Akari sneaking out of their house to see the other, thoughts of Adaman, her wardens' persistence, and what the two lovebirds, as well as Lina and Iscan, described danced around in her head. She tried to shake them off and assure herself that it wasn't true, that little voice in her head kept telling her that they were right. The more she thought about all the times they mingled since Rei first left, the more she recognised feelings of affection towards the Diamond Leader. As she drifted off to sleep, she decided to talk to Lina and Akari about it tomorrow, in order to reassure herself that she was just being silly.

But all thoughts of talking to her two friends immediately vacated her mind when she heard the news the next morning. Volo had been spotted. He was seen near the base of Mt. Coronet late last night. It looked like he was searching for something, according to the report from the survey core member who spotted him. Any member of the security core not currently working on anything was immediately sent to where he was last seen in order to apprehend him, but they were too late. He was already gone.

Over the next fortnight, Irida noticed Rei would walk around rather carefully whenever he and Akari were in the Highlands. When she questioned him about it, Rei replied, "I'm worried about Darkrai. What if he did come through?" "Rei, he didn't" Irida replied. "Mighty Palkia would've warned me, And Dialga would've warned Adaman." "But what if he manages to speak to Volo?" Rei questioned. This caused Irida to freeze for a moment. She hadn't thought of that. She decided to approach Kamado on the matter. For now, she told Rei, "I'm sure Volo would've done something by now if he had. The boy has no patience." "He reappeared, didn't he?" Rei asked. Irida paused again, then said, "He has reappeared a lot these past 5 years. He may have heard about your return and was just trying to gather info on it." Rei didn't look convinced, but Akari reassured him that not even Volo would be stupid enough to use Darkrai for his plans. This seemed to calm him down, because he smiled and nodded, then the two of them headed off to the Coastlands with some of Benji's benofi.

I hope you didn't collapse from a sugar crash from reading this chapter. The story is going to kick back up in the next chapter, but I don't have the whole thing worked out yet, so I decided to post this monster of fluffiness so that I had something added to this story. Now, normally, I'd say when the next chapter would be out, but I've got no clue when that'll be. So, sit tight, and I'll see you whenever my schedule allows.