As promised, I have free time to write more chapters! And what does time mean?! More rapidly updated chapters!

I'd like to point out that this is part of a much larger chapter I was writing, but because of the sheer size of the chapter, I had to cut it down in half. The other half is still in progress! Expect it soon!

I'd also like to point out that this chapter is more like a transition and serves to prepare for what's coming in the future chapters. As a result, this chapter is one of the shortest insofar!

Ahem...

dawnleaf1234: Thanks. I think my exams went alright. Not that good, but not that bad either.

LEGAL-EAGLE53: Happy belated!

dawnleaf1234, SelfiesWithSprinkles, and LEGAL-EAGLE53, please be seated for lunch! Chansey eggs the way you want it, croissants, and LaBrie. Enjoy!

Chapter twenty-four: A Rift in Sanctuary

Cynthia thought briefly about trying to slip away, and perhaps try to snoop on what he was doing. But hey, if Steven was all the way out here, perhaps she could get some clues. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of her hiding spot.

Steven stopped dead.

He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. What he saw was her, but she was in a light blue vest, which was a lot more casual than what she wore the previous night. To her credit, she could say just the same about his appearance.

"Um, how have you been?" Cynthia asked him.

"What are you doing here?" Steven shot back.

"I was asking you," Cynthia countered.

She loved the confused expression his face wore. For a long moment, Steven appeared trying to grasp which question he was trying to answer.

"You heard about what happened last night, right?" Steven said, albeit it wasn't a question, and it sort of made Cynthia grimace. "Well, I'm just taking a break here. You know, doing something I love. What about you?"

"I was just about to have lunch," Cynthia replied, and then, in a small voice, said, "Care to join me?"

Steven raised his eyebrows, as if her words didn't make sense to him.

Cynthia's eyes widened, and she tried to recover. "I mean –"

"Sure, I don't mind," he interrupted before she could complete her sentence. "But I hope you don't mind either that I do a little digging? And, where are you eating?"

Surprised by the instant response, Cynthia was at a slight loss for words. Instead, she gave Steven the go-ahead to do his business. On the other hand, she couldn't immediately say where she was eating, as something bad might happen. There could be a moment where she and Steven might fall victim to a fiery crash. Wait, was she being a little paranoid?

"I have no objections," she replied, in the same small voice.

If Martine had seen this, Steven thought, she probably would have been squealing with delight right now. Perhaps Lisia too, who would probably add another 'chapter' to his so-called 'love life' (he desisted the thought). Wallace, of all people, would probably be pressing him even further for this moment. It felt awkward, no less. If only they could understand, if only. Well, perhaps Martine would understand better.

He knelled down to silently observe the wall of rock, as if he were looking for something.

"I hope you're interested in rocks," he said. "The idea here is to look for a portion that's breakable. See the slightly cracks lining up the top portion?"

"They basically show how old the rocks have been," Cynthia said. "Is there anything special?"

Seeing she was genuinely interested, Steven said, "You'd be surprised at the kind of goods you might find underneath. Such is what you'd expect when you're looking under rock that's been there for years."

He pulled out a handheld hammer from his bag which looked, from her perspective, impossibly heavy for the size of its head. Cynthia didn't bother asking him how he did it, however, because he seemed preoccupied with the wall itself. Watching him grasp the hammer with his hands, he swung it downward to smash the surface. After swinging it a few times, Steven retrieved a considerable smaller item in the form of a pickaxe from his bag.

"You can see parts of the wall bulging slightly," he explained, "so that's what we're interested in."

He tapped the pickaxe against the wall, breaking off parts bit by bit. Cynthia watched as he, at some point, broke off enough pieces of stone enough for him to haul out the broken pieces of stone. However, that wasn't the only thing she focused on. Despite his looks, she was impressed by the muscle Steven had while he was extracting the stone. She couldn't help but notice he was that handsome. The muscles in his arms and – lo and behold – the expression on his face –

"Okay, done," Steven stated. "So, how about that lunch we – Cynthia? Are you okay?"

She suddenly realised the state she was in, and she mentally slapped herself for it. Who was she to look at him like this? Her face felt hot, and as a result she turned it away to let her hair cover it. Steven, while partly concerned, shrugged. He hauled the last of the fragments away to extract a Damp Rock within.

"Lovely," Steven remarked, taking the rock and looking at it closely. "Would you care to take a look? Well, I'm not sure, actually. You're looking a little red there."

Only moments later, the wall collapsed on itself, to her surprise. Her breath felt a little short, as she looked into his eyes. He looked like he hadn't broken a sweat, but he was equally good-looking in this light. On the other hand, Steven took the spoil he had retrieved from the wall and started to put away his equipment into his bag.

"Cynthia?"

"I'm fine," she finally said.

"Really? Because you seem a little –"

"You know what? Let's have lunch."

Near the Berry tree not far from where he was digging, Steven and Skarmory found a clearing of grass. On that clearing, specifically, there was a picnic blanket laid out, and resting on it was a bag (supposedly Cynthia's, Steven thought) and… Garchomp.

"Well, make yourself comfortable, I guess," Cynthia said, sitting down on the blanket first. The ends of her platinum blond hair piled up on the ground behind her, and she brushed a lock behind her ear while keeping part of her hair covering one eye as usual.

She looked up at him, and patted her hand beside her as a gesture for him to sit down. In light of the events of yesterday and the hectic morning, Steven should have been grateful. However, he wasn't sure how to react in front of this woman. Soon after, Steven dropped his bag on the blanket and sat down just slightly across from her, so they were face-to-face.

Steven didn't immediately take out his lunch, and instead he kept his gaze away from her.

Cynthia thought about starting a conversation. Unlike Steven, she was looking directly at his face. He was silent at first, and when he finally caught wind that she was looking right at him, he could no longer avoid it.

After a moment, it felt like it was time to eat. Steven, indeed, took out and unpacked his lunch. As soon as that happened, Cynthia's nose was then greeted with the scent of freshly baked croissants and cooked eggs… Suddenly, she felt hungry too.

"You're hungry, aren't you? What's that you're having?" Steven asked, looking over at what she was grabbing in her bag.

Eventually, the smell of pies wafted in the air and enlightened his senses. Steven watched as Cynthia reached for the first pie and, with a fork, began to eat it. She pierced a part of the shell and with it, spinach and cheese. A modest meal, Steven admitted; it seemed level with his choice of eggs.

Silently, the two former Champions, and now head chefs, ate together.

"Where did you go last night?" Steven asked, although he felt shy in her presence. "I mean – sorry – I meant after what happened to Diantha? You just disappeared!"

Cynthia raised her eyebrows, albeit Steven could only see the one that wasn't covered by her hair. Suddenly, Steven caught wind of what he was saying, and quickly added, "I mean I understand you had to leave the chaos, but I apologise that I wasn't really that good of a host last night."

He watched her chew her food slowly. The pie seemed tasty, yes, but that only reminded him that he needed to eat too. So he helped himself to one of the eggs, and at the same time he pulled out the bottle of fresh water he had with him. When her gaze fell onto his, Steven looked away.

"Apology accepted," she coolly said.

They continued eating in silence, and the only things they could hear were the sound of wind and the rustling of leaves on the Berry tree. For the moment, Steven could relax, although he could fully relax with her being right here with him. As for Cynthia, she ate quietly, and was as silent as him.

"What brings you out here, anyway? You never answered… Unless you knew I was here?" Steven suggested.

While waiting for an answer, he finished his eggs and went for the croissants. Cynthia merely kept on eating her spinach and cheese pie. Even with some distance between them, Cynthia could tell her pie was just as fresh as Steven's croissants. She ate a little bit more.

"I've been working for too long, I guess," Cynthia said, whilst shrugging. "I guess getting stuck in the same building non-stop has a price. I needed to find somewhere close, and besides, it's not like I'm going to Lumiose City either."

She had no idea if Steven looked as if he was suspicious. Instead, she focused more on eating her pie. As she kept eating, she noticed Steven continue to munch on his croissants.

The air, although soothing, was awkward.

Not to mention that when she snuck a glance at him, he was looking the other way.

Cynthia took out a serving of chilled mochi balls from her bag. They were white in colour, flat, and with a really slippery feel to it. It seemed the only way to actually eat one was with a spoon, because if they were eaten by hand they would almost certainly be destroyed. On the other hand, they did briefly catch Steven's attention.

The lone customer who had ordered the Stone Open earlier was certainly taking her time with the meal, Martine could tell. To be fair to the customer, it was the Stone Open, which was probably one of the finest meals ever created by Steven, in her opinion. Because it wasn't that busy in this area of the floor, Martine took the time to wipe the tables with a cloth. Sophie had taken the copy of Lumiose Press with her to downstairs, where customers could read it at the lobby's lounge.

For the time being, Sophie rejoined Laurent afterwards, who looked positively bored.

"Nothing to do, eh?" she said, poking him on the arm.

As receptionists, the two of them normally wouldn't be needing chairs. Nevertheless, the two of them were used to it anyway.

"Oui," he replied. "I guess we might get busier tonight, but so far, not a lot to do. Oh gosh, you'll have no idea what the media did. I've heard rumours that they think the two of us are in a relationship. Honestly, they'll want to make up any story."

"But not as bad as the boss' story," Sophie added. "The way Martine put it: she really thinks it's a cliché love-hate relationship. Tell me, Laurent. What do you think?"

Laurent chuckled.

"I can neither confirm nor deny anything about his relationship without any extra details. But in all seriousness," he said, "I kind of feel bad for him. About yesterday, I mean."

"Martine thinks he really blew it," Sophie said this as she shook her head, albeit smiling. "He had the chance to really get it to her, but now it's all gone up in smoke. Who knows what he'll do next?"

Laurent stared at her.

"Were they really that close?! Why didn't you tell me?" His voice held a light vibe of anger. "I could have been there to see it happen!"

"But it didn't," Sophie said back in an effort to recover.

Neither did Sophie and Laurent have that many phone calls for the day. Overall, it had been too quiet, and most customers (mostly journalists) came through the door without advance booking.

"Oh yeah, the fan club is about to have a meeting tomorrow. Did anyone tell you that?" Laurent said, and his face looking like he suddenly remembered this.

The reaction he got wasn't pleasant, because Sophie nearly brought a hand to slap him on the cheek, but he backed off just in time to miss the hit. But, to Sophie's dismay, Laurent merely smiled at her.

"I know you haven't forgotten that," he added, which earned an annoyed face from Sophie.

"I'm not that clueless!" she shot back. "We'll need to make arrangements with the boss, or Monsieur d'Arc at least. Hey… You're not suggesting that I forgot?!"

"Tell you what, I'll go across to Vue sur la Lune and get you something. How about that?" he offered. "You can hold the fort for a bit."

Sophie blinked, and her face showed she was deep in thought. Given the time she took, Laurent had already made his way across the lobby to the front door. It was only when he had his hand on the door handle that he turned around to look at her once more.

"I'll have something sweet, please." Finally. Sophie had thought of something.

"Just like you," Laurent replied, although his voice suggested he was more than casual about it.

Sophie gasped. She had not been expecting that response from her friend at all. But by the time she could think of a counter, Laurent was already outside and walking across the street. Feeling personally helpless, Sophie looked down at the desk in front of her and stared.

Heh, and things will start moving a little next chapter, which is bigger than this one and is still in progress. Remember this is a transition! But does look into their lives...

Review, and enjoy a whole pie from Cynthia! Spinach and cheese, anyone?