Chapter Thirty-seven: Deal

Fighting For Everything

That night, I laid awake in bed. Thinking about the guardians. They should be more like the rebels, they should fight. "We're defenders, not fighters." No, they need to take a stand. But even so, defending is better than doing nothing. I'm doing nothing. Practically nothing. Doing it the way Ember said, just trying to get to the top and win fairly, isn't cutting it. I pushed the covers off of me and stood up. I found my shoes and slipped them on, but otherwise I was in my pajamas.

Roserade, who shared the bed with me, sat up and gave me a look. "I'll be back soon. I promise." I whispered. I put on a sweater and my jacket, and left the room. I walked down the hallway and into the Center lobby. The lights were still on, but no one was working the counter. I had Thumper's ball in hand, ready to fly off to the gym. The reason why I wasn't waiting until morning was because Volkner and I decided to leave. And he wouldn't like my grand idea.

I made it to the front door and reached for the handle. I grabbed it and opened the door. Someone grabbed me from behind, I gasped. I turned around. Thankfully, it was just Volkner.

"What in Sinnoh are you doing at this hour?" His bed head looked the same as his normal hair, messy and unkempt. He wore long pajama pants, and he must have thrown his shirt back on when he got up because it was on inside-out.

"I could ask the same thing to you." I said, trying to protect my independence…Or something like that.

"I got up because I heard you get up."

"Were you listening?" I made a face.

"No, we're the only two people here, the walls are thin, the wood on the floor creaks, and my room is right next to yours." He gave me a look and rubbed his eyes. "So what are you doing up?"

I sighed. "I was going to see Zoey. I need to talk to her about the guardians. I'm not doing anything here but standing and I need to work with them to get Lea out of the picture."

He rolled his eyes. "Your head is still on rebel mode. You're doing enough. You're preparing and getting stronger to defeat Lea head on. The guardians are guarding, not fighting."

I looked at the floor. "I just feel like I'm not doing enough."

"But you are. You're doing enough. You don't need to put yourself in more danger."

Yes, he was right. I didn't like it, but he was right. He reached out and hugged me. It was a quick embrace, but it was a nice gesture. We walked back to our rooms. "Goodnight." I said.

"Goodnight." He replied. I walked through my door and slumped on the bed. I disturbed Roserade, and she wasn't happy about that. I felt so wrong. But Volkner was right. I was doing the best thing, the right thing, and I should have felt fine. It was a bit of guilt for letting the rebels be taken away. It was a bit of embarrassment for failing. And it was a bit of sorrow in the mix, too. I felt sorry for myself. This wasn't a good thing at all.

I sighed and rolled over. I was very sleepy, and I had traveling to do tomorrow, so I pushed everything aside and let the sleep overtake me.

I stuffed the last of my things back in my black bag and slung it over my shoulder. "Moving day again." I joked to Thumper and Roserade. Roserade smiled but Thumper cocked his head at me. Yeah…He wasn't the brightest match in the box.

I returned them and left for the lobby. Volkner wasn't there yet, so I went ahead and ate breakfast. Then after I was done and he wasn't there, I left for his room. I knocked on the wooden door. Nothing. "Volkner, wake up!" I yelled, assuming he had slept in. I banged on the door. Then I got a little worried. I opened the door and peeked in. No Volkner. "Oh no." I shut the door and ran back to the lobby, giving it another sweep with my eyes. I shot out of the Center and into the cold. It was snowing harshly…Again.

Pushing through the snow, I arrived at the Mart. No Volkner there either. "Sinnoh!" I muttered. I thought of only two other places, the gym and the temple. I got out Togekiss.

"Miss Cynthia, where are you going?" I was so relieved to hear his voice.

I returned my Pokémon and looked at him. His blonde hair was sprinkled with snow, and his cheeks were cold-bitten. "Where in Sinnoh have you been, Volkner?!" I yelled. "You had me worried sick! Do you know how badly you scared me? Sinnoh!"

He smirked. "You were worried about me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I was worried about you, I must love you then, huh?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

He snickered. "You're funny when you're all mad."

I mashed my lips together. "Why don't you rip out your Pokémon and you can see how angry I can get? Let's battle right now!"

He smirked. "Calm down. Let's get going."

I huffed. I got on Thumper. "Just get on and stay quiet." I snapped. Volkner hopped on and we took off into the blizzard. "This time, we're going to Celestic. We'll get to Sunyshore quicker. And we can stop in on my grandmother."

"Okay." He, apparently, wasn't in the mood to argue. Which was odd. Volkner was almost always up for a good argue. And he didn't even want to battle when I was mad. Normally it could take him a second to escalate to my anger level.

Where did he go, and what in Sinnoh happened? I thought. "Volkner," I started, attempting to make my voice less scary.

"Yeah?"

"Where did you go?" He didn't answer. I looked over my shoulder. He wasn't looking at me. "Where did you go?" I repeated, this time not caring about my tone. "Don't tell me you went back to the temple without me."

"I didn't go to the temple." He said. He looked at me. "I…Went to the gym."

Gym. As in where Zoey lived. As in the really pretty, really tough girl who just so happens to have a thing for 'Volky.' Yeah, that didn't exactly put me in a good place. I turned back around and looked ahead. "The gym?" I echoed.

"Yeah." His voice was filled with hesitation.

"And why?" I didn't look at him.

He hesitated. That made me mad. "To say goodbye." He said quickly.

"Right. Sure. Of course." I muttered.

"What? It's the truth."

"And I thought you didn't like her. At least that's how you made it seem yesterday, Volky."

He growled. "You know, for someone who's not into me at all, you sure act like it."

"I'm not into you like Zoey is! She's throwing herself at you, can you not tell?"

"Of course I can tell! She's always been like that! I can't help it! But that doesn't mean I like her back!"

"Then why did you go over there?! Hm?! To say goodbye, or to kiss goodbye?!" I snapped.

"Neither!" He yelled. Togekiss shot to the right. We both shook a little. "Do you want to know what I did over there?"

The worst images popped into my mind. "Not really, I think I can guess."

"Oh really?! Did you guess that I went over there to talk to her about you?!"

That wasn't what I expected. I shut my mouth.

"Didn't think so." He sighed. "I asked her to make sure to turn you away if you asked to join them. I told her that I'm crazy about you and don't want you to get hurt. Make sense now? And yeah, she definitely came on to me, but I said no."

"Oh." I murmured. Guess who felt like the wrong end of a Miltank now? Yes, me. I looked back at him. He looked a bit hurt and angry. "I apologize." I said, with all sincerity. "I don't why I acted that way…" That's the truth.

He smirked. And I knew what was coming. "It's because you're into me. You said it yourself."

I blinked. I racked my brain. When did I say something like that? "What?"

"You said, and I quote, 'I'm not into you like Zoey is.' So, you're into me some way, aren't you?" He raised his eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes and looked forward. "Sorry to burst your Bubblebeam, but no."

"One day, Miss Cynthia, you'll admit it. You'll say the wonderful words." I could tell he was smirking, even though I wasn't looking.

"Doubtful." And that was the one-hundred-percent truth.

A few hours later, we arrived in Celestic. The blizzard died down a little a bit after we set flight, and it was smooth flying all the way home. We landed on the outskirts of town. I was getting excited to see Grandmother and everyone. "Do you think we could spend the day here?" I asked Volkner. Since he was my traveling companion, I had to a-okay everything with him.

"Sure." He shrugged. "I don't care."

I smiled. "Great, let's get to the house." The fog was as thick as ever when we walked. Luckily it only took a few minutes to get to Grandmothers house. I knocked on the door and opened it. "Grandmother?" I called as we walked in. There was no answer. "She's probably at the shop. She'll be here shortly for lunch most likely." I carried my bag to my bedroom, Volkner was right behind me.

"This is where you lived?" He asked.

"Yes." The way he said 'lived' and not 'live' was odd, but I pushed it away.

"It's so small." He commented. He sat on my bed and I put my bag on my desk.

I started unpacking. I was going to wash my clothes then repack for Sunyshore. "And you live in a mansion?" Sarcasm laced my tone.

"Oh har, har. No, as a matter o' fact I don't."

"Then you don't have any place to comment about my house. It's fine the way it is." I heard the front door shut. "Oh, she's home." I grinned and ran out to the living room. Grandmother grinned when she saw me.

"Oh Cynthia, what a pleasant surprise!" I hugged her. "What are you doing home, dear?"

"Just visiting." I said. "I'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

"Let me fix up some soup." Grandmother patted my shoulder and moved to the kitchen.

Volkner walked out of my room. "Hello." He greeted.

Grandmother slightly jumped at the voice. She turned and looked at him. Then looked at me, then back at him. I felt like face palming, but fought the urge. "Oh." Grandmother chirped. "This is the first time Cynthia has ever brought a boy home." She smiled unsurely. "Welcome to Celestic, I am Carolina, but you can call me Grandmother."

I looked at Volkner; I searched for the right words to say. But then a sly smile came across Volkner's face. He walked up to Grandmother. "Oh really? That's surprising. I guess that means I'm just special." He shook Grandmothers hand. "I'm Volkner, the last gym leader. Nice to meet you, Grandmother." He shot a look at me. I stood there speechless. What's going on?!

Grandmother's smile turned genuine. "The pleasure's all mine, dear. Now do you like vegetable soup?"

Volkner patted his stomach. "Love it."

Grandmother chuckled. "Alright then, I'll whip up some." She looked at me. "Cynthia, why don't you go out to the shop and get some fresh bread? This calls for a nice meal. And pick something else up for dinner tonight." She pulled out a little bit of money and handed it to me. "Jamie's there, she will be so pleased to see you." Before I could answer, she turned back to Volkner. "So tell me about Sunyshore, dear."

My mouth hung open. This was weird. I closed my mouth and left the house. I headed for the shop. I met Jamie as soon as I opened the door. "Cyn!" She squealed. She threw her arms around me. "What are you doing here?!"

"Just visiting before my last gym."

"So you beat Canalave and Snowpoint, huh?" She asked, excitement coursing through her voice.

"Yes, it was a piece of cake."

"Tell me everything!" She pleaded. I laughed and started telling her about my recent battles. I picked up some bread and then some dough to make lettuce and berry wraps for dinner. She hung on to every word of my stories until we got home. I opened the door, right in the middle of talking about how I was creaming Zoey's Fire Type's with Milotic, when Grandmother giggled. Jamie looked over.

"Who's that?" She asked.

"Who?" I looked over. Volkner and Grandmother sat at the table, Grandmother looking over pleased, and Volkner was leaned back in his chair, smiling like a gentleman, telling some story about a sunset. I turned back to Jamie, but she was gone. I looked back at Volkner, Jamie was standing next to him, grinning and shaking his hand.

"Jamie Lisa Corley, nice to meet you."

"Volkner." He replied. I stepped forward and started to tell her that he was my traveling partner, and Grandmother spoke before me.

"This is Cynthia's boyfriend, Jamie."

I waited for Volkner to object, but he didn't. Instead he looked at me, smiling, and looking really happy. "Yeah. We're going on a month now. Best month of my life." He stood up and wrapped his arms around me. "Cynthia, the wind beneath my feet."

Grandmother and Jamie cooed. Jamie sat down at the table and looked at us with one of her 'that's so cute' smiles. I subtly pushed Volkner away. I fake smiled and chuckled. "Yeah, best month ever." I cleared my throat. "Volkner, why don't we talk outside?"

"Sure thing Honey Bear." Grandmother and Jamie made that noise again. I turned away and rolled my eyes. We walked outside. I closed the door quietly, which took a lot of self control because I wanted to slam it hard.

"Honey Bear?!" I repeated at a whisper. A yelled whisper, that is.

Volkner smirked. "Yup." I kicked his ankle.

"What are you doing to me?!"

He snickered. "I'm just having fun."

I clenched my jaw. "Having fun? No. Playing in the park is having fun, swimming is having fun, picking daisies in an enchanted meadow is having fun, not lying to my grandmother and best friend about us!"

He smiled. "It's so fun!"

"Well guess who's telling them we're not together." I crossed my arms over my chest and smiled.

"Not me, your grandmother loves me. She'd be heartbroken is we weren't a couple. I've already told her about our first date, the first time a saw you—oh, how your eyes sparkled in the moonlight. And guess what else?"

I didn't want to guess, I didn't want to think. "Sinnoh, what else?" I feared the worst.

"Our first kiss."

Yeah, that was the worst. I covered my eyes. "You didn't!"

"I so did!" He laughed.

"Why?! Why did you do this?!" I asked, getting more and more angry.

He shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea. This way, you can't treat me like dirt. At least in front of them." He pointed towards the house.

"I can treat you any way I want."

"Oh no, you can't, Honey Bear."

I grimaced. "Do not call me that."

"Here's a deal, you treat me like you would your boyfriend while we're here, and I won't call you sappy pet-names. Deal?" He held his hand out.

I rolled my eyes. One night. I told myself. I shook his hand. "Deal."

We walked back in. Grandmother and Jamie perked up at the sight of Volkner. I turned green and felt what little I had in my stomach curl.

Grandmother got up and motioned for us to sit down. We sat down at the small table. She brought over our soup and bread. "So Cynthia, why didn't you tell us sooner about this boy?" Kill me now.

"I'm…Not sure." I stuffed some bread in my mouth.

"Hey, you know Cynthia, she wanted to wait and see how we did together before she told all of you." Volkner said.

"That does sound like our Cynie." Jamie said. "How'd you two meet again?" Oh Sinnoh.

Volkner started this elaborate story about moonlight and twinkly eyes and garbage. He had Grandmother and Jamie practically swooning. He ended with putting his arm around my shoulder. "And now I'm the happiest man alive, aren't I, Cynie?"

I fought the urge to cut my eyes at him. Instead, I smiled. "That's right, Volky." He clenched his jaw for a quick second, and then smirked.

"Right, now why don't you tell your story of our first meeting?" He raised his eyebrows. I looked at our piers, they were nodding and grinning.

"Well…I was in the moonlight…" I tried to think of something. "Um…Volkner was running around yelling something about Pikachu, and I ran over to him to see what was wrong, and I slapped him because he was acting like a loon, and then he fell to the ground, next thing I know he wakes up and starts babbling about twinkling eyes." I smiled.

Grandmother and Jamie blinked. Then laughed. "Always the comedian." Jamie snickered.

Volkner patted my shoulder. "Yeah, she keeps me laughing." He fake chuckled.

We continued eating. I changed the subject completely to my battles. We talked and ate for a half an hour longer, and then Grandmother needed to leave. She asked Volkner if he wanted to see the ruins and shop, and of course, Volkner said yes, leaving Jamie and I some peace and quiet.

We sat on the sofa. I quickly learned we weren't going to have our normal sit-and-chat-for-hours setting. Every other word that came out of her mouth was 'Volkner.' It got old real quick.

"We're not together!" I yelled.

She looked dumbfounded. "What?"

"He lied, basically for kicks. And I went along with it for no good reason at all!"

"What?" She repeated. "…Why'd you lie to me?" Now she seemed hurt.

"I don't know, I didn't want to say no once Grandmother and you loved the idea so much. I got wrapped up, I'm sorry."

She frowned. "Well I do forgive you." She sighed. "So you don't like him a little bit?"

I face palmed. "No, not even a little bit."

"But he likes you?"

"Yes."

"And you're travelling with him?"

"Yes, why does this matter?"

"Because, Cyn, do you not see what's going on here?" She waved her arms in a big motion to emphasis her point.

"…No?" She lost me.

"Cyn, by doing this with him, you're leading him on."

I leaned back on the couch. She was right. I was leading him on, even if he knows my feelings, or lack thereof, for him. And there definitely weren't feelings there. I leaned my elbow on my knee and rested my chin in my hand. "You're right."

"Yeah I'm right. You need to stop this."

"But he knows my feelings aren't, you know, like his."

"Still, he thinks differently."

I sighed and groaned. "Sinnoh." I muttered. That wasn't going to be easy.

That night I laid in my bed that I missed so much. Togekiss was slumped on the floor, Roserade was pushing me off my bed, and Gabite sat on my floor, looking around. She didn't feel like sleeping, and neither did I. I rolled around some more. "She's right." I said to my ceiling. Roserade lifted her head and glared at me. She lifted up her arm, as if to warn me she would use Toxic Touch and poison me. I laughed at her, she wouldn't do that. She threatened me all the time, they meant nothing now. I sighed and looked back at the ceiling. "I hate it when she's right." Roserade growled and rolled over, I ignored her. "I'm leading him on. I need to talk to him." Roserade huffed and jumped off the bed. I scooted over to where I was comfortable, for one. "Oh, it's better up here without a Pokémon." Roserade hissed. I laughed.

I sighed and shut my eyes. The next day wouldn't be easy. I was having inner-turmoil with my heart. I had come to love him as a friend so much, that leaving him would really hurt. But it had to be done. This needed to be done for many reasons. One, I'm hurting Volkner a lot; two, I need to focus of training and Pokémon, Lea's just around the corner; and three…I was hurting myself, too.

A tear slipped out of my eye and ran to my pillow. I held them all back and pushed them away. This is what needs to be done. I told myself over and over, almost until the point I didn't believe it myself.

Authors Note: Merry Christmas Eve! I wrote up a chapter to post this today! I tried to add a bit of humor, because let's just say, the next chapter won't be humorous. I hope everyone has an awesome day spent with their families, and expect another chapter tomorrow or the next day.

Thanks for reading!