Part Three
"I understand that you all must be happy to see her after so long, but you must be patient." An elderly doctor stands before the six of us in the waiting room, the man having pulled us out of the room before allowing the others to speak to Kotone. Her mother gives him a hard glare as Lance places a hand on her shoulder, concern written all over his face.
"Why should I wait to talk to my own daughter who I thought was dead for six years?! I need to speak to my Koto!" Ethan gives a furious nod of agreement, earning a few nods from Green and I as well.
"I'm truly sorry, Ma'am." The doctor lifted his hands defensively and let out a sigh. "But she's been gone for six years, just as you said. All of you coming in at once might trigger her to go into shock. You need to fill her in on what happened gently." We all exchanged looks before letting out a collective sigh of disappointment. We don't want to wait, we want to see Kotone now.
The doctor slowly swept his gaze over all of us before letting out a sigh. "...One of you may go in now, but try not to overwhelm her."
"Could I go?" I step forward just as Ethan did the same, obvious annoyance written on his face when I spoke the words before him. "I mean, I haven't really changed much these past six years, have I?"
It was true, change isn't something I overly enjoyed. I still wore a navy-blue jacket with crimson accents and light blue jeans, practically the same pair of shoes on my feet and the same haircut for as long as I could remember. Out of the six of us, I was pretty much the only one who hadn't decided to update their wardrobe—with the exception of Red and Green, those two never changed.
The doctor's eyes narrowed as he gave a quick glance toward the older trainers in the room. "...How close are these two to Ms. Soul?" Green's mouth opened to speak, but I quickly spoke before he could answer.
"I-I was her rival for her journey! I've known her since she started her quest to become Champion!" Green gives me an annoyed look, but I hardly notice. I lock my eyes on the doctor as he slowly nods. He then turns to Kotone's mother and cocks his head.
"Would it be alright with you if he spoke with her, Ma'am?" Kotone's mother gives me a sad look before nodding her head.
"...Silver can go." Ethan cringes as she goes on, "I'm afraid little Ethan has grown so much these past few years, Kotone would hardly recognize him." I give him a childish smirk as he pets his developing mustache defensively, as if he was actually considering changing back into his old outfit to talk to Kotone.
The doctor gave a nod before stepping aside, allowing me to pass him to enter the room. "Go ahead, young man. Kotone's still seated on her bed." I gave a nod and walked forward with a small smile, feeling pretty confident about myself.
Red suddenly puts a hand on my shoulder as I pass, making me look up at him with an eyebrow raised. He gives me a small smile of his own and motions towards the door. "Good luck, Silver. Make sure to be easy on her, it's hard to find things so different after being gone for so long..."
I smirk and nod at his comment before removing his hand. "Like how you found out Cinnabar Island exploded?" I look back up to find him cringing, knowing full-well that Red honestly was flabbergasted by the revelation back in the day. I give him a chuckle before walking back into the small room, my shoes squeaking on the white tiles.
Kotone looks up quickly before giving me a weak smile. "...Silvy." I grunt in confirmation and flinch as the door shuts behind me. I look over my shoulder and frown as the doctor pulls a shade down over the window. Well, that wasn't part of my plan. I shake off the strange behavior and walk to her side, wearing a small smile to keep her from panicking.
"Kotone..." I slowly sit beside her on the white sheets and take in her new appearance, still unable to believe someone could change so much in six years. Instead of being the short girl with spunk, Kotone seems to have grown a good foot or so, now becoming a normal height for a seventeen year old girl. Her once-pigtailed hair now falls past her shoulders in faded waves, the color seemingly dull from perhaps her time in the desert. While her overalls weren't very modest beforehand, they now are so short on her that they hardly cover her leg sockets, the tight fit undoubtedly uncomfortable—which only made me question why she would wear the outfit in the first place.
Although, the biggest shock would be the addition of slight curves to her body, making her definitely seem older. I never thought I'd see the day when Kotone actually looked like her mother, but here it is.
"Kotone," I try to speak again as she cocks her head with interest shining in her eyes. "...Why are you wearing that outfit?" Eh, not what I was going for...but apparently the question bothered me enough to ask. She widens her eyes for a heartbeat before looking away with puffed cheeks.
"...So you would recognize me." She gave her shoes a quick glance before looking up at my face again. "I was worried that I changed too much, that you wouldn't know it was me...So, I wore my old clothes...even though they don't really fit anymore." I nod in agreement and scoot a tad closer to her with nervous motions.
"...Speaking of change..." I look at her face with narrow eyes, trying to figure out the best way to explain what's happened these past six years without scaring her. "You realize things have changed here, right?" She reluctantly nods before swinging her feet back and forth.
"I know." She suddenly looks up with a smile and pokes my right arm, making me let out a small grunt of protest. "I mean, just look at you! Your face looks a bit different, and I'm pretty sure you've gotten taller, too!" I nod before letting out a sigh.
"...Ethan's changed too. He's gotten taller, and he doesn't act so childish anymore." I look over to see her eyes narrow before looking down at her feet.
"...Did...Did he miss me?"
"Of course!" I nearly shout the words at the top of my lungs, making her flinch and lean away from me. "We've all missed you!"
She opens her mouth for a second before shaking her head and smiling again. "So...anything big happen?" She looks up and cocks her head playfully at my confused expression. "I didn't miss a sudden Team Rocket revival, did I?" I chuckle and shake my head.
"Nope. Team Rocket's dead as a doornail." She gives a happy nod before looking towards the door, leaving me staring at her masked expression with a frown.
Dang, this is harder than I thought it was going to be. Like, a lot harder. Maybe I should try to explain somethings without her asking about them...
"...There's a new Champion." She quickly snaps her attention back with a pout, obviously unhappy to hear the news. Well, I always knew that she wouldn't like to hear that.
"Oh really?" She folds her hands in her lap and frowns at me, making me take a small scoot away from her to the right. "And just who took over my position, Silver?"
"Well...Lance, at first." I run a hand through my hair and let out a puff of air, pushing it out of my mouth with a frown. "But...then someone beat him."
I look to my left to see her with a frown. "Who?! Tell me!"
I let out an embarrassed chuckle and slowly point to my chest. "You're looking at him." I smile as I watch her eyes grow wide before she suddenly hides her face in her hands.
"Oh...Ho-Oh..." I switch to a frown as she uncovers her face slowly, pulling down on her skin with a groan. "I wanted to be there when you finally beat him..." She shook her head and let her hands fall into her lap with a sigh. She slowly looks up towards me and flashes me a weak smile. "Well, congratulations, Silver. I'm really proud of you."
I let her words sink in with a smile before letting out a sigh, shaking my head slowly as I realize I still have plenty left to explain.
"There's...still a few more things that happened." Her eyes widen before she lets out a long sigh.
"Like what?"
I give her a weak grin of my own and place my left hand on her right hand, trying to ease her into this news. "Well, let me see..."
Author's Note: Part three, we're almost done with Since You've Been Gone. One of the hardest things about being gone for six years would be catching up with the events you missed, especially when it has to do with your friends and family aging. It's kinda like Rip Van Winkle, only thankfully not over a span of twenty years in a single night. That's something a bit more overwhelming.
