Asdfghjkl! I'm so sorry for the long delay. See what happened was I went to Reno for the weekend, but then I got home and BOOM I find out my Internet connection has completely frizzed out on me. : ( Soooo without any delay, here's the new chapter! I am terribly sorry for making everyone wait D:

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. If I did, I would be suing Internet companies for taking away my Internet.

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31. kaleidoscope

"This is what commoners do?" she asks, puzzled, as Diamond hands her the tiny kaleidoscope; she looks through it and is immediately fascinated at how the colors dance: "It's beautiful!" she exclaims, and Diamond says "Yeah, you are," before he realizes what he's said.

…

"I think that's a Bulbasaur." Pearl squinted into the small little tube. He took the tube away from his eye and handed it to the almost sleeping Diamond. "Oy, wake up," he said, pushing his best friend's side.

"But I'm so sleepy," Diamond yawned, stretching even further on the lush green grass.

"Well, I told you not to eat so many rice balls," Pearl said grumpily. He suddenly brightened up, and Diamond sighed, sitting up.

"Yes, Pearl, I know. Let's practice our comedy act." He shook his head, though out of fond amusement for his best friend. "When you think of Pokemon-"

Just then, both boys felt a Pokemon rub up against their sides, and they looked down to see a familiar looking Pachirisu by their feet. "Hello," Diamond said cheerfully, his spirits lifting, "where's-"

"Right here." Platina leaped off her Rapidash, scratching under its head before returning it to its Pokeball. "Father said you would be here." She settled down next to Diamond, who smiled at her and she smiled back. "What are you boys up to?"

"Oh, you know. The usual. Nothing." Pearl flopped back down onto the grass, his scarf getting squashed under him. "It seems like this whole summer we've been lying on a hill doing nothing." His tone was petulant, almost complaining; but Diamond knew that Pearl probably wouldn't have it any other way.

"Let's be fair," Platina said reasonably, "there is only one week of summer left. We might as well enjoy it before we have to go back to help out at our respective jobs."

All three of them fell silent as they remembered that Pearl was leaving them for a job in Johto, where DJ Mary had invited him to be a guest deejay on her show. Diamond felt a little bit alone; he hadn't been too far from Pearl before, but Johto? Knowing Pearl, he probably wouldn't reply any of Diamond's letters until he came home to Sinnoh.

Pearl broke the silence as he said brightly, "Well, I might as well go home. Mom wants me to call Gold and confirm that I'm staying with him." He turned towards Diamond and winked as he left, waving a cheery farewell to the pair; Diamond blushed when he realized what his best friend had just done. Of course, Platina waved back, not knowing how much Diamond was debating whether to kill his best friend or not.

The pair sat in comfortable silence for a while before Diamond broke it. "So, Missy, what are you going to do for the last week of summer?"

She shrugged, a habit learnt from both her friends, 'commoners' as her butler sometimes fondly referred to them as. "I don't know quite just yet. Maybe I'll go to Hoenn; Father's been aching to visit Professor Birch about his recent research." She glanced at Diamond out of the corner of her eye. "What are your plans, Dia?"

Diamond fiddled with the kaleidoscope. Truthfully, he'd imagined that he'd stay in Sinnoh with Platina and take it from there. "I don't know at all," he answered honestly. He gestured at the green grass around them, saying, "I'll probably just sit here and enjoy what's left of our hot Sinnoh summer."

Platina didn't answer as her eyes fell on the strange object Diamond was twirling in his hands. "What is that?" she wondered, pointing at it.

Diamond looked down at the metal tube. "Oh, this? It's a kaleidoscope. Have you never seen one before?"

"I've heard about them, but I've never actually seen one…"

Diamond wasn't slow on picking up the wistful tone in Platina's voice. "Take a look," he offered, handing it to her.

She took it, her fingers brushing against his skin like warm flames licking the surface on a cold night. "This is what you commoners do for fun?" she asked, and again Diamond found himself not insulted by the usually derogatory term. Platina took her eye away from the tube for a moment, suddenly realizing how awful she had sounded, and begin to stutter out an apology, but Diamond waved his hand at her.

"Don't worry about it," he yawned, and Platina found herself mentally comparing him to Pearl. Pearl would have taken the apology and then he would have given her a hard time about it later; it would have surely consisted of why she still considered them commoners since she accompanied them every day. But Diamond… Diamond was different, and Platina liked the calming effect he had on her.

"Take a look," Diamond repeated again when he noticed Platina staring at a spot to the left of his head, seemingly lost in her thoughts. Platina jumped in surprise, shocked out of her reverie, and blushed slightly as she put the tube to her eye once again.

She was immediately captivated by the world of vibrant colors that danced before her. "This is beautiful," she breathed, fascinated as the colors changed with every passing moment. She squinted, muttering to herself, "Is that a Bulbasaur…?"

Diamond propped himself up on his elbows, watching as his other best friend played with the kaleidoscope. The wind blew towards him, and he could vaguely pick out the subtle notes of rose and honey sweet apple that he associated with Platina's perfume. He inhaled deeply, allowing the scent to make its way into his memories and carve for itself a niche, a niche that he fiercely protected.

Platina continued to stare into the tube. "It's beautiful!" she repeated again, and Diamond found himself speaking with no thought to anything that might happen.

"Yeah, you are." Diamond flushed a bright red when he realized what he had just said, but Platina was unfazed, only looking away from her new fascination to beam brightly at Diamond.

"Thank you, Diamond," she answered quietly, her sweet smile blossoming over her face one more time. "You're quite handsome yourself."

He fumbled with the compliment, unsure of what to say to that. "Thanks," he mumbled. "Platina, can I ask you a question?" His heart hammered in his chest, beating out a strange unsteady beat that pounded in his ears like a drunken war chant.

"Of course," she answered absently, still peering into the kaleidoscope.

He swallowed, wishing his mouth wasn't quite so dry. "Do you think we'll be together ten years from now?" he asked.

She put it down, confusion written all over her faces. "Of course, Diamond. We'll be friends forever, won't we? You can't let someone who's saved the world with you go so easily." She smiled brightly at him.

That was not the answer I was hoping for, Diamond thought, mentally cursing himself for lacking the courage to ask her outright. "Of course," he covered up hastily. "But really, Platina, what I meant to ask was-"

As it was in all clichéd romance movies, Platina's phone rang just then. Diamond almost bit his tongue off in frustration- really? Arceus, he couldn't even ask a decent question these days? Platina flashed him an apologetic smile before answering her phone. "Hi, Father," she said into her phone. "I don't know- maybe you should- well, I thought I saw some meat in the fridge. Please don't cut yourself trying to cook it anymore... yes, I will see you at home tonight."

She hung up, shaking her head. "Father is so amusing when he tries to cook," she remarked, laughing a laugh that Diamond found ridiculously amazing (and apparently so did his stomach and heart since they kept doing somersaults). "What were you going to ask me, Diamond?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I… well, let's just enjoy this summer."

And then the impossible happened. Platina got up and scooted over to him, her perfume filling the air all around him until Diamond was sure he would never be able to smell anything other than sweet apples dipped in honey. "That sounds like a good idea," she said brightly, putting the kaleidoscope down and leaning her head against Diamond's head. She yawned all of a sudden, apologizing with a "Sorry, I'm suddenly so tired…"

"That's okay," Diamond got out, making sure that he wasn't dreaming by pinching himself and then blinking rapidly. Once he had ascertained that it wasn't a dream, he sighed quietly and let his body relax against the tree, closing his eyes. This is bliss, he thought to himself as he drifted off into sleep, Platina already snoozing quietly on his shoulder.

(Well, it was bliss until the clock hit eight and then Platina's father panicked and sent out a search team for the pair of missing teenagers. It was bliss until then…)

…

Well, that's it! Read? Review? :D Forgive me for the long delay?