"I'm going to have to leave soon. You know that."
Cynthia was jolted back into reality by Diantha's saddened whisper, and she glanced down at Diantha. Diantha was pressed up against Cynthia's side in bed, head resting on Cynthia's shoulder and her arm around Cynthia's waist. Cynthia was running her hand through Diantha's hair absentmindedly as she was waking herself up, not wanting to tear herself from this bliss. Gradually though, Cynthia closed her eyes again, shifting slightly but not too much to bother Diantha.
"I know." Cynthia said, voice addled with sleep, "Though I don't see the problem with it."
"How could you not?" Diantha tilted her head upwards to get a better look at Cynthia, wondering if Cynthia was able to understand her this early in the morning.
Cynthia let out a tired groan, swaying her head back and forth, "I mean, if I'm going to be such a big part of the press tour like I was told, I'll be heading out to Kalos soon anyways.. We won't be apart for that long."
"But even so…" Diantha sighed. She tightened her hold around Cynthia, not wanting to let go, "Being a continent apart… That's going to be rough no matter what."
"I've gone nearly three years without requesting a single vacation from the League. I even saved the region twice. I doubt many people would fault me if I started to take more breaks. I can always come and visit if it fits into your hectic schedule." Cynthia explained.
Diantha didn't feel like pressing the subject much further. She only let out a hum at that suggestion. "Actually… Speaking of which… My schedule might be freeing up a lot more lately." At Cynthia's sleepy, curious hum, Diantha continued, "This is going to be my last project for a while. I'm going to start devoting more time to the League one I return."
"Why so?"
"It's because of you, believe it or not." Diantha grinned to herself slightly, "When I first arrived in this region, I met this one man at the Sunyshore Market that spoke so highly of you, and said that you were the best Champion a region could ever hope for. Now, he had no idea that I was a Champion and I had no heart to tell him, but it still did hurt a bit. After seeing everything you did for Sinnoh, between rebuilding Lake Valor and literally saving the region from destruction, it made me realize that I wasn't acting the way a Champion should. I'm more of a posterchild for the League than an actual Champion that involves herself with region affairs. Kalos has gradually been becoming less and less interested in battling as of late, and part of that is my doing in failing to be a good Champion. I'm going to change that."
Cynthia smiled too at that, admiring Diantha's determination, "Gutsy and honorable… I'm sure if anyone can bring the fighting spirit back to Kalos, it's you. And if there's any way to help, just let me know."
"I've seen you in action. I feel like I've picked up a few pointers. But… yeah. I'll keep that in mind." Diantha teased, pulling up her cami strap that was slipping off her shoulder.
A little while later, the doorbell suddenly rang and caused Cynthia's eyes to open. Reluctantly, she started to get up and out of bed with a heavy groan, "That's probably my sister… I bet she's mad I never returned Lucy last night."
Diantha sat up too, rubbing at her eyes, "I feel like that's partially my fault."
"It was." Cynthia grinned widely, fixing her tank top, "But I certainly am not going to complain.."
Diantha rolled her eyes and shook her head with a fond smile, "Go. I'm going to make coffee."
"You're the woman of my dreams…" Cynthia said beneath her breath as she went left her bedroom. She got to her front door in a few moments after that, and she opened it up to see her sister on the other side like she expected.
Elizabeth had her hands on her hips and she was tapping her foot. She did not look happy. "You promised me that Lucy would be home by midnight. What the hell?"
"Well, by the time I was finished with her it was already past midnight, so I was already in trouble so I just kept her for the night…" Cynthia shrugged, barely even caring.
"Give her back." Elizabeth growled, "Lucy doesn't like it when she doesn't get to sleep at the foot of my bed every night. You're going to owe her big time in the treat department."
"Gee, I wonder where she gets that demanding nature from…" Cynthia muttered.
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, "Hand. her. over!"
Cynthia held out the Pokéball for Elizabeth to take, not even flinching once when Elizabeth nearly tore it right out of her hand.
Shaking her head, Elizabeth pocketed Lucy's Pokéball with a sigh, "What were you even doing out that late, anyways? You never have Saturday night plans. You're not that interesting of a person."
In that moment, Diantha appeared from behind Cynthia, dressed in one of Cynthia's robes, and she handed over a coffee mug. When Diantha saw Elizabeth, she flashed her a smile and waved, "Elizabeth! Good to see you!"
Elizabeth just clutched her chest, glancing between Cynthia and Diantha uneasily as she put the pieces together in her mind and got the hint.
"...Gross."
It was a few days later when Diantha was set to leave, Cynthia had went to the airport alongside her to see her off. A little while before Diantha was supposed to board the plane, she had noticed that Cynthia hadn't yet left her side. Not that she was complaining, but normally no one ever followed her past security, and no one especially ever waited alongside her at the gate.
"You know… I promise I don't mind, but you didn't have to wait with me before I left." Diantha said after a round of silence, "You just don't want to say goodbye yet, huh?"
"Goodbyes?" Cynthia tilted her head, confused, "Now why would I do that? I'm coming with you, after all."
Diantha froze, "...Eh?"
"It turns out… once I gave the League an official account of what happened in the Distortion World, they put me on mandatory leave for at least a month! Yay!" There was a faux happiness to her tone and a hint of bitterness, but Cynthia hid it shortly after, "I don't have much else to do, so I thought I'd finally give Kalos a visit and join you on the way home. At least this way we can be together."
Diantha let herself smile then, and she tilted her head with a playful look, "Just when were you planning on telling me that?"
Cynthia shrugged, grinning as well, "I was gonna keep it a surprise until the last minute. I suppose I got pretty close to that in the long run, yeah?"
Letting out a laugh under her breath, Diantha leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Cynthia's cheek, resting her head on her shoulder afterwards, "You sure surprised me! Oh… This is fantastic! There's so much I can show you… Now you can be the clueless foreigner and I can drag you around!"
"I guess that's only fair…" Cynthia laughed too, resting her head against Diantha's, "I'm gonna have to deal with all that French too, aren't I?"
"Oh, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't make you deal with it." Diantha had a devious look on her face, "You'll be lucky if Augustine and I say even a word of English with you around."
"Oh là là…"
"Ah… But I'm afraid the sightseeing might have to wait until the press tour is over. It shouldn't be too long, though. I never have to promote my movies too much for them to be a success."
"Oh, speaking of which…" Cynthia turned her head slightly, "About the premiere… I wanted to talk to you about plus-ones…"
The press tour flew by before Cynthia could even realize it. She had spent the past two weeks traveling from city to city alongside Diantha in Kalos to promote the movie, visiting cities whose names she could barely even remember or even pronounce for that manner. She did have to wonder just what all she was doing on that press tour, seeing as most of their stops were on late night talk shows or morning shows. The language barrier made it a bit difficult for Cynthia to even participate in the interviews, but Diantha did a good portion of the talking and answered a good portion of the questions with that mastered ease of hers from years of practice. Sometimes Cynthia got posed a question in English, but it was nearly always the same question, "How did you get involved in this film?" and Cynthia was certain that if Diantha ever told her the translation to her answer, Cynthia could have even answered it in French from how many times she was asked that question. Showbiz was stressful. Cynthia was certain that there was a sort of relief for Diantha in taking a break from acting and all.
Before she knew it, Cynthia was now on the red carpet alongside Diantha amongst seemingly a million flashing lights in front of her. Cynthia wondered how Diantha had never gone blind from all the bright lights, and she could barely keep a straight face in staring down all those lights. It was too tempting to flinch at the brightness, but she did everything in her power to keep her expression schooled.
Diantha had glanced over at Cynthia after changing up her pose for the camera, an amused look on her face, "You're not half bad… for a rookie."
"I see purple dots." Cynthia said in a daze, "That's all I see. It's just purple dots."
Diantha let out a content sigh, "It'll fade, darling." A fit of laughter further behind on the red carpet caught Diantha's attention, and she smiled wider at the sight, "Your sister seems to be having the time of her life right about now."
Cynthia glanced over to where Diantha was looking, blinking numerous times to try and rid her vision of the dots so she could see. Once her vision cleared, Cynthia saw Elizabeth messing around in front of all the cameras, dipping Gardenia in a dramatic pose. Cynthia shook her head at the sight, "Yeah… Gardenia too. Thanks for taking Gardenia along as your plus-one, Diantha. I know she's beyond happy right now."
"Oh, don't mention it. I wasn't going to use my plus-one anyways, so I didn't mind doing as you asked." Diantha watched as Elizabeth now was spinning Gardenia around, "I don't think I've ever seen anyone have this much fun on a red carpet before."
"Gardenia never really got to go out much when she was younger. I figured I'd give her a vacation too." Cynthia smiled.
"You're too sweet." Diantha laughed, nudging Cynthia with her elbow.
Cynthia just smirked, "Oh, I'm aware."
Elizabeth and Gardenia came sprinting over at that point, with Elizabeth nearly tackling Cynthia to the ground and Gardenia just approaching Diantha's side.
"Heheh… Thanks for bringing me along, Diantha!" Gardenia beamed, eyes closed. Diantha had to admit, Gardenia nearly looked like a red carpet fashion natural with the long green dress she was wearing. It complimented her well. "I can't wait to see more of Lumiose City after this! And you promised you'd take me to meet that Grass-type Gym Leader!"
Diantha laughed softly, "It was no problem. I'll introduce you to Ramos soon. He's excited to meet you as well!"
Gardenia giggled at that, and she jumped forward and swept Diantha right off her feet in a large hug, "You're just the best!"
Diantha just froze in Gardenia's arms. She wasn't so much freaked out by the fact that she was hoisted into the air; she was freaked out that Gardenia had somehow managed to hoist her in the air, "...Mon dieu…" She blinked, an uneasy sweatdrop rolling down her face.
"Lemme tell you this, Cynthia." Elizabeth snickered, throwing her arm around Cynthia's shoulder, "I could just live on this carpet. I am eating all this attention right up!"
"Good for you…" Cynthia muttered, crossing her arms.
"Champion Cynthia!" One of the journalists shouted, "Are you acquainted with this woman?"
Cynthia shook her head with a smile, "I don't know her." She turned off to the side, spotting one of the security guards and waving him down, "Security? Could you please escort this outsider away? I think she wandered in when no one was looking."
"What?! No! I'm not an outsider! I'm her plus-one!" Elizabeth protested.
"I have no idea what she's talking about." Cynthia just grinned wider.
"Traitor!"
Gardenia realized that Elizabeth was seconds away from being dragged off by security, and she immediately put Diantha down and ran to Elizabeth's side, "Wait, hang on! She's with me! Don't take her!"
Diantha just looked at the scene of Elizabeth and Gardenia bickering with the security guard, and she sent Cynthia an exhausted look, "You just love to pick on your sister, don't you?"
"Sometimes it's fun to cause a scene." Cynthia smirked, crossing her arms.
Diantha shook her head with a sigh, "I'm never taking you three to a premiere ever again…"
Fin.
A/N: Thank you all so SO much for reading this fic! I know I may not have been the best with updates, but I tried my best with this fic. This is actually the first multichap fic that I've ever managed to finish! Thank you all for following me along the way. I've read all of your reviews and I appreciate them all, and if I haven't replied to your reviews individually, here's my universal thank you for the words you left behind for me. Now, this fic may be over, but don't worry. I'm not done with these characters just yet. You might have noticed a few unresolved plot points, and I'm aware that they exist, but they'll be resolved in the SEQUEL series! It may be some time before the sequel series starts as I would honestly love a break right now, but I'm approaching Spring Break from classes so I'll have time, so I may end up launching the sequel very very soon. You'll just have to wait and see! I hope you enjoyed the fic and I hope you all will return for what's to come next. So... I guess I'll see you next time in Papillon.