Story 3 - Love

Aramis didn't really understand what love was at his young age in the sense that he didn't know that there were more ways to love a person than just one.

After all, he knew his mama and his papa loved him, but he didn't know that family love was known as platonic love. But when he looked at them, he wondered if that was a different kind of love? He was so confused. The forest Pokémon had told him that they were 'lovers', whatever that meant. Did that mean that he was 'lovers' with his papa and mama?

One night when Haru was out of the house to help treat some emergency patients at the Pokémon centre, Aramis settled down by the fire and asked his father, "papa, are you and mama lovers?"

It was a good thing Virizion didn't have anything in his mouth, or he would have spat it out all over the fire. Instead, he looked like he had swallowed a lemon! "W-what did you just say?"

"Are you and mama lovers?" Aramis repeated, tilting his head to the side in curiosity at his father's reaction. How weird...

Composing himself (barely), Virizion sighed and said, "what brought this question on, exactly?"

"The forest Pokémon told me that mama's and papa's are lovers, so I wondered if you and mama were too," Aramis said, looking serious. Virizion would later admit that the expression was rather adorable, but right now that was far from his mind.

He had a distinct urge to rub his head in frustration, something Haru often did when confronted with a problem. Heh, he inwardly smirked... looks like Haru had affected him in some small ways after all as well as the big ones.

"Aramis... lovers are two Pokémon or two humans who are in love with each other in a sexual manor. Haru and I are definitely not involved in such a way," the idea of having such a relationship with Haru, or any human, made him shudder in disgust.

"Sexual?"

"Making hatchlings,"

"Then... how did I get here?" Aramis blinked.

Oi... Virizion had hoped to have this conversation at a later date when Aramis was older, but he supposed it was now or never. Ugh, why did Haru have to be away?

"Listen to me very closely, Aramis," Virizion said seriously, "Haru is what humans refer to as an 'adoptive' parent. She did not give birth to you."

Aramis' eyes widened in shock at that, and Virizion continued, "Haru is unable to have children of her own, so I left on my own to breed with another of my kind. The egg that resulted from that breeding was given to her as a present, and it hatched into you."

"So..." Aramis blinked, looking upset, "mama isn't-"

"Haru is your mother, and don't you ever forget it, Aramis."

Said hatchling winced at the harsh tone. There was a moment of silence then before Virizion continued,

"After I gave you to Haru as an egg, she carried you everywhere. She never once took her eyes off you. She might not have had a hand in your creation, but she is the only mother you will ever have."

Aramis stayed silent as he processed this. He thought about everything Haru had done for him... had taught him and most importantly, loved him as any mother would. After a long time of thought... he smiled. What his father was saying was true, Haru really was the only mother he'd ever have.

The little Virizion nodded, and his father sighed. Thank Arceus that was sorted. But then-

"If you and mama aren't lovers... does that mean you don't love mama?" he asked, curious.

"There are... many forms of love, Aramis," and now it was back to awkward, "not just the sexual kind."

"Then, do you love mama?" his son asked.

Virizion blinked at that and looked into the fire, then. He smiled a little... while he had never admitted it out loud, the answer was obvious. "Yes, I do," he looked at the hatchling and said, "it's called platonic love, Aramis."

"Platonic love?"

"The love that exists between family and friends," Virizion smiled.

"Oooh..." Aramis pondered that for a moment, and then said, "so... if mama was one of us, would it still be the same?"

Virizion thought about that for a while. If he had met Haru differently, would things had played out differently? Would Aramis still have been born? He looked into the flames in the fireplace, and then said softly, "I... do not know."

"Well, there must be some reason you love mama even if you don't like humans, papa!" Aramis pouted, and Virizion laughed.

"I guess... I love who she is rather than what she is," he closed his eyes, "her soul, I guess."

"Her soul?"

Virizion nodded, "what makes Haru who she is... her personality and her essence. That's what I love."

Aramis seemed to understand that, or at least the concept of it. It would take him a while to fully grasp what his father had meant by those words. But for now, he accepted the explanation and grinned, "I hope I find a Pokémon Knight like you did, papa!"

"Humans worthy of it are rare, Aramis,"

"But I hope I find one anyway," the hatchling grinned brightly, just like Haru did, and Virizion couldn't help but smile a little himself.

The front door opened then, and Haru came in looking exhausted. Dropping her medical bag on the counter, she soon lightened up when Aramis bounded over, "mama!"

"Aramis!" She knelt down to cuddle him when the little Virizion jumped on her and licked her face. She loved that about him, and as Haru stroked his head, she said, "I'm going to get changed and go straight to sleep, I think. Did you eat your dinner, Aramis?"

"Yeah!" He nodded and yawned all of a sudden, "sleepy..."

"Go hop in your bed," she let him down and the little Virizion trudged off to his sofa. Virizion watched as she smiled at that and went to upstairs to her bathroom to do whatever humans did before sleeping (he had never cared to learn and given how humans acted when anyone saw them without clothing on, he figured Haru would not appreciate him going up there to see even if it was just pure curiosity!) before returning dressed in her night clothes.

"You look exhausted," he commented.

Haru yawned in response, "mmm, there were a lot of Pokémon there from the storm recently, and it was my job to sort them into which needed emergency care and which I could treat on my own."

She settled down beside him and leaned heavily on his side. Virizion didn't mind this at all. They had slept like that together every night since he had let her do so, after all.

"It was a lot like the last time we had a storm..." she smiled at him tiredly, "when I found you,"

"Don't remind me," Virizion looked agitated at that; it was still a bit of a sore spot that the first time Haru had met him, he had been in such a state.

"Sorry," the Pokémon Healer looked apologetic, and stroked his neck to calm him, "I do wonder though... would you have appeared to me eventually?"

Virizion closed his eyes with a small content noise (he liked having his neck stroked) before opening them and answering, "more than likely... I planned to appear to you and lead you into my field so I could speak to you. It is quite likely I would've demanded a battle from you immediately."

"That's kinda scary to think about..." when he looked at her, she looked sheepish, "I would've lost that battle. I only keep Sei and Lei on me, remember?"

He chuckled at that and looked rather proud of himself, "can't compete with my strength can you, human?"

"Not without being prepared," she grinned and scratched under his chin gently.

"Oi, oi," he grumbled, but then let out a purr like sound as he was scratched, "cheater!"

Haru just smiled at that and scratched him for a while. She liked it when Virizion looked so content from something so simple. He always let her know when he'd had enough by pushing her hand away gently, which he did after a couple of minutes.

Haru then looked over at Aramis, who was curled in a ball and sleeping soundly. She looked at him with an expression Virizion now identified as love, something he had not known before until Cobalion told him. He watched as Haru pulled a blanket over his little form, and said, "he found out, by the way."

The human blinked, and Virizion nodded to him, "about you not being his birth mother."

"Oh..." looking back at the hatchling, she said, "was he okay?"

"Eventually he was,"

Haru reached out and stroked her son's head a couple of times, and then came back over to settle by Virizion's side, "well... he had to find out eventually... I mean it's obvious I help create him..." she looked at Virizion and smiled a little sadly, "I don't really look like a Virizion, do I?"

Virizion snorted at that, "definitely not."

Curling up to sleep, Haru pulled a blanket over herself and said softly, "sorry that you had to deal with that on your own..."

"Don't worry about it," In hindsight, it was probably for the best that he handled it alone. He settled his head in her lap and closed his eyes, and the two fell into a deep sleep within minutes.