CHAPTER 15
"Shaaaade. C'mon dude wake up it's ten already."
"Nggh." I said groggily without opening my eyes.
"Just wake up already Shade."
"Hey Slice, what's going on?"
"Shade. He doesn't wanna get up...again."
"Hmm. Well, I can fix that."
The next moment, soft tender lips were kissing my cheek while a caring voice said: "C'mon Shade, wake up already."
Smiling, I opened my eyes; Shine's beautiful face was smiling at me.
"Morning Shine." I said kissing her cheek. I got up, fixed my bed and went to Slice.
"Y'know, I still don't get why it's hard to wake you up even though you get up much later than before." Slice said to me.
"Sorry. Hard habit to break I guess." I told him and the three of us left the room.
What he said was true. After all, being the leader of the newly reunited Nation of the Twin Fangs meant that I was able to sleep longer than before. It's been a year since the war ended and a lot has changed since then. My new home is now a large building built at grassland between the two nations. Other Pokemon had moved in and built houses there and soon, a large city was born though some Pokemon still live back in the old cities.
I live in my new home with Slice, who was my right hand Pokemon, Shine and the rest of our teams who became our primary guard. Slash, who was fighting to end the war for a long time, finally settled down and lived in peace somewhere in the city.
"Hey Shine, you wake up like...two hour earlier that it takes me to wake Shade up." Slice said. "I mean, you're in the same room. Cant you wake him up?"
"Well I want to but he seems so peaceful when he's sleeping." Shine replied. Slice sighed and we continued walking.
We walked down the halls and ended up in the dinning hall. After eating, the three of us went over to the my main office. After all, being the leader of a nation involved a lot of paperwork.
"So what's on the news today Slice?" I asked.
"Oh y'know nothing much except some rebel activity." Slice replied.
Peace hasn't truly returned to the nation. There were some rebels who supported the Amber and Crimson Councils back then that cause trouble every now and then. I also heard rumor that they're being led by Dart. I had given them all a chance to change and stop fighting but they didn't take it.
"Any casualties?" I asked.
"No, it was just a rally that ended peacefully."
"That's good to hear." Shine said. "At least no one got hurt or anything."
"Yeah but they might plan something big someday." I said to Shine. "We can't let our guard down."
Shine nodded and I went back to my paperwork. "Anyway, is everything ready for tonight?" I asked.
"Yup." Slice replied. "The food, room music and other stuff's ready too. Tonight's celebration's gonna rock!"
Today is the first year anniversary of the end of the war and we planned a big celebration tonight in the lower floors to celebrate. Everyone in the nation was invited and there would be food, music, dancing, etc and, like Slice said, it was going to rock.
I spent the whole morning doing paperwork until it was lunch time. I went with Shine to the dinning room where both our teams were already eating.
"Hey guys." I said and they greeted me back. I sat down next to Shine and we began to eat.
"We were planning to do some final preparations for the celebration tonight after lunch and we'd like your help Shade." Rosy said to me.
"Sure, I'll help out but uh..." I paused a bit. "I'm going to stop by the city for a while."
"Huh? Why?" asked Chi who was sitting next to Slice.
"I uh...have to take care of something...and I'll have to do it alone."
Everyone looked at me puzzled but accepted it. We finished lunch and everyone else went to the ground floor where the celebration will happen while I left the building and entered the city.
As I walked through the city, the citizens greeted me a good day. Some expressed their excitement for the celebration tonight. I greeted them back and continued walking until I reached a house. I knocked on a door and waited. After a few seconds, Slash appeared at the doorway.
"Shade, good to see you." Slash greeted me.
"Nice to see you too." I said and he let me in his house. "Have you got it?" I asked.
"Just a moment." He went further into his house and came back a few minutes later with a leather bag in his hands.
"Here." he said giving it to me. "I still do not see why I should be the one who bought this."
"I told you, I don't want anyone to see me buying this because I'm saving it for the celebration tomorrow." I explained. "You and I are the only ones who no about this today but tonight, the whole nation will hear about it."
Slash nodded and I thanked him before leaving his house. I kept the bag hidden until I got home where I stashed it under my bed. No one noticed me the whole time so I went down to the ground floor where the celebration was being prepared.
It was a large round room with a very high ceiling. All around, Pokemon were either up tables and chairs and other stuff needed for tonight.
"Oh Shade." Shine said when she noticed I came in. "Are you done with what you were planning?"
"Yeah. It was really quick actually." I said before beginning to help out.
With all of us helping, the room was completely finished by six; guests would still be arriving at six thirty. We stayed a bit longer congratulating everyone who helped us before we went to our separate rooms to prepare. I entered mine, took a quick shower and brushed my fur until it was nice and smooth. I finished at seven and ,before I went down to the celebration, took the small box from under my bed.
I arrived at the entrance where Shine was greeting guests. I joined her and greeted guests too. All over the nation, Pokemon were coming to celebrate the first year anniversary of the end of the war. When Slash came in, he gave me a reassuring nod which Shine missed. After the room filled up, we took our seats at the end of the room and I addressed everyone in the room.
"I'd like to thank you all for coming here tonight. I have a few words to say but I'll save them for later. For now, let's eat!"
With that, everyone agreed and began to eat the berries served by waiters. So far everything was going on without any problem and everyone looked very happy.
Dinner ended and I signaled the band to play. The band consisted of several Nuzleaf and Kricketune on a podium. The Kricketune rubbed their arms together and the Nuzleaf played grass flutes creating beautiful music. After listening to it for a few moments, I turned to Shine and offered my paw.
"Want to dance?" I asked.
"I'd love to." Shine said and I led her to the dance floor. We stood on our hind legs (we were quite good at it) and began to slowly waltz around. This was the first time Shine and I danced together and it was quite enjoyable.
After dancing a bit, other Pokemon began to dance in pairs on the dance floor. I looked to the side and saw Slice dancing with Chi, Berg with a female Drifloon, Scuttle with Vibrava, Rosy with a Nuzleaf, Blaze with a Spinda, Levi with a Geodude and Terra with a Charmander. I saw Slash leaning on the wall looking gloomily at us until a Gardevoir asked him to dance. His face broke into a smile and he danced with her.
While Shine and I danced, everything seemed perfect. Dancing around with the one I love, eyes locked and hand in hand with music in the background was like a heaven to me.
After several more moments, the music stopped and everyone applauded the musicians. It was time for me to say my ending speech and to use what Slash had bought for me.
"Once again, I'd like to thank everyone for coming here tonight. This celebration couldn't have been done without you." I said to everyone in the room. Shine and I were at the center of the dance floor.
"It has been a year since the War the the Plates ended and a lot has changed since then. For starters, there's barely any fear in our nation now and of course, me being leader."
"When I was asked by Arceus to be lead I first thought that I couldn't do it. But, with the help of those important to me, I was able to make it this far. I'd like everyone to give them a round of applause. Shine, Slice, Chi, Scuttle, Berg, Rosy, Levi, Blaze and Terra."
Everyone clapped and I resumed.
"Y'know, when I became leader, I was asked a lot of questions. Questions like: what exactly would I do as leader and how would I treat the Pokemon of the nation and other similar questions."
"But now...I think it's time I asked a question."
The entire room was silenced as every eye was turned on me. After several seconds, I braced myself. I got down faced Shine, pulled out the bag and from it, I pulled out a small red box and opened it revealing a diamond ring.
"Shine, will you marry me?"