This ship is another of my favorites, but still, NOTHING beats ContestShipping. XD I hope you enjoy. Also, if y'all want some good Pokémon fanfics, I recommend you read this really cool fic by I Am Lu. It's called The Ash Connection, and it has a sequel, too! :3 Anyway, on to THIS story...

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Far Too Short - LeafGreenShipping (Leaf x Gary)

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"Can't catch me, you Slowpoke!" Leaf taunted.

"Oh, really? I'd think twice about that, Leaf," Gary replied as he caught up to her. The two were on their way back to the Crimson City Pokémon Center, where they were both staying for the night. They had decided there wasn't really a reason not to share a room, so now they had ended up with a room together. It didn't mean anything, of course - Leaf had insisted on that. After all, it was just one night. And it was only a room. They weren't sharing a house or anything, so it wasn't like they were living together... Leaf shuddered at the thought.

The reason they were staying at the same Center was that they were both on their way back to Pallet Town. Gary was coming home from Sinnoh, while Leaf was returning from Hoenn. They met up in Johto and had been traveling back to Pallet together since. Now, they were so close, Leaf was beginning to get really excited. Home was probably only a day away!

That night, they had been out looking at the stars. Gary had said he knew a beautiful place where you could see so many stars, it was downright amazing. He was right - Leaf had been completely in awe. She'd been lying next to Gary on a grassy hill, just staring up at the tiny twinkling lights in the night sky, letting her thoughts drift as she talked somewhat absently with her childhood friend. The conversation had been friendly and comfortable, just how Leaf liked it - she was never good with awkward situations. In fact, she was usually the awkward one.

Now, after about an hour or so of just sitting and talking and stargazing, they were on their way back to the Pokémon Center. It was pretty chilly out, and even though it was only about 7 p.m., it was already very dark.

Leaf shivered. "I'm cold."

"Leaf, it's January! News flash: it gets cold out at night in the middle of winter," Gary said sarcastically. Leaf rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled. "You never change, do you, Gary?"

"Of course not!" Gary smirked. "Shouldn't that be a good thing? I'll always stay this awesome!" He struck a pose, and Leaf laughed.

"Of course you will," she replied, rolling her eyes.

Gary grinned at her.

Leaf looked Gary up and down, and he frowned at her. "Wha - "

"Let's race!" Leaf interrupted. Her eyes lit up with a smile, and she put on a burst of speed.

"H-hey!" Gary exclaimed. "No fair!" He put on a determined face and raced after her, determined not to lose.

Leaf turned and started running backwards, facing him. "Aww, Gary, you are a Slowpoke!" She laughed.

Gary smirked. "I'll show you who the real Slowpoke is!" He teased as he began to catch up to her. Leaf laughed again. She turned around and began to run faster.

Soon, they came to a large street. Leaf whipped her head back and forth, just in case, to look for cars. Seeing that there were none, she sprinted across the road.

When she got to the other side, Leaf turned. Gary was just coming to the edge of the street. He was about to cross when, suddenly, he looked down. Leaf frowned. It looked like he had dropped something.

Gary crouched down and to pick up whatever it was he had dropped and closed it in his fist before standing upright smirking at her, and casually walking across the street.

Leaf rolled her eyes. He was teasing her. She put her hands on her hips, not about to take the head start he was trying to give her. That way, when she beat him back to the Center, she could say she won fair and square. Well, there was the bit with her "head start" at the beginning... but Leaf decided not to count that...

Then Gary slipped.

There were patches of ice all over the road, and he'd slipped on one. He fell backwards and landed on his backside. Leaf laughed.

"You just fall?" She teased.

"No, I attacked the floor." He replied haughtily.

"Backwards?"

"I'm skilled." He smirked as he stood up once more. Leaf rolled her eyes at him.

"Whatever. Just cross the street, Gary." She told him, tapping her foot impatiently. He grinned.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw lights. Turning to look, Leaf realized they were the headlights of a car going way too fast.

And the car was headed right for Gary.

Leaf gasped. "Gary!" She shouted. "Gary, move!"

Gary looked up at her and frowned, obviously confused. "Leaf, what..." Hearing the screech of the car's wheels, he turned his head toward the sound.

Time seemed to slow down.

Leaf saw Gary's eyes widen as he saw the car racing toward him. Whoever was driving either didn't see Gary, or couldn't stop in time. It was too late for Gary to move out of the way, and too late for Leaf to do anything.

"Gary!" Leaf screamed. She could only watch with horror as the car slammed into his body, and he let out a strangled cry of pain. Blood spattered onto the street. Gary was flung to the ground, and his head hit the pavement with a sickening crack. Leaf cried out and ran forward as the car sped onward, leaving the two teenagers alone in a dark street.

Gary's head was covered in blood from where his skull had cracked when he hit the ground. His torso had been mangled where the car slammed into him, and there was so much blood everywhere - on the pavement, on Gary, on Leaf's hands when she gently reached down to cradle him.

"Gary," she whispered. She held him so that his head rested on her lap. Gary looked up at her, dazed with pain.

"L-Leaf..." He muttered. He was struggling to breathe, and she could see he was in a lot of pain. "I-I... a-attacked... the... the floor again..."

There were tears in Leaf's eyes as she nodded, unable to manage even a tiny smile at the joke. Not in this situation. Not with Gary bleeding out his life in front of her. Gently, Leaf brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"Gary... i-it's okay, it's going to be okay, I promise... don't worry... w-we'll get you to a hospital... it'll be okay..." Leaf promised, her voice cracking. She reached into her pocket and fumbled for her phone, before quickly dialing a number. "P-professor Oak?" She begged, her voice strained. "Professor, I-I'm sorry, but... c-can you... can you get to Cerulean? It's... it's Gary..."

"Leaf? What are you talking about? Is Gary all right?!"

"P-please just come, Professor!" There were tears in Leaf's voice, which was full of desperation.

"I'm on my way." The Professor sounded grave. Unable to speak, Leaf just nodded, though she knew he couldn't see her. She hung up and dialed 911 next.

"H-hello? Please, someone, my - my friend, he's really hurt..." Leaf's voice was desperate now.

As she gave them all of the details, tears trickled down Leaf's face. She saw Gary looking up at her, his eyes full of pain, his breathing unsteady. At last, she hung up.

"Help's on the way, Gary..." Leaf whispered. "It's okay. It'll be okay, I promise. You're going to be fine..." But Leaf knew she was lying. Gary nodded, and she could see that he didn't believe her, either.

"Leaf..." He struggled to make out the words. "I... I l-love... y-you..."

"I love you, too," Leaf's voice was strained and full of tears as she stroked his brown hair, now soaked red with blood from when his head hit the pavement. "I love you, too, Gary."

...

Leaf sat in the hospital, waiting.

That was all she had been doing for the past two hours. Waiting. Waiting for some sort of news about Gary, whether it was good or bad, and praying to Arceus that there would be no bad news.

Professor Oak was seated on the couch opposite hers in the hospital lobby. They were both anxiously awaiting the doctor's return. Whenever he came back to the lobby, he would bear some sort of news; this they both knew.

As soon as the ambulance had arrived and Gary had been whisked away to the emergency room, Leaf had called Professor Oak to say that she and Gary were in the hospital. She'd heard the desperate fear in his voice as he asked her for any kind of detail about the situation, but again, Leaf refused to say, and begged him to just come.

Now that the Professor was here, it was evident he was a mess. He'd been horrified when she told him the story, and now here he was, hoping upon all hope that his grandchild, his only living family, would live to see another day.

Finally the doctor appeared in the doorway to the room where Gary was being operated on. Both Leaf and Professor Oak looked up expectantly.

"Leaf, Professor Oak," he began, his face grave. "I... I am very sorry."

Leaf's heart nearly stopped when she heard that. No.

"We did everything we could, but there was too much internal damage. We couldn't save him. I'm afraid... I'm afraid Gary has passed away."

"No," Leaf whispered. No. No. No.

"No," the Professor shook his head, his voice cracking, not wanting to believe it but knowing that there was nothing else to believe. "Not Gary. Please, no... not Gary..."

There were tears trickling down Leaf's face. "Can I... can I see him?" She asked, her voice hoarse and strained.

The doctor nodded and led her into the room.

There he lay on the bed, a calm, peaceful expression on his pale face. Leaf stumbled forward. She grasped his hand and held it. It was cold - stone cold. A sharp pang stung Leaf's heart - seeing him made it all the worse, and all the more real.

There was Gary, lying in front of her, but Leaf knew it wasn't really him. It was just his body. Gary Oak was gone. Gone forever.

He almost looked like he could have been sleeping. But Leaf knew he wasn't. She knew he was not going to sit up, smirk, and say, "Fooled you, Leaf!" He was not going to miraculously get all better. Gary was dead.

Tears spilled down her face. "Gary, I..." her voice cracked. "I love you..."

Leaf knew he would never respond. He knew she loved him, and she knew he had loved her, but nothing would ever come of it now. They would never go on a date, and he would never kiss her. He would never win a League or become a Pokémon Professor. It was too late for all of that. He was dead. Gary Oak was dead and he was never coming back.

Leaf noticed something in his hand, and her breath caught. It was a tiny pin - one that you wore on your shirt. It was shaped like a teddy bear. She had given it to him for his birthday a few years back, and on the back she'd written in permanent marker,

Happy Birthday, Garebear.

He hated that nickname, and she knew it. The gift was really meant to tease him, but he had kept it all these years anyway. Leaf bit her lip as she realized something.

This was what he had dropped and stopped to pick up before he crossed the street.

This was what had held him back for those few seconds.

If not for the pin falling, he would have been safely across the street by the time the car drove by where they were. This little pin had cost him his life.

Leaf closed her fingers around the pin, tears spilling down her cheeks as she looked at Gary's face. His life had been cut far too short.

Leaf leaned down and gently kissed his cheek.

"I still love you, Gary," she said quietly, a sad smile on her tear-stained face. "I always will."

She was here without him now, but his memory would stay with her forever. That smirk. That laugh. That voice. Those eyes. Their friendship.

And, though it had been cut far too short, she would always remember the brief love they shared.

...

I think this one was pretty good, huh? I still take shipping requests. Read Lu's story. And REVIEW!

Gary: What is it with you and killing me?!

:3 I do have a habit of killing you in my stories, don't I?

Gary: *glares*

Hey, it's fun! XD