A/N: It's a new chapter, finally! I'm so sorry this took so long, real life has been busy plus this was not the easiest chapter to write. I do hope you enjoy it anyway – you should, it's fluffy :P Thank you very much for all your support!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover, though I did edit it.

Days

The day when Haxorus gives a hug

Iris

Wednesday, November 13th

The first time Iris had said goodbye to Opelucid City, she had been happy. And now, while she was still happy to leave the smog of the city behind, she felt a certain tightness in her chest at the thought of leaving. Not enough to stay, but enough to sometimes stop and stare ahead into nothingness.

While she had she never truly loved the city, she had lived here for six years, and that had created some sort of bond. In a few days she would be moving to the Village of Dragons, where she was going to open her new Gym. The toughest Gym of all Unova, and perhaps more than just Unova, Iris thought with a bubbling feeling of excitement.

Iris had taken over the Gym from Drayden, but everyone had already known that she would not continue in the same building that Drayden had called his Gym for so many years. Still, it had taken her two years, a box filled with official papers and letters, and many meetings with Alder, the Opelucid City government and the committee of the Village of Dragons, before the move had been permitted.

Before she had become a Gym Leader, Iris had been working under Drayden as an assistant, and later as a replacing Gym Leader. Drayden was a harsh instructor, but she had learned much during those years. Iris loved working with the Pokémon and she loved the battles, the challenges and the competition, though sometimes – especially during the later years – she had thought that Drayden was too soft when he made things easier for young challengers now and then. Still, that was an integral part of being a Gym Leader, as Cilan had reminded her so many times.

Cilan.

With a frustrated shake of her head, Iris focused her attention back at the task at hand. With a definite gesture she closed the box containing (not often used) books and taped it shut. Or at least she attempted to do so, because at the first try the tape ripped and at the second the tape stuck all together.

In an impulse of anger she threw the roll aside, before feeling the energy leave her again and plopping down on the not taped shut box. She rubbed her hand over her face and let out a long breath. On one hand she really wanted to hit something, but on the other hand she just wanted to crawl in her bed and sleep.

Iris squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. She had not expected that moving would bring up so many mixed feelings, and usually Cilan would have been by her side…

It had started as a crush, and even back then she had fervently denied it, because Cilan was a pain and the complete opposite of her- But the feelings never really went away, and at some point not even Iris's extreme stubbornness could keep her from denying her feelings any longer. It was around that time that she started working as Drayden's assistant and apprentice, and the distance made it easier for her to convince herself that she would be able to get over those feelings.

Only that never happened.

Iris was not easily scared. But losing Cilan's friendship was one of her biggest fears, and acting on her feelings and changing the comfortable relationship they had had for years was a definite way of realizing that fear.

With her strength in battle and her confidence, Iris had had no shortage of admirers, and she had gone on several dates, but no one seemed to be able to handle her blunt words and they weren't all that interesting, anyway. Cilan had dated others as well, Iris knew (even if she had tried very hard not to pay attention to that), but no relationships had ever come from that (as Chili had told her with a wink).

As the years progressed and Iris's confidence grew, she sometimes couldn't help but blurt out things that could be taken the wrong (right) way, which usually resulted in weeks of fervently avoiding the topic of romance on her side. Cilan never seemed to notice her rash words or her avoidance of certain topics, and Iris had never noticed any definite signs of a romantic interest in her.

No, no definite signs, no concrete proof, but still there was this gut feeling… and Iris always trusted her gut feelings. Even if they went against everything her head told her. And during Ash and Misty's wedding, her feeling had told her that the time was now – and in the heat of the celebration, Iris couldn't find it in herself to object and hide away any longer.

Cilan had been drunk. He was a lover of the refined Unovian and Kalosian wines, but apparently the Kantonese fruity drinks had been too strong for him. Admittedly, she had had a bit of those drinks as well, but she had not nearly been as far gone as Cilan. And when he had finally kissed her – he kissed her, not the other way around – she had been so happy…

Iris let out a groan, blinking quickly. The guilt in her stomach was churning nauseatingly and her heart clenched painfully. Cilan had still been out cold when she had woken up in his hotel room, and she had run, because he had been drunk and what in Arceus's name had she done?

She had panicked and she had run. Looking back on it, she couldn't say what thoughts had been going around her head but she was pretty sure that it had been something along the lines of having taken advantage of Cilan and having ruined their friendship.

When more time had passed and more distance had been put between her and Cilan, Iris had been able to disregard her first panicked thoughts, but her worries about their friendship only grew. Iris always relied on her feelings to guide her, but now she couldn't help but think she had made a mistake. How did she even know that the feelings she felt were love? She had never been in love before.

Iris felt like kicking something. It was all so stupid! He had kissed her (and she had run) and he hadn't called (neither had she), and Arceus damn it all, she was so sick of waiting and not knowing!

She jumped up from the box and stalked to the video phone, anger fueling her steps, but it failed her when she stood in front of the video phone. Her own face stared back at her from the dark screen, and she could see herself deflating.

Again.

Iris looked away sharply and stared at the floor. When would she truly have the courage to call him? Not knowing was horrible, but actually knowing – his apologies, the gentle but pitying look in his eyes, the soft shake of his head – that was truly terrifying.

"Xor, haxorus." From behind her, her tall dragon type appeared, and Iris turned around with a sad smile.

Haxorus raised his arms and Iris gladly accepted the hug, carefully avoiding the big tusks. Without warning she felt tears prick behind her eyes and she angrily blinked them away.

"Hax, hax, haxorus," Haxorus rumbled in comfort, and tightened her grip on him momentarily, though the hug was far from comfortable with his tough armored body.

"I know, I just…" She shook her head, stepping away from Haxorus. "I'm going to call him. No more excuses. I'm going to call him, now."

Haxorus let out an encouraging roar, and Iris smiled. "Thanks."

With a determined nod, Iris turned back to the phone. Before she could even reach for the device, the doorbell interrupted her.

Haxorus let out a frustrated roar and Iris felt like screaming as well. She stomped to the hallway, the frustration hot in her veins, and she opened the door with more force than necessary.

Her angry words froze on her tongue.

"Iris," Cilan said as greeting. While his clothes looked as immaculate as ever, the flush on his skin and his wide eyes told Iris that he was not as collected as he'd like to be. "I have to talk to you."

Iris could only stare, probably looking as flustered as he did but with worse clothes, and Cilan took that as permission, launching in what Iris recognized as an earlier prepared speech. "Iris, no words can express how much I regret not contacting you sooner. You deserve much better, and I have no other excuse than that my own fear of the future held me back. As for what happened the night after Ash and Misty's wedding, I can only offer you my deepest apologies."

This was all said in a rapid fashion, and when the essence of his words sunk in, Iris felt her heart drop. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.

Cilan had taken a pause to breathe, and for a moment he seemed caught in an inner debate, before steeling himself. "And you deserve the truth for why I acted like that. I…" Cilan took a deep breath and talked even faster than before, "I have fallen in love with you and I'm so very sorry, I never wanted to burden you with this, but you deserve the truth and so-"

Iris always trusted her feelings. She was also someone who preferred action over talking. So without waiting for Cilan to finish his long-winded sentence, she grabbed his collar and kissed him full on the lips.

A/N: Thank you very much for reading, and please leave me a review :) I'll do my very best to update faster this time.

Thank you!

Recommendations:

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Pokémon: Ghost Story by anjumstar. FFN. A multi-chaptered story that's just starting and that will be mostly focusing on Misty, but there will be some PokeShipping as well. When Misty is young, she gets the ability to see ghosts… Well-written and seems very promising!

Harry Potter: Simple by Moonpumpkin. FFN. An interesting one-shot about Walburga Black and Charlus Potter, about their similarities and their differences, and how they still ended up where they did.

Any recommendations, Pokémon or another fandom, are welcome!