A/N: As always, thank you so much for all your support! Here's another quick chapter!

To The Counting Reviewer: Thank you for your review, but I'm afraid I don't understand it though.

To Duvarishka: Hello! Thank you very much for your elaborate review! And Ash is indeed in a bit of dead period, he's waiting for the Indigo League to start and so he's training to prepare. I'm very glad you liked the development of Paul so far. Thanks a lot for your thoughtful words!

To Guest (chapter 86): Apparently I missed your review before, but thank you for your kind words and I hope you're still reading and enjoying this story!

Days

The day Cilan and Iris go camping

Iris

Sunday, February 16th

A delicious smell came from the pan above the campfire, mixed with the undertones of burning firewood and moist earth, and Iris breathed in deeply.

Wonderful.

Iris grinned as she watched Cilan, sitting on his knees on the blanket-covered earth, stirring whatever was in the pan. The dancing flames of the campfire illuminated his pale face, scrunched up in concentration, while around them, the darkness of the forest stretched on.

There were no honking cars to be heard, no rush of traffic, nothing; just the quiet of the forest by nighttime, with the occasional sound of a Pokémon scurrying about, but otherwise just quiet.

Absolutely wonderful.

Iris took another deep breath and leaned back on her hands, her legs stretched out in front of her on the blanket spread out on the cold ground. At least it wasn't so cold as it used to be, spring seemed to have come early this year.

Iris definitely wasn't complaining.

Cilan looked up from his cooking, perhaps feeling her gaze on him. He smiled at her.

She happily looked back at him.

This was their belated Valentine's Day date. On the actual day, they had both been too busy; Cilan mostly, having had to help out in the restaurant.

So instead, they decided that they would postpone their date until today, and make it a short holiday.

Camping, just like they used to. Although admittedly, usually they had their Pokémon out of their 'Balls, but considering this was a date, they had left them inside.

The camping had been Cilan's idea, of course. He was always so thoughtful. And this – Iris breathed in deeply again – this was much better than any dinner in a fancy restaurant.

So here they were, sitting on a blanket in a forest some miles away from the Village of Dragons. Albeit it was warm for the time of the year, it was still February, and Iris was glad for the campfire, her warm clothes and the fact that they had decided to bring a tent with them.

"Here you go," Cilan said, handing her a bowl of wonderful looking soup. From the picknick basket he pulled a crunchy-looking loaf of bread and handed her half of it.

"Thanks, Cilan," she said, smiling. "This smells delicious."

She took a bite of the bread – great, as was anything Cilan made – and hummed in satisfaction.

"You are very welcome, Iris," he said, smiling that content smile of his.

They ate in comfortable silence and it stretched on after they finished dinner. Iris stared in the flames, watching them flicker and dance.

"This is so nice," she finally spoke up, softly. "Everything, I mean. The freedom, being outside..." Iris let out a wistful sigh, remembering how they used to travel.

"It is," Cilan said quietly, for once not spewing out big words and simply agreeing, and she knew he felt just the same as she did.

"If only we could always stay this way…" she mused, trailing off in thought. Just being outside, travelling, seeing new sights, no responsibilities, just themselves and their Pokémon...

Cilan smiled, looking melancholic.

"Yes… But would you really want that?" Cilan asked, his voice just as quiet as hers.

"I don't know..." Iris pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "It'd be nice to do it, to just... you wouldn't have to do anything, except take care of yourself and your Pokémon, just like we did when we were kids..."

"Hmm."

"But everything changes," Iris whispered.

Cilan scooted closer to her on the blanket and placed a gentle hand on her knee. Iris looked up from the fire to look him in the eye.

"Some things change for the better," he said, giving her knee a light squeeze.

Iris took his hand to squeeze it back, smiling.

"Yeah, it does…" she agreed. "And besides," she added in a lighter tone, "with all that snow from before, I'm glad we didn't have to stay outside all the time."

Cilan chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, the camping and travelling we did when we were younger was a lot of fun, but were we glad when we found a Pokémon Center when the weather turned bad!"

Iris laughed along with Cilan, and after that, they fell back into silence. Iris gave Cilan a sideways glance. Yes, things changed, but Cilan was right, sometimes for the better. And even if things didn't seem like they were for the better, it was sometimes necessary to get in a better place.

Like when she went to boarding school. That had been terrible, but if she hadn't gone there, she never would have gone out on her own and she never would have met Cilan and Ash. She wouldn't have had the friends, the Pokémon, the adventures and the experience she'd had now-

"I hope our baby will have the chance to have the same kind of youth we had. Travelling, making new friends, training Pokémon, being outside…" Iris said.

And she would never send her kid to boarding school. Unless the kid wanted to – if he or she was like Cilan, they might want to, to get the best education or something.

"With you as their mother? I'm certain," Cilan said, warmth in his eyes when he looked at her. Then his gaze turned harder, more determined. "And I'll do everything to give this baby the best possible life."

Iris squeezed his hand tighter. "I know you will," she said strongly. "You already do."

She looked him in the eye. "But you know you don't have to do this alone, right?"

He smiled. "I know."

"Do you, really?" Iris asked after a pause. "You're working so hard right now…" She trailed off, uncertain and lacking the courage to finish the thought. You're working so hard as Connoisseur, you're doing jobs that make a lot of money but that you don't really like, you're working less and less at the restaurant, you're spending less time with your brothers, with your Pokémon…

"I'll be fine, Iris," Cilan assured her. His thumb was rubbing circles on her hand.

Iris sighed, resigned, not wanting to discuss this topic further, not on a beautiful, peaceful night like this. She leaned against him and Cilan put an arm around her.

"You'll be fine, too," he said, misinterpreting her reaction.

Would she? It was a thought that had crossed her mind often, though she usually didn't try to worry too much about it. "It's sometimes so unreal. I mean... You know I never knew my mother. So how should I know how to be one?"

"You're a great trainer for your Pokémon. Children really aren't that much different," Cilan said, lightheartedly.

Iris chuckled shortly, but the smile quickly faded from her face, her jaw setting in determination. "At least I know what not to do," she said.

Cilan was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "I don't think your mother planned on dying."

"She should have gone to a hospital," Iris muttered, and Cilan tightened his grip around her. "She was stupid."

That was harsh, Iris knew, and Cilan didn't respond. Her mother hadn't wanted to go to a hospital, she had wanted to give birth to her in the Village of Dragons, with help from traditional healers. But something went wrong, and professional medical help arrived too late.

Iris shook her head shortly. "No, I know that's not true," she said. "She wanted to do what she thought was best for her and for me, but it just didn't work out that way."

She repeated the words her father had so often told her. And perhaps, Iris privately thought, her mother had been a bit afraid of hospitals, perhaps she had been stubborn in not accepting help sooner, but she knew that her mother had had the best intentions.

"But I'll do it differently," Iris vowed. She wouldn't be afraid, she wouldn't be stubborn, she would be strong, and she would accept help when that was necessary. She would hold on. She would be there for her child. "I'll live. And what comes after…"

Cilan kissed the top of her head. "You'll be a wonderful mother, I'm sure. And you're not alone. I'll be by your side, and we'll have all the help from our family and friends."

Iris pulled away a bit to smile at him. The warmth in his green eyes had nothing to do with the reflecting campfire, and her heart swelled.

"I love you," she said, and a fraction of a second later a light shock went through her; she had never said that out loud before.

Cilan's eyes widened and then his smile grew impossibly wide.

"I love you, too."

He pulled her closer and Iris leaned in, her eyes closing. The next moment their lips met, and Iris felt herself disappear in the warmth of the moment.

A/N: Thank you for reading! This chapter turned out to be a lot longer and with more depth than I had intended at first, but I'm happy with it. I hope you enjoyed it as well, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you!