Chapter Text
III
Haru said nothing. Just stood there. In silence, at his side. Just letting him know there was a being there for him. Cinderace hugged his knee tighter but did nothing else.
After a while, she got up.
“It’s lunchtime. Do you want to eat with us?
She offered her hand. Cinderace crossed his arms and turned his head away from her.
She kept her hand extended. Smiling. Motionless.
After what seemed an eternity, Cinderace opened an eye, looking at her.
Does this girl…
Suddenly, his stomach growled. He blushed, and her smile grew bigger.
Cinderace swapped her hand gently but followed Haru and Psyduck to the lunch area.
It was a simple large white cloth canopy held by four or five poles above a large table, blocking the Sun but letting the breeze cool the guests under it. At the table, several Pokemon and a few humans. Cinderace felt the changes in his pokemon brothers, eating there with him. Rillaboom was using his spoon to mark a rhythm on the table, and three smaller pokemon trying to mimic him; Inteleon, closing his eyes, in deep thought, nodding, smiling here and there. And what hurt him the most, was the remarkable lack of Goh on that eatery.
Did they forget already?
Cinderace looked at his plate. His favorite. He nibbled some.
It was good.
He felt good.
And guilty.
He left the table.
This time, Haru did not follow him. Psyduck looked at her, without understanding:
“Psy…?”
“Call it intuition, Psyduck. For now, enjoy your meal”
The pokemon did not need to be told twice.
After a while, Haru and Psyduck walked to the same rock they shared with Cinderace in the morning. Standing a few meters away, she went:
“See, Psyduck, I was right. Cinderace wanted to be found, just maybe not by us.”
She approached the pokemon.
“I really, really like this afternoon breeze.”
“Cinder!” Was the abrupt answer
She followed Cinderace’s eyes. Both looked at the sea, its wet mantle abruptly covering the sand, just to reveal it again slowly. Sensually. Playfully. Again and again.
“You must be thinking what’s the use of these waves breaking at the afternoon breeze. Why having an afternoon, even.”
She sat in the sand close to him
“It was a Saturday, Cinderace. My boyfriend of six and a half years broke up with me in a text message. The next day, Sunday, I wore my favorite, most expensive shoes and immediately stepped in gum. On Monday, I was late for a vital presentation. On Tuesday, my work bestie quit. Wednesday, I trimmed my eyebrows all wrong.” She heard Cinderace chuckle and kept going “Thursday, I spent three hours making curry, and it ended up non-edible. Friday, my important presentation bombed. Saturday, I stepped in gum again.” She made a pause. “That’s why I moved here. And i found Alisa, Tyler…” she scratched the head of the yellow Pokemon “and Psyduck…” after another pause “Life goes on, Cinderace, but he can explain it better.
Emerging from the path to the beach, Goh took two steps towards his pokemon.
“I miss him, Cinderace. Even with everything that happened, I miss him. So much I was forgetting about you guys. But you know? Haru here found new friends. We already have those.” The man offered his hand “Rillaboom. Inteleon. All the others. And, one day... One day, Mew.” They look deeply into each other eyes. “You. I need you. You need me. I need to have you, Cinderace, to continue on this path. What do you say? It will hurt some days, but we’ll be together. Always.”
Cinderace reached Goh’s hand and both started to walk down the path.
The flowers on their sides seemed to bloom.