Ch.4: Fancy Seeing You

She had found him. After nearly three years of his vanishing without a trace, she was looking at him, breathing him. He smelled like spicy sunshine and wild honeysuckle and clean linen. White clutched at him, holding as much of N as she could. She rolled away and propped herself up on one elbow. N was observing her so intently with those innocent eyes of his that White prayed there wasn't a firework display of red on her cheeks.

She frowned at the look of uncertainty and doubt on his face. "N, didn't you want to see me?" she choked. His eyed widened.
"Of course I did. I just wasn't sure you wanted to see me."
White's eyes flashed. She lunged forward and pushed him down, pinning him playfully. Her face became serious.
"I'll always want to see you."
She put her ear over his heart, sighing and closing her eyes. "Remember the river?"
The vibrations his voice made tickled her ear.
"I remember all of it."

N rolled them over on their sides.
"I remember that you're ticklish," N declared, smirking cheerfully.
"You wouldn't-AH! Hee-hee, N, STOP!" she shrieked. She pushed at his chest, laughing madly. Eventually, N stopped torturing her, and they lay on their backs gazing upward.

White turned her head towards N. He was wearing that peculiar smile of his, and his eyes were shut. She wondered vaguely if he was asleep. White took his hand in hers, tracing invisible patterns on his palm and wrist.
"Will you leave me again, N?"
Without moving or opening his eyes, he replied, "I'll never let you go, but I'll leave if you can't stand me. I keep my promises."

The Far Wandering Champion crawled over to the former Plasma King and poked him until be looked at her.
"Let's go somewhere."
He looked at her owlishly. "Where?"
"Anywhere you want," White said softly. N seemed to consider. He worried his lip and stuck the tip of his tongue out of the side of his mouth.
"Well," he began slowly, "Shouldn't you go home first and see your family?"

White bit the insides of her cheeks. Of course he would try to think of her first.
"Yes," she agreed quickly, "but what about after? Why don't we see where we've both been, and go somewhere we both like?"
N nodded, smiling at her again. Her heart tripped over its running-shoe laces and her stomach flipped.
"So," she began, grinning mischievously to hide her blush, "Who's driving?"

N gripped her hand as they gazed at Nuvema Town through the burgeoning greenery. He wasn't sure if he should go with her, even if she wanted him to. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was biting her finger and pinching the bridge of her nose. He didn't know if she was conscious of the action or not.

"It's...been a while," White muttered. He placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.
"It's time you showed yourself," he murmured. White nodded. "I could say the same of you."
"I suppose you could," he mused amusedly. So they stepped into the open together and walked to her house: A house with neither of them.

N didn't quite know what to say as they walked towards the last house on the left, or when White silently produced a key from somewhere and made it disappear just as fast once the lock clicked open. She gave his hand one last final squeeze to garner the courage she needed to push her way inside.

The hall was dark. White carefully navigated N around a table and a potted plant, stopping short of the parlor, where the light of one lamp shown like a beacon. Suddenly she drew back against his chest, knotting the hem of his shirt with her fingers. Her hands said what she couldn't: I'm scared. I don't know if I can do this. I need you so I can do this.

So of course he did the only natural thing: he hugged her against him and whispered in her ear. "You've got this."
He released her. White stood still only a moment longer. Taking a shaky breath and mussing her hair, she stepped through the doorway. N wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He decided to stay silent and immobile in the hallway. White would come back for him when she was ready.

White held her breath once she was actually in the room. River was asleep in her recliner. A book lay open in her lap. A few wisps of her brown hair, which fell over one shoulder in a side ponytail, had grayed. At first White could only stare. She bit her lip and threw a glance over her shoulder at the door.

Leaning down, she carefully grasped River's shoulder and began gently shaking her. "Mom, mom wake up," she whispered, repeating herself, raising her voice. Her mother's eyelids fluttered and she mumbled something unintelligible. Then her eyes opened and she was looking right at her. River stared at her squarely. Confusion flooded her features. A second later, clarity came, and with a muffled cry she pulled White off of her feet into the chair with her. It groaned softly, but she didn't seem to notice. She rained kisses down upon her face and hair. "Oh my baby, my sweet, my heart, my girl!" she cried. White squirmed but stayed where she was. Her mother smelled nice in a different way than N, and it felt nice to be cuddled like a baby after carrying the world on her slender shoulders for years.

Eventually, White scrambled into a more dignified pose. She cleared her throat and let River stroke her hair. "Mom, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I found him."

River stiffened, her shoulders tensing, her hand halting abruptly, and her mouth thinning into a flat line. Out in the hallway, N looked up in surprise. River gave a long, weary sigh. "Well, that's what you wanted, isn't it? What happened, what did he say?"

"Mom, he came with me. He was looking for me, too…he told me…"

"I know he was looking for you. Some other girl came by here and she was so much like you that I thought…I thought it was my child home at last, but…it wasn't. She walked and talked like you, and her eyes had that same intensity. Juniper, Cheren, Bianca, Jasper, Luddy…we've all been missing you and when that new girl came along it was like having you back. But you say he's here?"

Her eyes went to the hall. "I know what pain his leaving caused you, and yet I have also heard how diminished he seemed, and how he never stopped looking for you. It's like what your father used to say to me, "Today, tomorrow, always."

There were tears in her eyes. She hugged her daughter close to her heart. "Be safe. See the others before you go."

White parted her lips in confusion. "But how did you- "

River laughed. "You're a Shale, a rover. Your father always found the forest in a storm or a cave preferable to a feather bed. He and I traveled at midnight and only settled because of you and your brother, and good friends. It's in your blood. I hear Undella Town and the Sevii Isles are nice this time of year."

They embraced each other and stood together. River's sharp eyes honed in on the extra shadow in the hall. "Take care of her, N."

N cleared his throat and nodded. "You don't have to worry. I won't hurt her again."

Bianca was with Jasper in the family garden when a throat was cleared behind them. She stumbled into a bench. Jasper glanced up from watering the begonias. He set the watering can down and shook the soil from his gloved hands. Bianca pulled up by the arm of the same bench that made her stumble.

"You found her! We thought after what Cheren said that maybe- "

"And what, exactly, did Cheren say?" White hissed, catching onto her friend's tone and expression. Bianca. Bianca paled and told her everything.

"What the bloody freaking hell?" White shrieked. Bianca grasped for and missed her friend's hand as she spun away and stormed off. "That stuck up pen-licking prick! When I get to his effing Zekrom forsaken arse- "

The remaining three hurried after her, losing the last of her words as she rounded the house. They heard a roar and an enormous shadow passed over the grounds.

"Oh dear," Bianca fretted, "She's going to kill him."

"She's going to kick his bony, bespectacled ass," Jasper added.

"I should stop her," N said. He glanced uncertainly at the other two. "Shouldn't I?"

"Whatever floats your boat," Jasper shrugged. Then he went back to gardening. Bianca bit her lip and ran after White. N followed.

Cheren was just sending away another defeated challenger when the doors to the gym burst inward to bang loudly against the walls. Every trainer inside scurried out of the raging Trainers way. She was, after all, one of the best in the world, and she also happened to have taken fighting and defense classes. The Leader seemed to brighten at the sight of her and his shoulders lifted. He stepped off of his dais.

"Hey, Lou, good to see you," he greeted.

"Funny you should mention my presence," she spat through gritted teeth, right before knocking him out with a swift left hook and sending his glasses flying.

People rushed past her, bumping her shoulders to examine their fallen Leader. Someone whistled.

"Damn, a one-hit-KO," a voice in the crowd whispered in awe. The doors burst open a second time. N and Bianca rushed in, Bianca struggling to pull a Pokéball from her purse and N with his Zoroark at his side.They skidded to a halt. "Oh my," Bianca swallowed, "I see you've, err, taken care of this."

N looked like he was going to reply when White pivoted on her heel and yanked him by the arm towards the doors.

"We're leaving. Come if you're coming, Bianca," White snapped out. Bianca yelped and hurried out after them. She was on the front step when White and N were mounting their dragons.

"Send you a postcard," White called, waving, apparently appeased. N was frowning.
"What about Black?"

"That's the last stop before our departure," White replied, kicking off. Bianca's clothes and hair billowed in the wind the dragons created, her hand clamped over her hat. As they flew away, she dialed Ludwig Blacklea Hale to tell him his sister was searching for him. And, of course, Jasper. He was going to want to hear everything.