Diamond

This is my first one-shot, and my first attempt at a fic with a main focus of romance though I suppose it's also kinda angst. I don't know. It contains DiamondShipping, which for those of you who don't know, is a Giovanni x Delia pairing. Umm...I might have made Giovanni a little OOC here, but it's my belief that with his gym leader side and his Rocket Boss side, who's to say he doesn't a third side - his real self? Delia might also be OOC, but I tried my best. Now, I have to say, DiamondShipping and SoulSilverShipping (Silver x Lyra/Kotone) are tied as my two all time favorite shippings ever! Not just Pokemon, but ever! So expect a SoulSilverShipping one-shot to come. I realize that I am still in the process of working on my other Pokemon fic, Unova's Downfall, but I'm afraid I've kinda hit a block on that for now, so I'm going to be trying little one-shots here and there to keep my readers busy while I figure out how to blow up this annoying writer's block. Okay, I've started rambling. Enough of that. I don't own Pokemon.

Sunlight streamed through the window, lighting up a room on the third floor of a mansion that sat, nestled, just in sight of woods nearby. The room seemed to be an office; the furniture consisting of a few filing cabinets, three - currently empty - chairs arranged in front of a large, heavy desk, and a fourth chair, this one occupied, behind the desk. The window that was source of all the light occupied a good quarter of the wall behind the desk, the sunlight hitting the back of the man sitting there.

He wore a grey shirt with the collar folded neatly down and a red tie. Over these lay a black, two-piece business suit. The man had short brown hair and dark eyes that were fixed on the paperwork that sat on the desk in front of him. Nearby, on the floor, a cream colored, feline Pokemon with black-rimmed, rounded ears and a red jewel in the center of its head was dozing. The room was silent but for the soft scratch of paper on pen.

Persian shifted in its sleep; Giovanni looked up as he set a paper aside, the pen soon following the form it had just been used to fill out as he discovered that his pet's slight movements had broken his focus. Normally, that wouldn't have bothered the boss of Team Rocket. Today was different. Today was...distracting. Now, with his focus on his paperwork gone, no Gym challengers, and strangely no desire to descend into the underground floors of the mansion he resided in and watch his Team at work, he turned to his thoughts.

There'd always been two sides Giovanni had displayed whenever others were around. He was most often the monster. The cold-hearted and cruel leader of the feared criminal organization known as Team Rocket. He was also the Gym Leader. Still cold and harsh, though not as much as he was to those of his organization. Under the Gym Leader role, he played the role of a very wealthy businessman as well. But the third side of him, his real self which was so rarely used, was seen only by him, and occasionally Persian. The man's dark gaze cut towards the one decoration in the room: a small picture hanging on the wall. He was wrong. There was one more person who had seen his real self, his hidden side. There was...her.

At first, the beginnings of a real, genuine, joyful smile had formed on Giovanni's face before it contorted into a deep frown and his hands, resting on top of his desk, curled slightly into fists. She would still be here with him, of that he was sure, if it had not been for the interference of that hated man who now resided at the top of the cold and dangerous Mt. Silver. Giovanni hoped the Champion was freezing his damn ass off up there. Not only had that man destroyed Team Rocket once - though the organization had since been rebuilt, obviously - but he had torn apart the thing Giovanni had held most dear. His family.

That goddamn man hadn't been content with simply taking out Team Rocket. He had to go one step further. He had to steal Giovanni's wife away, and cause his son to leave. The Rocket Boss abruptly stood, beginning to pace in a rather agitated way. From what he had heard, the Champion had convinced her to remarry him. After she had borne a second child, this one the Champion's, the man had been revealed to be in a relationship with a childhood friend. Giovanni didn't remember the woman's name, nor did he care. The Champion had abandoned the one Giovanni loved and left for Mt. Silver.

His pacing woken the napping Persian, who let out a cross meow. Giovanni ignored it, not even bothering to tell the Pokemon to hush. His thoughts were now fully fixed on the family he had lost. Silver was gone, and would likely not return after deeming his father a coward. Giovanni had raised the boy, after all. The two shared the same opinions about cowards and those who were weak. But father's and son's ideas on which people were cowards...that was where the differences came. But aside from his son, he had lost his wife. That one hurt the most.

Persian got up, stretching and yawning before watching her master pace. She noticed the object on the wall that Giovanni's gaze was drawn to every time he faced that wall and knew what had caused this mood. She yawned again, settling back on her haunches as her red, feline eyes tracked her master's pacing form. This continued a few minutes longer until Persian decided it was time to act. She rose to her paws, padding over to the Rocket Boss and nudging him.

Giovanni's pacing stopped and his thoughts were disturbed as Persian nudged him. He looked down at it, clearly annoyed. His annoyance turned to slight bafflement, though this was very well hidden, as the Classy Cat Pokemon then turned to look at the picture hanging on the wall. The picture that displayed him with his wife, years back when Silver had been a very young boy. Surely this dumb beast didn't actually know what was bothering him! Yes, he didn't keep Persian caged like he kept his other Pokemon caged, but that was simply because it was his pet, not a battler. It was no smart being, like the human race. It was a Pokemon. An animal! And yet...now Persian had begun to nudge him towards the door.

Continuing to hide his confusion and keep up the pretense of being annoyance, Giovanni stepped towards the door. Persian immediately fell into step beside him, though froze as it seemed to realize he had not advanced further. The Rocket Boss's dark eyes narrowed as the Pokemon actually dared to growl at him, moving back to give his legs a firm headbutt towards the door. Giovanni glared down at Persian, who looked back with red eyes that seemed to be intelligent as any human's. That couldn't have been right. Shaking his head, he turned away from the door, only to feel something latch onto one of his pant legs and start forcefully tugging him towards the door.

"What is wrong with you, beast?" he snapped as he saw Persian, its jaws clamped shut around the expensive fabric of his suit near his ankle. Persian let go, sitting up to give him what looked like a glance of irritated disbelief. His emotions must have really been messing with his mind today, if he thought he had seen that. Pokemon were animals, simple tools to be used for the purposes of humans. Perhaps though, this time it could be better to do as Persian wants. he thought, startled by having such a thought enter his head. Sighing once more, Giovanni returned to stand behind his desk, reaching underneath to find that...Ah, there is was. As his probing fingers pressed the right spot of wood, a small panel slid open on the top of the desk. He hesitantly retrieved the object inside before the panel slid shut once more.

Staring at the small thing in his hand, the Rocket Boss reflected briefly on how he had planned to present this to his wife on their anniversary, before that damned Champion had taken her away. Tucking the small item into a pocket, he finally turned towards the door. Persian let out a pleased-sounding rumble, following him out.

Normally a patient man, the fact that the drive from the mansion outside of Viridian City to a small town just on the other side of Viridian Forest irritated Giovanni. But as the Rocket agent driving the car had pulled into the town - Pallet Town, according to the sign - his irritation increased at the sudden attack of emotions he had not felt for a long time. Nervousness. Dread. Excitement. And a strange, but powerful longing.

"Stop here." His command was growled out to the driver as the Rocket Boss spotted the house he'd been searching for. Without hesitation or questions, which was how Giovanni liked it, the driver put on the brakes, pulling the car to a stop in front of the house. Getting out of the car, the man waited for Persian to follow before slamming the door shut and signaling the driver to leave. There was no need for anyone from Team Rocket to witness what was about to happen. The grunts enjoyed their gossip when they were bored, after all, and Giovanni had a reputation and image he had built up as the leader of Team Rocket that had to be maintained.

Walking up the path, he studied the house. It was a nice little place, he decided. A white, two-story house with a red roof and a garden that appeared well taken care of. This brought the faint traces of a smile to his normally cold or emotionless face. She had greatly enjoyed gardening, and it appeared she still did. A hand slipped into his pocket to withdraw the object he had retrieved from the hidden panel in his desk as his other hand lifted, curling into a fist that connected with the door three times, creating three sharp raps on the painted wood. Then he waited. Persian sat by his side, but when the door opened, the Classy Cat Pokemon rose to its feet.

Giovanni found himself unable to speak as he looked at the amber-eyed woman in front of him. She seemed to be in the same predicament. Then her voice shattered the silence.

"Gio?" The emotions she'd managed to fit into that one word told him he had been right to come back. Disbelief. Amazement. Nervousness. Joy. There were more, but the one that really impacted him was the one emotion he longed for, yet never thought he'd receive from this woman again. Love. She hesitantly reached for him, almost as if not believing she was seeing him standing there.

"Delia." His voice broke slightly as he spoke. His free hand, the fist he had made now gone, moved forward, grasping her reaching hand.

She suddenly stepped towards him, their fingers intertwining, pressing herself gently against him. "I didn't think you were coming back. After Red left me to raise Ash-"

Giovanni heard no more after that as his thoughts overtook him. Ash? Oh, dear Arceus, no. He'd known that brat was Red's son, but assumed the other woman was the mother, not Delia. Thinking back on what the news call "Unova's Survival Crisis" he wondered how differently Operation Tempest would have gone if he had known he'd been threatening to kill his own step-son if Meloetta hadn't submitted to his demands. He'd have to tell Delia. Not now, but he would have to tell her. She'd be upset of course, but Ash had gotten away unharmed, and the Rocket Boss hoped that, with time, not only Delia but Ash as well would forgive him for that. He was jolted out of his thoughts by the realization that Delia had finished speaking and was looking at him.

"I would have come sooner, but I was worried - no, I was frightened that I would be rejected." His words came out unusually soft. This was the side of him that she could draw forward. A warmer, kinder, and gentler side. "I missed you so much Delia."

The Rocket Boss was stopped from saying anymore when Delia kissed him. After a moment of figuring out what was happening, he eagerly kissed back. Before they broke apart, he brought his other hand up to slide something onto one of her fingers. When they each took a step back, she looked down to see the ring he had placed on her left-hand ring finger. Made of gold, the simple band was inlaid with a single, small, glittering diamond. She looked up to meet his gaze, and Giovanni spoke three words he'd been longing to say for years.

"Happy Anniversary Delia."

Well, there it is. My first one-shot and my first attempt at a completely romance-based story. It's also a late Valentine's Day present I guess. Like? Dislike? Should I continue this or leave it as is? Leave your opinions in a review please, but remember that any flames will be quickly extinguished by a Hydro Pump! LDR, out!