Hey guys! I've been having some really intense Wishfulshipping feels lately, so you know what that led to? A brand new Wishfulshipping one shot! Please, enjoy!

REMINDER: I don't own Pokémon. How sad.

Of Purrloin and Ice

"AH! VANILLITE!"

Cilan, despite the situation, chuckled softly to himself as Iris darted away from the floating fresh snow Pokémon and instead sought refuge behind his back.

"Come on, Iris, it's just a little Vanillite!" Ash groaned, turning to smile at the ice cream-like creature. "It's cute! And harmless!"

"No, it's an ice type," Iris bit acidly, still hiding behind Cilan. "So of course it's not harmless!"

"You just don't like them because they're super effective against dragon types," Ash argued, not willing to drop the subject.

"So?"

"So that's a dumb reason to be afraid of 'em!"

Iris growled and raised a shaky fist above Cilan's head, threatening to beat Ash with it. Cilan felt the presence of her fist above his head, however, and he was not about to let anything of the sort happen. Once again, he laughed delicately to himself and gently lowered Iris' fist with his own hand.

"Now now," Cilan playfully scolded, "no fighting you two! There's no reason to get so testy!"

"It just doesn't make any sense to me that Iris is so willing to dislike a Pokémon only because of its type," Ash sighed, shaking his head to show his disapproval.

"It's not just because of their type!" Iris shouted. "I hate all kinds of cold! I hate cold weather, too! And ice types remind me of cold weather! You know that!"

"No I don't!" Ash shot back.

"Well Cilan knows," Iris barked, "so why don't you?"

Ash simply shrugged at this and turned his head back around in order to interact with the Vanillite, who didn't seem at all bothered by being rejected by Iris. Cilan, meanwhile, peered over his own shoulder and found that Iris was still cowering behind him, not at all willing to move.

"You know, Iris, Ash does have a point," Cilan sheepishly informed the younger girl.

"No he doesn't!"

Cilan smirked at Iris' vehement retort. "You know that Vanillite isn't going to do anything to harm you."

Iris glared at Cilan with narrowed eyes and puffed up cheeks, her anger so intense that the veins in her forehead were nearly visible, ready to pop out at any moment.

"Or Axew," Cilan added, knowing that Iris' main concern was always with her little partner Pokémon. At the sound of his name, the tusk Pokémon popped out of Iris' violet mane, his red eyes narrowed in concern. He too definitely looked afraid of the nearby ice type.

"Yeah, but I can't be sure," Iris muttered, digging the toe of her shoe into the dirt. "Besides, aren't you afraid of things too?"

"Afraid of things?" Cilan repeated curiously.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't say things," Iris murmured. "I mostly meant…well…Purrloin."

Cilan felt a shiver go up his spine just at the mention of the devious Pokémon. It was true he didn't like them. Not at all, in fact. But it wasn't because they were strong against his preferred type of Pokémon…he didn't really even have a preferred type. It was all because of one stupid incident, one that he didn't necessarily like revisiting. Not at all, in fact.

"Are you ever going to tell me just why you're so afraid of them?"

Cilan glanced down at Iris, who was giving him a half curious, half pleading look. It was obvious that she wanted to know the story behind his phobia.

"Maybe…" Cilan trailed off.

"You trust me, don't you?"

Cilan frowned at this. "Of course I do! I don't want you to think that I don't. In fact, the only people that I trust more than you are my brothers…and I think sometimes I trust you more than them."

Iris' eyes widened at this. "Really?"

"Really," Cilan repeated with an earnest chuckle. "They both mean well, but sometimes, especially with Chili, things can just go awry."

"Well…if you can trust me, you can tell me why you're so afraid of Purrloin, right?" Iris asked hopefully.

Cilan smirked knowingly. "Not just yet, Iris."

At this, Iris pouted, adopting nearly the same ticked off look she'd held earlier. "Meanie."

"One day I will," Cilan murmured with assurance. "I promise."

That wasn't good enough for Iris. Instead, she raised a wry eyebrow and stood up on her tippy toes so she could get her lips right next to Cilan's ear. "You swear?"

A hearty blush grew across the bridge of Cilan's nose, as well as his cheek bones. Not because he was embarrassed, of course, but, well…because of other reasons. The main one being Iris' breath ghosting against his pale skin, so much lighter than hers…her warm, cocoa complexion that reminded Cilan of a tropical escape filled with the sweetest, most forbidden fruits-

"Cilan!"

The connoisseur gasped and turned his emerald eyes towards Iris. She had gone back to looking more irritated than flirtatious. Cilan, however, was still flustered from her previous teasing. Even if it hadn't really been teasing…

"Yes," Cilan practically whispered, "I swear."

Iris grinned, obviously satisfied with getting those words out of Cilan's mouth. She got off of her toes, instead standing flat on her feet. As soon as she had settled back down, a heavy gust of cold air blew against the back of her neck, causing Iris to shriek and knock into Cilan's back. The green haired male nearly tumbled over, but managed to catch himself before hitting the ground. He stared back at Iris, and saw her trembling. Floating only a few feet away from Iris was Vanillite, giggling at the girl's over-the-top reaction to his sudden appearance. Vanillite's laughter was soon intertwined with Ash's, coming from in front of Cilan, and Iris nearly trampled the older trainer to get to him.

"I swear that I'm going to kill you, Ash Ketchum!" Iris threatened, her arms being held back by Cilan's delicate hands.

"Iris, please! Don't swear such things!" Cilan pleaded.

"Why not?!" Iris argued.

"Because…" Cilan began lamely before gaining confidence in his voice, "if you kill Ash, you'll be locked away. And then I'll never be able to keep my swear to you!"

"That's true…" Iris muttered, finally lowering her arms. She unfurled her fists and instead chose to keep her hands at her sides, still ready to use them if necessary. Vanillite floated by her side to get back to Ash, and this once again caused Iris to tremor with fear…and cold. She nervously grabbed Cilan's shoulder and buried her face between his shoulder blades.

"I'm still scared of them…"

"Who?" Cilan questioned. "Ice types?"

Iris didn't answer verbally, but she nodded her head, and Cilan felt it against his back. She had yet to remove her face from its very comfortable position, after all.

"Well, you don't have to worry about a thing," Cilan continued smoothly. Iris looked back up at him, although this time, it wasn't with any contempt. "I'll protect you from any ice type that comes near."

Now it was Iris' turn to blush, although hers was more pronounced than Cilan's had been. "Uh…thanks, Cilan…"

"Don't mention it," Cilan chuckled kindly. "You just hide behind me for as long as you need to."

Iris bit her lip and allowed her light brown eyes to travel away from Cilan. "But…I'm afraid of all ice types."

"Then I'll protect you from all of them," Cilan replied simply.

"And I don't think I'll ever get over my fear of them," Iris continued.

Cilan laughed gently at this. "Well then, I suppose you'll just have to hide behind me forever!"

Iris sighed and buried her entire face into Cilan's back, squeezing her eyes shut and allowing her lips to bend upwards into the happiest of smiles. And then, still into his back so it was muffled and inaudible to him, Iris spoke the only words that were currently going through her head.

"Forever…? I don't even know if that's long enough for me, Cilan…"

A short but cute little piece that I was inspired to write through fan art and watching too many BW episodes :) I left the real reason behind Cilan's fear open ended because I'm still hoping, one day, that we'll find out why he's so afraid of Purrloin. If not...well, I can always write another story ;)