One of my favorite ships actually. I don't know why, I just feel like these two were born to be together, they're so perfect lol.

This chapter was requested by

Enjoy.

In a flash of blinding light, Black felt his body lower onto the ground, his bones felt stiff and a chilling breeze wafted over him. He opened his eyes, and the sting of new light pouring onto his face made him squint.

A figured sat crouched in front of him, blurred because of the light. But they felt familiar, so familiar.

"Prez?" Black croaked, the outline finally starting to have some features, long brown hair, pale skin, and those bright blue eyes that always sparkled when he looked at them.

Except now they were covered in tears.

"Prez? What's wrong, why the long face?" he asked, trying to sit up.

He didn't exactly know what was going on, the last thing he remembered was Ghetsis pushing him into Reshiram. He remembered feeling like he was in a dream, drifting for who knows how long in an ever expansive void.

"You're back." was all White managed to squeak out, she wrapped her arms around him and he felt that warmth he knew spread through him like he had been without it for years.

It scared him how starved he felt for any sort of contact, what had happened? He would have to ask White later, but not now. He wrapped his arms back around her, clinging to her as if his life depended on it.

"I'm not going anywhere Prez." he tried to speak reassuringly, but his lack of voice was making it hard, he felt he hadn't used his voice in ages and that was clearly reflected in the hoarse tone of his words.

"Let's get you to the Pokemon Center." White commented, and now that he was thinking about it, his bones and muscles ached and his clothes felt a couple sizes too small. He nodded, not wanting to speak again, it was hurting his throat and he knew White would understand.

He looked at her as she backed away, and it caught up with him how much he missed her, he felt they had been apart longer than he ever wanted them to be. Hopefully later he'd find out what happened, but for now, he was tired, unreasonably tired.

When they got to the center, Nurse Joy admitted him into a room, and White sat with him.

"Cheren is coming with a change of clothes for you." she told him in a soft voice, it felt like music and soothed his nerves.

"What happened to me?" he asked and her expression changed, like she was remembering something she'd rather not. Black winced at her expression.

"Um, it's okay, I'll ask Cheren or Bianca, or maybe Juniper." he said trying to correct himself, he didn't want to cause her any additional pain on top of the obvious hurt that she had felt.

She put her hand on his, and he closed his hand around hers, holding it. He stared at their intertwined fingers, reveling in the feeling, his heart soared, much like it always had when they touched. There was something a little different though, something deeper.

"I'm fine, I can tell you." she sighed, clearing her throat. Black kept his eyes focused on their hands, he didn't need to see her expression, didn't want to. He didn't want to know how much she hurt. Because it's hard to see the one you love in pain because of you.

And yes, Black had thought about the prospect of loving White, though he hadn't fully admitted it to himself yet, but somewhere deep inside he knew, but he had caused her enough misery, she didn't need something like that hanging over her shoulders.

Did he really love her? He had never gone into depth about it himself. Was it as simple as that? He didn't know.

White explained how he had been sealed into the light stone with Reshiram, and how it had flown off without warning. She described her anguish, and when she began to sniffle, Black looked up, because although seeing the pain hurt him as well, he was going to bear it with her.

"Two whole years?" Black asked, appalled at the expanse of time he had been away from everyone. It amazed him that all that time drifting, had been linger than he had originally thought. But it did clear up a lot of matters, like his clothes.

"Yeah." her eyes were watering again.

"Hey, don't cry. I'm back now." he tried to give her his biggest smile, but his heart was aching too.

She sniffed rubbing her eyes, laughing a little, "Yeah, sorry."

There was a knock at the door, shocking both teens back into the real world. Both of them looked at each other for a moment, before the knock rang out again.

"Come in." White called. She let go of Black's hand, which left a little bit of a bittersweet taste in his mouth. The nurse was at the door, along with Cheren and Bianca, who Black barely recognized.

"I have to preform a checkup on him, other than that he should be fine. If you could leave him with me for a moment." the nurse politely commented, her smile, like always, plastered across her face.

Bianca was waving wildly from the door, mouthing things that Black couldn't even keep up with, Cheren looking on at both of them with a nostalgic air about him. They both looked so mature now. And he hadn't been there to share that with them.

White nodded to Nurse Joy and stood up, casting a regretful glance towards Black before smiling. They left the room, leaving Black with the Nurse.

"Your girlfriend was very concerned, you're lucky to have her you know?" she mused, holding a stethoscope to his chest.

"She's not my girlfriend." Black said smiling down at his hand, the one that had held hers, "I've hurt her too much to deserve that."

"I'm sure she doesn't think that." she said absentmindedly while she checked his blood pressure.

"Of course not, she's the nicest girl in the universe. I don't deserve that. She doesn't deserve to got hurt again because of me. Why would she like someone that hurts her so much?" a twinge of pain ripped through his insides. It started in his heart and rippled through his gut painfully.

"Well how do you know if she hasn't told you? Do you know if you love her? She might love you back as well." Nurse Joy finished up by writing his readings down onto a clipboard.

Black sat on that though for a moment, but he was interrupted when Nurse Joy opened the door and a flurry of arms and blonde hair came rushing in the door.

Bianca crushed Black in a hug, sentinel pain through his already aching bones. He yelped, not on purpose, but the sound shocked everyone and even Bianca backed off. She looked like she was afraid, they all did.

The rush of emotions hit him like a train, the full weight of the situation weighing down on him.

They were afraid to break him, lose him. He was fragile right now, in their minds at least. He could just as easily disappear again, as if they had never found him.

"Hey guys, I'm fine, just a little surprised." he laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

"When I get better, how about we battle, just like old times Cheren. Let's see how strong you've gotten." Black raised an arm, fist bumping Cheren with a laugh.

Then it occurred to him that his Pokemon had been with him the entire time.

"Oh, sorry to ask you a favor Cheren, but could you take my Pokemon to get checked too?" he pulled out his Pokeballs, handing them to the, now taller, male.

"Yeah, and here's some clothes." Cheren handed him a plain black tee and some jeans.

They swapped items, Black finding his way, shakily, to the bathroom. He had denied any help, and although the bathroom was only two doors down the hall, Black was out of breath. His limbs quaked and his muscles screamed for relief.

He looked in mirror while he took his shirt off, and he was caught off guard by how thin he was. He was practically skin and bones at this point, his arms thin and his ribs starting to show. He guessed since it had been two years his body hadn't been getting nearly enough food, but somehow he had been given enough nutrients to survive.

His legs were the same and his cheeks, although they weren't hollow looking, they were getting there. He slid the shirt on, leaning against the wall for support while putting on his pants.

He decided to lean on the wall while he walked back too, his chest heaving more than he thought it would from just walking.

When he got back, Cheren and White were gone and Bianca was sitting in a guest chair.

"Hey, Nurse Joy said it might be a good idea for you to get some fresh air, maybe some food too, only a little at a time though. But there's a perfect spot right outside that I think you'll love." she said, smiling her usual childish grin.

He nodded and she swung his arm over her shoulder, helping him stand more steadily. She led him just outside, to a small overhand that looked over the rest of the town.

She set him down and pulled out a sandwich, handing it to the boy next to her. He scarfed it down like it was nothing, he hadn't eaten in literally years, and he had never been a picky eater.

Black thought about what the nurse said again, about whether or not he loved White, and now up in the calm breeze he had time to think about it.

He had imagined certain things before. Like how it would feel to run his hands through her soft hair, gently, soothingly, not in a harmful way, or how it would feel to hold their hugs maybe just a fraction of a second longer. He often wondered what would happen if they tried to hold hands, and on one occasion he had thought about what it would be like to kiss her.

"Hey Bianca?" he inquired, absentmindedly, not really paying attention.

She hummed in response enjoying the breeze.

"I think I love Prez." he spoke softly and he heard her gasp.

"Really? Have you told her yet?" she asked excitedly.

"No." he said, and she stopped in her tracks, "I'm scared." he deadpanned.

Bianca stood up, looking down at him with stern eyes that made him fear for his life, "You mean to tell me that you made her wait two years, and your scared of confessing? Don't you think she deserves an answer?" she yelled at him.

"Well yeah bu-"

"Wouldn't it be worse if you kept it from her? What if she likes you too, wouldn't you be hurting her more?" she kept on at him.

"Yeah." he said, a little louder in an attempt to match her voice, although it didn't compare in the least.

"When have you ever been afraid of just going for whatever set on your mind?" she asked, offering him a hand.

"Never!" he grabbed her hand and stood up, he had forgotten how persuasive Bianca could be.

"So shout out your dreams for the future! Like you always used to do!" he turned to the cliff while she spoke.

"I love the boss!" he shouted.

"Use her real name!" Bianca encouraged him and he felt lost in the moment.

"I love White, and I hope she loves me too!" he practically screamed, his voice finally reaching it's peak, finding it's old ear-splitting volume.

Black huffed with exertion, yelling took a lot of his breath out of him, but it also felt good, to get his feelings out. Now he just had to tel-

He turned around and saw White staring at him with a mixed look. He couldn't read her face, and he was starting to feel worried, then tears sprang forward again and White shuffled towards him, her face pressing into his shoulder lightly when they made contact, her fists still clenched at her sides.

Black took that as a signal and wrapped his arms around her back, as tight as he could, truing to convey through this hug that he wasn't going to leave her.

"I love you, Prez." he said.

"I know." she choked out, wrapping her arms around his waist, "I love you too, idiot. Took you this long to figure that out."

They sat there, Bianca leaving them to themselves, holding each other for as long as it took. He had all the time in the world, and he would be sure that this time he'd spend it all with her.

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