Time to Part

As the bright sun touched the horizon, the sky turned beautiful warm tones with hints of pink and purple. Flocks of taillow and pidgeys flew over and created a nice gust of wind which blew leaves to surround and comfort the two teenagers sitting on a bench.
 
"-But Nero, you want to be a gym leader, raise Pokemon to be strong, battle many other trainers- you have so many great goals you want to achieve. I don't have anything," said Mae with a heavy heart.
 
"Mae…" The light blue haired boy was concerned about his close childhood friend.
 
"What can I do, Nero? My parents, they want to sell Pokemon for money. Do you know how horrible that is? I love Pokemon, I want to raise and care for them. I don't want to use them for money like they do. All they care about is wealth. I can't make my parents happy. When I found my vulpix, my family was so disappointed that I didn't want to use her to battle with and earn money. I can't make myself nor anyone else happy."
 
Nero sighed as he tried to help his friend out.
 
"What would you love to do Mae? We're both going off on our own journeys. I don't want you to be lost and like this if I'm not going to be there by your side."
 
The girl tried to smile as tears trickled down her gentle face.
 
"I just want to – I don't know. I guess, I'm just sad. Everyone teases me. I don't want to battle if I don't have to. You seem to be the only one who understands. You're my best friend and you'll be gone for who knows how long. Who is going to take care of you? I don't know how I feel right now." Mae started to cry silently. Her eyes swelled up and it pained her to keep the tears away from view.
 
"I'll be fine Mae. Don't worry about me. My parents know how they can contact me and you will too. It's hard for me too, you know-"
 
As Nero spoke, their eyes met. They then quickly darted apart. Being best friends for years and all of a sudden gaining strong emotions for one another made it difficult for the two to talk about their future plans.
 
"In less than one day we'll start on our own journeys. We'll be on different paths. In less than one day, we won't be by each others' sides." Mae bit her lip as she tried her hardest not to cry out loud. She wanted to leave the scene. "I need to go. I'll see you tomorrow when I feel better." She spat the words out and began to leave.
 
Mae got up hastily as she didn't want Nero to see the pain on her face. She didn't want him to go. He was the only person she had left that cared about her feelings. She grabbed her bag and quickly turned around to go towards her home.
 
"Mae, wait!-" Nero leapt from where he sat to grab a hold of Mae's wrist.
 
Taken back by surprise, Mae let out all the tears she held back. She found her face nuzzled into Nero's jacket and she cried her heart out. Nero gave her the warmest and most reassuring hug he could give. He was horrible with words when it came to situations like this.  Instead of speaking, he held Mae tight and tried to fight back his own tears. Pretending that everything would be okay without her was one of the toughest things he has ever had to do.  They've been there for one another ever since they were young kids.  After a few minutes of cherishing the moment, he gently pulled them apart and gazed into Mae's eyes with a very serious face. Sniffles could still be heard from Mae, but she slowly stopped crying as she parted from Nero.
 
"Mae, why don't you.." Nero had difficulty completing his question.
 
"You should.." Nero gulped and stammered. 
Should I ask her to come along? Nero questioned himself.

He was afraid of Mae's answer. Maybe asking her to tag along with him would be too much. He had never asked her on a proper date, he never had the guts to. He was scared of losing his best friend by trying to take another step in their relationship. After a deep breath, he finally asked her the question he had in his mind ever since the idea of a journey started brewing.
 
"Er- Why don't you come with me?" Nero's cheeks turned a bright red and he quickly diverted his vision. It took a lot of courage for him to ask and once the words came out he didn't even want to hear the answer. Being shot down would hurt him deeply for weeks or even months.
 
Mae looked up at him. She was speechless. She always thought he looked towards her as nothing more than a close friend. 

He's asking me to travel with him? Around the region- sharing experiences, together?

She didn't respond. She didn't know how to.
 
Nero quickly got nervous and started to kick up the dirt around his feet. At this time the sunset had passed and skies of the early night appeared. Nero looked at Mae and saw her smile. There were tears of happiness on her face and they glistened from the street lights. He was then put at ease. However, she still hadn't responded.
 
 
A few seconds passed by.
 
 
"Whoa!" Nero almost fell over as Mae jumped on and hugged him tight. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she whispered into his ear, "I'd love to be there for you Nero." Once more he started to blush. He returned the embrace.
 
"I wouldn't want anyone else besides you there to support me, Mae."
 
Mae let go and looked sweetly at him with a kind face. Nero could feel his heart pounding. Is this a good time.. for a kiss? Nero asked himself.
He started to lean in closer to Mae. Mae closed her eyes and started leaning towards him too.
 
This is it. Our first kiss. He actually feels the same way..
 
Out of the trees nearby a murkow flew out startling the two. It created an awkward moment between the two and then bursts of laughter could be heard from the teenagers.
 
"Uh, I need to get home. Good night, and thanks for everything. You're such a good friend, Nero." Mae leaned in and gave Nero a kiss on the cheek. It was unexpected and he blushed furiously as Mae ran off. They waved to one another and he watched her disappear into the heart of Littleroot town.
 
Nero stood around for a few minutes, trying to contemplate about what had just happened. So were we about to kiss? Yes, no? We were so close. I wonder if she feels the same way...But she said, "You're such a good friend Nero".. Good friend. Ha. Maybe I'm nothing more.

Nero smiled and chuckled to himself as he walked under the night sky towards his home.
She's my best friend..