literature

Canticum Felicitatis

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       "Aria, I'm back!"  I call into the forest as I enter my campsite.  "I got some food, you hungry?"


       There was no answer at first, so I started looking around the campsite to try and find my missing friend.  It took a couple minutes, but in time I found a note on the stump next to the fire-pit.  It was legible, but her handwriting was never the best.


       "Dear Luke, I went to the nearby stream to wash myself off while you were gone.  If you come back before I do, do not be afraid to come and get me."


       I couldn't help but laugh to myself at the note.  Aria liked disappearing for a while like this, and I knew she could handle herself, so I didn't start freaking out right away.  I set the food I got from town down next to the fire pit and took off further into the woods.  We had been camping here a couple days now, so both Aria and I knew what direction to go to reach the stream nearby.  It was only a couple minutes away, but luckily the woods here between Snowbelle City and Victory Road provided total privacy from prying eyes, unless you were actively looking for it like I was.  It wasn't long before I started to hear rushing water, and the sound told me I was going the right direction as I stepped up my pace a little.


       Less than a minute later, I found the stream, and Aria was indeed in it.  At first I was glad I hadn't somehow missed her along the way or that something hadn't happened to her, but that only lasted a second before I felt an all too familiar heat flood my face at seeing her.


       The crystal clear water glistening in the sun as she poured some on her head, letting it run down the back of her neck and through the jacket-like yellow fur on her back.  Beads of water catching the afternoon sun on the short, blue and black fur on her arms, her ears flicking cutely to get excess water off them.  I could see the very edge of her ruby red eyes, eyes that seemed to catch and reflect light around them like an endless hall of red mirrors, drawing you ever deeper into her innocent, yet confident gaze until whatever train of thought you might have had vanishes...  Her tail slowly wagging through the water, stirring up ripples in it's wake...  She...  She was beau-


       NO!  I scream in my head, tearing my eyes away from her and hoping I didn't make any noise as I turn to bury my head in my knees.  Get a hold of yourself, she's a Lucario AND she's your partner!  I yelled at myself, barely resisting the urge to literally slap some sense into myself.  I contented myself to simply clenching a fist hard enough to feel my nails digging into my palm with one hand and digging my nails into my scalp so hard I thought I would draw blood with the other.  After several seconds of this pain, I finally calm myself down to where my mind wasn’t a racing whirlwind of thoughts, and I decide to speak up, rustling a bush I was hiding behind to make it sound like I just arrived.


       "Aria?"  I instantly hear what could only be her submerging most of her body underwater, and when I allowed myself to see her again, only her head was visible above the water.  Trying my hardest to focus on her nose instead of her eyes, I say, "I found your note, so I came to get you.  I went and got dinner for tonight, we should probably eat now so we can get plenty of sleep for tomorrow."  I was pleasantly surprised at how little my voice shook.


        "Okay, just give me a few minutes and I'll be right there."  She says with a grin as she starts swimming towards shore.  I turn and head back to camp, using the walk to try and clear my head of the images that still lurked in there.


       My forced mental scrubbing made the trip back to camp seem shorter than usual, but when I arrived, I had almost completely refocused on the task at hand, though I could still feel my face was a little flushed.  I added some more wood to the fire and set a couple of the dinners I got from town over it to cook, busying myself with rechecking my supplies for tomorrow while I waited for Aria to show up.


       "So, what's for dinner tonight?"  Aria asks as she walked into the clearing, drying off her head before tossing the towel into our tent.


       "The usual, though I do have a surprise for you this time."  I answer, reaching into my backpack.  "They actually had Poffins today!"  I pull out a small bag of pink Poke-pastries and hand them to her.


       "Woohoo!"  Aria shouts, her mouth watering as she takes the bag from me and starts to try and open it.


       "Ah ah ah!"  I say loudly, stopping her before she can make a hole in the bag.  "You know the rules, dinner first."  I say with a small chuckle.


       Aria gives me a playful pout before saying "Fine." with a wide grin, digging into her meal as I take my own off the fire.


       I stick to my word and let Aria have her Poffins when she finishes her meal ten minutes later, and I finish mine not long afterward.  "Well, tomorrow we hit Victory Road, so we should get plenty of sleep tonight."  I suggest as I reach into my bag for my sleepwear, ducking behind a tree for privacy as Aria climbs into the tent.  A couple minutes later and I climb in too, finding her already inside one of the sleeping bags, lightly asleep.  "Good night Aria."  I whisper as I try to quietly climb into my own sleeping bag, setting my Pokeballs at the head of it as I do so.


       I lay my head down and tried to fall asleep.  I really did.  For the better part of 5 solid minutes I tried to get myself to fall asleep, but my mind kept wandering due to the lack of anything to do and keep me occupied.  It kept wandering into a place I...  Didn't want it to go.  I found my eyes wandering along the sleeping shape that was my Lucario, following her outline through the sleeping bag; listening to her cute breathing as she settles into the deep part of sleep; wanting to reach out and touch her paw, the one that was sticking out of her sleeping bag and flexing as though she were trying to grab something in her dream.


       I said get a hold of yourself.  I command as I roll over, forcing myself to stare at the wall of my tent.  What you're thinking is wrong and you know it.  You two don't belong together, now stop being a freak and go to sleep.


********************


       “Pyroar, use Hyper Beam!"  I shouted as my Pyroar was in midair above my opponent's Pokemon.  A huge orange beam of energy flew straight down from my Pyroar's mouth, down onto the opponent's Pokemon before it had any chance to react.  The explosion from the impact kicked up a large cloud of dust, and when it settled several seconds later, the Pokemon was on the ground, having fainted.


       "Woohoo, you did it!"  Aria shouted behind me as I started to celebrate my victory.


       "Aw, I lost..."  My opponent said, returning her Pokemon to its ball and paying me.  "You have a really good team, the Elite Four should be a cinch for you!"  She said to me as Aria and I continued up Victory Road.


       "I hope so!  Good match!"  I call back as I wave to her.  Aria and I then continue our climb up the mountain, having just exited a small cave system inside it.  I'll admit it, the climb up this mountain wasn't exactly easy.


       "Alright guys, let's take a breather!"  I shouted as I released all my Pokemon from their balls once we reach a small flat spot on the mountain side.  All of my Pokemon needed to stretch their legs, and Aria and I took the opportunity to apply Super Potions to any injuries they might have had.  "Can't believe we've already been climbing this thing for 2 hours."  I say as I heal a sort-of bad burn on my Leavanny's arm.  "It looks like we haven't gotten any closer to the top at all."


       "Oh don't worry about it!"  Aria says with a cheery grin as she moves from one patient to her next.  "With all the battling we've been doing, the rest of this trip will fly by, just you wait!"  She says as she turns back to her work.


       "Or it might make the whole trip last even longer."  I say under my breath, a little discouraged by how little progress we made as I turn to check on Aria's current patient; she tended to use all my healing stuff on one patient at a time, healing everything from open wounds to the smallest of bumps and bruises.  Takes a toll on finances, really.


       But of course, as soon as I turned around, all those concerns were instantly wiped away.  I could feel my face begin to flush bright red again at the sight of her, forcing myself to turn back to my last Pokemon when Aria turned to face me herself.  "What'd you say?"


       "Nothing."  I say, trying to keep my voice from sounding panicked.  I stood and moved on to my last Pokemon.  "Aria, could you pull some berries out of my bag?  I think we could all use a quick snack."


       "Sure."  She says, standing to go for my backpack.  I could tell that she was trying to sound happy and cheerful like nothing happened, but I've known Aria too long to be fooled by that: there was a note of concern in her voice, which very nearly brought my heart to a standstill for a second.  Had she seen how red my face got?  Was I too hasty in looking away?


       You're just getting paranoid.  The rational part of my brain said sternly at the thought.  Push those sick thoughts out of your head and focus on the task at hand.  If she says something about what she thought she saw, tell her she saw wrong, because there's nothing going on there.  I mentally slapped myself at that thought and forced myself to refocus on the task at hand.  All my Pokemon were handed a few Berries while I grabbed an apple after the healing was over, and when everyone was done, we all set off once again for the top of Victory Road.


        On and on we climbed, and before I even really knew it, another two hours had passed, bringing lunch time and two growling stomachs with it.  Aria, as she hates being in her Pokeball, sat with me as we both had a quick lunch, though the whole meal, as small as it was, passed without a word said between us.  The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife, even though both of us tried to keep on cheerful faces, so it wasn't long after we set off again that I started to think something was wrong.


       She's a tough girl.  My rational mind thought.  If she wanted to say something, she would've by now.  "Yeah, she would've said something by now..."  I say silently at the thought.  Luckily Aria was behind me, so she didn't see or hear what I said.


       But as we climbed the mountain side, I couldn't help but start to think that something was wrong with Aria.  She didn't celebrate as brightly when I won battles, she hardly ever spoke, she was making amateur mistakes in battle, and when I stole quick glances backward to see if she hadn't lagged behind or something, I would always catch the faintest of depressed looks on her face before she noticed and forced a wide grin to appear in it’s place.


       Before I even realized it, however, several more hours had passed and it was approaching dinnertime.  My head had been such a jumble of thoughts that the time flew by.  "Let's stop for the night."  I suggest, unslinging my backpack and starting to dig out the tent.  I was a little disappointed that we hadn't reached the top by now, that way we'd at least get to rest in a Pokemon Center for the night, but I was glad that it seemed we made it more than halfway at least.


       "Okay."  Was all Aria said as she grabbed some twigs and her flint and steel.  As she set up the sticks and struck her fire-making tool, she wasn't even trying to hide her depression this time.  It was written all over face among the focus she had to build her fire.


        Don't do it.  The voice in my said sternly as I watched.  I said there's nothing going on betwe-  Shut it.  I said back.  There's nothing between us, but she's still upset about something, and I should at least try to help her through it.  "Aria?"  I say gently once the tent was mostly pitched.  "Are...  You okay?"


       "I'm fine."  She answers with a faked grin.  "Just had a lot on my mind.  I've been trying to think through what I would do under certain situations in our upcoming battles."


       "Teaching yourself to expect the unexpected, huh?"  I ask her, not entirely convinced.  "Is something bothering you?  You looked depressed pretty much all day."


       "Luke, I think you started seeing things then."  She says with a giggle.  "Nerves been getting to you?"


       That laugh was so cute, but I could tell she was avoiding the question.  "Maybe..."  I replied with my own small laugh.  "Let’s take an hour or so to eat and strategize, then we'll hit the hay."  I suggested, throwing out all my Pokemon.  "If we keep up today's pace, we'll reach the top by early afternoon tomorrow, so we'll need plenty of rest tonight."


       Exactly one hour and 23 minutes later, everyone present, myself included, felt full both physically and mentally, so we all decided to call it a night.  I returned my Pokemon to their PokeBalls and pulled out my sleepwear while Aria climbed into her sleeping bag.  Without a word passed between us as I came into the tent myself, I settled into my sleeping bag and drifted off.


********************


       I didn't sleep through the entire night however.  I don’t know how long I was out, but I do know that I was still in the early stages of sleep when I hear a rustling outside.  Trying to avoid moving much in case it was an intruder, I turned my head just enough to see the tent flap through my barely open eyes.


       I saw the flicking tail of a Lucario, and her depression was palpable, I could feel it in her Aura.  She had unzipped the flap slowly and quietly, probably to try and avoid waking me up, and I could see her tail disappear behind the flap as she exited the tent.  Aria?  I said in my head once she had left, sitting up and trying to rub sleepiness from my eye.


       I forced myself to stand and follow her out the front of the tent, and I will admit, I wasn't prepared for what awaited me outside.  The air was cool with hardly any wind, even with as high up as we were.  There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, revealing the starlit sky in all it's glory, and the moon was full, huge and bright in the nighttime sky.  It's light being caught on the dew in the grass, making the very ground beneath me sparkle in it's light as fireflies danced the night away, little green flashes popping in and out of existence like the wisps of one's imagination.


       And sitting on a rock at the cliff, facing the moon, was Aria.  Depression very evident in her Aura, yet with a backdrop so beautiful that my so-called 'rational voice' didn't even have anything to say, I couldn't resist the urge to go forward and try to help her.  As I approached, Aria heard me and turned slightly to face me, a single eye and tear visible as she says, "Oh, hello Luke."  She wipes the tear away.  "I'm sorry if I woke you, I just couldn't sleep."


       "It's okay."  I say, resting a hand on her shoulder and sitting down next to her.  "I was only barely asleep when I heard you, so you didn't really wake me up."  I try and barely succeed in stifling a yawn.  "So, what's wrong?"


       "It's nothing."  She replies, though her tone says she's obviously not.  "I just had a lot on my mind because of tomorrow."  She stands and tries to head back to the tent, but I catch her arm before she can.


       "Aria..."  I say, keeping a gentle but firm grip on her arm.  "Even I can feel the depression in your Aura.  Whatever's bothering you isn't nothing, even someone like me can see that."  I say, and I can watch her eyes widen ever so slightly.  "I also get the feeling that it's because of something I did, so please.  Tell me what I did so I can make it right."


       Several moments of a tense silence passed; neither of us wanted to so much as move, until Aria's head dipped slightly and she closed her eyes.  "Luke...  I've seen you when you think I'm not looking."  My heart pounded to a stop.  "I've seen the looks you've given me behind my back, and I've heard some of your thoughts about me."  She looked up into my eyes and while there was a tear rolling down her face, she tried to give me a humored smile.  "I am telepathic you know, that's how I learned to speak."  I felt my heart restart again at the gesture, and I couldn't stop a small laugh from escaping my mouth.


       "So...  You've known for how long?"  I asked after a few seconds of laughter.


       "I started to suspect around Geosenge, but I've known since Shalour."  Aria answers.


       My gaze drops from her eyes in shame, and I stare at the ground as my arm goes so limp I lose my grip on her's.  "You've known how a part of me feels about you for that long..."


       "Yes."  She says quietly.


       "Then why did you never say anything...?"  I ask just as quietly.


       "I was waiting for you to say something first."  She answers, a small note of guilt entering her voice.


       I let out a small, humorless laugh as I clench a fist against the ground.  "You know I wouldn't have said anything..."  I say through my laugh.  I join my fist on the ground as I fall over, the shame I was feeling so much my body just gave out.  I slid off the rock and into a pile on the cold, hard ground.  "I'm a sad excuse for a human being..."  I say quietly, so ashamed of myself that my humorless laughter lingered into the words.


       "Luke, please not this again."  Aria pleads; this was not the first time I've fallen into a depressive slump like this.


       "Aria, I have never loved another human before."  I say, staring blankly up at the star-filled sky.  "At least, no one outside my family.  I have never felt strong emotions for another human in my life, and yet, I find myself falling for someone of a completely different species."  All traces of emotion are gone from my voice at this point.  I go to stand and head back to the tent; I didn't want to bother Aria with my personal problems any more than I already have, I was supposed to be helping her, not the other way around.  "Someone like me doesn't deserve a chance at happiness if that's what it takes to get it."  I say as I walk back towards the tent.


       I hear several quiet footsteps behind me before a strong grip grabs my shoulder and forcefully turns me on the spot.  I'm forced to turn a complete 180 so I'm facing Aria, instants before she slaps me across the face.  Hard.  I backpedal from the impact, more in shock from the pain than anything, and when I bring myself to look at Aria again, I could see a look of what could only be anger, with tears falling from both eyes.


       "Don't ever.  Let me hear you say that again."  She growls, her voice wavering.  Her Aura was a swirl of emotions, and none of them good: anger, sadness, fear, and many more, all of which are directed at me.  "Do you want to know why I never said anything?  I was waiting for you to make the first move, because I was just as scared of my own feelings as you were.  I was afraid of how you'd react if you learned that your partner loved you, even after I learned you love me too.  I was planning on telling you after we beat the Kalos League because I got tired of waiting, but then I saw you look away from me early today, and then you hardly acknowledged my existence until right now!"  Her voice was slowly rising in volume with each word, the waver in her voice becoming ever stronger as my own shame rose it with it; I was the one doing this to her.  I was the one causing her this pain.


       "Once you stopped seeing me for me and began to see me as nothing but your Pokemon again, I...  Gave up."  Aria says, her tone losing all traces of anger and instead just sounding like the voice of sadness itself.  "I thought that this was what you really wanted, so I gave up on my plans to tell you how I felt after the League and just followed your lead.  That's why I was depressed all day; I had given up on my dreams, because yours were more important to me."


       I couldn't take it anymore.  As Aria was speaking, my shame and sadness at what I was hearing continued to grow, but that last line was my breaking point.  I didn't care what my 'rational' mind wanted to say anymore; I needed to right what I wronged.  I dashed forward and threw my arms around Aria before she had a chance to react, careful of her chest spike and my face wet with my own liquid emotion as they fell onto her shoulder.  "Luke...?"  Aria asked in surprise at the gesture.


       "This is my dream."  I whispered through my sobs, my voice wavering so much I was barely understandable.  "Beating the Kalos League means nothing to me...  I just want to stay here...  Forever..."


       I could feel Aria's arm tremble at her side, and then her paws gently rested on my back; her breathing became a rapid fire series of shallow gasps as her body convulsed with her near silent sobs.  Once she had a hold of me, we both sank to our knees in each other's embrace.  "My dream...  Has always been to have the courage to say I love you, Aria."  I say, trying to keep my voice steady.  "But there was always a voice in my head that said loving you was wrong..."


       "W-What does it say now?"  Aria asks as her own sobs die down slightly.


       "Right now, all of me wants nothing more than to be by your side.  Forever."  I say, pushing away slightly so I can look Aria in the eyes again.  "You're so beautiful..."  I whisper, cupping a hand on one side of her face, which she leans into.  "I've wanted to say that for so long."  I say through a quick chuckle as my heart begins to feel infinitely lighter; I brush aside a couple stray strands of hair that had fallen into her face, and I could feel every square inch of the soft, warm fur that I touched.


       Aria begins to lean forward, closing her eyes, and I follow suit.  Soon, I feel her lips brush against mine, and I feel an electric tingle pass through my body at the touch.  I feel her tongue snaking it's way into my mouth, and the kiss becomes one of sheer passion and love as we try to keep a hold of each other, like we're afraid the other will disappear if we ever let go.  We hold the embrace for several long seconds before, finally, we have to come up for air and break it.


       "Wait here!"  I say, letting go and dashing into the tent, beginning to tear my backpack apart, looking for something.  "C'mon, where is it, where is it...  Aha!"  I find what I was looking for and I immediately dash back outside.  Aria hadn't moved, and I ran up to her.  "I-I know this isn't much, and it isn't permanent, but..."  I pull out what I had behind my back and showed it to her; a black band with a rainbow jewel set in it.  My Keystone.  Aria gasped and backed up slightly at the sight of the band, throwing both hands over her mouth.  "I figured this will do until we find something a little more permanent.  Aria, will you-"


       "Yes!"  She answers immediately, throwing both arms around me again.  She begins to happily sob into my shoulder as she keeps saying yes into it.


       "T-Thank you, Aria..."  I say.  My heart's weight has been lifted completely now, and as I unclasp the band and place it on Aria's wrist, my heart feels so light I feel I could fly.


       "It's beautiful..."  She says, admiring it in the moonlight.


       "Nowhere near as beautiful as you, though."  I say, pulling her in close so we can stare at the night sky together.  "I love you Aria."


       "I love you too, Luke."  She replies, leaning into my shoulder.  That night, when we both decided to go back to bed, we zipped our sleeping bags together so the two became one, and as we lay there, her soft, warm body pressed against mine and the moon watching over us, we fell into a peaceful slumber in each other's arms.


       That night would forever stand as my favorite night of all time; not even beating the Kalos League the next day held a candle to the happiness I felt then.  And from that day onward, I knew I had finally found a reason to keep living.  And live I shall.  For my sake.


       And hers.


Luke is me.  Is it obvious I'm desperate and lonely?  -_-

Anyway, I know this isn't Wish Granted, and I'm sorry.  However, I wanted to take a short break from that so I don't lose enthusiasm for it, and to do that I've decided to make this because I'm lonely and messed up, and I'm also gonna make at least one chapter in Life Above before I start to work on Wish Granted again.  So I'm sorry, but that one will be on hold for a short time.

Also, yes, the title is in a different language on purpose.  Kudos to anyone who can figure out what it means, but I'll give ya a hint:

It's in a language that no one knows, but most everyone on Earth speaks.
© 2016 - 2024 Blazefan3669
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wasfight17's avatar
this is so  good!