Nifa stared up at the sky, laying on his back in the middle of a clearing. He could hear Celebi's breathing next to him, probably in the same position as him, back on the ground, eyes staring skyward. "Nifa?" Celebi asked. "What's up, Bi?" "How are we gonna get into the temple without getting you caught?" She asked. Nifa smiled. "We don't. We'll stride through town, and when people see the legend Celebi, they'll assume i'm someone else. After all, what would a legend be doing with a lowlife like me?" "Falling in love?" Celebi whispered to herself, not loud enough for Nifa to make out, reigniting her blush. "Having fun?" Celebi said. "Doesn't matter." Nifa said. "Even if someone does recognize me somehow-" "There's only one grovyle with a spiral branded over thier right eye." Celebi interjected. "Somehow," Nifa continued, unperturbed. "I'll just vanish." Celebi was quiet for a moment, and then said. "Nifa, why do you stay with me?" "You should never ask those kinds of questions of people. You might get a responce you don't like." Nifa said. "But in this case, i will answer you. I swore to protect you. And that oath has turned a little bit more personal than it was when i swore it to you." Celebi thought on this, before bouncing up, and landing on Nifa's chest, managing the same eagle spread pose as him, so they looked like a part of a poorly constructed pyramid. "Thank you Nifa." Celebi said. "It was, has been, and will be my pleasure." Nifa said. "And thank you, for putting up with me." Celebi laughed at that. "Putting up with you? Thank you for putting up with me." She said. "I know i am way more annoying than i like to think." Nifa chuckled. "And i know i am more irritable than i would like to think." He said. "So we both put up with each other." "Nifa?" Celebi said a few moments later. "Mm?" Nifa responded, already falling asleep. "Don't go anywhere, alright?" "Mmm hmm." Nifa managed to say, before fully falling asleep. Celebi sighed, but was lulled to sleep by Nifa's steady breathing.
Nifa crested yet another ridge, with Celebi flying behind him, zipping around to look at everything from trees to holes in the ground. Nifa sighed, stopping to catch his breath. Celebi, in her excitement, had forgoten the fact that he, unlike her, could not fly, and the grueling pace they had started at had talen its toll on Nifa. It didn't help that it was freezing, of course. Nifa closed his eyes, breathing heavily, and started off again. "Nifa!" Someone called. "What, Bi?" Nifa said, expecting it to be her. "Nifa, nice to see another being out here." Said someone entirely different. Nifa turned to see a combusken, slightly taller than he. An old friend, an old flame, pardon the pun. Celebi zoomed down to examine the new pokemon, asking. "Who are you?" Flicker said. "Flicker, at your service." She bowed. "An old friend of Nifa." Celebi paused for a moment, glancing between the two of them. "Oh, okay." She said. Nifa closed his eyes, aware of how painfully awkward the next few moments, hours, days would be, dictated by how long it took for him to get rid of Flicker. When he was younger, he had liked her, but now, after growing up in the world, he was pretty sure they would never work out, unless she had changed dramatically. "You headed to Snowpoint?" Flicker asked. "The lake first, but after that, yes, the city. I'm taking her to the temple." Nifa said. Flicker narrowed her eyes at him. "But your branded." She said, causing him, instinctively, to turn the side of his head that was marked by a spiraling burn. "And?" Nifa asked. "And you'll get yourself caught. You used to tell me to never do anything stupidly risky, and this seems to qualify." Celebi pipped up. "I can protect him if he gets recognized." Flicker gave her a scornful look. "I don't think he needs you to help him." She said, and in a lower, but not low enough for Nifa to miss it, added. "Not that it would be much help." Nifa ground his teeth, fuming silently. Celebi fumed a little less silently.
"Really, he doesn't need the help of a legend?" Celebi nearly growled, which was as close as she had ever come to growling. She made herself glow enough to be, she hoped, impresive. "He's gotten by fine with just me." Flicker said. Nifa shook his head, sighing. He really didn't want this. "Yeah, well, haven't seen you with him for the past four years." Celebi said. "Or seen you hiding him from the plethora of bounty hunters and rangers that come after him." Flicker did growl. "He doesn't need anyone to hide him. He survived without you before, and will again." She snapped. "Again? What, don't want to hear him chose me over you, so your making the choice for him?" Celebi asked, voice laced with venom. And that's when they both turned to Nifa. "Oh, come on." Nifa lamented. "I don't want to deal with this." He sighed. "Flicker, you can come with us as far as Snowpoint, then we split, then everyones happy." Flicker shook her head. "I want to pull of a hiest later this spring. I want you in on it, but i want you in on it now." She said. "Take this little runt to the lake and then we can leave." "Thank you." Nifa said. "For making this choice easier." He reached out to Celebi, who put her comparatively tiny hand in his, smiling, and yes, blushing. "Screw off, Flicker." Flicker shot daggers at him, growling out. "You had best think carefully on this. I will not take you in when you come crawling back to me." Nifa glared back at her, with Celebi now sitting on his shoulder. "There's a reason i chose Delphi over you." He said, smiling at her nomentart shock and anger as he threw an old bit of the past at her. "And its the same reason i would chose Celebi here over both of you. She is an optimistic, sweet legend. And the pair of you are self serving idiots who can't see beyond their own noses." Nifa turned from her, striding up the nearest hill, and down the other side so that the group of them didn't have to camp together. "Thank you." Celebi said quietly. "That must have been hard." "On the contrary, it was easy." Nora said.
