Quest for Life, Part 1 ( A Pokémon Story)

Chapter 30: An Awkward Confession

(Caius)

Kathrin led me to a place behind a few trees in case someone tried to eavesdrop for whatever reason. We stopped when Kathrin felt sure enough that no one was watching.

"So, what is this all about?" I asked.

"I meant to ask you yesterday, but it looked like you were having an off day." Kathrin mentioned. I sighed.

"More or less." I vaguely said. "Just long and eventful."

"But I discovered this while I had Ayah with me in the air." Kathrin said. "It wouldn't have bothered me if Ayah hadn't said that she had made it." I looked at Kathrin confused for a second.

"What did she make?" I asked.

"Well, while I was assigned to help monitor things on the north-east section of Adom, I came across this little flower patch." I raised an eyebrow.

"And what made this flower patch so interesting?" I questioned.

"Well, I thought it was someone else who had done this, but then Ayah told me she did it. She also mentioned that you didn't like it when she told Sarah about some kind of thing?" I looked at her confused for a second, then something started to come back from the back of my mind. "It was some red flowers in the shape of a heart. There were the letters S, C, and A in them." The memory came flooding back. I tensed up and could start to feel myself blush. I put pressure to my teeth to keep the blushing from becoming visible. "Would you know what this means? Because according to Ayah, she said that you knew." I uncomfortably scratched the back of my head, not really knowing how to explain this. I was pinned against a wall on this one. There was no getting out of it. I doubt Taylor is going to come out of nowhere and save me this time.

"Yeah, I know what it means." I replied nervously. I gave a little pause, trying to figure out how to put this gently.

"Would you care to explain? Because this has me confused, and I have a feeling I know what it means."

"Well..." I chuckled, then gave a sigh as I sat down. "Who am I kidding? Alright." I took a deep breath as I began to explain. "So, I'm going to try and explain this the best way I can without making it sound hurtful." Kathrin looked at me in confusion.

"Making what sound hurtful?" I put my claw to my forehead, trying to get a straight train of thought.

"Listen, Kathrin, those flowers that you saw a couple of days ago, that was Ayah that did it." I said. "Now that I think about it, she more or less did it to give me that push."

"What push? You're not making any sense Caius."

"Just hold on a minute." I said. "I'm trying to pick my words here carefully." I thought about what I was going to say next carefully. "The letters in that heart stand for me, Ayah, and Sarah."

"I figured the A stood for Ayah." Kathrin said. "But why are you so nervous about telling me this?" I spun my fingers in a circle awkwardly.

"Well, the thing is, I really appreciate everything you've done for me." I said. "And I get that you have some strong feelings towards me." Kathrin gave a look of concern towards me.

"Of course I care about you, we've been through so much as is." Kathrin said.

"Yes, I know, and I really enjoyed what you've done for me." I said. "Especially back in Ai, but the thing is..." I gulped as I mustered up the courage. "Sarah and I have kind of been dating for over twelve years now." I saw Kathrin's eyes go wide. I started to blush and feel guilt inside my chest. "I meant to tell you earlier, but I could just never find the time to tell you, and when I did, I couldn't find a way to put it gently." A few minutes of silence followed my sentence. Kathrin spoke up.