A Second Chance

Chapter 2

Yellow yawned, and stretched her arms up to the ceiling. She felt like there was something she should remember about yesterday, but her mind was still groggy from sleep. She padded softly down the stairs, got out the cereal and milk, and walked into the living room to eat. And then she remembered. 

There on the couch was Lance. Asleep, thankfully, because he might have noticed the red creeping up Yellow's face if he weren't. 

Careful not to disturb Lance, Yellow sat down at the table and poured herself some cereal. She crunched her way through two bowls of it, then sat back and sighed. Right now seemed like the perfect time to go for a walk in the forest. The cool, crisp air always helped to clear her mind. 

She left a note for Lance telling him where she had gone, and to help himself to any food in the kitchen, and then she slipped on her boots and walked softly out the door. 

Lance usually never slept in, but today was an exception. After the previous day's excitement, it took until 10:00 for Lance to drag himself from the comfort of Yellow's couch. He sat up, thought over everything that had happened yesterday, and nodded to himself. Yep, his life was shit. Nothing new there. 

He read through the note Yellow had left for him, and went to the kitchen. He ate three apples and a peanut butter sandwich, and washed it down with a glass of milk. He then slumped onto the couch and rubbed his eyes, erasing the last traces of exhaustion. 

After some consideration, Lance decided that the best thing for him to do right now would be to go assess the damage done to his house. He wrote Yellow a note that was much shorter than the one she had left him- 

Be back by sundown,

-Lance

As Lance left the house, he couldn't help but notice that Yellow had left the door unlocked. He frowned. She certainly was trusting. That would get her into trouble one day. 

Lance and his Dragonite alighted at his house soon after leaving Yellow's. Usually, the light of day would make problems seem smaller, melt away complications like mist on a river. But today, the light only revealed the full extent of damage done. 

It would take weeks to repair, if not months. At least he had money, plenty of that. There was always some evildoer no one would mind if he robbed. And so he had. Now, Lance had enough money for repairs. It helped to prepare for situations like this, just in case. 

Lance would have to get Yellow to call a contractor to fix his house. Someone might recognize him, and call the police, and Lance didn't want any more deaths on his hands. 

After gathering up all of his personal items from within the ruined house (there weren't many), Lance figured the best thing to do would be to train with his pokemon. He left his box of items at Yellow's house, and left on foot for a training cave he had discovered one day in the forest. 

Yellow's feet carried her to a part of the forest she hadn't been in for a very long time. She slipped neatly behind a waterfall, and through the hidden entrance into a large cave. A thin rift in the ceiling let in light, and a shallow stream flowed through the cave on one side. Various shelves of rock adorned the walls. 

After about an hour of training, Yellow was tired enough to stop her pokemon, and heal them. The physical energy it took to accomplish that feat left her weak on her feet, so she climbed onto the largest shelf of rock, which was covered in soft moss, and was soon deep asleep. 

Lance slipped quietly through the entrance to his training cave. The harsh sunlight from above softened as it pierced through the waterfall hiding the cave from the outside world. A long, jagged fissure ran through the ceiling of the cave, casting light onto a little creek twisting slowly through one side of the large cave. 

The soft sound of breathing made Lance start, and as he looked towards it, he noticed Yellow sleeping on his favorite mossy shelf. Her chest moved up and down as she breathed, and she looked so frail just laying there. 

Unsure of what to do now, Lance crept past her to a higher shelf of rock, and sat there, watching her sleep. 

Part of him wanted to be angry at her. This was his special cave, after all. But he knew it wasn't her fault for discovering it. 

Another part of him just wanted to sit there watching her, listening to her breath. That part won out. 

Lance didn't know how long he sat there, just staring at her sleeping form. His cold amber eyes softened as she finally sat up and blinked around her. 

"You're awake", he said quietly, so as not to startle her. 

"Lance!" she said, clearly surprised to see him there. So much for not startling her. "What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"I came to train, but I didn't want to wake you", he replied.

"Oh. . . thanks", Yellow said, her cheeks darkening slightly. She was glad the gloom in the cave hid this from Lance. She just. . . hadn't expected him to be so thoughtful, was all. Surely that was the reason she was blushing. 

"So, I guess I should get going", Yellow said, "I should give you some space to train. And I promised Blue I'd go shopping with her. . .

"Right. So, I'll see you tonight, then", Lance responded, hiding his disappointment at her exit remarkably well. 

After Yellow had left, Lance called out all his pokemon to train. They worked hard for a while, until the light from outside started to fade. Lance had Dragonite take him back to Yellow's house, enjoying the speed as the wind blew through his spiky, scarlet hair and forced tears from his amber eyes. 

What is this feeling I keep getting? Lance wondered. This feeling I get when I'm with. . . her?