Heliotrope

Chapter 5: Lemon Balm

Kalosian air. I knew where we were. Getting off of a plane to Lumiose City was an amazing feeling. The noises, the scents, the familiar climate brushing against my hopeful skin. Yes, this was Kalos, there was no doubt about it. This was Kalos and this was my bread and butter. Where I was born and raised. I had my new home, and my heart was definetly there, but Kalos was where my soul was.

Ash's fingertips brushed against mine as we left the airport. I noticed him stumbling and I chuckled. "Feelin' a little jetlagged?"

"Yeah," he scratched the back if his head, "you could say that."

"Cheer up!" I pecked him on the cheek. "It's Clemont's birthday in two days! We're gonna see him and Bonnie!"

"Well yeah, I'm pretty fuckin' pumped about that, Serena."

"See, I knew it!"

The inside of the cab was stuffy and the driver was a pertrudingly quiet fellow who didn't put the windows down or the air-con on. Ash and I sat there sweating.

Even if I did feel terrible, it couldn't distract from how at home I was suddenly beginning to feel. I knew I wasn't a Lumiose native like Clemont, but this was the city that filled the dreams of little girls as far as Johto to Alola. This was a city where light, kindness and love could prosper. During the day, it was upbeat and lively. When the sun began to set, it was romantic, scenic and heavenly. Not everyone might have admitted it, but everyone dreamed of a moody Lumiose love affair, with dashing gentlemen and stealing cups of coffee. It was hard to not fall under the spell of this place all over, again.

Thankfully, the drive to Lumiose Tower wasn't a long one. The boiling trek drew to a thankful finish and we pulled our suitcases out of the trunk. "Thank heavens!" I stretched my back as Ash payed the driver.

I can vividly remember, for some reason it just stands out to me, running down the street in my heels. The noise they made thundering through the busy afternoon, the wheels on my case ready to drop off, and my husband chasing after me miles behind. I reached the tower and stopped. I breathed in. I breathed out. I smiled. I looked at Ash. He was as warm as the day, tan skin and melting Hägendaz eyes. We both laughed, which was probably a bad idea considering we were trying to regain our breath, not lose it again. But it all came so naturally.

Then Clemont was stood outside. "Clemont!" I squealed and gave him a hug, which I ensured, wasn't as long as the last one we had shared. He looked so mature. He had gotten so perplexingly attractive, his eyes were so different to Ash's. They weren't money brown, they were blue like the sky above. His features were striking, his jawline was so sharp it could could cut a cake and he was clean-shaven. Ash just kept his facial hair stubbly and it tickled my cheeks when we kissed.

"Clemont!" Ash made sure to give him a very woah-no-homo-man slap on the shoulder and the younger man, being the awkward fellow he is, just sort of shrugged, laughed and adjusted his glasses. "Happy birthday!"

"Thank-you." Clemont coughed into his hand. "But not quite until Thursday, I'm afraid."

"Still a kid until then, huh?" Ash seemed overly cheerful.

"Yeah..." Clemont, on the other hand, lacked enthusiasm.

We went inside the tower and took the escalator to the top floors, above the gym, where Clemont and his little sister lived. Clemont had moved out of his family's grand house around two years ago, and Bonnie, being the giddy preteen she was at that point, insisted on joining him. She was seldom there these days. Clemont lived in a lavish penthouse though, which he had designed and payed to be built himself.

We dumped our bags right in the middle of the lounge and instead of unpacking, marveled at the home around us. With its clean, white colour scheme, Modern Kalosian décor and breath-taking view of the entire city, this was the type of place Ash and I could never dream of owning. Clemont had money, and a lot of it. We didn't, at all.

"This is so amazing!" Ash smiled like a kid, again.

"Thanks." Clemont grinned, clearly proud of his architectural masterpiece.

"But Clemont," I watched my husband's face fall, "where's Bonnie?"

You could tell Clemont was a little hurt, but he tried to play it off as he didn't care. He spat out the truth with a fake smile. You could tell he wasn't happy. "Oh! She's in Sinnoh, she called me yesterday and said she wouldn't miss it for the world and that she'll be back as soon as possible."

I gave him a sympathetic "She's a good kid, Clemont."

To which he responded simply with, "Yeah."

When the evening arrived, and that same wonderful, starry cloak fell over Kalos, coating Lumiose in a dark blue glow, Ash beamed. "What are we waiting for? Let's go out!"

And we did. Our trio felt fourteen, again. Innocent and free. It was almost like nothing was tying us down, no commitments or cares. Almost. This care-free, child-like feeling was only exaggerated when we wondered to the ice cream parlour, Glaces Effrontés. It was a magical place, with a huge waterfall in the room where fourty different exotic flavours hugged its corners. "My treat! We can even go in the lounge, I'll cover it, don't worry." Clemont offered.

"Are you sure?" Ash checked.

Clemont was calm, unlike my husband and I. "Of course, get as much as you like, don't worry about it."

Ash obviously ordered next-to-everything that was offered and some rather odd  combinations ensued. There were peanut butter and bubblegum, oreos and pistachio and orange and nutella, to name a few. Clemont laughed but didn't mind. He just got three scoops of lemon sorbet and I got one of strawberry and two of hazelnut.

Not long after, Clemont got a ticket to the lounge, which was four floors high. We sat eating our sweet, icy treats and later on in the night, drinking wine (which we had just had to order a bottle of) until we got that pleasant, warm feeling in our bellies. We were all friends. Nothing would ever break up our friendship, I was certain of it. I stared out at the busy street below us, and I imagined Bonnie down there, as odd as it was. It was probably because I had been expecting to see the fourteen year old, and was a little bit let down when she wasn't there.

I pictured her in a beautiful black dress and her signature heels that I knew she loved so much. She would walk hand in hand with a boy. But who that boy would turn out to be, only time could tell. I hoped he would be good to her. The type of boy that gives her his hoodies and leaves texts for her to read in the morning. I hoped he would never hurt her or leave her crying, because none of the people in my life at that point would ever deserve that. None at all.

Clemont was a giggly, light drunk. Ash was a heavy, hurly-burly, loud type of one. The two men sat by me contrasted so much. It was complimentary, though. One with eyes as dark as the night sky through the huge windows, the other as light and free as day.