Blood and Love Chapter 21
A mercenary tries to forget all the horror he's seen, all the blood, gore and sickening stuff that only a mercenary would see. He wants to find a reason to live, something to make the pain go away, he finds something more. A soulmate. A Lucario.
That wasn't the reaction Richard was hoping for; he just hoped she said it because she was surprised. "Marriage, what do you think of it?" Richard softly asked her.
Tera's eyes were completely fixated on Richard's eyes. 'Does he really want to marry me?' a voice said inside Tera's head, she hoped the answer was yes. "I... I think it's a wonderful thing. W-why do you ask?" Tera asked nervously.
Richard seriously thought about it. He reminisced on the past events that they shared, everything from their first kiss, to making love. He almost was lost in his memories for a moment, but his mind quickly snapped back to the present. Now, was the time.
She had thought about marrying Richard before, when she cuddled up to Richard she sometimes just got lost in the thoughts of what their wedding day would look like if they ever had one. Now Tera didn't fully understand what weddings were about, but they always seemed to make people happy, or at least in the movies they both watched together.
It brought Richard relief when he heard her say that she thought marriage is wonderful. He had been thinking about marrying Tera ever since the night he told her that he loves her. This eased his mind, but his heart still desired an answer to a single question. Will she marry him? He imagined her in a long flowing white wedding dress; he couldn't imagine anything more breathtakingly beautiful. He wanted to tell her another time, perhaps when he actually had a ring to give her, but the moment just felt so right. Life as a mercenary taught him some valuable life lessons, one of those was life is too short. "I ask because..." Richard tried to find the right words, but he couldn't find them. He looked into Tera's deep red eyes; they seemed to glow as more fireworks shone a silver light on her face.
She looked like a goddess in Richard's eyes, he felt like his life would be complete if that he just lives the rest of it out with her. Richard took a deep breath and got ready to find those words he looked for, and ask the question that he already knew the answer to. He continued from where he left off. "Because, there is no one in the world that I'd rather spend my life with, I just want to make you happy," Richard said as he held Tera's paw in his hand.
Tera looked at him with wide eyes, hoping that this was it. Hoping, that this was the moment that would forever officially make them soulmates in the eyes of everyone they knew. She wanted to be his, and she wanted him to be her's. She wanted everyone to know that they had a bond that could never be broken.
'Well, this is it. I'm going to ask her," he thought to himself. "Tera... Will you marry me?" Richard asked, as one drop of sweat slowly fell down his forehead. He felt so nervous, even though he bet he already knew what she was going to say.
Their hearts skipped a beat and time seemed to come to a halt. It felt like hours before Tera gave an answer, but it was really less than two seconds before she did.
Tera wrapped her arms around him and whispered into his ear. "Yes... of course I will," she replied as she held Richard tightly. Tera had dreamed about marrying Richard, and now she was one step closer to that dream.
Richard held her in his arms. He realized something at that moment, every time he thinks 'this is the happiest day of my life,' it's always because he's with Tera.
20 minutes later…
Richard and Tera were inside the house, on the couch. They had been talking about getting married, and talking about how to break the news to Ethan, Zangoose and Kiara. They were both so blissfully happy as they talked, kissed, stroked and hugged each other. This truly, was the best day of their life so far. Richard had so many reasons to be happy, he never thought he would find happiness like this. Tera was so excited to tell the others, especially Kiara and Zangoose. As she thought about talking to them about it, she heard a noise. Richard and Tera could hear Ethan's car stopping out side, they looked at each other as they heard the front door unlocking. They both stood up as they saw Ethan, Zangoose and Kiara walk in.
Ethan and Zangoose look tired but happy. Kiara looked like she really enjoyed the party, she had a big lively smile on her face.
Richard was the first to say something. "Hey, did you three enjoy the party?" Richard asked.
"Heh, it was alright. How was your night?" Ethan asked as he looked at Richard and Tera's happy faces.
Richard smiled as he answered him. "It was fantastic; in fact we have something to tell you all," Richard said while he held Tera's paw in his hand.
"Really? What's that then?" Ethan asked. In the back of his mind, he almost expected them to say Tera is pregnant. He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
Richard and Tera looked at each other before answering in unison. "We're getting married."
Kiara's expression changed from happy to amazed. She was amazed that Tera could love the human that much; she was also amazed that Tera could expect to rely on the human. Kiara had never trusted anyone that much, but she was happy for Tera and the human.
Zangoose had a big smile on her face, she knew that Tera truly loved Richard and she was happy for her. 'They look so happy together. I wonder if… Ethan and I could... Could...' Zangoose's voice in her head trailed off as she looked to Ethan. 'Do I... Am I in love with him? No, we can't be we... we're just friends... but the way he looked at me.' Zangoose wanted to know, she wanted to ask him, but she couldn't. It hurt her every second that she couldn't ask him.
Ethan had a smile on his face; he knew that this day would come. "Well congrats to the both of you! I know you'll both be very happy together," Ethan told them with both confidence and happiness. Ethan had never been to a wedding before, although he nearly did. 'Dodged a bullet there.' Ethan thought to himself as he thought back to a time that wasn't very pleasant for him. In fact, it was gut wrenching.
Tera and Richard both felt a little more confident when they heard Ethan say that. Richard knew that Ethan would be supportive; he's a damn good friend. "Thank you," Richard said.
A few minutes later, they were all sitting on the two couches, talking about what the party was like and the upcoming wedding. They were all a little sleepy, with the exception of Kiara who didn't seem to get much sleep.
Tera had noticed something; Zangoose was looking at Ethan differently. At one point, she saw Zangoose stare at him for a whole minute before she looked anywhere else, she was obviously thinking about him. Tera wondered if Zangoose felt the same way about Ethan as she did about Richard, after seeing her take another glance at Ethan the answer soon became clear to her.
20 minutes later…
Everybody got up to go to bed with the exception of Kiara who stayed on the couch.
Richard and Tera went into her bedroom again; they couldn't wait to fall asleep in each other's arms.
Ethan walked to his bedroom, Zangoose walked with him until she reached her bedroom door. "Goodnight," Ethan said politely.
Zangoose turned her head and smiled as she nodded once before she opened her bedroom door.
Ethan opened the door leading to his bedroom and closed it behind him. Ethan sat on the edge of his bed and thought about one thing, Zangoose. He noticed her looking at him a few times; he remembered her cute blushing face when he did. After Richard and Tera told them that they were going to get married, all questions of whether a relationship with Zangoose wouldn't work disappeared. 'Screw the speech barrier! We could make it work, I know we can,' his voice echoed in his head.
Ethan thought about his past relationships, they all ended badly and broke his heart a thousand times over. But, he felt like Zangoose could mend his heart. He began to think that maybe some hardships in a relationship were good, after, all everything seemed so easy in his previous relationships before they turned to shit. Zangoose was different from all the women that he had ever met, besides the fact that she is a pokemon. Ethan could not stop thinking about her furry red and white face, he could imagine touching her face, to feel her soft fur, he never thought that he would think of a pokemon this way. 'I know we can make it work,' he thought.
Zangoose lay back on her bed, thinking about Ethan. 'I want to know! I want to know if he likes me or loves me!' her voice shouted in her head, she had never been this confused and frustrated before.
Zangoose wanted to find a way to ask him, but she knew that he wouldn't understand her. She wondered if she even looked attractive to Ethan, after all, they weren't even the same species. The thought that she could look ugly to Ethan made her cry, her tears dampening the fur around her eyes.
Richard and Tera were in bed together. Tera was facing away from Richard, he had his arms wrapped around her and was gently pressing his groin against her butt. Tera slightly pressed her butt back into Richard's groin as she felt his manhood rubbing against her pussy and anus. They were both starting to get aroused. Tera's womanhood was already wet, ready for him. She just wanted to feel him inside her again. They knew that they couldn't really make love right now, mainly because of the noise they might make, but that wouldn't stop them from finding other ways to satisfy each other.
The next day…
Richard and Tera were once again happily patrolling the streets. Normally it would be boring, but they both had so much to talk about the wedding and besides, the streets were kind of peaceful. At least so far, they seemed peaceful.
Zangoose decided to stay at the house with Kiara, this was one of the few times she didn't come with Ethan. She didn't feel like going outside today, she just wanted to think. Kiara was watching the TV and pressing on the remote control with one of her front paws to skip through all the boring stuff until she found something she liked the look of, an action movie.
Ethan was at Mac's workshop. He had something to ask him, he wasn't expecting the answer he hoped for but he was still going to ask. Ethan walked into Mac's workshop and saw him toying around with something at the workbench. "Mac, I need to ask you something."
Mac turned around to face Ethan. "Oh, I wasn't expecting you. What do ya need?" Mac asked.
Ethan turned his attention to the object on the work table; it was a 9mm semi-auto pistol with a small flashlight and laser attached to it. "Guns now Mac? You're not going to start amassing an arsenal are you now?" Ethan said sarcastically.
"Heh, nope. Not yet anyway. Cleaves just paid me to make a few adjustments to his gun," Mac answered.
"Oh really? What did he ask for?" Ethan asked as he thought about what ridiculous things Cleaves might ask for.
"Nothing much, he just asked for a 'red dot thingy' and a flashlight attachment. He also asked if I could do something about his broken microwave, but I told him that I like to work on one thing at a time," Mac said. It wasn't exactly hard for him to do the things Cleaves asked for, but he liked working with guns.
"So, have you finished working on his gun?" Ethan asked as he scratched his head.
"Yep... well, nearly. I just need to tighten this last screw." Mac said as he turned to the workbench and picked up a small screwdriver to tighten the screw holding the small flashlight to the underside of the pistol. "There, now what did you want to ask me?" Mac asked as he screwed in the last bolt.
Ethan knew that even though Mac was the man to come to when it includes building highly complex stuff, even he doubted that he could make what he wanted. "I... don't suppose you could build a translator that can... Well, translate words… Could you?" Ethan asked, he was a little nervous that the answer would be 'impossible'.
"A translator? What language exactly do you need help translating?" Mac asked curiously.
"Pokemon speech," Ethan bluntly told him.
Mac looked a little puzzled. "You do know that there are scientists still working on that kind of stuff right? Even if I knew how to build something like that, the pieces and materials would probably be very expensive," he told him.
Ethan's hopes of hearing Zangoose's voice as more than whines and repeats of her name just dropped significantly. "Well... could you still try?" Ethan asked with little hope.
Mac could see the look of disappointment on Ethan's face. "I don't have the resources or manpower to work on something like that, I'm sorry," Mac said with a small frown put upon his face.
Ethan didn't know what to say, knowing that he will most likely never have a proper conversation with Zangoose. He would just have to read her actions, or have Tera act as his translator. "I... It's not your fault. I'm just going to head back to the station now," Ethan said. He tried to hold back the sadness in his voice, but a little of that still showed.
"Hey Ethan, if you see Cleaves then tell him his gun is ready!" Mac shouted over as Ethan left the workshop.
Later that day…
Richard, Tera and Ethan had finished their shift and were now back in the house. Tera was sitting on the couch with Richard when she heard Zangoose call out for her. "Tera, can I talk to you for a sec?"
Tera looked over to see Zangoose standing by the stairs. "Sure, I'll be right there." Tera replied as she got up off the couch and turned to Richard. "I'll be right back," Tera said sweetly.
Zangoose waited until Tera was close enough to whisper to. "Err, Tera. I want to ask you something... About Ethan." She began.
Tera gave a look that looked like she was raising an eyebrow. "What is it you want to ask?" she asked.
Zangoose had a nervous look on her face and she kept looking down to her paws and fidgeted with her claws. "Do you think Ethan likes me?" she asked, her eyes still concentrated on her fidgeting claws.
"Of course he does, he loves having you around," Tera said with a smile.
Zangoose had a sad look on her face. "I mean does he like me, like... Really like me?" Zangoose whispered.
Tera gave a knowing look. "You love him, don't you?" she asked.
"... Yes, but I don't know if he feels the same way about me... And I can't ask him," Zangoose answered with a faint frown.
Tera looked at Zangoose's face, she looked upset. Tera wanted to cheer her up; she always helped her friends when they were upset about something. "Hey, remember when I asked you if you thought Richard liked me?" Tera asked.
Zangoose nodded. "I remember... So, do you think Ethan likes me?" Zangoose asked, her hopes were raised a little.
Tera gave a grin and replied, "I think he does," Tera said, remembering the exact words that Zangoose told her.
Richard was watching some action movie that Kiara picked out. He had to admit, and she had good taste in films. They were watching soldiers lobbing grenades into doorways and windows and then taking out the slavers inside. The film was based on a real battle that happened about four years ago on some island between Kanto's armed forces and Silas' private army. The film followed a group of soldiers that were sent in with the first wave, it was produced really well, plenty of action and emotional scenes between dying soldiers, lots of gore and a solid story line. The soldiers in the film had just been given the order to pull out when they realized that the slavers tactics were too good and unpredictable, that's when Ethan sat besides Richard. Richard looked at Ethan's face; he couldn't remember him looking as depressed as he did now. "Something wrong?" Richard asked.
Ethan turned his head towards Richard; he knew that if anyone could understand his situation, it would be him. "Yeah, I... I just don't know what to do," Ethan grumbled.
Richard wasn't sure what he was talking about or if he even wanted to talk about it. "Do you want to talk about it?" Richard asked.
Ethan was hoping he would say that. "Yeah, follow me." Ethan said as he got up off the couch and made his way over to the kitchen so they wouldn't be overheard. Richard and Ethan now stood inside the kitchen. "Alright, here's the problem... I think I'm in love with Zangoose." Ethan said, he felt good saying it to someone other than himself.
"You think you're in love, or do you know?" Richard asked.
"... I know," Ethan said as he down to the floor.
Richard smiled but that smile quickly disappeared. "So what's the problem then?" he questioned.
Ethan let out a sigh as he looked back to Richard. "I was getting to that... How am I supposed to know that she likes me that way if I can't even hear what she's trying to say to me?"
Richard wanted to help Ethan, and he knew that Ethan must want his help. "Ethan, sometimes nothing needs to be said to get how you feel across. You just need to show it," Richard said, hoping it would put Ethan in a better mood.
When Ethan heard Richard say that, he remembered all the times that Zangoose glanced over to him and stared at him with those big pink eyes. He imagined kissing Zangoose's lips; it pained him to think that may not happen just because of the communication barrier. "Yeah, your right." Ethan admitted.
"So what are you going to do about it? Are you going to tell her?" Richard asked in an encouraging tone.
Ethan smiled as he thought about telling her. "Yeah, I will... But I just don't know when," he stated.
Later that day…
It was dark; Richard and Tera were standing outside in the forest. Richard was covered in dirt and Tera's fur was all messed up from the sparring match they were now engaged in.
Tera panted as she raised her paws to make up a fighting stance. "I'm going to beat you this time Richard!" She exclaimed as she tried to sound intimidating.
Richard smiled, no matter how she felt she always sounded so cute. "Hah, keep dreaming Tera!" Richard laughed right before he threw his fist at her.
Tera caught his fist with her paw and gave him a punch to the stomach.
Richard held his stomach with the other hand, he then felt his arm being yanked forwards and before he knew it, he was being tossed over Tera's shoulder. He landed on the grassy ground on his back.
Richard lay on the ground as Tera walked over to him and extended her paw for him. Richard held her paw and was pulled up by her as he pushed himself off the ground. "How did you do that?" Richard asked, he didn't think that she had the strength to lift him off the ground but he guessed he should have known better by now.
"It was easy; do you want me to show you again?" Tera teased.
"No, no! You win already!" Richard exclaimed with a chuckle.
Tera giggled a little before remembering something she wanted to ask him, "Do you know if Ethan likes Zangoose?"
Richard was an intrigued as to why she asked but answered anyway. "He does, why do you ask?" Richard replied with a question.
Tera gave a little smirk before answering. "Zangoose told me she likes Ethan," she told him.
Richard was glad to hear it. "I always did think that they would make a great couple," Richard said with a smile.
"So did I," Tera said with a pretty smile on her face.
Richard looked to his watch, it was getting very late. "We should probably get going back to the house," Richard said. They were only about two or three minutes away from the house so it wouldn't be much of a nuisance walking back.
"Okay then, its starting to get cold anyway." Tera held Richard's hand in her paw and walked with him back to the house. The temperature dropped very quickly.
Ethan, Zangoose and Kiara were sat on the couches, watching TV and eating when Tera and Richard walked through the door. "Hey, who won this time?" Ethan asked, he kind of saw himself as the score keeper.
"Me!" Tera happily exclaimed.
Ethan let out a chuckle, "was it just luck again this time Richard?"
"Not this time, she's getting better," Richard admitted with a small smile.
1 hour later…
Zangoose, Tera and Kiara were still watching something on TV while sitting on the couch. Richard and Ethan were both in the kitchen; Ethan was looking around in the fridge for a beer.
Richard had brought him here because he wanted to tell him about something. "Tera told me something about Zangoose that you might be interested to hear." Richard said with a smirk.
Ethan stopped looking for a beer and immediately turned to Richard. "What did she say?" Ethan asked almost instantly.
"She said that Zangoose likes you." Richard replied.
Ethan knew that she liked him before but hearing it confirmed by somebody else but he made his confidence to actually tell her, grow a little. "Thanks for telling me, you want a beer too?" Ethan casually asked as he went back to looking for a beer in the fridge.
"Yeah, sure." Richard replied before Ethan tossed over a nice cool beer his way which he then caught.
Later that night…
Richard and Tera were now in bed together again, they looked into each other's admiring eyes.
Part of Richard still couldn't believe that he was actually going to get married. Before he met Tera, he never thought that he could ever lead a happy life. "You're so beautiful; I can't believe that I'm really this lucky," Richard said as he stroked the back of her head.
Richard always made Tera feel special, safe and loved. Tera loved everything about him. "I'm so glad I met you. I couldn't imagine living without you," Tera told him. She meant every word she said. Tera stroked the side of Richard's face, feeling his warm skin on her paw.
He couldn't think of a better place to be right now, lying in bed with Tera was always the best part of the day for Richard. Then Richard's mind suddenly went to Ethan and Zangoose, he hoped that they could be happy as he and Tera are right now. However, all his thoughts were suddenly drowned out when he felt Tera's lips on his own.
Zangoose shifted about in her bed, she couldn't stop thinking about Ethan. Tera had told her that Richard said that Ethan likes her, which gave her a little bit of hope. Every time she looked over to Richard and Tera, she always thought, 'could that be me and Ethan in the future?' She knew that she couldn't speak to him so there would only be one way to tell him, through her actions. She eventually got some sleep, dreaming about her and Ethan, kissing and telling each other, 'I love you.' If only Ethan could understand the Zangoose.
Ethan lay on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He wanted to tell Zangoose how he felt, but he was just too scared to. He was afraid he was wrong about her, and he was afraid that she didn't like him in that way... But Richard seemed sure she did. He knew the real reason why he was afraid, he was afraid that he'll get his heart broken again, and he couldn't take one more heart breaking. He thought about how painful it felt, like a piece of him was missing, he never felt complete after that. Ethan really hoped that Zangoose was different, he wanted to love again, but he was afraid of the pain. There was only one way to find out.
Author's note: I really wanna thank Infinity Warrior for adding to this story, even the smallest details can make a big change and Warrior just made a massive change :D ** Also wanna thank Hironada for the use of his awesome character (Kiara) and also for the time he spent going through this and checking for any errors. ***And another thanks to you guys, the readers. You're awesome!*
Once again, I have came back to an older chapter to clean it up. Fixed a few mistakes and cleaned it up a bit!