Chapter Seven

The sunset’s auburn glow was quite magical in the late afternoon, and as the large globe of red oozed slowly into the horizon, waves of soft oranges and purples cascaded against the calm and clear sky overhead. The sun-kissed silhouettes of two people and one small creature not far behind moved quietly against the darkened scenery.

Brock led Marian gently to an area not far from the patio of the small house. As he walked, he couldn’t help but look at her soft dark curls of hair that soaked up the crimson sun’s rays and reflected a beautiful, almost heavenly glow. He took a deep breath in and smelled her perfume, a small mix of forest flowers and plumage that smelled like the sweetest scent he had ever experienced. The whole moment was so wonderful for him that he almost fell down as he walked with her, but her gentle grip on his hand somehow steadied him, and they contiuned to move toward the setting that he had prepared.

"It was really very nice of you to do all this for me, Brock" Marian said softly. She turned and looked upwards at him as they stepped along. Her smile brightened her entire face, and he made a goofy grin and was unable to say anything more than "i-it was nothing… nothing at all."

As they turned the corner of the house, Marian’s eyes widened, and she smiled as she looked at what Brock had made. The patio was covered with flower petals that trembled softly in the early evening breeze, and small lines of twine that Brock has stored in his pack were strung along the trees and connected to the house in a subtle zig-zag pattern. Entwined onto each line were tulips and trumpet flowers, bright and beautiful bulbs of color, pointing downwards to the small table that was elegantly set, with a rose in one of the glasses.

"It’s so… beautiful, Brock," Marian said, eyes slighlty watery. "No one has ever done such a nice thing for me before in my entire life."

Brock smiled and motioned for her to sit in the seat that had the delicate rose placed in the glass. He pulled out the chair for her, and as she sat down, he thought aloud, "I can’t believe that. Such a radiant lady should always be showered with flowers." He blushed as he said the last sentence, but she knew that he honestly meant it.

He took a seat across from her, and looked quickly at the covered dish in front of them. His hand trembled as he reached for the handle of the lid of the dish.

"I made a special dish for you," he said slowly. "It’s something I haven’t made for a long… long time." He raised the lid and before Marian’s eyes was a heavenly smelling chicken that was sauteéd in a honey and soy marinade. The large dish was garnished with tropical flowers, and the steam that rose from the meal wafted into a soft mist above their heads. Marian looked at Brock, speechless.

"Brock, it looks so… wonderful," she said, her brown eyes shimmering in the failing sunlight. "Wherever did you learn to make such a thing?"

Brock paused for a moment, his eyes faltering, and then staring firmly at her. "I had only made this dish for a very special woman, a very long time ago. She always loved it, and I always loved cooking it for her." At that moment, his eyes glistened with water, but then they reverted to their natural state.

"A special woman?" Marian repeated slowly. "Was she a first love?"

Brock shook his head, smiling slowly. "No, I had cooked this dish… for my mother. Before she had passed away." He noticed Marian’s face fall at that word, and he quickly assured her, "no, don’t feel bad. I like preparing this dish… for those who are special to me… I never had a ‘first love,’ not before, anyway."

Sensing that he was delving too deeply into himself, Brock cleared his throat and took out a pair of serving utensils and placed a serving of the chicken and a small trumpted flower onto Marian’s plate before serving himself.

As they ate, Marian could taste something special about the meal. It was more than just a well prepared dish. It was something more. She could taste all of his emotion and all of his soul that had gone into making that chicken just right for her. She imagined that he had probably been thinking of his mother when he had made it, but that he had been thinking of her as well. She blushed at the thought, and Brock caught her gaze as she did.

"You’re an amazing cook," she replied, beaming. "I’ve never tasted something that someone has put so much spirit into making. It’s… unexplainable how good this is."

Brock smiled. "Thank you. That means a lot to me… When I cook, usually the best dishes seem to make themselves. All I have to do is be motivated enough to make them the best that I can. It wasn’t very difficult this time to find the motivation I needed." His face grew red, but his gaze remained on her.

*****

Meanwhile, mischievious Oddish was underneath the table, listening to the entire conversation! It was getting very excited, delighted that Marian had finally found someone that liked her as much as she liked them. Oddish sensed something very special about Brock and Marian’s bond, and it began hopping up and down, gleeful and happy for both people. Unfortunately, it was a little too excited. As it landed from an unstable hop of glee, it bumped its head roughly into Brock’s knee. Brock almost jumped straight up, but managed to only cause a spastic movement. He looked over at Marian, who was looking at her food at the moment, and thought that it had been her kicking him in the knee. The thought of such a flirtatious move caused his face to break out into a fuschia red hue, and he felt very light-headed.

Oddish, reliazing a bit too late of what he had done, tried backing away from Brock’s leg, only to bump into Marian’s leg! Marian, who didn’t realize that a little radish was underneath the table accidentally causing trouble, looked over at the red faced Brock and thought to herself, did he do that?? I-Is he flirting with me? What should I do? Marian also proceeded to turn red, and the two looked at each other uncertainly.

For a moment, they moved closer, aware that they were both blushing uncontrollably at each other. They looked deep into each other’s eyes. Brock saw Marian’s deep brown pools of dark amber looking back at him, and Marian saw his small, yet kind, brown eyes looking at her with a glow she had not noticed before.

Oddish, fearful of what he had done, could not see what was going on above him, being undeneath the table the whole time. It thought that something bad had happened, so it decided to take action!

Just as Brock and Marian were moving their heads closer to one another, feeling an inevitable action fast approaching…

"ODDISH!" Oddish yelled, hopping onto the table quickly. The two stopped, and looked at Oddish quizzically. They then looked back at each other and then back at the pokemon. Their eyes widened and they exclaimed at the same time-

"It was Oddish that kicked you?" They glanced at each other, embarrassed. Oddish’s face went red as it realized that it had spoiled something important. Brock, snapping out of his love-struck craziness, shook his head quickly and said in a very fast tone, "w-well, I thought it was too weird to be true!" he said, laughing fakely. Marian giggled, and she looked up, noticing that the darkness had come, and the light in the sky was fading fast. Brock glanced upwards and saw the night time approaching as well.

He sighed. "Well, I guess that’s the end of it, then." He put the plates together and stacked them up neatly. He looked again at Marian. "Thank you for letting me do that," he said, grinning.

"No, Brock, thank you. This has been the most wonderful evening of my life! I’ll never forget it." She smiled, and she got up from her chair. As Brock put away the dishes, she made a small tsk-tsk movement with her finger at Oddish, but she laughed a little. When Brock came back, he looked tired from the work of preparing the entire evening. Marian walked up to him and, without warning, gave him a small peck on the cheek. Hi face flew into a red-orange craze, and he wobbled on his feet for a moment before stopping and pinching himself. But it wasn’t a dream, because it still hurt.

"That’s my small thank-you to you Brock," she said, smiling, "for a night I’ll never forget." She picked up Oddish and began walking slowly towards her room for the night. Before leaving she turned back and gazed at Brock, who grinned stupidly in response.

"Good night, Brock," she said softly.

Once she was gone, he jumped up and yelled out "YES!!!!!" He had done it! He knew he had finally found that special someone! He calmed down a bit and decided that the faster he went to bed, perhaps the faster he would dream of her. He was sure that this date would stop his nightmare, and he was so happy that he wanted to run and scream out her name into the night. But instead, he kept his cool and began walking to his own room.

Just then, an aching pain ripped through his temples and went to the part of his head where he had taken off the bandage. The pain was sharp, and it was a horrifying, familiar pain. No! No, this can’t be! He thought frantically. This only happens during the nightmare! It’s not supposed to happen in real life!!! NO! He grabbed his head, and the pain dragged him to his knees. Gasping, he fought it desperately, and little by little, the sharp agony subsided. After it had gone, he felt weak, but he forced himself to stand up, and walk to his bed. He was visibly shaken, and he held the side of his head in fear that it would happen again. Thank god Marian hadn’t seen that, he thought to himself. I wouldn’t want to worry her about me… I-I just need some rest, that’s all… yes… rest…

But Brock wasn’t alone. Behind the wall of the house, Marian had seen the whole thing.

She held Oddish in her arms, and her kind eyes grew sad and afraid for Brock. That scene was very familiar to her as well.