[PRP] Baby Steps

[Thaliawen]

"But nothing will happen," Noah said. He would make sure it didn't. Dea was so incredibly special, and he'd thought so long before he'd known about her ability. It was as if he could look into her heart. "Right," he muttered. "I won't let them take you." He trusted Paian, Kimi and Eilam, but he didn't know her other pokemon nearly as well.

There was that cowardly pink one, and then there was that loud mouth yellow one... The little gray girl was adorable, but... It wasn't easy, getting to know everyone.  

[Dea and #Teddy#]

"Trust me, we will all make sure that nothing happens to me, don't worry. I don't plan on letting them get me very easily. May just have Light shock some sense into them, if they try. She would be glad to do it, you know how she tends to be. And Lucy may seem calm, but she wouldn't allow it either,"she nodded in assurance. Honestly, any of her Pokemon would come to bat, they were that protective of her.  

[Thaliawen]

Shock sense into them. Ha. Teamrocket had no sense. The grunts were ignorant and the others were heartless. A jolt from Light wouldn’t stop them. If pokemon could, he knew he never would have been caught. His Pokémon had always been just as powerful as Dea’s. “You’d be risking their lives unnecessarily,” he muttered. “Please, don’t. The grunts are easily fooled. But not the people who took me. Not the ones who did those things to my Pokémon...” he couldn’t say killed. Not yet. It would be accepting it as real.

“Let me handle it, should they come.”  

[Dea and #Teddy#]

"No, I refuse to let you get hurt because of me again, Noah. You lost so much, I can't..I won't let you do it again. And honey, you have to remember that they got themselves out of Team Rocket's clutches when they took Eilam and Lucy. Granted, they had help, but that place was destroyed. We can handle it, if they try again,"she spoke.  

[Thaliawen]

Noah hesitated. He hated to think about Dea suffering because of him. She was so special to him, what if something happened to her beloved Pokémon? They weren’t Pokémon anymore. They were children, although as Paian had insisted, some of them were adults. “I had to protect you,” he said. He swallowed. “I had to. At any cost.”

But it didn’t seem like she was going to allow him to do that this time. He leaned forward and moved to nuzzle her cheek. “I love you,” he said.  

[Dea and #Teddy#]

"I know and you really did keep me safe, love. However, I can't lose you again, it is just so scary thinking about what I didn't even remember. I love you too much, I don't think I would be able to keep going if I lost you again. I do not want to lose any more family or friends,"she told him quietly.  

[Thaliawen]

And he couldn’t take her memories of him away again. It had been cruel, but it had been the only way to ensure her safety. “I don’t think I could keep going if I lost you again, either,” he said, and kissed her hair. “You kept me going the entire time Team Rocket had me. The thought of you. I was delirious by the end.”  

[Dea and #Teddy#]

"You really thought about me the whole three years were gone, love? That is a long time to do so..and here I didn't even remember you existed. It makes me kind of sad that I kept you alive all that time and I can't say the same. Though, I will say I love you sooo much,"she spoke.  

[Thaliawen]

“Thinking of you kept me going,” Noah said. “I had to think of you. Somedays I wished I could forget, so I wouldn’t be a risk to you. I knew if I gave up your location, they would do worse to you.” He swallowed and looked away. “That was only supposed to be for a week,” he murmured. “I’m so sorry.”

He’d stolen those memories from her to protect her. Everyone had thought he was dead, but if Dea had remembered him, he felt she would have known better. “I love you.”  

[Dea and #Teddy#]

"You didn't give away my location though, dear. Granted, I am sure they knew where I was, if they wanted to try. I know they did sneak in the yard at one point, but were stopped. And I know it was only supposed to be a week, unfortunately..you know how the best laid plans go sometimes. I am just glad thoughts of you kept you alive, so you could come home to me,"she told him.  

[Thaliawen]

They had known where she was even after all the effort he’d put into making sure they didn’t? Had his mission been worth it? He should have been by her side, protecting her! He hated this! His hand clenched onto a corner of the picnic blanket. His knuckles went white.

“I should’ve never left,” he muttered.  

[Dea and #Teddy#]

Dea looked over and saw how white his knuckles were getting on the edge of the blanket. She reached over and took ahold of his hand, to get him to stop worrying himself.

"You didn't know they would have figured it out, dear. Stop kicking yourself for the what ifs,"she spoke gently.  

[Thaliawen]

Stop kicking himself? But he was supposed to have protected her! He’d been chained for three years—Dea had been alone for three years—for nothing. He took several calming breaths before turning and hugging her tightly. He loved her so much. How could he have left her?

The weight of that hit his shoulder like bricks. He hated the feeling.  

[Dea and #Teddy#]

Dea wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. She ran a hand through his hair, knowing he was going through a lot of mental turmoil. It would take him time, but she was here for him.  

[Thaliawen]

“I cpuld have been with you all that time,” he muttered into her shoulder. He held onto her tightly, almost as if he was afraid to let go. “We could have been happy. We could have had children.”

He had to make this right. He couldn’t travel back in time and change the past, but he wouldn’t leave her again.