Welcome Home

I didn't expect...

Neither of us did.

Yes, neither of us, sorry. Neither of us... could expect how happy we were to be back. I mean, Grovyle and I had had to convince Chlora to even go back-

With good reason. None of us knew what to expect. For all we knew Dusknoir might have come back and turned them against us.

But he didn't.

No, he didn't...

And though we had to convince the Guild we were telling the truth, it was worth it in the end.

When Chatot kept telling us we had a bad dream, I didn't know what to say, what to tell him. I'm so glad the others stood up for us. Bidoof, Sunflora, even Dugtrio, who didn't believe us at first.

And we had all of their unconditional support in the end. It just reminded me-

Reminded us.

Reminded us how happy we were to be part of the Guild.

And then our stomachs growled.

You would have to bring that up, wouldn't you?

Come on, Miranda, you have to admit, that when everyone started laughing – you included – it felt like home. Like we were finally back after a long journey.

Which we were.

Yes, I know. But the point is... you can't admit it wasn't like you didn't miss it. You were happy to be back. Our time away... made us realize how lucky we were to have friends like that. To have a place like the Wigglytuff Guild.

Well... yeah. When I was in the future... I realized how much I missed being among them... having people who cared. And being back... it was like a wake up call, telling me that, you and me, even without Grovyle...

We're not alone?

Exactly.

And so ends Absence.

This fic has been a very short but very wild ride. The attempts to capture each character's personality in the equivalent of a couple drabbles was quite a challenge, but a fun one.

Special thanks must go to ScytheRider, who supported me throughout writing this, and helped beta it. Without him, this fic, short as it is, would be very different, and certain powerful effects would be lost I think, so I owe him a lot for that.

And finally, I owe thanks to all the people who have read and reviewed. Your support is a huge part of what keeps me going.

If you enjoyed Absence, and have not yet read any of my other fics, I invite you to read the other fics in my Spanning Time collection of stories, including the titular Spanning Time, We Go On, and Berry Stains, among others.

Thank you very much for reading!