And here it is, the fluff-tastic alternate final chapter to this fic~! I would like to thank everyone who read and reviewed this story; seriously you guys are made of win and awesome. I hope you enjoy the extra fluff, I put in here especially for you!

Still own nothing.

1. Homecoming

If his calculations were correct, White should have been arriving at the station on the Light Green-Line train today. It took at least half a day to navigate down Victory Road, and the second half to walk to Opelucid City and find the subway station. And then it was a day-long ride back to Nimbasa since that particular train stopped in Lacunosa Town, Undella Town, and Black City before reaching Gear Station. For this reason The Light Green-Line only served as the Super-Single Line one or two days out of the week- the other five it was simply a transportation line.

Nobori checked his watch again, provided the train wasn't running late (something that wouldn't happen unless the poor Depot Agent driving the train that day wanted to be lectured at) it was supposed to be driving up to the platform within the next fifteen minutes if not earlier.

Since this was one of the days the Light Green-Line was used for transportation Nobori would usually have been in his office doing paperwork or in the control center overlooking each individual train's progression or double checking to see if everything within the subway train's computer systems were working properly. This was a special occasion however, although he did feel a little awkward standing on the platform with White's parents. He almost hoped Kudari was there with him to ease the tension slightly, but he had his own duties to attend to -duties that he went off to fulfill unwillingly after some berating from his older brother.

On the bench next to him, Rochelle sits patiently with Cameron at her side, the latter animatedly discussing their plans for White's return after being gone for so long -watching how Cameron always moved his hands when he spoke, it was obvious where White got her little habit from.

It didn't feel like fifteen minutes had passed when Nobori heard the familiar echoing clicks and clacks of the subway train as it passed through the tunnel, the wheels screeching against the tracks as it starts is slow, almost graceful, pull up to the platform before the door slides open, waves of people coming out from each one. Nobori stands from the bench and scans the crowd for any sign of a bushy, bouncing ponytail or a pink and white cap -being six foot two had its advantages in this situation- but didn't see one, even as the crowed dwindled away to a steady stream. Had White missed the train? No, if she did she would have called someone...

Nobori saw Cameron disappear into one of the subway cars, Rochelle following after him, and was almost tempted to follow after them but decided to stay put, lowering himself back onto the bench and lacing his fingers in his lap. Of course Kudari would have bounded right after the pair since he had been anticipating White's return, but Nobori didn't want to look that eager to see her. A few minutes later Cameron and Rochelle came out of one of the cars closer to the back, weaving around the people who had started filing into the train. In his arms was none other than White, fast asleep and looking like nothing would wake her, Rochelle walking next to him, holding White's bag and hat in her arms.

"Out like a light," Cameron commented when he was close enough for Nobori to hear, the only response from White was a barely-audible sound from her throat and her shifting slightly. "Reminds me of a certain someone I know." He said teasingly and looking towards Rochelle.

"It's good that you're admitting that you sleep like a Snorlax, sweetie."

"Wha-me? I was referring to you, Chellie-dear."

"Denial doesn't suit you." Rochelle argued back, shifting White's bag and hat to one arm and slapping Cameron lightly on the shoulder before turning back to Nobori. "You don't mind if we both take her home do you? I haven't quite memorized Cam's schedule since it's always shifting around, but..."

"It's fine." Nobori cut in promptly. "He has another hour before he has to drive zuh Multi-Train."

"Well okay then~" Cameron chimed, bouncing White lightly to more comfortably hold her weight, the girl in question making another sound that sounded more like a weak protest than anything. "I'll be back before you know it, Sir." He said to Nobori before walking towards the stairs leading to the main part of the station, Rochelle following after him and calling him a "kiss-ass" once she was close enough, Cameron's protests fading away as the two ascended the stairs.

Now alone Nobori took off his cap and ran a ran a hand over his hair, relief coursing through his system at the notion that White was safe and sound. The more cynical part of his mind had been filling his imagination with ideas of something terrible happening while she was away- thank goodness that none of those scenarios happened.

2. Reunion

By nature, Kudari always seemed to cause some sort of scene when he saw someone he cared about for the first time in a long time and this instance was not any different. In his brother's defense, he wasn't the one who was the trigger- White was.

It had been a few days since the Trainer came home, and like any good daughter she had spent the majority of that time with her parents. Her actions however showed just how eager she was to see her friends. And the fact that she was White, a girl who couldn't be subtle even if someone offered her a shiny Whimsicott doll, probably had something to do with what occurred.

Kudari and Nobori were out getting lunch, same as every day, Kudari chattering on and on about some of the more colorful people he had fought on the Double-Line when White's voice called out over the crowd, screaming Kudari's name as loud as she could without sounding like she was being murdered. The younger of the two turned his head at the sound of his name being called, and upon seeing a rapidly swaying ponytail attached to a girl run towards him replied to the outlandish call.

"VHITE!" Kudari yelled back and ran away from his brother, ready to catch the brunette as she jumped happily into his arms with a loud cry of joy. Of course they got a lot of attention from their little stunt; they had done it in the middle of Nimbasa City. In the afternoon. In Spring. Nobori pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned slightly at the sight, just for once he wished his brother and friend would greet each other like normal people. "Look Bruder, I found a Vhite!" Kudari chimed happily when he re-approched the other man carried White piggy-back as the girl giggled into his shoulder.

"Hi Nobori~" White greeted, waving to the older of the two men, who ran a hand down his face and sighed lightly.

"Hallo, Miss. Vhite." Nobori replied as Kudari set the girl onto the ground, grabbing both of her hands excitedly.

"You have to tell us everything zhat happened!" He insisted, "Ve saw Team Plasma take over the Pokemon League and ve saw you go off before the Gym Leaders fought against zhose weird robe vearing guys on Tv. But vhat happened next?" With how quickly he was speaking, it was surprising that he didn't slip into German through a force of habit (although his English had improved over the past few months, conveniently around the time he went to visit Elesa more often).

"I will once we get to the station, okay?" White said, laughing at Kudari's childlike antics,

"Wunderbar!" Kudari exclaimed, pulling White into his arms and cuddling her happily, which the girl returned with almost as much enthusiasm. In the midst of their cuddling White looked back to Nobori, giving him a look that clearly asked, "you let him have that third cup of coffee this morning, didn't you?" Before turning back to her friend. Arceus, Nobori could practically see the hearts and sparkles radiating off those two. It was slightly adorable, in its own overblown kind of way.

Whatever thoughts he had were cut off when Kudari pushed White towards him, close enough that their chests were touching each other. "Go on, give her a hug. You know you vant to~~" The younger of the twins teased, fake sugar covering his words before he laughed (although "cackled" seemed to be the more accurate verb). Giving a glare that would have stopped an army, but not Kudari evidently, Nobori slowly wrapped his arms around White.

3. Story

As promised White told the two brothers what had happened at the Pokemon League after Team Plasma had taken over. The disturbingly innocent toy room that belonged to the leader of the organization, N. The number of stairs she had to climb just to get to the throne room to confront N, a man named Ghetsis warning her that she would definitely be the one to lose against their "Lord" N. How N boasted about the one who would change the entire region -the entire world- with the help of Zekrom, and how Reshiram had acknowledged her as a hero at the very last second. White explained (with very colorful movements of her hands) about the battle that she and N fought, Reshiram and Zekrom fighting in the air above him while she and the delusional leader of Team Plasma fought on the ground (proudly adding that she tackled N to the floor and slapped him a bit when it seemed like what little sanity he still had finally snapped).

Twirling a lock of hair around her finger (something she did when she was nervous, Nobori had noticed) White continued on, explaining that Ghetsis had been using N since the very beginning; using him as a tool to obtain his true goal of taking over the world. How the clearly insane man had challenged White to a battle, threatening to give her to his Hydreigon to be ripped apart and eaten alive when she lost- she had quickly added to not tell that bit to her parents.

"When we were alone, N admitted to not knowing anything about humans or Pokemon, that he wanted to try and understand what I did. Then he bid me farewell and flew away on Zekrom. Afterwords Reshiram turned back into the Light Stone and went to sleep. I guess she figured that she wasn't needed anymore, since N wasn't threatening to forcefully change the world." She finished, smoothing down her tank-top offhandedly. "I can just imagine what would happen if everything that happened to me was made into a story. The author would probably shoe-horn some shallow romance between me and N. Make me all sad and depressed that he left and pining over him so desperately and BLEGH!" She stuck her tongue out like the idea tasted disgusting. "Never mind the fact that I talked to him for thirty, maybe forty minutes. Tops. And Honestly? I could care less that N left." Obviously White never did grow fond of the leader of Team Plasma, something that Nobori was thankful for. Not that he was jealous -perish the thought!- he was just relieved that White had enough common sense to not mourn over a young man who was clearly mentally and emotionally unstable.

"Unfortunately in today's world," White continued, "a good-looking guy with tragic past plus the main girl equals 'twu wuv'" White fluttered her eyelashes over dramatically and laced her fingers together next to her chin before dropping them back down into her lap with a disgusted-sounding grunt. "N wasn't even that good looking. I dunno, green hair just doesn't do it for me."

"Vhat does do it for you, zhen?" Kudari asked resting his chin in the palm of his hand, sparks of a hidden intention flashing in his eyes.

"In terms of unusual hair color? Mmmm... gray or white." White nodded to herself, "In terms of personality, someone who doesn't hire ninjas to stalk me, admits to having ninjas stalk me without seeing the problem with it, someone who doesn't stalk me, period. And someone who doesn't force me into ferriswheels with him to discuss something that can easily be discussed on a bench." White said quickly, pausing to catch her breath after her little spiel.

"Zhat sounds kinda like Bruder, Vhite~" Kudari said gleefully, gesturing to his brother with a wave of his hand. "Is zhere something you want to say? Hmmmm~?"

"Kudari..." Nobori said exasperatingly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. His brother only grinned at him innocently before looking back to his now red-faced friend.

"I don't like guys who are creepy. The end."

"Don't you vant to say anything else?" Kudari asked, leaning closer to the girl and poking her cheek lightly.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you positive?" Before his younger brother could pry any more, Nobori yanked him away from White by the back of his collar, staring down at his twin when Kudari looked up at him questionably.

"Please don't pester Miss. Vhite, she's been through enough already." The older scolded before turning his attention to White, who had both her hands on her cheeks in an attempt to hide the flushed skin. "I apologize for him." He said politely, White only laughed unevenly in response and waved a hand dismissively.

"No problem! You know how he is, I know how he is. Nothing to get upset about." She cleared her throat audibly, "so enough about me. What have you guys been up to? Has anyone managed to beat any of the Super-Lines while I was away?"

4. In Sickness

They always said that the ones who worked the hardest were the ones most likely to get sick, the unneeded and unwelcome stress weakening even the strongest immune system. White didn't want to be the type of person to say "I told you so" (yeah right) but the phrase just seemed so fitting at the moment.

Apparently Nobori had finally gotten sick from all the work he did, even collapsing on the Multi-Line not even a minute after a pair of challengers had reached him and Kudari. Elesa had been helping Kudari take care of his brother (of course it was Elesa), but since the Gym Leader had a photo shoot to go to in Castelia that day, she had asked White to go to the Subway Master's house in her place, telling the younger girl to make sure Kudari didn't burn the house down (although she was probably joking when she said that. Probably...), which lead to White's current location: standing on the front porch of Nobori and Kudari's house in Anvil Town and waiting for any sort of response from the inside.

She clucked her tongue and tried to get someone's attention again, rapping on the door a few times (knock, knock, kno-knock, knock) and ringing the doorbell once (ding-dong!). Oddly enough that got Kudari's attention, the younger of the two opening the door only a minute later.

"Oh, hallo." Kudari greeted, although he lacking the usual pep as he stepped aside to let White in. "Sorry about not coming sooner, bruder's temperature increased suddenly and I had to work all morning to get it down again." He explained, closing the door and running a hand through his hair. Looking at him it was obvious Kudari had barely gotten any sleep, bags had started to form under his eyes even his usual smile was starting to falter at the edges. The poor man was probably running off of caffeine and adrenaline.

"He's okay now though, right?" White hadn't intended to sound so worried -honestly she didn't!- it just came out that way.

"Ja. Zhat medicine Elesa gave us has been helping a lot." Kudari replied, managing to strengthen his smile at the mention of the blond haired lady he had a not-so-subtle relationship with. "Do you vant to see him? Zhough chances are he's sleeping." He added, although White just shrugged in response.

Kudari and Nobori didn't live in some sort of lavish house (even though they had probably saved enough money between them to buy a nice condo in Sinnoh), it was a very simple place -more like a larger version of the apartments offered in Nimbasa than anything else- so it was easy enough to navigate. The brothers shared a room in the middle of the hallway on the right side, Kudari leaving White to her own devices once he had led her there.

The silenced as White pushed the door open was almost unnerving, the only sound being the faint creak of the hinges. Like everything else in the house, the bedroom was a simple affair; a pair of beds with the headboard pushed up against the left wall, a pair of small round tables placed next to each. A door was on the right side, that either led to a rest room or a closet. Finally, a bureau made of a tan-colored wood that White didn't have a name for up against the wall, parallel to the doorway she was standing in and right next to a small window with the curtains drawn closed. It was almost like stepping into a glossy photograph of a housing magazine, everything was so nice and neat (nothing at all like the disaster area that was her room), most likely due to Nobori's cleaning habits. Speaking of Nobori...

The picturesque room was given reality by a human-sized lump in one of the beds -the one closest to the door- un-even breathing coming from the duvet covered form as it rose and fell with each haggard breath. A simply wooden chair had been set up next to the occupied bed, a spot that Kudari had probably filled for the majority of the time Nobori was sick, and White walked over to it and sat down. From this position she could clearly see Nobori's face, she had to admit that seeing such a normally stern man so... vulnerable, was unsettling in a way. Cheeks and face flushed in fever, sweat clinging to his skin and and plastering his bangs to his forehead, mouth opened slightly to allow a partially normal flow of air into his lungs.

For the record White was not staring, she was examining. There was a big difference.

She raised a hand and brushed his bangs back before leaning forward and pressing her lips to the slightly damp skin, not liking how hot the flesh felt against her lips.

"...Vhat are you doing..?"Nobori's sudden question caused White to jump away from him with a high-pitched squeak of surprise, nearly toppling over in the chair in her haste. She looked wide eyed at the now conscious man, who looked back at her with gray eyes that were clouded with fever and fatigue.

"Oh, um, I was just, um," White studdered, wringing the hem of her tank-top in her hands. "I was just feeling how warm you were, yeah! I mean, that's how my mom checks my temperature when I'm sick, something about our lips having more nerve endings than our hands. Or something." Nobori blinked slowly at her and readjusted his head on the pillow so he could face White better.

"...You're not my mother." He said lightly.

"Obviously. But man, it would be awkward if I was, huh?"

"But," Nobori started again like he hadn't been interrupted, a hand coming out from the warmth of the covers, trembling slightly from the effort as he cupped White's cheek. "She... vould have loved you..."

Where on Arceus' green earth had that come from? White could feel her face heat up at the comment -or maybe it was just from Nobori's warm skin against her cheek, who knew?- she chuckled lightly and grasped his hand, lowering it down to the mattress effortlessly, (White doubted Nobori had the strength to fight back even if he wanted to) and patted the back of his hand.

"Well now, that's.. .good to know... I should probably let you get some sleep, right? I'll just be going now..." White stood up and was about to walk away when that same trembling hand just managed to grip the hem of her vest, the brunette looking back at the bedridden man, raising a brow slowly.

"Stay." It was probably the strongest sounding thing Nobori had said since waking up (possibly in all the time he had been sick) and honestly, how could White resist?

5. Rain

Unova was known for its beautiful weather. Its cold, snowy Winters, warm Summers, cool Falls and perfect Springs. Apparently, someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that Spring was supposed to be a time where Deerling shed their Winter coats and flowers could finally bloom after being buried in snow for an entire season, not a time where it should be pouring down rain.

White groaned as she looked out at the rain that fell in waves from the sky, the young woman protected from the downpour by the awning above the Gear Station's entrance. She liked it when the leaves fell and she loved snowfall, and yet she hated the rain. At least in fallen leaves you could jump in the piles and in the snow you could make snowmen and have snowball fights. In the rain you just got wet.

White's choice of attire didn't help much either – a thin white tank-top wasn't exactly good for sloshing around in the rain in (added to that, she just happened to be wearing a pink bra that day, and she wasn't so keen on showing it off to everyone who she happened to walk past). In short, she found herself in a predicament.

White sighed and turned on her heel, walking back down the stairs leading into the station and leaving the thunderous rattle of the falling rain behind her. Maybe Kudari and Nobori had an umbrella she could borrow (neither she or her father had thought to bring an umbrella, since it was bright and sunny when they got to the station).

"Ugh, stupid rain, it's Spring. Go awaaaaaaaaaay." White whined as she scuffed at the ground, by this point practically dragging herself to Nobori and Kudari's office. Was she being childish? Extremely so, she blamed the rain. Practically leaning against the office door, White managed to knock a few times

"Guys, open the door." White said, one of her cheeks pressed up against the door. Since most of her weight was against a door that swung inwards, and the laws of gravity hadn't suddenly stopped existing, White would have fallen through the door and onto the floor if Nobori hadn't been there to catch her.

"Vhat's wrong vith you?" He asked plainly, raising a eyebrow down at the girl as he pulled her up into a standing position.

"I want to go home, but it's raining outside." White explained, adding the proper amount of moroseness to her voice. Nobori only groaned slightly in response and pinched the bridge of his nose as he ushered the girl inside his office. "Zhat's all? Honestly Miss. Vhite, how old are you now?"

"Seventeen and a half." The girl replied, watching curiously as the Subway Master retrieved his coat from a rack on the left wall and draping it over his arm, smoothing out the wrinkles as he walked back towards her.

"Zhen act like it." Nobori said tonelessly, draping the black material over the girl's shoulders. In all honesty it looked ridiculous on her, since she was easily a foot shorter than Nobori and her shoulders just barely half as wide. "I didn't bring an umbrella." He answered the unasked question as he rolled the sleeves up so White's hands could actually be seen. "Zhis vill have to do for now."

"But... this is your coat. You never lend this out to anyone."

"If you vould rather go home in zuh rain unprotected zhen by all means, give it back." A loud crack of thunder rumbled from outside, almost responding to Nobori's statement. White tugged the coat closer to herself,

"No."

"Zhen don't mind it." With one last adjustment of the collar Nobori went back to dis desk, picking up his pen and playing with it in between his fingers before addressing White again.

"I vant zhat back by tomorrow. Clean, please."

"Nah, I think I'll drag it through a mud puddle. Just to spite you."

"Miss. Vhite."

"I was kidding. Arceus, lighten up." White rolled her shoulders before turning around to open the door, looking back at the fair-haired man who had already restarted scribbling away at his work. "I'll say hi to Minia and Althea for you. And... thanks." If Nobori gave any sort of response, White didn't hear it, she was already out the door and on her way up the main stairs of the station.

Nobori's coat smelt like... well... Nobori. A faint musky smell from being underground all day five days out of the week mixed with something else White couldn't quite identify. It wasn't cologne, he never wore cologne, it was just ….Nobori. The notion made her feel inexplicably happy. A warm feeling blooming in her chest as her heart rate accelerated and something fluttered about in her stomach.

Was this what it felt like to be in love with someone?

6. Wait

Nobori wasn't a jealous person, to him the emotion was completely unnecessary and petty. Regardless of this, he couldn't help but feel traces of the feeling flare in his stomach whenever he saw some random boy flirt with White (half the time it wasn't even subtle), trying to "woo" a girl they knew nothing about. She didn't have this problem when she was a girl of sixteen and a relatively no-name Trainer. Add the fact she was recently named Champion of the region, she was the age of consent and her body had finished developing to the equation and suddenly boys were flocking to her.

Of course she turned all of them down -as for the ones who couldn't grasp the concept of White not being interested, they usually got a knee in the stomach. It was almost sad that more than half of those boys went after White because she was famous and wanted "in her pants" as the term went. Personality was only second thought to those kind of people -how disgustingly shallow.

Nobori on the other hand, had known White for ten out of her nineteen years of life -more than half of the time she had been living. In those unrealistic romance novels that White openly mocked, the main male lead and the main female lead would have confessed how they felt a long time ago, and lived together forever and ever in happiness in love. How many of those male leads were nine years older than the female leads? Nobori was willing to guess not even one percent.

One could argue that since White was nineteen, there was nothing holding either of them back from getting together since the social taboo of pedophilia had magically lifted the day that White turned eighteen, and yet Nobori didn't say a word. Another could claim that he had simply fallen out of love with White, but that simply wasn't the case. If anything, his feelings for her just grew more and more as he watched her grow into the beautiful creature she was. But Nobori wasn't going to confess and make a fool of himself if it turned out White didn't feel for him what he felt for her.

He decided to approach this whole "confession" thing like a chess game and wait for the other player to make her move before he made his.

7. Unspoken

Having the Regional Champion frequently visit the Battle Subway had done wonders for the amount of Trainers attempted the challenge, and that meant that the station earned that much more money. Unfortunately, that meant that Kudari and Nobori had to shoulder more hours to keep up with the flow of challengers (and for Nobori that meant more paperwork). Life in the Nimbasa City underground was already fast-paced, but recently it seemed to have been pushed into turbo drive.

It had become sort of an added feature: "beat one of, or both, of the Subway Masters for a chance to face Unova's Champion." Again, the concept did wonders for commerce, and made sure that White never got rusty -not that many challengers even made it to her.

The twenty-fifth challenger that had made it to Nobori's car left in a huff, just like all the others had, and Nobori sighed and took off his cap, running a hand over his hair.

"Getting tired?" White questioned from the bench to his right, leaning back and waving her legs in the air slowly.

"Wouldn't you be?" Nobori asked (by this point his accent was more or less gone, something that White bemoaned about for a while) as he took a seat next to the brunette, who hummed lightly in response.

"Probably, yeah. At least in my case I only get challengers a few times out of the year." She lowered her heels onto the floor of the car, her body leaning forward with the action. She looked at the man at her side through her bangs, a contemplating look donning her face. The sun-tanned skin tinged pink as she scooted closer to Nobori.

"Do you need something?" He asked, more out of force of habit than anything. He was used to White randomly inching closer to him while they were alone.

"...Yes and no."

"That isn't an answer." White looked away and twirled some hair around her finger before running it through her fist like she was trying to smooth out the natural wave. She sucked in a breath through her nose and let it out through her mouth and nodded before looking back to the Subway Master. Before he could make any sort of sound Nobori felt something covering his mouth. His brain sparked and slowed, like something had been caught in the metaphorical gears in his mind. It took him a few seconds to fully comprehend that he was being kissed. By White. His hands started to tremble, and his heart accelerated to match the tempo of the train wheels against the tracks -a part of him humored the idea of his heart grinding through his ribs because of the pace. After what felt like an eternity, although it was probably only a few seconds, White pulled away, horror blooming in her eyes and a hand slapping across her mouth when she realized what she had done. She shuffled away from the shocked man, eyes wide and a deep flush covering her cheeks and ears from behind her hand.

"I'm just gonna... go over there now..." White mumbled, running to the bench across the aisle and sitting on one of the far ends -as far away from Nobori as she could without leaving the car.

Nobori leaned down to retrieve the cap that had fallen to the floor during the whole incident, he only noticed how much his hands were trembling when he brushed imaginary dust off the top. Gray eyes looked towards White, who had curled up into a little ball across from him and trying to become as small as possible. He pressed one of his fingers to his lips, subconsciously noting that they seemed colder to the touch. Nobori had said he would make his move after White made hers, and if kissing him wasn't some sort of move then he didn't know what was.

Abandoning his cap on the seat Nobori walked over to White, kneeling down in front of her slowly.

"Miss. White," he tested, but got no response. "Miss. White," he put a hand on her arm. "Please look at me." a few more seconds past and White rose her head, her bangs blocking her right eye entirely from view, Nobori brushed them away gently, then moved a hand down to cup her cheek. Nobori prided himself for his ability to read other people with a surprising amount of accuracy, and he had a name for each emotion that flashed in White's eyes: embarrassment, shame, uncertainty, confusion... and love. Pure, unadulterated love. Nobori shifted his weight slightly and leaned forward, giving the young woman a feather light kiss. That expressed his emotions much more powerfully than if he put them into words.

I love you...

There, was that cute and cuddly and fluffy enough for you? I hope so. Note that I can't be held responsible for any readers who got cavities and or diabetes. That being said, peace out! -flies away on a ExpressShipping fluff cloud-