[Pokémon X&Y] Return

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Title: Return
Fandom: Pokémon X&Y
Pairing: Professor Augustine Sycamore/Lysandre
Rating: G
Prompt: Pokémon X and Y, Sycamore/Lysandre, this love came back to me
AO3 Link: Here.
For threesentenceficathon.

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Back then, Lysandre had been incandescent – his hair a crown of blinding flames, his voice the low rumble of a frenzied inferno, his eyes as cold as freezing snow that burns through skin – glowing far too bright, like a star about to go out; a spectacle that everyone, even him, watched without knowing how to stop it.

Now he's just a man, beaten and bruised yet still upright against all odds, his gaze wavering in a way it never had before, his stance awkward and full of hesitation while he waits for the final verdict to be handed to him by the one person who wishes to remain by his side in spite of everything.

"Welcome back," Augustine says with a small smile, as if it's that easy, as if they won't have to spend so long picking up all the pieces – and, at that moment, he tells himself that the only thing that matters is that they're both here, both alive, both willing to make things better, and mean it.

 

Back then, Professor Augustine Sycamore had been one of the rare things that gave him hope for the future; a standing stone not unlike the ones near Geosenge Town, a standard by which he could judge others and let them fail to meet his expectations; the ultimate sacrifice, the final test of his own convictions.

Now he's smiling at Lysandre with something like pity, the grey of his eyes no longer the calm, quiet color of drizzling rain but the melancholic tones of a storm long-forgotten, a window inside which Lysandre's reflection looks as small and pathetic as he feels – and yet, he's opening his arms toward him again, allowing the man who's hurt him the most the opportunity to make amends.

"Thank you," Lysandre says, and perhaps it's enough – for now.