[Pokémon Anime] We Only Know the Things That We Tame

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Title: We Only Know the Things That We Tame
Fandom: Pokémon Anime (Lucario and the Mystery of Mew)
Pairing: Sir Aaron/Lucario
Rating: T
Summary: By the time the human showed up, it had been at least two seasons since they'd last had a visitor. Something about him, about his dark blue hair, about his dark eyes, about the aura enveloping him, compelled Lucario to approach, he who'd never dared to step close enough to a human that they could detect his own aura.
Notes: Written for rarepairexchange. I did not purposely sit down to write almost 10k of a human and monsterdog love story and yet here we are. Title is from The Little Prince.
AO3 Link: Here.

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Humans looked a lot different from up close.

It wasn't unusual for them to visit the pack; at least, those who'd been training their auras were somewhat frequent visitors. Lucario had watched them ever since he was a pup, a little wary and very curious. They stood on two legs just like lucarios did, but their skin was hairless save for a mane on their heads, and the language they spoke with their mouths was strange, complex in ways that Lucario couldn't follow.

The elders had told them that, unlike lucarios and riolus for whom it was an innate ability they were hatched with, only certain humans were attuned to auras, and only those humans were allowed to visit the pack. Sometimes, there would be no visitors for weeks and months and even years; sometimes, humans would come often, seeking shelter or advice. The elders always welcomed them eagerly, which didn't mean that every lucario was comfortable with their presence.

Lucario had heard all kinds of complaints, growing up. Humans should be left to deal with their matters alone, some said, arguing that there was no point in getting involved in their pointless wars. They were taking advantage of a kind of hospitality they didn't deserve, others agreed. Yet nobody dared to oppose the elders, and, as far as Lucario could tell, the humans never outstayed their welcome, always leaving as soon as their business was dealt with.

By the time the human showed up, it had been at least two seasons since they'd last had a visitor. Something about him, about his dark blue hair, about his dark eyes, about the aura enveloping him, compelled Lucario to approach, he who'd never dared to step close enough to a human that they could detect his own aura.

The human turned to look at him nearly instantly. Lucario couldn't discern his mood from his body language; humans didn't have ears that twitched with excitement or annoyance, nor did they have fur that bristled in anger. Worse, they didn't even have tails. It was no wonder they fought all the time, with so little to clue their fellow humans as to what emotion they were experiencing.

"Nice to meet you!" the human said. Though Lucario couldn't understand the human tongue, he could register the meaning of the words through their auras, and retain it. "I'm sorry for intruding."

When humans moved their lips and showed off their teeth, it meant they were happy. Lucario knew this because he'd been told, and because he could sense that quiet, gentle happiness aimed toward him. Somehow, he felt himself grow flustered.

He couldn't run away, and make a fool of himself in front of the elders and their guest, so he stood his ground and bowed his head, keeping his ears held high. The human laughed, a pleased sound, and the elders' auras shone bright with approval.

Sometimes, the humans who came to visit the pack did so because they were looking for companions who shared their sensitivity to auras. It was a great honor, though a very rare one. Lucario had never seen any of his brethren leave the pack with a human.

He was curious about the world outside the boundaries of their secluded community. There was no reason to leave unless you were chosen. The rhythm of a lucario's life was an easy thing. Sleeping, training, hunting, listening to the flow of the auras of everything around them... They were guardians, but not in the way the humans were. They kept a distance, unwilling to intervene unless their lives were threatened or the balance needed to be corrected.

Unless they agreed to follow the path of the humans who wielded the power to understand auras.

Lucario felt an odd sense of tension overtake him. The human's aura mingled with his comfortably, its soothing warmth taking his breath away. Even as he continued to exchange with the elders, the human would sneak glances at him that made Lucario want to ask him what his deal was.

"I'm looking for someone to train with," the human said without speech. The words echoed inside Lucario's skull like they were his own thoughts. "Does that interest you?"

It was a loaded question, and Lucario couldn't tell whether he was aware of that. His gaze drifted toward the elders, who surely had to have heard, and one of them tilted her head to the side, her appendages bristling as she did.

"Sir Aaron is a good man," she said. Her aura was not as pleasing as the human's was. "You will benefit from his guidance."

Finding out that this had been planned for him without his knowledge was not endearing Lucario to the situation, yet there was no denying that something about his aura was responding favorably to the human's. The name, though, was what gave him pause.

Humans, he knew, did not have names the way lucarios – or any other pokémon – did. Human names were made out of different sounds that gave them different meanings, the same way all of their words did. For a lucario, a name was more than a sound: it was a tone, a rhythm, a movement. When Lucario said his name, it was with a twitch of the ears and a subtle shake of the snout that he knew to be his own. The thought that humans only had sounds to help recognize themselves was a sad one.

Still. Lucario couldn't deny that he liked the sound of "Aaron". He could imagine saying it with his snout held up high and his ears very straight. It suited the human, with his strong posture and his deep blue eyes. It could be a good name for a lucario.

Lucario didn't say any of that, afraid that it would be misinterpreted. Instead, he held his face down, and gave a quick nod.

"What will it be like?" he asked the human.

Sir Aaron smiled. It made the corners of his eyes soften, a detail that Lucario had never noticed on a human before.

"It will be a long journey, I presume," Sir Aaron said. His presence in Lucario's mind was like a quiet breeze, so unlike any of the auras he'd experienced before, from his pack or otherwise. "With luck, there'll be many trials for us to triumph over, and we'll learn many things about the world and how to protect it." He paused, tilting the brim of his long hat until shadows caught over his face, deepening the intensity of his gaze. He was still smiling, but at that angle it reminded Lucario of the warning sneer of a pokémon threatening to attack. Something tightened in Lucario's stomach. "I think we could do great work, together."

Judging by the steady, even beat of their auras intermingling, Lucario had no doubt that they could. He had a lot to learn, and he'd spent all of his youth wishing for a way to go out and find something to do that would make his life meaningful, something that wasn't the dull routine he'd become used to.

The elders stared at him. He couldn't completely prevent his ears from folding back, but he did his best.

"I'll follow," he said, and found the words heavier than he'd expected.

It took very little time for him to bid his packmates farewell. His mother had left long before he'd even evolved, and his father was too busy searching for answers to the pleas of the universe in its aura to pay much attention to whatever else was occurring around him. His little siblings were mostly jealous, puppies as eager as he'd been to grow up and escape. As he went over and silently shared some parting words with them all, Sir Aaron watched at a distance, his long cloak wrapped around him.

Once Lucario was ready, and they'd left the sacred perimeter the pack resided in, walking through the tall trees until they'd reached a clearing, Sir Aaron revealed he had another companion: a pidgeot, its wingspan twice as large as it was tall. It was not a pokémon that bore the gift of aura, but it was nevertheless worthy of respect – and it flew high and fast, carrying the both of them, Lucario sitting behind Sir Aaron and clinging to the fabric of his cloak.

"Are you afraid of heights?" Sir Aaron had asked, before they'd taken flight, and Lucario had lied and shaken his head.

Now everything beneath him was dizzyingly small, and he squeezed his eyes shut and focused on the aura of the man he was holding on to as if it could prevent him from falling down to his death. If Sir Aaron could sense his turmoil, he didn't speak a word of it.

Sir Aaron's body was warm and solid and his breathing betrayed no worry at the prospect of being so high off the ground. His aura, too, was tranquil, and it suffused through Lucario's, calming him down enough that he could register the words Sir Aaron said next.

They were going to a castle, he explained. To Lucario's silent question, he responded that a castle was a place where humans lived to keep themselves safe from danger, and that there, they would meet the ruler of the nearest human kingdom, whom Sir Aaron answered to as an Aura Guardian.

Lucario knew what Aura Guardians were, of course, the group of aura-sensitive humans who swore to protect the world, the ones that many lucarios before him had followed. He'd recognized Sir Aaron to be one, but never thought that they had to answer to any other humans. Perhaps, he thought, it was a relationship of given loyalty, less to the ruler themself than to the whole kingdom, not unlike the one Lucario had entered by agreeing to train under Sir Aaron.

Loyalty had to be earned, however. No matter how well his aura melded with this human he'd just met, he wouldn't offer himself so easily.

He was barely awake when he felt the pidgeot soar downward, aiming to land. Sir Aaron had told him about the kingdom of Rota, about its queen, about his duty toward it, and what that would mean for Lucario as well. At some point, the even rhythm of his voice mixed with the swaying of the flying-type pokémon as it flew had begun to lull Lucario to sleep. He slid off, narrowly avoiding falling over, and was steadied by Sir Aaron's hand on his upper back, wider than the paw of any lucario he'd ever felt there.

"Would you rather rest?" Sir Aaron asked. Some of his concern bled through his aura, and Lucario felt embarrassed at behaving like a pup who needed a nap. "We can meet Queen Rin tomorrow."

"No," Lucario said. He was determined not to appear weak, especially not as a first impression. What would the humans think of him if Sir Aaron came to announce that his new companion couldn't even handle a measly flight? "I am fine."

It wasn't really a lie. He could stand, for a start, and it took under a minute for the world to stop feeling like it was turning under his feet. Sir Aaron only let go of him then, gesturing for his pidgeot to retire to his quarters before leading the way.

A castle was nothing like anything Lucario was used to. It was made out of stone, which was at least reassuring, and was large enough to house many, many humans, all of them far too busy to pay the visitors much attention beyond furtive curious glances and some kind greetings aimed at Sir Aaron. Lucario kept looking up, mesmerized by the sheer size of the structures surrounding them, dwarfing even the trees.

He wasn't sure he was prepared to live in a place so grand and yet so unlike where he grew up. There was a coldness to human-made things that he didn't like. They lacked the reassuring flow of aura, though he thought perhaps he could find it in the heart of the stones, were he to try.

The queen was kind to him. She smiled happily when he bowed at her, mimicking Sir Aaron's pose, and welcomed him as one of her knights the same as he imagined she would have any human. They spoke of the history of Aura Guardians, of what it could mean for him, of his obligations or lack thereof.

"You do not owe us anything more than what you would like to give," she said. The faint trail of her aura around her mirrored her gravitas even as Sir Aaron helped Lucario understand the meaning of her words. Like this, she reminded Lucario strikingly of the elders, of which he supposed she filled a similar role. "This can be your home, if you would allow it to be."

It didn't feel like it just yet, but when Sir Aaron walked him to the quarters they'd prepared for him, the little room he could inhabit, he thought perhaps it could, in due time. Something about the knowledge that the humans had opened their world to him, had set up a place to be his own, made his chest tighten. His ears flicked, and, in the periphery of his vision, he saw that Sir Aaron had noticed, his lips stretching into a satisfied smile.

"We will be traveling more often than not," he said. He'd taken off his cloak, but not his hat. Without it, he looked strangely thinner, his shape suddenly incongruous. "Still, it's good to have somewhere to return to. That's what I think, at least."

"Yes," Lucario said.

Looking at Sir Aaron in the dim light, he thought there were places that were not physical; senses of belonging that were tied less to concrete locations and more to what – or who – was in them. When he was a pup, thinking about the forest, it was not the trees that made him feel like home. It was the sounds of paws hitting the ground hard when his siblings were wrestling, the chatter of the elders as they debated between themselves at the monthly gatherings, the taste of sweet berries that he knew had been handpicked in the early morning.

He remembered one day when he'd climbed atop one of the tallest trees, seeking a thrill that made him disregard the scolding and punishment that would follow. Once he'd reached the last branch he could cling to, he'd looked down, and vertigo had struck him all at once. The overwhelming sensation of teetering over the edge had nearly caused his downfall.

At that moment, standing in the tidy little castle room alongside Sir Aaron, he couldn't help but feel as if he'd found himself in a similar situation. He was diving headfirst in something new and terrifying, and the only thing keeping him from tumbling down to his death was this human he'd just met, who looked back at him with hopeful interest, whose aura floated between them like an extended hand, ready to help him down or up or wherever else he was needed.

It was the dawn of a new life, and he welcomed it, and with it all that it had to offer.

 

Sir Aaron's training was nothing like Lucario had grown up with. Practicing aura as a young pup had been all about meditating, and then it had been all about fighting. Fighting fair against his peers, grappling in the dirt and on the grass, sometimes even using sticks that had been carved or focusing strictly on specific parts of the body: legs, torso, tail, front paws. A lot of it, most importantly, had been about respect: respect for the world around them, for their fellow packmates, for the powers they had been granted. He remembered many nights and days, sitting in a circle with his friends and siblings, focusing on sensing the ties that bound them together, the tangled web aura weaved between each thing. When he was very small, he'd found it dreadfully boring, liking the times they got to fight much, much more, but as he'd grown he'd begun to look forward to it, to the opportunity to see his place in all of it so plainly, to the reassuring feeling of knowing where you stand, where you start and where you end, who you are and who you're uniting with.

In contrast, Sir Aaron's focus was on ensuring their auras were in tune. He trusted Lucario's previous training when it came to the basics, which was encouraging, and only required that they meditate in the evening for an hour or two.

Pointedly, they never fought each other. When it came to training for battle, their targets would be external: dummies or, on occasion, Sir Aaron's pidgeot, who was a formidable opponent when it wanted to be. Learning to follow the pace of someone else turned out to be a lot easier than he'd expected; his aura synced with Sir Aaron almost seamlessly, sometimes moving as if they were one being in two bodies, and every time it left Lucario feeling strangely unsettled, his fur standing on end like he'd been hit with an electric-type attack.

Sir Aaron, for his part, appeared unaffected. He was pleasant, always a patient and diligent teacher, and powerful, his mastery of aura beyond Lucario's imagination. When they were meditating side by side, sitting back to back under the shade of the trees surrounding the castle, Lucario swore he could feel the energy emanating from his aura, the way it enveloped both of them and shielded them from the world.

That proximity, and that almost intimate ease with which their powers melded together, soon proved to have some unforeseen consequences. The first incident occurred during one of their meditation sessions spent by a pond inhabited by many pokémons that Lucario could have watched swim around forever. Sir Aaron sat, his knee brushing atop Lucario's, his features fully relaxed, and waited for him to follow suit, and give himself to the aura of the world.

The power of aura opened the mind to many things that one could only dream to achieve without it. One of them was the ability to see the past and the future, as had been cultivated by Lucario's pack for centuries; one of them was the ability to read into the aura of other beings and things, and dig into the essence of what they were, what they had been, and what they could be.

Lucario had never had such visions; but he also had never found someone with an aura that resonated with his so neatly. He didn't realize that it was happening until he was staring straight at what had to be Sir Aaron as a pup, or the human equivalent, looking at the sky and holding up his arm on which a pidgey was perched.

It ended as fast as it had begun, yet it left Lucario's heart pounding in his chest. The vision by itself was innocuous, simply a little boy with his pokémon, attempting to peer into his future. It was the intimacy of it that unnerved him.

Afterward, upon noticing his uneasiness, Sir Aaron dismissed it with a laugh and a gentle tap on his shoulder. These were the risks when it came to opening yourself – and your aura – up to another, he said. There was nothing he would have wanted to hide from his student, in any case.

His "student". Lucario pondered that, later, lying on the cot in his room. He was not a human, and yet he could tell Sir Aaron treated him as he would have if they'd been the same species. By then, he'd grown used to witnessing the relationships that existed between humans and pokémons, at the castle or along the way as they traveled. Pokémons were companions, as he was, but they were not exactly equals. They were, more often than not, at their humans' service: battling for them, assisting them in manual tasks, providing their powers whenever needed. It was a symbiotic relationship, for sure, and Lucario could see what they sought from each other, but it had little in common with what he shared with Sir Aaron.

To most pokémons, humans were "owners", though not in a bad way. To Lucario, Sir Aaron was shaping up to be something he couldn't name quite yet.

He thought of the words he would have used for his teachers, from when he was a pup. They had mastery over aura, same as Sir Aaron did; therefore, they were his "Masters" in that sense. A student had to have a Master. It made sense, when he considered it from that angle.

Yet, when he slipped and used the word in his mind on the next evening they spent meditating, Sir Aaron's focus faltered, his surprise immediately obvious from the way he stared at Lucario, looking like he'd been jarred awake.

"There's no need for you to refer to me as such," he said. He'd regained control of himself quickly, but Lucario could tell he remained perturbed. "We are partners."

"You are teaching me," Lucario retorted. He felt a strange rush of power at seeing Sir Aaron frown in disbelief.

"I am, but that doesn't mean I deserve a title for it." Sir Aaron looked away. They were sitting in a clearing that Lucario knew he'd picked because it would remind Lucario of his puphood. "I would like to earn it."

Lucario thought of all the training he'd been made to go through in his youth whether he wanted to or not, of all the teachers he'd answered to with awed obedience because that was what was required of him, and he nodded. He couldn't tell Sir Aaron that, in his eyes, he'd already earned that name by allowing him the chance to become something greater than he ever thought he could aim for. It was better that he let him earn it the way he preferred to.

The occasion came before either of them could predict it. They'd been sent to investigate a group of troublemakers, likely bandits, that had been causing the queen and her knights a lot of unnecessary grief. Somehow, they'd managed to avoid getting caught or even spotted in the act of wrongdoing, and so Sir Aaron had offered their services, knowing they could use aura to be one step behind.

Following their trail was easy enough. The ability to sense others from a distance was one of the first things Lucario had been taught as a riolu, and even back then, when he had to concentrate for several minutes to feel his aura at full power, getting it to work was pup's play. With Sir Aaron by his side, it was almost laughable. Perched atop his pidgeot, they could peer down at the little camp the bandits had set up, hidden between the tallest and densest trees of the forest.

Slowly but surely, Lucario was getting used to being so high up – yet he couldn't help gripping Sir Aaron's cloak tight whenever his vision grew blurry and his mind suddenly became overwhelmed with the fear of falling all the way down. Sir Aaron didn't seem to mind.

The bandits had pokémons that Lucario cautiously took stock of, as they would surely be their main means of retaliation. Using his aura, he could see a ninetales lying down near the biggest tent and a couple of golbat hanging off the trees to act as sentinels. His ears twitched upon noticing the last and most dangerous threat: a tyranitar, that without his enhanced vision he would have taken for a huge rock, sitting with a few of the humans and watching their surroundings.

He'd never fought a pokémon as tall and powerful. Sir Aaron, no doubt sensing his worry, patted him on the back.

They enacted their plan once the night had fallen and it was dark enough that they would at least be at their advantage against the humans. There was no need to dispatch them, but Sir Aaron had promised the queen that they would be brought back alive to the castle where they would face consequences for their villainous actions. Lucario could paralyze them, or simply knock them out. There was always room to improvise.

The golbats were dealt with promptly, despite their night vision. It took only a minor distraction to get them away from the camp and make them faint quickly and efficiently. Sir Aaron's silent yet obvious pride at his student's efficacy sent Lucario's blood pounding in his ears. He shook it off as best as he could.

He doubted the ninetales would be as easily swayed, and he was proven right. The fire-type pokémon realized that something was wrong near instantly, letting out a long shriek to wake up its owners. Lucario switched tactics; he would become the main distraction, and ensure that the bandits were focused on him so Sir Aaron could take care of the rest.

The ninetales' fire attacks were no match for his ability to predict its actions using aura. The humans were closing in on him, calling out more pokémons that they had in storage, and by the time Lucario had gotten rid of the ninetales he had to deal with a pair of meowths and three radicates of varying sizes.

A violent gust of wind knocked off and out several of the bandits and at least one meowth, signaling that Sir Aaron's pidgeot was being put to good use. Lucario kicked the remaining meowth in the face, sending it flying, and prepared to scratch the closest radicate next.

"Watch out!" Sir Aaron's voice, amplified twofold, resonated in his mind, breaking his concentration.

He didn't have time to understand what was happening. The ground trembled under him, and something large and hard hit him in the back, pushing all the air out of his lungs and sending him face-first into the grass below.

In his hurry to get this done, guided forward by his conviction that they were successfully executing their plan, he'd completely forgotten about the tyranitar.

Sir Aaron's voice rang out again, calling for him, but Lucario's head was throbbing, causing everything around him to blur into a tangled mess of pain and confusion. He could tell from the way the ground was still vibrating that the towering pokémon was still there.

He painstakingly pushed himself up, acutely aware that he was reacting nowhere near fast enough, and found himself pushed out of the way at the same time as the tyranitar let out a terrifying roar that sent everything shaking once more. Whatever had moved him grabbed on to his arm and tugged him alongside them, releasing a powerful blast of aura in their assailant's direction.

"Are you alright?" Sir Aaron asked. It was him, of course. Together, they ran for cover. In the distance, Lucario could hear the cries of Sir Aaron's pidgeot as it fought against the tyranitar they'd left behind.

"You saved me," Lucario said. His head still hurt. "You–"

The words died in his mind upon realizing the state in which his Master was in. His cloak had ripped, and there was blood pooling under his folded arm that he was clearly attempting to hide from view.

"You're hurt!"

Now that they were no longer moving and standing so close, he could see that Sir Aaron's face was very pale. He'd lost his hat on the way, and it made it easier to see his expression. Lucario had slowly begun to learn to read him better – though he still struggled with the other humans – and there was definitely held-back pain in the furrow of his brow and the tightness of his jaw.

Still, Sir Aaron shook his head. "It's fine. Nothing that will take long to cure once we're back home." He stopped to fight back a wince. Lucario's anger at his own helplessness flared inside him like he'd been struck with it. "First, we need..."

"We have to go back," Lucario cut him off. "You can't keep on fighting like this." He paused, gritting his teeth, before adding, "I won't let you."

The cries had gone silent, replaced with the sounds of flapping wings. Soon the shadow of Sir Aaron's pidgeot was rising above them.

Sir Aaron took a deep breath and released it through his nose. "How many of them are left?"

His pidgeot landed near them, seemingly unharmed outside a few stray feathers that had been ripped or blown off. It whistled twice at its tamer.

"I'll take care of it," Lucario said before Sir Aaron could open his mouth. "I feel fine. If only the humans are left, I can take care of them alone. Please, Master."

Sir Aaron's aura fluctuated around them, vague flashes of colors that betrayed his emotions better than any words could. Then, at last, he nodded.

"If anything else goes wrong," he said, "retreat. Promise me."

"I promise, Master."

He tried to make it sound like he meant it, though he couldn't be sure whether Sir Aaron truly believed him.

"I'll send my pidgeot back as soon as I'm safe, along with more knights," Sir Aaron went on. "Don't put yourself in unnecessary danger."

With only two scared and confused humans left, the task was laughably straightforward. He tricked one into tripping on a trap he'd found in their own camp and knocked out the last one with a blast of concentrated aura powers.

The knights sent back by Sir Aaron showed up riding on flying-type pokémons of their own. They assessed the situation and took over the case seamlessly, leaving Lucario to fly home on his own. Sir Aaron's pidgeot chirped at him, letting him know their companion was fine, and then silently made its way to the castle.

Lucario rushed to Sir Aaron's private quarters. Even though he trusted the pidgeot to be telling the truth, he needed to see that his Master was safe and sound himself. Sir Aaron was lying on his bed, wearing only his undergarments, long bandages draped over his chest. There were already traces of blood on them, but, reassuringly, nothing as bad as Lucario had seen before they'd parted.

"You really are fine," Lucario said. Sir Aaron blinked at him. Their auras brushed together, and through it Lucario saw that Sir Aaron was moved by his relief. "You shouldn't have gotten in the way of a tyranitar!"

"It was coming for you," Sir Aaron said wordlessly. He closed his eyes. "What else would you have done?"

They both knew the answer to that question. Lucario bowed his head, electing to stare at Sir Aaron's wounds rather than answer.

He'd never gotten to see Sir Aaron out of his clothes much, though he'd seen humans with their chests bare in the castle. The pale pink skin never ceased to amaze, somehow. There was something about the way humans were furless that made seeing them without clothes almost obscene. Here, he could see every line of Sir Aaron's musculature, the ridges of his abdominal muscles, the curve of his thighs. He could even, if he leaned in enough, see some of the veins hidden under the surface.

That humans could live their lives being so exposed was astonishing. Lucario's gaze slid further up, to land on the hollow of Sir Aaron's neck, where he could see the slight tremble of his pulse. Now that he'd gotten used to human behavior, he found them disarmingly easy to read, not so much in terms of complex emotions but in all the little details they let show despite themselves. Sir Aaron was no exception. His discomfort at being stared at was barely contained. Yet, he didn't say anything, didn't demand that Lucario stop. He tilted his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes.

His aura was much quieter than it should have been in his current state. It flowed softly around him, enveloping Lucario's with the same ease it always had. This double vulnerability, both corporeal and spiritual, only served to further unsettle Lucario.

They had been put on each other's paths for a reason. It was their auras that had brought them together. Lucario had followed because he'd thought he would reach a higher potential, but he was beginning to think he was marching toward something much scarier than what he'd signed up for.

 

Lucario had never really pondered what he'd want from a mate. Growing up, he'd seen many of his packmates mate for life and had always regarded it as something almost mystical, an instinct that was beyond oneself, a calling that brought you to the right lucario. He'd understood, with age and experience, that it was more complicated than he'd believed, yet he'd never taken the time to think about it much more than that.

These days, he was avoiding even contemplating the possibility. Whenever he let his mind wander, the shape his potential mate took there was one he couldn't let himself even yearn for.

He was getting better at keeping his thoughts in order and out of reach even through his aura, at least. It made him more distant, and he could tell Sir Aaron had noticed, but as long as neither of them brought it up, he could pretend it had to do with wanting to keep his focus on training or being caught up in the work they had to do.

The other humans had grown used to him and would greet him the same way they greeted Sir Aaron whenever they came to visit. The queen, especially, treated him like she would any other knight at her service, for which he was grateful.

In some ways, this only served to complicate things. He found himself at a threshold, stuck between humans and pokémons. He was a lucario, of course, and he always would be, but he could understand humans and respond to them as if he was one of their own. He walked on two legs and had memorized all the tenets of proper etiquette. Worse, he'd begun to notice that his behavior, down to his stance and how he expressed his emotions, had become decidedly more human. His ears still lay flat when he was upset, but he could also smile rather than sneer, and he'd often catch himself mimicking reactions that, months before, confused him greatly, such as rolling his eyes or shrugging.

The only thing he could cling to define who he was Sir Aaron. He stayed by his side at all times, whether they were training, resting, or simply spending time together. The routine served to keep Lucario sane, yet he knew it could never last.

"I don't mean to pry," Sir Aaron said, one quiet morning as they sat together in his quarters, having just finished eating their first meal of the day, "but I can tell something's been weighing on you."

He was wearing only a light nightshirt, his hat discarded on the back of his chair. In the dim light of the candle, illuminated from below, his friendly smile looked strangely ominous. Lucario averted his eyes.

"Perhaps," he said.

"As I said, I won't push you if you'd rather not talk about it. Though, if it's related to something I did..."

Lucario's gaze snapped back up toward Sir Aaron's face. "No. It has... nothing to do with you, Master," he lied. It wasn't the sort of lie that he thought Sir Aaron would begrudge him for. "I've been thinking, lately. About... who I am."

Sir Aaron's expression had softened. He didn't speak, waiting for Lucario to go on.

"I'm a lucario, but... Because of my powers, people here treat me more like a human." There were exceptions, as there always were; he'd caught more than a few disapproving glances when he walked through the corridors beside Sir Aaron. "Which is not who I am."

His words were clumsier than he would have liked. He hoped that Sir Aaron could sense what he meant through his aura.

"I didn't want to burden you," Lucario added. He'd averted his eyes once more, without even meaning to. "As your student... No, as your pokémon..."

"Do you consider me as your owner?" Sir Aaron asked, keeping his voice carefully even.

Lucario blinked down at the ground.

"No," he said without hesitation. "Sir Aaron is my Master."

When he looked up, he found he couldn't read Sir Aaron's features for any emotion he recognized. He was smiling, but there was a restraint there that Lucario had never seen, lingering at the corner of his mouth.

"You're free to leave me as soon as you've learned all that you need from me. I want you to know that we're equals, no matter what anybody else in this castle or elsewhere thinks." Sir Aaron paused. He lifted his hand and then brought it back down again to rest on his knee. "Do you understand?"

Lucario thought that he did understand, in the sense of being able to comprehend what Sir Aaron was saying, but he did not agree. No matter what happened, he'd seen enough of Sir Aaron's prowess, and of his kindness and devotion to others, to know that they could never be equals. They would always be, if not Master and servant, at least Master and student.

Still, he bowed his head. "I understand."

Sir Aaron's smile relaxed imperceptibly.

"We could pay a visit to your old packmates if you'd like. I'm sure they'd be delighted to see you."

With that, he brought his hand up again, and, this time, allowed himself to rub the top of Lucario's head, blunt nails scratching between his ears. It sent a long shiver down Lucario's back that he couldn't fully hold in.

The lucarios of his puphood's clearing were indeed overjoyed upon seeing him again. A few of them complained that he smelled a little too much like a human, now, but they quickly shut up once he demonstrated the extent of his training. His siblings excitedly requested that he give them lessons, which he did happily under the watchful eye of Sir Aaron, sitting between the trees and content to let him bask in the glory of coming home at long last.

Getting to be among his kind again reinvigorated him, for a while. He no longer felt plagued by odd feelings, like being put off by seeing his paw next to Sir Aaron's hand or being unnerved by accidentally brushing against his Master's arm as they trained.

Somehow, the reprieve proved too short still.

They'd returned to the castle for the first time in a long time, and so the queen had thrown a special celebration in their honor, with a drawn-out, fancy dinner positioning them both at the center of everyone's attention. Lucario ate at the table, sitting next to Sir Aaron, feeling somewhat like he was playing pretend. The other humans' attempts at small talk were stilted at best, and, though the queen had listened to some of his stories gingerly, she was clearly more comfortable discussing human matters with Sir Aaron rather than the pokémon who followed him around.

Perhaps it was unfair of Lucario to think of her that way. Queen Rin had been nothing but welcoming to him, always ensuring that he would be treated as a guest of honor. Nevertheless, they had little in common. She didn't feel aura like Sir Aaron did. The heartbeat of the world around them was nothing but silence to her.

He dragged the little knife he'd been given to cut his food alongside the edge of his wooden plate, leaving a very fine mark. Humans had so many tools, and to so many of them, pokémons were as much of a tool as cutlery was. He glanced up in time to catch Sir Aaron and Queen Rin deep in conversation, leaning toward the other conspicuously, and kept looking.

Sir Aaron's body language read differently whenever he was interacting with humans. Here, he was casual, resting his chin over the back of his hand, chuckling at something the queen had said. His guard was down, his eyes focused on her, the cadence of his speech steady, even as he whispered. His aura surrounded him less like a shield and more like a curtain, separating him from the rest in a way that nobody else could see.

The tension between him and Lucario had never really subdued. Sir Aaron gave him space, but giving him space seemed to come with exercising that strange restraint more thoroughly. They could relax when they were alone together, could let the silence stretch around them comfortably, yet as soon as they were in the presence of others, it was as if they barely could afford to acknowledge each other's presence.

Lucario realized idly that he'd been clenching his jaw, gritting his fangs slowly as if he was gnashing on something stuck in his mouth. The knife in his hand was slightly bent. He let go of it.

That evening, when Sir Aaron led him back to his room after the feast, the words spilled out of his mind before he could stop them, spreading through his aura like a disease.

"You and the queen seem close."

It was subtle, so subtle that, had he not had access to his aura, Lucario might not have noticed, but Sir Aaron froze for half of a second before snapping out of it.

"Do we?" he asked, keeping his tone light. He was standing near the door, halfway to leaving, his face turned away, obscured by the rim of his hat. "In what way?"

Lucario shrugged. "In the way that humans sometimes seem close. Humans do mate, don't they?" He felt his ears twitch, heard the thumping sound of his heartbeat echoing inside his skull. "Like that."

"I didn't know you cared about these things," Sir Aaron said. He chuckled, though Lucario thought it sounded a bit forced. "Nothing like that, no."

They kept quiet for a moment. Lucario's mind was oddly calm, not unlike the feeling he sometimes got before a fight.

"I wonder," he said, "if humans and pokémons could mate as well."

There was a dull thump. Sir Aaron had pulled the door open and, taken by surprise, had let it go, leaving it to slam against the frame.

"What's gotten into you?"

Lucario peered down at the stone floor under his paws. His aura flared, tinted by his anxiety.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to upset you, Master. Please, pretend I never brought it up."

He heard Sir Aaron sigh, and then the quiet sound of his boots as he stepped closer.

"No, I'm sorry for losing my temper. You've told me about what's been troubling you, it makes sense you'd think about these sorts of things." He hesitated, and it was enough to give Lucario the courage to look up at his face. He kept it tilted forward, hiding under his hat, and so Lucario couldn't see his expression. "There are, ah... legends, about the relationships humans and pokémons used to have, a long time ago. That's all they are, however, legends."

Lucario's heart was beating so fast that he had to make a conscious effort to keep his breathing even. "Legends?" he repeated, afraid to pry further.

"There have been tales of pokémons marrying humans," Sir Aaron said. Not being able to even glimpse at his face was driving Lucario faster toward madness. "Of pokémons and humans being the same." He tilted his head back, at last, revealing his frown and the ugly twist of his mouth. "Scholars have argued about what it could mean, but we can only speculate."

Whatever there was to speculate on, it was certain that Sir Aaron was having none of it. Lucario nodded, turning toward his cot, feigning to be more tired than he was. They exchanged a few more words that he didn't register until Sir Aaron finally left, wishing him a good night's sleep before closing the door behind him.

A good night's sleep. Lucario doubted he would get any sleep at all.

Legends, he'd said. Pokémons and humans being the same, he'd said. When they'd last talked, Sir Aaron had listened to his struggles, had told him that they were equals. He hadn't said they were the same, exactly, but to Lucario, he might as well have meant it.

Now he knew that he was wrong. He was the only one plagued by this wretchedness. Sir Aaron was a human, and he was a pokémon. There could be nothing between them that went beyond companionship.

It shouldn't have kept him up at night. It shouldn't have made him feel like his chest was caving in, like he'd just been hit head-on by a Headbutt that got him reeling. Worst, he shouldn't have been driven to tears, something he'd only ever fallen prey to since meeting Sir Aaron. Lucarios didn't shed tears – and yet.

He stared at the ceiling and willed himself to bury these feelings until he died.

 

As always, Sir Aaron left him to deal with his issues, cognizant that he could do nothing about it. Perhaps he even feared he might encourage it, or worsen it. He didn't shun Lucario, far from it, but the distance between them had become palpable. Their auras didn't meld as well as they used to. When they sat together, whether they were alone or not, Lucario would be careful not to let their arms touch.

They didn't even meditate back to back anymore. Somehow, this was what pained Lucario the most.

Yet, in some ways, it made things easier. Forced back into a role more fit for a pokémon, Lucario found he could lose himself in that mindset and forget the complexity of his feelings. He could fight in Sir Aaron's name, he could play the part of the well-behaved pet, he could weather the strange looks Sir Aaron sometimes gave him, as if he was wrestling with some inner turmoil of his own. His aura, in contrast, stayed silent – or, more likely, Lucario was barred from hearing or seeing anything it might keep hidden.

At night, and only if he was alone, Lucario would allow his mind to wander, weaving vivid pictures into his aura, memories of Sir Aaron's smile, of the warmth of his palm on the back of Lucario's neck, of them working together in perfect symbiosis. He'd dream of simpler days spent in tender amity, and have terrible nightmares of coming clean and being sent away, of meeting Sir Aaron's gaze and seeing nothing but disgust and contempt.

He clung to the knowledge that, no matter what, they were together. Sir Aaron had not discarded him. They worked together to protect the peace in the kingdom and guarantee the queen's safety whenever she was out of the castle.

There was some conflict brewing that Lucario didn't fully understand the reasoning behind. One of those human wars that he'd heard so much about. It was nonsense to him; humans were so similar, what could bring them to take arms against each other so often? He'd known that humans used pokémons for battles, of course, yet the idea of involving them in disputes they had nothing to do with seemed unnecessarily cruel.

At the same time, he couldn't imagine leaving Sir Aaron to deal with it on his own, so his hypocrisy left a lot to be desired, he supposed.

They accompanied the queen as she went out to discuss diplomatic negotiations. Lucario had never seen Sir Aaron so on edge, his guard all the way up, so focused on keeping an eye out for potential danger that he didn't bother to restrain his aura. It would have been simple enough to take advantage of it, but Lucario forbade himself. Now was not the time.

It was for the best. Three days after they'd left the castle, once night had fallen over the camp they'd set up around the royal carriage, they were ambushed by a dozen men and pokémons. Leaving Sir Aaron to take care of the queen, Lucario sprang out, aiming for the first attackers, and released his aura to try to bring them down long enough that the rest of the knights could gather and get their pokémons out and ready.

The rhythm of an actual battle was a welcome reprieve, even if it was somewhat tainted by the urgency. He dodged several blasts coming from an umbreon and espeon pair with a twirl and sent his own wave of aura toward their direction. This was something he could do, something he could use to show Sir Aaron that he was still capable.

Using only his aura to see, he could block off everything else and simply focus on defeating the enemy. He evaded another attack, and then another, uncaring of where they were coming from, and propelled himself forward using the momentum he'd gained to try to kick a xatu who teleported just in time. Thrown off balance, he attempted to catch a nearby branch to keep from stumbling and leaving himself vulnerable, only to be hit directly by a psychic-type move that sent him flying, hitting the back of his head hard against one of the trees.

He didn't fully lose consciousness, but it was a very near thing. He couldn't hear anything, all sounds coming through his ears muffled and distorted, and his body felt simultaneously too light and too heavy. He thought he could feel someone or something lifting him, a warm feeling enveloping him, the bright, pulsing colors of a familiar aura against his closed eyelids, but he couldn't be sure.

"Master," he breathed out. There was no answer.

His aura felt like it was spilling out of him. Whatever he'd been struck by, it was draining what little control he had over it fast. He saw flashes of memories, of sensations that he'd been keeping at bay. Brushes and glimpses, but also lingering touches from long ago, unwavering stares the likes he'd been unable to indulge ever since the distance between him and Sir Aaron had begun to grow. He didn't even attempt to fight it.

He was so very tired.

They were halfway to the castle when his confusion started to clear. He couldn't tell how long it had been. He was lying over Sir Aaron's lap, wrapped in the fabric of his coat like a warm, comforting blanket. As soon as he realized where he was, he froze, afraid to move, and only relaxed when it became clear everything was fine. He squeezed his eyes shut and listened to the sounds of the carriage's wheels dragging over rocks and dirt and the murmur of a conversation above him.

"...be alright?" the queen was saying.

There was a rustle somewhere close to Lucario's ear, and something pressed above the spike on his chest as if to feel for his heartbeat.

"He will be," Sir Aaron replied. "If he were in any grave danger, I would sense it."

Silence. Lucario drifted off, slowly, his mind sinking back into sleep now that he knew he was safe. At the edge of his consciousness, he heard a soft chuckle.

"You do care for him very much, don't you," were the last words Lucario caught before succumbing to his slumber.

He woke up again to find himself in his bed, Sir Aaron's cloak still draped over him, and the man himself leaning toward his sleeping form anxiously, wringing his hands together, his sitting form uncharacteristically motionless. His eyes softened as soon as he realized Lucario was awake.

"Master," Lucario murmured. The side of his chest hurt, but he no longer felt disoriented.

Sir Aaron's aura shone as bright as it had the first day they'd met, and with it came an all-encompassing sort of relief, as if all of Lucario's worries and conundrums were evaporating at once. He smiled, and Lucario could do nothing but smile back.

"I'm sorry," Sir Aaron said. Though his smile remained steady, his kind gaze was tinted with unmistakable sadness. "I hurt you very much because I was too afraid to face my own quandary."

Lucario frowned. "What?" he croaked. "I don't understand."

"You opened up to me in your confusion," Sir Aaron explained. Lucario's body grew so warm he thought it might show through his fur. He sat up in an attempt to recollect himself. "Don't fret. I already... I'd already caught on to your feelings."

He had. Now Lucario felt icy cold, his throat too tight to speak. All along, Sir Aaron had known was what besetting him, and it was time for him to reject all of it, to push Lucario away, to send him back to the forest he should have never emerged from.

"Don't fret," Sir Aaron repeated, and it sounded as if his throat, too, was tight. "I want you to know that you are the most precious gift aura has brought to me. I want you to know that... I believe we were fated to be together." He paused, and their auras vibrated at the same pace, intertwining in long strands of light and pure energy that filled Lucario's heart with an emotion he couldn't name almost to the point of bursting. "I think you know it as well as I do."

Lucario couldn't speak. Words seemed suddenly too simple to express everything he was going through. He rose to his feet and reached out to his Master, who gratefully accepted his embrace, allowing him to push his forehead against the top of his chest with a sigh. Sir Aaron smelled like rainwater and stale sweat, the human scent Lucario had grown used to in the time they'd spent together. He smelled like home in the way that the clearing of Lucario's puphood hadn't when he'd gone back, like being a riolu again and seeking refuge under the bushes, away from everyone else to lie down and daydream about the future he projected over his aura.

He took a deep breath. Sir Aaron held him a little closer, wrapping his arms and his aura around Lucario's trembling form.

Will you have me, then? he wanted to ask. Will we stay together? Are we the same?

His aura spoke for him. In it, he saw himself, half-delirious, confessing to all the things he'd promised himself Sir Aaron would never know. He saw himself, clinging to Sir Aaron's chest, crying hot tears that soaked into his cloak and disappeared, begging for forgiveness for the crime of believing himself to be more than he was.

In it, he saw Sir Aaron comforting him, drying his tears with a gloved finger, bringing him tight to his chest with a desperation he'd never seen him show before. He saw Sir Aaron's aura respond to his in kind, mirroring his inner struggle almost perfectly.

He saw love.

Then, he thought, come what may, he could withstand anything. They could withstand anything, together.

 


Then...


 

Lucario opened his eyes.

The world unblurred around him slowly, in patches of unreadable, unfamiliar colors. He was sitting in a field, he thought, yet that felt wrong. It couldn't be happening. There was a disconnect between his sensations and the memories that were breaching through the surface of his mind.

He remembered... the boy who was like Sir Aaron, with the bright eyes and the relentless devotion toward pokémons. He remembered... the crushing betrayal that sunk deep into his bones and then was disproven, freeing him from the torment that had befallen him for all the time he'd spent prisoner of that staff. He remembered... vowing to honor Sir Aaron's memory and give his life to better the world the same way he had.

Yet here he was, sitting in that field, surrounded by the timeless flow of aura.

Footsteps behind his back startled him so hard he jumped. He looked back, unsure of what he would find, and felt his heart skip a beat.

Sir Aaron smiled at him, the rim of his hat casting harsh shadows over his handsome face, so reminiscent of the day they'd met that Lucario swore he had to be an apparition, a phantom summoned by his aura to haunt him. Wherever he was, he had to have failed him.

"It's good to see you," Sir Aaron said. He breached the distance between them to sit next to Lucario in the grass. "I've been waiting for quite a long time."

"Master–"

The word had barely escaped him that Sir Aaron was shaking his head. "No need for that," he said. Seeing Lucario's distress and confusion, he added, leaning in to place his palm over Lucario's head and scratch him behind the ears, "I want us to be the same, here."

Lucario thought about asking where "here" was, but he could sense it now that they were touching. Becoming part of aura itself was what had awaited them beyond death; he'd just never imagined it could feel like this. When he closed his eyes and focused only on the sensation of Aaron's nails scraping against his fur, he could sense it: the connecting ties of everything that made up the world, of every nook and cranny, every living and unliving thing. There, the trees that once surrounded the clearing of his youth, now hundreds of years old; there, the people and pokémons who'd been born long after their time; there, somewhere, he knew, that boy and his friends who'd helped him find out the truth and be reunited with his Master at last.

It would take him some time to no longer think of Aaron as his Master. Thankfully, he knew they had all the time they would ever need.

"I apologize for deceiving you," Aaron said. Lucario stood to look up at him and saw tears shining in his narrowed eyes. "I feared you would never come back to me, and I would never get to tell you..."

His voice caught in his throat. Lucario pushed his head against his chest, the same way he'd done so long ago, and let himself be embraced once more.

"Thank you," he said. He could feel Aaron's feelings as intensely as if they were his own, and they were his own. "Thank you, Aaron."

Sweet, comforting warmth enveloped them as one. Lucario's tiredness crept up on him then, but it was a good one, the profound satisfaction of having fulfilled your duty as best as you could, of finally being allowed to rest. Aaron held him close, and Lucario let out a sigh that he knew to be more human than pokémon, as much as he knew that none of it mattered anymore – if it ever did.