Hana's Game: A SequelShipping Story: Chapter 7

    “This isn’t good,” Delta said to herself, “This is not good at all.”

    She paced the floor of her hotel room nervously, wracking her mind to find a solution.  Gemini sat on the edge of the bed just watching her.

    “What are you talking about?” he asked, “It’s going perfectly.  Everything’s going according to plan.”

    “Perfectly?!” Delta demanded, “The whole point of this was to get Hugh and Rosa together, and now look what happened!  I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you when you brought Christoph into the picture.”

    “I told you,” Gemini explained, “Christoph is going to make Hugh jealous enough so that he’ll be pressured into making his move sooner.  Never underestimate the power that jealousy has on a relationship.”

    “But now,” she insisted, “Rosa’s going to be left alone with Christoph for a whopping three months.  Hugh had been removed from the equation entirely.”

    “Exactly,” he told her as he stood up, “Which is why our next move is to reintroduce Hugh into the equation.  Now that they’ve spent some time away from each other, they’ll realize that they need each other more than they knew.”

    Delta had no response for that one.  It sounded like a good plan, but why was she so apprehensive about it?  She knew why: it was because she still didn’t fully trust Gemini yet.  Everything he’s said and done has been correct, so why didn’t she trust him?

    “You can trust me on this,” Gemini continued, placing his hands on her shoulders, “Once we tell Hugh where Rosa is, he won’t be able to stay away.”

    She felt her heart skip a beat when he touched her.  Her face grew hot as she felt his strong hands caressing her shoulders.  What was this feeling she was experiencing?  And why hadn’t she felt it before?  Could she actually be…?  She clutched the rose on her breast tightly at the thought.

    No, she thought to herself, I can’t let myself get caught up in that again!  Not after last time.



    Rosa couldn’t sleep.  She never was the kind to sleep well on an airplane, but this time, it was as if her mind didn’t want to sleep.  She just stared out the window watching as the sky went from orange to black, to orange again, to blue, and finally to orange once more.  Her mind was consumed with thoughts of Hugh.  Was he all right?  Did she make the right decision in going to star in this movie and leave him behind?  She was already regretting her decision to go.

    “Are you okay Rosa?”

    She turned to look at Christoph, who was looking at her with a concerned look on his face.

    “Oh,” she said, “Sorry, I just didn’t sleep well last night.  I had a little trouble getting comfortable.”

    “We’re in first class,” Christoph reminded her, “It doesn’t get much more comfortable than this.”

    “I know,” Rosa told him, “But I’ve never been that big on sleeping while sitting upright next to a jet engine.”

    “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked, “You really don’t seem like yourself.”

    Rosa sighed.  “You’re right,” she answered, “I’m sorry.  It’s just that… this isn’t exactly how I imagined spending Valentine’s Day.”

    “I’m sorry,” Christoph apologized, “I know this was kind of last-minute.  Did you have any plans for today?”

    “Well,” Rosa began, “Not per se, but I was kind of hoping to do something special.”

    “I see,” he said, “Well sorry if this isn’t as special as you were hoping, but I decided to set something up just to say thank you.”

    With that, a flight attendant came by with a cart carrying a romantic candlelit dinner for two.  She set the trays down in front of them.

    “Sorry I couldn’t get that special someone for you,” Christoph added, “So I guess I’ll just have to do.”

    “You did this for me?” Rosa asked, “That’s so sweet of you.  Thank you.”

    Christoph blushed.  Rosa couldn’t help but smile.  He went through all this trouble just for her.  Her heart started to beat just a little faster.  Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to go on this trip after all.



    Hugh didn’t want to get out of bed that morning.  Getting up required strength and desire, neither of which he had today.  He knew that today was going to suck; Valentine’s Day all by himself, everywhere a constant reminder that he was alone.  He always wondered why they put Valentine’s Day in February, the most depressing month of the year, where they could remind people that they were all alone.  The only people he could think of who would want that would be cemeteries and pharmacies specializing in anti-depressants.

    Pull yourself together, he thought to himself, Pouting isn’t going to help you.  You can’t let Rosa see you like this.

    He forced himself to get out of bed and get dressed.  He stopped when he got to the door though.  He would have much rather hit himself in the family jewels than go outside right now, but he knew better.  Forcing himself out of the door, Hugh left the room and went straight for the front desk to check out.  One thing was for certain; he had to get out of the city for today.  Maybe he would go walk to Driftveil City.  Surely the Pokémon World Tournament wouldn’t be focused on Valentine’s Day.

    As he finished checking out of the hotel, a familiar voice called out from behind him.

    “Hi Hugh!” Delta greeted, “Good to see you again.”

    “Oh, what are you doing here?” Hugh snapped, “The sun is up.  Shouldn’t you be asleep in a coffin somewhere?”

    Delta ignored the comment and continued.  “So it’s Valentine’s Day today,” she told him, “Are you taking Rosa out anywhere special?”

    Hugh tensed.  He knew it was coming.  Barely out the door, and he’s already having to put up with all the garbage that was surely to come.

    “She’s not here,” Hugh answered bluntly, “She left last night because she had something to do.”

    “Oh that’s right,” Delta began, “I’m sorry, I forgot that she left to go film that movie.”

    Hugh nearly shot to the ceiling.  “You know about that?” he asked, “How did you find out?”

    “Oh, a little birdy told me,” she answered, “But more importantly, why didn’t you go with her?”

    “It… It’s not my place,” he answered, “This is something that she has to do on her own.”

    “I suppose that’s understandable,” Delta told him, “But surely you at least know where she is, right?”

    Hugh froze.  That’s when he realized he didn’t know where Rosa was.  Could she have forgotten to tell him?  Did she not know herself?  Or perhaps she didn’t want him to know.

    “Well,” Delta continued, seeing the look on Hugh’s face, “From what I can tell, it seems like she doesn’t want you there.  Perhaps she might be cheating on you.”

    “First of all,” Hugh began, “How could she possibly be cheating on me if we aren’t even dating to begin with?  And second of all, I’m the one who pushed her into going alone in the first place.  She didn’t want to go on account of me, but I wasn’t going to let her pass up an opportunity like that.”

    “Is that so?” she asked, “In that case, it must be killing her to be there without you there.  If you’re as close as you seem, she must be terribly lonely right now.”

    “So what if she is?” he replied, “There’s nothing I can do about it now.”

    Delta was about to answer when a voice called out from behind her.

    “There you are honey,” Gemini said, “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

    Delta was surprised to hear his voice.  She didn’t expect him to come in.  And he was calling her “honey”?  Still, she knew she had to play along to avoid losing her cover.

    “Sweetie,” she answered, “I told you we were supposed to meet up here.  Did you forget again?”

    “Ah yes,” Gemini responded, “Now I remember.  I guess I must have spaced on that one.  So who’s your friend here?”

    “This is Hugh,” Delta introduced, “His girlfriend left him last night to go star in a movie.”

    “She’s not my girlfriend,” Hugh added irritably.

    Delta was about to pull the same mind trick she used on Rosa days before, but before she could, Gemini began to address Hugh.

    “A movie?” he began, “Last night?  Ah yes, I think I know the one you’re talking about.”

    Hugh stared at him.  “You do?” he asked.

    “Of course,” Gemini answered, “As it just so happens, a good friend of mine is actually directing the very movie that your friend is starring in.  So are you going to visit her there sometime?”

    “Well,” Hugh started, “Actually, I don’t know exactly where they are.  Plus, I’m kind of trying to stay away from her to let her focus on the movie.”

    “Ah, I understand,” he responded, “Then I probably shouldn’t mention that I know the entire itinerary of where they’re going – Oh dear, I’ve said too much.”

    Hugh was about to ask more, but he caught himself.  He couldn’t let himself give in to temptation.

    “You know what?” he said, “I don’t care.  It doesn’t concern me in the slightest.”

    “Good,” Gemini continued, “Because I just couldn’t possibly tell you that their first stop is in Canalave City at the harbor – Oops.  I hate myself.”

    “Come on dear,” Delta told him, “Let’s go before you mention that there’s a flight for Hearthome City with a connection to Canalave leaving in an hour and a half.”

    Delta and Gemini then headed out, leaving Hugh alone.  He started to leave the hotel himself.  So she was in Canalave City, was she?  Now that he knew where she was, he could…

    No! he thought, I can’t let myself think like that!  I don’t care.  I’m not going.  I don’t care.  I don’t care.

    “Can I help you?” asked the ticket girl at the Nimbasa International Airport.

    “Yes,” Hugh answered, “I need to catch the next flight to Canalave City as soon as possible.