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James leaned back in his old wooden rocking chair as he set down a plain gold ring on the small round stand to his left.
His face was expressionless, and his head was turned to rest against the palm of his cheek as he thought back to the years it represented..
He'd stolen it from his parents just before he ran away.. The need to pawn it might arise he thought.. but he could never bear to part with it.. and instead fasted during his times of need..
Some times had been uncomfortable.. but he and his partner always had stuck together and weathered whatever problems they encountered..
But nothing was certain in his world.. except that nothing would stay the same forever.. A curse on humanity.
"All of us will age.. and one day, we'll all leap off this mortal plain.." James remembered what Solomon had told him so long ago..
Those days seemed like a foggy dream.. and the more he thought about it, the more he thought that maybe they were..
The years had slowly changed him.. as they had his friends.. though no one is ever really prepared for it..
He turned his eyes down to look at the hair that hung limply by the side of his face.. the once royal blue color was now almost mistakeable for black.. only in the brightness of day could you could still see the blue tinge to it..
Meowth had departed them long ago.. the rare speaking pokemon had been given his own television show..
James never admitted it to anyone.. but he really missed the meowth.. He missed alot of things.. but maybe none more than his partner..
Alot of years had passed, and alot of things had changed.. but even after all this time she still broke his heart..
He thought with a sigh.. seventeen and twenty-five seemed worlds apart.. and so did she from him.. They still were stationed in the same quarters.. but now only in contract..
She was never around much anymore.. At first she said she just wanted to go out by herself.. to have a little time just to think.. Now she didn't even bother to tell him when she was coming and going..
He had a good idea of where she was going though.. He'd caught a glimpse of her lower neck.. the lingering evidence of passion was almost hidden behind the high collar of her uniform..
He really couldn't blame her.. though it had always been himself he imagined would be giving her those marks..
A slight smile briefly crossed his face as he thought back to Butch and Cassidy's wedding day. It was so surreal.. so perfect.. just that once he wished he could be them.. They'd managed to have the ceremony in Vector's largest cathedral... it wasn't the same as it must have been when it was originally constructed.. At one time it was one of the largest buildings in the world.. now it crouched, obscured by the high rise jungle, and was the last shining jewel of a younger, more innocent time left in that dark city..
Cassidy looked lovelier than he could ever remember, and Butch.. well.. he was as reserved as ever, James only remembers hearing him say "I do".. and, of course, James had cried at the ceremony..
The smile faded away as he reached back down to pick the small band up off the table next to him..
He held it up in front of his eye.. it was completely smooth, and a little too small for his own finger..
He'd often imagined Jessie wearing it some day when he was a younger man.. maybe that's why he still carried it with him all these years.. it was everything.. all of his hopes and dreams.. in the palm of his hand.
He slowly set the ring back down on the stand and pushed himself to his feet..
He looked over at the stone fireplace.. He could see the ghosts of two beautiful seventeen year-olds.. huddling in front of it as they had on the cold nights they spent here years before.
He walked over to the oaken door and turned the knob. Letting the chilly arms of night embrace him he stepped through the portal, and turned to take one last look at the cabin that had been his refuge the past twelve years, a tear rolled down his left cheek as he shut the door and stuffed his hands in his deep trenchcoat pockets.. leaving it behind..
Fifteen years ago he'd started a new life.. and now it was time to do it again..
He didn't know when Jessie would return, but he was sure that he'd be far away by the time she did.. and he hoped that deep down.. she might understand..