Compared to how the day started, the rest of the morning was relatively uneventful even considering that I shared a shower with Chloe.  Maybe I was still overwhelmed with everything else that had happened and riding too much of a high to really appreciate the experience, but I did notice that underneath all of her exquisite clothes she had an equally exceptional and exquisite body, but I was there to wash it and not marvel at its details.

She left me to finish up once she was clean, and by the time I’d washed myself and exited the bathroom wrapped in one of her luxurious towels she was already wearing the same outfit she’d had on when I first met her.  Her suit was perfectly tailored, of course, and she was just adjusting the tops of her brilliant red opaque stockings as I stepped into the room.  I went to her immense closet, trying to not be distracted by the vast collection of footwear and clothing, and took a bit of time to pick out the pair of tall white stilettos that I recognized,

She smiled warmly as I knelt down and placed them at her feet.  “You remembered,” she declared with delight while guiding her toes into the first, then stepping up into it, ascending five inches further above me as she slipped her other foot into the second shoe.

“Of course,” I responded automatically, just as I bent at the waist to place matching kisses at the tips of her towering shoes.  She’d stepped on me with those shoes, and crushed my Butterfree out of existence beneath them.  I tried to remember how I’d felt back then, only days ago although it seemed so much longer.  I’d been sad, terribly sad, I could remember that much, but I as I stood up and Chloe pulled my towel away from me, I just couldn’t bring that feeling back.

It had been the first time I experienced her strength… felt and observed the power she could wield and the things she could do with her fantastic feet.  I stepped into the white satin underwear Chloe must have specially purchased for me, marvelling at how silky and smooth it felt against my skin while she fastened the matching strapless bra behind me.  Those cruel, beautiful white stilettos had been the beginning of everything… they’d been the first magical moment on the path to this new spectacular life.

She helped me into the dress we’d bought yesterday, then picked out some jewelry for us both while I tugged on my stockings and boots.  I had my choker and bangle, and she found a silvered bracelet and emerald earrings that sparkled with the same brightness of her eyes, and with that we were ready to go.

Malva was sitting on the edge of the same table they’d had their breakfast at, having pulled herself off of the ground and presumably dusted herself off.  Her arms were folded across her chest, and she gave an impatient and exaggerated “Finally,” when we walked out together.  With that, we were off, off to… wherever it was we were going.

I’d never actually asked, my head still spinning that I was dressed like I was and in the company of these two spectacular women.  I may have been a little unsteady in my tall boots as we headed to the elevator, but still, I was with them.  I was one of them, we were all equally fabulous… three dazzling, beautiful women.  Like some sort of fairy tale, I’d transformed into something so much greater than I’d been before.

We piled into the spacious back of a large waiting car, my own silly grin still spread from ear to ear as the two women settled in on either side of me.  Chloe pulled a little folder from her bag and handed me a few typed pages.  “That’s your speech,” she informed me, and suddenly I realized what we were doing today.  “Read it over a few times so you’ll be prepared.”

I fought back waves of panic as I pored over the words, but as I finished my first readthrough and started back again I began to relax a little.  Whoever had written this really understood me, or at least understood the sorts of things I would say and how I would say them.  My lips began to move along with the words as I imagined saying them, eliciting a fierce eye roll from Malva as the car rolled on.

I stayed buried in my speech until Chloe basically had to take it out of my hands.  We’d gotten out of the car and were climbing the stairs to the same stage in the heart of Lumiose that I’d stood on during several parades in the past few months.  “Let the little people look at you, Lucy,” she instructed me as we found the chairs that had been prepared for us.  “Let them see you and let them feel like they’re being seen in return.”

Every important person I could imagine was there, from Professor Sycamore and Diantha to gym leaders and even the proprietors of the city’s more established restaurants and boutiques.  “Are they all here for us?” I asked while looking around at all of them, and Malva chuckled a little and patted my thigh. “They’re all here for your big announcement, runt.  Try not to screw it up.”

Chloe instantly reached over and squeezed my hand, quick to add her own version of encouragement to Malva’s less than reassuring words.  “You’ll be wonderful, dear.  Just smile, stick to your script, and speak from the heart.”

I nodded firmly, looking deeply into her eyes and feeling her confidence fill me, gradually becoming my own.  After that there were introductions, handshakes and smiles, but before long I was standing, carefully placing one heavy boot in front of the other as I made my way to the podium amidst thunderous applause.

There was a moment where I lost myself in the sea of people spread out before me and just stood there staring back at them as their applause started to die down, but after a long, frightening and awkward moment I looked down and found the words on my papers, and from there I found the reserves of confidence Chloe had given me.

“When I first set out from my home on that journey that so many of us begin, I was very much a girl, filled with so much hope and excitement for the months ahead that would be the first that I spent out on my own.  In many ways that youthful exuberance and optimism helped give me strength as I travelled to every corner of our region, and in time I became the strongest I could be.  

“I became the very best, and in so many ways I see Kalos as much like myself, on its own sort of journey to greatness.  Our region is young and strong and beautiful, and its growing more and more each day.  I love this place that’s become my home, and I want to see it prosper for the rest of my life and the lives of those that come after me as well.

“If I seem different at all today, I can promise all of you that it’s more than my style that’s changed.  There comes a time when we have to take all of the lessons and experiences of our journeys and make plans for what lies ahead.  That’s simply growing up, and as Kalos continues to grow I want to see it mature as well.

“We all live such rich and wonderful lives here, enjoying so many resources and pleasures, but there is a cost for all of these wonderful things we enjoy.  I would never suggest that our lives should change; they’re part of what makes Kalos so grand.  For our children, and our children’s children, we simply need some structure.  We need a plan.”

From there I went on to detail the broader elements of where that plan began.  A huge task force was already assembled to perform the first Grand Census of Kalos starting as soon as tomorrow, and the data from that would let the region’s best scientists and researchers develop the next steps.  When I finished with more grand praise for the place I lived there was another wave of even more spirited applause, and from there I yielded the podium to my “dear friend” Chloe, who further explained how the technical details of the Census would work.

When it was all over, we all exited the stage together, and once the car doors had closed behind us Malva and Chloe both erupted in giddy laughter, and I impulsively joined in.

“You were brilliant, Lucy!” Chloe sighed, leaning in and even giving me a little peck on the cheek.  I immediately felt I was melting away like a lump of sugar in her hot tea, but fortunately all my body was able to do was flush a fantastic shade of red and fill with a flustered heat.  I curled up in the seat next to her, leaning against her shoulder and letting the lovely fragrance of her hair be my focus as she and Malva chatted excitedly all the way to our next stop.

The rest of the day was a blur as I found myself unexpectedly treated to an extravagant lunch, complete with several glasses of very sweet and very bubbly wine.  It was my first experience with alcohol save for the time Malva had nearly drowned me in a glass of moscato for a few minutes of entertainment.  I kept expecting to be roughly shoved beneath the table and ground into the floor beneath their beautiful shoes at any moment, but as the afternoon went on I started to just enjoy myself in their company.

After a whole lot of enjoyment I kind of lost track of things.  I’d seen enough television programs to have some context when it came to girls who had too much to drink, so I wasn’t sure if my memories of Malva helping me to the bathroom were real or imagined, but when I woke up to the increasingly familiar feeling of curved plastic beneath me I figured that one of them had decided that carrying me home inside my Ball would be a lot easier than trying to do it the traditional way.  Either way, I didn’t really mind.  It was probably only mid-afternoon but I’d had quite the day already, and I was tremendously happy sitting here in my tiny Ball at the top of Chloe’s purse, staring up through the tinted plastic and the unzipped opening at her utterly angelic countenance.

I’d had some really strong feelings for people in the past.  People like Calem and Shauna, I guess, if I wanted to be specific, but there was a reason they’d both been crushed like insects beneath Chloe’s feet.  I mean, I’d been the one who stepped on Shauna, but Chloe was stepping on me at the time and anyhow I belonged to her and my feet were her feet if you really thought about it, weren’t they?  But anyhow, the point was that they were nothing compared to her… nobody could begin to compare to her, and the same could be said for my feelings before I met her and the way I felt now.

“I love you!” I called out to her.  Of course I did.  This was love, this incredible overpowering all-consuming feeling inside of me.  I was completely and totally in love with her.  “I love you, Chloe,” I declared again to her massive face far above, too occupied by talking and laughing with Malva to hear me.  I didn’t mind, though.  I knew how I felt, and that thought left me with a smile as I drifted off to sleep.

*****

The next morning I woke up with a screaming headache, curled up in just my silky underwear at the end of Chloe’s bed.  My senses were still thoroughly hazy but I could feel the warmth of her soles just inches from my face, so naturally I nuzzled up against them and gave her feet a few soft, sweet kisses.

“Time for our run, little one,” her surprisingly jarring voice called out, and when I rolled over and turned my head I saw Chloe standing in the doorway to her bedroom, already wearing her running clothes.  The outfit was the same as yesterday, save that the reds and whites had been reversed.

“Glad you still care.”  Malva’s voice startled me, and when I turned back it was her that I saw tucked under Chloe’s soft blankets.  One of her feet stretched towards me, rising towards my face as she let out a playful, derisive laugh.  “Chloe can run on her own, you can stay here and suck my toes while she’s gone.”

I twisted back and tumbled off the end of the bed, landing in a heap at Chloe’s familiar crimson sneakers while Malva laughed at me again, stopping only when she felt the need to yawn.

“Come on,” Chloe sighed, and I saw a couple pieces of fabric drop in front of my face.  As I pushed myself up I realized it was my own similarly styled running clothes, complete with a pair of tall striped socks that I snatched up instantly.  “Get dressed and put your shoes on, I don’t like waiting around.”

Shoes!  She’d gotten me shoes, too?  My excitement overcame my headache as I hopped up and started tugging on my tall socks and my tiny shorts.  I heard Malva make some sort of crude comment as I switched over to my sports bra, and then I was hurrying into the living room, easily spotting my own pair of bright red running shoes by the door.  I wanted to take my time enjoying slipping them on for the first time and lacing them up, but I knew Chloe wouldn’t stand for that, so as quickly as I could I tightened up the laces and we were off.

She laughed when I knelt down to lick the bottoms of her sneakers, and I felt for a moment that there was the possibility she may have just forced me to do that for her own purposes yesterday.  Still, I was going to show her how great I could be, and she didn’t mind lifting her feet so I could clean the soles of her shoes.

The rest of our run went much like yesterday, and again Malva had breakfast nearly ready, though this time she was only wearing a scandalously short kimono as she moved about the kitchen.  I was given a plate of my own this time, and after I’d knelt down and pulled off Chloe’s shoes, giving each of her amazingly alluring feet a long and loving kiss, I was even allowed to sit at the table.  We enjoyed a simple, filling breakfast while Chloe propped her warm and wonderful feet in my lap, amusing herself by sliding and grinding her socks against and between my thighs, leaving me to nearly choke on my eggs more than once while the both of them stifled their laughs.

After we finished and showered together once again, I found Chloe sitting on the edge of her bed.  It seemed like she’d started dressing, but hadn’t gotten any further than her button down shirt.  I was surprised to see her like this, a little because she was simply half-dressed, but mostly because she seemed to be waiting for me.  I was somewhat timid as I approached her, and for some reason I let my towel fall away, maybe to show my vulnerability in the same kind of way she seemed to be doing.

Either way, I approached her wholly naked and settled to the floor at her feet, taking one of them in my hands and starting to gently massage her heel.  She kept a soft smile and her eyes on me, and I continued to look back at her until she spoke.

“You need to know something, Lucy,” she began, and I thought my heart would stop.  What could she be about to say?  Had I missed something, or was everything about to change and fall apart now that I’d done what she brought me here for?  Now that everything was coming together and I felt like I finally understood my life, was she going to take it all away from me?  What had I done?  Why did I deserve this?

“The next week or so is going to be very busy for me,” she continued after a split second that seemed like an eternity.  I felt like I could suddenly breathe again.  I sighed and broke into a seriously relieved smile as I listened to the rest of what she had to say.

“I won’t have very much time to spend with you, but I plan to keep you close.”  She reached into the drawer of her nearby nightstand and pulled out a lovely multi-layered necklace, and I quickly noticed a Flare Ball, most likely my Flare Ball attached as a pendant.  I understood all too quickly, and bent down to gratefully cover her toes with kisses.

“Thank you,” I whispered, taking a deep breath that was filled with the mingled scents of her herbal soaps and lovely sole as I kissed her toes again and again.  “Thank you,” I repeated while she let out a little affectionate chuckle.

“Return, Lucy,” she muttered with a smile, and I was bathed in light and whipping through the air, coming to rest in the ball on her bed.  I watched her continue to finish putting on the rest of her flared leg pinstriped pantsuit, vaguely wishing I was there to help her into her boots, but I was content to just watch every movement she made.

Finally, she moved back towards the bed, and I craned the neck to watch her until her hand reached down towards me and I was lurching up through the air, dangling at the end of her necklace as she fastened it behind her neck.  Even if she didn’t feel like she’d be spending a much time with me, I felt as differently as a girl could.  We were going to spend every moment together.