"Cynthia?" A hum in the quiet peace. He tilted his head with eyes still looking out at the horizon. " What do you imagine your future to be like...? After passing the title and responsibility as Sinnoh's champion that is and the opportunities are endless."
"My future? Hm..."
Cynthia strokes her chin, brow furrowed as she takes a minute to turn Riley's question over in her mind. As always, it feels like there's no rush between them here, seated together atop one of Iron Island's many crags. There's no wind today, and the rare Sinnohan sun makes the sea shimmer as it gently laps against the shoreline beneath them.
"Truthfully, I've never really thought of what comes after..." she muses quietly, wearing a rueful smile. "Just as it's unhealthy to dwell in the past, I've always believed that it's equally unhealthy to overprepare for the future. But, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to plan ahead a little..."
"...I think I'd want to settle down somewhere far away from fame. I'd have a huge library, I could explore and research without being pestered, and I could raise Pokemon and just...be surrounded by those who love me. Perhaps even a family." Cynthia tilts her head upwards to stare at the clouds, a wistful expression on her face. 'If that sounds cliché, that's because it is--I've read too many storybook endings by now. But...something like that sounds nice."
It's the ideal ending, but...Cynthia is lying to herself. And she knows that Riley can see right through her. (He is perhaps the only one who can understand how she feels. How heavy her burdens are, and how incredibly reluctant she is to just...drop them.)
Sinnoh is Cynthia's everything, and her deep connection to the region feels timeless, important, even necessary. Her needs and Sinnoh's needs are intertwined by this point, and a future unmoored from that responsibility...?
Deep down, it terrifies her. There's still so much work to be done--how could she possibly rest? (And on the other side, was she just going to work until the end? Was this truly a lifelong commitment?)
Not so long ago, Cynthia would have been fine with such a selfless outcome--but Riley has thrown a wrench into everything. For the first time, her knight is causing Cynthia to truly weigh her own needs versus Sinnoh's. (Was it okay to be a little selfish...?)
How ironic! The ascendant champion and the last aura guardian, finally realizing feelings for each other while Sinnoh looms over them both like a jealous mistress. What would become of them? How many more perfect moments would they share together, before their duties inevitably swept them away? And was a 'normal life'--whatever that was--even possible for them to live...?
The future is so uncertain and time is so fleeting. Cynthia blinks hard, and is mercifully taken back to this perfect present. She hasn't spoken for awhile.
"...What about you?" the champion whispers quietly, and her hand finds his, finding much-needed solace in Riley's touch, the reassuring warmth of his palm. She's been thinking of him more as of late, even as her schedule takes her far away, like a leaf blown on the wind.
