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Cassidy sighed heavily. The pouring rain annoyed her, reminded her of the depressing life she led. She smiled a sad smile at all of the memory she had left of the only glory in her life: a small picture of her former partner, framed in a woven, bronze frame. She missed him terribly, and sorrowfully wished for him to be standing close to her again, for him to be there for her to talk to. She needed someone to confide in now.
Yes, she knew that Jessie would listen to her, but Jessie was just a close aquaintance. Butch had been so much more. And though she could talk to Raticate, the Pokémon really only reminded her of the love she had so painfully lost.
She remembered their last few days together, and she smiled to herself.
His memory saddened her, but she choked back the tears that had so often
threatened to stream down her face. Her mind slowly flashed back, as if in a
daydream, to that last day, that last moment...
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...Cassidy linked arms with her beloved partner. They walked slowly through the crowded tourist streets of beautiful Saffron City. Neither wished to be recognized as Rockets, so they went without the usual red "R"s of their uniforms.
Her partner turned to her. "I have to talk to you Cassidy. See, I..."
But here, Cassidy's memory blurred, as though she wanted to forget the painful memory of her past. She still saw the fighting, the struggling, and she remembered next, standing outside of a hospital room.
"Your friend will die."
That's what the nurse had told her. Friend, she thought, sure. We were more than that. He has to know. I have to tell him.
She dashed past the nurses, the doctors, everyone. She never halted her mad dash until she stood next to her dying partner.
And she remembered his very last words, before he literally died in her arms.
"Cassidy? I love you."
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The girl snapped out of her flashback when she saw Jessie quietly enter her room.
"Cass, I just heard what happened."
Jessie let her cry, but Jessie was not who she wanted with her. Butch could have gotten her through anything.
And Cassidy wished she had the chance to tell him the truth, tell him what she had always felt.
"If you were here," she whispered to his picture, "I would
tell you,
every day, forever. I love you, too. Forever and a day, I always will."
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