[attr="class","witness"]When she heard the lock, Francie had ducked down and hidden behind one of the sofas. When the lights flicked on, Francie jumped up with her hands up and waved her hands in excitement.

"Suprriiiiiiiseee!"

The biggest grin she could muster spread across her cheeks effortlessly, and she ran over without much thought in how dirty her apron was, flinging her arms around Kim to give him a giant, messy cause of her apron, hug.

"Welcome home!"

kim cole-essam

[attr="class","witness"]The bear hug caused Francie to laugh into his chest. She missed his smell. He smelled like home.

Kim had been the only consistent thing in her life. The only one who put forth an effort to keep in touch with her. And because of that, she'd be eternally grateful to him.

"I haven't been in town long--" then the bits of cake are noticed on his shirt and she takes a moment to look between his shirt, and her apron, while cooing little, "Eh? EH?"

"I'm so sorry! I didn't think about the apron!"

And she'd been sitting there for about an hour, fiddling with her new device, trying to figure it out, she'd totally forgotten that she should have probably cleaned herself up.

Some things never change.

kim cole-essam

[attr="class","witness"]Francie new better. Kim never meant anything negative, not toward Francie, not that she could remember. They told each other how it was like it was. No bullshit, unless of course they were using mocking tones and other forms of sarcasm for the sake of a laugh.

"No! It's a birthday cake! I make you one every year, or at least I try to, and this past year I just got super busy. So it's for the birthday I missed! And, sort of, just in case I miss the next one."

Francie explained while she moved over to the cake and excitedly got plates and the like to get them a slice each.

"It tastes good, I promise. It doesn't look good, but, I'm really bad with decorations."

As if on cue, some of the decorations she'd put on the wall popped off and fluttered slowly to the ground.

kim cole-essam

[attr="class","witness"]Truth be told, she felt really guilty. She'd determined before she came though, that she wouldn't let her guilt make her cry. There would be, in fact, no crying! No matter how much she missed him!

"I really can't thank you enough, though. For keeping in touch, and keeping me up to date on everything."

The cake was plated and she held his paper plate out, with a plastic fork stuck in the top of it.

"I promise," right there, right then, with a determined sparkling in her eye and a bright smile, "I won't miss the next one."

kim cole-essam

[attr="class","witness"]"I'm pretty sure it's not that unique, but, it's good to know you missed me!"

There is truth to his words, and Francie feels as if it's time she should come forward with why she left the first time, and the second.

"The first time around, back when I was a gym leader, before Team Rocket disbanded, I was approached by the leader Silas and told to leave the region or my family would be targeted. Mostly in fear, I ran straight back to Kanto to try and protect them."

She didn't take a bite of her cake and instead fiddled with it, smashing it gently with her fork, cutting pieces out, playing with the icing.

"The second time around... I tell everybody it was his health, but, there was a lot of work that needed done to rebuild Neon Town after Rocket had their way with it. He asked me personally to go help train up some trainers as like, makeshift rangers, really. A group dedicated to protecting the town. It ended up hitting off really big, so I helped create a program that all of Kanto could use, and then the league wanted to take it regional, so I helped with that too. Just got really busy with all of that."

kim cole-essam

[attr="class","witness"]"I know that now."

Fraince's words were stronger than they would have been before. Before, she would have cried. Apologized about eight times, still felt like she wouldn't be forgiven, because she would have never forgiven herself.

But in Kim's kitchen with his 'better late than never' cake? Francie was a gym leader who had grown quite a bit since first starting out and she had in fact forgiven herself for hiding these important things from the people that mattered the most to her.

"I came back home, to Hoenn, to come clean and to ask for ... help. Help in conquering these things that have been looming over me. I understand that I can't just do it all by myself, that I need my friends, and my family. I need them to know, and to understand, and so. This is me, coming clean... I'm sorry I never told you before, it was really stupid."

kim cole-essam