While the story had ended in the previous chapter, I wrote this on whim. Couldn't leave it hanging after reading my own story again.
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Oak hesitated, standing before the hospital room. The sound of shuffling feet down the corridor made him move backwards, throwing himself on the waiting chairs. Moving his head down, Oak tried to make himself look ignorable.
"Heard of the patient in this ward?" The passing nurse said to her companion. The other nurse nodded.
"Yeah. Heard she has the weirdest patient record ever. 150 years old." The other nurse replied.
"The doctors say it's just an error. Heard she was a really pretty girl in her heydays." The first nurse said.
"Strangely, she does not have a single male visitors in the whole year she was here." The second nurse said.
"Maybe because she isn't a flirt like you?" The first one said, chuckling.
As their voice faded, Oak stood up walking hesitantly again to the door. He could almost imagine Cedar and Leyard chasing him with chainsaws, if he returned without visiting, after all the effort they used to track Nara down to this hospital.
Reaching out suddenly, Oak threw the room door open, with more force than necessary, then walked in.
The hospital room had a dreamy scent to it. A familiar scent Oak had dreamt of for years. A single bed stood in the room, illuminated by sun's ray. On the bedside table, fresh flowers stood within a vase, waving slightly with the wind. If God appeared and told him this is heaven, Oak would have believed it immediately.
On the bed, a frail body lie, a face peeking out from behind the covers. Walking slowly towards the bed, oak stared at the face.
"Oak?" The woman on the bed whispered.
"Nara?" Oak whispered, his throat suddenly dry.
"You came..."Nara whispered, moving her hand out to touch Oak's.
"Nara... Why?" Oak said, holding the hand quickly. Nara looked healthy, almost youthful, despite those wrinkles on her face, yet her fingers were a frightening chill.
"Charon told you? "Nara made a sound that resembles a laugh.
"In the end, you said you could not love me." Nara continued.
"I couldn't bring myself to. I had thought we were eons apart, and I was too inferior to love you." Oak said.
"It is better like this isn't it. The more you love someone, the more it hurts to see him die. Like this, I'm but another dying stranger you wouldn't cry over." Nara said.
"You wouldn't die. You lived for a 150 years." Oak said.
"I lived that long for today, when you would hold my hand again." Nara said. Her voice was fading. Oak could feel Nara's fingers uncurling, letting go of his.
"Nara... Nara..." Oak whispered. Nara smiled, using her other hand to touch Oak's face.
"Time to let go, Oak." Nara whispered. As she hand fell from Oak's, Nara closed her eyes. Her mouth moved slowly, whispering inaudibly with the last breathe.
"I love you"
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Oak stared at the gravestone. On it was Nara's name, and a simple sentence. 'Love forever, like an evergreen oak.'
It has been a month since Nara left. Nobody came to visit. It seems Nara had lived alone, waiting.
Turning to leave, Oak caught sight of a woman standing in front of an oak tree. The strange thing was that she was dressed gaily, out of place in the cemetery. The woman seemed to caught Oak's glance, walking towards him.
As she approached, Oak took a sharp breathe. This woman. She had a striking resemblance to Nara. For a moment Oak thought her silhouette against the setting sun was that of a phoenix.
"Hello. My name is Nara."
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And now, for a lengthy A/N.
Okay, I think this will really, finally end 'Maria'. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I know I did enjoy writing it, since I toyed with alot of pokemon hybrid ideas. It was fun thinking other ways of using pokemon attacks too (Counter-accelerated Rollouts, anyone?).
I have entirely no idea Pokemon hybrids are that overused, until I did a little lurking around FF, reading them. I thought I was all that unique thinking up pokemon hybrids such as Scyther turning into an actual blade or some guy joining with a Tyranitar to form a mutated monstrosity. Turns out I wasn't.
Still, it was fun to know people shared my train of thoughts.
As messed up this story is, I am really proud of it, since it was largely unaffected by ideas that belonged to others. (Like i said, I thought up those hybrids myself!) I realized I have this bad habit of 'copying' people's idea, twisting it to fit my ideals.
Credits to reviewers, who gave me the fuel to write, and improve. And to FF, for such a wonderful site.
Credits to readers who made it to this chapter! Thanks for reading!