Part 6: The Happy Endings

As soon as the portal shut, Destiny fell back a little ways and took a deep breath.

Romo sat down and looked ahead as his staff faded away. Destiny stood up and ran over to him.

"Romo!" she said as she ran. She soon stopped and knelt by him, "Romo, are you alright?"

Romo looked at her as he took his heavy breaths.

"Yeah, to a certain degree," he said.

Destiny threw her arms around his neck.

"I thought I'd never get to see you again," she said.

"Yeah that goes for both of us," Romo said, hugging her with one arm and using the other to support himself.

Destiny let go and sat back up straight. She looked at Romo, smiling at him, like one does to an old friend that they haven't seen for a while.

"Sheesh, being an interdimensional guardian can take quite a toll on someone," Romo said.

"No, you're just a wimp," Destiny said.

"That would explain how you were able to beet me when I was trying to return you to your world," Romo replied. "You and your possibility at causing a negative phenomenon."

"No, I'm just good at whooping butt," Destiny commented with a grin.

"Sure ya are," Romo said in a sarcastic tone.

"I am, too," Destiny said.

"Right, then you about to get your face stabbed was just a figment of my imagination," Romo replied.

"No, I had the situation perfectly under control," Destiny said. "In fact, I wanted him to kill me! After all… Life without you or Lance…"

Romo looked at Destiny with pity in his eyes.

"Oh, by the way, what'd you say to Croy before giving him that shove off?" Destiny asked, quickly changing gears before she got too worked up.

"Heh, wouldn't you like to know?" Romo asked in reply, teasing Destiny.

"Yes, I would!"

"I told him 'Thanks for the candy,'" Romo replied in a hushed, yet sort of creepy voice.

"Right," Destiny said, looking and sounding as though she wasn't buying what he said at all.

"Eh, ya got me," Romo said with a grin.

"So what'd you tell him?" Destiny asked again in a persistent sort of manner.

"About the whole bonded thing," Romo answered.

"Really? No wonder he looked so shocked," Destiny said.

Romo leaned close to Destiny's face. Both locked eye and smiled.

"Destiny," Romo began. His smile faded and he looked at the ground, "I know that you and Lance really… you know… But since he's gone, you don't think that you could give me another chance, do you?"

Romo looked back up at Destiny.

She was smiling in that way that made it seem as though she thought he was messing with her.

"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, AGAIN?" Destiny asked, the same smile plastered on her face.

"Yes! Yes, I am!" Romo replied, sitting up straight. He then wavered a bit and had to put his hands down for support.

"Guess I'm still feeling it from that opening," he said. "Um, but seriously, you should consider it. You don't know what you're missing."

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass," Destiny replied.

"So you won't go out with me?" Romo asked, a slight tone of sadness in his voice. He gave her a pathetic puppy-dog face.

"No, not really," Destiny answered. She looked to the corner of her eyes and sighed. "After all, you and Lance aren't anything alike. You even tried to kill me before; Lance had to stop you."

"Well then, my love, since you have declined my offer, yet again, permit me one last thing to say," Romo said, bowing his head and not being very serious-like at all.

"Sure, why not?" Destiny replied, looking back up at Romo with a grin.

"Fate said to tell you that you can't find Lance's cure," Romo said.

"Well, I don't find anything wrong with that deal at all," Destiny said, grinning.

Romo glowed with a white light that broke away like shattered glass a couple seconds latter, revealing a different person all together.

Lance grinned fully at Destiny.

"Well, jee, I'm flattered," Lance said.

Tears began to fill Destiny's eyes. She then threw her arms around Lance, nearly knocking him over. Tears of joy flowed down her cheeks uncontrollably. Lance put his one arm around her back, closed his eyes, and smiled, happy to be back with Destiny once again.

"And sorry about Romo hitting on you," Lance said.

"I thought you were gone forever," Destiny said through her tears, ignoring his apology.

"Come on, Des, you should know me better than that," he said. "Would I ever really leave you alone like that?"

"No... No, I suppose you wouldn't," Destiny said.

"Hey, Des?" Lance asked.

"Yeah?" Destiny replied.

"Do you know what I was thinking the moment before I died?"

"No, what?"

Lance moved his arm from Destiny's back. She let go of him and sat up, taking it as an indication that Lance wanted to see her face. Lance sat up cross-legged, facing Destiny and getting better support.

"The last thought that I remember thinking before my world went blank," Lance began to say. His hand then came up and touched Destiny's cheek, "the last thing I thought was, 'I'm so sorry Destiny; I love you.'"

Destiny put her one hand on his hand as it touched her cheek and then her other hand on his wrist.

"You know, I knew that you loved me, even before you kissed me. But I... I never knew what to do past there," she said to him, her eyes almost in some far off gaze. "You're the only one I'd ever fallen in love with, and the only one that I knew loved me as you do. And I didn't figure it out because I'm psychic either. I just guess one day I realized that you did love me, too."

"You know," Lance said with a half of a smile on his face, "it was kind of the same with me, too. I knew that you loved me, and that I loved you, but I didn't know what I was supposed to do either."

Then, after a moment of smiling at each other, they began to laugh. Perhaps it was because they were neither very romantic type people themselves, so it was an awkward moment for them. Perhaps it was because they both realized how ridiculous this all was. Or perhaps they just needed to laugh. Or maybe... just maybe... it was because of all these reasons that they laughed.

But whatever the reason, they did laugh.

After a moment, both of them stopped laughing and just smiled at each other.

Then, Lance's expression weakened and his hand fell from Destiny's face. He began to fall forward, not having the energy to support himself. Destiny caught him, his head on her shoulder.

"Lance," she said, sounding very concerned. She turned him so that he lay facing up in her arm.

"Romo used too much energy opening that dimensional portal," Lance said in a weakened voice. "I have to turn back."

Destiny gave him a smile and nodded. She laid him down and watched as he transformed back into a dragonite.

After he had finished, she looked at him with a smile on her face as he slept. He seemed so peaceful now. She wiped some sweat from his forehead and gazed down on him, like an angel gazing on a child as he sleeps. After a moment, she put her head on his chest and listened to the sound of his heart beating and his breath as it entered his lungs. She closed her eyes and smiled.

And soon after, Destiny slept a peaceful sleep with the one she held most dear.

Lance turned and sat up. He was in an open area, but it wasn't the same one as the one that Romo had fought Croy at. The clearing was much smaller and the trees were closer together, making the forest floor dark.

He looked around the camp to see Destiny gazing out in the distance. Her head was turned so that she couldn't see him right in her line of sight. Her chin sat in the palm of her hand; her elbow rested on her knee as she sat Indian-style.

Lance gave a small half smile at this. When she zoned out like that, she was usually daydreaming about some place far away from here, some adventure in her mind. Once he had asked her what she daydreamed about the most.

She had just smiled at Lance and given him a little wink.

"Mostly things that I can't have," she had replied. "Though, there are some things in my daydreams that I know I could have if I tried and occasionally there are things that I already have. But those are usually in some play off version of what I actually have."

He had just shaken his head and looked away from her with a laugh.

That woman could be so strange sometimes…

Destiny looked over in Lance's direction out from the corner of her eye. Her hand dropped and she turned her head fully towards Lance.

She gave him a smile.

"And how is the dragonite doing this morning?" Destiny asked Lance.

'I feel like I was hit by a rock, but I'll live,' he replied to Destiny through thought. 'So, how long was I out for?'

"Over a day and a half," Destiny replied.

'Well…At least I woke up,' Lance commented lightheartedly.

Destiny's gaze traveled to the ground. Her eyes looked sad.

'Des? Is something wrong?' Lance asked, a bit worried.

"It's just that…" Destiny started. She then looked back up at Lance. "I was so sick inside when I saw you dead. I didn't want to believe it…"

'Look, that's all behind us now,' Lance said. 'I'm alive now, and that's all that matters, right?'

Destiny smiled at Lance. A smirk then crept across her face as she looked at him.

"Hey, nice scar on your chest, by the way. Makes you look manlier," Destiny said to Lance, still grinning.

Lance looked down at where Croy had pierced him to see a scar.

'Huh, you really think it makes me look manlier?' Lance asked

"Duh," Destiny replied, "of course it does. Scars make everything look more bad-a."

She then blinked and perked up.

"Oh! I just remembered something!" Destiny said. "When we were escaping from the base after getting back Julius, we took a hostage who just also happens to have had a couple vials of this stabilizer and—"

'Okay, slow down a bit there,' Lance said. 'I suppose that I should say that Fate filled me in on that stuff already.'

"Oh. Well—" Destiny began, but was then cut off.

"I found some berries, guys!" Sally's voice rang.

A woman in a tan tank top and light blue shorts walked into the clearing. She had jet-black hair that came down to her mid-back. Her eyes were a dark brown color and had a glint of dominance in them.

Her arms were full of berries, and she looked eager to drop them.

Behind her stumbled a man with dirty blonde hair. His eyes were light green and he wore a brown T-shirt. The dark blue jeans he was sporting were covered in dirt. He, too, carried an armful of berries, though he had nearly dropped them when he came close to tripping as he entered the clearing.

Lance stared at the two as Anne; Ricky, in his human form; and Emily walked in with bunches of berries as well.

His first guess was then confirmed.

'You got the cure made for Sally and Julius!' Lance thought to Destiny.

"Yep, those are our good ol' friends. Ms. Emily Richardson here was a huge help," Destiny replied. "She used her pokémon to teleport us to safety after you and I fell asleep; then she stabilized Ricky there; and then she had her pokémon teleport Sally, Julius, and me to her basement laboratory where we cooked up the cure for those two from my memory of the formula. I tell you, it would have been chaos without her.

"Oh, and speaking of useful things that she can do, she's got one more vial of that stabilizer stuff with your name on it!" Destiny said, finishing up.

Lance just stared. That was it? It was just that easy? No strings attached? Usually there was something more complicated involved.

"But you have to be in human form to be able to take the injection," Emily stated, having heard the last part of Destiny and Lance's conversation.

Lance turned his head a little and gave a suspicious look to Emily. He then glanced over at Ricky.

The man seemed to be doing all right… for now. But Lance was pretty sure the guy would keel over soon or something because of the "stabilizer."

Suddenly a light flashed in the midst of them. All covered their eyes, and unfortunately, all those holding berries dropped the berries they had been holding.

As soon as the light faded everyone quickly dropped their arms from blocking their view.

And there stood Fate, pink pajamas, two braids, stuffed monkey, and all.

"Making a grand entrance as always, eh, Fate?" Destiny asked dryly. "So what trouble are we in that we haven't realized yet?"

"Oh, none for now. I just showed up to inform Lance that he needs to stop being picky and take the stupid stabilizer," Fate replied, looking at Destiny.

Fate's gaze then trailed to Lance, who was in his human form.

Lance looked down at his hands and blinked.

"Um, I didn't—," Lance began.

"Nope, I instantly made you that way because seeing you morph is stinking grueling," Fate commented.

"It'sa ta author!" Julius exclaimed, pointing at Fate.

Sally glared at Julius.

"Isn't that cure setting your brains straight yet?" she asked, looking peevish.

"Depends, do I get a cookie if I say 'yes'?" Julius asked in reply, a stupid smile plastered on his face.

Sally rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Sorry Sally, he'll act like that occasionally. The cure only helped him to a certain point; it's the only thing that could be done if he was to keep his psychic powers," Fate said.

"And it's for the entertainment of the viewers!" Julius pointed out, pointing upwards.

"And you might want to listen to his so called, 'crazy ranting.' Some of it's not as crazy as you think, and most of it is true in some way or form," Fate commented. "With the exception of stuff that makes no sense any way you think about it."

"Wait," Lance said, getting up. "Back up. You're telling me that if I take this stabilizer, that it will do exactly as she thinks it will?"

"Yep," Fate answered with a nod. "You'll stay you as long as you want, transforming won't be painful and it won't take nearly as long, and you'll still be able to do all of that cool attack stuff while human. All the goodies in one package, but Destiny still isn't allowed to find a cure for you being part dragonite."

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Look! I happen to like happy endings, okay? Why else would I have risked my butt to bring Lance back from the dead? Huh? Besides, Lance needs to be human for the beginning of the next adventure I have planned out. If he's not, Destiny and him can't have kids!" Fate ranted, waving her arms about, stuffed monkey swinging every which direction.

Everyone was quiet, allowing what Fate had just said to sink in.

Destiny turned deep red, while Lance looked away, blushing slightly. Everyone looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Oh, come on, people. Like you didn't already see that coming," Fate pointed out, putting her hands on her hips, stuffed monkey dangling from her hand by its arm.

"Um, no, actually, what with her saying they were friends all that time and all," Anne said, looking to the side.

"Actually," Emily said, holding her hand a little ways into the air, "I thought that they were already married, or else fiancés."

"Thank you," Fate said, with a nod to Emily. "And what I meant was that you guys had at least thought that they would get married and stuff."

Nodding and murmurs of agreement were heard throughout the group.

"Hello, Lance and I are right here!" Destiny said, quite embarrassed with what was going on.

"Well, I have to go. I need to prepare for things to come. Trust me, there's a lot of preparing to be done, too. Don't be surprised if nothing happens for more than several years," Fate said. "Sheesh, and I still have to sort out how many kids everyone has and what the kids do… This is all a mess."

"Well, you could just let us be and not have to deal with it," Destiny commented hopefully.

Fate looked at her and then burst into laughter.

"Oh, that's a good one. Okay, bye now!" Fate said with a wave of her hand.

Her image faded and then disappeared all together.

Silence filled the small clearing.

And, of course, Julius broke it.

"Doctor! Administer the shot, stat! Status… quo," he rambled. He then blinked and frowned. "Now why on God's green Earth did I just do that?"

"Gain your sanity back for the moment?" Sally asked.

"As much sanity as I've ever managed to have," Julius replied.

"Good, help me get more berries, seeing as we've dropped them all on the ground," Sally commanded him.

"Um… Yellow marshmallows eat pie from outer there!" Julius shouted, pointing downward.

"Nice try, now move it or loose a limb," Sally replied.

"Aww…" Julius responded, slouching with disappointment.

"We'll come, too," Anne said, speaking for Ricky as well. "Destiny, do you want to help, or do you want to be here while she gives Lance the shot? Your telepathy would be a big help."

"Nah, you have Julius. He's still capable of pulling off telepathy, so you should be good," Destiny replied.

"Telepathy… Now why didn't we think of that in the first place?" Sally commented. "Well, come on everyone, we'll need as many eyes as possible to look for more berries."

Sally, Julius, Anne, and Ricky all walked out of the clearing and into the thick of the woods, being extra careful not to step on any of the dropped berries.

Emily then took a pokéball out from her pocket and threw it into the air. A kadabra appeared out of it.

"Well, to my lab, Mr. T, and bring all three of us," she commanded her kadabra.

The kadabra's eyes glowed and then the four of them appeared in a lab. Well, a basement turned laboratory, to be more precise.

"Alright, I'll just need to take the sample from the fridge and get a clean syringe," Emily said, scampering quickly to find the needed items.

Destiny looked at Lance who in turn looked at her.

"So, that Fate is quite a funny one, huh?" Destiny asked.

"Uh, sure," Lance replied.

"Us… Kids… Heh, that's just crazy," she said.

"Yep."

The two stood there for a moment, blushing a bit and fidgeting.

"You know, Stephanie's a nice name, don't you think? I mean for a girl. I've always wanted to name my daughter that," Destiny said.

"What if it were a boy?" Lance asked.

"Jason, Jay for short," Destiny replied.

"Hmm, I always thought that Rosetta was a good name for a girl. You know, call her Rose for short." Lance said.

"Boy?"

"Couldn't decide between Gregory or Donovan," Lance answered.

"Gregory?" Destiny asked, sounding like she was about to laugh.

"Greg for short. It's a nice, strong name."

"No, no child of mine will be named Gregory," Destiny said.

Suddenly the two of them stopped.

"Did we just…" Destiny began.

"I think so," Lance confirmed.

"I hate Fate," Destiny said, crossing her arms and looking away.

"Welcome to the club, we even have jackets. They're fairly new, really. Took a while to come up with a slogan and design," Lance said. "We couldn't decide between 'Fate's the Devil' and 'Fate's Satan's Mother.' We decided to go with the first one."

Destiny laughed and shook her head.

"What's sad is that, even though she knows we hate her and insult her, she never strikes us down with lightning," she said.

"Oh, that's because we're her favorite pawns. You should know that already," Lance replied.

"Still…" Destiny started.

But she didn't finish, merely gazed down at the floor.

"I found it!" Emily shouted.

Emily then stood up from behind one of the tables with junk piled beneath it. In her hand that she held above her head was the needle-ended syringe.

"Sorry it took so long. I had misplaced my syringes," she explained.

Emily then took the sample formula out from her pocket and carefully filled the syringe with the liquid.

"There, now I can give you the shot, and we can be back in a flash!" she shouted happily.

"Emily, you've been a big help, I couldn't thank you enough," Destiny said with a smile. "If there's anything you ever need, if you let us know, we'll do all we can to help."

"Well, being able to keep my job and life would be a big help," Emily commented.

"Oh, don't worry; I have something that will probably ensure you'll end up just fine," Destiny said with a grin.

"Really?" Emily asked.

Destiny nodded.

"But you'll need to give Lance the stabilizer stuff first," Destiny commented.

"Oh, right," Emily said with a nod.

Emily then walked over to Lance and moved a chair near him. He sat down and she took a small pack from her pocket, opened it, and took out a small, wet cloth that she rubbed on a small area of Lance's shoulder.

Destiny then made a funny face at Lance.

"What are you—?" he began.

And just then, Emily stuck him in the shoulder with the needle, injecting the stabilizer into his blood stream.

Lance closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, probably more from surprise then anything else.

Emily removed the syringe from his arm and wiped the blood starting to form at the injection point. She discarded the syringe into a nearby trashcan and then taped a bandage over the spot.

"Oh, and Ricky informed us that the burning pain you're feeling in your arms spreads throughout the rest of your body. But not to worry, it stops fairly quickly after its spread entirely," Emily said.

"Gee, thanks for the warning," Lance said as sarcastically as he could.

"Sorry about not telling you," Destiny said, "but I figured that you might freak out."

"Thank you for your lack of confidence, Destiny," Lance remarked sarcastically, once again.

"You're welcome," she replied cheerfully.

"The pain you're feeling is probably from the change occurring in your DNA," Emily pointed out. "More specifically, it's probably just the change in your nerve cells' DNA. I'll have to look further into it when I do more research on it."

"So, it's back we go?" Destiny asked.

"Back we go, Mr. T," Emily said to her kadabra.

The four of them then were teleported back to the clearing they had been in prior to going to Emily's lab.

Emily recalled her pokémon and then went off to help the others find more berries.

Though Destiny didn't think that was what she was really up to.

A mere moment later, Espeon walked in from the other side of the small clearing, trotting forward with a sitrus berry in her mouth.

She walked up to Lance, who was sitting against a tree. She offered the berry to Lance, who took it.

"What, none for me?" Destiny asked.

Espeon sent a feeling to Destiny.

"Eh, you're right, I guess I don't need it as much as he does," Destiny said with a smile, "After all, I don't even need food at all. It's just a guilty pleasure."

Lance smiled at Destiny and ate the berry. After he finished, he wiped his mouth on his hand and looked at Destiny as she sat down a little ways from him.

"I guess I was hungrier than I thought," he said with a small smile.

"How far has the pain grown?" Destiny asked.

"Let's just say that I'm about at the halfway point."

"Sorry about that. You know, not telling you and all," Destiny commented.

"It's fine, really."

Destiny looked down to the side, away from Lance. She picked a blade of grass and began fiddling with it.

"Alright, what's wrong?" Lance inquired.

"Nothing," Destiny answered.

"Yes, something is wrong. I can tell. I won't tell you how, but I can," Lance insisted, looking at the piece of grass that Destiny was fixated on.

"It's just that… I guess we've never really considered ourselves as just friends, huh?" Destiny responded.

"Sadly, I do know what you mean," Lance said with a smile. "It's almost like we've been unofficially a couple."

"Yeah, because we're stupid and hate mushy junk and wouldn't know how to act if we were going out."

"You know, I think that's exactly it," Lance confirmed, grinning. He then gave a small wince of pain. Though, Destiny didn't notice, as she was still very interested in playing with her grass.

"Lance… Would we change if…"

"Only if you made a huge deal over it," Lance replied.

Destiny looked up and saw that his expression was light-hearted. She smiled as well.

Lance then closed his eyes and his head drooped. Destiny then got up, moved quickly to his side, and crouched down by him.

"Lance, are you—?" she started to ask.

"It got to my brain," Lance cut her off, saying.

Destiny then bit her lower lip, but couldn't stop herself.

She burst into laughter.

"That has got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say!" she managed to say through her laughter.

"Don't laugh, my head really hurts. You try thinking with your head feeling as though it's on fry," Lance said in his defense.

It took several moments before Destiny ceased her laughing fit.

"I'm sorry, it's just that hearing you say something that sounded so stupid, it really was hilarious," Destiny commented, wiping some of the tears from her eyes.

Espeon sent a feeling to Destiny.

"It was too all that funny. It's not my fault that your sense of humor is dry," Destiny replied to the espeon.

Lance shook his head and smiled a little.

"I'm glad you're so concerned that I'm in pain," he said.

"I'm sorry; it's just really funny, to me. I really shouldn't be laughing," Destiny said, trying to be serious.

"You know, sometimes I wonder about you…" Lance said, hand on his head.

"So, umm," Destiny started, trying to think of a change of topic, "Romo seems to have been doing well, huh?"

"Um, yeah, sure," Lance replied, raising an eyebrow.

"I still think it's real weird the way he's connected to you," Destiny said. "It's weird, and for the most part, I almost don't get it… I almost never really did, in a certain sense. After all, his body for this dimension is bonded to you, but he doesn't really LIVE in this dimension. His true body's in another dimension altogether. It's strange."

"Yeah, you got the basic idea," Lance replied.

"But then, he's also bonded to other people in other dimensions, right?" she asked.

"Yeah," Lance answered.

"But then… What happens to Romo when one of you connected to Romo dies?" Destiny asked. "I never really found that out. I mean, I know he survives, just not the other details."

"Well, the person dies and Romo loses physical connection to that dimension until he finds another to bond to," Lance answered.

"Huh… Well, that's not fair because if he was killed in this world using your body, you would die, right? And even then, he would still live, right?" Destiny inquired, but it was more to confirm then actually discover.

"Well, yeah, if he receives a fatal wound while using his body that's bonded to mine, I die, but his true form won't die. (I thought you already knew that.) Though, he'd end up receiving the wound in his true body, it would heal up fairly quickly, since dimensional guardians are immortal in their true bodies."

"Well, that's quite confusing. (And yeah, I did know, I was just making sure I had my facts straight,)" Destiny answered.

"Oh, well it is real weird and all, but it's how it works," Lance replied. He then winced.

"And then he also knows everything that all the people bonded to him are going through, right? Boy, that would be confusing. Not to mention, how does he keep who he's talking to straight? I think I'd explode if I had to keep up with all that," Destiny said.

"Well, dimensional guardians are made to put up with that stuff; at least that's what Romo says," Lance replied.

"So when he chose you to bond with, did he do it because you were the person closest to me or for some other reason?" Destiny asked.

"Well, it was for two reasons, actually: that reason and because my body would be easiest to bond to," Lance answered.

"It's still sort of depressing when I think about him trying to send me back or get me killed and me not being able to do a thing about it… It was real scary, actually. The thought that you would get killed if I killed him… but if I didn't—if I didn't kill him—I could have been sent back to my own world. Either way, I lost you; however, in the end you were able to stop him and able to convince him to look further into things before banishing me back to my home world. It was then discovered that I wasn't the source of all the stuff that had been messing up, those weird phenomenons. Trust me, that had been such a relief for me," Destiny said, "and the best part was, I didn't lose you."

"Yeah, it was a lucky thing that things ended the way they did," Lance replied.

"Too lucky. Even though it was a headache at the time, imagine what we would've had to do to get rid of Croy without Romo being there to banish him into the other dimension!" Destiny commented.

Lance grinned and then winced again.

"Lance, how bad is it?" Destiny asked.

"Well, it's hit my whole body now, but the good thing is, I think that the pain in my arm is starting to lessen."

Destiny smiled.

"You're tougher than Ricky. He couldn't even talk much during that phase," Destiny said. "The only words we got were, 'Burning… all over…' He wasn't very conversational until after most of the pain was gone."

"Yeah, but I've been through more, remember?" Lance said, one eye closed, now, "I've even died from a fatal wound. That kid hasn't been through that much, comparatively."

"I still think that it's impressive," Destiny replied with a smirk and a wink.

Lance took a long, ragged breath and then exhaled.

"Wow, it burns," he said.

"It should be done faster than it came," Destiny commented, "At least, that's how it was with Ricky."

"I sure hope you're right, I don't think I can stand… Well I'll be," Lance said.

"What? Was I right or not?" Destiny asked with a smirk.

"The pain is already numbing and leaving," Lance said, actually a bit surprised by how quickly the pain was going.

"Oh, don't look so astonished; it's not very becoming of you," Destiny said, smiling.

Lance looked at her and grinned. His pain was nearly gone now and he had just thought of something fun to do until the others returned.

He stood up and offered his hand to Destiny. She took it, wondering what he had in mind.

"Care to dance, madam?" he asked. "I'm still a bit sore, but a little waltz wouldn't hurt."

She grinned as he lifted her to the standing position.

"Well, yes, of course I'll dance with you; though, it won't be nearly as fun without the water under our bare feet," Destiny answered. "I like it better when we dance on the lake."

"Does that mean you'll dance with me here or not?" Lance asked, smiling and bringing his face closer to hers.

Destiny brought her face a little closer to Lance's.

"Let's," was her grinned answer.

So Lance and Destiny came together. He put his hand on her waist; she placed her hand on his shoulder; both grasped the other's free hand.

Both smiled and then Lance and Destiny danced, slow in motion and fit for the other.

"I can't reach this one, could you get it for me, please, Julius?" Emily asked, standing on tiptoe, trying to reach a berry that was just a finger's length away.

Julius looked at the berry and it floated down to her.

"There you are, miss," he said with a grin.

"Julius, quit flirting with the doctor and get me that one right there. I already can tell I wouldn't be able to reach it," Sally said, pointing up into the tree.

"Sally, I'm being polite, not flirting. You know that I love you," Julius said to his girlfriend.

"Alright, whatever, just get me the berry, please," Sally commanded politely.

"Sally, what's bothering you?" Julius asked, knowing the woman all too well. "I know you've got something on your mind, and I really don't want to read it. I'm too afraid you'd kill me if I did."

"Darn right I would. Now get me that berry," Sally replied.

Julius shook his head and the berry slowly descended down to Sally. On its way to her hands, Sally couldn't help but look sorry and sigh.

"Actually, Julius, I have been wondering something," Sally said, grabbing the floating berry.

"What?" Julius asked while looking at Sally, yet, in a way, already having known what was coming.

"Do you remember much of what you knew during when you were loopy?" she asked.

"Kind of. I remember everything that happened, but not always what was going through my head," Julius answered. "Why?"

"Because, I was wondering if you could clarify a few things," Sally replied.

"Okay, shoot. If I know, I'll tell," he responded. He then used his telepathy to pick off a sitrus berry from a tree.

"Do you remember what it was that Croy was up to?" Sally asked.

Julius grabbed the berry and then looked at Sally. Everyone else had stopped and looked at Julius.

"Yes," he answered, looking up at the tree, "he trying to do two things. The first and foremost was to take over the team that we had worked for, but the second was the one that tormented him the most. Croy was searching for what Daemon had been up to before Daemon had died."

"Daemon?" Ricky said, sounding puzzled.

"He's who Croy was a clone of," Sally answered.

"Oh," Ricky replied, "right."

"Do you know what Daemon was up to?" Sally asked.

Julius shook his head no.

"I think I used to know, but I can't remember anymore," he answered.

"Bummer," Sally responded.

"All I remember is that it was important enough that Croy let Lance get away with Destiny that time I was supposed to teleport her off but then fell asleep," Julius said. "Fate gave him the information in exchange."

"Fate's a real charm, and I hope she knows that," Sally said sarcastically.

"Hey, speaking of Fate, do you know what's up with that woman?" Anne asked.

"Fate? Yeah, I do remember that," Julius answered. "She's a real hard one to explain, I suppose. You see, she's the one that controls this entire world. She's like its goddess almost, but she's not really. In fact, she's more of an author and we are part of her book. One day, she too will die. Unfortunately, that means that any trace of us will die with her. Her death is this world's end as well, in a way, as well as the death of any other world that she oversees. She also has others that she's under in a sort of indirect command. Basically, all it is her religion, though, as well as certain others. But mostly, she just answers to God. Anything that she thinks God wouldn't want her to do, she doesn't do. That's why she didn't want to bring Lance back from the dead. It just seemed wrong to her. (And that's also why it wouldn't be a bad idea to pray to Him for help every once and again.)

"Anyway, what I find most interesting about her is that her and Destiny used to be the same person," Julius finished by saying.

"Wait, what?" Sally said, quite stunned.

"That's right," Julius replied. "Destiny and Fate used to be the same person. Destiny used to be the Fate of worlds, but once she wished to be here, her and Fate were separated, without Destiny's knowledge. Not to say she doesn't know that now. Anyway, now they're two completely different people. Well, almost."

"What do you mean by 'almost'?" Anne asked.

"See, Fate can't truly ever exist in this world," Julius replied, "so what Destiny felt before she arrived here is still embedded in Fate, if you even understand that. Anyway, once Destiny arrived here, the two different experiences that the two encountered caused them to veer further apart in personality. However, they both share certain things."

"Like what?" Sally asked.

"There are a few things," answered Julius, "like both still like adventure. Though, Fate's brand of adventure is more than Destiny cares for. Another thing is that they both like the same pokémon. Also, both believe that Daemon is Satan reincarnated. However, there's one thing that seems a bit strange and sad all at the same time.

"You see, both of them are in love with Lance."

The group was quiet. Shocked a bit, in fact.

"But, then... Why would Fate have allowed Lance to die?" Anne asked.

"No one was expecting it, that's why," Julius answered. "Some adventure requires sacrifice, and he just happened to be the perfect lamb. Lucky for Destiny though, Fate needed Lance to be around for the next adventure, so she had almost no choice but to bring him back."

"Wait, if Fate loves Lance, why doesn't she just have him fall in love with her?" Anne asked.

"Because no matter what, Fate would never have Lance in her own world. Just this world, where all we see is an illusion of her," Julius answered. "And it does seem cruel to have something in one's mind, but not in one's arms. So she just allows Destiny and Lance to be together so that they'll be happy."

"Hmm, Fate seems to actually have a caring bone or two," Sally stated. "Or does she?"

"Well, she has to act tough. If she didn't, then how could she keep her little pawns in check?" Julius replied. "And if her pawns aren't in check, then who knows how out of hand things could get? You heard her, she said that she liked happy endings. If she weren't in full charge, then how would it be assured there was a happy ending of at least some sort?"

"Good point," Sally responded.

"Of course it is," Julius replied.

"Wait, back up," Anne said. "I'm curious; do you know what Fate's up to next?"

"Huh? Well, not anymore. Though from the conversation with her, earlier, I'm sure that it has to do a lot with children... maybe even just one child... Child... Where... Oh, forget it. I can't remember."

"Remember what?" Emily asked.

"Why that word rings such a bell, but I can't remember what it is, no matter how hard I try to remember," Julius answered.

"Oh well," Sally said, "looks like we just have to settle with what we have for now. Back to picking berries for now, I suppose."

"Wait," Anne said.

Julius looked at her, followed in gaze by everyone else.

"You said you could remember some things, but not others... Why?" Anne asked.

Julius grinned and threw a berry into the air, catching it. His feet shifted and a twinkle entered his eyes.

His answer was given as though wisdom of the highest manner; though, it probably was composed of words of great insight.

"That's because this is all what the author wishes."

Destiny looked at the broken down shack.

"It's quite a fixer-upper, but I guess when you have to move, you have to move," Lance said, standing next to the woman.

"I really am upset we had to leave such a wonderful house and view though. I'm really going to miss that lake," Destiny said.

"Yes, but at least we have a spring right by the house. And we're up in the mountains, so that makes it easier to hide," he responded.

"Moving from Sinnoh to Kanto without leaving a trail was a real hassle, though," Destiny said to the man.

"Don't worry, as long as Daemon or Croy doesn't come back, we should stay out of sight for good this time," Lance replied. "Of course, that's if Team Industry doesn't find us in the next several years."

"Jee, I feel so much better," Destiny said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Lance said to her as her wrapped an arm around Destiny's shoulders, smiling all the while.

Destiny grinned and shook her head.

Her expression then became dimmer.

"I'm kind of sad Emily can't visit us, though," Destiny said, looking down.

"Yeah, but we had to do what we had to do," Lance replied.

Destiny had blocked the memories of them in Emily's mind and Julius had dropped her off inside the anti-psychic shield around the Team Industry mountain base. Emily wouldn't remember anything that had happened while she was with Lance, Destiny, and the others, but the memories could be reopened, just in case they needed Emily in the future.

Also, as a thank you to Emily, she would find that she had fifty thousand more pokédollars than she'd thought she'd had.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't our new friends be here soon to help us fix up this junk?" Lance asked, jabbing a thumb to the house.

"Yeah, but just in case they forget, it's a good thing we got our pokémon back before we left," Destiny said with a grin. "We'd have to fix it ourselves if it weren't for that."

Lance's dragonite had gotten back a couple days after Destiny had left. Apparently it had gotten "distracted" by a flygon.

For a couple weeks.

In the end the dragonite and flygon had decided to go back to the house together. It was a bit late though.

But putting that all aside, the other pokémon had been fine since they'd been in hiding the whole time.

Lance smiled at Destiny, took his arm off her shoulders, and took hold of her hand with his hand. Destiny looked back at him and smiled as well.

"Lance, no matter what happens, no matter what, we'll always make the best of it," she said.

"That's a promise," Lance replied.

And Destiny laughed, letting loose her hold on Lance. She ran forward soon followed by Lance, who walked after Destiny, into their new home.

---

[Author's Note: The End! Of Experiment, that is! Did anyone notice that Part 1 has "Book 1 of the Sixth Saga" written near the beginning? That's right, people, there's more. I don't know how many you'll get to see, but I'm getting closer and closer to thinking I'll actually have the sequel Child done by the end of this year. (Did you just connect what Julius was talking about in the second to last section? About the whole, "child" things?) I also have awesome ideas for a third and fourth book.

As for what I have to say about Part 6… It's cheesy, but I don't know how to make it not without tearing it to ribbons, so it's got to stay the way that it is. It's also the only titled Part because I felt it needed that. I hope that it answered enough questions. I made my friends tell me what they were puzzled about and wrote those into the last part.

Also, does anyone know if I can get away with using a chapter or two past this one for extras? You know, like how each character developed, what got left out of the story and why, stuff like that. If you know, please leave a review telling me if I can do that or not. I want to put up extras for this story. And if it turns out I can, try requesting what you'd like to see in the extras! Who knows, I might use your idea.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading this! I hope you enjoyed it! Leave a review whether you did or didn't. I like to know people's opinions. I'm sick of only my friends telling me their opinion (which is just a wee bit biased). Again:

Thank you!

"Does this mean I won't get to entertain the masses anymore?"

Julius, how did you get into my author's note?

"Umm… you left the back door open?"

((shakes head)). You are really something else.

"Shake my yellow song, baby~!"

Julius, you're going to get to be in the sequel, so stop being an attention hog.

"Yes, ma'am…"

Like I said before… The End!]