Last Lament

Author's Note: I don't own Pokémon or any of the characters. I know I haven't updated for a long while and I'm so so so sorry. But thanks for putting up with my long hiatuses. And I am listening to your requests. My next one shot, which hopefully will be up soon, will feature Masamune. There were a lot of requests for him and Oichi or the heroine. So I'll leave the second character a surprise. And Mitsunari will be in one after that. This one shot is a bit more somber, but I hope you like it. For some reason I really like Ginchiyo.

Ginchiyo was alone in her room. "Alone by her own choice." She kept telling herself, but her mind refused to believe her.

"It wasn't her fault." Titan's words kept playing in her head, over and over again, but she knew he knew better. She knew better, and found some relief in accepting blame, rather than denying the truth. Ginchiyo stood, and immediately clutched at the wall, crouching over her bed. Her breath came out in a hiss as she looked down and glared at the source of her pain. The burns on her legs were still raw from-

"No!" she thought. "No." she said to herself, repeating her mantra over and over. She tried to banish the images from her mind, but the blisters on her hands brought back fresh memories of sliding across the ice as she scrambled towards him-

A knock on the door snapped her out of her reverie. "Ginchiyo?" asked a familiar voice, followed by Nó as she appeared in the room. Nó found her doubled over, her breathing heavy as she swayed on her feet. She walked over to her and pushed her lightly, watching her fall back onto her bed. Her eyes dared Ginchiyo to contradict her.

"What are you doing?" Nó asked her, her eyes never leaving her. Her presence, her demeanor, and the very way she strode into the room made Ginchiyo want to rise and defend herself. "It's my fault-"

"Do you want me to disagree?" Nó said, startling her. "Do you want me to comfort you, tell you it's not your fault while you sit here and cry?"

Ginchiyo was about to respond but Nó cut her off "Or do you want me to tell you what you could have done, should have done better? Do you want me to say you should have evolved him? That you should've trained harder, longer? Got your head out of your ass and learned to support yourself and your Pokémon instead of flirting with your junior warlord?" She stopped, appraising her. "No. you don't need me to tell you that. You already know."

"Then why are you here?" Ginchiyo snapped, finally rising, but Nó simply smirked and looked down. Ginchiyo followed her gaze, and noticed the tray of food she had been holding. "Oh."

Ginchiyo shuffled over and reached for the tray. As she grabbed it, Nó held on. "Titan is sending a convoy to Greenleaf tomorrow. They're going there to protect the city and link with Pokémon. They need a leader."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"No reason." Nó smirked and left Ginchiyo to her thoughts. Alone again, Ginchiyo dwelled not just on Luxio's death, but on this new opportunity. Surely Titan would not allow her to lead a team of warriors to Greenleaf. Not so soon after Luxio's death, and with her own injuries to consider. But why else would Nó tell her? She pondered as she ate, not permitting herself to hope.

That night Ginchiyo barely slept. Instead she lingered on the battlefield, still fighting against Nobunaga's army. Titan led them, herself, Oichi, Muneshinge, Nó, and Shingen. She watched Muneshinge take down Gracia and her Musharna as she stepped forward to face Mitsuhide.

"Luxio discharge!" she yelled and Luxio charged towards Lapras, sparks flying. But as he sprang ahead, Ranmaru's Lucario caught him unawares with Aura Sphere, and the blast to the side sent him spinning directly into the path of Hydreigon's Dragon Pulse. There was a crunch as he hit the ice, and Luxio lay there, not moving. Ginchiyo heard herself scream, watched as she flung herself at Luxio, while Hydreigon used Dragon Pulse again, this time against her.

She didn't remember Glaceon blasting Hydreigon with Ice Beam, or receiving the burns on her hands and legs from Dragon Pulse. Oichi lead her away in shock, as Wigglytuff helped Glaceon take down Lucario and Hydreigon. Ginchiyo felt the pain later. She awoke screaming from both the pain and her loss.

Oichi rushed in. "Ginchiyo are you okay?" she asked. "Fine." Ginchiyo growled as she forced herself to sit up. "When is the convoy leaving for Greenleaf?"

"How did you kn-in an hour." Oichi rushed to help her up, but Ginchiyo batted her hands away." You can't possibly be thinking of going-"

"They need a leader." She said. "And I need to get stronger." Ginchiyo finally stood and strode out of the room.

"What about Munesh-"

"He's better off here." Ginchiyo continued to walk as Oichi ran off. She didn't need any distractions, and her feelings for her junior warlord were just that; even more so now that she had finally told him how she felt. He had admitted he was interested in her too, but how far his feelings went she didn't know. She refused to care about that now.

Titan stood with five men outside in the blistering cold of Nixstorm. She watched him for a moment before walking up to him.

"Lord Titan."

"Lady Ginchiyo." He nodded. "I'm glad to see you're feeling better."

"Much better. Better enough to lead an army in fact."

"Ginchiyo…" he sighed. "You're injured. And Luxio-"

"Isn't a reason to treat me differently." She finished for him. "People die. And Pokémon. No matter how close we are to them... But we have to move on." She stood tall next to the warlord.

"I was going to send Hideyoshi. But you're going to insist, aren't you?" He sighed again. "Let me wake Muneshinge."

"No." Ginchiyo stopped him. "Let me do this on my own."

Titan paused to consider her. He finally relented. "Fine. But don't make me regret it."

"You won't." Ginchiyo left him to walk among the men, battling each other in preparation for the journey.

"You have to get closer before you strike. You'll have less recoil that way." She corrected one man as he and his Darumaka fought. For the remaining hour she watched the men fight and aided them with suggestions, using her own experience to guide her.

It seemed a short while, but soon the hour was up. Ginchiyo took up her supplies as the men, her men, stood ready beside her. Titan was there to see them off. As they were about to leave, Ginchiyo heard a voice calling out for her.

"Ginchiyo! Ginchiyo wait!" Muneshinge rushed out from his tent. "Ginchiyo!"

The men stopped as she paused. One even began to turn back. Ginchiyo composed herself. "Forward!" she commanded. As they marched ahead, Ginchiyo lead them on, refusing to turn back.