Author's Notes:

And so, the greatly anticipated end to B&B!

Ash: ABOUT TIME! Ugh, it's been forever.

Dawn: Shut up, at least it's up and nice and long *wink*

Gary: And she put this up in protest of the annoying Amourshipping moments from Serena...

: Shh! I'm just showing my Pearl pride since there have been some traitors T.T Anyway..

Yeah, and since it's late at night, there might be grammar mistakes. If you find any, just quote them in your review dx Enjoy the final chapter!

Chapter 3- Somebody Bends, Unexpectedly

The stick shook in her trembling hands as the dark canines advanced steadily closer, their hackles raised and teeth gnashing in a bone chilling harmony. The blunette felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck and she turned to find the Mightyena even closer, their beady eyes wild with madness, the excitement of the chase, and now the prey was cornered.

Her heart was hammering against her ribs, her breath heavy and thick from trying to escape. There was no where to run, nobody to come help, nobody would hear her screams. She could already picture the giant dogs tearing into flesh, piling on top of her in a violent struggle for the pleasure of the kill.

'No...'

Her body was shivering all over and her jaw rigged with fear. Their red eyes bored into her royal blue ones, which were bugged in her face and swiveling from one growling face to the next. Without warning, one of the Mightyenas lunged at her and snapped at her cloak, tearing the hem and pulling a scream from her lungs.

"Stay back!" She cried, swiping her stick back and forth, only succeeding in stumbling backwards and knocking the two behind her over. It sent the dogs into a frenzy, their eyes flashing and muscles coiled, ready to spring, but a sudden roar startled them.

The blunette felt something large seize the back of her cloak and toss her to the side, sending her toppling through the snow. She shook the wet hair sticking to her face out of her eyes and stared in shock as a black and red blur flew through the crowd of Mightyena, sending them flying backwards. She could just see the large animal in the center, snarling and beating the still advancing beasts about half his size.

Though the Mightyena appeared shaken, they still attacked viciously, their teeth and claws making deep impressions on the larger animal's skin, tearing fur and splattering blood on the pale ground. Soon it was coated to the point it was no longer discernibly snow, but a mesh of crimson and dark fluff.

Dawn, too stunned to move, stayed frozen where she was, unable to tear her ocean colored gaze from the pile of bodies still flailing with the biggest buried beneath. She heard it give a deafening roar and felt the hairs on the back on her neck stand up and a cold feeling caressed her back that had nothing to do with the chilly breeze passing through the clearing.

Suddenly, the creature bucked, successfully shaking the Mightyena pack off like a dog ridding itself of water after a long swim. With startled yelps and leaving trails of blood, the dark dogs bolted into the trees, the darkness swallowing them whole.

Getting shakily to her feet, the young blunette turned to face her savior.

His fur was torn in places, cuts and bites adorning every centimeter of his muscular body. Blood dripped from a cut above his eye, trickling the length of his face before landing with a soft splotch at his feet.

His gaze, though steady and meeting hers head on, was mournful, full of pain and sorrow, asking for forgiveness. Though what shocked the blue-haired girl most was not his vulnerability or his sadness, but the fact his once electric blue eyes were now a deep, chocolate brown; wet, but also rich, warm, and inviting. As she opened her mouth to speak, though she had no idea what she would've said, the Zoroark crumpled, falling into the snow with a loud grunt as consciousness left him.

The next thing he knew, the Zoroark found himself somewhere warm and comfortable. He felt the soft cushions pressed against his back and something wet on his arm. Though it took much effort, he managed to lift his heavy eyelids.

Blue. That was the first thing he saw. Eyes the color of a deep, steady ocean were fixed on him, worry and concern etched in them, making them look slightly darker, as if it were warning him if he got too far in, he'd drown. However, the sight of them made him stomach flip and his heart beat a little faster.

"Are you...alright?" A musical voice asked him, but it sounded thick, like it was speaking through a glass dome. "Hey, say something, please!"

"Nnngghh," he grunted. He shook his head a little, trying to shake the feeling of cotton clogging his ears, though in truth nothing was there except a pounding headache. He groaned and blinked a few times in an attempt to regain his surroundings. He found himself reclining in his favorite chair by the fire, pillows piled behind him to give him some support and the wet thing turned out to be a towel that the young blunette was resting on his injured arm. Behind her were his Pokemon friends, who were all watching anxiously.

'We're...back at the castle?' He wondered, sliding his gaze back to the blue haired girl, who was kneeling beside his chair and was now dipping the towel into a bowl of water. He watched her squeeze the excess water from it and guide back to the gashes on his arm, causing him to wince and snarl in pain.

"I-I'm sorry!" She gasped, looking horrified that she'd hurt him.

He glared at her. "Couldn't you be a bit gentler?"

Now she looked annoyed. "I'm trying! I can't help it you barrelled recklessly into a fight and got yourself injured."

"I wouldn't have if you hadn't run away!"

"I wouldn't have run away if you didn't frighten me!"

"Well you shouldn't have been nosying into other people's business!"

"You shouldn't have kept it hidden! Now that this is my home, I have the freedom to exploring everything in it since I am not permitted to leave!"

The Zoroark snorted. He didn't have a retort to give so he shut his mouth. As she nursed his wound as lightly as she could, he took the opportunity to gaze at her. Her skin was scratched in places and her cloak was torn, revealing the light blue gown beneath it. Her long, beautiful royal blue hair cascaded in tangles down her back and shoulders, looking like ocean waves at high tide. It was still damp in places from the snow and was also stained with red liquid that was slowly hardening to brown, and he wondered if it was his or her blood.

With a trembling voice, Dawn managed to utter, "Thank you for saving me."

Surprised, the Zoroark turned his attention back to her eyes, which were watching him closely, full of a glow that illuminated her pale face and made her seem more open, sincere, grateful.

He felt a small smile tug at his muzzle. "You're welcome."

The Pokemon smiled secretly at each other. The two were making progress!

A couple days later, the Zoroark felt good enough to stretch his legs and take a brisk walk around the castle. His other motive was to see Dawn, who usually was long up before this time, and he wanted to surprise her with a gift he had come up with after having talked with Drew. He'd been planning to show her for awhile but had been too nervous to prior to this point. Of course he still felt nervous, but it was a good, jittery kind of nervous.

Before he knew it, he was standing before her mahogany door, his heart thumping madly against his chest and quickening his short breath. He felt his courage sink to his toes and fear quickly rose to take its place, swallowing his insides and coming to rest in his throat. He felt a tickle where it lapped and he wanted to discharge the contents of his fear-filled stomach right there and then, but he didn't have time to run to the chamber pots when the door opened in front of him.

The Zoroark hastily gulped the bile back down, his eyes meeting a familiar pair of blue ones, whose widened in surprised. He noticed that she had on a cute, purple and white dress that held onto her willowy frame easily and wore a matching purple scarf in her hair. He couldn't stop staring at her, even though she cleared her throat, her cheeks dusted with pink.

"Oh, Zoroark, it's just you," she coughed, straightening her dress and smoothing back her hair awkwardly. "I, um, was off to take a walk in the garden."

He shook his head. "Not in this weather; it is far too cold to be out walking." She responded with an irritated inflation of her cheeks. "Come on, I want to show you something anyway."

Curiosity danced in her eyes. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see." He lead her down several corridors, past suits of armour and large portraits of the family line that had lived in the castle before it had become abandoned and desolate. The blunette turned her head curiously from side to side, taking in the pictures, hoping to see a familiar face somewhere. The broken picture in the Zoroark's private room flashed into her mind and she carefully examined the portraits as she walked, hoping to catch the woman in the picture's warm brown eyes and chocolate colored hair in one of the dusty frames.

No such luck. None of the people resembled the beautiful woman in the picture and she didn't catch a glimpse of someone with messy raven hair that could have been the woman's son.

'I wonder if he had been handsome,' she wondered absently, remembering the smashed in picture obscuring the boy's face, his features forever lost in the broken shards. Dawn very much wanted to know who he was and who the woman was, but she couldn't bring herself to ask the biped in front of her. He had become less gruff these past few days and seemed to be enjoying the fact that she was here with him and she didn't want to ruin that and send herself running into the woods again.

The Zoroark suddenly stopped and turned to face her, his brown eyes twinkling in excitement. She stopped just short of him and looked up into his furry face, wondering how those once electric blue orbs could have become such a warm, melted chocolate color. Not that she was complaining, rather the fact it was impossible to change your eye color overnight, or at all for that matter. Then again, she was living in a deserted castle maintained by talking Pokemon that had once been humans.

"Close your eyes for me," he said softly, looking at her with a tender look in his eyes. Those eyes. They looked so human, so open… She flushed but nodded, feeling excited as she let her eyelids fall shut, cloaking her vision in darkness with beams of light on the other side trying to push through, like sun rays trying to penetrate dark drapes on a window. "No peeking," he warned, arousing a giggle out of the blunette and leading her to promise she wouldn't. "Good, then follow me." She felt the clawed paw of the Pokemon grip her small hand and pull her forward gently, guiding her down another carpeted hallway and bringing her to a halt.

She tilted her head. "Can I open my eyes?"

"Not just yet." She heard a rustling and then a slight creak as a set of double doors swung open. She waited.

"Okay, now open!"

The blue-haired girl's eyes snapped open, and was immediately filled with bright light filtering in through large windows along the walls of the only room she hadn't visited. When her eyes had adjusted to the light, she gasped at the wonderful sight before her. The largest bookshelves she'd ever seen lined the walls of the enormous room, each bedecked with hundreds and hundreds of books of all colors, sizes, and genres. Dazzled, she spun in circles in the room, laughing at the many paperbacks calling for her, pleading for her to pick them up and read their dusty pages that had almost been forgotten. She ran her fingers along the spines as she walked beside the shelves, itching to open every one of them and perouse them until nightfall. But she resisted. Instead, the blunette turned shining eyes to the black and red colored Pokemon standing in the doorway, who watching her with a friendly smile.

"This place is wonderful!" She cried, unable to stop the temptation of pulling a book from the shelf and sitting down on a chair to read it, her hands caressing the pages lightly. The Zoroark privately wondered if he would ever feel her soft touch on his fur again and his injured arm seemed to tingle, the ghost of her nimble fingers tending his wounds forever implanted into his skin.

"It belongs to you now." He met her shocked gaze with a look of amusement, leaning against the doorframe. She squealed with delight and pounced on him, hugging the life out of him.

"Ohmigods ohmigods ohmigods, thank you thank you thank you!" She babbled into his fur, her arms wrapped firmly around his torso. Under normal circumstances, the Zoroark would have been annoyed at physical contact from somebody else, but her hug filled him to the brim with warmth and the jitters in his stomach became bats flying madly about. He tentatively raised a clawed hand and stroked her hair, marveling at its softness and the fact that she didn't cringe away from his touch.

"Dawn?" He croaked nervously, causing her to raise her head and give him her full attention, eyes still watery with happiness and her smile still in place.

"What's up?"

"Um...could you...read me a story?" He fidgeted nervously with the skirt of her dress, unaware he was doing so since he found it difficult to hold her gaze and was looking everywhere but at her.

Suddenly, Dawn's hand closed on his jaw and held his head firmly in place so he'd meet her eyes, hers full of mischief and childish excitement. "Of course, but why do you want me to read to you?"

"Well…" He gulped. "I...haven't read in so long, I'm afraid that if I pick up a book I won't be able to read it." She dropped her jaw slightly, the corners of her mouth fighting to upturn into a smile as she held back her laughter. He sighed. "Go ahead, laugh."

"N-no, that's not what I'm laughing about." She sat up straighter and the Zoroark realized she was directly in front of them with little space between. He blushed underneath his fur. She smiled and cracked open the book at her feet, releasing a cloud of dust in the air.

The Pokemon coughed. "What's this book called?"

"A Tale of Two Soulmates," she said, brushing dust from the first page and clearing her throat. "I think you'll enjoy it, Zoroark, it's a lovely read."

Hesitantly, he replied as she opened her mouth to read, "Ash."

"Eh?"

"Ash...that's my name. That was my name when I was a human."

"Ash. Ash…" She looked at him and felt a smile tug at her lips again as she let his name roll off her tongue. "Asshhhh. Ash."

He chuckled. "Yeah, that's my name."

"Do you have a surname?" She asked gently, hoping to coax him into telling her more.

However, his eyes that had been full of a happy glow looked dark again and he wouldn't meet her eyes. "Yes…"

Realizing her mistake, she rubbed his arm in a reassuring way. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me. C'mon, we've got a story to read." He regained his smile and leaned in close to her as she began to read, her musical voice the only sound in the vast room.

Outside, the other Pokemon grinned at each other and exchanged happy words.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" Little Max squeaked.

"They're soo~ in love!" May said with a swooning sigh, her cerulean eyes sparkling.

"At this rate, we'll be human again in no time!" Drew the Gallade replied, smirking confidently. Yes, they were bound to be free of this curse soon! Hope filled the air at the blossoming love between the kind beauty and the shy beast.

Meanwhile, however, in the darkness of a solitary building, Gary Oak had other plans for the young blunette.

"You're sure there'll be a spot open?" He asked the man sitting in the shadows in front of him, who was tapping long fingers against the wood of the table before him. A chuckle was heard.

"Of course, there is always plenty of room in the asylum," he replied darkly, leaning forward so the faint light hit his beady eyes, his sharp nose, his white hair and beard, and his maniacal smile.

"Very good." The auburn haired boy dumped a small bag into the man's large hands and was greeted by the sound of coins clanging together from inside it. His smile broadened. "There's some extra motivation in there for you, Rowan, so we don't forget our agreement when the time to lock up you-know-who comes."

"Of course, sir," Rowan replied, letting the bag fall open and allowing the coins to dance through his fingers, his eyes sparkling with greed.

Oh yes, Dawn couldn't possibly refuse him now…

Johanna hadn't meant to stay these past few weeks at the woman's house, but she had, worried about her mumbling to her hands all the way down the street. She didn't seem to be in her right mind and Johanna was hoping she'd be able to help the fragile woman.

Even though she had been a guest for the past couple days, she still hadn't heard the woman mention her own name. She had asked a few times, but when she did, the woman's eyes would widen and she would start muttering fast to the closest object, talking about a Pokemon master.

Right now, though, the woman was sitting comfortably on her living room sofa, sipping a cup of tea Johanna had just brought her. She wasn't sure why, but Johanna loved taking care of people and with the absence of her daughter, she was left to feeling lonely and lost. She had tried to get others to help her rescue her daughter, but when she recounted her story, they just laughed at her and turned back to their original task, shaking their heads at the thought of a vicious talking Zoroark kidnapping a young girl. Many whispered that Johanna was losing her mind and that she was the one who killed her daughter, for the young blunette had indeed disappeared, leaving a questioning trail in her wake. Gary had of course been seen to call upon the Berlitzes' home, but without receiving an answer from its absent inhabitants.

It hardly impacted the provincial town, except no one gossiped about Dawn's nose in a book anymore; they instead questioned each other about her sudden disappearance and wondered if she was dead. Professor Oak, feeling saddened by not seeing his favorite customer anymore, closed his shop for a few days to take personal time, but in truth, he wouldn't reopen it until Dawn reappeared.

So Johanna, not wishing to return to her empty home and pine for her daughter or go into to town with accusatory eyes on her at every corner, stayed hidden in the enigmatic woman's home, making meals for her and cleaning her house. She decided to dust the rooms upstairs today, the upstairs being the most cloaked in dust. She grabbed a feather duster and went to the first door on the left, the one room she hadn't seen yet.

She carefully pushed open the door, taking a step inside what appeared to be a personal bedroom. Even though she knew the woman slept in a room a couple doors down and didn't live with anyone else, Johanna got a feeling of it once being owned but now only held loneliness and despair throughout the room, as though it missed its inhabitant. She could see childish carvings along the walls, resembling various Pokemon, dusty bookshelves crammed with books about being a Pokemon trainer and Pokemon needs. The bed in the corner was messy, its blanket tossed precariously to the side as though someone had just woken up and gotten out of bed. But the thick inches of dust mixed in the sheets told Johanna that the bed hadn't been slept in for awhile. As she crouched to start brushing the feather duster along the mattress, she caught sight of something red partially concealed beneath the blanket. Frowning, the blue-haired woman pulled the blanket off the object.

Before her was a ball cap, a simple red and black one with a blue Pokeball symbol embroidered on the front. She cautiously lifted the hat and dust showered from it as she disturbed the spot, causing her to hack out a vicious storm of coughs. Once her eyes stopped watering, she tossed the hat aside and accidentally knocked a picture off the bedside table. In her haste she managed to snatch the photo from smashing on the floor and turned it over so she could look at it.

The picture was of the boy she recognized from all the photos of him around the woman's house, the one she called her son, standing with five other people. He had his tanned arms around the shoulders of a boy with green locks and matching mischievous eyes and another boy with dark green hair and glasses pushed up the bridge of his nose, looking in slight annoyance at the camera. On the smirking chartreuse haired boy's left was a girl with long brown hair concealed beneath a red bandana and bright cerulean eyes that were looking sideways at the boy beside her. In front of her and standing a head shorter than her was a boy with a mop of dark hair, large spectacles, and dark eyes that were gazing reproachfully at the girl above him, who appeared to be his sister. The girl's gloved hands were tangled in her brother's hair and she appeared to be messing up his hair on purpose. And last, on the end beside the darker chartreuse haired boy was a girl with a flame of short, red hair tied in a sideways ponytail and appeared to be dressed for swimming. She clutched a fishing pole in one hand and made bunny ears over the boy next to her's head with the other. Apart from the irritated looks of a couple of them, Johanna could tell they were having fun and could see the laughter written across the faces of the other kids. She recalled when Dawn use to laugh and smile like that, back in Sinnoh with her friends and felt her heart clench at the thought of her daughter still locked away with the beast, doing who knows what for him.

As she moved to replace the picture, trying not to imagine Dawn's smiling face alongside those other kids', she saw something flutter out of the back of the frame, something hidden there. Johanna moved forward and snatched it up, unfolding it and discovering what appeared to be a newspaper clipping. It read, 'The Sudden Disappearance of the Famous Ketchum and Six Other Friends Still Remains Unsolved.' She didn't need to read the article to understand why it was hidden behind the photo of the kids. The same photo was printed slightly smaller on this clipping alongside a picture of a woman with dark, curly brown pigtails and kind smile that illuminated her eyes, reminding Johanna of the brunette in the group shot. The name beneath the photo read, 'Caroline Maple', and as she scanned the page, two names jumped out of the article: 'A close friend of Delia Ketchum, Mrs. Maple, including her two children, May and Max Maple, still remain as missing as the rest without any evidence as to where they could be...' Why did the name 'Ketchum' sound so familiar?

"Tragic, isn't it?" Johanna's heart jumped into her throat as she spun around, feeling guilt course through her as she found the frail woman standing behind her, watching her with hooded brown eyes. Those eyes were so shattered, like panes of glass busted in one blow, with just one event that forever changed her life. The boy in the picture...his shining brown eyes, his tousled raven hair…

Johanna could see the boy reflected in the woman's eyes, see his smile and his warmth, before it faded and let the darkness consume it once more. She swallowed and managed to breathe out, "You...you're Delia Ketchum?"

The addressed woman watched her intently for a few moments, silence so thick upon the air it was hard to breathe. The blunette's heart beat was rapidly increasing, the only noise she could hear, and she wondered if the other woman could hear it…

"That's right," Delia Ketchum replied, gripping her shawl a little tighter around her thin shoulders, her eyelashes drooping over her eyes, concealing them from Johanna's line of vision.

Johanna swallowed and raised the clipping with a shaking hand. "This...this boy- is he y-your son?" She didn't mean to stutter, but the thought of that laughing, happy boy missing made her think of her own child and nausea crept in the pits of her stomach.

Lifting her head, the brunette looked into the depths of Johanna's royal blue orbs and slowly gave a nod. It was like Johanna had been punched; all of a sudden, the breath left her and her world spun, her companion's morbid eyes the only thing she could see. The boy's face drifted in and out of focus, blending and twisting around images of her daughter laughing, her smiling, of her first birthday, of her first day of school, her determined expression as she demanded the beast to let her take Johanna's place…

The older blunette let herself sink onto the bed, her face in her hands as she fought not to cry. Taking several calming, deep breaths, Johanna managed to control herself and raised her head to Delia, who was watching her with a blank expression. Was that pity in her eyes?

"What happened to him?"

Delia released a breath and gripped the door frame, apparently too weak to hold herself up as the question aroused memories. "He...went for a walk one night and never came home," she said quietly, and even though her eyes were wild, her tone was frighteningly calm. "I told him beforehand it was dangerous for him to be out at night to train with his friends, but he insisted he'd be fine. We argued. He stormed out and that was the last I saw of him. My boy...oh, my boy…" Delia heaved, and suddenly she was in tears on the floor, the pain pouring out in a tide of tears that had been locked away for so long. Johanna, though alarmed, hastily got off the bed to comfort the woman.

Even though she tried to console her, Johanna couldn't help but feel sick. Delia's shoulders shook violently under her patting hand, the spasms shaking Johanna, shaking her bottled up emotions and breaking them loose. Worry grabbed her and pulled her into its depths, drowning her in fear and sorrow. As she looked upon the sobbing brunette, she realized the woman was experiencing the same thing, but her wounds were deeper with time. Time didn't heal this scenario, not this pain, not this absent closure, not this longing to hold your child one last time in your arms and tell them you love them…

No, Johanna discovered that this pain was far beyond understanding, and as Delia lifted her crumpled, tear-stained and defeated face, Johanna's chest tightened -if possible- even tighter.

'This is what I'll become,' she thought mournfully as Delia kept crying. 'Not unless I save Dawn before it's too late...'

Preparing for dinner was nerve wrecking for the Zoroark, who was pacing in his chambers and biting his claws in anxiety. Today had been the day he vowed to confess his feelings for the blunette, hopefully after a special dinner and perhaps during an evening in the garden alone together, but now he was having second thoughts and fear was eating at him. The Gallade, the Noctowl, and the Vaporeon stood behind him, all three looking irritated at his behavior.

"C'mon, dinner will be a breeze, all you have to do is confess how you feel!" Drew exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. Ash, of course, ignored him and kept pacing.

Caroline sighed. "Ash, you know she won't laugh in your face if you tell her. She'll understand and you never know, she may return those feelings. You have to be brave. Be a man!" She said this last line slightly louder, stamping her paw in frustration.

The Zoroark fixed her with a cold look. "As if you didn't notice I'm currently not a man. I'm a beast." He glanced into the mirror in front of him, looking at his appearance with displeasure. "A vicious, hideous beast that held her sick mother in his prison and eventually locked her up in these walls against her will for her mother's freedom. Yep, I'm just racking up points with her already."

The trio sighed impatiently again. Honestly, was the boy so blind?

"Perhaps if you paid her some compliments and treated her a nice dinner plus a dance afterwards, I'm sure you'll win her heart," Khoury chirped, flapping his wings in a nervous fashion. Anyone relying on this stubborn and cowardly beast to turn them human would start to get the jitters, too.

"Honestly, Khoury, that's not all it takes to win over a woman," Caroline countered, fixing him with a frosty look of her own. "You have to show you care about her and you have to be polite to her, not seduce her with your riches and your charm. Though cracking jokes and making her laugh would definitely keep her interest up, you have to be persistent to the end and work for her love."

Drew and Khoury groaned. Of course, logical Caroline had to drop that bomb of pressure on the beast, who looked even more nervous than before.

"Ash, did you notice that your eye color is back to brown?" Caroline asked.

Ash huffed and glared at his reflection, feeling worse about himself the longer he took in his thick, dark fur streaked with red and his large, clumsy paws. "So what?"

"That means you have humanity left in you," Caroline said, approaching him and stopping just short of him, her tail flicking back and forth. "Me and the others have had our eye color the whole time because we kept hoping and stayed humane throughout our time in these bodies. Yours came back because of this girl...don't let her slip away."

Ash blinked, staring at the mirror with newfound interest and a spark of courage. She was right. He had to do this, not only for himself but for his friends. He had to be the one to break the spell, to end all the pain he caused.

He turned slowly around and met Caroline's violet eyes. "Okay, I won't, I promise."

Sitting at the dinner table that evening, the Zoroark couldn't take his eyes off the girl across the table from him. Misty and May had found her a stunning, strapless and sleeveless golden gown that had a white neckline that clung to her upper arms, flowing past her knees in neat ruffles. Around her waist was a neat, pink sash that matched the bow holding back her long hair and she wore elbow length white gloves and a choker with a yellow rose adorned upon it. Her bangs were left across her forehead and two pieces of her hair were held to the sides with clips, framing her face in ocean blue to match her eyes…

"You haven't said much," Dawn said, who to his discomfort realized she'd seen him staring and was blushing a little. He hastily looked at his plate, which was half empty and when he went for another bite to hide his face, he discovered it was cold. How long had he been staring?

"Sorry, I've just been in...deep thought," he replied to his plate, his large paw clumsily using his fork to turn over his chicken. He felt the table shudder slightly and heard a clatter as silverware was put down. He didn't look up though until he felt a small, gloved hand pulling his.

The Zoroark turned in surprised as the blunette tugged on his arm, urging him to his feet. "I hear music, c'mon, let's dance!"

Alarmed, the beast tried shaking his head, but her eyes were pleading and her smile was so sweet he found himself obeying her wishes. She lead him to the dance floor in the room beside the dining room, and indeed there was beautiful ballroom music playing from the corner. Ash barely had time to see the other Pokemon playing instruments before Dawn pulled him close to her and carefully placed one of his paws on her right shoulder blade and formed his hand into a shape as if he were holding a wine glass and gently placed her hand inside of it. She placed her other hand on his upper arm since he was too tall for her to hold onto his shoulder and began to lead the steps. She instructed him quietly the steps: step to the side, and then step back with his right foot while she stepped forward with her left, and then step to the side again and this time, she stepped back with her right foot and he caught on by stepping forward with his left. It took him a few tries, trodding on her dainty yellow heels and watching their feet before he had the steps down.

"Tale as old as time, true as it can be…barely even friends, then somebody bends, unexpectedly…"

The two dancers hardly paid attention, their eyes intent on each other's movements. The Vaporeon's voice floated through the ballroom, her words whirling around the lone pair.

"Just a little change, small to say the least...both a little scared, neither one prepared; beauty and the beast…"

The room seemed to lose its air as the beast and the girl stared into each other's eyes, blue into brown, heat creeping into their cheeks but only the blunette's showed. They looked away from each other but they kept up the dance, each feeling their hearts pick up the pace of their frantic beatings.

"Ever just the same~! Ever a surprise~! Ever as before, ever just as sure as the sun will rise~~!"

As the line of the song was repeated, the two found themselves looking for something to focus on, suddenly aware at how short the distance was from each other and both wishing the other would just close the space and end their longing.

"Tale as old as time, tune as old as song! Bittersweet and strange, finding you can change, learning you were wrong~!"

Ash wished, for the thousandth time since this dreadful curse began, that he could be human once again. However, this time, it was for an entirely different reason, and that reason was purer and more selfless than any of the others. He found himself truly, madly, and indisputably in love with the girl currently in his arms, and he suddenly felt the urge to pull her in and hold her tight and never let her escape his embrace ever again. As though sharing this thought, the blunette gently pressed her cheek against his chest and snuggled close to his fur, not at all repulsed.

"Certain as the sun, rising in the east, tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme- Beauty and the Beast!"

The Zoroark lightly combed his clawed fingers through her hair, feeling the longing in his chest rise closer and closer to the surface, one that desired her kiss and her love, a feeling he could never describe and never thought he could ever feel. He felt her breathing softly against his chest and felt his own breath quicken at their closeness.

"Tale as old as time...song as old as rhyme...Beauty and the...Beast."

The song ended on a soft note, lulling a certain Eevee into a doze and making it almost impossible to keep his eyes open. The Vaporeon smiled down at him.

"Off to bed with you now, Max, it's past your bedtime."

"I...I'm not sleepy, Mama," he mumbled, his eyelids drooping and his short legs trembling beneath him. Caroline smiled slightly and picked him up by the scruff, carrying him down the hallway. She gently lay him down on a sofa and licked his cheek, looking at the small Pokemon with a tender look in her eye,

"Good night…"

The dancing couple had continued to sway for a moment after the song ended, neither one wanting to break the embrace. However, the beast wanted to speak to her privately and, peeking over her shoulder, he saw Drew, Misty, May and Khoury mouthing at him to go and confess before the night ended. So, the Zoroark gently brushed the young blunette's hair over her shoulder and lifted her chin so she could look him in the eye.

"Come with me, I have a nice spot where we can sit together."

She blinked slightly unfocused eyes up at him, but then smiled cutely and nodded, following him and letting him pull her by the hand. It only took a few turns down a couple hallways before he opened a set of double doors and lead her onto a balcony overlooking the forest and town in the distance, which a large, silver moon was shining down on.

The beast guided her over to a stone bench and sat beside her as she looked up at the stars, him looking at them reflected in her eyes.

"It's beautiful out tonight," she murmured, surveying the swaying trees with a slightly sober air. He felt nervous; had he done something wrong?

Ash gently brushed her bare shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I…" She lowered her gaze to her hands twisting in her lap, her hair shielding her face from his worried stare. "I'm worried about...about my mother."

He felt guilt whip him around the face at this statement. He'd forced her mother to run as far from his castle as possible while she was ill and none of them knew if she made it back to town okay or if she'd been stranded out in the cold. While Dawn hadn't been permitted to leave, she must have been worried sick about her mother and he felt another wave of guilt at the pain he must have caused her. He'd selfishly kept her to himself and didn't spare a thought for the woman he imprisoned and just as easily tossed out.

The Zoroark felt the need to reassure the girl in front of him. He stood up and she peeked up at him from under her hair, her eyes swimming with unshed tears.

"Stay right here, I'll be right back," he told her, and disappeared for a few moments. Dawn frowned, waiting and wondering where he'd gone. When he returned, he held something in his large paws.

"What is that?" She asked quietly as he sat back down in front of her. He outstretched it to her and she realized it was a simple mirror. Her gloved fingers closed around the handle, caressing the patterns criss-crossing around it and running a finger along the side of her reflection, wondering what the purpose of this mirror was. To feel better about herself? To admire the beautiful gown she had borrowed?

The Zoroark placed a gentle paw over her hand. "Just tell the mirror who you wish to see and it will show you."

Deciding to trust him, Dawn looked back at the mirror and said to it, "Show me Johanna Berlitz."

The image warped and rippled like a lake's smooth surface as a rock is thrown into it. A moment later, a scene came into focus and showed a woman stumbling among tall, thick trees and calling out a name. Her name.

"Dawn? Dawn! Please, where are you?" Johanna yelled into the night, her knees buckling as she fell over a twisted tree root and landed hard on her stomach. The woman cried out, but her trembling arms trying to push herself to her feet were too weak and gave out, leaving her facedown on the forest floor.

"Mother!" Dawn cried out, springing to her feet and turning wild eyes to the beast before her. "Please, I have to go help her. I can't have her suffer like this! Please!" They stared at each other, Dawn pleading, the beast impassive. He sighed.

'I didn't even get to confess. Of course something like this has to happen..' The Zoroark looked at Dawn gravely, and suddenly felt empathy rise in him as he thought of his own mother and how distraught she was without him and how much she suffered. How could he let Dawn and her mother suffer for his own selfish desires? He understood her need to run quickly to help her mother, as he had wished to do the same for his, but unable to face her with this shameful face. He thought it would be better for her to think he was dead instead of a disappointment, but…

"I...I release you," he said quietly, his heart beginning to crack as he said it. She blinked.

"Eh?"

"I said I release you." He took a deep breath. "You are no longer bound to this place. Go help you mother." She was stunned, staring at him with her mouth agape. He gave her a slight push. "Go on!" He said, slightly more rougher than he intended.

The blunette seemed to come out of her reverie and smiled at him, grabbing his paws and looking into his eyes. "Thank you."

As she turned to go, he seized her hands again. She turned. "Dawn," he croaked, his voice beginning to crack from the emotion he was fighting back. She tilted her head.

"Yes?"

"I…" He was about to confess, but then he saw the strain in her eyes and decided he wouldn't drop the bomb on her while she was distressed. He sighed. "You're welcome back here anytime, and I want you to take this with you." He pressed the mirror into her grip and gently pulled away. "So you remember me. Be safe, Dawn."

"Goodbye...Ash." He felt his heart snap. He knew this would be the last time he'd ever see her, knowing she would not want to willingly return, even if her mother was healthy. Even though he knew it in his shattered heart, he didn't want to accept it even as he let her go. He turned his back and heard her footsteps growing fainter and fainter as she ran away, feeling as if someone was kicking around the pieces of his heart without mercy.

It took a few minutes, but then he spotted the blunette, now dressed in her original light blue dress that she had worn on the day of her arrival and her cloak, running into the trees as fast as she could. He watched her even after her figure disappeared into the dark trees and felt the weight of his decision crushing the breath out of him.

Instead of crying though, he lifted his head to the sky and roared his mournful lament to the stars.

Dawn was barely aware of her clothes catching on brambles and thorns as she ran deeper into the heart of the Viridian Forest, her breath loud in her ears. She vaguely heard the sound of a roar in the distance, but ignored as her mother's well being was more important. She checked the mirror again and found her mother in a clearing surrounded by trees slanting inwards toward her, as if they were performing some obscene ritual.

She picked up the pace, changing roles with her mother as she frantically searched and screamed her mother's name, looking left and right for her. She darted in and out of clearings, hoping she wouldn't attract any dangerous forces to her.

The blue-haired girl almost fell several times, her haste making her less and less graceful, her desperation clouding her brain of all sensible thought.

As she called once again, Dawn heard a feeble, "Dawn?"

"MOM?!" She ran closer to the voice, reminded of the day she heard her mother's voice in the cell of the castle and it sounding as weak as it did now. She sprinted closer and burst into a clearing, finding her mother sprawled at the foot of one of those tilted trees.

"Mama!" Dawn fell to her knees, turning her mother over so her pale face could be exposed to the light shining down from the moon.

Johanna's eyes sparkled with relief. "Dawn...oh, Dawn, my dear, is it really you?"

"It is. Come on, let's get you home." She tucked the mirror safely into her cloak pocket and helped her mother to her feet.

It took about an hour or so, but the two blunettes finally managed to arrive at their small cottage at the edge of town and Dawn never felt so happy to see her Kanto home in her life. She stepped up to the porch and rummaged in the flower pot beside the door, feeling for the key and finding the cold metal near the bottom. She shoved it into the lock, opened the door, dropped the key back into the pot, and shut the door behind her and her mother, not noticing a dark shape dart out from under the porch and sprint off towards town.

Dawn felt the home sickness leave her as she set her mother gently down into a chair and lit a fire in the fireplace, giving the cold and desolated room a warm glow. She tucked a blanket around her weak mother and dashed for the kitchen, pulling out two cups and a kettle and quickly began boiling water in it.

"Dawn...how did you manage to escape?"

The younger blunette, who had been rummaging in the cupboard for tea bags, looked around. "I didn't; he let me go."

"H-he let you go?" Johanna asked in astonishment, turning in her chair to look at her daughter in surprise. "That horrible, monstrous beast?"

"He isn't horrible!" Dawn exclaimed, a defensive shine in her eye. "He's kind and gentle and...not what I expected him to be." Her voice became softer as she spoke. She felt a pain in her chest as she thought about him, his deep, chocolate colored eyes, his touch so gentle on her skin and hair...her heart fluttered.

Before her mother could reply, the kettle whistled and drew the blunette's attention to it. She busied herself with the tea for another minute before she brought the steaming mug to her mother and carefully placed it in her cold hands.

"Thank you, dear."

Dawn cradled her own cup of tea as she sat herself in the chair across from her mother, watching her worriedly as Johanna took a sip of tea.

Just as Dawn raised her own cup to her lips, she heard loud sets of footsteps outside and yelling voices. Frowning, she rose to her feet, setting down her cup and going to the door to investigate. She heard a loud rap on the door as she reached it and stopped, wondering what was going on. Hesitantly, the blunette cracked the door open and peeked out.

"Mr….Mr. Rowan?" She asked in a low voice, seeing the old man standing in the door with two muscular men at his side, neither looking very friendly. However, the sight behind them was more alarming; it appeared to be half the town standing in a mob outside her door, each raising a torch or pitchfork toward the night sky, yelling Johanna's name.

"Mr. Rowan?" She asked again, her voice a pitch higher than normal. "C-could I help you with something?"

The old man looked down at her with glinting dark eyes, his scruffy white beard hiding his smirk. "I've come to collect your mother."

The two guards forcefully pushed the door open, causing Dawn to stumble back and almost fall but was immediately scooped up by a pair of strong arms. She met a pair of mischievous dark eyes and her eyes widened.

"Gary?"

"Hey, sweetheart," he said in a husky voice, leaning uncomfortably close to her. "Miss me? I certainly missed you."

She pulled out of his grasp, feeling anger rise in her. "What is this? Why are you here for my mother? How did you know I was home?"

Gary smirked. "Well, you see, I had someone look out for your return so I could see you as soon as you came home." Dawn saw the scrawny blond boy behind Gary grin evilly at her, wiggling his figures in a mock wave. Stupid Barry.

"Oh really?" She glared at the asylum owner and his cronies. "You still haven't answered me- why are you here for my mother?!"

Mr. Rowan smiled slyly at her. "Well, you see, while you were gone, your mother ran around town one night and started harassing citizens to help her find you. Supposedly, you've been gone for several weeks because a beast was holding you captive. Isn't that right, you lot?" The old man asked the mob, who shouted in agreement, their eyes narrowed maliciously.

Dawn felt her heart catch in her throat. Her mother had come back begging for help? She felt a pang of regret at having comfortably lived at the castle for sometime and not tried to escape sooner to check on her poor mother. Of course, she'd been afraid the beast would come after her and possibly kill her and her mother, but over time she learned of his true nature and still hadn't returned sooner. Why didn't she think to check on her mother?

The answer was simple: she'd wanted to stay with the beast. Her brain had been telling her to go home, escape, flee, but her heart had not allowed it.

Stupid heart.

"Take her away," Mr. Rowan commanded, waving his arm at the two men, who viciously grabbed the feeble woman's arms and hauled her out of the chair, spilling her tea all over the floor.

"Stop! My mother's not crazy!" Dawn shrieked, running to stop the men from dragging her mother onto the front porch, but Gary's strong hands held her back. "Let go of me, Gary! I said let go!" Her eyes were wide with terror. "Please, tell them she isn't crazy!"

Gary's smirked became more twisted. "I could help her…"

Desperately, she grabbed the front of his slightly unbuttoned shirt. "Please!"

The auburn haired boy lightly covered her small hands with his larger ones. "I'll get her out, Dawn...if you marry me."

Completely thrown by this statement, Dawn took several steps back from him and clenched her fists. "How dare you!" She yelled, stamping her foot and feeling rage boil in her at the realization of why this was happening. "You bastard!"

He chuckled darkly. "Perhaps, but you want to help your poor, dear mother, right?" He made a grab for her arm but she jumped back and turned to the men holding her mother, whacking their arms and trying to get them to release her mom but to no avail.

"I can prove my mother isn't crazy!" Dawn shouted over the crowd, pulling the mirror from her pocket and looking into it. "Show me the Zoroark!"

The mirror shifted image from her face to the black and red biped she had come to love. He was roaring in sorrow to the heavens, wanting the pain to go away and wishing for her to return to end his suffering. She could see the other Pokemon she left behind at the castle looking discouraged as they watched their friend cry out from the loss of the girl he loved, all looking close to tears. She felt upset as she watched them, wondering how much more pain she caused with her absence.

She turned the image to the crowd, who gasped and shrieked at the sight of the beast. "Don't be scared!" She called out weakly, her voice trembling with the strain. "He may not look it, but he's very kind and sweet and caring. He wouldn't hurt anybody, he's...he's the gentlest soul I've ever met." She looked fondly at the picture, feeling her heart soar at the sight of him. Those beautiful eyes…

While she gazed at him, she didn't notice Gary watching her or see his eyebrows shoot up at the realization of her words and the tone of voice she used. It was very tender, very soft, as if speaking of a lover.

He felt disgusted. She was in love with this monster, but not him?! He had much more to offer, much more fame, popularity, looks and was actually human! It was decided; he couldn't let this beast have Dawn's heart. Dawn was his and only his. He would not be rejected.

With a swipe, he whipped the mirror from her grasp. "So, you love this beast? This awful, ugly beast?!" He questioned furiously, holding the mirror above his head as she made a grab for it. "Well, we can't have that! You're just as crazy as your mother!" He snatched her by the waist and whipped her over his shoulder, causing her to cry out and struggle against him.

"Look at this horrible monster!" He hollered at the crowd, waving the mirror at the crowd's stricken faces. "It will come and get your children in the night! No one is safe!" The crowd gasped and clutched each other in fear. Dawn thrashed and screamed that it wasn't true, that they ought not to listen to his lies, but they ignored her.

"He'll take our town if we don't stop him and terrorize us if we don't kill him!" A chorus of yells followed this statement, all of them raising their weapons with a cheer. "Well, what're you waiting for?! Grab more suitable weapons and let us go kill the beast!"

"Kill the beast!" The crowd bellowed back, and they marched into the town to retrieve weapons. Gary waved his hand at the men holding Johanna and they followed him to the Berlitzes' storm shelter at the edge of the yard.

"Let go of my daughter you creep!" Johanna yelled weakly at the auburn haired boy, who laughed maniacally and opened the storm shelter door.

"In a moment, Madam," he told her as the men threw Johanna inside the small room. He lifted Dawn so she was off his shoulder and stood in front of him, wriggling and flailing in his grip. She tried to kick him, but he stepped back, leaned in, and kissed her cheek. "I'll be back for you, darling," he drawled in her ear, grinning as he tossed her into the storm shelter beside her mother and slammed the door shut, bolting it and twisting a metal pipe one of the men handed to him around the handles, sealing it shut.

He heard Dawn desperately bashing her fists against it, yelling curses at him as she tried to break free.

"Bye for now, my dear," Gary said with a cold laugh as he turned and left with the two men by his side.

The Pokemon weren't aware they were about to get company, too busy worrying about their friend slumped in a chair in his private room, refusing to speak. Though Caroline had brought him tea and Drew offered some consoling words, he didn't move nor did he acknowledge them.

The Zoroark was sure his heart would never recover, was for sure he'd live the rest of his life as this monstrous beast, though ten times worse because now he longed for the girl he loved and knew he would never see her again. He looked over at the pedestal on which the rose floated over, underneath the container, shining weakly in the half light. It had two dying petals barely clinging to it and as he watched, one of them detached itself from the rose and fluttered to the table along with the others, crumbling to dust.

He couldn't get the images of the blunette from his mind, unable to erase her face, her smile, her laugh, her warm touch, her luscious hair, her ocean blue eyes...He shivered and dipped his head closer to his chest, his very core threatening to crack. He never felt so crushed in his entire life, never felt so lonely or in dire need to see the certain someone causing his pain.

So the damned Mew had been right, he was experiencing pain he'd never felt before and wanted it to go away. Had this been the plan from the beginning? Had Mew deliberately dropped this girl in his clutches knowing he'd fall for her and she would leave him? If that was the case, it was a cruel punishment, far crueler than he thought he deserved, but as the legendary had said, pride was not an easy price to pay for. He didn't realize how badly love could cut one down, make them think erratically and make them want desperately for that person to be back by their side so they could go on. It wasn't fair, it wasn't just…

And yet, maybe he had it coming all along, maybe this punishment was fit for someone like him. He didn't even know if Dawn loved him back or if she'd even consider setting foot back here to see him. The Zoroark doubted both very much, but at the same time, a part of him hoped, prayed and wished for the blunette to walk through that door and smile at him, take away his pain and make him feel human again.

Suddenly, a loud bang! broke the silence. The Pokemon, startled, turned their heads toward the doors.

"What the hell?" Ash muttered, getting unsteadily to his feet to look at the window, the others at his heels. Outside appeared to be a mob of people shouting and waving various sharp and lethal looking weapons. What were they doing here?

Had Dawn sent them in fear he would pursue her? His chest heavy and his eyes stinging, he turned away from the window.

"Ash, we have to fight them!" May cried, looking in fear at the angry men bashing a large log against the sealed doors, trying to penetrate the barriers. "C'mon!"

"Go ahead...I'll be up here…"

"But-"

"GO, ALL OF YOU!" The Zoroark roared, startling the Pokemon and sending them running to set up defenses against the offenders. He slumped into his chair and let his face rest in his paw, trying not to feel more upset than he had before.

It had been bad enough that Dawn had left him and was deemed to probably never return; but now this attack sealed the deal. She wanted to be rid of him.

For good.

"LET US OUT!" Dawn screamed, slamming her fists repeatedly into the locked doors. "PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP!"

"Honey, it's no use," Johanna mumbled, hugging herself tightly to escape the chill creeping around the small room. Dawn turned crazed eyes to her mother, sweat beading on her forehead and upper lip, adrenaline fueling her and driving her to pound harder on the door.

"We have to escape, WE HAVE TO!" The younger blunette cried, her voice wavering out of control. "THEY'RE GOING TO KILL HIM, MAMA!" When her mother didn't reply, she resumed her fruitless task, screaming and yelling at the door.

It was her fault for this mess. It was her fault her mother felt lonely without her. It was her fault that Ash was hurting. It was her fault that Ash was in danger and probably hated her now for accidentally sending the men after him. Her heart quaked with the pain and her breath came out in quick puffs, making her feel slightly disoriented.

"Dawn?"

At first Dawn thought it was her mother who spoke, but when she looked at her, her mother was nodding off and shivering in the corner, her jaw jammed shut. The voice spoke again, and Dawn heard it on the other side of the door.

"Hello?!" She asked, praying it hadn't been her imagination.

"Dawn, is that you?"

"Pr-Professor Oak?"

She heard him say, "Stand back!"

The blunette obeyed, backing as far as she could from the door and pulling her mother with her. She heard him call out a command and suddenly the doors blew off their hinges, casting dust into the air. Both blunettes coughed and stumbled out of the smashed doors to find the librarian standing there with an Ampharos, who looked pleased at the damage it had done.

"Oh, Professor, thank you!" The younger blunette jumped forward and hugged him tightly, then patted the Ampharos's head, making it smile in pleasure. "How did you know I was here?"

He sighed. "I heard the townspeople were here to take Johanna and heard that you had returned, but I didn't get here until everyone had gone and I went to your door, but you weren't there. Then I heard yelling and saw the doors barred shut so…"

"As much as I appreciate your help, I have to ask you another favor; could you take care of my mother until I get back? There's someone who needs my help!"

"The beast I heard everyone talking about as they left the town?"

Her eyes widened and she nodded vigorously. "Do you know which way they took?"

The Professor nodded and pointed to the path made by many marching feet some distance away. "They took all the weapons and men they could find and left. Dawn, whatever you do, just be careful, alright?"

"Okay, I understand. Mom, stay here, I'll be back!"

"Dawn, wait! I just got you back!" But Dawn wasn't listening. She dashed to the stables behind her house and opened the door, discovering Dash standing there, looking excited to see her.

"Hey, Dash, you feel like taking me to a mob fight?"

The unicorn responded with a huff, tossing its flamed head but allowing her to mount. She reared and galloped down the path, and disappeared into the darkness.

It wasn't long after the fight started that Gary managed to slip away unnoticed up the stairs. He hadn't expected to be ambushed by ferocious Pokemon upon entering, but quickly got over the shock to blend into the fight of people vs. Pokemon. He didn't have time to fight such irrelevant creatures, not even time to catch any of them, no, he had to chase the goal he came to carry out: kill his competition.

He couldn't let such a creature live that had managed to steal Dawn's heart, which ought to belong to him, and have him stand in the way of his and Dawn's marriage. He would be the one to see her walk down the aisle and his arms would hold her and his lips would take hers and…

The auburn haired boy stopped when he heard a groan. He hesitated, peering inside the door he heard it come from. The first thing he saw was the rubble and the clutter, scattered everywhere as if someone had taken their rage out on it. Curious, the teen carefully stepped over the junk, keeping his sword raised. That's when he saw it.

The beast was hunched over a pedestal, his shoulders tight and every so often emitting grunts of sadness. He smirked; this was his chance. The beast was unguarded and vulnerable, and Gary didn't have a problem with kicking a man while he was down.

He crept up behind the miserable creature, a smirk adorning his lips. "Goodbye, ugly," he said quietly, and he clumsily leaped forward to strike. The beast whirled around, fast, and managed to dodge his blow. Gary's eyes widened as the Zoroark drove his fist into his gut, knocking him to the floor and sending the sword flying from his grasp.

However, Gary wouldn't give up so easily. As the beast glared at him, Gary wheezed, "You're...even uglier...in person. I don't understand...how she can love you." His smirked broadened as the beast's eyes bulged. "But...it doesn't matter. She's...mine. You can't...have her." While he was talking, he rummaged in his pockets for his Pokeballs, but found his belt empty. In his haste he had forgotten his Pokeballs, but he had a short blade in his belt that he had gotten from one of the villagers. He grinned again. Distantly, the sound of the thunder could be heard and all of sudden, it was coming down in sheets, splattering Gary's boots as he got to his feet.

"Fight me, you pathetic waste of space," Gary spat at the Zoroark, who just gave him a look and turned away. "You should die knowing that Dawn could have been yours without my knowledge, but unfortunately, you lost that chance." He laughed. "She loves me now, not you." His lie was the spark that set Ash off. He lunged at the auburn haired boy, who was grabbed in a chokehold and dangled over the side of the balcony. Gary yelped, his smirk gone and replaced by a fearful grimace as rain poured heavily upon him, slipped off his face and fell into the empty space below him, which was about seventy-five meters to the ground.

"Get out, you worm," he told the boy he released, shoving him toward the doorway to the balcony and staring him down with a hard look. He was backing away when…

"Ash!"

Both turned towards the sound of the feminine voice and both were startled to see the blunette standing there, breathing heavily as though she'd run a long way.

The Zoroark's eyes, which had been flashing a blue, softened to a dark brown as he surveyed the beauty before him. His heart slowly started reforming, coming together as he made his way to her and she started forward too, but then stopped and screamed, "Watch out!"

Too late. He felt a sharp object embed into the small of his back, startling a howl of pain from him. He snarled, angry that he almost died before he could hold his blunette, and ripped the dagger from his back and tossing it aside. The Zoroark grabbed Gary and pulled him viciously close to him.

"GET OUT!" He roared, shaking the walls around him and throwing Gary at the wall, causing him to crack his head and slump to the ground, unmoving but at least breathing.

"Ash!" Dawn dashed to the Zoroark, who had collapsed on the balcony, rain crashing heavily upon his fallen body. She saw blood beginning to pool around his wound as she knelt beside him and turned him onto his side, feeling sick at the sight of the blood, making her own heart feel like it had been stabbed. She tried to stem the flow with her hands, her vision blurring from the rain and tears stinging at her eyes as she fought to keep them back. Her panic was driving her to press hard into his wound, making him groan.

"A-Ash, please, you're okay, you're gonna be okay," she panted, terror grasping at her as she fought for breath, trying to will the blood to stop flowing.

"Dawn…" She felt his paw caress her wet cheek, which was now drenched in rain water and tears that had managed to escape her blue eyes. She glanced down into his eyes, eyes so warm they made the pain ease slightly, but then she saw the light was slowly leaving them. He was slipping away from her, drifting into another life that didn't include her in it. He was leaving, leaving her to be subjected by the pain of his passing and a lost love that could never be. She choked out a sob, watching him trying to speak.

"I...I love you, Dawn."

Dawn hiccuped and her mouth trembled with the effort to stop the tears from falling.

"Don't say that! Don't leave me, Ash! Don't leave me!" She saw his eyes slowly beginning to darken and she cried out to the night, "I LOVE YOU!"

The rain incessantly dropped, soaking through the blunette's clothes and plastering her hair to her face, making it almost impossible to see, but she saw enough. The life was gone from those gorgeous eyes she had fallen hopelessly in love with, the soul of him released to a place where she couldn't get him back.

And she broke. She heaved out a racking sob and suddenly was crying uncontrollably into his chest, not carrying about being wet or cold or the fact she could get sick. She buried her face into his sodden fur and wailed her pain to the very core of his body, to the night, to the night sky and the moon shining peacefully over the distraught blunette.

'"I...love you," she said feebly into his chest. "You can't leave me, you can't! You can't leave me because I love you, Ash, from the very bottom of my heart and soul! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!" She dissolved into tears again, shaking and clutching his chest tightly, refusing to move from her spot.

A shift. A shift in the wind and suddenly the ground was vibrating beneath her feet. Dawn raised her head, glancing around for the disturbance, and suddenly a bright light emanated from beneath her and she leaped back in surprised, her cry lost in the sudden, powerful wind. Ash's body was...glowing?

She let out a cry of fear as it rose slightly and twisted, distorting it into a strange shape...a shape that was recognizable…

The blue-haired saw the rose rise from the pedestal and knock the cover off, the last petal still clinging on as it flew into the light and was obscured like the Zoroark's body.

Then, as it twisted once more, the light around his body suddenly faded and he was dropped to the ground, lying in a heap. Frightened, Dawn backed into the wall, scooting her butt backward and facing his body from her hunched position on the stone floor.

Rain water dripped annoyingly in Dawn's eyes and made it hard to make out her surroundings, but she saw the Zoroark's body stir. She saw him rise and there was something odd about him, but through her swimming vision, she couldn't make out the problem. The only thing she knew was that Ash was walking and alive and she ought to be excited and joyous, but she only felt wary and scared because she certainly didn't recognize this Ash even though she couldn't see his face. For one thing, he was about a head shorter but still a few centimeters taller than her and his hands and feet seemed smaller and not as dark.

"D-Dawn? Is that you?" She recognized the voice, but it was less gruff and slightly masculine, like the voice of a boy in his late teens. She swallowed and rubbed the water from her vision and lifted a hand to stop it getting in her eyes.

The boy crouched in front of her, grinning from ear to ear. His smile was endearing and he was very handsome; long-ish, shaggy hair that was falling in his face from the rain, tan, olive-ish skin covering his body, slight stubble decorating his chin and cheekbones, strong hands that grasped hers, two scars on his cheeks, and slightly lanky limbs that had some muscle quality to them. He was wearing a white button up shirt that was torn on the left side and left half of his slightly muscled chest exposed and black pants that were ripped at the knees, showing off his calves and bare feet. She shrank back, feeling scared.

"Dawn? What's the matter, don't you recognize me?" She blinked as his calloused hand stroked her cheek lovingly, trying to reassure her. "Dawn, look at me."

Dawn nervously raised her heavy lashes and met his eyes, which were startling familiar. That shade of chocolate brown, the color of the most delectable chocolate, one that was filled with warmth and love as they gazed upon her. She gasped, and felt a nervous laugh escape her lips as she cupped his cheeks, feeling skin with little prickly hairs instead of fur and her heart sung with happiness.

"Ash? This is...the real you?" She whispered, gently pressing her forehead to his. His smile wavered a little.

"What's wrong, am I not handsome enough?"

She giggled feebly. "N-no, you're better than I expected. LOADS better, even. Maybe even too much? Are you sure a troll like me deserves you?"

He laughed, and it sounded musical and kind, making her skin shiver in longing. "Dawn, honestly, it should be me saying that to you. You're beautiful and you're better than any girl I could dream up. You're too extraordinary for me, but that won't stop me pursuing you."

The blunette laughed. "You don't need to, because you have me. You have my heart, Ash, I love you." And she closed the distance at last and kissed him passionately, trying to convey all her emotions into that connection.

The raven haired boy was quick to tug her close and wraps his arms around her waist, working his lips in time with hers. He felt the feelings she was expressing in that kiss and poured in his with hers, letting the rain wash away their pain and clean off a new slate they could start together, because now they had forever.

It turned out, of course, the curse had been lifted from Ash's friends. They had to be reintroduced to Dawn because she didn't recognize them, and she was swarmed in hugs from the brunette, the brunette's mother and little brother, the chartreuse haired boy, the redhead and even the uptight dark green haired boy with the spectacles.

But that wasn't even the best part. The best part was escorting each friend to their families, and watching the family's stunned and joyous faces as they leaped upon their lost family member or lost family members in the case of Mr. Maple.

When they had been returned home, Ash and Dawn returned to Pallet Town, hand in hand, and looking at the house Ash called his home. He admitted to the blunette he was nervous to see his mother in person after being years apart and him watching her fall apart in his absence. They approached the house and looked at each other, Ash in fear, Dawn in reassurance.

"You can do it, no need to worry," whispered Dawn, kissing her boyfriend's cheek. He smiled and stole a small kiss from her lips as he raised a shaking fist to tap on the wooden door. There was a pause and then the door was opened, shocking the two visitors and the woman who answered.

"Mama?" Dawn asked, shocked, as her mother squealed in joy and hugged her firmly, nearly knocking the life out of her. She gently pulled away, smiling at her. "What're you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I help out Mrs. Ketchum with her housework and I was worried sick about you, but I thought she might need me so I came here. Where have you been all night and day?"

"I was helping out some friends," she told her. "And I'm currently helping a special friend of mine here."

Johanna looked away from her daughter and fixed her royal blue gaze on Ash, who smiled awkwardly, feeling terrible for the last time he saw her and him tossing her roughly on a horse. However, she stared at him with huge eyes, her face pale like she'd seen a ghost.

"Y-you, I know you," she mumbled, her jaw slack. "You're Delia's son! You're Ash Ketchum, the missing boy!"

He blinked in surprised. "You...know about me?"

Johanna nodded, her hands over her mouth now. "Your mother told me. Oh, your mother! Delia, Delia, come quick, come quick!" She ushered her daughter and the startled boy inside the home, closing the door carefully behind them.

"Johanna, dear, what's the matter?" The brunette appeared around the corner, glancing at the older blunette first before looking at the younger blunette. "Oh, is this your daughter?"

"Yes, and she brought a friend…"

Delia's gaze slid from Dawn to the boy beside her, who was smiling and scratching the back of his neck. She dropped the newspaper she was holding.

"Ash...my boy?"

"Mom, it's me."

The woman started to cry and threw herself in her son's arms, sobbing uncontrollably as he held onto her. The Berlitzes' stood away from the scene, smiling at the reunited two. It was beautiful, seeing a mother and son come together once again and end each other's pain.

They pulled apart and Delia dabbed her sunken cheeks with a handkerchief, reaching up to pat Ash's cheek.

"You're so grown up...oh no, you've been gone...so long…"

"I'm sorry, mom, I wanted to come home but…" He looked away in shame. "I couldn't. Please forgive me." The dark haired boy reached out and grabbed his girlfriend's hand, bringing her forward. "Thank her- she saved me and saved the others as well. Misty, Drew, May, Max, May, Caroline, Khoury...they're safe, they're home. They were so happy."

Delia laughed. "And so am I." She looked at Dawn with shining eyes. "Thank you, dear, I could never repay you."

"No worries, no payment required, except for permission to date your son."

Both mothers laughed and smiled at each other.

"That sounds fair," Delia said, and suddenly, they were all laughing, laughing until they were hunched over and crying with mirth.

Dawn glanced up at the raven haired boy, who met her gaze with hilarity and euphoria in his eyes. She never saw him look so happy and she felt her laugh increase. He leaned down and both of them laughed, kissing each other in between chuckles, and felt their mothers embrace them too.

"And they all lived, happily ever after," Lucy concluded, closing the heavy book in her lap and glancing at the children. A majority of them were curled up on the floor with their Pokemon, fast asleep, while the remaining children stared up at her in awe.

"That was awesome!" They squealed, clapping their hands and rousing the other children and sleeping Pokemon.

Lucy scooped up Zea and Dani, and was just ushering the children to bed when one of them asked,

"Did Ash go back to battling?"

Lucy smiled. "Of course he did, I mean, he was an accomplished battler, wasn't he?"

She smiled. "That sounds good. Good night, Big Sister, that was an amazing story."

"Good night." She watched the other children go off to bed and began carrying the remaining children to their respective quarters, humming a little tune under her breath. Just as she finished putting the children to bed, she yawned and went to put away the book when lightning streaked the sky. She jumped back in alarm, and let out a soft noise of fright when she heard a knock upon the door.

She went to answer the door, frowning. "Hello?"

"Um, is it possible for us to get shelter from the rain?"

"Okay…" Lucy opened the door and allowed the two figures to come inside, and they dropped their hoods. Lucy gasped and laughed.

"Oh, you devils, I didn't recognize you two! I was just talking about you..."

Both turned and smiled at her. "Did you?" The raven haired boy asked, wrapping his arm around the blunette beside him. "Did they like our story?"

"Yeah," Lucy winked and giggled. "Too bad they didn't know it wasn't fiction."

Author's Notes:

Bwahaha, so it wasn't just a story! A weird ending, but I kind of liked it.

Ash: It was weird

*sighs* whatever, Ash

May: Yay, everyone reunited!

Ash: But I didn't get to kill Gary...dammit.

Gary: Hey! -O-

Shush, you guys had good parts. I couldn't bear to kill Gary...anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the ending! I'm sorry again for the wait, I'll try to be better about it! Now I'm tired so I'm going to bed -o-

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or the song lyrics of 'Beauty and the Beast', but I do own my OC c:

Misty: Review please, Alice-chan appreciates them!

Thanks folks, see you next time! Whenever I update CLWY cx And so concludes Beauty and the Battler! (:

~ Sayonara,

demon alice.