-3 days after-

"This ice cream really is the best!" Misty exclaimed. Ash and Latias both laughed at Misty's outburst. "I agree with you on that!" Latias replied. Ash watched the two excitedly chat with each other. He sensed no hostilities towards each other. In fact, he felt they both had grown much closer over the past few days. He sighed as he recalled the last couple of weeks. Ash looked down at Pikachu who was trying his best to hold on to a double-scoop chocolate ice cream. He frowned noticing how he'd left him out of the loop for the most part during their time in Alto Mare. He scratched the back of Pikachu's ear. "Chaaaa!" Ash knew that was Pikachu's favorite spot. Pikachu looked up and cocked his head. He saw the unrest in his eyes. "Sorry about leaving you out of most of this. Guess I just didn't want to cause you too much trouble." Ash said. Pikachu stared at him for a few seconds before he smiled and patted his arm. (Which caused Pikachu's ice-cream to fall. He was pretty devastated about that.) Ash laughed at the unfortunate turn of events for his friend when he heard Misty call his name. "What?" Ash asked having not heard the question. "Brock, why did he go back to Pewter so soon?" "Oh, that's right. I guess I forgot to tell you. His dad had to leave for a business trip regarding the gym and Brock didn't want to leave the gym alone to his brothers and sisters. After all, only one of them has a license to battle as a Gym leader right now." Ash said repeating what Brock had told him. Misty sighed. "At least he has somebody to look after his gym. I'm going to be booked when I get back. The League is coming up fast and there's always a bunch of kids trying to get their last couple of badges."

Ash noticed Latias was looking at the ground and fidgeting. Ash smiled knowingly. He was well aware of why she was nervous. Tomorrow would be when she left Alto Mare to live in Pallet with Ash. She was also worried about how Delia would react. Ash got up, sat beside her, and brought her into a tight one armed hug. She blushed, but didn't let that stop her from laying her head on his shoulder. "Nervous about my mom?" She nodded her head. "Don't worry too much about it. I have a feeling she'll be fine, no, I know she'll be fine with it." Ash smiled widely. "Just you wait until you taste her cooking. My mom is the best cook in the Kanto region!" Latias giggled at this and nodded again. "How will you pay for a house though?" Ash chuckled at this. "My mom's always wanted to open a family business." Latias smiled and a single tear could be seen run down her cheek. However, this was a tear of pure joy.

-The following day-

"You go on ahead Misty. We'll catch up with you soon." Misty nodded and headed off to the cruise liner that had recently docked in the port. Ash stayed behind with Latias who was saying her farewells. He watched as Latias, who now appeared as a beautiful young woman with ruby red hair and deep amber eyes, was having a crying fit as she hugged it out with an equally bawling Bianca. Ash and Lorenzo exchanged glances and chuckled. It took Ash a couple of hours to get used to Latias' new form, but he figured it didn't matter very much. He always saw her true self as the most beautiful. Latias finished saying goodbye to both Lorenzo and Bianca. Ash took her hand in his own and they were on their way. "You take care of her you hear me!" Lorenzo yelled after them. Ash waved his hand at him. "I wouldn't dream of taking care of anybody else!" Ash lowered his hand and blushed at his own statement. Latias was giggling at his flustered face. They quickly made their way to the boat and boarded. The boat left port a few minutes later. Ash looked back at Alto Mare and saw a purple figure standing atop the museum looking at them. Ash waved at him. He couldn't see very well, but he knew Mewtwo had waved back. They were now too far from port to wave at anyone and the mass of the crowd left to their rooms while a couple loitered around trying to decided what to do.

Latias gripped his hand tightly. "Our new life starts right now doesn't it?" Ash looked down at her and cupped her cheek. "Yes, so let's at least start on a good note." He then locked lips with her with the sun setting behind them. They stayed like this for a while before releasing to catch their breath. Latias embraced him tightly and Ash followed suite. "I love you Ash Ketchum." "I love you, Latias." He replied quietly. They decided to head to their room to get some rest when Ash heard a faint voice. He turned around and stared back at Alto Mare. "What's wrong?" He smiled at her and kept walking. "Nothing, just remembering an old friend."

~THE END~

[Author's Note: Hey guys! It's kind of hard to believe, but it's all over. It's kind of sad. I enjoyed working on this and reading your reviews! Without you guys, I don't know if I could have continued working on this like I did. I want to thank all of you for your support and I hope we can all work together on my next work!]

[P.S. If you have any questions or just want to talk, feel free to hit me up!]