Quick notes:
'italics in commas' refer to character thoughts
paragraphs of italics refer to text messages
bold and italic refers to emphasis
The Sun and the Moon
"Tell me the story
about how the sun
loved the moon so much
he died every night
to let her breathe."
...
"And then Lopunny started skating on the ice like a ballerina, dazzling the audience with a beautiful display of Healing Wish!" Dawn recited excitedly. She turned to beam at her boyfriend, her eyes shining brightly as she recounted her the tale from her latest contest. She was rather proud of it too, winning the contest when she thought she had lost when the opponent froze the ground with a strong ice beam attack.
"That's good." came the short reply, as he turned to glance at her.
Dawn's smile faltered just a little, but she knows Paul Shinji has always been a man of few words. Hastily, she pushed her thoughts aside and proceeded to wrap around his arm. "So where shall we go now? How about watching that new movie on the forbidden love between an Espeon and an Umbreon?"
Paul didn't reply to the question immediately but instead shook his arm slightly, indicating for her to let go. "Troublesome," he hissed, looking furtively around for any cameras, "someone might see us."
Dawn pouted as she let go reluctantly, knowing things wouldn't turn out well if someone saw them acting intimate. Their relationship was a secret to all other than their closest friends, especially to the media and paparazzi snooping around hoping to catch a big scoop. With him being the recently crowned champion and her the two-time winner of the Sinnoh Grand Festival, they will never have another day of peace if words let out. She thought of Ash and Misty and cringed slightly at how they never got another moment of privacy in public when their relationship was exposed.
"Why don't we just walk around? The weather is nice today." Paul suggested, breaking Dawn out of her thoughts.
"Aren't you cold?" she questioned, glancing at the snow covered trees along the street as she did. Winter is approaching soon, and Hearthome has just started snowing the day before, bathing the city in a fresh coat of white. She was a little disappointed that Paul hadn't wanted to watch the movie, but it's Paul and she should have known better than to ask.
"No, it feels nice to walk like this. With you. Are you cold?"
"No, I feel fine too," she smiled. "Let's just walk around then."
...
"So how did the date go?" May asked excitedly over the phone.
Dawn shrugged, smiling as she did so. "We went for a walk?"
"That's all?" May ask incredulously.
"Mmhmm."
"Sheesh you guys are so boring," May declared.
Dawn laughed in amusement before folding her arms in mock anger. "Excuse me, but not everyone are like May Maple and Drew Hayden, always having creative ideas for their dates."
As expected, May blushed a shade of red that could rival her signature red bandanna. "We're not dating!" she exclaim, waving her arms around for emphasis.
"It's a matter of time isn't it?" Dawn smirked at her knowingly. The two have been dancing around each other for the longest time, hanging out in their frequent non-dates, and Dawn was sure that Drew harbours the same feelings for May in return.
"Does your mum know about it yet?" May asked, ignoring Dawn's previous comments and swiftly directed the subject away from herself.
"No.. not yet, Paul still feels uncomfortable letting my mum knows about it," Dawn explained.
"It's been two years though, Dawn. I can understand he didn't want to all those years ago when he had nothing to his name, but he's like the Sinnoh Champion now. Why is he so afraid of letting your mum know?"
Dawn paused, not too sure how to answer the question. "You know he isn't the most sociable person around, May," she started carefully. "He was uncomfortable enough when Reggie found out and that's his brother. I imagine it must be more stress for him if it's my mum."
May gave a doubtful look at the answer she was getting. "I dunno Dawn. It just doesn't sit well with me that he insists on keeping your relationship under wraps when it has been so many years already."
"He didn't insist-"
"It feels like you two are pretty static too. How much have you two progressed in these two years? Have you guys even held hands yet?" May continued.
"We did!" Dawn responded quickly. "Um maybe once or twice?"
May raised her brows and gave her a 'are you kidding me' look.
"Well most of the time we are out in the public and we can't just act the way we want," Dawn defended.
"The curse of being celebrities," May sighed, shaking her head. "Well, think about what I said ok? I gotta go now, I hear my mum calling me for dinner."
"Alright, talk to you next time. Bye!"
"Bye!"
The phone line clicked and went dead, and Dawn let out a sigh. She stared at the phone, thinking about what May had said. 'How much have you two progressed in these two years?' May's voice kept replaying in her head. She probably won't get much sleep tonight.
...
"Dawn, honey, are you in your room?" Dawn heard her mum calling for her.
"Yeah I'm up here!" she shouted back from her bed, where she's browsing through the latest issue of Coordinators Weekly for some inspiration.
"There you are," Johanna said as she stepped into her daughter's room.
"Is there something you want?" Dawn eyed her mum. There's always this certain way her mum acted when there's something she wants to say.
"Well, I was just wondering if you would be free this Friday night." Johanna asked, anticipation all over her face.
"I am," she started slowly, "but what is it?"
"I was hoping you would go to this blind date this Friday," the older woman announced.
Dawn felt her jaw drop as she blinked stupidly at her mum, having been caught off guard. "What? No! Of course I wouldn't go to a blind date!"
"Why not?" her mum asked. "It's not like you have a boyfriend right?"
Instinctively, Dawn opened her mouth to reply, but managed to stop herself before she blurt anything out. Unfortunately for her, it didn't go unnoticed by the older woman. "Don't tell me you really have got a boyfriend? Who is it?" Johanna asked, narrowing her eyes at her daughter in an attempt to intimidate her daughter into telling her everything.
"No of course not! Why would I have a boyfriend and not tell you about it? I'm just not interested in finding one right now," she justified, putting on a nonchalant look and hoping her mum would buy her excuse. Internally though, she's wincing at the 'look' her mum is giving her, and praying she doesn't crack under the pressure.
"Well, I think you should give it a try! He's a really nice boy. And look at you! All grown up but yet to have a boyfriend. When will I get to see my grandchildren?"
Dawn groaned audibly. Johanna hardly used her 'grandmother trump card' as Dawn calls it, but each time she used it it is only when she is determined for Dawn to do something. And this time, it appears that she wants Dawn to go on a blind date and get a boyfriend. "You're not going to give up until I agree aren't you?"
"Just once, alright. I promise I won't badger you about it if you don't like him after the first time."
"Alright. Fine. Just once," Dawn agreed.
"It's going to be alright," Johanna smiled encouraging, "he's a nice boy, I'm sure you'll like him."
Dawn only nodded absentmindedly, her mind already somewhere else.
"Well, I'm going to head down to prepare dinner now. I'll let you know when it's ready alright?"
"Yeah sure, thanks mum."
Dawn stared at the closed door, before putting her hand on her forehead. 'Now to think of how to break the news to Paul.' she thought to herself, racking her brains for the best way to tell Paul.
Sometimes, she wished that her mum wasn't a hopeless romantic like she is.
...
"Oh, you're back!" Dawn called when she heard the door open.
"Was out training. What are you doing? You didn't say you were coming over," Paul replied, eyeing her in the apron with a spatula on one hand.
"Wanted to give you a surprise," she said cheerily. "Dinner will be ready soon. Why don't you take a shower first?"
Paul eyed her suspiciously but merely grunted before heading to the showers. "Don't burn down the kitchen!" he called loudly.
In response, Dawn stuck her tongue out childishly at him even though he can't see behind his back. "I won't, no need to worry!"
"And that's when I worry the most," she heard Paul mutter under his breath.
"I heard that!" she shouted indignantly, earning a chuckle in response.
...
"How's the food?" she asked after they have both finished their meal.
"It's good, didn't know you are such a good cook," Paul complimented. It's rare that they hang out in Paul's apartment, so he never got a chance to taste Dawn's cooking.
"Of course, a master coordinator have got master skill at making poffins. That naturally makes me a master chef!" she bragged.
Paul laughed, amused at her antics. "So, what do you want Troublesome?" he asked, broaching the subject he knew Dawn wanted to talk about.
"Hehe," she started sheepishly. "Didn't expect you to see through me so easily."
"We've been together for 2 years, Dawn. I can read you like a book."
"Well, my mum wanted me to go for a blind date this Friday." she blurted out quickly.
There was a palpable silence before she hurriedly continued. "I didn't want to go! But mum was very insistent on it and there wasn't any good excuse for me not to, without telling her about us. I know you are still not very comfortable about letting my mum know about it." she trailed off.
"... So?"
Dawn blinked confusedly. "I just wanted to let you know about it." She hesitated. "If you don't want me to, I won't go. I'll just pretend to be sick or something."
"It's alright. Your mum wanted you to, so you can't do anything about it too."
"You're not mad?"
Paul shook his head, and Dawn felt Butterfrees in her stomach. She moved towards Paul and hugged him. "Thank you."
She felt Paul wrap his arms around her too, and the nod of his head against her shoulder. At that moment, she feels so blissful that Paul is so understanding. "I'll clear up the table, you go take a rest alright?" she said as she let go of him.
Paul watched as Dawn busy herself with clearing up, humming a tune as she worked. 'I trust you.'
...
'Where is the guy?' Dawn fumed silently. She had been waiting at the designated restaurant for 20 minutes now. 'What kind of guy turns up late on a blind date?'
Just then, a figure approached the table she is sitting at. "Excuse me miss, are you by any chance Dawn Berlitz?"
Dawn looked up at the voice, and saw a tall guy with spiky brown hair looking at her curiously. "Yes, I'm Dawn Berlitz."
The guy gave her a warm smile, showing off his teeth, before proceeding to sit down opposite her. Now that they are closer and Dawn doesn't have to crane her neck to look up at him, she can take in his appearance a bit more properly. He was a very good looking guy, she noted, and he also gave off the feeling of a very warm person. She could see that if he turned on his charm, lots of girls would definitely fall for him. 'But I'm not just any girl,' she reminded herself.
"Miss Berlitz, I'm sorry for being late. One of the pokemon at the lab became sick just as I was about to leave the lab, and I couldn't just leave him alone. I'm Gary, by the way."
Dawn smiled politely in return, feeling slightly embarrassed at blaming him for being late. "You can just call me Dawn please, no need to be so formal."
They ordered their food and made small talk throughout the meal. Dawn found that he's a guy with a good sense of humour and a pleasant guy to be around. Gary apparently works at Professor Rowan's lab, and that was how Johanna had met him when she delivered some snacks over, boldly asking him if he had any girlfriend and if he wanted to have a blind date with a daughter. Gary had good-naturedly agreed, not thinking that she was serious about it. It made Dawn so embarrassed about her mum when Gary related the story to her. She also discovered that Gary was good friends with Ash when they were younger, since they were both from Pallet Town, and they had a good time sharing mostly funny stories about Ash.
"Thank you for sending me home, I had an enjoyable night," she bowed politely at the end of their blind date.
"It's no big deal, I had an enjoyable night too." There was a short pause as Gary hesitated. "Can I call you sometime in the future?"
Dawn started, not expecting him to be so upfront about it. Gary however, laughed at her reaction. "I take that as a no?" he asked, amusement twinkling in his eyes.
Dawn could only flush a light shade of red, unsure of how to deal with his straightforwardness. Gary grinned as he watch her cheeks get dusted pink. "Well I'm going to call you anyway," he announced, still grinning widely. "You're cute, I like you." He gave Dawn a wink before turning around to walk away. "I'll call you soon."
Dawn just stared flabbergasted at his back view. 'What just happened?'
...
From: Dawn
To: Paul
I just came back. Have you slept? Call me if you are free.
Dawn stared at the text she sent Paul before she went to the showers. Paul had yet to reply to her text nor call her back, and she was wondering if she should just go to bed without waiting any longer. Her phone ringed in her hands, and she looked down at the caller id. Disappointment filled her when she saw that it wasn't Paul who called, but an unknown number.
"Hello?" she said tentatively into the phone.
"Hi Dawn, it's me Gary. Are you safely home yet?" Dawn blinked owlishly at her phone. 'Gary?'
"Um hi! Didn't you just see me home half an hour ago?" she questioned.
"Well yeah I just wanted to check that you are safely at home. Besides I said I would call you soon and I want to keep my promise."
"Um ok thanks for calling."
Gary chuckled at the other end of the line. "I won't keep you up much longer. Have a good night, Dawn. Sweet dreams."
"Um right, good night."
The beep tone signalled the end of the phone call, and Dawn placed her phone on her lap. She honestly cannot figure out what this guy is trying to do, getting her all flustered and confused with his actions. 'What is with this guy?'
Her phone buzzed in her lap this time, breaking her out of her reverie.
From: Paul
To: Dawn
That's good, I just came from training too. Really tired right now. Heard there was a challenger coming soon, need to train for that in the next few days. Have a good rest.
From: Dawn
To: Paul
Hope training goes well for you :) I know you won't have a problem facing the challenger! Have a good rest too. Remember to eat your meals regularly. Goodnight, love you.
From: Paul
To: Dawn
Night.
Dawn stared at the last message she received, feeling her heart drop. She pondered if she should whine about it, but decided against it. 'Paul must be really stressed now, I shouldn't stress him about it.' May's words played in her head again, 'How much have you two progressed in these two years?' She shook her head, trying to shake the words out of her mind, before reaching for the lights switch and snuggle into bed for a night's rest.
...
"You went for a blind date?" May shrieked through the phone, causing Dawn to wince at her loud volume. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about it!"
"There's nothing to tell you about. I wouldn't have went if I could convince my mum otherwise."
"So what's the guy like?" May asked excitedly. Dawn sighed silently and gave a small shook of head. 'I'm surrounded by hopeless romantics'
"He's kind of nice and has a good sense of humour. Oh he's a childhood friend of Ash as well, so we spent some time sharing stories about Ash as well."
"Did you like him?" May asked bluntly, causing Dawn to give her a horrified look.
"May!" she chastised. "I'm attached! How can I think of him that way!"
May merely shrugged. "Doesn't mean you can't look at other guys like that. Did he ask you out again?"
Dawn flushed, giving May the answer she need. "Oh my goodness, he did? He totally likes you! Your love life is so exciting right now sigh."
"He did not," Dawn clarified. "He only said he would call me again."
May dismissed it with a wave of the hands. "It's the same. I can totally imagine the two of you together too. He sounds like he's a better fit for you than Paul is, with his outgoing personality and all. So what did Paul say about all this? I don't think he would take all these very well."
"Um I haven't actually got the chance to tell him about it yet. He's been busy training these few days for a challenger so we haven't spoken or met each other."
"And he didn't ask anything about it?" May asked, disapproval written all over her place.
"Well, he's busy." Dawn defended, feeling more uncomfortable as the topic continues.
May sighed at how defensive Dawn is towards her boyfriend. "Dawn, you just went on a date with another guy and he didn't ask you a thing about it. What kind of boyfriend does that? It's like he doesn't care that you went out with another guy. No scratch that, it's like he doesn't care about you at all!"
"It's not like that," Dawn said quietly.
May looked at her friend and felt pity for the girl. "Alright, I won't talk about this anymore. Go talk to him soon ok?"
"Ok."
Dawn flopped on her bed when the phone call ended, her head going through the conversation she had with May. 'I can totally imagine the two of you together too. He sounds like he's a better fit for you than Paul is, with his outgoing personality and all.'
Her phone buzzed and she glanced at the new message.
From: Gary
To: Dawn
Hey, you free this Wednesday? We could have dinner again.
From: Dawn
To: Gary
I'm sorry Gary, but I don't think we should go out on another date.
From: Gary
To; Dawn
I didn't say we were going on a date. Unless you are thinking about it? ;)
No, I just wanted to have dinner with you as a friend, get to know you more. There's no reason for you to reject a dinner with friends right? ;)
From: Dawn
To: Gary
I guess dinner is fine, I should be free on Wednesday.
From: Gary
To: Dawn
Great. See you on Wednesday then. :)
From: Dawn
To: Paul
Are you still busy training?
From: Paul
To: Dawn
Yeah, the challenger will be fighting the Elite Four in the next few days, so I should be busy until the end of the week.
From: Dawn
To: Paul
Alright, all the best. Rest early then. Goodnight, love you 3
From: Paul
To: Dawn
Night.
Until May mentioned it, Dawn hadn't realised that Paul hadn't asked her a single question about Gary since he knew about his blind date. 'It's like he doesn't care about you at all!' May's voice replayed in her head once more, and she groaned out loud.
She love May and all, but sometimes what she say doesn't help her at all.
...
"And then Ash promptly climbed up the tree to chase the Mankey who stole his snacks, but fell off the tree and landed on his butt! It's like seeing a tortoise with an overturned shell! And you know what was the worst thing? The Mankey laughed at him, and proceeded to eat his snacks right in front of him, cackling when he had finished the food. Ash ended up having a bad mood the whole day!"
"That was priceless! We all know how protective Ash is of his food. I should tease him about it one day haha!"
Dawn and Gary were laughing loudly at the diner where they had dinner, as Gary recounted more tales from Ash's and Gary's childhood. It turned out that Ash had done lots of silly things when he was younger, and Dawn can't help but laugh at Ash's younger self.
The diner, while not as fancy as the restaurant they went to previously, has a nice atmosphere to eat, where family take their children to. The food was pretty good too for its price and she was glad Gary introduced her to this place.
"So where do you want to go now?" Gary asked as they exited the diner.
"Hmm I'm not sure, do you have any ideas in mind?"
"How about watching a movie? Have you watched that movie about the forbidden love between an Espeon and an Umbreon? I heard it was a good movie and girls seem to like it a lot."
Dawn blinked in surprise, for that was the movie she wanted to watch a few weeks ago. "So, what do you think?" Gary prompted when Dawn didn't give a response.
"Um yeah! That sounds great. I wanted to watch it before actually, but didn't manage to."
Gary grinned. "Well, you ought to thank me then. If I didn't ask I bet you would have missed the movie on the big screen!"
Dawn chuckled, knowing what Gary said was probably true. "Let's go then."
...
"That was such a sad story," Dawn commented quietly when they leave the cinema. "I know it was supposed to be a tragedy, but the movie was so well made I can't help but feel like I'm the characters themselves."
"The story was well portrayed by the actors too, particularly the two pokemon," Gary mused out loud. "I don't know what it feels like to be torn apart from your lover, and never see each other again but the movie made me feel like it's happening to me. I must say that the Pokéstar Studios in Unova does have this penchant for making excellent movies. "
Dawn nodded silently, still mulling over the tragic story of the Espeon and the Umbreon.
"You are quite a hopeless romantic aren't you?" Gary noted out loud as he watched Dawn.
"Quite a bit," she admitted sheepishly. "Why did you suggest the movie actually? I thought guys won't like movies like this?" she asked curiously.
Gary laughed nervously, his hand reaching out to rub the back of his head. "I do enjoy these kind of movies quite a bit. My previous girlfriend liked them and she got me to enjoy them too."
"I see."
They settled into a comfortable silence as they walked towards Dawn's home. Dawn had told him that he didn't need to send her home, but Gary had insisted that she shouldn't walk home along this late at night.
"Thank you for having dinner with me today. Truth is I just came to Sinnoh not long ago and don't have much friends here, so I really appreciate you taking the time out to have dinner with me."
Dawn gave a genuine smile. "It's not a problem, most of my friends don't reside around here as well so I understand how you feel. Besides it's nice company."
Gary nodded in appreciation, and gestured to her house up ahead. "Well goodnight, Have a good rest today. We can meet up for a meal or something next time."
"Sure thing, thanks for sending me home. Goodnight."
Gary looked into Dawn's blue eyes, looking as if he is thinking of something. Hesitantly but quickly, he swoop down to plant a peck on Dawn's cheek, causing her eyes to widen and a blush to creep upon her cheeks. Gary on the other hand was slightly mortified at his own actions when he saw Dawn's face. He coughed awkwardly to cover himself up, before apologising for his behaviour. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I.. I don't know what came over me. Please don't be mad at me."
Still burning from the short peck, Dawn only murmured a "it's ok", which was enough to make Gary let out a breath of relief. "Thank you for not being mad at me, it means a lot. I should go now, call you again soon."
Dawn nodded, not quite making sense of her jumbled thoughts and proceeded into her house. The house was dark, indicating that her mum had went to bed. She was thankful, because it would be hard to explain to her mum why her face is so red.
She entered her room and slumped down against the close door. She can still feel the touch of Gary's lips on her cheeks, and the heat she is feeling isn't helping to dissipate that feeling. Her stomach feels funny too until she realised what she is doing and smacked herself on her cheeks.
'What is this I am feeling? I can't feel like that about Gary. I have a boyfriend! But but are these Butterfrees I feel in my stomach?'
She put her forehead against her knees, still crouched in the same position. 'I am so screwed.'
...
"Champion Shinji, there's a Miss Berlitz waiting for you outside," the Pokemon League receptionist called when Paul passed by the counter. Paul furrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion, for Dawn has never stopped by to see him at the League. "Thank you," he replied, before heading out to the gates of the League.
He found Dawn standing near the waterfall, drowning out the sound of his calls. "Dawn," he called once again when he is nearer. Dawn turned and looked up at him, smiling at him as she did so. She leaned in and hugged him around the waist, feeling comfortable against his body. Paul move to place his hands on her waist, but made a slight pushing motion. "Troublesome, this is my workplace," reminded Paul.
"There's no one here," Dawn pleaded, her voice muffled by his clothes.
Paul sighed but continue to make the pushing motion. "It's still my workplace, it's not appropriate."
Reluctantly, Dawn took a step back and release Paul from her grasp, bowing her head as she did so. "Is something wrong?" Paul asked, eyeing her worriedly. "You don't usually come by the League."
".. Nothing, just wanted to see you that's all."
"Did something happen?"
Dawn lifted her head and looked into Paul's eyes. The onyx black eyes gazed back at her and she could see the worry in it, see herself reflected in it. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself, closing it back, and breaking eye contact with Paul.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Paul prompted, while his brain tried to think of the possible things that Dawn wanted to say. In their time together, he had never seen Dawn behave in this peculiar manner, and a part of him felt a sense of foreboding at this.
He watches her shoulders shift up and down as she took a deep breath, preparing herself to speak her mind. Her eyes meet his again, and she asked, "Do you think we should break up?"
Paul blinked, but otherwise gave no visible reaction to what Dawn had just said. His eyes searched hers, trying to look through it into her mind and soul, trying to make sense of what she is thinking. Dawn never once broke eye contact, desperately hoping that he would give her an answer, hoping that for once, she can read his unreadable expressions, that she can read him like a book.
The minutes pass, with only the sound of the waterfall surrounding them.
"If that's what you want," he said quietly.
In that moment, Dawn feel lost, and she wondered if it showed on her face. It was a statement, not a question, and Dawn knew then that he wasn't going to try to make her stay. She blinked and broke eye contact, trying to stop the barrage of tears she knew was coming.
"I'll be off then," she murmured quietly. "I'm sorry for disturbing you while you're working."
Paul watched her silhouette as she flew away on her Togekiss, until she was just a tiny speck in the sky and he could see her no more. He watched as the skies went from blue to cloudy gray, signs of approaching storms and bad weather, but he knows there's nothing he can do about it. Brushing a hand through his hair with a huff, he headed back into the League building to continue his training.
...
"So how did the date go?" Johanna asked as her daughter came in through the door.
"It's not a date, mum," Dawn complained.
She just had another dinner with Gary, and Johanna had been rather excited that Dawn had been spending time regularly with the guy she set her up on a blind date up with. Johanna had even went to the extent of inviting Gary to their house for dinner by personally heading to Professor Rowan's lab, just so that the two of them can spend more time together.
"It sure it is if the boy has intentions of asking you out," her mum winked.
Dawn huffed and chose to ignore her mum's comment. "I'm going to bed," she declared, earning chuckles from her mum. Johanna shook her head with a smile as Dawn stomped up the stairs to her bedroom. "Ah young love. Always in denial."
Dawn sank into her bed the moment she reached her room, hugging her soft toys tightly. She had indeed spent time with Gary once or twice a week for the past two months, and Gary had indeed made clear his intentions to ask her out a few weeks after the kiss accident. She had rejected him politely, stating that she isn't ready to start a relationship, but that hadn't stop Gary from arranging dinners with her or just to hang out.
She knows that Gary is a good guy, and that their personality do indeed match as May had so shrewdly observed all those months ago, but something in her just stops her from going that one step further.
She hasn't seen nor heard from Paul since that day at the League, and she found her thoughts drifting to him in the most unlikeliest of scenario - when she's walking along side Gary, when she practicing for her contests, when she watches battles on the television.
The moon is bright tonight, clearly visible from her bedroom window and she thought of the movie about the Espeon and the Umbreon, the night that started all these. Gary had not made a move on her since that night but she doesn't really mind it that much. 'Where are the Butterfrees now?' she wondered.
...
"Oh Miss Berlitz, you are here!" the editor of Trainers Weekly called when she walked through their office doors.
"Marianne, good to see you. I'm not late am I?" Dawn asked. She had been asked by the magazine for an interview and had agreed to it immediately. Trainers Weekly usually targets pokemon trainers, so it was a surprise that they had asked her for an interview. The editor, Marianne had informed her that they wanted to do a special by covering a discussion of battling and coordinating, and had wanted to hear from the Master Coordinator herself.
"No, no dear, you are just on time. There was a change in schedule though. We wanted to do your interviews separately but Champion Shinji had some scheduling issues so we are going to conduct both your interviews together. We heard that both of you know each other from your travelling days so it shouldn't be an issue, right?" Marianne questioned.
Dawn felt her heart stop. 'Did she just say Champion Shinji?' As if on cue, she heard footsteps behind her, and turned to find herself face to face with Paul himself, who started upon seeing her. "Dawn," he greeted, voice levelled and neutral. "Paul," Dawn greeted in response, even though her body had turned to ice and her mind blank at the change in events. She wasn't prepared to see Paul yet.
"Excellent, Champion Shinji, I was just telling Miss Berlitz here that we are going to conduct the interview with both of you at the same time. If you can head this way please." Marianne gestured, oblivious to the tension between Paul and Dawn.
Numbly, Dawn followed behind Marianne, and settled down in the interview room. "Let's start with Miss Berlitz shall we? Miss Berlitz, what are you thoughts on pokemon battling as a coordinator?"
...
The interview went well, in Dawn's opinion. While she had been very affected by the presence of Paul, she had came prepared for the interview, and was able to articulate her thoughts on the issue. It had been an interesting debate too between the Master Coordinators and the Pokemon Champion, and Marianne had been very pleased at the end of the interview.
"Dawn," a voice called from behind her, causing her to freeze in place.
Slowly, she turned around to face Paul, who was walking towards her. 'He hasn't changed much,' she thought to herself, 'though it seems like he's pretty tired. Has he been training too much?'
"Do you want to have dinner together?" he asked, before hesitantly adding. "I haven't seen you in a while."
Dawn's breath hitches at his statement, and her first thought was a 'no'. What came out of her mouth however, surprised the both of them.
"Sure, I'll love to."
...
Dinner was a quiet affair, but it has always been the case with Paul. Perhaps she had gotten used to chatty meal times with Gary, or was it because they hadn't ate together in a long time?
"How have you been?" Paul asked, starting the small talk.
"Good. Mostly training for upcoming contests."
"How about you?" Dawn asked.
"Training," Paul replied, and Dawn nodded.
Despite the awkward atmosphere ('or was it because?' Dawn wondered), lunch passed by pretty quickly, and they are outside once more.
"Where are you going now?" Paul asked.
"Home. You?"
"Let me send you home."
"..." Dawn stopped and stared at Paul. "You never sent me home before."
"Shouldn't you get home too? It's getting late," Dawn questioned, trying to process why Paul had offered to send her home.
"I want to send you home."
"..." Their eyes met, and Dawn remembers how black his eyes are, and how warm they used to be when they looked at her. "Alright."
The way home was as silent as dinner. They had flew on Togekiss, who was more then delighted to spread his wings and fly halfway across the region from Hearthome to Twinleaf.
The Jubilee Pokemon landed gracefully outside Dawn's house, and both trainers hopped down from him before Dawn thanked him and returned him to his pokeball.
There was silence again as the two faced each other before Dawn broke it by speaking up. "Thanks for sending me home. I should go in now."
Paul nodded, and Dawn turned around to walk towards her house. Before she could reach the front door though, Paul called her again and she turned back round to look questionably at him.
They stood metres apart, each staring at each other. Paul looked tongue tied, like there's something he wants to say. Unlike Dawn though, he doesn't need prompting to say what he wants to say, so Dawn waited patiently for him to say what he wanted to say.
"I missed you," he said quietly, but loud enough for Dawn to catch it.
It wasn't what she expected, and her breath hitches again as she feel the barrage of tears coming. She stood still for a few moments more before running towards Paul, hugging him just like the last time they met at the Pokemon League. And then everything hit her at once - the familiar smell of Paul, the comfort of his body, the memories they had together - and she's sobbing uncontrollably onto his shirt. This time though, Paul's arms wrapped around her sobbing body firmly, giving her the embrace she missed for so long, and the comfort she need at the moment.
"Why did you let me leave?" Dawn asked, still sobbing into his shirt.
"Because you're troublesome," he said simply.
Paul rested his chin on her head, his hand making rubbing motions on her back. "They say that the sun loves the moon so much that he will die every night so they she can breathe. The moon has her own light, but she can't shine brightly if she's not separated from the sun."
"That's doesn't sound like you at all," Dawn muttered as she gave a small laugh.
"No it doesn't," he agreed. "But I found it highly poetic and meaningful, especially for us."
"I can't believe you actually watched that movie," Dawn said after her tears had all dried up.
"I passed by the cinema and thought of you. Wanted to see the movie that you wanted to watch."
Dawn smiled as she imagined Paul in that situation. "I missed you too," she said, embracing him again in a hug. "Don't let me leave again."
"Only if you don't want me to. I would die again if only to let you breathe," he promised.
Afterall, she's the moon and he's the sun, always dancing around each other. He died once so that she can find her life, he can do it again if it means she can shine and glow in the darkness.
Notes:
Story was inspired by a Korean drama scene that I watched, which formed the backbone of how the story unfolds. I immediately thought of this pairing and thought of how these characters would embellish the story in their own way.
The movie about the Espeon and Umbreon is completely made up, meant to be a metaphor to Romeo and Juliet. The whole thing about the sun and moon came while I was writing, and Espeon and Umbreon were highly apt in this metaphor as well. I don't have a concrete story for that per se, but if anyone is interested, I might write a epilogue of sorts to complement the story.
All comments and reviews are appreciated. Thank you for reading (:
