The deafening roars surround me. Machineguns fire relentlessly; even my machinegun seems to fire as I look around in horror at the carnage. Hapless Gardevoir fall to the ground as the psychic-proof guerilla team mow them over with their ultra-powerful weaponry. There's not an area five feet square where there's not Gardevoir blood. The stench is atrocious, almost sulfuric, I might add. The smoke is everywhere.

My body shifts towards a family of five, a young Ralts and her two Kirlia siblings, along with a Gardevoir mother and a Gallade father. They mewl in horror as my hands point the gun at the mother's head. I seem to cry as the gun swings around firing at every member of the family. None survive. They lie lifeless on the floor, blood splattered everywhere. That horrific scent fills my nose as regret floods my conscience.

This isn't right. Yet I can't seem to stop myself. My hands aim the gun; it fires as my fingers pull the trigger; my body runs towards the next household; families of Gardevoir die by the minute and I'm helpless to stop my warring rampage. My body takes itself to residential locales as my mind screams for it to stop; it's of no use, though. Ethereal screams fly through the air as Gardevoir left and right are slaughtered.

My mind freezes as my body marches towards a mother tending to her precious Ralts. My heart pounds in excruciating pain as time seems to slow down, each shot pulsating through the air, penetrating both of their skulls, the blood squirting out onto my armor. My chest tightens as I hear them scream in agony as their life passes from their bodies. I swear that I feel their souls as I speak... their souls let go of their mortal coil.

I find myself staring at a television screen, watching the news headline of the horrific genocide. This time, I can move myself around. I stare at the rope that I use to rappel down the cliffs as I was making my way to the Gardevoir homeworld. Thoughts stir in my mind; I contemplate what could be done with this rope. My creativity takes a morbid turn as I lift myself up off the couch and grab the rope, determined.

I take the stool from the closet, bring both items with me down the hallway. Thoughts race through my mind, thoughts of eternal nothingness, thoughts... I deserve to meet my fate this way. It's the only way that I'll ever be at peace after I've done such horrible deeds. Why not do it to myself? Why not show myself that this is what I deserve? For their suffering to end, I must end everything right here, right now.

Slowly entering the bedroom, I turn off the light and flick on the lamp in the corner of the room. I set the stool down and find some nails in the drawer. I step onto the stool and hammer the rope to the ceiling with a few of them. At the bottom of the rope, I tie it upwards until it forms a loop. The loop satisfies me for some reason. As if I could just feel the effectiveness of it by looking at the rounded loop... I leave a piece of rope hanging out so I can tighten it.

I step onto the stool and then slide my head into the loop. I stare at the stool and take a deep breath, knowing that this'll be the end. I close my eyes and look all around me, thinking about the relentless violence I committed against the innocent Gardevoir... how precious they were... how wicked of I to take their lives so casually... to deem them wicked when I... when I was the wicked one. I then count to five.

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

I squeeze my eyes tight and kick the stool into the wall. Time slows to a crawl as I feel my neck being choked by the rope. I squirm and thrash my arms and legs helplessly as I begin to feel my vision tunnel. As soon as my vision turns to black, I start to see a bright light... It grows brighter as I feel all sensation from my arms and legs begin to fade to nothingness. All I see is the bright white now, surrounding me with infinite luminescence.

Wake up.

I feel a radiant energy start to pulsate through me and then an image starts to appear before me. The first thing I see is a Gardevoir's grimace as she looks down upon me. I feel my breath returning to me like a flood and I jump right out of bed, screaming just a little. I breathe hard, looking all around me, the familiarity returning to me within a couple seconds. I realize that I am reeling from a nightmare.

A familiar nightmare...

A horrific memory malformed by pain...

I turn to my left and see my Gardevoir with a deeply concerned frown. Her face communicated her fear and concern, her healthy pity towards me, and the understanding that always comes from her downright miraculous way of calming my spirits. Wordlessly, she squeezes her paw on my hand, sending a rush of warmth through my body, a smile forming on my lips as relaxation once again takes over my consciousness.

I am so sorry I was not there, Max...

It was true. She had to do something for another Gardevoir this time around and I thought to myself that perhaps I could make it through the night without having a horrible nightmare. I was so wrong. I overestimated my progress and I was sent back into the traumatic memories... The guns... Blood... Guilt... Utter shame... If she wasn't there that fateful day, I would've been gone like many others who did the same.

"Don't ever leave me again, Anya..." I mutter with exhaustion, my emotions a complicated mix of calm and frantic. "Thanks for saving me..." I whisper, resting my hand on her other paw, gazing lovingly into her ruby-colored eyes. Her gaze meets mine and her expression matches my own, a beautiful smile forming on her face.

You are welcome.

"But why?" I ask, a small frown forming as I look away at the ceiling. "Why would you save someone who killed your own? Your own people... your own kind..." I start to heave as the tears start to come. Slowly they come, at first, but volleys of tears follow as I rest my head next to her heart piece, sobbing heavily. She holds me closer, in which I do the same, taking immense comfort in her presence.

I was walking through the field when I sensed an overwhelming burden... Something I could not ignore. Incessant waves of guilt and shame fell upon me like an anvil to the head as I passed by your bedroom window. It was then... when I saw your head enter the noose. I quickly teleported into the room, used my power within to lift your body up, preventing the noose from choking you, then tore the rope apart and put you down on the bed. In fact, that is how I met you, Max. I then took you in and found you a place where we lived. You needed not be burdened by the life around you. You needed a way out of the agony, and that is where I stepped in, to deliver you from your past and bring you into the now, where the past has little to no effect. I took it upon myself to infuse warmth and happiness into your heart as you were recovering from the horrible trauma. I promise to never leave you again. I will stay by your side for as long as we both live. Remember that I love you. I love your heart. I love the warmth inside of you. I feel your care. What we have is true.

Stunned, I whisper simply, "Lay down with me..." She complies without a hitch and plops down beside me, sliding her arms around my waist. Her heart piece presses against my chest but it doesn't bother me in the slightest, actually feeling comforting as the contact radiates a sense of warmth and peace throughout my body. I lean my forehead against hers, gazing into her ruby jewels of eyes, fixated on her affectionately dilated pupils.

This is very nice, honey.

"Indeed," I respond, closing my eyes happily. "Hold my hands," I request, leaning in and kissing her cheek softly. She takes her paws and laces her big fingers with mine. I close my eyes harder as a jolt of warmth shoots through me, my thoughts becoming full of her own, our minds coming together in union, the balm of her heart soothing the injuries of my own. I sigh in tranquility. "Never let go."

I shall not, my love.

A pair of lips caress against mine. I kiss back almost immediately, relishing the warmth of her lips. Visions of paradise begin to float in my consciousness, our mutual dreams displayed in all their grandeur. A place of love and happiness... eternal life in eternal union... never to part... never to imagine life without each other... I deepen the kiss warmly and affectionately, holding her closer, letting her heart piece push into my chest harder, yet not feeling an ounce of pain from it whatsoever, only feeling even warmer.

'Sadly,' I pull my lips away from hers, needing to catch my breath. She tilts her head downward and rests it in the crook of my neck, nuzzling gently. Our hands never part. In the calmness of our embrace, we start to feel sleepy again, the stress from earlier having put a strain upon our energy. She closes her eyes and passes on into sleep, in which I follow suit mere seconds later, mirroring her closely.

We dream together.

We stand atop a mountain, the warfare raging on down at the bottom of the slope. The noise, from up here, is a mere faint rumble. We turn around and walk the other way, green pastures before us. She teleports us to the pasture and has me lay down in a comfortable hammock. She crawls in atop me, her heart piece sliding into me fluidly, no damage being done. I don't even feel the heart piece as it unifies us, a collective warmth completely eradicating any worry from my heart and mind.

"We are here, my dear," she speaks verbally, something I am familiar with in our dreams. "This is the place where we shall reside when we pass on from our physical life. When you take your last breath, I shall abort my existence peacefully, knowing that the purpose of my life upon the physical world has come to an end. There, we shall dance forevermore in the light of our lord Arceus, and shall give eternal thanks to his goodness for blessing our good hearts with the privilege of paradise. How do I know this? I have seen him in my dreams. He grants eternity to those whose hearts have love and goodness within. He has promised the both of us such eternity, and in such eternity, we shall forever be one."

The mere idea of being eternally one with Anya melts my heart. I press my lips upon hers passionately, no words needed to express my gratitude. She kisses back with vigor, my mind leaving the physical behind, embracing the abstractions of love... transcendence... indescribable intimacy... unity... warmth and joy...

Through all of these abstractions, Anya stands before me, dressed in bright white, her eternal gown surrounding me, pulling me right up to her. Enthralled, I kiss her in the second, her lips pulling me further into the fractalized reality of our endlessly complex love. Again and again, I meet with her divine face, kissing her lips with untold, beautiful passion... It keeps going and going, endlessly repeating itself, and in these repetitions, I never want to stop.

Love is truly infinite.

The image around me starts to darken, and then, as deep as I was in her radiant embrace, I open my eyes to see her snoring into my neck. I chuckle mentally and rub the palms of her paws. She starts to stir within a few seconds and pulls away from under my neck, resting her forehead against mine.

Are you alright, Max? Your eyes seem... plastered over.

"Oh, I'm fine dear," I say, then chuckle, "I was just... totally taken away by your love..." I smile and blush a little, then feel her lips brushing mine again. I brush my own back at hers a bit, rolling my eyes. The warmth of her contact really works wonders on the quality of my dreams. "Did you keep... kissing me?"

Yes.

"So we were dreaming together, huh... must be a Gardevoir thing," I say, observing the fact that we, in fact, were dreaming together and that this wasn't a coincidence. "What did you observe from our dream?" I ask, curious as to what she might say.

You gravitate to me with such eagerness. The wounds still ache terribly, but you find my warmth to bring you out of the pain and into the light. Your love transcends the trauma.

I smile gently, knowing her to be honest and true. It still hurts sometimes. Her hands remedy the pain of loneliness that I have felt so incessantly in the past.

She takes my hand and gets me up and out of bed, walking me from the bedroom and into the kitchen. "What are we doing? Usually you make breakfast and I wait for you," I say in surprise.

Not this time. I am not going to leave your sight.

"Stop being so cute," I say, absolutely not wanting her to stop being cute.

Oh, am I cute?

"Yes." My response makes her blush. It always does when I compliment her.

Cute does not begin to express what you think of me.

I blush red, sighing. She's perfect, yes... Not perfect in a boring sense, but... she's just that right for me. With time, she'll help me get over the residual pain from my horrible past. I thank Arceus quite often that she overlooks all of my horrible deeds and sees what I truly feel inside, accepting me with everything that she is.

That morning, she makes me a delicious fruit salad, an entire smorgasbord of berries being sliced up and mixed together into a wonderful concoction. The flavor reminds me of why she makes all the fruity meals for me.

She doesn't eat meat whatsoever, and since I've been with her, I've dropped the meat out of my diet. I don't miss it, honestly. I've felt so much better after adopting her diet. I've lost a ton of weight in the process and through working out, I've become lean and energetic.

We'lll overcome the burdens of our past. We promise that to each other every day.