Alright, this oneshot is something I've been meaning to put out for a while (several months, in fact), but with a few hard weeks of work, it's finally finished.

As you've undoubtedly noticed, this is a Romance oneshot. The main pairing here is Treeshipping (I own the name!), or Mew/Lucario, or Myukario (Damned Lolita owns that name), or whatever you want to call it. I've seen quite a bit of this pairing on DeviantArt, but I haven't seen it even once here on FFN. So, I decided to take a crack at it myself; besides, who doesn't love to be first?

This is also my first official attempt at first-person writing. While the whole thing is in first-person, who's POV it is changes once, indicated by page breaks. The first, as you've likely guessed is Mew. The second… well, that'd be telling, now wouldn't it?

And just so you're warned, the first half (Mew's half) might be a little confusing if you don't read this paragraph. The parts in italics are Mew's thoughts on what happened during and before the movie "Lucario and the Mystery of Mew". The parts that aren't in italics, however, are things that are happening in the 'present.'

Oh, and a big thanks to Damned Lolita for being the beta reader for this oneshot. You rock, Ari!

Disclaimer: Pokémon and all affiliated characters belong to Nintendo and Game Freak. But all the theories concerning events both during and prior to the movie "Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew" belong to me. If you want to use them, ask me first or I'll flame you from here to Easter Island.

Why? A simple enough question, don't you think? Why did you do it? Why did you throw your life away like that? Why did you leave me all alone?

How peaceful it all looked. The emerald grass swaying in the breeze that swept through the tunnels; ancient pokemon, frozen forever in time, mingling with those of the modern era; the serene waters of the lake reflecting the light of the large crystal in the cavern's ceiling, its own private sun.

The Tree of Beginning. My home.

I shook my head. No. This isn't my home. Not anymore.

I remember how it was before this all started, before Aaron laid down the path that you would later take. As a servant of a knight of Cameron Palace, it was your duty to protect the Tree of Beginning, and, ultimately, me.

Not that anyone had exactly told you that in your training. Everyone thought I was a myth, a fairytale, so I kept my distance. After all, who was I to prove them wrong?

But then you came along. I was always told by all the other Legendaries to avoid contact with mortals if at all possible, but then again, none of them knew how to shapeshift. And when I saw you, I felt that you were… different then all the others. You had a certain charm that all the other common pokemon, let alone the human-raised ones, did not.

After that, I began to visit the palace more often, in the guise of a garden-variety pikachu. I watched you. Saw you become the warrior your kingdom needed you to be.

I remember the first time you noticed my presence. You were by yourself, meditating in one of the forest's many groves, as you always did. I was in the bushes nearby, content at just sitting there, watching you almost literally let the grass grow beneath your feet.

Which made it all the more embarrassing when you found me out. Of course, my babbling like an idiot while trying to come up with an excuse didn't exactly help things. When I finally came up with the unimaginative lie that I was just passing through, you didn't believe me for a second. Just my luck, I remember thinking, he has a nice bod and a brain!

I slowly drifted up upward, ascending until I reached the barrier of stone and crystal that blocked the sky. "This should be high enough," I said to myself, peering down at the calm waters beneath my feet.

And then you surprised me. You actually invited me to meditate with you. I accepted, even though meditating wasn't really my thing. I mean, I'm already a demi-goddess; I'd had entire millennia to learn how to concentrate. Not that you knew that, of course.

But still, I couldn't stay still for two seconds back then; and yet, I had no trouble doing so that day, or any of the days after that. Just being with you gave me a strange sensation that I had never experienced before in all of my thousands of years of life. It's hard to explain; I felt calm, at peace, like everything would be right with the world if only you would stay by my side. And, most importantly, I felt… happy.

And that was just the beginning. We began to see more and more of each other in the months that followed. At first, it was the smallest things; meditating with each other every now and then, a conversation here and there. And the more I learned about you, your past, your values, your beliefs, the more I liked you. Though we disagreed on some points, we always maintained a mutual sense of respect. There were no secrets between us. Except for who… what I was.

As time wore on, we became used to each other's company. You had even introduced me to your human, Sir Aaron. You played the part of translator, and I eventually grew to like him, too. He was different than all the other humans. He respected you, trusted you, far more, I think, than you ever suspected. The three of us… we became the best of friends, even if you didn't realize it.

The seasons changed, and as we spent more time together, I slowly started to recognize what that strange feeling you gave me was. The feeling I got whenever you were nearby. The feeling that as long as you were there, with me, that I would never be truly alone. It had finally clicked.

Love. The final piece of the puzzle.

It was then that I decided I would tell you. Tell you what I really was. As I lay there in my bed of leaves, I could hardly wait until the next morning.

I glanced around, surveying the place I had called home for so long, wondering if anyone would miss me.

Sighing, I tilted my head back, gazing up at the green crystal that gave this place life. I had never thought anything of it, but now it felt like its continuous twinkling was mocking me.

I closed my eyes, blocking everything out, the only thing reaching my ears being the sound of my own heart.

I took a deep breath, cleared my mind…

…and I started to fall.

Then the war came. I tried to find you before the battle started, to sift through the chaos to find the one person I had ever loved.

But I couldn't. That blasted fog… with it hanging around, I couldn't see a damn thing. I tried to search longer, but I felt too drained. The Tree of Beginning to which I was bound was in danger of collapsing. I returned to my home, defeated, hoping beyond hope that you would survive.

And then he came. Sir Aaron. He said that he understood that the fates of both me and the Tree were intertwined, and offered the Aura needed to initiate the spell that would stop the fighting. His own Aura. His own life.

I tried to stop him, to tell him who I was, that I could never do that to him, my friend. But I realized that he couldn't understand me. After that, everything went blank. I have no idea what happened after that. When I had regained my senses, I looked back, to see Aaron gone. But I felt his presence, I knew it. This was when I realized that he was inside me!

I couldn't believe what I had just done. I had accepted his Aura, all of it, and offered it to the Tree. I was disgusted with myself. I had practically eaten him! Worse than that, I had eaten his soul!

In tears, I rushed back to the palace. I wanted to find you, to beg for your forgiveness, to tell you I loved you. But you were nowhere to be found. I sensed your presence, but for the life of me I could not find you.

And then, I found the staff. The one Aaron had imprisoned you in before he made his final sacrifice. I tried to communicate with you, tell you I was sorry for what I had done, that all I wanted was to be in your arms and for you to wipe the tears away, for you to tell me it would all be okay.

But you didn't come out. I doubt you even heard me.

I was heartbroken. I convinced myself that it was all a bad dream, and that when I woke up the next morning, everything would be back to normal. I did wake up. I went to the palace, certain that you and Aaron would be training in the courtyard like you did every day. All that greeted me in that courtyard was Sir Aaron's funeral.

Tears were the only thing that marked the passage of the next few weeks. I don't know why I cried so much. I guess I thought that the tears might wash the pain away.

They didn't. Nothing ever did.

The sound of air rushing past me filled my ears as I made my descent. A loud splash rang out as I touched down. Then… silence.

I slowly opened my eyes to see an endless abyss of blue before me. My feet and tail were hanging limply in the water as I sunk deeper and deeper.

I gazed up at the light dancing above the surface, thinking, It just couldn't end quickly for me, could it?

I tried to forget, to drown my memories in childish fun. But every time I slept, I always saw you, your face burned into my eyelids. And the tears started to flow all over again. I'm surprised I didn't die of dehydration, I cried so much.

The brunt of my sorrow passed over time, but I don't think I ever quite escaped my depression. I managed to keep a straight face in front of the other Legendaries, but that was about it.

Then the festivals began. Every year, they held a celebration of Aaron's victory, the one that had saved their precious kingdom. They had completely forgotten about you, the one I cried over every night for the better part of a year. And I hated them for it.

My rage grew still when they began having tournaments to decide who could become the "Aura Guardian" of the year, a title first held by Aaron himself. No one could ever measure up to Aaron; no one could ever replace him. And yet they insisted on 'honoring' him by letting some brat play dress-up! They even let the victor handle his staff, the one that held the one I love captive!

But that wasn't the only reason I detested the whole ritual. They held a contest of strength, not valor, to decide who would become this Aura Guardian. Strength, let alone that of one's pokemon, does not make a hero. Courage, resolve, strength of the spirit… that is what makes a hero. And yet these humans… no, these vermin made heroism seem like a sort of game to be won, another trophy to add to one's shelf! It sickened me.

I vented my fury to Celebi, one of the few Legendaries I felt I could trust. Then he told me something that shook me to the core: you would come back, and it would be on the day of one of these festivals!

My morale lifted instantly. I thanked the time-traveling sprout about a thousand times over, and sped back to my home. The heavens had given me a second chance, a chance to apologize, to confess my love to you.

I went to every festival after that. And I actually celebrated, had fun with everyone there, thinking, This is the year. I know it.

Hundreds of these celebrations came and went, but I never lost hope. I did literally have all the time in the world, after all.

I began to feel a burning sensation in my chest, my lungs begging for air. I let out a gasp at the new sensation, my eyes barely registering the bubbles that carried my last lifeline away.

My arms instinctively started to flail about in a vain attempt to reach the surface. I managed to hold them still, despite the overwhelming urge to hang on to life. My heart beat frantically, the sound of its work pounding in my ears, struggling to sustain itself. Just a few more seconds, that's all I needed. Just one last push…

And then it happened. You came. I sensed your release the moment it happened. My spirits soared.

But I didn't have time to celebrate. A trainer, a human female, found out what I was, and sicked her two weavile on me; to capture me, I guess. She came pretty close, too; thankfully, I had a local pikachu and meowth as backup. Even then, it wasn't enough. I had to run, with them alongside me, back to my home, swearing all the way that I would get revenge on that wench for ruining the day I had looked forward to for centuries.

After returning to the Tree of Beginning with my two new friends, I found that everything had not been a complete waste; now a group of humans thought I had actually kidnapped their precious pokemon, the pikachu and the meowth, and were coming to get them back. While I was mad that the human wretch that had attacked me in the first place was coming with them, I discovered that you were coming too.

To describe myself at that moment as 'overjoyed' would be an understatement. I was practically bouncing off the walls.

That mood disappeared when you first arrived. The three Regis that were the Tree's vanguards were attacking the humans that accompanied you, and yet you kept getting in the way. Why would you risk your life for a bunch of worthless pests? One of the humans you were traveling with had attacked me, and I sensed greed and ambition in the one they considered their leader from the very start.

And yet when the Tree's antibodies absorbed them, I saw… sadness in your eyes. Why were you sad? Were those not humans, the source of the world's problems, the parasites of the land?

But… if I could do anything to make you happy, I would do so gladly. So I released them, against my better judgment.

Then, I began to feel weak. Drained. As I had all those centuries before. I remember the girl who had attacked me saying that the Tree was becoming unstable… but how could that be? The Tree of Beginning was the most powerful thing in the world, the greatest gift of the Creator to his children. How could it be flawed…?

The next thing I knew, we were at the heart of the tree itself. The crystals that made up the chamber, they were… red. Blood red. Why was this happening?

I watched, cradled in the human girl's arms, as you activated that blasted Time Flower. Saw Sir Aaron's last moments. Discovered his fate at last.

I found the strength to fly again, and drifted over to you. I wanted to be out with it, say those three words I had longed to say for what felt like an eternity.

But those were not the words that came out of my mouth. To my own astonishment, I found myself saying that that if you sacrificed your own Aura, your own life, as Aaron had, then the Tree would be saved. The words simply flew out, I had no control over them, and no matter how much I willed myself to, I could not speak anything more. I wanted to warn you about what would happen if you followed my instructions, that you would suffer a fate far worse than death, but the words simply wouldn't form.

I watched in horror as you offered you Aura to me. I felt the slightest sense of reprieve when it turned out that you didn't have enough Aura to complete the transfer. But that kid… that brat just had to play hero! He donned Aaron's gloves and began to add his own Aura into the mix. And so you continued your self-righteous suicide.

This can't be happening, I had thought, this is just a dream, all a dream…

But it was happening. It was real.

As I drifted further into nothingness, I began to feel an overwhelming force enter my mind. My muscles began to work on their own accord, my arms and legs paddling their way upward.

I managed to crack a smile as they began to fail, deprived of oxygen for too long. You're too late, I mocked in my head. You're not going to control me any longer.

Next thing I knew, the crystals were all green again. The Tree, and ultimately the world, had been saved. But my world continued to crumble.

I saw you, lying against to a large cluster of crystals, breathing your last breaths. I wanted to rush to your side, to beg you not to go; but even though I had the energy, my muscles simply refused to cooperate!

As you lay there, dying, you activated another Time Flower. Heard your master's last words. I once more found myself wanting to say that it was all my fault, that I would do anything to get things back to the way they were. And once again, I found myself betrayed by my own body.

I watched you. Saw you become the martyr the world needed you to be. But… you never became the lover I needed you to be…

I heard my heart again. Its beating was far less frantic now. It was now slow, rhythmic, playing the melody of my own funeral dirge.

But that wasn't the only thing I heard. I faintly heard something above me, something that sounded far off… a voice? Calling my name?

But I disregarded it. It didn't matter anyway. In a few moments, nothing would matter anymore.

Lucario… please…

I finally hit the lakebed, the mud and sand billowing around my form. As my vision began to blur, I wistfully thought how beautiful the light looked from down here.

Feeling the numbness that attacked my body begin to worm its way into me, I closed my eyes. I let my head tilt to the side, using the sand as a pillow, allowing the darkness to overtake me.

Take me with you.

I suddenly broke the surface of the lake, sending its inhabitants scattering. With my free hand, I pulled myself onto the shore. I tried to get up, but collapsed. My chest labored for breath as I sputtered out the water that had made its way into my lungs.

After my breathing returned to an acceptable level, I supported myself with two arms, letting package I was carrying roll to the ground: a small pink feline, many times smaller than I. Hovering over her like I was, I couldn't help but take in her features. She was on her side with her eyes closed, making it appear like she was sleeping. And, I noted with relief, her chest was still moving, if only weakly.

As I scrutinized her, a single bead of water dripped from my nose onto her face. I guess that woke her up, as she started to groan, her face contorting in discomfort. One of her paws went to her throat as she started to empty her lungs of the water they had acquired, the unwanted liquid seeping into the ground. Some of it soaked my already damp hand; I would have withdrawn it in disgust, but I was so relieved that she was alright I didn't even notice.

After she finished coughing up the remnants of her little swim, she groaned again as her eyes fluttered open.

"Mew…two…?"

"You were expecting someone else? Prince Charming, perhaps?" I panted with a slight smirk.

She titled her head, averting my gaze. "I didn't expect anyone to come…"

"I just saved your life," I stated, a little irritated. "A little thanks would be nice."

She sat herself up, and I leaned out of her way as she began to levitate again.

"Fine then: Thanks for nothing!" she spat, zooming off in another direction.

I just stood there and gawked for a second before I pursued her.

I spent a good ten minutes searching before I found her. She was lying in a bed of leaves in a basket, her back to me. And if I wasn't mistaken, she was… crying.

I drifted over to her, stopping as my shadow loomed over her bed. "Mew," I started tentatively, reaching my hand out, "are you-?"

"Don't touch me," she hissed, her voice full of venom, just before my hand reached her.

I snapped my hand back, surprised. I had never heard her this angry before. Come to think of it, I had never seen her angry at all. So why…?

"I don't understand," I said quizzically. "What did I do to-?"

"I'll tell you what you did," she interrupted spitefully, looking at me over her shoulder. "You ruined everything!" She shook her head, turning away from me and giving slight sob before saying, "Why couldn't you just let me die…?"

My eyes widened. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I mean, Latias had told me that she was depressed, but I had never suspected…

I flopped down on my rear next to her makeshift crib, still trying to digest the information I had just been given.

I looked over at her, and said, "You mean… you were trying to…?"

She nodded, letting out another sob.

I looked at the ground beneath my feet, trying to figure out how to approach the situation. I had never dealt with anything remotely like this before; how could I possibly talk to someone in her condition out of it?

I sighed, going for the most obvious method. "Want to talk about it?"

She sniffled once and shook her head. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

She sighed, flipped over onto her back, and proceeded to tell me the whole story. Right from where she met Lucario to his death at the heart of the Tree of Beginning.

"…and the worst thing is," she continued, "I never got to tell him how much I loved him."

"Why didn't you?" I responded.

"I told you, my body refused to move."

I shook my head. "I don't understand."

"I didn't either, for a while. But eventually, I figured it out." Her voice trailed off as she tilted her head towards me, her eyes betraying how frightened she was. "This place, the Tree of Beginning… it's alive, Mewtwo."

"Alive?" I asked, my eyes widening. "How is that possible…?"

"I don't know," she admitted, turning her head away from me again. "But it is. It thinks, if only on a basic level. And it only has one goal: self-preservation. To it, nothing other than that matters."

"Even if this is true, how does this connect to your… immobility?" I hesitated. For some reason I could not fathom, it pained me to think about how Mew felt for Lucario. What is wrong with me? I thought. One of my closest friends is suffering, and I'm feeling…jealous? Why would I-?

She once again gazed up at the crystal-laden ceiling and started talking, snapping me out of my thoughts. "When I became the divine being I am today, I was given one single edict: 'Guard the Tree of Beginning. For if it falls, or is captured by those with wicked hearts, all things in both heaven and Earth will succumb to the Eternal Dark, should it ever rise again,'" she said, as if reciting a house rule from memory. "That's what Arceus told me, at least."

"'Eternal Dark'?" I inquired, my curiosity getting the better of me.

Her eyes widened as she snapped, "Nothing! I've said too much!" Seeing my shocked look, she turned back to ceiling again, sighing. "Sorry. It's just, as a Legendary, I'm forbidden from telling mortals anything about The War of Genesis."

I was tempted to say that she had just spilled out even more information, but I held my tongue.

"I will tell you this, though," she continued, "This Tree is not what everyone thinks it is. It may be a catalyst for divine healing spells, but that is not its primary function."

"If this tree isn't a place of healing like all the legends say, then what is it?"

"A weapon."

I turned to ask if she was joking, to find her already looking at me. Our eyes met, and her deep blue eyes peered intently into my own.

"You're serious," I breathed.

"Would I joke about something like this?" she asked, her stare not wavering in the least.

After what seemed like an eternity, I broke eye contact. I brought one hand up to my face, massaging my forehead. "Alright," I started, "this is interesting and everything, but how exactly does this relate to the… incident?"

"It has everything to do with it," she said, turning her gaze upward again. "You know how I said this tree is a weapon? Well, a weapon needs ammo, right? This thing's ammo would be Aura."

"Aura?" I asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"The force that exists in everything. 'Aura' is just one word for it. Aura, Chakra, Mana… all names for the same thing: an energy that is more important to life than water."

"…and the Tree feeds on this?" I mumbled, disbelieving.

"Yes," she nodded. "It slowly saps the Aura from every being in the world, shortening their natural lifespan, if only by a few hours or so."

I looked around the room we were in. Crystals of a greenish hue jutted out of the slabs of gray rock that made up the body of the tree, each radiating their own, soft glow. But now the feeling of wonder was ruined by the thought that that very same glow was powered by the lifeblood of millions. How could anything this beautiful be so harmful…?

In the middle of my reverie, I heard Mew's voice in the background, echoing as if she were far away.

"Usually, the amount of Aura that the Tree takes in is so little that it would not be missed. But when the tree went unstable… it needed a sudden burst of Aura to recover."

"A necessity to which Lucario and the boy obliged," I finished, my voice barely above a whisper.

Mew nodded, getting on her haunches and wrapping her paws around her knees. "The kid lost a good twenty years of his life to this tree. And Lucario… he gave up everything."

"That is why I couldn't move," she continued, "that is why I was unable to tell him how I felt. The Tree needed their Aura to sustain itself. And so, it needed someone to tell them to give their Aura… someone like me."

My head snapped back toward Mew, only to find tears welling up in her eyes again. Her arms were shaking, struggling as she hugged her legs closer to herself.

"Don't you see, Mewtwo?" she sobbed. "My freedom is non-existent. Imaginary. As the guardian of the Tree of Beginning, it is my duty to protect this place… whether I want to or not."

I just stared on helplessly as the tears continued to flow. I couldn't imagine what her life was like, living like she did, knowing that she was only free because the Tree allowed her to. Knowing that at any moment, she could lose control, her will subdued by that of the Tree. Knowing that if the Tree willed it, she would kill anyone and anything, and she could do nothing to stop herself. I wondered idly if this was how a pokemon in captivity felt…

"And the worst thing is," she said, sniffling up some mucus that leaked out of her nose, "It'll never stop. I'm immortal. Immune to both time and disease. I'll be the puppet of this place forever."

She slammed her fist on the side of her bed, making it rock slightly. "It isn't fair! It just isn't fair! When I sought to be a goddess, I was never told that things would be like this! I was never told that my heart would break, and there would be no way to make the pain stop!"

She laid on her side, her back to me, and curled into a ball. I stared for a few seconds, the sound of her weeping thundering in my ears, wondering what I should do.

I slowly approached her, reaching out my hand. I was met with no resistance this time.

I scooped her up into my arms, one hand supporting her head and the other, I realized, blushing, supporting her rear, as if I was cradling a baby. In turn, she wrapped her hands around my torso and buried her head into my chest, to which I let out a small gasp of surprise. I looked down at her, but other than that, I let her be. She just looked so helpless, with her arms hugging part of my chest like a human child would a great oak. Who could've thought I had tried to destroy such a creature all those years ago at New Island…?

I sat myself down next to her bed and closed my eyes, hugging the vulnerable feline close. I occasionally patted her on the back and whispered "It'll be okay," every now and then, but other than that, only the sounds of running water and Mew's weeping were in the air.

After what felt like an eternity, surprisingly a bearable one, the sobs began to slow down. I felt her head shift, and I saw she had one eye looking up at me.

"Mewtwo," she whispered, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For troubling you like this," she said, her one visible eye looking down in shame. "I know you didn't need any of this on your plate. You have your own life. Your own troubles."

"Really, it wasn't any problem at all," I said, slightly embarrassed.

"Well, then… could I ask you for one last favor?"

"Go ahead."

She wrapped her tail around my arm, its tip resting on my shoulder. "Snap my neck. Smother me in your bosom. Do something." She buried her head in my chest again, and I felt her fingers tightening into fists, as if she was in pain, her minute claws lightly scratching my skin. "If I'm going to die, I don't want to die all alone."

I was taken aback. She still wanted to go through with it? And she wanted me to be the one to-?

"Mewtwo…please…" she whimpered, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I'm just tired. Tired of losing everything I love. Tired of the struggle. Tired of watching everything turn to dust. Please… let me sleep. Forever."

What was I to do? I didn't want to have innocent blood on my hands; I already had enough of that. But she sounded like she really wanted this. What should I do…?

I stared out into space for a few moments.

"Mewtwo…?' she whined, looking up at me again.

"…No."

I didn't even have to use my eyes to tell that her entire figure had slumped.

"Mewtwo… why can't you just-?"

"No means no! I am not going to help you throw your life away!" I snapped, turning downward to look at her.

She laid there, seething, giving me the most hateful death glare I had seen in my life. "I knew you wouldn't understand. I mean, how could you?!" she yelled. "You never had anyone from the start!"

She hid her face in my fur again, the tears coming out anew. I turned my head away from her, absorbed in my own thoughts.

"…I have you."

She froze. I slowly turned my head toward her, to find her looking up at me, both of her eyes widened in shock.

I calmly removed the hand that supported the back of her head and placed it on her chest. Her eyes moved down to look the intruding hand, but she didn't resist.

"Your heart is broken, is it?" I asked. "Then why do I still feel a heartbeat?" She averted my gaze, looking out toward the grass that surrounded us.

"Why do you think that is?" I continued, looking intently at her.

She didn't answer.

"I'll tell you why. Because the heart…" I hesitated, lifting my free hand off of Mew's chest and onto my own. "…the heart knows something that we all forget from time to time. Would you know what that is?"

She looked back up at me, gazing idly at the palm that I held to my chest right above her head. But she remained silent.

"It knows that no matter how dark the night, morning always comes," I explained, looking out into space. "That no matter what, you just have to endure until the end. That if you close your eyes forever, there is no night or day. Only nothingness."

I turned to her again, and she looked away. I slipped a finger under her chin, and turned her face to look into mine.

"So just keep going. Endure. Live through this nightmare. If for nothing else… then do it for me. Because without you… my whole world would fall into darkness."

I retracted my hand from under her chin, and she turned her head to the side, a thoughtful look on her face. I turned my head away as well, only out of embarrassment.

I then felt an absence of weight on my lap. So, she left, I thought. I guess I shouldn't be surprised…

"Mewtwo?"

"Yes, Me-?"

I turned around to look at her, only to be looking at her belly. To my further confusion, I felt a small, wet lick on my forehead.

While I was recovering from astonishment, she rotated in the air, now looking me in the eye, only upside-down.

"Thanks," she said appreciatively before she floated back down into my arms.

I looked down at her while she snuggled her back against my arm to get into a comfortable position.

"Are you sure you want to stay in that position?" I asked.

"Sure do," she said, her voice a lot more cheerful now. "Now just let me get comfy…"

With that, she started to squirm again, this time only her lower half. Her body slipped down my arm until her bum was in the palm of my hand, and with all the wiggling that was going on down there, I started to blush madly.

After she stopped her twisting about, a wide grin spread across her muzzle when she saw the large presence of red on my face.

"Something wrong?" she asked coyly.

"You did that on purpose…"

"Did what?" she said innocently, putting a finger up to her lips and pretending to look bewildered.

"…Nothing," I conceded, sighing.

"If you say so," she said, wriggling her hindquarters a few more times before snuggling against my stomach.

The extra movement in my hand caused me to shudder, and I looked down at the pink Legendary in annoyance. She had her eyes closed and her chest was rising rhythmically, giving the appearance that she was asleep. I knew better than that, but I just couldn't bring myself to stay mad at her.

I took my non-violated hand and put it on her belly, tickling her for a few seconds. This earned a couple of giggles from her, but she maintained the sleeping act.

I chuckled and laid down on my side, careful not to disturb the feline I cradled in my arms. After I got myself comfortable on the patch of grass I had made my bed, I pulled Mew up close to me. She moaned and nuzzled the crook of my neck, causing me to smile as I closed my eyes.

As I drifted off to sleep, I heard something echo in my ears. Something that sounded far off. Was it… my heart? Why was it so loud? Every thump was clearer than ever before. Maybe because of the thrill of having a female so close?

No… I could hear something else. Another heart, beating alongside my own. Could it be Mew's? It had to be.

Mew… I may not ever be able to bring Lucario back, or retrieve the part of your heart you lost when he died…

…but it looks like the half you lost was with me the whole time.

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