"PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME!" she desperately called.
Her cries went seeming unnoticed as the only sound that returned was the same as she had been hearing for who knows how long, the infuriated cries of angry Pokemon. She continued crying out.
"ASH, PIKACHU, WHERE ARE YOU GUYS!" she cried.
Her calls still went unanswered as neither of them responded. Tears began to fly from her eyes, knowing that she was probably done for. Suddenly, just as she was ready to give up hope, a small light caught her eye. She wasted no time and made her way toward the opening, not even concered with that she had no idea where it lead.
As Dawn made it through the opening in the trees, she found that she had simply found a more open section of the forest. She paused for a split second, her disbelief causing her to stomp in frustration.
"Are you serious!" she shouted in frustration.
She then realized that this was no time be angry, the horde was closing in, and she was no closer to loosing them than before. She quickly took of running yet again, her tears returning to her. After running for what seemed like hour, she was surprised that she could still keep going, but it was all for not as she came to a dead end.
"No..." she whimpered.
She fell to knees, there was no way out now. As she began to cry, the brush in front of her to rustle. She looked up, hoping in the back of her mind that perhaps it was one of her friends. Unfortunately, she just couldn't seem to catch a break this night. A massive Ursaring rose up from the foliage, its eyes, filled with rage, locked on her. Dawn froze, overtaken by a sense of fear like she had never felt before. She then reached for her Pokeballs, only to find that they were gone. She had no way to defend herself, and she couldn't run anymore, she just couldn't. All she could do was sit their as the bear Pokemon approached. She looked up to meet Ursaring's eyes, knowing full well that she was at its mercy. Mercy, however, was one thing that was not on the bloodthirsty Pokemon's mind as it raised its arm high, its claws glowing brightly.
"That's Slash..." Dawn gasped in horror, now realizing what was about to happen.
Just as Ursaring was about to bring its paw down, its was stopped dead in its tracks, struck be a powerful lightning bolt. Seemingly from out of nowhere, Pikachu burst onto the scene, placing itself in between Dawn and the now subdued Pokemon. Dawn's face lit up in a combination of excitement and relief at the sight of her friend.
"PIKACHU!" she exclaimed.
Pikachu wasted no time and fired off another blast of its Thunderbolt, scoring another direct hit on Ursaring. Electricity began to constantly dance around the bear Pokemon's body, a sign that it had been paralyzed.
"Ah, you did it!" Dawn cried.
At first, it seemed that Pikachu indeed seemed to have placed Ursaring down for the count. Suddenly, Ursaring stood back up, roaring loudly as the sparks around its body dissipated. Its Guts ability had been activated. Dawn and Pikachu looked on in shock as the enraged Pokemon brought its arm up once again, its entire arm now glowing.
"WATCH OUT!" Dawn screamed.
Ursaring brought its Hammer Arm attack down, scoring a direct hit on Pikachu and causing Dawn to tumble backwards. When came she to a halt, she quickly looked back, praying that Pikachu was okay. Her prayers weren't answered, as Ursaring removed its arm from its opponent, revealing a beaten and broken Pikachu, flat on its stomach, spirals in its eyes.
"No, Pikachu!" Dawn cried.
Content with its victory, Ursaring made its way over to Dawn to finish what it had started. Dawn made no attempt to try and get away, she knew full well there was no point. Suddenly, her entire life leading up to this moment began to flash before her eyes. All of her friends, all of her achievements, all of her mistakes, everything came rushing back to her. After what seemed like a few minutes, one person's face made itself know above all the others. If she had any regrets, it was not telling him... the one she loved most in this world how she felt. Suddenly, a realization came over her: if Pikachu was here, that meant...
As Ursaring readied to end it all, its claws shinning as before, the brush beside it and Dawn began to rustle furiously. Dawn and Pokemon both looked over to see what or who would make themselves known this time. As if Dawn's prayers had finally been answered, Ash emerged from the shrubbery, his face beading with sweat, as if he too had been running.
"Dawn!" he called, realizing the situation she was in.
"No Ash, run!" Dawn cried, getting to her.
The enraged Ursaring paid Ash no mind and turned back to Dawn, determined to make the one awakened its ire pay. Dawn screamed, bringing her arms up and closing her eyes. Ash shot from the bushes to them, placing himself between the two of them like Pikachu had before. What was heard next was too sickening to describe.
Dawn opened her eyes to see Ash get struck by Ursaring's Slash attack, blood spattering on the ground where he stood. Dawn watched in shear terror as Ash began to fall, blood continuing to stream from his chest where he had been struck.
"ASH!" she screamed as she immediately kneeling down, taking him in her arms.
The sight of his wound was almost too much. His jacket and shirt were completely gone, as well as a good portion of his chest itself. Ash tried his best to look up at her, his eyes becoming foggy. Dawn brought him closer, desperately trying to think of a way to save him. The rest of the world broke away; there was no Ursaring, no horde of angry Pokemon, just Dawn and Ash.
"Stay with me Ash," Dawn pleaded, tears streaming down her face, "please, don't leave me!"
"D...Dawn..." Ash squeaked weakly, shakily bringing a hand to her cheek, "r-run..."
And with that, Ash's eyes closed, his arm along with rest of his body went limp. He was gone. Dawn felt sick to her stomach. Her world was shattering right before her very eyes. She desperately shook Ash, trying hopelessly to bring him back, screaming.
"NO, ASH! ASH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"
Dawn awoke in a cold sweat, short of breath. She looked around franticly, trying to come to senses. She was back in her tent, with Piplup sleeping soundly next to her. She quickly looked at her Poketch, it was a little after 2 a.m., rough 4 hours after she had gone to sleep. She breathed a bit easier, her senses returning to her.
"It was... just a dream?" she said quietly.
Suddenly, the images of Ash dying in her arms returned to her, as horrible and heartbreaking as before. She burst into tears, crying as softly as she could to herself. Even though the event had simply happened in a dream, the very thought of loosing him was something she could not handle. After crying for nearly a minute, she decided prove to herself that it really was just a dream; she had to see him, just to see that he was indeed okay.
Dawn slowly slipped out of her sleeping bag, not wanting to wake Piplup. She quietly unzipped the flap door of her tent a stepped out into the night. The campsite was just she had last seen it before turning in, the campfire was even still burning, though faintly. She quietly but briskly made her way over to where Ash and Brock were sleeping, being careful not wake them. The night air was cool, though the fire was able to keep her warm enough.
She knelt down beside Ash, the sight of him sleeping soundly did very well put her a little more at ease. Though Ash sometimes had a tendency to sprawl in his sleep (which was one of many things he had in common with her) and awake up in some quite funny positions, seeing him sleeping peacefully, with Pikachu by his side, was always an adorable sight for her.
"Thank goodness..." Dawn whimpered.
As she watched him sleep, her mind was again assaulted by the events of her nightmare, causing her tears to return again. She quickly wiped her face and took a deep breath, mentally reminding herself that Ash was right in front of her and that he would never let her watch him suffer like that. Just then, she thought of a way to prove to herself that he was still there with her. Her idea caused her to blush, but she knew that it would help her rid herself of the visions. She wiped her face again and slowly began to lean toward him. She ever so gently kissed Ash on the forehead, being very careful not to wake him. The feeling of touching him with her lips caused an explosion of happiness to erupt inside her. She pulled away from him, but not before her desires caused her to lean in and lightly kiss him again. After kissing him a second time, she felt content enough to stop herself, and she sat back up. As she pulled away from him, however, a rogue tear fell from her face. She noticed the drop of water and let out a small, surprised gasp. Her tear fell onto Ash, splashing on his cheek. He began to sturr and sleepily opened his eyes, looking around slowly. His gaze then fell on Dawn, who still looked very much in distress.
"Dawn..." he said groggily, "are you alright?"
Dawn's blush returned to her, thinking that he might have noticed what she had just done. She quickly wiped any remaining residue from her face as Ash sat up, turning to her.
"What's wrong?" Ash asked.
Dawn simply shook her head.
"Oh, nothing Ash, I just... couldn't sleep." Dawn whispered with a false smile.
"Yeah?" Ash responded a bit doubtfully.
"Yeah... so... I'm sorry if I woke you up."
"Dawn, have you been crying?" Ash then asked, noticing her glimmering cheeks.
His accusation caught her off guard, causing her to blush once again. She quickly brought her hands to her face, trying to hide both her blush and her tears, turning from him.
"What? No, no, I just..."
She was stopped when she fell Ash's hand come to rest gently on her shoulder. She turned back to him, seeing an obviously concerned look in his eyes.
"Dawn, you can talk to me if something's bothering you, especially if its bad enough to make you cry." he said softly.
Dawn stared into his eyes, those deep chocolate brown eyes that she loved so much. She knew that Ash could read her like a book, and even though he had caught her crying a few times before, she would always fast talk him so he wouldn't worry. But now was different, now she felt that he deserved to know. Besides that, talking to someone, especially him, would help her further take her mind off if it.
"Actually... I did kinda have a bad dream..." she whispered.
"Really bad?" Ash asked.
Dawn nodded.
"Tell me about it." he requested softly.
"Well..." Dawn paused as she began to shiver, the cool night air beginning to get to her.
"Come on, lets sit by the fire." Ash said, getting out of his sleeping bag.
The two of them sat close to the fire. Though it wasn't as big as before they went to sleep, it was still alive enough to provide them with enough warmth to keep them comfortable. Dawn stared at the weak flame while Ash kept his eyes on her. Dawn remained quiet for nearly a minute.
"If you don't wanna talk, its okay." Ash reassured her.
"No..." Dawn squeaked, shaking her head, "I wanna tell you, I just... don't know how to start..."
"Little by little usually works!" Ash joked quietly.
"Right!" Dawn softly giggled.
She knew that she didn't need to be nervous around him, as he was always eager to help her. What she was nervous about was how to word things right. She thought for a few more seconds before coming up with a solution.
"Ash..." she began, "do you remember when we fell from the tower in Alamos Town?"
"Huh, oh yeah," Ash remembered, "that was intense, I though we were done for."
"Well..."
"Yeah?"
"What was going through your head when we started to fall?" she asked sheepishly, "I mean, before our Pokemon caught us."
"Uh..." Ash stuttered with a small blush, "actually, I was just hopin' that you'd be okay."
Surprisingly, Dawn wasn't at all too surprised at his response. When things started getting tough, Ash was one of the most selfless people she knew. Unfortunately, in this case, that was the problem.
"So, despite what could have happened to you, you were only worried about me?" she asked.
"Huh?" Ash responded, taken back by her reaction.
"You didn't care about what happened to yourself, even though we could have... we could have..." Dawn struggled to get the word out.
"Dawn..."
"You could have... d... died." Dawn strained out, nearly braking down into tears again.
"What does that have to do with your dream?" Ash asked softly.
"In my dream... you died trying to protect me..." Dawn whimpered.
Ash didn't know what to say. Dawn had really dreamed of him... dying? He was at a loss for words, but was really causing his confusion was why she was so broken up over it. It was just a dream, so why did it hurt her so bad?
"And that was bad enough to make you cry?" he questioned.
"OF COURSE!" Dawn boomed, before getting a hold of herself, not wanting to wake anyone.
"Well, why, it was just a dream Dawn." Ash said reassuringly.
"That's not the point!" Dawn sobbed, bringing her face closer to his, "Ash, if you ever died, I don't know what I would do."
Ash stayed quiet, his eyes fixated on hers.
"If you died because of me, I'd never be able to forgive myself. I don't want you to think that you have to put yourself in dangerous positions for me. I want you stay with me... I... want..."
She couldn't hold back any longer. She fell forward, crying into Ash's chest, wanting to be as close to him as possible. Ash was put off by her sudden meltdown, but soon began to understand allowed her to cry. He wrapped his arms around her, embracing her tightly as she continued to weep into his chest. Dawn continued to cry for nearly 5 minutes before she began to settle down. Ash finally spoke.
"Don't worry Dawn," he said softly, "I'm not dyin' anytime soon."
"I know Ash," she sobbed, "but..."
"No buts," Ash chimed, bringing her away from his chest to look at him, "besides, I still haven't fulfilled my dream of becoming a Pokemon master, I can't die without doin' that!"
Dawn simply stared at him. No matter how down she felt, the sight of his smiling face always made her fell better. She wiped her tears.
"But you have your dream too, to become a great Pokemon Coordinator like your mom, right? I don't want YOU dyin' on ME until you reach that, deal?" Ash grinned.
"No need to worry!" Dawn said softly, beginning to catch some of his cheerfulness.
"Okay, you feel better?" he then asked.
"Yeah, thank you Ash." she said sweetly with a nod.
"Good, now lets get back to sleep." Ash yawned.
Dawn nodded as the two of them got up and began to return to their sleeping quarters. Before Dawn could enter her tent, however, she suddenly felt she had to say more. Though she felt much better, she could help but feel that that risk would always be there.
"Ash..." she said quietly.
Ash was about to enter his sleeping bag when he heard her call, and looked up to face her.
"Don't ever think... you need to risk your life for me, okay." Dawn cooed.
Their was a silence, and just as Dawn was about to enter her tent, Ash responded with a rather oblivious question.
"Why not?"
Dawn turned to see him smiling.
"Your one of my closest friends Dawn. If you ask me, I'd say you're more than worth protectin'" he grinned.
Dawn blushed. She could hardly believe what she had just heard. While she knew that Ash did see her as a good friend, she never would have guessed that he would have though THAT highly of her. She began to think that perhaps Ash thought of her that same way she secretly thought of him. As the thoughts danced around in her head, a beautiful smile grew on her face, complementing her blush. She walked over to him and looked him lovingly in the eyes as he continued to grin. She then leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, taking him completely by surprise. She pulled back before he could even consider kissing her back.
"Good night Ash." she said sweetly.
Ash stood frozen, blushing heavily for a second, before giving her a warm smile, seeming to not mind her advance one little bit.
"See ya in the morning Dawn." he said wamly.
Dawn couldn't help herself and gave him another quick kiss. This time, however, Ash was able to kiss her back. The stared into each others eyes for another second before returning to there sleeping quarters.
They both knew that they would sleep soundly that night.
The End