*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

Lea slowly came to, out of the deep sleep she had been in since the night before. A number on the clock said it was a quarter to eight. It was still early enough for her to catch her first period class. To her it felt as though it was much earlier.

The loud repeating noise woke her from her slumber, induced by her Lucario. She didn't like referring to Jax as "her" Lucario, she didn't own him. He simply lived with her and her family in their home. A life many of his kind would kill for. He was treated as their equal, with his own room and everything. It was almost as if he was her sibling, but after yesterday he was much more than that.

Even after laying in bed for five minutes listening to the shrill electronic noise, Lea still didn't want to rise from her position. Even with the enticing smell of pancakes wafting into her room.

Were her parents already home from their business trip? They always knew that they were her favourite.

With a groan, she rolled over in bed hoping to find Jax beside her but he was gone. It might have been a good thing anyways. Lea knew that she would eventually have to face him. That conversation would probably be the most difficult in her eighteen years. Hopefully the Lucario would have the same value of these sorts of liaisons as humans did and would see that they could still just be friends when all the dust settled. She didn't want to explain how she was in a relationship with a Lucario to her friends.

Her arm fumbled for the alarm on her clock/radio. She clumsily slammed her palm down on the snooze button, to delay the device long enough for her to reset the alarm for the next morning of school.

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

Strangely, the noise didn't stop. It just continued at the same pace as if she didn't do anything at all. She pressed the clock again. The staccato continued. Again, she depressed the button. Nothing happened. Then in a moment of panic, she realized that her clock was set to go off at exactly eight o'clock. Now it was seven fifty-three, an odd time for it to be triggered.

Then even more afraid now, she realized that the noise wasn't coming from her small clock. It was derived from outside her room. It was also much louder. The noise could only mean one thing, and the now off-colour smell of the frying dough that drifted in the air only helped her reach a conclusion faster.

She bolted right out of bed, quickly forgetting how tired she had been, threw on a pair of pants and a t-shirt. She wasted no time in flinging open her door of her room and running out into the hallway. Taking the stairs two at a time while simultaneously adjusting her clothes, she arrived at the source of the fire. The smoke detector in the kitchen was going crazy and her parents weren't even there.

Jax tried in vain to wave the smoke out of the room and through the window. The fire itself was out but the frying pan was still emitting copious amounts of black smoke from its position in the sink. The water had indeed extinguished the blaze, but had in doing so produced more smoke than a fire that size could ever produce.

"Sorry for waking you." Jax said, apologetically to Lea. He wasn't usually up at this time. He usually slept in as he didn't have to get up for school. "I've got it all under control."

"It's okay, I had to get up at some point." replied Lea, groggily. She stumbled into the dining room and took a seat, only to find that the table was already set for two. The smoke hadn't got into there and the fire alarm now only seemed to be quieter. Jax probably had just decided to take the batteries out of the device by now to save both of them of a headache.

"I didn't manage to burn all of them." Announced Jax, jokingly as he brought out a platter piled with steaming pancakes. He quickly put a few on both of their plates and began to eat. By now they were both really hungry.

"So what enticed you to wake up so early this morning?" asked Lea, trying to make conversation between bites.

"Well, I just thought it would be good to make breakfast for you today." Jax responded, dreamily.

"That's nice." Lea said back, trying not to sound too enthralled, she didn't want to get too attached to Jax in this way, as it would only make her having to reject to him harder. She simply said "Thank-you." and continued to eat.

"It's the least I could do for my wonderful mate."

Lea nearly choked on her piece of food. "What?" she blurted out, not thinking.

"Isn't that what human mates do for each other?" Jax asked hopefully, as if he did something wrong.

Lea caught herself. She had to at some point tell him that she could not be his mate, but at the same time she couldn't hurt his feelings. "No, no. It's great, thank you. I'm just overwhelmed with how this all happened. I'm still reeling from becoming mates with you." she said, with irony. She was trying getting him to say how it all happened.

"I can't believe it either, someone as brilliant as you. I am so grateful that you chose me."

"Sorry," started Lea, still unsure as to how this had come about. They had just you know, done it the night before. It wasn't as if she agreed to marry him. She wasn't intoxicated or anything. "Can you fill me in on what exactly I did to become your mate?" she asked as kindly as she could.

"Well," he said sheepishly, not knowing how to put his words into a tasteful sentence. "We kind of you know..." he scratched his head nervously. "We mated and now we are mates. Do you not remember?"

"Yes, yes I remember." she said sighing; now realizing the consequences of the night before. It wasn't like she was warned by him before the fact, or even afterwards. It was supposed to be a one time thing. This wasn't like this had been an accumulation of months of being together. "I'm just tired."

Another alarm went off, this time actually from her alarm clock upstairs, signalling that she had only 15 minutes left to get out the door for school. Lea began shovelling the rest of her meal down rapidly, knowing that she needed to get going, more concerned about getting away from Jax than being late.

"Sorry Jax." she said, taking her last bite of the meal. "I have to really be going now."

"I figured that. I'll save the rest for when you come home."

"Thanks." Lea dashed out of the room, leaving everything behind. She dashed up the stairs to shut off her alarm, and then dashed back down to retrieve her book bag. Jax was waiting for her at the bottom of the flight. "Will he ever give up?" she found herself thinking.

"Oh, I meant to tell you. Your parents will not be back until late tonight. They said the flight was rescheduled and the flight won't land until past midnight, so we will have time to watch that movie together tonight."

Lea acknowledged him with a nod, trying to get out the door as fast as possible. In one hand she scooped up her bag and stepped through the open doorway.

"See ya." she said back to Jax.

"Bye sweetie!" He replied, managing to manoeuvre his head around the edge of the door frame and give her a kiss on the cheek.

Lea waited for the door to shut behind her before burying her face in the palms of her hands. "What the fuck have I gotten myself in to?"

The day flashed by, the walk to school, the classes, talking to people she knew. Everything. It was if her mind was in a different place, separate from her body. She was on autopilot.

Lea could not focus on anything. The whole scenario of her and Jax played over and over again in her head. What was she supposed to do?

How could she go along with him? For sure she loved him, as a friend of course. She couldn't be his mate. He was a Lucario, and she was well... a human. It could never work out.

Besides, she didn't have the time to make up her mind anyways. How was one afternoon enough time to figure out if you wanted to spend your life with someone? Did Jax expect that out of her? He spoke as if she had already made up her mind. Perhaps his kind put more weight on creating those kinds of relationships with people.

It didn't take long to realize how big a mistake she had made when she had asked him out when her date didn't show up, but perhaps that wasn't the problem.

She had gone out with him before in the past. As a middle school student, she had come up with no one to go to her school's dance with. So as a last resort, she asked Jax to go with her. Everyone there didn't let up teasing her because she had actually had to ask a Lucario to the dance. Everyone thought it was the lowest anyone could succumb to, but Lea over the years learned not to listen to what other people thought of her.

As a matter of fact, out of anyone she had ever been with, none of them ever have been so nice to her than Jax.

She could reject him. She had to. What else could she say? "Let's go off and get married?" She was still in high school with plans to go to university the next year. Her parents would say no of course. It wasn't as though they could get legally married anyways. Being in love with anyone of another species, no matter how intelligent was more taboo than anything.

But when did anything like that stop her? Being different was something that Lea usually did. Most people could say she was a non-conformist. She knew from an early age that she could see the larger picture on morality. When most people thought about morality, they usually thought about it in the "because someone tells you to do it." mentality where the only reason why they do well is to obey the law or to appease a deity. Lea always knew why things needed to be done or not.

Most people would think that a relationship between a human and a Lucario would be immoral. Some would think that it would be disgusting. But what really was wrong with it. When two people of equal intelligence who love each other decide to be together, what could be wrong with that? It was the same with same-gender relationships within her own species. When you actually thought about what is immoral and what isn't, you quickly see how people's fears can be trapped and be used to taint other's moral compasses.

Regardless of how she felt, she still couldn't let herself fall in love with him. Regardless of it was immoral or not. She would be caught in a bad place. She was still living with her parents. If they ever found out about them, Jax could be sent packing in shame, a thought that she didn't want to think about. Ever since he had shown up on their doorstep when she was six, he was one of her family.

The eternal argument played over and over in her head. So many variables, so many choices and possibilities. She needed more time to think. One thing she knew for certain was that she couldn't tell her parents anything about this. It was bad enough to them that she was having these types of relationships with males of her own species, never mind with another one.

So with that in mind she made her decision, a hard one. She was going to have to tell Jax that she couldn't be with him, no matter how hard it was or how much she loved him. Staying in her parent's home was the only way she would be able to afford college.

Throughout every class, through lunch hour every waking minute since she left for school she thought about him. It was so hard for her to be able to do this. It consumed her.

She was emboldened in her endeavour when she managed to dump her old "boyfriend" when he made some lame excuse as to why he didn't show the night before. This hadn't had been the first time he had done this, but this time it was his last. She couldn't help thinking about how Jax wouldn't have done something so stupid to her.

By the end of the day, she was searching for any avenue to avoid the talk she had to give to him. She spent the afternoon doing nothing, staying at the school for some student council meeting that went until six, just to evade the walk home. She didn't care about what the cafeteria would be serving the next month. She was thinking more about herself at the time.

She eventually started her trek home at twenty to nine, taking the longest possible route home, even though it had started to rain, the night had begun to set on the town. Long shadows were cast by the sun on the tall buildings that comprised the downtown of Lea's home city. It was hard for her to make out the pathway she was walking down.

She didn't even see the person approaching her from behind.

It was getting dark outside and Lea had still not come home. Usually she would call home if she was going to be late. At first, Jax didn't worry about her; he knew that she was perfectly fine. She was much more knowledgeable at navigating the streets than he was. He rarely ventured outside of their yard on the edge of town.

However after three hours without a sign of her returning, he did become concerned. He began to wait by the front window for the first sign of her return, his only wish to be near to the person whom he loved. He called her, hoping to hear her voice but after hearing the cell phone start to ring upstairs he knew that she had left her phone behind and he had no way to contact with her.

By now over five hours had passed since she was due home and he knew that he couldn't just stand and wait for her. Lea's parents were going to be home soon and if she wasn't found by then, they would certainly flip out. They would blame him for sure. He knew it. They would say that he didn't do anything. But what could he do? If he called the police, they wouldn't take him seriously.

Jax knew where his mate's school was. Perhaps if he went out himself, just to look for her. He trusted her, but now it was getting ridiculous.

He removed a small medallion from its case next to the door. Illegal out of context, its technology was derived from the same technology found in the ubiquitous pokeballs that everyone across the country was very familiar with. Silph put a patent on the technology that prevented the capture of pokemon that had already been contained in one of their other products. They didn't want any 'wild' pokemon getting a hold of it, for obvious reasons.

However everything knows that anything can be found on EBay. Lea's family gave him the device the first year he came to live with them, when he was still a child. Ever since, he wore it like a medal of honour.

Hopefully it would not only bring him protection, but luck as well.

"Our lucky break, finally a ticket out of this dump." whispered a voice.

"Shut up Jules. Sometimes you are way too loud." came a quieter female voice.

The prey they were stalking was walking right into the best place imaginable, right in the centre of the alley between the two tall buildings that flanked the narrow roadway. The graffiti on their walls was almost warning anyone venturing there to stay out.

"Some people... Some people are just so clueless."

Lea turned around, just as they wanted her to do. Their last line said loud enough for her to clearly pick it out through the noise of the city, signalling that there were people behind her.

She froze, realizing what was going on.

"Oh look, we've scared the poor thing." the woman said, through yellow teeth.

"Yes... Yes you have. What the hell are you doing here? What do you want?"

"Oh..." The man replied nonchalant. "The usual, you know everything."

This was supposed to be his last act, one last crime to end his life on the run. He was going to retire, but who was he kidding anyways, there were always going to be more 'incentives' for him to get back into the business.

"Is this a robbery?"

"Wow, you're catching on." the female criminal exclaimed in mock surprise.

"Well, if you want anything from me, you'll have to just come and get it yourself. Just look at yourselves." Lea replied, in the same tone. "You're two old, decrepit old pickpockets. What makes you think that you can take anything from me?"

"Because..." He wheezed. "Sometimes, strength isn't everything." A small smile grew on his face as fast as the one on Lea's was vanishing. A flash of metal and a glint of steel flashed in an instant beside him.

Jax pulled the trench coat tighter around himself, trying to conceal himself and keep the rain out of his fur at the same time. Acting and dressing like a human was his best bet to not be turned into some sort of animal control agency. Luckily no one took notice of him. Everyone was too busy trying to keep themselves dry and out of the rain.

He kept scanning the sidewalk on both sides of the street in hope of seeing Lea, while making his way down the fastest route to the school. He saw no one that even looked the remotest like her. No one could ever be the same as her.

However he did hear something: The shattering of glass and someone yelling. It wasn't the sound he was hoping for or from the person he was searching for. The noise grew louder and more intense as he walked closer, albeit on the other side of the street.

Everyone else there walked on as if nothing was wrong, almost as if no one was in danger. Nobody even checked to see what was happening. Most were too concerned about their mops of hair or their text-messages on their ubiquitous cellular phones. This was the one thing he didn't like about most humans. It was the "It doesn't concern me" outlook on life that so many people in human society had. People didn't care.

Except perhaps Lea and her family. They were kind. They gave him a home and a family when he had neither. Even though he was a Lucario, they still treated him with love and respect unlike the normal pet/owner relationship that most of his species had to endure.

He looked around one last time to see if his thoughts were correct, then without taking one extra minute dashed across the busy street, nearly missing being hit by a convertible. Vaulting off of the vehicle's hood, he landed on the sidewalk, inches away from the mouth of the alleyway where he was headed.

The guy flew back in pain, hitting the dumpster with an audible thud, his knife lying to the side of him, useless. He made the stupid mistake of letting his guard down. It only took on second of him advancing on Lea unarmed to take a boot to the stomach. Years of martial arts training came through in the moment that she would actually need them.

With him taken care of, she looked at his female accomplice who with a look of shock on her face, flipped open her own blade now knowing the full capabilities of her foe. This time she wouldn't believe that it was easy to rob this person. She quickly put that objective on the backburner.

"Ohhh..." the criminal scolded, taking a mocking tone. "You're going to pay for that. No one does stuff like that to us and gets away with it." She brandished her switchblade in one hand as if she was an Aztec priest about to cut open the heart of a sacrifice. Water flowed off of the metal and onto the ground in a steady stream. Her voice became a harsh whisper. "No they do not."

Lea backed up, too scared to speak. This lady meant business and she wasn't just looking to take a few bucks off of her anymore. Now backed up with her counterpart, now dusting himself off they both advanced on her. This was pure coldblooded hatred.

"Hello?" Called a voice, hopefully. "Is something wrong?" He yelled through the downpour.

"Shit." swore Lea's assailant under her breath, glancing over her shoulder at the person standing silhouetted against the neon lights of the street.

"Hello?" He asked again, this time with a little less enthusiasm now seeing the predicament the person was in. He was still too far away to make out any faces among the trio standing next in the centre of the alleyway.

"Get out of here, this doesn't concern you." Sneered the man. He hoped that the person would get the hint about not venturing into another's affairs and stay clear.

"Oh, you will find that it does concern me." replied Jax casually, not understanding the full meaning of what he said.

This was not what the man wanted. Not at all. This guy was going to ruin his life, playing the hero. He knew perfectly well from his life that there were no such things as heroes.

"Listen, if you don't get the hell out of here. I'm gonna..." He shuffled over to where Jax was now standing. He grinded his teeth, looking down at the anthropomorphic fox who wasn't the least bit fazed.

"Going to do what? I see that you have a knife in your pocket. Your hand's on it. Do you plan on using it anytime soon?" he asked coldly, pointing at the bulge in the man's jacket.

"Don't tempt me Lucario." He replied, as coolly as Jax.

"Am I tempting you?" Asked Jax sarcastically, trying to steer the conversation in the direction that he wanted. "Is it that easy for you to want to stick that blade into someone's body? Why shouldn't I just go and take it off of you for trying to do the same thing to that human over there?"

They both looked at each other for a moment in a mutual stare. Each was trying to determine the facial expressions of the other. The rain continued to fall, adding to the tension mounting between the two. The man's accomplice looked onwards to him to see what to do next, how to proceed with Lea. However it would not be him who would take the initiative.

Lea saw her assailant turn away from her for just a moment to take a glance at the other confrontation. The criminal only did so that Lea could not possibly have enough time to do anything substantial. She calculated wrong.

Lea struck out in an instant, much like before but this time with a punch. An uppercut connected with the female thug's chin spraying blood when she connected with bone, instantly making her drop her weapon at her side. She was stunned, temporarily paralyzed in the moment.

If you were to look at the confrontation from afar, like from the man's perspective perhaps you probably couldn't tell who was hit. Through the rain, it was hard to tell the difference between Lea's shocked expression and the showing of one's injury. The second it took for him to decipher it was all it took for Jax to make his move, taking his queue from Lea.

A sucker punch is such an ugly word for such an effective means of subduing someone. If used at precisely the right time, it can end a confrontation before it even begins. In this case, it did. He fell backwards, onto his back knocking the breath out of him.

He tried to speak but couldn't, due to his inability to fill his lungs with air. He didn't show any signs of weakness, even though he was in clearly under the thumb of the Lucario who had the full ability to end his life right then and there. Some people just have no common sense.

But to his credit, Jax simply stood there over him as he caught his breath. He hoped that merely his presence would be enough to scare him off. He wasn't preparing to hurt him any more than he had to.

However some people just have no common sense.

The man brandished his knife in one hand, trying to show some sort of control over the situation, trying to get the upper hand. He couldn't be farther from the truth.

Jax couldn't believe the arrogance of this man. Why didn't he give up? Instead of the obvious he, without any warning wrestled himself to his feet and into the fight once more. Now unable to protect himself from such a weapon, Jax backed up nervously nearing the street. He had never fought anyone like this before. Fortunately, neither did the man he was facing.

He never even looked to see if anyone was behind him.

Unlike most of his counterpart Lucarios, he had no training in the art of war. In every other occasion he was thankful that he never had to step foot into a fighting ring, but in this instance he wished he had some sort of training.

The man could see the fear in his eyes. "What, are you afraid of me? Is it because I am in control of the situation now? I would expect more out of a Lucario."

"And I would expect more out of a human..." Thought Jax to himself, not daring to say the words aloud. This man wasn't going to stop. He had gone past the point any rational person would stop at. There was no point in him continuing to threaten him in this way. He wasn't getting out of this easily. Thankfully, he didn't have to.

The woman mugger had already fled the scene, gone by the time the man had pulled out his knife for the second time. Jax wasn't going to tell the man that, even to try to make him more likely to flee himself. He wasn't going to tell him anything. He was just going to wait and watch. He smiled.

"What are you grinning for?" he sneered, poking his knife at the Lucario's knife as an aggressive gesture.

"Oh you'll see..." Jax replied slyly for he saw what his foe did not.

A bottle collided with the back of the man's head. He didn't have any time to move. For him, the arm came out of literally nowhere.

Shards sprayed everywhere, coating Jax's coat, the ground and especially the man. Blood sprayed out from his gash. The blow was meant only to knock the man out, a move Lea knew from her years of training. The bottle was just added by her for extra effect. This guy did have a thick skull after all. It took a lot to knock him out.

The man collapsed unceremoniously onto the hard, wet pavement below them. Lea dropped the bottle, realizing what she'd done.

"I guess I have to phone for an ambulance. He'll be fine, I think." she said, unsteadily. She didn't look up when she turned to leave the scene, sullen and miserable. It was just one thing after another with her.

"Yeah, probably." He replied, the same way she did.

The girl stopped in her tracks, she was almost too caught up in her thoughts to remember the almost obvious. "Hey, you sound familiar." she said, looking over her shoulder. Jax walked over to where she was on the street.

Jax was the one person she was avoiding all day. At times she never wanted to see him again, but right now...

"Jax?" she asked her voice filling with hope. He simply smiled, returning the enthusiasm in his body language realizing that he had just found his mate, his most loved person in the world.

She pulled him into an embrace, holding him with all of the emotional strength she had left. She forgot for a moment all of the things she thought about him all day. She felt warm inside, perhaps caused by the wonderful feeling of Jax's arms wrapped around her. However it was the late stages of hypothermia from being stuck out in the rain for so long.

How could she really be in love with him? This was messing up her plans, but it really did feel nice to be so near to him. In this moment she didn't care about any consequences of her actions, falling deeper and deeper into him.

Jax meanwhile held on just as tight, pressing his muzzle against the side of her face, touching her cheek. His tail tip swayed gently behind him and his paws slowly massaged her back. "I missed you so much." he whispered, meaning every syllable in his statement.

"Lets go home Jax." she finally said after a few minutes of standing there, out on the street. The man had begun to regain consciousness and they had both decided to get the hell out of there before he managed to retrieve his knife again.

When they returned home, they called for an ambulance to go there just in case, but they were informed that a similar call had already been made. The operator said something about it being an accident or something along those lines.

Lea hung the phone back up on the hook, shaking her head in disbelief. At least they weren't going to go to jail or something. He was probably too scared to mention his part in the fight, the coward.

The blanket she had on helped warm her up, but being next to Jax's warm body helped her cause even more. She was in a state of utter contentment.

However, was she really? The battle in her head raged onwards, the same one that had consumed her day.

She looked down at the resting body of her supposed mate who now had his head resting on her shoulder. The both of them had already filled each other in on what happened during the day, even though Jax didn't ask for an explanation. She just left out what motivated her actions, which Jax didn't ask for.

He was a nice person; kind, understanding and in short what anyone would want to find in a mate, human or otherwise. In the end, she could not think of any reason personally why she had to say the things she had to.

But he wasn't human. Her parents would object. There was a chance that she could be kicked out, Jax as well. This was the only place either of them ever lived. Jax was an orphan, and had no other family that he knew. Besides, if any of her friends got found out that she was in love with him, then well... she wouldn't have a single friend.

"Are you okay?" asked Jax, looking up at her, seeing that a tear had run down her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she replied quietly, not making eye contact.

"You look upset." he acknowledged, softly.

"Well, I am."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"No, its okay. I don't want to talk about it." she said, trying to avoid the subject.

"Not even your mate?" he asked caringly.

Her heart sank. Hearing him say that made up her mind. "Jax, there's something I have to tell you."

"What do you have to say?" he asked nervously.

She slowly got up and stepped over to the ottoman adjacent to the couch, the blanket still covering her. Jax could tell something was wrong from her expression.

"First of all, I just want to say I love you. I love you like a member of my own family and whatever I say won't change that." She sighed. "But I can't continue like this. I have to tell you."

He remained silent, hanging on her every word. She on the other hand couldn't bear to look him in the eye.

"I know this will be hard on you." she continued, stuttering. "I never agreed to be your mate." she managed to say, her words sounded like one being blurred together.

"But you did, last night. Don't you remember?" Jax replied, halfway between misunderstanding and not believing what she just said.

"Yes, yes. I remember." she said back quickly, somewhat embarrassed as to what conspired between the two of them. "But I don't recall ever telling you that I did, like openly tell you that. I don't understand what you mean why you assume that I did."

The expression on her face told Jax that she wasn't lying. "You do know how Lucarios mate do you?"

"Yeah, obviously." she replied, not able to suppress a laugh. It took him a moment before he realized the double meaning of his words.

"What I meant to say." he continued, blushing a deep red beneath his blue fur. "Was that when Lucarios mate, they mate for life. For instance if I were to have sex with you, it would be the equivalent of your ceremony of marriage. What do you call it?"

"A wedding?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

"Yes, something like that."

"The only problem with that is that normally people know what they're getting into when they get married. I didn't get any warning from you beforehand that you wanted to marry me. I wasn't aware that mating with you equalled lifelong commitment."

"I just thought that..." he stumbled in his words. "When you said that you loved me, when you said that you wanted to mate with me, I thought that you wanted to be with me. I loved you just as much. I still do." He looked up to see her face once again and started to cry returning into his hands. "I didn't mean to trick you into anything. I'm sorry."

This was what she wanted to say all evening. Everything would go back to normal. Wouldn't it? Somehow that seemed unlikely. She knew that she loved him. Distancing herself from Jax at this point would only be to appease her friends and parents.

"Jax, this doesn't mean that I don't love you. You're a great guy. It's just that I had no idea, and I think neither did you."

"But do you still love me like a mate, even though we got off on the wrong foot?" he asked, defeated.

This was precisely what she didn't want him to ask, for it would put her on the spot. She would have to choose between him and the alternative. Between criticism and the person she did indeed love.

"I don't want to pressure you. I will still love you as a sister if you don't choose me. It would be unfair for you to be a reluctant mate." he did his best to give his best reassuring smile. "I don't want to force you to do anything."

Lea had already gone through the possible answers to this question all throughout the day and to be honest she was fed up. When did she ever go with the flow anyways? When in any other situation did she ever give into the pressures other people set on her?

"To be honest Jax, this morning when I woke up I didn't know what to tell you. I could have told you that I couldn't be with you, but I didn't. I could have flat out rejected you but I didn't. Partially because I didn't have time to say anything but regardless I didn't really want to." She explained, trying to give the most detailed answer possible.

"I avoided you. I didn't because I hated you or didn't want to talk to you. I avoided having to tell you that I couldn't be with you. That I was too afraid of what people would say. But I kept finding myself think of how much more important you are to me than everybody else. Like who else other than my parents would ever think of waiting six hours staring out of a window waiting for me, then go and confront two armed people to find me."

"Well you did most of the fighting there anyways." he reminded.

"I guess so, but you were a good distraction though." she responded, to a chuckle from him. "It was the thought that counts anyways. No one else would think of doing such a thing. I still can't imagine being with anyone else other than you. All these years, I never thought I would want to be your mate, but now I do. I love you Jax! Damn the consequences."

"I love you too?" Jax replied, unsteadily. Lea just smiled and pulled him into a hug.

"As do I. Just remember to tell me about these Lucario things okay? Just so I am prepared." she suggested, holding him closer.

"Sure thing." he replied, removing his muzzle from her shoulder. "I apologize again for all of this, putting you through so much. I didn't mean to. I love you but I wouldn't want to force you into loving me back."

"...and you don't have to." Lea added, giving him a kiss directly on the front of his muzzle. "You never will." she promised as she drew him in again, guiding his head into another kiss with her hand. They both closed their eyes as their muzzles met, wanting to feel nothing more than their lips touching, caressing each other.

This was bliss, happiness. Love unbound by stereotypes, by the pressures of society, by everything. It was as though they were weightless, invincible, as though everything moved around them.

Lea manoeuvred her tongue within her mate's mouth, slowly. First moving it back and forth over his teeth, then when he opened his mouth the slightest bit, she seized the opportunity to slip it in. This was the first time she had ever done this, or ever wanted to.

Jax felt something enter his mouth. It shocked him and his eyes shot open. His own tongue retreated in his mouth to the opening of his throat as hers explored his maw. The feeling was wonderful, almost as good as mating was. It was so intimate. Soon he found himself closing his eyes and joining Lea, raking his rough one over hers.

However everything has to come to an end. Gasping for air, they eventually parted mouths.

"That felt wonderful, whatever you did. How did you learn to do that?" asked Jax, incredulously.

"Actually it was a spur of the moment type thing." She blushed, showing a huge grin. She took his hand in hers and continued. "And I'd love to do it again, but my parents are going to be home soon and I don't know what they'd say if they found us making out on the couch."

"Yeah, what time is it?" he asked himself, looking at his watch.

11:26

"Jeez, they're going to be home any minute. If they find us up now, they'll kill us." he explained, looking up from wrist.

"Me especially, there's an exam tomorrow. I better get to bed." she responded, getting up from the couch. "I still have so much to do. I have to get all of those papers together..." she trailed off as she raced up the stairs.

"Yeah, me too." agreed Jax, getting up as well, shutting the curtains. He now saw how the

Lea raced around for a few minutes, gathering all of the needed supplies for her midterm. Meanwhile Jax turned off all of the lights on the main floor to maintain the illusion that they were indeed asleep when her parents came home.

What it ended up for both of them was an evening's worth of chores and work being done within seven or so minutes.

By the time he had finished, both of them weren't as tired as they were scared that they missed anything.

"Did you remember to clean up the kitchen?" asked Lea, spitting her toothpaste into the sink.

Both of them were in the upstairs bathroom, in night attire. It was a little ritual they had going since they were children. They always waited for each other to brush their teeth so they could talk.

"I believe so." Jax replied, brushing his teeth as well, right next to her. "Did you remember your textbook you have to give back?"

"Yeah." she managed to say with a mouthful of brush.

"By the way good luck tomorrow on your exam." he added, finishing.

"Thanks sweetie." she replied endearingly. "Have fun staying at home and slacking off all day."

"I'll try, but I'll probably just be waiting for you to come home again."

"Well, I get half the day off so you won't have to wait long." she replied, smiling.

"Hey, then we could watch that movie together. You're parents will be out!" he exclaimed.

"Sounds like a plan then." she kissed him on the cheek "Goodnight Jax, sleep well." she said, before leaving.

"Goodnight Lea." he replied warmly. "Hey Lea?" he asked, as she exited.

She stopped. "Yes?"

"Um..." he started. "I don't want to embarrass myself, but is it okay if I could possibly... sleep next to you? Like a mate would?"

"Sure, as long as we don't get caught. Again, I don't want to explain this to my parents."

"Don't worry, we can lock both doors. They won't expect a thing."

"Man, I am so lucky!" thought Lea to himself. There she was, having found a mate, a husband or whatever you wanted to call Jax. One person that cared for her. He would go to the ends of the earth for her.

Jax was having similar thoughts as he lay on his back next to her curling up against her flank. Her arm rubbed him slowly.

They were both wide awake, stimulated by the day's events.

"Are you still awake?" asked Lea softly, not wanting to wake him if he wasn't.

"Yeah, I can't sleep if my life depended upon it." he replied, sighing.

"It wasn't so hard to fall asleep last night. Maybe I'm just nervous."

" We didn't have a problem falling asleep last night because we collapsed from exhaustion. As for today, I wouldn't be nervous. I'm sure you'll do fine."

Lea looked at him oddly. "Yeah, I guess so." she said dreamily, playing with the white fur on his chest. "I have a question, do you think we should repeat last night some time. Its just now that I know what the deal is with becoming someone's mate."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." he agreed, then it hit him. "By any chance are you implying anything?" he asked in fake surprise.

"Perhaps." she replied cheekily, kissing him dead centre on the lips.

"You realize this time it will make us officially mates." he pointed out.

"I know, and I want to be your mate."

"Are you sure?" he asked nervously

"I've never been surer about anything else in my life." she replied, adding to his confidence.

"Then let's dance."

Lea chuckled and reached out and pulled him into a lustful, passionate kiss. One that someone would give to their only and true love. The one person you would share your inner most secrets, your soul with, your mind and your body with as long as they would do the same to you.

This time Jax willingly surrendered his mouth to Leas tongue, as he was still unsure of how to perform the technique himself. Lea just took the lead and held him close.

There had to be something more to this than simple instinct, something spiritual. Not in religious sense mind you, for any major religion would have not approved of their union. They wouldn't understand the meaning behind their relationship and neither would anyone else. It would be impossible to describe.

A pile of clothes lay beside them, as a reminder of the layers of society they left behind when they became mates, all washed away as if washed off by a warm shower.

Jax slowly kissed the underside of Lea's neck, slowly working downward on her body. He gave every part of her special attention. He wanted to make her feel like she was the centre of the universe. To him she was.

When he got to her breasts, he took one of them into his mouth. His tongue lightly flicked her large areolas, enticing a long moan from his mate.

He looked up at her with a smile knowing how much pleasure he was causing her. Hopefully this would be dim in comparison as to what they would possibly do next.

With one final lick of his rough barbed tongue, he move his attention again, slowly rubbing her sides as he slowly kissed her stomach. His nose was only a few centimetres away from her dripping wet slit, but he contained himself. He wanted to savour the moment, be romantic, not just consumed by lust.

But, he did remind himself that they were indeed making love and no matter how long he drew it out, it would still end up at the same conclusion.

So he lowered his jaw downwards to directly above her labia. The scent beckoned every known instinct that he had. But just before he could lower his drooling tongue down to her womanhood...

A door clicked and a lock turned. So frightened by the event, Jax nearly fell out of bed. He jumped up, startled ending up beside Lea who attempted to hide him under the covers.

However, it was not her door that opened.

Her dad's voice echoed throughout the house. "We're home! Lea? Jax?" could be heard in every room of the house.

His voice was met by Lea's mother who in a quieter voice reminded him "not to be such an idiot." and to not wake up their daughter on the eve of her exam.

The two lovers breathed a sigh of relief, and reminded themselves to be quiet as to not arouse suspicion from her parents.

"Perhaps we should pick this up tomorrow and not push our luck." whispered Jax.

Lea's eyes grew wide. "No way! You've got me way too worked up for that. I'll never sleep thanks to you. Lets just finish this now, before my parents come upstairs."

Jax exhaled, still shaken. He retook his position again, but this time directly above her, with his head directly above hers. His stiff member poked for entrance into her sopping wet slit.

"Are you sure you want this." he asked nervously again.

"I'm very sure." she replied, hurriedly. "I trust you."

Jax was emboldened by her words but was still very nervous about continuing.

He slowly rubbed his length along her labia, making her slowly release more of her ejaculate to lubricate their sex. He looked up for further confirmation of proceeding. Lea didn't say anything more than she showed it. She had closed her eyes and was in what looked to be in pure bliss.

Not wanting to disappoint, he made the split second decision and plunged in.

The sensation was unrelenting. It was like being in heaven. Lea arched her back in ecstasy, her jaw parted, her eyes flying open, only to see Jax's staring right back at her.

They managed to work up a steady rhythm, making equal thrusts back on to each other, not daring to make any moment too intense as to move the bed and cause noise.

Her internal walls milked him and caressed his cock, each time making him closer and closer to the edge, but each time he fought it. He tried desperately to hold on and wait it out to finish with his beloved.

Lea could feel it too, feeling fuller than she had ever been. Even more so than the last time she was with the Lucario. This time it was different, it had meaning. It felt much more fulfilling, better.

"Lea, I'm not sure I can hold out much longer." he grunted, trying to sound as quiet as possible, but he was finding it quite difficult.

"Me too..." she managed to squeeze in between thrusts.

He tried, but he couldn't.

He cried out, but a kiss from Lea silenced him well. Her inner muscles clenched on his member and he could not hold back the wave after wave of hot semen that sprayed out from his tip. He thrust in one last time as the powerful orgasm overtook him.

Cum gushed out, flowing into her fertile womb, running out of the sides of his cock and practically flowing out of her and onto the bed. The hot viscous liquid pouring out.

He collapsed at her side, utterly spent, his flaccid member easily pulling out of her. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into her so that he would not fall on his face from exhaustion.

Spent herself, she didn't have much energy for any more conversation. However, she did manage to whisper a few lines in his ear before passing out herself.

"I love you."

Woah, I can't believe it's been a year and a half since I wrote this. If you were on my AGNPH site, you would have probably read this by now, but since AGNPH has been through two site restructurings in the past six months, I thought it might be best to have it backed up here as well.

It's not my best work to date, but I am still glad I got around to writing it. Personally, I find it nearly impossible to write lemons, but I am going to try to do better the next time I do some smut. Speaking of which, I have two projects in the works, one M/M Feraligatr and one M/F Furret. I'm about 5k into the first one, so watch for it!

Until next time...