Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or the song 'Last Time' by Secondhand Serenade.

Chapter 9 – Last Time

Dawn found herself back at the orphanage for more and more frequently after Leaf first showed her the place. It was only for an hour or so at a time, but she could tell the children loved her. And the paid staff needed all the help they could get.

Occasionally, she ran into Leaf, and her friend, Ash. Dawn had known him by sight only before this meeting. She was thrilled to finally have met Misty's boyfriend. They would discuss all kinds of things, although Leaf and Misty commonly appeared in these conversations.

When all three of them were there, it was wildfire. Dawn and Ash were the most popular amongst the children, and would constantly tell funny stories or play games. Leaf would not tell any stories, or participate in the games, but she made sure that no one was left out.

When the weather was fine, the children would be allowed to visit the park and play there, on the playground or with Frisbees or balls.

"Leaf!"

Leaf jumped and dropped to the ground, hearing the whistle of a Frisbee as it flew passed where her head had just been.

"Sorry, Leaf," Ash said, holding a small girl, about four years of age, in his arms. "I was teaching Lexis how to throw. Her aim's not too good." He grinned easily, and Leaf returned it.

"No worries."

Despite her not caring for children, Leaf enjoyed these days. They were such a pleasant distraction from her everyday life. She had even considered that maybe she liked going to the orphanage now. The children and herself were there for unfortunate circumstances, which was sad, but they did not have to know that.

It was strange, but since she had said goodbye to Gary, she had felt a weight lift off her shoulders. She did miss him, more than anything, but she did not have to worry anymore.

Leaf was distracted from her musings when she noticed Dawn and Ash were gathering the children together to return to the orphanage. She helped them, returned the children, and said goodbye.

Left to her own devices, Leaf remembered one of her many conversations with Dawn. It had been two days after Misty left, and they had been sitting in Leaf's apartment, just finished lunch.

"Let's talk about Gary," Dawn had said.

"There's nothing to talk about anymore," Leaf replied.

"Nonsense. There's always something. And it's been bugging me. I have a theory."

Leaf took Dawn's plate from her, and went to the kitchen to wash up.

"A theory about what? I don't have to say anything, do I?"

Dawn leaned on the counter. "You don't have to say anything. Even if you think you're over Gary, and he thinks he's over you, you're really not. And there's only one thing preventing you two from getting back together."

Leaf rolled her eyes. "I don't want to get back together with him, Dawn."

"Sure you do," Dawn said, unfazed. "And when you realise that, you'll also realise the only reason you're not together yet is because you never admitted to him why you cheated."

"We discussed this. He was home late and I was worried." Leaf's voice was thin. She was gripping the counter now, so hard that her knuckles were turning white.

Despite noticing this, Dawn continued, "You would have to have been worrying a lot more to cheat on him in a single night."

"What do you want me to say, Dawn?" Leaf asked, struggling to keep her voice down. "What do you want? For me to say that I was scared every time he went to work that someone would hit on me and he would flirt back? For me to say that I worried everyday he was going to leave me? For me to say that I was worried I was going to do something so stupid to end it all?" She was yelling now, voice shaking, tears in her eyes.

Dawn watched on calmly. She had crossed a line. She was prone to doing that, but this was important. For her, it was a line that needed to be crossed.

"Now I've done that! I cheated on him. It's over…" Leaf's voice descended into sobs.

Dawn reached out over the counter and hugged the brunette.

"Leaf, if you thought like that, you must have known it was going to fall apart at some point. There was no point in prolonging it. Now you can just move on from it. Start afresh. I think, that if you told Gary what you just told me, and you were meant to be, you could start it all again. He just needs to know."

Leaf mumbled through her tears. Dawn had to strain her ears to hear the barely audible words.

"If I tell Gary, you need to tell Paul. There's more hope for you two than there is for me. Promise me, Dawn, you'll tell Paul. Then you two can work it out."

Pokémon

Misty had first arrived in Jubilife to a buzzing from her phone of messages. Ash had sent her one, obviously, but what surprised her was that Dawn had sent her one as well. That was sweet of her. Another was from Drew, and the final one from May.

She had not remembered May when she saw her in the park. The woman had changed so much from the thin, frail girl Misty had first met at the bar.

Misty wondered why May cared so much about Drew. Maybe they had some kind of history. She shrugged to herself. That was not her problem.

Her mission was to find Drew's family.

As of yet, she had no idea how she was going to do this. But there had to be a way. People banded together when there was some form of devastation – with a war, people would have clumped together in bomb shelters or houses, fearing for their lives. People also became more talkative when they were afraid.

Two days later, and Misty was no closer to finding any answers, despite all her efforts. She had travelled around the city, working harder than any of the other people in the Rescue Service. Every person she talked to she asked questions, but so far, there had been no such luck.

Three days later, and word had spread about Misty's quest. The Rescue Service was now helping her. They could cover more ground, confront more people. But there was a fine line when asking questions – this city had just been through war – they had to be respectful and comforting to the people they were rescuing.

Five days later, an important event occurred.

Pokémon

"I just don't understand why he won't talk to me."

"Well, by the sounds of it, you can't speak without fighting. Would you want to talk to you if that was what happened every time?"

May glared at Gary. They were taking a leisurely walk through Snowpoint City. Gary had the day off, and both felt they had earned some relaxation time.

"No, but I wouldn't be being an ass and keeping secrets from a person that cares about me."

Gary frowned. "Do you have any idea what it is yet?"

"No," May sighed. "It has to be something really personal if he is this desperate not to tell me. But that's not even what is bugging me. It's the fact that he won't tell me anything. I thought we were closer than that."

"What if you were able to trap him?"

May laughed, "That would work. Just use a few torture methods and he'd be sure to tell me."

"I didn't mean it like that!" Gary chuckled. "I'm not that mean. I just meant, what if you went to talk to him, and you acted like you knew what was wrong. Then he would admit it to you, because you knew already."

"But wouldn't that be a bit… wrong?" May asked. "Would you ever do that?"

"I have."

"But why? Isn't that, I don't know, an invasion of privacy?"

"And what you're doing isn't?"

"I'm doing it because I care," May huffed.

"And you're saying I didn't?"

They both walked in silence for a few moments. May was thinking about what Gary had said.

Yes, it would be wrong if she tricked Drew into telling her. But what if she could figure out why he was not telling her instead, and used that to her advantage…

"When Leaf didn't turn up, and I came to the bar that night, she had guessed everything I would think. That's what I didn't understand, and why I was so confused about how I felt. I've loved Leaf more than ever after that night, but we can't be together."

May listened in silence. This was leading somewhere, she knew it. She just was not sure how. Gary rarely talked about his feelings like this, so it must be important.

"How much did you like Drew?"

May answered truthfully. If Gary was being honest, so could she. "I liked him a lot. I used to imagine us going on dates and stuff like that. He was so different to someone I would usually go for, just the way he seemed to care about me more than any other guy, even though he had a weird way of showing it."

Gary stopped walking. They were outside the orphanage.

"I think I have a plan. But I need you to trust me," he said.

"The last person I trusted threw me out," May replied, looking at the ground.

"I know. That's why this is going to work. I promise you won't have to trick Drew to do anything. It'll either show that you and Drew should do all those things you wished to do together, or it'll give you closure that it will never happen."

May looked up at Gary. His eyes were serious, and his mouth was in a firm, determined line.

She nodded. "Okay."

Pokémon

It had been a month since the ceasefire had been announced, and two months since Jubilife City had first been under threat. Survivors of the disaster area were very scarce now, and it pained Misty every time she saw the face of one of the newly found deceased.

Misty was searching through the rubble of a hotel that potentially held beneath it a bomb shelter, on the edge of Jubilife. Blake was with her, as well as a few others from the team – Alyssa and Heath of Sunnyshore City, and Jason from the close Oreburgh City. It was Jason that was leading this expedition. They five were spread out across the area.

"I've got something!" called Alyssa.

'Something' was what looked to be a cellar door. It was a strong, sturdy wood, and the faint stench of rot hung in the air.

"Heath, get the axe," Jason ordered. "Misty, Alyssa, Blake, we need to clear the area."

They worked swiftly, not wasting anytime. Heath came back quickly with the axe, and helped them clear away the door and surrounding ground.

Misty took her usual post by the cellar door.

"Hello? Is anyone there? If you are, I need you to say something."

There was no sound from under the ground. Misty swallowed a sigh.

"I need you to get away from the cellar door. We're going to force our way in."

She stood up and walked a few paces backwards. They waited a few tense moments before Heath began hacking at the door.

This was the hardest part. The waiting. Not knowing if anyone was under that door.

In the days Misty had been here so far, her little team had found no survivors.

They were an odd sort. Jason was the leader, and had a muscly, lean build. He did not look like a leader though. He always spoke in a calm, serious voice though, and knew what he was talking about. Everyone listened to him. Misty thought Alyssa had a little crush on him. She was a tiny thing, and had a tiny voice to match it. She did not look like she had the willpower or nerve to be on the team, but she was very determined. Never was there a more thorough look than one Alyssa had.

Blake and Heath were the strong men. There was nothing special about that. Except Misty was also certain Heath liked Alyssa, as much as she was convinced Alyssa liked Jason. It was quite entertaining to watch. She and Blake often laughed at their ineffective attempts at flirting.

Then there was Misty. She would wait, patiently, where people could possibly be hidden, offering words of support to the non-existent survivors. It was she that would first see the poor, innocent, deceased.

She watched as Heath stopped swinging the axe, and felt the door. He nodded, signalling that the door could be levered up.

"Blake, get the stick. Misty, to the door."

The 'stick' was what they called the large branch of wood used as a lever. It looked more like a plank that a stick though.

Misty knelt by the door. "We're only going to be a few more moments, I promise. Hold tight and get away from the door. We're going to lever it up."

Standing, she exchanged a worried look with Alyssa. Somehow, Misty had become the mother of the group. That was one of the reasons her role was by the door. Apparently, her voice was quite melodic and calming. This had been before Blake had woken her up one morning. Flocks of birds had taken flight from the high decibels.

As the door came away, a cloud of dirt and dust escaped from the hole. The stench of rot and stale air became stronger. Misty held out her torch into the blackness.

Her stomach dropped, as it always did. "We've got people."

Pokémon

Leaf was late. She was running down the streets of Snowpoint City to get to the bar, carefully keeping a firm grip on her guitar at all times.

Tonight was important. Dawn had promised to talk to Paul. She needed to get there to make sure they talked it out, and everything did not end in an argument.

She reached the bar, and found it unlocked. Dawn must have already arrived. When she walked in, however, it was May that she saw.

"May? What's up?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," May replied. She rearranged the table and chairs back to their original positions, and then went to clean the bar.

"O-kay," Leaf said slowly. Something was up. May kept flitting around everywhere, doing her jobs very quickly. Leaf did not know her that well, but she seemed quite flustered.

"Has Dawn come in yet?" Leaf asked.

May shook her head. "I came here earlier. I'm…" she trailed off, placing her cloth on the counter as she did so.

"Actually, I did need to talk to you Leaf… about Gary."

Leaf tensed, placing her guitar down. She was not yet sure if she liked May. They had not had much interaction, and she was living with Gary.

"Sure. What is it?" Despite this, Leaf was curious. She had not seen Gary since she said goodbye to him, and wanted to hear how he was.

"Well, not just Gary. You see…" May trailed off again.

"Don't keep trailing off," Leaf reprimanded. "Tell me or not."

"It's personal," May huffed.

"So? You were the one who said you wanted to talk. You can't just say that and then not tell me. Otherwise you're just being stupid."

"Hey, I'm not stupid!" May yelled. "I-"

"You're just scared you're going to lose your dignity and pride by pouring out your problems to someone you barely even know."

May froze.

Pride… dignity…

May had lost her nerve to tell Leaf her problems, even though she knew that Leaf could probably help her the most. Because she had not wanted to seem needy, weak.

What if Drew was the same?

What if that was why he had not confided in her?

"May?" Leaf's voice had lowered considerably. She ran over to May and shook her.

May gasped and blinked three times.

"Look, I don't care if you don't like me," May began, "but I need your help. Gary said you would be able to."

"With what?" Leaf asked.

"I need to tell you about a guy named Drew."

Pokémon

Misty took the wet cloth that Alyssa passed her, and descended into the cellar, holding it up to her nose and mouth.

"Five!" she called up to her team. "Not much damage down here. They were closed in."

Jason and Blake had followed her down, and they collected the bodies, passing them up to Heath and Alyssa. Misty continued her hunt around the room. There had been two adults and three children, and she was looking for anything that may aid in identifying the bodies.

There were many books. She picked up a few, checking for a name, but they were empty. There were also art supplies. She followed the trail, eventually coming across a canvas, hidden in a corner. It was too dark to see if it was signed, so she pulled it up.

"Alyssa, I've got something for you!" she yelled.

Misty moved to the light and held it up the blonde.

"Check for a signature. I think one of them might have been an artist."

"There's one here. Carmen Struthers."

"These people don't look related," came Blake's voice. "Two women, one male. Two children – two little boys."

Misty climbed out of the cellar. They had a name. That was what they needed. She sat on her haunches, wiping her brow and taking a sip of water, which Alyssa gave her.

"Struthers… that seems familiar," Heath said. "Hey, Misty. What were the names of the people you were looking for?"

"Jacobs. Elizabeth and Will," she replied, her voice tight.

"This is only a little place. Barely a hotel," Heath continued. "Would it be possible the Struthers owned this place?"

"Might be," Jason answered. "What's your point?"

"Didn't someone say that they had heard the Jacobs were staying at a small hotel on the edge of town?"

The five stopped working. Misty had remembered hearing that as well. She remembered because they had heard barely anything. The lady at the town centre had been one of the only informants. Everyone who came through Jubilife went there first, so she was quite reliable.

"Mrs Stuarts, at the town centre? She said it, didn't she?" Misty asked.

Heath nodded. They all gazed at the bodies. Could it be possible that they had found the Jacobs?

"I need to make a call," Misty said.

Pokémon

A strange sight it was when Dawn entered the bar that evening. May and Leaf were there, talking casually, like they were the best of friends. Leaf's eyes were completely dry and May had a smile on her face. They both seemed very excited.

Not only that, but quietly sitting in a corner, was Paul.

Looking back at the two women, Dawn realised neither of them appeared to realise that Paul was in the room.

"Ahem?"

May and Leaf both looked up and noticed Dawn. She sent a glare at them, nodding her head towards Paul.

"Honestly, anyone could just walk in and you wouldn't notice. What if they were trying to rob the place? They would do it right under your noses," she scolded.

May stood hurriedly and went back to work. Leaf was looking at Paul closely.

"You're Paul, aren't you? Dawn needs to talk to you."

She then went and unpacked her guitar, ignoring the second glare that Dawn sent her way.

"Good, I wanted to talk to her too," he answered, looking at Dawn.

She sighed to herself. Of course Leaf would make sure she talked to Paul. Of course she would not even give Dawn a chance to say no. Paul had already taken her hand and led her outside.

"So that was Leaf?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Gary's told me a lot about her. She doesn't act like he described her."

"She's happier now than she used to be," Dawn explained. "She's happier now she doesn't have to deal with the guilt."

"Gary wants to get back together with her."

"They still have issues."

"That's what I told him."

Dawn smiled and saw Paul's face soften as she did so. She and Paul actually shared the same views on a lot of things, they were just expressed differently.

"So, why did Leaf say you wanted to talk to me?"

"Because she's mean." Dawn pouted.

Paul ignored her. Instead, he asked his next question, before he could stop the words coming out of his mouth.

"Are you going to file for divorce?"

He shut his eyes. He had sounded so desperate.

Paul adamantly believed he was not desperate. He just did not want to see the love of his life leave him.

Dawn, however, was in shock. She was speechless. Her mouth opened and closed, trying to get words out, but they would not come. Finally, she managed to say something.

"Why would you think I would do that?"

"You said so," Paul mumbled.

The memory came back to Dawn in a rush. Since then she had done a lot of thinking. She had talked to Leaf, Drew, May… She shut her eyes, saying as she did so, "I will never divorce you, I promise. It won't get to that."

"Why not?"

Dawn thought of everything that had happened to her in the past two months.

Leaving their home…

Meeting Misty and Leaf and May…

Buying the bar…

Dawn was a firm believer in everything happened for a reason.

"I would never leave you, because I married you for a reason. We knew what we were getting into when we got married, despite all those people saying it would never work. There's no one else in the entire world that I would want to spend the rest of my life with."

She waited for Paul's answer. Over the past weeks, he had surprised her, not acting like she had thought he would. She guessed that had come with the lack of communication that had resulted in her leaving in the first place.

"You can't expect to leave me to just understand why you have left. If you think something the best thing to do is just tell me. I thought you would know that."

"I did, I do. But I was frustrated, I still am. After we've known each other for so long, you'd think we would be able to understand each other more…" she trailed off. Paul noticed, looking at her for a long time.

He noticed the pain that was on her face; the indecision, the grief, the stress. He reached out and held her close, feeling her relax into his body.

"Well, maybe that's something we just need to work on then. We thought we were invincible in the beginning, and we were, for a time. Then we realised we were married and didn't even have any qualifications or anything. It's been building up for some time. All we wanted to do was make it work."

"And then it screwed up on us," she sniffed.

"It did." He rubbed her back in comforting circles with his hand. "We stopped listening to each other."

"We can't do that. We can't let what happened to Leaf and Gary happen to us."

"We won't," Paul promised, "we'll work on it."

Pokémon

I'm stuck with writing songs
Just to forget
What they really were about
And these words are bringing me so deeply insane
That I don't think I can dig my way out

May was serving when Drew walked into the bar. She watched out of the corner of her eye, as he sat at one of the tables, facing Leaf. He did not give her a second glance.

"Go serve him, May," Dawn said.

May took the opportunity. It was only when she reached his table, that she realised she had no idea what she was going to say.

"Drew…"

"I'll have a shot of tequila, thanks."

He did not even look at her.

"Uh, um, sure," she stammered. Hurrying back to the bar to get his drink, she cursed herself.

Why could she not figure out something to say?

I couldn't breathe you in
Like I need to and the words don't mean a thing

"May? What's wrong?"

May was still. She was gripping the counter tightly, knuckles white. Dawn reached out and began massaging her them, until May relaxed.

"What's wrong?" she repeated.

"He's here."

"Drew?"

May nodded.

"I thought you wanted to talk to him."

"I do. But I can't think of the right words to say. They all sound wrong. Maybe I shouldn't talk to him."

Dawn frowned. "Now that's silly. You've been winding yourself up about this and now you're not going to take the opportunity."

"I'm no-"

"I know you want to. But you have to be a good friend to Drew. That's either just letting him tell you when he's ready, or he's hurting so bad you should get it out of him. And we both know which one we think is best."

So I'll sing this song to you
For the last time
And my heart is torn in two
Thinking of days spent without you
And there is nothing left to prove

Dawn noticed Paul come up to the bar.

"Excuse me, that green haired man is wondering where his drink is. He also keeps looking over here."

Maybe his attention had not just been on Leaf all evening.

"I'm coming," May whispered. She let go of Dawn and picked up Drew's glass, walking slowly over to him.

"How are they connected?" Paul asked.

"They were living together, then something happened and he threw her out. She's been trying to figure out what it was. She really wants things to go back to how they were."

"She has feelings for him."

"Yeah," Dawn sighed.

I'm counting all the things I could have done
To make you see
That I wanted us to be what I go to sleep and dream of
I want you to know that I'd die for you
I'd die for you

"Here's your drink."

May handed Drew the drink and sat down. She was perched on the edge of the chair, back straight up, hands folded on her lap.

"I don't want to fight with you," May began. "That's the last thing I want."

"Then what do you want?" Drew asked sharply.

"I don't care about what you won't tell me. I don't care anymore. I give up. You can tell me if you want, but I'm not going to force you."

Drew opened his mouth. He wanted to tell her, he really did.

"Do you trust me, Drew?"

He stared down at his drink, refusing to answer. She looked so fragile, sitting there. He did not want to hurt her with his answers.

His answers would be the ones she wanted to hear, but it was the follow up questions he was dreading.

I couldn't breathe you in
Like I need to and the words don't mean a thing

"Drew?"

"May, I'm sorry. Don't make me…"

"Why can't you just answer one question?"

"You'll ask more than one,"

"I promise I won't. Drew, please…"

He sighed, "Yes, I do trust you."

So I'll sing this song to you
For the last time
And my heart is torn in two
Thinking of the days spent without you
And there's nothing left to prove

"Then why-"

"You said you wouldn't ask any more questions."

May stopped herself. It was true, she had said that. She went to stand up, but hesitated. Leaf was still singing, and May could feel her eyes on her. After Leaf had helped her this afternoon, she could not leave it like this.

She sat herself back down, feeling four pairs of eyes on her. Leaf's, Drew's, Dawn's, and Paul's.

"I said I didn't care when you wanted to tell me what is going on, and I don't, but I do care about something else. I still have feelings for you, Drew. That's why I'm doing this. I just need to know."

Drew held his glass. He did not know how to respond to that. And she was waiting for an answer. Why did she have to do this? Make him feel so uncomfortable…

"I…" he trailed off, still refusing to look at her. "May…"

She nodded. "It's okay, I get it."

May went to stand up again. This time, it was Drew who stopped her, with a hand caught on to her wrist.

"You don't, and that's my fault. But…"

And if you are alone
Make sure you're not lonely
Cause if you are, I blame myself
For never being home
I know I'm not the only one
Who will treat you like they should
What you deserve

"Then let me in, Drew. I can't keep doing this for you. I've poured out my heart to you, and you can't even form a sentence."

He could hear the frustration in her voice, see it in her eyes. He wished he had some answers for her.

May decided there was only one way to get some form of answer out of him. She leaned forward and kissed him.

At first, there was no reaction. It was like kissing a brick wall. Then, she felt him relax and begin to kiss her back.

It was only short, but it was enough.

He stood up quickly. "I can't do this May. Not now."

She shook her head. "I'll wait."

I'm stuck with writing songs
Just to forget

A small smile made its way onto Drew's face. It should not have been there, but it was.

May still had hope for him.

Despite the fact he had been a jerk to her.

Everything would turn out all right, he just had to have faith.

Faith in himself, faith in May, faith in Misty.

Faith in anything that could make life happier.

So I'll sing this song to you
For the last time
And my heart is torn in two
Thinking of the days spent without you
And there's nothing left to prove

He left without another word.

Pokémon

Happy times ahead? There's only five chapters left so things have to improve :) I hope you all liked this chapter, I really enjoyed writing it. I think it was the hardest one to write, especially the Ikari and Contest shipping bits, and there were a lot of them.

School's gone back :( But I will still try to update as often as I can. I can't believe it's nearly been 6 months since I first published this. I've had so much fun writing it. I really wanted to thank you all for your reviews and favourites and alerts. They mean so much to me.

Replies to Reviews

Iheartmuusic – I have full intentions of continuing this story :) I hate it when people leave things unfinished, especially when it's something like this, where you need an ending. I'm glad you like it.

ShadowAbsol13 – I'm sorry there wasn't any Pokéshipping in this chapter. I'm got Misty planned to come back in the next chapter or the one after :) I'm super excited.

Leafeonchick03 – Thanks for answering my questions. I'm always curious at what people think will happen in my story. I hope you liked this chapter as well :)

Ka-tay's Mind – I'm sorry about the song, I don't get how that happened. :/ On the chapter preview thing it worked fine. I'm pretty sure I've said it before, but I like making different people work together. It's fun.

XWhiteChanX – Haha, okay, so I hope you don't have to kill anyone then. I thought I should make the Pokéshipping storyline like that because all the others are really heavy, and I agree with you, I definitely think it is the most realistic.

Mudkiplover33 – I hope you liked this chapter :) Thanks for your reviews every chapter.

XXPay4XtraShippingsXX – Yes, turning points are fun :) This chapter I actually thought was quite happy. I don't know how you guys will think about it though.

Cutiepiepo2 – It's coming, I promise. It's all a part of the grand scheme of things. I'm so happy I changed your opinion on sad stories. It won't have a sad ending though, I promise :)

KittyKatLovesBooks – I always worry I make the characters too OOC, but then I figure that in the show and manga and the games none of the relationships are there, so they don't really have a character to be in that department. But I'm glad they make sense to you when you read them.

Louricam The Manga Freak – Here's the next chapter, nice and quick for you :)

LeafgreenshippXD – Thanks for all of your reviews on my other chapters. Every review means a lot to me :)

That's all. I hope you all enjoyed this. It might be a few more weeks before the next chapter, but it'll come.

Keep smiling :)