Switching Lives

PokemonFreak90: The story is really going to get suspenseful, after you read what's happening in this chapter!

MDM: Then what are we waiting for? Let's get on with Chapter 9! Roll it!

Chapter 9

A Truth and a Loss

Minutes later, Dawn was in Salvia's room, sitting on the bed and trying to come to terms with the difficult truth about her feelings for Prince Ash. The thought was exhilarating, but frightening at the same time. This new emotion that was now defined as love was very unfamiliar to her. Being raised as an orphan her whole life with no true home and having been given nary a glance, she wasn't sure of what to do. It was confusing, thrilling, and terrifying all at once, coming at her like a blast of cold water.

And to make the situation even more complicated, Ash thought that she was Salvia. If he were to discover the truth, would he shun her and let her be arrested for impersonating royalty? Or was there even a small chance that he also felt the same for Dawn and would still care about her, even if she wasn't who she said she was?

A knock on the door brought Dawn out of her turmoiled thoughts. "Come in." she said.

The door opened to reveal Zoey. A troubled look was on her face and she seemed almost ready to cry, which was strangely out of character for her.

"Your Highness, it's your mother." she reported, her voice unusually quiet. "She wants to speak to you in her chambers this instant. No delays."

At first, Dawn was immediately ready to come up with an excuse to not see the queen, but after seeing Zoey's demeanor, she realized that something was very wrong.

"She's failing, isn't she?" she asked, looking down at her white gloved hands in her lap. Even though, in truth, she was just a citizen and not the princess, she felt a sadness beginning to swell up inside of her.

Zoey nodded. "This may be your last chance to speak with her." she said, her head hung down.

Knowing that it would be too cruel for someone to deny anyone having a last chance to speak with a loved one, Dawn slowly stood up with Togekiss coming up to her side.

"Please escort us to the queen's chambers." she quietly requested.

Zoey bowed. "Of course, Princess."

In a matter of minutes, they were all standing in front of Queen Johanna's bedroom. Dawn was hesitant to open the door, but after a reassuring nudge from Togekiss, she did so.

"Please wait out here." she said to Zoey and the Fairy-Flying type.

Both nodded silently and Dawn entered solemnly, closing the door behind her.

As much as she wanted to admire the decor in the queen's chamber, the mood was just too heavy. She slowly walked up to the large turquoise plush bed where Queen Johanna herself was laying, dying. The queen was pale, breathing heavily but quietly, and she could barely keep her eyes open. But she still had a royal grace to her, even when nearing death.

Dawn silently took a seat beside the bed. She wondered if she should tell the queen the truth and that she could leave immediately and find Salvia. Then, she'll accept whatever final punishment she'll give.

The dying queen slowly fluttered her eyes open, the sapphire blue orbs dulled. But just barely, and slightly tilted her head towards her. She smiled faintly at the sight of the beautiful but sad young woman sitting beside her bed.

Dawn opened her mouth to speak, but Johanna beat her to it. "Please, my dear. Let me speak." She paused to take a breath. "I don't have much time left and you must know what I have to say."

Dawn closed her mouth and nodded. Slowly, the queen held out a trembling hand, urging Dawn to take it. At first, the doppelganger princess wasn't sure if she should, but on some unknown instinct, she took it in her own palm, almost like some unknown force was beckoning her to do so.

"Salvia, since the day you were born, I have tried to prepare you for this moment." Johanna began. "I always knew that I wouldn't be around forever and that I wouldn't be able to always care for you. I can feel that my time has almost come. I will be gone very soon...and you will be the new queen. But I called you here because I don't want to go without leaving anything unsaid."

She paused to take another breath. "I know that you're unhappy with all of the princes that I've invited here to win your heart, but I just wanted to make sure that you would be safe and taken care of, since I wouldn't be able to do it anymore. I was doing it because I loved you. I'm sorry if it felt like I was forcing them onto you, so if things don't work out between you and Ash, I understand. Don't marry someone who doesn't make you truly happy, Salvia. I should've just trusted you to make your own choice."

Dawn looked at her with surprised eyes. So that was why Johanna was so adamant on Salvia finding a husband! She just wanted to make sure that her daughter was provided and cared for. She supposed that was what all parents do for their children.

Johanna then continued to speak. "Salvia, you must rule with compassion, and care for our people like they're our family. Put their needs before your own and be prepared to defend our kingdom if any danger should come." She breathed deeply. "You'll have hard decisions to make as the queen, but you must be sure that those decisions are for the greater good."

She took another breath, but it was clear that her voice was beginning to fail, even with the heavy breaths. "There will be times where you can't help everyone, but you must always make the choice that helps as many of our people as it can, and the right ones."

The dying queen gave Dawn's hand a slight squeeze, making the doppelganger princess begin to feel tears come to her eyes. "Please promise me, my dear daughter, that you will always keep these things in your mind and in your heart when you take the throne. I must make sure that I'm leaving the kingdom in good hands."

Dawn knew that she herself wasn't going to be queen. This was all meant for Salvia. But still, there was something in the way that Johanna looked at her that made her not want to let her down. She deserved to rest in peace and if this was what would assure that, then she'd grant it. For the queen, and for Salvia, once they switched back.

"I promise." she finally vowed to her, speaking in place for Salvia.

Johanna smiled gratefully at the doppelganger princess, seeing the sincerity in her eyes. "Thank you, my dear." she said, knowing that her passing would have no worries now. "But," she paused again to take another breath, but it was more raspy than the others had been, "There's one more thing that I need to tell you."

Dawn was confused. What else could the queen have left to tell? She just hoped that she could remember most of it so that she could relay it to Salvia, somehow, once she got the chance.

"Salvia, there's something that you don't know. It's a secret that I've kept from you for your entire life and I can't die without telling you the truth." Dawn's eyes widened. This was sure to be a jaw dropper if even Salvia didn't know about it.

"You are not my only daughter. You have a twin sister who has been missing since you were babies." Now THIS was pretty heavy. A long-lost princess? Salvia has a twin sister that she didn't know about? "Her name...is Dawn."

Everything came to a halt in her mind. This was the last thing that she had expected to hear. But then, the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She was found at an orphanage as an infant, and for goodness sake, she and Salvia did look alike! That was the first thing they realized once all of the soot was removed from Dawn's face when they first met.

"W-What?" That was the only word that Dawn could even squeak out at the moment.

Johanna nodded. "I've waited for so long to see her again." she continued. "My only regret is that I won't live to see the day when the two of you are reunited."

The queen took another raspy breath. "Salvia, I have one final request for you. Find your sister, wherever she is in the world, and bring her home. I want the two of you...to be happy together."

As Johanna's eyes finally began to close, she whispered one final sentence. "I love you, Salvia. Tell Dawn...that I love her, too."

Those were the last words that she ever spoke. Dawn felt the life leave her as she slowly released the queen's, no, her mother's hand and watched it fall limply onto the bed through the bleary tears in her eyes.

"No." she whispered. "No, Mother!" she begged, the word she so wished to call someone was like bitter ambrosia on her tongue. She loved it, yet it was too late for Johanna to hear it from her own lips.

"Mother, please!" Dawn pleaded tearfully, gently shaking her arm. "It's me, Dawn! Your lost daughter! I'm right here! Please don't leave me! Not after I've finally found you! Please come back! MOTHER!"

But the lifeless queen made no reply. Dawn started to sob, burying her face in her arms as she cried beside her mother. All of her childhood fantasies of reuniting with her family were dashed away in an instant and were instead replaced by a heartbreaking reality.

It had been a couple of hours since Queen Johanna's passing. Dawn had managed to regain herself and call Zoey in. She only gave her instructions to prepare the funeral arrangements and then ran into Salvia's room, Togekiss following her.

Once the door was shut behind her, Dawn collapsed on the bed and started to cry again. Togekiss and Buneary went on either side of her and tried to comfort her as best as they could.

Dawn sniffed and wiped away a few tears. "Buneary?" she whispered. The little Normal type came a bit closer. "There's something that you should know. I'm not actually Princess Salvia. My name is Dawn."

"Buneary?" she questioned, tilting her head.

"I know. I do look a lot like her, don't I?" Dawn said. "We thought that it would be fun to switch places for a few days. But now, I think I've bitten off more than I can chew." She then stood up from the bed and walked over to the desk, taking out a piece of parchment and a quill.

"Salvia needs to get back here as soon as possible." Dawn said, writing quickly. "She needs to know what happened to the queen and take her rightful place." Once she had finished writing, she rolled it up and tied it up with a blue ribbon.

Dawn then turned back to Buneary. "Buneary, I need you to go and find Salvia at Lord Cyrus' house and give this to her. I would send Togekiss, but that would cause too much suspicion why a servant girl would receive something from the princess." She then handed the message to Buneary. "I'm counting on you, Buneary. You would know right away who she is. She looks just like me."

Buneary nodded and gave a cry of agreement, taking the message in her paws. She then hopped away, leaving the room. Dawn sat back down on the bed with Togekiss stroking her back with her wing.

"I'm counting on you." she whispered.

It had taken all night, but Buneary wasn't tired in the least. She knew that this was very important to her new human friend. She couldn't let her down.

Soon, she saw Cyrus' mansion in the near distance, just as Dawn described it. The sight of it being close by put a pep in Buneary's bounce. She quickly began jumping towards it.

When she came towards the door leading towards the kitchen, Buneary saw a girl dressed in rags that looked just like Dawn, having a Piplup on her shoulder and a Glameow by her side. That must've been Princess Salvia.

"Bun, Buneary!" the little Normal type got the disguised princess' attention.

Salvia saw Buneary hopping inside. "Oh, hello there." she greeted the Rabbit Pokémon.

"Buneary." Buneary handed Salvia the note that Dawn wrote. Salvia took the note and saw that her name, not Dawn's, was on the front. Only Dawn knew that she was there.

Salvia untied the ribbon around it, unrolled the paper, and began to read it out loud. The message it contained made her mind stop in its tracks, and then break her heart into pieces.

Salvia, it's Dawn. There's something that you should know. The Buneary who gave you this is a new friend of mine. She'll come back to the castle once you have gotten this message.

You MUST come back to the castle and trade places back with me as soon as possible. Salvia, I'm sorry, but the queen, your mother, is dead. She died just a few hours ago. You must come back and take your rightful place before I'm mistaken for you.

Please hurry.

Salvia fell to her knees and began crying, hearing the news of her mother's passing. Back in the castle, she could tell that it was coming, but she was more heartbroken that she wasn't there during her mother's final moments.

Little did she know that her master, Cyrus, had heard her read the message and an evil smirk came over his face. "You're not going anywhere...Princess." he whispered to himself.

PokemonFreak90: Queen Johanna is dead and Dawn learns her dying secret: She is Salvia's twin sister and the long lost princess of Sinnoh!

However, it seems that Cyrus knows about the girls switching places and is plotting to use it against them! What do you think he could be planning?

The girls will now have to race against time to get back to their proper places before it's too late! Not to mention that Dawn still has to tell Salvia about them being sisters, too! And how confused will Ash be when he learns that he hasn't been in love with Salvia at all?

As you can tell, the story's going to get a lot more exciting from here, so make sure to stay tuned and keep reading!

MDM: Okay, you are definitely excited for the rest of the story. So many questions, so many complications, it's enough to leave readers on the edge of their seat. Well, we'll see what happens?

How about you guys? Are y'all psyched for more? If you are, then we'll see y'all in Chapter 10! Please leave a review and let us know what you think!

Got to fly! ;)