Warming Hearts

A/N: Here we are, with Chapter 13! I have to quickly thank PokemonFreak90 for the help on beta reading this.

Now, here we go! And roll it!

Chapter 13

Learning More About the Beast

Meanwhile, back at the castle, over at the west wing, Ash was trying to clean the beast's wounds, but she was making it pretty difficult, even for a real first timer like himself. Leona, Kenny, Zoey, and Laine were watching nervously. Their hearts had nearly stopped when they saw their mistress gravely injured, yet they were filled with gratitude at the sight of Ash leading his Talonflame inside with the beast on its back.

The beast roared loudly in pain and quickly jerked away from the wet cloth that Ash was using to clean her wound on her shoulder. "Watch it, will ya?!" She shouted.

Ash glared at her. "If you'd hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much!" He answered back. "You're just going to make it worse."

"None of this would have happened if you hadn't ran away." The beast said.

"Well, if you hadn't scared the heck out of me, then I wouldn't have ran away!" Ash retorted back.

"Well, then you shouldn't have been in the west wing!" The beast snapped back. "My personal chambers!"

"And you'd better learn how to control that temper!" Ash shouted.

This was out of character for him, but he was too frustrated to care about that at the moment. Usually, when he was in a fight, either his mother or one of his friends would hold him back until he would calm down.

The beast knew that she had lost the fight when Ash's brown eyes turned searing hot with anger, and that it would only cause more pointless arguments if they kept this up. She huffed with disdain and turned away.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, Ash turned his attention back to the wound on her shoulder. "Now please hold still." He said, taking the wet cloth. "This will still sting."

As he carefully pressed the cloth on the wound to clean up the infected area, the beast flinched, but thankfully didn't overreact again.

"I'm actually kind of new at this." Ash admitted, trying to lighten up the mood. "I usually know how to deal with Pokémon injuries, not human. Or anything else, for that matter."

The beast didn't respond to his remark, still having her back turned to him. Sighing, Ash put away the cloth, seeing that the wound was now clean. He then grabbed a bandage and came over to her so that he could look her in the eye. "Now, I still need you to stay still."

The beast still didn't answer him. She was trying to not look deeply into his chocolate brown eyes that, just a few seconds ago, were glowing balls of fire. But now, they were calm pools of concern. Ash carefully wrapped the bandage around her shoulder.

Soon, he had tied the bandage, making sure that it wasn't adding pressure to the wound. Ash opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he saw that the beast still had her back to him. Not wanting to start another fight, he stood up from the bed.

"Get some rest." He said. Then, he quietly walked away, leaving her to close her eyes. Ash went over to Pikachu, who was watching the encounter with Leona, Kenny, and Zoey. The Electric type then jumped onto his Trainer's shoulder.

"Thank you, Ash." Zoey said.

"We are grateful, kid." Leona added.

Ash then began to ask a question that had been on his mind since he had gotten back. "Why do you care about her so much?" He asked. "I mean, she doesn't seem to treat you or anybody else very kindly. Why do you stay and put up with it?"

"We have lived in the castle our whole lives." Zoey explained. "We were all old friends once, back when things were different."

"And yet, you did nothing?" Ash asked. "Um, sorry if that came out wrong."

"It's all right, Ash." Zoey said. "And you do have a point. You see, when the mistress lost her mother, and her sister left soon after to become an ambassador for our little province, her cruel father took that nice, sweet little girl that we knew and twisted her up to be like him, yet we did nothing to help her."

Ash blinked with mild surprise and looked back towards the beast. She had a family once, too? Yet when the lights of her life had left her, she was exposed to only cruelty and greed, and probably thought that the only way to gain respect was to be the same. But Ash knew that there had to be a better way than that.

Leona nudged Ash's leg, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Come on. Let her sleep." She said.

One by one, everyone left the wing, with Ash giving one last look at the sleeping beast, feeling guilt and a twang of sympathy for her. So it wasn't her fault that she was like this. She was just brought up like this, unlike him. Though he had no father there beside him to help guide him when he became a Trainer or when he grows up to be a man, he was still raised in the warmth of his mother's love. With those thoughts, Ash finally left the chamber.

In his room, Ash couldn't sleep. He kept tossing and turning in his bed, which was actually quite comfortable. But his mind was still on the beast. He should've known that she wasn't born a monster. No one is born a monster. She may look like one, but it wasn't her fault. Something must've happened that made her this way, besides being raised coldly. And her old friends, which she now considered servants and nothing more, are suffering the consequences.

Soon, Ash quietly got up from his bed, being careful to not wake up the snoozing Pikachu next to the pillow, and walked silently over to the window. The moon was glowing bright, making all of the snow sparkle. Though the scene was beautiful, Ash couldn't bear to enjoy it at the moment.

What could he do? He knew that he owed the beast his life, but...it wasn't just a matter of getting back to his mother now. His new friends wanted him to stay for some reason, but what was that reason? They'd put so much effort into making him feel like he was a guest, not a prisoner. And they were obviously more friendly than their mistress.

Just then, an idea came into Ash's mind. It was risky, and maybe even crazy, but it was worth a shot. Though, it meant that he would have to stay.

Finally, drowsiness clouded his mind and Ash stifled a yawn. He went back to his bed and went under the covers again. When his head hit his pillow, the 18-year-old Trainer was out like a light.

The next morning, Ash came into the west wing with the servants to check on the beast. He felt her forehead with the back of his hand, making sure that she didn't get a fever from the blood loss, or from an infection. Luckily, she wasn't feverish, and Ash left her bed to let her continue to rest.

His eyes then saw the slowly blooming Gracidea flower that was floating in the glass bell jar. He was no botanist, but he remembered that those flowers couldn't stand the cold and don't take that long to bloom. They were just very rare, mostly to protect Shaymin, the Mythical Pokémon who relies on those flowers to change forms.

From the moment he saw that flower, he knew that magic was the cause for all of this. Ash loved magic as much as the next person does, but knew that many things could be explained by science. That much he learned from his journeys through Unova and Kalos. But this time, he knew that no science could explain all that he had seen in just one day.

"What happens when that Gracidea flower blooms?" Ash asked the servants.

"The mistress remains a beast forever." Leona said.

"And we become real Pokémon." Kenny added. "We would lose our memories of our past lives and this one, and start over as real Pokémon. No more talking and no more of our own uniqueness."

Ash knelt down to their level, with Pikachu beside him. "I want to help you guys become human again." He said. "There must be a way to break this curse that's on you."

"Well, there is one way." Kenny said. Ash perked up, wanting to hear it.

But Zoey cut in. "But it's nothing for you to worry about, kid." She said. "We have our fate and there is no turning back from it."

Ash shook his head. "I don't know much about fate, but I do know that it's never too late to change your fate."

From within the bell jar, a sliver of red in the Gracidea flower faded into a soft pink.

"How long do you have until the flower blooms?" Ash asked.

"Until midnight, on the equinox." Leona asked. Ash tilted his head in confusion. "The first day of spring." She clarified.

"Then we have plenty of time." Ash said. "I don't know how to break the curse, but at least I'm willing to give her a second chance."

The servants beamed at him. Pikachu gave his Trainer a proud nuzzle. Even though his idea seemed crazy, he was with him all the way. And it was his forgiving nature that Pikachu admired about his best friend.

Listening to the conversation, the beast's eyes widened. He was staying and he was going to give her another chance, even after what she had done to him, by forcing him to take his mother's place, and making him a prisoner?

She then started getting distracted when she heard a thumping in her heart, as it beat faster the longer her thoughts remained on Ash. She then turned on her other side to ignore the thumping.

The beast then saw that her servants and Ash were beginning to leave the wing. Not knowing why she got the idea (or how), her mouth opened to speak.

"Dawn." She whispered.

Ash stopped in his tracks and turned back to the beast. "What was that?" He asked.

Knowing that there was no turning back now, and that he won't stop until she conceded, the beast spoke again. "That's my name. It's Dawn."

Ash smiled softly. "That's a pretty name." He said. "Dawn."

The beast, now known as Dawn, felt her cheeks slightly burn at the sound of her name coming from Ash.

"Keep taking it easy, Dawn." Ash said, before he left the room, leaving a blushing Dawn in her bed.

Dawn wouldn't let the second chance that he had given her go to waste.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Besides, this might be the last update from me on any of my stories before I head to camp in less than two weeks.

Until then, whether sooner or later, I'll see y'all! Please leave a review about what you think.

Got to fly! ;)