A/N: Wow, I updated like SUPER quickly this time. Don't get used to this readers, I guess I'm just on a roll this week. I really wanted to mark the ending of Dawn's character troubles and the beginning of the rest of the story. Yes, there is a lot coming after this, yes, I have a lot planned, and no, I do not know how long it's going to be. I love this story so I don't have any intention of ending it soon, just so you know. Right now, I just want to have fun writing.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I do not claim to own anything.

Okay, onto the drama!

Chapter 21: A New Change

Drew

We were a little shell-shocked when Principal Cynthia called us back up onstage. Gary probably got over it the quickest though, as he waved to the crowd triumphantly, like he'd won the concert single-handedly. But admittedly it felt really good to win. I mean I'd always been marked in the top 10 at least, but to see all our hard work get this great a payoff was incredible to say the least.

I think even Paul was pleased, as he was almost smiling when we got back off stage. In large part it was thanks to him that we won. It was good to know that we were right in asking him to join us in the band.

"DREW!" I heard someone call.

I looked around as best I could in the crowd that had surrounded us backstage. Eventually, I saw a very familiar brunette shouldering her way to the front of the crowd.

May. God, she looks amazing. With her hair tied back and that floor-length dress. Trying to act nonchalant around her was getting harder and harder, especially when she looked like that.

I took a deep breath and turned on my usual persona, ignoring the heat I could feel rising to my face.

"Hey there, January. Come to congratulate us on a job well-done?" I asked confidently, trying very hard to keep my gaze from wandering from her face.

But she didn't look angry or even concerned with what I'd said. She just wore an expression painted with worry as she finally came to stand in front of me.

"H-Have you seen Dawn anywhere?" she asked almost frantically. I noticed Leaf come up behind her looking equally as concerned.

"No I haven't. Why, what's wrong?" I asked sincerely, dropping my air of confidence at the panic I could see on their faces.

"We can't find her. We've looked everywhere backstage, but no one's seen her since they announced the new rankings!" she noted.

"May! Leaf!" we heard hollered over the crowd. Misty made her way through the crowd like a bulldozer, before she came to stand beside her friends.

"Did you find her?" she asked.

"No," Leaf mumbled. "She must have run off."

"Well then, we'll just have to split up. You guys keep searching the school, I'll go search outside," Misty ordered.

"Wow, hang on! What's going on?" Ash asked as the girls garnered the attention of the rest of the band.

"We can't find Dawn," Leaf informed.

"Now that she's lost to you guys, we're really worried about what she'll do next!" May cried.

"Okay, okay, just calm down," I told May, setting my hands on her shoulders. "I'll help you look."

May's eyes widened at my sincere offer. I then realized what I'd just said and removed my hands quickly from where I'd set them.

"I-I mean, Dawn's my friend too. So, of course I'll help look for her," I corrected myself quickly.

Something flashed in May's eyes, but it was gone before I could discern what it was. She seemed to accept my reason for helping her. Glad to have blinded her to my feelings for a bit longer, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Count me in too!" Ash chimed in, with Pikachu chiming in beside him.

"Talk about a short-lived victory, but I guess I'll help out too," Gary commented.

"Okay, Ash you're with me," Misty directed. "Gary, Drew, you guys search the school instead. May, you and Leaf go back to the dorms to see if she's there."

I turned around, looking for the last band member who had yet to chime in to this conversation.

"Hey guys…" I articulated, causing everyone's attention to shift to me. "Where's Paul?"

Dawn

My legs burned as I ran, pushing them to move as fast as they could. I was still tired from my routine, but I ignored my fatigue and just kept running.

Just get away. Just get away. I chanted internally as I sprinted through the darkness.

I could hear the voices of students exiting the school building. They'd be heading back towards the dorms after the concert, but I didn't want them to see me. I turned and changed my course, running away from Valor Hall and the other dormitories.

I felt the tears burning pathways down my face as they fell. My lungs gasped in oxygen as I continued to push myself. The lights from the streetlamps lining the paths felt too bright, and the wind felt too cold. I just wanted to be alone. I wanted to get away, to a place where no one would find me.

I ran down into the deserted courtyard, where the trees obscured the light of the moon and shrouded me in shadows. My feet hit pavement and I slowed my pace, my exhaustion catching up with me. My legs throbbed with pain and I breathed heavily, trying to catch my breath.

It was dark and cold but I was finally alone. I walked slowly, sobs escaping my lips as I breathed heavily. My tears fell freely as I continued on.

I deserve this. I thought. I deserve everything that's happened to me.

All of my confidence had been shattered in that one moment when I'd lost. Now I was left with nothing but my loss and my guilt.

I did this.

As I walked I could feel my exhaustion weighing me down. I came to a lonely streetlight, flickering dimly between the trees. I put my hand against it, feeling the cool metal underneath my fingertips. I leaned my head against it, wishing for the feeling to give me some sort of relief.

I slumped against the metal, bathed in the dim electric light. It was completely dark outside so it must have been pretty late.

But I didn't care. I barely registered the dark and the cold.

I'm lost. I thought. And it's all my fault.

Losing everything had caused me to stop kidding myself. Even if I had won I would have been alone like I was now. I was just so obsessed with winning, I forgot about everything else. Including the people who I loved more than anything else.

What have I done? I loved music, I really did. I wanted to come to this school because I loved it so much. But then everyone started to notice me and… I liked it. I liked it a lot. I had never been recognized like that before. Growing up in Twinleaf I was only known a certain way, but when everyone started to notice me and like what I doing, I just got carried further and further away.

And now look at me. Crying all alone because I wasn't the best anymore. Who was I anyway? When did I become this? Why could I not see myself as this before now?

I guess I only saw what I wanted to see. I mean, I knew all along that what I was doing wasn't me. My conscious told me over and over again, I just didn't listen.

I wept silently against the streetlamp, mourning what I'd lost. I felt so sorry, for myself, for my friends, for everything. But it was too late now. I was all alone.

It was quiet for a long time, my slow breaths being the only sound made in the night. But after a while of listening to nothing, I started to hear something.

It was faint, almost like a whisper. At first I thought it was my imagination and ignored it, but it wouldn't go away. In fact it sounded like it was getting closer, slowly but surely.

Footsteps. Someone was coming. But what would someone be doing walking through the courtyard at Arceus knew what time it was?

I thought about hiding, but why bother? No one cared about me anymore anyway. If I was lucky the person wouldn't notice me and keep going wherever they were going.

The footsteps were slow and controlled, like the person was taking their time. They sounded really close now, but instead of coming closer or getting farther away, they just stopped.

And for a moment I heard nothing. Just the quiet breaths I made. I opened my eyes, my vision blurry with tears and looked behind me. I kept my hand on the streetlight to steady myself as I looked around.

In the dim light, the rest of the courtyard looked even darker, but I still made out the faint outline of the trees and the star-speckled sky. I couldn't see anything else but I felt something. Deep in the shadows someone stood, watching me.

"Who's there?" I asked weakly. My voice quiet and scared.

I was met with silence.

"I know you're there," I declared. "Stop hiding."

Nothing moved at first. The night was still, and for a moment I wondered if I really had imagined the sound. But then I heard it again. The footsteps were close, and I could make out a silhouette moving forward from the darkness.

I backed up against the metal post, watching the person intently as they moved towards me. I counted their steps as they made their way past the threshold of shadows and into the circle of light cast by the streetlamp.

Paul.

His black clothes blended in with the shade of night, but now that he stood in the light I could see him fully. His dark eyes looked at me without expression as a faint breeze blew his violet hair out of his eyes.

Something dark filled me as I looked at him. Something conjured up by my sadness and my guilt. It wasn't anger, or rage or fear. It was darker than any of those.

This should be his fault, I thought. This all started when he came into my life. He should be the cause of all this not me!

"What do you want?" I asked darkly.

He didn't respond. He just kept staring at me with his endless eyes, like a statue that could breathe.

"If you've come to gloat then just, get it over with!" I spat angrily.

Nothing still. He just stayed silent, leaving my words to hang in the air.

His silence made me shake with rage. Feelings I hadn't known I'd had boiled under my skin until I felt like I was going to explode. It was always the same with him. Never talking, acting all mysterious, or mean, or condescending, and at that moment I just couldn't take it anymore.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" I screamed "What do you want from me!?"

Still nothing. So I kept going.

"Is it not bad enough that I've lost everything!? Now you have to come and-and just stand there!? Don't you have anything to say!?"

He didn't even flinch.

"This all started because of you, ya' know! My life was perfect until you came along! I had everything anyone should ever want! I was popular, I had the best friends in the whole world, and I NEVER doubted myself! And then you-you just showed up and you changed everything! You made me question everything I ever knew about myself! You looked down on me, berated me, and humiliated me!

"And now, there's nothing left!" I bawled, not caring anymore if he saw me cry. "I hated you, for everything you put me through. I HATED YOU!"

I gasped in air as my throat stung from yelling.

"And I wish, more than anything, that I could hate you again, right now. I want to blame everything on you, I want to wish I'd never met you, I want everything to be able to go back to normal if you'd just go away.

"But you know what the really sad part is?" I asked, knowing he wouldn't answer me. "I don't hate you. I hate me. I hate myself for what I did and what I've become. I hate that I pushed my friends away. I hate that I forgot what it feels like to love music."

I dropped to my knees, my anguish consuming me with every word.

"I never used to care what my music sounded like… until I met you." I admitted. "That's why I can't hate you anymore. So, congratulations. You win."

I just cried after that. I just let everything out, and the let it go. These feelings that had been poisoning my heart for so long were all coming out now, and I was glad for it. I was sad to have lost everything I had, but I think I'd accepted now that things had to change and move forward. But that didn't mean I couldn't mourn the loss of my friends a little bit longer.

I opened my eyes to see a pair of black skater shoes on the ground in front of me. I thought after my outburst, Paul would have just left but he was still here. I held my breath, afraid of what he was going to do. I didn't even possess the courage to look up at him.

"Your friends are looking for you."

My heart leapt in my chest. Did he really just say that? And was it true? It couldn't be, could it? My friends were gone now, and a part of me didn't blame them for leaving. But I wanted to hope that his words were true.

"What?" I whispered disbelievingly.

"They looked pretty worried about you. You caused them a lot of trouble."

My friend were worried? About me? They still cared? I wanted to feel relieved, but I couldn't help the astonishment that flooded through me, followed by a crushing sense of fear and guilt.

Maybe I didn't deserve their forgiveness. They were probably better off without me, I mean, I was so awful to them. Who's to say I wouldn't be again?

I was afraid of hurting them, but I also wanted nothing more than for them to forgive me. I didn't need to be the best, or popular or famous, I just needed them. I've always needed them. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten that.

"Why would you want to-tell me that?" I hiccuped, still crying freely.

He got down on one knee, but I still couldn't bring myself to look up at him. I stared down at my lap as he spoke.

"Because…maybe I don't hate you either."

I looked up at him then. His words shocked me to my core, as he had every reason to hate me after how I'd acted.

Paul just looked at me like he always did, but his eyes spoke for him. He almost looked…sympathetic. Like he understood how sorry I was. Like he'd gone through something similar before.

He got up suddenly and held out his hand for me.

"Come on. I'll take you back to the dorms."

I didn't deserve this. This was probably the kindest I'd ever seen Paul act before, and I knew I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve anything from him.

He was still as mysterious as the first time I laid eyes on him. And maybe I'd never fully understand why he was this way or why he did the things he did. Maybe I just needed to accept it, like a fact of nature. Sometimes it rained while other times it was sunny, and sometimes Paul was distant while others he was kind.

I looked at his outstretched hand.

And I took it.

The next morning

I opened my eyes to the sight of my bedroom ceiling. I blinked a few times, wondering how I'd gotten there before memories of the night before started to come back to me.

I remembered losing to Heroes Flaw at the concert last night. I remembered running off on my own and then having Paul come find me. I remembered yelling at him before finally accepting what had happened. And then I remember him offering me his hand, and accepting it.

After that it was kind of vague. I think my fatigue had finally overcome me at that point, making my memories a bit hazy. Paul had probably brought me back to the dorms, since I was here. I was still a little shocked at how considerate he had acted.

I looked at the clock and saw that it was past 10 o'clock. I almost panicked, before I remembered that classes had been canceled today because of the concert.

Suddenly, I was snapped out of my thoughts by a well-aimed bubblebeam at my face. I looked around and saw Piplup looking up at me with his arms crossed. He didn't look happy with me.

"Oh, Piplup…" I said dumbly. I must have run off without him at the concert last night. I wondered how he got back here on his own, but concluded one of the girls had probably gotten him.

"Piplup," I stated, slipping down to the floor from my bed. "I'm so sorry. I know you've been worried about me for a while now. And…I lied when I told you I was fine. I just-"

Piplup interrupted when he hopped up on my lap and hugged my stomach. I stopped talking and just hugged him back for a while. This was his way of saying he forgave me.

"Thank you Piplup," I whispered to him. "You're a good friend."

Friend. That word reminded me of the others, and how worried about me they'd been. I got up suddenly, putting Piplup down on the bed. I noticed that I was still dressed in my outfit from last night, minus the shoes, but I didn't care. I ran out of my room, intending to knock on May's door when I heard a soft snoring coming from a different direction.

Slowly, I made my way down the short hallway to see May curled up on our living room couch. Her hair was down and she had changed into pajama's consisting of red and white stripped shorts and a red tank top. But what was really confusing me, was why would she have slept on the couch?

I realized then that it might have been my fault. I had been out pretty late last night, and I had worried her. If I had to guess, she had fallen asleep on the couch waiting up for me to come back. My heart broke for her. I went over to the couch and shook her shoulder softly.

"May…" I whispered.

"I'M UP!" she jumped awake as if I had yelled in her ear, causing her to roll of the couch and onto the hardwood floor.

"Ooooww…" she moaned from the floor. She looked around, obviously disoriented while rubbing her head. When she'd spotted me she shot up from the floor instantly.

"DAWN!" she yelled, anger in her voice. She stomped around the couch to stand in front of me. "Where were you!? We looked everywhere for you after the show, and all around campus! I was about to call the police and report you missing I was so worried about you!"

I looked at her dumbstruck. Her anger was so strange, since I rarely had it directed at me. But while she looked angry one moment, her anger melted the next and turned to relief.

"Please don't ever do that again," she said. "I stayed up as late as I could waiting for you, but I must have drifted off. At least you're okay now though."

Was I okay? How could I be okay after the way I treated you? You shouldn't even care so much about me after what I did! The thoughts never made it out of my mouth though, because my throat had closed up tight. I felt my shoulders begin to shake as I looked at the girl who I'd known for seven years, who could still stand by me and worry about me even after seeing me at my worst.

As a new wave of tears fell from my eyes I threw my arms around May's shoulders and held on for dear life. Heroes Flaw could keep the number one spot for all I cared. As long as I had May as a friend, I'd be thankful for the rest of my life.

"Dawn, what's wrong?" May asked as she hugged me back.

"I-I'm- I'm so s-sorry!" I choked out between my sobs. "I-I'm just-s-so sorry…"

She just let me cry as I hugged her. She didn't say anything, she just held me comfortingly until I was done. My tears were hard to stop once they started falling, but eventually I calmed down enough for her to pull away and look at me.

"I forgive you," May said. "We all make mistakes and say things we don't mean. I'm just glad your finally back to normal!"

I wiped my eyes roughly with the back of my hand. I still didn't feel like I deserved to be forgiven, but I did have a few more apologies to make.

"I've got to go see the others." I told her. "I need to apologize to them too."

"I'll go with you," May said cheerily. "It'll be easier if you don't have to do it alone."

I smiled at her, thankful that she could find it in herself to forgive me. Before we made our way over to room 611 to see the others, we both got dressed. I got dressed quickly, for the first time in forever not caring what I wore. I threw on navy-blue jeans and a white, long-sleeved shirt. I slipped on the pink flats I wore last night, as they were the first pair I saw. May wore a red sweater and black leggings, along with her red bandanna on her head. She wore regular red running shoes.

As we made our way down the hall, I found myself growing more nervous the closer we got. The things I'd said to Misty and Leaf were much more personal than what I'd said to May. I said them to cut them deeply, and now wondered whether or not they would forgive me as easily as May had.

We stood in front of their dorm room together. I raised my hand to knock, but hesitated when I was about to hit the surface of the door. I felt May put her hand on my shoulder.

"It'll be alright," she promised.

Her optimism gave me the courage to knock. I heard shuffling coming from the other side of the door, before it opened to reveal a very tired looking Misty with her short hair down around her face. She wore blue PJ shorts and a white tank top. She looked surprised when she saw it was me, but then masked her emotions with a look of indifference. Not a good sign.

She grabbed a key card off of her side table and stepped out into the hall, shutting the door behind her. She leaned her back against it and crossed her arms, looking at me with a blank stare.

She didn't say anything, so I assumed she wanted me to start talking first.

"Hi," I said shyly, my nerves quaking with fear.

"Hi," she said louder than I had.

I didn't even know where to start. Should I just start apologizing? Should I try and explain myself. I ended up just playing with the hem of my shirt while looking ashamed, like a scared child. But Misty deserved more than that. We may have only been friends for a year, but I knew she was loyal. I'm sure that she'd at least listen, whatever I decided to say.

"Um…about what happened, well, I just wanted-"

"I see you got back safely," she interrupted. "That's good I suppose, but you still shouldn't have run off like that. I must have lapped the campus like three times looking for you, and you forgot your phone too. That was pretty irresponsible."

I cringed at her tone. It was like she was lecturing me, but I did kind of deserve it. May obviously hadn't been the only one worried about me.

"You shouldn't have had to do that," I admitted.

"Yeah, well I did, and I'd do it again if I had to," she stated, like it was a fact.

I smiled a little. Misty was one to hold a grudge, but she still cared deeply about her friends.

"Misty, I'm sorry," I blurted out. "About everything. I'm sorry for those horrible things I said and that I caused you so much trouble last night. I guess I am just like you sisters…"

Misty eyes softened at that. She then smirked and rolled her eyes dramatically.

"No you're not drama queen. One big difference between you and them is that they would never apologize to me in a million years. And that alone, makes you a much better person."

I smiled in relief when she said that. "So, can we be friends again?"

She tapped her finger against her face like she was actually thinking about it. "Well, I have yet to find a replacement…"

I hugged her then, knowing that she'd forgiven me in her own way. She patted my back, not being a very big 'hug' person. When I let go, she and May both exchanged a look before turning back to me.

"Do you…want to come in?" she asked hesitantly.

My worries came back tenfold as I realized why they looked so cautious. The last person I'd yet to apologize too, was quite honestly the person I'd hurt the most.

I nodded slowly, swallowing to cleanse my dry throat. Misty opened the door and all three of us walked in to the dorm room. It looked just like ours, besides the furniture arrangement looking slightly different.

May sat down on the couch while I stood, shifting me weight from foot to foot nervously. Misty went down the short hallway that looked like ours to knock on a door decorated with musical note stickers. A few moments later, a sleepy looking Leaf opened the door, dressed in a long, white, button up shirt that looked like a nightgown on her. Misty whispered to her quietly before they made their way back down the hallway to where we were in the living room.

Leaf's eyes went from May sitting on the couch to me. Her eyes widened at my presence, obviously not expecting me to be there. I looked at her and the memory of her from a few days before flashed behind my eyes. She's looked so sad when I'd said those things to her. I felt ashamed of the way I'd acted towards her; towards all of them. But I was the most guilty about what I'd said to Leaf. Her scars were the deepest. She had trusted me, and I'd betrayed that trust when I said those things knowing they would hurt her the most.

"Leaf…" I choked. I didn't even know what I could say. What words could possibly express how much regret I felt?

She just continued looking shocked. I took a step towards her, but faster than I could register, she turned around and walked away.

I watched her go, my heart falling into my stomach. I should have known. She doesn't want to see me.

Sighing to myself, I turned around and started walking towards the door, crestfallen that I couldn't make this right. I guess it was too much to hope for that all of my friends could forgive me so easily. Not that I blamed them though.

"Wait!"

My hand rested on the doorknob, but the voice stopped me in my tracks.

Leaf was back, but she held something this time. She looked much less surprised then she had been when she first came into the room, but I didn't dare let myself hope.

She walked over to where I stood frozen, and held out what she'd gone into her room to get.

It was a white rectangle, from what I could see. Slowly, I reached out and grasped it in my fingers, taking it from her. I held it in both hands as I turned it over.

It was a picture. I remembered it from the beginning of freshman year. All four of us stood together in front of Valor Hall. Leaf and Misty were in the middle while May and I were on the ends, all smiling at the camera and looking really happy.

I looked back up at Leaf, confused as to why she would give me this.

"So you won't forget about what's really important again," she answered the question I hadn't asked.

I couldn't believe what was happening. This had to be some sort of dream, because it was just too good to be true. I thought I'd destroyed my friendships with them beyond repair, but here they were, smiling at me like nothing was wrong and I wanted so badly to believe nothing was. I just wanted my friends back, but did I really deserve it?

"I don't understand," I said, my voice cracking as more tears threatened to fall. "How can you just forgive me so easily? There shouldn't be any forgiveness for what I did."

Leaf finally smiled at me. "That's the thing about forgiveness. You can't get it until you ask for it."

I held the photo to my heart, finally accepting that this wasn't a dream.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"I'm sorry too," Leaf confessed. "About everything. I should have been there for you more."

I hugged her. My heat stung at the thought that I could have been so awful, yet Leaf still felt responsible. But it was okay. If she could forgive me for acting like such a brat for these past few months, than I could definitely forgive her for her passiveness.

"I missed you," I confessed. Not in the sense that she'd been gone. But I missed this. I missed just being able to talk to her and not worry about the competition or anything else. I missed being close to my best friends.

"I missed you too," she told me. And I knew she meant the real me. The friend she'd had for 5 years, who had taken a back seat to the Pop Princess for a while.

"Oh, I can't take it anymore! GROUP HUG!" May yelled as she tackled me and Leaf, dragging Misty along to join in.

I couldn't stop thanking Arceus that it was over. All the stress I'd had about the competition, the selfish person I became, that was all behind us now. Everything couldn't return to the way it was, and I was glad for it. I welcomed the change now instead of fighting it.

"I'm SO happy everything is back to normal!" May said as she released us.

"Well, maybe not. I think I've got a long way to go to get back to normal," I admitted.

"A lot has changed now I guess," Leaf said.

"OH RIGHT!" May yelled. "Guy's we totally forgot to tell Dawn the big news!"

Leaf and Misty gasped while I just looked at them, completely confused.

"Oh right! With all the craziness that went on last night, I guess we forgot," Misty said.

"What do you mean? What are you guys talking about?" I asked.

Leaf smiled and led me over to couch. Leaf and May sat on either side of me while Misty took the chair.

"Well, we were going to tell you after the concert, but then you ran off so we never got to," Leaf explained.

"Tell me what?" I asked curiously.

"We talked to Principal Cynthia, and worked like crazy to get everything ready, but needed to ask you before we could make it happen!" May continued.

"Make what happen?" I asked, my curiosity growing.

"And believe me, it wasn't easy. I swear I got carpal tunnel just from filling out all that paperwork," Misty commented.

"GUYS! Tell me what it is already!" I blurted out in frustration.

They all smiled at each other.

"WE'RE GOING TO FORM A BAND!" May cheered excitedly.

It took me a minute to process what that meant, before the shock hit me.

"Wait, WHAT!?" I yelled incredulously.

"That's right, we talked it over with Principal Cynthia, and she said that if we got all the work in on time we'd be able to audition just before the end of the month!" Leaf marveled.

"B-But wait, I don't understand. Leaf, your already pulling a double major, and Misty, you're in the dance major! How is this going to work?"

Leaf winked. "It took a little persuasion, but eventually I got my schedule all switched around. It's still pretty early on in the year after all. I'll still be taking some art classes, and I can participate in some of the art galleries, but my main focus will be on the music program now."

"And I got my major changed around. I was already taking music classes, but now I'll be able to do it full-time," Misty explained.

"But what about your sisters, I thought you said they wouldn't let you?" I asked.

"I got around them, no problem," was all Misty said, as she crossed her arms smugly.

"But why would you do all this?" I questioned.

The girls all exchanged glances before May slipped off the couch and came to kneel in front of me.

"We did it for you," May said while smiling.

I was taken aback by this. "For me?"

"It was all May's idea," Leaf chimed in.

"She thought the best way to be there for you, was to form an act with you. That way, when we rock and take the top spot at the next concert, all the fame won't go to your head again because we'll be there to knock some sense into you," Misty said.

"And also," May piped up. "I noticed that ever since the guys formed their band, they seem to be more in-tuned with each other. So I figured that if we did the same thing, nothing like Pop Princess Dawn would ever happen again."

I didn't know what to say. The girls had left me speechless with their idea. It was so…thoughtful. Not only did they still want to be my friends, but now they wanted to be there for me even more by forming a band? This was more than I could have hoped for. It was almost too much.

"You guys…" I smiled. "Thank you. You truly are the most amazing friends anyone could ever have."

"So, what do you say!?" May asked, standing up. "Will you join the band, Dawn Berlitz?"

I smiled at all of them. I knew they already forgave me, but it was going to take a while longer for me to forgive myself. But maybe working with them, together as one act, could help me in earning that forgiveness for myself.

"Of course. OF COURSE I'll join the band!" I jumped up, more excited than I'd ever been before.

"YAY!" "ALRIGHT!" "AWESOME!" The girls cheered.

Our combined excitement lite up the air like fireworks. If this was a dream, I prayed that it would never end. But then Misty stopped cheering and looked thoughtful for a moment instead.

"But, wait. There's still one thing," Misty spoke up, pausing our celebration. "We still need a name."

"What!?" I asked. "You guys didn't pick a name?"

"We didn't want to pick it without you," May whined. Leaf, Misty and I all dropped into the furniture.

"Mmm, what should it be?" Leaf asked.

We in turn all started to think hard about what we should call ourselves.

"Well," I started. "It should reflect all of us, right? I mean, we've all got different styles of music, so when we're a band we'll have to come up with our own new style."

"Right, so we'll all have to change in a way…" Leaf thought out loud.

"Change is definitely something I've got to work on." I said. "I've spent the past few months trying to keep everything the same. Now I've got to work on changing back into the real me. A better version of me…" I trailed off.

"AGH! How did the guys come up with their name so easily!? This is hard!" May moaned as she started to pace the room.

However while she was pacing, she forgot to look where she was going and banged her knee into the coffee table in front of the couch.

"OUCH!" May burst out as she grasped her knee, but in doing so she lost her balance since she was only standing on one foot.

"WowowowowoWO!" She said as she tried regain her balance, but failed and instead fell forward onto the ground. "OW, SERIOUSLY GRAVITY!? TWICE IN ONE DAY!?" she yelled at the ceiling.

"Wow, real graceful May," Misty chuckled sarcastically. May glared at her from the floor, but as soon as she said that I could almost feel an idea light bulb appear above my head.

"THAT'S IT!" I said as jumped back up. "I've got a name!"

"What, really?" May asked as she sat on the couch rubbing her sore knee.

"Yes! Changing Grace!" I announced to the room. "It's perfect for us! We all had to "change" something to start up the band, and "grace" because, you know it's ironic for May and girls are supposed to be all about grace."

"HEY!" May yelled at my comment.

"I like it," Leaf said. "Changing Grace is a good name."

"I like the ironic part of it," Misty said. "Whenever we're introduced I can picture May falling on her ass."

"HEY!" May yelled again. "This was MY idea in the first place you know! But, I do admit it's a pretty good name."

"Then it's agreed!" I declared, happy that things were finally starting to look up. "Changing Grace is gonna take HPA Academy by storm! And, have fun while doing it."

I couldn't remember a time when I'd been so ecstatic. I was going to be in a band, with my best friend in the world. Everything was changing, but it was okay. I didn't lose everything after all. And maybe with my BFF's by my side, I would be able to change. I had a lot of work to do, but for the first time in a long time, I was looking forward to it.

A/N: Aaaww, happy ending! Or is it a happy beginning? I hope you like the name of the girls band, because I really like it and now you guys know why the story's called "Heroes Grace". I basically had this planned from the very beginning. Kudos if you guessed that I was going to have the girls form a band too! Also, major ikarishipping feels in this chapter! Alright, I guess that's it. Until next time my lovely readers ;)