Warming Hearts

A/N: Okay, this is going to be a painful sting. Well, rip it off like a bandage.

Once again, thanks to PokemonFreak90 for beta reading this! Now, let's get on with Chapter 20. Roll it!

Chapter 20

Saying Goodbye

Ash and Dawn were out enjoying the late night air on the balcony. Both of them were silent for a bit, trying to process all that they were feeling inside in that moment. Finally, Dawn managed to speak.

"I haven't danced in so long." She said. "I almost forgot what it felt like."

"Was it like how you remembered?" Ash asked, his head slightly tilted in that endearing way that made Dawn feel like there were Butterfree in her stomach.

"It's even better than I remembered." She said. The smile that Ash gave her sent a pleasant warmth from her head down to her toes.

Both of them were silent again for a moment as Dawn tried to find a way to work her way up to confessing her feelings for Ash.

"It's kind of silly, I guess." She said, finally deciding to wing it. Ash looked back at her curiously. "That someone...something like me could hope for...more than friendship from someone like you."

Ash felt that tight clench in his chest when he heard Dawn downgrade herself again. He always hated it whenever she would think that way about herself. He didn't like it when people put themselves down; never did. But when he heard the second part of her sentence, he felt the clench fade away and a warmth began bubbling up inside him. She really...thought of him as more than a friend? That he was someone special to her? Whenever he heard that as of recent, he would get a little frustrated, wondering just what made him so special. But when he heard it from Dawn, he actually felt like he was believing it for the first time in a long time.

"I don't know about that." He said, looking at her.

Dawn felt a surge of hope swelling up in her chest. "You think so?" She asked. "Do you think that...you could be happy here with me?"

Ash opened his mouth to answer her, but then closed it when he remembered one little detail. The bitter truth about that made him look out towards the horizon with a sad look in his eyes. Dawn was wondering what he was thinking, until he finally asked her a question.

"Can anyone be happy if they're not free?" His brown eyes glimmered with sadness.

Dawn then remembered that technically, Ash was still a prisoner. He only came back with her just so that she wasn't left to die. Even though all of those great times they had shared together pushed that harsh fact away from their minds, it was still valid.

Ash then changed the subject. "My mom actually taught me to dance this summer." He said, his eyes still glued to the horizon. "She insisted that I learn, in case of some other situation in the future. I first found it annoying and embarrassing, but now, I'm glad that she pushed me."

Dawn wanted to giggle at the mental picture of Ash struggling to learn to dance with his mother. But then, she saw the longing look in his eyes.

"You miss her, don't you?" She asked.

Ash looked back at her, his eyes still shimmering, and just solemnly nodded.

At that moment, Dawn decided that she would do anything to see Ash smile again. An idea came to her mind. "Would you like to see her?"

Ash looked at her with confusion. Dawn just gestured with her head to follow her.

Minutes later, they were in the west wing. Dawn showed Ash her little enchanted mirror. Ash remembered that Dawn had explained to him about her little gifts from the ones who cursed her before she showed him that enchanted book that whisked them to Pallet Town. If he remembered correctly, it would show anyone that the bearer wishes to see.

She handed the golden mirror to him. "You remember how it works?" She asked.

Ash nodded and looked into the crystal reflection. "I'd like to see my mother." He said.

The mirror's reflection rippled and an image of a struggling Delia appeared.

"Mom?" Ash asked, worry building up in his chest. Then, he recognized some other people that were being shown to him. "Team Rocket?!" He exclaimed.

Dawn was shocked as well. Ash had told her multiple times of the annoying trio of Pokémon thieves that been trailing him and his Pikachu since he was just a beginner Trainer at 10 years old. Though Ash had defeated them every single time he'd crossed paths with them, they were frustratingly persistent.

"What are they doing to her?!" Ash continued to fret. "She's in trouble!"

Dawn stole a brief glance at the budding Gracidea flower. It looked like it was going to bloom anytime soon. But then she saw the worried expression of Ash as he stared at the mirror, knowing that he must be feeling frustrated that he couldn't do anything. She knew that there were things more important than her curse at that moment.

Ash was her only chance left at this point to break the curse, and both of them knew that their feelings were genuine. But Dawn knew that his mother needed his help more than she did. She knew that she was giving up her last chance to be human again, but she cared more about him than about herself, so she was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for Ash's sake.

"Then...you'd better hurry." She said, not looking at Ash.

The raven-haired boy tore his gaze from the mirror and gaped at his friend, from what she'd just said. "D-Did you just…"

"You'd better hurry and save her." Dawn said. "I think it's time you go and be someone else's hero now."

Ash would've blushed at her words if the truth wasn't settling in hard in his mind. "You... You're letting me go?" He asked.

Dawn nodded. "Yes. Now, go!" She said, gesturing towards the door.

Ash gave her a determined look and started to run out. But then, he realized that he still had the mirror in his hands and he turned to give it back. But Dawn stopped him.

"Keep it with you." She said. "So that you can always look back and remember me."

The Kanto boy looked at the mirror and then back up at Dawn. "I gave my word to the others here that I'll help them be free again. Now, I promise you the same thing, Dawn. I'll come right back to you once my mother is safe. I won't abandon you to your fate."

"You don't have to do that." Dawn said. She knew that even if he did come back, it would be too late by then.

Ash shook his head and took Dawn's paw in his hand. "I'm doing it because I want to." He said firmly. "There's a difference."

Dawn knew that there was no more hope now, but seeing the determined look in his eyes, she felt like she could never doubt him. So she just nodded, silently saying that she believed in him.

He released her paw when he realized that she wasn't going to say anything else and then hurried out of the wing, staring at the mirror.

"Hold on, Mom." He whispered.

When he was at the stairs, he saw Pikachu talking with Piplup and Buneary. He whistled to him sharply, catching his partner's attention. The Electric type obeyed his Trainer's call and quickly scampered over to him. Ash didn't even bother to change out of his formal clothes. All that was on his mind was that he needed to rescue his mother.

Both Trainer and Pokémon came to the main foyer and looked around once more. For some reason, there was the slight impression that they would never see that place again. But Ash shook his head. He would come back. After all, he had a promise to keep to everyone living there. He still had no idea how he was going to help break the enchantment, but he wasn't going to give up until he gave it his very best attempt. With that, he and Pikachu left through the door.

But unbeknown to them, Zoey the Glameow had been watching them from the stairs. She sighed heavily as they left. All that was running through her mind was that she knew why her mistress had let him go: she had loved him enough to put his needs before her own.

It had only been a couple of minutes since Ash had left the wing. Dawn had thrown off her pretty white dress and back into her old rags that were like a Gardevoir's dress. She was staring intently at the Gracidea under the glass bell jar.

Just then, Kenny the Prinplup came into the chamber. "Well, mistress, I admit, I had my doubts. But now, I think that we really do have a chance."

Dawn turned away from the entrance and her servant... No, her old friend. "I...I let him go." She said quietly.

Kenny was quiet for a second before he exclaimed, "You WHAT?!"

The other servants; Leona the Swinub, Paris the Lopunny, and Laine the Bellossom came tumbling in just as he said that. It was clear that they were eavesdropping, but Dawn didn't care at the moment.

"Mistress, how could you do that?" Leona asked. They were so close to breaking the curse, and yet, she released him instead of confessing?

"I had to." Dawn said simply.

"But...why?" Laine asked, her head tilted in childlike curiosity.

Zoey then came in, coming in next to her little cousin. "Because she loves him." She said.

Dawn just kept staring at the Gracidea. Her paw holding the end of the table gripped it tighter, confirming Zoey's comment.

"Then why aren't we human again?" Leona asked.

"Because he doesn't love her." Kenny answered her with a huff.

"How could he, though?" Dawn questioned. "How could someone as incredible as him actually learn to love a beast like me?"

"Mistress, we've seen the way he looks at you." Paris said. "There's a chance that he does feel the same for you."

"Even so, our time is running out." Dawn said. "By the time he gets back here, it will be too late."

The servants all looked down at the floor with defeat. Freedom was within reach, yet it was still too far away.

"I'm sorry, though." Dawn said. The servants all looked up at their mistress. "We all used to be good friends as children. But when my father took control of my life after Mother died, I did nothing but turn into his puppet and neglected all of you." She held back a sob. "Now, I would give anything to have all of you go back to your normal selves and live your own lives. Accomplish your dreams, see the world. But now you're trapped here, like me."

She then turned her back away from them completely so that they wouldn't see the tears slowly coming down her face. "Our time is nearly here." She said. "Go. Savor the last moments that you have with one another."

The servants held back their own sorrow as they slowly left the now darkened west wing. Zoey grabbed a quietly crying Laine and placed her on her back. Paris came beside the two, gently rubbing the little Bellossom while wiping away her own tears. Kenny and Leona walked side by side, giving each other comfort.

Dawn began to recall everything that had happened in her life, up to this moment. Her earliest memories with her mother and sister, her mother dying in bed, and her sister being taken to be an ambassador for their little province. Her being alone with her cruel father, who was only her father because of an arranged marriage between him and her mother. Eventually becoming as cruel as he was until he died out on the sea. Dawn couldn't care less about him, even though he was her father.

Then, the Lake Guardians appeared to her, rebuking her for her mistreatment of the Pokémon around her grounds and of her servants, who were once her friends as a child. Being cursed by them and becoming a hideous creature beyond recognition, and then giving her a bit of hope with how the spell could be broken. At first, she believed it to be a sense of falsehood, daring her to even dream of having someone love her, despite her beastly appearance.

But after six long years of loneliness and cursing the Legendaries for their punishment on her, he came into her life. Ash Ketchum, a handsome and brave young man, who at first, despised her with a passion because of her imprisoning his mother for practically no fair excuse, and who nobly sacrificed his own freedom in exchange for hers. He certainly had a free spirit and a lot of fire within his soul, with how he stood his ground against her during the first 24 hours that they knew each other, and how he was already plotting to escape from what he had admitted to her a few months ago. He was also curious and reckless, if him sneaking around the west wing was any indication.

But when she came after him after he had run away from the castle and into the forest after she lashed out at him, and then helping him and his Pikachu fight against that pack of Mightyena, he could've left her there to die from her wounds and he could've been free. But instead, he helped bring her back to the castle and then nursed her back to health. Then, as the weeks turned into months, they both gained a better understanding of each other. And that understanding grew into a very unusual friendship between the two of them. And on Dawn's side, that friendship had blossomed into something more.

She could still see his smile, kind and wide. The fire burning in his eyes as he trained with his Pokémon out on the battlefield. His little mishaps and his clumsiness, even when simply walking down a flight of stairs. Or rather, more like running down the stairs. The contagious excitement as he told her stories of his own adventures throughout the world during his journey as a Trainer. The love that he shows to almost all living creatures, even to her.

It was true. Without a doubt. Dawn was deeply and irrevocably in love with Ash Ketchum.

Dawn heard a loud caw ringing out through the night. She turned away from the bell jar and walked out onto the balcony, just as a Talonflame shot up into the sky with Ash and Pikachu on his back. Dawn continued watching with a broken heart as they disappeared into the night.

A/N: Updates on all my stories will be really slow starting today. I'm moving from my house, so give or take a couple of weeks until everyone in my family gets settled into the new place. Sorry, guys.

But, until then, I'll see y'all! Please leave a review about what you think.

Got to fly! ;)