Let's continue.
"How are they?" Ash asked.
Marisa looked back at him and smiled. "You don't have to worry about them, Ash. Leon got the worst of it, but he'll survive. And you know how resilient Sarah is. They'll be fine by tomorrow, and they've already woken up several times before they got here."
Leon and Sarah were lying on two large beds in an inn near Cameran Palace. It was two days after Anabel's capture that Marisa had judged them to be well enough for transport, and that was under very excruciating circumstances. Ideally, she would have preferred to wait a little longer, but there wasn't time.
Victor and Marisa had transported Leon and Sarah from Sinnoh with enormous difficulty, but thanks to the combined efforts of Altaria, Aerodactyl, Togekiss, and Flygon, it was done within another day, during which Marisa had used her powers to relax and heal her two comrades. Because of this, Leon and Sarah were almost completely recovered at this point, even though they had suffered several deep gashes across the body. By all rights, they would have been dead if Victor and Marisa hadn't found them.
However, Ash could plainly see that despite her spirit, Marisa was exhausted. She had gotten very little rest over the past three days; she had spent it helping Leon and Sarah recover. Victor was no better; the only reason that Marisa had been able to keep going was because he had been fuelling her healing with his own energy supply whenever Marisa was running low. Aura did not take long to regain, but if the user was repeatedly draining his supply like Victor was, it could cause an increase in the amount of time that it took to regain any expended energy.
In other words, the only able-bodied fighter in the whole group was Ash. He knew that he could never save Anabel alone, but like all heroes, he wouldn't hesitate at all to try. Victor actually had to use his chains to suffocate and knock him out for a little bit in order to stop him. Even now, Ash was stubbornly still insisting that he had to save her. If not, he would die trying.
"I have to…" Ash started.
"Don't even think about it," Victor interrupted, glaring at Ash.
"And who's going to stop me? None of you can even try anymore. That trick you used earlier won't work anymore, Victor." Ash turned to leave, but Raichu quickly leapt off of his shoulder.
Before Ash could react, Raichu struck him with a Thunderbolt. Even though Ash had gotten stronger, so had Raichu. If Ash couldn't block it with a barrier, Raichu's Thunderbolt hurt even more than it had when he was a kid.
Ash screamed as the electricity coursed through his body, and then he slumped when it was over. Still, he glared furiously at his loyal partner. "Raichu!"
Raichu let out more bolts of electricity, but these were weaker ones, aimed at the Poke Balls on the nearby table. They all opened to release Ash's Pokémon, and all of them were glaring at their master resolutely.
"What's wrong with you all? Why do you all stand in my way?! I have to save her!"
Charizard let out a resounding roar, making the entire room shake. Even Ash backed up a little in the face of his dragon's annoyance.
"They all feel the same way. We're doing to stop you from killing yourself!" Victor snapped. Ash turned at the sound of more Poke Balls opening, and saw Weavile, Smeargle, and Kecleon ready to back Ash's Pokémon up.
"There's no more room here, Ash. If there were, I'd be doing the same thing that Victor's doing. Don't go after her; it would be suicide. We don't have any leads, any backup…we don't even have any fighting force! Look at us! Sarah's powers have grown enormously since we last saw her, and despite all her power, she's still lying on that bed!" Marisa exclaimed.
"Leon, your only equal on this team, is also out of commission. And the two of us are exhausted. That only leaves you, and I honestly don't think that you can save her on your own, Ashvier," Victor added.
"I still have to try!"
"You. Will. Die." Marisa enunciated every word slowly and coldly. "I will not bury someone else I care about, nor will I be responsible for the funeral of an idiot who threw himself into death to save his lover."
"But—" Everyone else was shocked when Ash was suddenly hurled into the wall. However, all of them quickly realized who was responsible.
"You're awake, Sarah? Good morning," Marisa greeted, smiling at the blond girl lying on her bed.
Sarah smirked and opened her eyes before rising. The first thing she focused on was Ash, who was currently struggling against the telekinetic's power.
"I can't keep this up for long, but don't think you're off the hook," With a sigh, Sarah released her grip on Ash and let him slump to the floor.
Ash grinned as he looked up at Sarah. "Marisa was right. You've gotten more powerful. How long have you been awake?"
"I see that you've gotten weaker, Ash. I agree with Victor and Marisa. I don't think you can save her," Sarah said.
"You avoided the question."
"I think you'll be more interested to know what exactly happened to Leon and I." Sarah looked worriedly at her partner. "He'll be fine, right?"
"Don't worry. Leontus Firesect is one of the most stubborn people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. If anyone's going to survive this fight, it will be him." Victor smirked at Sarah. "Besides, he has you to worry about."
To everyone's surprise, Sarah did not spout pointless denials. She had come to terms with her feelings for Leon, and because of that, her only reaction was a light blush and turning away. "Stop it."
The others' surprise quickly turned into happiness. "Well…when's the wedding?" Marisa joked.
"Perhaps a few years after this fight." It was not Sarah who answered.
Ash laughed out loud. "Now him I noticed. You're a very good actor, Leon."
"There's no hiding from you, Ash." Leon sat up as well, albeit with much more difficulty than Sarah had. Still, he had the strength to grin mockingly at Ash. "You really need to learn about your lover's feelings."
Ash's smile faded. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Sarah glared at Ash. "Isn't it obvious? Do you really think that Anabel would be happy if you died trying to save her? Even if it worked, it would mean nothing! She wouldn't care at all if she were saved and you died trying to help her!"
"I'd rather die than leave her at their hands!" Ash exclaimed.
"But you don't have to! You don't have to save her now! Just wait for us to recover! It'll only take one more day! If you go now, it'd be suicide! You can't even beat Wrath, and who knows how powerful Pride is, not to mention Iestyn himself!"
"But—" Leon hurled an Aura Sphere at Ash, one that exploded against Ash's rushed barrier and caused an impact hard enough to send him stumbling backwards…right into Gallade's dropkick from behind.
Ash landed hard and glared at Leon and Gallade. However, he was taken aback by the resolution in their eyes, and then by the fact of the same resolution that all of the others had.
"If you even try to go after her by yourself, I swear that as soon as I get better, I'm going to hunt you down and drag you back myself, even if I have to do it with you kicking and screaming! You might think that dying to save Anabel is for her, but it's only for yourself! If you die saving her, you'd only be running away from your responsibilities not only as an opponent to Aura Psychicorum, but also as her lover! Anabel fights for you, Ash! If you die, then all of this is pointless to her!" Leon roared.
This caught Ash's attention, and Sarah sighed. "Before we left to inform her family about the situation, I talked to Anabel about why she would willingly leave her position. I had a feeling that it wasn't only because you asked her to…"
"You want to help Ash?" Sarah asked.
"Yes. To be honest, I don't really want to stop being the Salon Maiden, even if it is temporary. It would be so inconvenient for Scott and all the trainers that want to battle me. I feel like I'm being too selfish, asking for leave with pay," Anabel answered.
"But…?"
"But then there's Ash. I know how strong he's gotten, and I know how far he'd go to protect me. Even though we hardly even know each other, he won't hesitate to put himself in danger for me." Anabel sighed and laid her head on Sarah's shoulder. "I wouldn't be able to bear it if he died trying to protect me."
"Hey, hey…" Sarah put her arms around Anabel and patted her back. "I wouldn't worry about it. You saw how strong Ash is. I don't think there are many people who could kidnap you and kill him."
"If that's true, then why is Ash so paranoid, even with Leon around? Don't you think it's because there's someone out there who's more powerful than both of them combined?"
Sarah had no answer to that, and Anabel sighed, lifting her head from her friend's shoulder. "Sarah…I want you to do me a favor. If I ever get caught, don't let Ash try to find me alone, even if he plans to bring his Pokémon with him. If he tries to, I want you to do whatever you can to stop him. All this would mean nothing if he died to protect me. I want to get out of this at his side."
"Even if he insists? Even if he wants to?"
"Especially those times. If he's going to die, it won't be for my sake. It will be a peaceful death. I'm going with him to make sure he doesn't sacrifice himself for my sake. Will you help me, Sarah?" Anabel asked.
There was no hesitation in Sarah's answer. "I will. If you're ever caught, I'll stop him."
"Just as you won't break your promise to protect her, I won't break my promise to stop you. Even if I'm currently bedridden, I will do everything I can to stop you from going after her alone," Sarah promised.
Leon nodded. "Besides, if you die going after her, you won't be able to protect her from the grief that she would feel, nor anything else in the future. But if you just wait, Ash, then both you and Sarah can keep your promises. Eventually, we'll all go after her, and we will save her. It's our duty."
Ash finally gave in, and returned his Pokémon. Victor did the same. "I'm sorry, everyone. I was foolish. I guess I have no choice but to wait."
"It's the right choice, Ash. We'll be back in top form in one more day at the most. And I can promise you…I won't be taken by surprise this time," Leon growled.
Sarah shook her head at Leon. "It's not your fault. None of us could have seen it coming. The fact that we're even alive right now is because of nothing but sheer luck," she said.
"Well, you were fighting against Envy. I'm sorry for putting you both in such danger. It's my fault that you two almost died and that we lost two of the most powerful resistance fighters. I should have been more careful," Ash said.
"Cardinal Chang and Miss Temple were trustworthy. I should have tried harder to protect them, and now they're both dead. Damn…I can't believe we lost to Envy…" Leon growled.
"What are you saying? Envy is the third most powerful member of the Seven Sins! There's no shame in losing to him! I think you're lucky to be alive!" Marisa exclaimed.
"But that's exactly what you have wrong. We didn't exactly lose to Envy," Sarah said.
The whole room froze. Then…"WHAT?!"
Leon winced, and then he began to explain. "The truth is, Sarah and I were able to fight evenly with Envy. He got the upper hand more times than I did, but I always managed to bounce back with Sarah's help. It's true that Envy was the one who left the claw marks, but we could have beaten him."
"What happened, then?" Ash asked.
"Well…"
"What is this? Come on, come on! How am I fighting evenly with you? You better not be holding back!" Leon exclaimed.
"Shut up! This is unfair! You have a telekinetic on your side!" Envy snapped, his green Aura Claws striking at Leon's Aura Lance.
"I'm not even doing anything to you!" Sarah protested, before landing a solid kick to Envy's face after the Sin blew Leon back with a blast of Aura. What she said was true; despite her best efforts, Envy did not seem to be slowing down at all when she placed her control on him. However, it was different when she used her telekinesis to speed herself up.
It was Sloth's ultimate technique, and Sarah had learned it within only a few weeks. It wouldn't be long before she mastered it. If it hadn't been for Ash telling him about how quickly Anabel had been able to break his main mind barriers, Leon might have suspected that Sarah was the Lilac Maiden. Even so, both of the girls were approaching their pinnacles at an alarming rate, but Leon had a feeling that growth would soon stunt, which was good because he didn't know what he'd do if Sarah got more powerful than him.
But this was no time for such thoughts. Leon was now looking on as Sarah diverted Envy's attention to herself. Despite the fact that Sarah was moving at inhuman speeds, she was actually quite alert. She knew that attempting to block or parry Envy's claws would mean severe injury; there was nothing on her arms that could protect her from that. As a result, she was forced to avoid every claw slash, but she was doing it very well for someone who had only recently started fighting like this.
Still, she couldn't keep it up for long, so Leon moved in before Sarah lost her rhythm. To Leon, time slowed down as Envy's right claw headed towards Sarah, before Leon parried it and put up a barrier to block Envy's left claw.
Leon shifted his grip on his lance and punched Envy in the face. As Envy recoiled, Leon's lance hurtled forward, ready to pierce Envy's skull and kill him. However, even if the point actually was meant to kill him, Leon never got to find out.
His lance suddenly burst apart as Leon felt agonizing pain shoot up into his head. He clenched it with both hands, screaming. As he knelt down to the ground, he heard Sarah do the same.
"Leon! What's wrong?" Chang demanded.
"Don't do it!" was all Leon could say, before gasping as he heard the screams of Cardinal Chang and Miss Temple.
He painstakingly turned his head, and instantly regretted doing so. Envy stood over the torn bodies of Leon's temporary allies. Chang's head was dangling only by a few tendons off his neck, and Miss Temple's body was laden with slashes that Leon knew were fatal.
"No…" he heard Sarah whisper.
"Sarah, don't look at them!" Leon turned to look at his partner, only to notice Envy rush towards her. Ignoring the excruciating pain in his head, Leon gave one blast of Aura to propel him in front of Sarah just as Envy slashed his claws.
Sarah's face and part of her body became splashed with blood as Leon fell. "Leon! LEON!" she gasped, shaking him before screaming as the pain in her head grew stronger.
"You will be next, after I kill your partner!" Sarah shielded Leon's body with her own, and screamed again as Envy's claws tore through her.
So this was what Leon feels as he fights, Sarah thought as she slumped on top of her partner.
"You are not dead," Envy remarked as Sarah panted, clinging on to consciousness. "But…this ends now. The two of you are way too much of a threat to our plans. Therefore, you must die. Any last words that you want me to take to your friends?"
"No."
"Hmm?"
"No, because we won't die here!" Sarah lifted her blood-streaked face to glare at Envy. "I won't let you kill us! Anabel's counting on me to return, and there's no way in hell I'll let her down!"
With that, Sarah used the last of her energy reserves to focus, ignoring the pain in her head. As Envy sneered and tried to land the finishing blow, Sarah mentally propelled Chang and Miss Temple's corpses as well as herself and Leon away from the battlefield, and far out of Envy's range.
As she flew them through the air, Sarah began to rapidly lose her energy, even though the pain in her head had disappeared. She was well aware that this method would leave a trail of blood, but she still had to try to keep them alive for at least a few minutes more. She knew it was too late for Cardinal Chang and Miss Temple, but she had to at least try to keep herself and Leon alive. If she didn't, then he would never know how she felt about him.
He cannot die…I won't let him die…Sarah thought. By now, she was running on her last legs, but she had to keep going. Unfortunately, her body could not handle the stress, and Sarah found her grip slip on those she was carrying.
"Damn!" Sarah tried to restore herself, but it was no use; the wounds were finally getting to her. "I should have dropped us off somewhere instead of focusing on flying! But now…there's not enough time!" Sarah closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable pain as they fell from the sky.
Suddenly, she felt a hand grip her arm, and opened her eyes to see Leon smiling at her. His face was pinched and pale from the blood loss and wounds, but he was still smiling as he leant close to her.
"Thank you. Get some rest, my dear. Now it's my turn…"
Sarah lost consciousness in Leon's arms. The Aura Guardian looked down, and unhesitatingly made a decision. He exhausted his last energy reserves to create a barrier powerful enough to soften the impact. Still, it hurt like hell when they crashed into the ground, and Leon released a resounding cry of pain as it happened.
Leon regained his senses after a few minutes, and dragged himself over to Sarah. He felt for her pulse with slight panic, but was relieved when he found it, although its erratic behavior told him that she wouldn't have long to live if she stayed in the condition she was in.
And from the way he felt, Leon wouldn't survive long either. But he couldn't move his body an inch. "Damn…damn it all…" he muttered as he took in the full gravity of the situation.
As he lost consciousness, he thought he saw two blurry figures heading their way, and grinned. If they were friendly, then all the better. But if they were enemies, then…hope you choke on my bones! Leon thought.
"Yeah, that was us. We saw your barrier," Victor explained.
"It was a good thing you guys showed up. We wouldn't have survived without you," Leon said.
"Thank you. Thank you both," Sarah added, bowing her head.
"There's no need for that. You two are our precious comrades," Victor said.
"It would totally suck if you two died. Anabel wouldn't be able to stop blaming herself, and our combat strength would decrease dramatically," Ash added.
"You'll be fine by tomorrow, so we'll leave you two alone for now. Try not to let us find any more life forms in here by tomorrow!" Marisa teased, standing up.
"Marisa!" Sarah complained, sick and tired of her friend's teases.
"Lay off! Besides, it takes several days for a fetus to even start taking form!" Leon laughed.
"Leon!"
"Well, whatever. Get your rest. We're leaving to save Anabel the day after tomorrow," Ash said, going to leave the room. Victor and Marisa went to follow, but stopped dead when what Ash said sunk in.
"The day after tomorrow? Did I hear that right?" Marisa asked.
Leon smirked. "So he actually does listen to people…"
That night, Leon couldn't sleep. On the other hand, he could tell that Sarah was asleep, from the sound and rhythm of her breathing.
"I've gotten enough rest from that mini-coma I was in. I guess I can afford to walk around for a little bit," he whispered to himself. With that in mind, he put on a pair of felt slippers and headed out of the inn, creeping past the rooms of everyone else.
When he got outside to the inn's courtyard, Leon sat down and released his Pokémon from their Poke Balls. They quickly crowded around him. "I'm all right, everyone. Don't worry."
"Can you really blame them for worrying?"
Leon turned around to see Sarah and her Pokémon. "Not really. I thought you were asleep."
"I heard you creeping around, so I had to follow you. By the way, my Pokémon reacted the same way yours did when I brought them out just now." Sarah smiled. "Mind if we join you?"
"Not at all." Sarah's smile grew wider as she sat next to him.
"Have you noticed that whenever we choose to sit outside like this, there are always stars in the sky?" Leon asked.
"Be careful, you'll jinx it," Sarah answered.
"Perhaps."
They sat in silence for a few more minutes. Then… "Hey…when I was flying you, Chang, and Miss Temple, I realized how you felt," Sarah said.
"About what?"
"About protecting those you care about. It's just this feeling…that you would sacrifice everything for them. I was able to fly for that long because I wanted to protect you. I wanted to do for you what you always do for me. You jumped in the way of those claws without any hesitation, even though you knew that they would've have killed you." Sarah shook her head. "And that's not the only time you've done something like that, isn't it? You did it against Master Averill, twice. And who knows how many times you did it when you were still an agent? Thanks to the battle with Envy, I can understand you a little bit more. Now I know why you would go so far as to risk your life for such things."
"Sarah…would you like me to answer your question?" Sarah looked confused. "How many times did I nearly die to protect another human being during my time as an agent? In all my jobs, for all the friendship that I shared with my Pokémon and Tier 5…I have never jumped in the way of an attack meant for someone else. You are the only one who I've ever done that for."
"Did you think that I wouldn't be able to handle it?" Sarah asked, a slight accusing tone in her voice.
"In that situation, we were all going to die somehow no matter how we would have handled Envy's initial claw strike. I did it because of how important you are to me," Leon answered.
Sarah's eyes widened as Leon continued. "Sarah, you are the only one in the whole group who's known me since I was a child. You've known me for even longer than Infernape, Drapion, and Luxray. I made the mistake of letting you go once. I won't do it again."
"But you almost died because of me. Even when I tried my very best to protect you, you still almost died. How could you still stay with me if I'm such a danger to you? And besides, compared to Anabel, I must seem like a lesser priority."
"I stay with you because I want to. That's all there is to it. I want to stay with you for as long as I can, and I want you to stay with me. Ever since I came back, you've always been with me even though I'm different from what I used to be. And no matter how unimportant you might think you are compared to Anabel, it doesn't matter to me because you are the most important thing in my life now. I can't imagine life without you. I'm not fighting for Anabel, Ash, or any of the others. I'm fighting for you. I fight to protect this world because you are in it. Do you understand?"
Sarah embraced Leon, crying a little into his shoulder. "Don't ever leave me again. I won't forgive you if you do."
"I promise."
Then, Leon lowered his head and kissed her lightly on the forehead. Sarah blushed a little, but lifted her head off his shoulder and smiled at him. There was a certain glow in her eyes, and Leon immediately fell into the moment.
Without any more hesitation, Leon and Sarah's lips met. Leon's hand tipped her chin up, and Sarah's hands framed his face. It was not a heavy kiss, but both of them felt the emotion behind it. When they parted, there was no more need for words. They knew how the other felt.
Still, Leon felt the need to say it. "I love you, Sarah. I have for quite some time now."
Sarah smiled. "I love you, too. Let me take some of your burden. As long as I live, I won't let you die."
They kissed again, this time more passionately, and then no more words were said.
And that's done. Man, this took a while to bring out.
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