Finally, we were free to leave. We said our thanks to Doctor Allen, who we'd brought gifts for to show our appreciation. He talked to us for a little while, trying to lighten the mood.
"Now Dawn, don't take this the wrong way, but I do hope I won't be seeing you any time soon." He grinned, but there was no reply. He sighed and nodded; "Well I'll be seeing you, good luck."
"Thank you for everything." I smiled, following Dawn out of the door.
It was sad. I'd never realised how dependant she was, and now she was broken. She had not uttered a word since she woke up on that day, barely replying with gestures, mere nods and shakes of her head were all we could get from her.
I felt terrible, as much as I disliked Paul, I would give anything to have him with us right now. The car ride was eerily silent as her mother peeked into the back every so often. Dawn was asleep on my shoulder, Pikachu on the other. Piplup stared up from her lap worriedly as she began whimpering in her sleep. We'd learnt to leave her, she wouldn't wake unless we woke her, and if we woke her every time she had a nightmare, she would be deprived of any sleep at all. The weight on my shoulders wasn't just a literal thing either, because Dawn hadn't blamed me for not fetching Paul when she'd asked. She was not mad at me, and it made me feel sick. Instead, she used me for support, company even though she did not speak.
Johanna had fussed over her constantly, Dawn was not annoyed once, but she showed no interest either. Like everything she once adored, like fashion and contests had all drained from her. She had no self esteem any more. There was no life in her, no trace of the personality I missed so much. Her mother tried her hardest to get her to talk, but Doctor Allen had explained that she'd had a traumatic experience, it would take time to recover. However, I knew it wasn't just one traumatic experience. It had been several, being attacked, watching me go through the same, Reggie passing away... It had taken that one extra thing, one that was so important to her, to push her over the edge. Traumatised didn't cover it.
"Are you okay back there?" Johanna asked, peeking into the mirror. "Yes thank you." I replied politely, though my rib was giving me a little trouble with Dawn putting weight on it.
"Ash," she smiled; "I have to thank you. You've been wonderful with her, through the years. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend for her."
Heat flushed straight to my cheeks as I spluttered; "wh-what?"
"Oh!" She exclaimed, realising her mistake; "I'm sorry, I assumed you two were..."
"It's fine." I assured her, I suppose many people would make that assumption. I guess I was flattered, but I'd never really sought that sort of approval. Even if I did, it would be a wasted effort. I now realise that Dawn had eyes for only one person. I didn't though, I saw her as the sister I'd never had. The idea of me and Dawn made me shudder, as I'm sure it would for her.
It suddenly occurred to me that Johanna had no idea about the relationship Dawn had had. I wasn't sure whether to warn her, or just keep my mouth shut. My eyes wandered back to the mirror, and she was watching me as if she was suspicious of something. She was wrong, of course, so I decided to tell her. After all, Dawn wasn't going to be telling her any time soon... "Dawn already has a boyfriend, anyway."
I swear Johanna nearly slammed the breaks on, but she resisted and just widened her eyes. She took a slow breath to recover from the surprise and focussed on the road. "Is it Kenny?"
I laughed silently, one could have hoped. Kenny would have been a lot nicer. "No."
"That's a shame, he really likes her." She smiled sweetly, and in her head I knew she was sighing dramatically; 'young love...'
The corner of my mouth twisted upward; "you don't know him actually. He's my rival."
"Oh." She feigned nonchalance.
I nodded; "His name is Paul." I couldn't help but spit his name, and Johanna did not fail to notice. "He's..." What were the words to describe him? Haughty... Arrogant... Uncaring... "...Reggie's brother."
She gasped quietly; "So that's why she's so upset?"
I nodded; "Sorta, she was very close with Reggie too."
"Of course." She muttered, feeling the pain for her daughter's sorrow. Motherly instinct kicked in; "Is Paul okay?"
I stopped short, I didn't know. I hadn't really thought to ask him, all those days he'd spent by Reggie's side. He went straight to Dawn after the cremation, and disappeared because of me after that.
"I couldn't find him." I muttered, ashamed. I suddenly felt even more terrible, because I'd brought myself to an all time low. This was shameful, not only had I broken Dawn, I hadn't had the decency to check Paul was okay. He was now without any family, and alone somewhere. No amount of bickering should have kept me from feeling for the guy.
I looked to my lap, and saw Piplup staring sadly at me. I knew it felt sorry for Paul too, having known him as long as Dawn had, and watched them bond together.
I promised myself I would apologise to both of them, even if I had to track Paul down, I would do it before leaving Sinnoh.
I waited a few days at Dawn's home before I told her I would be leaving soon. She simply nodded slowly, though the constant sadness in her eyes deepened. She tried to keep it from me, but I knew she was hurting. I would be the last to leave her, but I was still going.
"I can stay a little longer if you want-" I muttered, but she placed a hand on mine to get me to look at her. She smiled weakly and shook her head, telling me in her silent way that I should go home and see my own mother.
"We'll keep in touch, I promise." I pulled her into a hug as we watched the television. Pikachu and Piplup asleep on the mat in front of us. She nodded again, settling on my other shoulder this time. I don't remember much of the movie, my mind had wandered off and soon we'd both fallen asleep. That was probably the first full night sleep I'd had since the incident, because it was her first night without a nightmare. We woke up the next day with a quilt over us and a chair in front of us to prop our feet up. I chuckled as I commented on how similar our mothers were, and it hit me in that moment, how much I missed my own mother.
Dawn nodded understandingly, and stood up to shower whilst breakfast was cooking.
The day of my ferry came quicker than I'd imagined. I'd thanked Johanna and she'd thanked me back, even though I deserved none of it. She'd offered to drive me to the dock, but I wanted to walk the last part of my Sinnoh journey. Dawn followed me to the edge of town, and we walked in companionable silence, like we had many times. I turned to her; "You should head back home."
She just looked at me sadly, pursing her lips as she tried not to cry. I'd seen her cry too much recently, I didn't want her to shed any tears for me. I suddenly remembered I'd brought her a leaving present while she was in hospital, and rummaged through my bag. I found the small box, and pulled it out to hand it over, but she was holding out something to me too.
Her tiara. She'd won it back in Hearthome, something that was unique to her. Something to remember her by. "I can't take that." I said, but she took my hand a placed it on my palm. It was only tiny, and quite frail. I realised she'd taken note of the lure and the ribbon Misty and May had given me, she didn't want to be any different.
I looked back up at her to see her smiling at the box in my other hand. I held it out for her. "I thought you might like them for your next contest."
She opened the lid and beamed, lifting out a pair of black lace gloves. Her eyes sparkled, and I wanted to cry out with joy as she slammed into me. "I'll miss you." She whispered, but it was enough for me.
"I'll miss you too... Are you going to be okay?"
She nodded; "No need to worry, right?"
We didn't high five like we usually did, but our hands became entwined like we had. We stared at them for a moment, until I stepped away and our fingers slipped apart. "I'll be seeing you then." Pikachu, - who had been saying his goodbyes to Piplup and of course, Buneary, - climbed up onto my shoulder and waved gently to Dawn.
She nodded slowly. "Bye."
"Bye..." I turned my back on her, and it took a lot not to turn around when I heard a faint sob.
"Pikah..."
Out of all my goodbyes, I never thought that one could be infinitely more difficult than any other. I kept my head down and continued walking, my hat covering up my eyes.
I wandered to the harbour in a tired haze. My eyes were struggling to stay open, so I thought I was seeing things when I saw the person I'd been looking for sat at a picnic table. He was glaring down at a newspaper unseeingly, his face rested on his hand. I took a deep breath and wandered over to take a seat opposite him.
He glanced up at me and scowled, moving to get off the bench.
"Please." I put a hand out to block him, he shot me a look that sent shivers down my spine. "Hear me out." I asked.
He hesitated, but eventually twisted back around to face me. I sighed; "I know you and me haven't seen eye to eye..." He snorted, but I ignored that an continued; "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for your loss."
"I don't really want your sympathy." He spat, and he turned to get up again.
"Maybe not." I replied; "but you might want to know that Dawn is out of the hospital." Once again I'd stopped him, and he allowed me one brief glance of the Paul only Dawn had seen. He tried to block it out, but the relief he felt was to fast for him to feign ignorance.
"How- How is she?" He let curiosity get the better of him, and he faced me head on with almost pleading, but more so demanding eyes.
I looked down; "She could be better, but she's healthy. She's at her Mom's now."
We sat in silence a few minutes, and I watched him as he stared at the newspaper again. No words registered, I could tell he was thinking about what I'd said. My ferry was eventually called over the speakers, and I stood up.
Another sigh heaved in my chest, going against my stubborn instincts and reminding myself of the promise I'd made. "I'm sorry about hitting you."
He laughed, going back to his old self, almost mockingly; "You punch like a girl."
"Nahh, you're lucky you got my bad arm." I smiled, and he did so back. I was glad I could end our rivalry on a light note. I turned to leave, but he stopped me with his words; "Thank you."
I peeked over my shoulder; "For what?"
"Looking after her when I didn't." He replied simply. Realisation was hitting me a lot recently, a little too late, but it was better late than never. I realised that he wasn't so bad after all, we might have our differences, but I should focus on our similarities, like how we both cared for Dawn.
"Well don't ake that same mistake twice." I advised, as my ferry was called again. I jabbed my thumb in the ferry's direction; "I'll be seeing you."
"One day maybe." He nodded.
The ferry departed pretty soon after, and I left with a sense of hope for Dawn. I hoped that when I got home, she would call me speak to me properly again, becoming her old self once more.
GAH. I always do this. ALWAYS.
1. I cry on the epilogue, because it's not only the end of a journey for my characters, but for me too.
2. I for some reason have Ash adding a narrative to my Ikarishippings, because I find what I think he'd percieve Ikarishipping as interesting. Does that make sense?
Lol, I tell you, I'm merely thinking of the sequel and crying about it. That's a good thing to tell you, huh? XD YES THERE'S A SEQUEL! Do you really think this would be open ended? I haven't explained a few things, or not fully at least.
AND YAY THE LAST CHAPTER BROKE THE 300 MARK! Thank you all ever so much! I wouldn't have had the inspiration to write this without your wondrous words! :D
I'd like to thank a few people.
All the people who helped me decide on the major storyline. If I'd have had it my way, this would have been a Romeo and Juliet-esque tragedy. Bet you're glad Reggie went instead now!
These people include Zacharie, Sa-Chan, Scarlett, Teri, Samia-Chan and Zach.
I'd also like to re-thank Teri for putting up with my constant worrying, along with re-thanking her, Samia and Zacharie again for reading my first really mature chapter, and assuring me your eyes would not have burnt.
Also, special thanks to all my reviewers, particularly mednin, who has been there from the day I posted this a one shot. (WTF HAPPENED THERE? I'm so weird.)
AND. (LAST ONE I SWEAR)
Thank you to everybody who voted me as Best Ikarishipping writer. I am so proud of this title, especially because I tied to who I believe is the best, Miss Debby.
Okay, so you're probably wondering about the sequel. Well it's being posted at the same time as this so you can head on over right away! It's called Severed Ties, and I think you might be a little surprised. :)
Love you guys. x
