In the middle of the night, James woke from his slumber, his body still entwined with Jessie's. The redhead was snoring loudly, a sound that had never bothered James - indeed, it was so comfortingly familiar to him that it almost worked as a lullaby. No…it was something else that kept him from going back to sleep.

Jessie didn't have to fear Donovan anymore, regardless of whether or not the bastard walked free - even without being in jail, that monster could never touch Jessie again. James, on the other hand, didn't have that luxury; every day, there was always the threat of being caught and dragged back to his parents and forced to marry his evil fiancée, even in a region so far away from his home, because like had once been the case with Donovan, his family had the means to do it if they saw fit. Really, every day could easily be his last, it had always been that way. So long as Jessebelle was still committed to marrying him, he could never be truly safe from her.

It wasn't fair. If Jessie could be free of her demon, why couldn't he be free of his? If only there was some way to get Jessebelle to let him walk away, to actually release her claim on him…

An hour passed, James struggling with the conundrum in silence. For so long, he'd simply tried not to think about it, to focus on other things, but here and now, tonight, after finding the strength to face his fears, he didn't want to keep going on merely distracted. He wanted a way out, a solid way out, a way to truly live free.

And slowly, an idea began to take shape. It was silly, and desperate, but he was desperate, and after a while, he carefully extricated himself from Jessie's arms and got out of bed.

The hotel they were spending the night at wasn't too shabby, there was even a desk with a pen and paper that came with the room. James turned on the little desk lamp, sat down naked in the cushioned seat, picked up the pen, and…hesitated. He had to get this absolutely right, one tiny imperfect stroke of ink and it wouldn't work…but…he also didn't want to have to remember the lessons his witch had tried to force on him about how to be perfect. He had to, so that there was a chance she might listen, but…

Biting his tongue, he slowly, carefully began to write.

It took some doing, every stroke of the pen was careful and sent a fresh wave of panic running down James's spine, but he forged ahead, a boldness he'd never known he had burning in his core, fueled by Jessie, by their shared triumph tonight. By the time he finished writing the letter, the moon had almost set, and he knew he was going to be sleeping late into the morning, but when at last he set the tool aside and lifted what he'd written to the light, searching his creation for a tiny flaw, he couldn't help but feel a small shred of hope. This might actually work…

"James?"

The soft groan from the bed drew his attention, and he looked over to see Jessie sitting up, pushing the sheets aside to walk over to him, her body bare as his was.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "It's late."

"Oh, um…" Heat prickled James's cheeks. "I just, uh…" Closing his eyes, he struggled with himself for a moment, fighting to reclaim that odd strength he'd been relying on all night.

Not willing to wait, Jessie walked over to perch on the arm of the chair he'd been sitting at. "What's this?" she asked, and he felt her tug the paper out of his hand.

He looked at her, his heart pounding in his chest, too frozen to even ask her to give the page back. Terrified, he could only watch as her eyes slowly read over what he'd written, reminding himself that he would have had to share this with her anyway. Emotions flickered fast as she scanned the letter: surprise, anger, confusion, surprise again. Slowly, her jaw dropped, and by the time she finished, her irises were shining with wonder.

"James…?" she breathed. "What…?"

"I…" James took a deep, deep breath, exhaling slowly, then said, "If we have to…go with your plan, then this is my contribution. It might not work, but it's the best I could do."

Her sapphire eyes met his in the light of the tiny lamp, and there was an openness and vulnerability there that Jessie almost never showed anyone, making his heart skip a beat. "Do you mean…would you…?"

James gulped, hard, but though his voice came out as a squeak, he managed to answer, "If we have to send this letter, we probably won't have a choice…and…yes, Jess, I'm willing. I'd rather not!" he added quickly. "I really, really hope we don't have to use this! But if we do…then…" He gulped again. "Yes," he whimpered. "Yes, I…I will. If that's okay with you."

"James…" Slowly, she set the letter down on the desk, her expression dazed with wonder. "Yes, I…If we must, then yes, of course. I'd rather not too, of course," she added just as quickly. "But if we have no choice, then…I guess there's no harm."

For a long minute, they stared at each other, their fears settling, replaced by a certainty, a renewed faith in their bond. There was no need to say anything else; there never had been. Instead, they both stood, their bodies coming together like magnets, and they returned to bed, wanting only to feel close, close as they had always been but never really accepted. This time, there was no fear, no arguing about who got to be on top, no thoughts for the demons that had haunted them; there was only the two of them, and nothing else, the whole rest of the world a mere mess of distant noise that could never, ever threaten their soul-deep connection, the tie of these two twin flames, each one the other's other half.

On the desk lay the letter James had written, ready to be used if the need ever arose, which the Rockets would carry with them as their most precious possession until the day came when it was necessary to send it.

"My dearest Jessebelle,
I hope this letter finds you well, though I will have to apologize for ruining your good mood if that is the case, because I am writing to inform you that I have decided to marry someone else. I am truly sorry for the pain this will cause you, but though we were promised to each other long ago, we simply aren't suited for each other, I could never give you what you want and deserve. In the name of the love that was once between us, I readily yield to you everything that would have been yours if we were wed: my inheritance, my name, my family, my estate, everything that was once mine is now yours, save for any of my Pokémon that you do not want.
Even giving you all of that, though, it would pain me too much to imagine leaving you alone in this world, which is why, with this letter, I am introducing you to a man by the name of Donovan Star. He was once a wealthy man in Galar, with a family fortune to surpass even my own, though he's fallen on hard times of late; the moment I met him, I knew you and he would be perfect for each other. He will make you happier than I ever could, I'm certain of it, and that is all I wish for you.
Please, dearest Jessebelle, I wish you only happiness, and for you to understand that this is what's best for both of us. You will be much happier married to Donovan than you would have been with me, and again, everything I once had to my name is yours, I will conduct whatever legal processes are necessary for you to be made my parents' heir, if from a distance. Take care of my family, and be happy.
With all my heartfelt sincerity,
James"

Sorry for the long wait for this, I went through a lot of stuff after the original story posted and just didn't have the motivation to finish this follow-up fic, though I've had the first half of it done and sitting on my doc manager for a good few months. By the time I finally finished the rough draft, it was a month away from Rocketshipping Day, so I decided to save it to be posted all at once on the appropriate date. Thank you to everyone who read the main story and waited patiently for this follow-up, I appreciate all of you! :)