It had been nearly three weeks since Asha and Mewtwo had reconciled, and Mew had kept them nearly in constant company, giving them no time alone, even though half of the time, they were unaware of her presence. She watched them from high in the forest canopies and from the dark shadows of Asha's den. They had been getting very close. Once, on a particularly dark and stormy night, they'd watched the lightning dance and huddled close to one an other. Mew had been so excited to see Asha lean back against Mewtwo and nuzzle him that she nearly revealed herself.

This time, they were out at the lake, where Asha usually went to get fresh drink of water and catch some fish. Mewtwo was watching her as always, his attention rapt, his eyes on her every move, scanning her muscles. Mew knew that this was how the male Mew looked at his female mate, but Mewtwo never made an advance, and Asha didn't seem to be sending any particular signals to him. Mew was concerned about this because she didn't know whether or not they'd already become mates. If not, than they had decided to remain nothing more than friends, if so, it was off to a rocky start.

The thought occurred to her that either one of them might not know what to do. Instinct only took one so far, but it was experience and teaching that gave the extra incentive. Mew noted that when Mewtwo would look away, Asha would give him a look of sadness, she wanted him to do or say something which he wasn't, but still, she never uttered a word. Mew sighed and shook her head. These two had a long way to go.

It had been three days since Mew's last observation and Asha was off by herself hunting in the dense forest that Mewtwo still wasn't able to navigate. Perhaps I should just leave, he could keep the den, I'm old enough to be able to survive on my own, I can start from scratch, it's a long time til the next winter. She was thinking as she spotted movement up ahead in the bushes.

All of her thoughts stopped and her instincts took over. She crouched down closer to the ground and froze, eyes fixed on the bushes ahead. "Veee?!" Came a little cry, soft and desperate, followed by more movements in the bushes. Asha relaxed and walked cautiously forward, she didn't want to frighten the Eevee.

*What's wrong, little one?* She sent ahead of her approach to let the little Eevee know she was there. The response got was heartbreaking.

"Eeee!! Eeeveeee! Eeee!! Veee!!!" My babies! Den fell! My babies!! Stuck! The little Eevee screeched as she frantically dug at the ground.

Asha's heart leap out of her chest as she lunged forward and through the bush, wincing as a few thorns snagged a hold of her as she passed through. *Here, let me help, I can dig faster.* She told the little Eevee, who looked at her in fear, fluffed out and growling fiercely. *No! I'm here to help!* She tried to explain to the Eevee, who was moving towards two of the pups she'd managed to dig free.

"Vee!!! Eeeevee! Vee! Vee!" Away! Can't have my babies! Away! Mine! With that, suddenly she picked up the two pups and took off in the forest, disappearing without a trace!

*No! Wait!* She cried, than heard a muffled plea for air. This can't be happening to me! It can't!!!! She thought as she began to dig quickly with her claws half extended. The sounds of pain were getting weaker and more muffled. Her attempts grew more and more desperate.



Mewtwo, nearly three miles away from Asha, since her mental cries of anguish and felt her fear. Mew hovered just feet from him. *What's wrong, Mewtwo?* Mew asked as she looked in the direction that Mewtwo was looking.

He growled deep in his throat and felt the bristles at his shoulders stiffen, his ears flattened as he listened and sniffed the air once more. *Something's wrong.* Was his only response as he suddenly levitated off the ground and raced off in Asha's direction. Mew watched him go with a confused expression, and took off after him, but he already had a huge lead ahead of her, and soon, disappeared into the dense woods in a tight dive straight down.

Finding Asha wasn't as difficult as he feared it might be, from above, the forest was dense, but he could sense her as if she were shouting for him. When he maneuvered through the trees and spotted her, he knew instantly what was wrong, dashing forward, he leapt through the bushes and began digging with her.

*What am I digging for?* He asked her after a moment of letting instinct guide him.

Asha answered by dipping down with her muzzle and lifting a little Eevee pup from the dirt and showing it to him. *These, I think there are four more, but. . .it's been so long since I found them. . .* She broke off by beginning to dig with a little more urgency, trying desperately to keep her claws from racking the dirt to hard, lest she catch one of the pups on them and kill it accidently. Mewtwo nodded and began search through the dirt for more.

After more than five minutes, they sat back and looked at what they had dug up. There were five, seven total, only two had been able to be saved, one by Asha, the other by Mewtwo, the others had been either crushed by the weight of the dirt, or suffocation from being so long without any air. The sight had her heart ache for the lives lost, they hadn't even really gotten a chance to live, and already it was over for them. The thought made Asha think of her first winter and summer again. How she'd almost failed in protecting the Mews and nearly lost her own life.

Mewtwo laid his hand on her shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts. Her wings leapt out of her restraint and flared in surprise, it had been the first time he'd touched her with feeling for a long time. She looked over at him with teary eyes. *It's alright. You did the best you could. We tried, at least we could save these two, that's all that matters, these were probably dead before the mother left them. Too much weight.* He told her as she looked around to see the deep trench they'd dug to reach the pups.

She closed her eyes and let Mewtwo wrap his arms around her. *I know, but still, I feel like there is something else I could have done, maybe even tried to save them.* She stated as she sunk down into Mewtwo's open and waiting arms. She sniffed loudly and began to weep softly as the pups whined softly in their sleep.

*It's alright.* Mewtwo comforted her as he stroked her back and the base of her wings, they wrapped around him and held him tightly as she nestled closer to him. He took a big breath as the closeness of her body pressed hard against his instincts, he kissed her cheek lightly and she looked up in response, he met her lips and gave her a gentle loving kiss.

She tensed in his arms, startled by the action, he hadn't done this in a very long time. She kissed him back, their passion grew quickly, but died back as one of the pups gave a startled, and hungry yelp of awareness, waking the other up with it. *Perhaps we should get back to the den so that we might feed these little ones.* She pointed out, her mental voice shaky, Mewtwo smiled as he recognize the reluctant lust in her voice as well. Now he knew she felt the same as he.

*Alright, lets get going.* He told her as he picked up a pup and cradled it gently, then gawked as Asha knelt and scooped the other up in her mouth and spread her wings out, instantly the glorious silver and pale gold fire spread out, lifting her into the air. She took off. Wow, pure maternal instinct. He thought as he went after her. Now that I know for sure that she feels the same way I do, perhaps I should approach her on the matter of becoming Mates. I believe the two of us have been alone for far long enough. Her more so than I. Mewtwo thought as he caught up with her and caught her looking at him through the corner of her eye. He smiled and winked at her, she blushed and smiled back, but did not look away.

*Any idea who we're gonna take care of these little ones?* Asha asked him with a wry smile, Mewtwo looked over at her and gave her a small smile.

*I know a little, but not much about babies, I'm afraid.* Asha nodded and was silent for a moment as she thought, Mewtwo struggled to find a quick solution, he didn't think that it was fair she would have to do all of this work. So he quickly made a quick suggestion. *Why not ask Mew, she's helped to raise infant Mews before, hasn't she? Perhaps she's got a quick solution to this problem.* Asha looked over at him and smiled again, only this time there was no wry humor in it, it was filled with warmth and gratitude.

*That's a good idea. I'll bet anything that she went back to the den to wait for us.* Asha stated as she curved her wings up a little to let Mewtwo glide in closer to her.

*What makes you say that?*

She gave him a small smile and raised her eyebrow. *Because that's how I raised her.* Mewtwo hung back for a moment, stunned. He'd realized that Mew and Asha got a long perfectly, but he hadn't thought about Mew being raised by her. After all, the Mews all considered Asha to be some sort of deity among them, why would they allow her to raise one of their kind?

*Oh. I see.* He finally responded, Asha laughed and started to make a decent at the rocky clearing. She was nearly home. The pup in her mouth was lying still obediently, but she didn't want to take any chances.

As they came in, sure enough, Mew was waiting patiently outside by a small pool of rain water that had gathered in the last brief downpour. As Mewtwo landed, she saw the little pup in his arms and looked over at Asha as she landed delicately on the ground, her mouth dropped at the sight of the wings, Asha flexed them and smiled. Mew didn't say anything, but her smile in return was all that was needed. *Mew? You know a lot about babies, these were abandoned by a new Eevee mother. How can I feed these little ones?* She asked as she gently took the pup out of her mouth and handed it over to the little Mew.

She looked at it thoughtfully, than she gently pried its mouth open, little teeth were seen, the pup's eyes looked over at Asha nervously, she smiled reassuringly, and the pup remained still, it's whimpering was still quiet. She handed the little Eevee back to Asha and than checked Mewtwo's the same way, after that, she looked over at the two of them and smiled. *You're in luck, these two are ready to be weaned off of milk. You can feed them small things like soft berries and per-chewed meats.* Asha nodded understandingly, having done the pre-chewed meats with both the Mewlings and Mew when she was just a baby.

Mewtwo, on the other hand, was a little more reluctant. *What? Pre-chewed? Pre. . . . .chewed?!* Mew looked over at Asha with a strange expression, Asha laughed and patted Mewtwo on the shoulder lovingly.

*Yes, that means that the meat is too hard for these little teeth to chew just yet, which means that we must first chew the food, than after it is soft and more pliable, we can give it to them to tear apart and to eat.* Mewtwo looked horrified at that. He was prepared to hunt day and night for the little pups, but he just wasn't about to chew the food for them and than spit it out when it was soft and pliable. That just wasn't right!

*Um. . . .no, I don't think I can do that.* Was his response, as the pup in Mew's arms looked up at him and blinked large deep blue eyes.

"Eeee." It chirped at him.

*Ah! How can you say no to a face like that?!* Asha asked him as she smiled at Mew and moved closer to Mewtwo, who looked at her uncertainly.

*I can try to find the soft foods for them, but I'm not pre-chewing anyone's food.* He said to her with finality that made Asha smile and snuggle closer to him. He relaxed a little and put an arm around her waist, this time, she didn't jump away or shy from his touch, she only leaned in closer.