AN: I'm a huge fan of this group. I fell in love with this new song as soon as I listened to it. Their prior songs were bubbly and fun, talking about young love for teenagers but this is different. It's surreal, exotic, dreamy, and much more mature. I just had to tear the song down from top to bottom and write this. It's a Real Love.

+ I made a blog for Pokemon fanarts, character analysis, and stories, so if you are interested, just click on my profile and go to the link for Postype.

There is no night better to talk about love

This is the moment

- Oh My Girl 'Real Love'

Dawn Berlitz finally stepped into the party hall of a luxurious hotel. It took her 7 hours to get to Resort Area because she was in Hoenn, but looking at the hard effort the Committee had put into his party, she felt all her tiredness wash away. The party hall was decorated with many flowers, there was a dance floor in the middle and a banquet table on a side so people could constantly enjoy it whenever they wanted to. At the other side of the room there was a huge balcony where they could enjoy the excellent view of Resort Area and the ocean. Dawn grinned at that. They all met the standard of the VIP Party. Many members of Ribbon Syndicate, Pokemon Contest Committee, and even Pokemon League and Gym Leaders were invited to this party.

"Oh my Areceus, Dawn?"

Dawn turned around to the voice and spots Ash standing near the banquet table, waving his hand at her.

"Ash!" She greeted her old friend excitedly and walked up to him.

"Wow, long time no see! It's been about like what, 5 years? How are you doing?" Ash was also excited to see Dawn. They hadn't met each other ever since Ash was assigned as the Gym Leader of Viridian City Gym. Dawn had visited him to celebrate the special occasion. Dawn knew that Ash was strong enough to become a champion but he was taking a small break while doing his job as a leader near his home.

"I'm doing fine, the usual." Dawn replied with a giggle. She was a member of Ribbon Syndicate and a Committee member of Sinnoh Pokemon Contests. She's also been continuing her career in Poke Styling as well and they both kept her busy.

"How about you?" Dawn asked.

"I'm doing great too. Oh by the way, I'm getting married soon. I was going to tell you but seeing you in person is just better." Ash said with a proud grin on his face.

"For real? That's so great! Congratulations Ash! So who's the lucky girl?" Dawn nudged him slightly.

"Oh, you know, Misty." He answered with a chuckle and a blush on his face.

"You two must be really happy. I'm so glad to hear that. So, is she here tonight?" Dawn asked.

Ash shook his head, "No, she couldn't make it. She's on a business trip tonight." Ash replied with a sigh.

"Dawn! You made it!" Dawn turned around and spotted May and Drew. Ash passed the baton to them and walked away, after giving Dawn a small wave.

The couple walked toward Dawn and the girls shared an excited hug.

"I'm so glad to see you! Well, I know we meet each other a lot because of festivals but this is different." May squealed.

"Definitely. It almost feels new to see you guys out of job." Dawn agreed.

"So, still busy with Poke Styling? By the way, I really liked the new F/W collection you showed this March." Drew commented.

"Thanks. It was a hard work, but it pulled off well." Dawn thanked her friend.

"Talking to you and Drew brings me back the memory of when we were all participating in Hoenn Grand Festival. Remember?" May brought up the memory.

"Oh right! I remember. You showed off your Togekiss with that stunt with your Piplup." Drew said.

"Right! That was so long ago. I remember you doing the appeal round performing martial arts with Blaziken." Dawn told May.

"Ah, good old days when your biggest worries were about combination skills." May nodded her head.

"How old were we back then?" Dawn asked.

"15. I remember cause that was right after I asked her out." Drew replied. May grinned, blushed, and rolled her eyes.

Dawn gasped, "That's a decade ago! I can't believe we are so old!" Dawn exclaimed.

May groaned, "Okay, no more talking about ages. My mom's nagging at me right now because of that! She always tells me that if I want to get a baby, this is the perfect age." May complained.

"Oh no… Wait, are you guys getting married too?" Dawn asked.

"You heard the news from Ash? But, us? No. Not yet." Drew shook his head.

"Oh, okay." Dawn wondered why. They were the perfect couple. They cared for each other deeply and knew each other very well.

"Hey, isn't that Zoey? Your friend?" May asked, pointing at a red haired girl in the corner.

"You are right! I need to go to talk to her." Dawn excused herself and headed to Zoey.

"Zoey!" Dawn greeted her friend who spotted her and grinned.

"Dawn! There's my girl. How have you been doing?" Zoey asked cheerfully.

Dawn smiled, "The usual. How about you?"

Zoey shrugged, "Nothing much. I'm taking a break for a moment. I want to try something new but I can't decide on which one."

"How about gym battles?" Dawn suggested.

"That actually sounds nice. I will put that on my list of considerations."

The two coordinators kept on talking until Dawn spotted someone coming in in the corner of her eye.

She turned her head to find someone who she didn't expect to meet. It was Paul. She could recognize him from far away thanks to his piercing onyx eyes and his purple hair. He had grown a lot but it was still him with his permanent frown. She knew Paul wasn't a type to come to this sort of party. Maybe something was up with the Pokemon League. She was curious. Although curiosity could kill a Glameow, she couldn't find Zoey's Glameow, so she guessed it was okay. Dawn excused herself and quickly approached the purple haired trainer.

What Dawn noticed first as she approached him wasn't the details of his looks, like she did for everyone else, but the scent. The scent of his cologne hit her right away. Fresh scent of cedar. Would he wear cologne at his own will? Dawn guessed that it might be his girlfriend, if he had one.

Paul was looking around when Dawn approached him and tapped his shoulder. Paul looked down at her and raised a brow.

"Hey Paul! How have you been?" She asked with a cheerful voice.

Paul looked very uncomfortable. He glanced around to see if anyone else was around. "Do I know you?" He asked.

Dawn frowned and fumed, "Oh for goodness sake! It's me, Dawn! Not this again! How can you forget people so easily? I know it's been a long time, but you really need to keep profiles of people you met regularly, your rudeness."

The word 'your rudeness' seemed to hit him, and he smirked. "Ah, right. That troublesome coordinator girl. Good for you I remember this time."

Dawn rolled her eyes, "Yeah. Thank you so much!" sarcasm literally rubbed off her tone.

"So, um, I was just curious," Dawn started, "What are you doing here?"

Paul grunted, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the invitation. He handed it to Dawn and Dawn read it out loud, "You are invited to the Ribbon Banquet," she skipped the location and the time, "To Mr. Paul Shinji, the member of Elite 4? Wait, you are the new member of Elite 4?"

Dawn heard the news that Bertha had retired but that's all she'd heard. She was too busy to look into the details.

"Just another step stone to my next goal." Paul said, dryly.

"But this is so amazing! I knew you were strong, but this is totally beyond what I had thought! Congratulations!" Dawn squealed. Paul shifted uncomfortably from all the compliments.

"How long have you been?" Dawn asked.

"A month now. I officially became one after Bertha retired but I was chosen as her successor for about half a year now." Paul explained.

"That is so cool. I'm sure you can go up even higher." Dawn nodded.

"You mean, you want Cynthia to put her crown down?" Paul asked with a smirk.

"What? No! I mean, oh… Um, But, that's not what I meant!" Dawn stuttered and he gave off a mild chuckle. Dawn's eyes widened at that. Dawn had never seen Paul smile let alone a chuckle. Well, maybe that one time before Ash and Paul's battle when she spied on him calling Reggie. He grinned that time.

"I um…" She didn't know what to say, too shocked by Paul's chuckle. But his positive mood was gone quickly.

"How about you? What brought you here? Wait, is it related to contests?" Paul took a guess. She nodded.

"Yes! I'm a member of Ribbon Syndicate and also a part of Contest Committee." She answered proudly.

Paul just looked down at her. Then Dawn remembered that Paul didn't really approve of contests.

"Oh, right. You don't really like contests."

"No, I don't. But I respect your hard work."

Dawn felt her cheek getting warmer. "Well, it certainly is hot in here, isn't it?" She laughed nervously making up an excuse.

Paul just shrugged at that.

"Well, I'm still doing contests these days, and I'm also doing Pokemon Styling as well. I like trying out new things, and I've been wanting to do Poke Styling for a while." She elaborated a little more.

Paul just nodded. He didn't seem like he was in a comfortable state talking to her.

Dawn was getting nervous as well, "So, um…" Dawn tried hard to think up of some topics to talk about.

"Anything interesting recently?" Dawn cursed herself inwardly as Paul just looked down at her with no change of his expression.

"Will my training count as interesting to you?" He asked. Although it didn't seem that Paul was meaning to talk to her about it, he just asked.

"Well, if you are willing to explain…" Dawn trailed off, gulping.

"Well, look who it is! Paul!" Dawn turned around to spot Ash walking to their direction. Ash seemed pretty surprised to see Dawn talking to Paul.

"Dawn! Well, I didn't know you two were close." Ash chuckled.

"No! Wro-ong!" Dawn frowned at him. Ash just laughed.

"Good to see you here Paul. I heard the news! Congratulations on becoming the Elite 4." Ash said.

Paul nodded, "I heard you became the Viridian Gym Leader as well."

Ash scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed, "Well, it's nothing. It really is relaxing to stay near home and do Pokemon battles. The challengers remind me of when I was young."

And so naturally Ash took over the conversation. Dawn snuck away and returned to the banquet table. Zoey was standing there.

"I saw you talk to that guy. Wasn't he Ash's rival when you two were traveling together?"

"Yeah, he was. I was just curious what he was doing here." Dawn explained.

"So, what was his deal?" Zoey asked. She was never fond of Paul.

"He was invited because he's the new Elite 4 member."

"He's the new member? What has the world become?" Zoey complained and Dawn giggled at that.

And then it hit her again. The cologne. His cologne was tickling her nose again. She ignored it and just laughed.

"So, what did you talk to him about?" Zoey asked.

"Well, I was curious about the same thing. So, we talked about how we were doing recently." Dawn said. Then the scent tickled her nose again. She turned slightly to his direction.

Paul was leaning slightly toward the wall and was talking to Ash. She sighed in relief knowing that they weren't fighting. She could finally study him. He had grown really tall, of course, she had to look up when they were talking, and he had his hair tied back just like Reggie did. His black shirt's sleeves were rolled up to his elbow and she could see his muscle exposed. Dawn gulped and couldn't help but think that his looks were really appealing. He was really handsome.

"Dawn. You are blushing suddenly." Zoey commented and Dawn jumped in surprise.

"No! No, I'm not." Dawn answered with few stammers.

"Yes, you are. Don't tell me you like him." Zoey crossed her arms.

"Of course not!" Dawn put her hands on her waist.

But throughout their conversation, Dawn glanced from time to time at Paul. And in the progress, their eyes met once. Dawn blushed again. She blamed the excited mood of the party to feel this way. She definitely didn't feel that way to Paul. No way.


When Pau Shinji first received the invitation from Cynthia, he seriously considered about just skipping it. He was not a social type. He really didn't like hanging out with strangers in a place like a party. But, the invitation was given because he was the new member of the Elite 4. Not because he was friends with someone from the committee. So, this was not a private occasion, it was an official event. Paul didn't know the exact reason for holding this party because it was mainly led by Ribbon Syndicate, but he knew this would be his first appearance on an official occasion. This was practically his debutante. It would be rude even for Paul to miss it.

So after some quarrel with Reggie about what he should wear, and that cologne, he arrived just in time for the party. He cringed as soon as he stepped into the hall. The lights were too pink for his liking. And that bright pink light almost made the sky pink as well. He shook his head at the thought of that, thinking he was losing his mind.

Paul looked around. He was regretting his choice already. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder and smelled something that made him cringe. It was a smell of fruity perfume which was too sweet for his liking. He turned around to see someone who looked vaguely familiar. Maybe it was the scent. It was doing something to his brain to distract it from functioning properly.

"Hey Paul! How have you been?" She asked with a smile on her face.

Paul looked down at her for a moment, his brain was doing its best to remember who she was, but he just couldn't remember who she was.

"Do I know you?" He finally asked, giving in.

The girl's face turned red from anger and she cried out, "Oh for goodness sake! It's me, Dawn! Not this again! How can you forget people so easily? I know it's been a long time, but you really need to keep profiles of people you met regularly, your rudeness."

The word 'your rudeness' clicked inside his head and he smirked. He now remembered her. She was the girl who was traveling with Ash the time they were rivals. Paul didn't really care much for her, but constantly running into her made him feel familiarity toward her once. He also remembered the brief conversation they shared before his battle with Ash in the Lily of the Valley Conference. He'd always guessed that those two were dating, but later learned that Ash was with someone else, and they were never a thing.

"Ah, right. That coordinator girl. Good for you I remember this time." He replied.

Dawn rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Yeah. Thank you so much!" He appreciated the sarcasm.

"So, um, I was just curious," Dawn started, "What are you doing here?" She uncrossed her arms and looked up.

Paul reached into his pocket and pulled out the invitation in black, the color sent for the League members. He handed it to Dawn and she read it out loud, "You are invited to the Ribbon Banquet," she skipped the location and the time, "To Mr. Paul Shinji, the member of Elite 4? Wait, you are the new member of Elite 4?"

Paul was surprised that she didn't know. He'd been the Elite 4 for about a month now, the news had spread all over Sinnoh. She should know. He felt slightly irritated by the fact.

"Just another step stone to my next goal." Paul crossly commented.

But Dawn didn't seem to catch how he felt, "But this is so amazing! I knew you were strong, but this is totally beyond what I had thought! Congratulations!" Dawn squealed.

Paul wasn't comfortable hearing compliments. He was never comfortable with giving one, let alone hearing one. But this lady seemed really comfortable with it.

"How long have you been?" Dawn asked. Her eyes were twinkling.

"A month now. I officially became one after Bertha retired but I was chosen as her successor for about half a year now." Paul explained.

"That is so cool. I'm sure you can go up even higher." Dawn nodded.

Then Paul felt like teasing her, "You mean, you want Cynthia to put her crown down?" he asked with a smirk.

"What? No! I mean, oh… Um, But that's not what I meant!" Watching Dawn stutter made him chuckle a little.

He realized what he had done after seeing Dawn's eyes widened. Had he never showed his positive emotion to this girl at all? He guessed she might've seen him grin when he was talking to Reggie. But that was one time. She probably had never before and never after.

"I um…" She mumbled.

Paul thought that this was the right moment to change the topic and let her do the talking.

"How about you? What brought you here? Wait, is it related to contests?"

She nodded at that.

"Yes! I'm a member of Ribbon Syndicate and also a part of Contest Committee." She answered proudly.

Just like he guessed. He was thinking about what to say. He didn't know much about those contests. He barely watched any. What should he comment about? Those fancy combinations? Or colorful ribbons?

Dawn then sighed, "Oh, right. You don't really like contests."

"No, I don't. But I respect your hard work." He wasn't lying. Although he barely cared for those pretty attires and moves, he grew to learn that every little details for the contest required much hard work and great amount of efforts.

Then Paul spotted a blush crawling up to her cheeks. "Well, it certainly is hot in here, isn't it?" She laughed nervously.

Hot? Well, it certainly wasn't cold, but it wasn't hot enough to blush from that. So he just shrugged in response.

"Well, I'm still doing contests these days, and I'm also doing Pokemon Styling as well. I like trying out new things, and I've been wanting to do Poke Styling for a while." The more talk she did, it was better for Paul. He didn't have to think up of words to response. He just nodded at her words.

Then Dawn stopped talking as well, "So, um…" she looked like she was thinking hard for what to say next.

"Anything interesting recently?" She finally came up with the words.

"Will my training count as interesting to you?" He asked. He doubted she would be actually interested but if she wanted him to talk, that was the least he could do.

"Well, if you are willing to explain…" Dawn trailed off. Paul was starting to think if his idea was good or not. Her perfume tickled his nose once more and he scrunched his nose. Yup, it was definitely doing something to him.

"Well, look who it is! Paul!" Paul looked up from Dawn and saw the raven haired man walking up to him and Dawn. Ash seemed pretty surprised to see Paul having conversation with Dawn.

"Dawn! Well, I didn't know you two were close." Ash chuckled.

"No! Wro-ong!" Dawn frowned at him. Ash just laughed.

"Good to see you here Paul. I heard the news! Congratulations on becoming the Elite 4." Ash said.

Paul nodded, "I heard you became the Viridian Gym Leader as well." He was impressed. Although he did think that Ash could do much better and aim for higher, he didn't say those words out loud.

Ash scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed, "Well, it's nothing. It really is relaxing to stay near home and do Pokemon battles. The challengers remind me of when I was young."

Paul wondered to himself, would he feel the same way if he sees a challenger like him? There was a time all he cared for was victory. What would it be like if he meets a challenger like that?

And so naturally Paul continued his conversation with Ash. They talked about Ash's recent challengers who interested him, their battle strategies, and Ash told him about his wedding soon.

"You are invited too if you have time." Ash said.

Paul thought for a moment. "Okay, I'll be there." He replied. Ash seemed genuinely surprised by his answer.

"Oh? Really?"

Paul sighed, "Is it that surprising that I want to attend your wedding?"

"Well, you weren't really a type…" Ash admitted.

"I've learned to be." That was partially true. Paul did learn to be more social than he was before. Time did its little magic into him.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. So, what about you? Is there any special someone?" Ash playfully nudged him.

"No."

As soon as he answered, her perfume hit him again. He sighed, and glanced at the lady's direction. He didn't notice her looks in detail because of the scent but now seeing her from far away he could get the whole view.

Her hairpin was gone and her hair was up to an elaborate bun and small shiny earrings were sparkling right below, which caught his attention as well. She was wearing strapless midnight blue dress which wrapped around her slender figure, reaching slightly above her knees. The bottom part of the dress was transparent, and it was wavering according to her small movements. She had a pink heart shaped around her neck. No, not pink, again.

Just when he thought that, Dawn dropped the strawberry she was holding. She apologized to the waiter who came to clean it up. Paul smirked at that. She was now grown into such a graceful and beautiful woman but yet still had a tint of her clumsy childhood left to remind him of the troublesome girl he constantly ran into.

Wait, did he just think to himself that Dawn was beautiful? Sure, she was objectively, but she wasn't really his type. He preferred girls with more volumes. Dawn was just too skinny. She had pretty face but wasn't a seductive type. She definitely wasn't his type. But he just couldn't help but to stare at her as she laughed along with her red-haired friend. Paul shook his head, he couldn't believe he was thinking too deeply of some girl. Was he that needy? It was all because of the stupid romantic music coming from the speakers.

Then Dawn turned to his direction. Paul flinched as their eyes met. Her deep blue eyes stared into his onyx eyes as he looked away. He felt heat rise in his face.

"Hey Paul are you sick or something? Your face is red and it's not that hot in here."

"No, I'm not." Paul's old harsh tone came out in his defense. Ash just laughed at it.

"I kind of missed grumpy Paul." Ash admitted.

Paul rolled his eyes and excused himself. He picked up a glass of wine from the plate a waiter was holding and headed toward the balcony to cool himself. The sun was starting to set, and the sky was starting to turn pink. Pink sky. Did they actually put some kind of drug in a gas form? He grunted in disgust. He took a sip of the wine. Sweet. He grunted. Then he cringed at the scent. It was that fruity scent that disturbed him first. He turned around to see Dawn standing slightly behind him with a glass of wine on her hand.

"Hey, I told you it was hot in there." Dawn said with a giggle. She walked up to him and stood slightly away from him, leaning toward the stone banister to enjoy the view. Paul set his gaze on her. The pink light covered her, giving the atomsphere more romantic mood. Paul sighed. All this scent, mood, pink, and party were just too much for him.

And her. Dawn's eyes were half closed as she smiled at the sunset and Paul just couldn't believe how she could blend in so perfectly into the scenery and how the sunlight was making her even more beautiful. Paul blamed the exoticism he was feeling as soon as he got off from the boat. Everything felt so unreal after he had set his foot into this stupid party. The pink lightings, the romantic music, excited mood, exotic scenery, the touch of soft sea wind brushing against his skin, the taste of sweet wine, the beautiful view of Dawn and the sunset, and finally the intoxicating scent. All his five senses didn't seem to function accordingly as he willed. They were invaded by this party.

As the sun was disappearing into the horizon, her scent was changing as well. The fruity top note disappeared, and floral scent took its turn to greet Paul.

This all felt like it was supposed to be a scene from a movie. Not from a real life. Especially his. He kept his life distanced from romance. He wondered to himself if he actually had had a feeling for her when he was little. Not that he could think of.

He concluded that someone or something was hypnotizing him. Very illogical, he had to admit, but that was the best answer he could give himself for thinking so unlike him. He just kept on staring at Dawn against his will until Dawn finally lifted her head up to look at him.


It was hard not to notice Paul's stare when Dawn was just trying her best to enjoy the beautiful sky. She tried to ignore it, but his gaze was getting stronger, so she just had to look at him to see what was going on. Their eyes met. That was unintended. And she felt sparks. The moment she felt the spark, the sun disappeared completely into the horizon and all the chatters behind her felt more like foreign language she just couldn't comprehend no matter how hard she tried. It was just her and Paul. She couldn't explain even to herself why she felt so attracted to him. She unconsciously took a small step toward him. When she noticed what she had done, she averted her eyes and looked into the night sky. She told herself in her head that this was just the mood. All those pink lightings made this. She was having such a great time and the excitement was gobbling her up, keeping her from thinking straight. Meeting her old friends just excited her. But then it hit her, was Paul her friend as well?

Dawn asked herself if she had liked Paul when she was traveling with Ash. The answer was definitely no. Paul she remembered from back then was rude and arrogant. Some of the qualities she didn't approve of. Besides, they barely talked to each other. While Dawn couldn't say that she didn't know about him at all, she knew so little about him. Besides, Dawn wasn't really interested in dating anyone during that time.

When Dawn reached her late teens, Kenny officially confessed that he had had a feeling for her. And Dawn accepted that. She knew about Kenny's feeling and felt guilty to decline it. So they went out, he was a sweet boy, always thinking of her first rather than himself, telling her sweet things and being kind to her in all circumstances. Dawn had known him for a long time and he gave off special familiarities. It didn't take Dawn a long time to realize that it was something she's not looking for in a romantic relationship. Dawn always hesitated on telling him how she actually felt, so the whole amount of time they dated wasn't short. But they broke up eventually and ever since then she'd devoted herself to her career and was getting used to busy schedules.

And then Paul Shinji just had to come in. In a precise timing as well, Dawn thought to herself. Just when she was feeling like she was getting used to her jobs and actually could manage to take some days off, Paul Shinji just appeared out of nowhere. And he wasn't that jerk she used to know anymore. He had loosened up a lot, based on the conversations they had that day.

Then Paul approached her. Dawn's heart started to pound as he took steps closer to her. And with each steps, his scent was getting stronger, it had changed into a strong aroma of sandalwood, she noticed.

Her eyes were fixed on to him and she knew that Paul was feeling the same for her. Dawn placed the glass on the banister and looked up at him, who was standing about a step away from her.

Dawn cleared her throat and asked, "Are you having a good time, Paul?"

To her surprise, ne nodded, "Actually, yes. I am."

Dawn's eyes widened, "Well, so am I. It really has been a long time since I was able to meet my friends." She spoke as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Then she spotted the dance floor in the corner of her eyes and looked at it. Paul noticed it took and looked where she was staring at.

"Hey, Paul! Care for a dance?" It was a spontaneous question.

"No, I can't dance." Paul replied.

"No need to worry! I will take the lead." And Dawn grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the dance floor. There were some people dancing together, including Drew and May. Also Ash and Zoey were dancing as well in a more friendly way.

Dawn turned to Paul, placed a hand on his shoulder and grabbed the other one.

"Paul, take my waist."

"What?"

"Now!"

Paul just did as he was told, and Dawn literally took the lead. The classic music was honey to her ear as the two danced along it. Dawn moved flawlessly and showed off her grace. Paul was doing his best as well. In not stepping her feet, that is. It was amusing for Dawn to watch the member of Elite 4's sols focus was on not stepping her feet. She laughed and Paul scowled at that. She was looking up at him, and it felt like there were only her, him, the music, and his cologne at the moment.

She came back to reality after Paul almost stepped on her left foot.

Paul mumbled a quick apology and Dawn just smiled. They had been dancing for 2 songs and Paul was losing his focus already.

"Okay, you really can't dance." Dawn just laughed about him and the two escaped the dance floor and returned to the balcony, but this time they were in the corner.

They were standing very close to each other while looking into the night sky. Dawn realized that she couldn't smell his cologne anymore.

"That's some strong cologne you are wearing. But I can't smell it anymore." Dawn said.

"Talk about yours. I almost felt dizzy because of it. Well, you just can't smell it anymore because you are now used to the smell. It works that way."

"What about you? Do you still smell mine?"

"No."

Then the two stood silent for a while. They'd stayed next to each other too long that their noses became numb and couldn't smell it anymore. In other words, their noses got used to each other's scent. When they both realized that they both blushed and Dawn turned around. But Paul stopped her.

Paul grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him. Dawn obliged and Paul took both of Dawn's hands. So there they stood while holding each other's hands, and Paul finally leaned in closer. Dawn tip-toed on her feet and closed the gap between them.

She blamed the mood and the perfume.

Dawn woke up the next morning as the sunray shone upon her. She sat up and stared out the window. They weren't pink anymore.

Obvious truth. But Dawn felt disappointed by it. The warm sunlight seemed to be telling her that the magic was all lifted and gone. She felt like her head was still in her dreams but the sunlight was telling her otherwise.

She gathered herself up, changed out of her pajamas into a simple pink t-shirt and some comfortable pants, and looked at herself in the mirror.

The Fairy Godmother's magic was really away. She sighed, washed her face, applied some skin care and headed out the door without wearing any make-ups.

She headed to the banquet hall and spotted her friends having breakfast.

"Good morning, Dawn!" May greeted her from a table.

Dawn nodded and went to the breakfast buffet. She picked out some waffles, bananas, strawberries, and a cup of black coffee. While doing that, she looked around for any sign of Paul, but he was nowhere to be seen. She sat on the table where May, Drew, and Ash were sitting. The four talked about the party from last night and May brought up a question.

"Dawn~!" She started with her teasing tone, "I saw you hanging out with Ash's old rival. What were you two up to?"

"Nothing. Really, it was nothing." Dawn knew that was a lie and so did everyone else.

"Oh, come on, Dawn! I saw you dancing with Paul and then two of you disappeared. What were you two doing?" Ash asked.

"Nothing!" Dawn replied in frustration. "I'm sorry about that, but there wasn't anything to say out of certainty." Dawn sighed.

"Okay." May gulped.

Dawn quickly finished her breakfast and excused herself first. And while climbing up the stairs to her room, she saw Paul standing at the top of the doorway. He had apparently woken up late. He was in his comfortable clothes as well, brown shirt and training pants. He saw her too and stopped where he was standing.

Dawn knew that the magic was gone. And she also knew that he was a part of that magic.

"Good morning Paul!" Dawn greeted him and he nodded back.

Dawn couldn't help but wonder to herself, if all that happened just because of the mood or the perfume. She felt her heart pounding and knew for a fact that she wasn't. What she was feeling was the real love.

Paul's usual hard gazed softened up and he slowly walked down the stairway to her. He stopped at one step below her so that they could be in an eye level.

Paul held out his hand and Dawn grabbed it. Paul lifted it up to his lips and kissed it gently.

"Dawn." The said girl flinched at her name.

"I, maybe I took an advantage of all those parties, and sunsets, and wines, but I just couldn't help wondering last night. I want to know how you actually felt."

Dawn's heartbeat fastened up at his words. She could literally feel the electricity going through her body. So he was really feeling the same as she did. She wasn't having a delusion or something like that.

"Would this pass as an answer?" Dawn asked as she leaned in close and kissed his lips. Paul immediately returned the kiss, his grasp on her hand tightening up.

When they parted away, she smiled and he grinned back.

"Everything felt so unreal last night. But they were real." She whispered.

"Yeah, I know." He whispered back.

This was the real love.


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