What will Olivia do, now that she's heard everything, and has the tablet? She's not happy! What will come of this? How will Ayame cope with the knowledge of what happened to her boyfriend?

Also, thank you to everyone who read my story "The Heir to the Dragon". I would appreciate if you continue to read and support it in the future! You can get there through my profile!

We've got a decent amount of girls nominated, but there's always room for more! If there are any other girls you think deserve a chance at the title of Pokemon Academy Best Girl, nominate them here!

Currently Nominated: Alcea, Ayame, Carrie, Caelia, Cynthia, Dakota, Elaina, Elizabeth, Julia, Kate, Kitty, Maddi, Marion, Nikita, Olivia, Sango, Sylvia

KedharS: Olivia protecc.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: Olivia can be very aggressive when she wants to be. You get on her bad side and bad things will happen.

Superduderr: Thanks! And yes, Olivia is heated.

JoshGamerV: She's not just the cool older sister, we've seen how ruthless and cutthroat she can be to get what she wants, you need that killer instinct to make it in show business.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 624

"So… I guess this is where I go," Elizabeth said quietly, standing on the pier while staring quietly at Sango. She was taking a boat back to the mainland to return to Johto.

"Guess so," Sango murmured, her face strained with sadness. Elizabeth wanted to believe Sango was sad to see her go, but the reason she was sad was obvious. Ehe didn't want to leave, she really didn't. But her business here was concluded. Truthfully though that was just an excuse. If Sango had asked, told Elizabeth to stay with her for comfort, Elizabeth would have blown off work for as long as it took.

That's what Sango deserved, after all. Growing up with a father who showed his love for his daughter by working to provide for her future, even at the expense of her childhood, Sango was starved for the love of a parent.

"I can stay, if you want me to," Elizabeth said, reaching out a hand and cradling Sango's cheek. "I don't have to go, not yet. If you need me, I'll stay here as long as you want."

"That's… you don't have to do something like that," Sango said, shaking her head, a little taken aback by the offer.

"I know I don't have to," Elizabeth replied. "But I want to. Sango, you're important to me. And because of me, you got hurt. I never wanted to hurt you, Sango, honest. But… I messed up. I don't have a lot of experience being a parent, let alone being a step-parent… I was trying to do the right thing and help you find the truth, but I ended up causing you more pain."

Sango shook her head, smiling at Elizabeth. It was a sad smile, but that was the best she could make right now. "I would have gotten hurt in the end no matter what. Blake being gone… it breaks my heart. But you helped me. Just by being here… you helped me. So thank you, Elizabeth. Thanks for being here for me." Sango's face was bright in spite of the pain she felt. That reassured Elizabeth, and also reaffirmed her resolve.

"Sango… I'm going to make you a promise. I made it to myself already, but I'm going to make it directly to you, now," Elizabeth decided.

"…Yeah?" Sango asked, raising her eyebrow.

"I promise you, that I'm going to be there for you. If you need me to. You have my phone number. I may not always be able to connect, but if you need me? Then forget about work. I'll talk for as long as you want about whatever you want. And if you need me there? I'll come as soon as I can," Elizabeth assured her. "I don't want you to think you're alone anymore."

Sango gasped, stunned by the woman's offer. "That's… seriously? What?"

"You've had enough time with parents not being there for you, Sango," Elizabeth said, trying not to cry. "And I may be… a poor substitution for the real thing, but if you ever need anything from me I want you to know that right now, you're my priority. Not my work. You deserve at least that much, I believe. You deserve everything."

Sango sniffled. She'd been trying to send Elizabeth off with a smile, but right now she couldn't keep herself from crying. She knew that it was okay to cry, okay to let down those walls and show she was vulnerable. But right now, she really just wanted to send Elizabeth off with a smile. She knew she would be okay, eventually. She'd move past this.

She just had to.

Sango opened her mouth to reply, but before the words could come out, a loud shout echoed from down the pier.

"Doctor Skye!"

Elizabeth, Sango, and Silver all turned to see who it was, Sango making a face when she saw that it was Kate, panting and out of breath, standing at the dock. She quickly dashed down to meet the two, bending over and clutching her knees as she regained her composure. When she did, her prickly head shot up and her eyes were shining as she gazed upon Elizabeth with adoration glowing on her face, smiling wide.

"I'm so glad I got to see you before you left!" Kate gushed. "I'd heard you were here, but… but I didn't know that you would be leaving so soon! Is there another dig you're going to? Why were you here? Were you talking with Professor Reinhart?!"

Elizabeth took a step back, the waves of passion wafting off of the brunette a little intimidating. But unlike most people who encountered Kate, she wasn't immediately put off by her, which spoke volumes about the doctor's tolerance.

"You're Kate, right?" Elizabeth smiled.

Kate's jaw hit the dock.

"You… you remember me?" Kate stuttered.

"Of course, it's only been a few months, you think I would forget such a big fan?" Elizabeth laughed. "Sorry, I can't quite remember your last name, though…"

"Last name? Forget about it, what last name! I don't need a last name, you can call me anything you want!" Kate babbled. She lunged forward and hugged Elizabeth tightly, startling the doctor, who looked past Kate and gave Sango an awkward smile with a shrug.

Sango smiled back, a little exasperated by Kate, but feeling a little bit better. Elizabeth's support truly meant the world to her.

Elizabeth, in turn, sighed with relief at the sight of Sango's reinvigoration. She hoped things would be okay. But she had concerns with the way things had ended with the professor. And that girl, Olivia Himeko.

"What… what is that?" Dakota asked, licking her lips in spite of herself as she stared at the stone tablet Olivia was presenting to her. The two were sharing a meal in Olivia's favorite coffee place. While normally not a fan of being seen with someone like Dakota, Olivia ruefully acknowledged that Dakota wouldn't be able to catch a picture of Olivia and run an article about her dating below her station if she was sitting right in front of her.

"It's called 'The Tablet of Hungry Ghosts'," Olivia revealed. "An ancient relic that's found its way into my hands one way or another. I want you to look up whatever you can about it. And tell me everything. I'm going to make good use of your investigative powers, Dakota Evans. Can I count on you?"

"Hmm… it's tempting… but can I take a closer look?" Dakota asked, reaching for it. "What's it say?"

"I have no idea, and no, you cannot," Olivia said, pulling it away from her.

Dakota pouted. "Come on! But those words are looking a little blurry, maybe with a closer look…"

Olivia gasped in surprise. "Wait, you can read it?"

"I think so, but I'd need a closer look," Dakota said. Olivia looked around and held it up to Dakota for her to take another glance.

"Yeah, definitely words- hey!" Dakota gasped, the words vanishing from her mind as Olivia slapped the face of the tablet down on the table. She tried to call them back up, but they were gone from her mind completely.

"Sorry, but you can't read it," Olivia said sharply.

"Okay, fine," Dakota grumbled. "But still, I'm not quite sure… where did you get it again? If this is something suspicious…"

Dakota's lips curled up into a smirk, and Olivia rolled her eyes. Already the detective was trying to turn this into a way to get one over on Olivia, probably to sell some big scoop. But Olivia wasn't interested in playing Dakota's games.

"Let's just say, a casual acquaintance saw the merit in leaving this with me for a period of time," Olivia decided. That was a polite way to say she had basically blackmailed Professor Reinhart into investigating the tablet with her, to try and find some way to bring Blake back, or else she would reveal to everyone what he had done. She would guard the tablet for safekeeping in the meantime, and as leverage. Once they got Blake back, he could turn it into a paving stone for all she cared.

And now, here she was. With Dakota Evans trying to drive a hard bargain? Please. Since she couldn't, of course, go to the best scientists she knew, being the Phantom and his association, she would rely on Dakota's investigative abilities instead. That was the safest option.

And Olivia wasn't about to be caught up by a girl trying to pretend like this was something that would reflect badly on the Empress herself. Dakota wanted to destroy Olivia's reputation to build a nice little feather in her cap? Olivia had her own way of playing.

Olivia put a professional smile on her face and beamed at Dakota, reaching into her purse and taking out her checkbook. She quickly scribbled something down, tore out the check, and passed it across the table to Dakota.

Dakota did a double take when she saw the amount of zeros.

"For your absolute discretion in this matter, and reporting anything you find directly to me, what do you say?" Olivia asked. "Imagine the investigations you can further with money like that. That invasive sky equipment of yours can't be cheap, I imagine. A much better decision than trying to dig up some dirt that isn't there."

"Order me to do whatever you like, mistress," Dakota said, getting down on one knee and bowing her head, holding her hand over her heart. "I will follow you to my dying breath. How many bodies would you like me to dispose of? "

"There's a good girl," Olivia smirked. She wasn't sure why Dakota was able to read the tablet and she wasn't, but she knew full-well how to manipulate someone as materialistic as her. Dakota's loyalty secured, Olivia could turn her attention to matters more concerning to her personally. She slipped the tablet into her backpack (ugh, that was one downside. Olivia LOATHED wearing backpacks. But she couldn't exactly fit the tablet in a handbag, now could she?) and rose from her seat, bidding the simpering Dakota goodbye, taking a final sip of coffee before heading out.

Olivia walked across campus back to her personal dormitory, and headed upstairs. She stopped at her Aya's room and took a deep breath. She wondered when Aya would be better. When they'd gotten home the night before, Aya had locked herself away, the sounds of sobbing echoing from behind the door all through the night.

She was still crying now.

Olivia took a deep breath, sighed, and knocked on the door.

"Aya? Are you there?"

"Not right now, Olivia," Ayame choked out. If Aya was using her name, then it must be serious. "Boss" was a tone of appreciation that the girl showed her, highlighting how much she looked up to Olivia while also being so perfectly representative of the serious "Ayame".

She only acted like this when she was sad.

"Please, Aya," Olivia begged. "I know you're feeling heartbroken right now, but please-"

"You don't know anything!" Ayame shouted, startling Olivia at the vitriol in her voice. The sound of stomping footsteps approached and she flung the door open, glaring at Olivia through angry tears. Her face was red and her hair was a mess, bangs fallen over her face with her ribbon nowhere to be seen. She looked awful, and Olivia ached in sympathy for her dear friend. "You don't know what it's like to feel like this. You don't love people, Olivia! You've never been in a relationship, you've never been heartbroken! You're just empty inside, remember?! Using women to satisfy your needs, you have no idea what it's like to really be in love!"

Olivia stumbled back, her eyes wide with shock. It was like Aya had just slapped her across the face. She… what had just happened? Aya… Aya just yelled… at me? She said those cruel, hateful things… to me? I don't…

Ayame herself was horrified by what she'd just said. She… she hadn't meant it. She really hadn't. She didn't think those things, she just… she had been hurting, and she'd lashed out at Olivia because Olivia was there. And the look of pain and horror on Olivia's face, because of what she'd just said? How could that be? How could she have taken her pain and hurt someone she loved? Ayame just felt even more broken down by what she'd just done.

"I love you, Ayame," Olivia finally said, the initial shock wearing off. She stepped forward and reached her hand up to brush the bangs out of her best friend's eyes. "I love you more than anything. Not in the same way you love Blake, but… if I were to lose you, that would devastate me. So please… don't say that I can't understand what it's like to feel the way you're feeling. Because if I lost you, that's exactly how I would feel, you see?"

Ayame sniffled and nodded her head, a fresh wave of tears pouring down her face.

"Can I… please come in?" Olivia begged. "Please, Aya?"

Ayame nodded, wiping her eyes, and turned back to her room, heading inside and allowing Olivia to follow. As Olivia entered, she noticed Ayame was clutching her ribbon in her hand so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

"Aya… your ribbon," Olivia said, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. Aya always treasured that ribbon.

"Oh, yeah…" Ayame murmured, turning her hand over to stare at the sky blue ribbon. She shook her head and stumbled back to her bed, falling down into it. "You know… I don't even remember who I got this from?"

Olivia raised her eyebrow. "Didn't you say it was a gift, from that guy you liked in our first year? Yeah, what was his name again…"

"I don't even remember him, that's the thing," Ayame muttered, staring down at the ribbon. "Just vague flashes of how happy I was that someone was finally looking at me, treasuring me… memories of happiness. And that's why I held onto this for so long, to treasure those specks of memory. But see, the thing is… I was so afraid of losing it that I hadn't considered whether or not I even needed to remember. Because that had hurt me too, remember? After he left? That's probably why I can't even remember him now, I tried so hard to repress it…"

Olivia frowned. She still had a letter, actually. One from that boy. He had told her to give it to Aya when the time was right. As far as Olivia was concerned, there was never going to be a "right time", Aya never needed to hear from that ass again. But she still couldn't bring herself to throw it away, or even look at it. It didn't seem fair to her best friend. So she kept it tucked away at the bottom of her treasure box for whenever "the time was right". Even if that time would be never.

And the fact that Aya was talking like this really started to make Olivia worried. She sat down beside Ayame on the bed, wrapping her arm around the girl and resting her cheek on Ayame's broad shoulder, trying her best to comfort her.

"You know… for my birthday… Blake actually gave me a ribbon," Ayame said quietly, unable to remove her eyes from her own ribbon. "Something about feeling jealous about me wearing a gift from another guy… and I didn't take it. Can you believe that? I wanted to treasure some ghost from the past, instead of a memory of the boy I love more than anything. What sort of fool does that, Olivia?" Ayame's vision was starting to blur.

Blake… Blake really was gone. She'd tried to deny it, but she couldn't. She'd never see him again. She'd never hear his laugh, never see that smile. Never feel his warm hand wrapped around hers, ever again. The soft pleasure of his lips pressed against hers, with just a hint of naughtiness shared between the two of them as they stared into each other's eyes.

"It's okay, Ayame," Olivia assured Aya, cradling her as the girl leaned forward and sobbed, squeezing the ribbon tightly.

"I could have had something to remember him by, we could have been… I could have had so much more, and what? What do I have now?"

"No Aya! Don't be like that! You've got me, right?" Ayame blinked, rubbing her eyes, and looked up. That voice was way too high-pitched to come from Olivia.

Staring Ayame in the face was a Wooloo plushy that was still soft and snuggy, but a little lopsided from months of repeated squeezings.

"You're super-tough Aya! And even though you miss Blake, you've still got me, Blaiwooloo! Right?" Having hopped off the bed and stood in front of Ayame, Olivia pitched her voice up and waved the little stuffed pokemon around, pretending to make it talk for her. Ayame grinned in spite of herself as she looked at it.

"Besides, didn't you say before, that Blake also gave you a lovely gift for Christmas?" Olivia asked, returning to her normal voice, nodding towards the incubators resting on Ayame's windowsill. "I thought that was the sweetest gesture, flowers named the same as you, and just as beautiful, to care for as you like?"

Ayame smiled a little.

"And most of all… he never left you here," Olivia said, reaching forward and placing a hand over her beloved Aya's chest. "No matter what happens, even if he's gone… he'll always be a part of you, Aya. I promise. Are you afraid that without Blake, you'll be less of a person? Because you won't. The way you smile now, it's so much brighter than before. And Blake did that for you. And even if he's gone, I'm certain that you'll keep smiling brightly, as long as you never forget the love he gave you that made you smile that way in the first place."

Ayame reached up and placed her hand over Olivia's, feeling her friend's warmth.

Blake was gone. She didn't want to accept it, but it was true. Olivia had told her that she would do anything she could to bring him back, but Ayame couldn't believe that. Maybe that made her a bad girlfriend, or maybe it was just normal.

Maybe she was so filled with sadness that she didn't even have the strength to hope for a miracle anymore.

"When I turned down the ribbon Blake offered me…" Ayame's voice was no louder than a whisper, turning her gaze from Olivia back down to the ribbon in her hands. "I thought… I thought about taking it. But then I made him promise me something instead, for my present. To hold onto it no matter what, because it was a bond between the two of us. I'd keep mine… and he'd keep his. Wherever he is right now… I want to believe that he still has it."

Olivia smiled, patting her friend on the head.

"I'm sure he does."

Poor Ayame. She doesn't deserve this pain.