A/N: Second Christmas present!! OK, it's a lot late, but you try transporting yourself from Scotland to Belfast without some residual confusion.
STK: I get all red and embarrassed when people say nice stuff about my work…
VMorticia: See, I always thought they were Cats as well. Then someone said they were Dogs, and then someone said they were Beasts, and then it just got complicated.
Cosmic Mewtwo: And heeeeeeeeeeeeere's…another chapter! (The Shining. Great movie, if a tad freaky.)
Miah Tolensky: 'Twas a very cool little quote if I may say so myself. Thanks muchly!
Mystic Mewtwo: Hehehe…starts getting less angsty and more romantic from now on. Yay for romance!
K-Kaze-2: Yay indeed!
Goldie: There are more important things to worry about than school I admit (Speaketh the woman who slept through most of secondary school and still got into university), but I do feel a tad guilty for making you get extra homework!
YunCyn: Awww, I only just thought of Beauty and the Beast when you mentioned it. I think it works well.
Disclaimer: Sashara and Penumbra are mine. Steal them at your own risk. Mewtwo and all other Pokemon references are the property of several other important evil empires, mostly Nintendo and 4Kids; I don't own 'em, and never will either.
Warning: This fic is categorised angst/romance for a reason. If you haven't worked that out by now…hoo boy. And this is R-rated for another reason. I'll be posting another clearer warning before that reason, so if you don't like it, don't read it.
Italics denote Pokemon speech
Forgotten: Part 9
So much for subtlety.
I mentally cursed every god I'd ever heard of for creating the Legendary Pokemon with all the tact and diplomacy of a brick through a plate-glass window.
But Suicune's discovery…
Sashara…had feelings…for me?
But…
It would be an easy task to deny the Aurora Pokemon's findings as nothing more than a cruel joke, taunting me, waving my emotions in my face.
And still…
'Just as our young friend here cares about a certain Psychic Pokemon…'
Raikou and Suicune. The two Dogs were in love. A relationship of mind, body and soul. Could that relationship ever apply to Sashara and I?
A year ago I would have denied this possibility. A clone cannot feel any kind of emotion towards another. A clone cannot understand what love is. And the thought of a physical relationship had revolted me. Humans devoted too much of their lives to the act of procreation. As clones, we had no right to breed, to bring other lives into this world.
Evidently Nidoqueen and Rhyhorn had believed otherwise.
Did Sashara love me in that way? Mentally, spiritually and physically?
As soon as she was ready to fight once more, I would find out for certain.
If Sashara was trying to pretend that nothing had happened between us in the past few days, she was doing remarkably well.
It was impressive.
And needless to say, it was also incredibly frustrating.
Penumbra had dozed in the evening shade for the last two hours while I had been throwing every Psychic and Ghost attack currently known at Sashara. Mirroring her earlier behaviour, she was sitting in a semi-lotus position under a Shield, staring out at some distant target. But unlike her previous antisocial behaviour, she didn't seem to be acting remotely aggressive.
But the hurt…the anger…it was there, still under the surface.
And I was about to do my damnedest to get it out.
'Pitying yourself isn't going to help you get through this.'
She raised her head long enough to shoot me a look of pure loathing. 'Yeah? Maybe I just feel like dying out of sheer disgust. That ever occurred to you?'
'Yes, and it is not a road you would wish to go down.'
The Shield lifted a few feet higher as she rose, one angry tear falling onto her hand. 'What if I wish to go down that road?'
'I would try to stop you by any means necessary.'
I sighed and walked up to the edge of the projection, Psychic energy crackling barely a few inches from my face. It was easy to recognise the look on her face.
She wanted something, anything to blame for her situation. And right now, the only person she felt she could blame was herself.
'Sashara.'
Her gaze met mine.
'If you want to blame someone for what happened to you, blame Giovanni. Blame your creator. Blame your father.'
A sea of tears and emotions swirled around in her eyes. It took a fair amount of control to stay afloat.
'And that's supposed to cure me somehow?' Her eyes finally blazed. The Sashara I once knew was finally coming back.
I raised an eyebrow. 'No. But you would have an outlet for your rage.'
'I already have a perfectly good outlet for my rage.'
/Be ready to fight./ I crouched low, anticipating her attack. 'The outlet being?'
'Beating the cloned shit out of you.'
'I thought as much.'
The Fire Punch just missed my right shoulder, grazing the short fur. As her Shield dropped, I let loose a full-strength Tri-Beam, directing it so that it would hit her left thigh. She rolled out from the beam's reach, throwing a Shadow Ball as she went.
Casting Protect, I floated into the sky and concentrated. While Metronome is fairly unpredictable, on occasions it is possible to call upon a fairly powerful attack.
A Solarbeam flew towards the ground, catching her square in the chest. It wouldn't be enough to knock her out. With her ability to perform Dark-type moves came the increased Special Defence stats. At most, the beam would give her a nasty rash.
The jolt of the Grass attack drew her attention towards the sky. Seemingly effortlessly, she leapt into the air, one fist raised to the heavens as electrical energy crackled around her.
Lightening flashed as she powered up her Thunder attack. However, she had made one critical mistake.
Both of us being in the air, there was a high probability that said attack would hit her as well as me.
We both screamed as the electrical attack hit us at full power. The remains of my energy went into making sure I didn't hit the ground too hard as I fell. Sashara was only slightly luckier. She managed to land and struggle to her feet with marginal success.
End this now.
My paws glowed as I cast Metronome once again. Apparently my opponent had the same idea. Her index fingers shone with energy. And this attack she wouldn't be able to dodge.
Just as I would never be able to avoid hers.
Her hands formed a triangle as she aimed and fired. Hoping that I had enough energy to cast my own attack, I raised my arms and fired.
A haze…peace…some sort of intoxication…and her…
My body and mind seemed to slow down as I stared at her…nothing except her…
No…fight it!! Fight it…
I don't want to…
I shook my head, forcing the…haze from my mind.
It came back with force when I stared at…her…
Her eyes were unfocussed, staring at…me…
Reality and common sense cut through the haze.
The odds of my casting this were at least two hundred to one.
But her casting the same attack at the same time…oh joy.
There was only one way to halt the effects of the attack. One of us had to faint. But when neither of us could think straight…
A movement from Sashara's direction regained my attention. She had managed to fight the attack for the moment, but after a while it would return.
I tried not to look at her as an Ice Beam surrounded her body. It was the only attack I had strength left for.
A few seconds, and I felt the effects of Attract gratefully depart. But as for her…
She had passed out, a few random chunks of ice frozen onto her face and clothes. It would be around half an hour before she came round unless I tried to warm her up. Levitating a small pile of branches towards us, I cast Ember and shifted her body as close to the fire as I could manage.
Penumbra had woken instantly when the Thunder had struck us. Trotting over to the fire, it settled next to Sashara's unconscious body. You two made an interesting show before she fainted.
'It was not intentional. I had to remove the effects of Attract as fast as I could.'
Why did you try to remove the effects of the attack? I though you loved her.
Thank the gods she was still unconscious. 'I do…but I will not take advantage of her when both of us have been affected by a random surge of lust.'
Ever noble. But still…that could've been your only chance to tell her.
'If we were meant to be, then there will be another chance.'
I hope so Mewtwo. I do.
Night had fallen completely by the time Sashara's breathing had steadied. Pulling the blanket over her body, I sat down next to her, taking the opportunity to think for a while as she recovered.
The power of Attract…it had been hard not to simply open my heart to her, knowing through Suicune that she felt the same way. But it simply wasn't right. Once she had recovered from the faint, she would have only a vague memory of my confession, and there was no possible way I could do that to either of us.
But Penumbra did have a point. What if that really had been my only chance?
No…there would be another opportunity.
There had to be.
A small groan caught my attention. She was finally conscious.
'I see the Ice Beam worked.'
She didn't reply or try to sit up. Her fingers touched her temples as her brow creased. I could only guess how tender her head was after that last attack.
Deciding to risk an onslaught of verbal abuse, I closed my eyes and pressed a paw to one of her temples, trying to sense how severe her injuries were, if any.
Not a word of protest was uttered.
This was interesting. And unsettling.
Especially when one of her hands closed over my paw.
I opened my eyes and stared down at her. 'What?'
'That attack…'
'Ice Beam?'
She rolled her eyes and frowned once again. 'Attract.'
'What about it?'
'Are there any…?' She looked…embarrassed…for lack of a better word.
'Are there any what?'
Now she blushed. 'Are there any…residual effects to the attack?'
'None that I know of.'
She looked relieved. 'Thank God for that.'
It was somewhere in the middle of that sentence that my heart broke. Suicune had botched her examination somehow. Sashara didn't have feelings for me.
For the sake of appearances, I kept going. 'Why do you ask?'
There was no answer. She just kept staring up at me, her hand over mine, still resting against her head.
But her eyes…somehow they had changed. Something had joined her rage and pain…something new…something closely resembling Attract…but stronger.
Her other hand tentatively reached up and touched the side of my face.
The fire still burned whenever she touched me.
'I…just wanted to be sure…'
I briefly wondered if her actions was intentional before she ran her fingers down my cheek. Not even I could mistake that movement as a mere accident.
Just like I couldn't mistake her actions as her eyes drifted shut and her lips met mine.
Even on reflection, I still find it impossible to describe what it feels like to taste perfection.
All I would be able to say is that for a brief time, all that existed in my universe was Sashara and myself.
Like a child, I wanted perfection to last forever.
It didn't.
TBC