A/N: Really really REALLY sorry about how late this part is! But needless to say, the romance has officially started!

Anthony 67: Screaming is not productive to my thought processes. And here's your next part.

Anguirus111: I hate romances with no plots, so I tried to find a decent plot for this.

Goldie: I am not extremely talented, now stop it. And I love 'Attract' as well. Loud and unruly…I like your class!

Miah Tolensky: Indeed awww!

Cosmic Mewtwo: You're not left hanging any more!

Kaze-2: Thank you! And sorry about calling you the wrong name!

VMorticia: My cheat guide says how to catch the Legendary Dogs. Weird.

Nightdragon0: I find emotional stuff is often quite difficult to write without it sounding really sappy. And I love the Dogs.

YunCyn: Again, I try not to do mushy too often. Since Mewtwo's never been in love before and he's still only learning about it, I'm trying to approach the fic with this in mind. Short chapters are evil. Hence the reason I try not to write them.

Disclaimer: Sashara and Penumbra are mine, so no stealing. Mewtwo and everything else belongs to Nintendo, 4Kids, and Satoshi Tajiri.

Warnings: Cross-species romance (Pokemon x human). If this doesn't appeal, don't read any further.

Italics denote Pokemon speech

Forgotten: Part 10

For the first time in my life, I didn't meditate through the night. A clear, focused mind was required for meditation.

Currently, my mind was anything except clear and focused.

Sashara and I had kissed.

She had initiated it.

And I had enjoyed it.

Where did I go from here? The dynamics of bonds between Pokemon couldn't apply to us. Neither could the relationship between humans apply.

A bonding between a Pokemon and a Pokemon/human hybrid…

I sighed and stared up at the moon as I floated aimlessly above Mount Caina.

I have always tried to think with my head, priding myself on being logical under any circumstances. Decisions I have made in the past, under the sway of my emotions, have always resulted in something…or someone…getting hurt.

Or killed.

After the New Island incident, I declared my emotions off-limits, denying that I even possessed them. I needed only a brain, capable of rational thought.

But when she had kissed me…a barrier was lifted.

The barrier that had prevented me from revealing any emotion.

I could control my anger, rage, fear…all of them were simple base feelings.

But love.

It was a base feeling.

One that I was completely inexperienced in controlling.

A pink shimmer to my left brought me out of my musings.

'You're loving this, aren't you? Mewtwo, the most powerful cloned Pokemon on Earth and he can't cope with experiencing love.'

My one-time nemesis quietly observed Sashara warming herself by the fire, the Eevee curled up next to her. I'm not. Just because I can experience love doesn't necessarily mean I can cope with it any better than you can.

'If it's even possible, I think I've just gotten more depressed.'

Mew giggled, her paws coming up to cover her mouth. Love is one of the most illogical, irrational constants in the universe.

'And I'm perfectly equipped not to deal with it.'

That's not so. You just have to let your instincts be your guide…

I threw my paws up in frustration. 'What good are my instincts!? My instincts got Ash Ketchum killed. My instincts could have destroyed you and this planet. My instincts…'

She cut me off sharply. Your instincts told you to release Sashara. Your instincts told you to protect her and train her…Your instincts…and your heart… are telling you that you love her.

I paused. My…heart?

You know I'm right.

'And I hate it every time you are.'

Some things never change. But I will say this…

I was actually taking advice on relationships from a pink, flying cat. I just prayed Sashara wasn't watching this.

She's been through too much already. If you do choose to pursue a bond with her, you will have to deal with her past…

Deal with her past…

I knew she was Giovanni's daughter, an experimental clone as I am.

She was used as a laboratory experiment, as I was.

She had killed, as I had been forced to do.

But…the rape.

The conception as a result of the rape.

The self-inflicted abortion…

Logically, that was the only event of Sashara's past that I would have to deal with, as Mew so delicately put it.

But I had never experienced anything such as rape. I had no desire to understand it either, but if I wanted her to stay with me, then so be it.

Neither of us spoke for a while as we stared into the dying embers of the fire. I still had no idea if she had seen or heard any of my discussion with Mew, and oddly enough, I was too apprehensive to ask.

Sashara directed a small Ember blast into the heart of the fire, the sudden rise in heat creating a flurry of sparks.

'It's hardly a crime to care about someone.'

I didn't even try to deny what she said. 'It may not be a crime, but for me…all of those whom I care about have ended up dead.'

'Ash Ketchum and the cloned Pokemon.'

/If only you knew./

'I do.'

I turned my head sharply. Truly impressive, being able to read my thoughts without my sensing her intrusion.

'I know about the initial drive behind the cloning experiments; Giovanni's goal to create the world's most powerful Pokemon…but I also know about the original cloned Pokemon…about that one scientist's obsession with the cloning process…'

She looked away from me, closing her eyes. '…I know about Ai.'

Not this.

Anything but this.

The reason I had hated humans so much…the reason I had hated myself so much.

The real reason I had tried to hate Sashara.

Her voice sounded as if it was speaking from a great distance away.

'I may have been created before her, but it was the process which created me that that scientist was so desperate to replicate…to clone his daughter.'

'Even in cryogenic sleep I could still sense the outside world to a certain degree. I could only sense what occurred inside the lab though…but I sensed her. I felt her presence, her hope…'

/Her death./

She didn't acknowledge the thought. 'After that…nothing.'

I stood up, tears blurring my sight.

Anything, anything to make it stop, to make the pain go away, to stop me seeing Ai's death over and over again…

'You cared about her.'

I fought back a sob. 'Yes.'

'…You loved her.'

'Yes.'

Silence. Blissful silence. I shook my head, shoving the tears back inside where they belonged. Ai was dead. No storms of tears would bring her back.

No tears had been shed for her.

No tears for a clone.

I barely registered two arms looping around my waist from behind my back. I didn't respond to the heat of Sashara's body next to mine.

But I couldn't ignore her head resting against my back.

Or the tears flowing down her face onto my fur.

'It's not a crime to love someone.'

Her voice shook, but she carried on. 'It's not a crime to grieve.'

'It's not a crime to cry for someone you lost…someone we lost.'

The two of us stood under the light of the full moon, tears streaking down our faces as we grieved for a life that should have remained just that.

A life.

Singular.

Unique.

Ai.

TBC

A/N2: I know it's the curse of the Evil Short Chapters of Doom, but hey, I tried!