A/N: All reviewers please read the footnote at the end of the fic. Nothing nasty or serious, honest.

Chibi-Mariah: Aww, shucks. Thank you for the positive sentiments!!

Miah Tolensky: Correct guess, and as to what our little time-travelling Pokemon has seen in Mewtwo's future…Celebi won't be laughing maniacally though; he's too damn cute for that.

Izzy: Mewtwo lovers unite! Very glad you like the fic.

Goldie: Sheeesh. I always thought I was emotionally stunted. Hell, I just do what the voices in my head tell me to do. Mewtwo's voice appears to be the serious yet sweet one. Bless.

VMorticia: Alas, poor Draco…slightly adapted Shakespeare quote.

Kaze-2: Continuing now!

Anthony67: Apology cheerfully accepted. Enjoy the next part!

Cosmic Mewtwo: I've been killing to mention Ai for some time, but I wasn't sure I had enough background info on her. Even I was a bit weepy after writing the last chapter, and that's saying something.

Disclaimer: I own Sashara and Penumbra. Would kill to own Mewtwo, but he, like everything else, is the property of Nintendo, 4Kids and Satoshi Tajiri.

Warning: Angst, romantic relationship between Pokemon-human hybrid and Pokemon. Slightly depressing talk about suicide in this part.

Italics denote Pokemon speech

Italics denote Celebi's POV. Thank you Miah Tolensky!

Forgotten: Part 11

'…If she dies we can always create another one…'

'…I will make as many copies as it takes to get her back…'

'…You can't destroy it! It'll take years to clone it again…'

Contrary to what many believe, I did hear Domino's words to Giovanni as I hung in a grotesque parody of the Crucifixion above Mount Caina.

So reassuring to learn that Team Rocket still thought of life and independent autonomy as nothing more than disposable commodities.

From what I had learned from the Cerulean lab records, Sashara was the only 'successful' product of the cloning project to contain replicated human genetic material combined with Pokemon DNA. The computer simulations of the Mew DNA combined perfectly with an abnormality in Giovanni's genetic makeup, ironically making him the perfect human donor for the project.

Ai's father had participated in the experiments and had later attempted to use the same methods with untampered genetic material to clone his daughter. At the same time, he had commenced the final experiment of the cloning project using enhanced Mew DNA with selected human genetic traits instead of genetic material.

Two artificial, unnatural lives, two products of science born out of violence, designed to be nothing more than killing machines, designed to be expendable should violence take its course…those two lives had survived.

A life that truly belonged to this world, a consciousness that had the capability to learn, to grow, a body which could age, bear young, die peacefully after a long and natural life…that life had been completely destroyed.

I could see why he bore the two of us nothing but contempt.

'Some lives are allowed to perish and others to live. We didn't have a choice whether to live or not and neither did Ai.'

Sashara prodded the embers of the fire with a tree branch.

I raised an eyebrow. 'And you had no choice but to live, even though you had the power to take your own life?'

She shook her head. 'I didn't even have that choice. I wore the same armour as you did Mewtwo. My powers were 'focused' just as yours were. Suicide was impossible for me…even though I thought about it.'

'And you still didn't take your life even after I freed you.'

She sighed and stood up, using her Psychic abilities to help her float off the ground.

'Because my life had no purpose. It never has done…and it never will.'

I gazed up after her as she floated several hundred feet above the lake and gazed out over Purity Canyon. Both of us had become accustomed to spending the light hours training and the dark hours sitting under the stars.

Ever since that night when she had revealed her knowledge of Ai, I had stayed with her every waking and sleeping moment afterwards. The nightmares still plagued her, as did her memories of the lab…and her father.

It…infuriated me that I could do little for her besides listen to her when she needed me and try to soothe her back to sleep every night.

Floating behind her, I pulled her frame backwards into a loose embrace, still trying to ignore the feelings of fire consuming my body whenever I touched her.

'All of us who live have a purpose in this world. We may have been created to serve Giovanni's purposes…but there is another reason why we are here.'

She leaned back against me. 'Which is…?'

'I don't know. But whatever your purpose is…' I turned her around to face me.

'…I will be with you…always.'

Her hands rested against the sides of my face; her fingers stroking my fur as she floated even closer to me.

'And if my purpose takes me away from here?'

'Then…I would still be with you. In spirit at least.'

'Only in spirit?'

I repressed a sigh and rested my forehead against hers. The unspoken question I never wanted to have to answer or even think about.

I had never found out why exactly Sashara's genetic profile had been modified so that her human characteristics were dominant, but it appeared that Giovanni had given her an insurmountable advantage over me.

She could walk freely in the light of the sun, no one knowing that she was a Pokemon/human hybrid until they faced her in battle.

I would forever have to walk in the shadows of the moon, whether I wanted to or not. People and Pokemon alike would fear me simply for my appearance.

If I stayed with Sashara beyond the reach of Mount Caina…neither of us would belong.

If her purpose took her away from Mount Caina…away from me…

She shivered slightly and curled her body against mine; her eyes boring into my own as I studied her. I forced myself to remember that she was a member of the Giovanni bloodline…and that she was still just a girl, looking for reassurance that the one being who cared for her was not about to abandon her to her fate, whatever it might be.

I pressed my lips to her forehead and then to her lips, breathing in the scent of her hair and skin.

The question still lingered, unanswered, unacknowledged.

If her purpose took her away from here, would I still be with her…?

/…Only in spirit./

It was all I had to give to her.

And all she could ever take from me.

No one heard the interloper.

An eternity spent appearing and disappearing from various timelines had given the tiny Psychic/Grass Pokemon a lot of practice in disguising his presence.

'Biiiiiii…'

Sometimes, the only way to express his emotions properly was with the Pokemon tongue. Unlike his cloned contemporary, he still used the singular language bestowed on his lineage.

The Tongue of the Celebi, as it was affectionately called.

Suicune, Entei, Raikou and dear Mew had not been exaggerating when they had informed him of how fast the situation was progressing. Even knowing this himself was of little comfort.

The laws of time and space still applied even to a creature such as him. He could only very gently steer the course of the future through the actions of others. Interfering with the timeline directly could irretrievably destroy the events he sought to protect.

Luckily, it hadn't stopped him from making an…arrangement…with a certain Pokemon…

'…Half-Shadow...'

The Eevee's ears pricked up instantly. It recognised the playful voice behind the words.

Trying not to attract the clones attention, it stood and walked a short distance until it was hidden under the cover of a nearby gorse bush.

'Traveller? Did everything go as planned?'

The vaguely shimmery area before Penumbra wavered before reforming into the grassy white and green visage of the Time-Traveller Pokemon, his aqua-blue eyes shining in the moonlight.

'You've done well to keep them going this far.'

The Eevee nodded slowly. 'It…hasn't been easy.'

'Because you care about both of them?'

'They're my friends, Traveller. I…I just don't want to see them get hurt.'

Celebi sighed. 'If what I saw in the future is to come to pass, hurting both of them is the only way that this whole sorry situation can be made right.'

'There isn't another way around it?'

'If there were an alternative course of action, Half-Shadow, I would gladly take it. But…we just don't have the luxury of choice.'

The tiny green Pokemon placed a claw on the Eevee's white fur ruff. 'I don't like this any more than you do, my friend. But ultimately, it will do more good than harm for them.'

'If it's what you've seen to be the best way, then-'

Penumbra broke off as it shivered involuntarily and closed its dark eyes, almost as if it was trying desperately to repress something inside its body…or its soul.

Although he was not experienced with the changes himself, Celebi did feel sympathy for the young one's plight.

'The time of change is coming, Half-Shadow. You can't fight it forever.'

'I can fight it until I feel that I can cope with helping to break their hearts.'

'Your body will destroy itself unless you accept the change. Unless you do, this whole situation will never be rectified.'

The Eevee looked down at the ground. It was not that the time of change would not be welcomed…but rather, it was that the change would be the start of the apparent end.

And no matter what ultimate good the Traveller said would come of it, no amount of evolution was ever going to take away the feelings of guilt it would forever hold in its heart.

TBC

A/N: If you read this far, thank you kindly. Now to business.

Can I take a quick vote from everyone on what they would think of a very subtle lemony taste being added to the fic? One part only, nothing graphic, sordid or sappy. This is just so I can give fair warnings to everyone.

Cheers,
Melora Maxwell