4. Emotion
When I showed my old friends where I was staying they insisted on joining me. Dawn said that the inn they were staying at had terrible service, which I doubted, but they insisted on transferring. I just sighed and accepted my fate.
I went off on Reuniclus again when we were back in our room. "Look what you've done! This is exactly the opposite of what I wanted!"
Reuniclus gurgled something like, "You'll thank me later."
"Yeah, right. I doubt that. I left for a reason, Reuniclus! That reason still stands! If anything, it's worse now!"
Reuniclus threw its arms up in defeat and drifted under the bed, hiding from me in the shadows.
I groaned and flopped on top of the bed. "I asked you to do one thing, Reuniclus, and you betrayed me. What am I going to do with you?"
The Pokémon I had raised since it was a simple Solosis didn't respond.
xxxxx
The three trainers and two Pokémon were wrapped up tightly in sticky string. I almost didn't want to help them. After all they were trespassing on the aggressive Bug Pokémon's territory. But something in the young boy's cries drew me to them. My crystal had brightened a little at each of his calls for help, and I always listened to my crystal.
The Bug Pokémon were getting ready to unleash some nasty Bug Bites when I stepped into the clearing and shouted, "Stop!"
Everyone, Pokémon and human, looked at me. I made eye contact with each and every one of the local Pokémon as I continued, "Leave them alone. They mean you no harm. Right?" I raised an eyebrow at the captives, who nodded vigorously.
"Go home," I ordered.
The Bug Pokémon stared at me for a moment, debating whether or not they should listen to me, the one who protected them and their home. But then a Whirlipede rolled back into the trees, and then a Swadloon gathered a couple of Sewaddle and ushered them into the bushes. The Bug Pokémon gradually returned to their homes in the forest, the last Venipede spatting out one final piece of string before joining its brethren.
"Get them out of that stuff, Reuniclus, if you please," I asked my faithful companion.
Reuniclus complied with a happy bubble, using a combination of its psychic powers and its powerful arms to free the newcomers from their sticky bonds.
The girl started to speak. "Thank you v-"
"You're very lucky," I said, cutting her off. "Normally I would've let the Pokémon have you. You did stomp around their territory."
"So why did you save us?" The younger boy, the one with the Pikachu, asked that question.
Our eyes met and I saw the shadows of certain memories swimming behind those brown irises. Memories that I wanted to both see and avoid.
"Because of you," I whispered, and then spun on my heels and dashed into the forest, back toward the temple.
"Hey, wait!" I could hear the boy following me through the trees. "What do you mean? Who are you?"
He was faster than I expected, so I wasn't prepared when he grabbed my wrist. An onslaught of images assaulted me and I fell to my knees with a cry. Pokémon flashed before me:
A small pink and large purple Pokémon, similar in appearance.
Three birds of differing elements, with a large white and blue creature.
A great brown and white dog of fire.
A small green fairy Pokémon flitting through a forest with a blue and white dog of water instead of fire.
Two Pokémon, one red and one blue, zooming through air and water.
A small yellow and white fairy with an eye on its stomach, and then a massive creature of earth and magma.
A giant green dragon of the atmosphere and a red shifting Pokémon from beyond.
Three Pokémon created from rock, ice, and steel.
A small blue water fairy with a massive blue monster of the ocean.
A black Pokémon like the stuff of nightmares.
A huge blue creature of diamond and steel, a pink one of pearls, and a gray one of distorted shadows.
A small green bunch of flowers that could zip through the sky.
An enormous spiny Pokémon said to be the creator of the Pokémon world.
Each image – no, not images, memories – shared a common factor: the boy.
The memories disappeared as suddenly as they came, leaving me exhausted and hyperventilating. A soft blue glow enveloped me as Reuniclus used Recover on me. My pendant was still burning from those memories, though, almost scorching my bare chest.
I realized that the boy was holding me, his eyes full of concern. "Are you okay?"
I nodded. "Come with me."
xxxxx
My necklace felt the tiniest bit warm when I woke from my dream. The day I first met Ash. The first time I saw his memories of the Legendaries. I had told him I envied him for having met so many. He let me work through them bit by bit as we traveled, strengthening my connection with each Legendary Pokémon so that they might heed my call when I needed their power.
At the same time, Ash and I grew closer and closer. Too close. I fell.
I wrapped the blanket around me again, careful not to disturb Reuniclus, who had fallen asleep in its refuge under the bed. I tiptoed out and past the room that Ash and Brock were bunking in, cringing when a floorboard creaked loudly, but making it outside without another sound. I settled on the bench by the fountain again. The only sounds were the bubbling of the fountain, the flapping of banners and flags in the wind, and the cry of some Pokémon somewhere out in the night. I looked up at the display of stars, but clouds obscured part of the heavens tonight.
"Celia? What are you doing out here?"
I turned to see Ash standing next to the bench, but I was too tired to send him away. "Couldn't sleep," I answered.
Ash seemed to hesitate and then asked, "Mind if I sit with you?"
It was my turn to hesitate, but I patted the spot next to me on the bench and he sat, leaning forward with his hands clasped tightly. I could acutely feel the tension suspended in the inches between us. I cleared my throat, trying to get rid of the blockage that suddenly appeared. "The night sky is beautiful when there aren't so many clouds. I like to come outside on the nights when I can't sleep. Which is pretty much every night."
Ash looked over at me sharply.
"I have nightmares. If I want to sleep, Reuniclus has to use Hypnosis on me. I've gotten used to it. It's part of my routine now." I realized I was babbling and I clamped my mouth shut and pulled the blanket a little tighter around me. I resisted the urge to lean into Ash like I did on those many nights where we would stay up late and stargaze.
Ash's voice was barely audible as he whispered, "Why did you leave?"
I stayed silent for a minute. Reuniclus would want me to tell him. But I couldn't. It would change everything. This way we still had a relationship, even if it was broken.
Ash continued, "Was it something I said?"
"No!" I replied right away. "No, it wasn't you. I discovered something that I knew would inevitably hurt us."
"Hurt more than you leaving?" Ash asked. "Do you know how much that hurt me, Celia? It was like I had lost Pikachu. Maybe even worse."
"I'm sorry, Ash, but it's best for all of us that I-"
Without warning Ash took my face between his hands and kissed me. At first I stiffened, but then to my surprise, I relaxed against his body. One of my hands crept up to tangle the fingers in his hair. It was like he had unlocked my heart and all the feelings that I had denied even the tiniest acknowledgment.
And deep down I realized that I still loved him.
I tore myself away and stood up, pushing back all these unwanted emotions. "No. This can't happen, Ash. It won't work."
Ash stood up as well. "Why not?"
"You wouldn't understand." I could feel the tears coming. Crying was the last thing I wanted to do right now. It betrayed my true feelings.
Ash took me by the arms. "Then make me understand." He wiped away the tears that dripped down my cheeks. "I want to make this work, Celia." He bit his lip. "I love you."
I stared at him, at those big brown eyes, and just shook my head. "If you knew the true me, you wouldn't say that."
I slipped out of his grip and ran back into the inn. I cried myself to sleep that night, an ironically blissful sleep free of all dreams.
AN: Poor Celia and Ash. Oh, I never mentioned this before, but in this fan fiction I'm assuming that Ash really does age; he's not ten years old like he always is in the anime (Or did they make him older now? I stopped watching a long time ago haha.).
I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get this chapter up on Friday like usual because my internet is down at home but libraries are wonderful places. ^_^
One more thing! When I wrote this the last movie that had come out was the Arceus one (or maybe the Victini ones I can't remember). That's why the list in the flashback stops with Arceus so don't say anything about not having the Kalos ones.
Okay that's all for this chapter! See you next week for a longer chapter when we get to see Ash and Bello's rematch! Start placing your bets now! ;)