8. Strength

I smiled to myself as I turned my back on the mass of metal that had once been Bello's airship and descended to the rooftop where my friends waited. I allowed Ash to slide off my back before hovering at roughly eye level of my friends. I still wasn't quite used to my bulk, but at least I didn't really have to think about the flying part. The Pokémon part of me seemed to take care of that just fine.

Ash's Pokémon piled on top of him as soon as he set foot on the roof. "I'm glad you guys are okay! You did a great job helping Dawn and Brock!" The Pokémon all gave happy cries at the praise. Brock handed Ash his Poké Balls and he swiftly called back his Pokémon. "You guys deserve a long rest."

Dawn approached me. "Is that really you, Celia?"

It's really me, I told her.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Brock exclaimed. "Have you always known about this?"

I shook my head. No, I only figured it out for myself a few months ago. I kept having the same dream over and over, and then I realized it was a memory. Eventually I put all the pieces together. That's when I set out on my own.

"But how did you become a human?" Dawn asked.

That was the memory. I was flying in a storm, and Zekrom and Reshiram were fighting–

I stopped. Zekrom and Reshiram! How could I forget about them? I spun around and saw the two Legendaries continuing to wreak havoc on Monaltia. Breaking Bello's control hadn't sent the two away.

I looked back at Ash and my friends. I have to go take care of this.

Without a moment's delay, I shot off to the other side of the city. I faintly heard Ash call out, "Celia, wait!" but I ignored him. This was my job.

I tapped into my connections with them and called out, Zekrom! Reshiram! There is no more need for this destruction! You were fooled!

Both dragons paused and looked at me. I could sense their confusion.

A human wanted to rule the world and took my power to summon you and do his bidding, I explained.

An inkling of admiration leaked through my connection with Zekrom, and the black dragon communicated, A strong man, then, to take you and your power.

I tried to defend myself: I was in a weaker form…

Really, Zekrom? Another voice caught me off and I realized that it was Reshiram. This man chose to pursue his ambitions through a dishonest use of her powers.

I feel such cleverness should at least be acknowledged, Reshiram, that is all.

Cleverness? Don't you care about achieving success through honest means that will draw the admiration of all, not just one silly dragon?

Silly? I am Zekrom, your equal, if not better!

I felt my connections slipping as the two Legendaries became more enraged. I grasped at them and tried to intervene. Now, hold on. It doesn't matter…

The connections disappeared entirely and I realized that I had lost control of the black and white dragons. I looked on in dismay as Zekrom and Reshiram began to attack each other, colliding over and over and throwing fire and lightning at each other.

"Celia! Concordia!"

I turned to see Ash flying toward me on his Unfezant, Pikachu on his shoulder as always.

Ash! You need to get out of here! They've started quarreling again and I've lost control!

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a red Fire Blast and blue Thunder about to collide and I wrapped my long body around Ash and his Unfezant to shield them from the attack blast.

Ha! The crystal picked up Reshiram's taunts. Is that the best you can do, Zekrom? Don't tell me you've grown feeble over the centuries!

You want power, Reshiram? Then take this!

A giant orb of blue electricity encased Zekrom. Its eyes and tail glowed brighter and the crackling growing louder as it gathered power. In response, giant red flames sprouted from Reshiram's tail and streamed around the white dragon. The sphere of fire steadily grew bigger and hotter, the flames turning blue.

I flashed back to the memory that had changed everything. Zekrom and Reshiram preparing their ultimate attacks. There was only one thing I could do then and only one thing I could do now. The only difference was I was weaker now, not having occupied my true form for eight years, as well as recovering from the darkness of Bello's control.

I looked down at Ash and whispered, I'm sorry. I took him and Unfezant in my paw and flung him away from the scene, ignoring his protests.

I raced toward Zekrom and Reshiram, their forms almost completely concealed in their respective shells of electricity and fire. The two dragons were like two suns that had descended from their homes to scorch the land below them.

I couldn't let that happen.

The two Legendaries launched themselves at each other and with one last burst of speed I flung myself into the space between the two. Instead of the two great powers meeting each other and combusting in an intense explosion, they met my body instead.

I screamed as blue flames burned one side of me and blue lightning seared the other. Excruciating pain filled every atom of my being. A high-pitched whine from my crystal sounded in my mind as it reacted to the torture, causing agony inside of me as Zekrom and Reshiram ravaged the outside.

Two deafening booms echoed as the attacks discharged the last of their power in smaller explosions than what would have resulted had the two forces made contact. Smoke filled my lungs and I barely had the energy to cough in a meager attempt to clear them.

The forces on either side of me moved away and I felt myself slip from their pincer hold. It barely registered that I was falling, my wings lifeless, as devastated as the rest of my body. I was numb by this time and didn't notice the slightest bit that my wings, and my entire form, were growing smaller.

A different kind of darkness came rushing in, and having no energy left whatsoever, I let it claim me.

xxxxx

I'm sorry.

Ash was scarcely able to keep his grip around Unfezant as Concordia threw them away from her. Unfezant barely caught itself, soaring upwards again a moment before they would've crash-landed on the roof of a building.

When he looked up again, he could only watch in horror as Concordia threw herself between Zekrom and Reshiram.

"NOOOOO!"

Concordia's cry of pain pierced Ash's heart. A moment later there was an explosion on either side of her and Ash saw the slender white Legendary plunge from the enormous smoke cloud. The falling figure began to glow and Ash realized that Concordia's body was shrinking.

"Go, Unfezant!" he commanded.

With a piercing shriek Unfezant zoomed towards the falling body. The glow disappeared in a shower of sparkles and the human body of Celia landed in Ash's arms. He cradled her against his body with one arm while keeping a grip on Unfezant with the other as it sharply dived to the closest rooftop.

Ash carefully laid out Celia's body, cradling her head in his lap. Every inch of her was charred and blackened, her skin, her hair, even her dress. The crystal was the only thing that looked the same, except that it was completely clear, void of all color.

"Celia! Wake up! Come on, Celia, please wake up!"

To Ash's amazement, Celia's eyelids fluttered and those beautiful blue eyes looked up at him. "Ash." His name came out in the softest whisper, but it came out.

"I'm here, Celia. You're going to be okay. We'll get you to a hospital and–"

"No, Ash." Her voice was a little stronger, but still soft and raspy. "This is too much for any healer. I didn't have the power to protect myself this time. I had been in human form for too long."

"No." Ash choked on his words as the tears began to spill. "No, there has to be something we can do."

Celia closed her eyes and for a moment Ash feared the worst, but then they opened again, although not all the way. "The only thing that could heal this is Celebi, but I don't have nearly enough energy to hold a connection."

Ash shook his head. "There has to be a way. I'm not losing you again."

Celia's eyes brightened. "You. You can do it."

"What?"

"You have memories of Celebi. You can bring it here." Celia managed to grab her crystal and hold it up to Ash. "I can call Celebi, but you have to hold the connection and see it through with your memories."

Ash repositioned one arm so that he could still hold up Celia and took her crystal in the other hand. He stared at it lying cold and clear in his palm. Celia was definitely on the verge of dying if the crystal wasn't even reacting to him when she most likely wasn't able to keep up her usual barrier. His fingers closed around the crystal. "Okay. Let's do it."

Celia closed her eyes and murmured, "Celebi, Fairy of Time, answer my prayer. Heal my wounds so that I may live with the ones I love."

Ash felt the crystal warm a few degrees and he saw a light shade of green fill its swirling shape. He immediately summoned his memories of when he met Celebi in the Ilex Forest. It had taken a boy named Sam through time and Ash and Brock and Misty, his other companion at the time, searched for Celebi so Sam could return home. When they found Celebi, though, it was captured and corrupted by an evil man, almost killing the forest. Ash and his friends had managed to rescue Celebi, but it was too late and ended up dying. The Celebi from all other times came, however, and revived their friend.

Ash knew that Celebi could heal Celia.

He felt something touch his mind, and he realized that the connection had gone through. Celia had explained how she summoned Legendaries enough times to him, though, that he knew he still had to convince Celebi to come help. Ash closed his eyes and concentrated. Please, Celebi, if you can hear me, please come help Celia. I love her so much and I don't want to see her die. I don't care that she's really a Pokémon. Please, Celebi, please heal her.

Ash opened his eyes to see that the green in the crystal had grown a little stronger, and the crystal was even giving off some light.

But then the light began to fade.

Ash looked at Celia. Her eyes were open again, sky blue circles fixed on him. Her lips curled in a small smile. "I love you, Ash."

A sob escaped Ash's throat. "I love you, too, Celia. Don't go. Please, don't leave me."

Celia closed her eyes and sighed. The green swirls in the crystal dissipated and it was cool once more.

She was gone.

Ash hugged Celia to him and wept. He had been so sure that Celebi would come. Did he mess up? Did he not hold the connection?

"Bi?"

Ash looked up to see a small green creature with clear wings and big blue eyes floating in front of him. He wiped his eyes with one hand. He murmured in disbelief, "Celebi?"

"Bi! Bi!" Celebi bobbed up and down and flew in a little circle. It drew close to Celia, and Ash lowered her body again to let Celebi see her. The Time Travel Pokémon hovered over the girl for a moment, touching her head and then her crystal.

"Can you bring her back?" Ash asked.

Celebi looked up at Ash and gave a short "Bi!" before flying up again. It soared in a large ascending spiral, calling out in long cries. A pulsing light appeared high in the sky. It released a shockwave before opening up to allow more Celebi to float down.

Ash realized that Celebi was calling on all of the Celebis from the past and future to come help it, just like when Celebi itself had died.

A blue glow enveloped Celia's body and she was lifted out of Ash's arms and into the air. She hovered in the middle of the throng of Celebis and her body began to glow even brighter. The Celebis swirled around her and began to glow themselves. At last the radiance faded and Ash could see that all traces of Celia's burns were gone. Her skin was clean, her blonde hair flowed from beneath the scarf, and her dress was a crisp white.

Celia gently floated down feet first and Ash stood under her, ready to catch her when she reached the ground. She was already coming to when she landed and managed to stay standing. Her eyes opened and she blinked a few times before saying in a strong voice, "Ash?"

"Celia!" Ash wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug and she returned the embrace. "I thought you were gone."

"So did I," Celia replied. She pulled away and they looked up just in time to see the Celebis of the past and future traveling back through the portal in the sky. The light closed up again with one last shockwave.

The original Celebi flew up to and all around Celia, inspecting her. "Bibibi! Bi!"

Celia grinned and reached out to touch Celebi. "Thank you, Celebi."

"Bi bi!" Celebi performed one last corkscrew before flying off and disappearing into its own portal.

A rumble behind them made Ash and Celia turn around. Zekrom and Reshiram hovered nearby, studying them, Celia in particular. Ash heard each dragon growl a bit and Celia nodded to them, saying, "All is forgiven."

The two Legendaries promptly turned around and flew off in opposite directions, back to whence they came when Bello had forced Concordia to summon them.

Ash gazed at Celia. "That was amazing."

Celia smiled shyly.

"Just try to avoid dying again if you can," he added.

Celia laughed. "Don't worry, I don't plan on it."

"Celia, I want you to know, I don't care-"

Celia placed her fingers on Ash's mouth to stop him from talking. "I know, Ash. I heard you when you called Celebi."

Their lips met and in that moment Ash's world shrunk to just him and Celia, the girl he truly loved and would love for all time, no matter who or what she was.

"Ash! Celia!"

Dawn and Brock interrupted them as the other Trainers reached the rooftop. Dawn rushed forward and hugged Celia. "Are you okay? We saw you fall!"

Celia smiled and looked at Ash. "I'm fine now. Ash saved me."

"You were really brave to sacrifice yourself like that," Brock said.

Celia shrugged. "I was just doing what I was born to do."

Celia's crystal flashed brightly and she looked down at it. "I gotta go. It's time for Concordia to return to her duties and she's itching to get back out in the world." She looked at each of her friends. "Thank you for everything, all of you."

She leaned up and kissed Ash on the cheek, making him smile. The skin felt warm and tingly where her lips had touched it. Before she could go off he caught her hand and asked, "See you soon?"

Celia nodded. "Definitely."

With that, the crystal began to shine brightly and Celia's body was enveloped in the white light. Her form began to change shape as it lifted itself into the air. A minute later the light faded and Concordia hovered above them. The Pokémon gave a long, melodic call and circled the Trainers once before shooting off towards the mountains.

"See you soon," Ash murmured as he waved at Concordia's receding figure.

AN: Yes, I have returned! Thank you all for your patience and also shout out to those who followed and favorited this story during my hiatus. This is really the last chapter of all the action. I hope you enjoyed it! The next and final chapter is more like an epilogue so it's pretty short. I'll leave a longer author's note there. :)