"I... I don't understand." Ash sputtered. Dawn turned away from him. Biting her knuckles. Looking around, it seemed as all background noise had been muted. Waves crashed against the hull, people and pokemon chatter in the background, but no sound came.

"Are you... Scared?" He asked taking a slight step back, worry was taking over his thoughts, voice, and emotions.

"Ash..." Dawn still not facing him, "Don't do this... Please."

Her voice came out in a whisper. It was followed by waves crashing against the hull. How long did they stand there. Doing nothing. Just one watching the other. Thoughts were running through his head. How could she say no? Maybe she doesn't really like me? Should I just drop it? I need to at least push one more decided to break the silence.

"I thought... maybe... after all this time, you would be able return my feelings." Ash admitted.

"I'm sorry Ash." Something in Ash's stomach churned. "But I don't feel the same way you do." The churning grew harsher. "Can... Can we pretend this never happened?"

The churning continued. But something strange was happening to it now. It was moving up his body, moving into his chest. It was transforming. It become something new. Something familiar, something he hasn't felt in a long time.

"Dawn, your asking something of me, that I can not do." He stood firm. Dawn could feel that as well. "I can not, and will not, pretend this never happened. But I need to know... Why not?"

Dawn remained silent. Biting deeper into her knuckles stopping only to faintly let out.

"I... I just want to be friends. Can we leave it at that?" Fear was a constant in her voice. It ate away at her, and also at Ash. But he couldn't show it. He had to be strong. He had to brave.

"But I don't want to be friends."

Dawn turned around for the first time to face Ash. His face and body radiated that inner feeling deep inside him, in her mind, she knew he was speaking the truth, but he didn't want him to. "There are two choices as I see them," Ash continued "I could love you forever, or I could hate you forever. There are no other options."

"Stop it Ash, lets just go inside or something..." Dawn was turned back around and began to leave, but an arm stopped her.

"I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"Your lying to me."

"What are you talking about?" Emotion was developing in her voice.

"In your eyes, I could see that you haven't been telling me the truth."

"Let go of me Ash." She had the muscle to break away from Ash's grip, but she didn't have the strength.

"Why are you lying, to us."

"What do you want from me Ash!?" The emotion was climaxing. "Do you want me to love you back? Do you want me to admit it? Because I can't love you!" The sloshing of the waves seemed to have given volume through her voice.

"What do you mean you can't?" Ash tried to look into eyes once more, but he couldn't. Not only did Dawn turn her head away, she also shutting her eyes

"You do love me. Don't you?"

"How can I not. Ash you are a hero. You've done amazing things, you are funny, kind, selfless and I will admit, attractive. You've helped me in ways that not only made me a better trainer, but a better person." She turned back to face him. "But I also wasn't the only the only girl that has traveled with you, and you've shared many more heroic experiences with them. I'm willing to bet that those other girls also loved you."

"No they didn't."

"Did they!?" Dawn exploded. "Then why did May go out with me! And what about this Misty girl I keep hearing about!?" Her rage brought out a question she normally wouldn't dare ask him.

"How long until you replace me!?"

Dawn suddenly seemed aware of what she said, took in a sharp breath and froze.

Ash didn't know how to act. He let go of Dawn. The emotion in his chest, it was still there, but now it was clouded, it couldn't guide him at the moment. Ash couldn't bear to see the way Dawn was acting, and he started crying lightly. He had to do something, say something.

"You are right."

Dawn heard what he said, but she didn't respond.

"You are right. Looking back on it, they did love me. But I was married to my craft, focusing only on my dreams and goals, that I didn't see what was right in front of me. I'm only able to see this now because well... I think, because I'm in a different body, thinking through a different brain. I can now see what is going on around me, Dawn I don't want to lose you."

Another long pause. The waves clashed just as hard as their voices did. For the first time, Ash noticed Dawn's fist was bleeding.

"Ash I'm sorry" Dawn began, it was her turn to be firm. "But I can't love you, I don't want to love you. I know that when we switched back, you will return to normal. Like you said, you are married to your craft. I don't want to love someone who is going to leave me in the end."

"Dawn..."

"After we switch back... I'm leaving."

The door opened slowly. Brock had been waiting for hours. All the pokemon were asleep in their balls, except for pikachu. Dawn walked into the room, making her way to the empty bed on the other side of the room.

"Hey Ash. So how did it go?"

Brock looked hopeful, did he know what Ash was going to do. "It... I really don't want to talk about it."

Brock could pick up all he needed from the way those words were uttered. He silently prayed for the best.

"Do you know where Dawn is?"

"We... agreed that getting separate rooms will be best." Brock noted that Dawn never looked at him at all, but twitched in a way that she wanted to look at him. "If you don't mind, I would like to go to bed."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Oh, one more thing. Do you think I could sleep with piplup's pokeball tonight?"

"Why sleep with piplup?" Luckily pikachu wasn't awake to hear his master prefer piplup over him.

"Just because." She reached over and grabbed piplup's pokeball and held it close to her chest.

Brock could feel the tension, and the anguish raging in her body. It was eating her up, like a parasite. He turned off the lights, and slipped quietly out of the room. He made his way to the reception area, to find out where Ash was sleeping. When he got Ash's room number, he made his way to his room with the intention of finding out what happened. Dawn's actions made him highly curious to know exactly what happened up on deck, and being that Ash came to him first, she would tell him everything.

He found Ash's room, before Brock could knock on the door, he realized the door was ajar. Brock slightly, slowly, and most importantly, quietly, pushed the door open. Before Brock could enter the dark room. He heard crying, desperate crying. He breathed in deep, closed the door, and walked down the hallway back to his room.

He had always been the parental figure, the one that sorted out all the messes, calmed all the quarrels. But this was one thing he couldn't fix, one wound he couldn't mend. He hated that feeling, he hasn't felt this way since his dad abandoned him and his brothers and sisters. But for the first time in his journey, he felt helpless to aid his friends.