Kyo: I'll be honest... I never thought the chapter count would get so high!
Drew: And who would have known that this fic would become your most popular? At the moment anyways
Kyo: I know right? When I first came to this site, there were hardly any Respectshipping fics so I assumed that the pairing wasn't that popular...
Ash: But you've been proved wrong right? There are loads of Respectshippers out there! We'll find 'em all and get 'em to support our love! *grabs Drew and pulls him into a hug*
Drew: *blushes* Yeah... whatever...
Kyo: Well then, I think it's about time that everything comes into focus. All the mysteries surrounding this fic are about to be revealed!
Brock: You mean mysteries like: Where the Hell did me, May and Max end up?
Kyo: Duuuude, I forgot about you guys! "n.n
Brock: -_-
Kyo: Hehe, don't worry I can explain everything~ Alright, so let's get on with the tenth and final chapter~!
x~x~x~x~x
"Uhn..."
Drew turned onto his side as he was coming out of dreamland and into reality. He noticed a slight pressure around his waist, but paid it no heed as he was more concerned with waking up. Opening his eyes slightly, he saw sunlight streaming through the curtains of the room that he had spent that night in. Coming more to his senses, the green haired boy thought he'd make an attempt to move.
This turned out to be a mistake.
"Ah, ow..." Still half asleep, he wondered why it was he felt achy in certain places. That was when it all hit him. He sat up quickly, Ash's arm that had previously been around his waist falling onto his lap with the motion. Drew blushed, and quickly rolled over so that he was on the edge of the bed, away from his companion. He sat up, still blushing.
Oh my God... I didn't actually... do that did I?
Memories of the previous night were coming thick and fast, and Drew found himself grabbing his pillow to bury his tomato coloured face in.
"How embarrassing," he mumbled into the pillow. He raised his head slightly to glance at the trainer who was still asleep. He noticed how his heart started to beat quicker when he did this. Slowly, carefully, he reached out his hand and gently ran it through Ash's raven locks. There was a small smile on his face as he thought; I'm glad that I didn't run away... everything turned out fine.
However Drew hastily pulled away when Ash made a noise, indicating he was coming around from sleep. Blushing again, the green haired boy stood up and made for the bathroom (this sounds easier that it actually was, poor Drew nearly collapsed when he tried to move at first). Right... well I guess that's to be expected, he thought with a sigh.
Finally making it into the bathroom, he set to trying to sort himself out. Running the tap, he took his time washing his face. Once he looked up into the mirror, he noticed something...
"NO WAY!"
"Urgh, huh?" The sound of Drew's shocked voice pulled Ash completely out of slumber. He sat up, wondering what was wrong, and then he remembered what they had done last night. He blushed as he recalled everything, but was pulled from his reminiscence when he heard Drew yell, "HELL YEAH!"
Ash didn't even have to get up to know why the co-ordinator seemed in high spirits, because he appeared at the bathroom door in a matter of seconds with a huge grin on his face. "Hey Ash, look! They've gone! I don't look like a cat anymore!"
And it was true; Drew really was back to normal. The kitty ears and tail that had been the cause of so many things were now absent. The trainer smiled at the delighted boy and grinned back. "Hey, that's great Drew!"
"I know right?" Ash had never seen Drew this happy before, and he had to admit that he really did have the most amazing smile. However, he got distracted from the joyous occasion when he realised that...
Ash blushed deeply, doing his best to think neutral thoughts. Drew noticed this sudden change in his companion and realised that in his elation, he had practically ran out the bathroom completely naked.
"Oh crap! Hey, don't look!" Drew's face was totally red once more, and he was doing his best to glare at Ash who couldn't help but look. Dashing to where his clothes had been tossed on the floor, the co-ordinator snatched them up and rapidly disappeared back into the bathroom. Ash was just laughing at the comical sight, despite the many complaints Drew was spewing out. "Just so you know, I tax the shower first!" he called.
"Mind if I join you?" Ash called back playfully.
He heard Drew gasp at the idea and a small smile came to his face. "D-Don't push it," he heard the green haired one stutter out. Ash decided he was going to push it nevertheless.
"Just to clarify," he said, sticking his head around the bathroom door, "We're going out right?"
Drew looked up at him and cocked his head to the side, a slight blush forming. "Well... Isn't it kind of obvious?" he said quietly. The trainer's grin got even wider when he heard this, and went completely into the bathroom to kiss his new boyfriend. Still unused to constant displays of affection though, Drew quickly tensed and commanded Ash to get out of the bathroom while he was to take a shower. The raven haired one pouted slightly in mock hurt, and before he left he managed to steal a quick kiss.
Once the pair had finally washed and dressed, they started to think about their current situation logically.
"This doesn't make any sense at all," Drew said, running his hand through his hair. "I mean, we were supposed to get the Dragon's Breath right? So how have I ended up normal again?"
"Yeah, it's a mystery all right. But I'm not gonna complain, getting such a thing is next to impossible." Ash's voice went quieter as he recalled the state he had found Drew in back at that cave, "I mean... you were badly hurt..."
"Ah, it was nothing. I feel fine now- hey!" The trainer couldn't help but hug the smaller boy at that moment. Just as Drew was about to protest, he felt Ash shaking. "Hey... are you okay?"
"I nearly lost you," the trainer said quietly, hugging him closer.
"I told you I'm fine," he said simply, but he hugged back. "We should just go back to Clara's place and ask her about it right? Maybe I'll get the ears back if we don't get that Dragon's Breath or something?"
"Oh yeah, I also wanna ask her why she gave me lube," Ash said to himself, not really thinking.
He found himself being pushed away by an embarrassed co-ordinator, the blush returning to his cheeks once again. "A-Ask that when I'm not there," he mumbled before getting up from where they were sat. "I'm going to go feed my pokémon."
x~x~x~x~x
"I think it was around here somewhere, right?"
"Well, it certainly looks familiar. We can't be too far away now."
"Drew?"
"Yeah?"
Ash caught hold of the former kitten's hand and carried on walking.
"H-Hey! What are you-" but Drew didn't bother trying to finish objecting when he saw the trainer smile warmly at him. Geez, I've gone all weird. Although... this does feel kinda nice.
The two of them had left the Pokémon Centre a few hours ago and had used a combination of the PokéNav and Flygon to navigate back to the forest where all of this had started. Currently, they were walking through the forest in an attempt to find the clearing that held Clara's house.
"Oh hey, it's this way." Drew pointed with his free hand in a direction that they weren't originally planning on taking.
"You sure? How can you tell?"
"Well, I just have this feeling... I know it sounds weird, but I am certain that it's this way."
Choosing to trust in Drew's judgement, the two of them turned right and found themselves walking down a relatively clear path. Eventually, the path lead them to the very familiar clearing, with the little cottage in the middle as it had been when they were last there. The co-ordinator couldn't help a smirk coming to his lips, saying, "Told ya so."
Ash just smiled before saying, "Guess you did," and then he quickly kissed the green haired one on the cheek.
Ash expected to get a little told off for that, because Drew wasn't the type to wear his feelings on his sleeve all the time and was shy when it came to this sort of stuff. Predictably, he opened his mouth to say something, when suddenly the door to the cottage burst open.
"Ah, I expected to see you two much sooner but it looks like you finally made it~" It was Clara, smiling at both of them. She looked at both of them in more detail before saying, "Aww, even holding hands are we? And I saw that little kiss just now~"
Drew blushed and pulled his hand away. "I-It's not-"
"Oh don't play dumb with me," her melodic voice broke into a little giggle, "I knew this would be the outcome. I'm so glad that you two seemed to have figured it out~" And with that, she beckoned the two confused boys to come into her cottage so that she could properly explain everything.
"Please make yourselves comfortable," she said kindly, gesturing to a sofa opposite from where she intended to sit down herself. "Can I get you anything to drink?"
Her two guests shook their heads and she giggled a bit. "I see you wish to dispense with the formalities and find out why everything seems to have returned to normal despite not obtaining the Dragon's Breath, correct?"
They both nodded.
"I thought so. Well then... where to begin?" She was currently pondering where would be the best place to begin her explanation, but she needn't have bothered because Ash immediately asked:
"Why was lube in that bottle you gave me?"
"Gah! Really? That's the first thing you want to know? I told you to ask that when I wasn't here!" Drew glared at Ash, who just scratched the back of his neck and laughed uneasily. "Hey, the fact that she put lube in there means that she knew... ya know..."
The co-ordinator just put his head in his hands, "I want to die..."
"Hey! Don't be like that," the trainer pouted, scooting closer to Drew, who moved away. They continued on in this fashion until Drew reached the end of the sofa and so had no where else to go when Ash finally reached him put his arm around him with a triumphant grin.
"Damn you," he said quietly with a blush on his cheeks.
"I love you too," Ash replied cheerily.
Clara just giggled at them both, remarking how cute they were together.
"Well I think you answered your own question," she said, composing herself. "I put lube in that bottle because I knew how things would end up, so... yeah. It really did make things easier didn't it?"
"H-How could you possibly have known that?" Drew asked in disbelief.
"Lube generally does make it easier," she said simply.
"No not that!" Drew's face was once again a lovely shade of pink. "How did you know that we would..."
"Well, it was the only way to get you back to normal after all."
"Wait... what? What about Rayquaza's Dragon's Breath?"
"Oh, I made all that up." Clara waved her hand in the air with disinterest as she said this, not expecting to get the reaction she did.
"WHAT?" Both boys chorused simultaneously.
Clara stayed calm, but a small smile came to her lips. "You see, the only way you were ever going to turn back was to make love with your one true love... have you ever heard the fairytale of 'The Frog Prince'? Your situation was a lot like that, only instead of true love's first kiss being the thing to transform you back, it was true love's first time~"
They both stared at her blankly before they both thought; I can't believe May actually had the right idea with that stupid fairytale!
"So, that whole thing about Rayquaza... what was the point in telling us you needed Dragon's Breath for the last ingredient?"
"Isn't it obvious?" she asked. "I could tell you two were meant to be together, but you two didn't seem to have realised it at that time. I needed something that would bring you closer together, so sending you off on an impossible mission seemed like the right way to go."
Ash got angry then. "Why didn't you just tell us what was needed in the first place? Drew was severely hurt when he tried to face Rayquaza!"
Clara looked surprised then, "You can't honestly be suggesting that... you actually tried to fight Rayquaza?"
"Of course we did! That's what you told us to do!"
"I know, but I never for a moment thought you'd actually attempt it! Do you two have a death wish or something?"
"I just wanted to stop looking like a cat!" Drew was glaring at Clara, "And you're telling me that we could have avoided the whole thing?" What the Hell? This whole thing could have been totally pain free dammit!
Clara was busy trying to justify what she had done. Snapping her fingers when she came up with a reason, she said, "So you're telling me that when you came here you would have honestly taken me seriously if I had said: 'You two are actually in love with each other. That being said, go and have sex now please, it's the only way to turn you back'? You would have shot the idea down straight away, you had to do it of your own volition and realise your feelings. It seems that this whole Rayquaza thing wasn't a waste of time because it fulfilled it's primary objective."
As much as the two of them wanted to protest, they had to admit that Clara had a point. It was true that this whole ordeal had brought them much closer than they had been, and they did realise just how much they meant to one another. That being said, Ash wasn't content to just let Clara get away with everything, he still had another thing he wanted clearing up.
"Okay, so how do you explain what happened with Drew? Like, why was there another him?"
"'Another him'?" Clara repeated.
"Yeah."
Drew looked away from Ash when he brought this topic up. He wanted to forget about that other him at all costs, because it just couldn't have been him. He was just vile and screwed everything up. But he'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious as to how this alternate self came to pass.
"Umm... Please could you elaborate? Because I'm afraid I don't understand what you are talking about." The silver haired girl did look genuinely confused.
"But you must know what we're talking about! This weird other Drew showed up right after we left your place!"
Suddenly, Drew thought of something. "Wait a second... Clara, just what did you give me to drink that time?"
"Sorry?"
"You gave me something to take didn't you? Saying it would help me. What was it?"
Clara's eyes suddenly widened slightly when she recalled what the green haired one was talking about. "Ah yes. However, all that was supposed to do was make it easier for you to tell Ash about how you really felt."
"Why the Hell was I the only one who had to take something like that?" Drew was mumbling to himself but Clara heard him and laughed.
"Well, because you were far too stubborn to ever say 'I love you' without some kind of push. That's why I said that what I gave you would help you be more honest."
While Drew was busy sulking, Ash recalled what he had said when he had seen his boyfriend down the strange liquid: "That's brave of you to just drink it all like that, and it was a funny purple colour as well."
When the trainer told Clara about this, she brought a hand up to her mouth and gasped. This indicated that at some point, she had messed up.
"I'm so sorry!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I really gave you a purple coloured fluid?"
Drew nodded, "Yeah. Why, is that bad?"
"Well then... that explains why there seemed to be another you," she said with a sigh, crossing her legs on the chair she was sat on. "I must apologise, I seem to have mixed up the potions and I failed to realise my mistake. I honestly did intend to give you something to make you more honest, but it looks as though I gave you something that pooled together any negative emotions, culminating in an alternate self. But it appears as though this other self realised how to turn Drew back to normal, so all's well that ends well~"
Needless to say, this wasn't an adequate enough excuse for the two boys.
"How could you mix them up? Isn't it your job to know these things? I hope you realise that the stupid bastard almost got Drew killed!" Ash stood up angrily, Drew quickly doing the same to hold him back.
"Ash, I admit that it's annoying but no need to get violent. I mean, I'm fine now so-"
"Why are you okay with this?" The trainer turned around to look Drew in the eyes. "You know first hand just how it was... how can you be so calm about it?"
The co-ordinator thought about it for a moment. Yeah, just why am I defending that jerk? But then it hit him. "Ash, although he did have an... interesting way of going about things, he did make me realise what was and wasn't important. If I think about it, if it wasn't for him then I wouldn't have said anything... so I can't bring myself to be that pissed off, because he kinda helped us in a way." However, Drew hadn't forgotten the cruelty with which the counterpart went about things, so he tacked on at the end, "Or something like that... I'm glad that he's gone for good though."
Strangely enough, Ash could follow the green haired boy's logic, and so although he vowed to never forgive the other Drew, he found himself not hating him as much as he had done previously.
During this short conversation, Clara has kept quiet. When the boys turned to look at her, they found that she had a slightly awkward expression on her face before the look switched to that of contemplation.
"Is something wrong?" asked the green haired one.
"Ah, no. It is nothing, please forgive me." She smiled warmly, but her eyes betrayed her. There was something bothering her, that much was certain. However, it didn't appear that she would divulge any information to them, so they thought nothing of it and sat back down.
"Hmm, I'm pretty sure I remember you being here with three others," observed the silver haired girl. "Where are they?"
Oh my gosh! I've been so busy being focused on this whole kitty thing that I completely forgot about them! I just rushed off to find Drew and left them at some random place! Ash bit his lip, feeling very guilty for essentially abandoning his friends.
"That's a good question actually," Drew thought aloud. "The whole reason I left you guys in the first place was to save needless casualties, but come to think of it... we haven't seen them at all for a couple of days."
"Well, they're pretty resourceful," grinned Ash, "So I'm sure that wherever they are, they're okay."
"Now then, is there anything else I can help you with?" Clara was beaming at the two boys in front of her as she asked this question.
"Erm... I think you've cleared up all we wanted to know," Ash said, still holding slight resentment at the fact that the whole Rayquaza thing was a lie and that Drew had been given the wrong potion to take.
As the two of them exited the clearing and looked back one last time, they saw that the cottage had disappeared.
"I guess that's because we don't need anymore help," said Drew, wondering how Clara managed to make a whole cottage disappear.
"I guess so," replied Ash, looking fondly at the slightly smaller boy.
Drew noticed this. "What?"
"Nothing really, I'm just... happy." Ash smiled brightly while Drew just blushed slightly and said playfully, "Idiot~"
Deciding to risk the telling off, Ash pulled the co-ordinator close to him. Before the other had a chance to question this sudden close proximity, he found that his lips had been captured. As this was still a pretty alien feeling to Drew, he tensed up at first and contemplated pulling away, but after a few seconds he felt himself melting into the kiss. He even started to kiss back, much to the trainer's delight. Ash let out a small sound of surprise as he felt Drew lightly drag his tongue across his bottom lip. Although he was surprised, he was elated and so opened his mouth without hesitation. The two of them took their time to savour each other, feeling no rush or sense of urgency; just content to belong to the other for the brief period of time their lips were connected. When they eventually broke apart for air, the trainer held his boyfriend close to him for a moment, whispering softly in his ear, "I love you so much, Drew."
Ash couldn't help a small smile from gracing his lips when he saw the ear he had whispered in turn slightly pink. He didn't have to look to know that Drew had a cute blush on his face. Drew mumbled, "Yeah... I love you too Ash," against said boy's shoulder before he pulled away and took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. Once he had managed this, he fixed his usual smirk in place and looked at the trainer in front of him.
"Don't think that you'll get away with being able to do that whenever you want," he said, flicking lime green strands of hair from his eyes. "Just because you're my boyfriend now doesn't mean I'm some simpering maiden, got that?" And with that, he began to walk away from the clearing. Ash couldn't help but chuckle slightly, typical Drew. He then proceeded to make his way after his boyfriend, grabbing his hand quickly and pulling him along saying, "Okay I'll do my best to behave. Besides, we have to try and find the others now right?"
"Right," agreed Drew, before he turned the sentence over in his head. "'Try to behave'?"
"Well, I can't make any promises," Ash winked with a cheeky grin on his face.
"Hmph. If you try anything funny, you know I'll just get my own back," the co-ordinator smirked.
"Exactly, and that's precisely what I'm counting on."
The two boys laughed then, hand in hand knowing that this was only just the beginning of something amazing.
x~x~x~x~x
"Hey Brock, I think this is the place where Rayquaza was hiding out in!" called Max.
"You don't suppose those two are trapped in there do you?" May asked, worry evident in her voice.
"Knowing how stubborn both of them are, it wouldn't surprise me," Brock sighed, making a mental note to tell the two of them off if and when they found them.
"So... are we going in after them?" Max was trying to come up with a decent rescue method.
"It appears that way," replied the pokémon breeder.
"Wait a minute," said May, who desperately wanted to avoid the creepy looking cave at all costs. "There's no guarantee that they are in there, besides... I'm kinda hungry."
"You're always hungry May," her brother moaned. However, his own stomach made a noise at that precise moment, indicating that the young boy was also hungry.
May gave a victorious grin as she said, "All in favour of avoiding the cave of death and finding somewhere to eat?"
"I," chorused the other two.
x~x~x~x~x
"Job well done gang!" Jessie said happily, seeming to be in a rare good mood with her companions.
"What did we do?" asked Meowth, slightly worried because he was all too used to the pink haired woman being in a mood with him and James. It unnerved him slightly when Jessie was kind to them.
"If it wasn't for us, then the Pikachu twerp and the green headed twerp wouldn't be an item now!"
"Okay, and how exactly is that 'job well done'?" inquired James.
"Well now the usual twerp will be so preoccupied with his new sweetheart, that we'll be able to steal Pikachu without any problems~!"
James and Meowth looked at each other before looking at Jessie and saying, "That's never gonna happen," before they started to walk away form her.
"Hey!" she yelled, "Where do you two idiots think you're going? This is our chance!"
But the other Team Rocket members decided that they wanted to avoid the pain of blasting off for a while, and so continued to ignore the angry woman shouting threats at them.
All in all, things seemed to have worked themselves out. All ordeals appeared to be dealt with, and now everyone planned on getting back to their usual routine.
"I just hope that I haven't made a potentially fatal error," Clara said to herself back at her cottage, looking in her big spell book to clarify something. "If my suspicions are found to be correct, then it seems that all the trials those two have just faced will be nothing compared to what's to come..." She shut the book then, willing a smile onto her face. "But I'm sure that everything will be fine, I'm just worrying for no good reason." And with that, she went to take a well deserved nap.
THE END
x~x~x~x~x
Kyo: Wow, it's finally finished~ ^_^
Drew: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING AT?
Kyo: What is it now? "u.u
Drew: Here I thought you'd neatly tied everything up and brought it to a finish, but you had to end on something ambiguous!
Ash: I have to admit that I have no idea where you are trying to head with this
Kyo: Well you see... that's a surprise :P Clara said that she was probably sure nothing would happen but... you never know ;D
Drew: I don't even want to know what you're planning in your head
Ash: Well that should be okay then, because you didn't really know what she was planning this time either :)
Drew: So not helping -_-
Ash: Hey cheer up! We got our happy ending right~! ^_^
Drew: You'd think so, but the stupid author has gone and made me doubt everything all over again!
Kyo: Oi! Where do you get off calling me that?
Ash: *kisses Drew* Let's just enjoy the happy ending for now okay? Whatever lies in store for us, we can overcome it right?
Drew: I... I guess *hugs Ash*
Kyo: Well then on that ambiguous note, I will bid all you readers farewell for now~ Thank you so much for reading this fic and sticking with it this far, I hope you enjoyed it ^.^ As always, please review because you know how much I love them~ :D And who knows, maybe we'll be meeting each other in the near future...
Drew: Oh dear God
Kyo: Quit your wining. Anyways:
All: THANKS FOR READING~!