Ray's pov, hope you enjoy, friendos ^^

"Mm… Mel, dearest… you there?" I mumbled, stretching and starting to wake up. I got no response, so I looked around. Right, I passed out on the bed, Mel was probably awake and somewhere else. I looked out the window. It was dark out, but not that dark. It was not the dead of night, the moon was still low in the sky, and you could see the last vestiges of day clinging to the sky before they surrendered to the night.

My, sleepy Ray was pretty poetic, huh? It was pretty easy to do that when I had such a great muse. Speaking of muse, I should go find mine. It wasn't so late that she was asleep, already, I was sure. I lazily floated out of my room. My body was still a bit sore, but I was mostly rested up. I really needed that nap.

"Master Ray?" A Mew asked. The difference between the two, this Mew and the Mew Mel and I met earlier today, was stunning. This one, her name was Emilia, was a maid in the palace. She was very proper, dignified, a healthy pink, and actually a little bigger than the one we saw before. She was a darker pink, too. It was sometimes remarkable how different two Pokemon of the same species could be so different. I mean, personality wise, sure we were different, but physically… well, she was so different because of environmental factors, wasn't she? Someone malnourished is going to look different than someone living in a palace. Maybe I just didn't know what I was talking about.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Is there anything you need?" She had a slight accent which made her sound fancy. She gave the impression somehow that this was a put on accent.

"Not right now, I'm just looking for Mel."

"She's in the garden, my lord." Emilia said. She gave a little bow and started to float off, but then hesitated. "Are you sure there's nothing else?" She asked.

"No, why do you ask."

"Your face, it's, uh… never mind." Emilia said, then turned away quickly. "Good evening, Master Ray." Then she floated away at a rather fast and unnaturally stiff. What in the world was wrong with her? Oh well, she told me what I wanted to know. Was something with my face? I felt my face… nothing seemed wrong with it. Maybe it was a facial expression she was noticing? I had no idea. Maybe she sensed that I was nervous, just a little bit. That was one reason I wanted to be sure I saw Mel before she went to bed.

Just as promised, I found my little lady in the palace garden, which was in the palace courtyard. There were all manners of flowers and plants, a carefully sculpted stone fountain, and circular stone benches around it, four of them. Each bench had a carving in it that indicated which direction it was facing. Meliae was on the one that faced east. She did not see me approach. She was looking up at the sky, transfixed on something in the distance, it looked like. I almost didn't want to disturb her, but this was about the last chance to talk. I needed to get this out of my head, and I'm sure she had some things to tell me, too. Things weren't so serious, though, that I could not joke around a little.

"My lady…?" I asked, in the same sort of affected accent that Emilia had.

"Wuh… huh?!" Mel jumped a little, so light, it seemed, that she didn't fall back down to the bench, but floated down, the tiny leaves on her back fluttering slightly from the movement. She turned around to see me and almost immediately started to giggle. That wasn't the reaction I had been expecting, however. She was laughing harder than she should have been at my joke… so either there was something weird up with her or… I didn't know, maybe I accidentally struck comedy gold way better than I thought I did.

"What? I know I'm funny, but just a joke doesn't do that much for you, does it?" I asked. I kept a light tone, although I was actually slightly concerned. If I was too concerned about her, she would start to get concerned about me, and then we would be in a never ending concern loop.

"Look in the reflecting pond… your face!" Mel was still having a giggle fit. My face… again with my face? What? What was it? I looked in the reflection pond, my own face staring back at me… with a mustache and whiskers drawn on my face in marker. Oh, that was the game, huh? That was what was so funny. That was probably why Emilia had turned and left so quickly and stiffly as well. She was trying not to laugh at me in front of my face, out of respect for me. That was nice of her, although the nicer thing would have been to tell me there was a drawing on my face so I could wash it off. But maybe, just maybe, she was told to not tell me.

After all, the one who committed this deed was undeniably the giggling orb of princess in front of me right now. She wanted to see her handiwork, no doubt, and so she silenced the maid so I would reach her with mustache and whiskers intact.

I took some of the water from the pool with my hand and rubbed it on my face until it was clean again.

"Aww…" Mel slumped in mock disappointment.

"Now what if I didn't catch this and we got married while I had a mustache on my face?" I asked, jokingly scolding her like a little kid.

"Then it would be hilarious and the best thing ever!" Mel exclaimed. I chuckled in return, and it faded into silence for a few moments. "You were just so fast asleep, I couldn't help it." Mel said, after a while.

"Oh? You watched me while I slept and decided, you know what this face is missing? A marker mustache and whiskers."

"Of course. Everyone could use that, don't you think? Besides, can't have you being too cute while you sleep. I wouldn't be able to stand it." Me laughed a little, and then we faded into silence again and simply looked up.

There was a full moon out and the stars twinkled and danced in the sky. Her eyes were like the stars, her heart was like the moon, full and big and bright. But… I was a little nervous.

"Do you suppose, Mel, that we will keep being happy like this?" I asked, voicing the thoughts that had been bubbling underneath my skin for some time. Some things I wanted to stay, and how I felt right now with Meliae. And I was a little worried. Tomorrow would be a big transition. We would be getting married, and I would be declared the official heir to the throne. And… I wasn't sure what would come with that. For a long time, I had enjoyed this lifestyle, but tomorrow, everything would change. My training under the king would become more intense. Once I was declared the heir, he wasn't planning on staying king much longer. Would we have time to be like this? Would we have time to enjoy each other's company… or would we be too busy running the kingdom to have any fun. All responsibility and no fun. I wasn't sure. No I knew from the training I had already there would be at least a little time, but, I don't know… I was nervous.

"Ray. It's going to be ok. You are going to be a great king and an even better husband, believe me. You just have to be yourself. I love you, and I want to do this. There will be time, we will find it together. I will be there to help you every step of the way." Mel said. Wow, she was amazing. She was more than I did to deserve. Of course, that just meant I had to step up my game and do something great to be worthy of her.

"Thank you. Are you ready for tomorrow?" I asked. She hesitated before speaking.

"As ready as I'm going to be. It's exciting, and I love you, but I can't help but be a little… um… apprehensive. I have no doubts about you, none at all. Just… this is the unknown. Beyond this, I mean, beyond tonight is the unknown. What will we find on the other side of forever?"

"That's a little philosophical." I pointed out.

"Maybe, it just sort of popped up in my head, I figured I would say it." Mel smiled. It warmed my heart. "Could we fly for a little? I want to be up in the sky for a little bit. Unless you're still too tired, then that's fine." Mel quickly backpedaled. L cleared my throat awkwardly and responded.

"Uh… sure. Sure, we could fly. I'm feeling a lot better after that nap. Hop on." I said, holding out my hand to her. She scampered up my hand and made herself snug on my head. Once I was sure she was secure, I made a slow, gentle ascent into the night sky. Too high, or too fast, and she would start to have some issues with pressure and oxygen. I capped it off at just a couple hundred feet above the ground.

"Why did you want to come up here?" I asked.

"We're really alone up here, nobody down there could possibly hear us. And… I feel like you are far more yourself up in the sky, Ray." She responded. That was not something I could say I ever noticed. I didn't think I was more myself in the sky? Apparently Rayquaza were supposed to live alone in the sky, but I didn't get it, and I certainly didn't feel any better or worse when I took to the sky. Me had a habit of seeing things I did not, however, and I trusted her not to just be making things up.

"Am I?" I asked, looking for a clarification.

"Yeah, I don't know how to explain it. It may be my imagination, I don't know…" She said. "It's just, when you fly around like this, when we are here together…it feels like you aren't worried about what's on the surface anymore. It feels like everything else falls away. The clouds, you could almost taste them, touch them."

"If we went that high up, it would hurt you." I said, matter of fact. I heard no response from my head. I had disappointed her. "Well, maybe, if over time we went a little bit higher and a little bit higher… your body could get used to it.

"Yeah, that would be great. Can't do something like that in just one night, huh?" Mel asked.

"No, I'm afraid not. But we're going to have all the time in the world at our fingertips. That's what a union is, no? I am promising to be there for you until the end of time. So, I will make you another promise, my princess. I promise you that you will reach the clouds."

"And I know you wouldn't break that for the world… I love you. The whole kingdom has come to watch us-" It was as if a thought just grabbed her mind, and she switched gears. "I hope nothing goes wrong with the ceremony."

"Hey, now. Have some faith in our staff. They're very good, you know."

"I know." She said, then laughed a little. "I guess I'm just finding things to worry about, now. Let's stay here a little while longer." We flew, and when I grew tired, I landed where I had been and dropped her off on the stone bench. I escorted her to her room, we kissed, a sweet, tender kiss… and we separated for the night. This would be the last time we had to so this. We would be together, and we would be happy.

"Until tomorrow, Ray."

"Until tomorrow, Mel."

Hope y'all have an awesome day, tomorrow's the big day, or, uh, three days, whatever.