Chapter 30: New Year's Promise.
Summary: Christmas has now passed, but New Year is upon Ash and Salvia, another scheme is hatched to get Ash and Salvia to confess to one another, will it succeed this time? Or will the friends finally give up?
Ash and Salvia were resting in the front foyer of the Pokemon Centre still recovering from the prolonged battle against the Dark Aura Masters, Ash noticed the princess walking away from the table not daring to utter a word, "hey princess are you alright?" Ash asked the blunette, but he was ignored by her, Ash looked over to his friends showing signs of confusion, "hey you guys, why is not Salvia talking to me?" Ash asked his friends.
The group watched Salvia enter the hallway equally confused by her actions, "I am going to talk to her," the brunette decreed, "you guys stay put," Hilda commanded her friends, she walked away leaving Ash even more perplexed by the actions of his friend.
"So, do you know what is going on?" Ash asked his friends.
'He is an idiot, I know what happened,' Dusk thought to herself, she turned away and walked to the exit, "I am going, I am heading to Veilstone City," Dusk walked out leaving the group of friends alone, "oh and Ash, don't think for a second, that because I helped you, it makes us friends," Dusk exited the Pokemon Centre, leaving the rest of her allies in a state of confusion.
Greed walked towards the exit, "well, it seems like my next mission to gather more information on my former allies, since there are only two of them left," Greed stated with a hint of uneasiness, he looked back and nodded at the Aura Master, 'but while I am at it I am going to see Melissa as well,' Greed thought to himself, his thoughts drifting towards the young woman he had met while he was healing in the hospital.
"Well Ash, it seems like Paul and I are staying here," Hilbert pointed out with a smile, he approached the main counter.
Meanwhile in the main hall of the medical facility, Hilda started knocking on the door to her friend's room, "hey Salvia, please open up," requested the brunette.
Salvia opened the door to allow her friend to enter, "you know, I thought getting confident was easy, but I still cannot manage to tell Ash my growing feelings for him," Salvia confessed as she allowed her friend to enter.
"You have been trying haven't you?" Hilda asked the bluenette.
Salvia nodded in reply, but tried to put what she had heard on Christmas Day, but everything she tried failed to erase what she had heard, "you know, I listened in on the conversation with my friends and Ash," Salvia reminded her friend, "so I even heard about what Ash things of me as well," Salvia told the Unova Queen.
Hilda placed her right hand on the princess' head, "all the more reason why you should tell him, you know right, you need to be confident, that is why you cut your hair right?" Hilda reminded her friend of her resolve, "there is something I need to tell you," Hilda stated while getting up and walking to the window of the princess' room.
Salvia looked up and watched her friend placing her left hand on the window, "what is it?" she asked the brown haired woman.
"There was a time when I lacked confidence, in fact I still do, I usually act all confident to hide the fact that I am far from perfect," Hilda confessed her problems to her friend, with the light on, Hilda lifted up the right side of her tank top, revealing a scar that ran down her stomach, "this was done when I was a little child, our town was attacked by Team Plasma, I almost lost my parents because of it," Hilda informed the royal as she lowered the top, then pointing to her hair, "and I get the worst split ends ever," Hilda started to laugh at her own problem with her hair.
"What are you getting at Hilda?" Salvia asked her friend.
Grabbing a chair Hilda sat in front of her friend with the back of the chair facing the princess, "simple princess, I never thought that Hilbert would fall in love with me, he saw passed what he saw on the outside and saw me as a great person on the inside," Hilda explained to the princess as she looked away.
"What does that have to do with me?" Salvia asked with a frown.
"Ash has messy hair, he doesn't dress with a hint of fashion, but you look pass that and see him for who he is right? He appreciates that from you," Hilda pointed out with a smile, she looked up to the ceiling and smiled, "maybe if I wasn't with Hilbert, maybe, I would have developed feelings for Ash as well, but that's a long shot, this something you need to start perusing now," Hilda admitted her admiration for Ash.
"Why are you telling me this?" Salvia asked the brunette.
"You just need to be upfront with him, just tell him," Hilda instructed her friend.
Salvia fell back on the pillow and placed her hands behind her head, staring at the ceiling, "do you when this will end?" Salvia asked the brunette.
Hilda scratched her cheek and smiled at the princess, "don't know," Hilda answered as she glanced towards the door, "you know New Years is almost here, why not spend the night with Ash, celebrate the new year in and make a resolution," Hilda suggested to her friend. Hilda stood up and started walking to the door, "maybe you can sneak another kiss in," Hilda teased her friend, before dodging a pillow that was thrown at her by her friend.
"You saw that on Christmas didn't you?" Salvia asked her friend with a hint of disdain.
Sighing in disbelief, Hilda opened the door, she was about to walk out of the room and started laughing, "listen, it is obvious to all of your friends, isn't it about time you told him?" Hilda questioned her friend, walking out of the room before the bluenette could answer her question.
Salvia raised her left hand into the air, staring at her hand, "I should tell him? All of my friends are encouraging me," Salvia told herself as she turned her hand around, she lowered it until she felt her bag resting next to her, 'I promised myself that I would write dad a letter,' Salvia remembered the first time she left the palace, she turned herself to get out of bed, picking up her bag, opening it, she pulled out a pad of paper and a pen.
"Salvia, I was wondering, if you would like to spend New Year's Eve with me tonight," Ash enquired through the door.
Salvia looked back at the door, hesitating to answer the request, "yeah of course," Salvia answered softly, she looked at the paper not even getting a response to Ash, she placed pen to paper and started to write whatever came to mind, 'dear mom and dad, I know it is too late to give you this letter, but I felt the need to write it,' Salvia thought to herself as she continued to write down more about her mission to save the Sinnoh region.
She felt the air getting colder, "how? The air conditioning is on," Salvia asked herself, looking around, it wasn't long until she spotted a human shaped figure standing at the entrance to her room, but the door was closed and no one had entered apart from Hilda, fear soon crossed the princess' face as she came to realise what it was exactly, almost speechless the apparition soon vanished leaving the royal petrified. After regaining her composure, she picked up the paper and pen, rushing out of the room in fear.
Ash watched the princess running out of the hallway, but was quick to notice the fear on her face, "are you alright?" Ash asked, the princess turned towards Ash but was too scared to say anything.
Hilda walked up to the princess and placed her hand over her head, "let's see, what scared you into not being able to tell us anything?" asking quietly, closing her eyes she saw an apparition, 'I see, alright, I better keep this quiet,' Hilda thought to herself.
"What is it Hilda?" Ash asked with a worried tone.
"It seems that, the room Salvia is sleeping in is haunted," Hilda lied to her friend, hiding what was really happening. 'I cannot even tell them that this spirit has been following them for a while now,' Hilda thought, she seemed confused at what she had heard from the spirit. She turned to Ash and smiled, "why not let her sleep in your room tonight?" she suggested.
(6 Hours before New Year's)
After bringing Salvia's bag to her room, Ash walked up to the room that Salvia was staying in, he looked around and wondered what scared her so badly, "wonder what scared her, I know that Hilda was lying," Ash thought out loud, glancing to the left he noticed Salvia entering his room, he walked further into the room and noticed a light flickering on in the bathroom. "Salvia isn't in here," Ash whispered to himself, 'maybe Hilda was right,' Ash started to doubt himself, he approached the bathroom but before entering the light switched off leaving him perplexed, "I sense it again, but this time it is fading," Ash whispered softly, he turned away from the room and walked towards the exit of the room.
Ash walked out of the room with the waiting Salvia wondering what he had found, "I am confused, it doesn't seem like this spirit is out to harm us," Ash glanced back, his left hand on his chin, puzzled by the mystery.
'Great I am running out of time,' the spirit told herself, watching the princess and Ash trying to talk to one another, 'come on you two, at least say something,' the spirit started to show support towards her friends.
"Well maybe it would be best if I let you rest in my room tonight," the raven haired trainer allowed the royal to sleep in the same room.
"Ash, the New Year's fireworks will be happening in under six hours from now," Salvia continue dot grow a little nervous, she turned towards the room and grasped her pen tightly, "I have something I need to finish," she stated, walking slowly to the room.
"Alright, I am going to get some food for tonight," Ash told the princess allowing her to be alone for a little while, Ash looked back to find his door closed, 'thank you spirit, whoever you are…" Ash started jokingabout the current situation he found himself in.
Meanwhile in the room Salvia sat down and put pen to paper, 'I have been working to become a stronger woman, it hasn't been easy, the road has been very rocky for me, but I think I am getting closer to becoming the person I need to be,' Salvia thought to herself as she moved the end of the pen towards her mouth, thinking about what she needed to write next on the letter. "with everything going on, I have discovered so much about myself, decided where I need to go in order to become an even better person,' Salvia continued to write her letter to her deceased parents.
Salvia heard someone knocking on the door, "Salvia, it is me," a female voice called out to her friend, "before the new year sets in, you need to tell him your feelings," Hilda told her friend though the door.
Salvia tightened her grip on the pen, 'that's right mom and dad, during the situation with the Shadow Lords, I have also fallen in love with best friend's fiancé, but sadly my best friend was killed because of the Shadow Lords, so I don't feel right about telling him my feelings, since…. Well you both know lady Dawn, we both look a like,' Salvia thought as she heard her friend knocking on the door so harshly, it was like she was going to knock the door down, 'but I am also surrounded by amazing friends, all of them trying to tell me that I need to tell Ash how much I love him,' Salvia thought about the situation with Christmas.
"You have been in there for a while now," Hilda called for her friend to come out.
"I am doing something important, can you please wait!" Salvia viciously told her friend.
In shock with the response Hilda stepped back, but also knew that she was more than likely getting ready to celebrate with Ash, "are you going to make a New Year's resolution?" Hilda asked her friend with a hint of playfulness in her voice.
'Yeah I am,' Salvia answered in her mind, she looked back and finally decided what she was going to do in the next year, 'Dawn if you are watching this, I want to make Ash happy, I want to be his partner in life,' Salvia closed her eyes and prayed to her friend, she turned back to the table and wrote another paragraph, 'mom, dad, I have found my fated one, the one that I want to marry and grow old with,' Salvia started her final paragraph, she wrote another line as her confidence continued to grow, 'my future is linked with Ash and I will follow him to whatever end, my heart belongs to him,' Salvia finished the letter as she folded it and placed it in an envelope, she put it in her bag and stood up.
"Hilda, I will be getting ready, I needed to do something important," Salvia told her friend, quietly preparing for the night out with Ash.
"I will be spending time alone with Hilbert, you will be alone with Ash," Ash replied, quickly spinning around to see Hilbert approaching her.
(3 hours before the New Year)
Salvia rushed out of the room in excitement, she was dressed in a pink dress, similar to the appearance of the one Dawn had worn in the past, "I have decided to make a promise to Ash," Salvia promised herself as she entered the main foyer.
Ash was sitting with a basket filled with food, he glanced over to the princess who was standing in front of him, Ash's mouth agape at the appearance of the princess, 'oh man, she looks so elegant,' Ash thought to himself, he turned away from her, but didn't notice his two friends standing in behind of him.
Hilda looked over Ash's right shoulder and smiled broadly, "your face is beet red," Hilda teased her friend, but Ash avoided turning towards the princess, "complimented her, say it to her face too," Hilda chimed, she tried to force Ash to turn around, "she wants to know what you think of her in the dress she is wearing," Hilda whispered a she stepped back towards Hilbert.
"Hilda, you shouldn't be trying to force the issue," Hilbert reminded his young wife.
"But Hilbert, they need to, remember when Cheren tried to get you to confess to me?" Hilda asked her husband.
"He wouldn't stop pestering me….alright, but on one condition," Hilbert glanced over to his wife, "you wear an elegant dress," Hilbert set the conditions for his wife to follow.
"Alright, I know you think I look cute in a dress anyway," Hilda teased her husband.
Ash looked at the ground and gulped, he tried looking up, he was blushing and struggling to look up, he felt Hilda's hand hitting him on the back forcing him to shoot his vision up, he started staring at the pink dress and Salvia who was also feeling nervous, "S-Salvia, you look beautiful in the dress," Ash nervously compliment the princess.
Salvia smiled approaching the trainer, she placed her arm around Ash's left arm, "shall we start our date?" Salvia asked the Aura Master.
Ash scratched the back of his head thinking about what was really happening, "alright," Ash replied softly. The two walked out of the Pokemon Centre, towards a location where they could watch the fireworks.
After a short time Salvia stopped clinging to Ash's arm and the two continued on to celebrate the New Year, Salvia turned her attention to Ash, "so Ash, have you made a promise yet?" Salvia asked the trainer with a hopeful smile.
Ash hesitated to make a clear answer, his thought drifted to the past, "yeah, I am promising myself and to someone else that I will share my life with them," Ash answered not wanting to reveal too much about his own emotions.
Salvia felt her heart racing but still managed to resist the urge to make a reply, she gulped at her own goals and thought about the letter to her parents, 'even though they are no longer with me, I did make a promise to them,' Salvia quickly reminded herself about her own goals, "after this, I want to travel to another region, compete in the Pokemon League," Salvia informed Ash, hoping that he would support her in the quest she wants to lead.
Ash grabbed one of his pokeballs and started to think about his past ambitions, "I have another promise I want to make, I want to be a trainer again, going to wherever the road may lead me," Ash stated as the two continued on towards their destination.
Salvia entered a clear field lacking in snow cover, but was perfect location to watch the fireworks with Ash, "so Ash, there is something, you want to become a Pokemon Master?" Salvia questioned the trainer, but a hint of guilt crossed her face as she, "but you still don't have your greatest source of inspiration," Salvia pointed out sadly.
"Moving forward has been difficult, while I was moving forward, I found my source of inspiration," Ash informed the princess, he placed a blanket on the ground allowing the princess to place a basket fill with the food Ash had bought for the both of them, Ash stared at the princess, 'yeah, I found my source of inspiration,' Ash repeated to himself, almost feeling proud of his new source, his brown eyes now fixated on the young royal.
The two sat down watching the lights in the small town going out quickly, "you know, when another life meets another life, something is born," Ash told Salvia, but he chuckled at the words mockingly, "at first I was clueless, but over the years I grew to understand those words, something told to me by the champion of this region," Ash informed the puzzled royal, he looked up to see the stars twinkling overhead and a crescent moon hovering in the black canvas.
"Cynthia said something like that, I have always wanted to meet her," Salvia confessed, thinking about her problems in the past, before she could make another comment, Hilda and Hilbert appeared next to them, "you two, what are you doing here?" Salvia asked her friends, shocked by their arrival.
"Well, we were going to come here anyway, just surprised that you two would be watching the fireworks in the same place we are," Hilda explained while noticing the suspicion entering Ash's mind.
"Yeah right, you have psychic abilities," Ash snarled at his brown haired friend, 'man I wanted to spend some time with Salvia, alone,' Ash thought to himself as he looked away.
(Ten Minutes before New Year)
With minutes to spare Hilda watched the princess edging closer to Ash, "I have a suggestion," Hilda pointed out as the excitement grew, "I have been thinking, maybe you two should at least…." Hilda started but was interrupted by her husband.
"I don't think that is such a good idea," Hilbert whispered, trying to prevent her from making the suggestion, but he was pushed away by the brunette, placing his right hand over his face, to cover up what would potentially be an embarrassing moment.
"Before the New Year sets in, you two," Hilda directed her gaze at her friends, pointing at them and smirking at the same time, "just at least once confirm something between yourselves," Hilda requested, her two friends looked at each other almost puzzled by her cryptic words.
"What do you want us to confirm?" Salvia asked her friend from Unova.
Hilbert let out a loud sigh bringing the attention to him, "she wants you two to kiss," Hilbert informed his friends.
In shock the two turned to one another, then back to their friends who had different expressions, Hilda with a more encouraging expression and Hilbert trying his best not to say anything. Salvia started thinking back to when she overheard the confession Ash had made, "why are you asking this Hilda?" Salvia asked her friends.
"Oh come on Salvia," Hilda closed the distance and smiled, "you cannot hide it from Ash for too much longer," the brunette whispered into her friend's ear, she moved back and waited to see what happens, "I promise not to bring it up again, also if you say that you felt nothing, I will tell everyone and not only that I will also go home and admit that I was wrong," Hilda informed her friends of the implications of her being wrong.
"You idiot, we need to stay here and help defeat the Shadow Lords!" Hilbert argued with his brown haired wife.
Hilda leaned in and placed her right hand on her husband's shoulder, "I am not wrong, if those two say nothing then, there is something brewing between them," Hilda, silently told the king of Unova.
"Fine, but you can head home alone, I will be staying to make sure Sinnoh is safe," Hilbert told the queen with an indication of frustration, he turned to his friends, "please do it to keep my wife quiet, otherwise you will never know peace from her," Hilbert requested as he looked away with disdain.
"Fine if it keeps you quiet, but only a really quick one" Ash replied, he turned towards the princess.
'No way, I….I get to kiss Ash,' Salvia thought to herself feeling Ash's hands cupping her face, he moved closer allowing for Salvia and him to press their lips together, but without noticing their friends watching a quick kiss turned into a much longer kiss than expected with Salvia closing her eyes as a jolt ran through her mind.
'As I thought,' Hilda noted to herself, watching her friends be more at ease with the kiss, she glanced over to her husband almost laughing at him, "see I was right, they cannot deny it for much longer," Hilda looked out the corner of her eyes, with the two still enjoying it.
The two pulled back surprised by the experience, unable to say a word, they turned away, their faces red and their hearts racing, 'oh man, what just happened?' Ash asked himself, his left hand reaching his mouth, he looked back to see Salvia who was also visibly flustered by the occurrence.
"So, what was it like?" Hilda asked her friends, her chin in the palm of her left hand and her elbow on her knees, but they were way too flustered to respond, 'seems like I was right still,' Hilda placed her right hand over her mouth to cover her laughter, "well?" Hilda pushed her friends to respond.
Before the two could respond a loud explosion rung through the air, followed by a colourful explosion, Ash looked up to see the fireworks starting, to signal in a New Year, the four people stood up and watched the continuing display, without noticing their own actions Ash and Salvia started holding hands, Salvia watched in wonderment, as the colourful display continued on, she looked down at her left hand and noticed that she was holding his hand.
Ash looked down and then made eye contact with the princess, "you know I really enjoyed that," Ash admitted to the princess, much to her surprise, oblivious to the proud expression of her friends, 'it is decided, I am going to help Salvia rebuild her kingdom,' Ash thought while turning his attention back to the fireworks.
Salvia watched the display, the number of fireworks being fired into the air increased as the sky continued to light up with colours of red, green, blue and gold, as the rapid rate of fireworks built up Salvia remembered when she met Ash in Canalave City, how cold his attitude was, now that he has opened up to her, she peered to see Ash watching oblivious to her attention, with the sky lighting up and their friends waiting just a meter away, she tilted her head, "I really like you Ash," Salvia admitted to the trainer.
"See Hilbert, I made the right judgement," Hilda teased her husband with a playful tone, rubbing her little victory in the face of Hilbert, almost like she was teasing him, "they might not have admitted their feelings out right, but at least they are much closer to admitting them," she stated as she started walking away from the group and towards the Pokemon Center.
In the distance Dawn's spirit appeared without the Ash and Salvia noticing, she looked down noticing that Ash and Salvia were holding hands, 'good,' the spirit said with a smile, she looked around until she was confronted by Hilda who had a suspicious expression on her face, 'oh right, you have some psychic abilities,' the spirit started laughing at herself.
"That's right, when you were alive, you were about to get married to Ash and you were the best friend of Princess Salvia," Hilda reminded the ghost of the bluenette, the spirit continued to keep a watchful gaze on the budding romance between Ash and her best friend, "you know I can see you right, I have a small amount of psychic ability," Hilda reiterated her ability towards the ghost, the apparition looked at the brunette and smiled, "why haven't you crossed over yet? And why did you scare your best friend earlier?" Hilda piled on the questions, almost angry at the spirit.
Dawn turned her attention to Ash, he seemed happier that he was with Salvia, 'I am not crossing over until Ash has fully moved forward, I want to see him be happy, that is my mission,' Dawn informed the Unova queen, she started to turn away from the group as she looked back at the brunette, 'please keep it quite from those two, I don't want Ash to get all upset, when the time is right, I will talk to him one last time,' Dawn walked away before vanishing from the scene, she looked back to see Ash and Salvia closing the distance, a pained expression crossed her face, but knew there was nothing she could do, 'soon Ash and Salvia, I will meet you again,' Dawn's spirit said but with a hint of pride in the two people closest to her.
"So your name is Dawn," Hilda whispered, slowly restarting her journey, 'she is bound to this world, because she still loves Ash,' Hilda thought back to the saddened expression, but knew that the spirit didn't want to bring any harm to Ash and Salvia.
The plan shows signs of working, but still no words, the friends look towards the final battles against the Shadow Lords.
Next time Chapter 31: Holding onto a Dream
AN: here we go ladies and gents the final chapters are on their way, the Shadow Fall Arc is about to start hope you all enjoy it. Also please check out the new AshXHilda story called Fracture.