So this is a special birthday story for Jess, who is celebrating her birthday today. Happy birthday Jess!

Well, it's definitely a terrific party.

Dawn smiled faintly as she took in the beachside mansion that belonged to Marina's family. The entire building was ablaze with light, from the multicolored gobos that swirled and danced around the luxury pool on the roof to the strobe lights that flashed out from the windows on the second story dance floor. The ground level had a warm, golden light leaking out from the windows, where people were still milling around snacking and chatting with friends.

From what little Dawn had seen before she'd escaped outside, the food was excellent, the music was great, and everyone she cared about was there to help her celebrate her birthday.

So where was she? Huddled outside on a hill in the yard, listening to the sound of the ocean sweep gently up onto the beach. Overheard, the moon cast a soft silvery glow over everything, and the stars twinkled mischievous against a tapestry of midnight blue.

Dawn let out a soft sigh and drew her knees up to her chest. She wondered where Paul was right now. No matter what she did, her thoughts always seemed to turn to him. He'd loosened up a lot in the last few years, although he still had a tendency toward cynicism and a healthy dose of sarcasm.

"I thought I saw you try and make a break for it." A voice broke Dawn out of her reverie, and she looked up to see a thin, girl in a loose white sundress making her way up the hill. Leaf smiled warmly as she came up to sit next to Dawn, who just shrugged.

"It was a little loud, you know, and I guess . . . " she trailed off lamely, not meeting Leaf's gaze.

"Uh huh." Leaf looked at her knowingly. They sat in silence for a little bit, before Leaf said, "Are you ever going to tell me what happened, or are you going to continue to mope around on one of the greatest nights of your life?"

"I don't know what you mean," replied Dawn defensively. She shivered a little and wrapped her arms around herself. Frothy pink birthday dresses did little to turn away the late night chill.

"Dawn, you've been completely depressed ever since the Grand Festival," said Leaf, reclining against her arms while straightening her legs out in front of her. "And since I haven't heard one word about Paul since then, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that something happened."

Dawn sighed miserably. "I don't know what I was expecting," she said. "I mean, you know how he is. I just thought, you know, maybe it'd be different. Maybe things would work out."

"Did you kiss him?"

"No!" cried Dawn. "That's the thing. He kissed me! And before I could even figure out what the hell had happened, he was like, gone. And I haven't seen him since, and he's avoiding me, and I just . . ." Dawn swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump of emotion that had swelled her throat closed. "He was supposed to be here tonight," she said in a small voice. "And he isn't."

Leaf inhaled through her nose, looking thoughtful. "It almost sounds like he's embarrassed."

"I don't know," said Dawn unhappily. "I just . . . I wish he would talk to me."

"He still might show up, you know," Leaf pointed out.

Dawn snorted. "Yeah, and I might be made queen of the pokémon."

Leaf clapped her hands together loudly, startling Dawn. "Alright, enough! You've had your little pity party, and now it's time to have some fun." Dawn opened her mouth to object, but Leaf kept talking. "I know, I get it, alright? Boys suck and dating sucks and life would be so much easier if we were all just robots. But we're not. So you can go back to moping about Lilac Brains tomorrow. Tonight, we're going to party so hard that you won't care who's kissing you."

In spite of herself, Dawn giggled. "Lilac Brains?"

Rolling her eyes, Leaf got to her feet. "Shut up, I don't know, okay?" Hauling Dawn to her feet, she said, "Now come and dance with me. I want to make Gary really jealous."

Laughing, Dawn followed Leaf down the hill. "Maybe you should try dancing with a guy then. I'm sure May would lend you Drew . . ."

"Thank you, but no. I like my head attached to my shoulders."

Both girls burst into laughter and linked arms as they walked into the house.

Hours later, Dawn finally stumbled off the dance floor, her hair falling every which way into her flushed and sweaty face. Gary had finally cut in about two songs ago, and although Ash had appeared, willing to take Leaf's place, Dawn was exhausted.

"I can't believe you and Misty came all the way from Kanto," she said as she sank onto a bench against the wall.

"Well, we were already in Hoenn while Misty was training with Wallace, so it wasn't too far out of our way to hop a ship to Sinnoh," said Ash, grinning playfully. Dawn bumped him with her shoulder, which quickly started a war that ended up with her on the floor.

"Hey! It's my birthday!" she squealed, letting Ash pull her back into the bench.

"Is it?" he asked, feigning ignorance. "I thought we were celebrating Leif Erickson day."

Dawn narrowed her eyes. "I hate you," she said, snagging a chocolate éclair from a passing waiter.

"Oh, I almost forgot," said Ash suddenly, rummaging in his pocket.

"Whaf iz et?" asked Dawn through a mouthful of cream filling.

"I saw Paul a couple minutes ago, and he asked me to give you this. He was heading home but couldn't find you," replied Ash, pulling a small box wrapped in silver paper out of his jacket.

At the name "Paul", the éclair she was eating suddenly was tasteless. "Paul was here?"

"Yeah," said Ash, giving her the box. "He kind looked out of his element, though, if you know what I mean. I guess he doesn't go to a lot of parties."

"Yeah . . ." said Dawn absentmindedly, staring at the silver package.

"Oh, there's Misty! I'll be right back," said Ash, jumping up and disappearing onto the dance floor.

Slowing, Dawn tore the wrapping paper off the box, crumpling it into a ball and tossing it into a nearby trashcan. She was now holding a flat, blue velvet box, which opened to reveal the prettiest necklace Dawn had ever seen.

From a fine silver chain hung a simple oval pendant. The stone was blue, polished to a dazzling shine that reminded Dawn of the view of the oceans from space. Her fingers shaking slightly, she undid the clasp, slipped the chain around her neck, and refastened it. The weight of the pendant was comforting, and a deep well of sorry rose up inside of Dawn.

Just as she thought she might burst into tears, a slip of paper fluttered out of the box and landed at her feet. Picking it up, Dawn read, To the girl with the lapis lazuli eyes.

Dawn's lips parted slightly as she ran her fingers over the smooth stone surface of the pendant. Of course it was lapis lazuli. She smiled slightly, remembering.

"I'm confused," Paul said. "Why didn't you go out with Barry again?"

"He told me my eyes 'shine like sapphires'," said Dawn, rolling her eyes. "Please. Every guy who wants to hit on a girl with blue eyes says that."

Paul lips quirked slightly. "So, if someone wanted to compliment your eyes and still be original . . ."

Dawn sighed, feigning haughtiness. "Personally, I've always thought my eyes resembled lapis lazuli more than anything. But that's just my opinion," she sighed."

"Lapis lazuli? What is that? A bird?"

"No." Dawn stuck her tongue out at Paul. "It's a precious stone. But it's not as well-known as sapphire, so no one knows how pretty it is."

"You're something else, you know that?" said Paul, laughing as he shook his head.

Dawn grinned. "I know."

Without conscious thought, Dawn was up off the bench and running for the door. One hand was curled protectively around the smooth stone pendant, while the other clutched Paul's note. Outside, she ran down the path, not stopping until she reached the edge of the long driveway. Panting, Dawn looked desperately down both sides of the street. As far as she could see, the road was empty.

A sob catching in her throat, Dawn sank to the ground. She bit her lip as she forced back tears. This was ridiculous, crying over a boy. You didn't catch any of her friends crying over boys. Then again, they all were in perfect relationships with their soul mates, but still. She would not cry. She absolutely would not cry. She . . . would . . . not . . .

A single tear slid down the slope of Dawn's nose, falling to the ground with a soft tap. She sniffled slightly as a second tear gave a mutinous twinkle as it fell as well.

"Dawn?"

Dawn sprang to her feet, wiping at her face and whirling around to face the newcomer. Her mouth fell open slightly as Paul stepped forward from the shadow of a nearby tree.

"You ran right past me," he said, coming a little closer. "I didn't want to startle you or anything . . ." His gaze fell to the oval at Dawn's throat, and Paul's face colored slightly. "Oh."

Dawn's brain seemed to have short circuited. She couldn't seem to get a grasp on her thoughts long enough to formulate a response. All she could do was stare at Paul and try to keep herself from remembering the way his lips had felt against hers. Because it definitely wasn't polite to ogle someone, even if it was your birthday. And especially if they'd been avoiding you for the past two weeks.

"Listen, Dawn—"

The sound of her name on his lips sparked something in Dawn's brain. "No, you listen. You can't just kiss someone and then disappear off the face of the earth, okay? And you certainly can't just kiss someone, show up to their birthday party but not even talk to them, and then try to disappear again!" Dawn stopped long enough to take a breath. "And don't even get me started on the necklace."

Disappointment flitted across Paul's face. "You didn't like it?"

"Of course I like," cried Dawn. "I love it. It's literally the most thoughtful, beautiful thing anyone's ever given me. But apparently you couldn't take five minutes to say, 'Hi, happy birthday,' when you gave it to me."

Paul's eyes were wide. "I just . . . I didn't think you'd want to see me."

Suddenly out of energy, Dawn sank back onto the ground, her legs weak and rubbery. "What are you talking about?" she asked tiredly.

Paul slowly sat down next to her, fiddling nervously with the edge of his pants' pocket. "I mean, after everything, I wasn't sure . . . how things stood."

"Well, Paul, instead of sitting around wondering about it, maybe you should have called me."

Paul sighed unhappily. "I wanted to apologize, I did. I just never seemed to know what to say."

Looking at him, Dawn asked, "What do you mean, apologize?"

"Look, I know I was out of line," Paul said, "but it won't happen again, I swear."

Dawn tilted her to the side. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"You mean that?"

"Yes."

"Is that what you really want?"

Paul swallowed hard. "I—"

Dawn leaned over and kissed him, feeling Paul stiffen in shock. Pulling away slightly, she said, "Are you sure that's what you want?"

Paul made some funny spluttering noise, and Dawn laughed. Kissing him again, Dawn let her fingers sink into Paul's hair. He remained frozen for a moment before relaxing and sliding his arms around her waist. They stayed there for a while, foreheads pressed together and eyes closed, listening to the ocean in the background and the gentle sound of the night breeze whispering through the trees.

"But if that's what you want," Dawn started to say, but Paul stopped her with a kiss. After some time, Dawn said softly, "I missed you, you know."

"I know," Paul replied. "Believe me, I know." Pausing for a moment, he added. "I'm an idiot, aren't I?"

Dawn considered this. "Yeah, but I guess you're my idiot."

Paul growled and yanked her close, pressing his lips to her neck. Dawn laughed and tried to twist away, but he held her tight. "That tickles!"

Squirming, she slid two fingers under Paul's chin, tilting his face up to hers. Pressing her lips to his, Dawn skated her fingers up the side of Paul's face, feeling him shiver involuntarily beneath her touch.

"Do you think Marina would kill me if I ditched my own party?" murmured Dawn.

"Yes," Paul said immediately. "And then she'd kill me too, just for good measure." Grinning, he stood up, helping Dawn to her feet. "Let's go back in before your guests have to witness a brutal double homicide."

"Alright," said Dawn, "as long as you dance with me."

Paul made a face, but seeing the look Dawn gave him, sighed in defeat. "I will dance with you, on one condition."

"What's that?"

"It's a slow dance."

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Je-ss, happy birthday to you!

Not sure if that translated correctly, but hey, I gave it a shot. Anyway, I hope you liked it!