Chapter fifteen: Let it all end here

One year later:

And for the first time I've forgotten what else I can write about her.

I drop my black pen onto the desk and watch it roll away from the book. I reach out for it again and read over the words that I used to talk about her. Pages and pages are filled with painful memories and treasured ones that I won't forget. I wrap my fingers around my pen and tap the ink end onto the dry paper thinking of what to add on. My hand wants to go on but my mind is empty. There is nothing else I can write about her. I know its mean to say this, but no words or phrases can describe them, no matter how hard I try.

I drop my pen and find the courage to close the book. The pages all stack onto one another with the things I've said about her. It's hard, of course it is. But I'll make it. I need to put all of this behind me. Beside the book is a year old newspaper with an unusual news topic. It has the words of 'Mysterious Stranger in an unusual plot!" This issue was on the television for two weeks as each night the media presented a different view on the issue. The media couldn't get it any more wrong. No news article can express the emotions I felt that day. Never.

I continue to read on even though I've read it many times over. The journalist has written down saying that 'three young children, all of the ages of eleven were used in a scientific experiment that went horribly wrong. Two, by the names of Ash Ketchum and May Maple suffered near death situation and barely survived the attack. They used their mystic connection to summon the legends of the Sinnoh region, Palkia and Dialga. They succeeded but the two wild Pokémon rampaged over the place releasing the two from their capsules but another one that was still contained in the other capsule…' I couldn't bear to read on. I always end up not finishing the article at the same place.

I've decided to stay home. Well in Twinleaf I mean. Eventually Reggie and our father soon followed. Mother is here as well but she is mostly out because of her treatment. She's strong and she's getting there. She is getting as cheerful as that picture I saw of her with father when she was my age. Although her jokes are hard to listen to, I wonder if there is a treatment for that. We all decided not to live in the mansion anymore and live in a little cottage not far from it. It's not much but as long I have a place to live, I'm fine by it.

The past few days have been hard because the only way I can really move on is to attach to her. I know everyone in my family sees it to, but they just don't want to say anything about it. I like it like this. I get to have some time alone and have family companionship at the same time. It's nice. I haven't gotten use to it yet but I will eventually will. Also I've decided to head to the Unova region and start fresh. Start off and start going after my dream. I think I've abandon it for awhile now.

Ash has moved on and headed to this new region which I've forgotten the name to. I know it's further from Unova and it takes days to get there. Also his friend, May has tagged along with him, saying that she wants to be rekindle their long lost friendship. I believe there's something more to that. But I think I will keep it to myself for now.

I push myself off my chair and head towards my packed backpack. I really didn't have a chance to put anything in because mother has done it for me but I always go through my bag just in case there is something in there that shouldn't. I throw it over my shoulder and head downstairs into the kitchen where I see mother trying to bake a cake. She gazes off her cooking book and smiles at me and waves at me with her hands all covered in flour.

"Hey!" She starts. "Going off somewhere?" I shrug my shoulders and walk to the oven that was releasing thick smoke. I opened the tap and get a bow, fill it up with water andl and throw the water into the oven. Letting the smoke calm down.

"You should really read the recipe better Mom." I spoke. "I'm pretty sure it says 'let it cook for 25 minutes, not 45.'" I throw the empty bowl into the sink. "That's like the third time you're burn the poffin cake."

"Look." She placed her hands onto her waist. "Give me some time. I haven't done this in awhile." I sigh.

"But still." I glare at her and then to the dishes. "I don't get to wash that now that I saved the house from getting on fire, do I?" Mother laughed.

"Alright, just this once." She laughed. "But when you come back I promise you I will get this cake right!" She spoke with such joy and determination.

"Whatever." I spoke. "See you at six." I spoke before leaving the house. I could hear my mother yelling at me but it's probably nothing serious.

I walk down the country path and watch everything around me. I see battles and children practicing contest moves. I see old couples picking berries from their gardens and young trainers chasing after their starter Pokémon. I walk to a breeding centre and see my older brother writing down details of the Pokémon he is chosen to look after. I walk to the bench and glare at him in order to distract him. He finally gives up on what he is doing and looks at me.

"Is there anything you want?" I refuse to reply. "Oh I remember why you're here." He laughs afterwards.

"You're so useless." I sighed. I felt like I wanted to face palm myself but I wasn't in the mood.

"Just wait. I'll get it." And minutes later he comes out with a small blue penguin. "Here he is. I've looked after him well. Remember to give him back okay?" I grabbed the water type and look at it.

"You do know I'm not sorry dumping you here with my brother right?" Pilpup crosses his fins together. He wasn't happy. "I can't take you home. Not until father comes home and mother is well. I have to give you to my brother until everything is sorted." Pilpup still glares at me. "I know you hate me okay. It's only for one person that I'm keeping you and calling you mine." I finally given up convincing Pilpup was in good hands so I drop on the floor. "You're walking." I spoke. "Don't get lost on the way." I could hear Pilpup sigh in the background.

"I don't think you two will ever get along." Reggie began to laugh again. I looked over my shoulder.

"Thanks genius."

"So I'm guessing you're going to the same place again today hm?" I didn't answer back. "So that means you won't be home on time again?"

"So you're going to ground me because of that? Not even mother grounds me yet alone my older brother."

"It's just your going to leave soon. I don't think it's best to leave here with her in your mind."

"Just let me be." I turned to face him. "I'll be fine."

I leave my brother and let him go on with his other work as I walked out with a little annoying penguin tagging right behind me. I sit on a tall hill and watch the blue sky and the white clouds past over us. Back in Veilstone everything runs so fast that life goes by so fast. Everything you do is roughly recorded in your mind. Pilpup just sits down and looks up the sky, maybe wondering about what has happened in the last year or so. He hasn't been out much when everything happened but he had some idea of it. Even though we can't understand each and pretty much find each other annoying, we know that she both finds us important and I know she doesn't want to see us like this.

I yawn and stretch my arms into the air before I felt somebody picking me off the ground. It was no another than my father, Cyrus.

"What on earth are you doing here on the grass? You should be there by now. She won't be happy."

"Leave me alone old man." I shook my hand away from his grasp. "I'm getting there. It's not easy going to her, after what's happened."

"Let's not recall what happened in the last year. I know what you mean." Cyrus sighed afterwards. "Look I'm going to stay here for the weekend. I cancelled the meeting."

Father is now in charge of some sort of fossil company, reviving old fossils and trying to find as much about them before releasing them into the wild. He sometimes gets all crazy when he revives a Pokémon and starts what Reggie and I call 'creepy talk' and we avoid his workplace when we can. He is still interested in the past and how the universe is made but not as much as before. Father once asked if she should be a history teacher in the Pokémon School here in Twinleaf and I just replied saying your looks will traumatise your students with your unhealthy laugh. After I said that I was told to stay in my room for a week. That punishment didn't work out so well. I never knew having parents could be so annoying. His away for a few days but always finds a way to come back home.

"If you don't confront her now, you won't be able to go on your journey right." He spoke.

"I know, I know, I know." I repeated in an annoyed manner. "Just relax. I'm getting there. She promised she will wait for me. No matter how long she has to wait."

"You're still going on that promise but it didn't even work the last time."

"It will work out in the end…dad." Father didn't say anything afterwards and began walking home before adding.

"Just come home soon. I don't like waiting." He yelled before walking down that path that led to home.

"Typical old man." I muttered before heading to my real destination."

Then finally I was there.

I reached the town's hospital.

It's small and is only two stories high. It has this cottage-modern look to it that's hard to put into words. I find it hard to come here because the first thing that comes to me was the first day the media covered the issue. I can remember it written in big thick black bold letters, flashing on the screen in two second intervals. It said 'Victim arrives dead!' Idiots, she was dead before that.

But it wasn't all bad.

But still. It hurts knowing that the media just treats her like nobody, just another victim of the media world. Reporters desperate to get a story, so desperate that they will even make up a story that makes her look like a fool just for story that will only last a day.

I push against the double doors and walk myself in. I walk to the reception and ask for her name. They looked blankly at me before grabbing a book filled with other patients' names. She placed her finger down every name that was written and stopped at her name.

"You're her usual visitor, beside her mother of course." She faintly smiled as she handed me spare keys that led to her room. The media still come on and off to her room so because of that her mother requested that only people her knows personally can visit her room. Its sound stupid but it keeps her away from strangers.

"Yeah, I try to come when I can, because she needs me." I place the pockets into my pocket.

"That room has being quiet lately, a little depressing to enter. It just has this eerier feeling as you enter that room."

"Yeah, it's been quiet lately there." I reply. I look down and see Pilpup wanting to move on. I nod and move onto her room.

What normally takes a ten five minute walk felt like an hour. Each step I takes a little bit of my memories of her comes into my head. Each one gets painful and painful because I get to see this part of her that I can't come back on. Her smile, her laugh and pretty much everything about comes back. It relives itself in my mind and portrays it into my eyes. Perhaps that's why I can't come to her because everything I like about her holds me back. Its stop me from fulfilling my promise towards her. It hurts but I hope she understand.

Oh great, I'm getting cheesy now.

I reach for her room and place my hand on the doorknob and hold it tight. This is the how far I came last time. It's like she's holding me back, stopping me from entering into this room. Maybe because the last time I saw her here, she was dead. Her body was cold, her blood was painted all over her body and dried marks of her tears were marked on both of her cheeks. And I couldn't do anything to stop it.

I twist the doorknob and push the door open and watch it open until it stops. And then what I saw was an empty room.

Except for one thing.

Everything was empty except that young girl sleeping on her bed.

And that girl went by the name of Dawn.

When I found her dead, Mesprit and the others used their restored powers to revive Dawn but it wasn't enough for her to be one hundred percent healthy. When I brought her to the hospital the doctors told me she was in a deep coma and couldn't predict when she would wake. This was the reason I had a hard time to overcome which caused my rare visitations. To accept that she won't wake up again is pretty painful to withstand. And within a few hours you will be finally switched off. She has been in this coma for a year now with no changes.

I remember Dawn's mother screaming her head off to the doctors saying that 'this isn't all true!' and 'my darling will wake up!' it was so loud and caused the major issue of the day. I remember watching her from the end of the hallway while the nurses held her back from causing murder to the doctor that delivered the news to her. Who knew that her pain was going to hurt the people around you even more?

Over the past year I've become different. Well in the way I think, I can't help but think of the things that I normally don't think about. I think of things like when will she wake up, when will she open her eyes, can she hear all the yelling outside of her room or even has anything changed between us, so many questions, so many.

I walk over to her and take seat on the mattress her motionless body lays on. I pick up Pilpup and placed him beside her head that is still wrapped with thick bandages that where the blood has gone through the thick layers and began to show through. Your eyes stay still as I trace my fingertips over your soft skin; their warm. Your hair has just been washed by one of the nurses and the smell from the shampoo is filling the room slightly.

I watch as Pilpup touches you on the cheek and touches it in hope that you would wake up. He does it again but this time with his small beck and hopes for the same result. Nothing happens.

"Pil…" He sighed sadly. "Pil." He repeated as he rubbed his head against her cheeks. Pilpup has done this many times before; he knows what's going to happen. This time he does it longer than usual, he knows this is the end.

Let it all end here is what the doctors have been saying for the past week or so. 'Let it all end here so her suffering can stop' if you do that, then all of us will continue to suffer. I know Dawn doesn't want to die like this, I know that the last thing she wants to do is die without a fight. It just wasn't her. I know Ash would say that her dying like this isn't what she wants. 'Dawn is strong! She will wake up! Don't give up!' are the words I remember him telling me before he moved into the new region. He also told me that 'Dawn doesn't want to see you like this. You need to be strong for her until she wakes up!'

I'm trying it's just. I can't help but face reality. And that reality sometimes outweighs my fantasy.

I hold her hand tight in hope of a response. Every month or whenever I can find the guts to visit her, I would hold her hand for hours, hoping that she would wake up. But should I believe is such a fantasy?

Perhaps I can.

I soon felt her hand responding to mind. I felt the ends of her fingertips moving slowly and soon followed were the flicker of her eyelids and for the first time in a year I was able to see your sapphire eyes shine through brightly. I felt her trying to hold my hand tight as she open her eyes half open as for now is how far she can open them. She moves her lips to form what I see as a soft smile. She opens her lips and tries to speak but nothing comes out. She held my hand tighter and she try to speak again.

"…you…came…" Was the words she said to me. It was soft and weak but it was enough to hear.

"As promise." I replied.

"…can…you…come…here?" Dawn asked as she pointed towards her lips. Maybe asking for me to come closer since her speaking abilities is low and weak.

I move my face closer to hers until our noses could touch one another. She lifted her head slightly and pressed her lips against mine hard enough to call a soft peck. It wasn't much but I knew what she meant by that kiss, it was just she couldn't say the words to me. I understood as I pressed my lips on hers softly as well.

And finally you have woken up from the darkness and back into the light, just like done to me to me a year ago. You taught me that everything isn't always in shades of grey or in darkness in that manner. You taught me that life is filled with colours and thanks to you I'm able to see it again; able to see the lightness again.

"Welcome back." I spoke as she softly smiled at me and mouthed to me. "Thank you."

And afterwards I couldn't help but smile back at her after that.