Here is the final chapter. I hope it's a worthy conclusion.
Ash strode through the double doors, his heart bursting with joy. His jacket was slung over one shoulder as he moved quickly down the hallway, looking for a payphone. It took him several moments, but he was finally able to find a free one. He grabbed a coin, ready to insert it in the pay slot, and hesitated. It had been so long… what if he didn't want to hear a word of it? He swallowed and pushed in the coin, punching the digits in quickly. If there was one thing he knew now, if he kept on waiting it would be too late.
"Pewter Gym," a voice said suddenly, interrupting the dial tone.
"Brock! Please, don't hang up!" There was a pause.
"Ash?" he asked.
"Brock, I… I'm sorry for everything that I said. I was wrong. You were just being the friend that she deserved. The friend that I should have been to both of you."
"What's this about, Ash?" Brock asked slowly, stiffly. Ash stopped, trying to gather his thoughts.
"I know May called you about Dawn," he said. "I don't know how much she told you but I… I learned the truth. It may be years too late, but I know now that I was wrong about her, and about you. I'm sorry." There was a rush of static on the line, and Ash realized that Brock was sighing.
"Ash," he said, beginning to sound a little more like his old self, "how long have we been friends? Do you think I could stay mad at you, after all that you've been through? We were both at fault; I should have told you everything years ago, when Dawn asked me too." Ash smiled, relief breaking across his face.
"There's something I have to tell you," he said. "It's about me and May."
"You're not looking for love advice, are you?" Brock asked, and Ash laughed.
"We have a baby girl," he said. "May gave birth about an hour ago."
"What!?" Brock shouted, stunned.
"Brock, I want you to be her Godfather," he said.
"A-are you serious?" Brock asked, his voice cracking.
"There's no one better," Ash replied, "May agrees."
"I'm honoured," Brock said sincerely, all the hurt he had felt since the trial melting away at the news. "Can I ask what her name is?" Ash paused a moment, trying to quell the emotion that had suddenly sprung into his chest.
"Her name is Dawn," he said.
It's rare for me, as an aspiring author, to be completely satisifed with what I have done. This is one of those rare occassions. Most of this was written in one day; everything just seemed to click today for me. In Reaching Out, I tried to be as emotional as possible. In this story, Searching for Truth, I wasn't deliberately trying to be emotional, but I think I made it a real heartjerker; I'm definitely much more satisfied with this than with Reaching Out. Hands up, how many people cried reading this?
Like always, please review.