Lillie's POV-
The room I was in was lightly illuminated by the sunlight that was entering the window on the other side of the room. I had just started waking up, not remembering where I was. I sat up and stretched a bit, taking my time to look around the room I was in.
I glanced down at where I had been resting my head, and saw that Ash was asleep in the bed. I had ended up staying with him for the rest of the day, not realizing that I had fallen asleep while I was there.
I saw Ash's hand was resting on top of the covers on the bed and reached out and took a hold of it, giving it a small squeeze while I sat there in that sunlit room. "Hope you wake up soon Ash." I muttered, a soft smile on my face as I spoke.
I left the room afterwards to try and find something to eat since I hadn't eaten much the previous night. I was still dealing with a bit of shell-shock from the events of the previous day, so I hadn't been in the mood to eat at the time.
"Where's Professor Kukui at?" I muttered.
When I reached the kitchen, I found a note on the counter. I leaned in and read the note, and a minute later I looked around and grabbed the bread that Professor Kukui had set out.
"Huh, so he had to head over to one of the other islands...Wonder why." I pondered as I plugged in the toaster and put a couple of pieces of bread into it.
Within a couple of minutes I had a few pieces of toast and started eating.
I checked the time once I was done eating. The clock on the wall of the kitchen read 10:25 AM.
I let out a little sigh as I looked around the house. "The Professor said he'd be back at 3 PM at the latest.... What should I do until then.." I muttered to myself.
I walked around the room for the next couple of minutes, pondering what to do when I heard a knock on the door while I was pacing around the room.
I stopped my pacing and walked over to the door and opened it.
On the other side of the door stood Mallow, the green haired chef at her fathers restaurant, and Lana, the blue haired fisher.
Mallow was the first one to speak up. "Oh, Lillie, what are you doing here?" She asked me.
"How am I going to explain that I'm living here in the same house as Ash...not that it would be a bad thing..." I thought to myself.
I blushed and tilted my head down to look at the ground. "I...uh...had to talk to the Professor about something...but when I got here the Professor was leaving and had to go to one of the other islands...so he decided to let me stay here and wait." I answered.
Mallow stared at me for a few seconds, before nodding. "Alright then..do you know where Ash is? You two still have to come to the restaurant for our group get together." Mallow said.
I glanced over at Lana and saw her staring at me. "So what did you have to talk to the professor about?" Lana asked.
"Crap." I thought to myself.
I looked at Mallow and shook my head. "We won't be able to make it, Ash got injured yesterday and hasn't woken up yet." I answered.
Mallow looked at me in shock. "What happened?" She asked.
"I'm... not too sure on the details." I answered.
I looked over at Lana and slightly smiled at her. "If it's all the same with you Lana...I'd rather not say, as it is a personal reason." I told her.
Lana nodded, while Mallow kept talking. "Is there anything we can do to help?" She asked.
I looked up at Mallow and smiled before shaking my head. "No, I don't think you can, as of right now Ash just needs to rest." I responded.
Mallow looked past me and into the house, before sighing. "Fine, if you do need anything, let us know." She said.
I nodded. "Thank you Mallow. Tell the others that I'm sorry that we can't make it." I told her.
Mallow smiled at me and nodded. "Of course, have a good day Lillie." She said, before turning and walking off the porch and heading down the road.
Lana stared at me for a few moments, almost as if she was searching my soul for something. She followed Mallow off the porch a few seconds later, and once again I was left alone. I looked around at some of the stuff outside, before closing the door and walking back inside.
A few minutes had passed before I walked back into the room Ash was in. I sighed and walked over to where he was laying down and sat down on the edge of his bed. "Why'd you take those attacks for me Ash?....It should be me laid up in the bed, hurt and unconscious...not you." I said to both him and myself.
My mind started racing on its own accord, rapidly conjuring up numerous scenarios of what happened the previous day, Each one being worse than the last. Images of Ash laying on the ground, un-moving and unresponsive, flashed in front of my eyes.
The images were surreal, I felt like I could reach out an touch them, almost as if it was happening right in front of me.
I started shuddering, tears rolling down my face and dropping into my lap as I cried. everything that I had tried to keep buried was coming to the surface, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
The images stopped flashing before my eyes after a minute or two, but it was impossible for me to get a hold of myself. The dam had burst, and there was nothing I could do about it.
I sat there for the next little while, crying and attempting to get myself under control. I realized two things during that time. I was able to realize how afraid I was that I might lose Ash...And how dear he was to me.
I heard a quiet groan emanate from beside me. I let out a small gasp before I turning around and watching Ash's eyes open.
His eyes darted back and forth, before he tilted his head to the side and looked at me. "Hey.. Lillie." He hoarsely said.
I smiled at him as I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks once more.
"Damn tears." I thought to myself.
Ash had just started sitting up when I hopped towards him and threw my arms around him, hugging him hard.
"Ash!" I said in excitement and relief, the tears returning once more in force.
Ash's POV-
I looked down at Lillie while she had her arms wrapped around me, I blushed and smiled a little. I tried raising my left arm to pat her on the head, when I felt a sharp pain shoot through it.
I grunted and reached over, grabbing my arm and holding it. "Ugh..What happened to me?" I asked Lillie while I looked down at myself.
Lillie pulled back after a few seconds and looked at me. "We....were attacked yesterday...you took a couple hard hits for me...you were injured while saving me." She responded. A bittersweet smile present on her face as she spoke.
"You passed out after taking those hits....something came and saved the two of us a minute or so afterwards." Lillie continued.
"So I failed once again..." I thought to myself.
I must of had some sort of scowl or frown on my face, since I heard Lillie say. "Ash...What's wrong?"
My eyes drifted down to her, finding that she was looking back up at me. I looked away for a moment, gathering my thoughts and deciding if I wanted to tell her. The answer became obvious rather quickly.
I sighed and leaned back. "It bothers me...That's all." I responded.
Lillie stared at me, curiosity present in her eye's. "What do you mean?" She asked.
I let the wall behind the bed keep my back propped up while I spoke. "I couldn't protect you.." I told her.
Lillie's POV-
"What does he mean he couldn't protect me?" I pondered quietly.
"I left you to fend for yourself because I wasn't strong enough...I wasn't able to protect those that I care about. Again!" Ash said. His voice slowly rising from a quiet mutter, to an adament shout.
I blushed a bit at what he said, but I pushed that to the back of my head as I scooted a bit closer to Ash. "Ash...I'm ok, if it wasn't for you, then I might be where you are right now, maybe in an even worse condition." I said.
Ash looked at me and gave me a slight smile. "Yeah..maybe you're right...still, I'm sorry." He responded.
I shook my head. "No need to be Ash." I told him, "though...what did you mean when you said again?" I questioned.
Ash's expression slowly soured and morphed into one of sadness.
"I-if you don't want to talk about it, then that's fine." I said to him, worried that I might of upset him.
Ash looked at me and quietly chuckled. "It's alright." He responded.
He sighed and tilted his head back to look up at the ceiling.
"Throughout my journey....I've met a lot of people and Pokemon....on some of those journeys....I lost friends." He said. "Both times when I've really lost someone, were Pokemon, I didn't know them for an extended of time, but they were both good friends." He continued.
"The first time it really happened was....in a town called Alto Mare.... a beautiful city with a lot of waterways in it... in the city were two legendary Pokemon...Latias and Latios...they guarded a sacred treasure called the soul dew. Latios had to sacrifice himself to save the city from a freak natural disaster that was caused by two members of a criminal orginization, when they took the soul dew." He explained.
"The second time that I lost someone was a Pokemon named Lucario.... He really was amazing...trapped in a staff from an ancient time, released when I had held it for a ceremony, he could even communicate through his use of Aura...he had to sacrifice himself at a place called the tree of beginning... All because I wasn't strong enough to do it myself.." Ash said.
The more he talked, the more his voice would crack and get hoarse. I saw tears rolling down his cheeks as he spoke.
"There have been countless other times in which I've almost lost people close to me...the only thing that saved us most of the time was luck.." He told me, before letting out a quiet and broken chuckle.
"I'm....just terrified that I might lose you because of how weak I am." Ash quietly muttered as he started to quietly cry.
It was the first time that I had really seen him like this. Vulnerable and without the usual upbeat or serious attitude that he usually showed.
I leaned in and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into a hug and holding him close to me. "Don't worry Ash....You're not going to lose me. I promise." I told him.
I held the hug for a couple of seconds, when I felt Ash's good arm wrapping around me. "Thank you Lillie." He muttered to me.
I smiled to myself and kept holding the hug for another few moments. "You're welcome Ash." I responded.
Without thinking, I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for doing what you did to protect me Ash." I said to him.
Ash's face heated up after I glanced up at him, his face going from the usual tan, to bright red in a matter of seconds.
My face started heating up rather quickly as well while I sat there. "Holy crap! Why did I just do that?!" I thought to myself while the internal screaming intensified ten fold.
we sat there for a few seconds in awkward silence, before Ash finally spoke up.
Ash let out a quiet chuckle as he looked away from me. "Hey Lillie, do you think you could help me out to the couch in the living room?" He asked me.
I fixed him with a curious gaze. "Why do you wanna go to the living room, isn't it much comfier in here?" I asked him.
"Well yeah, but at the same time I don't feel like being by myself all day, and I don't want to keep Professor Kukui from sleeping in his own bed." He replied.
I nodded in understanding. "Alright, then let's get you up so I can help you out there." I told him.
Ash smiled and nodded before sitting up and scooting to the edge of the bed. I stood up and offered him my hand so he could stand up.
He grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled himself up. I grabbed a hold of his arm and held it to keep him from falling.
I opened the door and slowly led him out of the room, closing the door behind us before moving towards the couch by the TV.
Once there, I laid Ash down on the couch and walked to the closet by the door, hoping to find a blanket for him.
I opened the closet, and to my relief I found a blanket. "That was a lot easier than I thought it would be." I told myself before walking back to Ash and laying the blanket on him.
Ash looked up at me and smiled. "Thanks Lillie." He said.
"You're welcome." I responded with a smile.
I was about to sit down on the other end of the couch, when I heard a knock on the door. "Who could that be?" I muttered to myself.
I walked over to the door and opened it to see who was on the other side.
"Hello?" I said while opening the door.
There was a teenager standing on the otherside of the door, he had blonde hair, green eyes, and a black sweater on. He looked at me and slightly smiled. "Hey sis." He said.
No more than a couple seconds later, a swift crack echoed throughout the house and around the area outside the house. The teenager fell to the ground moments after the sound of the crack. I don't think I had ever felt angrier than I had at that very moment.
A/N
Hey everyone, I hope you enjoy the new chapter, and I appreciate everyone for my sporadic updates.
As always, if you have questions or comments, don't hesitate to ask.
And as always, I'll see all of you in the next chapter.
-Pearlshipper332