Warming Hearts

A/N: Now, let's get on with Chapter 17. Roll it!

Chapter 17

Finding Peace

When Pikachu came back inside after a fun match of snowball fighting with the servants and some of the other wild Pokémon around the area, including Piplup and Buneary with whom he had gotten pretty close with, he didn't expect to sense a sadness within the grand building. Something must have happened.

He first peeked into the library and saw Dawn there, quietly crying on a chair, but there was no sign of Ash. He then scampered up the stairs to Ash's room and there, he found his Trainer lying on his bed, crying his eyes out, the sound muffled by the pillow. This was not something that Ash would do often, so Pikachu knew that something serious must have happened.

He carefully jumped onto the bed and licked his friend's hand. "Pika-pi?" He asked him in his own language.

Ash managed to calm down his sobs a little bit and wipe away some tears before turning to his partner. "Hey, buddy." He said.

"Pika, Pika?" Pikachu asked, tilting his head, wondering what got his Trainer so upset.

Ash sniffed and slowly sat up. "I learned something, Pikachu." He said. "About my dad."

Pikachu's eyes widened. Ash had practically never mentioned his father in the whole time that he had known him, and it was obvious that it was a really sensitive topic.

"He..." Ash swallowed a lump in his throat that was building up again. "He sacrificed himself, just to make sure that Mom and I were safe." He then looked down, a tear slipping down his face. "But he never came back."

Pikachu now felt like he might start crying, too. He slowly came over to his best friend and hugged his leg in an attempt to try and comfort him. Ash buried his face in his arms, feeling his body trembling.

"But why?" He asked himself. "How could he choose to let me grow up without him? Leave Mom alone? What's so special about me that he gave himself up for?"

Pikachu knew that Ash was letting his grief go to his head, blocking out all sense of reason, because they both knew that they had faced impossible challenges and saved the world many times together. But he decided to just let him cry.

Ash continued crying until he felt his tear ducts were completely dried up. If his pride would catch up to him right then, he would punch himself for acting so childish. He was eighteen years old, for crying out loud! He shouldn't be crying in bed like he was a little five-year-old! But then he thought that if anyone had learned why they had grown up with a single parent and why the other parent was never around, they would also be wallowing in their sorrows as well.

Eventually, Ash fell asleep, still curled up in a tight ball. Pikachu slowly released his comforting hold on his Trainer's leg and looked outside. It was sunset and the moon would be rising soon. He curled up next to his sleeping friend and started snoozing.

**************************

For some reason, Ash suddenly found himself in a thick, dark forest that was cloaked with mist and not inside Dawn's castle. He looked around, not recognizing anything familiar. "Where am I?" He asked himself. "How did I get here?"

The mist slowly started to clear up and Ash quickly realized where he was. He was back in the very same forest where he and Dawn had learned of his father's fate not even a few hours ago. The same tree with the gnarled roots stood there in the monochrome background and Ash felt a burning rage starting to build up inside of him.

He ran towards it and gave a hard punch to the trunk. If he got splinters stuck in his glove and skin from the contact, he would deal with it later. Right now, he needed to lash out at something.

"WHY?" He shouted up at the tree, his voice breaking again, feeling hot tears swelling up in his eyes again. "Why did you have to leave me and Mom? What was so important that you had to leave us to protect us?! And from what?!"

Ash fell down to his knees again like he had earlier. He didn't even bother crying this time. He had already wasted all his tears earlier, so only heavy breaths were coming out of his throat.

Suddenly, he heard a cheerful chirping noise from behind him. Ash whirled around and saw a familiar Pokémon floating above his head.

"Celebi?" He asked in wonder.

The little Time Travel Pokémon chirped in happiness at the young man staring up at it. Ash cocked his head slightly, wondering where he had seen this particular Celebi. Then, it struck him.

"You're the Celebi from Crown City!" He realized.

Celebi chirped again as it flew around Ash in circles, making him really laugh for the first time in hours. "Well then, it's great to see you again. But what are you doing out here?"

Celebi chirped, waving its little paw, beckoning Ash to follow it. Curious, he did follow it through the forest, dodging trees and jumping over rocks. Soon, they had arrived at a large clearing, decorated with hundreds of white flowers.

The little Time Travel Pokémon chirped loudly into the distance, as if it was calling out to something or someone. Ash looked around the wide, flowery clearing and saw that there was no one there.

"Hey, Celebi, is there supposed to be someone here?" He asked the little Psychic and Grass type.

Celebi chirped in confirmation and called out again. This time, there was a reply.

"Okay, Celebi!" A male voice answered. It was a warm and friendly voice that sent shivers down Ash's spine.

A particular thick patch of fog in front of them slowly started to take the shape of a human, along with bold colors appearing within the condensing dew. Eventually, there was a man appearing in the mist. He had an ethereal glow to his person, along with a black T-shirt, dark jeans, and black shoes. He had wild raven hair, tan skin with Z-marks on his cheekbones, and electric blue eyes.

For Ash, not only did he feel like he was staring into some sort of mirror, but he had just seen a little fleeting memory of this man a few hours ago.

"Now what was so important that I had to..." The man quietly trailed off when he saw Ash, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

The man slowly walked up to Ash, his hand slowly outstretching towards his face, as if not believing what he was seeing. The younger man felt a coolness touch his shoulder as the man placed a misty hand on it.

"Ash?" The man whispered, as if his name was a prayer.

By now, Ash couldn't hold it back anymore. He released a couple of tears and threw his arms around the man's torso, feeling as solid as a real being, but it had the coolness of a marble statue. The man placed his arms around Ash, returning the sudden hug.

"Dad." Ash breathed, his voice slightly choking again.

Jayce Ketchum gently placed his chin on top of his son's head, disregarding the cap that he wore. "I've missed you so much." He said softly.

Ash broke the hug to look his father in the eye. "Why didn't you come back?" He asked the first thing that popped into his head. "I mean, I know what happened, but you must've had a chance or more to come back to me and Mom. So why didn't you?"

Jayce sighed. "It was to protect you." He answered.

Ash felt a little twitch of anger build up. "That's what I've been told!" He said. "Everyone says that! But why? What's so special about me?"

Jayce placed a cool hand on his son's shoulder. "Calm down, sport." He chided playfully. "Or do I need to remind you of all the things you've been through?"

Celebi chirped in agreement and blew a few bubbles into the air. Ash looked into the air and saw many of his adventures during his journey. When he softened the heart of Mewtwo, fulfilling the Shamouti prophecy, helping save the Tree of Beginning, and much more exciting memories.

Ash felt his temper starting to calm down. He took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. He turned to look over at Celebi with grateful eyes.

"Thank you, Celebi." He said, and Celebi chirped happily as it playfully spun around in the air.

Jayce chuckled at the sight and turned back to his son. "Look at what you've done without me." He said to him. "Not just anyone can do what you have done. Even what had happened a couple of months ago."

Celebi blew out one more time bubble and Ash saw himself sacrificing his freedom to Dawn in exchange for his mother's. For some reason, that memory felt like so long ago, even though it occurred just a few months earlier.

Jayce chuckled again. "It seems that rash selflessness and forgiveness runs in the family." He said.

Ash gave his father a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Jayce rubbed the back of his head. "Well, you remember when your mother told you that she didn't have the best memories of her younger years?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah." He answered. "She was a part of Team Rocket, back when they were first starting out. But she left them when she met you."

Jayce laughed lightly at the short summary given. "Well, that's one way of putting it." He said.

When his son still looked at him confused, he began explaining. "There's a little bit more to that story than what your mom put in."

Celebi flew around in a tight circle, creating a glowing ring of green energy, allowing Ash and Jayce to briefly peek into the past.

"I was captured by them when I was just a little older than you are now." Jayce began explaining. "They wanted to recruit me because of my strength. But I, of course, wanted nothing to do with it. But when I finally got the opportunity to escape, your mom stopped me before I got too far."

Flashback

Twenty years ago

A twenty-year-old Jayce was quietly sneaking around the woods where the so-called gang Team Rocket had placed their headquarters. After an entire week, he had the chance to be free once again. He just had to get far enough. Back then, he was wearing a dark gray T-shirt, faded denim jeans, and white and black sneakers, with black biker gloves on his hands.

"May I ask where you're going?" A voice asked coyly, making him jump.

Jayce groaned and turned around to see the ringmaster's girl behind him, leaning against a nearby tree, one leg placed on the trunk and the other on the ground, with her arms crossed against her chest. She was wearing a dark red halter top, black jean shorts that thankfully went to just above her knees and not further up, and brown ankle boots. Her brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail, near the crown of her head. Around her waist was a loose, black leather belt with silver studs and a couple of Poké Balls latched on.

(Ash was a little disturbed to see his mother wearing such rebellious clothing. He never thought that she was actually in that deep with his archenemies.)

"Oh, I'm sorry, you little tool for lust." Jayce said sarcastically before narrowing his eyes at her. "I'm trying to escape and get the heck away from you crazy people."

Delia raised a confused eyebrow at him, dropping her little vixen act for a moment. "Why would you call us 'crazy'?"

"Uh, what you guys plan on doing is wrong." Jayce answered, as if the answer was obvious. "You guys use Pokémon as weapons to terrorize and abuse! They are amazing creatures that can bring people together! And they can be your most loyal companions."

Delia only looked at him stoically as Jayce continued passionately. "Pokémon aren't used to get what you want and definitely not so that you can conquer the world. Which, I might add, is pretty cliché. Typical villain goal."

Now, Delia's eyes had widened slightly. "Conquer the world?" She asked.

"Don't you give me that bucketload of stupidity!" Jayce shouted. "That's what your psycho boyfriend plans to do in the future! He's lost his marbles!"

"Giovanni never told me anything about that." Delia said, her eyes looking like they might start welling up.

Jayce looked at her with confusion. Was she just an innocent pawn in their game, like they wanted him to be? "Well, that's what I heard from some of the others in there." He said. "And even from that stick-in-the-mud boy toy of yours."

Delia scowled at him because of his choice of words. "We never did anything of what you might be thinking." She said, her teeth clenched in disgust. "If he even tried, then we'd be through!"

Jayce raised an eyebrow at her comment. "Seriously?" He asked. Delia nodded, her eyes now like thin slits. "Huh. At least one of you has some morals." He said.

Delia wanted to scoff at his remark, but instead, she felt a little smile tug at her lips and she just rolled her eyes. Not even Giovanni made her smile this way. There was definitely something about this young man.

Suddenly, there was a loud caw piercing the air. Jayce tensed visibly while Delia looked around the area in worry. As lightning struck the dark sky, a large Fearow appeared, hovering above them. Jayce reached for a Poké Ball on his belt. Delia searched around for something to use as a weapon. But the Fearow was already descending on them, so Delia acted quickly.

"Look out!" She shouted, and ran towards Jayce, pushing him out of the way. The Fearow's talons wrapped around her waist and began to carry her off, with her screaming with fright.

Jayce looked back up at the sky, eyes widening in surprise and fear. "She has got to be crazy." He muttered under his breath, shaking his head with his hand buried in his untamed ebony locks. "Either just plain crazy or crazy brave."

Jayce reached again for a Poké Ball. "Arcanine, let's go!" He called out, throwing the capsule up in the sky.

In a flash of blue energy, a beautiful Arcanine appeared, barking confidently. Its muscular yet lithe body was highlighted in the moonlight.

"Jump as high as you can to get on that Fearow!" Jayce commanded. The Fire-type Pokémon obeyed and began jumping gracefully and higher every time until it finally pounced on the Fearow.

"Flamethrower!" Jayce ordered.

A stream of red-hot flames spewed out of its mouth, burning the Flying-type's feathered back, making it screech in pain. Then it released Delia and she began falling, screaming. Jayce began running as fast as he could and he caught her in his arms. Arcanine leaped back down after scorching the Fearow and it flew away in pain.

"You okay?" Jayce asked Delia.

"Somewhat." She answered, flinching slightly and gritting her teeth.

Jayce felt something warm and sticky trickling onto his palms, so he looked down. His eyes widened when he saw the talon marks on her bare skin near her waist, blood starting to leak out.

"You're hurt!" Jayce exclaimed.

Delia gave a tiny scoff, though there seemed to be no negative emotion in it. "Isn't that obvious?" She asked.

Jayce would've rolled his eyes, but decided against it. Thinking quickly, he lifted her up and they both climbed onto the back of Arcanine.

"We need to get you some help." He said, carefully cradling Delia in his arms.

Delia looked up at him with surprise. "Why would you help me?" She asked. "I thought you hated me, after what my colleagues did to you."

Jayce had a grim look on his face. "Well, I'm still a little bitter about that, but I'm not leaving you here when you can easily get a blood infection if you don't get medical attention."

Delia's eyes widened in surprise, but then they softened, taking Jayce aback a little. "Thank you." She whispered.

For some reason, Jayce felt a little smile beginning to form on his lips. "No problem." He answered quietly.

Arcanine took that as a signal to get moving. Jayce held onto Delia and used his free hand to grip onto the Fire-type's fur. Then they vanished into the forest cloaked in night.

End of Flashback

The memory then faded as the glowing ring vanished, leaving Ash with a sense of deja vu, knowing how the rest of the story went from there. His mother left Team Rocket after that and never returned to them, eventually married his father, and then they had him.

"So you were taken captive as well. Like I was." He said in understanding.

Jayce nodded. "And likewise, when your mother risked herself to save me, even though we were on opposing sides, I couldn't let her suffer." He then turned to his son. "When Dawn saved you, what went through your mind when you had the choice?"

Ash bit his lip as he deeply thought about the question. "I...I couldn't just leave her there." He decided to answer, knowing fully well that this was the truth. "Even after she forced me to take Mom's place, she came to protect me when technically, the deal was broken when I ran off."

"And now, you're staying out of your own free will." Jayce added.

A little frown came on the younger man's face. "I think I'm still pretty much a prisoner there, because I'm not still allowed to leave the grounds. And I don't want to think about what happened the last time I left around Christmas. It was awful." He shuddered at the thought.

Jayce lightly chuckled at the grimace on his son's face. "But you still want to help the others break free of their enchantment." He reminded him. Ash only nodded in confirmation.

Jayce placed a misty hand on his son's shoulder again. "We both gave someone who we thought was heartless a second chance and learned that there's more to them than meets the eye." He said to him. "Being merciful and kind gives you the greatest rewards in life, ones that you will treasure for the rest of your life."

The younger man smiled up at him, then Jayce placed his other hand on Ash's other shoulder. "Always remember that your mother and I love you, Ash." He said warmly. "You have the courage, kindness, and forgiving spirit that not many people have. You care about those who are most important to you, doing whatever it takes to protect them. That's what makes you special."

"Not even if I have the same Aura as Sir Aaron?" Ash teased him with a little smirk.

Jayce chuckled at the little joke. "Even if you have a lot of rare abilities and talents, always know that your heart is your true power."

Ash gave the spirit form of his father a small and gentle smile. "Thanks, Dad." He whispered.

Jayce returned the smile as both father and son shared one last hug before everything faded in the mist that came creeping back in.

*************************************

Ash snapped his eyes open, a couple of ragged breaths escaping his mouth. He quickly sat up straight and looked around. He was still in his room in Dawn's castle. Pikachu was cuddled up next to his legs and starting to stir from the sudden movement. The only difference was that the sky was a deep velvet black with a bright silver moon shining above and tiny specks of light that were stars.

"Pika-pi?" Pikachu squeaked, sounding groggy and rubbing his eyes with his paw.

Ash took a deep breath, and then he exhaled slowly, feeling a content smile slowly appear on his face. After having that odd dream, or vision or whatever it was supposed to be called, he felt a huge weight finally being lifted off his shoulders. A large, pressing matter that he didn't know that he had for so long was gone. His father was proud of him and was watching over him. He always had been.

Slowly, he removed the covers that Pikachu must've put over him earlier and slid off the bed. His Electric type partner was about to follow him, but Ash placed a gentle hand on his head, petting him so slowly and gently that he was drifting back to sleep, falling flat on his belly.

"I need to do something really quick, buddy." He softly whispered to him. "I'll be right back. Go back to sleep. It's okay."

Once his number one partner was snoozing again, Ash quietly left the room. He headed over to the west wing, and just as he thought, Dawn was out on her balcony, looking out towards the horizon, most likely unable to sleep for all this time. He could hear the low, audible breaths coming from her as she too had run out of tears to cry.

Stepping out onto the balcony, Ash stood next to her and gently placed a hand on top of her own paw. Dawn looked over at him with surprise, her bright blue eyes slightly red. The raven-haired Trainer only gave her a soft and reassuring smile while giving her paw a slight squeeze, telling her that everything was fine now.

A relieved smile came upon her face and the two just basked in this now comfortable silence as they gazed up at the stars. Things are better now, and it seems that it will continue to get better.

A/N: Well, things have gotten back to normal. Ash finally finds peace about his father, and shares it with Dawn.

I know that we don't know for sure about Delia being a part of Team Rocket back in the past, but I've always kind of been a little biased to that theory, so I thought it can work in this.

Speaking of Delia, in the next chapter, we'll see how she's doing, and what she might do to catch a certain periwinkle-haired girl right in her own trap. Will it work, or will it backfire? We'll have to see.

Until then, I'll see y'all! Please leave a comment about what you think.

Got to fly! ;)