Warming Hearts

A/N: Here we are, with Chapter 13! Here we go! And roll it!

Chapter 13

Learning More About the Beast

Meanwhile, back at the castle, over at the west wing, Ash was trying to clean the beast's wounds, but she was making it pretty difficult, even for a first timer like himself. Leona, Kenny, Zoey, and MJ were all watching the scene nervously. Their hearts had nearly stopped when they saw their mistress gravely injured upon their return, and then they were filled with immense gratitude and relief at the sight of Ash leading his Talonflame inside with the beast carefully draped on his back.

The beast roared loudly in pain and quickly jerked away from the wet cloth that Ash was using to clean up the wound on her shoulder. The servants were all startled by her roar and they quickly hid somewhere in the room, along with Pikachu, while Ash just covered his ears, though he did back away slightly due to the volume.

"Watch it, will ya?!" She shouted at him.

Ash glared at her. "If you'd hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much!" He answered back. "You're just going to make it worse."

"None of this would have happened if you hadn't ran away." The beast said.

"Well, if you hadn't scared the heck out of me, then I wouldn't have run away!" Ash retorted.

"Well, then you shouldn't have been in the west wing!" The beast snapped back at him. "My personal chambers!"

"And you'd better learn how to control that temper!" Ash shouted back. This was out of character for him, but he was too frustrated to care about that at the moment. Usually, when he was in a fight, either his mother or one of his friends would hold him back until he would calm down. Otherwise, he could keep this up all day or until he finds a way to resolve it himself.

The beast knew then that she had lost the fight when Ash's chocolate brown eyes turned searing hot with anger, turning up like flames; and that it would only cause more pointless arguments if they kept this up. She huffed with disdain and turned away.

Taking a couple of deep breaths to calm himself, Ash turned his attention back to the reddening wound on her shoulder as the servants came out of their hiding places. "Now please hold still." He said, holding up the wet cloth again. "This will still sting." As he carefully pressed the cloth on the wound to clean up the infected area, the beast flinched, but thankfully didn't overreact this time.

"I'm actually kind of new at this." Ash admitted, trying to lighten up the mood as he gently cleaned up the wound. "I usually know how to deal with Pokémon injuries, not humans. Or anything else, for that matter." The beast didn't respond to his remark, still having her back turned to him. Sighing, Ash put away the cloth upon seeing that the wound was now clean.

He then grabbed a roll of gauze and slowly came over to her so that he could look her in the eye. "Now, I still need you to stay still."

The beast still didn't answer him. She was trying her best to not look too deeply into his chocolate brown eyes that, just a few seconds ago, were like glowing balls of fire aimed at her. But now, they were calm pools of concern. Ash then began to wrap the bandage around her shoulder.

Soon, he had carefully tied the bandage around her shoulder, making sure that it wasn't adding pressure to the sensitive wound. Ash opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped when he saw that the beast still had her back to him. Not wanting to start another fight, he stood up from the bed.

"Get some rest." He said. Then, he quietly walked away, leaving her to close her eyes. Ash went over to Pikachu, who was watching the encounter with Leona, Kenny, Zoey and MJ. The Electric type then jumped onto his Trainer's shoulder.

"Thank you, Ash." Zoey said.

"We are grateful, kid." Leona added.

Ash then asked a question that had been on his mind since he had gotten back, even back to when he had first met the servants. "Why do you care about her so much?" He asked. "I mean, she doesn't seem to treat you or anybody else very kindly. Why do you stay with her and put up with it?"

"We have lived in the castle our whole lives." Zoey explained to him. "We were all old friends once, back when things were different."

"And yet, you did nothing?" Ash asked. "Um, sorry if that came out wrong."

"It's all right, Ash." Zoey said. "And you do have a point. You see, when the mistress lost her mother, and her sister left soon after to become an ambassador for our little province, her cruel father took that nice, poor, sweet, innocent little girl that we knew and loved, and twisted her up to be like him. Yet we did nothing to help her."

Ash blinked with mild surprise and looked back towards the beast. She had a family once, too? Yet when the lights of her life had left her, she was exposed to only cruelty and greed, and probably thought that the only way to gain respect was to be the same. But Ash knew that there had to be a better way than that.

Leona nudged Ash's leg, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Come on. Let her sleep." She said.

One by one, everyone left the wing, with Ash being the last one, giving one last look at the sleeping beast, feeling guilt and a twang of sympathy for her. So it wasn't her fault that she was like this. She was just brought up like this, unlike him. Even though he had no father there beside him to help guide him when he became a Trainer or when he grew up to become a man, he was still raised in the warmth and protection of his mother's love. With those thoughts swirling in his mind, Ash finally left the chamber.

But call him crazy, but he could've sworn that he saw a tiny tear glistening in the corner of one of the beast's eyes. Was she crying? Just how long had she been suffering like this?

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In his room, Ash couldn't sleep. He kept tossing and turning in his bed, which was actually quite comfortable. But his mind was still on the beast and on what he had been told.

He should've known that she wasn't born a monster. No one is born a monster. She may look like one, but it wasn't her fault. Something must've happened that made her become this way, besides being raised coldly. And her old childhood friends, which she now considered as servants and nothing more, are all suffering the consequences of her actions.

Soon, Ash quietly got up from his bed, being careful to not wake up the snoozing Pikachu lying next to the pillow, and walked silently over to the large but narrow window. The moon was glowing bright, making all of the snow on the ground softly sparkle. Though the scene was beautiful, Ash couldn't bear to enjoy it at the moment.

What could he do? He knew that he owed the beast his life, but... it wasn't just now a matter of getting back to his mother. His new friends wanted him to stay for some reason, but what was that reason? They'd put so much effort into making him feel like he was a guest, not a prisoner. And they were obviously more friendly than their mistress. Maybe they wanted him to stay because maybe he could help their mistress clean up her act and understand what she had been doing wrong. But what could someone like him do?

Just then, an idea came into Ash's mind. It was risky, and maybe even crazy, but it was worth a shot. Though, it meant that he would have to stay. But he was willing to not have his own freedom to help someone change for the better; and free her from the tragedies of her mind that were also holding her prisoner.

Finally, drowsiness clouded his mind and Ash stifled a yawn. He went back over to his bed and went under the covers again. When his head hit his pillow, the eighteen-year-old Trainer was out like a light.

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The next morning, Ash came into the west wing with the servants to check on the beast. He felt her forehead with the back of his hand, making sure that she didn't get a fever from the blood loss, or from an infection. Luckily, she wasn't feverish, and Ash left her bed to let her continue to rest.

His eyes then saw the slowly blooming Gracidea flower that was floating in the glass bell jar. He was no botanist, but he remembered that those flowers couldn't withstand the cold, and they don't take that long to bloom. They were just very rare, mostly to protect Shaymin, the Mythical Pokémon who relies on those flowers to change forms.

From the moment he saw that pretty flower, he knew that magic was the cause for all of this. Ash loved magic as much as the next person does, but he also knew that many things could be explained by science. That much he learned from his journeys through Unova and Kalos. But this time, he knew that no amount of science could explain all that he had seen in just one day.

"What happens when that Gracidea flower blooms?" Ash asked the servants.

"The mistress remains a beast forever." Leona said.

"And we become real Pokémon." Kenny added. "We would lose our memories of our past lives as humans, and this one as cursed beings, and start completely over as real Pokémon. No more talking as humans and no more of our own uniqueness."

Ash knelt down to their level, with Pikachu hopping off his shoulder to land right beside him. "I want to help you guys become human again." He said. "There must be a way to break this curse that's on you."

"Well, there is one way." Kenny said. Ash immediately perked up, wanting to hear it.

But Zoey cut in. "But it's nothing for you to worry about, kid." She said. "We have our fate and there is no turning back from it."

Ash shook his head. "I don't know much about fate, but I do know that it's never too late to change it when you have the power to do so."

From within the bell jar, another sliver of dark red in the Gracidea flower faded into a soft pink, and the little flower bud had opened up a tiny bit. "How long do you have until that flower fully blooms?" Ash asked.

"Until midnight, on the equinox." Leona asked. Ash tilted his head in confusion, not understanding the word. "The first day of spring." She clarified.

"Then we have plenty of time." Ash said. "I still don't know how to break the curse, but at least I'm willing to give her a second chance."

The servants all beamed up at him. Pikachu came back on Ash's shoulder and gave his Trainer a proud and affectionate nuzzle. Even though his idea seemed crazy, he was with him all the way. And it was his forgiving nature that Pikachu admired most about his best friend.

Listening to the conversation, the beast's eyes widened. He was staying and he was going to give her another chance, even after what she had done to him, by forcing him to take his mother's place, and making him a prisoner?

She then started getting a bit distracted when she thought she felt a thumping in her heart, as it beat faster the longer her thoughts remained on Ash. She then turned onto her other side to try and ignore the rapid thumping.

The beast then saw that her servants and Ash were beginning to leave the wing to let her continue to rest. Not knowing why she got the idea (or how), her mouth opened to speak before Ash had left.

"Dawn." She whispered.

Ash stopped in his tracks and turned back to the beast. "What was that?" He asked her curiously.

Knowing that there was no turning back now, and that he won't stop until she conceded, the beast spoke again. "That's my name. It's Dawn."

Ash smiled softly. "That's a pretty name." He said. "Dawn."

The beast, now known as Dawn, felt her cheeks slightly burn red at the sound of her true name coming from Ash. And the way that he was smiling at her didn't help her situation much, either.

"Keep taking it easy, Dawn." He kindly said to her before he left the room, leaving a blushing Dawn lying in her bed. Dawn wouldn't let the second chance that he had given her go to waste.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until the next one, I'll see y'all! Please leave a comment about what you think.

Got to fly! ;)