Chapter Text
Dawn is sitting at a desk. The hot summer day was barely sustained by the a/c at full blast. A headache threatens to start as she continues to go over her schedule for the next week. A gentle jingle sounds at her office door. Akari.
“What is it Akari?”
“I was wondering if I could-”
“Yeah, sure. Just please close the door?”
“Ok, Dawn.”
Akari leaves. Letting Dawn continue her work. Dawn hears noises outside. Strong Pokemon. She dashes outside. Afraid of whatever decided to show up. Heading outside, she sees…. Akari. With a picnic. And Dawn's Pokemon. “Akari… what are you doing?”
“I’m having a picnic.”
“I see that. I’m not stupid.”
“Then why did you ask?”
“Because I want to know why you’re having a picnic with my Pokemon.”
“You’ve been so busy with work. I figured they might want some time outside their Pokeballs.”
“Ok. But you didn’t ask.”
“I tried…”
Akari shakes her wrists gently. The bells on her bracelets jingle. “CAN YOU PLEASE STOP WITH THAT RINGING EVERY TIME YOU GET SAD?” Dawn screams. Akari starts to cry. She tears off the bracelets from her hands. Tossing them onto the blanket. “I’m going on a walk,” she mumbles.
The words echo in the air as everything gets darker. Dawn regains sanity. She yells for Akari to stop. She says sorry. Begs her sister to not leave. Her feet melt into the dirt. The words hang in the air. As Akari disappears into darkness. The jingle of bells is the only thing Dawn can hear.
Dawn shoots up. Sweat on her forehead. She breathes. One… two… three. Her heart rate slows down. She wishes she had screamed. She wishes she had said sorry. It’s too late. She just turned away. Said nothing. Dawn is crying now. Crying in Akari’s bed. Laying dormant in Akari’s room. Where she’s scarcely left for days. “Akari… I’m so sorry…” She sobs into the pillow. Akari’s desk is covered in dust. Old assignments covered in doodles and top marks sit on the desk. Next to them are jars and jars of pens and pencils.
Dawn reaches under Akari’s old pillow. She pulls out a notebook. Covered in stickers the front cover reads “Akari’s Pokemon Research Journal” Her dream was to become a professor. Dawn would take care of the physical aspects, and Akari would take care of the technical. Dawn wouldn’t have become champion without Akari researching Cynthia. Dawn flips through the notebook for the millionth time. She knows what every entry says. She’s seen all the pictures Akari glued in. She could draw them from memory. Dawn hides it again. Then continues to cry. The first anniversary was a few days ago. But Dawn just can’t seem to will herself off the bed. Because no matter how much she wishes, Akari is gone. Forever.
The phone rings in the hall. Probably Cynthia again. Dawn would feel bad if she cared at that moment. She just couldn’t. She couldn’t care less about being a Champion. Of her ‘duties to Sinnoh.’ She didn’t care that Cynthia had to step up in her wake. Her sister, her other half, was gone. And it was all her fault.
Dawn could hear her mother answer the phone. Good. One less person for Dawn to deal with. Dawn looked up. Glow-in-the-dark stars covered the entire ceiling. Akari insisted that they be astrologically accurate to the ones above their house. It took days of Professor Rowan mapping stars to make a map that was easy to replicate. Dawn had helped put up the stickers. It made her happy to see Akari that happy. Dawn smiles. “Thank you, Dawn! You’re the best!” she could hear it perfectly. The smile fades. Despite the bright sun coming in through the window, despite the temperature being almost 80 degrees. Dawn was cold.
Dawn's mom busts open the door. “Dawn! Pack a suitcase! We need to get going!” Her mom screams with a giant smile on her face, tears streaming down her face. Dawn is confused. Why is Mom smiling like that? “They’ve found Akari! She’s at a Ranger Station.”
Dawn started breathing heavily. “Oh-oh-oh my GOD I NEED A SHOWER!” Dawn screams as she darts down the hall to the bathroom.
Once Dawn is clean, she gets to work. She packs a backpack for herself. Filling up her old suitcase for Akari.
Headphones
Her notebook
Pens
Pencils
Akari’s camera
A poke-plush
Spare clothes
Shoes
And… the braclets. Akari’s prized possessions. Those went on top.
Dawn looked better in an hour than she had in almost a year. Throwing the suitcase in the trunk of her mother's car, she ran over to Rowan's lab. Banging on the door, Rowan pops out. “I just got packed. Whose car are we taking?” He pants. “Ours. Come on!” Dawn and Rowan sprint back to Dawn's house, where her mom is starting up the car. Dawn hops in the back while Rowan takes the passenger seat.
The drive to the train station is long. The train ride to the Ranger Station is longer. Dawn goes over her apology to Akari over and over and over again. What will she say? How will she say it? Will Akari even accept her apology? Dawn won't be mad if she doesn’t. She wouldn’t accept it either.
Finally, they make it to the Ranger station. Dawn lugs in Akari’s suitcase, her mother and Rowan right behind her. There she sees… a lot of people. Laughing and having a good time. In the center of the semicircle is-
“Akari?” Dawn can’t believe it. There she is. Alive. Plans be damned. Dawn rushes at Akari. Leaving the suitcase and her mother behind. Trapping Akari in a bone-crushing hug. “YOU’RE ALIVE!” Dawn sobs into her shoulder. Completely ignoring the designer jacket. “Akari I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I can’t just close my damn mouth. I’m so sorry.” She continues to sob.
Akari grabs her arm. Pushing Dawn off of her. “I’m sorry. Who are you? Why do you have my face?” Dawn stares at Akari. She sees. The scar, the malnourishment, the new tan, the tired eyes. Dawn started to laugh. A soulless, empty one. “Real funny Akari. You got me! Good game! Please tell me this is a game. ‘Let's Scare Our Sister Cause The Last Time We Saw Her She Was A Huge Ass To Us!’ you got me good!” Dawn pleaded. Akari flinched away. “Please refrain from touching me.” Dawn hadn’t even noticed her hands moving. Now she couldn’t get them to stop. “Akari-” A hand stops her from moving forward. “Apologies. I am Ingo. Akari’s father. Please stay behind the yellow line.” A tall man in a beat-up uniform said. “F-father?” Dawn whispered.
“Jhoana wait-” Rowan called out. But it was too late. Dawn's mother grabbed Akari’s arm. “I don’t know who you think you are! But Akari is my daughter! We are leaving!” Dawn's mom screamed with tears.
Dawn couldn’t move. Akari had looked at her like a stranger. Like a threat. The sounds of shouting reached her ears. She started to move “AAAAGGGGGH!” Her mother cried out in pain. A purple typhlosion had locked its jaw in her mother's arm. It growled like a wild animal. Dawn couldn’t move.
“At ease, Marshmallow.” The tall man from before said. Slowly, Marshmallow released its jaw from her mother's arm. “Gently now ma’am. Let's get a look at that arm.” Dawn walked slowly towards her mother, now on the floor holding her arm in pain. “Someone please grab me some bandages,” Ingo asked as he inspected the bite marks. “He has no venom so you shouldn’t need anything for that. Looks like he didn’t go too deep.” He pulls out some ointment from his pocket and rubs some on the bite wound. The Ranger with red hair came by with a first-aid kit. “Thank you, Amanda,” Ingo says, grabbing the gauze and some cotton pads from inside. “There. Give it a few days and it’ll be as good as new.” He closes up the first-aid kid and helps her up. “I apologize for Marshmallow. He cares very deeply about Akari and thought you were hurting her.” Her mother looked at Ingo. “He thought… he thought I was going to hurt her?”
Ingo gave a solemn nod. “Sneasler has Akari calming down in her basket right now.” He points to a woven basket next to the couch. “You got very lucky he didn’t want to hurt you.” Dawn and her mother looked at Ingo. “Lucky?” Dawn asked. “Yes. Marshmallow is very intelligent and keenly aware of his strength. If he wanted to hurt you. It would have been a lot worse. He only wanted to make sure Akari was safe.” Blood froze. What would have happened if he had wanted to hurt them?
Suddenly, quiet sobs could be heard. From the woven basket. Akari was crying. Sneasler, Dawn guessed, was standing over it. Guarding it even. Dawn, very slowly, walked toward the basket. She kneeled in front of the eyehole. “Hi, Akari. I’m very sorry for everything that happened. I don’t think you remember me. But I remember you. We were sisters.” Dawn gestures for Rowan to slide her suitcase. “I made you something. Years ago. We had a tingling in our backyard. You wanted to sound like it when you couldn’t talk.” She opened up the suitcase and removed the bracelets. “So I made you these bracelets for your birthday.” She slips them inside. “I know you might never forgive me. Especially after everything that just happened… I just hope that you might want to get to know me again.”
Silence. Then a faint jingle. Then another, and another, and another. The lobby was filled with the sounds of jingling bells. The basket shook as Akari climbed out. Tear stains on her red cheeks as she looked in awe at the bells on her wrists. “You… you found it…” Akari looked at her. “Your name was Dawn… correct?” Dawn nodded. For the first time in over a year. Akari smiled at her sister. “Thank you, Dawn! You’re the best!”