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Orange and pink hues filtered through the window to the Meyer home's guest bedroom. Dusk was soon at hand in Kalos; the beautiful sunset heralded the end of yet another day. Under ordinary circumstances, this would be a pleasant sight, but altogether unnoteworthy.
But, Mab knew better, after the preceding days. 'Yet another day' meant so much more when that hadn't been a certainty, under blood red skies stretching far beyond Lumiose's horizon. Whether roots tore through homes and manmade structures far beyond the city and across the world, or if the entire planet had simply turned to ash at the sundial, 'tomorrow' hadn't been guaranteed. She would never take it for granted, again.
Half-lidded baby blue eyes watched the warm, passionate colors sink beneath a gored and skeletal cityscape. Scaffolding was already being erected to repair the city, so shortly afterward.
The cooperation of human and Pokémon was uplifting, at times like these. Those modest efforts were as beautiful, to her, as the sunset itself. She didn't mind the quiet of the indoors, or inaction. Simply enjoying those was a gift that she'd treasure for the rest of her life, now.
But, not everyone was inclined toward inaction. She sat at the foot of the bed, where she felt the shuffling of blankets tugging at her cozy resting spot. Her perky, fluffy ears picked up on intentionally quieted breathing, and she rolled her eyes.
Ash shuffled out of bed, without stirring the Sylveon much more than that. His hair was even more awry than usual, frayed at its ends, and his skin sheened with sweat. His eyes looked tired, with dark bags beneath them, and entirely restless in their clarity, all at once.
He stood up and stretched, working out his back. Mab could hear his bones pop from having been bedridden for far too long. She winced a little at the unpleasant noise. Ash didn't notice, slowly and carefully tip-toeing towards the bedroom door. Paradoxically, trying to sneak in silence always made the creaking of the floor, however minute, far louder. Delia often told him that sort of thing was a restless Pokémon spirit was punishing him for his dishonesty; a Gastly whistling in the wind to catch him in his misdeeds.
When he felt a soft, fleshy ribbon snag snugly around his wrist, Ash was inclined to believe her.
"And where do you think you're going, love?" Mab asked sweetly.
"Nature calls," Ash grumbled, continuing on his path. To his frustration, she reined him back in.
"Sylll," Mab purred, without any real meaning, beyond a hum. She clicked her tongue. "Awfully kind of you to move with such subtlety, just so that you wouldn't disturb me." She laid out his little white lie before he even had the chance to speak it, which she knew that he would.
Ash snorted, disarmed by her being one step ahead. "Well, you know me. I'm just a swell guy."
"Quite. Now, lie back down. Or if you're not going to lie, sit. You're not going out there."
Out there, of course, was not down into the living room or kitchen — Mab had agreed, before, to accompany him to either so he could eat or occupy himself with the bigger, flatscreen television — but out into the streets of Lumiose. To help his friends in their efforts to rebuild.
Well, mostly Serena; Clemont was occupied with repairing Prism Tower, and Bonnie aiding him. Serena had taken her other Pokémon and Ash's to aid in the relief efforts, all around the city. Even Peeks had gone with her, opting to protect her; everyone was a little paranoid after the Eve of the Red Sky. Powerful Pokémon volunteered everywhere to soothe fears, where they were able. And there were few more powerful than that little mouse.
Maybe Greninja, but that was a debate for them to settle at a later date.
"They could use me," Ash argued.
"You won't be much use to anyone if you collapse," Mab reminded him, as she had multiple times already, since yesterday. "Doctor's orders, Ash."
"Sore wrists and ankles aren't that big a deal," he dismissed. His joints still seared occasionally, from Lysandre's mechanical bonds, and the Mega Evolution Energy that'd scorched him, that night. They hurt intermittently, and Mab would soothe them with her ribbons so sweetly.
"Ash. You had a resting BPM of 151." The Sylveon brought up matter-of-factly. "You used Ash-Greninja for over twelve hours." She frowned; her ordinarily cute and serene expression, bordering on coy or worse, was overwritten with serious concern. "I'm not losing you to overexertion after we saved the world. I think that would look rather stupid in your obituary."
Ash grumbled and rolled his eyes, but sat back down. "Alright, but if I do need to take a leak-"
"Do you want me to hold your hand and look away, or guard the door?" She joked.
Ash cracked a smile at her sense of humor. "At least I have your company, if I'm not going anywhere." He sat on the side of the bed, as a compromise for not leaving the room. He needed to at least stretch his legs, after being bedridden for hours at a time. It was driving him insane.
"...What're you even doing here?"
Mab recoiled a bit. "Pardon?"
"Our friends might need you. Serena's got a lot of pressure on her. Clemont's gone through a lot, with his Gym and Clembot. Bonnie, with Squishy, too…"
Mab's ears fell a bit. Ash made adequate points. But, he was still trying to shake her off. "You don't want my company…?"
"Of course I do!" Ash defended. "I just… think the others need looking after more than me." His voice dropped to a low whisper.
The Sylveon's ears stood acutely again. "...You don't think what you did is a big deal."
Ash shrugged. "I've been through this shit so many times. It's new to everyone else! They don't know how to handle it the way I do." He paused, and then turned towards the Sylveon, reaching out to her to glide the back of his hand along her cheek. "You don't, either. Weren't you scared?"
Mab purred, and leaned into his hand. "I didn't have time to be, I had Mairin to care for. I could feel her fear; her distance from Alain. She asked about where he was, over and over; what he was doing." The girl's pleas still rang acutely in her ears. The pang in Mairin's heart could still be felt through the cracks in her voice. She felt fear more acutely through her most of all, Mab thought.
"Without him, she didn't believe that we would make it. So, I was her rock. I let her know that it was going to be okay, to the best of my abilities." Her ribbons that weren't tied around Ash's wrist curled and flexed around her. "To do that, I also had to believe it was okay. So, I did."
Ash's hand cradled her face, but his fingers stopped moving; settling against her dense, short fur. He turned to face her, eyes wide. "...You get it."
Mab looked at him questioningly, and he continued. "There's no time to be afraid for yourself. People say that you can't show doubt around your Pokémon, because they'll feel it too. But it's not just true for Pokémon. It's true for everyone."
Mab scowled. "You know that that's terrible advice."
"I know!" Ash snapped. "I know, talk it out with my friends later. But, it has to be later. You can't do therapy while the worst person alive is bragging about killing everyone you love. You can't do it while he's got you backed into a corner, no matter how hard you fight. You can't do it when your girlfriend comes to save your ass, even though you just wanna be in her arms and pretend it's over, because you still have to save the world! You can't do it when your Lucario drives a Bone Rush right through the worst person alive." Ash was pretty sure he would need therapy for that sight, specifically. The blood trickling off of that immaterial staff crafted from Aura; piercing Lysandre's luxurious dark jacket, somewhere near where his kidney should be; dark red standing out against the gentle teal. Both symbols of life, with completely opposite connotations.
Life had tried to take life. How fucked up was that!?
"You can't do it when your heart is pounding in your ears — when that motherfucker just won't die, when your body feels like it's gonna give out from helping your Pokemon fight through it — and the world's half a mile away from BLOWING UP." Ash's voice was hoarse; his volume fluctuating with each thought, while Mab sat through it all. Listening intently without pause.
"So, you just have to push on; tell yourself that you'll do this because people need you, and they'll help you when you need them, and you can sort everything out when it's over! When the sky's not red anymore…" Ash sank into the mattress, and stared up at the ceiling.
"Then, you can sit your ass in a chair, and talk."
"...Or," Mab interjected, "you can just lie cozy in bed, and let your beautiful Sylveon coax those worries out of you, and knead those troubles right out of your shoulders."
It took Ash until now to become conscious of the way her ribbons kneaded into tense muscles; all four of them, now, worked patterns into his shoulders and back. Her smile, albeit kind and caring, carried a mischievous upturn that conveyed smug satisfaction to Ash without words.
"...You sneaky little bitch."
Mab's eyes twinkled. "Can I spill too, mon cherie?"
"Always!" Ash agreed. "Especially after your sneaky lil therapy sesh. Fair's fair."
"Well…" She hummed, considering her words. "I think we can all agree that that was awful, and terrible, and unnecessary. But, I knew that I was going to be okay. Because my trainer is a beacon of hope and inspiration, in the face of doubts and despair. Because Clemont will always find a solution to our problems, even in the face of his fears, and his inventions will pierce the darkness. Because Bonnie's kindness can draw allies from anywhere."
One of Mab's ribbons withdrew from her impromptu massage, curling into the bow beneath her chin, before unraveling like a red carpet to sit below Ash's chin. She gently cradled it with the feeler's ends, and her eyes narrowed in a look of adoration.
"And, my love has a heart so full, and so rich, that it touches everybody he meets. But, it touches the people that know him best, most of all." She leaned in, pressing her muzzle to his lips in a gentle kiss.
Ash had been passive, up until then, absorbing Mab's every word. He was still tired, and enjoyed listening to her speak. But he reciprocated, cradling her cheek in his hand to reciprocate the kiss. They lingered with several pecks, before Mab withdrew to speak again.
"I know that you've been a hero, multiple times over. That you would be a hero, and that you would save us. Now I just want you to know that you're appreciated. History has spoken of you for centuries, Sir Aaron," she said pointedly and with a touch of playful guile.
The part of Ash that was anchored in medieval times still found himself bewildered that he'd been romanced by Pokémon. That part of him smiled, all the same, loving Mab's gentle, but playful soul. "Are you trying to make me feel better, or are you still hung up on me being a knight out of a whole actual fairy tale?" His eyes narrowed in his own touch of knowing mischief; his eyes flickering blue with his vibrant life force. It made his face resemble the hero of old, a little.
"A beautiful Vivillon has many eyes which see many things at once," Mab replied coyly, and stuck out her tongue. The pink dusting her cheeks betrayed her composure; she was downright giddy about Ash sharing an identity with someone so grand and romantic in his stature.
But, it suited Ash. He was larger than life, even without his knowing people in high places.
"Rota, Kalos, and the world over, your deeds are known. But more importantly than that, I think… is that your efforts are known in my very heart." The Sylveon sat upright, folding two of her ribbons over her chest, overlapping her heart. Her eyes were open windows, and her smile was sincere. "I'm proud of you, Ash Ketchum, and I love you." She opened her ribbons, offering an embrace; her ribbons held out like open arms.
Ash choked. Tears pooled in his eyes, and he tried to bite them back. The overwhelming ache in his chest proved too strong, though, and he threw himself forthright into Mab's embrace, wrapping his arms around her soft, sturdy body. He hadn't expected to cry, just now.
But, he had to trust it was something he needed. He buried his head in her shoulder, and she gently stroked it with one of her ribbons, humming a gentle tune, as he sniffled into her fur. He wasn't done grieving the Eve of the Red Sky yet, apparently. He was used to it, he told himself.
But, could someone ever really get used to themselves and the world teetering on the brink? It was a lonely place to be; cold, howling winds of uncertainty made your skin sting, even if you braced yourself for it and decided to tough it out. Frostbite threatened to eat you alive, each time.
"If you get bored," Mab whispered, "we can put the TV back on. Maybe we'll find one of your matches playing, if we're lucky."
"Mmm," Ash hummed into her fur, shrugging. He only held onto her tighter. "I'm good, for now."
The warmth of an ally, a friend, or a lover — sometimes, all three in just one person — was the only panacea, thawing whatever remained. It was, if nothing else, permission to feel vulnerable.
"Maybe resting a little while longer won't be so bad."