One's Saving Grace

Picking Up the Pieces

Ash's POV-

We searched for days, trying to find any trace of survivors from the crater that was left by the teleporter overloading. The only things we managed to find were remnants of clothing, broken pokeballs, or other miscellaneous things. In total there was at least 110 people missing after the incident, Lusamine included.

The search was finally called off after about two weeks of searching. Leaving many people still unaccounted for after it was all said and done.

The days following the call off were rough for Lillie in particular. She'd hardly slept since then, the nightmares keeping her up every night.

It was an early Wednesday morning, with a few clouds dotting the deep blue sky above, and a nice breeze keeping the heat and humidity bearable.

Lillie and I were making our way through town and picking up some groceries for Professor Kukui. It was the first time we had gone into town together since the incident.

I was holding Lillie's hand in my own as we walked down the street together. Her hair glowing in the early morning sun, accentuating her beauty. Though for anyone who took a closer look though, you could see that she had dark bags under her eyes, and that her hair was slightly disheveled.

"So where are we heading to now?" I asked her while we headed down the main stretch in town.

I waited a few moments before looking over to see why Lillie didn't respond. When I did, I saw the vacant stare that was present on her face, one that appeared to be looking past everything that was around her.

"Lillie, are you there?" I asked, as I gave her hand a couple squeezes.

"Huh?" She finally responded as she lifted her head, her eyes adjusting and finally focusing on me, rather than looking past me. "S-Sorry, did you say something?" She asked.

"I asked where we still had to go Lills." I responded.

"O-oh, s-sorry about that, um, let me see." She answered as she reached into her bag and riffled around in it. The silence quickly became deafening as we stood there.

I took a deep breath and gave Lillie's hand one more squeeze, this one much firmer than the last as I spoke. "Lills, are you doing okay?"

I knew that she wasn't, but I still needed to ask. She'd been like this since the incident, not that I could blame her at all, it was hard to come to terms with, but I was worried.

Lillie turned to meet my eyes as she stared at me for a few moments. Her mouth opened, as if she was going to say something, before she closed it again, and silently shook her head.

Without another word I closed the distance between us and gently wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

It took a few moments to get any kind of reaction, until I felt her shudder and bury her face in the crook of my neck, quickly returning the hug.

"It still hurts, so, so much Ash." She whispered to me, as the dam on her emotions slowly let loose. "I lost the place I once called home, I lost the people I had known since I was a little girl. Most of all, I lost the person I once called my mother." She continued as she began quietly sobbing.

My hand found it's way to the back of her head as I started slowly rubbing her head, holding her close to me as I let her continue.

"I hated my mother for what she did.... how she hurt you, Gladion, and everyone that I cared about. But I didn't want her dead...I didn't want anyone to die." She said with another shuddering sob.

"My mother was a terrible person after my father had died, but I can't forget all of the happy times with her before his death. A small part of me believed that I could reconcile with her, and that I might get my old mother back. But I can't anymore, she's gone forever." She said as she hugged me even harder. Her shoulders violently shaking as she cried.

I hugged her just as hard while she sobbed. "It's not something that you can easily move past and it's going to hurt for a while, but what happened wasn't your fault. No one could of known what was going to happen when the machine went offline." I gently whispered to her.

"I know your home is gone, and it might be presumptuous of me to say this, but I want to build a home for you, and with you. I want to give you a place to call home again, a place that you look forward to coming back to everyday." I whispered to her, a slight blush slowly forming on my face as I held her.

"More than that though, I think you can still reconcile with your mother, even after everything that's happened." I told her, while I continued rubbing her head.

Lillie pulled back slightly and looked up at me, her eyes puffed up and red with tears still rolling down her cheeks. "W-What do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean, that I don't think she's dead, I have a feeling that she somehow escaped all of it." I responded as I gently wiped her tears away.

"So we'll keep searching Lills, until we find something that says otherwise. Never ever forget that I'm always here for you, no matter what." I continued.

She stared at me for a few moments, before nodding and pressing her head against my chest. "Thank you Ashy, I really appreciate it." She told me.

We stood there for a little while longer, just holding each other as she collected herself. I was a little sad when she finally pulled away, but I was glad that she seemed to be calmer than before.

"Ready to keep going Lills?" I asked her.

She took a moment to wipe her face and blow her nose, before looking back up at me and nodding. "I'm ready Ashy." She answered, before taking my hand in hers and leading the way.

Before she got too far, she turned to me and quickly closed the distance between the two of us. Before I could say anything, she leaned in and pressed her lips against the side of my face.

She only held it for a few seconds before pulling back again. "That's my way of saying thank you." She said, before continuing to lead the way.

A small blush and a goofy grin found its way onto my face as I let her lead the way to the next store. It was easy for me to see that a little bit of life had returned to her eyes, and it only served to make that goofy grin grow.

"Let's get the rest of this shopping done so we can head home Lills." I said as I picked up the pace so I could match hers.

'It's gonna be a long road to recovery and acceptance, but I'll do anything and everything to ensure a future with her.' I thought to myself as we entered the final store on the list.

Hey everyone, I know it must be a surprise to get an update after so many months of being gone. A lots gone on since I last updated this book, a few big changes in my life, coupled with college classes and other personal life things, has taken up a lot of my time, but I'm happy that I'm getting to write again.

Now, as sad as I am to say it, the next chapter will be the last for the book, So I'll try and wrap things up as nicely and as neatly as I can with it. I hope everyone who's been following the book so far is doing well too.

If you have any comments or questions, don't hesitate to post them, I enjoy answering questions. I'll probably be working on my MHA stories once I'm finished with this book, and possibly editing picking up the broken pieces.

As always, I hope to see all of you in the next chapter, and in the stories that come after.

-Pearlshipper332