PMDE M6 Epilogue - Part 1

"But Lily, do you really have to leave so soon?"

It had only been a day since the young poochyena and her weedle companion had arrived at Tao and reunited with Jazz and Techno. She had just recovered from the ordeal she had gone through when protecting the two young electrikes from getting crushed by the wooden beam of a destroyed house, almost getting trapped under the hefty beam herself.  Jazz looked forlornly at the ground beneath his paws. He had hoped that she would stay for longer than a day.

"I'm sorry, Jazz, but I really need to get back home," Lily gently told him. "My parents are probably worried, and you know how they get. And like I said before, I don't think I'm ready to become a rescuer just yet."

Jazz sighed. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Jazz felt his teammate, Techno, pat his back reassuringly with one hand. "We'll come visit you and Lance, Lily," Techno said. "So no worries, right Jazz?"

Jazz looked over at his grinning friend and couldn't help but give a small smile back. He looked at Jake and Lance, who stood nearby. They smiled back at him, sympathy lingering in their eyes. Jazz turned back to look at Lily. "…Yeah, okay. But let's at least escort you out of the village and to the edge of the Creeping Forest, alright?"

Lily smiled back at the two and nodded. "Alright," she agreed.

The group of Pokemon proceeded to head out of the square in Tao where they had been standing. They weaved their way around the construction crews that were hard at work repairing the damage Sorbet had wreaked during his maddened rampage. Fresnel came back with a lot of help, Jazz observed.

The five finally reached the rolling plains that surrounded most of the village of Tao. A slight breeze was blowing over the grass-covered hills, stirring Jazz's short fur slightly. The breeze felt very refreshing to Jazz compared to the wintry gusts that had plowed through the town when Sorbet was residing within Tao. As the group traveled onwards towards the Creeping Forest, Jazz felt a twinge of emotion stir within his chest - a twinge of guilt.

"Lily," Jazz said in a low tone as he looked towards the trotting Poochyena, "Can I speak to you for a second?"

"Sure," Lily answered. She and Jazz slowed their pace just enough so that they could speak more privately behind the rest of the group as they walked. Once they were out of range of the others' hearing, Lily turned to Jazz with curiosity written on her face. "What's up?"
"I'm afraid… I haven't been completely honest with you," Jazz said, the guilt in his heart lingering in his voice.

Lily's curiosity turned into an expression of worry. "What do you mean?"

Jazz gave a nervous sigh. "I mean… that move I used to burn the beam and free you and Jake… I-I wasn't really thinking very clearly when I made the plan to send Tech for help and use that move. I was panicking because I knew you were in a lot of danger."
Lily's gaze softened. "I understand, Jazz. That move was Inferno, right? It made you go berserk, out of control. It's a dangerous move for you. But Jazz, you didn't hurt anyone; instead, you saved Jake, the two little electrikes, and me. So don't worry about it. You did great."

Jazz shook his head furiously. "No, that's not- you don't understand," he sputtered, feeling his long-buried guilt swell within his chest. "I… I did something horrible when using that move. When I first used that move…" He looked away from her, turning his gaze to the grass yet looking at something completely different. He was looking upon a memory that was forever burned within his mind; burned with the image of his own flames.
"You don't get it Lily," he mumbled through clenched teeth. "I… I killed someone with that move once."

The houndour turned his head away from Lily. He couldn't bear to look at her face, into her eyes, and see what emotions they showed. Then he felt two paws on his cheeks. He was forced to turn his head back around by none other than Lily herself. He shut his eyes furiously, refusing to look at her. He didn't want to know what she thought of him now after he had told her his worst secret, one that only he and Techno had known before she had.

A soft voice suddenly reached his ears. It sounded almost sad. "Jazz… look at me, Jazz."
He opened his eyes slowly and reluctantly. What greeted his vision was not an expression of terror, but one of sympathy. It was Lily.

She kept his head facing towards hers with her paws as she spoke to Jazz in the kindest voice he had ever heard. "It's alright, Jazz. I understand." She slowly removed her paws from his cheeks and shifted into a sitting position as she gazed at him, and it was only then that Jazz realized they had both stopped walking. "I also know it wasn't your fault. You lose control of yourself when you use Inferno. But yesterday... you really showed the world that you can manage your flames. You used that move and saved our lives. Saved my life. You aren't a bad Pokemon; in fact, you are the kindest Pokemon I have ever known." She smiled at him. "Probably the kindest Pokemon in the whole world."

Jazz was speechless. He stood there, mouth hanging open from pure shock. No one had ever accepted him like this. Not with the pure lack of hesitation the poochyena who sat in front of him had. He was completely floored. Reality finally came back to Jazz as he got over his surprise and small tears began to well up in the corners of his eyes. "Lily…" he murmured, "I… no one's ever said anything like that to me before." He felt his emotions well up in his throat, making him choke up. "Th-thank you…" He leaned his head down, closing his eyes as tears ran down his face. He was crying out of happiness.

Lily leaned up towards him and, much to Jazz's surprise gently touched her nose to his. "You're welcome, silly," she said quietly, happiness lingering in her voice.

Jazz moved his head forwards ever so slightly, leaning gently into her affectionate nose bump, his mouth turning upwards into a smile. He felt relieved and happy all at the same time as his light tears tricked down his cheeks. The houndour felt something warm stir deep within his very soul. Could this be what love feels like? he thought in the back of his mind.

Before Jazz could ponder on the moment any further, a teasing voice broke into the understanding silence that hung between him and Lily. "Okay, you two. Break it up. We need to get a move on!

Jazz's eyes snapped open as he and Lily turned to see the rest of their group staring at them and grinning. Techno, who had interrupted them, had the widest grin out of the three. "C'mon, Jazz, wipe those tears off of your face! You two lovepidgeys have to keep up if you want Lily to get home before her curfew." The scraggy snickered as Jazz blushed furiously and rubbed his tears off of his cheeks with the side of one front leg.

"Tech," he sputtered, feeling incredibly embarrassed, "You're a… a… big nosy tease!"

Techno erupted into full laughter at Jazz's remark. The scraggy clutched his sides with both arms as he doubled over from laughter. "Really, Jazz?" he choked out through his bursts of laughter. "Is that really the best comeback you could come up with?" He returned to chortling gleefully after his laughter subsided and began walking towards the forest as he giggled.

Jake merely smiled sympathetically at Jazz and then turned around, shaking his head at Techno's antics.

Jazz continued to blush and glared at his teammate's back, but he acknowledged Techno's reminder and started to walk forwards with Lily despite his friend's teasing. He then turned to look at Lily. He noticed that she was blushing just as much as he was. She turned to look at him but then they both quickly avoided each other's gaze out of pure sheepishness.

This is silly, Jazz though angrily. Why are we both so embarrassed that we can't even look at each other? He turned his head back around to look at Lily. She then met his gaze and they both smiled shyly. Jazz remembered Techno's "lovepidgey" comment. Oh. That's why.

Jazz cleared his throat to remove the air of embarrassment that hung around them. "You know," he said, looking away from Lily and gazing towards the forest that lay on the horizon, "Since you'll be a ways away from Tao and we won't be able to visit you all the time… We could send letters to each other every day instead."

He glanced over to see Lily perk up at his suggestion. "You mean like pen pals?"
"Yeah, like pen pals."

Lily broke into a joyful grin as the embarrassment between them slowly began to fade away. "That would be great!"

Jazz smiled back. "It's decided then." He stopped walking to offer her one front paw to shake and finalize their promise to keep in contact. "Pen pals?" he asked Lily.

Lily stopped and grabbed his paw with her one of her own. "Pen pals." They shook paws in agreement, then after smiling with the upmost happiness, hurried to catch up with their friends.