I led Dawn up the large, grass-covered hill that overlooked Reggie's home and a lot of the rolling hills that made up his breeding area. Most of his pokemon were all in bed by now and I relished the peace and quiet of the star-filled night. Ever since Dawn woke up she had been slightly distracted with all of her friends and Johanna making sure that she was okay. I knew that I couldn't be selfish and keep her all to myself so I tried to be patient, but I couldn't help but feel relieved that we finally had a chance to be alone and talk.

Once we reached the top of the hill, I sat down and let out a happy sigh as Dawn sat down next to me and immediately cuddled up against my side. I slipped an arm naturally around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to the top of her head as I looked out at the beautiful scenery. Dawn reached over and took my unoccupied hand in hers, raising it to her lips and pressing a gentle kiss to the back of my fingers before wrapping both her hands around it and dropping it into her lap. We sat in silence for several minutes, just looking at the night scenery before us.

"Are you happy to be back in Sinnoh?" I asked quietly. Dawn didn't respond for a few seconds so I looked down to see her lips quirk up in a small smile.

"Yes. Honestly, I didn't realize how much I missed Sinnoh until right now. I haven't been back to Sinnoh in over two years. I was focusing so much on my training and my next grand festival that I just... didn't find the time to come home," she said with regret evident in her voice. 

I squeezed her shoulders gently and she smiled up at me, but then her smile flipped down into a small frown.

"Are you sure you're okay with missing the pokemon league?" she asked with concern lacing her words. 

I blinked in surprise at the question and then leaned down and pressed my forehead against hers gently, breathing in her familiar scent of vanilla and honeysuckle greedily but quietly.

"I am sure. You are my top priority right now, and I figured you deserved some rest and relaxation. I can always challenge the league again another year," I said sincerely. Dawn let out a relieved sigh and I pulled away from her so I could see her smiling up at me.

"So... what do we do now?" she asked. I shrugged, turning to look over at the forest that stretched out to our left.

"I'm fine with going anywhere as long as we go together," I said, wincing slightly at how corny that sounded. A few minutes went by without a response and I turned to see that Dawn was looking down at my hand that she was holding in her lap. "You okay?" I asked in concern, wondering if I had said something wrong. 

Dawn nodded slowly. I frowned when she moved my hand over to my own lap and let go of it, clenching her hands into fists and adjusting herself so that she was sitting on her knees.

"I... I need to talk to you about something..." she said with obvious hesitation. I slowly took my arm from around her shoulders and turned slightly so I could look at her better.

"Okay," I agreed, trying to sound unconcerned even as a sense of anxiety rushed through me.

Dawn looked at me briefly before jerking her eyes back down to her hands which were clenching and unclenching nervously.

"It's... kind of an awkward topic... and I don't know if this is the right time or not but... I feel like if I don't say something now I'll lose my nerve so...." Dawn's voice trailed off awkwardly and I felt my brow furrow in confusion. I made a conscious effort to smooth it out and try to look open and ready for whatever awkward topic she was trying to broach.

"Go for it," I said encouragingly.

I could hear Dawn swallow with difficulty. She took a deep breath, splaying out her fingers and gripping her knees tightly before looking up and making eye contact with me.

"I don't want to have sex until I get married," she said in a rush.

I blinked rapidly at this unexpected declaration and slowly felt my anxiety and fear that had been building up begin to evaporate. Honestly, I nearly sighed in relief, since I had thought for a split second that this was "THE" talk where she was going to break up with me; but I could see the fear in her eyes so I schooled my face into a serious expression and nodded slowly.

"I assume you have a reason for that," I prompted her. 

I saw her shoulder relax slightly, but her hands went back to her nervous clench/unclench pattern.

"I do," she agreed, looking away from me and swallowing quickly. "When I traveled through Johto for the first time I was thirteen and there was another girl who I saw often at contests. I looked up to her a lot because she was a fantastic coordinator, and she would tell me all about her boyfriend and how much they were in love. She said that she based a lot of her appeal round performances on moments she and her boyfriend had experienced together," she said with a small smile at the memory.

I listened quietly as her smile turned into a frown.

"There was a contest that we agreed we would compete in together and when I showed up... she was nowhere to be seen," Dawn said, her voice losing some of her strength and I leaned in so that I could hear her better. "I ended up bumping into her randomly outside of the Pokemon Center and she was crying harder than I had ever seen anyone cry before. I sat beside her and hugged her and she just cried into my arms for what felt like hours. She eventually told me that even though they used protection, she had gotten pregnant, and her boyfriend dumped her when he found out." 

My whole body tensed as Dawn told her story, but she didn't look at me at all and I kept my mouth shut as she continued speaking.

"I was only thirteen, so I had no idea what to say to her. That was the last time I saw her, though. I have no idea what happened, whether she kept the baby, or put it up for adoption, or..." 

Dawn's voice trailed off and she clenched her hands tightly into a fist. Slowly she shook her head and raised it to meet my eyes. In the gentle moonlight, I couldn't exactly tell, but I thought I could see pain and fear in her dark blue eyes.

"You probably think I'm being overly cautious since it only happened to my friend... But there have been other cases where protection hasn't worked and when the girl is pregnant then things change...." 

Dawn again trailed off and surprisingly I thought I knew what she was thinking of.

"Your mom...?" I asked quietly. Dawn's eyes widened in shock and then closed as she let out a painful sigh.

"Yah," she whispered before opening her eyes and giving me a rueful smile. "When I was growing up I never knew who my dad was. Kids in my preschool asked me why I didn't have a dad and that was the first time I realized that most kids had two parents. It wasn't until I turned ten that Mom told me the story though." 

Dawn shifted slightly but stayed in her kneeling position and looked out over the land in front of us.

"Apparently my dad was older than my mom. She met him when she was sixteen and she was a prominent top coordinator by then. He was a young pokemon researcher who specialized in pokemon moves. He was in his mid-twenties and he asked Mom if he could travel with her to observe her coordinator practices and see how that could affect the potency of the pokemon's moves. Mom said that she fell for him almost instantly and they became a couple." 

My stomach churned uncomfortably as I listened to Dawn recount this story and a small bead of fear began to grow in my chest.

"Mom edited the story a bit since I was so young, but basically she became unexpectedly pregnant with me and my dad told her to... to get an abortion," Dawn whispered. I blinked in shock but Dawn continued before I could make a comment. "Mom refused, so my dad left her."

I let out a slow, controlled breath as I processed this news and Dawn continued to look out at the scenery, not once looking in my direction.

"Don't get me wrong, I had a fantastic childhood. And I am so grateful that my mom decided to keep me. But after Raschael's experience, I promised myself that I would never have sex whether we were using protection or not before I got married. If I get pregnant, I want it to be once I am in a fully committed relationship where I can raise my kids in a home with a loving mom and dad." Dawn's voice was firm and confident as she finished speaking, but I could see that her shoulders and arms were shaking, and since it was a warm night I doubted it was because she was cold.

I took a few seconds to mull over the story and examine the seed of fear that had sprouted inside me as she had talked. Once I was certain that I knew what I wanted to say I stretched out my legs in front of me and touched Dawn's shoulder. She glanced over at me, but then quickly turned her eyes down to look at her clenched fists in her lap.

"Dawn... before we talk about this more I need to clarify something," I said as calmly as I could and Dawn slowly looked over at me, concern and anxiety shining in her eyes. "Are you scared that if you get pregnant that I will leave you?" I asked, feeling my gut wrench at the thought.

Dawn's eyes widened in shock and she shook her head vehemently. "What? No! That's not... I didn't mean..." Dawn's mouth opened and closed desperately as her eyes darted between mine and her clenched hands in her lap.

Taking a breath I reached over, hooking a hand underneath her far knee and my other arm went around her waist. In one fluid motion, I pulled her over so that she was straddling my stomach and I bent my knees to support her back. Dawn's eyes flashed with momentary panic and she looked down at my chest. Reaching my hands up I cupped her cheeks in my hands and leaned my head down so that I could see into her eyes.

"Look at me, Dawn," I said gently but firmly. Slowly Dawn lifted her eyes to meet mine and I brushed my thumbs along her cheekbones. "I know that I have not done anything to earn your trust. You have every right to worry that I would leave you again," I said, the words causing my heart to feel like I was squeezing it with a pair of pliers. 

Dawn frowned and opened her mouth, looking like she was ready to argue so I slipped one thumb across her lips to silence her.

"Let me finish," I said gently. Dawn slowly nodded and I took my thumb away from her lips but kept my hands cupped around her cheeks. "When I decided that I wanted to date you, in the back of my mind I told myself that I would only date you on the condition with myself that if you decided that you wanted to leave me then I would let you go without any questions asked."

Dawn's eyes slackened with sadness and I forced myself to plow on.

"That was the only way I could justify taking away your opportunity to find someone who could give you more stability than I could," I explained, the words feeling like knives sliding up my throat as I forced them out. "But Dawn, when that ultrabeast came and snatched you away from me it felt like someone had reached in and torn my soul in two. And seeing Faba touch you like that..." 

Revulsion caused a sour taste to enter my mouth and I closed my eyes breathing deeply to control my emotions. I felt Dawn's body relax slightly and she leaned her back against my propped-up knees. Swallowing with difficulty I opened my eyes again and met Dawn's eyes.

"I don't want you to think that I want to control you or make your decisions for you or anything like that," I said firmly and Dawn cocked her head slightly to the side as she listened silently. "But I do not ever want to leave you again. And I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that you don't want to leave me. I will treat you with respect and I will tell you I love you every day, and no matter what happens I will stay by your side... because I don't think I can be happy if you are not next to me."

As I finished my voice was coming out in barely more than a whisper because emotion was clogging my throat. I could feel a slow drip of water falling down Dawn's cheeks and pooling along my fingers where I was cupping them. But even though she was crying, Dawn's face had relaxed into a beautiful smile. I gently rubbed my thumb under her right eye, wiping away her tears and she let out a breathy chuckle and reached out to take a small handful of my shirt directly above my heart into her fist.

"That's not fair," she said amidst her breathy laughter. I cocked my head in confusion for a second before she sniffed delicately and smiled at me. "I wanted to tell you that I didn't want to leave your side first," she said with a laugh.

Relief flooded me and the seed of fear that had been growing instantly shriveled up. Gently I brushed away the last of her tears and moved my arms behind me so I could support myself a little better. She let go of my shirt and began wiping at her cheeks with the heels of her palms. I smiled, wondering how I had been so lucky to find the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen, inside and out, and somehow gotten her to fall in love with me.

"Now that that's out of the way," I said, my voice much stronger and lighter now. Dawn lowered her hands and rested them against my abs as she gave me a curious look. "I think waiting until we're married is a great idea," I said nonchalantly. 

Dawn's mouth dropped open wider than I had ever seen it and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you sure?" she asked, hesitance and some guilt reflecting in her eyes. 

The desire to tease her was almost overpowering, but this was a pretty important talk so I tried to keep my voice even and serious.

"I've waited nineteen years to have sex, I can wait a bit longer," I said with a shrug. Dawn's eyes sparkled with happiness for a second but then she glanced to the side briefly.

"You... didn't do it with Celeste?" she asked quietly. I groaned loudly, pulling one hand up to rub my eyes.

"I should never have told you about her," I said with regret before dropping my hand and smiling at Dawn. "No. I didn't have sex with Celeste. She suggested it a few times, but to be honest that was a line I wasn't willing to cross for exactly the reason you told me about with your friend and Johanna."

Dawn let out a huge sigh of relief and I was surprised at how great it felt to think that this simple thing had brought the woman I love so much joy. To know that I had saved that part of myself for her. My desire to tease her resurfaced and I couldn't help but lean a little closer to her and raise up one of my eyebrows.

"Besides, it's not like I'll have to wait too long," I said teasingly. 

Dawn's mouth dropped open in shock and I grinned broadly as even in the dim moonlight I could see her cheeks burst into a flaming red. I laughed as she reached up and covered her cheeks, and shook my head.

"Don't worry. I'm not planning to propose next week or anything," I said with a chuckle.

Dawn continued to hide her cheeks behind her hands but she looked at me with an innocent vulnerability that made me feel like a little bit of a jerk so I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead before leaning back once more.

"But I do know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So I don't think it will take me too long," I admitted quietly, surprised at the depth of sincerity in my voice. I hadn't really considered the next step in Dawn's and my relationship, but having said it out loud I realized that this had been on my mind since I first realized how deep my feelings for Dawn went.

Dawn met my eyes with a look of disbelief and I was just beginning to wonder if I had been a little too honest when suddenly she lunged forward and smashed her mouth against mine. My arm buckled from the unexpected weight and we dropped down so that Dawn was laying on top of my chest with her knees pressed against my ribs. I looped my arms around her back and kissed her back fiercely. She pulled away way sooner than I was ready for, but I took a deep breath to slow my racing heart as she put her hands on either side of my head in the grass and pushed herself up so that she could look into my eyes.

The moonlight caused her face to be in partial shadows, but her radiant smile seemed brighter than the sun at high noon. The look of joy took my breath away and I waited as she opened and closed her mouth a few times, apparently searching for the words she wanted to say. Finally, she shook her head, causing her hair to sway and she smiled again.

"I am going to do everything I can to make sure you are happy, Paul. If I ever do anything that makes you sad or upset then I want you to tell me, okay?" she said with tender sincerity and I felt a lump form in my throat. I quietly cleared my throat to get the emotion out and smiled up at her.

"Ditto. Don't ever think you need to handle anything by yourself. We're a team now," I said firmly.

Dawn smiled sweetly down at me and slowly began to lower herself back down. Instead of going for a kiss though she leaned forward and brushed my bangs off my forehead, pressing a kiss to it. I closed my eyes slowly as Dawn slowly kissed a line across my forehead, then she moved on to my closed eyelids, the tip of my nose, my cheeks, and then my chin. A shiver went through my body as she shifted slightly so that she could begin to kiss a line down my neck.

When she pressed a lingering kiss to my collarbone though I couldn't take it anymore. In one fluid motion, I flipped us over so that she was now on the grass, looking up at me with surprise widening her beautiful sapphire eyes. Carefully, I moved my legs so that from my waist down I was lying next to Dawn, not on top of her (just in case) but then I lowered myself on top of her and returned the favor. It was so tempting to go straight for Dawn's smiling lips but I patiently kissed every inch of her face tenderly.

Once I moved down to her neck she inhaled sharply and I tried not to breathe in her scent too deeply. As I ghosted my lips against her collar bone I couldn't resist opening my mouth and as gently as I could nip at the skin. Dawn's hands, which had been tracing lazy circles along my back, suddenly tightened their grip and I felt her body tense deliciously underneath me.

Deciding that she probably wasn't ready for me to teach her about hickies and not really wanting to see how Reggie or Johanna would react if she came back with one I moved back up and pressed my lips against hers. She kissed me back hungrily and I couldn't help but chuckle breathily when I felt her slip one hand underneath the hem of my shirt and begin to ghost her fingertips over the skin of my back. 

We'll have to set some ground rules about arousal if we want to wait for our wedding night, I thought with amusement, but I didn't move to stop her. I was too blissfully happy to be worried about losing control today.

We stayed outside for nearly an hour, alternating between talking and kissing. Neither of us wanted to go back inside, but eventually, we figured Johanna would get worried if we didn't head back. I held Dawn's hand tightly as we walked back down the hill and I could hardly wait to see what our life had in store for us together.

A/N *Happy sigh* I just love these two. Just the epilogue left for the story. I will probably post that in the next hour or so. Since several of you have asked, I am not planning to do a sequel right away. I have another story idea that I really want to post for now so I will be working on that for a while. After that story is finished though then I will revisit this and see if I can come up with a sequel. Thank you all SOOOOOOO much for reading this!!!