Alex sat at his desk with his head resting on his arms. He glanced at the clock to see that school didn't start until at least ten more minutes. His dad had been called in by the league earlier than normal, so Alex was here earlier. Miss Vickers sat at her desk grading papers while the other kids talked.

Alex glanced at the door to see Julia walking through the door on her own two feet without her crutches.

"You got your cast off." Alex said as Julia sat down.

"Yep! I'm so happy! I can play again!" Julia cried.

After school, Alex and Julia walked out of the front doors and saw their parents' cars.

"Hey, we should go to the park." Julia said.

"Really?" Alex asked.

"Yeah! I haven't gotten to play in over a month. You ask your dad and I'll ask my mom."

"Okay. Bye, Julia." Alex said as he walked towards his car.

"See ya, Alex." Julia said.

After both kids had asked their parents, the four were walking down the sidewalk towards the park. Piplup and Pikachu were with Ash and Dawn. It was now October and Ash and Alex had been in Sinnoh for about a month now. The leaves were golden and red and some of them were scattered the ground. This October was a cold one, so the four of them were wearing coats.

Once they arrived at the park, Alex, Julia, Pikachu, and Piplup ran off to go and play. Ash walked over to one of the park's benches and sat down. Dawn joined him shortly afterwards.

Dawn removed her camera from her purse and put it around her neck.

"Do you carry that everywhere?" Ash asked, starting a conversation.

Dawn glanced at him for a moment and then at her camera. "Well, of course. You never know when something picture perfect or something worth remembering will happen. Plus, I get to work on my job and have pictures ready in case some magazine asks me to shoot pictures. They like to see your work before they hire, after all." Dawn explained.

"I take it you've captured a lot of memories with your camera?"

"Yes, so many wonderful memories. Julia is in almost all of them."

Ash smiled, seeing that Dawn was a mother who cared about her daughter, even though he's seen it with the short time period he's known her.

"What would your favorite memory have to be with Julia?" Ash asked.

Dawn looked at him and sighed. "That's a hard one, Ash. Let me think for a moment." she said, leaning her back against the bench. She bit her lip as she thought.

"I would have to say my favorite memory would have to be...when Julia turned one year old. I mean, I was happy to have a child. When she turned one, she was just so adorable. It was her first-ever birthday and I made her a special cake just for her. A chocolate cake that was smaller than her high chair tray.

"I had my camera ready. The family sang to her even though she had no idea what it was. The cake was placed in front of her and..." Dawn laughed as she recalled the memory. "She went face-first into her cake! She grabbed cake into her small hands and raised her head up. She was covered in cake and she happily ate it, making an even bigger mess."

Ash chuckled softly.

"By the time she was done, Julia was covered in cake, along with the tray and floor. She was a little cake monster." Dawn said, finishing the story.

Ash just smiled. "That's a good memory to keep."

"Yes, and I captured the look in her eyes as the cake was in front of her, the face-plant, and the result all on my camera. It's even on my wall...well, the result picture, anyways."

A small silence passed over the two.

"What's your favorite memory with Alex?" Dawn asked.

Ash put his hands behind his head. "Hmm...I would have to say his last hockey game back in Pallet Town, when he was the only first grader on the team." Ash said.

"Hockey game? Oh right, Julia mentioned Alex played hockey and had a hockey game." Dawn said.

"Being the only first grader on his team, the other boys didn't really accept him at first. But he quickly proved that he was one of the best, since he could outrun any boy on the team. He lead the team in goals that year, but in the championship game, he had scored nothing. The opposing team knew of his skill and were trying very hard to stop him all through the game, and it was working.

"But with just two minutes left and the score tied 4-4, he got the ball on his stick at the center of the gym, singlehandedly pushed through two players from the other team, and scored the winning goal, giving Pallet Town its first ever hockey championship." Ash concluded.

"Wow, that sounds exciting!" Dawn exclaimed.

"It was. I've never seen him that happy in all of his life."

"I've never seen a hockey game before. Maybe I'll have to come and watch Alex play sometime."

"Well, he's playing his next game next weekend. Maybe you and Julia could come with me and watch?"

"I'd love to! And I'm sure Julia would love it, too."

A small silence passed between the two again.

"You know, Ash...I think you're a really great guy. You've raised Alex well. He's like a mini you. He has your personality to a 'T', which is great." Dawn said.

Ash looked at Dawn, slightly shocked. "Err...th-thanks, Dawn. Really,"

"No problem,"

"Well, I think you're a great mom, Dawn. After what happened, you've stayed strong for Julia. You've both helped each other. You have a great personality, which has been passed to Julia." Ash said softly.

"Thank you, Ash." Dawn said, staring at him with a peaceful expression on her face.

Although neither of them admitted it to the other, both Ash and Dawn were beginning to feel a connection between them at that moment.

Just then, Alex and Julia ran over to their parents, interrupting their moment.

"Mom, come and play." Julia said, grabbing her mom's hand.

"Yeah, dad. You should play, too." Alex said.

"Okay, okay. Let's go!" Dawn cried.

She ran with Julia and Ash stood up, watching the way Dawn acted. Ash grabbed Alex and tossed him on his shoulder.

"Put me down!" Alex cried as Ash walked over to where Dawn and Julia were.

Dawn was talking to Julia about something and Julia laughed and nodded her head. Alex hit Ash's back, trying to get him to put him down. Ash knelt down and put Alex on the ground, who was red-faced again.

"Will you ever learn?" he asked.

"Yeah...I will." Alex said.

Julia ran over and whispered something to Alex. Alex laughed and nodded his head.

"Dad, your shoe is untied." Alex said, pointing to Ash's sneaker.

Ash knelt down to tie his shoe, and when he finished, he was knocked off balance and fell to the ground. Alex and Julia had ran and knocked him down and were not getting up any time soon, since they were on the ground laughing. Dawn was laughing too, and had her camera up.

"Really? You're supposed to be on my side, not theirs!" Ash cried, looking at her and her camera.

Dawn laughed and shook her head. "Sorry?"

The kids finally got up and Ash stood up with dirt and grass covering his back. Alex glanced around and saw a tree nearby and took off, running towards it.

"Alex!" Julia cried.

Alex jumped up and grabbed the lowest branch and started to climb the tree.

"Hey, mom? I can climb the tree, right?" Julia asked, facing her mom.

"I don't know...you just got your cast off. I don't want you to hurt yourself again." Dawn said.

"Man..." Julia sighed.

"How about if she sits on the lowest branch?" Ash asked.

"I guess she can do that..."

"She'll be fine, Dawn. I promise," Ash said.

Ash knelt down in front of Julia. "Hop on, Julia. Your carriage awaits." he said.

Dawn laughed at Ash's horrible royal voice.

"Really?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, come on. I won't drop you."

Julia wrapped her arms around Ash's neck and he stood up.

"Coming, mom?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Dawn cried, since Ash had ran off.

Dawn ran after Ash and Julia, smiling to herself as Julia laughed happily. Julia hadn't laughed that much with any adult other than herself since her father left. Dawn was able to get a picture as Ash turned around with Julia still on his back.

"Wow...Alex is up pretty high." Dawn said, looking at where Alex was in the tree.

"You guys look the same. You aren't like little ants." he said.

Ash let Julia grab the lowest branch and she sat on it.

"Thanks, Mr. Ash." she said.

"Hey, dad...you know what would be fun?" Alex said as he started to climb down.

"Alex, be careful." Ash said.

"I am, dad."

"What would be fun?"

Alex jumped down and slapped his dad on his arm.

"Tag! You're it!"

Ash laughed and helped Julia down and Julia and Dawn ran from Ash. Ash was able to get Julia, who got Alex, who got Ash again.

Ash stopped to catch his breath and saw that Alex and Julia had taken cover on the playground, knowing that Ash would have a hard time getting them. Dawn was catching her breath and looking at him. Ash smirked and ran towards Dawn.

She took off running and went around the swings. Ash was gaining on her quickly. She looked behind her and saw that Ash had almost caught up to her. She ran around the tree and stood behind it, catching her breath. She stepped out and looked around for Ash. She didn't see him, but Alex and Julia were still on the playground talking to one another.

She felt arms wrap around her waist and she let out a shriek as she was picked up and spun around.

"You're it." said Ash.

Dawn's feet were placed back on the ground and she looked at Ash. "You scared me half to death!" she cried.

Ash just smiled and laughed and she laughed after a minute as well. They were having fun, after all.

The two walked towards the playground where Alex and Julia were. It was getting late and they needed to get home and get supper started.

"Julia, we have to get home. It's getting late and we have to have supper." Dawn said.

"Same for us, Alex." Ash said.

Alex and Julia looked at their parents and stood up. They ran to the slides, slid down, but stopped in the middle of the slide.

"Alex!"

"Julia!"

"No! We don't want to go home yet! We want more time to play together!"

Dawn sighed.

"Well, why don't you two come over for supper?" Ash asked.

"Oh, I don't want to bother you, Ash." Dawn said.

"It's no problem, Dawn. After all, I owe you for inviting Alex and I over on the day we moved in. I was planning on ordering some takeout. You two like Chinese food?"

"We love it."

"Well, we can pick some up when we head back to the house."

"Sounds like a plan." Dawn said as she walked to the end of the slide. "Hey Julia, we're going to have supper with Alex and Ash."

The two came sliding down the slide.

"What are we having, dad?" Alex asked.

"Takeout. We're going to pick it up on the way home."

The four sat in the Ketchum's living room with a takeout box in front of them, watching a movie. Once they finished, Alex and Julia went into Alex's room.

"Oh, look at the pictures that I took today." Dawn said as she sat down next to Ash.

Ash scrolled through the pictures. One with him with Alex and Julia on his back, him and Julia, and some with just the kids by themselves.

"Want to take a picture of us?" Dawn asked.

"Sure, why not? Today is worth remembering." Ash said.

Dawn held the camera out and Ash and Dawn took a picture of themselves together. Dawn looked at the picture with a smile.

"I had fun today. Thank you for inviting us for supper." Dawn said as she stood up.

"No problem at all. I had fun today, too." Ash said.

"You know, Ash...that's the first time Julia has laughed with a grown-up that wasn't me. Thank you for treating her so well."

The two walked to Alex's room to find Alex and Julia close to falling asleep.

"You two look exhausted." Dawn said.

"We are..." Alex mumbled.

Julia was sitting on the floor with her head bobbing slightly. "I'm tired, mom..." Julia mumbled.

"I know, sweetie." Dawn said.

Julia stood up and looked like she was going to fall asleep.

"Tell them bye, Julia." Dawn said.

"Bye Alex, Mr. Ash. Thank you," Julia said as a yawn followed.

"Bye Julia, Miss Dawn." Alex mumbled.

Ash looked at Julia, who was half asleep. He walked into Alex's room and looked at Julia.

"Come on," he said softly as he knelt down.

Julia hopped onto his back and Ash kept a hold of her arms to make sure that she wouldn't fall off.

"Ash, I could have taken her." Dawn said.

"It's fine, Dawn. She's exhausted and I don't want you to hurt yourself."

The two walked to Dawn's house and Dawn let Ash in. They walked to Julia's room and Ash placed Julia on her bed.

"Thanks, Ash." Dawn said softly.

The two walked out of Julia's room.

"You're welcome, Dawn. I should get back."

"Bye Ash, and thanks again."

"Bye Dawn, and thank you."

To Be Continue....