Shades of Gray Part 14

Title:The Cure for Sadness
Words:569
Summery: N tries to comfort a depressed Shion.
Note: For those who are interested, please seeginspokefic  for the previous parts.

 

The Cure for Sadness

Around 2 A.M., Audino drew the line and clicked off the TV.

Shion did not respond at first. She simply stayed curled in a ball on the edge of the bottom bunk.

He wanted to do something for her.

He felt his fingers twitch.

He knew this feeling; he knew how to cure it.

But she was a human.

Could the same technique hold true for broken people?

He sat down beside her.

She turned away from him.

He’d seen that reaction before, too.

It was now or never.

He put his arms around her.

“I don’t get you. I’m a repulsive human; you hate them, don’t you?” Shion asked. “So why?”

“I do, but honestly, you remind me more of a Minccino and I know for a fact that sad Minccinos like to be hugged. To me, it doesn’t matter if they’ve turned purple, or have tattered ears or broken tails, they still need to be loved,” he said.

“…I like that pokemon a lot. I had a really nice one that used to come and help clean my room at the hospital. He’d always let me play with him after he was done with his work. Am I… really something that cute to you?”

“You’ve always remind me of one of my favorite rehabilitated pokemon. She’s a Minccino. She’s really sweet. It was hard to believe that someone would force such a gentle soul to battle until she couldn’t anymore. Her tail was broken in the last battle she was in. The physical wound I could treat easily, but for a long time she wouldn’t come near me. She’d been too emotionally scarred. At first, I thought it was okay to just leave her alone, but then I realized more than anything, she wanted to be held and comforted. You’re the same. Once people see your skin, they draw away from you, don’t they?”

She nodded. She gripped his jacked with her hand.

“It’s like they think they’ll catch it from me once they see it. I hate it! I don’t want to be purple anymore! I don’t want to die alone!”  

He held her as she cried for nearly an hour.

Strangely, Audino was nowhere to be found.

“Hey, N?”

Her head was still downcast. It was almost like she was speaking through his chest.

“What?”

“Will you take care of my pokemon for me when I’m gone?”

Heavy silence.

Why was she asking something like that?

“You could even set them free if you really think that’s best, but please allow them to be happy. You’ll do that for me, won’t you, N?”

“Of course I will.”

She smiled at him. “Thank you. Um, can I sleep with Mr. Kitty tonight? I’d use my Krookodile, but I’m afraid he’d break my bunk because he’s heavy and likes to scurry around everywhere. ”

A dark type, the stronger type against a ghost.

“Sure, I’ll lend Liepard to you, but you have to promise go to sleep.”

“Okay.”

With that, she climbed the ladder to the top bunk.

His pokemon was a little thrown by the request, but after he explained, Liepard jumped up to the top bunk without a fuss and curled on top of her covers. Liepard slept stretched out over her while Swoobat lay settled in her arms. Between the two of them, she would feel safe enough to sleep.