New Beginning (Pearlshipping-AshxDawn)

Chapter Twenty

Alex and Julia sat in a small room with nothing in it but two beds and a small toilet. This was where they had been kept, locked up and all alone. Time was unknown to them. How long had they been there? How long had it been since that day at their grandma's house? All that they remembered of that day was someone breaking down the door to her house, a hissing sound; like gas escaping, and then blackness. It was all so sudden...so fast. Then they woke up in that room.

It must have been a few days, but they had no idea of what happened to their mom or grandma. Were they even still alive? The only contact that they had was with a man in a Team Rocket uniform who brought them food several times. Each time, they would question him: "Where are we?" "Who are you?" "Where's our mom?" But each time, he just left their food, completely ignoring them as he left. This was what it had been like for them for however long they had been trapped there.

They barely slept, only dozing for a couple of hours - if that - before jolting awake. Many times, Alex had been dozing, but awoke suddenly to hear his sister crying. He would move to her bed, sitting with her and hugging her until she calmed down. This was what had happened just a few moments ago.

"Do you think that Mom and Grandma are okay?" Julia asked.

Alex nodded his head and said, "By now, Dad must know something. He may not know where we are yet, but he won't stop until he does. Team Rocket's behind this, so they obviously want him for something. They can't hurt us, because that would anger him more than our kidnapping would."

"You're right, Alex. Dad will save us. And Team Rocket can't hurt us because they need us for dad's corporation. We can't lose hope..."

Dawn sat in a room with a single bed and a small toilet. Her eyes were dull, her hair was a knotted, tangled mess, and bags were under her eyes. She didn't know how long she had been in that room, but she could only feel an ache in her chest. She didn't know anything of what had happened after that day at her mother's house.

All she remembered was the door being broken down, a hissing sound, and falling to the floor beside her children. But before the blackness overtook her, she saw her mother get struck in the head, fall to floor, and blood seep out onto the floor from her head. Then she had woken up in that room. The only person she'd seen was a person in a Team Rocket uniform with a mask and hood over their head, who brought her food. She didn't bother asking questions, knowing that she would be told nothing.

Dawn felt tears in her eyes as she thought back to that day, seeing her mother fall to the floor. Was her mom dead? Would her last memory of her mom be of her laying on the floor with blood coming from a head wound?

No, I refuse to believe that.

Dawn pushed the horrible image from her head and thought of the happier memories with her mother, like her mother teaching her how to ride a bike, her mother's contest performances, her mother's smile as she graduated photography school, the joy of seeing Julia for the first time on the day that she was born, the talks she had had with her regarding Ash and following her heart, the smile of seeing her happy once again with Ash at their wedding, and the family picture that had been taken of all of them.

Dawn wiped at her eyes. Alex and Julia...she remembered seeing the fear in their eyes as the banging on the door started. She had screamed, but they had fallen to the ground. Were they safe? She refused to think that they weren't. She would have known if they weren't, since Team Rocket wouldn't have hesitated to break her heart by telling her the bad news.

I can only hope that somehow, Ash will find us and save us. I know that Team Rocket did this to get to him, but why? The only way to get him to cooperate was to hit him where it hurts: his family...and they have.