A Thin Line (by Ash-GreninjaGirl)

Awake

When Greninja woke up, the first thing he noticed was that his chest felt noticeably heavier than usual. There also appeared to be an oddly-shaped form that his eyes couldn't quite make out, and his first thought was to wonder if someone had given him a surprise sex transformation. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the light, however, he was simultaneously relieved and startled to find Hawlucha fast asleep, his head resting on top of his chest. 

Greninja wasn't sure what to make of the situation. On one hand, Hawlucha looked extremely ragged and he could see tearstains on his face. He didn't look as though he were planning anything against Greninja, but then again, it might have all been an act. Maybe he was planning to lure Greninja into a false sense of security so he could finish him off himself. 

But surely if he wanted to do that, he could have done it while you were out, a voice in his head reasoned. Why would he wait until you were awake to kill you if that's what he really wanted to do? 

There was only one way to find out the truth for sure. Slowly, Greninja reached over and shook Hawlucha's shoulder, drawing back quickly as a pair of amber eyes blinked open and came face to face with his own. 

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The moment Hawlucha saw Greninja awake and staring at him, his entire world felt as though it had frozen in place. 

He didn't know what to think. While he wanted this image before him to be real more than anything in the world, he knew better than to assume it was real right away. For all he knew, this could just be some mirage cooked up by a ghost Pokemon in search of a little fun. 

Hawlucha saw Greninja's eyebrows furrow slightly in concern, and he realized what a mess he must have looked like. He hadn't bothered to take much care of himself over the past few months, instead choosing to spend most of his time watching over Greninja. 

"Greninja?" he managed to croak out. Please, Arceus, please let this be real. 

Not quite daring to hope, he reached out and ran a talon gently down the side of Greninja's face. When he felt that he was indeed solid and real, Hawlucha felt a familiar prickling sensation behind his eyes. He blinked rapidly and tried to blink away the tears that were threatening to spill over. 

"Is that you?" he whispered. 

When Greninja nodded, Hawlucha promptly forgot all about any attempt to hold himself together.