Keeping Warm, Even In Snow!

EARLY RELEASE FOR MY $10+ PATRONS!

It's been really difficult to restrain myself from writing something up for these two any time anything happens in the anime as I'm watching it... But this episode with the sledding? Come on, I couldn't leave that untouched. This is my version of what happens during the commercial break/cut.

Also I had no idea about a title so...

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon: Sun & Moon.

-----------

											Chapter 2. Keeping Warm, Even In Snow!

No matter where the group is, no matter what they're doing, Mallow never really takes her eyes off of Lillie.

And it isn't just because they're best friends, though that is a major part of it, but Mallow has always been inclined to keep an eye on her, either to make sure she's okay, or just because she's really cute.

If only today it had just been the latter.

Lillie has been particularly fired up since meeting Cerah, and Snowy's determination to compete in the sledding competition has only fueled Lillie even further. But looking up at that massive slope they're supposed to come down, Mallow can't help but gulp.

Ash and Kiawe make it down more or less in one piece and are clearly having a lot of fun with it all. But as Lillie gets ready at the top of that mountain, Mallow can't help but fidget, and not because of the cold air.

"I hope she'll be okay..."

Something about this just doesn't sit well with her. Lillie has been doing her best to break out of her shell recently, especially since she'd been able to touch Pokemon. But something this high-speed and potentially dangerous...

"No! What am I thinking? She can do this!"

"Mallow?" Lana pokes her. "Did you say something?"

"Eh? Ah, n-no! Nothing!" Mallow clutches her gloved hands together and focuses on Lillie's tiny form at the top of the slope. She gives a wave and a little shout.

"I'm going!"

Mallow instantly jumps up to wave back.

"You can do it, Lillie!"

She watches her best friend sit down on the sled with Snowy in front.

She watches them push off and speed down.

She watches them shoot up from the ramp and soar through the air and...

"Oh no..."

Mallow can already tell. She can already see that the angle for the landing just isn't right.

She's already off and running even before the crash landing.

Lillie cries out in pain as the sled is jostled by the rough impact and she's tossed high into the air. Snowy leaps clear, but is too late to use any sort of move to help. Everyone else shouts out, but no one louder than Mallow.

"Lillie!"

Lillie hits the snow face-down, and clumps of white fly up around her. She doesn't get up.

Mallow rushes to her side and gets there first, heart pounding and throat tight with fear.

"Lillie! Lillie?! Are you okay? Can you hear me?" She rests a hand on Lillie's back and shakes her gently, but Lillie doesn't stir. Mallow tries to clear the hair and snow from her face. Her cheeks are flushed, and there's a small trickle of red dripping down her nose. The others trample over in a panic.

"Lillie!"

"That was a bad fall."

"Is she okay?"

"I-I dunno!" Mallow whimpers. "She's unconscious! Wh-What do we do-?"

"Hold on." Cerah weaves through the group and kneels down beside Mallow. She looks Lillie over as much as she can without moving her too much, as all the others stand by anxiously. Snowy whimpers and paces around Professor Kukui's boots, pawing at the snow. Mallow is doing her best not to burst into tears, holding tightly to one of Lillie's hands. After a minute, Cerah sits back with a sigh.

"It doesn't seem like anything's been broken or fractured. She just needs to rest a little and get cleaned up. We should take her back-"

"I-I'll go!" Mallow blurts out instantly. "I'll take her back to the cabin!"

"We'll all go!" Ash declares. But Mallow shakes her head.

"No, you guys should keep practicing out here. If Lillie wakes up and finds out everyone stopped what they were doing for her sake, she'll get embarrassed."

"She's right," Kiawe says. "We don't want Lillie to feel guilty."

"She definitely would," Sophocles mutters.

"Right?" Mallow says. "So I'll take her." She looks up to Professor Kukui for approval. He puts a hand to his chin and contemplates for a moment, thinking it all over before heaving a sigh.

"All right," he smiles. "We'll leave her to you, Mallow."

"Right." She fishes into her pocket for a PokeBall and returns Tsareena for the time being. Then with Cerah's help, Mallow maneuvers Lillie onto her back and gets a firm grip on her legs, standing slowly. Lillie's weight is light on her back and doesn't slow Mallow down much at all.

"C'mon, Snowy!"

The Vulpix mews and bounds over to her, ears flat as it looks worriedly up at its trainer. Mallow smiles.

"Don't worry, she's gonna be fine."

"Mallow," Professor Kukui says. "Call for us if anything happens."

"Yes, sir." She sweeps her gaze around to all her concerned friends. "I'll take good care of her! I promise!"

"Yeah!"

"Right!"

"If Mallow's on it, there's nothing to worry about!"

"Take care!"

With this, Mallow turns and begins heading back toward the little cabin.

It only takes a few minutes to get there, and she does her best not to jostle Lillie too much. When she reaches the door, she takes care in pushing it open. Snowy holds it for her so it won't bump Lillie, then scampers in after them.

It's much warmer inside the cabin, especially without the chilled winds blowing in. Mallow makes her way to the couch and crouches down, carefully slipping Lillie off and turning her around to lie her down on her back. Mallow positions a pillow underneath her friend's head, the gently pulls off Lillie's hat. There's still a bit of blood dripping down her nose, and Mallow quickly grabs a tissue to clear it away. Snowy jumps up onto the couch and whines, curling up at Lillie's hip. Mallow gives it a pat.

"Don't worry. She'll wake up soon."

She holds the tissue to Lillie's nose for another minute, clearing the loose strands of blonde hair out of her face as she waits. She also unbuttons Lille's jacket a little bit at the top to make sure she can breathe easily.

Once the blood has stopped, Mallow dusts off the little chunks of snow still clinging to Lillie's clothes and stands up.

"Keep her nice and warm, Snowy. I'm gonna make some hot chocolate."

She pulls off her gloves, hurries over to the kitchen area, throws out the tissue, and washes her hands before searching the cabinets for a box of cocoa. She gets some water boiling and gets to work, constantly looking back over her shoulder to Lillie.

"Geez, why did this have to happen? And to Lillie, of all people...?" Not that she would've rather it have happened to Ash or Kiawe instead, but at least they were a bit sturdier. Lillie is so petite, and such a hard fall after such a fast descent down such a tall hill...

A small bark from Snowy gets Mallow's attention. She's just pouring the hot cocoa into two cups and quickly brings them over to the couch, putting them on the nearby coffee table. Mallow crouches down on the floor beside her friend and picks up Lillie's hands, slowly removing her gloves so she can lace their fingers together.

"Lillie..."

Lillie stirs and makes a small sound, her brow furrowing. Snowy stands up and yips in encouragement. Mallow squeezes her hands.

"Lillie!"

It takes a moment, but Lillie eventually opens her eyes, blinking up blearily at the ceiling. Mallow lets out a huge breath.

"Lillie! Thank goodness!"

"Eh...? Mallow?" Lillie blinks and sniffles in confusion. "Where are we? What-" But before she can finish, Snowy gives a bark and jumps happily onto her chest. Lillie flinches.

"Ow-!"

"Snowy, be careful!" Mallow quickly picks the Vulpix up and places it gently on the cushions again. "Lillie, are you okay?"

"I... I'm fine... A little sore..."

"That makes sense. You had a nasty fall."

"F-Fall...?" Lillie gasps as she remembers what had happened. Snowy hangs its head and whimpers. "Oh! Snowy, it's all right! You didn't hurt me!" She reaches out to pick up her partner, but flinches again before she can make contact. Mallow gently stops her.

"Easy. Don't move too quickly. Can you sit up?"

"I think so..."

Mallow slips an arm around the small of her back and helps her up, letting her lean back against the pillow and the arm of the couch. Just that much alone has left Lillie a little too breathless for Mallow's liking. Mallow rubs her hand up and down her friend's back for her.

"Are you okay? Can you breathe properly? Does anything hurt? Miss Cerah said she didn't think anything was broken, but-"

"I'm okay," Lillie smiles. "Like I said, just a bit sore. A-And maybe a little cold..."

Mallow notices she's started to shiver a little bit. But if cold and sore are all she is, Mallow will consider it a miracle.

"Thank goodness..."

She brings herself up to sit on the edge of the couch and gently wraps her arms around Lillie, pulling her close.

Lillie feels Snowy curl up at her side and pets it fondly, then reaches up to cling to Mallow's shoulders. She closes her eyes and shudders against her, letting out shallow little breaths.

But even long after she's warmed herself up, she can still feel a shaking against her chest. Lillie eases back a little.

"Mallow... You're shivering, too. Are you cold?"

Mallow sighs against her neck, and it trembles.

"No... Not cold... I just..." She shakes her head. "It was really scary... watching you fall like that... You could've been hurt really badly..." She bites back a whimper at the thought, feeling Lillie's arms pull her closer.

"But I wasn't," she murmurs. "I wasn't hurt, so it's logical to conclude that you don't have to worry, Mallow."

Mallow chuckles a little bit at Lillie's trademark logic comment.

"Silly. I can't just not worry..."

"I suppose not. In that case, thank you for worrying about me."

"Yeah... And thank you for not getting hurt..."

"I did my Lillie best not to." The both of them giggle softly and ease apart. Snowy paws its way up into Lillie's arms and she gives it a good hug. "I'm so glad you weren't hurt either, Snowy!"

The Vulpix coos and licks her nose. Mallow smiles and exhales, feeling the stifling weight being lifted off her chest.

"Oh! That's right!" She turns to pick up the two cups of hot chocolate and hands one to Lillie. "This should help warm you up!"

"Ah! Thank you so much!"

They both let the cups warm their hands for a minute before taking a sip and letting out a simultaneous hum.

"Mmmm!"

"It's delicious, Mallow!"

"Really? You think so?"

"Yes!"

"Ehehe!"

The two of them enjoy their treat, letting the warm flavors spread throughout their bodies. When they're both done, Mallow places the cups back onto the coffee table to clean up later. She looks Lillie over again a bit pensively.

"Lillie, are you sure you're okay? Nothing hurts?"

Lillie makes a determined fist.

"Not at all. It's a logical conclusion that the snow cushioned my fall a great deal."

"Thank goodness for that." Mallow pulls her into another soft hug. "Do you wanna stay here and get some rest? You don't have a headache or anything?"

"Nothing of the sort!" Lillie declares. "I want to go back out and practice some more with Snowy! I want to win tomorrow's competition!"

"Of course you do," Mallow grins. "I should've known. You're tough as Turtonator's spikes, after all!"

Lillie giggles again, and Snowy wags its tails.

So once she's ready, Mallow gives Lillie back her gloves and hat, then takes her hands. She helps her up off the couch and back onto her feet. Lillie is a little bit shaky at first, but Mallow helps her find her balance again. She still can't help but worry.

"Are you sure you wanna keep practicing?"

"Yes! I'm sure!"

Mallow can't say no to her when she's got that determined spark in her eyes, but it won't stop her from being concerned.

"Just make sure you don't push yourself, okay? If you start feeling dizzy or something hurts, you've gotta tell me right away!"

"I will. I promise." Lillie gives a small jump and throws her arms around Mallow once again. "Thank you for taking care of me, Mallow. And thank you for not bringing the others back here. I would have been mortified..."

Mallow smiles and loops her arms around Lillie's waist.

"You don't have to thank me." She holds her for a moment, glad to feel she isn't shivering or swaying. Mallow eases back with a grin. "Now then, let's get you practicing so you can win that competition tomorrow!"

"Right!" Snowy jumps up onto Lillie's shoulder and barks. Lillie pats its head. "I'm all rested up and warmed up now thanks to you, Mallow! I'm ready to give it my Lillie best!"

"Glad to hear it!"

Mallow takes Lillie's hand, and together they head for the doors, ready to brace the cold and the training ahead.

-----------

A/N: I just had to do something! When Lillie fell off that sled I thought she'd broken an arm or something, but as soon as the commercial break was over she was perfectly fine like nothing happened. So I just made it yuri, of course. Not too much, but just enough that I could get away with it.

Maybe more some day? Who knows.