Disclaimer: Don't Own Pokemon!

A/N: So this is basically the first fic I've written since late 2010 and I'm trying to see how this whole thing goes again…so hopefully I don't royally screw it up. Not sure if anyone still reads my fics anymore, but here's hoping! Anyways, as in most of my fics, the pokemon cast are aged to about their early 20s. Keep that in mind as you read, thanks!

Drowning

He stood on a nearby bridge, one that overlooked the entire city in all its sparkling glory with the night sky high above him, stars twinkling overhead. The bubbling brook below weaved in and out amongst the flowing landscape, rising and falling with the ever changing land, adapting to its rocky surroundings and flowing on despite the obstacles ahead. The wind blew softly through the treetops, causing him to pull his black jacket closer into himself, relishing in its warmth and savoring the comforting feeling of its depths.

Sighing, the young man ran a hand through his unruly dark hair as his eyes continued to scan the flowing waters below him. Subconsciously, he kicked a pebble into the stream and watched as it sank to the bottom, drowning into the depths of the darkness that the water offered.

Drowning…

It was exactly what his heart was feeling right now; sinking into a darkness he had no control over. It felt heavy, overwhelmed with disappointment as he tried to wrap his mind around what had just happened and why it had happened in the first place. It was truly just a misunderstanding, an overreaction, a…something…it was never meant to be hurtful – he never meant to hurt her – but he had and now he was lost among his thoughts, standing amidst the elements on the outskirts of her town.

"Ash?"

Turning around, the young man caught sight of one of his closest friends, 22 year old Brock Slate, resting his hands on his knees and panting heavily, as if he had just run a marathon.

"What the heck do you think you're doing? Come back to the gym," he panted, leaning on the wooden railing of the bridge to catch his breath, "This is stupid."

Ash sighed once more and rested his hands on the railing, reverting his gaze back to the waters below, "She kicked me out, you heard her."

"It was a misunderstanding, believe me. Just go back to the gym and explain to her-"

"She made it crystal clear Brock that she never wanted to see me again," grumbled Ash, tightening his hands into fists against the railing. Even as he said the words, he could feel his heart shatter into a million pieces and it took his breath away to know how she truly felt about him, especially after all this time. He had thought that there would be some chance, if even minute, that she would reciprocate his feelings for her, that she would have been excited to see him after all this time, but it was not to be. She had been furious with him.

"It was a misunderstanding," repeated Brock, with emphasis, "She overreacted!"

"But-"

"Misty overreacted!" Brock nearly yelled, taking a step next to the young man he had been friends with for nearly 10 years, "It's what she does; you know how she gets."

Brock turned his gaze to the slowly churning waters below, as a ghost of a smile crossed his lips. He couldn't imagine what his younger friend was going through and frankly didn't envy him. It had truly been a misunderstanding on Misty's part, but she had been so worked up that she didn't care in the slightest what Ash had to say. She had taken one look at Dawn and had assumed the worst.

"Love is a funny thing, isn't it?" chuckled Brock, good-naturedly as he continued to stare down the stream's path. He could feel Ash's eyes on him and continued, "You think you know what you want and how to get it and then it does a complete 360 and you're back at square one, wondering what the heck just happened."

"Yeah…" murmured Ash, resting his forehead on the palm of his hand, "Man, why does this have to be so hard?"

Brock laughed gently at his friend and placed a comforting hand on Ash's shoulder, "Welcome to my world, but to be honest, I can't say I blame her for being pissed at you."

"Oh sure, take her side why don't you," muttered Ash, brushing Brock's hand from off his shoulder and turning his eyes downward.

"I'm not taking sides Ash," smiled Brock, "But look at it from her perspective…you don't call, you don't write, and all of a sudden you show up at her home expecting things to be the way they were before and, to top things off, you bring another girl with you. She probably thinks you replaced her or something."

"It's only Dawn!" Ash retorted back, glaring at his friend, "She's only a friend. How could Misty think I could ever replace her?"

And with that said, the fight quickly left Ash and he felt depressed all over again, his mind trailing back to the argument he and Misty had had only moments before…

"I don't understand why you're so angry," argued Ash, leaning his head back against the frame of Misty's door, "I thought you'd be happy to see us."

"Damn it, Ash! You think you can just waltz back here without so much as a 'hello' over the past 6 months and everything would be okay? As if nothing had happened?" raged Misty, slamming her fist against her desktop, causing the contents to rattle unsteadily.

"I'm sorry okay? What do you want me to say? I've been busy traveling through Sinnoh this whole time with Brock and Dawn," he shot back, his agitation rising with the tone of his voice. At Dawn's mention, he could have sworn he saw Misty bristle, but brushed it aside.

He honestly had no idea why Misty was so upset with him. He had thought it would have been a happy reunion between the three of them, a nice surprise for Misty as Ash headed back towards Pallet Town to visit his mother, but it seemed like his surprise was quickly turning into more of a disaster than anything else.

But there had been another reason for Ash's surprise visit, something that had been nagging at the back of his mind for quite some time, something that he had to tell Misty…

But the words were all turning to ash in his mouth as Misty screamed at him for being an inconsiderate, clueless, jerk.

"Misty please," Ash tried again, running a hand through his hair, "I'm sorry for not calling you, I'm sorry that I showed up without notice, I'm just…sorry for everything I did and everything I didn't do. Please just, hear me out."

Misty plopped herself onto her bed, knees folded beneath her with her head buried in her arms. She shuddered slightly and Ash heard the small tell-tale signs of Misty's sobs and it broke his heart to hear her so upset.

Kneeling on the ground, bringing himself to her level, he rested a gentle hand on her arm to try to reassure her, comfort her, do anything to try to turn this evening around and bring her back to him, but it was no use, for Misty simply shrugged his hand away, keeping her head buried and refusing to make eye contact with him.

"P-Please Ash, just go, leave me alone," she sobbed quietly, "I don't ever want to see you again."

At her words, Ash's heart shattered. Sure, he and Misty had gotten into fights before, but never like this. They usually fought, gave each other the silent treatment for a few hours, and then were back to being their old selves again, bickering, joking, and teasing one another relentlessly. But this…this was different. Misty had been crying and she had been completely serious and it made his resolve crumble at the thought of possibly never seeing her again.

"Misty, please…"

"Just go!" she shouted hoarsely, her emotions betraying her, "Get out! I never want to see you again!" she shouted again, standing up suddenly and forcibly pushing him outside of her door and slamming it in his face.

Ash was stunned.

He stared at the door blankly and could hear the faint sounds of Misty's sobbing in the background as he tried to piece together what had just taken place. He gently laid his hand on the door, as if trying to comfort Misty through the hard, cold wood and then settled his forehead against it. Listening, he could hear her clearly sobbing her eyes out, upset because of something he had done. He had done this, he had made her feel this way and after it was all said and done, she had told him exactly what she wanted. She wanted him out of her life for good.

Slowly, he lifted his head back up, fighting back his own tears as he clenched his fist into a tiny ball, angry at himself for not seeing this coming, for not considering Misty's feelings as he traveled abroad, having adventure upon adventure and never even daring to look back. How would he have felt if he had been cooped up at home with nothing more than his chores and nagging sisters to look forward to day in and day out? He really couldn't blame her for being angry. Were the situations switched, he would have felt the same.

Ash took several slow steps back from the door, as if he were afraid it was going to blow up at him and then turned around, but not before steeling one last glance back at Misty's closed door.

"Goodbye, Misty."

"Ash, this is ridiculous," exclaimed Brock for what seemed like the millionth time, "Would you please just march yourself back to the gym, tell her how you feel, and let this whole thing rest?"

Ash just continued to stare out at the landscape, as if he hadn't even heard Brock's request, mulling in his own depression and wishing desperately that he could rewind the events of the day.

Actually, rewinding the past 6 months seemed more appropriate, given the fact that that was around the time that Ash had started his journey through Sinnoh and had stopped talking to Misty in the first place. He had dug himself his own grave and now he had to deal with the consequences.

"Where's Pikachu?" he asked suddenly, keeping his gaze down.

"I left him with Dawn back at the gym," sighed Brock, resting his arms on the railing, "She was going to try and talk to Misty about...well, I'm not sure what about. Whatever it is girls talk about when they're upset about something."

Ash simply shrugged, not really caring what Dawn did or said. She couldn't possibly reveal anything that would make the situation any more worse than it was now. And besides, Misty probably wouldn't listen to her either. She was probably just as furious at Dawn as she was at him and for that, he only felt mild sympathy for his coordinator friend.

"Ash, this is stupid-"

"You're telling me.."

"—and crazy, and did I mention stupid?" Brock exasperated, at his wits end and running clear out of 'advice' to give Ash. This was getting out of hand and he was afraid that if he didn't do something quickly, the two of them would never reconcile and he'd be stuck in the middle of their perpetual fight forever, which is not something Brock was looking forward to, so he would give it one last attempt, if only because he was Ash and she was Misty, "Why do you love her?"

Ash seemed taken aback by his friend's question and simply stared not quite knowing what to say and, at the same time, not quite knowing if Brock was serious.

"Well, I know why," Brock stated confidently, not giving Ash another moment to debate the obvious, "It's because she doesn't follow the norm, she's not a safe choice, and she's definitely not consistent with her moods," he laughed, "But, I guess that's why you feel the way you do, huh?"

This caused a small smile to present itself on Ash's lips as he looked away and into the moonlight that shown among the cloudless skies. His breath came out in small puffs as he regarded what Brock had just said and even in his depressed mood he couldn't suppress a laugh at his not-so-typical description of her. He was 100% correct, as usual, and Ash was forced to admit to himself that she just wouldn't be his Misty if it weren't for those 'unique' characteristics of hers.

"You're right, Brock," Ash gave in, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "She may not be perfect, but I still love her," he admitted, feeling a tremendous weight being lifted off of his chest.

Of course he loved her, but just saying it, simply admitting it to Brock helped eased his fears tremendously. He didn't know what the future held for them, but he would be damned if he didn't at least try – or beg – for forgiveness before giving her up so easily.

"Good, I'm glad," smiled Brock, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Even if she is a bit on the crazy side-"

"Who are you calling crazy?"

Ash and Brock whipped their heads around to see a very annoyed looking Misty, albeit with a tiny smirk coming to the corners of her lips. She had her arms crossed, her long ocher locks falling in curls, tied loosely in a ponytail at the nape of her neck.

"Um…M-Misty, what are you doing out here?" asked Brock, "And how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," she answered, a hint of playfulness in her voice as she moved to stand next to Brock and nudged his shoulder, "So, who was crazy again?"

"Certainly not you," he smiled, placing a friendly arm around her shoulders. Looking over her shoulders and sensing she was alone, he asked, "Where are Dawn and Pikachu?"

"They're back at the gym playing with my water types," she replied, "We had a little talk," she emphasized, her azure eyes shifting pointedly in Ash's direction.

Ash, in turn, ducked his head and reverted his gaze back to the flowing river below him. It caused a small smile to light up Misty's face at his discomfort and she couldn't help but feeling a little guilty for her blowing up at him earlier.

Okay, maybe a lot guilty, but she was hoping she could remedy that with the information she had received from Dawn. After she had resolutely kicked Ash out of her home, Dawn had come to her, feeling guilty for the misunderstanding and not wanting to step on anyone's toes. Misty had been in no mood to talk to the young coordinator and had pointedly told her so, but after repeated attempts on Dawn's part, Misty had caved, allowing the young girl to talk to her as she completed her chores around the pool.

"Misty, I'm so sorry for all this. I never meant to cause so much trouble between you two," Dawn explained, following Misty along the edges of the Cerulean gym's pool as she cleaned the pool's interior, "But Ash, he…he's a good guy and he never stopped talking about you all throughout our journey in Sinnoh," she tried again, gripping Pikachu tightly to her chest.

"Pi," he responded, nodding his tiny head in agreement.

Misty paused in her cleaning of the pool and tightly gripped the pole, not wishing to make eye contact with Dawn or Pikachu. She simply stared into the clear depths of her gym's pool, hoping Dawn would keep her distance so she wouldn't see the tears creeping to the corners of her eyes. Her fight with Ash was still fresh in her mind and she wasn't quite comfortable in talking with Dawn, someone she barely knew, about her feelings concerning Ash.

Misty turned her back on them, afraid her emotions would betray her again, and leaned her cheek against the cleaning pole, willing her tears away.

"Whatever he did to upset you, I'm sure he didn't mean it," Dawn continued, "I mean, he's just…he's Ash, he's completely clueless sometimes, you know?"

Of course Misty knew how clueless he could be. She had traveled with the kid for nearly 10 years before giving it all up and returning back to her gym to take up her position as Cerulean City gym leader. Since then, life had been pretty standard. She had been so accustomed to life on the road with her two best friends, the wind at their backs, camping out in the wilderness, discovering new pokemon, meeting new people, and having spontaneous adventures, that she had had trouble readjusting to her new life back home. Now that she had resumed her duties as leader, she had given that life up. And with it, in Misty's mind, she had given up Ash as well.

"He missed you a lot," the coordinator persisted, taking a few small steps towards Misty's back, "I'm not your replacement…he could never replace you or whatever past you may have. I'm just…his friend, that's all."

At her words, Misty felt a small weight lift from her shoulders, but she still couldn't bring herself to turn around and meet her gaze. Wiping away a stray tear, she continued to stare at her pool, thinking, drowning her thoughts in the depths of its cool blue ripples.

Suddenly, Misty felt a small tug at the hem of her jeans and looked down to see Pikachu's face smiling up at her.

"Pikachupi, pi pikapi?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

Misty smiled at the electric mouse who had been Ash's constant companion since the beginning and knelt to his level, dropping the pole and giving Pikachu a gentle scratch behind his ears. He purred contentedly, lowering his ears in satisfaction and rubbing his cheek against her leg affectionately.

"Yeah, Pikachu, I still care about him," she whispered, finding comfort in his soft, warm fur. Suddenly, Pikachu leapt into Misty's lap, tugging at her shirt and pointing out in the direction of her gym's entrance. This caused a small giggle to escape her lips, as she knew exactly what Pikachu wanted, "You want me to go bring him back, don't you?"

"Chu!" he nodded enthusiastically, continuing to tug at her shirt, willing her to go after his distraught trainer.

Smiling, she set the mouse on the ground, "Okay, I'll go after him," she relented, standing up and turning towards a waiting Dawn.

"Misty-"

"It's okay, Dawn," Misty interrupted, walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry for placing you in the middle of this silly argument of ours. I had no right to do that. Do you forgive me?"

Dawn smiled appreciatively and nodded her assent, "Of course Misty. Good luck."

Misty nodded, walked past the blue-haired girl, grabbed her jacket, and fled for the doors of her family's gym hoping to catch up to the boy she loved so much…

And so here Misty was, arms crossed, standing with Ash and Brock on the old bridge separating her hometown from the surrounding forests. The chill in the air caused her to tighten her jacket closer to her body as she stared down the dejected looking Ash in front of her. He refused to make eye contact with her and it made the guilt she felt double.

"Ash, we need to talk," she started, and pointedly turned her gaze on Brock, "Alone."

"Oh, right," chuckled Brock, placing each of his hands on Ash and Misty's shoulders, "I'll uh…be somewhere over there," he pointed off towards town, "Try not to kill each other, okay?"

Misty simply rolled her eyes and watched as Brock walked off in the direction of her home. Her gaze turned back to Ash and her heart truly went out to him. He was standing with his arms resting on the railing, shoulders hunched, and a blank stare vacating his youthful, yet handsome looks. Misty took a few cautious steps closer and rested a nervous hand on his forearm.

"Ash, I'm sorry…about before," she sighed, bringing her gaze to where her hand rested on his arm, afraid to look up for fear that he would be angry with her, "I never meant to blow up like that. I was just…upset."

Misty could feel herself tightening her grip on his arm, fighting the tears she had left unshed back at her gym when she had been talking to Dawn and Pikachu. She used Ash's arm as a sort of crutch for her own emotions, unable to keep the silent tears from trickling down her pale cheeks and onto the ground below.

"I'm sorry Ash, I'm so sorry, I'm s-s…" she sobbed, unable to keep her strong façade up. She broke down in front of him, allowing him to see her weaknesses for the second time that day. But before she knew what was happening, she could feel two strong arms encircle her frame and pull her in closer, giving her both safety and security.

She rested her cheek against his solid chest and tried to ebb the flow of her tears, feeling both embarrassed at herself and a little selfish at having him comfort her instead of the other way around. She encircled her arms around his waist and clutched him for all he was worth, never wanting to let him go and wishing she could take back the words she had so harshly thrown at him earlier in the day.

Slowly, Misty wiped the remaining tears and chanced a glance upwards, only to see Ash's relieved, chocolate brown eyes staring back at her. She could stare into his comforting eyes all day and it made her want to melt at the amount of emotion she could feel radiating from those brown orbs she had learned to adore and love so much.

"I'm sorry too," he whispered, his own voice hoarse with emotion, "I'm sorry I never took the time to write or call or let you know where I was, but I…I thought you wouldn't care or…that you were too busy being a gym leader for me," he admitted, keeping his embrace tight, almost as if he were afraid she'd bolt on him.

Misty nodded in understanding, knowing he was simply being insecure. There was no way she would ever allow herself to become too busy to talk to him, even amongst her many duties as gym leader. He simply meant too much to her for that.

"And Dawn…she was never meant to be your replacement or anything, she's like May, just a girl friend…just a friend," he tried to explain, "You're different…you know that, right?"

Ash eyed Misty cautiously and Misty could tell he had chosen his words carefully…very carefully. It caused a small smile to grace her lips and, no longer afraid of what he thought or how he would react, she lifted a hand to cup the side of his face gently and relished in the warmth that he naturally radiated.

"I know."

Gently leaning into her hand, Ash brought his own hand up to encase her own in his palm and, gently turning his face inward, kissed her fingers lightly. He gazed into those cobalt eyes he loved so much and slowly found himself leaning closer into her embrace, suddenly wanting the feel of her lips upon his own and needing some kind of reassurance or some sign or anything to tell him that maybe she wanted it too.

And Ash didn't need to wonder for long.

Misty gently lifted herself up onto her toes and sealed the remaining space between their lips, embracing the warmth his lips exuded and loving the taste of his lips on her own. It was simple but perfect and Misty wouldn't have changed it for anything in the world.

But just as suddenly as it had begun, it was over as Misty felt a water droplet hit her nose, causing her to break away and look up into the once cloudless sky. Ash followed her gaze, watching as the gathering clouds loomed high above them. In a matter of seconds, the couple found themselves in the middle of a torrential downpour.

Misty giggled and lifted her arms up, attempting to catch the water droplets on her tongue while spinning circles in the onslaught of rain that now surrounded them.

Ash chuckled at her and joined in, not caring in the least that they were getting completely soaked to the bone. Instead, he relished in the feeling of the cool water hitting his face, washing away his fears, his anxieties, and his worries for the future. The water made him feel more assured and he watched as the once calm river below him, churned faster downstream, slowly covering the landscape that surrounded it.

Misty grasped Ash's hand, pulling him from his silent reverie.

"Shall we?" she asked, indicating that they head back towards town and the warmth and comfort of her gym.

Ash tightened his grip around her hand and nodded, laughing as she broke out into a jog, pulling him along for the ride.

And that sinking, drowning feeling that Ash had felt moments before melted away into the night, leaving him light and more in love than ever before.

The End

A/N: So there you have it! I know there was no sappy 'I love you' confession, but I figured it was implied and didn't need to actually be said. So, like I stated in my previous note, this is my first fic since like forever and I am just trying to wet my feet again and see if I still remember how to write at all. Please leave me some nice reviews and comments; I would much appreciate them!