Manly Man

Ash has never considered himself a coward or someone who'd give up easily, god forbid. He'd battled deadly enemies, had almost died a few times, and had travelled the world's most dangerous and mysterious places, only to come out alive and in one peace. He'd have thought all that would make him wiser, mature, perhaps even capable of more, but no… He might be wrong about that.

The young man sighed, leaning on the stone fence of the huge balcony of the Pokemon Annual Celebration Hall. He took a small sip of his beer, grimacing at the taste. As much as he wanted to play an adult, he never liked the taste of alcohol or anything related to that. One of many things he shouldn't have a problem with – according to people. The same people who were currently inside the celebration hall dancing and drinking and mingling, as he was supposed to be doing, too. You know, have fun and all that. But fun was the last thing on his mind right now, considering his emotional state. Kami, he sounded like a wuss. Sadly, he can top that, because he noticed his surroundings – you know, the romantic atmosphere. Alone on the balcony with stars blinking and a water fountain murmuring beneath, reflecting the shining bright of the sky. The air was warm and smelled of autumn, his favourite season, and there was this beautiful scenery in front of him – a beautifully shaped traditional Japanese park with a fountain right in the middle.

He couldn't feel sappier.

He was about to take another sip from his drink, when he caught the smell of beer, grimaced again and pushed the can aside.

He sighed again.

Just like the love-sick loser that he was.

He turned around, leaning with his back and elbows on the fence, tipping his head back to gaze at the stars. He felt so gutted right now. No, more sad than anything. Even though he had no right to feel like that. Or perhaps he had. He wasn't really sure. The past year had been too confusing for him, and tonight only added to the confusion. No, it ended it, really. There was nothing to be confused about. If anything he and everyone else were proven right – that he, Ash Ketchum was the biggest idiot on the whole wide planet with a brain-function capacity of zero, and a common sense of below average. He felt ashamed. So ashamed it was humiliating. He felt humiliated, too. And he had no one else to thank that but himself.

And he'd understand that it was just something he had to deal with if it had anything to do with Pokemon. But no… It was very very far from that.

It were those, as Misty liked to call them, matters of the heart. Ugh… Just thinking about it made him cringe, also because thinking about it and Misty at the same time was something that caused another imaginary punch into his gut, and all he could do about that is sigh again.

He knew he had always been slow – in regards to anything, really. But it was ok, because it was his pace, his life. But when his pace cost him the attention of his best friend – now that wasn't funny anymore. He'd noticed the change between them a few years ago, but it only became obvious to him what exactly it was that was different once he and she had had a nice chat about anything in the middle of the night for a whole night one time more than a year ago. And since then he had been noticing a lot about her. That he was mad for her – now that wasn't news for him – at least not by then. But that it looked like she was mad for him, too – now that was news for him. This whole year of them talking via video phone and meeting occasionally when one was free of contests or random battles, Ash couldn't help but see her blushing cheeks and her bright eyes whenever she smiled at him. It gave his shaking heart and overly big brain many many thoughts, and he couldn't help but assume that they were on the same page.

Obviously he must have been wrong.

Because as soon as he had stepped into the Celebration hall where the Pokemon trainer annual dance started, he saw her surrounded by quite a number of male trainers with the same blushing cheeks and the same bright eyes. And the way she laughed and twirled around the dance floor with anyone who asked made Ash feel like he just lost… Lost a battle or lost whatever… He didn't really know. He managed to mingle, pretending to be casual and unconcerned about the fact that his best friend hadn't noticed him at all – even though he couldn't avert his eyes from her beautiful figure dressed in velvet blue – and finally, he grabbed a can of beer and ended up sulking on the balcony.

And looking at his watch, waiting for the night to be over so he could escape and hide and nurse his heart back to life, he realized it had been quite some time since he stepped out.

It was pathetic, really.

''Unsociable much?'' came a very familiar voice from the spot just next to him. Ash looked to the side, almost injuring his neck, only to face the very reason of his despair. She was casually leaning on the fence with her elbows supporting her head, a glass of vine waiting next to his can.

''Hey…'' he managed, unable to control the rush of adrenalin her presence caused. When did she sneak upon him?

''Hiding from someone?'' she asked again, her voice soft and alluring, and Ash couldn't help but feel like she was being all gentle with him for a reason. It was weird having her here now, after he had watched her the whole night. There was no one else on the balcony, and Ash felt a sense of relief relax his heavy mind. He shrugged, not wanting to have this conversation if it wasn't in his favour. And his ego simply didn't allow him to show how emotional he felt.

''Just needed some fresh air.'' He replied instead, allowing himself to look at her beautiful face. She gave him a raised brow. ''For two hours?''

''You saw me?'' he couldn't help the slight spot of satisfaction easing his aching heart into a state of naive hope. He was really a sad example of a manly man.

''I could hardly miss the only person who was practically running away from the dance while everyone else was rushing in.'' She chuckled, taking a sip of her wine. A drop made its way down her lip and her tongue caught it and Ash wished he could be that tongue – only to wish for the ground to swallow him, the next moment. He was losing his mind with this girl. After her comment he almost bit out that she could have easily gone after him, but he knew he'd be talking out of spite. She could have fun as much as she wanted – it's not like it was her duty to make sure he had fun. ''I'm not a good dancer.''

Misty looked at him from the side. ''Hmm…'' Ash felt confused and tempted and he honestly didn't know if he wanted to stay here with her and be tortured by her nymph-like appearance, or play the spoiled brat that he was and walk out on her and everyone else. ''You could have fooled me.''

He blinked. ''What?''

''As far as I know, you can dance pretty well.'' She smiled, glancing at the park beneath the balcony. ''I could swear we circled a few time last year on New Year's.''

Ah… Yes… That would be true… He had wanted to talk about things with her then, but lost the nerve, making excuses to himself that he was still confused. Well… He had been… He shrugged, pushing his hands into his pockets, leaning on the fence with his back. She was looking at him again, and if he weren't so sure he was just a stupid and wishful idiot, he would say for sure that she was checking him out. Her eyes wandering from his feet up over his chest and finally to his face. And it made his insides burn with want. When their eyes met, she seemed to be surprised at him looking at her and blushed, averting her eyes, as if he just caught her red-handed. She was giving him too much hope. He kept looking at her, thinking about what to say – because he wanted to say something, if only to clear the air, the tension, the misunderstanding. He wanted to know.

And it seemed, so did she.

After a minute, she looked at him again, straightening her back, placing her glass of wine on the fence. ''Ash-'' she started, and only now did he notice her uneven breathing, her shaking hands. Ash's mind went blank. Was he imagining things or…

He pulled his hands out of his pockets and straightened, facing her completely. His heart was about to give in. He stared at the girl he loved, waiting, hoping. Misty munched at her lip for a moment before she reached for his hands and grasped it in hers. This time, Ash knew he wasn't hallucinating.

''I was looking for you t-to…'' she cleared her throat. ''…but people kept asking me to dance, and…'' she was stuttering and stumbling over her words and Ash had never seen her like that. He squeezed her hands. ''I thought you ran away…'' she whispered, her big blue eyes staring at his. He shook his head, trying to open his mouth and say that no, he's still here, he didn't run away, before she rose on her toes, and Ash, without thinking about it, leaned down to meet her halfway. Their lips joined, melting into each other, tongues dancing, arms hugging, pulling each other closer, their breath and perfume mixing. She took his breath away and she took his mind away, melting it into a puddle of nothing as her fingers travelled through his hair, her soft female body pressed into his chest.

He could feel her.

They pulled away as quickly as they kissed, and with hair dishevelled and lips swollen, they caught each other's eye before bursting in laughter. Ash threw his arms around her once more and pulled her into a very needed, very bear-like hug, burying his face into her shoulder, kissing the soft silky skin exposed on her neck. ''Kami, I'm so happy.'' He sighed, making her chuckle at the tickling feeling of his breath on her skin.

''I honestly thought I might be wrong with… this…'' he admitted. He felt her shaking her head. She pulled away a little, so she could look him in the eye, her cheeks a bright red, her eyes a bright blue. ''You're an idiot, Ash, if you think I'd walk away the moment you'd start feeling something for me. I've been in this for far too long.''

''How long?'' he was grinning, unable to stop himself from teasing, knowing very well she'd been giving him signs way longer he could imagine. She rolled her eyes and looked away, but Ash couldn't have enough of her so he kissed her again, ravishing her until she wasn't able to stand – or remember he made her wait and come look for him – again. He really was a sad example of a man.

''I promise that the next step will be done by me.'' He proudly swore, making her laugh as she realized what he was saying. ''Yeah, yeah, Ketchum. Keep telling yourself that.''

Ash glared at her playfully, then grinned. ''I'm very much in love with you.''

Misty gaped at him for a second, her cheeks blushing harder than before. She couldn't react any other way but by kissing him again, not giving him the chance to breath for a very long time.

''It's about time you said that. And as my boyfriend, I want you to go back in with me and dance.'' She demanded, not even waiting for his reply. She dragged him back into the hall, where he finally went all out and twirled her around, using every opportunity to peck her lips.

Perhaps he was manly man. At least a little.