Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Ash and Misty, they own each other.
Ash was more than a little bit surprised to get a call at eleven at night. He was even more surprised to hear her voice at the other end of the line.
"Ash?"
"Misty?"
"I'm sorry to call you so late."
Ash was on the road before midnight. He left a note for anyone who might miss him and with his backpack and a very tired and grumpy Pikachu he set out to find the girl who had resided only in his dreams for years.
It had been years, of course, since he had seen Misty and he wondered what time would have done to her. She would be twenty, he figured, and he was only eighteen. A teenager. A child. He wondered how he had ever thought that someone like Misty would ever be interested in someone like him. But wasn't she the one who called him? Wasn't she the one who had instigated this reunion? Maybe he had a chance after all.
The thought made his pace quicken and he reached the next town by sunrise. There was still a long way to go, but every step was a step closer to Misty.
He walked for seven days before he reached her house. In was ten at night but there was a light shining from the very top window and he could see a silhouette behind the curtains. That silhouette was certainly not the Misty he remembered. There was no side-pigtail for starters.
He knocked on the door. He was insanely nervous. His hands were shaking. He needed to cough but he didn't want to be coughing when she first opened the door so he held it in. That made his eyes water. He tried to wipe the tears away and realised how dirty his hands were. He wasn't ready for this. He should have prepared what he was going to say. Walking for seven days and he hadn't thought of a single conversation starter. The light turned on behind the front door.
When he saw her he very nearly fainted. She was wearing a dressing gown and slippers. Her hair was past her shoulders now and dead straight. Her legs and arms were longer and her body rounder. She wasn't a little girl anymore and, worst of all, she was still taller than him.
"Misty?" he croaked, and proceeded to cough for a good minute or so.
"Thank you so much for coming Ash, I didn't know who else to call."
Then she promptly burst into tears.
Impulsively Ash hugged her. She had sounded upset on the phone but he had no idea just how bad it was.
She stopped sobbing for just long enough to say three words.
"Togepi is dead."
And Ash realised why he was there. Not for any romantic reasons. Just to be the shoulder to cry on. He would never be anything but a friend to her.
He didn't ask her what had happened, he didn't say anything, he just waited for her to invite him inside. God her hair smelt good.
Eventually she stopped crying and let him in the house. Once they were sitting in the living room and Misty was drinking a tea and Ash a hot chocolate she actually started to speak in full sentences.
"I'm so sorry to drag you all the way out here, I just didn't know who else to call, my family are all away and I just really needed a friend. I can't believe you walked all the way here."
"Oh, it was nothing, I'm sorry it took me a whole week to get here."
"Anyway, you can stay as long as you like, there are heaps of spare bedrooms, it will be just like old times," she said, but she didn't sound like even she believed it.
The house was filled with silence and, though there was no one else there, the conversation was a barely audible whisper. Once they had finished their drinks Misty stood up.
"I'll get you some sheets," she said, "you can have one of my sister's rooms."
She took the cups to the kitchen and washed them. Pikachu had fallen asleep on the sofa so Ash covered him in his hoodie and followed Misty up the stairs.
She let him into one of the many bedrooms along the endless hallway. It had a very pink theme and the bed was covered in soft toys. They made the bed together and Misty turned before she left the room.
"I'm just next door if you need anything," she said, "the bathroom is down the hall, good night Ash."
"Good night Misty," he said to her back as she walked out of the room, "see you in the morning."
He understood perfectly how upset she must be, he couldn't imagine losing Pikachu, but Togepi was like her own child, she had been carrying that thing around for years. He wondered what possibly could have happened.
He couldn't sleep. The room smelt like perfume and his pillow was far too fluffy. He was tossing and turning for an hour before he heard it. He could hardly make out the muffled sobs and he figured she had her face under the pillow but there was no mistake, she was crying again.
He had a silent war with himself about whether or not he should go to her, on one hand that was why she had asked him here in the first place, to comfort her, on the other hand she might not want him to come into her bedroom in the middle of the night, could be a bit weird. Eventually his conscience got the better of him and he slipped out of bed. He was wearing only his track pants and he was instantly freezing.
When he reached her doorway it was already partially open.
"Misty?" he whispered. She didn't respond, "Misty, are you ok?"
"Ash?"
"I couldn't help overhearing, can I get you anything?"
She didn't reply for a long time and Ash wondered if maybe she had fallen asleep. So he was beyond shocked when she came to the door. In the moonlight he could just make out that she was in striped pyjamas and her hair was all over the place which made her look more like the Misty he remembered.
"Could you come in for a minute?" she asked, "just until I fall asleep? I get so lonely at night without Togepi here."
