Adrenaline
The air was tainted with the smell of a large fire eating away at the forests surrounding the city. Concrete rubble laid everywhere, the remnants of once great skyscrapers. The air they breathed was scorched with crispy tiny particles, yet the temperature cold. The only sounds being the burning wood, crumbling infrastructure, and the flowing river nearby.
Misty shuddered; her hands tied behind her made it virtually impossible to escape. She was tired, cold, her organs felt as though they had been ablaze, and her stomach devoid of proper nourishment, and a few cuts and bruises on her arms and face – all evidence of a long struggle, their struggle.
To her left stood a man whom she loved, who was in just as bad condition as she was, only much worst. His own camo shirt being more ripped, with signs of lashing, or perhaps a near miss of something that slashed him and left bloody scars in their wake. He was Ash. She thought that rather ironic, her boyfriend Ash, surrounded by it, and soon to become it.
Grand Marshall Escher of the Johto Region's army serving their Empire walked up from off his Ponyta. Certainly a gruff soldier, and was one who was loyal to no end to his region. Any resistance to Johto rule was considered detestable in his eyes.
"Misty Waterflower, Ash Ketchum," he said in his dry voice. "For crimes of hearsay, smuggling, arson, property damage, and other acts of malice towards the Empire of Johto, you two are to be hanged by the neck till dead." He looked towards his underling who was holding the lever to release the doors underneath – at the nod, he stood at attention. "Do you two have any last words or wishes?"
Ash sneered. "Just a tobacco chew I guess." Marshall Escher nodded, walked up, and popped a piece into his mouth. Ash bit with silenced rage into the piece before spitting it back out.
"And you, Misty," said Escher. "Do you have any last words or wishes?"
She just glared ahead. "I have nothing further to say other than that this is wrong." The Marshall said nothing, he just clicked his tongue. Walked down, and nodded.
"End them, Trevor."
Trevor nodded. Misty stole a glance of Ash, who seemed devoid of feeling. Trevor pulled the lever. The doors underneath gave way, the ropes would tighten and they'd be done in in a matter of minutes…
But Misty wasn't done with life, she threw head back, so only her chin would feel the burning scrapes of the rope. She thrashed against her hold as she swung about, her hands breaking painfully free of her rope. With her freed hands she grabbed at Ash and pulled his head out of the noose, he was too was big to be easily choked.
Escher was shocked! But Ash, being so tall, swung at his head with his legs, and sent the shocked leader back and onto the ground from where he was swinging. Misty dropped to the ground, and pulled at Ash, who yelled in pain from his burnt chin.
"Ah shit!" he yelled as he landed on the ground. Trevor made a dash towards them, but Misty charged with her fists out – and socked him in his stomach. She u-turned, and undid the ropes holding Ash's hands behind his back.
"Come on!" she yelled. "Before their back up team gets any closer!" She grabbed his still sensitive wrists and pulled him towards the edge of the river, and with their attached hands, pulled him with her as she jumped into the icy river. It was cold, but compared to the burning sensations on their skin from the ropes and air, it was relief.
Misty's heart raced as she kicked and swam for all she was worth even if she was held back by her soaked camo uniform. She looked frantically for Ash, and to her chests relief, he was nearby.
"Oh what the Hell?!" he shouted. "This is madness!"
"Shut up and just swim for your life!" was Misty's reply. She was right too, above to their left, soldiers began to catch up. "Shit, shit, shit…" she muttered. It wasn't easy, the current rolled over rocks and hardened mud, they frantically scrambled over them, but not fast enough to get out of range.
"Hah, they're struggling lads – fire when ready!"
With their guns at the ready, they immediately began to fire; metal bullets spurred the water up, and chipped away at the mud and rocks. The rushing current saved Ash and Misty, none of the bullets even scraped them, and the river curved right and away from the platoon.
"Damn that's lucky," said Ash to himself, "I'd hate to have a watery grave…"
More shouts came around, it was obvious they were far from being the in the clear, so they kept swimming. The speed of the current picked up, and the two unceremoniously were kicked up by it onto a muddy bank. The shouts of the Johto army were not too far behind, so they weren't able to rest. They picked each other, and continued to run.
"Even if we made it to Kanto…" gasped Misty. "I doubt they'd…stop pursuing us. The Grand Escher doesn't give up so easily…"
"Damn right…he'd stain Johto's soil with our blood…he'd see to that…" Misty could only agree with Ash's sentiment, the very thought made her sick and she had to resist the urge to barf.
They raced towards a tunnel, and soon reached the other side and slid down the embankment.
"Come on," said Ash shakily. "Pallet Town is just up ahead…it'll be a bit before they file through that tunnel…one more effort…"
"Right…one…more…" She was breathing hard, her lungs felt ablaze, and her stomach tied in knots, but she struggled on.
They traipsed through some woods, before reaching a large open meadow. "Almost…there…" breathed Misty. She stumbled over a fence, Ash following behind – his right foot hit a Rattata's hole, and he fell down with a great pain shooting through his ankle and knee!
He cursed loudly. Misty halted and looked back. "Hang on! I'm coming!" she shouted. She paled.
Soldiers – Johto Region Soldiers – were just yards away. They stopped at the command of a loud, authoritative voice – it was Grand Marshall Escher.
His men lined up, Misty's sympathetic nervous system kicked in – she wanted to run…but the sight of Ash crippled and down on the ground kept her in place.
Ash gritted his teeth; not like this, he had always hoped for something better. To die of old age was what he wanted originally. He wanted to see the war end, rebuild Kanto's cities and towns, then settle down with the girl he loved…
Grand Marshall Escher stepped back from the line of ready-to-fire troops. "Fire!"
The men pulled their triggers.
"Honey!" shouted Misty, leaping forward.
OoOoO
"…NO!" shouted Misty, leaping upwards. She looked around in fright, sweat dripped down her body. The sudden movement made her dizzy and she felt a great surge of pain go through her nerves. She looked around, she was on her bed, her white with pink outlined blanket atop, and her normal blue accented walls.
She sighed, nothing more than a dream. But then she found what she had begun to say at the end of the dream to be embarrassing. She heard footsteps pounding at the floor outside her door and it flung open with the figure of Ash Ketchum standing in its doorway.
Misty felt her heart skip a beat, shocked by his presence.
"Are you all right?" asked Ash before Misty could speak.
"Well, y-yes – ouch…" She held her forehead as her nerves went off again.
Ash clicked his tongue and reached for her bedside table. "Must be from the sudden movement, here." He handed her an Advil. "And down it with this." A Gatorade bottle. "Make sure," he added, "to drink plenty of that. You've been sweating nearly all day, that'll help recover your energy. Heh, it's too bad we can't just feed you a Citrus Berry, that'd be too easy…"
Misty gulped down the last drop of the bottle before lying back down. "What happened to me…?"
Ash smiled gently. "Apparently you've been overworked as Daisy told me. Earlier in the morning you apparently participated in a swimming competition–"
"What place did I get?"
"Fifth," replied Ash with a smirk. He laughed at her pout, she would've lunged at him, but she had no energy for it. "Afterwards Lily said you just wouldn't stop exercising – I was already on my way, so imagine my shock when I saw you passed out from exhaustion, and your temperature was at a hundred and two degrees."
The Cerulean Gym Leader caught her breath. "Dang," she muttered. "I…I forget about any of that I…I don't know, I…I remember waking up, and not feeling so good…but I really wanted to do that swimming competition, after that everything is all hazy." She paused and noticed Azurill fast asleep on her bed against the wall, she smiled at that and petted him on his head. "So…if you're here…where are my sisters?"
"They all had some business to take care of or whatever," said Ash, leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. "They were really worried about you before they left for whatever they had to do, I told them it'd be fine, and then I found you slumped over in front of the stairs going to your living quarters…"
"Sorry about that…" she whispered in embarrassment.
"Eh that's all right," replied Ash. "Mind you, it's the middle of a spring heat wave…and after spending a year in Sinnoh sweating on those mountains, carrying your overheated body upstairs wasn't fun."
It was lucky that one aspect of his comment was enough to stun the ill girl into silence – otherwise she would've been more than glad to have smacked him upside the head for his insensitive remark about her weight. But then on the other, he had said that he carried her, somehow she didn't mind that fact.
Finally, she found her voice. "Well, thanks for your comment about my weight you jerk."
"Yep," he replied dramatically. "Honestly, you were so heavy, I could've just gladly left you on those stairs and you'd have woken up on a cold, hard, dirty surface and not have woken up on your comfortable, soft, warm, clean bed," he added with emphasis on each of the areas attributes.
Misty quietly cringed at the less than appealing scenario she could've been in. Ash however, didn't press the topic. "Now then, I'll go get your dinner. Apparently there's leftover chili in the fridge. Good thing too, I'm starving!"
Misty just blinked and slumped back into her pillow and sighed, relieved that hunger became the focus of her mind.
A few minutes later, Ash came back with Pikachu who happily greeted her, along with Ash's latest water-type in the form of a Buizel – who she gushed over internally, as she still physically ached.
"Here you go," said Ash, handing her a tray with chili on it. He pulled up a chair in front of where she laid, sat down, and happily helped himself to the Waterflowers' leftovers. Misty struggled to hold her bowl properly, she ached too much to properly balance her tray, and she didn't really have the strength to balance her bowl on her hands and eat the contents in it.
Ash was three-fourths finished when he saw his best friends pale expression and saw everything. "Oh wait! I am so sorry, Misty. Here, lemme help ya…" And before she could react, Ash grabbed the bowl, and pushed her by the wrist away as he held firmly onto the bowl. "There," he continued, holding it with two palms as Misty gasped and eyes widened. "I'll hold, you can eat…" he paused to consider as he looked distantly at her ceiling. "Or maybe…it'd be better if I fed you myself…" He brought his eyes back to her. "…Would that be better, Misty?"
Misty's eyes glazed over, and a strong blush overcame her at the unexpected eye contact, question, and distance between them. She tried to push her head back into her pillow to give herself some space, but to no avail. "U-um…t-thanks for…off…offering…but I-I can f-feed my…self…" She inwardly panicked as her hand trembled, violently shaking her spoon.
"Mm, well, if you say so," replied Ash calmly. Misty did a double take, she was clearly incapacitated – but he thought she was completely fine!
Ash didn't seem to be aware of any of her inner thoughts, and his figure brought his chair forward, and leaned back, still holding her bowl out towards her. Misty smiled softly for herself, hummed in agreement, and went back to eating, notably paying the bowl a lot of attention…
OoOoO
Her room was beginning to darken as Ash recounted to her one of the various stories he had to share about his time in Sinnoh.
"…watching Happiny hatch out of that egg was so cool to see, Mist, and not only that, but she is disturbingly strong as well! Phanpy was strong right away, but I never expected a cute little Happiny to just easily pick up Brock and throw him around like he was a mere pebble, y'know?"
Misty chuckled. "I think I get it, Ash. What I would've given just to see that spectacle."
"I know, right? Sinnoh was egg madness I tell you, not only Happiny, but Bonsly unexpectedly evolved, I traded away Aipom, Dawn got a Cyndaquil…it was crazy – right, buds?" Pikachu bobbed his head in amused agreement, though Buizel kept a hardened look which amused his trainer.
"Heh…say, Misty. I don't think I got to telling you about Dawn's Buneary…"
Pikachu paled. "Pika! Pikapi, pika Pikachu, pipipipi Pikachupi, pika!"
"Hey, I'm just telling the truth, besides, Buneary was very friendly with you! I don't see what the problem is. You two are great friends, so what if she was being a bit overly affectionate? It's still a great sign of friendship." The two continued to squabble back and forth, and Misty watched them with a sad gaze.
Despite her own happiness with her position as the Cerulean Gym Leader, Misty couldn't help but feel some semblance of sadness about not being with Ash. The continual flood of anecdotes and adventures he could speak of were far more intriguing than her miniscule trials and tribulations as a Gym Leader, and she felt completely devoid of the happiness Ash felt at the thought of his adventures, having been unable to be there for them.
It couldn't be helped, she had made her choice back when they were fourteen, and even after four years, she hadn't regretted it, but she still couldn't fight her yearning for, 'what if' whenever Ash was around ot recount his tales…
"…Mist? Hello? Misty, I'm talking to you!" exclaimed Ash.
Misty's head jolted upward from where it had been watching Ash's lips moving, her staring having become unfocused, and she quickly brought her gaze back to Ash's own.
"Y-yes…?"
"I said, do you need help getting ready for bed?"
Misty faltered a bit. Threw her blanket off, and attempted to stand, but not before Ash grabbed her wrist for a second time in one day. "Easy now," he mused. His fingers rubbed softly against her skin, sending shivers up her nerves as he tightened their grip as he pulled her up.
She stumbled a bit, but was able to balance herself – and quickly turned away from him. "Thanks," she muttered, but she attempted to walk, she once more lost control. Ash steadied her by gripping her shoulders.
"Whoa, easy now…" he muttered, his words whispering past her right ear, causing another wave of heat to overcome her. "Just be careful…you've been asleep and have been lying down for most of the day after all. Just one step at a time, no rush," he instructed.
His words had a resounding effect on Misty, as somehow her jumbled mind of young adult hormones and dazed lethargy become focused, her energy cells became focused on her motor skills.
So with some lethargic movements, she walked slowly and steadily toward her bathroom, his words echoing through her mind as she did.
She came back minutes later in new sleepwear. They checked her temp, and she swallowed another Advil to hold her over for the night.
"Right," smiled Ash. "I better be off to the Pokémon Center. Good night!"
"W-what? You're not going to spend the night here?" questioned Misty.
"Well…yeah," said Ash, scratching the back of his neck. "It's a bit…taboo, ya know? What with your sisters gone for the night, you're under the weather and have only just gotten a bit better, your gym has no spare guest bedroom – and heck no am I going to sleep on one of your sisters' beds, gross! But also just…y'know…you need privacy and all that."
He turned to leave.
"No, wait," interrupted Misty, stepping forward and placing herself between Ash and the door. "I want you to stay here with me."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa...you're only just betting better, you shouldn't be making such quick strides like that."
Misty had to catch her breath from his comment – her nerves tingled in a familiar fashion. "I'm…fine…" she muttered, despite a wobbly feeling in her legs. "Anyway...I don't mind you being here. I want the company – your company."
Ash had to visibly catch his own breath when she said that, his mouth moved like a Magikarp out of water. He had no words, and just nodded.
Misty smiled, before feeling faint. "Whoa!" said Ash, as he caught her from falling and once again the young adults felt a strange heat through their bodies as he held her.
He guided her back to her bed. Soon enough he had his sleeping bad laid out, and plopped himself down.
"Well, g'night, Mist!" said Ash through the darkness. "And g'night to the rest of you too!" he added in reference to their Pokémon.
Misty giggled. "Good night everyone." She went very quiet and clutched her blanket, "Good night Ash…sweet dreams…" She was met with a soft snore.
She had trouble at first, tossing and turning under her sheets. Her still mildly high temperature causing her unrest for a bit, but to add, her heart wouldn't stop beating so loudly.
Misty grew tired, plopped her head down in Ash's direction on her floor, and couldn't help but curl her lips up in a smile…he looked cute sleeping with his mouth agape. She closed her eyes and listened in on his snoring, and finally she too went to dream land.
OoOoO
Author's Note: Bit nice to take a break from penning Mending Broken Hearts and going back to some basics. Not my best work, but I like it well enough, even if it is all over the place.