Night Talk

James hears shuffling next to him on the grassy hill. He slowly opens his eyes to the spacious sky full of stars and a bright moon. He lifts his head to see Jessie sitting farther away, staring at something in her hands. James walks over and kneels next to her. He notices tears streaming down her face. "Hey Jess, what's wrong?"

"Oh, hey James." Jessie quickly wipes away the drops with her glove, trying to hide the fact that she was crying. "I didn't know you were awake," she says monotonically.

James frowns. "What's that?" He gently takes the photo from her hand. "It's . . . you?" It shows a young Jessie. She was crying and wiping her face with two small fists. Her hair was tied into pigtails with purple ribbons and she wore an orange dress.

Jessie looks away. Her face is hidden by her long hair, kept down for the night. "I was five when they told me." James raises his eyebrows at her sudden release of emotions. "My mom worked with Team Rocket. They sent her on a mission to find Mew. She went missing in an avalanche."

"Ironic, we've seen Mew a few times," a voice speaks up next to them. Meowth stands at James' side.

"The thing is . . ." Jessie continues. "I always wonder if she'd be proud of me. I mean, I joined Team Rocket, but . . . we've never really succeeded at being evil. We've tried many times. Who knows, maybe she didn't even want me to follow in her footsteps. How will I know?" Tears start pouring down her face. She doesn't try to hide it this time.

"Oh Jess . . ." James puts his arm around her and she cries into his chest. "We've all had our troubles."

"I never even knew my parents," Meowth speaks up. "I was abandoned and left on my own." Meowth cries too, grabbing onto James' leg.

James thinks back to his family. The never really cared for him. All they thought of was money. They wanted him to marry a rich brat, just so they would have more money. Besides, he cared for someone else. James looks down at his friends. Tears come to his eyes. "We need to put it all behind us. Now we're our own family. This is our team. It may be small . . . and broken. But it's good." Meowth and Jessie look up at him. "Yeah, still good."

There are two paintings to go with this on my DeviantArt, called "Small and Broken". And yes, that is a "Lilo and Stitch" quote.