Author's Notes: This fic has a buddy. 'What He Doesn't Know'.
Dedicated: As always, for Chelle. Because she thinks that it's funny when I send Ash through the emotional meat grinder.
Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't profit from. Don't sue.
Moonlight
By: Circe
Tonight I feel restless, like I have too much energy and too little space. I don't know why I feel like this so I'll just blame it on the moon. It's nearly full tonight. I love the full moon, the way that it lights up everything and makes the night not-so-dark. It's nice. But I still feel all restless inside. Like I should be doing something but I don't know what that something is. Instead I'm prowling around the campsite doing nothing in particular.
I wish I could sleep. Heck, I wish that I could just settle down. I've already done all the dishes and the laundry and the mending. I'm still looking for something to do, but it'll have to be quiet because Ash is asleep. Lucky him. Misty isn't asleep though. She's watching me; has been for the past hour. I don't blame her; I'm really jittery tonight. Normally I'm pretty calm and easygoing. Not under this almost full moon though, tonight I am edgy and full of some weird tension.
I can't take it. I've got to do something, anything. I shoot a quick glance at where Misty is sitting on her sleeping bag. She meets my glance with an even stare. We've been spending a lot of time together lately. More than usual I mean. She's teaching me about water pokemon. My rock and fire types are all weak against water types and I think it'll make me a better breeder if I understand their chief opponents. I could breed rock pokemon that are strong against water pokemon, but first I need to understand how the water types work and nobody has more answers to my questions than Misty. Lately Misty and I have taken to using her pokemon to battle each other in different types of water. Last week she and horsea stomped the crap outta goldeen and me. We were camped by a stream at the time and the flow of the current kept knocking me off of my feet. She promised me a rematch. Tonight we're camped out by a small pond. It looks very calm and still. It probably means getting my butt kicked but at least it'll keep me busy and maybe take this weird edge off of me.
"Misty?" I whisper so that I don't wake up Ash. I don't know why I called her name, we're staring right at each other and really, to whom else would I be talking? Ash and Pikachu are both asleep.
"Yeah Brock?" She's whispering too. It's kinda weird to be whispering to Misty in the firelight, with a nearly full moon above us.
"I don't know about you, but I've got a ton of energy to burn. Want to have that rematch now?" I make a vague gesture to the nearby pond. She follows the motion with her eyes and then glances back at me.
"It only looks calm." She tells me, one eyebrow arched, and then she smiles. "Sure, let's get changed into our swim suits and I'll meet you down at the water."
"Thanks Misty, I really appreciate this." I sound relieved even to my own ears. God, I need to get rid of this energy. I grab my swim trunks and head into the woods to change.
"My pleasure Brock." Her voice is soft, an even quieter whisper than we have been using. I turn to look at her, but she's already disappeared into the woods, changing. Sometimes I think that I missing something about Misty.
As I change I think about the girl I'm about to face. We've gotten to be good friends. We understand each other because we've had a bit of the same background. Both of us raised in gyms and both of us became gym trainers at young ages; although neither of us were official gym leaders. There's nobody I trust more with my secrets. But sometimes I think that I'm hiding something from her. I'm not sure what it is though. Just that every now and again something in Misty's eyes and in her voice tugs at me, at my heart. But that's silly. She's just a kid. Isn't she?
Sometimes I don't think so. It's really weird when I have dreams about kissing some girl and I think it's Joy or Jenny until I open my eyes and find that I'm kissing Misty. Boy, nothing wakes me up faster. Maybe that's why I'm so restless tonight. Because lately it seems like Misty and I are joined at the hip and every time I spend a lot of time with her I end up having the kissing dream. I sort of don't want to go to sleep tonight because I'm pretty sure I'll have the dream again.
Oh my god! I'm standing here half-naked and thinking about Misty and the kissing dream! What the heck is wrong with me? I've got to hurry and stop thinking about this kind of stuff. Besides, Misty doesn't take this long to change into her swimsuit and she's probably waiting for me at the water's edge. I hurry and finish changing into my trunks then sprint for the pond. I was right, she is waiting.
"Hey Brock, I was afraid I'd have to come in there after you." She says with a grin. She's not whispering now, we're far enough away from camp so that we don't have to worry about waking Ash.
"Just planning my strategy, Misty." I tell her and I start to wade into the water. It's cool, but not cold. Oh crap, Misty was right. The water only looked still, underneath it is moving, swirling. Something tells me I'm gonna land on my ass in this match, in more way than one. I glance over my shoulder at Misty and she gives me an evil grin. She darts past me and into the water and soon she's in up to her waist.
"I told you it only looked still." She calls back to me. She tosses goldeen's pokeball to me at the same time that she tossed the other pokeball out into the water. "Come on, Horsea!" She says, her voice ringing with confidence. I, however, have already managed to submerge myself in the water in a pathetic attempt to catch the pokeball in midair. I'm wet from head to toe. And Misty already called goldeen out for me. This match is going to go just great for me.
I wade out to stand a few feet away from Misty, facing her. I only slipped once on my way, too. I'm not as lucky during the battle. Goldeen and Horsea are swimming so fast and making so many waves that I keep falling in the water and I can hardly stay standing for long enough to issue any commands; but the hardest part is Misty. She's laughing, at me, at the situation and the fact that she's dry from the waist up. And I can't stop thinking about the kissing dream. I've got to do something, so the next time I start to fall I lunge forward and grab Misty around the waist. This time, she's going down with me.
She pops up before I do; it takes me a little while to find my feet in the water and a little longer to be able to stand up. I think my little plan backfired. There are little beads of water on her cheeks and more on her shoulder, even her eyelashes are spiky with water. And the light from the nearly full moon is shining on the water on her skin. Her hair is down too, I guess the water pulled her ponytail holder out. Misty looks beautiful.
That something is in her eyes again and it's tugging at me. I move closer to her and I reach out to touch her face. Wait! What the heck am I thinking? I don't touch her; instead I push a strand of hair out of her eyes and tuck it behind one of her ears. She really does look beautiful. When the heck did that happen?
"When did you get beautiful, Misty?" I can't keep myself from asking her, because lately she has had all the answers that I've been looking for. Misty blushes and looks away. I think I've embarrassed her. She looks even prettier when she blushes, but with her head down like that I can't see her eyes and the thing in them that's making me feel so strange inside my own skin. I reach out and cup her chin. I feel myself slipping a little so I step closer to her and drop my other hand from her arm to her waist. I also quietly thank god that the pokemon aren't swimming by us and making me trip. I'm on the verge here.
I tilt her head back up so I can look into her eyes. It hits me like a ton of bricks. I think maybe I know what I've been hiding from myself and Misty. I'm in love with Misty. And she's in love with me. That's what's been in her eyes lately and that's why I've been having that dream so often. It's why I've been so restless and on edge tonight. I think I'm gonna faint. Nope, I can't faint yet, not while the moonlight is shinning on the water that's beaded up on the skin of her cheek.
"Misty, can I kiss you?" I'm whispering now. She's so lovely that I have to kiss her and I really don't want to misstep myself here, so I ask. I watch as Misty's mouth drops open into a perfect little 'o'. I think I've surprised her. I must have because before tonight I've never even let myself have a second glance at her. I'm looking now and I hope she never asks me to look away again, because I don't think I could. She's not saying anything here and I'm getting a little nervous. Maybe I just didn't ask her right.
"Please?" I'm a little desperate and I sound like it. I'm afraid that she's going to walk away, or say no or something. But Misty takes pity on me. Her arms have been still at her sides since we first came up from under the water but now they rise and I feel her hands settle over the bare skin of my upper chest. I watch in fascination as she closes her mouth and nods her head. It's a yes. I can kiss her. She steps in close to me, so close that our chests are nearly touching. She tilts her head up and meets my eyes with hers.
"Please." She whispers and she nearly brings me to my knees. I have to touch her, I just have too. I run my index finger along her cheekbone and gather up the drops of water there. I pause, with my fingers by her ear, and then trace a path along her jaw to rest under her chin. I tip her head back just a little more, to give myself better access and to see the drop of water still clinging to her lower lip. I slide the hand at her waist around to the small of her back, pulling her a little closer. Then I lean in to kiss her.
And for the space one long, sweet kiss there is nothing in the world but me and Misty and the moonlight. And you know what? I don't feel restless anymore.
Author's Notes, part 2: Mm-mm, full of sappy cheesy goodness! I know; the ending was cheesy, but hey I'm good at that part of it. Besides, it isn't any worse than some of the Misty/Ash fic out there. *Snicker*. Go, Brock, Go!