James woke up in the middle of the night very uncomfortably hot. He ran his fingers through his hair and found his forehead sweaty and his hair very sticky and damp. iI must have had a bad fever spell, he thought. Oh well, I'll just get up and cool off for a while./i

As James was about to get up and sit on the nearby log he saw Jesse then realized he was in his undershorts. He got his robe out of his pack and he sat down and laid the robe on his legs, just in case Jesse would wake up. He let the evening breeze cool him off. It felt so good to have a breeze run through his body, lifting his hair a little bit from his neck. When James was convinced he was cooled off enough to go back to bed, he got up and started to climb into his sleeping bag, when he decided he'd rather keep cool, so he used his sleeping bag as a mattress and his robe as a light sheet to cover him. When he lied down he looked at Meowth in the tree then at Jesse, he saw that Jesse was awake looking at him dreamily.

"Jesse, are you awake?" James whispered softly, but loud enough that she would hear if awake.

"Yes," Jesse whispered. "Why on earth did you go swimming in the middle of the night?" she asked.

"I didn't go swimming, I'm having a fever spell," he replied.

"Then why do you have a big, fluffy robe as a blanket?" she asked.

"Well, ummmm......I uh, thought I'd lay something on top of me in case you woke up or something," James answered sheepishly. iThat wasn't the smoothest explanation he's said in his life, /ihe thought. It wasn't even an excuse.

"Oh, I see what you mean......wait James, I've seen you plenty in undershorts before, so why are you making a big deal out of it?!" Jesse demanded.

That was honestly a good question. Honestly, James didn't know himself. Maybe it was because he's loved Jesse for practically his whole life. Either that the fever was getting to him. He shrugged. "I don't know."

Jesse looked at James. He looked like he didn't know, unless he was hiding something from her. Then she had an idea. She got out of her sleeping bag and went over to her little portable refrigerator and pulled out an ice pack. She gave it to James. "Here, put this on you forehead while I get some water from the lake, so I can wash your hair."

James took the ice pack and put it on his forehead. As Jesse headed for the lake James looked at her, noticing how beautiful she looked in her pink gown that went so well with her hair. He sighed.

"Hey Jimmy, where's Jesse and why da heck are ya all awake for?" Meowth asked, as he rubbed his eyes with his paws sleepily. "It's way late."

"I'm having a fever spell, and Jesse is going to the lake to get some water to wash my hair," James replied.

"Oh. Well, take care Jim, I'm a goin' back to sleep now," Meowth said as he curled up into his sleeping bag, which he himself had left earlier because he was uncomfortable. A slight grin crawled up his face, wondering if anything was going to happen between his two partners.

Just as Meowth fell asleep Jesse came back with four buckets of water. James noticed for the first time that Jesse was a lot stronger than she looked. Maybe that is one of the ways she keeps such a nice figure; saving water bills by carrying buckets of water so she can shampoo and rinse her hair.

Jesse gave James one of those sideways grins. She actually enjoyed doing this for him. She guessed that any opportunity to touch him wasn't worth giving up. James was one of those guys that she couldn't resist looking at as well as touching, whether it was by slapping or by massaging. Actually, James is the only guy she's felt that way about, unless you count Meowth, but Meowth is a different case. Her love for Meowth was a different love than James. With James, it was the kind of love that makes you feel like you want to spend the rest of your life with him love. Well, with Meowth it's like that as well but in a different way. Like pet and trainer, not marriage. Too bad I believe in the guy asking the girl, Jesse thought. If James does love me he probably couldn't admit it. She wished she could be sure.

Jesse laid James's head in the bucket of water to get his hair soaked. Then she took her dandruff shampoo and massaged his head, then rinsed his hair and dumped the dandruff water. Next she shampooed his hair, then dumped that bucket of water. Lastly, she put conditioner in his hair and left it in for a little while, then rinsed his hair once more. Then she blow-dried it. iOK, /ishe thought, ithis part is going to be a little harder./i "James, do you mind if I can dump this last bucket of water on your body to cool you down?" Jesse asked.

James hesitated. He already knew the water would be freezing cold, but he knew that Jesse was only trying to help. "OK, go ahead," he said, after that moment's thought.

"You have to take of your robe first," Jesse said. James shyly took his robe off and threw it over toward his sleeping bag.

Only it landed on Jesse's sleeping bags.

James pretended not to noticed. Jesse couldn't resist smiling. In fact, she almost giggled, but she knew better than to do that. Well, here comes torture time for James. She sighed. "Here we go," she said. She lifted the bucket then dumped the water, careful to miss as much of James's newly blown-dried hair as possible. James shivered violently and cried out a little, but got used to the cold quickly. He then relaxed a little.

Jesse went over to her sleeping bag to grab James's robe. For some reason she felt this wave of confidence spread over her. She assisted James in getting the robe on. After she tied the sash her hands slowly rose up on his shoulders, and one of her left fingers started to twiddle James's hair. The other hand rested gently on his right shoulder as she bent her head to kiss him. When their lips interlocked James slid his arms around Jesse's waist. He held her close and tight. Jesse's arm slid around his neck. They were kissing for about a minute when Jesse backed away gently. Her left arm still about his shoulder. Jesse ran her right hand down James's face. "I love you James," she whispered passionately.

"I love you too, Jesse," James said just as passionately, as he bent down to kiss her again.

While Jesse and James were kissing Meowth woke up and noticed the two standing, arms and lips interlocked. Meowth grinned. He wondered when the two would hook up, and he was glad to see that they finally had. Meowth watched them, and they were going at it for a while. He finally drifted off, having sweet dreams of a house in which James and Jesse were married and where he was the best cat. Ash, Misty, and Brock were invited, now that they were no longer enemies. "See, I told ya I'd be da top cat!" he said, grinning to the groom and bride and the guests as he gave a cheer. "This is like a dream come true!"

After about ten minutes of kissing, James looked at Meowth. Meowth was grinning happily in his sleep. "Look Jesse, Meowth must be having a good dream," James said.

"Yeah," Jesse replied, smiling.

"I wonder what he's dreaming about," James said. "He looks happier than ever."

"Who knows, maybe he's dreaming of a love-filled life," Jesse said, looking into James's eyes as they sparkled. James hugged her. He looked at Meowth, wondering what Meowth would have thought if he saw them kissing like they were earlier. iHe'd probably be filled with joy, then stare at us until he fell asleep. Then he'd dream of us getting married, where he'd be the best cat, bragging about how he told us all along that he'd reach the top. /i

James smiled there, hugging Jesse until the sun rose in the sky, not knowing just how right his assumptions were, or how true Meowth's dream would come true.