disclaimer: i don't own anything.
notes: this does not take place in the actual pokéanime-verse but in an dramatic AU where Ash and Misty are hopeless young adults with semi-sad lives but whatever this might not even make sense
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We once hoped we would last. In a way, we will.
In the front porch of his mother's home, they sat side-by-side alone smoking stale cigarettes like they did when they were in their rebellious stage. She grew her hair out to the middle of her back while he cut off an inch. It has been two years since they've last spoken to each other face to face. The wounds left by both of them were still mending but time healed the worst of it. They were brought back together in celebration of his mother's birthday and promised her to be on speaking terms.
They loved each other for eight years.
On his eighteenth birthday, he drove off in hopes of traveling the world like he always talked about since they were young, leaving her behind in the dust because she promised herself she would not follow. Not this time. She waited an hour for him to come to his senses, to at least ask her to come along.
He never did.
It was just them, the silence of the night, and a small cloud of smoke dispersing into nothing. They both downed a few drinks during the party which made the conversation easier for the sake of their relationship. She skipped the small talk, after all they weren't strangers, and asked him if he was still traveling. She asked because she already knew the answer.
"By tomorrow afternoon I'll be heading north," he said.
"Towards what exactly?"
He shrugged, "A mountain to hike? A village to visit? I'll go anywhere I'm accepted, you know that."
"Are you still alone on these trips, Ash? Brock told me you guys spent some time together but that was a while ago. You should call him more, he misses you."
"I know, I'm not the best at returning phone calls," he said sadly, "but I can easily say I'm never alone, I'm always finding people to go on the ride with."
She scoffed, "Women included?"
He glared at the ground, filling his empty lungs with smoke, "I'm just trying to make memories with other people now, Misty."
He remembered thinking earlier two years was enough time to move on, that next time he visits the sea he can look out at the horizon and her name won't come to mind. He can learn new names and faces and not think about her. But time is not kind to those that leave everything behind.
"I know that," she said, "I know you are-but promise, promise me that whoever you meet, tell them about us. Especially if they're young and foolish. Warn them what happens when people fall in love prematurely, show them pictures of us at fifteen."
"Why fifteen?"
"Well ten was when I first met you and thirteen was when I knew for sure, fifteen was when I said it," she said, "but sixteen is when we showed it."
He slightly laughed, "I think sixteen was my favorite."
"Mines too," she admitted, "but now we're older and you need to let me know that even if you fall in love again please remember what happened to us."
"How do you know I'm not in love right now, huh? I can have a girl back at the town over waiting for me and you wouldn't know shit, so stop acting like I can never love someone again like I loved you."
"That's the thing," she smiled sadly, "You won't because you never love the same way twice."
"How do you know that?" he asked.
"Because I've been trying."
Her frame looked smaller than he remembered and it made him almost reach over to pull her into his chest. He knew better because if he did there would be no letting go. Instead he took a sip of his beer and kept quiet.
"Look, I don't need you making the same mistakes," she finally admits, "What I need is to trust you to not break another person's heart and I need to know you'll be okay, with or without them. Whoever they turn out to be. Promise me you won't do the same thing to the next girl who loves you."
"Misty, I-"
"No! Listen to me-remember me at my worst, remember me yelling at you to come back and crying to your mom when you wouldn't. Remember the broken coke bottles I threw and remember you putting your hands on my wrists. Remember the distance. Remember that I loved you and that you loved me, but remind yourself what we had wasn't enough."
They sat in silence beneath the hazy night sky. Ash spoke first.
"At the end, I really thought we would end up together. Drinking lemonade as we watch our grandkids play in the garden, right under my mom's California Oak."
She chuckled, "So did your mom."
"There are still times that I look back at my rearview mirror and swear that you're standing at the end of the lot watching me drive off."
"And there are times I think maybe we'll meet again once we're older and our minds are less hectic, and everything will settle like the universe intended."
"You're such a romantic, Mist."
"Bite me," she said, "I'm pouring my heart out to you for the final time and that's your response." He tensed up. He didn't like the way final time poured out of her lips so easily.
"The thing is no matter what I say sometimes you don't listen," she said, "I know that there are people out there waiting for you to meet them and they won't be able to stop themselves from falling in love with you. And maybe you'll find a pretty blonde, her eyes bluer than mine. She'll be so sweet that it doesn't take much for you to fall. So even if I warn you to remember what the world does to people like us that fall in love, you're gonna do it again anyway."
She tilted his face sideways to face her. "That's who you are, Ash," she said, holding her hand in his, "You'll always go against the inevitable and I love you for it."
His eyes began to dwell with tears. Her smile was heavy with melancholy but just as sweet as it was when they happy together.
He let her wipe away his tears, "I'm sorry I left."
"Me too."
"I-if years go by, and we meet again and we are less hectic like you said, I promise I wouldn't leave."
"If you did leave again I promise to chase you like I should have done before."
"You taught me how to love, Misty."
"You always knew how to, Ash."
"I loved you, so much."
"I know, I remember."
For the final time, they laughed and cried under the stars as if they were out pass curfew. The next morning he was gone, leaving down the same dirt path. She did not chase after him and he did not look back at his rearview mirror. They both left their young hearts on the wobbly porch where they sat that night.
Years pass, and at twenty-sixth Ash finds a girl to call home. Her hair is golden sunshine and her eyes are as blue as the sky. He sits her down, brings her a cup of tea, and says, "Serena, can I tell you a story?"
With that, they were mended.
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notes: i hope you liked it! its weird and not very in character but i read too much about lost young love to not apply it to one of my favorite pairings of all time tbh