A/N: Hello, everyone. There is a story behind this one! I actually started writing this a year ago, back in 2015. I just kept getting distracted by this and that and never got to finish it. I resolved to change that this year and held it until the last month and it is finally complete!

The story behind me writing this is I was listening to "Misty's Song" from the "Pokémon 2.B.A. Master" soundtrack and the song "My Only Wish" from Britney Spears. Yeah, I know. A bit surprising, right? I'm not her biggest fan, by any means, but that song is beautiful.

This fan fic was inspired by number of sources, including several AAML stories and one of my favorite authors being pikagurl23, whose work is great! I was also inspired by other fan fictions including a Sleepy Hollow one by sleepyheadfan20 and some AAML fan art.

I hope you guys like this one. I really do. Enjoy!

My Only Wish

Misty sat on her couch as she looked at the clock. It was just after 11 the night before Christmas Eve. She didn't hate the holidays; they just weren't the best time for her. She was hoping that she would never spend another Christmas alone but, yet, here she was again. And she had no one to blame but herself.

Misty turned on the television to distract herself from her thoughts but it only worked for about a half hour. The holiday specials were all over every channel and the more she saw happy families, the lonelier she felt. Her sisters went on a cruise and they all invited her; Daisy almost would not accept no for an answer but Misty refused. She missed her sisters and loved being around them but, somehow, she didn't feel like she should've gone with them. They didn't deal with things the same way she did. They loved shopping and living the glamourous life; she loved jeans, t-shirts, and Pokémon battles. She would've loved nothing more than to see past her sorrow and go with her sisters but this was always the time that she missed her parents the most.

She looked at the clock. 1:54 AM.

She wanted to see the one person who never failed to be there for her and she knew that he always went home to his mother's for the holidays. This Christmas was no different. She hated herself for what she was about to do because it was taking advantage of their friendship. She knew Ash would forgive her.

She hoped he would.

She put on some clothes and her shoes, even grabbing an extra shirt just in case. She grabbed her keys and her purse, got in her car, and drove out into the night toward Pallet Town.

It was just after 4 in the morning when Misty pulled up in front of Ash's house. She couldn't believe that she just did this but there was no going back now. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

After a few rings, a very groggy Ash answered, "The world better be on fire."

"Ash…" Misty managed to say. Then she couldn't help it. She started crying.

Ash snapped awake. "Misty? Misty, what's wrong?"

She got ahold of herself just long enough to say, "Can you come outside?"

"Outside? Wha… are you here?" He moved to his window, pulled back his curtain and saw her car.

She sniffed. "Yeah."

"Be right out."

"Okay." She ended the call, got out of the car, and walked to his front door. As soon as she got to the door, it opened and she laid eyes on her best friend and constant source of support. She looked into the eyes of the man who had her heart.

"Misty," Ash breathed out.

"Ash…" She threw her arms around and pulled him close, crying into his neck.

He put his arms around her, "Hey. Hey, it's okay. It's okay."

"I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry, Ash. Please, don't be mad at me. I just… I couldn't stay at home."

"It's okay, Misty. I'm not mad. Just… when did you leave?"

"A couple of hours ago."

"You drove out in the middle of the night?"

"I couldn't sleep. And…" She exhaled. "I had to see you. I needed to see you."

He pulled her closer. "It's okay, Mist. You can come see me anytime."

"Thank you. Thank you."

He nodded, "Come in the house." He took her by the hand and guided her inside. He led her to the couch that sat close to the Christmas tree in the living room. "Wait here for a sec."

She nodded and sat down. She stared at the tree and, instantly, she felt calm. She wasn't sure if it was just being around Ash, being in his house, or the warm decorations Ash's mother, Delia, put up every year. Just like every year Misty came to the Ketchum household, it was a Christmas wonderland. Delia never failed to keep a festive mood in the house, even if it was just her. She did for herself and Ash and, by her own admission, for Ash's friends as well. Misty often wondered if her mother was anything like Delia.

Ash walked back into the room and sat down next to Misty. "I let Mom know you were here."

"Is she mad?" she asked.

"You must be really delirious if you think my mother would be mad that you're here."

"I'm intruding on your family time."

"Yep, you're definitely delirious. You're not intruding on anything. You're welcome here anytime."

She smiled. "I don't deserve a friend like you."

"Don't be stupid. You're a great friend. We're there for each other. It's what we do."

She sighed and stared at the tree.

He looked at the tree, as well. "Missing your parents?"

She exhaled. "Yeah."

"Why didn't you go with Daisy and the girls? She asked me if I knew why you wouldn't go. I didn't know what to tell her."

"I don't know. I could already feel the sadness coming on and… I just didn't want to ruin their good time."

"They just wanted to help you forget all about this for a while. They know the holidays are hard for you."

"I know and I love them for it. Just… they're different from me. I mean, I love them. I do but we are so… so…"

"Different. Like you said. You're not like them. Never have been."

She looked at Ash.

He leaned forward, staring at the tree. "That's not a bad thing. You like gym battles, they shop. So what? You guys are still a good family. You love each other, no question. You all miss your parents and you do it your way."

"Yeah."

"You just need find a way to cope with it, Misty."

She smiled. "I'm doing it now."

He smiled and looked at her. "Glad I can help."

She slowly placed her hand on his. "You've helped me since the day we met."

"Not possible. I stole your bike and totaled it."

She giggled. "Fair enough. More like day three."

"You're being nice. It took to, like, week three for me to be nice to you."

She laughed. "Yeah, okay. You were so mean."

"Never said I was smart when I was a kid."

"And that's different how?"

"Ha, ha!" he laughed, sarcastically. "You're hilarious." He got up and started gathering pillows and blankets.

"So, I'm taking the couch?"

"Yep." He dropped some blankets and two pillows. "I got the floor."

"Ash, you can get in your own…"

"No chance. The floor is just fine. I'll be right here if you need me."

She smiled. "Thank you." She looked at him, "Ash."

"Yeah?"

She had an admission, right on the tip of her tongue. "Uh… never mind."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Thank you… for letting me in."

"Anytime, Misty. You know that."

"You're pretty sweet, Ash," Misty admitted.

He smiled. "What am I gonna do? Leave you on the couch and go sleep in my bed? Do you remember that time we slept on the ground for those few years-MOST of our childhood!"

She giggled.

"Now, stop being silly and go to sleep."

She smiled. "Thanks, Ash."

"No problem. We'll talk more in the morning."

"Okay."

Misty laid down on the pillow, pulled the blanket over her, and, quicker then she realized, she drifted off to sleep. She knew the reason: aside from being tired, she always slept better around Ash and she got some of her best sleep at his house.

The next thing she knew, Misty was on a hill in Pallet Town and there was snow everywhere. She saw children playing all over the place, doing everything ice skating to throwing snowballs at each other.

She smiled.

"Mom!" she heard a voice yell.

She looked to see two kids running toward her. One was a girl who had red hair and dark brown eyes that seemed really similar to Ash. The other child was a boy with black hair. And her eyes.

"Are you gonna play with us?" the red head asked.

"Yeah!" the black haired child shouted. "Come play!"

"Leave your mom be, kids!" a voice said behind her. "She plays with you all the time. Go play with the other kids for a while. Let her rest."

"Okay," they both said dejected.

Misty felt bad so she kneeled down. She smiled. "I promise we can play later."

They brightened right away.

"Go on, now."

They ran off and joined the other children.

She turned to see the person that spoke. It was Ash. He was older but still just as handsome and cute as he'd ever been. He walked up to her, wrapped his arm around her waist, and kissed her on the cheek.

She gasped.

"Five years of being married and you can still impress me with great a mother you are," Ash said.

"Oh, yeah?" Misty asked, sounding like she was sure and that this was a conversation they had before.

But she had so many questions.

"Yep." Ash kissed her on the lips.

It was perfect. She almost started crying.

"I love you, Misty."

"Oh, Ash!" she cried and wrapped her arms around him. "I love you too. So much. I love you. I love you!"

He laughed. "I love you, too."

"No, it's… it's so much more, Ash. I'm in love with you. So in love. This is what I want. You, a family. All of this love."

"It's yours, Misty. Ours."

She hugged him again. "I love you. Ash, I love you."

Misty startled herself awake with a gasp. She found that her arms were in the air as she was still reaching out for Ash. She slowly lowered her arms and laid still for the second in silence before grabbing her forehead. She wanted to cry. The dream was perfect. It all was perfect. Her and Ash, married. They had children. They were happy. Why couldn't she have that? Why couldn't she have him? They didn't even need to be married right now; she just wanted to tell him that she loved him. She didn't stop herself anymore. She went ahead and cried for what she couldn't have and what she wouldn't have.

"Misty?"

She gasped and looked over to see Ash was already sitting up.

"You okay?"

She tried to answer but all she could think about was dream. He said 'I love you' and he said it more than once. All she wanted for Christmas was to hear that. Nothing else but that.

Misty sat up and Ash climbed on to the sofa and put his arm around her. "It's okay, Misty," he said to her.

She just leaned on to him and cried until she felt sleepy again.

The following morning, Delia was already up and gone as she promised to help serve in a soup kitchen in Vermillion City for the morning. Originally, the plan was for Ash to go with her but Delia knew better once Misty showed up. Plus, Delia knew for a fact that Misty needed Ash more than anyone else in Kanto.

After Delia left, Ash made breakfast for him and Misty, started to clean up around the house, and help prepare some of the food for Christmas dinner tomorrow with Misty volunteering to help. He was washing dishes while Misty helped put some food away.

After putting some dishes in the drainer, Ash dried his hands and looked at Misty, "So, did you sleep alright? Ya know, after your dream?"

Misty blushed. "Uh… yeah, yeah." She moved, awkwardly, while putting the last food item in the oven and closing it. "Thanks for… sitting up with me."

"No problem. Just glad you feel better."

She smiled and sat down at the kitchen table, drinking some tea that she made.

He leaned against the sink and folded his arms. "So, you're in love with me, huh?"

She gasped. It took her a minute to fully process what she just heard. Once she did, she slowly looked at him.

He was smiling at her. "You were talking in your sleep. First time, too."

"Oh, God," she said, as her cheeks turned red. "Ash, I…"

"You know what's funny about dreams and Christmas?"

She leaned her head to the side, "Huh?"

"They both have a way of revealing exactly what you want."

She became wide eyed and lost all forms of words.

"I'm just lucky I don't talk in my sleep. You would've heard me say that years ago."

"Years?"

"Years, Misty."

She couldn't even begin to figure out how to respond to that. "Ash… I… you don't have to…"

He walked over to her and stopped in front of her, "Have to? Of course not. I want to." He pulled a chair up, sat directly in front of her, and took her hand, gently, inside of his. She felt butterflies flutter in her stomach.

He exhaled. "I love you, Misty."

Her eyes widened and said, in disbelief, "You love me."

"Yeah."

She tried to catch her breath as tears started to form.

He smirked. "Do you know how hard it's been to not say any of this over the past few years?"

"Ash…"

"I hope you don't think I'm taking advantage of you, Misty. I'm not." He sighed. "I just… I don't want you to be embarrassed or think you're alone in this. I fell for you a long time ago. I don't even remember when anymore. I just wanted you to know."

She stared at him and saw the sincerity in his eyes, straight down to his heart. She just rushed forward and threw her arms around him, squeezing him as hard as she could. He hugged her back, inhaling her scent before exhaling.

"I love you," she whispered. "I have for so long. Any time my day was bad, I could call you. Any time I wanted to see you, you told me where you were in the world and you would wait for me or tell me where you were going and you would wait for me. It's never mattered what I needed… you were there for me." She took a breath. "I came here because I knew you would be there for me. I just knew it. I felt guilty for bothering you but… even if you got mad, I knew you would forgive me."

"Of course, I would. But you didn't make me mad and you weren't bothering me. Not ever."

"Ash, can I kiss you now? I really, really want to."

"I really, really want you to."

She moved from hugging him and stared into his eyes for a second. She, slowly, pressed her lips to his.

After their kiss, they slowly separated and took a deep breath.

Misty stared at Ash, "Wow…"

"I know, right," he said, out of breath.

"I'm gonna guess you had a Christmas gift for me, right?"

"Yeah. I was gonna try to drive out to give it to you tomorrow."

She shrugged, "You just gave me a gift."

"Can I give it you again?"

"Yes, please."

They kissed again. Misty's loneliness wasn't completely gone and it never would be. But she finally had something to make the pain fade further and further away. She found the one thing that reduced that pain. She'd had it all along.

A/N: And there you have it! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year! Leave me some reviews, if you like! Take care!