She hated him, she really did. Couldn't ever say why if you asked her, all she knew was that for some reason she hated the boy and he hated her for the same unknown reasons.

And yet every time she sees him, hears his voice, or even just hears about him from an outside source her heart flutters, dances, and then skips a beat. Just the sound of his name gets her heart to move in ways it shouldn't for someone she hates so much.

When she sees his eyes, the way the shine with each new victory, the way they always match his smirk, the way they never lie, it takes her breath away.

And when she sees all those other girls around him, cheering for him, hanging off him, she gets jealous. She just wants nothing more than to rip there heads off and she doesn't know why.

Just like she doesn't know why she hates him or why he hates her.

She can't understand it, why she hates him, why her heart aches for him, why she cries herself to sleep some nights over him for no reason at all.

Yet, for as much as she wants to say that last bit is entirely true, she knows it isn't.

She knows why her heart does what it does for him and why she cries over him each night. And she understands why.

She loves him.

She, Ash Ketchum, is in love with Gary Oak.

And yet she still hates him and he hates her and neither really know why. They just do.

She knows he loves her to, she really does. But neither is willing to admit it.

Maybe that's why they hate each other so much, because neither will be the first to say the 'L' word. The 'H' word, though it has the same amount of letters and syllables, is just easier, yet so much more painful to say.

Pikachu knows she loves Gary. And one night, the little mouse has had enough of her crying.

Pikachu just can't let her drain herself to sleep like that anymore. It's to painful to watch, to hurtful to listen to, and can't be good for anyone's health.

So he slips out of the room they're in at the Pokémon center and dashes down the hall to Gary's room. He had seen the human boy earlier while they were checking in, Ash hadn't noticed or else she might have checked out and slept outside for the night to try and avoid more pain.

He knocks and Umbreon answers. He knows She's just as worried about her own trainer as he is if the look on her face is anything to go by.

Umbreon lets Pikachu in and they walk over to the boy who, from the looks of it, is in about the same state of Ash. Picture of her in his hand to match the picture of him in hers.

The electric mouse sparks to get the boys attention. Gary looks up, recognizes Pikachu, and quickly looks around for the mouse's trainer.

He seems a little disappointed when he doesn't see her, a little relieved to, and looks back to Pikachu in confusion.

The mouse give him a 'follow me' motion and scurries to the door. Gary follows and Umbreon stays in the room as Pikachu guides her trainer to his own.

The door is still unlocked and cracked open, and it's not squeaky at all, so when Pikachu leads Gary inside Ash's room they don't make a sound.

Gary sees her in the same state he had just been in, crying over a photo of him, and moves forward to tap her shoulder.

She gasps, turns, and sees him with tear streaked cheeks and a photo of her in his hand. She looks back to her own photo, the one of him, and smiles for the first time in forever.

He smiles to and sits next to her.

Maybe seeing is as good as hearing. Maybe not. Or maybe seeing is better than hearing it.

Two halves of the same whole, to stubborn to make the first sound.

Two neighboring pieces to the same puzzle who didn't know until they saw the same fitting marks on the other that they were truly meant to be.

And so they know with sight, not sound, and the veil of hate is lifted enough to let them both say,

"I love you."

Hey guys, I'm back. Sorry I haven't put anything up or updated anything in forever, but between school ending and some serious writers block there wasn't much I could do. So I got bored and wrote this. For now I think I'm going to stick with one-shots and drabbles until I can completely kick this writers block away, But I will eventually return to my chapter stories I promise. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one-shot and will enjoy any future one-shots to come. And remember reviews are always welcome!