[Flashback]

"Ash is right," Gibbs informed. Kate looked at him. "For once," he mumbled.

"Hey," I replied.

"Wow," Kate exclaimed. "I thought I would die before I heard-" Her reply was stopped short when a gun shot was heard and blood splattered onto my face. She fell over, and I saw that a bullet had been shot through her head.

"Ari," Gibbs whispered. I didn't hear it. Kate was dead. She'd just saved our lives, and… I… loved her. But now, she was gone forever.

[Flashback end]

I remembered this as I walked up to eat lunch. Five years ago from today, I'd realized that I'd loved her. Even though she had been Twenty- three and I had been seven, I still loved her. It was stronger than any other love I'd had for anyone else (Well, I didn't know her name, but still!). I remembered how when we met her, a Marine that had had lunch with the president had been killed, and Gibbs, Ducky and I went to investigate. At the time, I was five, and was the only one on the team, besides Ducky and Abby. But of Field Agents on Gibbs's team, I was single. Right now, we were working with McGee and Ziva. Ziva was the female Israeli agent who had taken Kate's place.

Kate…

"Ash!" Brock's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I looked up at my Pokemon breeder friend.

"You completely zoned out," Dawn informed. She was a coordinator traveling with us. "What's wrong?" She asked. I was silent for a moment.

"It's nothing," I replied. I looked away from her as soon as I could. She reminded me of Kate so much… I had to blink back tears quickly. No matter how long it's been, I always find myself trying really hard not to cry when I think about her. I missed her so much…

"Ash!" Dawn snapped me out of my thoughts this time. "Are you sure that it's nothing?"

"Y- yeah," I barely said without letting out I was close to crying. I decided that this was one of those few times that I had to let it out (I had no choice), so I stood up. "I'm gonna go take a walk," I informed. Right as I turned to go, I saw Dawn expressing the same face Kate had been right before she was shot. I couldn't hold my tears back. I ran from the campsite as fast as I could and through the woods until I tripped on a rock and landed on my hands and knees. The sobs overcame me, and for the first time since exactly one year ago from today, I let the tears out. I missed Kate so much still, I just… I couldn't get over her. After crying for a while, I got up and tried to find my way back to the campsite. Instead of the campsite, I found a river. I looked into it and found that it was obvious that I had been crying. I splashed water onto my face, and when I saw my reflection again, it wasn't me.

It was Kate.

"You know, Ash," She said. "I did have a good time at NCIS."

"I… didn't know that… Oh, Kate, I miss you so much!" And, for the second time that day (which usually never happens), I cried extremely hard. By the time I calmed down, I splashed my face with water again, and, without looking in the river again in case I saw Kate, I somehow found my way back to the campsite.

"There you are, Ash." Dawn smiled when I walked into their sight. I avoided looking at her.

"Where were you?" Brock asked.

"Uh… I… got lost," I mumbled. It was true, but not… fully. I realized with a start how long I'd been gone. The sun was setting, and Brock and Dawn were preparing to camp out again, thanks to my missing Kate. "Uh…"

"What is it, Ash?" Dawn asked. Again, exactly like Kate. My heart felt like it was in one of Pikachu's Thunderbolts.

"I'm just… tired. I think that… I'll go to bed."

"But Ash, you barely ate anything today!"

"I know. I'm kind of… stressed, too. I'll see you guys in the morning." I walked over to my sleeping bag and crawled into it. As I pretended to sleep, I listened in on Brock and Dawn's conversation.

"Brock… I'm worried about Ash."

"Me, too. I'm wondering if Paul has finally… gotten to him."

"Yeah. I mean, it isn't like him, refusing to eat like this."

"I'm beginning to think that… he might be sick."

"Oh, I hope not! That would be horrible!"

Tears were pouring out of my eyes by then. The last time I had a virus… I almost died. Right now, I felt like I had the Bubonic Plague again, I missed Kate so much. She almost got it, too, but not fully. I don't remember much of it, but I remember her walking out while crying and Ducky hugging her for comfort. Now, I'm the one that needs comforting.

The next morning, it took me a while to get up. Brock had to shake me to wake me up, and they literally had to pull me out of my sleeping bag. They forced me to eat breakfast, and soon, we were on our way. I was doing okay until a giant, rubber hand reached down and grabbed Piplup. Dawn grabbed it, and was pulled up along with Piplup. Team Rocket came in on their Meowth Hot Air Balloon, and recited their motto. I wasn't listening; I felt like since Dawn was in trouble, Kate was in trouble. They suddenly started to fly off with Dawn and Piplup, and Brock and I followed. They flew over a cliff, and we had to stop chasing them. I felt like I was going to cry, and Brock must have noticed.

"Don't worry, Ash. We'll find them."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"I just hope that Team Rocket won't hurt Kate…"

"Kate?"

I fell to my knees. "I mean, D…" I sobbed. I couldn't hold back my tears again. I began to cry hard again, and I knew Brock was concerned.

"Ash…"

"Sh- she was my p- partner," I explained through sobs. "W- we had been working together for over t- two years. We j- just had a normal c- case that day." Brock sat on his knees next to me and set a hand on my shoulder. "W- we had to stop a missel from d- destroying a Navy Sh- ship. We were c- clearing a rooftop, Kate, Gibbs and I, when some guy, A- Ari, our enemy at the time, shot at Gibbs. Kate th- threw herself in front of the b- bullet to s- save him."

"Oh, man…"

"H- her bullet proof v- vest protected her, though. I had b- been really worried. A- after that we were t- talking, a- and Ari… h- he…" I began to cry even harder. "H- he sh- shot her i- in the h- head… Oh, Brock, I m- miss her so much!" Believe it or not, Brock actually hugged me for comfort. He was still confused, though.

"But, why are you still bothered by it? How long ago did it happen?"

"It happened five years ago from yesterday. D- Dawn reminds me of Kate so much… It's just so hard not to s- see her as Kate." We pulled away as I wiped tears from my eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost control like this…"

"It's okay, Ash. I think that you needed to tell Pikachu and I. It's fine to talk about these things sometimes."

I smiled a little. It felt nice to know that. "Come on," I suggested as I stood. "Let's go find Ka- uh, Dawn."

"Right." We ran off to find Dawn and Piplup.