The Reason is You
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Disclaimer: I do NOT own Pokemon or any of the copyrighted material implied or mentioned in this story.
This is my first fanfiction AND the first story I've really written outside of school work, so constructive comments/reviews are greatly appreciated. And ideas or suggestions. I could really use those. :D
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Prologue: Decisions
A boy. A girl. Something that felt like it should have been… but something that, it turns out, was not meant to be…
A hooded man looks up from the darkness. A red cap hides his face, but you can see his spiky black hair underneath it. When he speaks, his mouth does not move. These words, his story, are powerful enough for them to just… come to you.
"Life –my life- was shaped by decisions. My decisions. Decisions I wanted to make, since I could not resist the temptation. Decisions I was forced to make. Decisions I deluded myself into making, thinking that I was doing the right thing. But all the same, decisions. All of them. We would not be who we are now, if it weren't for the decisions we chose to make during our lives… and this may not be a good thing… A part of me does not want to be what I see today in the mirror… it was because our decision, what we each felt was right at the time, that caused us to lose each other. . . "
Chapter One: Misty decides to 'fess up
Misty ran a comb through her hair and hurriedly stuck a clip into it. She was running late, and she still didn't have anything to wear. Today was the big day. The day she'd been counting down to for months. Today, Ash was coming home. She sighed. Her little dough boy. She'd loved him for so long. She'd liked him right away, the second she first saw him and heard his voice. Even after he had totaled her bike, she'd decided to follow him. They'd gotten closer over the years, and her heart had almost broken when they had to part. The though of never seeing him again, even when she was just about to go see him, still made her feel choked up. Not choked up as in about to cry. Her eyes just got all watery as she thought about what it felt like to have loved and lost. She imagined what it must be like to have something stab through her heart over and over again. She could almost feel the pain of it. That lump in her throat was coming back to choke her. Watery eyes. It was an important distinction, she felt. Not the same as crying. She didn't cry- not when she could help it.
She sat down at her desk and opened a drawer, which was cluttered with photos and knick knacks she had collected over the years. Bobbleheads. Stickers. The silly set of keychains that Ash had given her on one of their trips. She loved to be surrounded by things she loved. She loved to be around people who she knew loved her as much as she loved them. And, somehow, Ash was one of the only people who made her feel like that. That was part of the reason she like him so much. She hoped, no, she just knew that he loved her back. She knew that he was the one. Despite how much they fought, she always felt prettier, more special, when he was around.
At the bottom of the drawer, she dug out a box and opened it. A crumpled photograph fluttered to the floor. Ash's face grinned up at her –well- more like grimaced. There she was, right next to him, smiling like the world, back when she knew that there would be more journeys, more fun times like that to come. It seemed so long ago. She touched the photograph and held it to her face. Feeling the cool paper touch her cheek, she snapped out of her daze and remembered. He doesn't know yet. For all he knew, they were friends – and nothing more. She thought of the nights she had spend looking at him, thinking about him until she drifted off herself. How she worried for him as he threw himself into the face of danger, time after time. And he had said that they were 'friends'. They seemed like so much more to her. She shook her head, suddenly angry with herself. Enough of this mush, Misty. What's wrong with you? She guessed that she knew, deep in her heart, they would always be friends, no matter what happened between them. But just that word, friends sounded so bad to her now. She wanted more. Why are you even thinking of Ash this way? Is it because… She felt a blush creep up her cheeks, even though she was alone. Ash looked back up at her from the photograph. His eyes, that defiant face, and that expression of his… They seemed to lend her strength.
She walked up to her dresser and looked into the mirror at herself. A small, red-headed girl stared back, with a fixed gaze. She wasn't particularly beautiful, but her porcelain skin glowed, and her green eyes gleamed mischievously. Her mark on the world was one of energy- she wasn't pretty like her sisters. She could almost hear them… You little runt… Like, too bad you're not totally beautiful like us… A scrawny thing like you? She shook her head. What would happen if she told him? What if he didn't want her back? Ash really cares about you, Brock had said. When two people fight like this, they really love each other very much… Again she shook her head. She knew what she wanted. She knew that if she wanted it badly enough, she'd have to go after it. Before she lost him again. She held her head up high and glared at the mirror, sizing up the other girl looking back.
"You know what? I'm going to tell Ash how I feel about him! T O D A Y."