A/N: So...Aetheron who usually finds the worst of my errors is still off being an adult so...this may be...rough. Also it seems this year that I decided that actually writing Ash and Misty in stories about them seemed kinda boring...so…oops?

Fishing

It's just past nine in the morning when Daisy wakes up. She yawns, stretches in the warm mid morning sun, and heaves herself out of her bed. Rubbing her back, she grabs a dressing gown and walks bleary eyed into the hall. And stops.

It's quiet.

Very quiet.

She'd expected, given the late hour, that the gym would be bustling with energy. Full to the brim of young trainers nervously awaiting a battle or mourning one lost. She'd thought she'd have heard the not quite dulcet tones of one of her younger sisters refereeing a match or the steady timbre of her youngest sister calling out another partner with which to battle. But instead...it was quit. Well, as quiet as the gym got anyway. There was the ever present drone of water running through pipes and sitting in echoing pools. And of course, every so often, there was a pokémon call, though never one close enough to be made out.

Rubbing her eyes, Daisy shrugs and continues down to the kitchen. Misty must have closed the gym for the day. She's more than entitled to a day off and with everything that her youngest sister does, Daisy is surprised that the gym isn't closed more often. Still though, it's unlike Misty to close the gym so suddenly and without reason. Normally there are memos and reminders and warnings and holidays and migrations until you can't walk through the gym without knowing when it will be closed and why. On the rare occasions that Misty had closed the gym without notice there had always been a reason, usually a fiend in need or more rarely a sick day. And the night before had been Misty's vid-chat night. Probably-hopefully- someone was in need of some help. Just in case, Daisy pauses outside of Misty's door and waits, listening with held breath for coughing or wheezing or even any breathing that might mean Misty was inside. There is nothing and Daisy nods to herself, sure that Misty has gone off to help a friend.

Pushing the kitchen door open, Daisy reaches for the coffee maker and her thoughts stutter when she finds nothing there. She groans, the sound loud in the silent gym, and reaches instead for a cup of hot chocolate. The coffee maker had disappeared sometime in the last week and none of her sisters would own up to it, though Daisy was positive that Misty had been the culprit. Though the hot chocolate is not as satisfying as coffee would have been, it warms Daisy and wakes her up letting her look around with less bleary eyes. She sighs in relief, the sound once again loud against the near silent of her surroundings, to find Misty's fishing kit missing. Misty's just gone fishing, none of her friends need her help-she'll be back before lunch.

She's not back before lunch. Noon comes and goes without the youngest Waterflower returning to the gym. Daisy wakes up, having fallen asleep on a couch near the arena shortly after making it to the kitchen, to a note from Lily explaing that she and Violet had gone to lunch but that there's soup in the cabinet waiting for her and Misty. Daisy grins and stretches, aching as she hauls herself up. The kitchen is empty, the gym is empty and Misty's kit is still gone. Which, now that she's had more sleep, Daisy has to admit is odd. Misty doesn't typically skip everything to go fishing unless she is unhappy and that never happens after she's spoken to her friends. Something about this whole thing is off. And her other sisters can't even be bothered to help.

"Like, I guess I'll just have to go get her." Daisy sighs. A cacophony of pokémon calls answer her and Daisy is certain that everyone in the gym has chimed in. "Alright you monsters," she chides, heading to the coat closet, "I'm going." The pokémon call back happily in response, or at least Daisy hopes that is their happy, and so she hurries to throw on a light coat and scarf. She's almost out the door when she catches sight of herself in the mirror and grimaces. Though she has left the acting world behind, she's still something of a minor celebrity in Cerulean and it just won't do to go walking about with bed head and bags under her eyes. Grabbing a hat and large sunglasses, she grins at her reflection. It's not great but at least Cerulean might leave her be. The pokémon call behind her and she leaves, locking the gym's door and heading down a path she's walked many times in life.

It's usually only a five minute walk from the gym to Misty's favorite fishing hole but it takes Daisy almost 20 to carefully shuffle down the forest path. It's a brisk day in Cerulean, Daisy shivers, pulling her jacket closer to her body and clings to the sunny patches as she walks. Just as she reaches the top of the hill, overlooking the river, Daisy catches sight of her sister. She's sitting, Misty is, on the river bank-still in the shorts and yellow tank top that she wears until there's snow on the ground-with her fishing rod beside her standing up in the dirt. IN her hands Misty holds something yellow that seems to dangle from a string. She stares at it for a few moments before pulling her legs up and circling her arms around them. She leans her head down on her knees and looks out at the water, the yellow thing still dangling from her hand. Daisy creeps closer, abandoning the sun to slip behind trees on the way.

It's rare that Daisy sees her sister like this. Though Misty is seven years her junior, she's always been the responsible one. The stoic one. The strong one. When their parents had died and Misty had been 5, it had been her who had gotten her sisters named in charge of the gym. It had been her who had gotten them named her own guardian. And it had been her who had run the gym in her sisters' names. Beyond that, Misty rarely let anyone see beyond her tight control. An easy grin for her friends, a fierce smile for challengers; almost every expression was carefully crafted to hide. But this Misty, this Misty staring out at the river with her head on her knees. This Misty didn't know she was there.

"You might as well come out." Misty calls, head turned on her knee so that she's looking right at where Daisy is standing.

Daisy huffs out a laugh and steps out from behind the tree line. "How'd you, like, know I was there?"

"Twigs snapping." Misty replies,grinning up at her sister. "You should really be more careful of where you step."

Daisy grins and looks down at her sister. Playfully she ruffles her hair, and the redhead bats her hands away. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

Misty shrugs, an inelegant gesture that raises her shoulders completely and drops them quickly so that they fall with a sigh. "'Dunno"

"Like, ok." Daisy replies, "is that an "I don't know, I needed a break' or an 'I don't want to talk about it'?"

Misty drops her head to her knees and mumbles into them, sounds that Daisy can;t make out but that she knows spell a longer stay on the river bank.

"The second one then?" Daisy asks. She doesn't wait for a response before she begins the slow process of lowering herself to sit beside her sister. As though she's read her mind, Misty springs up to help Daisy settle. "I'm not an invalid." Daisy groans. "But thank you."

Misty grins, a wry smile that is gone seconds later as she turns back to the river.

"So like….what's going on?" Daisy asks. Misty grunts in response and Daisy huffs out a sigh that she can just barely see in the cooling air. She hadn't expected that to work. She's silent for a few moments, considering other topics or even suggesting that they head back in as quiet conversations are probably better had in warm places when Misty sighs again.

"I talked to my friends last night." Misty says into the relative quiet of the woods.

Daisy nods and, when Misty says nothing further, prompts her with an "...and?"

Misty scrubs her hand over her eyes and takes out her hair, shaking it out as she thinks. "And...do you think this as far as I go?"

Daisy blinks, hard. Of all the things she had been expecting, this question? It is not one of them. "Like, what?" she finally chokes out, Misty watching her with brimming eyes.

"I mean…" Misty starts, trailing off again to look at that yellow thing she;d been holding when Daisy had crept up. Closer now, Daisy can see that it's a lure crudely shaped like a pikachu's head and roughly painted. Daisy is fairly certain it wouldn't hold up in the water and is surprised to see it in Misty's arsenal. Misty had been making lures almost as long as she had been able to color, she's practically a master and her lures are well sought after. This is clearly not her work. Though, Daisy thinks, it could be the work of a certain pikachu training friend of Misty's.

"Is this, like, about Ash?" Daisy asks.

Misty sputters. "No." she spits, clutching the pikachu to her chest.

Daisy raises an eyebrow and waits.

Misty sighs. "Maybe…"

"What does Ash have to do with you, like, going further?" Daisy prods.

"Nothing?" Misty says. "or...I don't know...everything." She shrugs. "I just..I feel like I came back here and then...am I just waiting for my life to begin?"

"And you think that Ash is...like...your life?" Daisy asks, still unsure of the conversation.

"No," Misty groans. "Or...he might be part of it? I don't know."

"Like, ok," Daisy starts, still unsure of the conversation. "Why don't you start with..telling me what happened?"

"Drew proposed."

"Oh," Daisy breaks off, head tilted as she tries to place the name. Finally she gives up. "Which one is he?"

"The grass headed coordinator?" at Daisy's blank look, Misty continues, "The one from Hoenn who's totally in love with May." Misty mumbles.

"And...this makes you unhappy..because...you like him?" Daisy ventures.

Misty grabs a handful of grass to throw at her sister, showering Daisy in green. "No," she scoffs.

"Then…did he not propose to May?"

"No he did and they are disgustingly adorable about it." Misty responds into her knee.

"So you don't like him and….wait...is May that, like, little brunette with the brother?"

Misty nods, hands still pulling at the grass.

"Was she the one that was always getting flowers from her rival?" Another nod. "Anything else?"

Misty shrugs. "And Gary just got married and Tracey is just so excited to be a dad...thanks for telling me by the way."

Dais smiles and gestures at her distended belly, "Misty, if you couldn't, like, tell by now then I think that there is a really awkward talk that we have to have."

Misty laughs and throws yet more grass at Daisy who counters with a handful of clovers that she'd pulled up while Misty was distracted.

Laughing, Misty bumps Daisy shoulders and knocks the older girl nearly over. "I know that, dummy." Misty grins, gesturing to Daisy's belly. "You're kinda hard to miss. I meant about it being a girl."

"Oh that, like, jerk." Daisy fumes. "He wasn't supposed to tell you until I did."

Misty shrugs. "He's just excited."

"Me too." Daisy smiles, "But we were talking about you, little sister."

"I know," Misty mumbles, sinking into herself once more. "I just...look everyone's moving on. Gary is married and MAy is getting married and Tracey is going to be a dad and I'm just….stuck in this will we won't we loop with Ash. Or maybe we're not and I am and…" she blows out a huge breath and it floats ghost like in the cooling day.

Daisy grins, "Is that all? I was worried something big was wrong."

Misty screams into her knees and Daisy hides a laugh in her sleeve.

"Come on, Daisy. I share with you all of this really deep stuff and you make fun of me? Who does that?"

"I'm not making fun of you Misty, it's just….like open up your Pokegear or whatever you're using to talk these days and tell me who your last five calls were or ten or fifteen. They're all Ash and he picks up every time. Misty you two are something and have been since you were ten. But beyond that? Misty you don't need him to...go further. You are more than whatever it is your relationship with him is."

Misty groans again into her knee and Daisy smiles.

"Like, what was that little sis?"

"I know that," Misty groans again, this time facing her sister. "But what if….I just…"

"Everyone does things at their own pace." Daisy replies to her unasked question.

"But…" Misty starts again, only to be cut off by her sister.

"No buts, little sis. You are, like, way to awesome to be stuck on this." Daisy replies, offering a hand up. "Now, help me up. It is, like, way too cold on this ground for a pregnant lady and I could really go for some coffee right now."

"You can't have caffeine." Misty replies, helping Daisy off the ground.

"Ugh," Daisy offers in response, or would if she were not cut off by a strange buzzing. "Mist?"

"It's my Holo Caster." MIsty answers, pulling a red device from around her neck. She pauses in her walk, and presses some buttons on the surface before grinning. "I can..answer it later."

"Is it, like, your little boyfriend?" Daisy asks, reaching to grab it.

"No," Mist responds, pulling it out of reach and accidentally hitting one of the buttons. She can only watch in growing horror as Ash's image projects from the little screen until he stands in front of Misty and Daisy in a grainy blue hologram. The hologram smiles and scratches its head. Daisy grins.

"Hey Mist," the holographic Ash says, Pikachu jumping into the frame to join.

"Hey Pallet town," Misty replies, staring wide eyed at the image before her. "We were talking...last night...what's the call for?"

"I don't know," Ash responds and Daisy can't help but smack her head. "I just...wanted to talk to you? Is that alright?"

"Of course it's all right." Misty replies, "It's just...I'm with my sister…"

"Oh don't you two mind me" Daisy responds. "I am like, totally tired." She reaches an arm around Misty to give her a hug and then pushes away. "I'm going to head back to the gym and take a nap. I'll, like, see you later little sis." And Daisy walks away, dreaming of finding the coffee maker or at the very least some hot chocolate.