Summary: A fun little oneshot about the magic of Christmas.
Pairing: Ash/Misty; Pokeshipping; AAML
Ages: Ash and Misty: about 16/17; Brock: about 20.
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I affiliated in any way with the Pokémon franchise. This story is merely for entertainment.
"Amen." The word passed as a whisper through the halls of the church. Ash was practically drooling on Misty's shoulder, his head having fallen against her, and his eyes had been closed since half way through the service. Misty sharply flicked his Adam's apple, and his eyes immediately snapped open as his neck jutted forward and an uncomfortable grunt burst through his lips. Without a glance back at her victim, Misty grabbed her bag and headed toward the door, Ash following reluctantly behind, massaging his sore throat.
Brock patted his shoulder in sympathy. He had been on the receiving end of far too many such actions of the fiery redhead as well. "Never leave the neck open, man."
"Shut up."
"Why can't this be snow?" Ash whined as raindrops drummed against the front windshield, watching the wipers furiously spray them off the sides of the car.
"Because," Brock reasoned, "with Misty's driving we would have found our way into a ditch long back. Since it's only rain, we don't have to worry about any black ice finding its way under our tires, completing Misty's goal of killing us all."
At that, Misty just pressed harder onto the gas, the engine roaring beneath them.
Brock shifted uncomfortably in the back of the car. "Seriously, Misty, either drive slower or drop us off at the mall over there."
Ash perked up from drawing pictures of pokémon on the foggy glass of the passenger seat saying, "Mall?"
Misty rolled her eyes. "Yes, Ash, mall. We're passing through Celadon. You can see the mall from all edges of the city."
"Can we stop there?" Ash asked. "I have to buy some Christmas presents."
Misty stopped the car, breaks screeching and skipping on the slick road under them. She whipped to face him, her most ridiculing look gracing her face. "Christmas presents?" she questioned. "It's Christmas Eve. Hence why we're returning home from the Christmas Eve service that you just slept through. You're just getting shopping done now?"
Obviously not seeing the problem, Ash just shrugged his shoulders, replying a simple, "Yeah."
Misty sighed in frustration, blowing the bangs from out of her eyes and spinning the wheel in the direction of the mall.
"Aw, how cute!" Misty squealed, gallivanting around the store, picking up various knickknacks and gushing repeatedly over them. Brock sighed as he trailed after her, having realized the pointlessness of trying to keep up with her long ago. He found it easier to just follow in her general direction, keeping an ear out for her doubtless periodic trills of approval over whatever useless trinket had grabbed her attention.
He was going to kill Ash.
"Oh," He heard her sigh from a little ways further in the store.
Brock spotted her bright orange hair and made his way up behind her. He watched her tilt her head as she marveled at something on the table. "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," she whispered.
He looked over her shoulder and saw her gazing upon a small necklace. The chain was a simple silver and at the end lay a lone pendent. It nearly resembled a cascade badge, save it was made of a single glittering opal. Misty tore her eyes away from it, turning to look at Brock. "I'm done window shopping. You can tell Ash to meet us at the car when he's through."
Christmas morning, Brock and Misty were awakened from a crash and a whoop sounding from Ash's bedroom. They both scrambled in, finding Ash in front of his window, dancing, with the blinds tangled on the ground by his feet.
"What are you doing, Ash?" Misty asked groggily, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.
"There's snow!" Ash cried, his eyes lighting up as they returned, once again, to the window. He grasped Misty's hand and tore out the door toward the backyard to play in the snow as the sun rose.
"Here ya go, Mist." Ash said, handing Misty a thin golden box. It was so shiny she could see her reflection in it, and felt expensive and luxurious. She smiled as she ripped the top off, finding many sheets of tissue paper underneath. As they all flew out of the box, she finally reached the core of the gift.
One glance at it, and she turned to Ash, crying out, "Ash! You're such a pervert!" as she threw a wad of tissue paper at his face.
"It's not from me!" he exclaimed in defense while swatting the papers out of the air, "It's from you're sisters."
Misty looked at him in confusion before returning her attention back to the contents of the box. She brushed her fingers against the fabric of the garment before lightly pinching the tops of the straps, pulling it up, it unfolding itself as she held it in front of her. It was a short dress, the silhouette of a negligee, with a wide scalloped hem, and small crystals encrusting the sweetheart neckline. The color was a cool cyan, just a shade or two more blue than her eyes.
"It's a Sensational Sisters' dress," Misty murmured quietly as she brought the piece into her lap.
She looked completely lost in thought as she gazed reverently at the garment until Ash broke the moment with a burst of laughter escaping his lips. "What did you think it was?"
Misty blushed, damning the eternal fate of a redhead to have no fighting chance to hide embarrassment. She stuttered, "Well, you know my sisters and… their ways with guys…" She glanced at the dress again."They chose a dress that looked like this for a reason, you know, and, well, it kind of looks like, when you first look at it…" She hid her face as it began turning purple. "Lingerie."
Misty looked back up from the floor to find Brock looking dreamily into the distance, no doubt imagining her sisters, and Ash now refusing to meet her eyes as his face too turned a soft pink color. Deciding to take care of one problem at a time, Misty scooted the box out from in front of her and crawled across the carpet to an unsuspecting Brock. She quickly flicked his jugular and fell back into her previous spot as though she had never moved just as Brock grabbed his throat and gagged.
Once Brock calmed down, Misty turned to Ash and asked, "So what did you actually get me?"
Ash's eyes grew big and practically sparkled as he proudly pronounced, "It's not in here; it's outside."
Curious, Misty picked herself up from the floor and began moving out of the room before Ash grabbed her wrist. "Hold on, I want it to be a surprise," he said and produced a blindfold from behind his back.
"You know, Ash, it being Christmas and all kind of already achieves that goal," Misty said sardonically. But she just rolled her eyes and she submitted anyway, brushing her hair from out of her face as Ash tied the folded handkerchief loosely over her eyes.
They made their way outside, Brock guiding Misty and Ash eagerly running in front as Misty rubbed her goosebumped arms for warmth, desperately wishing that Ash had thought this little plan of his through a little more. Just then, Brock whisked the blindfold off of Misty's face, revealing Ash gesturing dramatically in front of a brand new, shiny bicycle. Misty gasped and looked at it in awe, reaching out to run her hands along the handle bars before swatting Ash on the back of the head. "About time, Mr. Pokémon Master," she said, trying to glare at him before ultimately failing and throwing her arms around his neck. "I love it."
Ash grinned, pulling back from her embrace saying, "That's not all!" and flipping open the wicker top on the basket tied to the front of the bike. Inside lay a small velvet box. Misty stared for a moment before gingerly picked it up and snapped it open, revealing a tear shaped opal necklace. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly, the words not coming to her as she looked back and forth between the necklace and Ash's smiling face.
"Thank you so much," she murmured softly, eyes glassy as she again met Ash's proud gaze. She stepped up on her tiptoes, reaching to kiss his cheek, but at the last second, he turned his face slightly, meeting her lips on his. Misty squeaked in surprise into his mouth, eyes opening suddenly as she pulled back.
Her face twisted in confusion, looking with wide eyes at Ash who just smiled shyly back at her. He leaned forward toward her lips again, Misty shrinking back slightly, until they were mere centimeters apart. Almost touching, Ash whispered, "You're welcome," before turning on his heel and walking back into the house leaving a flushed Misty resting her hand on her pounding chest as she watched him go.
A/N: Merry Christmas! This is my first oneshot, and it really just poured out of my head, and not exactly in order, so I know that it doesn't really make sense, have a plot, or flow, but hey, that just means that you can leave a lot of constructive criticism in a review. I hope you like it, because even though it doesn't make sense, I still like how it turned out. Oh, also, the style for this story was kind of inspired by Parmesan by rainflower. Excellent little story.
Image belongs to MiyaToriaka on DeviantArt