Author's Note: This was written in 2000, so pre-Johto. 2013 update is to fix formatting issues.

Lavender Rose

by Musashihazmat84

Jesse stared at Giovanni's desk, still in shock that James and she had been called back. Or rather, the fact that they had agreed to go back. She glanced at James and squeezed his hand.

Giovanni looked at them both, and evil grin on his face. "I can see how- uncomfortable you are. Hmm..." he chuckled, "You have no reason to be. I brought you here to- thank you."

"What?" she gasped.

"You heard me. Jesse, you have been a tremendous help to me in my plans." He pressed a small button and a secret door in the bookcase opened, revealing a small girl of about four years old. She had long, jet black hair that was swept into a large curl behind her head, much like Jesse's. Her eyes were a rivoting deep blue and as soon as she saw her, Jesse knew that this child was hers.

Giovanni stood and walked to the girl. "Jesse, little Lavender here has shown excellent thought processes found only in older children and teenagers. Her brilliance is envied by many. Her plans for the genetic cloning and breeding of pokemon are far better than my own and.. she has helped me conquer what I wanted. She was much like you when you were younger, Jesse. I only hope that, in the future, she does not make the wretched mistakes that you did." He smiled at Lavender and said," Run along and play, dear."

Jesse sank into a chair as Lavender said, "Yes Daddy." and ran off. The child was hers. Hers and Giovanni's.

The room was eerily silent as Jesse stared at James. He glared at her. "How dare you..." he whispered. "James, wait! I can explain.." she cried, but James only turned and walked away.

The clock in the foyer chimed three. Jesse slowly opened her eyes only to see darkness. Her heart was pounding. It was only a dream; a horrible nightmare, but the child was hers.

Jesse rose from the comfortable bed and walked across the hall to the bathroom. She squinted as she turned on the light. She turned on the water and stared into the mirror, at the dark bags under her eyes. The child in the dream was hers, but it was only a dream. Lavender Rose had died nearly a year and a half ago. She splashed some cool water on her face and when she looked up again, she was startled by James, who was standing in the doorway.

"I heard you get up, " he said, "Jess, what's wrong?"

"It's a bad dream I had, that's all."

"Care to talk about it?"

She nodded, but as she did she could feel her throat getting choked up. Fighting back tears, she said, "James, it was about Lavender...and Giovanni...and-" She looked deep into his eyes, but buried her head in his shoulder as her vision started to blur. "You left me!" she sobbed. ***
"So, I walked away from you after I found out about Lavender?"

"Yes," Jesse said quietly, looking into her coffee cup. James sat quietly for a moment, then said, "You're afraid I'm going to leave you, aren't you?"

"I suppose. James, you're all I have!"

"Jess," he stood from his seat across from her and walked to her, "you know I could never do that to you." "I know, but..."

"Look-" he knelt to her level and picked up her left hand. He gestured to the engagement ring. "This means a lot to me Jess. I know you say you aren't ready for marriage, but I'll wait as long as I have to. You're still recovering from you ordeal, and I'm going to take care of you until you do. The marriage vows say 'in sickness and in health' and even though we haven't said them yet, I'm going to follow them as if we had."

Jesse sat quietly, staring into James' eyes. He truly meant it, and yet, she still felt empty. No matter how he tried to cheer her up, she always felt empty, like she wasn't pleasing him, or anyone. He tried so hard to help her; they moved out of his parents' house into their own house, he tried to build a life for them and yet- "James, I feel so ungrateful. You've done so much for me- put up with me..."

"Shhh, Jess. I know you do appreciate everything." He ran his hand through her hair. "Hey, the sun will be coming up soon; do you want to go out to the living room and watch the sunrise?" She smiled sadly and nodded, and they walked to the cold, dark living room. She heard James pulling a few small chairs over to the large glass doors overlooking Avery Pond. She felt her way to the chairs and sat, waiting for James to bring a blanket over. He sat down next to her and gently draped the large, soft Korean blanket over them, and she snuggled up to him. This hadn't been the first sunrise they had watched together in this house- she never failed to wake up at least once a week for some reason because there was something wrong with her.

"Jesse, you're tensing up," James said.

"Sorry." She couldn't even cuddle right. She couldn't do anything right anymore, it seemed. ***
"Meowth, I just don't get it!" James said, frustrated, "I've done everything I could think of, and yet she doesn't even smile."

"Jesse don't mean it, James. You know dem years in dat hell changed her."

"Yeah, but I got her out of there and I've kept her safe-"

"But it ain't enough! Ya done everything ya could, but she needs ta do the rest herself. What she wants, you can't give her."

"What do you mean?"

"Jesse wants her child back, James. Dere's some part of her dat believes Lavender Rose is still alive dat she don't wanna let go of."

Jesse leaned against the wall near the kitchen where James and Meowth were. Meowth was right, in every way. A tear slid down her cheek as Meowth continued, "She thinks dat hope is gonna bring her baby back to her."

She'd heard enough, and began to walk across the dark living room. All she ever did was put others through hell, a hell she created; a hell she couldn't escape. Even if she just ended it all, James would be in hell for the rest of his life. There was no way out. Useless bitch, why couldn't she just pull herself together already? Her foot caught on something, and she shrieked as she came down with a crash on the glass coffee table. Muffled sounds of James and Meowth rushing to the living room pounded on her brain and her head began to swim. Blood seeped into her eyes just before everything went black. ***

James paced the waiting room of the hospital, once in a while glancing at the TV in the corner. Meowth sat in a nearby chair, watching him.

"James, why don't ya sit down before ya fall down."

James stopped pacing and stared at the TV where there was a flashing red message scrolling across the screen. "We interrupt this program to bring you late-breaking news."

A woman appeared on the screen. "Good evening, my name is Paula Steiner. For nearly two years now, police all over the world have been trying to destroy Team Rocket, a secret criminal organization. In the past few hours, police have apprehended Giovanni, the head of Team Rocket, and his elite Team. They have found all of the current and previous Rocket Members' files, and have recovered many sick and injured pokemon from the labs where horrifying experiments have recently been performed. Seven children, all under the age of ten, have also been recovered from the compound. We now go to Officer Jenny, live, from New Serenity City."

The police officer with teal hair appeared on the screen. "Thank you, Paula. As you can see, things are pretty hectic around here. My staff have been trying to calm people and pokemon, while trying to get them all to safety. The discovery of the seven children was quite startling to us all, for many of them don't know who their parents are, and one is too young to form coherent words."

Officer Jenny bent down for a moment and came back into view holding a small girl with lavender hair and large, green eyes. "This little girl here is only about eighteen months old, and the youngest we've found. The other children don't even know what her name is. Until we check the files we found, we can't be sure of her name, or who her parents are."

As he stared into the little girl's eyes, a chill went up his spine. That girl looked like Jesse, but even more so, she looked like him. She was eighteen months old-the same age Jesse's child would have been. Lavender Rose was dead- but what if Team Rocket originally lied to Jesse- oh god.

"James, are ya all right?" Meowth asked, "Ya look like ya just seen a ghost!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." ***

James slipped quietly into the dim light of Jesse's hospital room, the image of the girl still in his mind. If that child was hers, then it may be all she needed to be herself again. The doctor had told him she was sleeping peacefully- he wasn't going to disturb her. He sat by her and stroked her face. She always seemed at peace in her sleep. Her nose twitched a little and her eyes slowly opened.

"Sorry Jess," James said, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Don't apologize, James, " she whispered, "I should be the one to apologize."

"Why? You didn't do anything wrong."

"I cause you so much trouble, James, you always worry about me and you're not happy with me." "Jesse, it's true that I worry about you, but I'm very happy with you! I love you Jess, nothing can change that. You aren't a burden to me."

"Yes, I am."

He could see the tears in her eyes; it seemed as though nothing could get her to change her mind. Maybe, maybe someone else could help her; anything as long as she got better. He looked at the floor. "Jess, I think you need to see someone, like a counselor." She was going to get mad, but he had to say it.

"A counselor!" she shrieked, "What the hell do you think a counselor is going to do? 'How do you feel, Jessica; why do you feel that way, Jessica-' I don't need a shrink's bullshit! They'll say, 'I know how you feel, Jessica, what do you think will help' Bullshit! They wouldn't know in a million fucking years what I've gone through. They-" she paused to catch her breath and wipe her eyes, "God! They weren't forced by some sadistic asshole! They weren't impregnated by the man they hated most," a sob escaped her and she looked straight into James' eyes, "They don't know what it's like to finally accept and love the child you are carrying despite the circumstances in which it was conceived, only to have the child taken from you immediately after you give birth! They don't know, James..." He enveloped her in a hug as she began to cry hysterically. A chill ran down his spine as she whispered in his ear, "They don't know what it's like to live everyday in fear; in fear that you'll lose everything that you've worked so hard to get back. They've never been trapped in a nightmare and to have forgotten what your dreams once were."

At this Jesse lapsed into another fit of tears. They sat each other's embrace for an unmeasurable amount of time, and James only let go when he realized that Jesse had cried herself to sleep. He would tell her what became of Giovanni in the morning. He laid her back against the pillows and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, Jesse." ***
James carried the now sleeping Jesse up to the door while Meowth unlocked it. Upon entering the house, the phone began to ring. "Meowth, do you think you could get that?" he asked as he carried Jesse into his bedroom. As he gently laid her down, Meowth came into the room, cordless phone in hand. "Hey James, Offica Jenny is on da phone. She wants to talk to ya."

James took the phone and walked down the hall to the living room. "Hello?"

"Hello, Mr. Dorrance? This is Officer Jenny from New Serenity City. Does Jessica Sterling also reside there?"

"Yes, what is all this about?"

"I'd prefer not to speak of it over the phone, but it has to do with your records from your career with Team Rocket. Don't worry, you're not in trouble, but we need you to come down to the station. It is most important that we speak with you and Miss Sterling."

"Jesse is sleeping right now, though. She's not feeling well."

"Mr. Dorrance, this is more important. I hope to see you both in a few hours. Good Day."

James pushed the off button on the phone and walked into the kitchen to hang it up. New Serenity City- the place where Team Rocket had finally been destroyed, the place where Jesse had been shot, where they had been fired, where their lives had nearly been ruined. James still couldn't shake the image of the little girl from the previous night, and yet he hadn't told Jesse about her.

Three hours to New Serenity City. Wonderful, just wonderful. He walked back to his bedroom where Jesse was still asleep, and he laid down next to her. "Jesse," he said softly, "Wake up Jesse, we need to go to New Serenity City."

She stirred a little and opened her eyes. "What?" she mumbled.

"Officer Jenny wants to see us in New Serenity City. We'll probably stay until tomorrow, so we need to pack. If you want, I'll pack for you."

"Ok," she said as she shut her eyes again. He pulled out a suitcase from the closet and began to fill it with various clothes. Meowth walked into the room. "So, " he asked, " Wha'd she say?"

"She wants Jesse and I to go to New Serenity City immediately. She says it has to do with the files from the last Team Rocket compound."

"Oh," he glanced at Jesse. "She ain't in any condition ta go, you know. Doctor told her ta rest today." "I know. I told Officer Jenny that, but she said that this was more important."

There was a long pause. "You tink it has ta do wit dat kid!"

What? How could Meowth know about that? "What kid are you talking about, Meowth?"

"Da one on the TV last night. Don't tink I didn't see all da color drain from ya face! As soon as you saw dat little girl."

James looked at the floor and nodded. "I can't help it Meowth. Ever since I saw her yesterday I couldn't help but think that there's some connection between her, and Jesse, and- me."

Meowth's jaw dropped to the floor. "James, excuse my French but what da hell are ya thinkin'? Giovanni barely let Jesse outta his sight the entire time she was dere, and let me tell ya, on the rare occasions she did get away, she came and found me, not some guy to go screw! James, you know dat Jesse wouldn't do day to ya; she loves ya too much. Dat kid ain't Jesse's" he paused, pointing a finger at James, "or yours for dat matter. You and I both know you ain't never had sex, or fooled around. You that as much as I do, so stop talkin' crazy talk."

***
James ushered Jesse into the police station just as the sun was setting. He could feel the bags under his eyes and Jesse was still somewhat out of it. After the concussion she had, the doctors said she really needed to rest for a few days. He walked up to the receptionist's desk. "Officer Jenny asked to see us."

"Your names please?"

"James Dorrance and Jessica Sterling."

"Oh yes, " she handed him a clipboard, "Please sign your names here."

He signed their names and handed her the clipboard.

"The first room on your left, sir."

He and Jesse found the room with ease, yet uneasily walked in. The door had been open and Officer Jenny was sitting at her desk. "Mr. Dorrance! You're finally here! Please, sit down."

They both sat down in the uncomfortable chairs and James rubbed his eyes.

"Mr. Dorrance, you look tired, " Officer Jenny said, "Would you like some coffee or something?" "No, thanks."

"I see. Well, the reason I brought you here was because of the files we found at the Team Rocket compound." She displayed four manila folders. "These are the files for both of you, Meowth and a young girl named Lavender Rose."

James' heart jumped into his throat. He hadn't told Jesse of the girl he had seen on TV the previous night, but he had told her of Giovanni.

"Lavender Rose?!" Jesse shrieked, her eyes wide, "What the hell would they have a file for her for? She wasn't even alive an entire day!" Her voice was filled with anguish as she said bitterly, "What did they do to her, kill her?"

"Not quite," Officer Jenny said quietly as she handed Jesse her own file as well as Lavender's. She handed James his own file, and he began to flip through the now slightly yellowed pages. At the end he noticed a sheet of lined paper carelessly stapled to the back cover. In Giovanni's own hand read, "I started the AI-Project with Jessica Sterling today (7/15/2006)." AI-Project? He flipped back through his file looking for the AI-Project, which sounded very foreign to him. He had never agreed to take part in such a project, whatever it was. However, Giovanni was not one who was known for asking permission. He finally found it, under his termination notice- Giovanni had terminated him and Jesse the day before he told them, but on the actual day he told them he had written, "started AI-project." Damn. Giovanni couldn't just pick up a pen and write down what he had done. "Oh my god..." Jesse whispered, her shaking hands shutting the folder. Her face was an odd color, and she didn't look so great. Her eyes were glued to the typed name, "Lavender Rose Sterling" on the front of the folder. "Jesse?" James asked, "are you all right?" He set down his folder and moved closer to her. "James-" Jesse faltered, and held up the folder with her shaking hands, "Lavender Rose- is alive." "What?"

She handed him the manila folder with shaking hands. He opened it and scanned the first page. It read;

A success! The child was born quite healthy and close to Jessica's due date. Height and weight were average. Strangely, as Jessica's pregnancy progressed, she became more calm. At first we thought she were going insane. She named the child, "Lavender Rose." The Artificial Insemination Project was one of the only successes of Jessica and James." James' heart began to race.. The Artificial Insemination Project..oh god-Lavender Rose was his child! His head began to swim and he braced himself on a chair. A father. He was a father.

"James, are you all right?" Jesse asked. He nodded and looked up at Officer Jenny. "Is she here?" Officer Jenny smiled. "She's here; however before I can let you both see her you need to answer a question. Do you want to keep her, or put her up for adoption?"

"I'm going to keep her," Jesse said quietly. James reached over and squeezed her hand.

"All right then. You'll need to sign these papers and follow me."

***
Jesse slowly followed Officer Jenny through the corridor, feeling slightly light-headed. Lavender Rose was alive; James was the father; and Giovanni was in prison. Oh God. Was this all really happening? She felt herself sway a little and steadied herself using James as a support.

"Are you okay, Jesse?" James asked.

She shook her head. "Not really. My head hurts-"

He put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "Any better?"

She smiled slightly. "A little."

Officer Jenny stopped at a metal door at the end of the hall which read "Temporary Nursery," and said "Wait here."

Jesse found a seat near the door and sat down, resting her head on her palms. James sat down next to her and put his arm around her. "I'm scared Lavender Rose won't like us..." she whispered, "James, what if we're bad parents?"

He kissed her forehead. "We'd be better parents than Team Rocket, Jesse."

Officer Jenny came out of the room holding a little girl with lavender hair and large, green eyes. Jesse and James stood, unsure of how to act. Officer Jenny handed Lavender to Jesse, and she just stared into her eyes. She looked at James and felt her eyes well up with tears. "James," she said, "this is my first time holding her." She stepped closer to James, who had his hands shoved into his pockets.

"Do you want to hold her?" she asked. He gave her a sheepish grin, "Yeah." She smiled as she handed the little girl to James. A huge smile spread across his face as he took Lavender in his arms. Looking to Jesse, he whispered, "This is our daughter, Jesse- ours!"

It was well past one AM when James finally opened the front door for Jesse, who was carrying Lavender Rose. It was hard to believe that it had only been the previous night that James had seen Lavender on national TV. He had been right about the connection, though, and Meowth would probably have a heart attack when he found out. He watched Jesse carry Lavender down the hall and he walked to the bathroom. As he got changed into his pajamas, he vaguely wondered where Jesse was going to sleep that night, or rather, where Lavender was going to sleep. He brushed his teeth and walked to his bedroom. Jesse was sitting on the bed in a rose-colored nightgown, still holding Lavender. "James," she asked, "where is Lavender going to sleep?"

"Um..." James shrugged. "What about your bed?"

"No, I want her to sleep in a smaller bed than that..."

"What about Meowth's bed? We could put Meowth in your bed and Lavender in his bed, but where would you sleep?"

She shrugged.

"Well, until you figure out what you're going to do, " James said, "I'm going to move Meowth into your room."

He walked out into the hall and into Meowth's room.

"Cat grub... nine lyfetime supplies of cat grub... Meowsie.." he mumbled. James shook him lightly. "What?"

"We need to move you- we need your bed."

Meowth's eyes opened. "What for?"

He didn't want to tell Meowth yet- he ran his hand through his hair. "We have a new, sick baby pokemon that needs a small bed."

"Yeah, whateva."

James picked up the sleepy feline and deposited him in Jesse's room. He dragged Meowth's little bed into his room, and Jesse tenderly laid Lavender down and covered her with a blanket. She kissed her on the forehead and murmured, "Goodnight, my little rose."

She turned to James. "Well, I guess we'll be sleeping in the same bed tonight."

"You're sure?" he asked, slightly blushing.

"Yeah, I'm sure." ***
They awakened when the door to the bedroom flew open. "Holy cats!" Meowth shrieked, "You twos are sleepin' tagetha now?"

"Meowth, quiet down!" Jesse hissed, "you might wake Lavender."

"Huh? Whaddaya mean?" He spotted his bed and walked over to it. "So dis is da 'sick pokemon' you stole my bed for, huh James."

"Yeah, " he mumbled.

"Well, I tell ya, I ain't never seen no pokemon dat looked like a minute version of you and Jesse!" James grinned at Jesse and they both started to giggle. "Is that what you told him?" Jesse asked. "Huh?" Meowth looked perplexed. "Told me what?"

"I wanted to wait to tell him..."

"Come on, guys! I'm in da room here! I know dis ain't no pokemon."

"Of course it's not," Jesse said, "A human can't give birth to a pokemon."

"You ain't tellin' me dat dis is your child-"

"No," James said, "This is our child!"

When Meowth's jaw dropped to the floor, James leaned over and kissed Jesse. "We have a lot of explaining to do..." he murmured. Jesse flashed a gorgeous smile at him, then looked towards Meowth. "You'll make a wonderful babysitter..." she said.

Meowth passed out.

Jesse started to snicker when Meowth later walked into the kitchen. When James turned around, he too started to snicker when he saw the look on Meowth's face. "You look most perplexed, Meowth!"

Meowth stared at the child in Jesse's arms. "I still tink ya lyin'!"

"And, " Jesse said, "I suppose we would just kidnap a child that would look just like us."

James turned back to cooking pancakes. "We used to steal Pokemon, not people."

"I still don't believe ya."

"Do you want proof?" James asked.

"How da hell could ya proof dat one?"

"Hey!" Jesse hissed, "Watch your meowth!"

"It's easy to prove," James said, "We have a copy of Lavender's birth certificate."

"Heh!" Meowth said, "I gotta see dis one."

James flipped a pancake. "Skeptic."

"James, " Jesse asked, "Where did you put the copies of our files?"

"On the chair in the hall." he said .As he placed the last pancake on the plate, Meowth jumped up and grabbed the plate off the counter. Jesse walked back into the kitchen with the files in question, and set them down on the table in front of Meowth. Jesse put Lavender in a booster chair and prepared some baby food for her as James sat and began to eat. "We have to go shopping today and get some food and furniture, " Jesse said.

"And, " James added, "a marriage license." ***
Jesse stared out the glass on the sliding glass door that led to the porch. It had just rained; the leaves on the trees were vibrant yellows, oranges and reds. She looked down at her white wedding dress and smoothed the ruffles gently with both of her hands.

"Hey Jesse!" Meowth said, "Tradition says dat ya can't see James on ya weddin' day before the ceremony! Ya gotta get outta here!"

Jesse smiled and walked down the hallway to her bedroom. "I swear, Meowth, I've never seen anyone act as Best Man, Matron of Honor, Usher and Bridesmaid!"

"Yeah," Meowth said, "and you've never seen a talkin' cat before me either! I'm only actin' like this until Ash and Misty arrive!"

Jesse sat on the bed. "Only a few hours until we're married! Meowth- is Lavender dressed?"

"Yeah, she's dressed an' runnin' around!"

Jesse smiled. "How about you go get her and bring her to me so that she doesn't trip and rip her dress?" "Ok," the cat disappeared out the door, only to return a moment later. "James and da twoips are here!" he laughed, "Heh, I'll bring Misty to ya."

Jesse laughed and shook her head. Misty and Ash were no longer the bratty twerps they once knew, but rather young adults, working toward their dreams. Just like James and her.

Misty entered the room holding Togepi. "Togi togi!" it cooed.

"Hi Jesse!" Misty said, "Sorry we're so late, our plane was delayed in Violet Town because it was foggy." "That's ok!" Meowth did a good job in your place."

Misty laughed as Jesse turned to the mirror. "The only thing I wouldn't let him do was my hair- he'd burn it right off with the curlers!"

"I heard dat!" said Meowth, coming into the room with Lavender Rose, "If ya face didn't have ta be poifect taday, den I'd fury swipe ya for dat!" ***
Jesse hugged Misty. "Thanks kid."

Misty smiled. "I'm not a 'kid' anymore. Come on, we have to line up in the hall- the procession is about to start."

Misty joined Ash in the beginning of the hall. Meowth was in front of them, holding Lavender's hand. Jesse took her place, and the music began to play. This was it!

Slowly she walked from the hall to the living room, immediately seeing James standing by the glass door. He looked so handsome in his suit, and his face lit up when he saw her.

She took her place beside him, and the minister began.